Asia

US Seizes Chinese Hacking Platforms: August 26, 2026

Washington said Wednesday it had knocked out a Chinese hacking operation that broke into, or tried to break into, some of the most sensitive networks in the United States. The Justice Department and FBI announced court-authorized seizures of domains used by two platforms, QScan and QTRouter, run by a state-sponsored group the department calls QTFY. Among the victims named in unsealed court papers: NASA, the Federal Reserve, the Energy Department, the Justice Department itself, Health and Human Services, the National Institutes of Health, and the U.S. Senate. Reuters, citing the affidavit, also listed four unnamed companies in the United States and South Korea.

The tools belonged to Nanjing Xinjiuwei Network Technology Company, a China-based firm whose clients, the department said, included the Ministry of State Security and the People’s Liberation Army. QScan scans and infects internet-of-things devices worldwide. Those machines, plus commercial proxies and leased servers, feed QTRouter, an “obfuscation network” that makes Chinese-origin traffic look as if it is coming from somewhere else — sometimes even from inside the target country. Because the seized domains were hard-coded into both platforms for communication and authentication, the seizures made them inoperable. FBI Assistant Director Brett Leatherman said QTFY exploited devices in more than 130 countries and that Nanjing Xinjiuwei “sells stolen data and hacking services to Chinese military and intelligence agencies.”

The affidavit traces the infrastructure to at least 2018. Hackers unsuccessfully tried to get into NASA in August 2019 through a Pulse Secure VPN hole. In September 2024, the filing said, they got into three unnamed Energy Department laboratories, the NIH, an unnamed HHS agency, and a U.S. security-device maker. Investigators kept going through an attack on the Senate this year; the affidavit does not say which senators or committees. Attorney General Todd Blanche said “state-sponsored malicious hackers preying on America’s critical infrastructure will be stopped and prosecuted.” FBI Director Kash Patel called it “just the latest technical operation against PRC-sponsored hacking.”

The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately comment. Beijing routinely denies hacking. Reuters could not immediately reach Nanjing Xinjiuwei. Dakota Cary, a China analyst at SentinelOne, told Reuters that over the last decade “the number of companies offering niche offensive services has exploded.” The FBI and NSA published a cybersecurity advisory on QTFY the same day. This is the department going after the plumbing, not a courtroom conviction. The claim is that the plumbing ran through NASA, the Fed, and the Senate.

Sources: U.S. Department of Justice; Reuters; The Record (Recorded Future News).

Israeli Lawmaker Smashes West Bank Memorial: August 26, 2026

A far-right Israeli lawmaker took a sledgehammer to a Palestinian memorial in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, with army escorts standing nearby. Video showed Zvi Sukkot, a Religious Zionism member of the Knesset, and several others striking the stone monument in Madama, south of Nablus. “This is something we cannot leave standing here, because any place that glorifies terrorism, we must remove it,” he said on the footage. He posted that he had asked the military to take the monuments down in Madama and Burin, they were still there, “so I went there myself.”

Rami Nasar, head of Madama’s village council, told the BBC the memorial went up in 2008 to remember Palestinians killed in the 1968 battle of Karameh and in the first and second intifadas. He told AFP it also includes names up to the present. The Israel Defense Forces said it had approved a “tour” of monuments for Sukkot and diverted soldiers from operational duties to protect him. Then, it said, he and his aides “acted deceptively and manipulatively, without authorisation,” and started demolishing the Madama memorial. Soldiers reported it, commanders told them to stop, and the group was “quickly escorted out of the village.” The military called it a misuse of its protection and said it views the episode “with the utmost severity.” Nasar rejected that account, telling Haaretz via Middle East Eye that soldiers stood by.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office condemned the method, not the target. “The IDF is the sovereign authority in Judea and Samaria,” the statement said, using the biblical term for the West Bank. “Taking the law into one’s own hands, especially when it involves public figures, is a reprehensible practice that prevents the IDF from focusing on its missions of combating terrorism and incitement to violence.” Gadi Eisenkot, Netanyahu’s main rival ahead of the October 27 election, called Sukkot’s behavior “a disgrace” and said the prime minister was “allowing anarchists like Zvi Sukkot and his ilk to do whatever they please.” Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who leads Sukkot’s party, aimed his fire at the opposition for rushing to condemn Sukkot “rather than terrorism itself.”

