Portal:Current events/July 2020

• Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen; Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict
  • A Saudi-led coalition begins a military offensive against the Houthis, carrying out airstrikes against the capital Sanaa, as well as the provinces of Ma'rib, al-Jawf, al-Bayda, Hajjah and Saada. The local news describe the airstrikes as "violent" and reports scores of people injured. This is said to be the response to missile and drone attacks against Saudi Arabia from last week to last night. (Reuters)
• Irapuato massacres
  • Gunmen kill at least 24 people in a mass shooting at a drug rehabilitation center in Irapuato, Guanajuato, Mexico. (Reuters)
• 2020 Oromia Clashes
  • An Ethiopian military crackdown on protests in Oromia Region leaves 81 protesters dead, while several prominent politicians, such as Jawar Mohammed, have been detained. The protests began following the death of Oromo musician Hachalu Hundessa. (BBC News)

• Removal of Confederate monuments and memorials, List of monuments and memorials removed during the George Floyd protests
  • The monument of Confederate General Stonewall Jackson is removed from Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia. (ABC News)
• Weinstein effect, Fox News controversies
  • Fox News fires America's Newsroom anchor Ed Henry following allegations of sexual misconduct by a former employee. (CNN)
• The Finnish Air Force Command formally ends the use of the swastika in its imagery, according to the Air Force Command. However, the swastika will remain on some Air Force unit flags and decorations. (BBC News)
• The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, responding to recent criticism about the lack of racial diversity among the nominees in major Oscar award categories, invites 819 people to become new members. Of the invitees, 49% are from outside the US, 45% are women, and 36% are non-white. (BBC News)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    • COVID-19 pandemic in California
      • California Governor Gavin Newsom restricts the indoor operations of certain businesses in 19 counties for a minimum of three weeks to stop the spread of COVID-19. (Los Angeles Times)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Pennsylvania
      • Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf says that masks will be required inside and outside. (The Hill)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Ohio
      • Dayton becomes the first city in Ohio to mandate masks. (Cincinnati.com)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Florida
      • Miami-Dade County is expected to mandate masks as it deals with surging cases. (Miami Herald)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil
    • The COVID-19 death toll in Brazil passes 60,000. (Reuters)
  • The UN Security Council demands "immediate cessation of hostilities" in conflict zones around the world, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. These "durable humanitarian pauses", which do not apply to military operations against ISIL and Al-Qaeda, should begin immediately and be for at least 90 consecutive days to allow for delivery of humanitarian assistance and medical evacuations. This is the first resolution related to the COVID-19 pandemic that the council has passed. (NPR)

• France–Turkey relations
  • France suspends its involvement in NATO's naval operation in the Mediterranean Sea enforcing an arms embargo on Libya, following an investigation into an incident between French and Turkish warships. France accuses the Turkish Naval Forces of harassing its Courbet warship, while attempting to inspect a Turkish civilian vessel suspected of breaching the arms embargo. (Al Jazeera)
• Hong Kong–United Kingdom relations, 2019–20 Hong Kong protests
  • Prime Minister Boris Johnson says up to three million Hong Kong residents will be offered citizenship in the United Kingdom, following the passing of a controversial new national security law by China. Under the British government's plans, Hong Kongers will be able to settle in the UK for five years under political asylum, and after a further year will be able to apply for citizenship. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab says there will be "no limits on numbers or quotas", due to the UK's "historic commitment to the people of Hong Kong". (BBC News)
• Foreign relations of Taiwan, Foreign relations of Somaliland
  • Taiwan announces it will mutually establish representative offices with the unrecognized breakaway state of Somaliland. While relations are not diplomatic at this point, further establishment of diplomatic relations would make Taiwan the first sovereign state to recognize Somaliland and the first new diplomatic ally that Taiwan has gained in 13 years. (Bloomberg News)

• 2019–20 Hong Kong protests
  • Police in Hong Kong arrest over 300 people on the previously banned 1 July march and after the passing of the new national security law. The new law punishes crimes considered as subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison. It also allows extradition to the Mainland for trial. (Reuters)
• Censorship in Turkey
  • President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan vows tighter control over "immoral" social media following alleged insults to his daughter and son-in-law when they announced the birth of their fourth son on Twitter. Erdoğan specifically mentioned Twitter, YouTube and Netflix. Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu announced the arrest of a number of social media users for "insulting tweets". (Al Jazeera)
• The Guardia di Finanza seizes over $1.2 billion (~€1 billion) worth of fenethylline tablets at a port in Salerno, Campania, Italy. It is believed that the amphetamines were manufactured by ISIL and originated in Syria. The haul, amounting to 14 metric tonnes of contraband, is the largest drug bust in history. (CNN)

• After hospitalization in intensive care due to a sudden immune system disorder during a training camp in France, the situation of Dutch world champion short track speed skater Lara van Ruijven becomes critical. (NOS) (Telegraaf)

• Mali War
  • Gunmen on motorbikes attack an ethnic Dogon village in Mopti Region, Mali, killing 32 villagers, according to local authorities. (Reuters)

• Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
  • Casual Dining Group, which owns the Bella Italia and Café Rouge United Kingdom restaurant chains, collapses into administration with 1,900 immediate job losses. (BBC News)

• 2020 Hpakant jade mine disaster
  • At least 162 miners are killed by a landslide at a jade mining site in Hpakant, Kachin, Myanmar. (BBC News)
• A fire and explosion hit a centrifuge production plant at a nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz, Iran. No deaths or injuries are reported. (AP)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    • COVID-19 pandemic in New Mexico
      • New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham announces there will be $100 fines for people and businesses that do not wear masks. (The Hill)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Kansas
      • Kansas Governor Laura Kelly issues an executive order mandating citizens wear facemasks in public and at their workplace. (AP via United States News & World Report)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Texas
      • Texas Governor Greg Abbott orders citizens must wear face coverings when in public. This follows yesterday's reported state record daily high of more than 8,000 virus cases. Those who do not comply will receive an initial warning; those who refuse will face a fine of up to $250. (BBC News)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Oman
    • Oman sees a jump of cases in a day, with 1,361 new cases and three deaths, reaching a total of 42,555 cases and 188 deaths. The Health Minister says that the country will boost its hospitals' capacity and intensive care units. (Reuters)
• The deaths of 275 elephants are confirmed in the Okavango Delta due to an unknown cause. Both poaching and anthrax have been ruled out by authorities. (CBS)

• Venezuelan presidential crisis
  • United Kingdom–Venezuela relations
    • In a case to decide who controls a $2 billion worth of gold from the Central Bank of Venezuela stored in the Bank of England, the High Court of Justice in London rules that the United Kingdom "unequivocally recognises Mr. Guaidó as President of Venezuela", refusing to give Nicolás Maduro access to the gold. (Reuters) (BBC News)
  • United States–Venezuela relations, Iran–United States relations
    • United States District Judge James E. Boasberg issues a warrant for the seizure of the more than 1.1 million barrels of gasoline in the four Iranian tankers en route to Venezuela. (Middle East Monitor)

• In a Europe-wide operation, police penetrate EncroChat, a top-secret communications system used by criminals to sell drugs and plan attacks. (BBC News)
• Nauru's President Lionel Aingimea announces tougher penalties for those convicted of sex offenses, including penalties on minors who, under the new law, will not have their age as a mitigating factor. (RNZ)
• British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, former girlfriend of American financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, is arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on suspicion of grooming victims of Epstein. She has also been charged with assisting Epstein's abuse of minors by helping to recruit and groom victims known to be underage. (BBC News)
• A court in Pakistan orders that the four killers of The Wall Street Journal journalist Daniel Pearl remain in jail for at least three further months. (AFP via Al Arabiya)

• COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand, Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on politics
  • David Clark resigns as New Zealand's Minister of Health after security mistakes at quarantine facilities just days after the country had been declared free of COVID-19. Clark also received strong criticism for personally breaching lockdown rules twice. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern had refused calls to sack the minister. (Reuters)
• 2019–20 Hong Kong protests
  • Prominent pro-democracy camp politician and activist Nathan Law confirms he has safely fled Hong Kong, following the passage of a new national security law by China. He did not disclose which country he had fled to. (Deutsche Welle)

• Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports, 2019–20 NBA season
  • The Los Angeles Clippers close their training facility after one of the players who is expected to play in Orlando tested positive for COVID-19. (Los Angeles Times)

• Mexican Drug War
  • Mexican Army troops kill 12 drug cartel gunmen in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas. In separate incidents, police kill five attackers in Torreón, Coahuila, and five police officers are shot dead in Guanajuato. (ABC News)
• Mali War
  • The Malian Armed Forces says nine troops were killed and two others wounded in an ambush by suspected jihadists in Mopti. (Al Jazeera)
• At least eight police officers are killed and five others injured in Uttar Pradesh, India, in an ambush as they were attempting to arrest a suspect for murder. The attack was carried out by several gunmen, two of whom were later killed by other officers. (Al Jazeera)

• The University of Cambridge accepts the resignation of historian David Starkey and strips him of his honorary fellowship, following controversy over his remarks about slavery on a podcast. (BBC News)

• 2020 China–India skirmishes § Economic response
  • Indian Minister of Power R. K. Singh announces that India will halt the importation of US$2.8 billion worth of Chinese power equipment due to heightened tensions between the two nations. (Bloomberg)

• Sheikhupura train-van crash
  • A passenger train collides with a van carrying Sikh pilgrims near Sheikhupura, Punjab, Pakistan, killing at least 21 people. (BBC News via Yahoo! News)
• An explosion at a fireworks factory in Hendek, Sakarya, Turkey, kills four people and injures 73 others. (AP)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Pakistan
      • Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi tests positive for COVID-19. (Reuters)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia
      • Saudi Arabia surpasses 200,000 cases after reporting 4,193 infections in the past 24 hours while the death toll jumps to 1,802. (Al Arabiya)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
    • The European Union approves the use of the drug remdesivir to treat severe cases of COVID-19. (DW)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil
    • An investigation led by the Federal University of Santa Catarina uncovers traces of SARS-CoV-2 in Florianópolis sewage samples drawn on November 27, 2019, two months earlier than the first official confirmed case of COVID-19 in the Americas on January 21, 2020, and much earlier than the first reported case in Brazil at the end of February. (CGTN) (Web24)
• UNICEF and the government of New Zealand pledge funding to Kiribati to target the high mortality rate among infants. The Pacific nation has a record of one in 25 children dying before the age of one due to preventable diseases. (RNZ)
• German lawmakers agree to a deal to end nuclear power by 2022 and the use of coal by 2038. (AP via Seattle Times)

• Libya–Russia relations
  • Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Lavrov announces that Russia will re-open its embassy in Libya. (Reuters via US News and World Report)
• 2020 Polish presidential election, Germany–Poland relations
  • Polish president Andrzej Duda accuses Germany of meddling in the country's presidential election after the tabloid Fakt, owned by German publisher Axel Springer, reported yesterday that he pardoned a man convicted of pedophilia. (Reuters)

• Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi
  • An Istanbul court begins an in absentia trial of 20 Saudi Arabians they accuse of involvement in the killing of Jamal Khashoggi. (Al Jazeera)
• St Paul's Cathedral bomb plot
  • British Muslim convert Safiyya Shaikh is sentenced to life imprisonment for plotting to suicide bomb St Paul's Cathedral in the City of London. (BBC News)
• Scotland's Court of Session fines Greenpeace £80,000 for breaching an injunction against the occupation of a Transocean oil rig in the North Sea. (The Guardian)

• 2019–20 Hong Kong protests
  • China appoints Zheng Yanxiong to head up the newly formed Office for Safeguarding National Security of the CPG in the HKSAR; Yanxiong is best known for his suppression of protests in Wukan in 2011. (BBC News)
• Politics of France
  • Jean Castex is appointed Prime Minister of France by President Emmanuel Macron following the resignation of Édouard Philippe and amid speculation of a possible cabinet reshuffle. (CNBC) (Politico)
• Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte signs the Anti-Terrorism Act into law, repealing the Human Security Act signed in 2007. (The New York Times) (Al Jazeera)

• The Athletics Integrity Unit announces the ban of Kenyan runner Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich from athletics for four years after missing multiple doping tests. (AP via The Charlotte Observer)
• The Washington Redskins and the Cleveland Indians are reviewing their names in response to the ongoing George Floyd protests. (NPR)

• Somali Civil War
  • A remote-controlled mine detonates in Baidoa, Somalia, killing five people and injuring 10. (Xinhua)
  • A suicide car bomber detonates at a checkpoint in Mogadishu, Somalia, injuring at least five people. (Reuters)
• Territorial disputes in the South China Sea, China–United States relations
  • The USS Nimitz and the USS Ronald Reagan participate in dual-carrier operations and exercises in the disputed South China Sea. (Reuters via NBC)
• Syrian civil war
  • The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights announces that 44 combatants have been killed in clashes between the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and Syrian Army since Thursday. (Al Arabiya)

• List of monuments and memorials removed during the George Floyd protests
  • Black Lives Matter protesters tear down the Statue of Christopher Columbus in Baltimore, Maryland, and throw it into the city's Inner Harbor. Baltimore City Council President Brandon Scott had previously called for the statue to be removed. (CNN)
• President Donald Trump announces the building of National Garden of American Heroes through executive order, which will consist of statues of notable American political figures, activists, businesspeople, and pop culture icons. (CBS News)

• Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
  • Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom
    • Pubs and barbershops are allowed to re-open in England for the first time since March. (NBC)
  • Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    • Donald Trump signs an extension of the Paycheck Protection Program to extend the filing deadline to August 8. (AP via NBC)

• Heavy rains and mudslides occur in Kumamoto Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan. At least 14 residents of a nursing home in Kuma are feared dead after they are found "in cardio-respiratory arrest", according to prefecture Governor Ikuo Kabashima. Another 10 people are missing and dozens stranded on rooftops. (Al Jazeera)
• A fire is reported at a power plant in the city of Ahvaz, in south-western Iran, while a chlorine gas leak injures 70 workers at a petrochemicals plant near Bandar-e Emam Khomeyni. The incidents come after a string of other unexplained blazes and explosions at Iranian facilities. (The Guardian)
• A Siberian tiger kills a zookeeper at Zürich Zoo in Zürich, Switzerland. (Reuters)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Spain
    • The Catalan government locks down the county of Segrià, with 200,000 inhabitants, due to a major outbreak, becoming the first confinement after the end of the state of emergency. (Daily Mirror)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Iran
    • President Hassan Rouhani announces new measures to curb the spread of the virus, including mandatory wearing of masks in covered public areas. (Reuters)
  • COVID-19 drug development
    • The World Health Organization suspends its trials of the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine and combination of HIV drug lopinavir/ritonavir after they fail to reduce mortality in infected patients. (Reuters)

• North Korea–United States relations
  • North Korean First Vice-Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui says her country has "no interest" in a face-to-face meeting with the United States unless the U.S. discards its "hostile" policies toward North Korea. (Al Jazeera)
• Canada–China relations
  • The Chinese embassy in Ottawa issues a rebuke of Canada, saying that it has "grossly interfered" in its affairs a day after Canada suspended its extradition treaty with Hong Kong. (Reuters)

• Phoenix, Arizona police officers threaten, shoot and kill a man inside a parked car in an incident captured on bystander video, sparking protests in the city. Police say he pointed a gun at them first. (CNN)

