July 21, 2022

UKRAINE | Today is day 148 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• In an interview yesterday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Russia's objectives in Ukraine go beyond its earlier claims of including only the Donbas region and accused Western nations of encouraging Ukraine to avoid peace negotiations. [more]
• U.K. defense secretary Ben Wallace says Britain will supply Ukraine with scores of artillery guns and more than 1,600 anti-tank weapons in its latest round of military aid. [more]
• Ukrainian officials say at least two people were killed and 19 others wounded in overnight Russian shelling of the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. [more]
• European Union delegates meeting in Brussels have reportedly agreed on a new round of sanctions against Russia that includes a ban on importing Russian gold and freezing the assets of the Russian bank Sberbank. [more]

JANUARY 6 | The House committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol will hold a televised public hearing starting at 8pm Eastern time tonight. The hearing is expected to focus on a detailed review of the actions of then-President Donald Trump during the attack. [more]

COVID-19 | Japanese health officials called for extreme vigilance against COVID-19 today as Tokyo recorded more than 30,000 daily infections for the first time since the pandemic began. Nationwide, 186,229 new coronavirus infections were recorded in Japan today. [more]

U.S. POLITICS | A bipartisan group of U.S. senators has proposed changes to the Electoral Count Act that would clarify the way states submit electors and the vice president tallies electoral votes for presidential elections, as well as increase security for state and local election officials who have faced violence or harassment. [more]

TEXAS | A federal grand jury in San Antonio indicted Homero Zamorano Jr., 46, and Christian Martinez, 28, both of Pasadena, Texas, yesterday on counts of transporting and conspiring to transport migrants illegally resulting in death or serious injury in connection with the late June deaths of more than 50 migrants found in an abandoned tractor-trailer in San Antonio. [more]

GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT | Collen Kelapile, head of the U.N.'s Economic and Social Council development body, said yesterday that the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and the war in Ukraine have led to "an unprecedented reversal" of decades of progress in combatting global poverty and hunger and ensuring quality education for children everywhere. [more]

EUROPEAN ENERGY | Gas flow from Russia to Europe via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline resumed today after a 10-day shutdown for pipeline maintenance. Flow through the pipeline is expected to be at 30-40% of capacity today. [more]

EUROPEAN ECONOMY | The European Central Bank is expected to announce its first interest rate hike in 11 years today. Reports suggest the rate increase will be of either 25 or 50 basis points. [more]

CLIMATE | In a speech given yesterday at a former coal-fired power plant in Massachusetts, U.S. President Joe Biden announced climate-related executive actions to strengthen the domestic offshore wind power industry and increase funding for community programs that help people deal with extreme heat through programs administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Health and Human Services, and other agencies. [more]

TURKEY | Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu today rejected claims by Iraqi officials that Turkey was responsible for a Wednesday attack on a mountain resort in Iraq's northern Dohuk province that killed eight people and wounded 23 others. Cavusoglu said his country's military operations in Iraq have always been against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party and blamed the resort attack on terrorists. [more]

ITALY | Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi resigned today after member parties of his coalition government refused to take part in a confidence vote. Reports say President Sergio Mattarella has asked Draghi to remain in office in a caretaker capacity and that plans for early elections are under consideration. [more]

U.K. POLITICS | Two candidates remain in the running to be the next British Conservative Party leader and U.K. prime minister after party officials held their latest round of voting yesterday. Nationwide Conservative Party members will choose between Rishi Sunak, Boris Johnson's former chancellor of the exchequer, and Liz Truss, the U.K. foreign secretary, with the new leader expected to be announced on September 5. [more]

NORTH AMERICAN TRADE | Reports say trade officials in the U.S. and Canada have demanded dispute settlement talks with Mexico over changes in Mexican energy policies that Washington and Ottawa say prioritize Mexico's state-owned power utility and oil producer in violation of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade that took effect two years ago. [more]

U.S. LIVING | A new report from the Pew Research Center says that in 2021 about 25% of U.S. adults ages 25-34 lived in a "multigenerational family household" -- defined as a household of adults 25 and older that includes two or more generations -- compared to about 9% with similar living arrangements in 1971, with the most common scenario being a young adult living with one or two parents or with a grandparent. [more]

SUPPLY CHAIN | Truckers protesting a state labor law that makes it harder for companies to classify workers as independent contractors instead of employees have blocked most cargo operations at California's Port of Oakland -- one of the 10 busiest container ports in the country. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 2011, the U.S. space shuttle program ended after 135 missions, as the orbiter Atlantis landed at NASA's Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida. [more history]