July 22, 2022

UKRAINE | Today is day 149 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Ukraine and Russia are expected to sign a Turkey- and U.N.-brokered agreement today to reopen Ukrainian Black Sea ports for grain exports in a move aimed at helping to ease the international food crisis aggravated by the Russian invasion. [more]
• The head of Ukraine's leading steel production firm says Russia has looted $600 million worth of steel from plants and ports in Ukraine and is selling it to internal Russian and international customers. [more]
• U.S. Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns said in a speech this week that the U.S. estimates that some 15,000 Russian troops have been killed and another 45,000 wounded in the fighting in Ukraine. [more]

JANUARY 6 | A public hearing of the House committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol last night focused on the role of then-President Donald Trump in prompting his supporters to go to the Capitol and his refusal to take steps to encourage an end to the violence for several hours. [more]

HEALTH | Health officials in New York have confirmed the first case of polio in the U.S. since 2013 in a resident of Rockland County -- about 35 miles north of New York City. [more]

AFRICA | The World Bank has announced $100 million in funding for the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- Africa's main public health body -- to help African countries prepare for, detect and respond to disease outbreaks. [more]

COVID-19 | U.S. President Joe Biden tested positive for COVID-19 infection yesterday. Biden is isolating and is reported to be experiencing only mild symptoms. [more]

GEORGE FLOYD CASE | Former Minneapolis police officer Thomas Lane was sentenced to two and a half years in prison in a federal court yesterday for violating George Floyd's civil rights by depriving Floyd of his right to medical care as Floyd was pinned under the knee of senior officer Derek Chauvin in May 2020. [more]

U.S. IMMIGRATION | The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday let stand a lower court ruling that blocks the Biden administration from altering immigration guidelines to prioritize immigration enforcement on undocumented immigrants who are considered to pose the greatest threat. The Court said it will consider the case further in its December argument session. [more]

EUROPEAN ECONOMY | The European Central Bank raised interest rates by half a percentage point yesterday -- the bank's first interest rate hike in 11 years. Economists expect the bank to raise rates again in September as it continues to battle high inflation. [more]

FUKUSHIMA | Nuclear regulators in Japan have approved a plan to release water from the wrecked Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant into the ocean. The plan calls for the water to be filtered to remove most harmful isotopes prior to being released. [more]

ITALY | Italian President Sergio Mattarella has scheduled early elections for September 25 following the resignation of Prime Minister Mario Draghi and the collapse of Draghi's coalition government. [more]

SYRIA | The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group says seven civilians were killed today in an airstrike by a suspected Russian plane on a house in the northwestern Syrian town of Jisr al-Shoghour. [more]

BRAZIL | Reports say at least 18 people were killed, including one police officer, when police conducted a raid targeting gang members in Rio de Janeiro's Complexo do Alemao region yesterday. [more]

NATURE | The International Union for the Conservation of Nature yesterday added the iconic orange-and-black monarch butterfly to its list of threatened species and categorized it as "endangered." The group estimates that the North American population of monarch butterflies has declined between 22% and 72% over 10 years. [more]

HEALTHCARE BUSINESS | E-commerce giant Amazon announced plans yesterday to purchase primary care organization One Medical for $3.9 billion in the company's latest foray into the healthcare industry. [more]

ARTS | Irish rock band U2, actor George Clooney, singers Gladys Knight and Amy Grant, and composer Tania León have been announced as this year's honorees for the Kennedy Center Honors for influencing American culture through the arts. The awards ceremony will be held on December 4. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1943, led by U.S. General George S. Patton, Allied forces took Palermo, on the northwest corner of Sicily, giving them a strategic foothold from which to invade mainland Italy during World War II. [more history]