• LGBT rights in Poland
  • President of Poland Andrzej Duda announces that he will propose a constitutional amendment to outlaw LGBT adoption in Poland. (The Guardian)

• For the first time scientists at the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope discover neutral hydrogen atoms outside of the Milky Way. (RT)

• Somali Civil War
  • A local politician is abducted and killed by Al-Shabaab militants in Bal'ad, Middle Shabelle, Somalia. (Voice of America)
• American-led intervention in Iraq (2014–2021)
  • A Katyusha rocket falls in the Green Zone of Baghdad, Iraq, injuring a child and damaging a house. Iraqi security forces also thwart another rocket launched at Camp Taji, which houses U.S. troops. Also, a MIM-104 Patriot defense system shoots down a missile launched against the U.S. embassy. (Al Arabiya)
• Second Libyan Civil War
  • The Government of National Accord (GNA) warns of a "response in the right place and at the right time" after a "foreign air force" bombed the Al-Watiya Air Base in an overnight air raid, according to the GNA's Deputy Defence Minister Salah al-Namrush. Al-Namrush did not specify which foreign air force was behind the raid, which is believed to have targeted a Turkish anti-aircraft missile system. (Al Jazeera)
• Hachalu Hundessa riots
  • The death toll amid civil unrest in Oromia Region, Ethiopia, rises to 166 people, including 11 security personnel. More than 1,000 people have been arrested. (BBC News)

• COVID-19 pandemic in India
  • The government extends the lockdown in the city of Agra and delays the reopening of the Taj Mahal for tourists and visitors after a spike in COVID-19 cases in the country. (Reuters)

• Mercedes-Benz announces that it will be recalling 668,954 vehicles in China over possible issues with oil leakage. (AP)

• 2020 Kyushu floods
  • The death toll from floods in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan, rises to 20 and 14 people remain missing. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe meets with a disaster task force team to step up rescue efforts. Meanwhile, weather agencies warn people to remain alert as more rains are predicted. (Reuters)
• Eight people are feared dead following a mid-air collision between two planes flying over Lake Coeur d'Alene in Idaho, US, both of which then crashed into the waters. Two of the victims' bodies have already been recovered. (CNN)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Michigan
      • Michigan reports no new deaths from COVID-19 for the first time since March 17. (MLive.com)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Iran
    • Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education reports the highest daily death toll to date from COVID-19, recording 163 deaths. Iran's cases reach 240,438 while the deaths jump to 11,571. (Reuters)

• List of mass shootings in the United States in 2020
  • At least two people are killed and eight injured, four critically, in a mass shooting at a nightclub in Greenville, South Carolina. No suspects have been arrested. (WYFF) (AP) (CNN)
  • In Atlanta, a large group of people were watching fireworks when a gunfight broke out after a car hit a pedestrian. Fourteen people were wounded, of which two were declared dead at the hospital. (WSB-TV)
  • The incidents were part of a violent Independence Day weekend across in the United States which left 160 people dead and over 500 more wounded in shootings. (The Guardian)
• COVID-19 pandemic in Arizona, Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
  • An Arizona woman in Scottsdale is arrested at Target after pulling face masks off the displays. (popculture.com) (New York Daily News)
• A bus driver in the French city of Bayonne is left brain dead after reportedly being assaulted by passengers who refused to wear face masks. Bus services in the city have been severely disrupted as drivers refuse to work following the incident. (BBC News)

• 2020 Dominican Republic general election
  • After having been postponed once due to the COVID-19 pandemic, general elections are held in the Dominican Republic. The electorate can vote for the new members of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies as well as the country's next president. (BBC News)
  • Conservative candidate and opposition leader Luis Abinader is proclaimed the winner, ending 16 years of centre-left rule. (BBC News)
• 2020 Croatian parliamentary election
  • Croatia holds parliamentary elections amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Rising infection rates and the pandemic's effects on the economy might influence the outcome of the election. (Reuters)
• 2020 New Caledonian independence referendum
  • The Labour Party (New Caledonia) expresses its support for independence from France in the upcoming referendum, the party leader Louis Kotra Uregei says after abstaining in 2018. (RNZ)
• Yuriko Koike wins her second term as Governor of Tokyo. (AP)

• A group of unknown assailants assassinate prominent Iraqi historian and government advisor Hisham al-Hashimi near his home in Zayouna, Baghdad. No group has claimed responsibility for his killing. (Reuters)

• New Zealand news media company Stuff announces it will temporarily stop posting articles to Facebook and Instagram, saying they have not done enough to address fake news, hate speech, and false advertising. (The Guardian) (Stuff)

• 2020 Kyushu floods
  • The death toll from floods in Kyushu, Japan, rises to 49 people. The country is bracing for more heavy rain. (The Japan Times)
• More than 400 people are evacuated from their homes in Iloilo City in the Philippines after an explosion on a power barge caused an oil spill. (AP)
• An overturned fuel tanker catches fire while dozens of people were attempting to siphon off fuel, killing seven people and injuring more than 40 others, near Pueblo Viejo, Magdalena in northern Colombia. (BBC News)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in India
      • India records 24,000 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, surpassing Russia to become the country with the third highest number of cases in the world at 697,413 cases. (BBC News)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Qatar
      • Qatar exceeds 100,000 cases, becoming one of the world's highest per capita infections, having a population of 2.8 million. (Al Jazeera)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Kuwait
      • Kuwait surpasses 50,000 infections after reporting 538 new cases in the past 24 hours. Its death toll jumps to 373. (Al Jazeera)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Georgia
      • Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms tests positive for COVID-19. (CNN)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in West Virginia
      • West Virginia Governor Jim Justice issues an order mandating masks in indoor public spaces to reduce the spread of COVID-19. (NBC News)

• Philippine Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020
  • Two lawyer groups file petitions to the Philippine Supreme Court to question the constitutionality of the recent anti-terrorism law. Opposition lawmaker Edcel Lagman, who contributed to one of the petitions, claims that the law's "imprecise and vague definitions" make its enforcement susceptible to infringements on certain civil liberties. (Al Jazeera)
• Hong Kong national security law
  • A court in Hong Kong denies bail to Tong Ying-kit, a 23-year-old man who was arrested last week for driving a motorbike into police officers and carrying a separatist banner. Also, prominent pro-democracy activists Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow appear in court. Wong pleads not guilty to inciting others to participate in an unlawful assembly last year while Chow pleads guilty to similar charges. (Reuters)
• COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China, censorship in China
  • In Beijing, authorities arrest Xu Zhangrun, a law professor who published essays strongly criticizing Chinese Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping over censored academia on the COVID-19 pandemic and accusing him of ruling "tyrannically." (Al Jazeera)
• Spain's Audiencia Nacional agrees to extradite former CEO of PEMEX Emilio Lozoya Austin to Mexico where he is wanted on charges of bribery and money laundering. He denies any wrongdoing. (Reuters)
• Former Prime Minister of Mongolia Jargaltulgyn Erdenebat is senteced to six years in prison and banned from government work for six years from working in government office accused of abuse of power. (News.mn)

• 2020 Brazilian municipal elections; COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil
  • The Brazilian Congress and Superior Electoral Court announce the postponement of this year's municipal elections to November 15 (first round) and 29 (second round) due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Folha de S. Paulo)

• 2020 in spaceflight
  • Israel Aerospace Industries successfully launches the Ofeq-16 reconnaissance satellite via a Shavit rocket. The Israeli Defense Ministry describes the satellite as a "optoelectronic reconnaissance satellite with advanced capabilities". (Times of Israel)

• Anshun bus crash
  • A bus carrying students to an exam plunges into a reservoir in Anshun, Guizhou, China, killing 21 and leaving 16 injured. (Reuters)
• At least two people die and over 20 are injured when two trains collide near Pernink in the Czech Republic. (Reuters)
• Hundreds of firefighters and rescue workers are deployed to battle wildfires in Ukraine's eastern Luhansk Oblast. The fires have killed six people and destroyed more than 120 houses. Luhansk Governor Serhiy Haidai says some of the fires may have been caused by arson. (The National)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in South America
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil
      • Sinovac Biotech is starting Phase III trials of its potential COVID-19 vaccine following a fast-track approval for the trials by Brazilian regulators last week. The study, done in partnership with Brazilian vaccine producer Instituto Butantan, will recruit nearly 9,000 healthcare professionals working in COVID-19-specialized facilities and start this month. (Al Jazeera)
      • President Jair Bolsonaro tests positive for COVID-19. (The Guardian)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Chile
      • Chile surpasses 300,000 cases of COVID-19. (Cooperativa)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Connecticut
      • Connecticut reports zero deaths for the first time in four months. (The Hill)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Texas
      • Texas surpasses 200,000 cases of COVID-19. (USA Today)
    • The United States has averaged just under 50,000 new cases daily over the last week, twice as high as a month ago. (CNN)
    • Contact tracing is no longer possible across the Southern United States due to rapid COVID-19 surges in the region. (Fox8) (Fox10)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Iran
    • Iran reports a record high death toll of 200 in the last 24 hours. (AFP via Al Arabiya)

• Assassination of Qasem Soleimani
  • United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions Agnès Callamard concludes, in a report to be presented at the United Nations Human Rights Council, that the killing of Qasem Soleimani in January by the United States was "unlawful". Callamard says that based on U.S. evidence, the killing was "arbitrary" and "violated the UN charter". (Al Jazeera)

• Censorship in Vietnam
  • In what is seen as an increase in arrests of political activists, a court in Vietnam sentences a 29-year-old Facebook user to eight years in prison for making anti-government posts, including several criticizing communist leader Ho Chi Minh. The man was also sentenced to serve three years of house arrest after finishing his prison term. (Reuters)
• Tom Meighan, former lead vocalist of the band Kasabian, pleads guilty to assaulting his former partner. (The Guardian)

• Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on politics
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Ecuador
    • Vice President Otto Sonnenholzner resigns over the government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Reuters)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Serbia
    • Thousands of people protest outside the House of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia in the capital Belgrade, in response to President Aleksandar Vučić's plan on introducing stricter lockdown measures in Belgrade, due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the city. A small group of protesters storm the building after pushing through a police cordon. (Reuters)
• The United States officially declares its intent to withdraw from the World Health Organization in 2021. (The Guardian)

• Internal conflict in Myanmar
  • Amnesty International says it has conducted a report which says that Myanmar's armed forces "have killed civilians, including children in indiscriminate air attacks" in Rakhine and Chin states, urging the United Nations Security Council to launch a war crimes investigation. Myanmar has been fighting the separatist Arakan Army in the region. The government did not immediately respond to calls for comment. (Al Jazeera)
• Insurgency in the Maghreb
  • At least 180 bodies have been found in mass graves in Djibo, Burkina Faso, where soldiers are fighting jihadists. It is suspected that the government forces were involved in mass extrajudicial executions. (BBC News)
• July 2020 Afghanistan attacks
  • A suicide bomber kills three people when he drives a military vehicle packed with explosives near the provincial governor's residence in Kandahar, Afghanistan. The Taliban claims responsibility. (Reuters)
• Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir
  • Local Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sheikh Wazeem Bari and two members of his family are shot dead in Bandipore district, Jammu and Kashmir. Senior Ministry of Home Affairs official K. Vijay Kumar blames the Islamic terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed. (Hindustan Times)

• Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on airlines
  • Delta Air Lines ends service to 11 airports in an effort to reduce domestic flights by 80% and international flights by 90% due to aviation restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. (Business Insider)

• One person is killed and four others injured when a 20-metre crane collapses at a building site where flats were being constructed in the Bow district of East London, United Kingdom. (Reuters)
• American actress Naya Rivera is declared missing at Lake Piru in the Los Padres National Forest of Ventura County, California, after she reportedly rented a boat and swam in the lake with her four-year-old son. Rivera's son was found on the boat unharmed, while the Ventura County Sheriff's Office have initiated a search and rescue operation for the actress. (Reuters)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in North America
    • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
      • The United States surpasses three million cases of COVID-19 and sets a daily record of 62,021 new cases. (USA Today) (USA Today₂)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Romania
      • Romania surpasses 30,000 cases of COVID-19 and sets a daily record of 555 new cases. (Romania Insider)

• Mexico–United States relations, Canada–United States relations
  • U.S. President Donald Trump hosts a meeting at the White House with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to discuss the new United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau declines to attend. (The Washington Post)
• Lithuania–Russia relations
  • Lithuania bans Russian state-owned television network RT due to its connection with Dmitry Kiselyov, who is sanctioned by the European Union for his role in the 2014 Ukrainian crisis. (LRT)

• Affordable Care Act legal challenges, Contraceptive mandate
  • In a 7–2 decision on Little Sisters of the Poor Saints Peter and Paul Home v. Pennsylvania, the United States Supreme Court upholds regulations that allow employers with religious or moral objections to decline to provide contraception coverage under the Affordable Care Act. (The New York Times) (The Washington Post)
  • The Supreme Court of the United States rules in favor of the Little Sisters of the Poor. The victory at the court comes after nine years of their legal fight against the Obama-era “contraception mandate”. (Catholic News Agency)
• Former Governor of Chihuahua and wanted fugitive César Duarte Jáquez is arrested by police in Miami, Florida, after being in hiding since 2017. He is wanted on corruption charges in Mexico, after allegedly misappropriating public funds. (Reuters)

• Politics of Ivory Coast
  • Ivory Coast's Prime Minister and candidate for the presidential election Amadou Gon Coulibaly dies in office after falling ill at a ministerial meeting. He had recently returned from France after undergoing treatment for heart problems. (BBC News)

• Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports, Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on association football
  • Major League Soccer resumes its 2020 season after a four-month hiatus caused by the COVID-19 pandemic with a month-long tournament in Orlando, Florida. FC Dallas will sit out the tournament after 10 players and a coach were diagnosed with COVID-19. (Fox News)

• Afghan peace process, War in Afghanistan
  • An Afghan government spokesman says it will continue to release Taliban prisoners though disagreement prevails over the release of some 600 of them that are considered a "threat to national security". The Taliban could not be reached for comment and it is not clear whether they are willing to accept to start talks based on the list of prisoners set to be freed. (Reuters)
• Insurgency in the Sahel
  • The United States says it is "deeply concerned" about abuses by state security forces in the Sahel and threatens to cut aid to the G5 nations that form a coalition in the area – Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Chad – if those issues are not addressed. The U.S. also welcomes a summit to be held between the G5 nations and France and Spain. (Reuters)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines
      • President Rodrigo Duterte rejects the prospect of reopening the country during a televised cabinet meeting. He goes on to claim that following the examples of the United States', Brazil's and others' "bold actions" would result in "pandemonium", and the potential resultant spike in COVID-19 cases would land the nation in "deep shit". (Vice)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia
      • Indonesia announced the biggest daily rise of 2,657 new COVID-19 cases, taking the nationwide tally to 70,736. West Java reported the highest surge with 962 cases. This significant increase comes from the Army’s Officer Candidate School (Secapa) cluster. (Anadolu Agency)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in South America
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Bolivia
      • Interim Bolivian President Jeanine Áñez tests positive for COVID-19. (Reuters)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Venezuela
      • Diosdado Cabello confirms he tested positive for COVID-19. (ABC News)

