Portal:Current events/2024 August 9

August 9, 2024 (Friday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Attacks in Russia during the Russian invasion of Ukraine
  - 2024 Kursk offensive
    - Russia declares a "federal-level" emergency in Kursk Oblast as Ukrainian forces continue to advance. (AP via ABC News)
    - Akhmat special forces commander Apti Alaudinov says that Ukrainian troops "simply passed-by" their positions without engaging them, with Akhmat troops choosing to retreat until more Russian reinforcements could arrive. Other reports indicate that Akhmat troops fled from Ukrainian forces. (The New Voice of Ukraine via MSN)
    - A Russian military convoy is destroyed on the E38 highway in Oktyabrsky District. (The Guardian)
    - Ukrainian troops capture the Gazprom gas facility in Sudzha. A video shows Ukrainian soldiers inside the natural gas facility, with much of the town reportedly under Ukrainian control. (Reuters via Al Arabiya)
  - Ukraine launches a "massive" drone attack on Lipetsk Oblast, Russia, with Lipetsk air base reportedly on fire. Several villages are evacuated, with six people reportedly injured. (Reuters)
- Eastern Ukraine campaign
  - 2024 Kostiantynivka supermarket missile attack
    - A Russian missile attack on a supermarket in Kostiantynivka, Donetsk Oblast, kills 14 people and injures 43 others. (Reuters)
- Military aid to Ukraine during the Russo-Ukrainian war
  - The United States announces it will send Ukraine a $125 million military aid package, including FIM-92 Stinger missiles, artillery ammunition, and anti-armor systems. (Reuters)
Gaza war
- Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip
  - Third Battle of Khan Yunis
    - Israeli troops launch a new assault on Khan Yunis, with airstrikes killing at least 21 Palestinians in the city and Israeli troops initiating ground operations in the city for the third time since the war's beginning. (AP)
- United States support for Israel in the Gaza war
  - The United States finances Israel with $3.5 billion to spend on U.S. weapons and military equipment. (Reuters)
- Samer al-Hajj, a Hamas security official for the Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp, is assassinated by an Israeli drone strike in Sidon, Lebanon. (Al Jazeera)
Israeli–Palestinian conflict
- Israeli occupation of the West Bank
  - The United States declares the Netzah Yehuda Battalion eligible for US military assistance. The unit is known for establishing illegal outposts on Palestinian land, and was removed from its traditional posting in the West Bank in 2022 due to human rights violations against Palestinians. (Al Jazeera)

Disasters and accidents

Voepass Linhas Aéreas Flight 2283
- A Voepass Linhas Aéreas ATR 72-500 aircraft crashes in Vinhedo, São Paulo, Brazil, killing all 62 people on board. (AP) (G1 Globo)
Nine people are killed and 26 others injured after a bus crash in Polatlı, Turkey. (AP)

Law and crime

2023 Sierra Leone coup attempt
- A military court in Sierra Leone sentences 24 soldiers to prison terms ranging from 50 to 120 years for their roles in a failed coup attempt in November 2023. (Reuters)
Prosecutors in China charge multiple funeral directors with selling more than 4,000 corpses to two major medical companies over several decades. Police seized 18 tonnes of bones and 34,000 semi-finished products, with the thieves having earned around 380 million yuan (US$53 million) before they were arrested. (SCMP) (NOS) (Newsweek)

International relations

Foreign relations of Mali, Foreign relations of Sweden, Mali–Russia relations
- Mali orders the Swedish ambassador to leave within 72 hours, days after Sweden announced that development aid to Mali would be suspended over Mali's support for Russia. (Al Jazeera) (Swedish Foreign Ministry)
Saudi Arabia–United States relations
- The Biden administration partially lifts a three-year-old ban on American weapons sales to Saudi Arabia. (Reuters)

Law and crime

2024 Venezuelan presidential election
- Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro suspends the X social network in Venezuela for 10 days, accusing X's owner Elon Musk of promoting hatred. (AP)
2024 Vienna terrorism plot
- The Austrian interior minister announces the arrest of an Iraqi man in connection with a foiled terror attack at American singer Taylor Swift's concerts in Vienna, which were cancelled in response to the attack. (The Guardian)

Politics and elections

Hundreds of people protest in Dhaka, Bangladesh, against violence targeting the country's Hindu minority. (Reuters)

Sports

2024 Summer Olympics
- Algeria at the 2024 Summer Olympics
  - Imane Khelif wins the gold medal in the Women's 66 kg boxing event, after facing controversy and harassment related to a 2023 gender evaluation by the International Boxing Association, which is no longer recognized by the IOC. (Al Jazeera)
- Breaking at the 2024 Summer Olympics
  - In the first-ever breakdancing event at the Olympics, Ami Yuasa of Japan wins the B-Girls gold medal, with Dominika "Nicka" Banevič of Lithuania winning the silver and Liu "671" Qingyi of China winning the bronze. (AP)
- Concerns and controversies at the 2024 Summer Olympics
  - French police arrest Egyptian wrestler Mohamed Ibrahim El-Sayed for allegedly groping a woman at a café. (BBC News)