July 1, 2022
UKRAINE | CLIMATE | TRANSGENDER ISSUES | CANADA | TURKEY | INDIA | ECONOMY | TRAVEL | RUSSIA | HONG KONG | ENVIRONMENT | HEALTH | NCAA | SOCCER | TODAY IN HISTORY
UKRAINE | Today is day 128 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:
- Reports say at least 16 people were killed and another 30 injured when Russian missiles struck an apartment building overnight in the southern Ukraine coastal town of Serhiivka. [more]
- Ukrainian officials say their country began power transmissions to Romania today with a volume of 100 megawatts, and that planned increases to energy exports could help European nations reduce their dependence on Russian gas and oil. [more]
CLIMATE | The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 yesterday that the Clean Air Act anti-pollution law does not give the Environmental Protection Agency broad authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. In his opinion on the ruling, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that such regulation "rests with Congress itself, or an agency acting pursuant to a clear delegation from that representative body." [more]
TRANSGENDER ISSUES | In what is thought to be the first instance of citing the reasoning behind the Supreme Court's recent decision overturning Roe v. Wade, Alabama attorney general’s office argued this week that gender transition treatments are not “deeply rooted in our history or traditions,” and that the state should, therefore, have the authority to regulate them. [more]
U.S. HOLIDAY WEEKEND | Travel company AAA projects that about 48 million people in the U.S. will travel more than 50 miles away from home over the extended July 4 weekend, marking a return to near pre-COVID-19 holiday weekend travel levels. [more]
CANADA | Reports say a significant police presence is being deployed in the Canadian capital Ottawa today to prevent anti-government protesters from disrupting the city's first in-person Canada Day festivities in three years. [more]
TURKEY | Turkish officials have banned access to the U.S. broadcaster Voice of America and Germany's Deutsche Welle over licensing requirements that critics say would allow Turkish regulators to censor editorial content. [more]
INDIA | Authorities say at least 19 people are dead and dozens remain missing, after a mudslide struck the town of Noney in India's Manipur state yesterday. [more]
U.S. ECONOMY | The benchmark S&P 500 stock index fell 20.6% in the first half of 2022, marking its worst first-half-of-a-year performance since 1970. [more]
MORE U.S. ECONOMY | A report released by the U.S. Commerce Department yesterday shows that consumer spending in the U.S. rose only 0.2% from April to May, and that consumer prices rose 0.6% during the same period. [more]
EUROPEAN ECONOMY | The European Union statistics agency, Eurostat, reports today that annualized inflation in the 19 countries that use the euro rose to 8.6% in June, up from 8.1% in May. [more]
TRAVEL | American Airlines cancelled 8% of its flights Tuesday and Wednesday, according to FlightAware, indicating potential nationwide travel struggles ahead of the U.S. July 4 Independence Day holiday weekend. [more]
RUSSIA | The trial of U.S. basketball player Brittney Griner on cannabis possession charges is scheduled to open today in Moscow. Griner has been in Russian custody for more than four months and could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted on the charges. [more]
HONG KONG | In a speech today marking the 25th anniversary of the British handover of Hong Kong control to China, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that Beijing's "one country, two systems" formula of governance for the territory should be maintained over the long term. [more]
ENVIRONMENT | California Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation yesterday under which plastic producers will have to reduce plastics in single-use products by 10% by 2027, and by 25% by 2032. [more]
HEALTH | A study published yesterday in the journal Alzheimer's Disease & Dementia suggests that expression of the MGMT gene may be associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer's disease in women. [more]
NCAA | The Big Ten college sports conference voted yesterday to accept membership applications from Southern California and UCLA. The two California schools, currently members of the Pac-12 conference, will join the Big Ten in 2024. [more]
SOCCER | FIFA has announced that it will introduce a new technology system to improve the accuracy and speed of offside calls at this year's World Cup in Qatar. The semi-automated offside technology will use cameras to track player movements in addition to a sensor in the ball. [more]
TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1968, the United States, the United Kingdom, the U.S.S.R., and 59 other states signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in an attempt to halt the spread of nuclear weapons. [more history]