US President Trump said on social media on Aug. 16 ET that, citing his good relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and that the drills are costly and largely paid for by the US, he has instructed the US defense secretary to sharply scale back upcoming US-South Korea joint military exercises. He added he recently asked South Korea's president to join US efforts to push Iran to denuclearize, and that Seoul declined.

Five years after US troop withdrawal, Washington has frozen tens of billions of dollars of the Afghan central bank’s overseas assets under unilateral sanctions, causing an FX shortage and economic deterioration in Afghanistan. Afghan authorities have repeatedly requested the assets’ return; the US has refused. US actions before and after the conflict have triggered strong public anger.

Libya's National Electricity Company said on the 15th an explosion near the Zawiya power station forced multiple plants offline and caused a grid collapse, leaving Tripoli and large parts of western Libya without power. Maintenance crews are isolating faults and have begun gradual restoration of supply to affected areas. Technical teams are investigating the cause and technical details of the blast.