Wednesday, August 3rd, 2022 

China warns airlines to avoid areas near Taiwan as it conducts military exercises in response to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the island. (Bloomberg) 

The People’s Liberation Army is placed on high alert and says that it will launch “targeted military operations” in response to Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan. (Reuters) 

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrives in Taiwan despite Chinese threats of military action in response to her visit. Pelosi is the most senior U.S. official to visit the self-governing island since Newt Gingrich in 1997. (CBC) 

Three people are killed and six are injured after a mass stabbing attack in a kindergarten in Jiangxi, China. (Reuters) 

The Russian Supreme Court declares the Azov Regiment a terrorist organization. (Euractiv) 

Three people evacuating in a minibus are killed by Russian shelling near Kherson Oblast, according to Ukraine’s Operational Command South. (The Guardian) 

In the first referendum since the SCOTUS decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Kansas voters reject an amendment in the state constitution that would grant state lawmakers the ability to apply anti-abortion restrictions.  (BBC News) 

In the first legal challenge to a state’s abortion law since the Supreme Court’s June decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the Department of Justice (DOJ) files a lawsuit in a federal court against the state of Idaho to block a state law that the DOJ says imposes a “near-absolute ban” on abortion in Idaho. (Reuters) 

Tuesday,  August 2nd, 2022 

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrives in Taiwan despite Chinese threats of military action in response to the visit. She is the most senior U.S. official to visit the island since 1998. (NDTV) 

A U.S. drone strike in Kabul kills Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda’s leader since the death of Osama bin Laden in 2011. The airstrike is also the first U.S. military action in Afghanistan following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan last year. (BBC News) 

A post made by the VK social media account of Dmitry Medvedev, the incumbent Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia and former President of Russia, refers to Georgia and Kazakhstan as “artificial” creations and advocates the return of the two countries to Russian sovereignty. The post is quickly taken down and attributed to hackers. (RFE/RL) 

Shelling and heavy gunfire is reported near two villages by Artsakh authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh. The reports are denied by Azerbaijan and Russian forces in the region. (JAM news) 

A Pakistan Army Aviation Corps helicopter carrying several senior Pakistan Army officials crashes in Balochistan. Rescuers have not yet reached the crash site due to ongoing floods in the region. (India Today) 

California declares a state of emergency due to the ongoing monkeypox outbreak. (UPI) 

Monday,  August 1st, 2022 

Russia invites United Nations and Red Cross experts to investigate the deaths of Ukrainian prisoners of war in separatist-held Olenivka. (EuroNews) 

A Ukrainian drone strikes Russia’s Black Sea Fleet headquarters, injuring five people, according to the mayor of Sevastopol. (The Guardian) 

A Russian missile strike on Mykolaiv in Kherson Oblast, kills Nibulon owner Oleksiy Vadaturskyi and his wife. (BBC News) 

The first ship with Ukrainian grain leaves the port of Odesa after an agreement signed with Russia. The Sierra Leonean-flagged ship Razoni is bound for Lebanon. (DW) 

Nine people are killed and 76 are injured after a fuel tanker explodes in Bent Bayya, Libya. (AP) 

Canadian rapper Drake announces that he will postpone his Young Money Reunion concert in Toronto, Canada, originally scheduled for tonight, after testing positive for COVID-19. (CBC) 

More than two million people are under red flag warnings in the United States, as wildfires spread in Northern California, Oregon, Washington, Montana, South Dakota, and Nebraska. (CNN) 

Iran announces the arrest of several members of the Baháʼí Faith on spying charges. (Al Arabiya) 

The End

Sunday, July 31st, 2022 

President Joe Biden tests positive for COVID-19 for a second time and will be in isolation despite not having any symptoms. (CNBC) 

Russia’s Gazprom suspends gas supplies to Latvia after accusing it of “violating conditions of purchase”. The Latvian government says the suspension of gas from Russia is not expected to have a major impact on the economy. (BBC News) 

A Russian missile strike on Mykolaiv in Kherson Oblast, kills Nibulon owner Oleksiy Vadaturskyi and his wife. (BBC) 

