The News: Short weekly world tour
Vita gazette – From the USA to NATO and the EU, from Russia to China and the Pacific… From energy to arms and hunger… From culture to history and art… From natural disasters to new discoveries and technology… Important history recorded notes… (July 18– July 25, 2022)
International relations and strategies
EU – Ukraine: The European Union has decided to provide additional military aid of 500 million Euros to Ukraine. (July 18)
Energy – EU – Azerbaijan: A Strategic Partnership Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Azerbaijan and the European Union in the field of energy. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, after meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, said, “With today’s agreement, we are committed to expanding the Southern Gas Corridor by doubling the gas supply from Azerbaijan to the EU. This is good news for our gas supply this winter and beyond.” (July 18)
China – USA: Tensions are escalating between the two countries. China has asked the United States to immediately cancel potential arms sales to Taiwan. The U.S. State Department announced that it had approved the sale of $108 million in military technical assistance to Taiwan. (July 18)
Energy – France – UAE: A cooperation agreement in the energy sector was signed between France and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). (July 18)
Sanctions – EU – Russia: European Union (EU) member states have approved a new sanctions package that prohibits gold purchases from Russia. Under the sanctions package, gold and jewellery imports from Russia will be banned, the assets of some Russian officials and institutions will be frozen, a travel ban will be imposed on sanctioned persons, and the assets of Russia’s largest bank Sberbank, which was previously excluded from SWIFT, will be frozen. (July 20)
Sanctions – Russia – Australia: Russia has imposed sanctions on 39 Australian citizens, including law enforcement officials, in response to Australian sanctions against Russia. (July 21)
Energy – Russia: The North Stream 1 pipeline, which has been closed for maintenance since 11 July, opened today and gas flow from Russia to Europe started. It is not yet known whether the amount of gas that will pass through the pipeline will increase, but experts say the current 40 percent flow will not be enough to meet Europe’s needs. (July 21)
The USA – CIA – England – EU – NATO – Russia- Putin – Ukraine – After the British Chief of General Staff, a denial came from the USA to the claims of “Putin is sick” in the press. William Burns, the head of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), announced that reports of Putin’s poor health were not true. “There are many rumours about Putin’s health, but as far as we know, he is completely healthy, he even looks too healthy.” Burns said. (July 22)
Russia – Ukraine – Grain crisis: The agreement for the grain corridor that will transport Ukrainian grain to world markets was signed in Istanbul with the participation of United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and President Erdoğan. (July 22)
Sanctions – Russia – Google: Russia has banned Google in the Donetsk region. Decision. It was taken on the grounds that it “incites terror and violence against Russians”. (July 22)
Japan – Russia – China: In its defense report, Japan cited Russia and China as an increasing threat. (July 22)
Armament – EU – Ukraine: announced that the EU has increased the total amount of military aid to Ukraine to 2.5 billion euros. (July 22)
EU – UK: The EU Commission announced that legal action was initiated against the UK on the grounds that it did not comply with the Northern Ireland Protocol. (July 22)
Sanctions – Russia – Ukraine – EU: Russia has included EU members Greece, Denmark, Slovenia, Slovakia and Croatia on its list of “unfriendly countries”. (July 23)
USA – China: US Chief of Staff General Mark Milley argued that the Chinese military has become “significantly more aggressive and dangerous in the last 5 years”. (July 24)
Policy – Elections
Bulgaria: Following the resignation of Prime Minister Kiril Petkov’s government, President Rumen Radev has mandated the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) to form a government (18 July)
Great Britain – The number of candidates to vote drops to 4 to determine the new leader of the ruling Conservative Party and prime minister of the country. In today’s vote, former Finance Minister Rishi Sunak received the highest vote with 115. Sunak, who received the most votes 3 times in a row, is about to become the new Conservative Party leader and prime minister of the country.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson resigned on Thursday 7 July, following pressure to resign. The elections for the new leadership, which began with Johnson’s resignation, are expected to conclude by September 5. Johnson will continue to serve as prime minister and party leader until the new leader takes office on September 5. (July 18)
England: The government got the confidence vote in its internal confidence vote. Therefore, the possibility of general elections was eliminated. (July 19)
Italy: after the political crack in the coalition government, in the vote of confidence held in the upper house of parliament in the senate, Prime Minister Mario Draghi obtained a vote of confidence with 38 votes to 95, even if 3 parties boycotted the vote. (July 20)
England – Two candidates remain in the leadership race of the Conservative Party in England. Former Finance Minister Rishi Sunak received the most support with 137 votes. Foreign Minister Liz Truss had the chance to continue the race with 113 votes. (July 20)
India: The country’s 15th president is Draupadi Murmu, the candidate of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), an electoral alliance led by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) (July 21)
Italy: President Sergio Mattarella dissolves parliament after Prime Minister Mario Draghi resigns. Early elections will be held in Italy on September 25. (July 21)
Sri Lanka: Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was elected as the head of state in the parliamentary vote, was sworn in. (July 21)
India: The country’s 15th president is Draupadi Murmu, the candidate of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), an electoral alliance led by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Sri Lanka: The sworn president Ranil Wickremesinghe has appointed Dinesh Gunawardena as Sri Lanka’s new prime minister. (July 22)
Pakistan: The Cabinet of Ministers approved the decision on the urgent sale of state assets to foreign countries and the abolition of all procedures in this process in order to close the financial deficit of 4 billion dollars. (July 24)
Sri Lanka – Former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled to Singapore, has been charged and arrested for acts of violence against Tamils.
