August 5 – East Asia / International Organizations / North America:
NORTH KOREA / UNITED NATIONS / UNITED STATES / JAPAN / SOUTH KOREA
The United Nations Security Council unanimously passes a resolution imposing new sanctions on North Korea for its repeated intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) testing in violation of previous UN resolutions. The new sanctions target the country’s main exports of coal, iron, lead, and seafood, as well as banks and joint ventures.[1] They are meant to pressure North Korea to give up its nuclear ambitions. According to U.S Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, the sanctions could cost North Korea $1billion a year in revenue.[2] North Korea threatens to retaliate by striking the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam. (August 15): As an implementation of the UN sanctions, China imposes import bans on coal, iron, and seafood from North Korea. The country depends on China heavily for its trade, with over 90 percent of its exports going to China.[3] (August 29): North Korea conducts a provocative ballistic missile testing by firing a missile over Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido, which then crashes in the Pacific. The Japanese government prompts the residents to take cover. In defiance, North Korea vows more military operations in the Pacific.[4] (September 5): Russian President Vladimir Putin says that pursuing more sanctions against North Korea is “useless” and calls for diplomatic solutions.[5]
August 8 – Africa: SOUTH AFRICA
South Africa’s president, Jacob Zuma, survives an eighth vote of no confidence by 21 votes. This time the parliament held a secret ballot and at least 26 members of parliament from Zuma’s African National Congress (ANC) party voted against him with 25 abstentions.[6] Since taking office in 2009, Zuma has been embroiled in several corruption scandals. The president in South Africa is elected by the National Assembly (the lower house of the South African Parliament), serves no more than two five-year terms, and must have the confidence of the Assembly to remain in office.
August 17 – Europe / International Organizations:
SPAIN / ITALY / INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION for MiIGRATION (IOM)
Spain’s coastguard rescues 600 migrants in one day at sea crossing from Morocco to Europe. According to the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM), more than 8,000 migrants have arrived in Spain so far in 2017, almost three times as many as in the previous year.[7] In 2016, most migrants were reaching Europe through Greece. However, a deal with Turkey to intercept migrant boats and tighter border controls in the Balkans forced migrants to look for different options. Most migrants leaving the coast of Morocco cross the seven-mile Strait of Gibraltar in cheap flimsy vessels, paddle boats without motors, or even jet skis. This allows them to bypass smuggler networks and their fees. The majority of these migrants come from West African countries. Many migrants still chose the route from the coast of Libya to Italy. In June alone, the Italian coastguard rescued about 5,000 people one day in the Mediterranean. Since January 2017, there were nearly 126,000 arrivals to Europe by sea, mostly to Spain and Italy. More than 2,500 migrants drowned attempting the crossing.[8]
More maps and charts from OIM on migration flows to Europe: recent trends, transit routes, stranded, relocated, and missing migrants, and internally displaced and refugees
August 17 – Africa / International Organizations:
MALI / INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT (ICC)
The International Criminal Court (ICC) finds Mali Islamic militant Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi liable for $3.1 million in damages for deliberate destruction of the UNESCO world heritage site of Timbuktu in 2012, which included nine mausoleums and the secret gate to the 15th century Sidi Yahia mosque. As a member of Ansar Dine group, a Tuareg[9] Islamist militia in North Africa with links to al-Qaeda in the Maghreb, Mahdi not only directed the rebels to destroy the historic sites, but himself actively participated in it. He is the first person convicted by the ICC for such a crime and in 2016 sentenced to nine years in prison.[10] Because Mahdi has no money, the funds for the damages for the community of Timbuktu will come from the ICC’s Trust Fund for Victims.[11] Some of the vandalized sites have been already restored using old photographs and testimonies of the elders.
