Floods triggered by torrential rains beginning on 26 June have claimed more than 170 lives in eastern Punjab, about half of them children. According to the National Disaster Management Authority, 54 fatalities occurred on 17 July, and at least 85 children have died since the flooding began. Heavy rainfall registered over 100 millimeters in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, collapsing homes and roads, and more rain is forecast for 18 July. A state of emergency has been declared in multiple districts, and military personnel have been deployed in Rawalpindi to support rescue efforts. Dramatic videos show first responders using inflatable rafts to carry children and families to safety. Seven relief camps have been established across the province to provide food, water, medicine and shelter to those affected. Pakistan, a country of more than 230 million people, faces an accelerating climate crisis driven by alternating heatwaves and monsoon rains. Record floods in 2022 submerged a third of the country and killed over 1,000 people, leaving millions struggling with waterborne diseases and lacking access to safe water.

During the evening hours, forces loyal to President al Shara began withdrawing from the Druze stronghold of Suwayda under a ceasefire agreement brokered with local leaders after five days of violent clashes, from  July 12 , through  July 15 Those clashes included reports of massacres that spurred Israeli airstrikes on Syrian regime forces and facilities in Suwayda and Damascus. The truce was announced in the afternoon and formalized by Druze Sheikh Yusuf Jerboua, who stipulated that Suwayda be fully integrated into the post–Assad administration while demanding that regime troops pull back and allow the Druze population to assume security control. The fighting has claimed over 300 lives, including 69 Druze fighters, 40 Druze civilians (27 of whom were executed), 165 regime soldiers, and 18 armed Bedouin combatants. On  July 15, regime forces entered the provincial capital under the pretext of restoring order but reportedly participated in the hostilities and massacres. Earlier that day, Israel attacked the gates of the Presidential Palace in Damascus and the Syrian Defense Ministry headquarters in nearby Umayyad Square, killing five members of the security forces and wounding 34 others in Damascus and its suburbs.

The Syrian Defense Minister announced a ceasefire in Suwayda after government armored units entered the Druze city a day earlier amid fierce clashes between Sunni Bedouin—many of whom are Islamic State supporters—and Shiite Druze, which left more than a hundred people dead. While local Druze leaders publicly welcomed the deployment as a means to restore order, spiritual leader Hikmat al Hijri later asserted that their endorsement had been issued under pressure from Damascus. As reports of the humiliation and killing of Druze continued despite the al Shara’a government’s claim of a ceasefire, allegations of abuse prompted further airstrikes by the Israeli military aimed at hindering Syrian army convoys and military vehicles from reaching the city. The Israeli Air Force (IAF) struck several tanks and pickup trucks fitted with heavy machine guns as well as key roads blocking regime reinforcements. Israeli officials argued that such strikes violated a prior agreement to disarm the region, emphasizing Israel’s commitment to protecting the Druze minority given their deep familial and historical ties to Israel’s Druze community. Syrian authorities maintained that their intervention aimed solely to separate the warring factions and secure the city, with Interior Security commander Ahmad al Dalati proclaiming the start of a new era in which Suwayda would be fully reintegrated into Syria. The Syrian Interior Ministry warned its security forces against unlawful conduct or damage to public and private property as they enforced the ceasefire.

Israel reportedly struck several Syrian tanks near Suwayda as a clear warning to the regime after locals said that elements of the new Syrian government, led by President Ahmad al Shara’a, had sided with Bedouin fighters against the Druze community. These reports prompted Druze civilians in northern Israel to block roads in protest, decrying what they saw as insufficient protection for their comrades and relatives in Syria. The escalation represents one of the gravest challenges confronting al Shara’a’s administration, which had already weathered Druze rebel confrontations around Damascus in April and the March 2025 massacre of over a thousand Alawite minority members in the coastal regions by forces aligned with the new Sunni-led regime. Suwayda, home to Syria’s largest Druze population of roughly 700,000, has been a flashpoint since December 2024, when a coup ousted Bashar al Assad and installed a new government that pledged to safeguard minority rights. Attempts in April 2025 to integrate non–Sunni rebel groups into the security forces collapsed amid violent clashes that claimed over 100 lives before a ceasefire was declared in May. Renewed tensions have been fueled by the regime’s push to reassert control and by reports of Bedouin alliances with government troops.

