Portal:Current events/2023 July 20

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • Attacks on civilians in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
    • Odesa attacks
      • At least three people are killed and eight civilians are injured in a Russian strike on Odesa, Ukraine. (Reuters) (Reuters 2)
      • The consulate general of China in Odesa suffers minor damage during the Russian strike. (Reuters)
    • Mykolaiv attacks
      • Russian forces strike Mykolaiv, Ukraine, injuring at least 19 civilians. (Reuters) (The Kyiv Independent)
  • Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant crisis
    • The International Atomic Energy Agency reports that it is still awaiting access to the rooftops of Ukraine's Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Enerhodar, despite being permitted to view the fuel cooling pools amid allegations of the plant's usage as an atomic bargaining chip. (AFP via The Manila Times)
• Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
  • Two policemen are killed and two more injured during a shooting by Pakistani Taliban gunmen at a checkpoint in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. (Geo TV)
  • Two Pakistani Taliban members blow themselves up at a police station and government station in Bara, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, killing four police officers and wounding eleven more. (ABC News)

Business and economy

• 2021–2023 inflation surge
  • The Turkish central bank raises its main interest rate from 15% to 17.5% in order to control rising inflation, after the key rate nearly doubled last month. (CNBC)

Disasters and accidents

• 2023 Raigad landslide
  • Sixteen people are killed and 100 others are believed to be missing during a landslide in Raigad, Maharashtra, India. (The Hindu)
• Fifty-six people, mostly children, are hospitalized after they suffocated due to inhalation of chlorine gas that leaked from a swimming pool in Alexandria, Egypt. (Al-Ahram)
• Around 270 people are airlifted from a Glacier 3000 aerial tramway on the Tsanfleuron Glacier in the Diablerets massif in Switzerland following an electrical failure. (AFP via The Manila Times)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Tokelau
    • Tokelau's government announces the first community outbreak of COVID-19 on Fakaofo, the last of country's three atolls to report cases of the virus, as the number of COVID-19 cases exceeds fifty patients. (RNZ)
• 2023 European heat waves
  • At least 110 people are injured during extreme hailstorms in Veneto, Italy. (The Guardian)
  • A state of emergency is declared on the island of Rhodes, Greece, with evacuation orders issued for several mountain areas. (The Guardian)

International relations

• Iraq–Sweden relations
  • Protests against Quran desecration in Sweden
    • Followers of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr set fire to the Swedish embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, in response to a planned Quran desecration demonstration in Stockholm, Sweden. The Swedish foreign ministry confirms the safety of its embassy staff while the Iraqi foreign ministry condemns the incident, initiating an investigation to identify those responsible. (AFP via Today)
    • Iraqi prime minister Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani directs the foreign ministry to expel the Swedish ambassador to Iraq. (DW)
• North Korea–United States relations
  • North Korea and weapons of mass destruction
    • North Korean defence minister Kang Sun-nam warns that the deployment of the USS Kentucky ballistic missile submarine to South Korea on July 18 could provoke his country to use its nuclear weapons under its law. (AFP via CNA)
• Bolivia–Iran relations
  • Bolivia and Iran sign a memorandum of understanding in Tehran, Iran, with both countries vowing to strengthen defence and security cooperation. (Xinhua)
• Russia–European Union relations
  • The European Union imposes sanctions on the director of the Russian prison incarcerating opposition leader Alexei Navalny. (AFP via Barron's)

Law and crime

• 2023 Auckland shooting
  • Three people are killed, including the shooter, and six others are injured in a mass shooting at a construction site in the central business district of Auckland, New Zealand. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

• Opposition to Vladimir Putin in Russia
  • Prosecutors recommend an additional 20-year prison sentence for Alexei Navalny, who is currently serving a nine-year sentence for embezzlement and contempt of court, on extremism charges. (AFP via The Guardian)

Sports

• 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup
  • The ninth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup opens in New Zealand, with the co-hosts defeating Norway 1–0 in the opening match at Eden Park in Auckland. A minute's silence was observed prior to the match for the victims of the shooting that occurred several hours earlier. (AP)