August 13, 2026

What happened

On August 13, 2026, Washington and Tehran made opposing claims over the Strait of Hormuz. President Donald Trump said the US has “total control” of the waterway and intends to keep it, while Iran’s military rejected this as “lies” and said the strait remains blocked until its conditions are accepted. Shipping data showed traffic near a three-month low: 13 vessels transited on Tuesday, about 90% below the pre-war daily average, and only 3 ships transited in the past 24 hours per the Hormuz Strait Monitor. Since the war began on February 28, Iran has effectively shut the strait, and the US has imposed a naval blockade. As of August 12, US forces had redirected 59 commercial vessels, disabled 3, and boarded 2. Defense Secretary Hegseth said the US Navy can maintain the blockade indefinitely.

What happened

Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukrainian forces have recaptured 745 sq km of territory in the southeastern Oleksandrivka sector since the start of the year, and that the operation, which began in January, went “exactly as planned”. He also confirmed a massive overnight Ukrainian attack on Russia's Novorossiysk naval base using drones, missiles, and unmanned boats.

What happened

Three of Russia’s largest grain terminals in the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk have halted operations after being damaged in a massive overnight drone attack by Ukraine. Grain shipments from Novorossiysk are currently impossible because of serious damage to terminal infrastructure. Russia said on Wednesday that Ukrainian strikes on its grain and agricultural infrastructure were pushing up global food prices and exacerbating grain shortages.

What happened

On August 13, Prime Minister Takaichi said she was informed that President Putin visited Etorofu Island and strongly protested, noting that the Northern Territories are Japan's inherent territory and that the visit is incompatible with Japan's position and unacceptable.

What happened

On August 13, U.S. stocks advanced, with the S&P 500 hitting an intraday record of 7,816.7, led by technology and semiconductor shares. The Nasdaq Composite rose 1.04% and the Dow Jones added 0.34%. July producer prices rose 4.7% from a year earlier, below the 4.9% estimate, while Brent crude fell more than 2% to about $87 amid demand worries and rising inventories. Traders raised the odds of the Fed holding rates steady next month to 65%.

What happened

Goldman Sachs estimates that Japan holds about $200 billion in cash-equivalent reserves, enough for another couple of yen-buying operations on the scale of the July intervention, which may have totaled $85 billion in its first two days. Access to the Federal Reserve's FIMA repo facility could make nearly all of Japan's $1 trillion dollar reserves available for intervention. The yen has slipped back to near 160 per dollar, giving back about half the gains made after the joint U.S.-Japan intervention in late July, which was the first such action since 1998.

What happened

In its second-quarter monetary policy report released Wednesday, the People's Bank of China said it would promote more diversified loan-pricing benchmarks and further refine its short-term interest rate framework. It reiterated a moderately loose policy stance, pledging 'comprehensive use' of tools and 'timely adjustments' to maintain ample liquidity. The report notably dropped earlier wording about reforming the loan prime rate.

What happened

The Bank of Korea reported holding about 355 billion won ($250 million) worth of gold exchange-traded funds in the second quarter, including 679,765 shares of the SPDR Gold Trust valued at $250.41 million as of the end of June. It is the first time the BOK has invested in gold since buying 20 tons of physical gold in 2013. The central bank also said it plans to buy physical gold, though the timing has not been set.

What happened

At its meeting earlier this week, the RBA’s Monetary Policy Board judged that monetary policy is somewhat restrictive. The three cash rate increases earlier this year are having their intended effects: borrowing costs and mortgage payments have risen, housing credit growth has slowed, Sydney and Melbourne housing prices have declined, and the Australian dollar has appreciated by around 5 per cent on a trade-weighted basis since the start of the year. The assessment is supported by estimates placing the current cash rate around the top of the range of central estimates of the nominal neutral rate. The Board also flagged uncertainty from a housing downturn that seems larger than the recent rate rises alone would explain, and from AI-related investment and large public debts globally that could make financial conditions less restrictive.

