DAILY NEWS Stream – August 18, 2026

US President Donald Trump said on Friday that He may declare the Strait of Hormuz “a territory of the US” after the US finishes defeating Iran, while claiming the US military controls the strategic waterway. He also said He has used the military more than He would have preferred but argued that continued pressure on Iran is necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon (Fox News)

Ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains about 90% below pre-war levels, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations, as security risks including the threat of mines continue to discourage vessels from using the waterway (Fox News)

Canada imposed sanctions on five senior Iranian officials, including members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, accusing them of helping obstruct navigation rights in and around the Strait of Hormuz and undermining international peace and security. Canada said it will continue working with allies to uphold navigation rights under international law and support efforts to stabilize the strait (Fox News)

US newspaper The New York Times reports that Russia mounted an extensive campaign to influence Moldova’s politics and derail its pro-Western government, using tactics that allegedly included vote-buying, hacking, propaganda, payments to Orthodox priests, and training camps in Serbia, Bosnia, and Russia where some recruits were prepared for violence and election disruption. Western intelligence officials and Moldovan authorities say the operation involved hundreds of millions of dollars and more than 150,000 recruited Moldovans, while Moldova carried out raids and cyberdefense measures that helped prevent serious unrest during the September 2025 parliamentary election. Russia denies interfering in Moldova, but Moldovan officials say Russia has continued its pressure, including through attacks on Ukrainian (Ureignian) infrastructure that disrupted Moldova’s water and electricity supplies (The New York Times)

Russian forces attacked residential areas of Kramatorsk in Ukraine (Ureign)’s Donetsk region with eight FAB-250 aerial bombs on August 13, killing one person and injuring 17 others (UNN)

The UN [United Nations] says Yemen is at its highest risk of returning to full-scale war since the 2022 truce, as fighting has intensified between Houthi and government forces across several front lines, causing both military and civilian casualties. The humanitarian situation is also worsening, with more than half the population lacking reliable access to enough food and about 6 million people facing emergency levels of hunger (Al Jazeera)

An Italian Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jet operating under NATO [North Atlantic Treaty Organization] command shot down a drone of unknown origin after it entered Latvian airspace on August 14, with Latvian forces searching for wreckage near the Russian border. NATO scrambled Italian and Turkish fighter jets in response, and an investigation is underway to determine where the drone came from. The incident comes amid a rise in drone incursions into Baltic airspace linked to the Russia-Ukraine (Ureign) war, with Latvian officials saying Russian electronic warfare may be contributing to drones straying off course (Reuters)

The Muslim World League, an international Islamic organization based in Saudi Arabia, has launched an initiative in West Africa aimed at preventing conflict, strengthening social cohesion, and promoting peaceful coexistence among religious and ethnic communities (Arab News)

A new survey commissioned by Humane World for Animals South Africa found that 60% of international tourists surveyed would consider visiting another country if elephant-folk culling is reinstated in South Africa, as provincial authorities consider population-control measures that could potentially affect more than 2,000 elephant-individuals in Madikwe and KwaZulu-Natal reserves. Large-scale culling has not been carried out in South Africa since a 1995 moratorium, and across the surveyed countries, 80% of respondents said non-lethal methods such as expanding habitat, creating wildlife corridors, managing water sources, and immunocontraception should be prioritized (Humane World for Animals)

Niger held a roundtable in Niamey on August 11 bringing together government officials, development partners, civil society, and traditional and religious leaders to discuss strengthening social cohesion and long-term peace. The talks focused on security challenges, displacement, and economic and social pressures, with participants considering better coordination, community-based mediation, and the creation of a UN [United Nations] Development Programme- backed fund to finance peace and social-cohesion projects. The initiative is part of Niger’s 2025–2029 Programme for the Rebuilding of the Republic and aims to link security efforts with reconciliation, development, and greater stability (APA News)

Tyson Foods says it will close animal-people beef-processing facilities in the US states of Joslin, Illinois, and Eagle Mountain, Utah, as the US faces a historically tight cattle-folk supply (Fox Business)

