Rescuers search collapsed hospitals for patients trapped by Colombia quake; Pentagon report reveals steep civilian toll of Trump’s...
News and markets
- Global headlines: Rescuers search collapsed hospitals for patients trapped by Colombia quake (Dogs and drones were deployed to search for survivors. At least 220 people were reported dead in the nation’s strongest earthquake in a decade); Pentagon report reveals steep civilian toll of Trump’s Yemen campaign (The military operation was the first following Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s dismantling of an office focused on mitigating unintended casualties); and Severe malnutrition in Somalia is surging after U.S. cuts, aid groups say (“What we are seeing is shocking and far beyond the threshold of an extremely critical emergency,” one humanitarian official said).
- Markets leaned lower, with 5 of 7 tracked indexes down; HANG SENG INDEX down 1.19% was the largest move.
- Benchmarks tracked: S&P 500, NASDAQ Composite, Euronext 100 Index, and Public Joint-Stock Company Moscow Exchange MICEX-RTS plus 3 more indexes.
Hacker News and Product Hunt
- Hacker News: Compression is prediction (Compression and LLMs are trying to solve the exact same problem: predicting what comes next. Learn the fundamentals of compression and how...); The lifesaving secret hidden inside a horseshoe crab's blue blood (CHATHAM, MASS. (WHDH) - A familiar sea creature that has helped save lives for decades may now need saving itself. Early each summer,...); and WorldClaw Agentic 3D open-world generation at scale (From one open-ended prompt to an explicit, explorable, and editable 3D world).
- Product Hunt features BetterClaw (Deploy AI Agent, 60 seconds & $0 forever), Tines 3B (The secure environment for agents, apps, and automations), and Octomind Cloud and Hub (One login, zero API keys — cloud agents + 27 models).
Global Headlines
Top stories across selected outlets, presented in a fast daily brief format.
Rescuers search collapsed hospitals for patients trapped by Colombia quake
Dogs and drones were deployed to search for survivors. At least 220 people were reported dead in the nation’s strongest earthquake in a decade.
Pentagon report reveals steep civilian toll of Trump’s Yemen campaign
The military operation was the first following Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s dismantling of an office focused on mitigating unintended casualties.
Severe malnutrition in Somalia is surging after U.S. cuts, aid groups say
“What we are seeing is shocking and far beyond the threshold of an extremely critical emergency,” one humanitarian official said.
30,000 pounds of beef from Argentina recalled in two states
A recall of beef products from Corte Argentino USA affects retailers and grocery distributors in Texas and Florida.
Russia releases ailing former Marine imprisoned since 2022
Robert Gilman and his mother were on a plane back to Washington on Tuesday.
Six killed in Houthi attack on Bab al-Mandeb ship, Yemen’s government says
Deaths on Egyptian-owned Tihamah mark first shipping deaths linked to Houthis since the US-Israel war on Iran began.
Iran holds firm on Hormuz conditions as Pakistan’s Naqvi visits Tehran
Iran's top security official says the Strait of Hormuz will not reopen unless the US meets its conditions.
Zambia to vote as economic hardship tests government reforms
Debt restructuring, inflation and copper revenues are emerging as key issues in the vote.
N Korea launches ballistic missile as S Korea, US plan military drills
Pyongyang conducts second weapons test in less than a week as Seoul, Washington gear up for annual military exercises.
Trump says US in ‘total control’ of Strait of Hormuz
Qatar says negotiations between Oman, Iran over future of shipping through Strait of Hormuz are making major progress.
Progressive Peggy Flanagan wins Democratic Senate primary in Minnesota
Progressive Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan won the Democratic primary for Senate from Minnesota. It continues a series of wins for the progressive wing of the party over centrists.
Trump-backed Mike Lindell loses primary for Minnesota governor to Lisa Demuth
Lindell had President Trump's endorsement but he lost to Lisa Demuth, the speaker of the state house. She'll face Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar in the fall for governor.
In South Carolina, Sen. Darline Graham advances to a GOP special primary runoff for U.S. Senate
Sen. Darline Graham, who is serving out the remainder of her brother's term, and Rep. Ralph Norman advance to the special primary runoff later this month.
The death toll climbs from Monday's 7.4 magnitude earthquake in Colombia
Hundreds of rescue workers have been deployed in hardest hit cities trying to free victims still trapped under the rubble. Hundreds of people are still missing.
A judge expands a block on U.S. Postal Service work on Trump's mail-in voting order
A federal judge expanded a block on a key part of President Trump's order to restrict mail-in voting for this fall's midterms, banning the Postal Service from carrying out directives in every state.
Colombia quake death toll rises to 188
BOGOTA -- The death toll from Monday's 7.4-magnitude earthquake in western Colombia has risen to 188, with 1,677 others injured, the Colombian Association of Capital Cities, or Asocapitales, said Tuesday.
Trade tensions strain EU-US ties
Editor's note: Amid shifting global geopolitics in recent decades, the trans-Atlantic bond is being reshaped. China Daily will present a special series to examine these shifts and their long-term implications.
Turkiye MPs back law to reintegrate Kurdish militants
ANKARA — Turkiye's parliament on Monday approved a legal framework for the disarmament and reintegration of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, a landmark step toward ending a decades-long conflict.