After increasing protests due to the economic crisis in the country, former President Gotabaya Rajapaks fled the country and resigned from his post via e-mail. (July 25)
USA: 2 people were killed and at least 7 were injured in the shooting that took place in Peck Park in Los Angeles, USA. (July 25)
Global warming – Climate change – Natural disasters
Nigeria – In the northern Yobe state of the country, 4 people lost their lives in the floods caused by the torrential rains, and 12 settlements were flooded. (July 18)
United Nations (UN) Secretary General Antonio Guterres, addressing the Petersberg Climate Dialogue held in Berlin, the capital of Germany, with a video message, underlined that half of humanity is in the ‘danger zone’ due to floods, drought, storms and forest fires. “No nation is immune to them. Yet we continue to feed our dependence on fossil fuels. What bothers me the most is our inability to work together as a multilateral community as we face this global crisis,” said Guterres, adding: “Nations continue to play the blame game instead of taking responsibility for our common future. We cannot go on like this. This means trust, multilateralism and cooperation. We have a choice. Mass action or mass suicide. This is in our hands,” he said. (July 18)
Fire – France: 14 thousand 300 hectares of green area burned in the fire that started 7 days ago in the Gironde region in the southwest of the country and still cannot be extinguished. (July 18)
EU: The European Union (EU) Joint Research Center warned that 44 percent of Europe’s land is threatened by drought. (July 19)
Flood – Japan: While there were floods in some regions due to the heavy rain that was effective in Japan, evacuation orders were given for 470,000 people. (July 19)
Australia: According to the government’s 5-year environmental report in Australia, the soil and species diversity in the country is decreasing due to climate change. According to the report, the proportion of species threatened by climate change has increased by 8 percent. (July 19)
Fire – Slovenia: Forest fires caused by severe drought and heat waves in Europe continue. 4 villages in Slovenia were evacuated. (July 21)
Earthquake – Iran: Two earthquakes with a magnitude of 5.8 and 5.7 occurred within 2 minutes in Iran’s Hormuzgan province. (July 22)
Fire – USA: In the state of California, forest fires grew rapidly in one day due to the effect of extreme heat. Affecting 240 hectares of land, the flames spread to 4800 hectares in 24 hours. An emergency has been declared. (July 24)
Fire – Greece: Forest fires broke out at 53 points in 24 hours in the country. (July 24)
Flood – Mexico: 1 person died in the flood disaster caused by heavy rains, and material damage occurred to many houses and vehicles. (July 24)
Drought – Mexico: NASA revealed the drought and water problem in Mexico with the photos it took from space. Satellite photos of Mexico’s Cerro Prieto Dam taken on July 20, 2015 and July 7, 2022 showed that the water level in the dam has dropped to its lowest level ever.
Global warming: Scientists studying the melting of the poles announced that 18 billion tons of ice melted in the Greenland ice sheet last weekend. (July 25)
Health
Covid-19-USA: The number of people who died from Covid-19 in the USA increased to 1 million 23 thousand 810, and the number of those detected with Covid-19 increased to 89 million 549 thousand 744. (July 18)
Monkey pox – Germany: In the statement made by the Robert Koch Institute, it was stated that 2033 cases were recorded in the country 2 months after the first case was seen. “According to the available information, the transmissions in this epidemic primarily occur in the context of sexual activities, especially among men who are currently having sex with other men,” the statement said. It was noted that only four of the 2033 cases were women, and children were never infected. (July 19)
Covid-19: The World Health Organization warned that the increase in cases may worsen from autumn and the fight against the virus may become even more difficult. (July 19)
WMO-Global warming: World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Secretary General Petteri Taals explained that global warming will make heat waves more frequent and intense around the world. Paald announced that the negative effects of global warming will last until at least 2060. (July 19)
Heat wave – Iraq: While European countries were scorched by extreme heat, thermometers approached 50 degrees in Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, a Middle Eastern country. (July 19)
Heat wave – England: It was stated that a temperature above 40 C was temporarily recorded for the first time in the UK, which experienced the highest temperatures in its history with the effect of the heat wave from the south recently. The UK Meteorological Service (Met Office) said the temperature of 40.2C was measured at London Heathrow at 11:50 am local time. (July 19)
Heat wave – Belgium: While a red alert is issued due to temperatures up to 40 degrees in various regions of the country, the orange code is applied throughout the country. (July 19)
Monkeypox – Israel: To date, 101 cases of monkeypox have been detected in the country. (July 19)
France: A study conducted in France revealed that 78 percent of bottled water contains microplastics. Noted that the results of the study, commissioned by the Agir pour l’environnement Association to the Labocea laboratory, were alarming, and that the research was done with bottles that were never used and were not exposed to heat, which reduced the incidence of microplastics, and that more microplastics would be seen under real use conditions. The association called for a microplastic inspection of bottled water and a ban on plastic bottles by 2027. (July 22)
