July 18, 2012 (Wednesday)
Armed conflict and attacks
- 2012 Burgas bus bombing:
- At least 6 Israeli tourists, men and women, are killed and more than 25 others are injured after a bomb explodes on an Israeli tourism bus at Burgas Airport, Bulgaria. (Times of Israel)
- Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu blames Iran for the explosion. (CNN)
- President of the United States Barack Obama condemns the bombing calling it "a barbaric terrorist attack and Israel has tragically once more been a target of terrorism." "The United States reaffirms our unshakeable commitment to Israel’s security, and our deep friendship and solidarity with the Israeli people." (Washington Post)
- A bomb explodes in Pakistan's Orakzai Agency, killing at least 14 people. (AFP via Yahoo! News)
- Syrian uprising (2011–present):
- 97 people are reportedly killed across Syria by the Syrian army. (The Daily Star)
- A bomb explodes in the National Security Building in Damascus during a meeting of Cabinet ministers and senior security officials. (The Daily Telegraph)
- Syrian media report that Minister of Defense Dawoud Rajiha is killed along with deputy vice president General Hasan Turkmani, interior minister Mohammad Ibrahim al-Shaar and Assef Shawkat, Bashar al-Assad's brother-in-law and deputy defense minister. Several other senior officials are also seriously injured, including the country's intelligence chief Hisham Bekhtyar. (AP via Washington Post) (BBC)
- Fahd Jassem al-Freij is appointed as Minister of Defense by President Bashar al-Assad. (BBC)
Business and economy
- The US city of San Bernardino, California, declares that it has an "immediate and severe" fiscal emergency allowing it to declare bankruptcy without negotiating with creditors. (Bloomberg)
Arts and culture
- Indian actor Rajesh Khanna dies at 69 in Mumbai after a prolonged illness. (The Times of India) (rediff.com) (BBC)
Disasters and accidents
- 78 people are killed and 66 are reported missing after the MV Skagit, a ferry carrying 280 people sinks off the coast of Zanzibar on its way from Tanzania. (Al Jazeera)
Law and crime
- Italian police arrest buffalo mozzarella maker Giuseppe Mandara over alleged links to organized crime groups in Naples, Italy. (Sydney Morning Herald)
- Pressure is raised in Hungary for authorities to arrest alleged former Nazi war criminal László Csatáry, 97, who was discovered living in Hungary. Csatáry is wanted in connection with his role in the deportation of Jews to death camps during the Second World War. (Sydney Morning Herald)
- The monumental municipal building in Waalre, a town in the southern Netherlands, is destroyed in an attack after two cars purposefully rammed the building. (DutchNews)
International relations
- The Indonesian Air Force will for the first time send 4 Sukhoi Su-27 jet fighters to participate in war games alongside Australian F/A-18 Hornets and U.S Fighter jets from the 27 July 2012 to 17 August 2012.(Sydney Morning Herald)
Politics and elections
- In Mexico, the PRD candidate, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, accuses the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) of using illicit funds and laundering money to finance the campaign of Enrique Peña Nieto, the president-elect in the recent presidential elections. The PRI denies the claims and retorts that López Obrador is acting out of desperation and irrationality. (The Guardian)
- Kim Jong-un is officially announced as the Supreme Leader of North Korea, a position that he occupied de facto since his father's death. He also gains the rank of Marshal in the Korean People's Army. (News Limited) (BBC)