July 1 – South Asia: BANGLADESH
Five militants attack a bakery in an affluent area of the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, and take several dozen hostages. After hours of standoff, the Bangladesh Armed Forces launch a counter-attack, killing all five terrorists. However, 24 people are killed, 18 of them foreign tourists. The Bangladeshi government says that all assailants were Bangladeshi citizens and blames the attack on home-grown extremists, but the so-called Islamic State (IS) takes responsibility for the raid. In the last few years, Bangladesh has experienced a surge in terrorist attacks, but the Dhaka café incident is considered the worst one in Bangladesh’s history. The security forces are under intense criticism for failing to prevent these recent targeted killings.

July 1 – Europe: AUSTRIA
Austria’s Constitutional Court annuls the results of the May presidential election after finding irregularities in counting absentee votes in 14 out of 20 electoral districts. The rerun of the election is scheduled for October 2. During the May run-off, Alexander Van der Bellen, a member of the Austrian Green Party, but running as an independent, narrowly defeated Norbert Hofer of the Freedom Party of Austria, with 50.3 percent of the vote. The Freedom Party contested the results.

July 4 – Middle East: IRAQ
The so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) carries out a devastating bombing attack in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, killing 165 people and wounding more than 225. A truck filled with explosives is detonated at a busy city market, filled with people shopping for the holiday that marks the end of Ramadan. This is the worst single-bomb attack since 2007.

July 4 – Middle East: SAUDI ARABIA
Three suicide attacks in three different cities in Saudi Arabia are blamed on the Islamic State (IS). Two of them take place outside the U.S. Consulate in the city of Jeddah wounding two security guards and outside a Shia mosque in the city of Qatif, where only the bomber was killed. The third one takes place near the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina, Islam’s second holiest site, where thousands of worshipers gathered for a prayer. Only four security guards are killed in an attempt to stop the suicide bomber.

July 5 – North America: UNITED STATES
Two white police officers in Baton Rouge in the U.S. state of Louisiana fatally shoot a black man, Alton Sterling, who was selling CDs in front of a convenience store. Responding to a report that he used a gun to threaten someone outside a store, police officers have a short altercation with the man and they shoot him several times at close range while holding him down on the ground. The incident is recorded on cell phones by multiple bystanders, as well as on store surveillance and officer body cameras. The shooting sets off widespread demonstrations in Baton Rouge and demands for a civil rights investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice. The protests are led by Black Lives Matter (BLM), an activist movement originating in the African-American community that campaigns against violence, racial profiling, police brutality, and systemic racism toward black people. (July 6):  A Minnesota police officer fatally shoots a young African American man, Philando Castile, during a routine traffic stop for a broken tail light. After being asked for his license and registration, Castile tells the officer he has a licensed weapon in the car. As he puts his hands back up, the officer fatally shoots him several times. The immediate aftermath of the shooting is live-streamed on Facebook by his girlfriend who is in the car with Castile. Following the Castile’s shooting, BLM protesters come to the streets throughout Minnesota and other states. (July 7): During the BLM peaceful demonstrations against the killings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile in Dallas, Texas, an Army Reserve Afghan War veteran Micah Xavier Johnson ambushes and fatally shoots five and wounds seven police officers. Johnson was reportedly angry over police shootings of black men and stated that he wanted to kill white police officers. He is killed during a standoff with the police. Some conservatives blame the BLM movement for the shootings, but the movement denounces the killings.

July 11 – Middle East: SYRIA / IRAQ
HIS Jane’s 360 reports that the so-called Islamic State (IS) has been losing territory at an increasing rate since January 2015. By the end of 2015, it shrunk by 15 percent and since January 2016 – another 12 percent. Right now the IS controls about 26 370 square miles in Iraq and Syria, which corresponds to the size of the US state of West Virginia. HIS claims that in an effort to make up for these losses and to stay relevant, the group undertakes more mass casualty attacks in Syria and Iraq, as well as more attacks outside this area, such as Europe.

July 11 – North America / Middle East:
UNITED STATES / IRAQ
The United States is sending 560 more military personnel to Iraq to assist with fighting the so-called Islamic State (IS). This will bring the number of the US personnel in Iraq to 4,650, who mostly train and advise the Iraqi forces.