Covid-19 – USA: The total number of Covid-19 cases in the USA has exceeded 90 million, and the total number of deaths has exceeded one million (July 22)
WHO – Monkeypox: The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared a global emergency for Monkeypox Disease. According to the latest figures, the disease has been seen in more than 15,000 people in 65 countries. (July 23)
Human and animal rights
Afghanistan: The Taliban, which has taken over the country, asks the women they do not allow to work in the Ministry of Finance to suggest male acquaintances to replace them. The Taliban had banned women from working in the public sector after taking over the country in August 2021. Women working in government agencies were sent home, and the radical Islamist group continued to pay them reduced wages so that they would not work. Speaking to The Guardian, Afghan women said that Taliban officials called them and asked them to recommend their male relatives to do the jobs they used to do. (July 18)
Mexico: A woman was burned to death in Mexico. The murder of Luz Raquel Padilla, who was killed in a park in the city of Zapopan, was the last example of violence in the country. 1,004 women were killed in Mexico last year. An average of 10 women a day are thought to be killed in the country. Padilla, who has an 11-year-old autistic son, was also a member of the “I Protect Mexico” group, where families with disabilities support each other. The group reported that Padilla was threatened many times by a neighbour who said he was disturbed by
Canada – Pope Francis travels to Canada to meet with indigenous groups who have been subjected to physical violence and sexual abuse at the Catholic Church’s boarding schools in Canada. (July 24)
Science – Technology – Discovery
Indian Ocean: Scientists in Australia have imaged an extremely rare jellyfish at a depth of 5,000 meters in the Indian Ocean. Scientists from the Minderoo Foundation and the University of Western Australia, consisting of ocean experts, ecologists, geneticists and geoscientists, made this discovery during the 3-year Deep Sea Exploration. (July 21)
China: Dinosaur footprints dating back 100 million years have been unearthed in the open courtyard of a restaurant in the southwestern part of the country. According to paleontologists, the footprints of two sauropods, a type of dinosaur that lived in the early Cretaceous period, were found among several stones in the courtyard of the restaurant in the Leshan district of Sichuan province. (July 22)
America: The chip, which enables paralyzed patients to use computer commands, was implanted in a patient for the first time in the USA after Australia. This 3.81 cm device, developed by the Australian company “Synchron”, was implanted in the brain of an ALS patient at Mount Sinai West medical center in New York on July 6. Test results are awaited. (July 21)
Founded in 2016, the Australian company Synchron had previously implanted this device in the brains of four paralyzed patients in Australia, the first in 2019. These patients can use this brain implant to send messages on Whatsapp and shop online without side effects. (July 21)
America: New designs of the Supersonic ‘Overture’ aircraft, which are expected to start carrying passengers in 2029, have emerged. It has been announced that the plane, which can carry passengers between 65-80 people on average, can make its journey between London and New York in three and a half hours. (July 22)
Art – Culture – History
It was announced that priceless Faberge eggs were found in the super yacht belonging to the Russian oligarch, which was confiscated by the USA. It is thought that the egg from the Russian tsarist period is one of the last few examples in the world, and therefore its value will be millions of dollars. (July 21)
The date was 1885… Russian Tsar Alexander III wanted to give a special gift to his wife, Empress Maria Feodorovna, on Easter. He commissioned jewelery designer Carl Faberge for this. Inspired by the eggs used in Easter, Faberge designed the inside and outside of an ostrich egg with jewels. After the first egg was so popular, it became a tradition in Tsarism to produce Faberge Imperial Eggs every year on Easter. The design of 50 eggs, 43 of which have survived to the present day, was produced by the Faberge family and designers under the leadership of Carl Faberge. Some of the Faberge eggs, which were scattered all over the world after the collapse of Tsarism in Russia, fell into the hands of private collectors. The Faberge Eggs, which gain value with their artistry and design as well as the jewelry on them, are valued at approximately 10 million dollars. Fabergé eggs are the size of a goose egg, enameled and decorated with jewels. The most pleasant part is that a surprise design emerges from each egg…
Italy: In Florence, climate activists stuck their hands on Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli’s painting “Primavera” to protest the use of fossil fuels. (July 23)
Lifestyle – tradition
Lebanon – As in the rest of the world, the economic crisis is also experienced in Lebanon. A solution method for this has been produced among the people in the country. Flower bouquets were replaced by money bouquets. Thanks to these bouquets, Lebanese can help each other with money without hurting them. (July 19)
India: A new one has been added to the strange traditional and religious rituals experienced in the country. In the state of Uttar Pradesh, 2 frogs were married to end the extreme heat, drought and rain. (July 20)
India: Punjab State Prime Minister Bhagwant Mann drank water from the holy river. Mann was hospitalized two days after drinking the water. (July 22)
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