July 31, 2016 (Sunday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Iraqi Civil War (2014–2017)
- Islamic State militants attack two gas facilities northwest of Kirkuk in northern Iraq, killing at least five people and wounding six policemen. Three assailants detonated their explosive vests and a fourth was killed in clash with security forces. (Reuters)
- Somali Civil War (2009–present)
- An Al-Shabaab attack on the Central Investigations Department kills at least nine people. (AP via The New York Times)
- 2016 Yerevan hostage crisis
- A two-week standoff comes to an end in Yerevan, Armenia, after the remaining gunmen holed up in a police station surrender to police. The National Security Service says "twenty terrorists have been arrested" following the "complete liberation" of the police compound. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
Disasters and accidents
- Typhoon Nida (2016)
- At least five people are killed and 10 injured after a building collapses in the Indian city of Bhiwandi amid heavy rain. (Press Trust of India via Business Standard)
Law and crime
- 2016 Turkish purges
- The Turkish government dismisses nearly 1,400 military personnel for alleged links to exiled cleric Fethullah Gülen. (Reuters)
Politics and elections
- Tokyo, Japan, gubernatorial election, 2016
- Yuriko Koike, of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) but not their preferred candidate, is elected the Tokyo prefecture's first female governor, replacing Yoichi Masuzoe who resigned last month. The former Minister of Defense defeated the LDP-Komeito ruling coalition's Hiroya Masuda and the opposition bloc's Shuntaro Torigoe. Turnout is over 40 percent. (Japan Times)
- Democratic National Committee cyber attacks
- Democratic presidential election nominee Hillary Clinton accuses Russian intelligence services of being behind recent hacks into Democratic National Committee computers, while also accusing Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump of supporting Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Reuters)
- Democratic Republic of the Congo general election, 2016
- Thousands of people protest in the capital Kinshasa after the national electoral commission decides to postpone the election. (France 24) (AP via The Washington Post)
Sport
- 2016 PGA Championship
- American Jimmy Walker wins the 98th PGA Championship, his first major championship. (BBC)
- 2016 Women's British Open
- Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand wins the Women's British Open for her first major championship. (AP via ESPN)