Portal:Current events

Armed conflicts and attacks

• 2024 France railway arson attacks
  • French police arrest a far-left extremist who may have been behind an attack on the long-distance train network ahead of the opening of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. (DW)
• French police reports several sabotage acts targeting telecommunications operators in six areas in France. The incident are treated as vandalism. No one has been arrested nor group has claimed responsibility.(DW)
• Mali War
  • Wagner Group said that its fighters and Malian soldiers took losses in heavy fighting against Tuareg rebels near Mali’s border with Algeria. (Al Arabiya) (France 24)
• Sudanese civil war
  • Human Rights Watch report a widespread acts of sexual violence in the capital Khartoum, including gang rape and forced marriages commited by the army and Rapid Support Forces. (Reuters)
• Pakistan's army said protesters taking part in a march in the southwestern city of Gwadar attacked security forces deployed to guard them, killing one soldier and injuring 16 others. (Reuters)
• Far-right Israelis storm Sde Teiman detention camp after the Israel Defense Forces detains nine reservists on suspicion of abusing a Palestinian detainee. (Haaretz)

Business and economy

• United Arab Emirates grants firm lottery license for first time in potential move towards casinos. (Al Arabiya)

Disasters and accidents

• At least two people were killed and up to 100 people injured when a passenger train carrying 800 people collided with a Kamaz truck, derailing eight carriages in Russia. (Al Arabiya)

Law and crime

• Eight people, some of whom are children, are stabbed in a knife attack Southport, Merseyside, England. A man was shortly arrested. The motive is still unclear.(BBC News)
• Sakina Muhammad Jan become the first person to be jailed under Australia’s forced marriage laws, for ordering her 21-year-old daughter to wed a man who would later murder her. (BBC)
• Turkey’s parliament approved a law aimed to euthanise some of the country’s four million stray dogs. (South China Morning Post)

Sports

• Concerns and controversies at the 2024 Summer Olympics
  • Olympic organisers cancel the second triathlon training over water quality concerns in the Seine. (France 24)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Israel–Hezbollah conflict
  • Majdal Shams attack
    • Several nations, including the United States, Australia, and multiple European nations release travel advisories urging all their citizens not to travel to Lebanon, and for those residing there to leave as soon as possible in anticipation of an Israeli attack against Hezbollah. (Anadolu Ajansı)

Business and economy

• Foreign relations of Malaysia
  • Malaysia formally applies to become a member of the BRICS economic bloc and geopolitical organization. (Anandolu Ajansi)

Disasters and accidents

• 2024 Pacific typhoon season
  • Typhoon Gaemi
    • Fifteen people are killed and six others are injured by a landslide caused by remnants of Typhoon Gaemi in Hengyang, Hunan, China. (AP)
• 2024 California wildfires
  • The Park Fire in California, United States, spreads to more than 350,000 acres, with at least 134 structures being destroyed by the wildfires. (NBC News)
• 2024 Manila Bay oil spill
  • The Philippine Coast Guard finds and seals diesel fuel cargo leaks from MTKR Jason Bradley, the second vessel to sink in Manila Bay in one week, following MT Terra Nova's sinking. (Philippine Daily Inquirer)

• 2024 Sudan floods, Sudanese refugee crisis
  • At least twelve people are killed by extensive flooding throughout Kassala State in eastern Sudan that submerged several internal displacement camps. (ILKHA)

International relations

• Russia–United States relations, Germany–Russia relations
  • Russian President Vladimir Putin threatens to position long-range missiles that could strike throughout Europe following the United States's announcement of plans to set up long-range missiles in Germany beginning in 2026. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

• 2024 Venezuelan presidential election
  • Venezuelans vote to elect their president. Incumbent Nicolás Maduro is standing for reelection for a third consecutive term. (BBC News)
  • Incumbent President Nicolás Maduro is declared the winner of the Venezuelan 2024 presidential election by the National Electoral Council. Opposition parties claim that there are irregularities in the election results. (AP)
  • The National Electoral Council announces that, with 80% of the ballots counted, Maduro's 7-point lead is "striking and irreversible". (BBC)

