August 12, 2024 (Monday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Russian invasion of Ukraine
- August 2024 Kursk Oblast incursion
- Acting Governor of Kursk Oblast Alexei Smirnov accuses the Ukrainian military of using chemical weapons that poisoned Russian civilians. Ukraine's State Security Service denies these claims and accuses Russia of falsifying war crimes. (Newsweek) (Reuters)
- Ukrainian colonel general Oleksandr Syrskyi announces that Ukrainian forces now control over 1,000 km2 (386 sq mi) of Russia's Kursk region. (AP)
- Eastern Ukraine campaign
- Russian forces take the settlement of Lysychne in Donetsk Oblast. (Reuters)
- August 2024 Kursk Oblast incursion
- 2024 Iran–Israel conflict, Israel–Hezbollah conflict
- Assassination of Ismail Haniyeh
- United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin orders the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group and the USS Georgia SSGN cruise-missile submarine to the Middle East to defend Israel from possible retaliation from Iran and to strengthen the U.S. military position in the region. (Al Jazeera)
- Hezbollah fires 30 Katyusha rockets targeting the IDF 146th Division headquarters in Ga'aton and an IDF surveillance station in Metula. An Israeli Iron Dome interceptor missile destroys an Avdon residence. (Al Jazeera)
- Assassination of Ismail Haniyeh
- Israel–Hamas war
- Third Battle of Khan Yunis
- Ten Palestinians are killed in an Israeli airstrike on a residential home in Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip. (Anadolu Ajansı)
- Third Battle of Khan Yunis
Arts and culture
- Damage of landmarks from climate change
- The Double Arch, a natural arch made of 190 million-year-old rock in the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, collapses, possibly due to changing water levels and erosion. (NPR)
Business and economy
- Chevron Corporation delivers the first oil from a Gulf of Mexico oil field, drilled under extreme subsea pressure. (Reuters)
Disasters and accidents
- One person is killed and several others are injured when a helicopter stolen from Cairns Airport crashes into a hotel in Cairns, Queensland, Australia. (The Guardian)
- One person is killed and 132 others are injured after a magnitude 5.0 earthquake strikes Salamiyah, Homs Governorate, Syria. (Maspero) (Enab Baladi)
Law and crime
- United States support for Israel in the Israel–Hamas war
- The Council on American–Islamic Relations files a lawsuit against the United States government and the FBI over alleged anti-Palestinian discrimination against two Palestinian Americans for placing them on a watch list despite having no violent crime convictions. (Reuters)
- Pakistan Army officials arrest former Director-General of the Inter-Services Intelligence Faiz Hameed, accusing him of abusing his position of power and raiding a business last year. (DW)
- A teenager stabs five people at a mosque in Eskişehir, Turkey. (CBS News)
Politics and elections
- 2024 United States presidential election, Twitter under Elon Musk
- Former president and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump comes back to X (formerly Twitter) for a two-hour interview with its owner Elon Musk, mainly focusing on Trump's 2024 presidential re-election campaign. (Reuters).
- Special Region of Jakarta Act
- The first Cabinet of Indonesia meeting session in Nusantara is held, marking the beginning of the transition of the official capital away from Jakarta. (Detik)
- Iranian Vice President Mohammad Javad Zarif resigns after 11 days in office, citing disappointment with his progress and the new Cabinet. (DW)
Science and technology
- Water on Mars
- Liquid water is confirmed to be present at depths of 10–20 km (6.2–12.4 mi) below the surface of Mars, based on a new analysis of data from NASA's InSight lander. (BBC News)