Current events: 2024-08-26

[Wikipedia Current Events]

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • Russian strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure
    • 26 August 2024 Russian strikes on Ukraine
      • Massive Russian attacks are launched on several cities across Ukraine including Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro, and Odesa, killing at least seven people. Ukrainian officials called it the largest Russian attack on Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Kyiv Independent) (Kyiv Independent 2)
      • A Russian suicide drone violates Polish airspace during the attacks on Ukraine and crashes near Dorohusk. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
  • Military aid to Ukraine during the Russo-Ukrainian War
    • Audits conducted by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense determine that from March to July, multiple Armed Forces of Ukraine units never received nearly US$4.2 million in military aid labeled as "humanitarian aid" to bypass customs fees, prompting embezzlement and illicit enrichment investigations. (Kyiv Independent)
• Insurgency in Balochistan
  • Operation Hereof
    • The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) launches an offensive against the Pakistani Army in Balochistan, Pakistan, gaining control of several key highways, including the Karachi–Quetta section of National Highway 8, and damaging a train station connected to Iran in Mastung. (Al Jazeera)
    • At least 14 soldiers and policemen and 21 Balochistan Liberation Army gunmen are killed in ambushes and clashes on the highways. Five civilians are killed in Kalat District. (Al Jazeera)
    • Twenty-three people are killed in a mass shooting targeting Punjabis on a highway in Musakhail District, Balochistan, Pakistan. About 30–40 armed men offloaded passengers from trucks and buses and shot them after checking their identities, then set fire to their vehicles. The Balochistan Liberation Army claims responsibility for the attack. (Dawn) (NPR)
• Libyan crisis
  • The Benghazi-based Libyan Government of National Stability says it is shutting down all oil fields and oil terminals it controls and suspending production until further notice amid a dispute with the central bank in Tripoli, Libya. (France 24) (S&P Global)

Business and economy

• Canada–China relations
  • Canada announces a 100% tariff on imports of Chinese-made electric vehicles and a 25% tariff on Chinese steel and aluminum. (AP)
• The National Football League Players Association files a lawsuit against DraftKings for allegedly breaking an agreement to pay licensing fees on NFL players' likeness rights after DraftKings closed its NFT trading cards business. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

• 2024 Nigeria floods
  • At least 49 people are killed and over 40,000 people are displaced after heavy rains caused floods in Adamawa, Jigawa, and Taraba states in Nigeria. (Al Jazeera)
• Arbaat Dam collapse
  • The death toll of the Arbaat Dam collapse north of Port Sudan, Sudan, rises to over 60 after floodwater destroyed 20 villages and damaged or destroyed the residences of roughly 50,000 citizens. (Al Jazeera)
• One person is killed and three others are injured in a landslide in Ketchikan, Alaska, United States. (AP)

Health and environment

• 2023–2024 mpox epidemic
  • Germany announces it will donate 100,000 doses of mpox vaccines to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and other African nations, as well as provide funding to the GAVI Vaccine Alliance through the World Health Organization. (DW)

International relations

• France–Russia relations, Arrest of Pavel Durov
  • Russian lawmakers accuse French authorities of arresting Russian-born Telegram CEO Pavel Durov to acquire confidential information from Telegram users, and urge Russian users to delete all confidential information on it.
  • Russian Duma Deputy Speaker Vladislav Davankov in a (translated) Telegram statement says "If the French authorities refuse to release Pavel Durov from custody, I propose making every effort to move him to the UAE or the Russian Federation. With his consent, of course." (Politico)

Law and crime

• Arrest of Pavel Durov
  • President of France Emmanuel Macron makes the first official French acknowledgement of the arrest of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov, by stating that Durov's arrest had "no political motive" and dismissed free speech protesters' accusations and Russian claims of the contrary as "false information". (Reuters)
• Controversies surrounding Uber
  • The Dutch Data Protection Authority fines Uber €290 million (US$324 million) for allegedly breaching the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation to collect information on its European drivers. (DW)

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