Four separate bombings kill eleven civilians and injure many others across the country as the three-day ceasefire declared by the Taliban to observe Eid al-Fitr remains in place. No group claims responsibility for any of the bombings. (Reuters)
A week after two power pylons were destroyed in Kabul's Mir Bacha Kot district, an unidentified man blows up another power plant in Kalakan District on Wednesday night, removing a further 260 megawatts of electricity imported from Uzbekistan. (TOLO News)
The death toll from the airstrikes in the Gaza Strip increases to 113 people, while 600 others are wounded. The city of Rafah is attacked by multiple Israeli raids. Protests continue in the West Bank, resulting in injuries to 35 more Palestinian protesters. The number of children killed also increases to 31. (Al Jazeera)
The Israel Defense Forces says that it has deployed two infantry units and an armoured unit to the border on the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, and that a ground operation inside Gaza will be submitted to military chiefs later today, ahead of a potential approval by the Israeli government. (The Daily Telegraph)
Israeli strikes destroy Hamas' internal security headquarters and Gaza's central bank, as the spokesman of the al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, says that the group has launched "massive rocket strikes", larger than any launched on Israel since the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. (The Jerusalem Post)
Thailand reports a record 4,887 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours due to the emergence of jail clusters that have infected 2,835 prisoners. This subsequently brings the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 93,794. (Bloomberg)
The CDC announces that all fully vaccinated individuals are no longer required to wear masks or practice social distancing, unless the person is immunodeficient or still displaying symptoms of the virus. (CNN)
The Colonial Pipeline attempts to restart a resource movement after a cyberattack six days ago. The ransomware attackers were reportedly paid $4–5 million in cryptocurrency prior to the restart. Meanwhile, it is revealed that the cyberattack targeted the corporate business computers and that the physical resource supply was turned off in response to the attack. Furthermore, 100 gigabytes of Colonial Pipeline corporate data was stolen prior to the attack. The hacker group, DarkSide, attempts to distance itself from the Colonial Pipeline attack, saying that it provides ransomware as a service, selling licenses to other criminals. (Tom's Guide)(Reuters)(Bloomberg)(Politico.eu)(Fox Business)
Nine people are wounded, three of them critically, in a shootout between groups at a residence in Providence, Rhode Island. It is believed to be the largest shooting in Providence's memory. (AP)
An active-duty major with the U.S. Marine Corps is arrested and charged for assault and obstruction in relation to the storming of the United States Capitol, thereby making him the first known active-duty service member to be charged in relation to the events of January 6. (USA Today)
After compromising the Washington, D.C., police department's computers in April, the Babuk group releases thousands of the department's sensitive documents on the dark web. Hundreds of police officer disciplinary files dating back to 2004 are found, as well as intelligence reports that include feeds from other agencies, including the FBI and the Secret Service. The group reportedly asked for $4 million in ransom and were offered $100,000 at which point negotiations stopped. (WMC-TV)(Al Jazeera)
Leader of the right-wingYamina coalition Naftali Bennett calls off talks with oppositional leader Yair Lapid to form a new government in light of escalating violence. He instead voices his support for a unity government. (Haaretz)