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Worldwide current events
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Ural Airlines Airbus A321 in 2013

At least 80 people are killed in a bombing at a wedding in Kabul, Afghanistan.
All 233 people on board Ural Airlines Flight 178 (aircraft pictured) survive a crash following bird strikes in both engines of an Airbus A321.
Typhoon Lekima impacts the Philippines, the Ryukyu Islands, Taiwan and East China, killing at least 80 people.
At least 75 people are killed and more than 50 others injured in a fuel tanker truck explosion in Morogoro, Tanzania.

August 21, 2019 (Wednesday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Yemeni Civil War (2015–present)
- A United States MQ-9 military drone is reportedly shot down in Yemen's Dhamar Governorate. A Houthi spokesperson claims responsibility and adds they used a locally developed missile. (Reuters)

Business and economy

United States federal budget
- The Congressional Budget Office forecasts a deficit of US$1 trillion in 2020, up from the previous estimate of $892 billion. (The New York Times)

International relations

2019 Persian Gulf crisis, Australia–United States relations
- Australia announces that it has agreed to join the United States' coalition, along with the United Kingdom and Bahrain, to prevent Iran from targeting ships travelling through the Strait of Hormuz. Australia will deploy a Boeing P-8 Poseidon and a frigate. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
Denmark–United States relations
- Queen Margrethe II of Denmark expresses surprise at U.S. President Donald Trump's abrupt cancellation of his planned visit to her country. Experts on the royal house call the move an act of "disrespect" as illness was not the apparent cause. (TV2)

Law and crime

Catholic Church sexual abuse cases in Australia
- The Supreme Court of Victoria rejects an appeal made by Cardinal George Pell against a six-year jail sentence for child sexual abuse. (The Guardian)
The Foreign Ministry of China confirms that United Kingdom consulate in Hong Kong employee Simon Cheng, who was reported missing, is administratively detained for 15 days by Shenzen police. (CNN)

August 20, 2019 (Tuesday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Syrian Civil War, 2019 Northwestern Syria offensive
- The Al-Qaeda-linked faction Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) acknowledges "a redeployment" south of the strategic town of Khan Shaykhun. (AP News)
- Media close to the government reports that the Syrian Army has entered the northern sector of the town of Khan Shaykhun, following the reported HTS withdrawal. (Al-Masdar)

Health and environment

The Spanish Ministry of Health declares an outbreak of listeriosis in Andalusia as a national health alert after cases are reported in Asturias, Madrid, Catalonia and Extremadura, including one death. (RTVE)

International relations

2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis
- Nicolás Maduro confirms United States reports that top Venezuelan officials have been having secret meetings with members of the Donald Trump administration. Maduro claims the talks encourage Trump to listen to him, United States sources claim the talks encourage Maduro supporters to defect. (The Guardian)
Proposed United States purchase of Greenland
- United States President Donald Trump cancels his September state visit to Denmark because Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen says she has no interest in discussing the purchase of Greenland. (BBC)
India–Pakistan relations, Kashmir dispute
- Pakistan asks the United Nations Security Council to meet over India's decision to revoke Article 370 of the Indian Constitution that gives special status to the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir, the sovereignty of which has been in dispute between India, Pakistan, and China since 1947. (BBC) (NDTV) (APP)

Law and crime

Crime in Brazil
- Thirty-seven passengers on a bus over Rio–Niterói Bridge, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, are held hostage before police shoot dead the armed hijacker. After closer inspection, police discover the hijacker used a fake plastic gun. (BBC) (Extra)
Former professional basketball player Mateen Cleaves is acquitted of several sex crimes in a court in his hometown of Flint, Michigan. (MLive) (WJRT-TV)
A modification of the Volcker rule is approved by the OCC and the FDIC. The new version eases rules on proprietary trading by Wall Street banks but is criticized by consumer groups who see risks for the protections on taxpayer money. (Reuters)
The Texas Department of Information Resources reports the computer systems of 23 towns in the state were hit by a ransomware attack on August 16. "One single threat actor" is suspected. (Insider)

Politics and elections

Politics of Italy, Conte Cabinet
- The President of Italy accepts Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte's resignation. (Reuters)

Science and technology

List of unmanned aerial vehicles
- The Russian Ministry of Defence announces that the six-tonne satellite-controlled reconnaissance drone Altius-U has performed its maiden flight. (TASS)

Sports

Expansion of Major League Soccer
- Major League Soccer, the top level of the men's sport in the U.S., announces that a team in St. Louis, Missouri will become the league's 28th team, most likely in 2022. The ownership group, led by several female members of the Taylor family that controls the Enterprise Holdings car rental company, is the first in MLS in which women hold a majority interest. (ESPN)

August 19, 2019 (Monday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Syrian Civil War; 2019 Northwestern Syria offensive
- Syrian Air Force warplanes repeatedly strike a Turkish military convoy driving through the rebel-held region of Idlib, reportedly causing several casualties and forcing it to stop. Turkey claims the convoy was aiming to supply observation posts, while Syria accuses it of carrying weapons and ammunition to rebel groups. (BBC) (The National)
- The Syrian Army enters the strategic town of Khan Shaykhun in the Idlib Governorate for the first time since losing control of the town to rebels in 2014, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. (Middle East Monitor)

