Portal:Current events/2019 July 22

• Second Libyan Civil War, Libya–Tunisia relations
  • Tunisia's Ministry of Defence says that a pilot is arrested after a damaged Libyan warplane, reported to be a L-39 Albatros, makes an emergency landing on a road near the southern town of Beni Khadash. (Reuters)
• Suicide bombers attack a French military base in Gao, Mali, where Estonian, French and Malian troops serve. Six Estonians and "around the same number" of French personnel are wounded in the attack. (ERR)
• July 2019 Mogadishu bombing
  • A bomb kills 17 people and injures 28 others in Mogadishu, Somalia. (New York Times)

• Billboard reports that Lil Nas X tied the all-time record on the Billboard Hot 100 with his song "Old Town Road", as it spends its sixteenth week atop the chart; the other record-holders are Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men with "One Sweet Day", and Luis Fonsi with "Despacito" featuring Daddy Yankee. The song broke the record the next week. (Billboard)

• Due to declining sales, American retailer GNC announces it will close between 700 and 900 stores. (USA Today)

• Iran–United States relations
  • The Iranian government announces the arrest of 17 citizens in the last months who are accused of spying in favour of the CIA. (DW)
• Russia–South Korea relations
  • South Korean fighter jets fire warning shots at three Russian planes as a reaction to an alleged violation of the country's national airspace. (DW)
• Foreign relations of Venezuela
  • Four months after being expelled from the country, German Ambassador to Venezuela Daniel Kriener [de] returns to his post in the nation. (VOA)
• Holy See–Syria relations
  • Pope Francis petitions President Bashar al-Assad Assad to protect weak and defenseless in Syria. The pope’s appeal is in a letter to Assad delivered by Cardinal Peter Turkson, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development at a meeting with the president in Damascus. (Catholic News Agency)

• A shooting in the town of Wächtersbach, Hesse, Germany gravely injures an Eritrean man. The suspect commits suicide after fleeing the scene. Police treat the incident to be inspired by xenophobia. (DW)

• 2019 Haitian protests
  • Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Michel Lapin, who was appointed 4 months ago, resigns amidst renewed protests. President Jovenel Moïse appoints Fritz-William Michel [fr] as the new Prime Minister. (teleSUR)
• Hundreds of followers from the Shia group Islamic Movement for Nigeria were out on the streets in Abuja to demand the release of their leader Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky, who has been detained since 2015. Police opened fire and killed eleven protesters and a journalist. A police officer was also killed in the fight. (BBC News)

• The Indian Space Research Organization successfully launches Chandrayaan-2 to survey lunar water from Satish Dhawan Space Center, India's second lunar exploration mission. If successful, Chandrayaan-2 will become the first spacecraft to land on the lunar south pole. (FP)