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.

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 rebel’s 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.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott said that 109 people had been killed and 161 remained missing after flash floods struck the Hill Country during the weekend of 4–6 July. According to Abbott, many of those still unaccounted for had been staying in the region without registering at camps or hotels, and the total may yet rise. In Kerr County, search teams have recovered 94 bodies, including those of 30 children, as they continue to comb the flood-ravaged area. At Camp Mystic, where floodwaters overwhelmed cabins, at least 27 campers and counselors lost their lives, and officials reported that five campers and one counselor have not yet been found. Authorities have recorded an additional 19 deaths across Travis, Burnet, Kendall, Tom Green, and Williamson counties. Meanwhile, the U.S. National Weather Service declared a flash flood emergency in Ruidoso, New Mexico, after the Rio Ruidoso crested at more than 20 feet, and officials warned that further heavy rain could impede recovery work. President Donald Trump is slated to visit the hardest-hit areas on 11 July 2025 amid scrutiny over whether recent federal funding cuts weakened warning systems, while experts pointed to exceptional drought conditions, above-average temperatures since May, and National Weather Service staffing shortages as factors that intensified the catastrophe.

The death toll from catastrophic floods that struck central Texas have claimed to at least 78 lives, among them 28 children. Kerr County, the epicenter of the floods, reported 68 fatalities including all 28 children, while another ten deaths occurred elsewhere in the state. Authorities have confirmed 41 people remain missing, notably ten girls and one counselor swept away from Camp Mystic summer camp. A county-by-county toll shows three dead in Burnet County, one in Tom Green County, five in Travis County and one in Williamson County. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was activated on Sunday and is deploying resources to first responders in Texas after President Trump issued a major disaster declaration, the Department of Homeland Security said. U.S. Coast Guard helicopters and planes were aiding search and rescue efforts. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who oversees FEMA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), said a "moderate" flood watch issued on July 3 by the National Weather Service had not accurately predicted the extreme rainfall and said the Trump administration was working to upgrade the system.

Unprecedented flash flooding swept through Central Texas’s Hill Country, particularly along the Guadalupe River corridor in Kerr County, leaving at least 51 people dead. Authorities confirmed that 43 of the fatalities, including 15 children, occurred in Kerr County after sudden floodwaters overwhelmed campers, vacationers and residents, and another eight deaths were reported in neighboring Travis and Kendall counties, bringing the total to at least 51. Among the victims were at least 15 children, many of whom were attending youth summer camps when the flood struck in the middle of the night. At Camp Mystic, a nearly century-old Christian girls’ camp located along the river, rescue teams are still searching for 27 girls who remain unaccounted for after a wall of water engulfed the camp, and officials have not provided a full count of missing adults beyond the campers. Meteorologists attribute the disaster to a potent storm system—remnants of Tropical Storm Barry—that stalled over the region and unleashed as much as 15 inches of rain in just a few hours. The torrential downpour caused river levels to surge dramatically, with the Guadalupe River rising nearly 26 feet in 45 minutes and, in some spots, up to 29 feet, transforming normally placid creeks into walls of destructive water that swept away cabins, vehicles and trees. Rescue operations have been extensive, with more than 850 people saved by helicopters, boats, drones and ground teams; some survivors were plucked from treetops as floodwaters receded. Hundreds of search-and-rescue personnel from local, state and federal agencies continue to comb through mud-choked debris—mangled trees, overturned cars and washed-out structures—to find additional survivors and recover bodies. In the aftermath, Governor Greg Abbott formally requested a federal disaster declaration to unlock emergency aid, and President Trump has indicated he will approve the request. Local officials expressed shock at the rapid onset of the flood, lamenting that despite routine rainfall, no warning system had been established to anticipate such a once-in-a-century flood.