Eight people are killed and nine others are injured after an unauthorized firecracker factory explodes in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India.
Source:
NDTV 
July 18
Disasters and accidents
Five people, including three women, drown in the Godavari River whilst fishing near Polavaram district, India.
Source:
The Hindu
Four people are killed, four more are missing, and seven others are injured after torrential rains and flash floods hit a mountainous village in Lai Châu province, Vietnam.
Source:
AA
Armed conflicts and attacks
Iranian deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi says that the United States has violated the terms of the Islamabad Memorandum and that Iran is "no longer implementing them".
Source:
PBS
The Bahraini military intercepts projectiles fired from Iran.
Source:
Yahoo News
The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) reports that two American troops have been "killed in action" in Jordan, bringing the total casualties for American troops to 16.
Source:
The Wall Street Journal
Kuwait says Iranian attacks have struck a second power and desalination plant in two days, causing a fire and shutting several generating units, while other attacks injure firefighters and a worker and temporarily disrupt flights from Kuwait International Airport.
Source:
Vanguard
An oil facility is damaged, according to the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation.
Source:
PBS
reports that Iran has launched a ballistic missile at a United States base in Saudi Arabia, making it the first direct attack by Iran on the country since targeting a petrochemical complex in Jubail.
Source:
Financial Times
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, in a statement published by IRNA, report that two oil tankers have exploded after hitting mines south in the Strait of Hormuz. However, the U.S. Central Command disputes the claims on X as "false".
Source:
Arab News
The Filipino Department of Foreign Affairs reports that four vessels registered by the Philippines carrying 81 seafarers have safely transited through the Strait of Hormuz.
Source:
GMA Network
In the seventh day of renewed US strikes, civilian infrastructure, including a desalination plant in Jask, are damaged, cutting off the access to water for 10,000 civilians.
Source:
BBC Persian
116 radio towers in Hormozgan Province of Iran are reportedly out of order.
Source:
BBC Persian
The Al-Qaeda-linked Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin and Tuareg Azawad Liberation Front rebels ambush a Malian military convoy in the Gao Region of Mali.
Source:
AP
Politics and elections
Hungarian president Tamás Sulyok signs the 17th amendment to the nation's constitution, which will end his term in office at midnight the following day.
Source:
BBC News
Science and technology
Skyroot Aerospace successfully launches Vikram-1, India's first privately built orbital rocket, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh, carrying small satellite payloads into low Earth orbit on its maiden flight.
Source:
Asharq Al-Awsat
Business and economy
Kuwait Airways reschedules most of its flights due to the country's airspace being closed amidst ongoing Iranian attacks.
Source:
Middle East Eye
Iran's Hormozgan province water and wastewater company announces that United States airstrikes have damaged desalination equipment, cutting off water to about 10,000 people.
Source:
Middle East Eye
July 17
International relations
The United States allows its national emergency over Hong Kong's national security law to expire while retaining the underlying executive order and most related sanctions.
Source:
New Straits Times
Business and economy
Iraq and Syria sign a memorandum of understanding to rehabilitate the Kirkuk–Baniyas pipeline to bypass to the Strait of Hormuz.
Source:
Middle East Eye
Politics and elections
Andy Burnham is elected as the new leader of the British Labour Party. He will formally succeed Keir Starmer as prime minister on Monday.
Source:
The Guardian
Protests continue for a second day in Kyiv near the Office of the President of Ukraine, demanding the return of Mykhailo Fedorov as Minister of Defence and the resignation of Oleksandr Syrskyi as the Commander-in-Chief.
Source:
Reuters
Japan's National Diet amends the Imperial Household Law to allow unmarried male descendants of former imperial branches to rejoin the family and permit royal women to retain status after marrying commoners, while preserving male-only succession.
Source:
AFP via ABS-CBN News
Disasters and accidents
The United States Forest Service reports that wildfires in northern Minnesota has reached over 77,000 acres, prompting evacuations in the area.
Source:
KAAL
Over 900 wildfires are reported across Canada, including 43 new active blazes, prompting evacuations across the country.
Source:
BNN Bloomberg
The U.S. state of Connecticut's Department of Energy and Environmental Protection deploys firefighters to assist with wildfire efforts in Quebec, Canada.
Source:
WVIT
A strong M 7.3 earthquake strikes near the coast of Chiapas, Mexico. Tsunami warnings were issued and damage is unknown.
Source:
The Weather Network
Eight people are killed, ten others are rescued and 34 are reported missing when a landslide buries multiple houses and residential buildings in Pengshui, Chongqing, China.