Sports

• 2024 Summer Olympics
  • Canada at the 2024 Summer Olympics
    • Eleanor Harvey wins a bronze medal in fencing at the 2024 Olympics, making it the first medal Canada has ever won in fencing. (TSN)
  • Moldova at the 2024 Summer Olympics
    • Denis Vieru wins the bronze medal in Judo, making it the first medal Moldova has ever won in Judo. (HotNews)
  • South Korea at the 2024 Summer Olympics
    • The South Korean women's archery team wins its tenth consecutive Olympic gold medal after beating the Chinese team in a tiebreaker that required a magnifying glass to determine the final score. (AP)
  • France at the 2024 Summer Olympics
    • Léon Marchand wins 400m medley and broke the olympics record that was held by the american swimmer Michael Phelps. (The Guardian)
• 2024 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
  • In Gaelic football, the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship concludes with Armagh defeating Galway in the final. (The Irish Times)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Israel–Hezbollah conflict
  • Majdal Shams attack
    • Twelve people, all children, are killed in rocket strikes on the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Israel claims that Hezbollah is responsible for the attack, but Hezbollah denies any involvement. (Reuters)
    • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vows that Hezbollah will "pay a heavy price" which "it has not paid so far" in response to the attack. (Barron's)
• Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • 2024 Ukrainian cyberattacks against Russia
    • Hackers from the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine escalate "massive" cyberattacks on Russia's largest banks, prohibiting any cash or credit transactions. Cyberattacks also target Russian public transport systems, internet and mobile providers, and social networks. (Kyiv Post)
  • Russian forces capture the village of Lozovatske in Donetsk Oblast. (Anadolu Agency)
• Israel–Hamas war
  • Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip
    • More than fifty people, including fifteen children, are killed in Israeli attacks on a school used to shelter displaced people in Deir al-Balah in the Gaza Strip. (Al Jazeera)
• Mali War
  • Battle of Tinzaouaten
    • Mali's Tuareg coalition CSP-PSD claimed to have killed and wounded dozens of Malian Armed Forces soldiers and Wagner Group mercenaries on the outskirts of Tinzaouaten. Russian sources said the head of the Wagner-affiliated Grey Zone Telegram channel, which has 560,000 subscribers, died in the battle. The status of Wagner Group leader Anton Yelizarov is currently unknown. (Voice of America)
• Sudanese civil war
  • At least 22 people are killed and 75 others are injured in a Rapid Support Forces attack on Al-Fashir, North Darfur, Sudan. (Reuters)

Arts and culture

• The ancient Roman Appian Way, the oldest Roman road which began construction in 312 B.C., is added to the UNESCO World Heritage List. (AP)

Disasters and accidents

• Seven people are killed and others injured after a stampede during a concert at the Stade des Martyrs stadium in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. (AP)

Health and environment

• Iran orders all government offices and commercial institutions to close tomorrow due to ongoing country-wide heatwaves. (ABC) (Bloomberg)

Law and crime

• Eight people are killed and five others are injured when a vehicle hits pedestrians in Changsha, Hunan, China. The perpetrator is arrested. (AP)

Sports

• 2024 Summer Olympics, Canada Soccer drone spying scandal
  • In response to the spying incident involving the Canada women's national soccer team coaching staff using drones to spy on the New Zealand team, FIFA deducts six points from Canada in the Paris Olympics women's football tournament and bans three coaches for one year, including head coach Bev Priestman. (Al Jazeera)
• 2024 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship
  • In association football, Spain defeats the Netherlands 2–1 in the final to win their sixth UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship title. (UEFA)

Disasters and accidents

• 2024 Gillette Pilatus PC-12 crash
  • A plane crashes in Campbell County, Wyoming, United States, just north of Gillette, starting a wildfire and killing all seven people onboard, including three members of the gospel group The Nelons. (WSB-TV)