The temperature in the West Bank was already high. Israeli media reported Monday that Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, the senior officer there, told Netanyahu in a closed meeting that mounting settler violence could ignite a major escalation. Madama itself has been hit by settler attacks. The army, even as it scolded Sukkot, said it regularly destroys “memorials and symbols of incitement” when the paperwork is in order. Sukkot called the sledgehammer “a small taste.”

Sources: BBC; Agence France-Presse via The Straits Times; The Jerusalem Post; Middle East Eye.

China Tells Citizens to Leave Eswatini: August 26, 2026

China has told its people to get out of Eswatini. The foreign ministry’s consular department said Tuesday that Chinese nationals and institutions already in the southern African kingdom “should evacuate as soon as possible or relocate to relatively safer areas such as South Africa,” citing “rampant cyber fraud and online gambling criminal activities.” Anyone who stays, it warned, faces “extremely high security risks, and the timeliness of receiving consular assistance may be affected.” Spokesman Lin Jian repeated the line in Beijing on Wednesday: telecom fraud and online gambling are “rampant,” public-order risks are “extremely high,” and China “will take necessary measures” to protect its citizens overseas.

Mbabane answered the same day. Acting government spokesperson Thabile Mdluli said Eswatini respected any country’s right to advise its own citizens, but called the picture of an exceptional security threat “unsupported” and “regrettable.” A recent police operation against suspected organized cybercrime, involving mostly Chinese nationals, was not proof the country had lost control, the statement said. It was “an isolated criminal operation” that law enforcement had disrupted. “Eswatini remains a peaceful, stable and law-governed State.” The kingdom “will not be coerced, disadvantaged or destabilised” over its diplomatic choices.

Those choices are the point. Eswatini is one of 12 countries, and the only one in Africa, that still recognizes Taiwan. Beijing claims the island as its own. Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te visited in May after an April trip was cancelled; Taipei had accused China of leaning on neighboring states to revoke overflight permits. The BBC reported that Beijing’s foreign ministry afterwards called Lai “an international laughing stock.” On May 1, Beijing extended zero tariffs to every African country except Eswatini. A commerce ministry source told The Korea Times more than 200 Chinese nationals work there in textiles, retail, and restaurants.

The security file is real and messy. The Times of Eswatini reported Tuesday that 40 Chinese nationals have been held since last month after first being arrested in March, with dozens of other foreigners, in raids on alleged illegal online gambling centers in Mbabane. Their lawyers say they pleaded guilty to immigration offenses, paid fines, were released on High Court orders, and were then re-arrested unlawfully. The Korea Times, citing the crackdown, put the year’s haul at about 200 foreign nationals, including at least 55 Chinese citizens. China did not spell out what, beyond fraud and gambling, makes the kingdom too dangerous to stay in. Eswatini says the raids prove the police are working, not that the country is falling apart.

Sources: BBC; The Korea Times; China Daily; Times of Eswatini.

Typhoon Saudel Hits Japan: August 26, 2026

Typhoon Saudel was over the East China Sea on Wednesday after tearing through Okinawa and the other remote islands in Japan’s southwest, knocking out power, cancelling flights, and putting hillsides on landslide watch. The Japan Meteorological Agency put it about 180 kilometers northwest of Okinoerabu island late Wednesday morning, with winds up to 144 kph, still headed for China’s eastern coast. Two people were slightly hurt, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency and prefectural officials said.

A 78-year-old woman in Uruma, on Okinawa, was blown over outside her house and suffered a head injury. On Amamioshima, a woman in her 70s fell down stairs in a blackout, NHK said. About 150 flights in and out of Naha airport were cancelled. Kyushu Electric said more than 30,000 homes in Kagoshima prefecture, which includes the Amami islands, lost power. More than 23 centimeters of rain fell on Amami in 24 hours. The agency forecast another 10 centimeters there and up to 12 centimeters on Okinawa through midday Thursday, and kept a landslide warning up for Amami.

This is a different storm from Narra, which has been soaking southern China and northern Vietnam. Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration said Tuesday that Saudel was weakening and drifting north, which makes a Taiwan landfall less likely, though outer bands could still bring rain and wind from Thursday afternoon, with the closest pass Friday. Maximum sustained winds were down to 155 kph from 184. Narra had already been downgraded to a tropical depression. Wednesday’s story is the Japanese islands that already took the hit, and a typhoon still pointed at the China coast.

