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) 

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8

Friday,  July 15th, 2022 

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) 

U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah. (Bloomberg) 

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

Spain introduces free tickets for suburban and medium-distance services for Renfe, the state-owned railway operator, starting from September 1 and until the end of the year. Other modes of public transport already have a 30% discount. (The Guardian) 

A national emergency is declared, and the first ever red alert for extreme heat is issued by the Met Office in the United Kingdom, ahead of a heat wave which is now expected to break temperature records in the British Isles. (BBC News) 

Portugal reports 238 deaths related to the ongoing heat wave as it battles more than 30 active wildfires. In France, more than 10,000 people have fled wildfires in Gironde and in Spain, firefighters continue to battle forest fires near the town of Monsagro. (BBC News) 

Nine Balochistan Liberation Army separatist insurgents are killed during a gunfight with the Pakistan Army in Balochistan, after the group kidnapped and killed a Colonel. (AP) 

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) 

Thursday, July 14th, 2022 

At least 23 civilians are killed and more than 100 others are injured during three Russian missile strikes in Vinnytsia. (BBC News) 

Social media site Twitter experiences a global outage lasting for 45 minutes, making it the site’s longest outage since 2016. (The Guardian) 

Russia enacts a law that requires all companies to comply with the armed forces’ orders to provide goods or services and provide overtime or additional work days if necessary. The requirement for a public procurement procedure for this type of request is abolished. (Rzeczpospolita) 

Over 40 people are left missing after a series of floods in Virginia, United States. (Express) 

In South Korea, the Constitutional Court begins deliberations on abolishing the death penalty upon an appeal by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea. South Korea currently has a moratorium on the issue, having not hanged a death row inmate in the past 25 years. (South China Morning Post) 

Russian president Vladimir Putin signs a law expanding the definition of “foreign agents” to all organisations deemed by the government to have fallen under “foreign influence”, beginning on December 1. The law permits Roskomnadzor to block any websites related to a designated entity without a court order, and restricts these entities from receiving state funds and working with children or at state universities. (The Moscow Times) 

At least 89 people, including 42 civilians, are killed after gang warfare over the control of the Cité Soleil neighbourhood began a week ago between the G9 and G-Pèp gangs in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. (BBC News) 

Bolivian justice minister Iván Lima announces that the government will seek more charges against former president Jeanine Áñez for her alleged role in massacres perpetrated in Senkata and Sacaba in 2019. Añez is already serving a 10-year sentence on other charges. (Página/12) 

Suella Braverman is eliminated from the leadership race in the second round of voting. (The Guardian) 

Gotabaya Rajapaksa resigns as President of Sri Lanka after fleeing to Singapore. (BBC News) 

Mario Draghi offers his resignation as Prime Minister of Italy after coalition partner Five Star withdraws its support. However, President Sergio Mattarella refuses to accept the resignation. (BBC News) 

2022 Wednesday, June 13th, 2022 

Heavy Russian shelling is reported in Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast, with at least one person killed and five others injured in the largely evacuated town. (The Guardian) 

A jury in New York convicts ex-Central Intelligence Agency engineer Joshua Schulte on all nine charges relating to the Vault 7 leak detailing the activities and capabilities of the CIA to perform electronic surveillance and cyber warfare. The leak is the largest leak in Central Intelligence Agency history. (The Verge) 

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe confirms that former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has fled the country to the Maldives and declares a state of emergency and a curfew as the military fires tear gas at the protesters. (Al Jazeera) 

Nadhim Zahawi and Jeremy Hunt are eliminated from the leadership race in the first round of voting. (BBC News) 

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Ozark S4E7 starting about 10 minutes in to at least 12min.

Wednesday, June 13th, 2022 

Inflation rises to 9.2 percent in the United States, the highest level in 40 years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.   

The euro’s value against the U.S. dollar falls below parity for the first time in 20 years. (Reuters) 

The Bank of Canada raises its benchmark interest rate from 1.5 to 2.5 percent, the single largest increase since 1998 amid surging inflation. (CBC) 

The European Union allows Russia to resume the transit of sanctioned goods by rail to its exclave of Kaliningrad following Russian threats against Lithuania. However, the transit of military equipment through Lithuanian territory remains prohibited, according to the European Commission. 

