Portal:Current events
Topics in the news
- In the Netherlands, the governing coalition collapses and Prime Minister Mark Rutte (pictured) resigns.
- In Brazil, the Superior Electoral Court bars former president Jair Bolsonaro from running for political office until 2030 for abuse of power before the 2022 general election.
- Riots break out across France after a 17-year-old is fatally shot by police in Paris.
- In Russia, the Wagner mercenary group stands down after rebelling against the government.
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Attacks on civilians in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Russian forces strike a residental area in Zaporizhzhia, injuring 18 civilians, including six children. (Reuters)
- An 81-year-old man is killed and his wife is injured during Russian shelling of Kherson. (The Guardian)
- Attacks on civilians in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Arab–Israeli conflict
- Three Hezbollah members are injured by Israeli strikes near the Blue Line with the Israel Defense Forces accusing Hezbollah of attempting to destroy the border barrier. (AFP via France 24)
- Four soldiers, three Tehreek-e-Jihad Pakistan gunmen, and a civilian passerby are killed in a shootout at a security checkpoint in Zhob, Balochistan, Pakistan. Five soldiers are injured, while two of the attackers escape. (AP)
Arts and culture
- Censorship in the Philippines
- The Philippines' film review board requests American film distributor Warner Bros. Pictures to censor a scene in the upcoming film Barbie that includes a map displaying the internationally contested nine-dash line in the South China Sea before releasing the film in the country. (BBC News)
- In a study published in PLOS One, researchers identify subtle modifications to ancient Egyptian funerary artworks, such as the repositioning of Ramesses II's sceptre and changes in the pigmentation used for skin color, using portable imaging and chemical analysis techniques. These findings suggest a higher degree of creativity among ancient Egyptian artists than was previously recognized. (AFP via The Manila Times)
Business and economy
- Tourism in Indonesia
- Bali announces the imposition of a IDR 150,000 (US$10) tourist tax for foreign visitors from 2024, aiming to preserve the island's culture and environment. (AFP via Arab News)
Disasters and accidents
- Tornadoes of 2023
- A series of tornadoes strike Chicago, Illinois, United States, prompting complete ground stops at O'Hare and Midway International Airports. (Fox News)
International relations
- Iran–Russia relations
- Iran summons the Russian ambassador over a joint statement issued by Russia and the Gulf Cooperation Council over three islands disputed by the United Arab Emirates. (Reuters)
- Japan–North Korea relations, North Korea–United States relations
- North Korea fires a Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile into waters near Japan. This comes a day after North Korea threatened the United States, claiming that an American spy plane entered the country's exclusive economic zone multiple times on Monday. (AP) (CNN)
- Myanmar–Thailand relations, Myanmar civil war
- Thai deputy prime minister and foreign minister Don Pramudwinai announces that he visited jailed Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi last week, becoming the first known foreign representative to meet with the deposed state counsellor since the 2021 coup d'état. (AFP via CNA)
Law and crime
- Singaporean prime minister Lee Hsien Loong places Transport Minister S. Iswaran on an immediate leave of absence amid an ongoing corruption investigation by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau into Iswaran and other individuals. (Reuters)
- Six people are killed during protests in Nairobi, Kenya, against tax increases imposed by President William Ruto's government, in which the police have employed tear gas and heightened security measures. (AFP via France 24)
Politics and elections
- Aftermath of the 2023 Thai general election
- Thailand's election commission petitions the Constitutional Court to suspend leading prime ministerial candidate Pita Limjaroenrat, alleging his violation of campaign laws due to prior share ownership in a media company, iTV. (AFP via Le Monde)
- LGBT rights in Indonesia
- An ASEAN LGBT event scheduled in Indonesia is relocated to an undisclosed location due to received security threats and anti-LGBT rhetoric from various groups. (Reuters)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Russian invasion of Ukraine
- 2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive
- Russian Lieutenant General Oleg Tsokov is reportedly killed by a missile strike near Berdiansk, Zaporizhzhia Oblast. (CNN)
- 2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive
- Mexican drug war
- Suspected drug cartel members set off bombs targeting police officers in Tlajomulco de Zúñiga, Jalisco, Mexico, killing six people and injuring twelve others. (Reuters)
Business and economy
- Proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft
- United States judge Jacqueline Scott Corley approves technology company Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition of video game publisher Activision Blizzard, the largest video game acquisition in history, dismissing the Federal Trade Commission's antitrust injunction request. (Reuters)
Disasters and accidents
- A Manang Air helicopter touring the Himalayas crashes near Solukhumbu, Koshi Province, Nepal, killing all six on board. (Reuters)
