• War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
  • Netherlands pulls out of Afghanistan. (rfi)
  • Two NATO soldiers are killed in fighting in the south of Afghanistan. (AFP via Focus net)
• Wooden box mines, suspected to come from North Korea, wash ashore on a South Korean beach killing one man and injuring another. (Reuters) (Yonhap)
• Israel Defense Forces jets attack targets in the Gaza Strip following a Qassam rocket fired at the Negev in Israel on Saturday night. (Ynet News)
• Almost 90,000 people flee renewed fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo in the past month reflecting a declining security situation as the military fights Allied Democratic Forces-National Army for the Liberation of Uganda Ugandan Islamist rebels. (Reuters Africa)
• Six people die in the Indian province of Jammu and Kashmir after a third day of clashes between security forces and Muslim separatists. (Voice of America)

• World Heritage List
  • Hawaii's Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, the habitat of the endangered Hawaiian Monk seal and rare birds, and Sri Lanka's central highlands are added. (Reuters)
  • Tanzania's Ngorongoro Conservation Area, including the Serengeti National Park and Olduvai Gorge, are added. (The Earth Times)
  • Eleven of Australia's most important convict sites including Hyde Park Barracks and The Domain in Sydney, Fremantle Prison in Western Australia and Port Arthur, Tasmania are added. (AAP via Sydney Morning Herald)

• Philippine Airlines tells 25 airline pilots to return to work after quitting without notice forcing the airline to cancel flights. (Bloomberg via Business Week)
• Manufacturing output in China grows at its slowest rate in 17 months in July, with the Purchasing Managers Index falling 0.9% to 51.2%. (BBC) (Xinhua)
• The United Arab Emirates will suspend some BlackBerry mobile services from October amid concerns that data from some equipment is being exported offshore and managed by foreign organisations. Saudi Arabia plans to suspend some services later this month. (BBC) (Aljazeera)

• Thousands of troops are mobilised in Russia to tackle forest fires spreading in 17 regions, the worst in decades, as the death toll rises to 30. (Voice of Russia) (AFP)
• Floods in northeastern China kill more than 100 people and sweep 3,000 chemical-filled barrels into the Songhua River. (Aljazeera) (Xinhua) (AFP) (Times of India)
• Pakistan floods
  • The death toll from floods in northwestern Pakistan exceeds 1,000. (BBC) (Aljazeera) (The Nation)
  • The United States pledges $10 million in foreign aid to Pakistan to help the nation respond. (AFP via Sydney Morning Herald)

• The Convention on Cluster Munitions banning the use, production and transfer of cluster bombs in some countries, comes into effect. (AFP) (BBC) (Aljazeera)
• Colombia denies claims by Venezuela that it is planning a military attack, a day after Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez said he was sending troops to their mutual border. (CNN) (Xinhua)
• The President of Israel Shimon Peres and the President of Egypt Hosni Mubarak agree that Israel and the Palestinian Authority should hold direct talks. (Jerusalem Post)

• United Kingdom - Sarah's Law, a scheme which allows parents to check if someone with access to their children is a sex offender, will be extended to cover the whole of England and Wales by Spring 2011 after proving successful in four pilot areas. (BBC)

• Scientists announce the discovery of the world's first active undersea river, in the Black Sea. (The Daily Telegraph)