Source:
India Today
Four people are killed and nine others are injured after a head-on collision between two overspeeding cars along the N-25 National Highway, Wadh, Balochistan, Pakistan
Source:
Dawn
Chilean authorities report that a storm system that began affecting the country on Thursday has killed three people, injured seven others, damaged more than 800 homes, displaced hundreds and left around 400,000 people without electricity across 10 regions.
Source:
Reuters
A large fire breaks out among terraced houses in Krokstadelva, Drammen, Norway, spreading rapidly between multiple housing blocks and prompting mass evacuations; the municipality declares a crisis and calls in fire crews from eight neighboring municipalities.
Source:
VG
Health and environment
The death tolls from the measles outbreak in Bangladesh reaches 780 after one child is reported to have died from the disease by the Directorate General of Health Services.
Source:
Dhaka Tribune
Taylor Farms recalls their iceburg lettuce, traced through a farm in Mexico, amidst the ongoing cyclosporiasis outbreak in the United States, which is caused by .
Source:
Forbes
Michigan, U.S., surpasses 5,000 cases of cyclosporiasis.
Source:
The Detroit News
Armed conflicts and attacks
Iran says that it has launched ballistic missile and drone strikes at targets in Bahrain, including a drone vessel depot, an artificial intelligence center used for targeting, and the Al-Sakhir Air Base, as part of the 11th phase of its Saegheh operation.
Middle Eastern crisis (2023–present)2026 Iran war2026 Iranian strikes on Arab countries2026 Iranian strikes on Bahrain
Source:
Middle East Monitor
Iranian strikes damage a desalination plant and a power plant in Kuwait, according to the Kuwaiti energy ministry.
Middle Eastern crisis (2023–present)2026 Iran war2026 Iranian strikes on Arab countriesKuwait in the 2026 Iran war
Source:
CNBC
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy launches attacks on radar facilities in Oman.
Middle Eastern crisis (2023–present)2026 Iran war2026 Iranian strikes on Arab countries2026 Iranian strikes on Oman
Source:
AA
Iranian state media reports that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps have targeted a United States Special Operations Command in Al-Tanf in response to the killing of Iranian soldiers in Iranshahr, Sistan and Baluchestan province.
Middle Eastern crisis (2023–present)2026 Iran war2026 Iranian strikes on Arab countriesSyria in the 2026 Iran war
Source:
Arab News
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force launches an attack at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, and claims to have caused damage to equipment there, while Qatar's armed forces claim to have intercepted Iranian attacks.
Middle Eastern crisis (2023–present)2026 Iran war2026 Iranian strikes on Arab countries2026 Iranian strikes on Qatar
Source:
AA
The U.S. military's Central Command (CENTCOM) confirms that they have destroyed the Chah Bahar Shahid Kalantari Port surveillance tower in Chabahar Port yesterday, which was allegedly used by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for tracking commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
Source:
The Times of Israel
Iranian drone strikes near Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq, kill eight Kurdish rebels and injure several more.
Source:
The Times of Israel
CENTCOM launches strikes against Iran for a seventh consecutive night.
Source:
The Guardian
Source:
AA
The Israeli military and Shin Bet confirm that they have killed Hamas commander Anas Mahmoud Ahmad Hamdan, who served as a "right-hand man" of former Al-Qassam Brigades commander Mohammed Deif, in an airstrike in Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip.
Source:
The Times of Israel
Law and crime
A civilian dies and a police officer and the suspected gunman are wounded in a shooting in Nørresundby, North Jutland, Denmark, after officers responding to a reported fire are met with gunfire.
Source:
TV2
The Ontario Court of Appeal finds Canadian far-right activist and Freedom Convoy organizer Pat King "guilty of intimidation" and orders a re-sentencing.
Source:
Toronto Star
Japan enacts a law criminalizing public damage, removal or defacement of the national flag, punishable by up to two years in prison or a ¥200,000 (US$1,200) fine.
Source:
AFP via France 24
July 16
Politics and elections
Protests take place in Kyiv and other cities across Ukraine against president Volodymyr Zelenskyy's decision to replace defense minister Mykhailo Fedorov with major-general Yevhenii Khmara.
Source:
Reuters
Ukrainian Air Force deputy commander Pavlo Yelizarov resigns from his position in protest of Fedorov's removal as defense minister.
Source:
BBC News
Disasters and accidents
Source:
BBC News
Six members of a family are killed after a fire engulfed their house in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan.
Source:
Xinhua
Health and environment
The Ugandan health ministry reports that Uganda has discharged its last patient diagnosed with Ebola, triggering a 42-day countdown clock on when it can be declared free of the virus.
Source:
Reuters
links the iceberg lettuce produced by Taylor Farms and supplied to American fast food chain Taco Bell as a source of the current cyclosporiasis outbreak in the United States, which is caused by .