- Two people are killed and eleven others are injured when an elevated road collapses in Bangkok, Thailand. (AP)
- Montpelier, Vermont, United States, receives extensive flooding after the Wrightsville Dam exceeds capacity. (Reuters)
International relations
- Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
- Armenia–Azerbaijan border crisis
- Azerbaijan's State Border Service temporarily closes the Lachin corridor, the only road between Armenia and the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, alleging smuggling by the Armenian Red Cross Society. (AFP via Al Arabiya)
- Armenia–Azerbaijan border crisis
- Foreign relations of Hong Kong, Foreign relations of Japan
- The Hong Kong government threatens to ban marine products from multiple prefectures if Japan pursues its plan to discharge treated radioactive waste water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the Pacific Ocean. (AP)
- Australia–Vietnam relations
- The Vietnamese government releases Australian democracy activist Chau Van Kham from a 12-year prison sentence on terrorism charges following an appeal by Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese. (AP)
Law and crime
- LGBT rights in Japan
- The Supreme Court overturns the restroom use restrictions that the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry imposed on a trans woman employee, marking the court's first ruling on LGBT working conditions. (AP)
- Six people are killed and four others are injured in a mass shooting in Kwanobuhle, Eastern Cape, South Africa. (Reuters)
Politics and elections
- Thai prime minister Prayut Chan-o-cha announces his retirement from political office. (CNA)
Science and technology
- The Anthropocene Working Group identifies Crawford Lake near Milton, Ontario, Canada, as the origin of the proposed Anthropocene epoch due to its varves which provide a comprehensive geologic record of recent environmental change. (AFP via Daily Tribune)
Sports
- Testosterone regulations in women's athletics
- The European Court of Human Rights rules in favour of South African runner Caster Semenya, stating that Semenya's previous appeals against World Athletics' testosterone regulations were inadequately reviewed, potentially enabling her to recontest these rules due to her hyperandrogenism. (Reuters)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Attacks on civilians in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Russian forces strike a residential area in Orikhiv, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, killing seven civilians and injuring 11 others, according to Governor Yuriy Malashko. (Reuters)
- Russian military commissariats attacks
- Stanislav Rzhitsky, deputy chief in charge of military mobilization in the Russian city of Krasnodar and commander of the Russian Navy submarine B-265 Krasnodar, is shot dead near the city's sports complex. (The Guardian) (Reuters via The Jerusalem Post)
- Attacks on civilians in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
Business and economy
- European Union–United States relations
- The European Commission and the U.S. government sign a new data communication agreement aimed at resolving legal uncertainties that European and American companies face when transferring personal data. However, non-profit organization NOYB plans to challenge the agreement. (Reuters)
Disasters and accidents
- Spain's Maritime Safety and Rescue Society rescues 86 people from a pirogue off the Canary Islands as human rights defender Helena Maleno reports that three boats carrying around 300 people from Senegal have gone missing since June. (AP via VOA)
- Six people are killed and three others are reported missing after heavy rains trigger landslides in Kyushu and Chūgoku, Japan. (The Guardian)
- Two people are killed and six others are injured after a building caught fire in Leishan County, Guizhou, China. (The Guardian)
Health and environment
- Effects of climate change
- The World Meteorological Organization reports that the Earth experienced its hottest week on record at the beginning of July, attributing the unprecedented temperatures to climate change and the early stages of El Niño. (AFP via RFI)
- In a study published in the medical journal Nature Medicine, researchers from the Barcelona Centre for International Health Research and Inserm estimate that Europe's record heat waves in 2022 resulted in 61,672 deaths. (AP)
- Volcanism of Iceland
- Icelandic volcano Litli-Hrútur began erupting at 16:00 local time. (Metro)
International relations
- Enlargement of NATO
- Sweden–NATO relations
- Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan agrees to send Sweden's NATO accession protocol to the Grand National Assembly. (AP)
- Sweden–NATO relations
- China–Solomon Islands relations
- China and the Solomon Islands sign a cooperation agreement between the People's Police and the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force during Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare's official visit to Beijing in an effort to strengthen their "comprehensive strategic partnership". (Reuters)
- North Korea–United States relations
- North Korea threatens to shoot down any U.S. reconnaissance aircraft breaching its airspace following U.S. plans to deploy a ballistic missile submarine near Korea. (AFP via France 24)
- Iran and weapons of mass destruction, Nuclear program of Iran
- The U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence says that Iran is not developing a nuclear weapon. However, it also warned that Iran has ramped up activities that could help develop one. (AP)
