Portal:Current events/2026 July 18

July 18, 2026 (Saturday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

2026 Iran war
- 2026 Iranian strikes on Arab countries
  - 2026 Iranian strikes on Bahrain
    - The Bahraini military intercepts projectiles fired from Iran. (DPA via Yahoo News)
  - 2026 Iranian strikes on Jordan
    - 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. (Reuters) (The Wall Street Journal)
  - 2026 Iranian strikes on Kuwait
    - 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. (AFP via Vanguard)
    - An oil facility is damaged, according to the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation. (PBS)
  - 2026 Iranian strikes on Saudi Arabia
    - Axios 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. (Financial Times)
- 2025–2026 Iran–United States negotiations
  - 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". (PBS)
- 2026 Strait of Hormuz crisis
  - 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". (AFP via Arab News)
  - The Philippine foreign affairs department reports that four Philippine-registered vessels carrying 81 seafarers have safely transited through the Strait of Hormuz. The vessels are identified as the MV Lyng Trader, MV Western Doncaster, MV Vivian Trader, and MV Eva Fuji. (GMA Network)
- July 2026 United States strikes against Iran
  - In the seventh day of renewed U.S. strikes, civilian infrastructure, including a desalination plant in Jask, are damaged, cutting off the access to water for 10,000 civilians. (IRNA) (BBC Persian (in Persian))
  - Communications services in Iran's Hormozgan province are disrupted after U.S. strikes damaged 116 radio towers there. (BBC News) (BBC Persian (in Persian))
  - The U.S. CENTCOM launches a new wave of strikes for an eighth consecutive night against IRGC targets in response to two American service members killed in Jordan. (The Hill)
Mali War
- 2026 Mali offensives
  - 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. (Al Jazeera) (AP)
Russo-Ukrainian war
- Attacks in Russia during the Russo-Ukrainian war, Aerial warfare in the Russo-Ukrainian war
  - Moscow Oblast governor Andrey Vorobyov and Tambov Oblast head Yevgeny Pervyshov say Ukrainian drone attacks killed seven workers and injure 49 others at Wildberries warehouses in Kotovsk and Elektrostal, Russia, while another strike ignites an oil facility. Ukraine says the warehouses support Russian drone production. (Reuters)
Sudanese civil war
- Arab League secretary general Nabil Fahmy and U.S. envoy Massad Boulos reach an agreement to establish a regular framework for joint coordination for a ceasefire in the ongoing civil war in Sudan. (Sudan Tribune)
Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
- An insurgent is killed and five others are injured during a counterterrorism operation that foiled a terrorist plot in Wana, South Waziristan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. (Dawn)

Business and economy

Belgium–Israel relations, International reactions to the Gaza war
- Belgium approves an import ban on goods from Israeli settlements. (Al Jazeera)
Economic impact of the 2026 Iran war
- Kuwait Airways reschedules most of its flights due to the country's airspace being closed amidst ongoing Iranian attacks. (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. (Middle East Eye)

Disasters and accidents

Krokstadelva fire
- Over 100 houses burn down in a fire in the Krokstadelva municipality of Norway. (NOS)
Nine people are killed and nine others are injured after an unauthorized firecracker factory explodes in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. (NDTV) (Xinhua)
Five people are killed and two others are injured in a workplace accident in Thanh Hóa province, Vietnam. (Xinhua)
Five people, including three women, drown in the Godavari River whilst fishing near Polavaram district, India. (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. (AA)

Law and crime

Turkey–Islamic State conflict
- Turkey's interior ministry announces the arrest of 119 people linked to ISIS. (AFP via Al Arabiya)

Politics and elections

Magyar Government
- 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. (BBC News)
Jens Spahn resigns as leader of the governing CDU/CSU alliance in Germany's Bundestag amid criticism after he and his husband became parents through surrogacy, despite Germany's ban and his party's opposition to the practice. (AFP via Channels TV)

Science and technology

Space industry of India
- 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. (AFP via Asharq Al-Awsat)

Sports

2026 FIFA World Cup
- In association football, England beats France 6–4 in the highest-scoring third-place playoff in FIFA World Cup history, securing their best result since winning the tournament in 1966. (BBC Sport)
- French footballer Kylian Mbappé scores twice to become the highest-scoring player in World Cup history, and the first player to score 10 goals in a single World Cup since Germany's Gerd Müller in 1970. (BBC Sport)
2026 Diamond League
- At the London Athletics Meet, British runner Josh Kerr sets a new world record of 3:42.66 for the mile. The previous record of 3:43.13 by Hicham El Guerrouj had been set in 1999. (BBC Sport)