What happened

The Economics Benchmarks 2026 report found 61.3% of 31 central bank economics departments said their growth forecast errors were roughly in line with the historical average in 2025, while 48.4% said the same for inflation errors. For both variables, errors were more likely to come in lower than the historical average than higher.

What happened

The Central Bank of Nigeria overhauled its money-market framework, effective immediately. Banks can now use the Standing Lending Facility on the same day they trade in the foreign-exchange market or participate in primary government-securities auctions, though not on a day they bid in an OMO auction. The CBN also resumed tenored repo operations running from 4 to 90 days and widened access to OMO auctions to all eligible investors, including individuals, companies and non-bank financial institutions. Banks will continue to submit bids and settle transactions for these investors.

What happened

US 30-year Treasury yields have risen more than 40 basis points this year to around 5.2 percent, the highest since 2007, while leverage across financial markets continues to build. Customer margin debt reached a record $1.5 trillion in June, up 49 percent year over year, and banks held $325 billion in unrealized securities losses in Q1 2026. AI and semiconductor stocks have lost over $3 trillion in market capitalization this year.

What happened

Over four days in July, autonomous AI agents attacked Taiwan government systems, mapping 21 systems, cracking 85 user accounts and extracting 2,500 personnel records, according to Israeli AI firm Dream. The attack also hit Taiwan's nuclear safety agency and at least seven energy companies. Dream said up to eight open-source AI agents coordinated the intrusion without human intervention. Taiwan officials said the attack originated overseas and involved a hybrid approach with conventional hacking and AI agents. Experts suspect China due to simplified Chinese in internal documents, but no origin was confirmed.

What happened

SK hynix will hold a groundbreaking ceremony on Aug. 27 for its $3.87 billion advanced chip packaging plant in West Lafayette, Indiana. The facility will focus on high-bandwidth memory (HBM) packaging and is set to begin mass production in the second half of 2028. The U.S. government has committed up to $450 million in direct funding and $500 million in loans under the CHIPS Act. SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and SK hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung are expected to attend; Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's attendance is not confirmed.

What happened

A new report finds that heavy corporate investment in AI is raising consumer prices, as AI requires enormous computing power and chips, whose costs are passed on to electronics and software. The July Consumer Price Index showed inflation at a 3.4% annual pace, while information technology commodities rose 1.4% from the previous month. Electricity costs also rose 4.2% from a year ago due to data center energy use.

What happened

Naver has invested in Panthalassa, a U.S. startup developing offshore AI data centers powered by wave energy. The investment was made through U.S. venture capital firm 8090 Industries; the amount was not disclosed. Panthalassa's floating 'Node' platform generates electricity from waves, cools servers with seawater, and transmits data via low-Earth-orbit satellites. Having demonstrated Ocean-1 and Ocean-2, the company plans to deploy Ocean-3 this year and targets commercialization in 2027.

What happened

AI's energy demands are rising. Biological Computing uses rat brain cells and stem cells to make AI models more efficient, with one upgrade delivering efficiency gains as high as 500%. Panthalassa is building floating data centers powered by wave-driven turbines. Valar Atomics proved its RV-sized microreactor works safely and closed a $1 billion Series B round led by Sequoia Capital to mass-produce the reactors for future data centers.

What happened

The U.S. imposed Section 232 tariffs on polysilicon and derivatives, including a 15% tariff on wafers. Korean firms reacted differently: SK Siltron (semiconductor wafers) fears higher costs and market shrinkage; OCI (polysilicon) expects windfall gains as Chinese products become less competitive; Hanwha Q CELLS sees short-term cost burdens but potential long-term benefits from U.S. local production expansion. The Korean government is gathering industry feedback and seeking clarification from the U.S.

What happened

A researcher known as Nightmare Eclipse posted a proof-of-concept (PoC) bypass called ShieldBreak that appears to let an attacker with any level of access gain system-level privileges, bypassing Microsoft's fix for CVE-2026-50656. Microsoft said it is investigating the claims. Independent researchers, including Steven Eric Fisher and Will Dormann, have reportedly confirmed the exploit works, though it uses a different Defender/Cloud Filter API path than the original RoguePlanet exploit.

