Evening Brief, Tuesday 18 August

Russia said it repelled 791 Ukrainian drones overnight, including 180 over the Moscow area, while Ukrainian authorities said a Russian missile strike killed at least 10 civilians in Pechenihy, east of Kharkiv. Moscow airports halted flights, debris damaged buildings and a power plant, and Wildberries reported damage at a logistics warehouse. Ukraine said Russia launched 147 drones overnight and that its air defences neutralized 111, while the United Nations recorded July as the deadliest month for civilians in Ukraine since May 2022.

• Ukrainian drones Russia says repelled791
• Drones Russia says flew toward Moscow620
• Drones Russia says downed over Moscow area180
• Russian drones Ukraine says launched147
• Russian drones Ukraine says neutralized111
• Civilians killed in Pechenihy strike10

London then entered the argument more directly. Russia's embassy warned Britain of consequences after reports that Ukrainian forces had used British-made long-range drones in strikes inside Russia, including against refineries and logistics sites. Prime Minister Andy Burnham rejected the threat and said support for Ukraine would continue.

“We are not fair-weather friends. We will be there in Ukraine's hour of need, and that won't change.”

Britain has already announced a £752 million package to deliver 150,000 drones to Ukraine by the end of 2026, so Moscow's warning targets policy as much as hardware. The danger is no longer just battlefield attrition; it is the slow normalization of strikes on capitals, refineries and logistics networks far behind the line.

The 60-day negotiating window between the United States and Iran expired without an extension, leaving the June memorandum that purported to end hostilities looking more like a pause than a settlement. Donald Trump had already declared the agreement over in July, while Tehran said it had no ceasefire to extend. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi dismissed the premise bluntly.

“We had no ceasefire that now needs to be extended.”

The dispute now runs through the Strait of Hormuz, which carried about 20% of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies before the February attacks.

Trump sharpened the crisis by threatening Oman, not Iran, after Muscat negotiated a transit route map with Tehran. The proposed arrangement would send merchant vessels into the strait along lanes closer to Iran and out through lanes closer to Oman, without tolls. In a Fox News interview, Trump warned the mediator away.

“If Oman gets in the way, we'll bomb the shit out of them.”

Iranian officials rejected American claims over the waterway, and the Pentagon said it could sustain a naval blockade of Iranian ports indefinitely. Oil traders can price missiles, but they struggle to price a superpower threatening the mediator while shipping lanes clog.

Hamas reiterated that it accepts the peace roadmap backed by the United States, while urging Israel to give formal approval before the next steps begin. Jared Kushner met Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Hamas representatives in Egypt, then held talks in Jerusalem with Benjamin Netanyahu and members of the Peace Council. Kushner said he hopes initial demilitarisation steps can begin within 30 days, starting with selected weapons and tunnels.

Israel and the United States agreed that General Jasper Jeffers would supervise disarmament as head of a planned International Stabilization Force. Netanyahu said Israeli forces would not leave Gaza until Hamas is fully disarmed and all tunnels are dismantled. Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said the roadmap pairs factional disarmament with full Israeli withdrawal, and argued that Israel must first accept that framework.

“Hamas is committed to respecting this agreed process. It is clear that, until now, the Israeli side has not given mediators its formal agreement on the roadmap.”

The same talks created working groups on demilitarisation and on public health, sanitation and clean water, a reminder that the political bargain and the civilian emergency now move together. Gaza diplomacy has reached the familiar narrow bridge: each side wants the other to step first, while civilians wait below.

OpenAI began rolling out ChatGPT for Teens worldwide, automatically switching users aged 13 to 17 into a dedicated experience and using an age-prediction system that analyses more than 2,000 behavioural signals. The teen version blocks romantic language, claims of sentience and friendship framing, while Study Mode pushes students toward step-by-step help rather than direct answers. Lauren Jonas described the default switch as automatic.

“There's no need for a teen to create a new account or change anything; if we predict you're under 18, or you've told us so, this becomes your default experience.”

Parents can set Quiet Hours and receive alerts on high-risk interactions, but they cannot read private transcripts.

Nvidia, meanwhile, filed documents detailing up to $105 billion in credit backing for an OpenAI-linked data-centre project in Ohio, plus a $1.5 billion investment in SB Energy. The campus sits on former Department of Energy land used for uranium enrichment, and SB Energy plans a 9.2-gigawatt gas plant that could cost $33 billion. OpenAI has signed a 20-year lease, with 800 megawatts due in 2028 and a possible 8 gigawatts by 2032.

• 2028 initial capacity0.8
• Initial phase target4.25
• 2032 full option8

These two announcements show the same industry growing in opposite directions, softer with children and vastly harder on power grids. A chatbot that promises homework restraint now depends on infrastructure big enough to make a utility regulator sweat.

Disney and ABC sued the Federal Communications Commission in federal court, seeking to halt an accelerated license review of eight ABC-owned broadcast stations. The company argued that the process violates the First Amendment by using federal licensing power to punish journalism and satire that the Trump administration dislikes. The complaint links the review to public pressure over Jimmy Kimmel and cites an earlier warning from FCC chair Brendan Carr.

“We can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to take action on Kimmel, or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”

The FCC has pointed to inquiries into Disney's diversity policies and The View, while ABC calls those investigations pretexts.

The same White House clashed with CNN correspondent Kristen Holmes after she asked about Natalie Harp, Trump's aide, and about scaled-back military drills with South Korea. Trump told Holmes to be quiet and called CNN fake news, then the White House Rapid Response account attacked her personally and referred to her family. CNN defended Holmes and said public officials may dispute coverage, but personal attacks on reporters violate basic norms of the office.

Broadcast licenses rarely get revoked, but the threat alone can chill executives who depend on public spectrum. The case will define whether American media regulation still polices technical standards, or whether it can become a very formal way to shout at late-night television.

Spain's military began setting up temporary tent camps in Ceuta after the mass crossing from Morocco that began on 30 July. The first site at Loma Colmenar will add 1,500 beds, with more facilities planned at the Hipica complex, the former cavalry barracks football pitch and El Guano. Elma Saiz, the migration minister, said capacity could rise as the sites open.

“When the locations are up and running, there will be more. I do not want to put a ceiling on it.”

The government is already distributing up to 4,000 food kits a day.

Police had identified and transferred 2,168 unaccompanied minors to the regional government by Tuesday morning, up from 1,898 five days earlier. Ceuta opened two schools to house children, far beyond its standard capacity of 29 places. Thousands of migrants have also built makeshift shelters on beaches, including El Trampolin, where people from Sudan, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and sub-Saharan Africa sleep under cardboard, scrap wood and palm branches.

The emergency has revived the old argument over whether Madrid, Ceuta or Rabat controls the pressure valve. Saiz defended cooperation with Morocco, while Ceuta's president Juan Jesus Vivas demanded a single command structure. The enclave is now learning that temporary tents can become political architecture faster than anyone admits.