August 26, 2012 (Sunday)
Armed conflict and attacks
- Seventeen villagers including two women in Afghanistan's southern Kajaki district are beheaded by unknown organised people. (AP via The Australian)
Disasters
- Thirty-six people are killed in a bus crash near Yan'an, Shaanxi province of China. (Reuters)
- Tropical Storm Isaac:
- The United States National Hurricane Center issues hurricane warnings for the states of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. A state of emergency is in effect in these four areas. (Fox News)
- Tropical Storm Isaac has so far caused 10 direct fatalities on Hispaniola and one indirect in Puerto Rico. (Fox News)
- A 7.4 magnitude earthquake occurs in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of El Salvador with tsunami warnings in place for Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Panama and Mexico. (AP via Fox News)
Environment and health
- An outbreak of Legionellosis (Legionnaires' disease) in Quebec City, Canada, kills 8 people and infects 104. (CBC)
- Women in Togo announce that they will go on sex strike for a week, starting Monday, following the example of women in Liberia. (CNN)
- Several hundred earthquakes hit Southern California, with the largest one measuring 5.5 on the Richter magnitude scale near San Diego. (CNN)
International relations
- Heads of state meet at the 16th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Tehran, Iran, until August 31. (Oman Tribune)[permanent dead link] (Xinhua) (Radio Free Europe)
Politics and elections
- Two Pussy Riot members, alleged to be the two participants in the band's Cathedral protest on February 21 who remain unarrested, "leave" Russia. (The Guardian)
- Libya Abdullah Al-Sha Mausoleum's destruction:
- The president of Libya's newly elected legislative congress, Mohamed Yousef el-Magariaf, calls the prime minister to an emergency meeting, after Saturday's bulldozing of the Sidi el-Sha'ab mausoleum in Tripoli by unnamed organized assailants. (Reuters via Yahoo! News) (Wall Street Journal)
- Libyan interior minister Fawzi Abdelali resigns after harsh criticism due to the Mausoleum attack. An aide says he resigned "to defend the revolutionaries". It becomes known that deputy PM Mustafa A.G. Abushagur on Saturday, referring to Friday's desecrations, sent a tweet saying "I have asked the interior and defence ministers to intervene yesterday but did not do their duty to protect these sites." (BBC) (Google Translate)
Sports
- 15-year-old amateur Lydia Ko of New Zealand wins the Canadian Women's Open, becoming the youngest ever winner on the LPGA Tour and the first amateur to win on that tour since JoAnne Carner in 1969. (Vancouver Sun)