• India–Nepal relations
  • Nepal decides to block broadcasts of Indian news channels in Nepal with the exception of Doordarshan News, effective immediately. The move comes in the wake of reports on Nepal carried by some Indian news channels, including their allegedly "defamatory shows" on Nepali Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli along with the Chinese envoy. (Himalayan Times)
• Chinese intelligence activity abroad
  • In its annual report, Germany's domestic intelligence agency BfV warns consumers that personal data they provide to Chinese payment companies or other tech firms, such as Tencent, Alibaba and others, could end up in the hands of China's government. (WREX)

• Supreme Court of the United States
  • The court rules in McGirt v. Oklahoma and Sharp v. Murphy that nearly half of Oklahoma is Native American tribal land. (The New York Times)
  • The court rules in Trump v. Vance that prosecutors in New York can seek President Donald Trump's financial records in a major case on the scope and limits of presidential power, but also ruled in Trump v. Mazars USA, LLP that lower courts had not properly assessed the separation of powers between Congress and the President when the House of Representatives attempted to similarly subpoena his tax returns. (The New York Times)
• Governor of Khabarovsk Krai Sergey Furgal is arrested by Russian police over a series of murders of several businessmen in 2004 and 2005 in his region, according to the Investigative Committee of Russia. (Sky News)

• Park Won-soon, the Mayor of Seoul, is found dead after being declared missing earlier the same day. (Yonhap News Agency)
• Irish Minister of Finance Paschal Donohoe is elected president of the Eurogroup, beating the candidatures of Spanish Minister Nadia Calviño and of Luxembourgish Minister Pierre Gramegna. He will succeed Mário Centeno. (Politico)

• Malian police throw tear gas and open fire at anti-government protesters occupying the national parliament building and the offices of state broadcaster Office de Radiodiffusion-Télévision du Mali in Bamako. At least one person died from their injuries. (Reuters)

• Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan issues a presidential decree converting Istanbul's Hagia Sophia back to a mosque, after a court annulled the 1934 decree that transformed it into a museum. (CNN)
• Dame Vera Lynn, who died last month, receives a military funeral in East Sussex, England, on the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Britain. (BBC News)

• Boycott Chinese products, China–India relations
  • The Indian government asks e-commerce platforms such as Amazon and Flipkart to display the country of origin on new products listed by sellers on their sites by August 1 and items that were already being sold by October 1 without stipulating a mandatory deadline. The move comes during heightened tensions between India and China following the 2020 China–India skirmishes and a campaign to boycott Chinese-origin products in India. (The Economic Times)
• Enlargement of the eurozone
  • The European Central Bank accepts Bulgaria and Croatia into the European Exchange Rate Mechanism, a mandatory stage for countries that wish to adopt the euro. This is the currency bloc's first major expansion in half a decade. (Reuters)
• The U.S. Department of Transportation revokes permission to Pakistan International Airlines to conduct charter flights to the U.S., citing concerns by the Federal Aviation Administration over pilot certifications. (Reuters)

• Venice, Italy, tests the MOSE system of 78 mobile floodgates for the first time. Construction of MOSE was authorized by Comitatone, the city's Venetian Lagoon committee, in April 2003. Commissioner Elisabetta Spitz said the project still needs another 18 months of testing. In November 2019, Venice was hit by the worst floods in half a century. (BBC News)
• Tropical Storm Fay makes landfall in New Jersey, US, causing tropical storm force winds over Delaware, New Jersey, and Coastal New York. Flooding closed several roads. (Weather Channel)

• Authorities in Kazakhstan deny a report published by Chinese officials alleging that the country is experiencing an outbreak of "unknown pneumonia" potentially deadlier than COVID-19. (CNN)

• ABS-CBN franchise renewal controversy
  • Members of the Philippine House Committee on Legislative Franchises vote against the franchise renewal of the ABS-CBN Corporation, the country's largest media conglomerate. (Reuters via The Guardian)
• COVID-19 pandemic in France
  • The bus driver who was left brain dead after being attacked by passengers who refused to wear face masks in Bayonne, France, dies of his injuries. (BBC News)
• Mueller special counsel investigation
  • U.S. President Donald Trump commutes the sentence of longtime friend and adviser Roger Stone on seven felony crimes days before Stone was to report to a federal prison to serve a 40-month term. (The New York Times) (Fox News)
• Chinese intelligence activity abroad
  • A court in Paris sentences to jail Pierre-Marie H., 69, and Henri M., 73, two former agents from the foreign intelligence service after convicting them of sharing secrets with China, for a 12-year sentence and an eight-year term respectively. (Washington Examiner)

• 2020 Singaporean general election
  • Voting begins in Singapore's latest general election. The ruling People's Action Party is projected to maintain its majority, albeit with the oppositional Workers' Party gaining seats. (Reuters)

• July 2020 Afghanistan attacks
  • At least six civilians are killed when their vehicle hits a roadside bomb in Ghazni Province, Afghanistan. A provincial government spokesman blames the Taliban though no group claimed responsibility. (AP via Al Arabiya)
• Syrian civil war
  • The United Nations Security Council approves aid deliveries to northwest Syria through one border crossing with Turkey, a day after its authorization for the six-year-long humanitarian operation ended. Russia and China abstain today on this week's fifth attempt to approve this help. (Reuters)
• Bosnia and Herzegovina commemorates 25 years since the Srebrenica massacre. (BBC News)

• Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on The Walt Disney Company
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, COVID-19 pandemic in Florida
    • Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom reopens at Walt Disney World with new safety guidelines despite rising cases in Florida. Masks are expected to be mandatory and capacity is expected to be limited. (CNBC) (The Wall Street Journal)
• A sealed copy of the 1985 Nintendo Entertainment System game Super Mario Bros. sells for US$114,000, a world record for a video game. (Nintendo Life)
• The World Council of Churches, which counts 350 churches as members, calls on Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to reverse his decision to turn the celebrated Hagia Sophia museum back into a mosque. (BBC News)

• In the second case in a week in Australia, a surfing teenage boy is killed by a shark near Grafton, New South Wales. (AP News)
• A fire breaks out at the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel in San Gabriel, California, US, resulting in the collapse of its roof and considerable damage to the nearly 250-year-old building's interior. (The New York Times)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Louisiana
      • Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards issues an executive order requiring people to wear face masks in public. (Axios)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in New York (state)
      • The COVID-19 hospitalizations and average three-day death toll in New York reach lower levels for the first time since March. (CBS News)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in India
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Karnataka
      • The Karnataka government announces that Bengaluru will be on lockdown from July 14 to July 22. (Gulf News)
    • Indian film actor Amitabh Bachchan is hospitalized after testing positive for COVID-19. His son, Abhishek Bachchan, also tests positive. (CNN)

• Police respond to a shooting and hostage situation at a pentecostal church in Zuurbekom, Gauteng, South Africa. At least five people are killed. South African police free an undetermined number of hostages, and arrest more than 40 people. Among those arrested were members of the police, defense forces and correctional services. The attackers reportedly were part of a splinter group in a leadership dispute at the long-troubled church. (Reuters) (BBC News) (AP)

• 2020 Hong Kong pro-democracy primaries
  • Election starts for pro-democracy politicians and activists to choose representatives to run in the upcoming legislative election in September. (Reuters)
• Serbia COVID-19 protests and riots
  • Serbians protest for a fourth consecutive day; the protest initially started out against the government COVID-19 measures but would morph into anti-government protests. 71 people are arrested. (DW News)
• Congolese Justice Minister Celestin Tunda resigns following disputes with President Félix Tshisekedi over Tunda and allies's proposal to allow politicians more control over criminal prosecution cases. (Al Jazeera)
• Thousands of protesters march in Khabarovsk, Khabarovsk Krai, Russia, against Thursday's arrest of LDPR governor Sergey Furgal for allegedly organizing the murder of entrepreneurs 15 years ago. (Reuters)
• Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta announces dissolution of the constitutional court in an attempt to calm unrest that saw four people killed in anti-government protests in the capital Bamako on Friday. (Bloomberg) (BBC News)

• War in Darfur
  • Nine people were killed and twenty others injured during a shooting on a camp for internally displaced people in Kutum, Sudan. (Al Jazeera)
• 2020 Armenian–Azerbaijani skirmishes; Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
  • Armenian and Azerbaijani forces exchange fire on the border, leaving three Azeri soldiers dead and five wounded, according to Azerbaijan's Ministry of Defence. No Armenian casualties are reported. (The Eurasian Times) (Armenia Radio)

• The McClatchy company, one of the largest and most respected American news publishers, announces that hedge fund Chatham Asset Management won its bankruptcy sale in a court-supervised auction. Chatham, which owns the National Enquirer, has been an investor in the company since 2009. Court confirmation, likely at a hearing on July 24, is required. McClatchy has been burdened by heavy debt from its large pension obligations and the acquisition of newspaper chain Knight Ridder. (Reuters) (The New York Times)

• A fire, followed by an explosion, breaks out on the USS Bonhomme Richard at the U.S. Naval base in San Diego, California. At least 18 sailors are currently hospitalized. It is unclear where the fire started or what the source of the explosion was. (The New York Times) (The Hill)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Japan, Japan–United States relations
    • U.S. military officials report 61 cases of COVID-19 at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma and Camp Hansen. Governor of Okinawa Prefecture Denny Tamaki said late on Saturday that "Okinawans are shocked by what we were told", and demanded more action from the U.S. military which has since put the two bases under lockdown. (AP News)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Florida
      • Florida reports 15,299 cases, a new single-day record. (The Guardian)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico
    • The death toll in Mexico rises above 35,000, surpassing Italy. (Reuters)

• Aftermath of the Sudanese Revolution
  • Amid a series of reforms, Sudan bans female genital mutilation, decriminalizes apostasy, ends public flogging and lifts a 36-year ban on the consumption of alcohol for non-Muslims, according to Justice Minister Nasreldin Abdelbari. (BBC News)
• China releases law professor Xu Zhangrun, who had criticized CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), from detention after six days. (Reuters)
• Police in Boston and in New York are investigating attacks on statues of the Virgin Mary at local Catholic churches. In Boston, a statue outside St. Peter’s Church in Dorchester neighborhood was set on fire, causing serious damage. In New York, an unidentified man was shown on security videotape painting the word “idol” on a statue outside Cathedral Prep School in Queens. (Catholic News Agency)

Tory Lanez involved in shooting, injuring Female Rap artist Megan Pete (Megan Thee Stallion).

• 2020 Polish presidential election
  • The second round of the latest presidential election in Poland takes place. Incumbent President Andrzej Duda faces Mayor of Warsaw Rafał Trzaskowski. (The Guardian)

• Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
  • The Houthis launch missiles and drones into Saudi Arabia during an overnight attack. The movement claims it successfully hit Saudi warplanes, military installations, an airport and the Jizan oil facility, operated by Aramco. Saudi-led coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki says they destroyed four missiles and six drones launched against the kingdom from capital of Yemen, Sanaa. (Al Jazeera)
• War in Afghanistan; July 2020 Afghanistan attacks
  • The Taliban attack an intelligence building in Aybak, Samangan Province, leaving 11 people dead and 63 people injured. The attack started with a suicide car bombing at the government compound and finished after gunmen were killed by Afghan security forces. (Reuters)
• 2020 Armenian–Azerbaijani skirmishes; Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
  • Several Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers are killed and/or wounded after a clash at the border of the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan. (Reuters)

• Diageo plc announces that Johnnie Walker Scotch whisky will soon be sold in paper bottles. The bottles will be made from wood pulp and will be fully recyclable. A trial run is scheduled for spring 2021. In addition, Diageo is co-launching Pulpex with venture management firm Pilot Lite that will make paper bottles for beverage companies such as Unilever and PepsiCo. (BBC News)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    • COVID-19 pandemic in California
      • California Governor Gavin Newsom orders further restrictions and prohibitions on indoor activities, building on previous orders. California has seen a sustained rise in COVID-19 cases in recent weeks, resulting in the state pausing and rolling back some reopening plans. (CNBC)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Michigan
      • Michigan begins tighter restrictions on public face mask usage, including $500 fines for refusal to wear one and the potential loss of business licenses for failure to enforce their usage. (MLive.com)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Turkmenistan
    • State media issues an order from the Ministry of Health mandating that all citizens wear masks to combat "dust", and maintain a distance between people of at least one meter (3 feet). The Turkmen government maintains that the country remains free of COVID-19 but refuses to explain the purpose of these mandates. (CTV News)

• China–United States relations
  • In response to the United States placing sanctions on Chinese officials for their roles in the internment of Uyghurs, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announces it will place sanctions on several American politicians, such as Senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, and the government agency Congressional-Executive Commission on China for "wrong actions". (BBC News)
  • The U.S. State Department formally rejects most of China's maritime claims in the South China Sea. (U.S. Department of State)

• Capital punishment in the United States
  • An appeals court overturns a ruling by a federal judge blocking the execution of convicted murderer Daniel Lewis Lee, who along with Chevie Kehoe, murdered a family during a home invasion in Arkansas in 1996. It will be the first federal execution since 2003. (BBC News)
  • Federal district judge Tanya S. Chutkan blocks the four federal executions scheduled for July and August including that of Daniel Lewis Lee, whose execution was scheduled for later today per the Chicago U.S. Court of Appeals' ruling Sunday. Judge Chutkan said this will allow continuation of the condemned men’s legal challenges to the new lethal injection protocol. She stated scientific evidence before the court overwhelmingly indicates the 2019 protocol is very likely to cause extreme pain and needless suffering during their executions. The federal government is likely to appeal her ruling. (Reuters) (NPR)

• 2020 Polish presidential election
  • The National Electoral Commission announces that incumbent President Andrzej Duda has been re-elected after winning 51.2% of the votes in a second round run-off with challenger Rafał Trzaskowski. (BBC News)
• Politics of Ivory Coast
  • Ivory Coast's Vice President Daniel Kablan Duncan resigns days after the death of Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly. His office says he is leaving for personal reasons. (Reuters)
• Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Nathan Law says he is in the United Kingdom after fleeing persecution from a controversial security law implemented by the Hong Kong government. (BBC News)

• Washington Redskins name controversy
  • The Washington Redskins announce they are dropping the team nickname and logo after decades of criticism of them being offensive to Native Americans. The new name will be announced later. (AP) (USA Today)

• Central African Republic Civil War
  • A Rwandan United Nations peacekeeper was killed and two others wounded in an ambush on a convoy in Nana-Mambéré, Central African Republic. (Al Jazeera)

• Removal of Confederate monuments and memorials
  • The University of Mississippi removes a monument of Confederate soldiers from the campus. The monument is expected to be relocated to a cemetery. (NBC News)

• 2020 Iran explosions
  • Iranian police launch an investigation following another suspicious explosion, this one at an industrial complex south of Mashhad. (Al-Monitor)
• The fire on USS Bonhomme Richard continues for a third consecutive day. The United States Navy says its crews have made significant progress fighting flames and reducing smoke, but it is still unclear when the fire will be extinguished. There have been 61 injuries; 38 sailors and 23 civilians have been treated mostly for minor injuries related to firefighting. (The San Diego Union-Tribune)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    • COVID-19 pandemic in New York
      • New York Governor Andrew Cuomo adds Minnesota, New Mexico, Ohio and Wisconsin to the state's quarantine requirement list, while Delaware is removed. (The Hill)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Virginia
      • Virginia Governor Ralph Northam says that he will increase enforcement of masks and social distancing as cases in the Hampton Roads area spike. (The Virginian-Pilot)
    • Moderna is expected to start a late stage clinical trial at 87 study locations in the United States for its COVID-19 vaccine on July 27. (Reuters)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in France
    • France is expected to make masks compulsory in indoor public spaces. (Reuters)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Venezuela
    • The number of COVID-19 cases in Venezuela surpasses 10,000. (AP)
• Mongolia puts five districts under a six-day quarantine after a 15-year-old boy dies of the bubonic plague in the remote Gobi-Altai province amid fears of an epidemic. (AFP via Al Arabiya)

