ONS: 29 July 2014

By TRG Alerts Admin

KEY STORYLINES

AFRICA: The Nigerian city of Lagos shut and quarantined a hospital where a Liberian man died of the Ebola virus
AMERICAS: Aruba said that the release of a former top Venezuelan official wanted by the US for alleged drug trafficking came after Venezuela raised economic and military pressure.
ASIA: A suicide attacker killed Hashmat Karzai, an influential cousin of Afghan President Karzai.
EUROPE: The US concluded that Russia violated the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty by testing a prohibited ground-launched cruise missile.
MIDDLE EAST: The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that rebels have pressed on with a fresh advance in the central province of Hama in a bid to take out its military airport.
TECHNOLOGY: Facebook will stop allowing messaging in its main iPhone and Android apps, and force all their users to download its standalone Messenger app in coming days.

TOP STORY

Military chief of staff LT GEN Gantz said the assault on Gaza’s Hamas rulers was being “intensified and told the country to prepare for a prolonged operation.
The energy authority in the Palestinian territory said the only power plant supplying electricity to the Gaza Strip was knocked out of commission by Israeli shelling.
Airstrikes flattened the three-story home of Hamas’s top political leader in the Gaza Strip and destroyed offices of the movement’s radio and television station.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused Israel’s leaders of committing “genocide” in Gaza and called on the Islamic world to arm Palestinians fighting “the Zionist regime”.
Five Israeli soldiers died in clashes with a Palestinian commando that tried to reach Israel through a tunnel at Nahal Oz.
Coverage: AFP, AFP-2, AP, BBC, NYT, WP, WSJ

AFRICA

Region: Boko Haram is increasingly shifting toward targeting prominent political figures in Cameroon and Nigeria. (NYT)
Egypt: A nine-year-old girl was killed when a rocket fell in front of a house in the Sinai Peninsula, in an apparent attack targeting soldiers. (AFP)
Mali: The UNSC welcomed an agreement on a roadmap for negotiations between the government and Tuareg separatists. (AP)
Nigeria: The city of Lagos shut and quarantined a hospital where a Liberian man died of the Ebola virus. (Reuters)

AMERICAS

Region: Japanese PM Shinzo Abe was in Trinidad and Tobago in the second stop on a five-country tour. (AFP)
Argentina: The government admitted it may default on some of its debt two days before time expires in negotiations with hedge funds demanding full payment on their bonds. (AFP)
Aruba: A top official said that the government’s’ release of a former top Venezuelan official wanted by the US for alleged drug trafficking came after Venezuela raised economic and military pressure. (WSJ)

ASIA

Afghanistan: A suicide attacker killed Hashmat Karzai, an influential cousin of President Karzai. (AFP)
China: A top US commander praised China’s participation in RIMPAC, saying it had gone “very, very well”. (AFP)
Pakistan: At least six people were killed in firing at a provincial lawmaker’s house in Lower Dir. (Xinhua)
Philippines: The military launched operations to hunt Islamist militants who killed 23 people. (DPA)

EUROPE

Region: The EU is set to approve sanctions against Russia over its role in the Ukraine crisis. (AFP)
Russia: The US concluded that the country violated the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty by testing a prohibited ground-launched cruise missile. (NYT)
Ukraine: Dutch PM Rutte called President Poroshenko to ask the military to stop fighting around the MH17 crash site. (AFP)

MIDDLE EAST

Iran: The US State Department called for the release of The Washington Post’s Iran correspondent, Jason Rezaian, who was detained last week in Tehran. (WP)
Iraq: A fugitive accused of bribing US military contracting officials in Iraq has been returned to the US in the first extradition under a 1936 treaty between the two countries. (AP)
Syria: The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that rebels have pressed on with a fresh advance in the central province of Hama in a bid to take out its military airport. (AFP)

TECHNOLOGY AND COMMUNICATIONS

Communications: Facebook will stop allowing messaging in its main iPhone and Android apps, and force all their users to download its standalone Messenger app in coming days. (TechCrunch)

WORLD

Cases: Global Number of Cases as of 24JUL: 837 (Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Italy, Iran, France, Germany, Jordan, Oman, Qatar, UAE, United Kingdom, Egypt, US, Yemen)
Deaths: Global Number of Deaths as of 24JUL: 291 (Saudi Arabia, France, Qatar, United Kingdom, UAE, Oman)
Sourcing: WHO, WHO-2

TOMORROW’S OUTLOOK (30JUL)

Japan and Vietnam: Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida to visit Vietnam
South Sudan: Peace talks between the government and the rebels start up again, hosted by the East African IGAD bloc

END