Portal:Current events/2015 August 12

August 12, 2015 (Wednesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Syrian Civil War
- Artillery strikes in Damascus during a visit by the Foreign Minister of Iran Mohammad Javad Zarif kill at least 40 people and wound more than 180. (The News Hub)

Arts and culture

New Zealand flag debate
- A government appointed panel chooses 40 finalist flag designs out of more than 10,000 submitted. (Miami Herald) (The New York Post)

Business and economy

Pearson PLC agrees to sell its share in the Economist Group to Exor controlled by the Agnelli family for £469m. (BBC)
2015 Chinese stock market crash
- The People's Republic of China devalues the yuan (Renminbi) by 1.62 percent after devaluing by 1.92 percent yesterday. This comes in the wake of a 30% drop of Chinese stocks last month. (BBC), (USA Today), (The Australian)

Disasters and accidents

2015 Tianjin explosions
- A massive explosion in the Chinese city of Tianjin results in at least 17 deaths, 11 people seriously injured, and hundreds of people being hospitalised. (BBC), (NBC News), (CCTV)
A U.S. Army Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crashes while landing on a U.S. Navy cargo vessel near the Japanese island of Okinawa, with seven people injured. (AP via MSN)
The death toll from a heat wave in Egypt this week rises to 60. (AP)

Law and crime

Kasur child sexual abuse scandal
- In a two year period, 280 to 300 children have been sexually abused and filmed doing forced sex acts in Pakistan by a gang consisting of 20 to 25 culprits. (CNN), (Anadolu Agency), (BBC)

Politics and elections

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, aged 90, announces that recent liver surgery revealed that he is suffering from an as-yet unspecified form of cancer which has spread to other parts of his body. (Reuters via MSN)
North Korea's vice premier Choe Yong-gon is believed to have been executed by firing squad this year for voicing frustration at the policies of leader Kim Jong-Un. (Reuters), (AFP)
A South Korean man is seriously injured after self-immolation during a protest against Japan's use of South Korean women as sex slaves during World War II. (The New York Times)
Dési Bouterse is sworn in for a second term as President of Suriname. (AP via The Star Tribune)