• China–United States relations, 2019–20 Hong Kong protests
  • U.S. President Donald Trump signs legislation and an executive order that will "hold China accountable" for recent "oppressive actions" in Hong Kong by ending its preferential economic status with the United States. (AP) (Reuters)

• Capital punishment
  • Capital punishment in the United States
    • The Supreme Court of the United States rules 5–4 to lift the block on four federal executions scheduled for July and August. Convicted murderer Daniel Lewis Lee, whose execution was scheduled for the previous afternoon, is executed by lethal injection at the federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana. Two more executions are scheduled for later in the week. (The Washington Post)
  • Capital punishment in Iran, 2019–2020 Iranian protests
    • Following a social media campaign that generated 7.5 million posts with the hashtag #do_not_execute, the Iranian authorities halt the impending executions of three anti-government protestors who were arrested during street protests in November 2019 in which hundreds of demonstrators were killed. A retrial is ordered. (BBC News)
• George Floyd protests
  • George Floyd protests in Kentucky
    • Nearly 100 people protesting the police killing of Breonna Taylor are arrested outside the home of Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron. (NBC News)

• 2020 United States elections
  • 2020 United States Senate elections
    • People in Maine, Alabama, and Texas are expected to cast their votes in both regular and run off primaries. (CNN)
    • Former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville defeats former attorney general Jeff Sessions in the Alabama Republican primary. Tuberville will face Democratic incumbent Doug Jones. (Vox)
• July 2020 New Zealand National Party leadership election
  • Todd Muller resigns as leader of the New Zealand National Party citing health and family reasons. A party caucus elects Judith Collins as the party's new leader. (Stuff) (Stuff₂)
• 2020 Belarusian presidential election
  • The Belarusian election commission bars two prominent opposition candidates to current President Alexander Lukashenko from running in the election, ensuring a victory for Lukashenko. The barred candidates are Viktar Babaryka who was disqualified for an open criminal case against him and Valery Tsepkalo whose signatures on a supporting petition were nullified. (Reuters)
• 2020 Hong Kong pro-democracy primaries
  • Exit polls results show a strong support for young pro-democracy candidates, including independent activist Joshua Wong and League of Social Democrats candidate Jimmy Sham. A spokesperson for the Liaison Office of China in Hong Kong says that the election could be in violation of the new security law and could be nullified. (NHK-World)
• International students in the United States
  • The Trump administration reverses its student visa policy, announced on July 6, to deport international students whose courses move fully online. The plan met stiff opposition. At least 59 universities and the attorneys general of 18 states sued to block this directive. Federal district judge Allison Burroughs dismisses the first case brought to court as moot because the federal government has agreed to rescind the policy. (BBC News) (USA Today)

• UK Digital Media minister Oliver Dowden announces to the House of Commons that the country's mobile providers will be barred from buying 5G equipment from Huawei starting December 31, and will be required to remove it from their networks by 2027. Lord Browne resigned from his position as chairman of Huawei's UK branch shortly before the announcement. (BBC News)

• Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
  • Saudi-led coalition airstrikes kill at least seven civilians when they hit houses in the Al Jawf Governorate of Yemen. The Houthis report nine killed, two of them children. The coalition did not immediately comment on the airstrike. (Reuters)

• George Floyd protests in the United Kingdom
  • A statue of Black Lives Matter protester Jen Reid is briefly erected without permission on the plinth of the toppled statue of Edward Colston in the city center of Bristol before being removed the next day. (CBS News)

• Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Groupe PSA announce that when their planned merger is completed, expected in 2021, the merged company will be known as Stellantis. (Detroit Free Press)

• 2020 Iran explosions
  • At least seven ships are burnt following an unspecified incident in the Iranian port city of Bushehr. (Al Arabiya) (Bloomberg)
• At least 50 people have been killed and more than two million affected by heavy monsoon flooding in Assam, India. (BBC News)
• A record-setting rainstorm causes flash flooding in Palermo, Italy. The meter of water turns streets into rivers and traps motorists in their cars. Palermo mayor Leoluca Orlando says this "water bomb" dropped as much rain in two hours as the Sicilian capital gets in a full year. Two people are reported drowned; that has not been confirmed. (VOA) (EuroNews)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia
      • Indonesia announces the biggest daily rise of 87 new COVID-19 deaths, taking the nationwide death toll at 3,797. The country also announces their biggest daily rise of 1,414 new recoveries, taking the nationwide tally to 39,050. The cumulative cases reach 80,000. (detikNews)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in India
      • India reimposes a two-week lockdown in parts of the country as the country records 30,000 new daily cases. (Time)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Alabama
      • Governor Kay Ivey issues a mandatory statewide face mask order through July 31. (The Hill)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Florida
      • Florida exceeds 300,000 cases of COVID-19. (CBS News)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Michigan
      • Michigan reports 891 new cases, its highest single-day new case total since May 14. (MLive.com)

• Killing of George Floyd
  • A new police body camera video emerges of George Floyd pleading with officers before his death. (BBC News)
  • A lawsuit is filed against the Minneapolis police officers involved in Floyd's death. (The Chicago Tribune)
• Crime in Norway
  • A woman dies and two more people are injured during a series of stabbings in Sarpsborg, Norway. A Norwegian man, who had a relationship with the two wounded victims, is arrested. (BBC News)
• 2020 Twitter bitcoin scam
  • The Twitter accounts of notable people and businesses, including Elon Musk, Joe Biden, Bill Gates and Apple Inc., are hijacked to promote a Bitcoin scam. (CNBC)

• 2020 United States presidential election
  • Donald Trump 2020 presidential campaign
    • President Trump replaces Brad Parscale as campaign manager with Bill Stepien, former White House political director and a field director for the 2016 presidential campaign. Parscale, who has reportedly been blamed for the poorly attended rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, last month, will stay on as senior adviser. (BBC News) (UPI)
• 2020 North Macedonian parliamentary election
  • Voters in North Macedonia head to the polls to elect the members of the country's assembly. It is the first election after the country adopted its new name following a decade-long dispute. The election had to be postponed once due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. (The Guardian)
• Politics of Peru
  • Prime Minister of Peru Vicente Zeballos resigns in the face of harsh criticism of his management of the COVID-19 pandemic. He is succeeded by Pedro Cateriano. (Expreso)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    • COVID-19 pandemic in New York (state)
      • New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announces that New York is expected to move into phase four of its reopening plan. However, indoor public spaces will remain closed. (MarketWatch)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Arkansas
      • Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson announces that masks will be made mandatory in public spaces. The order is expected to go into effect on July 20. (The Hill)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Florida
      • Miami-Dade County is expected to give people who violate COVID-19 guidelines a $100 fine. (WTVJ)
    • The Centers for Disease Control extends the United States ban on cruise ships to September 30, citing ongoing COVID-19 cruise ship outbreaks. (ABC News)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Spain
    • Spain honors their COVID-19 victims at the Royal Palace of Madrid. (Reuters)
    • Spain reports their highest COVID-19 infection count since May 10, with 580 cases. These cases have increased in the regions of Aragon and Catalonia. (The New York Times)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil
    • Brazil surpasses two million cases. The death toll reaches 76,000. (AP)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
    • Reuters reports that the occupation of geisha in Tokyo is threatened by the pandemic, with awkward working conditions and the absence of new apprentices. (Reuters)

Law and crime

• Censorship of Facebook
  • Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi says his country is "looking seriously at banning Facebook in the country" after "many people complained how it is used to hurt people", being himself a target of "defamation". (RNZ)
• George Floyd protests, George Floyd protests in Oregon
  • Kate Brown, governor of Oregon, criticizes President Donald Trump and acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf amid reports of federal agents detaining protesters in Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the state. Wolf tweeted the previous day that the forces were sent to the city due to it being "under siege for 47 straight days by a violent mob." (The Hill)
• In the United Kingdom, the Court of Appeal rules that 20-year-old British-born Shamima Begum, who left the country to join ISIL in 2015, can return to the UK to fight for her citizenship after the Home Office revoked it while she was living in a refugee camp in Syria, due to her joining a terrorist group. The Home Office says the court's decision is "very disappointing" and that it would apply for permission to appeal. (BBC News)
• The European Court of Justice issues a ruling invalidating the EU–US Privacy Shield framework that allows EU-to-US data transfers by companies. (c|net)

Politics and elections

• 2020 North Macedonian parliamentary election
  • The Social Democratic Union of Macedonia is projected to win a plurality of votes in North Macedonia's latest election. The nationalist VMRO-DPMNE would come a close second. (DW)
• Politics of Gabon
  • Rose Christiane Raponda becomes the first female Prime Minister of Gabon. (Bloomberg)

Sports

• Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports
  • 2020 NFL season
    • The National Football League announces 72 of its players have tested positive for COVID-19. (Bleacher Report)

• List of changes made due to the George Floyd protests
  • United States Secretary of Defense Mark Esper issues a new Department policy that effectively bans the display and depiction of the Confederate flag at any U.S. military installation around the world. "The flags we fly must accord with the military imperatives of good order and discipline, treating all our people with dignity and respect, and rejecting divisive symbols," wrote the Secretary. (Reuters) (CNN)

• COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico
  • President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announces he will donate a quarter of his US$4,806 monthly salary to help health services fight the virus. He also encouraged other public officials to follow his move. (Reuters)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in India
      • India surpasses one million cases, as the death count reaches 25,000. (BBC News)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
      • Tokyo reports a record daily increase in COVID-19 cases, with 293 new cases. (Voice of America)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Kazakhstan, COVID-19 pandemic in Kyrgyzstan
      • Kyrgyzstan announces the addition of thousands of cases and hundreds of deaths to its COVID-19 tallies, describing the corresponding pneumonia-related cases, which had not been confirmed by tests, as most likely linked to the SARS-CoV-2 novel coronavirus. Neighboring Kazakhstan announces it will do the same starting next month. (Reuters)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    • COVID-19 pandemic in California
      • Manhattan Beach announces it will fine people who do not wear masks. (Los Angeles Times)
      • California Governor Gavin Newsom lays out new rules for schools with high COVID-19 rates to do virtual learning and close campuses until they meet certain health standards. (Politico)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Florida
      • Officials in Miami announce that they will impose a curfew at South Beach as Florida tops 10,000 cases. (CBS News)
    • Military medics are deployed to hospitals in Texas and California as cases surge. (The Chicago Tribune)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
    • Victoria state reports a record daily increase in COVID-19 cases, with 428 new cases and three new deaths. Australia in overall records 438 new cases, highest since mid-March. (Reuters) (ABC News (Australia))

• Egypt–Turkey relations, Turkey–United Arab Emirates relations, Second Libyan Civil War
  • Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan denounces Egypt and the United Arab Emirates for supporting the eastern-based Libyan forces of Khalifa Haftar. Turkey says it will maintain its support for the Government of National Accord (GNA) and calls the UAE's actions "piratical". (Reuters)
• North Korea–South Korea relations
  • South Korea revokes licenses to anti-Pyongyang groups which often send leaflets to the border with political messages. The South Korean government says these groups are "seriously hindering the unification policy of the government". The groups accuse the government of censorship. (Al Jazeera)

• George Floyd protests
  • George Floyd protests in the United States
    • George Floyd protests in Illinois
      • George Floyd protests in Chicago
        • Protesters attempt to remove a statue of Christopher Columbus at Grant Park, prompting a standoff with police. (Newsweek)
    • George Floyd protests in Kentucky
      • Prosecutors drop felony charges against 87 people who protested the Breonna Taylor police killing outside of Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron’s home. (The New York Times)
• Iranian police disperse protesters, who this week marched against the death sentence upon three political activists, and vow to "decisively" deal with further protests. The protesters march under the slogan "#StopExecutionsinIran". (DW)
• Police in Germany arrest a gunman, nicknamed Rambo due to his acts, who disarmed four policemen and escaped in the Black Forest five days before. (BBC News)

• Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports
  • 2020 Major League Baseball season
    • Major League Baseball announces five more players have tested positive for COVID-19. (ESPN)
• List of name changes due to the George Floyd protests
  • The Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League are expected to change their name due to racism and insensitivity. (ESPN)

• Japan launches a ¥70 billion payment scheme to pay firms to move factories out of China to either Japan itself or countries within the Southeast Asian region in an attempt to better secure its supply chains. 57 firms, including face mask manufacturer Iris Ohyama, are among the first to receive the subsidy. (Bloomberg)

• Crime in France
  • A fire inside Nantes Cathedral in Nantes, France, destroys the 400-year-old grand organ, which had survived two major fires in 1944 and 1972, and some stained glass windows. Police are treating the fire as arson, saying three fires appear to have been started deliberately. (BBC News)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    • COVID-19 pandemic in New York (state)
      • New York records 743 hospitalizations, its lowest since March 18. (CBS News)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Texas
      • Around 85 infants in Nueces County test positive for coronavirus. (The Hill)
    • The Food and Drug Administration issues an emergency use authorization for COVID-19 pool testing. (CNN)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Iran
      • President Hassan Rouhani says that the health ministry estimated as many as 25 million Iranians have been infected by the virus and that 30 to 35 million will be infected in the coming months as he urges the public to take the virus seriously. (AP)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia
      • Indonesia becomes the country with most cases in Southeast Asia, recording 84,882 infections, while authorities say that the actual number could be much higher due to undetected cases. (Reuters)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
    • Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews announces that masks will be mandatory in the Melbourne area. (ABC Net AU)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Romania
    • Romania surpasses 2,000 deaths from COVID-19 and sets a daily record of 889 new cases. (Romania Insider)

• George Floyd protests
  • George Floyd protests in the United States
    • George Floyd protests in Illinois
      • George Floyd protests in Chicago
        • Protesters gather near the home of Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot. (CNN)
    • George Floyd protests in Oregon
      • George Floyd protests in Portland
        • Several protesters in Portland, Oregon, are arrested. Authorities said protesters allegedly blocked exits of government buildings and launched fireworks. Saturday morning's arrests came after the US Attorney for Oregon on Friday requested an investigation into masked, camouflaged federal authorities who have recently arrested Portland protesters. (CNN)
  • List of George Floyd protests outside the United States
    • George Floyd protests in Canada
      • Three Black Lives Matter protesters are charged in Toronto for pouring pink paint on the statues of John A. Macdonald at Queen's Park and Egerton Ryerson at Ryerson University. (CBC News)
    • Policy brutality in France
      • Protesters mark the anniversary of the death of Adama Traoré. (The Guardian)
• Aftermath of the Sudanese Revolution, Late-2019 Sudanese protests
  • The government announces legal action against activists and journalists who "insulted" the military. They had accused the military of various killings during last year's protests, which the army denies. (Reuters)
  • Amid a reform of the country's Islamist laws, Sudan lifts the death penalty for homosexuality and ends flogging as punishment for homosexuals. (CGTN)
• Seven people aged between 17 to 22 are found dead, some with gunshot wounds, near Gatun Lake in Panama. The group are believed to have gone out to swim on the lake when the attack took place. The motive for the attack is also under investigation. (Al Jazeera)

• Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on politics
  • Protests over responses to the COVID-19 pandemic
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
      • COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand
        • The largest street demonstration in Thailand since the 2014 Thai coup d'état erupts at the Democracy Monument in Bangkok with around 2,500 protesters demanding the government's resignation, parliament's dissolution, and the rewriting of the constitution, defying a coronavirus ban on gatherings (Reuters)
      • COVID-19 pandemic in Israel
        • Israelis protest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his handling of COVID-19 and corruption. (Reuters)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
    • Prime Minister Scott Morrison delays parliament due to the spread of COVID-19. (Reuters)
• 2020 Russian protests
  • About 50,000 people take part in a second Saturday protest rally in Khabarovsk, Russia, against the arrest of Governor Sergei Furgal on charges of involvement in multiple murders 15 years ago, which Furgal denies. The protests, which also reflect the simmering discontent with the Kremlin’s policies, are the largest ever in Khabarovsk, a city of 590,000. The police didn't interfere with the rally. Protests are also taking place in Vladivostok and Komsomolsk-on-Amur. (BBC News) (EuroNews)
• Kuwait's 91-year-old Emir, Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, is admitted to hospital for what aides described as "routine" medical tests. Crown Prince Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the Emir's 83-year-old half-brother and designated successor, will temporarily carry out some of the Emir's duties. (BBC News) (Al Jazeera)

• Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports
  • 2020 Major League Baseball season, 2020 Toronto Blue Jays season, COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto
    • The Government of Canada rejects an exemption for the Toronto Blue Jays to play their home games in Rogers Centre in Toronto. (ESPN)

• Second Libyan Civil War; Libya-Sudan relations
  • Sudanese forces arrest about 160 people on the border with Libya who were en-route to enter the neighboring country to operate as "mercenaries". A General for the Rapid Support Forces says that "sending Sudanese to fight in Libya as mercenaries is unacceptable". (AFP via Al Arabiya)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong
      • Hong Kong records its highest one-day increase in cases since the pandemic began, with 108 new cases, including 83 local transmission cases and 25 imported cases. (BBC News)
      • Chief Executive Carrie Lam announces new measures including plans to make it compulsory to wear masks inside any public indoor venue and a new order for non-essential civil servants to work from home. (France 24)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia
      • Indonesia reports its highest one-day increase in COVID-19 deaths and recoveries, with 127 new deaths bringing the nationwide death toll to 4,143, and 2,133 new recoveries bringing the nationwide number of recoveries to 45,401. (detikHealth) (Reuters)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Texas
      • Texas Governor Greg Abbott announces that five United States Navy teams would be deployed to hospitals in Harlingen, Del Rio, Eagle Pass, and Rio Grande City. (Texas Tribune)

• Israel–European Union relations
  • The Israeli government approves the subsea EastMed pipeline which will supply Europe with natural gas. The construction of the pipeline is expected to be completed by 2025, and will provide an estimated 10 billion cubic meters of gas per year. (Reuters)

• George Floyd protests
  • George Floyd protests in Oregon
    • George Floyd protests in Portland
      • Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler renews calls for federal troops to leave the city, accusing them of "using abusive tactics against protesters." (BBC News)
• 2019–2020 Iranian protests, Capital punishment in Iran
  • Iran halts the execution of three young men who were sentenced to death for taking part in anti-government protests last year. Their lawyer says a request for a new trial was accepted by the Supreme Court after a hashtag against their executions went viral. (BBC News)
• An Algerian man in Antwerp, Belgium, dies after a police officer knelt on his back during an arrest outside a bar. The death was compared to that of George Floyd. (BBC News)
• Officials in Sierra Leone report that four protesters, looking to block the movement of a power generator to another town, were killed in the city of Makeni in Saturday's protests after both police and soldiers opened fire on them. The government had acknowledged "potential loss of life" but had not provided details. (Reuters)
• A shooting at the home of U.S. District Judge Esther Salas leaves her son dead and her husband injured. Salas herself is not injured. Law enforcement officials say the gunman was dressed in a FedEx uniform. (AP) (CNN)

• 2020 Syrian parliamentary election
  • Syrians head to the polls to elect 250 seats of parliament. It is expected that President Bashar al-Assad and his party will win most seats. It is also the first time the elections are being held in areas formerly controlled by anti-Assad forces. (DW)
• Kuwait's ruler, Emir Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, 91, undergoes successful surgery and medical treatment. Crown Prince Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, who is 83, temporarily assumes some of the powers and will maintain such powers until "the health event is over". (AP)

• Emirates Mars Mission
  • Mitsubishi Heavy Industries successfully launches Hope, a United Arab Emirates space probe to Mars, from Tanegashima Space Center in Japan. It is the first mission to Mars from the Arab world. (The Independent)

• Second Libyan Civil War, Egypt–Libya relations
  • In a closed-door session, the Parliament of Egypt authorizes the military to intervene in neighbouring Libya. President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has said Sirte is a "red-line", and that any attack on the strategic Libyan city would prompt Egyptian military action. (ABC News)
• Israeli involvement in the Syrian Civil War
  • Syrian air defenses respond to a strike over Damascus attributed to Israel, state media reports, in the latest wave of attacks that Western intelligence sources have said were Israeli strikes on a major Iranian-backed ammunition depot on the edge of the capital. According to a Syrian military sources, at least seven soldiers were wounded in the attack which also inflicted "heavy material damage". (Haaretz)

• Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cinema
  • Cinema of China, COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China, COVID-19 pandemic in Shanghai
    • Cinemas in Shanghai and Chengdu reopen after a six-month closure. (Reuters)

• Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom
  • Popular music magazine Q announces it is ceasing operations after 34 years in print amid an accelerated downturn in sales due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Reuters)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil
    • Citizenship Minister Onyx Lorenzoni and Education Minister Milton Ribeiro test positive for COVID-19. (Reuters)

• European Union response to the COVID-19 pandemic
  • The EU meeting on a post-coronavirus recovery fund enters deadlock on its fourth day. Complicating matters, the group is also negotiating a deal for the bloc's next long-term budget. Today's early talks over a proposed €750bn ($857bn / £680bn) recovery package have reportedly been testy. Resumption is scheduled for 14:00 GMT. (BBC News)
• China–United Kingdom relations, Hong Kong–United Kingdom relations
  • UK Foreign Minister Dominic Raab announces that the United Kingdom will "immediately and indefinitely" suspend its extradition treaty with Hong Kong over the controversial national security law. (BBC News)

• George Floyd protests in the United States
  • George Floyd protests in Chicago
    • Mayor Lori Lightfoot says she has "great concerns" about the possibility that President Donald Trump could deploy federal agents to Chicago to crack down on gun violence and protests, similar to an approach in Portland, Oregon. The Trump Administration will be sending 175 federal agents to Chicago to assist police in curbing violent crime. (WBBM-TV)
• Capital punishment in Iran
  • Iranian Mahmoud Mousavi-Majd, convicted of spying for the United States and Israel and on the Revolutionary Guards commander, Qasem Soleimani, is executed by hanging in Iran. (BBC News)
• Police in Panama arrest a person linked to a mass shooting two days ago which resulted in six young people killed with gunshot wounds to the head. Investigators suspect that it was a targeted attack. (BBC News)
• Roy Den Hollander, a self-described antifeminist lawyer, is named as the attacker behind the shooting at the home of U.S. District Judge Esther Salas last night, which left her son dead and her husband critically injured. Den Hollander has been found dead at a home in Rockland, New York, and is also being investigated in connection to the earlier shooting death of a southern California lawyer. (USA Today) (The Daily Beast) (NBC News)

• 2020 United States House of Representatives elections in Georgia
  • Democratic Party of Georgia Chair and State Senator Nikema Williams is selected by the party's Executive Committee to replace the name of the late incumbent John Lewis on the ballot for Georgia's 5th congressional district for the November 3 general election. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• King Salman of Saudi Arabia, 84, is admitted to a hospital due to an inflammation of the gall bladder. The hospitalization prompts Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi to cancel his scheduled visit to Saudi Arabia. (Reuters)

• Heads of Christian Denominations (ZHOCD) churches meet with Zimbabwe's political leaders to discuss pressing issues affecting the country. The southern African nation of 14.3 million is 72% Protestant and 11% Catholic, with 15% adhering to ethnic religions. (Vatican News)

• Greece–Turkey relations
  • Greece accuses Turkey of encroaching on its territorial waters after a NAVTEX was issued by the Turkish Naval Forces for "seismic surveys" off Greek islands in the Mediterranean Sea between Cyprus and Crete from July 21 to August 2. (Reuters)
  • The government places the Hellenic Armed Forces on high alert after Turkish Air Force fighter jets entered Greek airspace over Strongyli Megistis. (Ekathimerini)
• Iran–Iraq relations
  • Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi meets Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and President of Iran Hassan Rouhani where he says that "Iraq is a country that won’t allow any aggression or challenge to Iran from its territory", in the first trip abroad by Kadhimi. (Reuters)
• Taiwan–United Kingdom relations
  • Oxford City Council overwhelmingly passes a motion to establish sister city relationships with an as-yet-undetermined Taiwanese city due to Taiwan's strong human rights record and success at keeping the COVID-19 pandemic under control. This will be Taiwan and the UK's first sister city relationship and the first sister city in East Asia for Oxford. (Taiwan News)

• Aftermath of the Sudanese Revolution
  • Sudan's former president Omar al-Bashir goes on trial for several charges, including fomenting a coup in 1989 that overthrew the government of Sadiq al-Mahdi. The trial is adjourned to a bigger courtroom. If convicted, 76-year-old al-Bashir could face the death penalty. (Al Jazeera)
• Lutsk hostage crisis
  • A gunman carrying explosives takes 16 people hostage aboard a public bus in Lutsk, Ukraine. Police said they identified the man, who had expressed frustrations with the Ukrainian system on social media. All the hostages are freed unharmed following the gunman's surrender to police after hours of negotiations, shortly before the President Volodymyr Zelensky gave into one of the gunman's demands and posted a video on Facebook saying, "Everyone should watch the 2005 film Earthlings." (AP) (BBC News)
• Censorship in Pakistan
  • Pakistan blocks Bigo Live and threatens a similar move with the app TikTok over "immoral, obscene and vulgar" content. The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority says in a statement that the two platforms could have "extremely negative effects on the society in general and youth in particular", without elaborating. (AP)
• Corruption in the United States
  • Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder is arrested for bribery. (NBC News)
• List of mass shootings in the United States in 2020
  • Fifteen people are injured, six seriously, in a mass shooting at a funeral home in Chicago, Illinois. One person is in custody, but a motive remains unclear. (NBC News)
• Islam in Germany
  • The Landtag of Baden-Württemberg announces a full ban on face coverings in schools, including burqas and niqabs worn by Muslims. Previously, the ban only applied to teachers in Baden-Württemberg. Minister-President Winfried Kretschmann says that full-face veiling "does not belong in a free society". (DW)

• 2020 Bulgarian protests
  • The government survives a motion of no confidence by 124 votes against, 102 votes in favour, amidst ongoing large-scale anti-government protests. (Reuters)

• Twitter suspensions
  • Twitter bans 7,000 accounts and places restrictions on a further 150,000 that promote QAnon-related content. The social media site also announces that terms connected to the conspiracy theory will be barred from appearing on its trending topics and search feature. (NBC News)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Israeli involvement in the Syrian Civil War
  • A Hezbollah militiaman is killed by an Israeli airstrike, apparently on Monday night, near Damascus International Airport, Syria, the group reports. It is their first casualty since they warned that if it suffered further killings, they would retaliate. (Reuters)
• Papua conflict
  • Indonesian security forces deny that two people they killed late last week were "innocent civilians". The Indonesian military is fighting the separatist West Papua Liberation Army in the region, which reported that the two killed were shot without provocation. (RNZ)
• Kurdish–Turkish conflict, Operations Claw-Eagle and Tiger
  • Turkish troops have now advanced 40 km (25 mi) inside northern Iraq and established over 30 "temporary bases" in its ongoing military offensive against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), according to a Turkish official. An unnamed Turkish official tells Reuters the unprecedented advance is a prelude to an assault on the Qandil Mountains, the PKK's main stronghold in Iraq. (Ahval News)
• Boko Haram insurgency
  • ISWAP releases a video showing the execution of five kidnapped aid workers in Nigeria. The International Rescue Committee and Action Against Hunger confirmed the authenticity of the video and condemned the killings of their colleagues. (The Washington Post)

Arts and culture

• Removal of Confederate monuments and memorials
  • The United States House of Representatives votes on a bill to remove Confederate statues from the United States Capitol, as well as replacing the bust of Chief Justice Roger B. Taney with Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall. (CNN)

Business and economy

• Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
  • South Korea's economy enters recession after exports plunge to their lowest levels since 1963. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

• 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, 2020 Pacific hurricane season
  • Two tropical storms, one in the Atlantic Ocean (Gonzalo) and the other in the Pacific (Douglas), are expected to become hurricanes Thursday. Gonzalo, with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph, is east of Barbados in the Windward Islands, moving toward the west near 12 mph (19 km/h), leading Barbados to issue a Hurricane watch. Douglas's maximum sustained winds have increased to near 100 mph (155 km/h), and landfall on Hawaii is expected Sunday. (USA Today) (The Washington Post)
• Floods in Vietnam's Hà Giang province result in at least five deaths and damage more than 2,800 houses. (VnExpress)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
      • Japan reports a record of 795 new COVID-19 cases, surpass the previous single-day high set in April. (Kyodo News)
      • Tokyo cumulative cases surpasses 10,000. (The Asahi Shimbun)
      • Osaka Prefecture confirms its highest single day record of 121 new COVID-19 cases. (Kyodo News)
      • Aichi Prefecture reports its highest single day record of 53 new COVID-19 cases. (Mainichi Shimbun)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong
      • Hong Kong reports its highest one-day increase in COVID-19 cases, with 113 new cases, 105 of which are locally transmitted. (Reuters)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia
      • Indonesia reports its highest one-day increase in COVID-19 deaths, with 139 new deaths bringing its death toll to 4,459. (detikNews)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Africa
    • COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa
      • South Africa reports a record 572 new COVID-19 deaths. (Anadolu Agency)
    • The number of cases in Africa reaches 750,000. (Reuters)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    • Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
      • COVID-19 pandemic in Ohio
        • Ohio Governor Mike DeWine issues a statewide mandate requiring masks to be worn indoors and outdoors whenever social distancing isn't possible. (Reuters)
      • COVID-19 pandemic in Washington, D.C.
        • Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser announces that masks will be mandatory outside of homes to battle rising COVID-19 cases in the city. (The Hill)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in California
      • California reports the highest number of new COVID-19 cases in a single day, with 12,807 new cases that bring the statewide total to 413,576 cases, surpassing New York in the process. (The Guardian)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
    • Australia reports the highest one-day increase of new cases since the pandemic began, with 502 new cases, surpassing the previous record set on March 28 at 469 cases. Victoria records 484 new cases and two deaths, the highest of any Australian state. (The Age) (ABC News (Australia))
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil
    • Brazil reports its highest one-day increase in COVID-19 cases days after WHO says the country reaches the plateau, with 67,860 new cases that pushes the nationwide total at more than 2.2 million. (Bloomberg)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Romania
    • The number of daily cases in Romania exceeds 1,000. (Reuters)

