August 4, 2022

UKRAINE | Today is day 162 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced yesterday that he is appointing a fact-finding mission in response to requests from both Ukraine and Russia to investigate the deaths of 53 Ukrainian prisoners of war at a Russian-controlled prison in the Donetsk region. Russia claims the prison was hit by a Ukrainian missile strike, while Ukraine says there is evidence the prison was blown up from the inside. [more]
• Denetsk regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said this morning that eight people were killed, and four others wounded, in Russian artillery shelling of the town of Toretsk overnight. [more]

TAIWAN | The Taiwanese military is on alert and air and sea traffic has been disrupted amidst the start of Chinese live-fire military drills surrounding the island in response to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit this week. Media in Taiwan has described the Chinese drills as an "effective Taiwan blockade." [more]

IRAN | European Union, Iranian, and U.S. negotiators are meeting today in Vienna for talks aimed at reviving the Iran nuclear development deal from which former President Donald Trump withdrew the United States in 2018. [more]

NATO | The U.S. Senate voted 95-1 yesterday to approve applications from Finland and Sweden to join the NATO alliance. The lone dissenting vote was from Senator Josh Hawley. According to NATO officials, seven member nations have yet to formally agree to Finland and Sweden joining the alliance: the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, and Turkey. [more]

GUN VIOLENCE | At an arraignment yesterday, Robert E. Crimo III, the man accused of shooting and killing seven people and injuring dozens of others at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Illinois, this year, pleaded not guilty to all 117 charges on which he has been indicted. [more]

CALIFORNIA | Officials say the McKinney wildfire in northern California has been about 10% contained as of Wednesday night. The fire, which broke out in Klamath National Forest last Friday, has burned more than 55,000 acres, destroyed more than 100 buildings, and killed four people. [more]

U.S. POLITICS | Tennessee is holding primary elections today to choose party candidates for November's gubernatorial, Congressional, and state legislature general elections. [more]

OIL PRODUCTION | The OPEC+ coalition of leading oil producing countries announced yesterday that it will boost production in September by 100,000 barrels per day -- a significantly lower increase than the 648,000 barrels per day boost the organization's members have pledged for July and August. [more]

ENVIRONMENT | In its annual report, the Australian Institute of Marine Sciences says large portions of the UNESCO world heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef show significant recovery in coral coverage over the past several years. The report suggests the recovery in most, but not all, portions of the reef show its resilience and ability to recover from disturbances. [more]

CLIMATE | A nearly-200-page climate action plan released by New Zealand's government yesterday includes the possible relocation of coastal homes at potential risk from rising sea levels. [more]

FRANCE | Authorities in Paris have warned residents of heat-related dangers as temperatures in the region soared yesterday to as high as 97 Fahrenheit (36 degrees Celsius). [more]

GERMANY | Officials in western Berlin's Grunewald region say a fire at a bomb disposal site in the area triggered multiple explosions and that road and rail transport in and around the Grunewald Forest has been disrupted due to fires in the surrounding woodland. [more]

ICELAND | Government officials in Iceland say a volcanic eruption that began yesterday in Fagradalsfjall Mountain -- located about 15 miles southwest of the capital Reykjavik -- has not yet posed any risk to populated areas or critical infrastructure and that there have not been any flight disruptions in the region's airspace, which has been an issue with previous Icelandic eruptions. [more]

RUSSIA | Closing arguments are expected today in the Moscow trial of U.S. basketball player Brittney Griner on cannabis possession charges. 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]

U.K. ECONOMY | The Bank of England is expected to announce an interest rate increase today of up to half a percentage point, which would be the bank's largest such increase in more than 25 years. [more]

CRYPTOCURRENCY | U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow and John Boozman introduced a bill yesterday that would place oversight of the cryptocurrency industry in the United States with the Commodities Futures Trading Commission. Industry leaders see the CFTC as more industry-friendly than the Securities and Exchange Commission, which has been proposed for oversight of cryptocurrency in the past. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1914, in response to the German invasion of Belgium, Great Britain entered World War I, declaring war on Germany. [more history]