Gunmen attack the Diori Hamani International Airport in Niamey, Niger, with explosions and gunfire heard.
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June 18, 2026 (Thursday)
2 minutes to read
Armed conflicts and attacks
Ukraine launches its largest ever drone attack on Moscow, Russia, targeting the Moscow Refinery and damaging several residential buildings.
Residents of Moscow report oil raining down as massive plumes of black smoke are visible over the city.
Following the attack, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy says "If Ukraine burns, your Moscow will burn", warning against further Russian attacks on the country.
Pakistani prime minister Shehbaz Sharif postpones his visit to Switzerland after the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Iran and the United States was signed remotely.
Sharif reaffirms that the MOU to end the war will take effect immediately and that Iran will "instantly" reopen the Strait of Hormuz and that the American blockade on ports will end "immediately".
The U.S. presidential executive office provides a text of the details on the agreement to the U.S. Congress.
U.S. vice president JD Vance says that his country will allow ships through to Iranian ports, and that the naval blockade will be lifted as part of a agreement to end the war.
Trump's deputy, Vance, criticizes members of the government of Israel who attack his recent agreement with Iran and the president personally, saying that Trump is the only head of state in the world currently in solidarity with Israel, and that they must remember that during the last three months, two-thirds of the defensive weapons that protected Israel were made by Americans and paid for by taxpayers.
Business and economy
The American Automobile Association reports that gas prices in the United States are at $3.999, making it the first time gas prices have went below $4 since March 30 after rising amidst the Iran war.
Health and environment
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has caused 202 deaths from 875 confirmed cases. Health officials cite difficulties in contact tracing, while the Red Cross warns that the outbreak has not yet peaked.
Australian researchers report that an H5 avian influenza outbreak on Heard Island and McDonald Islands has killed more than 13,000 southern elephant seal pups and has infected local bird and penguin populations, marking the virus's first detection in an Australian external territory.
Scientists confirm that Major Oak, a 1,000-year-old oak tree in Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire, England, has died. The tree failed to produce any new leaves this year after becoming "stressed" by a series of hot, dry summers over the last decade.
Two more passengers who were on the MV Hondius cruise ship during the hantavirus outbreak exit the National Quarantine Unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska, making the total amount of people remaining in quarantine to six.
June 17, 2026 (Wednesday)
2.2 minutes to read
Armed conflicts and attacks
The Gaza Health Ministry says that over 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza Strip since the ceasefire was announced last year.
The Israel Defense Forces says that they have killed two Hamas militants who allegedly took part in the October 7 attacks on Israel over the weekend in a airstrike in the central Gaza Strip.
Iran foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei tells Iranian state media that president Masoud Pezeshkian and U.S. president Donald Trump remotely signed the deal to end the war, extend the ceasefire by 60-days, and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Trump reportedly signed the agreement while at the G7 summit during a dinner with French president Emmanuel Macron.
Ship tracking websites, including Kpler, MarineTraffic, and TankerTrackers, show that three Iranian oil tankers, including two from the National Iranian Tanker Company, have escaped the blockade that was imposed on April 13 by the United States. Additionally, the Iranian-flagged NITC vessel M/T Stream have reached the blockade line as it headed towards the Gulf of Oman.
U.S. artificial intelligence chief Cameron Stanley says that the Grok chatbot was used to launch 2,000 missiles and munitions at Iran during the operation.
Disasters and accidents
Tropical Storm Arthur forms, becoming the first tropical cyclone of the season after creating significant rainfall across Mexico and Texas, United States.
Health and environment
The TASIS-aligned Peace Government officially declares a cholera outbreak in the Kordofan region, with laboratory tests in South Sudan confirming the disease, after weeks of acute watery diarrhoea cases in West Kordofan.
The European Union and G7 nations at the summit in Évian-les-Bains, France, pledge funding for the Democratic Republic of the Congo amidst the Ebola epidemic in the country, including in Ituri Province.
Politics and elections
In the U.S., the Republican-led Georgia General Assembly rejects governor Brian Kemp's attempt to redistrict Georgia's congressional districts for the 2028 United States House of Representatives elections in the state after state House speaker Jon G. Burns announced that he will not hold a vote to do so.
The Philippine Senate elects Sherwin Gatchalian as Senate president, formally removing Alan Peter Cayetano and ending a leadership dispute that began on June 3. Gatchalian receives the support of all 13 senators present during a special session.
The Norwegian palace says that Crown Princess Mette-Marit underwent a lung transplant surgery at the Oslo University Hospital.
Afghanistan's Taliban government imposes a ban on smartphone use by government employees, with exemptions requiring approval from supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada.
Sports
Sudan's women's national under-17 football team makes its first appearance on international stage in Morocco in an effort to qualify for the upcoming 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles amidst the ongoing civil war in the country that erupted three years ago.
In association football, Yoane Wissa scores the DR Congo's first goal at a FIFA World Cup during a 1–1 draw against Portugal in their opening match.
Abbosbek Fayzullaev scores Uzbekistan's first goal at a FIFA World Cup during a 3–1 loss against Colombia in their opening match.
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