Sources: Associated Press; Japan Meteorological Agency via AP; NHK via AP; Focus Taiwan (CNA).

World Brief: August 26, 2026

A Himalayan flood is still unfolding this morning, Hormuz diplomacy is stuck in the same ditch, and a CIA director’s secret Moscow stop was followed by drones. Ten stories as of Wednesday, August 26.

1. Nepal–Tibet border. A wall of mud and rock collapsed into a Himalayan river on Wednesday, sending a flash flood down the Bhote Koshi that has killed at least 95 people in Nepal and left hundreds missing, including foreign tourists. Helicopters could not land in Rasuwa district settlements such as Timure and Syapru Besi; roads, bridges, and hydropower plants were torn out. Across the line in Gyirong, Chinese officials reported people missing after a mudslide hit the border crossing, and Xi Jinping ordered an all-out search. Researchers said an ice-rock avalanche likely dammed a tributary and then released; they also warned a second surge is possible.

2. Strait of Hormuz / Tehran. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Wednesday that Tehran and Oman had agreed how to share the strait and its revenues, but a senior Iranian source told Reuters the accord is not finished and talks on the details continue. President Trump, in a brief morning call with Al Jazeera, said he is “not in a hurry” to resume negotiations and has “no time schedule.” The Guards added the waterway will not reopen unless Washington meets Tehran’s conditions, including an end to the U.S. blockade. Oman’s foreign minister, after Tuesday talks in Tehran, said he hoped a temporary corridor would be announced soon.

3. Moscow and Ukraine. Overnight into Wednesday, Ukraine resumed drone attacks toward Moscow hours after CIA Director John Ratcliffe left the Russian capital, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said. Kyiv had agreed to a U.S. request not to strike Moscow during the unannounced Tuesday visit. The Kremlin confirmed Ratcliffe met Russian intelligence counterparts and did not see Vladimir Putin, who was briefed; spokesman Dmitry Peskov still called U.S.–Russia ties a “profound crisis.” Russia claimed to have intercepted hundreds of Ukrainian drones; Ukraine said Russia launched more than 160 drones at it, with civilian deaths reported in Chernihiv.

4. Islamabad, Pakistan. A fire in the nursery at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences killed 14 of 15 newborns Wednesday morning. Hospital officials said an air-conditioning unit ignited and oxygen connections accelerated the blaze on the third floor of the maternal ward. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif suspended federal health secretary Aslam Ghauri; a fact-finding committee has 24 hours to report on the cause, fire safety, and the emergency response. Families gathered outside; a doctor rescued the one surviving infant.

5. Occupied East Jerusalem. Israeli security forces seized UNRWA’s Qalandia Training Centre, the last of the agency’s facilities still operating in occupied East Jerusalem. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he ordered the evacuation, repeating accusations that UNRWA staff took part in the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack, which the agency denies. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the raid as a violation of U.N. premises. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir joined the operation and filmed himself in the director’s chair.

6. Caribbean Sea. The U.S. military struck a boat in the Caribbean on Tuesday that it said was being used to smuggle drugs, killing four people. U.S. Southern Command did not release evidence the vessel was carrying narcotics. The campaign, now nearly a year old, has killed at least 227 people in 68 strikes, according to tallies drawn from U.S. statements. Tuesday’s attack came two days after a strike in the eastern Pacific that killed two.

7. South Africa. In Cape Town’s National Assembly, President Cyril Ramaphosa vowed that perpetrators of anti-foreigner violence will be arrested and prosecuted, answering EFF leader Julius Malema, who said the lack of arrests looked like state-sanctioned xenophobia. Ramaphosa said South Africa had not been isolated by other African leaders and called for a special African Union summit on migration’s root causes. Ghana has asked that xenophobic violence in South Africa be put on the next ordinary AU summit agenda.

8. Kiribati. Kiribati’s parliament is due to vote on a constitutional amendment that would limit diplomatic relations to U.N. member states or permanent observers — a move that would lock in recognition of Beijing over Taipei. The Pacific island nation switched from Taiwan to China in 2019; President Taneti Maamau backs the bill, which does not name either government. A similar attempt fell short of a two-thirds majority in April. Taiwan still has a dozen formal diplomatic allies, including three in the Pacific.

