Portal:Current events/2019 July 21

July 21, 2019 (Sunday)

Business and economy

German airline Lufthansa resumes flights between Cairo and Frankfurt and Munich, while British Airways flights to Cairo remain cancelled for six more days. The UK Foreign Office warns against "all travel" to certain parts of Egypt, but its standard advice for Cairo is for passengers to check for changes. (BBC News) (UK Foreign Office)

International relations

United States–Venezuela relations
- The Venezuelan military reports that on Friday, an American Naval reconnaissance plane entered its national airspace, threatening flights to Maiquetia Airport; the United States asserts that their aircraft was over international waters in the Caribbean on an approved mission. The US plane was followed for a prolonged time by a Venezuelan fighter. (Bloomberg) (The Guardian)
Foreign relations of Argentina
- President Mauricio Macri and Justice and Human Rights Minister of Argentina Germán Garavano say that Argentina will start to receive reports of human rights abuses and criminal accusations against the Venezuelan government. Macri also reiterates his support for Juan Guaidó. (TN)

Law and crime

Taiwan Customs officers discover 9800 cartons of cigarettes worth more than 200,000 USD smuggled in five trucks of presidential motorade when President Tsai Ing-wen has returned from an official trip to the Caribbean and leaves the airport via a VIP lane. A security agent of National Security Bureau within Tsai's entourage allegedly pre-ordered the cigarettes duty-free from China Airlines and stored them at a warehouse of the airline's catering company at Taoyuan International Airport. National Security Bureau Director-General Peng Sheng-chu resigns over the scandal on the following day. (Taiwan News) (CNA)(Taipei Times)
2019 Hong Kong anti-extradition bill protests
- A mob of suspected masked triad members dressed in white and armed with batons attack commuters indiscriminately at Yuen Long station, injuring 45, including a pro-democracy legislator and a pregnant woman. Hong Kong police have been accused of allowing the violence to happen due to their delayed response and decision to limit emergency services in the area. (The Guardian) (SCMP)
- Pro-Beijing legislator Junius Ho applauds the assailants for their actions, saying they should be "pardoned for defending their homes" and calling them his "heroes". (HKFP) (SCMP)
A former Venezuelan state oil executive at PDVSA, Juan Carlos Márquez, is found hanged in an apartment in Madrid. He had been taken into custody in connection with an investigation into corruption and money laundering. (BBC News)

Politics and elections

2019 Japanese House of Councillors election
- Japanese citizens head to the polls to elect one half of the members of the country's House of Councillors. (Japan Times)
- The Liberal Democratic Party of Japan, led by Prime Minister Shinzō Abe, wins a clear, but reduced, majority of the seats but falls short on gaining the two-thirds supermajority needed to start the pursued process of amending the constitution. (Reuters)
2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election
- Ukrainian citizens vote for the new members of the Verkhovna Rada, following its dissolution by President Volodymyr Zelensky in May. (DW)
- Servant of the People, President Zelensky’s party, wins most of the seats with a comfortable majority. (The Guardian)

Sports

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