July 20, 2013 (Saturday)
Arts and culture
- American veteran journalist Helen Thomas, who covered the White House for nearly five decades, dies at 92. (BBC)
Disasters and accidents
- Two US marine harrier jets forced to drop several unarmed bombs on the world-heritage listed Great Barrier Reef due to an emergency during a training exercise. (news.com.au)
- Bihar school meal poisoning incident:
- Police say that a forensic report confirmed the cooking oil contained "very toxic" levels of monocrotophos, an agricultural pesticide. (The Guardian),(BBC)
International relations
- Venezuela ends its rapprochement with the United States due to a statement by Samantha Power, nominated to become the United States Ambassador to the United Nations. (AFP via News24)
- Israel announces that it will release Palestinian prisoners if peace talks are resumed. (Reuters)
- 17 government soldiers are killed in an attack by FARC revolutionaries in the Colombian department of Arauca. BBC
Law and crime
- Five Costa Crociere employees plead guilty to manslaughter and negligence charges in relation to the Costa Concordia disaster that cost 32 crew and passengers their lives off the coast of Italy. Captain Francesco Schettino is being tried separately. (AP)
- A man sets off homemade black powder explosive in Beijing Capital International Airport, injuring himself. No one else was hurt in the explosion. (CNN)
- Three female bodies are found in plastic sheets in East Cleveland, Ohio; a 35-year-old sex offender was arrested on suspicion of all three cases, but has not been charged. Police say he may have been influenced by convicted Cleveland serial killer Anthony Sowell. (Peoria Journal Star)