9. Iceland. A Maskína poll published Wednesday found 51.3 percent of Icelanders support restarting EU membership talks, with 48.7 percent opposed, ahead of Saturday’s referendum in Reykjavik. The ballot is not a vote on joining; any accession deal would need a second referendum. Talks were shelved in 2013. Cost of living, the war in Ukraine, and Trump’s threats involving Greenland have all been cited as reasons interest has revived.

10. Chile–Argentina (Magellan roundup). Overnight we covered Chile’s protest after Argentine Air Force chief Gustavo Valverde treated the Strait of Magellan and Drake Passage as a sovereignty issue. Buenos Aires moved Tuesday to cool it: the foreign ministry said the 1881 and 1984 treaties remain fully in force and “definitive,” and reaffirmed cooperation with Santiago, including the joint Antarctic naval patrol. Chilean officials had called sovereignty over the entire strait “indisputable.”

Indonesia Forest Fires: August 25, 2026

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto spent Monday in Sumatra telling companies he is not joking about haze. If investigators find even a hint that a firm ordered land burned, he said, “we will revoke their licences.” Police and prosecutors are already looking at the fires. He also told local governments, the military, and police to help villagers clear land without setting it on fire, and to get water on hotspots instead of waiting. Helicopters, cloud-seeding, and satellite hotspot maps are in use. Local media cited by CNA put the burned area across Sumatra and Kalimantan at about 85,000 hectares.

The smoke did not stay in Indonesia. On Monday, the Swiss monitor IQAir ranked Kuching, in Malaysian Sarawak, as having the worst air among the world’s major cities. By Tuesday, Malaysia’s Department of Environment still had about 30 stations in the “unhealthy” band. Sarawak was the worst of it. Serian’s reading sat near 180, shy of the “very unhealthy” line at 201, with Kuching, Samarahan, Sri Aman, and Sarikei also unhealthy. The Klang Valley was in it too: Shah Alam, Putrajaya, parts of Kuala Lumpur, and surrounding Selangor towns all crossed 150. Singapore’s National Environment Agency warned of “occasional periods of haze” after more hotspots over the weekend.

Indonesia’s Environment Ministry satellite count, as reported Tuesday, put South Sumatra at the top of the hotspot list, followed by West and Central Kalimantan, then East Kalimantan, Riau, West Papua, and Jambi. Malaysian officials described a mix of transboundary smoke from Kalimantan, local peat and forest fires, a dry El Niño spell, and open burning on both sides of the border. They told high-risk groups — children, older people, pregnant women, anyone with heart or lung trouble — to stay indoors, wear masks, and not light anything.

This is an old ASEAN problem in a bad year. Japan Times reported that Malaysia and Brunei have been looking for a regional diplomatic path rather than a public blow-up, even as Kuching’s air made global rankings. Prabowo’s permit threat is the domestic political piece: a public warning to companies while the smoke is still sitting on Palangka Raya, Kuching, and the Klang Valley. Whether licences actually get pulled, and whether that changes the fire map, is the next test. The readings in Sarawak on Tuesday suggested the fires were still winning.

World Brief, Evening: August 25, 2026

World Brief, Evening: August 25, 2026

1. Iran/Oman — A Hormuz corridor inches forward, while the sanctions fight gets louder. Iranian and Omani foreign ministers discussed a temporary joint navigation corridor and mine-clearing work in the Strait of Hormuz, though Tehran says the strait is not fully reopening. Iran also vowed to resist expanded U.S. sanctions, while Washington stopped short of immediately targeting the biggest foreign banks tied to Iranian trade.

2. Ukraine — Kyiv says a short peace proposal is ready for Moscow. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine, the United States and European partners have drafted a one-page set of ideas that includes a ceasefire and a proposed third-party-administered free economic zone in the Donbas. He described the period through next summer as the main window for U.S. mediation before the 2027 presidential campaign complicates diplomacy.

3. Russia — Putin opens the door to state takeovers after Ukrainian drone strikes. A new decree allows the government to temporarily take control of critical infrastructure when private owners fail to protect or repair it. Ukraine said it struck the Afipsky and Novoshakhtinsk oil refineries overnight, the latest pressure on Russia’s energy network.

