July 18, 2013 (Thursday)
Armed conflict and attacks
- Eight Afghan labourers are killed on their way to work at a U.S. military base in Logar Province. (BBC)
- Indian paramilitary forces shoot dead seven protesters outside a Border Security Force station in Kashmir with dozens injured. (AFP via Ahram Online)
Business and finance
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average hits its intraday high of 15,552. (CNN)
- With $18.5 billion in debts, the city of Detroit, Michigan files for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection, becoming the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history. (Detroit Free Press)
Disasters and accidents
- A massive wildfire burns over 19,000 acres of forest on and around the San Jacinto Mountains and engulfs numerous buildings including seven homes, prompting the evacuation of Idyllwild-Pine Cove, California. (Reuters)
- Steam begins to rise at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant with utility company Tepco saying that it is possibly because of rain and that the levels of radioactivity in the surrounding areas have remained unchanged. (Reuters)
Law and crime
- 2012 Kunsthal Art theft:
- New Zealand police decide not to proceed with manslaughter charges against the managers of the Pike River Mine over the deaths of 29 workers in the 2010 Pike River Mine disaster. (AFP via Fox News)
- Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny is convicted of embezzlement from a state-owned timber company. (The Guardian)
- The Supreme Court of India has ordered acid sales to be regulated by local and national governments. Acid is mainly used for attacks on people, especially women. (BBC)
Politics and elections
- The Hellenic Parliament passes a bill that will cut thousands of public sector jobs. (Reuters)
Science
- A study published in The Archives of Diseases in Childhood states that breastfeeding, in addition to its numerous more well-known physical and psychosocial benefits, may increase the infant's future upward mobility. (MSN)