News from Italy
The News: Short weekly world tour
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 11 – 18, 2022)
International relations and strategies
War – Netherlands – Ukraine – Russia: Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said “Aid will not stop” during his visit to Ukraine. Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren stated in a letter, she sent to the parliament last week that the sum of her country’s aid to Ukraine so far is worth 172.7 million euros. (July 11)
Russia – Ukraine: Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the decree making it easier for all Ukrainian citizens to obtain Russian citizenship. (July 12)
Australia-Pacific Islands: Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, who participated in the Pacific Islands Forum, emphasized that the countries of the region should deal with problems such as the US-China rivalry, the Kovid-19 epidemic and the climate crisis. The island nation of Kiribati announced its withdrawal from the Pacific Islands Forum. This decision by Kiribati is seen as a sign of China’s increasing influence in the region. (July 12)
War – EU – Ukraine – Russia: The European Union (EU) approved an additional 1 billion euros in support for Ukraine. Thus, EU aid to Ukraine reached 2.2 billion euros. (July 12)
War – EU – Ukraine – Russia: The European Union (EU) approved an additional 1 billion euros in support for Ukraine. Thus, EU aid to Ukraine reached 2.2 billion euros. (July 12)
EU – Croatia: Signatures were signed for Croatia to adopt the euro currency as of January 1, 2023. Thus, Croatia became the 20th member of the 27-member Union to be admitted to the eurozone. (July 12)
War – USA – Russia – Spokesperson of the Russian Ministry of Defense Igor Konashenkov announced that the Haspoon anti-ship missile launch systems produced by the USA in Ukraine were destroyed with high-precision missiles. (July 12)
Sanctions – EU – Russia: European Union (EU) Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders announced that member states have frozen 13 billion 800 million Euros of Russian assets so far. (July 12)
Coups – USA: John Bolton, former National Security Advisor to the White House, described himself as “someone who helped plan coups in other countries”. (July 13)
Energy – Italy: Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said that his country’s dependence on Russian gas has decreased, from around 40 percent last year to 25 percent this year. (July 13)
Energy – Austria and Germany: Both countries agreed to cooperate against a gas crisis. (July 13)
Russia: President Putin signed a law that considered treason for Russians to “take the other side”. (July 14)
War – Hungary: Defense Minister Tibor Benko announces that he has instructed the army to strengthen its “war readiness”. (July 14)
Sanctions – Russia – Japan: The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs banned 384 Japanese deputies from entering the country by placing them on the sanctions list. “384 members of the House of Representatives of the Japanese Parliament, who took a hostile attitude towards Russia and made unfounded accusations against our country in the context of a special military operation in Ukraine, were banned from entering Russia,” the justification said. (July 15)
USA – Russia – China: US President Biden made a statement in Saudi Arabia, the last stop of his regional visit to Israel, Palestine and Saudi Arabia, “We have made progress in strengthening our relations with the Gulf countries. We will not leave a vacuum for Russia and China to fill in the Middle East,” he said. 16 July
EU – Hungary: The European Union (EU) Commission filed a lawsuit against Hungary in the EU Court of Justice for violation of press freedom and sexual discrimination. (July 15)
Russia – Ukraine: Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitriy Medvedev said that if there is an attack on Crimea, they will respond to Ukraine and said, “If there is an attack on Crimea, the apocalypse awaits Ukraine.” (July 17)
Sanctions – Iran – USA: Iran has imposed sanctions on 61 people, including former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, for supporting the Iranian opposition group. (July 17)
Policy – Elections
Sri Lanka: After ongoing protests in Sri Lanka, a one-day curfew has been declared across the country. (July 13)
Sri Lanka’s streets were in turmoil after Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe announced in parliament that the country’s economy was collapsing. In the country, which has been shaken by the economic crisis for months, the protesters were calling for the resignation of the administrators. The demonstrators entered the Prime Minister’s residence on July 9 and set the building on fire. Protesters broke through the barricades around the campus, where President Rajapaksa’s official residence and office are located, and entered the residence and office. The protesters, who stormed the presidential residence of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and set fire to the home of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, were waiting for the government’s decision to resign. However, the expected resignation did not come. Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled his country by military plane to the Maldives after his palace was raided during the protests. And the protests started again. Finally, a nationwide curfew was declared.