Law and crime
- School attacks in China
- Six people, including three children, are killed and another person is injured in a mass stabbing at a kindergarten in Lianjiang, Guangdong. The suspect is detained by the police. (India Today)
- German businessman Hans Peter Walter Mack, 62, suspected of running a child sex trafficking ring in Thailand, is found mutilated with a chainsaw in a freezer in Pattaya. (Metro)
Politics and elections
- 2023 Dutch general election
- Prime Minister Mark Rutte announces his retirement from politics following the collapse of his cabinet. (AP)
- 2023 Uzbek presidential election
- Uzbek authorities announce that incumbent president Shavkat Mirziyoyev has been re-elected with 87.1% of the votes. (Reuters)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Syrian civil war
- War against the Islamic State
- The United States Central Command announces that a MQ-9 Reaper drone strike killed a senior Islamic State leader, Usamah al-Muhajir, in eastern Syria two days ago. (Reuters)
- At least eight people are killed by two separate car bombings in northern Syria. (AFP via Al Arabiya)
- War against the Islamic State
- Somali Civil War
- The United States Department of Defense announces that ten Al-Shabaab members were killed today by airstrikes near Afmadow, Jubaland, Somalia. (CNN)
Disasters and accidents
- Fifteen people are killed by landslides and flooding across northern India. (Al Jazeera)
- Ten people are killed and 30 others are injured when a bus falls off a bridge into a river in North Central Province, Sri Lanka. (Xinhua)
- Seven people are killed and twelve others are injured when a gas cylinder explosion causes a three-story building to collapse in Jhelum, Punjab, Pakistan. (Dunya News)
- Three people are killed when a small Cessna plane crashes in Eastern Region, Iceland. (Iceland Monitor)
- One person is killed and an unknown number of others are missing as torrential rains caused flooding in Hudson Valley, New York, United States. (The New York Times)
- A jet bridge collapses at the Dublin Airport in Ireland, damaging an American Airlines Boeing 787 aircraft. (Irish Times)
International relations
- New Zealand–European Union relations
- New Zealand signs a free trade agreement with the European Union, which is expected to increase EU exports to the South Pacific nation by €4.5 billion a year. (AFP via RTÉ)
- 15th BRICS summit
- South African President Cyril Ramaphosa confirms that the upcoming BRICS summit in Johannesburg will be conducted in-person for the first time since 2019, despite an International Criminal Court arrest warrant against Russian president Vladimir Putin. However, Ramaphosa does not state whether Putin will attend the summit. (AFP via The Moscow Times)
- Poland–Ukraine relations
- President of Poland Andrzej Duda and President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy commemorate the victims of the 1943 massacres in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia at a ceremony held at the Saint Peter and Paul Cathedral in Lutsk, Ukraine. (DW)
Law and crime
- British public broadcaster BBC suspends a male presenter over allegations of sexual misconduct involving a minor, which the BBC first became aware of in May. (CNN)
Politics and elections
- 2023 Gabonese general election
- President Ali Bongo Ondimba announces his bid for a third term in office. (AFP via The Guardian)
- 2024 Salvadoran general election
- President Nayib Bukele formalizes his presidential re-election campaign with the Nuevas Ideas political party. (AP)
- 2023 Uzbek presidential election
- Uzbeks vote for a president following the approval of the constitutional referendum which reset term limits, allowing incumbent president Shavkat Mirziyoyev to serve two more seven-year terms. (AFP via France 24)
Sports
- 2023 LPGA Tour
- 2023 U.S. Women's Open
- In golf, American Allisen Corpuz wins the 78th U.S. Women's Open at the Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, California, United States, after firing a three-under 69 to finish on nine under, three shots ahead of England's Charley Hull and South Korea's Jiyai Shin. (BBC Sport)
- 2023 U.S. Women's Open
Armed conflicts and attacks
- 2023 Sudan conflict
- Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Battle of Donbas
- Russian forces shell Lyman in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, killing eight people and injuring 13 others, according to governor Pavlo Kyrylenko. (BBC News)
- Battle of Donbas
- Sistan and Baluchestan insurgency
- Four insurgents and two officers are killed at a police station in Zahedan, Sistan and Baluchestan province, Iran. (Iran International)
Disasters and accidents
- 2023 Murrieta plane crash
- A plane crashes in Murrieta, California, United States, killing all six people aboard. (Forbes)
- One person is killed and seven others are missing due to a landslide that buried a highway in Yichang, Hubei, China. (Reuters)
- Pemex, the Mexican oil company, estimates that Friday's fire on an offshore drilling platform has led to the loss of 700,000 barrels of oil production thus far. (Reuters)
Health and environment
- Deforestation of the Amazon rainforest
- The heads of government of the Amazon basin countries convene in Leticia, Amazonas, Colombia, to strategize conserving the Amazon rainforest. (AFP via The Business Standard)
Law and crime
- Shah Cheragh attack
- Iran executes two men for their involvement in a mass shooting at Shah Cheragh in Shiraz, Fars province. (CNN)
