News
According to RIA Novosti: The Russian Defense Ministry stated that Russian troops took control of Verny in eastern Ukraine.
According to Iran's Mahr News Agency: Iran's Atomic Energy Organization condemned the US air strike on the nuclear power plant under construction in Dalhovin, calling it a "crime against international law."
German Chancellor Mertz: We may have an opportunity to make adjustments to the cabinet.
According to data from the network status monitoring website DownDetector, starting around 3:25 a.m. Sunday, US time, thousands of users reported outages on Facebook and Instagram.
[U.S. Embassy in Jordan: Authorities have evacuated Aqaba's international airport and seaport] U.S. Embassy in Jordan: Jordanian authorities have evacuated Aqaba's international airport and seaport due to a specific and credible threat. We strongly recommend that all U.S. citizens avoid traveling to airports or seaports.
Ukrainian President Zelensky: Kiev’s forces attacked three oil depots and a fuel facility in Russia’s Stavropol region.
The latest death toll at a US military base in Jordan brings the total number of US military deaths since the outbreak of the US-Iraq war to 16. More than 430 people were injured and one person is still missing. The following are the known casualty details:1. The first round of casualties occurred on March 1, shortly after the war began, when an Iranian drone attacked a civilian port in Kuwait, killing **6** US soldiers. 2. A seventh soldier was injured in an Iranian attack on Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia on the same day on March 1 and died more than a week later. 3. On March 12, a KC-135 tanker aircraft supporting US military operations crashed in Iraq, killing **6 people**. The U.S. military said the crash was preceded by an "unspecified incident" involving another aircraft and ruled out the possibility of enemy fire or friendly fire. 4. On July 1, a U.S. Navy pilot died in a helicopter crash in the Arabian Sea. The Navy said there was no indication that the incident was caused by enemy action.
Ukrainian Military: Ukrainian troops hit two Russian oil tankers in the Black Sea.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister: Russia launched the largest number of ballistic missiles into Ukraine since the war began.
Ukrainian Air Force: Shot down 18 of 41 missiles launched by Russia at night.
Israeli Official: The United States Rejects Israel’s Request to Directly Participate in Iran’s War.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center: There is a 60% chance that the storm in the northern Gulf of the United States and near Florida will form a cyclone in the next 48 hours.
Ross Harrison, an analyst at the Middle East Institute in Washington, said Trump campaigned on a promise to end "endless wars" and "stupid wars" in the Middle East, but now he is involved in a conflict that "seems to have no strategic logic at all." In the United States, a question we have never understood is: Does political logic still have weight in the Trump administration? During Trump's first term, we did see them looking at the poll numbers and looking at the performance of the stock market. But the question is: if the number of U.S. military casualties continues to rise, Will this actually affect the president's decision-making? It's not clear yet. What drives Trump now may no longer be conventional political pressures such as midterm elections or economic shocks, but that he is more concerned about how he will be positioned in history. The real concern is that the president's personal psychology matters more than the political cost. Questions that one would normally use to measure a normal president, such as whether the midterm elections and the economy will affect his decision-making, may now be irrelevant. And it is this that makes this conflict particularly dangerous.
A Russian missile attack on Kiev killed at least one person, injured 13 others and damaged several homes.
U.S. Geological Survey: A magnitude 4.4 earthquake occurred 91 kilometers southwest of Brisas Barra de Suquiate, Mexico.
According to RIA Novosti: Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov held talks with his UAE counterpart on tensions in the Persian Gulf.
U.S. Central Command: Completed another round of strikes against Iran at 11:30 pm ET on July 18.
According to the New York Post: U.S. President Trump said the U.S. strikes prevented Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. If Iran is not stopped, the region could slide into broader conflict.
According to Iran's Tasnim News Agency: The United States launched a new round of air strikes on Iran's Qeshm Island. At least two explosions were heard in parts of the island. Emergency rescue, security and operations teams rushed to the scene to determine the location of the attack and assess casualties or property damage.
U.S. National Hurricane Center: Tropical Depression Six is about 1,290 kilometers away from the southern tip of the California Peninsula; the maximum sustained wind speed is 55 kilometers per hour. It is expected to intensify steadily to rapidly intensify in the next few days.