Portal:Current events/2024 July 17

July 17, 2024 (Wednesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Israel–Hamas war
- Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip
  - At least 42 Palestinians are killed and more than 70 others are injured in Israeli strikes on a United Nations-run school in the Nuseirat refugee camp and on a designated "safe zone" in al-Mawasi, Rafah. (Al Jazeera)
2024 Bangladesh quota reform movement
- Police fire tear gas and rubber bullets at students and professors occupying Dhaka University in Dhaka, Bangladesh, to protest against the ruling Awami League party and its government job quotas. (Al Jazeera) (CBC News)

Arts and culture

Archaeologists unearth remains of a medieval papal palace in the square outside the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran in Rome, Italy. (Reuters)

Business and economy

The European Union General Court dismisses ByteDance's lawsuit against the European Commission's designation of the company as a "gatekeeper" under the Digital Markets Act, citing ByteDance's significant global market value. (Bernama)

Disasters and accidents

2024 Atlantic hurricane season
- Effects of Hurricane Beryl in Texas
  - The confirmed death toll from Hurricane Beryl in Texas, United States, increases to 22, with several deaths in the Greater Houston area caused by heat illness due to prolonged power outages amid an ongoing heat wave. (NPR) (KRIV-TV)
At least 16 people are killed in a fire at a shopping mall in Zigong, Sichuan, China. (AP)
Comoros-flagged oil tanker Prestige Falcon capsizes off the coast of Oman. The Indian Navy rescues nine crew members, with seven others missing. (AP)
At least six people are killed by storms in Brest, Gomel, and Mogilev Regions, Belarus. (AP)

Health and environment

2024 European heatwaves
- Italian authorities place thirteen cities throughout the Italian Peninsula under rare severe heat warnings due to predicted heat indexes reaching as high as 44°C (111.2°F) throughout the week. (AP) (Sky News)

International relations

Law and crime

Eugenics in Japan
- Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida formally apologizes to 130 victims of forced sterilization under the Eugenics Protection Law which was declared unconstitutional on July 3, and approves compensation measures for more than 25,000 affected victims and their relatives. (NHK)
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announces measures to reduce the spread of fake news and harmful content in all forms of media, which the People's Party claims is an act to censor and control critical media. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

Science and technology

NASA cancels its lunar water-seeking rover mission with the VIPER rover, citing cost overruns and launch delays, after spending $450 million on the project. (AP) (NASA)