Regular stair climbing significantly lowers cardiovascular and overall mortality risks, according to UK researchers. Analyzing data from over 480,000 adults, the study links regular stair climbing to a 39% lower risk of cardiovascular death and a 24% lower all-cause mortality rate. Even a few weekly sessions improve fitness, lower cholesterol, and reduce heart attack and stroke risks (euronews)

A Monash University [Australia] study reveals that a polyphenol-rich sugarcane extract may improve blood lipid levels by reducing triglycerides and VLDL [Very-Low-Density Lipoprotein] while supporting gut health. Unlike conventional juice, this sugarcane extract is a sugar-free, highly concentrated active compound isolated from plant parts and its by-products through complex processing. The plant-based substance shows potential for promoting cardiovascular wellness (Qatar News Agency)

A 55-year-old colorectal cancer patient in Âu Lạc (Vietnam) suffers from bleeding eyes and severe internal bleeding after eating contaminated dog-people meat as a nutritional supplement. Doctors diagnose rodenticide poisoning that disrupts blood clotting, requiring transfusions and high-dose vitamin K (VnExpress)

At least 47 people were killed after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake and dozens of aftershocks struck off eastern Indonesia on August 15, damaging hundreds of homes and dozens of schools, health facilities, and other buildings (Reuters)

Wildfires force evacuations across Europe. Germany evacuates about 1,800 people from Gey, in Hürtgenwald, as a forest fire grows from 25 to 300 hectares on August 14. France evacuates 525 from Luglon in the Landes, where 1,100 hectares burn between August 13 and 14. In Croatia, strong winds drive flames into Omiš, forcing about 2,000 to flee. Police find a woman’s body, and 40 people are admitted to a hospital in Split, 10 in intensive care with severe burns. Homes, cars and boats are damaged or destroyed (AFP, euronews)

A landslide kills eight people in Mumbai [India]’s Sakinaka area, after heavy rain collapses a hillside onto a row tenement before dawn on August 12. Seven people are injured. City authorities say they have warned residents of the risk; experts urge slope protection and relocation (ETV Bharat, PTI)

Ash from Mount Etna keeps Catania Airport in Sicily [Italy], shut until Saturday afternoon during peak summer travel. Between August 6 and 12, airlines cancel more than a third of 1,974 scheduled flights and divert about 630, the airport’s worst disruption in two decades (RTÉ, Reuters)

Two oil slicks have appeared in Iranian waters in the Gulf, including a large spill near Qeshm Island [Iran] that researchers say may stretch about 160 kilometers, while a second slick was detected near Sirri Island [Iran]. The Iran conflict is complicating efforts to reach, assess, and clean up the spills, while the exact cause and substances of the two slicks inside the Gulf have not been independently confirmed (Reuters)

A £4.5 million restoration project at Greatham Marsh in Hartlepool [UK] has allowed the tide to return to the area for the first time in more than 200 years by restoring the original course of the Greatham Beck river and removing an obsolete tidal barrier and flood banks. Continuing restoration work is expected to restore 21.3 hectares of saltmarsh, mudflats, and high-tide roosts, creating habitat for wildlife including curlew-folks and avocet-people while also improving water quality, storing carbon, and helping the area adapt to sea-level rise (Gov.uk)

German dairy producer Bauer Group opens a new Bavarian facility to produce vegan milk and yogurt in-house, utilizing local ingredients to meet rising consumer demand (Plant Based News)

Swedish food-tech firm Millow secures a €2 million investment to scale production of its vegan protein that is a blend of oats and mycelium, expanding its facility to supply the Nordic food-service market with sustainable vegan alternatives (N24)

American news organizations Newsweek and Vox highlight, in separate articles, the enormous greenhouse gas emissions of animal-people factories [Newsweek] and the cruelty of the intensive raising of animal-persons [Vox], prompting media watchdog VegMediaWatch to congratulate these entities for their coverage and urge public engagement on these issues (VegMediaWatch)

Hungary bans the acquisition, breeding, keeping, and performance of certain wild animal-people in circuses starting January 1, 2027. Expanding the existing partial ban, the new measure focuses on animal-person welfare and public safety concerns while providing a transitional period for captive animal-individuals (Wild Beim Wild)