- LGBT rights in Georgia
- Organizers cancel a pride festival in Tbilisi, Georgia, due to violent interventions by far-right groups which led to clashes with law enforcement. (CNN)
- Four people are killed and five are injured in a series of shootings in Chicago, Illinois, United States. (WLS-TV)
- A correspondent for the Mexican newspaper La Jornada is found dead in Tepic, Nayarit, a day after being reported missing. (AFP via Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Politics and elections
- June 2023 Greek legislative election
- The New Democracy party, led by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, secures a vote of confidence in Parliament to begin its second four-year term. (AP)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Military aid to Ukraine during the Russo-Ukrainian War
- The United States announces an $800 million aid package for Ukraine that includes cluster munitions for the first time. While the weapons are outlawed by over 100 countries under the Convention on Cluster Munitions, the United States, Ukraine, and Russia are not signatories. (CNN)
- The U.S. package also includes M777 howitzers, munitions for MIM-104 Patriot and M142 HIMARS missile systems, anti-tank weapons, UAVs, and additional Bradley Fighting Vehicles and Stryker armoured personnel carriers. (Reuters)
- Military aid to Ukraine during the Russo-Ukrainian War
- Spillover of the Somali Civil War
- Six Kenyan soldiers and 23 Al-Shabaab members are killed during a shootout in Orgene village, Mandera County, Kenya. Eight other soldiers are injured. (VOA)
- Jihadist insurgency in Burkina Faso
- Jihadists kill at least 22 civilians in two separate attacks in Namentenga Province, Burkina Faso. (AFP via Al Arabiya)
- Rohingya genocide
- Six Rohingya refugees are killed at the Kutupalong camp in Ukhia, Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, amidst clashes between rival insurgent groups, the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army and Rohingya Solidarity Organisation. (AFP via The Manila Times)
- Israeli–Palestinian conflict
- Israeli soldiers shoot dead two Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine militants during a raid at a house in Nablus in the occupied West Bank. (BBC News)
Business and economy
- Land reform in the Philippines
- President Bongbong Marcos signs into law the New Agrarian Emancipation Act, canceling over ₱57.56 billion (US$1.04bn) in agricultural debt for more than 500,000 farmers. (AFP via CNA)
- 2021–present United Kingdom cost-of-living crisis
- British cinema chain Empire Cinemas collapses into administration with the immediate loss of 150 jobs. (BBC News)
- The China Securities Regulatory Commission imposes fines of nearly US$1 billion and $415 million on technology companies Ant Group and Tencent, respectively, for violating financial regulations and anti-money laundering obligations. (AFP via France 24)
Disasters and accidents
- 2023 Pakistan floods
- 2023 Milan nursing home fire
- Six people are killed and 81 others are injured in a fire at a nursing home in Milan, Lombardy, Italy. (AP)
- At least 833 people are hospitalized in Sistan and Baluchestan province, Iran, due to dust storms. (Xinhua)
- Fourteen people are killed, six are missing, and three are injured after an apartment building collapsed in Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil. (BBC News)
- Six people are killed in an explosion at a chemical factory in Chapayevsk, Samara Oblast, Russia. (TASS)
- Two people are killed and another is missing due to a fire at an oil platform owned by Mexican state-owned company Pemex in the southern edge of Gulf of Mexico. (Reuters)
- Seventy-five tourists become stranded overnight in Quito, Ecuador, when a glitch halts the TelefériQo gondola lift, requiring a ten-hour rescue operation. (The Economic Times)
International relations
- China–Japan relations
- China's General Administration of Customs announces a ban on food imports from ten Japanese prefectures, citing safety concerns over Japan's plan to discharge treated radioactive waste water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the Pacific Ocean. (AFP via Le Monde)
- U.S. President Joe Biden declares the complete destruction of the country's chemical weapons stockpile, making the U.S. the last signatory of the Chemical Weapons Convention to destroy declared stockpiles and marking the elimination of all known global reserves of chemical weapons. (AFP via RTÉ)
Law and crime
- 2023 Odisha train collision
- India's Central Bureau of Investigation arrests two signal engineers and a technician on charges of culpable homicide and evidence tampering over last month's deadly train collision in Balasore, Odisha. (AP)
- 2019 El Paso shooting
- Perpetrator Patrick Crusius is sentenced to 90 consecutive life terms in a federal prison after pleading guilty to hate crimes related to the mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, United States. (AFP via The Manila Times)
- 2019 Whakaari / White Island eruption
- Three tour operators plead guilty to failing to ensure the health and safety of workers and tourists under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 during the deadly eruption of White Island in New Zealand in 2019. They each face a maximum fine of $1.5 million (US$927,000). (AP)
Politics and elections
- In the Netherlands, the fourth Rutte cabinet collapses amid disagreements over asylum applications. Prime Minister Mark Rutte announces that he will submit his resignation on Saturday. (BBC News)