July 21, 2013 (Sunday)
Armed conflict and attacks
- Hundreds of al-Qaeda prisoners escape during armed raids on two Iraqi prisons, including the Baghdad Central Prison (formerly known as Abu Ghraib). (The Telegraph)
Disasters and accidents
- A magnitude 6.5 earthquake strikes under Cook Strait in New Zealand, causing moderate damage in the capital city Wellington. (Fairfax NZ)
- Fifteen Egyptian Army soldiers are killed and another injured after their bus crashes into a truck on a highway on the Mediterranean coast. (AP via Montreal Gazette)
Law and crime
- At least 12 people have been killed or wounded in a clash between two Muslim families in the province of Lanao del Sur in the southern Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner)
Politics and elections
- Voters in Japan go to the polls for a House of Councillors (Japan's upper house) election with the governing coalition led by Shinzo Abe winning control of the upper house. (USA Today), (Bloomberg via Business Week)
- King Albert II of Belgium abdicates in favour of his son Prince Philippe. (AP)
Sport
- In cycling, the 2013 Tour de France finishes today in Paris with Kenyan-born British rider Chris Froome winning his first Tour de France. (ABC News Australia)
- In golf, American golfer Phil Mickelson wins the 2013 Open Championship at Muirfield in Scotland for the first time. (Al-Jazeera), (AP via The Washington Post)
- In motorcycling, the World Superbike Championship race at the Moscow Raceway is cancelled after the Italian rider Andrea Antonelli dies after a crash on the opening lap. (Guardian)