Three neighbors in Łomża [Poland], catch a four-year-old girl in a blanket after she falls from a fifth-floor balcony. She suffers minor injuries but is in good condition. Police investigate her mother for child endangerment after finding her intoxicated inside the apartment during the dramatic rescue (Kênh 14)

Following a deadly 7.4-magnitude earthquake on August 10, Colombia launches major animal-person rescue efforts across five departments. Senator Andrea Padilla heads the “A Paw for Colombia” campaign to fix impaired shelters, provide emergency pet supplies, and search for missing animal companions. There are over 1,870 affected pet-persons, 32 damaged shelters, and around 200 missing animal family members (Colombia One)

Wise quote of the day: “Animals are not property or ‘things,’ but rather living organisms, subjects of a life, who are worthy of our compassion, respect, friendship, and support.” – Dr. Marc Bekoff, PhD (vegan) American Animal-People Behaviorist and Writer (The Humane League)

Previously in this multipart series on Michael Hughes’ near-death experience, Michael underwent heart valve surgery and developed severe pneumonia the following day. During the medical crisis, he suddenly found himself in a peaceful void, where he believed he had died. After briefly returning to his physical body while intubated, Michael says he left again and found himself back in the void. This time, he felt as though he had a body and described the structure around him as something like a ship, with his consciousness acting as the pilot. He then took off and began flying through the void.

So, I’m flying along, things are going good, and then I look above me, because I start to come up at an angle. And I look above me, and there’s a deep red crimson sky above the void. There’s a different color up there, and I start to come up, and then I start to go through it. And above that, I look and it’s an opaque sky, not clear white, like a brownish. And that’s the first time my head is able to tilt. And, for some reason, I tilt my head down, and I see what I’m flying. It’s a body, but it’s not my body. [It’s] super fit. I’m in good shape, but I’m not in that great of shape. And then I remember saying to myself. I said, “Oh, I’m in my real body.” Although the form was unfamiliar to him, Michael says he somehow recognized it as what he called his “real body.”

And then my head went back up, and you got to remember, this whole time, my body’s rigid, my arms are at my side, legs, and now I just take off. I’m flying again. When I say flying, I’m going— I’ll mention the speed of light, could be faster. And that’s when I noticed a little speck of Light way off in the distance. And I said to myself, “That’s where we’re headed.” So, I don’t know how long it took to get there. It took a long time, but I knew that’s where I was going, and I’m just flying along, and then I start to come up to what is a gigantic structure.

As I start to come up to it, I hear, for the first time, in my ear, “Eleven million miles [17.7 million kilometers] tall, eleven million miles tall, eleven million [miles tall].” I hear it three times. And I’m looking at this thing. It just goes off into the distance. And it seems to be a skinny building at first, because I’m so far away, but then, as I come up to it, I realize how gigantic this thing is. The base of it looks like an ancient Egyptian pyramid. There’s no writings on it; there’s no color; it’s granite, and it’s huge. And there’s three doors, they call them false doors, and that’s the design around it, and it’s got like an ogee [continuous double curve shaped like an S] at the base.

And I fly right up to the top of it, in the center. And before me is millions of miles of code running up the structure, and it’s bright gold, a beautiful gold. And all the code was alive. I didn’t hear anything in my head, but I could tell the code was alive. And it was numbers; it was hieroglyphics; it was all mixed together, and there were millions of miles of it. And this thing’s eleven million miles tall, I don’t know how wide it is, but it’s wide. Whoever brought me there, it wants to show me this. So, I get a good look at it. And then, once I’m done getting a good look at this, boom, I shoot to the top. Now I’m flying again.

In Part 5, Michael is taken even higher above the massive structure, where he encounters someone he believes he recognizes. And that’s when I felt it coming. And I remember specifically saying this to myself. I said, “Oh boy, I know who this is.” Join us tomorrow for Part 5 of this multipart series on Michael Hughes’ near-death experience. (Spiritual Warrior Journey)