Current events: 2026-07-23

[Wikipedia Current Events]

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Middle Eastern crisis
  • 2026 Iran war
    • 2026 Strait of Hormuz crisis
      • 2026 United States naval blockade of Iran
        • The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) says it has redirected 12 commercial vessels and disabled one since the naval blockade on Iran resumed on July 14. (Middle East Eye)
      • The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy says it has stopped three oil tankers from passing through the Strait of Hormuz. (AFP via Arab News)
    • July 2026 United States strikes against Iran
      • The Islamic Republic News Agency reports that the U.S. military struck the Shalamcheh area near the Iran–Iraq border. Two people are reported to be killed and 11 are reported injured. (The Guardian) (Middle East Eye)
    • Kuwait in the 2026 Iran war
      • Kuwait's defense ministry reports that a drone has hit the Abdali area near the Iraqi border. (KUNA via Arab Times Kuwait) (Kurdistan24)
  • Red Sea crisis
    • The Houthis claim to have attacked two Saudi Arabian oil tankers in the Red Sea for their violation of the blockade by Yemen's Houthi-led armed forces. There are no reported casualties. (Al Jazeera)
    • Shipping data shows that two Chinese very-large crude carriers carrying four million barrels of Saudi Arabian oil, the Singaporean-flagged VLCC Xin Long Yang and Chinese-flagged VLCC Cosnew Lake, are heading towards Bab-el-Mandeb strait. (Reuters)
    • Germany's defence ministry moves the Frankenthal-class minehunter Fulda and the replenishment oiler Mosel from the coast of Djibouti to the eastern Mediterranean Sea, citing uncertainty over a planned Strait of Hormuz mission and concerns about prolonged deployment affecting the vessels. (AFP via Al Arabiya)
    • Reuters reports that Iran sent Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officers, along with drone- and missile-related equipment, on a Mahan Air flight to Houthi-controlled Yemen on July 13, in preparation for the blockade on Saudi Arabia. (Reuters)
• Sudanese civil war
  • 2026 Blue Nile campaign
    • Emergency lawyers report that a drone strike has killed several civilians in the Badia area of Sudan's Blue Nile State. (Sudan Tribune)

Business and economy

• Economic impact of the 2026 Iran war
  • 2026 Iran war fuel crisis
    • Oil prices, including Brent Crude and West Texas Intermediate, increase to over US$101 per barrel and to nearly $93 per barrel, respectively, after the escalation in the Red Sea. The United States gasoline national average increases to $4.09 per gallon. (NBC News)

Disasters and accidents

• 2026 France wildfires
  • More than 20,000 people are evacuated from their homes as wildfires spread in France's southwesrern Gironde department. More than 700 firefighters have been deployed to battle the fires. (BBC News)

Law and crime

• 2025 shootings of Minnesota legislators
  • United States federal judge John R. Tunheim sentences Vance Boelter to two life terms plus 40 years without parole for killing Minnesota state representative Melissa Hortman and her husband and wounding state senator John Hoffman and his wife in June 2025. (AFP via The Manila Times)
• International Criminal Court investigation in Darfur
  • The International Criminal Court at The Hague, Netherlands, officially drops charges against former militia leader Abdallah Banda, who was previously charged for his role in a 2007 attack on African Union peacekeepers during Sudan's Darfur conflict. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

• Reactions to the 2026 Iran war
  • The United States House of Representatives, in a 214–208 vote, approves war powers legislation attempting to require the president of the United States to halt military action against Iran. The United States Senate, in a 47–49 vote, stops the legislation from advancing. (CNBC) (Reuters)

Continue reading...