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Worldwide current events
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Topics in the news

Ural Airlines Airbus A321 in 2013

At least 63 people are killed in a bombing of 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 18, 2019 (Sunday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

War in Afghanistan
- 17 August 2019 Kabul bombing
  - ISIL claims responsibility for an attack against a wedding party in Afghanistan the day prior, which left over 60 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 E.U., not U.S. law, is applicable in Gibraltar. The tanker is also renamed today. (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 right wing groups such as the Proud Boys and Patriot Prayer is met by Antifa in Portland, Oregon. (The New York Times)
The Argentinian Treasury Minister, Nicolás Dujovne, resigns. (Bloomberg)

Science and technology

China announces the successful first launch of the Smart Dragon-1 carrier rocket. (Reuters)

August 16, 2019 (Friday)

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International relations

Denmark–United States relations
- 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 and promising "not to advance boycotts against Israel" for the duration of her visit. Despite Tlaib's request being approved, she 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. (CNN)

August 15, 2019 (Thursday)

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Disasters and accidents

Ural Airlines Flight 178
- A Ural Airlines Airbus 321 crash lands in a field near Zhukovsky International Airport in Moscow Region, Russia. The event is dubbed the "Miracle over Ramensk", as only 23 passengers had minor injuries, similar to US Airways Flight 1549. Preliminary reports say the aircraft struck a flock of seagulls. (CNN)
A Cessna Citation carrying former NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., his wife and infant daughter crashes on landing at Elizabethton Municipal Airport in Elizabethton, Tennessee. All occupants survive without serious injury. (CNN)

International relations

Colombia–Venezuela relations
- Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro gives a speech wherein he accuses former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe, Uribe's Vice President Francisco Santos Calderón, and Venezuelan politician Lester Toledo [es] of planning to kill him. (Reuters)
Iran–United Kingdom relations; Iran–United States relations
- Gibraltar says the United States has applied to seize the Iranian oil tanker Grace 1, which is being held by the United Kingdom territory for an alleged breach of European Union sanctions against Syria. (Reuters)
- The UK releases Grace 1 back to Iran after receiving written assurance that the oil would not be sent to Syria. (BBC)
Israel–United States relations
- Two American Muslim congresswomen, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, are barred from entering Israel before a planned visit to the country due to their support of the BDS movement, a decision which was encouraged by U.S. President Donald Trump. (CNN)
Denmark–United States relations
- Press sources report that U.S. President Donald Trump repeatedly expressed interest in buying Greenland. (The Wall Street Journal) (AP News)

Law and crime

Belgian Federal Police confirm that fugitive Belgian large weapons smuggler and arms trafficker Jacques Monsieur was arrested in Portugal yesterday. (Het Laatste Nieuws) (Le Soir)

Politics and elections

2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries
- Former Colorado governor John Hickenlooper announces that he is suspending his presidential campaign. (UPI)

August 14, 2019 (Wednesday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Syrian Civil War, 2019 Northwestern Syria offensive
- A Syrian Air Force Sukhoi Su-22 jet is missing, reportedly shot down by rebel forces near the town of Khan Shaykhun in the Idlib Governorate, Syria. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham jihadists say they have captured the pilot. (BBC) (Al Masdar News)

Business and economy

Economy of Germany
- The Federal Statistical Office of Germany discloses that Germany's gross domestic product shrank by 0.1% in the second quarter. (The Guardian)
The Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition, a U.S.-based organization that aims to keep educational materials broadly accessible, has asked the Antitrust Division of the Justice Department to halt a planned merger between two large textbook companies, McGraw-Hill and Cengage, a merger it claims will cause students "irreparable harm". (Reuters)

Health and environment

California regulators announce a ban on chlorpyrifos, an organophosphate nerve agent used as a pesticide. (Los Angeles Times)
France bans electric pulse fishing. (AFP via Yahoo News}

Law and crime

August 2019 Philadelphia shooting
- Six police officers are shot, sustaining non-life threatening injuries, by a gunman in Philadelphia; a seventh officer is injured in a related automobile accident nearby. (CNN) (NBC News)
Nisour Square massacre
- In a third trial, Nicholas Slatten is sentenced to life in prison. (AFP via VoA)

Politics and elections

Crisis in Venezuela
- Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro creates a new government ministry, the Ministry of Tourism and Foreign Trade. (Venezuelanalysis)
- Tarek William Saab strips the parliamentary immunity of the opposition politicians Juan Pablo García, Tomás Guanipa and José Guerra. (Venezuelanalysis)
- A Norwegian delegation arrives in Venezuela to restart dialogues to end the presidential crisis. (Reuters)

August 13, 2019 (Tuesday)

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Business and economy

China–United States trade war
- The United States Trade Representative announces a delay until December 15 on a significant number of products affected by 10% import tariffs announced on August 1 and set to be imposed in September. (CNBC) (Reuters)
Verizon agrees to sell the social networking site Tumblr to Automattic, owner of WordPress.com, for less than $10 million, less than two years after acquiring the site in 2017. (Los Angeles Times) (Axios)

Disasters and accidents

According to Interfax, the governor of Arkhangelsk Oblast dismisses as "complete nonsense" the advice by authorities in Severodvinsk to residents of Nyonoksa to evacuate on August 14. This follows the accidental explosion on Thursday of what is speculated to be a nuclear-powered missile. Russian nuclear agency Rosatom says the failed test involved a "nuclear isotope power source" for a liquid-propelled rocket engine. (The Independent) (CBS News)
Venezuelan migrant crisis
- A new poll from Consultores 21 suggests that at least 4.7 million Venezuelans are living outside of the country, with the range going up to 6 million — 19% of the nation's entire population in 2017. (Miami Herald)

Law and crime

2019 Sydney stabbing attack
- A man in Sydney, Australia, stabs and kills one person and wounds another. The motive of the suspect, who was arrested at the crime scene, is unknown. (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

International relations

2019 Hong Kong anti-extradition bill protests
- U.S. President Donald Trump tweets that U.S. intelligence informed him that China is moving troops to the border with Hong Kong. (Bloomberg)

Politics and elections

Presidency of Jair Bolsonaro
- Hundreds of thousands of students, schoolteachers and university professors hold demonstrations across Brazil against sweeping cuts in the education budget. Protestors also voice opposition to the government's plan to delegate the administrative and financial management of federal universities and institutes to a privately-held fund. (Agência Brasil) (Telesur English)
- Earlier in the day, over a thousand Indigenous Brazilian women, representing over 100 ethnic groups, march on Brasília after an overnight occupation of the headquarters of the Ministry of Health's Special Secretariat of Indigenous Health. Protestors chanted against the government's recent attempts at municipalization and privatization of the Indigenous health subsystem, and called for stricter environmental regulations. (BBC) (Telesur English)