Portal:Current events/2025 July 16

July 16, 2025 (Wednesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Middle Eastern crisis
- Gaza war
  - 2025 Gaza Strip aid distribution killings
    - At least 21 Palestinians are killed in a crowd crush at a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) site in the Gaza Strip. The GHF attributed the stampede to armed agitators, while Hamas and Palestinian eyewitnesses said that Israeli soldiers sprayed people with pepper gas and opened fire. (Al Jazeera) (Reuters)
- Israeli invasion of Syria, Southern Syria clashes
  - The Israeli Air Force bombs the Syrian Defense Ministry headquarters and the presidential palace in Damascus. (Al Jazeera) (The Times of Israel)
  - Israeli forces launch an attack on the Druze city of Suwayda in As-Suwayda Governorate, Syria, after scattered clashes continue in spite of the ceasefire announcement by the Syrian Armed Forces. (Al Jazeera) (AP)
Bangladesh quota reform movement
- The Bangladesh military clashes with supporters of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina in Gopalganj District, leading to four deaths and many others injured. (AP)
Herder-farmer conflicts in Nigeria
- At least 27 people are killed when unidentified gunmen attack a village in Riyom, Plateau State, Nigeria. (BBC News) (AP)
Spillover of the Somali civil war
- Al-Shabaab militants claim to have killed three Kenyan soldiers patrolling a road in the east of the country near the Somali border. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

2025 Pakistan floods
- Torrential rains in Punjab, Pakistan, kill at least 63 people. (BBC News)
One person is killed and thirteen others are injured in a lightning strike at an archery range in Jackson Township, New Jersey, United States. (BNO News)
A tsunami advisory is issued after a M_w 7.3 earthquake strikes the southern coast of Alaska, United States. (WAGA-TV)

International relations

Pakistan–United Kingdom relations
- The United Kingdom ends its five-year ban on Pakistani airlines from landing in the UK due to significant improvements in aviation safety standards. (DW) (Dawn)

Law and crime

Islamic State insurgency in Puntland
- Puntland counter-terrorism operations
  - The Ethiopian National Intelligence and Security Service detains dozens of suspected Somalian Islamic State militants, whom it alleges were trained and deployed to conduct operations throughout the country, especially in the Cal Miskaad mountains of the Bari region in Puntland. (Reuters)
Opioid epidemic in the United States, Anti-fentanyl legislation in the United States
- U.S. president Donald Trump signs into law the HALT Fentanyl Act, reclassifying all fentanyl-related substances, including synthetic drugs, as Schedule I controlled substances. (The Hill)
Internet censorship in Russia
- The Russian State Duma introduces new legislation that introduces fines for searching for prohibited material online. The legislation is passed on July 22. (The Washington Post) (Euronews)
Two people are killed and two others are injured in a mass shooting on a street in Taranto, Italy. (Rai News) (Taranto Today)

Politics and elections