July 12 – East Asia / International Organizations:
CHINA / PHILIPPINES / PERMANENT COURT of ARBITRATION
The Permanent Court of Arbitration backs the claim brought by the Philippines against China and rules that the “nine-dash line,” used by China to demarcate its territorial claims on the South China Sea, is unlawful under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The tribunal says that there is no evidence that China historically exercised exclusive control over these waters and its resources. The area includes the Spratly Islands and Scarborough Shoal. The tribunal also criticized China for causing severe damage to the coral reef environment by building artificial islands in the area. China rejects the ruling. Although it is binding, the Permanent Court of Arbitration has no power of enforcement.

July 13 – Europe: UNITED KINGDOM
As a result of the last month referendum narrowly approving the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union, Prime Minister David Cameron submits his resignation. His successor is Home Secretary Theresa May, who was confirmed as the leader of the Conservative Party. Although Theresa May supported the UK staying in the EU, she and her new cabinet will have to oversee negotiations of the UK’s withdrawal from the Union. The uncertainty following the referendum outcome sends shock waves through the UK’s economy, causing a slowdown in economic activities and a decline of the British pound to $1.28, the lowest level since 1985.

July 14 – Europe: FRANCE
A delivery truck deliberately ploughs through crowds of people celebrating Bastille Day on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, France, killing 85 and injuring 307. The truck driver, a Tunisian resident of France, Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, is killed after a shootout with police. Islamic State (IS) claims the responsibility for the attack. In response to the attack, the French government extends the state of emergency, declared following the Paris attacks, for another three months. Police arrests five suspected accomplices. Since the beginning of 2015, France has been a target of increasing number of terrorist attacks.

July 15 – Europe / Middle East: TURKEY
A faction within Turkey’s military armed forces stage a coup d’état against the government and tries to seize control of several key places in the capital, Ankara, Istanbul and other places. The group of the plotters says that the reason is an erosion of secularism, the elimination of democratic rule, a disregard for human rights under the rule of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Thousands of people respond to President Erdogan’s call to stand up against the coup and take to the streets in protests. Within hours the troops loyal to the president put down the coup, but not before 290 people die and over 1,400 are injured in violence between the two sides. The coup is followed by mass arrests. More than 6,000 people are detained, 2,800 military officers are arrested, 8,000 police officers are removed from office, 2,700 judges and 1,500 finance ministry staff are sacked, and more than 21,000 teachers are fired with their teaching certificates revoked. The government accuses Fethullah Gulen, the self-exiled Turkish Islamic preacher and the head of a popular movement Hizmet, of being the coup’s mastermind and accuses the U.S. (where he has lived since 1999) of protecting him.

July 17 – Latin America: VENEZUELA / COLOMBIA
After Venezuela temporarily opens its border with Colombia, more than 123,000 Venezuelans flood into Colombia in just two days to shop for basic foods and medicines. As a result of falling oil prices and failed government policies, Venezuela has been suffering from severe economic crisis with food in short supply.

July 18 – Africa / International Organizations:
MOROCCO / AFRICAN UNION
The Moroccan King Mohammed VI says that Morocco will rejoin the African Union (AU), 32 years after it left the organization due to disagreements about Western Sahara. In 1984, the AU recognized the independence of Western Sahara, the region that Morocco considers part of its territory.

July 18 – North America: UNITED STATES
The United States Republican Party holds its National Convention in Cleveland, OH. During the four-day gathering, the party’s 2,472 delegates ratify the party platform and formally nominate billionaire businessman Donald Trump as the Party’s nominee for President of the United States and Mike Pence as his running mate. (July 25): Similarly, the U.S. Democratic Party holds its National Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its 4,763 delegates confirm Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as its nominee for President of the United States and Senator Tim Kaine from Virginia as her running mate. Hilary Clinton makes history by becoming the first female major party presidential candidate.

July 20 – Middle East: ISRAEL
Israeli parliament passes a controversial law that will allow to impeach members of parliament who incite to violence, racism, or support armed struggle against the state. The critics say that the law is undemocratic and targets mostly the country’s Arab legislators. However, the law will require at least 90 members in the 120- member parliament to vote in favor of any impeachment. The Arab population is Israel amounts to 20 percent who are represented by 17 Arab members in the Knesset.