Source:
The Washington Post
Taco Bell removes lettuce from some of their restaurants following reports that the Food and Drug Administration has opened an investigation into iceberg lettuce supplied to them.
Source:
The Hill
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services reports that the amount of hospitalizations in the state linked to the cyclosporiasis outbreak has surpassed 100 people.
Source:
ABC News
Zambia's health ministry declares an end to its cholera outbreak, which started in August of last year, after four weeks without a case.
Source:
Lusaka Times
International relations
Taiwan says that its representative office in Port Moresby will continue operating and assisting Taiwanese nationals, rejecting Papua New Guinea's decision to close it and stating that the move was made without prior consultation. Papuan foreign minister Justin Tkatchenko says that his ministry informed Taiwan of the closure "weeks ago".
Source:
The Straits Times
Sudanese justice minister Abdallah Dirif says that the government will launch lawsuits against the United Arab Emirates in international courts for its role in supporting war crimes by the Rapid Support Forces in the ongoing civil war.
Source:
Sudan Tribune
Law and crime
The Thai interior ministry identifies irregularities in the mandatory examination results of 5,814 civil servants and considers suspensions, while police arrest three suspected organizers following a joint investigation with the anti-corruption commission.
Source:
The Straits Times
Ernesto Ruffo Appel, former governor of Baja California, Mexico, is arrested on charges related to organized crime and fuel smuggling.
Source:
Gringo Gazette
South Korea's Supreme Court upholds People Power Party lawmaker Kweon Seong-dong's two-year prison sentence for accepting ₩100 million (US$67,400) in illegal political funds from the Unification Church, removing him from the National Assembly.
Source:
The Straits Times
Former Autostrade per l'Italia (ASPI) CEO Giovanni Castellucci is convicted and sentenced to 12 years in prison for his role in the 2018 collapse of the Ponte Morandi in Genoa, Liguria, Italy, which killed 43 people.
Source:
TrasportoEuropa
Armed conflicts and attacks
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says that Iran is still interested in an agreement with the United States.
Source:
Reuters
The Kuwaiti defense ministry reports that the military intercepted and destroyed 32 drones entering the country's airspace.
Source:
Arab Times Kuwait
The United States Central Command launches new strikes against Iran for a sixth consecutive night in an effort to degrade Iranian military capabilities.
Source:
Middle East Eye
Explosions are reported in Iran's Qeshm Island, Bushehr, Ahvaz, and Bandar Abbas, including a bridge in Bandar Khamir. A truck on the bridge is reported to be targeted, killing the driver.
Source:
Turkiye Today
Tasnim News Agency reports that American fighter jets attacked the Iranshahr Airport in the Sistan and Baluchestan province.
Source:
MTV
Around 1,000 Sudanese returnees in Egypt are reported by a local committee to have returned to Sudan.
Source:
Middle East Monitor
The Sudanese Armed Forces says that they have destroyed around 205 combat vehicles, military supply trucks, and four strategic drones belonging to the Rapid Support Forces in the past two weeks.
Source:
Sudan Tribune
July 15
Disasters and accidents
Seven people are killed and one person is missing after a rubber dinghy explodes near Liaoning Province, China.
Source:
Xinhua
Armed conflicts and attacks
The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) says that American forces have redirected two commercial vessels since the blockade resumed.
Middle Eastern crisis (2023–present)2026 Iran war2026 Strait of Hormuz crisis2026 Strait of Hormuz campaign2026 United States naval blockade of Iran
Source:
AA
CENTCOM says that American forces disabled the Curaçao-flagged oil tanker as it was heading towards an Iranian port in the Persian Gulf amidst the blockade. An 18 second video confirms that a U.S. aircraft disabled the vessel.
Middle Eastern crisis (2023–present)2026 Iran war2026 Strait of Hormuz crisis2026 Strait of Hormuz campaign2026 United States naval blockade of Iran
Source:
Stars and Stripes
India's Directorate General of Shipping warns companies not to deploy Indian sailors onto vessels transiting through the Strait of Hormuz after two Indian seafarers were killed in separate ship attacks in the waterway.
Middle Eastern crisis (2023–present)2026 Iran war2026 Strait of Hormuz crisisIndia in the 2026 Iran warOperation Urja Suraksha
Source:
Reuters
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps says the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed "until the United States ends its acts of aggression".
Source:
Euractiv
Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf says that ceasefire negotiations aimed at ending the war have not closed despite renewed fighting between Iran and the U.S.
Middle Eastern crisis (2023–present)2026 Iran war2025–2026 Iran–United States negotiations2026 Iran war ceasefire
Source:
The New York Times
The Directorate General of Counter Terrorism of the Kurdistan Region Security Council reports that international coalition forces have intercepted seven drones in Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq.
