Top News Stories –

UKIP leader Nigel Farage stands down –
Nigel Farage says he is standing down as leader of the UK Independence Party. Mr Farage said his “political ambition has been achieved” with the UK having voted to leave the EU. He said the party was in a “pretty good place” and said he would not change his mind about quitting as he did after the 2015 general election. Leading UKIP was “tough at times” but “all worth it” said Mr Farage, who is also an MEP. He added that the UK needed a “Brexit prime minister”. Mr Farage announced his decision to stand aside in a speech in London, saying: “I want my life back, and it begins right now.” He has been leader of UKIP for most of the past eight years, standing down briefly in 2009 and being re-elected the following year. He said he would quit after failing to win his seat at last year’s general election, but stayed on after the party rejected his resignation. [BBC]
Nigel Farage

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Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Terrorism in Malaysia
  • Malaysia confirms it has suffered its first bombing by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant during the previous week raising fears about the spread of influence of the militant group. (The New York Times)
• CPP–NPA–NDF rebellion; Philippine Drug War
  • The Communist Party of the Philippines agrees to fight drug lords after its legal wing Bagong Alyansang Makabayan joins the government cabinet of Rodrigo Duterte. (GMA News) (The Philippine Star)
• Syrian Civil War, Israel–Syria relations
  • Israel’s military attacks two Syrian Army targets in Syrian territory from the Golan Heights after a fire from the fighting damages a security fence on the border. (Reuters)
• 2016 Saudi Arabia bombings
  • A suspected suicide bomber detonates his belt near the U.S. consulate in Jeddah, killing himself and wounding two guards. (BBC)
  • A suicide bomber detonates a device near the security headquarters of the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina, Saudi Arabia, killing four security guards. (Daily Mail) (BBC) (Pakistan Today)
• July 2016 Baghdad bombings
  • The Baghdad Provincial Council deputy head reports the death toll has passed 200, with at least 225 more injured. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, visiting the Kerrada site, is jeered by onlookers who blame his government for not stopping ISIL-related bloodshed. (UPI)

Business and economics

• United Kingdom withdrawal from the European Union
  • Standard Life Investments suspends trading in its UK property fund, in response to increased withdrawal calls since the vote, to protect the interests of all investors in the fund. (BBC)

Disasters and accidents

• Flooding caused by torrential rain in China kills at least 180 people, mostly along the Yangtze river. (BBC)

International relations

• Blockade of the Gaza Strip
  • A Turkish ship carrying humanitarian aid for the Gaza Strip docks at the Israeli port city of Ashdod, the first warming move between the two countries since relations began to improve. Relations betweenTurkey and Israel were tense since the 2010 Gaza flotilla raid but ended last week when Turkey agreed to normalize ties in a diplomatic treaty. (The Guardian)
• Russia–Turkey relations
  • Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu says Turkey’s cooperation with Russia in combating the Islamic State in Syria does not include Russia’s use of its Incirlik Air Base, which some have interpreted from his comments yesterday. (Reuters)

Law and crime

• Eight members of the Cuba men’s national volleyball team, which is supposed to participate in the 2016 Summer Olympics, are arrested for aggravated group rape in Tampere, Finland, with two later being released. (BBC) (YLE)
• Ling Jihua, former top aide to paramount leader Hu Jintao, is sentenced to life in prison for illegally obtaining state secrets and taking over $11 million in bribes. Ling’s misfortunes started when he was accused of trying to cover up a scandal connected to his 23-year-old son’s deadly crash in a Ferrari in 2012. (UPI)

Politics and elections

• United Kingdom withdrawal from the European Union
  • Nigel Farage resigns as leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) but says he and other MEPs/MPs of the party would continue to carry out their term in the European Parliament. (BBC via Radio New Zealand)
• Riots break out in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, after police attempt to disperse a protest by the city’s taxi drivers. (Reuters)
• Australian federal election, 2016
  • The election deadlock continues as neither Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull nor opposition leader Bill Shorten has the minimum number of Lower House seats (76) needed to form a government. Shorten leads Turnbull, 71-67, with only six seats undecided. (UPI) (Newstalk ZB)
• Political reshuffle in the Communist Party of China
  • Zhejiang governor Li Qiang is transferred to neighbouring Jiangsu province to serve as party chief. He is succeeded as Zhejiang governor by Xinjiang deputy party chief Che Jun. (Sina)
  • Xian Hui is named acting Chairwoman of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, succeeding Liu Hui. It is the first time in the history of the People’s Republic that a woman has succeeded another woman in a provincial government leadership position. (Sina)

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