July 18, 2014 (Friday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- 2014 insurgency in Donbass:
- US President Barack Obama says the United States has "increasing confidence" that the missile that shot down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 came from Russian separatists in Ukraine - and that Russia bears responsibility for the crisis. (New York Times)
- War in North-West Pakistan:
- At least eight members of the Pakistan Army Frontier Corps are killed in a militant attack in the Khyber Agency. (The News Pakistan)
- Syrian Civil War:
- About 100 soldiers, guards and employees are killed as insurgents belonging to the Islamic State (ISIS) seize control of the Shaer gas field in Palmyra, central Syria. The United Kingdom-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 115 people were killed in total. (Irish Independent)
- Islamist insurgency in Nigeria:
- Many people are feared dead after suspected Boko Haram militants raided the town of Damboa with substantial parts of the town including the market burnt down. So far, 18 bodies have been recovered with the death toll expected to rise. (BBC News)
Business and economy
- Espírito Santo Financial Group, the holding company for Portugal's second largest bank, Banco Espírito Santo, files for creditor protection in Luxembourg. (Wall Street Journal)
Disasters
- 2014 Pacific typhoon season:
- Typhoon Rammasun, which has killed at least 54 people in the Philippines, approaches the southern China provinces of Hainan and Guangdong. (Reuters)
- Three people are reported killed and eleven injured as a roof collapses on a bank in Shenzhen, China as a result of heavy rain from the typhoon. (CNA)
- At least 35 homes have been destroyed in the US state of Washington in the Carlton complex wildfires. (NBC)
International relations
- Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan slams Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi as an "illegitimate tyrant", adding that Egypt could not be relied on when negotiating a ceasefire. (AFP via Yahoo! News)
Law and crime
- Six men are arrested in the Australian state of Victoria in relation to alleged involvement in an international tennis match-fixing syndicate. (ABC News Australia)