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Worldwide current events
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Topics in the news

Ural Airlines Airbus A321 in 2013

Brazil's National Institute for Space Research announces that it has detected more than 39,000 wildfires in the Amazon rainforest since January.
At least 80 people are killed and 160 others injured 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.

August 23, 2019 (Friday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Syrian Civil War, 2019 Northwestern Syria offensive
- The Syrian Army captures the entire northern Hama-southern Idlib rebel pocket, asserting control over the strategic towns of Kafr Zita, Al-Lataminah and Murak, as well as numerous villages and an archaeological site, following the withdrawal of rebel forces. (Reuters) (Al Masdar)
- The Turkish observation post near Murak is encircled by government forces. (Asharq Al-Awsat) (Ansamed)
Al-Qaeda accuses "treacherous Pakistani forces" of detaining for more than a year the wife and two other relatives of the group's leader Ayman al Zawahiri. (Al Arabiya)
Iran–Israel proxy conflict
- U.S. officials confirm that an airstrike on an Iranian weapons depot in Amirli, Iraq on July 19 that killed two Iranian military commanders was conducted by Israel. The strike is the first known Israeli attack on Iraq since Operation Opera in 1981. (Voice of America)

International relations

China–United States trade war
- China retaliates on the United States' latest tariff decisions by imposing tariffs of up to 25% on some American goods. (CNBC)
- U.S. President Donald Trump states on Twitter that he has "hereby ordered" that U.S. companies find an alternative for manufacturing in China and relocate "HOME". (Barron's) (The Guardian)

Politics and elections

2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries
- Massachusetts Representative Seth Moulton announces he is suspending his 2020 presidential campaign. (NBC News)
Uruguayan President Tabaré Vázquez is diagnosed with a malignant tumor. (Los Andes)

August 22, 2019 (Thursday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Papua conflict
- Indonesia cuts off Internet in the provinces of Papua and West Papua amid pro-independence unrest. (The Guardian) (RTÉ)
War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
- A ninth round of peace talks between the United States and the Taliban starts in Doha, Qatar. (Al Jazeera)

Disasters and accidents

At least four people are dead and more than 100 injured after lightning strikes the summit of Giewont in the Tatra Mountains, Poland. Another person was killed in Slovakia. (tvn24.pl) (gazeta.pl) (BBC)
At least five people have been killed and 21 others are injured in a stampede at a rap concert in Algiers, Algeria. (BBC)

International relations

Japan–South Korea relations, GSOMIA
- South Korea decides against extending the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA). South Korean officials express that the exclusion from Japan's preferred trade list on 12 August eliminated any benefit to maintaining the agreement. (NHK)

Law and crime

2018 Chemnitz protests
- A Syrian man is jailed for manslaughter in relation to a stabbing in Chemnitz, Saxony, Germany last year. The killing sparked far-right protests and riots in the city. (BBC)

Eileen Sarmenta and Allan Gomez murder
- Philippine Department of Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra and Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Director-General Nicanor Faeldon said that former Calauan Mayor Antonio Sanchez is not eligible under a 2013 law that credits good conduct time allowance (GCTA) for an early release from prison. (Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Politics and elections

2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries
- Washington governor Jay Inslee drops out of the presidential primaries to focus on his re-election bid. (The New York Times)

Science and technology

The second GPS IIIA satellite is successfully launched by a Delta IV Medium rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. It is the last launch of the Delta IV Medium vehicle. (Orlando Sentinel)
The uncrewed Soyuz MS-14 mission to resupply the International Space Station commences. Its launch was a successful test of a Soyuz spacecraft atop a Soyuz-2 launch vehicle, which will replace the Soyuz-FG as the carrier rocket for Soyuz spacecraft starting in 2020. (NASASpaceFlight.com) (Space.com)

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)
War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
- 17 August 2019 Kabul bombing
  - The death toll of a suicide bombing during a wedding in Kabul, Afghanistan, four days ago, increases to 80. (Al Jazeera)

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)
Iceland–United States relations
- The office of the Prime Minister of Iceland Katrín Jakobsdóttir confirms she will not meet the Vice President of the United States Mike Pence on his visit in September, citing "prior commitments". (AP News)

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)
China–United Kingdom relations
- 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 Shenzhen police. (CNN)
Indian senior opposition Rajya Sabha MP and former Cabinet Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram is arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation on charges of corruption and money laundering during his term as Minister of Finance. Chidambaram has said to the Supreme Court that the government is practicing a "politically-motivated vendetta" against him and his son Karti, who is also an opposition MP. (BBC)

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 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
- U.S. 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)

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. Consumer groups criticize the rule change, claiming it removes protections from taxpayers. (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
- Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte resigns. He criticizes Deputy Prime Minister, Matteo Salvini, accusing him of sinking the ruling coalition for personal and political gain. The President of Italy, Sergio Mattarella, accepts Conte's resignation and announces that he will start consultations with party leaders. (Reuters) (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)
War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
- 66 people, including children, have been wounded after a series of ten explosions in restaurants and public squares hit the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad, as the country marked the 100th anniversary of its independence from British rule. No group claimed responsibility for the bombings. Even if many bombs exploded and several people were injured, no one died in the attacks. (Al Jazeera)
Insurgency in the Maghreb
- Suspected Islamist militants launch an attack on an Burkina Faso Armed Forces unit, killing 24 Burkinabé soldiers and wounding 7 others, the heaviest loss for the army in its fight to contain Islamist terrorism. The army said it had launched a land and air operation in response to the attack. (Reuters)

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)

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