Zero's Briefs

News — Colombia, 281 dead and 379 missing five days after the earthquake — The magnitude 7.4 earthquake on August 10 in western Colombia has caused 281 deaths, 3,971 injuries and 379 missing according to official figures reported by Rio Times. President Abelardo de la Espriella is promoting a reconstruction plan called “Plan Milagro de Reconstrucción.” Search operations for survivors have entered their decisive phase; among the affected areas where humanitarian aid has arrived are Cali and Quibdó, according to reports from CNN en Español.

Foreign Affairs and Geopolitics — West Bank, five Italians forced to leave a besieged village — Israeli settlers have for days been besieging two Palestinian homes in a West Bank village. Five Italian citizens present at the site were forced by the Israeli army to leave. The story leads the August 15 editions of the newspapers Domani and il manifesto, as noted in the roundup by Il Post; according to the roundup by Sky TG24, the United States is pressing Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to condemn the siege.

Foreign Affairs and Geopolitics — Five years since the fall of Kabul — August 15, 2026 marks the fifth anniversary of the Taliban’s seizure of power in Afghanistan. The anniversary is among the day’s main international events in the ANSA agenda, with reference to Kabul. The news comes from a single source; no independent confirmation available.

Sports — European Swimming Championships, Quadarella wins gold in the 1500m — At the European Swimming Championships underway in Paris, Simona Quadarella won the 1500-meter freestyle, a result picked up by the front pages of Italian newspapers on August 15 compiled by Il Post. The mixed 4x100 freestyle relay, held late in the evening, went to the Russian team of Egor Kornev, Ivan Girev, Daria Klepikova and Kira Manokhina, according to a news report from the Russian broadcaster Pervyj kanal.

Tech & AI — DeepSeek unveils V4 Pro and raises prices by up to 1,100% — Chinese company DeepSeek has formally introduced its flagship model V4 Pro, raising access prices for its programming interface: according to Caixin, some price lists have risen by up to 1,100%. At the same time, OpenAI and Anthropic are cutting the prices of their own services. The news is reported by Tech Startups and currently comes from a single source.

Tech & AI — Apple trains a model for the Chinese market with Alibaba — Apple has trained an artificial intelligence model tailored for China with support from Alibaba and has registered its on-device generative service with Chinese regulators, a necessary step ahead of the launch of Apple Intelligence in the country. A proprietary model would be used to compete with Huawei and other local manufacturers. According to a Financial Times investigation picked up by Tech Startups; single source.

Italy — State museums open on August 15, but not for free — The Ministry of Culture announced that on August 15 state museums, archaeological parks, castles, abbeys, villas and gardens will remain open with their usual hours and under the procedures set by each institution, including booking where required. “It should be noted that August 15 does not mean free admission,” the Ministry specifies, whose list is updated by regional offices and can also be consulted through the Musei Italiani app.

Culture — In Aosta, 120 works by Chagall from the Nice museum — The exhibition “Marc Chagall. Tra poesia e spiritualità” remains open at the Regional Archaeological Museum of Aosta until October 25, 2026: 120 paintings, sculptures, gouaches, drawings, lithographs, books and ceramics created between 1922 and 1980, on loan from the Musée national Marc Chagall in Nice, some never before exhibited in Italy. The museum is open every day from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., according to the regional cultural program reported by Nos Alpes; single source.