Sunday, July 17th, 2022 

Former Minister of Foreign Affairs and senior adviser to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Kamal Kharazi, confirms that Iran now has the capabilities to develop and build a nuclear weapon but says that “there has been no decision by Iran to build one”. Kharazi also warns that Iran will “directly respond” to Israel if it is attacked. (Straits Times) (The Jerusalem Post) 

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran imposes sanctions on 61 Americans for their association with exiled Iranian dissident group People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran. (Reuters) 

An Antonov An-12 cargo plane, operated by a Ukrainian airline, crashes near the city of Kavala, Greece, killing all eight people on board. The aircraft was carrying weapons from Serbia to Bangladesh, and crashed before a planned stop in Jordan. (BBC News) 

The Assembly of North Macedonia passes a motion to amend North Macedonia’s Constitution to recognise its Bulgarian minority, while pledging to discuss remaining issues with the Bulgarian government. In exchange, Bulgaria will allow membership talks with the European Union to begin. (Al Jazeera) 

Croatia refuses to allow a private visit from the President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić to the site of the Jasenovac concentration camp due to the Government of Croatia not being formally notified of the visit. (The Washington Post) 

Health officials in India report that the country surpassed the two billion mark in cumulative administered doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. (WION) 

G20 finance leaders end a meeting in Bali without a joint communique, as consensus could not be reached on multiple issues due to tensions caused by ongoing conflicts between the countries. (CNBC) 

Zambia extradites a filmmaker to Malawi, where he faces charges of using children in “racist videos”. The man was also fined in Zambia for illegally entering the country. (BBC News) 

Three people and the gunman are killed and two others injured in a mass shooting at the food court of Greenwood Park Mall in Greenwood, Indiana, United States. (The Indianapolis Star) 

Saturday, June 16th, 2022 

U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah despite previously vowing to make him a “pariah”. (Bloomberg) 

NASA and Roscosmos sign an agreement to integrate future flights to the International Space Station. The agreement will allow Russian cosmonauts to fly on U.S. spacecraft in return for allowing American astronauts to use Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft. (Reuters) 

Russian missiles strike Chuhuiv in Kharkiv Oblast, killing three civilians and injuring three others, while more than 50 Grad rockets hit the city of Nikopol in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, killing two people. The missile strikes come after Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu ordered the military to expand operations in Ukraine in order to “protect the Donbas”. (Reuters) 

At least three civilians are killed and 15 others are injured in Russian cruise missile strikes on the city of Dnipro. (Reuters) 

The president of Energoatom, the Ukrainian nuclear energy authority, accuses Russian forces of using the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant to store weapons and shell the surrounding area. (The Journal.ie) 

Ex-leader of the Guadalajara Cartel Rafael Caro Quintero is captured by the Mexican Navy in Choix, Sinaloa, Mexico. (AP) (BBC News) 

Fourteen people are killed and another is injured when a helicopter involved in the search and arrest of drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero crashes in Los Mochis, Mexico. (Al Jazeera) 

Israel launches more than a dozen missiles against two Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip, following a number of rockets fired overnight from Gaza into Israel, causing severe damage. No casualties were reported and no civilian structures were targeted or hit. (Voice of America) (Al Jazeera) 

In Portugal, a waterbombing plane crashes in Vila Nova de Foz Côa while fighting wildfires in the region, killing the pilot, and in Spain, around 2,300 people are evacuated from the Costa del Sol due to wildfires in the Mijas hills. (BBC News) 

Protests continue in Panama with road and railways blockades, after protesters rejected president Laurentino Cortizo‘s concessions. (Prensa Panamá) 

The controversial Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court is abolished. However, Didier Reynders, the European Commissioner for Justice, says that the European Court of Justice’s ruling ordering the abolishment has not been fully respected and therefore Poland will continue to pay a fine of €1 million per day for contempt of court. (Rzeczpospolita) 

A 33-year-old former German Army officer is sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison for plotting a terrorist attack on senior politicians while posing as a Syrian refugee. (CNN) 

The End