Sunday, August 14th, 2022 

A mass die-off of fish occurs in the Oder river in Poland. Polish officials call it an “ecological catastrophe” with Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki vowing to “punish” those responsible. The public has been warned not to enter the water amid fears of possible contamination. (Sky News) 

The German environment ministry says that an unknown, highly toxic substance is responsible for the mass die-off of wildlife in the Oder river. High levels of mercury have also been found in the river. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki says that the river will take years to “return to normal”. (CNN) 

Estonia and Latvia formally withdraw from the Cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries group amid tensions with China over its human rights record and its support of Russia’s war on Ukraine. (Reuters) 

The Russian occupation of Zaporizhzhia Oblast begins preparations for a referendum on the region’s accession to Russia, which will be held on September 11. (RBK) 

Five people are killed and 26 others are injured by an explosion in Guayaquil, Ecuador. The government blames organized crime groups. (BBC News) 

Six people are killed, 60 others injured and 18 more are missing in an explosion at a fireworks storage area of a mall in Yerevan, Armenia. The city’s mayor stated that there were people trapped under rubble. (Al Jazeera) 

A Palestinian gunman opens fire inside a bus in Jerusalem’s Old City, wounding eight people, two of them critically. Israeli police later raid the suspect’s neighborhood of Silwan and arrest him. (Al Jazeera) (AP) 

At least 41 people are killed and 45 others injured by a fire at the Coptic Orthodox Church Saint Mercurius Church in Giza, Egypt. (BBC News) 

In Zaragoza, Spain, more than 1,500 people are evacuated due to an intensifying wildfire. (EMEATribune) 

Seven people are killed by heavy rain causing flooding in Pengzhou, China. (AP) 

Saturday, August 13th, 2022 

Russia says that it has captured the village of Pisky, in Donetsk Oblast, while Ukrainian forces say that they have destroyed a bridge in Russian-occupied Kherson Oblast. (AP) 

Flooding in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States kills two people and also damages The Linq hotel. (CBS News) 

At least a dozen vehicles are burned and several streets are blocked in the state of Baja California, mainly in the cities of Tijuana, Mexicali and Ensenada. This is the fourth major incident in the last week where arson and blocked streets have been reported. (Infobae) (Proceso) 

The Taliban violently disperse a demonstration by women’s rights activists who were marching to the education ministry in Kabul to demand broader rights, by chasing and beating women and firing gunshots into the air. (Al Jazeera) 

One person is killed and 40 others are injured when a stage at a music festival in Cullera, Province of Valencia, Spain, collapses due to high winds caused by a nearby heat burst. (Reuters) (RTVE) 

One person is killed and 17 others are injured after a driver plows his car into a fundraiser for victims of a house fire that killed ten people earlier in Nescopeck, Pennsylvania, United States. The perpetrator then kills a woman in a nearby town before being arrested. (The New York Times) 

Tropical Storm Meari makes landfall in central Japan, causing heavy rain and high winds. 72,000 people are evacuated from the city of Shizuoka. (Bloomberg) 

Incumbent Vice President Yosiwo George dies from COVID-19 at the age of 81. (Pacific Daily News) 

Romanian swimmer David Popovici breaks the 13-year old world record for the 100m freestyle with a time of 46.86. (SwimSwam) 

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Thursday, August 11th, 2022 

Scientists say that they have discovered AS 209, a newborn Jupiter-sized exoplanet via the Atacama Large Millimeter Array telescope in Chile. (Space.com) 

Three soldiers are killed during an attack at a military base in Rajouri, Jammu and Kashmir, India. Two attackers are killed in the ensuing shootout. (Reuters) 

Sierra Leone declares a nationwide curfew amid anti-government protests that have left two policemen and one civilian dead. The West African country is experiencing record inflation. (Reuters) 

A 42-year-old man takes six or seven employees hostage at a bank in Beirut, Lebanon, demanding his savings and threatening to set himself on fire. Police officers, soldiers, and intelligence agents surround the building. (The Guardian) 

The Zaporizhzhia military-civilian administration began preparations for holding a referendum on the region’s accession to Russia, and named the desired referendum date for September 11. (RBK) (TV Center) 

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Wednesday, August 10th, 2022 