International relations

• China–United States relations
  • The United States orders the closure of China's consulate in Houston. Morgan Ortagus, the spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of State, says that the United States directed the consulate's closure "in order to protect American intellectual property and Americans' private information". The Chinese government condemns the "outrageous and unjustified" move and threatens countermeasures against the United States. (Al Jazeera)
• Canada–United States relations
  • A Canadian federal court rules the Canada–United States Safe Third Country Agreement to be invalid, saying it violates the Charter of Rights and Freedom by making the country complicit in the United States's abuses of asylum seekers in detention. The ruling goes into effect within six months to give Parliament time to respond. (Reuters)

Law and crime

• Killing of George Floyd
  • George Floyd protests in the United States, Operation Legend
    • President Donald Trump and Attorney General William Barr announce a surge of "hundreds" of federal law enforcement officers to Chicago, Albuquerque and other cities in an effort to crack down on a recent wave of violent crime. The mayors of Portland, Seattle, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Atlanta and Kansas City pen a letter to Barr and acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf expressing "deep concern and objection to the deployment of federal forces in our cities". (Forbes)
  • Derek Chauvin, the police officer who is expected to face charges over the killing of George Floyd, faces new felony charges along with his wife Kellie. (CBS News)
• Protests over responses to the COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Israel, Corruption in Israel
    • About 2,000 Israelis protest outside the residence of Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his handling of the COVID-19 crisis and alleged corruption. (The Guardian)
• 2020 Piacenza scandal; Police brutality in Italy
  • Seven Carabinieri are arrested in Piacenza, Italy, after being accused of drug trafficking, receiving stolen goods, extortion, illegal arrest, torture, grievous bodily harm, embezzlement, abuse of office and fraud. The "leader" of the group, officer Montella, arrested and charged people with fake proof of crimes that the detainees never committed. (Corriere della Sera)
• The Alor Setar High Court in Kedah State, Malaysia, suspends a caning sentence for 27 Rohingya refugees, citing their current status and no prior history of crime. They were sentenced with 13 other refugees to seven months in jail and caning last month for illegally entering the country. (Reuters)

Sports

• Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports
  • 2020 NFL season
    • The National Football League issues a mandate requiring all fans to wear face masks at stadiums during the upcoming season. (ESPN)

• Mali War
  • Operation Barkhane
    • The office of French President Emmanuel Macron says that a French soldier was killed during operations against militants in Mali. According to the press release, the soldier died when his armored vehicle was hit by an IED. (Reuters)
• War in Afghanistan; July 2020 Afghanistan attacks
  • The Taliban attacked the Maruf District, Kandahar, Afghanistan, killing two policemen and wounding twelve others. The assault was repulsed, resulting in 27 Taliban fighters being killed. (Xinhua)

• Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
  • The Cabinet Office of Japan plans to declare that its economy has entered a recession after 71 months of growth. (Asahi Shimbun)
• German universal bank Degussa Bank is put up for sale as parent company M. M. Warburg raises funds to pay off fines and debts incurred from its participation in Germany's biggest post-war fraud scheme. The Bank is valued between €200-400 million. (Reuters)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
      • Tokyo reports its highest one-day increase in COVID-19 cases, with 366 new cases reported. (Bloomberg)
      • Japan reports its record number of new COVID-19 cases for two consecutive day, with 980 new cases reported. (Kyodo News)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong
      • Hong Kong reports 118 new COVID-19 cases, a new record in two consecutive days. The new cases include 111 cases that were locally transmitted. (Reuters)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in India
      • India reports a record of 45,720 new COVID-19 cases, taking its total number of cases to 1.24 million. (Reuters)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Iraq, Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on aviation
      • Baghdad International Airport reopens for commercial flights after months of closure during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Arab News)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in North America
    • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
      • The United States surpasses four million cases of COVID-19. (USA Today)

• Afghan peace process
  • The United States condemns Wednesday's airstrikes against the Taliban in Herat which resulted in 45 deaths, many of them civilians. The U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad said that children were killed and also condemned recent Taliban attacks. The Afghan government defends the airstrikes as an operation against the group. (Reuters)
• China–United Kingdom relations
  • China says the UK is violating international law by allowing a path to British citizenship for Hong Kong residents with a BNO passport, and threatens to stop recognising the BNO. (Reuters)

• Killing of George Floyd
  • George Floyd protests
    • George Floyd protests in Portland, Oregon
      • Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler is tear-gassed in the city's downtown, according to video from a New York Times journalist. The video shows Wheeler, wearing goggles and a face mask amid a crowd of people, holding his nose and closing his eyes in distress as a cloud of tear gas drifts by him. It is unknown at this time who is responsible for deploying the tear gas and there is nothing to indicate the mayor was targeted. (CNN)
      • Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz announces that there will be an investigation into the Justice Department’s use of force against protesters. (CBS News)
  • Police reform in the United States
    • Minnesota Governor Tim Walz signs a law banning various forms of chokeholds. (The Hastings Tribune)
• 2019 Samoa assassination plot
  • The Supreme Court of Samoa denies a bid by two of the three defendants in the case to be able to return to Australia, where they have permanent residencies. The Court argued that, aside of the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, "no amount of surety bond would overcome the risk of the men not returning for their trial", which is set for November. (RNZ)
• LGBT rights in Israel
  • Israeli MPs pass a bill to begin the process to outlaw conversion therapy, being the first Middle Eastern country to do so. The bill was passed as two of the main coalition parties joined the opposition in supporting it. It must pass two more approvals to become a new law. (BBC News)

• Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on politics
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Florida
    • President Donald Trump announces that the 2020 Republican National Convention in Jacksonville will be cancelled. (NPR)
  • 2020 Bolivian general election
    • The general election is postponed until October 18 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, which has infected more than 64,000 people, and killed more than 2,300. This is the second time the Interim Government has delayed the elections since the 2019 Bolivian political crisis late last year that forced the resignation of former president Evo Morales. (Reuters)
• The 91-year-old Emir of Kuwait Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah flies to the United States to seek further medical treatment after undergoing successful surgery days ago. (AP)

• Censorship in Malaysia
  • Malaysian Communications Minister Saifuddin Abdullah retracts his announcement yesterday that video producers on social media would require a license per the 1981 National Film Development Corporation of Malaysia (FINAS) Act, following public outcry. The initial proposal was made following the government's dispute with Al Jazeera over a documentary concerning the discrimination migrant workers faced in the country during the COVID-19 pandemic. (South China Morning Post)
• Militarisation of space
  • The United Kingdom and United States accuse Russia of conducting an anti-satellite weapon test in space. Russia's Ministry of Defence says it was testing new technology on Russian space equipment. (BBC News)
• The China National Space Administration successfully launches Tianwen-1, China's first independent interplanetary mission to Mars, from Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in Wenchang, Hainan. The mission includes an orbiter, lander and rover, which will search for evidence of both current and past life on the planet. (NBC News)

• Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports
  • 2020 Major League Baseball season
    • Major League Baseball begins its season after a four-month delay caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. (ESPN)
• National Hockey League
  • The Seattle expansion team set to begin play in the 2021–22 season announces its name of Seattle Kraken. (NHL)
• Washington Redskins name controversy
  • The Washington Redskins change their name to the Washington Football Team for the rest of 2020. The new name is a placeholder, and a permanent name will be announced in the future. (The Washington Post)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Iraqi insurgency
  • Four Katyusha rockets hit the Besmaya Range Complex in Baghdad, Iraq, where Spanish coalition troops are stationed, causing material damage but no casualties, according to the Iraqi military. No group has claimed responsibility. (Reuters)

Arts and culture

• George Floyd protests
  • George Floyd protests in Chicago, List of monuments and memorials removed during the George Floyd protests
    • Two statues of Christopher Columbus are removed from Chicago's Grant Park and Arrigo Park, in the city's Little Italy. Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot said these temporary removals are a response to demonstrations that became unsafe for both protesters and police. Injuries and arrests resulted when, on July 17, police clashed with protesters who attempted to topple the Grant Park statue. Activists say that monuments of Columbus, blamed for the genocide and exploitation of the Americas' Indigenous people, should not be on public display. Chicago's Fraternal Order of Police criticized these removals. (BBC News) (The New York Times)
• Muslims hold their first Friday prayers in the historic Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey, for the first time since the government annulled the 1934 decision to establish it as a museum, and reclassified the building as a mosque. (Hurriyet Daily News)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong
      • Hong Kong reports 123 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours. The new cases include 115 cases that were locally transmitted, making it another record for three consecutive days. (Reuters)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in India
      • India reports 49,310 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, another record high since pandemic began. (Hindustan Times)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
    • Victoria reports its highest one-day increase in COVID-19 deaths, with seven new deaths reported in the last 24 hours. (The Age)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Spain
    • Spain reports its highest daily rise of cases since the end of the state of emergency with 971 new infected cases. (El País)
  • The World Health Organization reports a record increase in global COVID-19 cases with 284,196 new cases in last 24 hours. United States and Brazil account for almost half the total. (France24)

International relations

• China–United States relations
  • China orders the closure of the United States Consulate in Chengdu, in retaliation for the United States closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston, Texas. (BBC News)

Law and crime

• George Floyd protests
  • George Floyd protests in Portland
    • Eighteen protestors are charged in Portland, Oregon, after the Trump administration sent federal police forces into the city last week. The protesters are charged with crimes such as assaulting police, arson, and trespassing. (Reuters)
• Vietnam bans the import of wildlife and wildlife products in an effort to prevent new pandemics. (BBC News)

Politics and elections

• 2020 United States presidential election
  • 2020 United States presidential election in Arizona
    • The headquarters of the Arizona Democratic Party are burnt down in the early hours of 24 July in an apparent arson attack, according to Phoenix Police Department. Nobody was hurt in the attack. The attack comes in the wake of several opinion polls showing Democratic Party presidential nominee Joe Biden as leading against his opponent, Republican Party presidential nominee Donald Trump in the state. (USA Today)
• George Floyd protests
  • George Floyd protests in Portland
    • A "Wall of Vets" join the front lines of the city's growing protests to support the rights of the protesters, to counter the demonstrators' "violent anarchists" label, and to support Navy veteran Christopher J. David, who, on Monday, was struck by federal officers as he approached them to ask a question. A "Wall of Moms" in yellow shirts and a "Wall of Dads" in orange shirts line up behind the vets, who stayed together until a cloud of tear gas scattered much of the crowd. (The New York Times) (The New York Times)²
• 2020 Belarusian presidential election
  • Prominent opposition leader Valery Tsepkalo and his two sons flee to Russia after being barred from running in the election and alleged threats of prosecution by the prosecutor's office, which declined to comment on Tsepkalo's escape. (Reuters)
• 2020 Thai protests
  • In continuing protests across the country, young Thai activists burn images of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and his deputy, Prawit Wongsuwan, outside the government house in growing calls for their resignations. (Reuters)
• Roughly half of the staff of index.hu, Hungary's biggest news site, resign in protest of the firing of the editor-in-chief last week. The termination happened months after 50% of the site's advertising was purchased by media executive Miklos Vaszily, who has close ties to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. (The New York Times)

Science and technology

• Facebook and Twitter remove, on order of the Supreme Federal Court, numerous accounts that support Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro for promoting fake news. The Brazilian Labour Party, a member of the ruling coalition, condemns Justice Alexandre de Moraes for issuing the order. (Reuters)

• War in Darfur
  • 2020 Darfur attacks
    • At least 20 people are killed and 22 others wounded in a mass shooting in a village in South Darfur, Sudan. (Reuters)
• American-led intervention in Iraq (2014–2021)
  • CJTF–OIR hands over control of Besmaya Range Complex in Baghdad Governorate, which houses Spanish troops, to Iraqi security forces. It is the seventh military base to be handed over to Iraqi forces since the beginning of the withdrawal of U.S. and coalition troops. (Xinhua)

• 2020 Atlantic hurricane season
  • Hurricane Hanna
    • Tropical Storm Hanna is upgraded to a hurricane and heads toward the Texas coast, threatening to bring heavy rain, storm surge and possible tornadoes. Hanna is reported as the first hurricane of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season by the U.S. National Hurricane Center. (AP)
• Three people are killed when a microlight aircraft crashes into a home in Wesel, NRW, Germany. (BBC News)
• Four people are killed when a small plane crashes in Blatten, Valais, Switzerland. (Il Messaggero)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong
      • Hong Kong reports a record of 133 new cases of COVID-19 for the fourth consecutive day, as well as two deaths. 126 of these cases are locally transmitted. (South China Morning Post)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea
      • South Korea reports 113 new cases of COVID-19. This is the largest one-day increase since March. Of these new cases, 86 were imported and 27 were locally transmitted. (The Japan Times)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam
      • Vietnam confirms its first case of COVID-19 community transmission in 100 days. A patient is a 57-year-old man in Da Nang who had no prior contact with any known cases. (VnExpress)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Qatar
      • Retired footballer and current coach of Al Sadd SC Xavi Hernández announces he tested positive for COVID-19. (Forbes)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in North Korea
      • Kim Jong-un convenes an emergency meeting of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, declares a state of emergency, and orders the lockdown of Kaesong after a person suspected of having COVID-19 returned from South Korea, after illegally crossing the DMZ. If confirmed, it would be the first time a case of COVID-19 has been officially acknowledged by North Korea. (Reuters)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Florida
      • Florida surpasses New York, once the epicenter of the pandemic, to hold the second highest number of COVID-19 cases in the United States, with a total 414,511 confirmed cases. (CNN)

• George Floyd protests
  • George Floyd protests in Seattle
    • Forty-five people are arrested after protesters throw explosives and rocks at police in Seattle. Other rioters set fire to a portable trailer and a construction site, police allege in a series of tweets. Twenty-one officers were injured, including one who was hospitalized with a leg injury caused by an explosive. (CNN)
  • George Floyd protests in Texas
    • During an evening protest in Austin, Texas, a man is fatally shot as he approached a vehicle and the driver inside opened fire. A police spokesperson says the victim may have been carrying a rifle. She added that the suspect was detained and is cooperating with police. (AP via Dallas Morning News)

• 2020 Central African Republic general election
  • Deposed president François Bozizé announces his bid for the presidency, despite being the subject of sanctions by the United Nations and an arrest warrant, issued by the current government, for alleged crimes against humanity. The Central African Republic has been in a civil war between Muslims and Christians since he was deposed in 2013. It is not known whether the charges against him will play a role in his candidacy. (Reuters)
• 2020 Thai protests, LGBT rights in Thailand
  • An LGBT group gathers at the Democracy Monument, Bangkok, to call for legalization of same-sex marriage in addition to the three demands stated by Free Youths. (Prachatai)
• The Parliament of Somalia conducts a no-confidence vote of 170–8 to oust Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire. (Reuters)

• Global warming
  • A record high temperature of 21.7°C (71.1°F) is recorded on the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, according to the Norwegian Meteorological Institute. (Global News)

