Julia Gillard, Australia's first female prime minister, on July 18 called a snap election for 21 August – with the economy likely to be a major issue.

Pakistan and Afghanistan on July 18 signed a landmark trade agreement that has been heavily promoted by the United States. 

A 6.7 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Alaska on July 18, but no widespread threat of a tsunami was seen, according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.

Ugandan police on July 18 released photo reconstructions of two men they say were the suicide bombers behind last week's attacks on World Cup fans that left 76 dead.

Seventeen people were killed and 10 injured in an attack on a party in Torreon, Mexico, the state-run news agency Notimex reported, citing a representative of the federal attorney's general office.

13 miners have been trapped underground and three others have been lifted to safety after a coal mine in northwest China's Gansu Province flooded on July 18, said local authorities.

At least eight people have died in a cold snap in Argentina in the past several days, the nation's state-run news agency reported.

A suicide bomber has killed at least 43 people and injured 40 more southwest of Baghdad on July 18, Iraqi police say.

At least 18 people, including two women, were killed when suspected militants attacked a civilian convoy of vehicles in northwestern Pakistan on July 17, Pakistani officials say.

Flames that engulfed a port in Dalian, a coastal city in northeast China's Liaoning Province, were basically extinguished in the morning on July 17, 15 hours after blasts hit two oil pipelines.