Uzbekistan says that it will imprison any nationals who join Russia’s war against Ukraine. (EuroWeekly News) 

The Chess Olympiad in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India concludes, with Uzbek chess grandmaster Nodirbek Abdusattorov winning the open event. (The Indian Express) 

Russia’s Transneft says that Ukraine has suspended Russian oil flows through the Druzhba pipeline to the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia after it was unable to pay transit fees to Ukraine’s pipeline operator UkrTransNafta. The Czech Republic’s pipeline company says it expects supplies through the pipeline to restart within several days. (Reuters) (Al Jazeera) 

Russian forces install air defence systems at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Ukraine, according to the Russian-appointed Governor of Zaporizhzhia Yevhen Balytskyi. (MSN) 

A Russian missile strike in Nikopol Raion, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, kills at least 13 civilians and injures 11 others. (The New York Times) 

Multiple explosions are reported at a Russian military air base near Novofedorivka in western Crimea. At least one person is killed and six others are injured, according to Crimean authorities. (Reuters) (Sky News) 

A man is arrested for the killings of three Pakistani men last month and for the murder of an Afghan man in November 2021 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. The alleged killer targeted the victims “because he was angry over his daughter marrying a Shiite Muslim”; all the victims were Shiite. (Al Jazeera) 

Cartel gunmen in Mexico burn down dozens of stores and block streets with burning cars in the states of Jalisco and Guanajuato in response to arrests of cartel figures by the Federal Police. (AP) 

Firefighters in Cuba bring a catastrophic fire at an oil terminal in Matanzas under control after it burned out of control for five consecutive days, destroying 40% of the country’s main fuel storage facility and causing widespread blackouts. (Reuters) 

A house explodes in Evansville, Indiana, United States, killing at least three people and damaging at least 39 nearby houses. (CNN) 

Anti-government protests occur in Sierra Leone, calling for the removal of President Julius Maada Bio. Both protestors and policemen are killed during clashes. (The Washington Post) 

Domino’s Pizza closes all of its stores in Italy after its franchise holder ePizza SpA filed for bankruptcy. The American restaurant chain says it was severely impacted by COVID-19 restrictions in the country. (BBC) 

James Marape is reelected unopposed as Prime Minister by the Parliament after his party Pangu Pati won the general election that took place in July. (The Guardian) 

Kenyans vote in the national general election. (Daily Nation) 

Tuesday,  August 9th, 2022 

Roscosmos launches the Iranian Space Agency‘s Earth observation satellite Khayyam from its Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. (Al Jazeera) 

Russia bans the imports of agricultural products from Moldova, starting from August 15, due to “repeated detection of dangerous quarantine objects in Moldovan products entering Russia”. (Reuters) 

Huge explosions are reported after Ukrainian forces strike Novofedorivka Air Base in western Crimea using its HIMARS missile launchers. At least twelve explosions are reported in total. At least five people are injured, according to Russian officials. (The Kyiv post) (Reuters) 

Ibrahim al-Nabulsi, local head of the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, and two other people are killed during a raid by Israeli soldiers in Nablus. At least 40 other people are injured. (BBC News) 

Senior Pakistani Taliban militant Omar Khalid and three other militants are killed in an explosion in Paktika Province, Afghanistan. (Al Jazeera) 

Four Pakistani soldiers are killed in a suicide bombing in Mir Ali, North Waziristan, Pakistan. (Reuters) 

Monday,  August 8th, 2022 

The Pentagon announces that it will send Ukraine an additional $1 billion military assistance, including tens of thousands more munitions and explosives. This is the largest aid to the country since the start of the invasion. (The Washington Post) 

Russia suspends New START arms inspections of its nuclear weapons in response to travel restrictions imposed by the United States and its allies. (Reuters) 

The Federal Bureau of Investigation executes a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago, the primary residence of former U.S. president Donald Trump, as part of a Justice Department investigation into Trump. (CNN) 

The government of Chad and more than 30 rebel and opposition factions sign a peace agreement at talks in Doha, Qatar. However, the main rebel group Front for Change and Concord in Chad rejects the agreement, saying that negotiators had not listened to their demands, which included the release of political prisoners. (Reuters) 

The End