Portal:Current events/2012 August 1

Current events of August 1, 2012 (2012-08-01) (Wednesday)

Business and economy

• Power is restored in India following an earlier blackout in three grids that left over 600 million people without power. (AFP via France 24)
• Saudi Aramco is ranked by Forbes as the first among the world's 25 largest oil companies. (Global Financial Network)

Disasters

• Heading toward Taiwan, slow-moving Typhoon Saola's torrential rains lead to the deaths of at least 12 people and displacement of 154,000 in the Philippines. (The Washington Post)

Law and crime

• The Tal Law expires. For the first time in Israel's history the Israeli Defense Forces begins drafting ultra-Orthodox Jews for military service. (BBC News) (Jerusalem Post) (Ynet)
• Somali security forces kill two suicide bombers trying to infiltrate a meeting of 825 Somali elders discussing the country's new constitution in Mogadishu. (AP via Chron.com)
• Prosecutors formally charge three Mexican Army generals and a lieutenant-colonel for their alleged links to a drug trafficking organization known as the Beltrán-Leyva Cartel. (The Washington Post)

Politics and elections

• A second Israeli who set himself on fire in protest of economic difficulties in Tel Aviv dies of his injuries in hospital. (Reuters)

Sport

• 2012 Summer Olympics: The Badminton World Federation charges eight womens doubles players from South Korea, China and Indonesia with "not using one's best efforts to win a match". (BBC)