Arts and culture

The biggest multi-storey bicycle parking in the world, with a capacity of 12,500 bikes, opens near Utrecht Centraal railway station, the Netherlands. (SmartCitiesWorld) (The Guardian)

Disasters and accidents

Deforestation in Brazil
- After fifteen days of raging fires in the Amazon Forest in Rondônia, thick smoke clouds cover the Brazilian city of São Paulo in darkness. Street lamps had to be lit in the city around 2PM. The fires, suspected to be intentional, are still burning the forest. (G1)

International relations

2019 Hong Kong anti-extradition bill protests; Cross-Strait relations
- China condemns Taiwan after President Tsai Ing-wen offered support and asylum to Hong Kong protesters facing prosecution in Hong Kong courts. (Al Arabiya)
- Twitter says it has suspended more than 200,000 automated accounts on the social media site that it believes were part of a Chinese government-run campaign to spread misinformation about the protests in Hong Kong. (ABC News)

Law and crime

2016–present purges in Turkey
- Turkey's Ministry of the Interior tweets that 418 people in 29 provinces are detained by police, for suspected links with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). The authorities have also announced that they "replaced" the mayors of three major southeastern cities. (Reuters)
Former President of Sudan Omar al-Bashir appears in court for the first time at a Khartoum court to face corruption charges. (Al Arabiya)
Women's rights in El Salvador
- Evelyn Hernández is acquitted of murder after her newly-born child was found deceased in a toilet. The ruling is being held as a landmark case decision for women's rights in El Salvador, which has one of the strongest anti-abortion laws in Central America. (BBC)

Politics and elections

The Palestinian Authority bans LGBT activities in the West Bank in anticipation of an upcoming Al Qaws event. (Jerusalem Post)
In a two-hour meeting with his cabinet. US President Donald Trump discusses how to assuage the anger of America's farmers on his decision to loosen the nation's biofuels blending laws, making life easier for the refinery industry at the expense of agriculture. (Reuters)

Science and technology

Astronomers led by a team from McGill University in Montreal announce the detection of eight new repeating fast radio bursts (FRBs) using the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) radio telescope. The astronomers report they also found complex morphologies and downward-drifting sub-bursts in some of the eight new FRBs. (Phys.org)

August 18, 2019 (Sunday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

War in Afghanistan
- 17 August 2019 Kabul bombing
  - ISIL claims responsibility for a terrorist attack against a wedding party in Afghanistan the day prior, which left 63 people dead and over 200 injured. (The Guardian)

International relations

Iran–United States relations; United Kingdom–United States relations
- Gibraltar authorities reject the request by the U.S. to seize the Iranian oil tanker Grace 1. They argue that EU, not U.S. law, is applicable in Gibraltar. The tanker is also renamed. (Al Arabiya)

Politics and elections

2019 Hong Kong anti-extradition bill protests
- The organizers claim that at least 1.7 million people join a peaceful rally in Victoria Park, Hong Kong. Protesters spill into nearby streets, with train service intermittently suspended due to the sheer number of people. (The Guardian)

August 17, 2019 (Saturday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

War in Afghanistan
- 17 August 2019 Kabul bombing
  - 63 people are killed and 182 wounded in a suicide attack at a wedding party in Kabul, Afghanistan. The attacker set off explosives among the invitees. (Al Arabiya)

Politics and elections

Aftermath of the 2018–19 Sudanese protests
- The ruling military and the civilian opposition formally sign a power-sharing deal establishing a three-year transition period towards the election of a civilian government. (Al Jazeera)
2019 Hong Kong anti-extradition bill protests
- Thousands of school teachers join the 11th weekend of anti-government protests in Hong Kong. (Reuters)
A rally of far-right groups such as the Proud Boys and Patriot Prayer is met by left-wing Antifa in Portland, Oregon. (The New York Times)
The Argentinian Treasury Minister, Nicolás Dujovne, resigns after incumbent President Mauricio Macri's loss in a primary vote saw Argentina's peso fall to record lows. (Bloomberg)

Science and technology

China announces the successful first launch of the Smart Dragon-1 [fr; de] carrier rocket. (Reuters)

August 16, 2019 (Friday)

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International relations

Proposed United States purchase of Greenland
- In response to reports that U.S. President Donald Trump expressed interest in the United States acquiring Greenland, Greenland's Foreign Minister Ane Lone Bagger dismisses the idea, noting on Twitter that "a better and more equal partnership with Denmark should be the way forward for a stronger and longer-term free Greenland". (BBC News) (Reuters)
Israel–United States relations
- According to Israel's Interior ministry, U.S. Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib sends a letter to Israeli Interior Minister Aryeh Deri, asking for permission to visit her elderly grandmother in the West Bank. Tlaib's request was approved on the condition that she "not advance boycott activities for the duration of her visit". Tlaib later declines to come, saying she won't let Israel impose "oppressive conditions" on her. (CNN)

Law and crime

Death of Jeffrey Epstein
- The death of accused sexual trafficker Jeffrey Epstein is ruled a suicide by hanging by the New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. Epstein's attorneys say they will be conducting their own investigation into his death. (CNN)

August 15, 2019 (Thursday)

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Disasters and accidents