During the afternoon hours, clashes between Druze fighters and Sunni Bedouin tribesmen in Suwayda province drove the death toll to 89, with many more wounded. The confrontations erupted after a Druze vegetable merchant traveling between Suwayda and Damascus was detained, beaten, and robbed by Bedouin gunmen, prompting armed Druze units to retaliate. Fighting has continued unabated since 12 July 2025. The recent sectarian violence has led to a cycle of retaliatory kidnappings, property damage, and looting in rural areas of the province, as well as public humiliations—including footage of forced beard shaving and the trampling of bodies.

Luwero District police rescued two Pakistani nationals, Abaasi Ali and Rashid Ahmed, who had been kidnapped at about 12:53 p.m. local time in Mabanda Village, Piida Ward, Luweero Town Council, by four unidentified men driving a white Toyota Premio. The kidnappers demanded a Shs 20 million ransom from their employer, a Pakistani investor operating in Luwero. Following a tip-off, the Savannah region’s elite Flying Squad unit tracked the vehicle along Kasangati Road in Matugga, Wakiso District, and freed the hostages. Two suspects were arrested at the scene, while the others escaped. A formal kidnapping case has been registered, and police are continuing investigations, including recording witness statements and documenting the crime scene through the Scene of Crime Officer (monitor.co.ug, 12 July 2025; nilepost.co.ug, 12 July 2025)

At around 11:20 a.m. local time, Al-Shabaab militants mounted a coordinated assault on the Jaalle Siyaad Military Academy, also known as the Jaalle Siyaad Military Base, in the Hodan district of Mogadishu. Witnesses described a powerful explosion followed by sustained gunfire within the compound, sending a billowing cloud of smoke over the surrounding neighborhood as a small group of militants attempted to breach one of Somalia’s principal army training facilities. A suicide bomber wearing an explosive vest was intercepted near the academy’s training grounds and detonated prematurely. The blast and ensuing gunfire killed at least five people—four Somali military officials and the attacker himself—and wounded several others. Al-Shabaab swiftly claimed responsibility for the operation, stating that its operative had targeted a delegation of Western military trainers involved in instructing Somali recruits. Neither Somali authorities nor international partners confirmed the presence of any specific delegation at the academy that day. This attack marked a grim reprise of violence at the same facility. In July 2023, a suicide bombing at the Jaalle Siyaad Academy killed at least 25 soldiers, and in May 2025, another bomber struck the nearby Damanyo recruitment center, killing ten people and injuring dozens more. These repeated strikes underscore Al-Shabaab’s enduring capability to hit high-value military targets in the heart of Mogadishu, despite sustained counterterrorism operations by Somali forces and their African Union partners. In the wake of the assault, Somalia’s defense ministry imposed tight restrictions on the release of information and detained several senior Somali National Army officers for questioning over security lapses that allowed the attacker to infiltrate the base. The government also announced an intensification of counterinsurgency measures, ramping up checkpoints and surveillance around key military sites as part of a broader campaign to push Al-Shabaab out of its remaining strongholds in southern and central Somalia.

Rescuers pulled three more crew members and a security guard alive from the Red Sea a day after Houthi militants sank the Greek-operated, Liberian-flagged bulk carrier Eternity C, bringing the total number of survivors to ten: eight Filipino seafarers, one Indian sailor, and one Greek security guard. Four crew members are believed to have been killed, and eleven remain missing. The vessel was first struck on 7 July by sea drones and rocket-propelled grenades, then hit again on 8 July, which led to its sinking on 9 July. The United States Mission in Yemen has accused the Houthis of kidnapping crew members and demanded their immediate, unconditional release, while Houthi military spokespeople asserted that the Yemeni navy rescued an unspecified number of crew members, provided them with medical care, and transported them to safety.

A Greek-owned bulk carrier, the MV Magic Seas, was attacked by Iran-aligned Houthis in the Red Sea. According to United Kingdom Maritime Operations (UKMTO), the Liberia-flagged vessel came under fire from four to eight small craft using multiple RPGs and small arms approximately 51 nautical miles southwest of Al Hudaydah port. The ship’s 22 crew members abandoned the vessel and were safely recovered, but it was reportedly taking on water and is expected to sink. In a prerecorded statement, Houthi military spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree said the attack was intended to punish Allseas Marineit Company for its continued calls at Israeli ports. Open-source shipping data indicate that the Magic Seas visited Ashdod in December 2023. The assault underscores the Houthis’ effort to challenge the security framework reshaped by U.S. and Israeli campaigns against Iran and its regional proxies. Should this incident evolve into a sustained Houthi campaign, new U.S.-led strikes are likely, potentially undermining former President Trump’s efforts to pursue peaceful diplomatic change in the region.