Politics

At least 20 protesters were reportedly killed in clashes with police after Nicolás Maduro was declared the victor of Venezuela’s presidential election by the country’s electoral commission. The opposition says exit polling showed that its candidate, Edmundo González, was the clear winner in the high-turnout contest. It has been unable to obtain results from many polling stations. America called for the immediate publication of the precinct-level polling. Nine countries in the region, including Argentina and Peru, called an emergency meeting of the Organisation of American States, which said the vote was unreliable. China, Iran, North Korea and Russia congratulated Mr Maduro.

Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada and Joaquín Guzmán López, two leaders of the Sinaloa drug cartel in Mexico, were arrested in El Paso, Texas. Mr Guzman is a son of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, who is serving a life sentence in a Colorado prison. A lawyer for Mr Guzmán junior said he had not made a plea deal with American authorities. He had apparently tricked Mr Zambada into flying to El Paso, though Mr Zambada’s lawyers say their client was kidnapped.

One by one

Israel said that a rocket fired by Hizbullah killed 12 children and teenagers at a football ground in a Druze village in the Golan Heights. Israel retaliated with a strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Hizbullah stronghold, killing Fuad Shukr, the militia’s top military commander. Shortly after, Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’s most senior political leader, was killed in a strike in Tehran, which he was visiting. Israel also claimed that it had killed Muhammad Deif, the overall commander of Hamas’s military wing, in a strike on Gaza on July 13th.

Masoud Pezeshkian was sworn in as Iran’s ninth president (Ismail Haniyeh had been in Tehran for the inauguration). He has promised to fight corruption, fix the ailing economy and improve relations with the West, but will probably struggle to implement any major reforms.

Israel’s military prosecutor opened an investigation into a group of soldiers accused of sexually abusing a Palestinian prisoner held at a detention camp. That prompted a mob of Israelis to storm the base where the soldiers were detained. Hours later there was a riot at another base, home to Israel’s military court. Several right-wing lawmakers joined the demonstrations. Herzi Halevi, the army chief, said the scenes were “bordering on anarchy”.

Separatist rebels and jihadists in Mali reportedly killed dozens of mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner Group who were in a convoy with troops from the west African country. The attack near the Algerian border is the worst known loss for Wagner in Africa.

Jacob Zuma, the former president of South Africa, was finally booted out of the African National Congress. The 82-year-old upended the country’s politics in May by leading his new party, uMkhonto weSizwe, to third place in a general election, depriving the hitherto hegemonic ANC of its national majority.

Ethiopia floated its currency, ending decades of efforts to manage the value of the birr. The decision was approved by the IMF, which hours later announced loans worth $3.4bn over four years. Relations with the fund had been hampered by the war in the Tigray region.

At least 166 people were killed in landslides caused by heavy rains in India’s southern state of Kerala. Scores more are thought to be buried under the mud and rubble.

The junta in Myanmar extended the country’s state of emergency, which has been in place since a military coup in 2021, for another six months. The army has lost vast swathes of territory to various groups of ethnic rebels, who have started to co-ordinate their operations.

Judicial review

Joe Biden proposed a radical overhaul of America’s Supreme Court, including 18-year term limits for its justices. Kamala Harris endorsed the plan, though it is unlikely to come to fruition. Mike Johnson, the speaker of the House of Representatives, said the Democrats wanted to change the court because they disagree with its recent decisions and that the proposal was “dead on arrival”.

Kamala Harris raised $200m in her first week as the Democrats’ presumptive presidential candidate, according to her campaign. That is more than Mr Biden raised in the first three months of the year. The polls show her now running neck and neck with Donald Trump.

The man who plotted the terrorist attacks of 9/11, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and two of his abettors have agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy and murder in a deal that will see them imprisoned for life rather than face the death penalty. The three men have been in American custody since 2003 and are being held at Guantánamo Bay.

Southport, a seaside town in Britain, became the scene of one of the country’s most tragic mass stabbings. A 17-year-old youth has been charged with entering a children’s Taylor Swift-themed dance class with a knife, killing three girls, all under ten years old. Eight other children and two adults who tried to protect them were seriously injured. A vigil for the victims was overshadowed by violence after suspected far-right protesters clashed with police.

Anjem Choudary, the leader of al-Muhajiroun, a banned radical Islamist group, was jailed for life in London. An operation involving American, British and Canadian authorities led to his conviction for directing a terrorist group.

Britain’s new finance minister, Rachel Reeves, said she had discovered a £22bn ($28bn) hole in the country’s public finances. She claimed that the previous government covered up the financial mess and left an “unforgivable” inheritance. The previous Tory finance minister, Jeremy Hunt, rejected her claims, saying that the overspend was a result, among other things, of Labour’s decision to raise public-sector pay.

Russia said it had taken control of Pivdenne in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, as it continued its slow but steady progress against Ukrainian forces. Pivdenne lies just outside Toretsk, a coal-mining town, where Ukraine has so far held the line. Russia claimed to have also captured two villages on the road to Pokrovsk, a transport hub 70km (43 miles) west of Toretsk. Meanwhile Russia launched one of its biggest drone attacks across Ukraine since the start of the war.

After a culturally sophisticated and provocatively outré opening ceremony, the Olympics got under way in Paris. Heavy rain led to increased pollution in the Seine, causing the men’s triathlon to be delayed (the swimming leg was held in the river). Suspicion fell on left-wing groups for sabotaging the French rail network on the opening day and telecoms networks two days later.