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".
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July 18, 2026 (Saturday)
3.2 minutes to read
Armed conflicts and attacks
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.
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".
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.
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.
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.
Communications services in Iran's Hormozgan province are disrupted after U.S. strikes damaged 116 radio towers there.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Business and economy
Kuwait Airways reschedules most of its flights due to the country's airspace being closed amidst ongoing Iranian attacks.
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.
Disasters and accidents
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.
Five people, including three women, drown in the Godavari River whilst fishing near Polavaram district, India.
Five people are killed and two others are injured in a workplace accident in Thanh Hóa province, Vietnam.
Law and crime
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.
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.
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.
Sports
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.
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.
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.
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