Friday

August 7, 2015

Armed conflict and attacks

Suspected Islamist militants stormed two hotels in central Mali where UN peacekeepers were housed, seizing at least ten hostages and killing three Malian soldiers and a U.N. peacekeeper. (The Times of Oman), (Reuters)

War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)

A truck bomb explodes in Kabul leaving at least fifteen people dead and 400 more injured. (BBC)

A bombing outside the Kabul police academy kills at least 20 people with the Taliban claiming responsibility. (AFP via ABC News)

Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant

Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants execute 19 women in Mosul, Iraq, for refusing to have sex with the group’s fighters.[citation needed]

Tadmur offensive (July–August 2015), Syrian Civil War

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claims that ISIL has kidnapped at least 230 people, including at least 60 Christians, from Al-Qaryatayn in the Homs Governorate. (Reuters), (RFERL)

Arts and culture

North Korea will change its time zone to UTC+08:30 on August 15, returning to the time used by the Korean Empire until Japanese occupation in 1910. (BBC)