Heavy Russian shelling is reported in Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast, with at least one person killed and five others injured in the largely evacuated town. (The Guardian) 

North Korea recognizes the independence of the Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic, becoming the third nation to do so, after Russia and Syria. (Reuters) 

As a response, Ukraine suspends diplomatic relations with North Korea (MFA Ukraine) 

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his wife are prevented from fleeing the country to Dubai by airport staff at Bandaranaike International Airport amid nationwide protests. G. Rajapaksa has not given his official resignation yet. (CNN) 

Rajapaksa subsequently flees the country on a military aircraft to the Maldives, formally ending his rule of Sri Lanka. His brother, former finance minister Basil Rajapaksa, also flees the country. (BBC News) 

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe confirms that former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has fled the country to the Maldives and declares a state of emergency and a curfew as the military fire tear gas at the protesters. (Al Jazeera)

Protesters storm the Prime Minister’s office in Colombo, demanding his immediate resignation. (Reuters) 

A 20-year-old woman who is a campaigner for women’s rights in Sudan appeals to the High Court to overturn her death sentence by stoning for adultery, the first case in nearly a decade. (The Guardian) 

Nadhim Zahawi and Jeremy Hunt are eliminated from the race in the first round of voting. (BBC News) 

A three-year-long independent inquiry into child sexual exploitation finds that over 1,000 children in Telford, Shropshire, England, were sexually exploited beginning in the 1980s. Teachers and youth workers were discouraged from reporting child sexual abuse and police were nervous that investigating the abusers would inflame racial tensions. (Reuters)

Protesters in Panama continue blocking streets and railways, mainly in Chiriquí and Veraguas Provinces, rejecting the concession by president Laurentino Cortizo of freezing fuel prices. (TeleMetro) 

Tuesday,  July 12th, 2022 

NASA releases the first full-color image taken by James Webb Space Telescope, showing a segment of a galaxy clusterfuck 4.6 billion light-years away from Earth. (The Verge) 

The Russian-appointed military-civilian administration leader of Velykyi Burluk in Kharkiv Oblast, Yevgeny Yunakov, is assassinated in a car bombing. (Reuters) 

A massive explosion occurs in the city of Nova Kakhovka after Ukrainian forces destroy a Russian arms depot. Russian news agency TASS claims that a market, hospital, and civilian housing were also damaged, and multiple civilians were killed. (Ukrayinska Pravda) 

Ukrainian Ground Forces recapture the town of Ivanivka in Kherson Oblast after launching a counter-offensive against Russian forces. (Reuters) 

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan claims that Iran is preparing to provide Russia with hundreds of drones along with the required training in their use. (The Washington Post) 

Leaked military reports indicate that a UK Special Air Service unit unlawfully killed 54 people in one six-month tour. Furthermore, former Director Special Forces Mark Carleton-Smith failed to pass on evidence to a murder inquiry relating to the matter. (BBC)

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his wife are prevented from fleeing the country to Dubai by airport staff at Bandaranaike International Airport amid nationwide protests. (CNN) 

The Colombian Army launches an airstrike on FARC dissidents’ camp in the Caquetá Department, killing 10 people. Iván Mordisco, one of the group’s leader, was at the scene during the strike; his fate is unknown. (BBC News) 

Two people are killed and 4 others are injured after a 3 car pileup caused by a pack of boars north of Thessaloniki, Greece. (AP) 

Sir Mo Farah, British Olympic gold medalist runner, reveals that he was trafficked to Britain at the age of nine. 

Monday,  July 11th, 2022 

Russian president Vladimir Putin signs a decree extending a fast-track process to obtain Russian citizenship to all Ukrainians, which previously only applied to those living in the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic. (Reuters) 

Lawmakers in Russia propose to extend the anti-“gay propaganda” bill to all people regardless of age. (Al Jazeera) 

Lithuania expands sanctions on the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad to include cement, concrete, wood, alcohol and alcohol-based industrial chemicals. (Reuters) 

A Russian court lifts the suspension for the CPC pipeline and instead fines its operators 200,000 rubles (3,300 USD) for oil spills. The oil pipeline, one of the world’s largest, is the route for nearly all of Kazakhstan’s oil exports of 1.3 million barrels per day, which represents about 1% of global oil supply. (Reuters) 

The Nord Stream 1 natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany is suspended for the first of 10 days of scheduled annual maintenance. (Reuters) 

Macau closes all of its casinos, causing shares to fall, as the gaming city hub fights an outbreak of COVID-19. (Straits Times) 

The Biden administration announces that the United States will purchase 3.2 million doses of the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine once approved. (The New York Times) 

New South Wales premier Dominic Perrottet announces that the Australian Aboriginal Flag will be flown permanently above the Sydney Harbour Bridge, which is widely regarded as an iconic Australian landmark. The flag will be flown on top of the bridge’s arches alongside the national flag, replacing the flag of New South Wales, after the state government discarded plans to accommodate all three flags. (CNN) 

The French government survives a no confidence vote tabled by the left-wing NUPES coalition. The no confidence vote received only 146 yes votes out of the 289 needed. (Le Monde) 

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