On This Day: August 15th

US president Donald Trump meets with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Alaska, the first such summit since the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Kabul falls into the hands of the Taliban as Ashraf Ghani flees Afghanistan along with local residents and foreign nationals, effectively reestablishing the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

Russia begins production on the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine.

North Korea moves its clock back half an hour to introduce Pyongyang Time, 81⁄2 hours ahead of UTC.

At least 27 people are killed and 226 injured in an explosion in southern Beirut near a complex used by Lebanon's militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon. A previously unknown Syrian Sunni group claims responsibility in an online video.

The Smithsonian announces the discovery of the olinguito, the first new carnivorous species found in the Americas in 35 years.

An 8.0-magnitude earthquake off the Pacific coast devastates Ica and various regions of Peru, killing 514 and injuring 1,090.

Israel's unilateral disengagement plan to evict all Israelis from the Gaza Strip and from four settlements in the northern West Bank begins.

The Helsinki Agreement between the Free Aceh Movement and the Government of Indonesia is signed, ending almost three decades of fighting.

Beni Ounif massacre in Algeria: Some 29 people are killed at a false roadblock near the Moroccan border, leading to temporary tensions with Morocco.