26 August 2026

Lithuania has declared an emergency after the weekend storm, and agriculture minister Kęstutis Mažeika told the cabinet he will seek a nationwide measure as well. He cited flooded fields, delayed sowing and power cuts hitting farms and suppliers. Mažeika said the step would open access to European Commission aid and protect some suppliers from penalties for missed obligations. Emergency declarations are already in force in Biržai, Telšiai and Anykščiai districts, and about 69,000 ESO customers still have no electricity.

Poland's power distribution operator will send crews to help restore electricity in Lithuania. In parliament, the Seimas anti-corruption panel failed to reach quorum today and could not decide whether to open an inquiry into jobs at Raudondvaris Manor involving LSDP members and Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius' spouse. Only five of the 12 members attended, while four Social Democrats neither came nor joined remotely. Chair Arvydas Anušauskas said the proposed probe would test possible conflicts of interest, nepotism risk and whether decisions were made objectively, while Kaunas district administrative chief Mantas Rikteris promised a separate local inquiry.

Skirmantas Malinauskas has also returned to the spotlight after renewed discussion of his time in Saulius Skvernelis' team, as the former prime minister is again under scrutiny in connection with a corruption case. On demographics, economist Algirdas Bartkus said births in Lithuania fell 7.2 per cent in the first half from a year earlier, with last year's fertility rate at 1.04. He said the rate could slip to 0.97 this year, while maternity beds have dropped 43 per cent over a decade. Retailer Dainius Dundulis said security fears and constant talk of war are among the reasons some younger people are delaying parenthood.

Lithuania's foreign ministry said today it has no information about missing or injured Lithuanian citizens in Nepal, where 384 travellers disappeared after flash floods and landslides. Nepalese authorities are still checking the lists against travel company records, while rescue teams search the Bhote Koshi valley.

The government declared a state-level emergency over storm damage. In defence, Lithuania said new U.S. troops will arrive and a Rheinmetall camp will be built in Rudnikai.

Vitālijs Šampiņš, a Latvian volunteer fighter known as “Vilks”, was killed on the Kharkiv front. Latvia’s embassy in Kyiv received the notification from Ukraine’s defence ministry yesterday, and ambassador Andrejs Pildegovičs confirmed the death publicly. Šampiņš had been serving with Ukraine’s 63rd Brigade near Lyman and is the fifth Latvian volunteer killed since Russia’s full-scale invasion began.

Ukraine’s air force said it neutralised 134 of 162 Russian drones overnight. Strikes still hit 18 locations and debris fell at three others, despite the use of aircraft, missile units, electronic warfare teams and mobile fire groups. In Chernihiv, a Russian drone hit a residential house in the morning, killing a 49-year-old woman and a four-year-old girl. A 14-year-old girl was wounded in the same strike, after another attack on the city the previous evening had already injured two adults and a child.

In Russia, Khimki head coach Roman Semerninov learned on his 45th birthday that his 14-year-old son Aron had died during training. Russian reports said the boy collapsed during routine basketball drills and could not be revived, with sudden cardiac arrest cited as the apparent cause. Aron played in Krasnodar’s youth system, and the club said it was supporting the family while a formal medical finding is awaited.

Western media reported that some Russian officials believe Vladimir Putin may be considering the use of a nuclear weapon against Ukraine. Separately, Russia's fourth largest oil refinery halted operations after a Ukrainian attack, and occupation authorities in Luhansk said nine people were killed in a drone strike on a minibus.

Nepal’s flash floods on the Bhote Koshi have turned far deadlier, with 95 bodies now found after officials earlier reported at least eight deaths and 384 missing tourists. Authorities said an ice and rock avalanche on the Tibetan side triggered the surge, which swept away villages, roads and hydropower projects in Rasuwa district. Nepal asked India and China to help with rescue operations and issued warnings along the Bhote Koshi, Trishuli and Narayani rivers.

In Islamabad, a fire in the maternity wing of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences killed 14 newborns. Officials said the blaze started after an air-conditioner failure on the third floor of the mother and child health unit, and one of the 15 babies in the nursery was rescued. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif removed health secretary Aslam Ghauri and ordered an investigation.

Meta agreed today to pay up to $16.68 billion and tighten teen-safety rules on Facebook and Instagram, settling a case brought by 47 U.S. states. The deal includes daily time caps, longer breaks, a night-time lockout and stronger age-detection systems for users aged 13 to 17. The U.S. Secret Service said yesterday it was reviewing an Iranian state media video that threatened Barron Trump and referred to a $10 million bounty.

In Geneva yesterday, U.N. chief António Guterres and ICRC president Mirjana Spoljaric urged states to adopt new international rules for autonomous weapons. They warned that technology is nearing the point where machines could select human targets on their own. In Ukraine, military officers said earlier this month that drones had already pushed the frontline kill zone to 15 to 20 km in some sectors, making Russian movement, resupply and casualty evacuation harder.

Floods in Nepal have killed 95 people, with 384 tourists still missing. Meta agreed to pay $16.7 billion to US states in a settlement ending a high-profile case.