July 19, 2012 (Thursday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Syrian uprising (2011–present):
- Clashes intensify in the Syrian capital Damascus. (Newstrack India)
- Rebels seize crossings on the border with Turkey and Iraq. (Al Arabiya)
- Russia and China veto a United Nations Security Council resolution threatening sanctions against Syria. 11 nations vote in favour while Pakistan and South Africa abstain. (UN News Centre) (Al Jazeera)
- Russian Muslim leader Valiulla Yakupov is shot dead and the Mufti of Tatarstan, Ildus Fayzov, is wounded in two separate attacks in Kazan in the Russian Republic of Tatarstan. (BBC)
Business and economy
- Economy of the United Kingdom:
- In an interview published by The Daily Telegraph, British Prime Minister David Cameron suggests that government spending cuts will need to continue until the end of the decade. (The Independent)
- The International Monetary Fund urges the UK government to slow the pace of its budget cuts in 2013 if economic growth does not recover. (BBC)
Arts and culture
- Bangladeshi writer and film director Humayun Ahmed dies at 63 in New York while undergoing a treatment for colorectal cancer. (Bangladesh News 24) (BBC Bangla)
International relations
- China summons a Russian diplomat after the latter country opened fire on a fishing boat and detained the Chinese crew. (Xinhua)
- Omar Suleiman, the former police and intelligence chief under ousted Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak, dies suddenly during medical tests in the United States. (BBC)
- Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, condemns yesterday's bombing that killed the Syrian defence minister and other senior officials. (Reuters)
- Syrian leaders' assets with the worth of £100m are located and frozen in the United Kingdom. (BBC)
Disasters and accidents
- Six people are killed and one is injured in Antwerp, New York when a tractor trailer carrying yogurt rear-ends a vehicle that had slowed for construction work. (MSNBC)
Law and crime
- Eight men are found not guilty of the murder of three friends in Birmingham during last year's riots in England. (BBC)
- PC Simon Harwood is cleared of the manslaughter of Ian Tomlinson during protests at the 2009 G20 London summit. (BBC)
- One person is killed and 40 injured in clashes at a car plant in New Delhi, India, after workers attacked managers at the site. (Bangkok Post)[permanent dead link]
Politics
- O le Ao o le Malo Tufuga Efi is re-elected unopposed by the Parliament of Samoa. (RNZI)
- Burma's state television airs the first memorial ceremony in over 20 years for Aung San – the father of Aung San Suu Kyi – who led the country to its independence. (The Hindu)
- Several thousand UK Home Office workers belonging to the Public and Commercial Services Union are to stage industrial action throughout the 2012 Summer Olympics over wages and employment issues. (BBC)
- Bandar bin Sultan is appointed Director General of the Saudi Intelligence Agency. (Wall Street Journal)