Current events: 2024-08-19

Wikipedia Current Events · Aug 19, 2024

Armed conflicts and attacks

Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Pokrovsk offensive
  - Russia captures the city of Zalizne and the Vyimka railway station in Donetsk Oblast. (Reuters)
  - Ukrainian officials order the immediate evacuation of the remaining 53,000 citizens in the Eastern Ukraine city of Pokrovsk due to the advancement of the Russian Armed Forces. (Al Jazeera)
Israel–Hezbollah conflict
- An Israeli soldier is killed and several others are injured in Hezbollah rocket launches in Ya'ara and drone strikes in Western Galilee that were intercepted by the Iron Dome. Hezbollah claims that it attacked and repelled Israeli soldiers attempting to infiltrate southern Lebanon through the Hadab Aita forest and had inflicted casualties. (Al Jazeera)
- The Israeli Air Force destroys a Hezbollah arms depot in the Beqaa Valley in Lebanon, causing large secondary explosions. (The Jerusalem Post)
- Israeli airstrikes hit Hezbollah infrastructure in Aita al-Shaab, Beit Lif, and Hula, Lebanon. (Al Jazeera)

Disasters and accidents

Two people are killed by flooding in Oxford, Connecticut, United States. (CNN)
One person is killed and fifteen others are rescued when the United Kingdom-flagged Bayesian superyacht sinks near Palermo, Italy, due to a waterspout. Six others remain missing, including British entrepreneur Mike Lynch. (AP)

Health and environment

2023–2024 mpox epidemic
- Pakistan reports a case of mpox in Kashmir, bringing the total number of cases in the country to four. In response to the rapid increase of cases in the country, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announces that the country will begin screening people at entry points. (Hindustan Times) (First Post)
- The Philippine Department of Health reports its first case of mpox this year in a patient with no international travel history. (GMA Network)
- Health officials in Tainan City, Taiwan, report that they have confirmed three cases of mpox so far this year. (TVBS Taiwan)

Law and crime

Russian president Vladimir Putin signs a decree making it easier for foreign nationals who support "traditional values" and "oppose neoliberalism" to seek asylum in Russia. (Anadolu Agency)

Politics and elections

2024 Kiribati parliamentary election
- Kiribati islanders vote in the second round of elections for the 44 members of the House of Assembly. (Radio New Zealand)
China–Vietnam relations
- President of Vietnam and General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Tô Lâm arrives in China for a three-day state visit, Tô's first overseas visit since becoming president and general secretary. (CNA)

Science and technology