International relations

• China–India relations, Sino-Indian border dispute
  • China and India agree to cooperate in withdrawing all their troops from their disputed border, with aims of peacefully achieving "complete disengagement" from the border conflict as quickly as possible. (AP)
• European Union–Russia relations, International sanctions during the Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • The European Union sends its first transfer of €1.5 billion (US$1.63 billion) in proceeds from frozen Russian assets to Ukraine for military and infrastructure support. The Kremlin denounces the transfer as "illegal" under international law and pledges legal retaliation. (AP) (Reuters)
• Finland–Russia relations
  • Finland reports that a Russian Navy Baltic Sea fleet vessel trespassed on Finnish territorial waters in the eastern Gulf of Finland. (Reuters)
• Italy–Syria relations
  • Italy appoints an ambassador to Syria after 12 years, becoming the first G7 country to do so. (Reuters)
• Philippines–United States relations, ChinaAngVirus disinformation campaign
  • A former top United States official states that the Department of Defense covertly admits to conducting a mass disinformation campaign targeting the Philippines using social media bots and fake accounts to discredit the safety of Chinese CoronaVac vaccinations during the COVID-19 pandemic, following public denial of involvement in June. (Reuters)

Law and crime

• 2024 France railway arson attacks
  • Arson attacks on TGV infrastructure disrupt rail services in France. (The Guardian)
• International Criminal Court investigation in Palestine
  • The United Kingdom drops its challenge to the International Criminal Court's issuance of arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. (Reuters)
• Israel–Hezbollah conflict
  • U.S. President Joe Biden adds Lebanon to the Deferred Enforced Departure list, temporarily protecting Lebanese citizens residing in the United States from deportation for 18 months, in response to growing tensions between Israel and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. (Detroit Free Press)

Sports

• 2024 Summer Olympics
  • The opening ceremonies of the 2024 Summer Olympics take place on the banks of the River Seine and the Jardins du Trocadéro in Paris, France. (NBC News)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Israel–Hamas war
  • A Palestinian governmental body announces that senior Hamas leader Mustafa Muhammad Abu Ara has died in Israeli prison after being arrested in October 2023. (Reuters)
• Myanmar civil war
  • The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, an ethnic armed organization, claims to have captured Lashio, the location of an important regional military base, and Mogok, the center of the country's gem-mining industry. The country's ruling military junta denies the claims. (AP) (Voice of America)

Business and economy

• Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • Economic impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine
    • Fitch Ratings downgrades Ukraine's credit rating from "CC" to "C" due to the country's need to restructure US$20 billion in international bonds to foreign investors, increasing the country's risk of default. (Al Jazeera)
• Southwest Airlines announces the end to its 53-year open seating policy, starting in 2025. (Reuters) (Good Morning America)

Disasters and accidents

• 2024 Manila Bay oil spill
  • An oil tanker capsizes off the coast of Limay, Bataan, Philippines, killing one person and spilling oil into Manila Bay. (CNBC)
• At least 21 people are killed during a heat wave in Beni Mellal, Morocco. (NDTV)

Health and environment

• The Brazilian Ministry of Health reports the world's first Oropouche virus deaths of two women in Bahia. (The Telegraph)

International relations

• Israel–Hamas war, Israel–United States relations
  • Israel–Hamas war protests in the United States
    • July 2024 protest in Washington, D.C.
      • The White House and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris issue statements strongly condemning vandalism and American flag burning during pro-Palestinian and anti-Benjamin Netanyahu protests in Washington, D.C., yesterday, with Harris calling them "despicable acts" by "unpatriotic protesters". (AP) (Politico)
  • U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris hold separate meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the White House on the Israel–Hamas war and plans following the conclusion of the war. (NBC News)

Law and crime

• Homelessness in California
  • In the United States, Governor of California Gavin Newsom signs an executive order directing state agencies on how to remove homeless encampments throughout the state. (AP)
• Human rights in Cambodia
  • Candlelight Party President Teav Vannol is fined 6 billion riel (US$1.5 million) for "defamation" of the current Cambodian government to foreign media following his party being barred from the 2023 general election, which saw the incumbent People's Party win 120 of 125 National Assembly seats. (Reuters)
• Spanish General Council of the Judiciary blockade
  • The twenty new members of the General Council of the Judiciary are sworn in, putting an end to the institutional crisis that the country's supreme judicial administrative body experienced for five years. (RTVE)
• The Canada Revenue Agency announces it will revoke the charity status of the Jewish National Fund, stating that the use of its donations to fund the IDF's military infrastructure violates Canadian tax laws. (National Post)
• Sinaloa Cartel leaders Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada and Joaquín Guzmán López are arrested by agents of the United States Department of Justice in El Paso, Texas. (BBC News)
• A German man who is sentenced to death in Belarus for photographing Belarusian military sites in Ukraine urges Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko to pardon him in a television appearance. (DW)