• Syrian civil war
  • A bombing at an outdoor market in Ras al-Ayn, al-Hasakah, Syria, kills at least eight people and injures 19 others. Turkey, which occupies the border town, blames Kurdish insurgents for the attack. (AP)
• Afghan peace process
  • The Taliban accuse the government of re-capturing freed Taliban prisoners, a claim Kabul denies as "incorrect". A Taliban spokesman tells the government to "bear responsibility for the consequences", as fears grow that some of the prisoners are returning to the battlefield. As part of the peace process, the government has freed around 5,000 prisoners. (CNA)
• War in Donbass
  • The government of Ukraine concludes a ceasefire deal with rebel forces, which will begin at midnight. The conflict in Eastern Ukraine has been going on since 2014, and has killed over 14,000 people. (AP)

• 2020 Atlantic hurricane season
  • Hurricane Hanna
    • Hurricane Hanna weakens to a tropical depression after making landfall in southern Texas and northern Mexico. (CNN)
• Two adults and a baby are killed when a Piper PA-32 crashes in West Jordan, Utah. Four other people are injured, three critically. (CNN)
• Malaysia launches a search and rescue operation as 24 Rohingya are feared dead off the coast of Langkawi. According to the authorities, the people tried to swim to the coast when their boats could not make it to land. (Reuters)
• At least 15 people are dead and 21 others injured in a bus accident near Phong Nha, Quảng Bình Province, Vietnam. Some local officials said that the driver had possibly lost control when making a turn. (VnExpress)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam
      • Da Nang becomes Vietnam's first province or centrally governed city to reinstate social distancing measures after two new local infection COVID-19 cases with unknown source of transmission. (Reuters)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in North Korea
      • North Korea declares a state of emergency after its first case of COVID-19 is confirmed. The government claims the patient defected to South Korea then returned to North Korea. (The Daily Beast)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
    • Australia reports its deadliest day since COVID-19 pandemic hit the country, with 10 new deaths in the last 24 hours; all of them in Victoria, which also reports its highest one day increase of new deaths. (The Age)

• George Floyd protests in Australia
  • The Supreme Court of New South Wales grants the New South Wales Police permission to block a Black Lives Matter protest in Sydney that is due to be held on July 28. The Supreme Court ruled that the rally is a prohibited public assembly, but police agreed to a stay stopping the order taking effect until 10am on July 27 pending the lodging of any appeal. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
• French police arrest a 39-year-old Rwandan refugee who is charged with arson after he admitted setting fires inside Nantes Cathedral on July 18, which destroyed the 17th-century grand organ and stained-glass windows. (BBC News)

• 2020 Thai protests
  • An event called "Let's run, Hamtaro" is organised at the Democracy Monument in Bangkok. It was initially an online activism, later spread via Twitter, and eventually gathered around 3,000 people. The event consisted of running around the monument whilst singing a jingle from Hamtaro, a famous Japanese cartoon, with some amendments to the lyrics as a satire to political corruption. The well-known lyrics from Hamtaro; "the most yummy things of all are... sunflower seeds!", was amended into a satire "the most yummy things of all are... citizens' taxes!". (Thairath) (Reuters)

• Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on association football, 2020 V.League 1
  • The Vietnamese national football league becomes the first in the world to be postponed for a second time due to COVID-19. (VnExpress)

• War in Darfur
  • 2020 Darfur attacks
    • The UN says approximately 500 gunmen attacked a Masalit community in West Darfur, looting, burning down houses, and killing more than 60 people. (DW)
• 2020 Israel–Hezbollah clashes
  • Explosions and exchanges of fire are heard during an armed incident involving Israeli troops and Hezbollah at the border between Israel and Lebanon. Four Hezbollah militants crossed the border and fled back to Lebanon after being shot at, while IDF reported no Israeli casualties. An Israeli shell smashed in a Lebanese civilian home, narrowly missing a family in the house at the time, but nobody was hurt. (The New York Times) (Reuters)
• 2019–2021 Iraqi protests
  • Two protesters in Baghdad are killed by Iraqi security forces when they are hit by teargas canisters in the head and on the neck; the forces also opened fire at demonstrators in Tahrir Square. The protesters were protesting power cuts in the midst of a heatwave. It was the first major spate of violence at the Square in months. Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi condemns the killings and orders an investigation. (Reuters)
• Mali War
  • ECOWAS demands the release of Malian opposition leader Soumaila Cissé, who was kidnapped in March just days before a disputed election, asks 31 elected MPs whose results were disputed to resign, and requests an urgent inquiry into protesters' deaths on 10–12 July. President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta is given ten days to respond to the bloc's proposals or face sanctions. (BBC News)
• War in Donbass
  • Ukraine's military says pro-Russian separatists have violated a ceasefire in Eastern Ukraine just hours after it was declared, after opening fire on Ukrainian positions with anti-tank grenade launchers and small arms. Ukrainian forces did not return fire. (Reuters)

• Musician Drake breaks the record for the most top ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100, surpassing Madonna. (Billboard)

• Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
  • The price of gold hits a record high of US$1,944 per ounce as uncertainty over the global economy grows due to a resurgence in COVID-19 cases. The previous record was set in 2011 when prices hit US$1,921 per ounce. (CNN)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in China
      • COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong
        • Hong Kong announces a ban on all dine-in services at restaurants and restricting public gatherings not from the same family to only two people starting 29 July and orders the compulsory wearing of masks in outdoor public areas, with only medical exemptions. Sports venues and swimming pools are also closed. (Bisnis Indonesia) (Bloomberg)
        • Hong Kong reports a record 145 cases of COVID-19; 142 of them are locally transmitted. (Reuters)
      • COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China
        • China reports 61 new cases, up from 46 cases a day earlier, with new infections not involving people returning from overseas hitting the highest number since early March of 57. (U.S. News & World Report)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in India
      • India reports 50,362 new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours. This is the highest one day increase since the pandemic hit the country and the first time daily new cases in India crossed 50,000 mark. (Times of India)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia
      • Indonesia's total COVID-19 cases pass 100,000; 58% of them are recovered. (detikHealth)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam
      • After three residents tested positive for COVID-19, Vietnam announces it will evacuate 80,000 people, mostly domestic tourists, from Da Nang. The evacuation will span at least four days and involve roughly 100 domestic flights per day. (Sky News)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Oceania
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
      • Victoria reports its record number of new COVID-19 cases so far, with 532 cases in the last 24 hours, as well as six deaths. This number also made it Australia's highest one day increase of new cases. (ABC News Australia)
      • New South Wales reports 17 new cases of COVID-19. Of these, eight are returning travellers in hotel quarantine and another nine are locally transmitted, including one case under investigation. (The Australian)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Papua New Guinea
      • Prime Minister James Marape announces a two-week lockdown of the capital amid a spike of infections in the city. Schools are also ordered to close. (RNZ)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium
    • Belgium announces the unveiling of drastic social distancing measures aimed at avoiding a new lockdown. These measures include restricting social contact outside every household to five people over the next four weeks and limiting crowds at public events to 100 people indoors and 200 people outdoors. This measure will take effect next Wednesday. (France24)
    • Antwerp imposes a curfew from 11.30 p.m. to 6 a.m and the mandatory wearing of face masks in public spaces should a distance of 1.5 meters between individuals not be observed. (The Washington Post)

• China–Philippines relations
  • Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte says he has no choice but to treat the disputes in the South China Sea diplomatically because the alternative is to "go to war with China", defending a government decision not to press a ruling that went in favor of the Philippines. Separately, Duterte claimed China may offer vaccines “on credit” if not as a donation and grants package. (Reuters) (Asia Times)
• China–India relations, Boycott China
  • The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology of the Government of India bans 47 Chinese-origin apps on the grounds that these apps were clones of banned apps made by Chinese companies to circumvent bans. The ban comes less than a month after 59 apps were banned in June, including TikTok and Helo, as the government deemed them a "threat to national security". India also begins investigating over 250 Chinese apps over user privacy violations including popular Tencent-backed gaming app PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds. The bans comes in the wake of a movement to boycott Chinese products in India following the 2020 China-India skirmishes. (India Today)
• Libyan Civil War (2014–present)
  • The United Nations Support Mission in Libya announces it will begin an audit of the central banks of the internationally-recognized Government of National Accord and the rival House of Representatives, saying it is a “critical step” in eventually uniting both factions. (Reuters)

• George Floyd protests in Portland, Oregon
  • United States Attorney General William Barr defends the Department of Justice's decision to send security forces to Portland in a congressional testimony. Portland has seen 61 consecutive days of protests, which escalated after federal officers arrived this month. (BBC News)
• Rene Boucher is sentenced to an additional eight months in prison for assaulting United States Senator Rand Paul in 2017. (NBC News)
• French Environment Minister Barbara Pompili announces that France will ban the use of terrace heaters in restaurants and cafes by the end of this winter to cut down on carbon emissions. (Reuters)
• German prosecutors launch an investigation into a retired Bavarian police officer and his wife for sending several threatening emails to politicians of Turkish background, including the head of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany, signing them with "NSU 2.0". (Reuters)
• Indonesian police arrest four executives at Indonesian recruitment agencies and charge them with human trafficking in connection with the alleged torturing to death of an Indonesian worker on board a Chinese fishing vessel last month. (Channel News Asia)

• 2020 Singaporean general election
  • Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his new Cabinet of Singapore is sworn-in at dual locations at the Istana and the Parliament House due to the ongoing COVID-19 social distancing restrictions. (Channel News Asia)
• George Floyd protests
  • Six Democratic mayors, of Portland, Chicago, Seattle, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Kansas City, Missouri, and Washington, D.C., urge the US Congress to block the Trump administration from sending federal law enforcement agents to their cities, saying the agents' presence, against the request of local authorities, is unlawful. (BBC News)

• Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports
  • 2020 NFL season
    • NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell cancels the preseason due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (NFL)
  • 2020 Major League Baseball season
    • Monday's regularly scheduled baseball games between the Baltimore Orioles and Miami Marlins, and the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies, are postponed because 14 members of the Marlins traveling party, including 12 players, tested positive for COVID-19. Tuesday's Orioles-Marlins game is also postponed; the status of the second Yankees-Phillies game will be announced later. Miami just finished a three-game series in Philadelphia this past weekend. Before Sunday’s series finale, Miami learned that four of its players had tested positive and adjusted its lineup accordingly. (WFLA-TV) (The New York Times)

• Three Sudanese migrants are killed and four others injured after Libyan authorities opened fire against them during landing operations in the city of Al-Khums. (La Repubblica)

• A 63-year-old woman is killed in a great white shark attack near Bailey Island, off the coast of Maine, United States. It is the first ever fatal shark attack on record in Maine, and only the second attack ever recorded in the state. (BBC News)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam
      • Vietnam confirms 18 new cases, the highest number of local transmitted cases in 24 hours since March. (Vietnamese Health Ministry)
      • Vietnam suspends all flights to and from Da Nang and closes its airport for 15 days after 14 COVID-19 cases are confirmed in that city. (Bangkok Post)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Iran
      • Iran records a record high 235 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours. The health ministry urges not to visit Mashhad as the virus infections rose by 300 percent over a one month period. (Al Arabiya)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia
      • Indonesia reports a record high 2,366 recoveries from COVID-19 in the last 24 hours. West Java reports a most number with 627 new recoveries. (detikNews)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
      • Osaka and Aichi prefectures post a single day record high of 155 and 110 new COVID-19 cases respectively in the last 24 hours. (The Japan Times)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Belarus
      • Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko tests positive for COVID-19. (DW)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Malta
      • Malta's health ministry states that of 94 migrants rescued from the sea yesterday, 65 have tested positive for COVID-19. (Reuters)

• United States–Zimbabwe relations
  • Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU–PF threatens U.S. ambassador Brian A. Nichols with expulsion and calls him a "thug", accusing him of funding organizers of anti-government protests planned for Friday. The embassy denies the accusations of meddling in local politics and did not comment on the insult. (AP)

• 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal
  • Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak is found guilty by the Malaysian High Court and sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment and fined RM210 million (US$47 million). The High Court convicted Najib on all seven counts of abuse of power, money laundering and criminal breach of trust over misappropriating over RM42 million (US$ 10 million) from 1Malaysia Development Berhad's former subsidiary SRC International to his personal bank accounts. (Malay Mail) (BBC News) (Channel News Asia)
• George Floyd protests in Australia
  • The New South Wales Police arrests six people, including organizer Paddy Gibson, at a Black Lives Matter rally in Sydney; five of those were handed penalty infringement notices. They arrested them because they were breaching a public health order. (ABC News Australia)
• 2020 Nova Scotia attacks
  • Following massive public backlash, Public Safety Minister Bill Blair announces a public inquiry will be held over the law enforcement response to the rampage in Nova Scotia, Canada, last April, which left 23 dead, including the gunman. (Global News)
• A woman and her brother-in-law are arrested in Essen and Hildesheim, Germany, respectively, after they travelled to Syria to join ISIL. The woman also travelled with her four young children. (AP)

• Hong Kong legal scholar and pro-democracy activist Benny Tai is fired from his tenured position as associate professor of law at the University of Hong Kong, due to his prior arrest for coordinating the Umbrella Revolution. Tai in a Facebook post called it the "end of academic freedom" in the city. (Reuters)
• Chilean President Sebastián Piñera sacks six ministers in his cabinet, including Interior Minister Gonzalo Blumel, as a response to the current political crisis. Last week, a constitutional reform to change the pension system and increase support for COVID-19-affected families was approved with cross-party support despite the government's rejection. (Reuters)

• Astronomers at Pan-STARRS announce the discovery of a small near-Earth object (NEO) HLV2514, which is an Amor asteroid near Mars. The asteroid was first discovered in June 2020 by two 14-year-old Indian schoolgirls who were participating in a NASA project. (CNN)

• Yemeni Civil War, Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen; Yemeni peace process
  • The separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC) announces it is giving up its aspiration of self-rule in Yemen to implement a stalled peace deal brokered by Saudi Arabia. A spokesman for the group says they have "achieved their goal". The STC believes in establishing an independent state in southern Yemen similar to the one that existed between 1967 and 1990. (AP)
• Syrian civil war
  • The U.S. imposes further sanctions on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his 19-year-old son Hafez, and warns that it will also sanction anyone who engages with the government in Damascus. Kelly Craft, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, says the sanctions are not intended to harm civilians and that they do not target humanitarian aid. (Reuters)

• Archeologists at Stonehenge pinpoint the origin of the structure's large Sarsen stones to a site 25 kilometers (16 mi) north near Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. (BBC News)

• Cuba loosens some regulations on state-run companies and farmers, and allows for U.S. dollars to be used in internal trade, as the country seeks to revitalize its economy in the midst of both the COVID-19 pandemic in the region and the economic decline of its trading partner Venezuela. (Reuters)
• The Central Bank of Brazil announces that it will start producing 200 reais bills starting in August. (G1)
• Zimbabwe's government signs a $3.5 billion agreement with the Commercial Farmers' Union to compensate white farmers who were forcibly evicted from their land during a controversial land redistribution program in the 2000s under former President Robert Mugabe. (CNN)

