19 August 2026

Lithuania's government on Wednesday backed the interior ministry's proposal to dismiss Rustamas Liubajevas as head of the State Border Guard Service. Liubajevas has led the agency since late 2019, and the next step is to complete the formal dismissal procedure at the service responsible for border control and irregular migration.

Lithuania's prosecutor general confirmed that the Leipzig explosives drone case is linked to Lithuania through the earlier 2024 Vilnius-Leipzig-UK cargo route. German investigators are trying to establish who launched the drone found at Leipzig/Halle airport and whether cargo infrastructure was the target. In parliament, support is building for a registry of sexual offenders against children. Officials have also presented a 12-point plan to curb violence among minors.

In energy, Green Genius has connected Lithuania's largest commercial battery park. That expansion sits alongside plans for a large biomethane plant near Rietavas, 14 operating biomethane plants, and 16 million euros in state support this year for biomethane production and biogas upgrading. Amber Grid says about eight more plants could be connected by year-end, lifting annual output to roughly 1.5 TWh.

In Vilnius, a man previously described as the country's best-known pedophile was arrested again soon after leaving prison after 15 years. Domestic politics also saw fresh reactions to the investigation into Sinkevičienė's employment, while prosecutors are seeking a tougher sentence for a Vilnius man in a sexual crimes case after earlier judicial leniency. In Istanbul, Lithuanian students won the world geography championship, while 13-year-old Austėja, already holding more than 100 medals, is pushing for a place at the world championship in China.

Lithuania's under-16 team secured its place in Division A of the European Championship. In Kaunas, Lithuania also won the Formula Future world championship.

Salamina island west of Athens lost two people to a fast-moving wildfire, with nine more injured and several homes destroyed. Fire investigators inspected the burn zone yesterday as Greek authorities continued to assess the property damage and the cause. Greek firefighters said the blaze spread at exceptional speed, leaving residents and crews little time to react.

In Belgium, the largest forest fire in a century has scorched about 30 square kilometres of forest and heath in the High Fens near the German border. More than 250 personnel are involved, including over 100 Belgian and German firefighters, and crews are contending with peaty ground where fire can burn underground and flare up again. About 600 residents from Waimes and Bütgenbach have been evacuated, with some sheltered in a gymnasium.

In Ukraine's Kherson region, a Russian drone hit a bus carrying civilians and killed four people. Ukrainian officials say such strikes are deliberate attacks on civilians, and they note a similar attack in Komyshany earlier this month that wounded six people. In Germany, Bild reported that Russia had planned to use Novichok against Rheinmetall chief Armin Papperger, with US and German intelligence said to have warned Berlin about the threat.

The Financial Times reported today that Iran has weighed striking US military assets in Europe if Donald Trump escalates the war further. The paper said planners looked at sites in southeastern Europe, including Bulgaria, which last month allowed US refuelling aircraft to use Bezmer air base. In Ukraine, a 7 kg object presented today is being treated as a pristine meteorite find, with lab analysis and formal registration the next steps.

At least 100 people were killed in a gold mine collapse. A Russian strike on a Ukrainian police building killed two officers and injured dozens more.

At least 30 people were killed when an artisanal gold mine collapsed in western Central African Republic in the Abba area of Nana-Mambere prefecture. Rescuers were still searching the rubble on Tuesday for trapped workers, while the injured were being treated locally.

Donald Trump said on Monday the US had no talks scheduled with Iran even as Oman kept trying to broker passage through the Strait of Hormuz. Shipping data showed traffic through the waterway had fallen sharply, Iran said it would keep the route effectively shut until Washington met its conditions, and in the past day a projectile hit a ship while Houthi drones struck a Saudi oil refinery. The UAE also said it intercepted two ballistic missiles launched from Iran, and Tehran warned Gulf states not to assist US forces. Ukraine launched nearly 800 drones into Russia over the past day, while authorities in the Moscow region reported hits on residential areas and falling debris. In Syria, Israel blamed Turkey after a strike on a Syrian air force base, and the International Criminal Court said US sanctions were undermining the rule of law.

In Kolkata, a fire tore through a five-storey building used by several hotels early on Tuesday, killing at least nine people including two women and a four-year-old child. Six people were injured, at least 80 were evacuated, and local officials said some rooms had no windows. US prosecutors also accused Meta of deliberately designing systems that deepened children's dependence on its platforms, while a Bloomberg investigation showed how suspected stock-manipulation schemes in tiny US-listed companies are hitting investors far beyond Wall Street.

A collapse at an illegal gold mine in the Central African Republic killed at least 100 people. The UN human rights chief said new US sanctions on the International Criminal Court were unacceptable.