Portal:Current events/2026 March 18

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Middle Eastern crisis
  • 2026 Iran war
    • 2026 South Pars field attack
      • Israel strikes the Iranian South Pars natural gas field in the Persian Gulf and its neighboring refineries in Asaluyeh. Iran announces it will retaliate against regional energy infrastructure. (The Guardian) (Oil Price)
    • 2026 Iranian strikes on Israel
      • A foreign worker from Thailand is killed by an Iranian cluster bomb in Moshav Adanim, central Israel. (The Times of Israel)
    • 2026 Iranian strikes on Qatar
      • Iran launches a missile attack on Ras Laffan Industrial City in Qatar, the world's largest LNG export facility, causing "extensive damage" according to QatarEnergy. (Al Jazeera)
    • 2026 Iranian strikes on Saudi Arabia
      • Saudi Arabia's air defenses intercept and destroy multiple drones targeting gas and energy facilities in the Eastern Province, with no damage reported. In Riyadh, a refinery is attacked by ballistic missiles. (Saudi Gazette) (The Wall Street Journal)
    • Kata'ib Hezbollah says that it will cease attacks in Iraq if certain conditions are met including for Israel to halt their military operations in Beirut, making it the first time an Iranian-backed militia group said it is open to ceasing attacks since the US-Israel strikes began on February 28. (Jerusalem Post)
    • The U.S. Air Force uses GBU-72 bunker buster bombs for the first time in combat to destroy underground Iranian anti-ship cruise missile sites used to target ships in the Strait of Hormuz. (TWZ)
    • Israel assassinates Iranian intelligence minister Esmaeil Khatib in an overnight airstrike in Tehran. (AP) (Reuters)
    • Four Palestinians are killed and six others are injured when falling Iranian missile fragments strike a beauty salon in Beit Awwa, West Bank, Palestine. (Wafa) (AFP via The Times of Israel)
    • The Foreign Ministers from Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, met in Riyadh, issue a joint statement calling on Iran "to immediately halt its attacks". (Arab News)
  • Hezbollah–Israel conflict
    • 2026 Lebanon war
      • At least 20 people are killed and dozens injured in an Israeli airstrike on a building in Beirut, Lebanon. (Al Jazeera)
• 2026 Afghanistan–Pakistan conflict
  • Pakistan and Afghanistan agree to a temporary "pause" in hostilities during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr this week. (Al Jazeera)
• Sudanese civil war
  • Chad–Sudan relations
    • A drone strike attributed to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) kills 17 people, including at a funeral, near the border town of Tine, Chad. (AFP via Arab News) (Al Jazeera)
    • In response to the drone strike, Chad president Mahamat Déby orders the military to retaliate against Sudanese belligerents, including the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces. (Sudan Tribune)
  • The Sudan Doctors Network says that 12 civilians were killed by the RSF in North Kordofan state. (Sudan Tribune)
  • The Sudanese Armed Forces says that they have shot down a Bayraktar drone from Ethiopia near North Kordofan. (Ethiopanorama)
• Boko Haram insurgency
  • Over 60 Boko Haram and Islamic State insurgents are killed in an operation by the Nigerian Army in Abadam, Borno State, Nigeria. (The Punch)

Arts and culture

• MeToo movement
  • Cesar Chavez Day celebrations are cancelled in many communities across the United States after late labor leader and civil rights activist Cesar Chavez was accused by dozens of women and girls, including labor leader Dolores Huerta, of child grooming, sexual assault, and rape. (NBC News)

Business and economy

• Economic impact of the 2026 Iran war
  • Aramco restarts operations at Ras Tanura oil refinery, the largest in Saudi Arabia, following a 16-day closure. (Oil Price)

Disasters and accidents

• Seven people are killed and three others are critically injured in an explosion and fire at a residential building in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India. (NDTV)
• One person is killed when a cable car cabin crashes down a snowy mountainside in Engelberg, Obwalden, Switzerland. (CNN)

Health and environment

• 2026 Kent meningitis outbreak
  • Rollouts of the meningococcal vaccine begin at the University of Kent in England in the wake of a recent meningococcal outbreak that killed two people amidst a rise in cases. (The Standard)

International relations

• Iran–Qatar relations
  • 2026 Iranian strikes on Qatar
    • Qatar declares Iran's military and security attachés and their staff personae non gratae and orders them to leave the country within 24 hours following an attack on Ras Laffan Industrial City. (AFP via Vanguard News)

Law and crime

• Capital punishment in Iran
  • Swedish foreign minister Maria Malmer Stenergard says that Iran has executed a Swedish citizen who was arrested in Iran last June. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

• Venezuelan president Delcy Rodríguez appoints General Gustavo González López as Minister of Defense, replacing General Vladimir Padrino López who has served since 2014. (Reuters)

Science and technology

• Charles H. Bennett and Gilles Brassard are awarded the 2025 Turing Award for their work in quantum information science. (BBC News)

Sports

• In basketball, the WNBA and its players' union reach a tentative agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement that, if ratified by the league and union, will increase average player salaries and the team salary cap more than fourfold. (ESPN)