4. Gaza — New strikes hit civilians and aid supplies as news organizations renew an accountability demand. Local medical sources said Israeli strikes killed at least seven Palestinians, while Medical Aid for Palestinians said an overnight attack destroyed a warehouse holding nutrition supplies for children and mothers. Separately, AP and Reuters again called for a full Israeli explanation one year after the double strike on Nasser Hospital killed 22 Palestinians, including journalists and rescue workers.

5. Haiti — The scale of the Kenscoff gang attack grew clearer. The United Nations said at least 47 people were killed and more than 50 kidnapped in the raid outside Port-au-Prince; 22 victims were reportedly executed in a church compound where they had sought shelter. Residents are demanding stronger protection after one of Haiti’s largest mass kidnappings in recent years.

6. Canada/United States — Ottawa answered Washington’s tariff escalation. Canada announced retaliatory duties on about $20 billion in U.S. goods, including steel, dairy products, appliances and farm equipment, after the United States imposed 50% tariffs on Canadian goods over the weekend. The new Canadian tariffs are due to take effect September 8, with trade talks still broken down.

7. Syria/United States — Washington formally ended Syria’s terrorism-list designation. The United States removed Syria from the state-sponsors-of-terrorism list after 47 years, lifting a major barrier to investment and wider economic reintegration. It is a consequential opening for President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s government, but Syria remains politically fragile and caught between competing regional powers.

8. South China Sea — Satellite images point to another step in China’s military buildup. New installations have appeared on Yagong Island near Antelope Reef in the disputed Paracel Islands, according to imagery reviewed by Reuters. Analysts said the work may be an early-warning radar or observation post linked to what they believe could become China’s largest base in the area, though Beijing describes nearby construction in civilian terms.

9. Global oceans — Sea-surface temperatures set an unusual August record. The EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service said the global average reached 21.1 degrees Celsius on Friday and Saturday, edging past the March 2024 record. The timing is especially worrying because ocean temperatures normally peak in March or April, with an intensifying El Niño now adding to long-term human-driven warming.

10. Zambia — Court closures clouded the deadline for challenging the presidential election. Courts in Lusaka and elsewhere were sealed for what authorities called security reasons on the final day opposition candidate Brian Mundubile could challenge President Hakainde Hichilema’s reelection. The Law Association of Zambia raised concerns about access to justice, while Mundubile alleged irregularities in the vote.

Syria Off the US Terrorism List: August 25, 2026

The United States has taken Syria off its list of state sponsors of terrorism after 47 years, a step Washington billed as clearing the last major barrier to private investment and Damascus treated, into Tuesday, as a historic break with isolation.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Monday’s decision recognized “positive actions” and further commitments by President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s government to distance Syria from international terrorism. Rubio said it “eliminates the final major barriers for private sector investment in Syria” and gives Syrians “a path to prosperity.” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the move would help foster investment and political and economic stability, in line with President Donald Trump’s promise of sanctions relief. The designation, in place since 1979, carried restrictions on U.S. aid, defense sales, dual-use goods and financial transactions. It had remained a deterrent for banks even after Washington dismantled much of its broader Syria sanctions program.

Washington also revoked the remaining U.S. terrorist designation of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the Islamist group formerly known as the al-Nusra Front. HTS, once al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria, broke with that network in 2016 and led the late-2024 offensive that toppled Bashar al-Assad. Sharaa, its former leader, now heads the transitional government. He once carried an American bounty. The Trump administration has embraced him, including a White House visit last year, as part of an effort to pull Syria away from Russia and Iran. Cuba, North Korea and Iran are now the only countries left on the state sponsors list.

The delisting took effect after a 45-day congressional review that began when Trump notified Congress on July 8. Syrian officials spent Tuesday talking as if a door had opened. Sharaa said Syria was shaking off “a dark stain” and tearing away “a painful chapter of its past.” Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani called it a historic step and said the old designation was “associated with the policies and practices of the former regime.” Turkey and Saudi Arabia both welcomed the decision, with Ankara calling it one of the biggest obstacles to reconstruction.

The risks are still obvious. Syria is far from secure, lacks a representative government, and sits in the middle of growing tension between Israel and Turkey. The Treasury stressed that lifting the listing does not change its posture on countering terrorism or holding bad actors in Syria accountable. Whether banks and investors actually come back will depend on what happens next, not just on a line disappearing from a U.S. list.