Source:
Kurdistan24
Three drones are reportedly shot down near the U.S. consulate in Erbil.
Source:
Shafaq
CENTCOM announces the U.S. has launched new strikes against Iran for a fifth consecutive day aimed at coastal defense systems, cruise missile storage, and launch sites in the Greater Tunb Island.
Source:
Politico
Morocco signs an agreement with the Board of Peace to join the International Stabilization Force for Gaza.
Source:
Reuters
Israel's military claims to have killed a militant from the Hamas branch Al-Qassam Brigades that participated in the abduction of soldiers Col. Asaf Hamami, St.-Sgt. Tomer Yaakov Ahimas, and Sgt. Kiril Brodski during the October 7 attacks on the Nirim kibbutz.
Source:
Haaretz
The U.S. State Department approves a potential US$1.96 billion deal in arms sales to Saudi Arabia amidst the current Iran war and potential re-escalation with the Houthis.
Middle Eastern crisis (2023–present)Yemeni civil war (2014–present)Saudi Arabia–United States relations
Source:
Al Jazeera
The Sudanese Armed Forces-allied Joint Forces announce that they have recaptured the Orshi Reservoir area in North Darfur, a month after the Rapid Support Forces seized the area.
Source:
AA
A drone strike by the Rapid Support Forces hits a power station in the town of Al Dabbah in Sudan's Northern State.
Source:
Sudan Tribune
Law and crime
A district court in Kathmandu, Nepal, sentences former deputy prime minister Top Bahadur Rayamajhi to four years in prison and former home minister Bal Krishna Khand to two years for roles in forging documents for a fraudulent Bhutanese refugee resettlement scheme.
Source:
Reuters
Kenya's High Court rejects a Rastafarian petition seeking a religious exemption from cannabis laws, ruling that the group does not show the laws violate religious freedom.
Source:
AFP via NDTV
The Democratic Republic of the Congo establishes a council composed of mostly international war crimes lawyers to advise state institutions seeking accountability and reparations for victims of violence in the country's east.
Source:
Reuters
The family of British national Craig Foreman says an Iranian court has added two years to his 10-year espionage prison sentence for speaking to the media, as he and his wife Lindsay continue a hunger strike.
Source:
CBS News
Moroccan prosecutors release journalist Ali Lmrabet after questioning him over online posts allegedly defaming unnamed individuals and institutions, while the criminal investigation continues.
Source:
Reuters
U.S. president Donald Trump announces that American citizen Dena Karari has been released from Iran after being detained on espionage charges since 2024. Her lawyer, Jared Genser, also confirmed her release.
Source:
NBC News
Politics and elections
France's National Assembly gives final approval to a bill allowing eligible adults with incurable, life-threatening illnesses to obtain lethal medication under strict conditions. The measure awaits Constitutional Council review before taking effect.
Source:
AP
International relations
The United Kingdom and the European Union remove the land-border fence between Gibraltar and Spain under a post-Brexit treaty, allowing free movement while introducing joint British-Spanish checks at Gibraltar's airport and port.
Source:
AP
United Nations secretary-general António Guterres appoints Bangladeshi diplomat Rabab Fatima as the next head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.
Source:
Arab News
Papuan foreign minister Justin Tkatchenko announces the immediate closure of Taiwan's representative office in Port Moresby, citing Papua New Guinea's adherence to the One China policy, while saying the decision does not affect contracts between Taiwan's CPC Corporation and natural gas in Papua New Guinea.
Source:
The Straits Times
Health and environment
IQAir ranks Toronto, Ontario, Canada, as having the worst air quality among major cities worldwide as smoke from wildfires in northwestern Ontario reaches the city, prompting the Canadian environment ministry to advise residents to remain indoors.
Source:
AFP via ABS-CBN News
The total amount of cases of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo exceed 2,000.
Source:
Medical Xpress
Sudan's health ministry reports that the total amount of cholera cases in north and west Kordofan has increased to 1,547.
Source:
Sudan Tribune
Science and technology
Astronomers directly image the exoplanet Beta Pictoris d next to its star, located 63 light-years away, using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope and European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope. It is also reported to be fainter than its sibling Beta Pictoris b. The discovery is published in the .
Source:
Space.com
American technology company Amazon partners with South African internet provider Herotel to launch Amazon Leo satellite internet service in 2027, marking its first such African agreement.
Source:
The Manila Times
Sports
The ESPY Awards is held at the David H. Koch Theater in New York City, U.S., with the 2025–26 New York Knicks winning five awards, including the Best Team award after winning their first NBA championship since 1973, while point guard Jalen Brunson wins the Best Male Athlete and Best Championship Performance awards.
Source:
Reuters