Science and technology

• Life on Mars, Perseverance (rover)
  • NASA's Perseverance rover on Mars finds a rock containing spotted features which are possible fossilized records of microbes, though non-biological processes cannot yet be ruled out. (Space.com)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Insurgency in the Maghreb
  • Seven security forces and five rangers are killed during an ambush by Islamic extremists at the W National Park in Benin. The park is overrun by the militants. (AP)

Arts and culture

• Polish divers announce that they have discovered a 19th-century shipwreck in the Baltic Sea off the coast of Sweden, containing crates of champagne and porcelain. (France 24)

Business and economy

• The Nasdaq Composite drops 654.94 points (-3.64%) on 24 July, marking its third-largest one-day point loss. The S&P 500 drops 128.61 points (-2.31%) on the same day, marking its fifteenth-largest one-day point loss. (AP) (CNBC)

Disasters and accidents

• 2024 Pacific typhoon season
  • Typhoon Gaemi
    • Metro Manila, Philippines, is placed under a state of calamity due to flash floods caused by Typhoon Gaemi. (Bloomberg)
    • Two people are killed and 266 others are injured by Typhoon Gaemi in northern Taiwan as the typhoon passes through Fujian province, China, and heads inland. (Reuters)
• 2024 Canadian wildfires
  • 2024 Jasper wildfire
    • Two wildfires burning in Jasper National Park reach the Jasper townsite in Alberta, causing several structure fires, with over 25,000 residents evacuating their homes since Monday. (Edmonton Journal)
  • Air quality in Calgary and the surrounding areas are raised to "high risk" as winds blow smoke into the region. (CBC News)
• 2024 Nouakchott migrant boat disaster
  • Fifteen people are killed and more than 195 others are missing after a boat carrying migrants capsizes near Nouakchott, Mauritania. (CNN)
• 2024 Saurya Airlines Bombardier CRJ200 crash
  • A Bombardier CRJ-200 crashes during takeoff at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, killing eighteen people on board, with only the captain surviving. (Reuters)
• Ten migrants are found drowned in a river near the Colombia–Panama border, according to Panamanian border police. (Al Jazeera)

International relations

• Israel–Hamas war
  • Israel–Hamas war protests in the United States
    • July 2024 protest in Washington, D.C.
      • A series of protests occur across Washington, D.C., to protest a speech given by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to a joint session of the United States Congress. (Reuters) (WRC-TV)
  • Israel–United States relations
    • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint session of the United States Congress amid protests over Israel's conduct of the war in Gaza. (AP) (Reuters)
• China–Russia relations, China–United States relations, Russia–United States relations
  • The North American Aerospace Defense Command intercepts two Russian and two Chinese bomber aircraft flying together near Alaska, marking the first record of Chinese H-6 aircraft entering Alaska's Air Defense Identification Zone, and marking the first time both countries were intercepted operating together. (CNN)
• Poland–Ukraine relations, Ukraine–European Union relations
  • Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz states that Poland will block Ukraine's bid to join the European Union if it doesn't resolve issues regarding Ukrainian nationalists' massacre of Poles during WWII, including finding and burying all victims killed on current Ukrainian territory. (The Kyiv Independent)

Law and crime

• Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care
  • A formal inquiry by the New Zealand government concludes that since 1950, about 200,000 people in state and religious care were abused, experiencing abuses such as rape, sterilization, and electric shocks. (Reuters)
• German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser closes the Islamic Centre Hamburg for allegedly propagating extremism and being a direct representative of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The Iranian Foreign Ministry summons the German ambassador following the closure. (DW)
• Three Ukrainian soldiers are killed and four others are injured in a mass shooting after a dispute in Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine. (Al Arabiya)

Science and technology

• Researchers from the Scottish Association for Marine Science report evidence of dark oxygen being produced from metals on the seafloor. It was previously assumed that almost all the free oxygen (O
  ₂) on Earth was created through photosynthesis, which requires sunlight. (NPR)

