Current events: 2024-07-29

[Wikipedia Current Events]

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Mali War
  • Battle of Tinzaouaten
    • The Wagner Group states that it and the Malian military sustained losses in clashes with Tuareg rebels near the Algeria–Mali border. (Al Arabiya) (France 24)
    • The Main Directorate of Intelligence of Ukraine claims that it provided assistance to the Tuareg rebels in their battle against Wagner Group mercenaries in Mali. (The Guardian)
• Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • Eastern Ukraine campaign
    • Ukrainian army sergeant Oleh Chaus reports that the Russian army captured the eastern Donetsk villages of Prohres and Vovche, citing insufficient weapon supplies, deficient training, and decreased motivation as causes of the setback. (AP)
• 2024 France railway arson attacks
  • French police arrest a far-left extremist who may have been behind an attack on the TGV long-distance train network ahead of the opening of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France. (DW)
• Sudanese civil war
  • Human Rights Watch reports widespread acts of sexual violence in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, including gang rape and forced marriages committed by the army and Rapid Support Forces. (Reuters)
• Protesters taking part in a march in Gwadar, Pakistan, attack security forces deployed to guard them, killing a soldier and injuring 16 others, according to the Pakistani Army. (Reuters)
• Far-right Israeli protestors, including several members of the Knesset, storm the Sde Teiman detention camp after military police from the Israel Defense Forces detained nine reservists on suspicion of abusing a Palestinian detainee. (Haaretz)

Business and economy

• The United Arab Emirates grants lottery licenses for the first time in the country's history. (Al Arabiya)

Disasters and accidents

• At least two people are killed and as many as 100 others are injured when a passenger train carrying 800 people collides with a Kamaz truck near Volgograd, Russia, and partially derails. (Al Arabiya)

Law and crime

• 2024 Southport stabbing
  • At least two children are killed and eleven others are injured in a mass stabbing in Southport, Merseyside, England. A man is subsequently arrested. (BBC News)
• Sakina Muhammad Jan becomes the first person to be jailed under Australia's forced marriage laws after ordering her 21-year-old daughter to marry a man who later murdered her. (BBC News)
• The Grand National Assembly of Turkey approves a law ordering the euthanization of stray dogs that are sick or have been deemed aggressive. (South China Morning Post)
• French police report multiple sabotage acts targeting telecommunications operators in parts of the country, affecting 11,000 clients, with the incidents being treated as vandalism. (DW) (Politico)

Politics and elections

• 2024 Venezuelan presidential election
  • 2024 Venezuelan protests
    • Protests occur throughout Venezuela due to the disputed election results. (AP)
  • United States–Venezuela relations
    • United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken states that the U.S. government has "serious concerns" that the Venezuelan election results do not reflect "the will nor the votes of the Venezuelan people" and demands that Venezuelan electoral authorities publish fair and transparent election results, adding that the United States and the international community will "respond accordingly". (AP)

Sports

• Concerns and controversies at the 2024 Summer Olympics
  • Slovak deputy prime minister Tomáš Taraba announces that he will boycott the 2024 Summer Olympics closing ceremony in response to being offended by what he called "progressive political theater" hosted by "drag queens" during the opening ceremony. (Anadolu Agency)
  • Olympic organisers cancel the second session of triathlon training due to water quality concerns in the Seine river. (France 24)

Continue reading...