Strait of Hormuz: August 25, 2026

The Strait of Hormuz was still the hinge of a six-month war on Tuesday, even as Iran and Oman talked up a temporary shipping corridor and Washington claimed the U.S. Navy had already cleared mines from international waters. None of that, Tehran said, meant the strait was open.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Oman’s Badr al-Busaidi, meeting in Tehran, said they had discussed a phased framework that would include a joint temporary navigational corridor and a joint project to clear mines. They also said technical talks would continue toward a more permanent corridor and “future administration” of the waterway, plus traffic management and security services. Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, was blunt about the limits. He said Hormuz remains closed and under Iranian control, dismissed reports of ships passing through as “baseless,” and argued that the Oman talks do not amount to a reopening. He described a proposed temporary route about seven miles wide, with the entry and part of the exit running through Iranian territorial waters.

President Donald Trump, posting on Truth Social, said the Navy had removed or detonated all mines in international waters of the strait and warned that any vessel placing new mines would be “immediately and systematically destroyed.” Maritime authorities were less categorical. The Joint Maritime Information Center said Tuesday there was still a continued risk of drifting or uncharted mines, with mine danger areas still active, and kept its threat assessment at severe.

The scramble sat on top of a new U.S. economic campaign. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday launched what he called Operation Economic Outcast, an “economic D-Day” meant to cut off Iran’s remaining financial lifelines. The Treasury sanctioned nearly 60 people, entities and vessels and expanded the kinds of Iran-related activity that could face secondary sanctions, covering digital assets, technology, gold, aviation and shipping. Bessent warned countries still doing business with Tehran, but he stopped short of naming targets or imposing the harshest penalties, asking why he would want to “blow up the global financial system.” Chinese banks, long suspected of handling Iranian oil trade, were not on the list.

Iran’s economy minister, Ali Madanizadeh, called the measures an “economic terrorist attack” and said Washington should “expect an attack” in return, without saying what that would look like. China, Iran’s biggest oil customer in recent years, said it opposed “illegal unilateral sanctions” and would protect its own interests. Pakistan, which has been trying to mediate, said a visiting delegation led by army chief Asim Munir made “significant progress” in talks with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian focused on de-escalation and reopening the strait.

Before the war, which began in late February after U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, Hormuz carried about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas. Shipping data showed just two commodity vessels transiting on Monday, the lowest daily tally since early May. The International Maritime Organization has confirmed 68 incidents in the Gulf and nearby waters over six months. Oil prices, which had jumped through much of August, steadied on Tuesday.

Typhoon Narra Floods Vietnam and Southern China: August 24, 2026

Typhoon Narra never needed to come ashore to do damage. By Monday it was stalling over the Beibu Gulf — the Gulf of Tonkin — dumping days of rain on northern Vietnam and China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

China relocated about 54,000 people, including 8,087 moved into emergency shelters, state broadcaster CCTV said. Fifteen rivers rose past warning levels. Video from Chongzuo showed brown floodwater covering roads and low-rise buildings; rescuers in rubber boots used boats to pull people out of Ningming county. Beijing activated a Level IV national emergency response, the lowest of four tiers, and sent a working group to Guangxi. More heavy rain is forecast through Wednesday for Guangxi, Guangdong, Hainan, and Fujian.

In Vietnam, days of rain killed one person — a resident of Thai Binh commune in Lang Son province, whose home was hit by a landslide, according to the Vietnam Disaster and Dyke Management Authority. More than 4,300 households were displaced. Lang Son and Cao Bang recorded 236 to 300 millimeters of rain in the 24 hours to Monday morning. Flooding reached Quang Ninh, home to Ha Long Bay, disrupting tourism, fishing, and transport. Authorities said the storm cut power to nearly 55,000 families and destroyed more than 10,000 hectares of rice and other crops.

Forecasters described Narra, Vietnam’s Storm No. 4 and China’s 19th typhoon of the year, as lingering offshore rather than slamming the coast on Monday. Some Vietnamese forecasts still expected it to drift toward southern Guangxi later in the week and weaken. Either way, the rain was already the story: saturated hills, swollen rivers, and a stretch of the Sino-Vietnamese border on flood watch at the same time.

Asia

World Brief: August 26, 2026

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