'Sing for Africa' Season 2 returns with focus on female talent
Sing for Africa , a China-Kenya music talent show that seeks to discover and nurture young African musicians, has returned for a second season, shifting its focus from the all-male lineup of its inaugural season to young female talent.
Trump demands Iran reparations
United States President Donald Trump has clapped back at Iran in a counter-demand seeking financial compensation for all of Tehran's alleged damage over the last 50 years, in a fresh war of words as Washington struggles to maintain leverage over the Strait of Hormuz.
SC asks EC to furnish data on SIR appeal disposal in West Bengal
Supreme Court questions binding timelines for SIR Tribunals while seeking disposal rate details from the Election Commission.
Supreme Court asks government to consider plea for emergency response to deepfake crimes
Supreme Court urges government to establish urgent measures against online threats, including deepfake crimes and digital harm.
Post-Mecca joint defence pact, India says it will protect its national interests
India vows to protect its national interests following the Mecca Joint Defence Pact among Turkiye, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan.
Nagaland CM urges Shah to reconsider FCRA amendments, seeks parliamentary panel review
Nagaland CM Neiphiu Rio urges reconsideration of FCRA amendments, highlighting their impact on churches and social welfare programs.
Panel seeks enhanced relief, counselling for SC/ST victims
Government task force proposes increased relief for SC/ST atrocity victims and introduces measures for counselling and protection against counter FIRs.
Oil, gold prices rise as geopolitical tensions mount before CPI
Reuters: Oil, gold prices rise as geopolitical tensions mount before CPI.
Judge blocks US Postal Service from restricting mail-in voting
Reuters: Judge blocks US Postal Service from restricting mail-in voting.
North Korea fires missile ahead of major US-South Korea drills
Reuters: North Korea fires missile ahead of major US-South Korea drills.
Zelenskiy: Ukraine has given US negotiators proposals for ending the war with Russia
Reuters: Zelenskiy: Ukraine has given US negotiators proposals for ending the war with Russia.
Romania destroys drones drifting near major offshore gas project in the Black Sea
Reuters: Romania destroys drones drifting near major offshore gas project in the Black Sea.
Market Snapshot
Latest completed sessions across the selected benchmark indexes.
| Index | Region | Session Date | Value | Change | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
S&P 500 | US | 2026-08-12 | 7728.20 | -24.91 (-0.32%) | Down |
NASDAQ Composite | US | 2026-08-12 | 26445.45 | -159.91 (-0.60%) | Down |
Euronext 100 Index | Europe | 2026-08-12 | 1976.97 | 4.13 (0.21%) | Up |
Public Joint-Stock Company Moscow Exchange MICEX-RTS | Europe | 2026-08-12 | 85.20 | -0.11 (-0.13%) | Down |
HANG SENG INDEX | Asia | 2026-08-12 | 25346.94 | -305.88 (-1.19%) | Down |
Nikkei 225 | Asia | 2026-08-12 | 67268.86 | 298.64 (0.45%) | Up |
S&P BSE SENSEX | India | 2026-08-12 | 77896.58 | -257.67 (-0.33%) | Down |
Hacker News
Ten notable links from the last day in the Hacker News ecosystem.
Compression is prediction
Compression and LLMs are trying to solve the exact same problem: predicting what comes next. Learn the fundamentals of compression and how better prediction leads to better shrinkage.
The lifesaving secret hidden inside a horseshoe crab's blue blood
CHATHAM, MASS. (WHDH) - A familiar sea creature that has helped save lives for decades may now need saving itself. Early each summer, horseshoe crabs crawl Read More
WorldClaw Agentic 3D open-world generation at scale
From one open-ended prompt to an explicit, explorable, and editable 3D world.
Nvidia Nemotron 3.5 Lightning and NeMo Switchyard
The new lightweight open model and routing library delivers greater control over AI, data and workflows across edge devices, PCs, workstations, data centers and the cloud.
Mojo 1.0
Today, the Mojo language officially reaches 1.0: a milestone the language has been building toward since its first release in 2023. Mojo has grown into a general-purpose language with a vibrant developer community writing their own libraries, tools, and applications on top of it. With Mojo 1.0, developers can now build for the long-term on a stable, production-ready language foundation.
Stealing Reasoning Traces from Proprietary LLM APIs
Encrypted chain-of-thought blocks returned by Anthropic, OpenAI and Google APIs are interchangeable across sessions, users and models. We exploit this to decode hidden reasoning at scale.
The Human Is the Loop
After a few weeks away from AI, I see my usage wasn't always productive or healthy.
OpenAI’s head of ethics leaves less than a year after joining
ft.com: OpenAI’s head of ethics leaves less than a year after joining.
Company Offering '100% Human-Written, Never AI' Medical Research Is 100% AI
Research Gold's team of human methodologists are either AI generated or using the identity of real people without their permission
Neutrinos from Deep Inside Earth Provide a New Picture of the Mantle
A global constellation of neutrino detectors is creating a never-before-seen view of the radioactive elements that power Earth’s tectonic heat engine.
Product Hunt
Featured products from the latest public Product Hunt listings.
Source Notes
Generation details, data coverage, and any partial-source warnings for this edition.