August 4, 2016 (Thursday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Syrian Civil War
- At least 40 government air strikes hit rebel-held areas of Aleppo city and nearby towns, including on a camp for displaced people in Atareb, south-west of Aleppo, killing at least two people. (The National)
- Jan Egeland, an adviser to the UN’s special envoy to Syria, says that there were 44 attacks on hospitals, clinics and health posts around Syria in July alone. (The National)
Business and economy
- As markets have expected, the Bank of England cuts the key interest rate to 0.25, the first cut since 2009. (Reuters)
Disasters and accidents
- 2016 Atlantic hurricane season
- Hurricane Earl makes landfall in Belize near Belize City early today. (NHC)
- 2016 Nevada wildfire
- Wildfires in seven U.S. states are keeping thousands of firefighters at bay. (Fox News)
International relations
- China bans K-pop stars and South Korean actors from attending promotional events in retaliation for Seoul's deployment of the U.S. THAAD anti-ballistic missile system. (The Wall Street Journal)
- Cross-Strait relations
- China is blocking Taiwan's efforts to join the International Civil Aviation Organization despite 58 million air passengers passing over Taiwan's flight information region annually, citing the One-China principle. (Focus Taiwan) (Taipei Times)
Law and crime
- Philippine Drug War
- Rodrigo Duterte says that the Sinaloa cartel and the Chinese triad are active in the Philippine narcotic trade. (The Manila Standard)
Politics and elections
- South African municipal elections, 2016
- With more than half the vote counted, the ruling African National Congress (ANC) is ahead on 53.2 percent of the vote which, if this trend continues, will be the first election since the end of apartheid in 1994 that the ANC receives less than 60 percent. The opposition Democratic Alliance, with about 28 percent of the vote nationally, has gained the lead in three major cities: Pretoria, Johannesburg, and Port Elizabeth. Final results are expected Friday. (Press TV) (Financial Times)
- In Nepal, Pushpa Kamal Dahal takes the oath of office and secrecy as Prime Minister. (The Himalayan Times)
Science
- China's unmanned lunar rover Yutu shuts down after exploring the Moon for 31 months. (BBC)
Sport
- 2016 Summer Olympics
- The International Olympic Committee rules that 271 of the 389 athletes nominated by the Russian Olympic Committee will be eligible to participate in the 2016 summer Olympics. (IOC)