Portal:Current events/2024 September 18

September 18, 2024 (Wednesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Israel–Hezbollah conflict
- 2024 Lebanon pager explosions
  - The death toll from yesterday's pager explosions in Lebanon, targeting Hezbollah's communication network, increases to twelve, including four healthcare workers and two children, with more than 2,800 others injured. (Al Jazeera) (AP)
  - Walkie-talkies and other electronic devices continue to explode across Lebanon, including at a funeral in Baalbek for three Hezbollah members and a boy who were killed in yesterday's explosions. At least 20 people are killed and more than 450 others are injured. (Al Jazeera) (AP)
  - Several home solar energy systems explode in Beirut, Lebanon. (ABC News)
Israeli–Palestinian conflict
- Israeli occupation of the West Bank
  - The United Nations General Assembly votes 124–14 with 43 abstentions to demand that Israel end its unlawful presence in the occupied Palestinian territories within the next 12 months. (Reuters)
Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Attacks in Russia during the Russian invasion of Ukraine
  - Toropets depot explosions
    - A Ukrainian drone attack on a Russian weapons depot in Toropets, Tver Oblast, causes an explosion large enough to be detected as an earthquake by monitoring stations. Local residents are told to evacuate and schools in the region are closed. (The Guardian)
Mexican drug war
- Mexican Secretary of Defense Luis Cresencio Sandoval announces that at least 30 people have been killed since September 9 during shootouts between rival factions of the Sinaloa Cartel in Sinaloa, Mexico. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador partially blames the United States for the surge in violence. (AP) (AP 2)

Disasters and accidents

2024 South American wildfires
- 2024 Peru wildfires
  - President of Peru Dina Boluarte issues a state of emergency for the departments of Amazonas, San Martín, and Ucayali, which have been significantly impacted by wildfires that have killed at least sixteen people. (Reuters)
2024 Portugal wildfires
- Twelve people are arrested on suspicion of arson resulting in widespread wildfires in Northern and Central Portugal that have killed at least seven people. (Reuters)

Law and crime

2024 Shenzhen stabbing
- A 10-year-old Japanese student is killed in a stabbing near his school in Shenzhen, China. (BBC)
2024 Armenian coup attempt allegations
- The Government of Armenia announces that the National Security Service (NSS) has thwarted a coup attempt by Armenian Russophiles armed, trained, and financed by the Russian Federation. (Politico)
Alleged Ghost developer and administrator Jay Je Yoon Jung is arrested in Sydney, Australia, on five charges related to the encrypted communication network's development and operation. (The Register)

Science and technology

Instagram introduces teen accounts for users under the age of 18 that will be private by default, limit "sensitive content" and allow parents to view contacts. (DW)