All news: Wednesday 12 August 2026

Kordofan campaign

The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) launch eight drone and land attacks across El Obeid, North Kordofan. Two people are reported to be killed during the attacks.

Sudanese civil war

The RSF launch drone strikes across multiple cities in Sudan, including its capital Khartoum, Bahri, and Omdurman in Khartoum State, and the River Nile cites of Ad-Damir and Atbara.

Colombian conflict

Two Colombian soldiers are killed and 17 more are wounded in an ambush by FARC dissidents in Algeciras, Huila.

Libyan crisis

A drone strike is reported on a electrical substation in Zawiya, western Libya, causing a fire and power outages.

Mexican drug war

A failed attack against the Tayoltita Airfield, in San Dimas Municipality, Durango, Mexico, leaves one gunman killed and two soldiers wounded. Authorities deploy an operation in the zone to secure the area and search for the remaining attackers.

Red Sea crisis

Pakistani foreign minister Ishaq Dar reports that three Pakistanis were killed in a attack on a commercial vessel in the Red Sea.

A woman is killed and 172 other people are rescued after a ferry catches fire off the coast of Bali, Indonesia.

2026 Cook Islands general election

Cook Islanders vote to elect all 24 seats of Parliament amid a cost-of-living crisis and debate regarding a past partnership agreement with China. Incumbent prime minister Mark Brown faces a challenge from Cook Islands United leader Teariki Heather.

The Rapid Support Forces-appointed governor of Sudan's Kordofan region, Hamad Mohammad Hamad Khalifa, resigns and announces he will defect.

The Central African Republic inaugurates a 50-megawatt photovoltaic solar power plant built by UAE-based company Global South Utilities that would boost the country's electricity by 60%.

Four people are killed, including the perpetrator, in shooting and stabbing attacks at a daycare and a house in Hopkins, Minnesota, United States.

Solar eclipse of August 12

A total solar eclipse occurs in Greenland, Iceland, and Spain, with partial eclipses visible over much of northern North America, Europe (except most of Ukraine, Greece, Bulgaria and Russia), northwestern Africa and northern Asian Russia. It is the first total eclipse observable in mainland Europe since August 1999.

MoM-BH*-1

Astronomers studying a little red dot found by the James Webb Space Telescope announce in Nature the discovery of the first black hole star. The first object classed as such, MoM-BH*-1, in the constellation of Cetus, is the size of the Solar System and emits a light that outshines its host galaxy.