Video and pictures of Timbuktu historic sites from UNESCO
August 23 – North America / Africa:
UNITED STATES / EGYPT
The United States announces that it withholds $195 million in military aid and cuts more than $95 million in other aid to Egypt due to concerns over its human rights record. This includes Egypt’s recent law regulating non-governmental organizations (NGOs) seen as a crackdown on dissenting civil society groups by controlling their activities and funding.[12] In 2016, Egypt was the third largest recipient of aid from the United States, after Afghanistan and Israel.[13]
More data on U.S. foreign aid
August 23 – Africa: ANGOLA
Angola’s ruling MPLA (People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola) party wins parliamentary election with 61 percent, leaving the opposition Unita party behind with 27 percent of the vote. The country’s Casa-CE alliance party (the Broad Convergence for the Salvation of Angola) gained nearly 10 percent of the vote, up from 6 percent in 2012. It is a political alliance that includes a variety of parties. In Angola, voters directly elect the parliament and the leader of the largest party automatically becomes president. The MPLA has been the only party in power since Angola’s independence from Portugal in 1975. Former Defense Minister João Lourenço will take over the presidency from President José Eduardo Dos Santos who has been in power for 38 years and did not stand for reelection. However, he will remain the head of the MPLA and his children will continue to hold several key positions.
Watch a video from BBC (3 min): Is Dos Santos really giving up power?
August 25 – North America: UNITED STATES
A category-four hurricane named Harvey, with the winds reaching 130 mph, makes landfall near Rockport, Texas in the United States and then creeps inland dumping a record 27 trillion gallons of water on Texas and Louisiana. It is expected to be one of the worst natural disasters in the U.S. history.[14] Forty-seven people are confirmed dead so far, tens of thousands are forced to evacuate, and oil rigs shut down halting oil and gas production.[15] The storm floods large areas of the U.S. 4th largest city of Houston. Some areas receive 48 inches of rain compared to an average yearly rainfall of 49.77 inches, causing catastrophic flooding.[16] The costs of Hurricane Harvey are estimated at around $81-108 billion. Some predict Harvey to be the costliest hurricane in the U.S. history reaching $190 billion.[17]
The intensity of hurricanes raises questions about whether climate change is playing a role. Although more studies need to be done, scientists point to some environmental changes. It has been found that climate change increases rainfall in hurricanes as a warmer atmosphere holds more water vapor, feeding more precipitation into all storms. Also, because warmer sea surface powers hurricanes, Harvey was able to progress from a tropical depression to a category-four hurricane in about 48 hours. At the time, sea surface temperature in the Gulf of Mexico was up to 2.7 – 7.2°F above average. Higher sea level also extends the storm surge driven by the hurricane.[18]
How does Hurricane Harvey compare to other storms
Weather science and games for kids from the National Weather Service Education
August 28 – International Organizations / Former Soviet Republics:
INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY (IAEA) / NUCLEAR THREAT INITIATIVE (NIT) / KAZAKHSTAN
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) with the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NIT) and the government of Kazakhstan (the world’s top source of uranium) open Low Enriched Uranium (LEU) international Bank in northern Kazakhstan. This unusual bank will deposit low-enriched uranium—nuclear fuel— used for peaceful purposes in nuclear power plants, but also used to build nuclear weapons. The goal of this initiative is to avoid nuclear weapons program by convincing nations not to build their own uranium enrichment facilities, but withdraw the fuel they need for power plants from the LEU Bank. The bank was initiated by NIT. A third of its cost – $50 million – was funded by Warren Buffett. An additional $100 million came from the governments of the United States, Norway, the United Arab Emirates, the more than two dozen countries in the European Union, Kazakhstan, and Kuwait.[19] The Bank will be owned and operated by IAEA. According to former U.S. Senator and NTI Co-Chairman, Sam Nunn, “the launching of the LEU Bank is a major milestone for global nuclear security and nonproliferation efforts.”[20]
August 30 – Global / Middle East:
RELIGION / SAUDI ARABIA
Two millions of Islamic pilgrims from all over the world arrive at the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia for the annual pilgrimage of Hajj, which will last until September 4. They started at sunset by circling the Kaaba in Mecca’s Grand Mosque, Islam’s holiest site. The Hajj is the fifth pillar of Islam. Every adult Muslim is required to undertake it at least once in their lifetime if they can afford it and is physically able. Saudi Arabia has prepared 100,000 security personnel to protect the pilgrims.
Video (1:45 min): What is the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca?
More about Hajj, its activities, statistics, and photos