Friday

2026 Strait of Hormuz crisis

Two warehouses in Volgograd and Zelenodolsk are attacked and set on fire, causing damage estimated at US$1.5 billion, in the latest of a series of Ukrainian drone strikes targeting the Russian online retailer Wildberries. (Kyiv Post) (France24)

The Israel Defense Forces says that killed two Hamas operatives accused of smuggling weapons into the Gaza Strip in separate strikes, violating the ongoing ceasefire. (The Times of Israel)

At least 11 Palestinians, including four children, are injured during a raid by Israeli settlers and soldiers in Nablus in the occupied West Bank. Israeli soldiers also detain at least ten people from Nablus, Tell, Salim, and Bethlehem. (Al Jazeera)

Hamas says that they will disarm if Israel withdraws from and ends its military campaign in the Gaza Strip and if Israel and the U.S. honors the ceasefire agreement signed in October 2025. (Middle East Eye) (The Washington Post)

A migrant worker is shot and killed and another is injured by insurgents in Kulgam district, Jammu and Kashmir, India. (The Indian Express)

Human Rights Watch reports that a Sukhoi Su-24 airstrike by the Russian paramilitary group Africa Corps in Mali's Mopti region killed eight civilians in June. (Africanews) (AP)

Ceutan mayor-president Juan Jesús Vivas says that around 60,000 undocumented migrants have entered the Spanish exclave in North Africa in the last 24 hours, as the death toll rises to 57. (The Guardian) (BBC News)

Videos on social media appear to show the Spanish Army deploying military vehicles towards the border with Morocco. (Reuters)

French interior minister Laurent Nuñez announces that he has ordered increased controls at the border with Spain amid fears the thousands of migrants entering Ceuta could make their way to France. (Politico)

Austrian chancellor Christian Stocker and Finnish interior minister Mari Rantanen join Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni in calling for Spain to be suspended from Schengen Area in response to the mass arrival of migrants in Ceuta over the last 24 hours. (AA)

Spanish authorities close the Melilla border crossing with Morocco after around 400 migrants stormed the border barrier. RTVE reports the sound of gunfire and explosions. (AA)

Latvia announces the sudden closure of its border with Belarus and urges travellers to use alternative routes. (Reuters)

A Sri Lankan court sentences former police chief Pujith Jayasundara to death for negligence in failing to prevent the 2019 Easter bombings, which killed 279 people. Sri Lanka has not carried out an execution since 1976. (AFP via The Star)

The Bulgarian National Assembly sets October 25th as the date for the presidential election. (AP)

Carlos Cordeiro, senior FIFA executive and adviser to FIFA president Gianni Infantino, resigns in protest of Infantino's plans to sell stakes in FIFA Forward Enterprise to private investors, including American banking institution JPMorgan Chase, calling them "a bad deal for FIFA's members, a bad deal for football, and a bad deal for the long-term future of the game". (Sky News)

The Asian Football Confederation joins UEFA in opposing Infantino's plans and vows to boycott the next tournament if they go ahead. (The Independent)

It is reported that CONCACAF chief Victor Montagliani is considering running against FIFA president Gianni Infantino in next year's election. (Reuters)

A pool party is held at the Long Center in Clearwater, Florida to celebrate the reopening of its swimming pool. (Fox13 Tampa)

Sioux Falls, South Dakota will close all their pools beginning on August 9. (keloland)