Sports

• 142nd IOC Session
  • At the International Olympic Committee's meeting in Paris, France, it is announced that the French Alps region has been conditionally approved to host the 2030 Winter Olympics and that Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, will host the 2034 Winter Olympics. (Fox News) (AP)
• 2024 Summer Olympics
  • The Canadian Olympic Committee expels two members of the women's soccer team coaching staff from the Olympics following a spying incident involving a drone disrupting New Zealand's training session. FIFA initiates disciplinary proceedings. (Al Jazeera)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Israel–Hamas war
  • Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip
    • At least 89 Palestinians are killed and over 263 others are injured in an Israeli surprise attack on a previously designated "safe zone" in Khan Younis, Gaza. (AA)
• Kivu conflict
  • At least 17 civilians are killed in an attack by suspected Allied Democratic Forces rebels in fields near Oicha, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

• 2024 Gofa landslides
  • At least 229 people are killed after landslides bury two villages in Gofa Zuria, Ethiopia. (Al Arabiya)
• Eight people are killed and five others are missing after their fishing vessel encountered severe weather near the Falkland Islands. (Daily Tribune)
• Three people are killed and 12 others are injured when a balcony collapses in Naples, Italy. (Rai News)

Health and environment

• 2024 in climate change
  • The Copernicus Climate Change Service reports that July 21 was the hottest day in recorded history, and also estimates it to be the hottest day in the past 100,000 years with a global average surface air temperature of 17.09 °C (62.76 °F). (Reuters) (The Washington Post)
• A study by the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation finds thirteen Brazilian sharpnose sharks off the coast of Brazil with high levels of cocaine in their muscles and livers. Experts believe that the cocaine is making its way into the waters via illegal labs where the drug is manufactured or through the excrement of drug users. (BBC News)

International relations

• 2024 visits by Viktor Orbán to Russia and China, 2024 Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union
  • The European Union deprives Hungary of its ability to host the next set of foreign and defense ministry meetings as a "symbolic signal" against Viktor Orbán's uncoordinated meetings in Russia and China, moving the ministry meetings from Budapest, Hungary, to Brussels, Belgium. (BBC News) (The Independent)
• Chad–Libya relations
  • Chad repatriates 157 citizens detained in Libya, with more repatriation flights planned to return all detained Chadians. (Reuters)
• Sudanese peace process, Sudan–United States relations
  • The United States invites Sudan's military and the Rapid Support Forces to ceasefire talks in Switzerland on August 14. (TRT Afrika)

Law and crime

• 2023 French pension reform law
  • The leftist La France Insoumise party introduces legislation to reverse pension changes and revert the legal retirement age to 62 years, with the far-right National Rally party offering support for the advancement of the legislation. (Reuters)
• The Woolwich Crown Court finds British Pakistani Islamist preacher Anjem Choudary guilty of directing the proscribed terrorist network Al-Muhajiroun. (The Guardian)

Politics and elections

• 2024 Beijing Declaration, Fatah–Hamas reconciliation process
  • Various factions in the Palestinian government, including rivals Fatah and Hamas, sign a declaration in Beijing, China, to end their divisions and form a unity government. (Reuters)
• Attempted assassination of Donald Trump
  • United States Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle resigns, citing security lapses that led to former president Donald Trump's attempted assassination. (Al Jazeera) (The New York Times)
• Israel–Hamas war protests in the United States
  • Thousands of anti-war protestors led by Jewish Voice for Peace stage a sit-in at a congressional office building in Washington D.C., U.S., ahead of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit, with over 400 people, including rabbis, being arrested by Capitol Police. (AP)
• Martial law in Ukraine, Mobilization in Ukraine
  • The Ukrainian parliament agrees to extend martial law and nationwide military mobilization for an additional 90 days beginning on August 12. (RFE/RL)
• Yemeni civil war, Yemeni peace process
  • The Yemeni government and the Houthis sign an agreement to de-escalate tensions, which will include relaxing banking restrictions on both sides and allowing flag carrier Yemenia to resume flights to Jordan. (Middle East Eye)
• At least 45 Ugandans are detained and some are charged while participating in anti-corruption protests in the capital city Kampala. (Al Jazeera)
• Kristen Michal is appointed as the new prime minister of Estonia, succeeding Kaja Kallas. (AP)