Portal:Current events/2024 August 19

August 19, 2024 (Monday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Eastern Ukraine campaign
  - Pokrovsk offensive
    - Ukrainian officials order the immediate evacuation of the remaining 53,000 citizens in Pokrovsk due to the advancement of the Russian Armed Forces. (Al Jazeera)
  - Russia captures the city of Zalizne and the Vyimka railway station in Donetsk Oblast. (Reuters)
- Belarusian involvement in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
  - Belarus announces that it has further increased its Belarus–Ukraine border presence against Ukraine significantly, adding aircraft and air defense forces following its accusations of Ukraine's military sending 120,000 troops to its border and conducting "aggressive policies". Ukraine denies Lukashenko's claims, stating its forces have not observed unusual movements of Belarusian troops on the border. (Reuters)
Israel–Hezbollah conflict
- An Israeli soldier is killed and several others are injured in Hezbollah rocket launches at IDF positions in Ya'ara and Biyadh Blida, with Burkan missiles and drone strikes in Western Galilee being intercepted by the Iron Dome. Hezbollah claims that it attacked and repelled Israeli soldiers attempting to infiltrate southern Lebanon through the Hadab Aita forest and had inflicted casualties. (Al Jazeera)
- Two Hezbollah militants are killed in Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon. (Al Jazeera)
- Eight civilians are injured in an Israeli airstrike on a Hezbollah weapons facility in the eastern Beqaa Valley of Lebanon. (Reuters)
Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
- Three soldiers and five Pakistani Taliban gunmen are killed during a shootout in Bajaur District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. (AP)

Arts and culture

Maria Branyas, the former world's oldest known living person, dies at the age of 117 years and 168 days, making Tomiko Itooka the new current oldest living person. (AP)

Disasters and accidents

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

Health and environment

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

Law and crime

One person is killed and eight injured during a mass shooting against a vehicle carrying migrants in Tubutama, Sonora, Mexico. (AP)
Russian president Vladimir Putin signs a decree making it easier for foreign nationals who support "traditional values" and "oppose neoliberalism" to seek asylum in Russia. (Anadolu Agency)
Former US Representative George Santos pleads guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, which will carry a sentence of at least two years. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

2024 Kiribati parliamentary election
- Kiribati islanders vote in the second round of elections for the 44 members of the House of Assembly. (Radio New Zealand)

Science and technology

A rocket engine for Rocket Factory Augsburg's launch vehicle RFA One explodes during a test launch at the SaxaVord Spaceport in Scotland, United Kingdom. (BBC News)
A rare blue supermoon appears in the sky. (Axios)