A Ukrainian drone strikes Russia’s Black Sea Fleet headquarters, injuring five people, according to the mayor of Sevastopol. (The Guardian) 

Kosovo Police close two border crossings in North Kosovo after local Serbs blocked roads and fired shots at police to protest an order to switch Serbian car license plates to Kosovan ones within two months. (Reuters) 

A member of the Taliban is killed during clashes with Iranian border guards on the Afghanistan–Iran border. (Reuters) 

Malagasy President Andry Rajoelina mobilizes and deploys the army after 32 people were killed in Ankazobe on July 29 by cattle thieves. (BBC News) 

Saturday, July 30th, 2022 

Urban Search and Rescue Missouri Task Force 1 is deployed in Eastern Kentucky, United States. (KMBC) 

Two people are killed and 11 are injured during a hand grenade attack at a cricket game in Kabul, Afghanistan. (AP) 

At least 125 people are injured when supporters of Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr storm the parliament in Baghdad’s Green Zone. (Metro) 

Six Balochistan Liberation Army separatists and a Pakistani soldier are killed during clashes in Kech District, Balochistan, Pakistan. (AP) 

One person is wounded in an assassination attempt on President of Guatemala Alejandro Giammattei. The president is unharmed. (ABC) 

North Korea announces zero “fever cases” for the first time since mid-May when the country first announced an outbreak of COVID-19. Authorities stated that 4.8 million people were infected and that 74 people died from the virus. (Al Jazeera) 

Indonesia restricts access to eight websites, including PayPal, Yahoo! and Steam, for failing to register with the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology. Online services registered with the ministry are required to comply with disclosure and content removal requests. (Reuters) 

The UAE records its heaviest rainfall in 27 years, with seven people killed by flooding in the Emirates of Sharjah and Fujairah. (Khaleej Times) 

One person is killed and one is missing after a fire at an oil refinery in Tamaulipas, Mexico. (AP) 

The End

Friday,  July 29th, 2022 

Russia and the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) say that 53 people were killed and 75 others were injured after shelling hit a prison holding Ukrainian prisoners of war in the DPR-controlled city of Olenivka, Donetsk Oblast. Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of carrying out the strike. (AP) 

A video emerges on social media of a Russian soldier castrating a Ukrainian prisoner of war in the town of Sievierodonetsk, Donetsk Oblast. The Ukrainian government voices outrage over the incident and vows to “hunt down” the perpetrators. (BBC News) (The Telegraph) (Sky News) 

A Russian strike kills five civilians and injures seven others at a bus stop in Mykolaiv, according to regional governor Vitaliy Kim. (AFP News via Barron’s) 

A 16-year-old Palestinian is shot dead by the Israeli Army in Al-Mughayyir, near Ramallah. According to the IDF, soldiers and border police officers were responding to a violent protest in the area. (Al Bawaba) (Times of Israel) 

The death toll from the ongoing flash floods in Kentucky, United States, increases to 25. (CNN) 

The UAE records its heaviest rainfall in 27 years, with seven people killed by flooding in the Emirates of Sharjah and Fujairah. (Khaleej Times) 

The death toll from recent floods in Iran increases to 24. (AFP via MSN) (NDTV) 

It is reported that the first United States case of polio since 2013, which was reported last week in Rockland County, New York, was connected to traces of vaccine-derived viruses found in the United Kingdom and Israel. (ProPublica) (Stat News) 

A court in Kyiv reduces the sentence of Vadim Shishimarin, the first Russian soldier tried for war crimes from life in prison to 15 years in prison. Shishimarin’s defense attorney says that it is “highly likely” that he will be returned to Russia in a prisoner exchange. (ABC News) 

The transformation of the Kumtor Gold Mine to Kyrgyzstan‘s ownership is complete. The announcement took place at the Embassy of Kyrgyzstan in London, UK. As a result, Centerra Gold would terminate a previous agreement made regarding the mine. (Interfax) (24.kg) 

Thursday, July 28th, 2022 

Ukrainian presidential advisor Oleksiy Arestovych says that an operation to recapture the Kherson Oblast has started. (The Guardian) 