What happened

On August 10, OpenAI launched GPT-5.6-Cyber under its expanded Daybreak program. The model completed 95% of tasks on OpenAI's internal Advanced Cybersecurity Completion Rate benchmark, while the safety-locked public version completed only 1.5%. It identified two previously unknown bugs in Chrome's V8 engine that could be chained to escape the sandbox; Google patched them as CVE-2026-15903 in Chrome 150.0.7871.128. OpenAI says the model also surfaced at least five vulnerabilities in a major mobile operating system, three critical bugs in a widely used database, and more than 400 privilege-escalation issues in an OS kernel. Access is limited to vetted security firms and vendors, with hardware security keys mandatory for all Daybreak accounts from September 1, 2026.

What happened

The Phase 3 REZILIENT3 trial, evaluating zipalertinib plus platinum-based chemotherapy in the first-line treatment of locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), met its primary endpoint of progression-free survival (PFS) at an interim analysis. The trial enrolled 285 adults with previously untreated, EGFR exon 20 insertion-mutated non-squamous NSCLC. The study showed a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in PFS in the zipalertinib-containing arm, with manageable safety. The Independent Data Monitoring Committee recommended unblinding the study, and full results will be submitted for presentation at an upcoming international medical conference. Following the news, Cullinan Therapeutics' stock (CGEM) rose 6.33% to $20.84 in after-hours trading, reaching a new 52-week high.

What happened

A June Cure Innovation Index survey found China ahead of the U.S. in clinical drug development and supply chain, two of six measured domains. Roughly a third of new drugs Big Pharma licensed in now come from Chinese labs, according to Dr. Nathan Goodyear. Merck signed a $2 billion licensing deal in March 2025 for HRS-5346, a cardiovascular drug developed in China. The U.S. launched Operation TrailBlazer in late June and Congress introduced the Biotech Investment National Security Act to screen outbound biotech investment.

What happened

Celltrion said all three of its antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) candidates in clinical development — CT-P70, CT-P71 and CT-P73 — have received Fast Track designation from the U.S. FDA. The designation for CT-P73 covers recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer in patients previously treated with platinum-based chemotherapy. Two of the three candidates will complete Part 1 of their Phase 1 trials within this year and begin releasing topline results in the first half of next year. CT-P70 is aiming to enter Part 2 in March next year. Celltrion also plans to apply to the FDA within this year for Fast Track designation for CT-P72, a multispecific antibody-based candidate.

What happened

Hyundai Bioscience announced on the 13th that it has administered the first dose in the low-dose group of its Phase 1 clinical trial for 'Penitrium', a new anticancer drug. The trial, led by Professor Chang-wook Jeong of Seoul National University Hospital, is the world's first to directly verify in humans the 'pseudo-resistance' problem. The first patient is a prostate cancer patient whose PSA levels have surged and who no longer responds to conventional hormone therapy. The trial will enroll patients in low-, medium-, and high-dose groups, combining Penitrium with existing hormone therapy for three months to monitor whether efficacy is restored and assess safety.

What happened

ArkBio announced that China's NMPA approved its IND application for AK0406 injection, a long-acting antiviral drug-Fc conjugate (AFC) for influenza prophylaxis, making it the first influenza AFC drug to enter clinical development in China. A Phase I trial in Australia received HREC approval in February 2026; enrollment and dosing of all healthy adult volunteer cohorts have been completed and the trial is now in follow-up.

What happened

A study published in Nature Communications on 13 August 2026 reports that commensal bacteria inhibit viral infections via a tryptophan metabolite. The authors have filed a patent application covering the therapeutic use of ArAT-expressing bacteria and their metabolites in viral infections. The research received funding from NIH, Gilead Sciences, and other sources.