• A train derails following a bridge collapse on Tempe Town Lake in Tempe, Arizona, sparking a fire. (NBC News)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
      • Iwate reports its first cases of COVID-19 infections, with two people testing positive. (Mainichi Shimbun)
      • Japan's daily new COVID-19 cases tops 1,000 for the first time. (NHK World)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam; COVID-19 pandemic in Equatorial Guinea
      • Vietnam repatriates 219 of its citizen from Equatorial Guinea with at least 120 of them reported to be COVID-19 infectees. (VnExpress)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China
      • China reports 101 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours. This is the highest number of new cases since mid-April, and 89 of them are from Xinjiang. (Reuters)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in South America
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil
      • The number of deaths in Brazil reaches past 90,000. (New Straits Times)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Peru
      • The number of cases in Peru reaches past 400,000. (The Asian Age)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Maryland
      • Maryland Governor Larry Hogan announces that the state will tighten their mask mandate to prevent a spike in cases. (The Hill)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Texas
      • The number of cases in Texas surges past 400,000 as 313 COVID-related deaths are recorded in a day. (Financial Times)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Zimbabwe
    • Incumbent Minister of Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement Perrance Shiri dies from COVID-19 at the age of 65. (Reuters)

• Fiji–United States relations
  • Fiji's opposition parties urge the government to reconsider its decision of closing Fiji's embassy in the United States, the European Union, and other countries, and blame Chinese influence in the Pacific. (RNZ)
• Belarus–Russia relations
  • Belarusian security forces arrest 32 members of the private military company Wagner Group at a sanitarium near Minsk in an overnight raid. All those detained are Russian nationals, according to authorities. President Alexander Lukashenko convenes an emergency meeting with his security council, and instructs the Chairman of the State Security Committee to ask Russia for an official explanation. (The Guardian)

• George Floyd protests
  • George Floyd protests in Minneapolis–Saint Paul
    • A masked, umbrella-wielding man accused of helping incite riots and looting in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd is identified. (ABC News)
  • George Floyd protests in Portland, Oregon
    • Oregon Governor Kate Brown announces that federal agents deployed to Portland, including all Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, will start withdrawing tomorrow, per her conversation with Vice President Mike Pence. (Business Insider)
  • George Floyd protests in Wisconsin
    • Two women, Kerida O’Reilly (33) and Samantha Hamer (26), are charged for attacking Wisconsin State Senator Tim Carpenter outside the Wisconsin State Capitol building in Madison. (The Hill)
• Censorship in Turkey
  • The Grand National Assembly of Turkey passes a new social media regulation bill that requires foreign sites to appoint Turkish-based representatives to help monitor content, and will punish companies that don't comply with fines and throttling bandwidth. (Reuters)
• Blasphemy in Pakistan
  • A man accused of blasphemy under a new controversial law is shot dead by a gunman in the courtroom while he was standing trial for allegedly insulting Islam. The victim was part of the Ahmadiyya faith, a minority Islamic sect that Pakistan declared non-Muslim in 1974 for regarding its founder as a prophet. The suspect was a former member. (DW)
• A man accused of attacking pro-democracy Hong Kong activist and convener of the Civil Human Rights Front Jimmy Sham says he was offered a HK$2 million bounty to "cripple" him in last year's attack. (South China Morning Post)
• Moroccan journalist and human rights activist Omar Radi is arrested and charged with rape and aiding foreign spies. The charges come after Amnesty International reported that the Moroccan government was using Israeli spyware to spy on dissidents like him. (Reuters)

• War in Afghanistan
  • July 2020 Afghanistan attacks
    • A car bombing in Puli Alam, Logar Province, kills at least 17 people and injures 30 others. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid says the group has "nothing to do" with the bombing. (BBC News)
  • Nine Taliban militants, including two leaders, are killed by security forces during clashes in Ghazni Province. (TOLOnews)
• Syrian civil war
  • A car bombing attack leaves 5 people dead and another 12 injured in Tel Halef village, Syria. (Reuters)
• Iraqi insurgency (2017–present)
  • A bomb kill a soldier in Diyala Governorate, Iraq. (National Iraqi News Agency)
• A man shoots dead two policemen in Charsadda, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. (Dawn)

• Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
  • The United States economy suffers its worst quarter since World War II, with the GDP shrinking by an annualized rate of 32.9% in the April–June period. (The Guardian)

• 2020 Atlantic hurricane season
  • Hurricane Isaias
    • Hurricane Isaias is expected to head towards Florida, prompting the state to close their COVID-19 test sites. The hurricane has made landfall in Puerto Rico, causing landslides, flooding, and power outages. (CBS News) (CNN)
• Kōriyama explosion
  • An explosion destroys a restaurant in Kōriyama, Japan, killing one person and injuring another 18. A gas leak is suspected to be the cause of the accident. (The Mainichi Shimbun)
• United States Marine Corps
  • One Marine is killed and one Sailor and seven additional Marines went missing when their Amphibious Assault Vehicle sinks near San Clemente Island off the coast of Southern California. They were from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, stationed at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, San Diego County. This is the third major AAV accident involving Camp Pendleton Marines since 2011. (Reuters) (AP)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in China
      • COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong
        • Hong Kong reports its largest single day record of 149 new cases of COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours as well as one death. From that new cases, 145 of them are locally transmitted. (Reuters) (South China Morning Post)
        • Hong Kong government has reversed a day-old total ban on restaurants serving dine-in customers that was introduced to control the spread of COVID-19, and publishes new guidelines that allow restaurants could operate dine-in facilities but only during the day, at 50% capacity, and with no more than two people at a table. (AFP via The Guardian)
      • COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China
        • Mainland China reports 105 new COVID-19 cases and 96 of them are in Xinjiang. (Reuters)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
      • Tokyo reports 367 new COVID-19 cases. It is the highest jump of new cases since the pandemic began. (Asahi Shimbun)
      • Japan reports a single day record high of 1,274 new COVID-19 cases. (The Japan Times)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in India
      • India reports its largest single day record of 52,123 new cases of COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours. (Anadolu Agency)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Ukraine
      • Ukraine reports a record high of 1,197 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours. (The Jerusalem Post)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Romania
      • Romania reports a record high of 1,356 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours. (Romania Insider)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Poland
      • Poland reports a record high of 615 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, and authorities warn of a reinstatement of quarantine measures for travellers from other countries. (Swissinfo) (Reuters)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Wisconsin
      • Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers issues a mask mandate, which is expected to go into effect on August 1. (ABC News)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
    • Victoria records 723 new cases, as well as 13 deaths. It is the highest jump of number of cases and deadliest day since the start of the pandemic in Australia. (The Age)
    • New South Wales reports its first COVID-19 cases from prison inmates as the state reports 18 new cases. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil
    • First Lady Michelle Bolsonaro tests positive for COVID-19. (NPR)
  • The number of worldwide recoveries of COVID-19 surpasses ten million. (Johns Hopkins University)

• Malaysia–Philippines relations, North Borneo dispute
  • Malaysian Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Hussein summons the Philippine ambassador after Philippine Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. tweeted Monday to the U.S. embassy in Manila that Sabah does not belong to Malaysia. Locsin summons the Malaysian ambassador in tit-for-tat. (Al Jazeera)

• Agbudu shooting
  • A mass shooting in Kogi State, Nigeria leaves 14 people dead and another six injured. Thirteen of the fatalities were member of the same family. Police said that a long-standing row over land rights is suspected to be the motive behind the attack. (The Guardian Nigeria)
• Shooting of Michael Brown
  • St. Louis County prosecutor Wesley Bell announces that Darren Wilson, the Ferguson police officer that shot and killed Michael Brown, will not be charged. (The New York Times)
• Twelve people are dead and nine others injured during a mass shooting in the Democratic Republic of Congo, carried out by a drunk soldier. (Reuters)
• Former U.S. Marine Trevor Reed, a 29-year-old student, is sentenced for nine years in a Russian penal colony for assaulting two police officers while drunk last year in Moscow. Reed's father told reporters after the verdict he is planning to appeal directly to Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Al Jazeera)
• A court in Uganda sentences a poacher who killed a rare gorilla named Rafiki to 11 years in prison. Rafiki, a 25-year-old silverback who was the head of a gorilla group in the southwestern Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, was killed with a spear in early June. (Al Jazeera)

• 2020 Hong Kong legislative election
  • At least 12 Hong Kong pro-democracy nominees for the September election are disqualified, among them, Dennis Kwok, Joshua Wong, Tiffany Yuen, and three others from the Civic Party. Other nominations were still being reviewed, the government said in a statement expressing support for the disqualifications. (AP)
• Presidency of Donald Trump
  • U.S. President Donald Trump has suggested November's presidential election could be postponed, saying increased postal voting could lead to fraud and inaccurate results. Under the U.S. Constitution, Trump does not have the authority to postpone the election himself; a delay would have to be approved by both houses of Congress. (BBC News)

• Exploration of Mars
  • The Mars 2020 mission carrying the Perseverance rover and Mars helicopter Ingenuity successfully launches atop an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral SLC-41. (Space.com)

• Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports
  • 2019–20 NBA season
    • The National Basketball Association season resumes at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex after a 141-day suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The season resumes with the New Orleans Pelicans taking on the Utah Jazz. (People) (CBS Sports)
• A Saudi-backed consortium ends its bid to purchase Premier League team Newcastle United. The takeover bid was stalled due to concerns about Saudi Arabia's human rights record and the Kingdom's promotion of the pirate TV station beoutQ. (Al Jazeera)

• 2020 Chaman border clash
  • Twenty-two people are killed in clashes between Afghan civilians and Pakistani military forces. Fifteen people died and 80 others injured in Kandahar after Pakistani soldiers attacked civilian areas, while seven people were killed and 31 others injured in Pakistan when a crowd trying to enter Afghanistan became unruly and attacked military installations. The Afghan government warns of action if Pakistan "continues its rocket attacks", while the Pakistani military says it opened fire in self-defense, returning fire to the Afghan side. (Reuters)

• Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, COVID-19 recession
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Spain
    • The Spanish economy suffers a historically large fall in the second quarter of 18.5% of GDP and enters in recession, making Spain the Eurozone country most economically devastated by the pandemic. (El Mundo)
  • Eurozone suffers an unprecedented 12.1% drop in GDP and enters in technical recession. (Euronews)
• James Murdoch, the younger son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, resigns from the board of News Corporation citing "disagreements over editorial content ... (and) some strategic decisions." News Corp owns media in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. (BBC News)

• 2020 Atlantic hurricane season
  • Hurricane Isaias heads toward the Bahamas and the U.S. as a category 1 hurricane, after causing floods and landslides in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. A hurricane warning is issued for Florida's Atlantic Coast. (DW) (The Weather Channel)
• 2020 Kenai Peninsula mid-air collision
  • Seven people are killed in a mid-air collision near Soldotna, Alaska, United States. Among those killed was Alaska State Representative Gary Knopp. (The New York Times) (KTUU-TV)
• A minibus accident in Crimea (a disputed territory of Ukraine and Russia) leaves at least nine people dead and another nine wounded. (Reuters)
• An Alfa Pendular high-speed train derails in Coimbra, Portugal, killing two people and injuring at least 30 others. (BBC News)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam
      • Vietnam reports a record 82 new COVID-19 cases in a day. (Vietnamese Heath Ministry)
      • Vietnam reports its first two deaths from COVID-19. The two men, "Patient 428" and "Patient 437" died of "complications from background diseases and COVID-19". (VnExpress)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines
      • President Rodrigo Duterte downgrades the lockdown restrictions on Cebu City to the level of "general community quarantine", while extending the same level of restriction on Metro Manila until mid-August. (Al Jazeera)
      • The Philippines report a record high of 4,063 new cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began. (Reuters)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
      • Tokyo registers another record of new COVID-19 cases in a single day since the pandemic began, with 463 new cases. Governor Yuriko Koike says the city may need to declare its own state of emergency if the virus continues to spread. (The Japan Times)
      • Japan reports another record of more than 1,500 cases in a single day. (Kyodo News)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in India
      • India reports a record 55,079 new COVID-19 cases, as well as 779 deaths. In the last 24 hours, 37,223 COVID-19 patients were cured and discharged, which also is the highest number of recoveries since the pandemic began. (Livemint)
      • India surpasses Italy in COVID-19 deaths, becoming the fifth-highest. (India.com)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China
      • China reports 127 new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours. From that, 123 of them were locally transmitted which includes 112 in Xinjiang and 11 in Liaoning. It is the highest number of cases reported since March 5. (Reuters)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in North America
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico
      • The number of COVID-19 deaths in Mexico reaches 46,688, surpassing the United Kingdom. The death toll in the country is the third-highest in the world. (CNA) (Reuters)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
      • The United States government is expected to pay $2.1 billion to Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline to try to develop and deliver 100 million doses of their potential COVID-19 vaccine. (CNBC)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom
    • COVID-19 pandemic in England
      • UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson postpones lockdown easing in England, for at least two weeks, after an increase in coronavirus cases. (BBC News)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Fiji
    • Fiji reports its first death from COVID-19. Health minister Ifereimi Waqainabete reported it as a 66-year-old man who had been repatriated from India where he had been receiving treatment. The man apparently contracted it while in India. (RNZ)
  • The World Health Organization reports a record increase in global COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, with the total rising by more than 292,000. (Reuters)

• Travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the Bahamas, COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    • The Bahamas announces that travelers from the United States will be required to either present a negative COVID-19 test or quarantine for 14 days. (USA Today)

• 2020 Twitter bitcoin scam
  • A 17-year-old boy in Tampa, Florida, U.S., is arrested and charged for his role in the Twitter bitcoin hack earlier this month. Two others, a man in Orlando, Florida and a man in the United Kingdom, were also charged. (Yahoo! Finance)
• Nine people are killed and five others injured during a shooting amid a dispute over ownership of a forest in Upper Dir, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. (Dawn)
• The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit overturns the death sentence of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on five counts, ruling the judge erred several times in their initial decision. A new sentencing trial will take place. (CNN)

• Afghan peace process
  • The government and the Taliban begin a three-day truce to start intra-Afghan talks. Early today, President Ashraf Ghani ordered the release of 500 Taliban prisoners to "show goodwill" to start the talks. (DW)
• Postponement of the 2020 Hong Kong legislative election
  • Citing the threat of COVID-19, Chief Executive Carrie Lam invokes emergency powers to postpone Hong Kong's election until September 5, 2021. (WNBC-TV)
• The UK House of Lords adds 36 new peers to their ranks. New members include Boris Johnson's brother Jo Johnson, former cricket captain Sir Ian Botham, Evening Standard owner Evgeny Lebedev, and former chancellors Kenneth Clarke and Philip Hammond. Lord Speaker Norman Fowler criticizes these peerages for making the House too large. (BBC News)

• Twitter suspensions
  • White supremacist David Duke is permanently suspended from Twitter for repeatedly violating its rules on hate speech. (The Washington Post)
• China–United States trade war
  • U.S. President Donald Trump announces his intentions to ban TikTok from operating in the U.S.. (The Hill)

• Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports
  • Major League Baseball (MLB) reschedules today's series opener between the Milwaukee Brewers and host St. Louis Cardinals to be part of a Sunday doubleheader because two St. Louis players received positive results from COVID-19 tests administered following the conclusion of the Cards-Minneapolis Twins series. The Twins played the Cleveland Indians last night. This is the 15th MLB game postponed by positive COVID-19 results just eight days into the 2020 season. (CBS Sports) (Reuters)