Russian forces shell Bakhmut in Donetsk Oblast with the BM-27 Uragan MLRS, killing three civilians and injuring three others. Six apartment blocks and six detached houses are also destroyed or damaged. (Ukrinform) 

Russian forces in Belarus launch 25 ballistic missiles into northern Ukraine. (The Guardian) 

Russia launches cruise missile strikes from the Black Sea on the Kyiv Oblast for the first time in weeks, with missiles striking Bucha, Lyutizh, and Vyshhorod. At least fifteen people, including five civilians, are injured, according to Kyiv governor Oleksiy Kuleba. (AP) (Axios) 

Russian missiles strike Kropyvnytskyi, damaging facilities owned by Kropyvnytskyi Flight Academy and Air Urga. Five people are killed and 25 others are injured. (Yahoo! News) 

At least 17 people are killed and 40 others are injured in skirmishes between groups of pro-Assad and anti-government residents in As Suwayda, Syria. (Al Jazeera) 

Authorities in Hanover, Germany, turn off heating and switch to cold showers in all public buildings, and also shut off public water fountains amid an energy crisis after Gazprom reduced gas supplies to Germany through its Nord Stream pipeline. (BBC News) 

Authorities in Berlin turn off lights at historic monuments and municipal buildings in the city in order to save electricity. (The Guardian) 

The United States enters a technical recession after its economy shrank for the 2nd consecutive quarter. (The Guardian) (The Times) 

The United States Congress passes the Chips and Science Act of 2022 in order to boost semiconductor production in the United States and also boost competition with China. The bill will head to President Joe Biden for his signature. (CNBC) 

Hamas authorities raise taxes on imported clothes and other goods as prices increase due to the war in Ukraine and an ongoing blockade of the Gaza Strip. (AP) 

Governor of Kentucky Andy Beshear declares a state of emergency for several counties in southeastern Kentucky due to historic floods, which have killed eight people. (WLEX-TV) 

Flash flooding occurs on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Las Vegas Review-Journal) 

U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer says that New York has received 110,000 doses of the monkeypox vaccine. (New York Post) 

Ahmed Ogwell, head of the Africa CDC, reports that there are currently no monkeypox or smallpox vaccines available in Africa to combat the ongoing monkeypox outbreak. (Time) 

Iranian police arrest the alleged leader and four other members of a spy network suspected to be affiliated with Mossad. (Al Jazeera) 

Russia hands over a protest note to the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Šiaulių bankas, the only bank authorised to process payments for Kaliningrad rail transit, announced that it would phase out all payments in Russian rubles in mid-August and ban all payments from Russia and Belarus, unless for humanitarian purposes or in order to fulfil international obligations, on 1 September. (LRT) 

Cameras are allowed to film a criminal court case in England and Wales for the first time in history as a man, Ben Oliver, is sentenced to prison at London‘s Old Bailey for manslaughter on live television. (Reuters) 

2022 Wednesday, July 27th, 2022 

Russian energy company Gazprom reduces the amount of natural gas flowing through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline from Russia to Europe to 20% of the pipeline’s capacity. (AP) 

The European General Court upholds a broadcast ban imposed on Russian television network RT in the European Union over accusations of spreading misinformation, rejecting an appeal against the ban. (Al Jazeera) (Reuters) 

The suspect in the mass shooting at an Independence Day parade in Highland Park, Illinois, U.S., is formally indicted on 21 counts of first-degree murder, 48 counts of attempted murder, and 48 counts of aggravated battery. There are three counts per slain victim and two counts per injured victim. (NBC News) 

Prime Minister of South Korea Han Duck-soo says that he will ask president Yoon Suk-yeol to pardon former Samsung executive Lee Jae-yong, who is currently on parole for bribery and embezzlement. (Reuters) (Yonhap) 

undreds of protestors storm the parliament building in the Green Zone in Baghdad to oppose the nomination of Mohammed Shia’ Al Sudani for prime minister by pro-Iranian parties. (Al Jazeera) 

The End