Sri Lanka: E-mailed President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled to Singapore, with a letter of resignation to the Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka. (July 14)
Estonia: Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, who allocates a third of her country’s budget to aid Ukraine, announced her resignation to form a new coalition government in the country. (July 14)
Italy – Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi decided to resign. The President did not accept it. The Ukrainian crisis and economic troubles caused a crack in the government. M5s leader Giuseppe Conte, who opposed arms aid to Ukraine, vetoed the vote with his party, objecting to the scarcity of the package prepared due to the latest economic crisis. Prior to that, Foreign Minister Luigi di Maio from M5s had resigned, opposing his party’s Ukraine policy. And Maio had formed a group called “together for the future” with the breakaways. Now eyes are waiting for the new formula to be found on Wednesday… (14 July)
Sri Lanka: Speaker of Parliament has officially accepted the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled to Singapore amid popular uprising caused by the country’s worst economic crisis in 70 years. After the resignation, the protests were replaced by celebrations that continued throughout the night. (July 15)
Sri Lanka: Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, appointed interim head of state, declared a state of emergency (OHAL). In the protests across Sri Lanka, 9 people, including a lawmaker from the ruling party and 2 policemen, have lost their lives and at least 250 people have been injured so far. (July 17)
Global warming – Climate change – Natural Disasters
Flood – China: The Ministry of Water Resources launched a level 4 emergency response to the risk of flooding in certain areas in northern, central and northwestern parts of China on Sunday. (July 10)
Flood – USA: While 17 people lost in the flood that was effective in the Buchanan region of Virginia state are still not heard from, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin declared an “emergency”. (July 14)
Heatwave: Nearly 10,000 hectares of land have been turned to ash in two ongoing forest fires in the Gironde region in southwestern France. About 13,000 people were evacuated. A red alert was issued in 15 regions, and an orange alert was issued in 51 regions. The extreme heatwave killed at least 281 people in Spain and Portugal, with thousands of people evacuated due to forest fires. The villages of Sahturia, Kria Vrisi and Ayos Yorgis were evacuated because the forest fire could not be brought under control on the island of Crete. An orange alert has been issued for extreme temperatures in Belgium. An orange alert was issued in 10 cities, including Rome, Milan and Florence, due to the extreme heat that will be effective from the weekend to the middle of next week in Italy. The death toll declared so far in Europe has exceeded 1000. (Italy, England, France, Belgium and the Netherlands have not yet announced the loss of life due to extreme heat). A red alert was issued for the first time in England and a state of emergency was declared. One person died and more than 20 people were hospitalized due to the heat wave that affected many parts of China. (July 13-16)
Global warming report: According to the monthly global climate report of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), June 2022 was the 6th warmest month since 1880, when global temperature records began. The polar ice caps, on the other hand, have shrunk by melting close to a record level in 44 years of records. In June, a serious melting occurred in the polar ice caps, shrinking to a record level. It was stated that the glaciers in the Antarctic waters melted and remained below average. At the same time, it was reported that the glaciers in the North Pole melted below the average due to the temperature. (July 15)
Health
WHO – Covid-19: The World Health Organization reported that the epidemic still remains a global health emergency after two and a half years. (July 12)
WHO – Monkeypox virus: The World Health Organization reported that the spread of the monkeypox virus continues around the world and the number of cases is approaching 10 thousand. (July 12)
WHO – Marburg fever: The World Health Organization declared a Marburg fever epidemic in Ghana. The statement stated that more than 90 people with whom the infected patients came into contact, including healthcare workers, were identified and followed.
Those caught in the Marburg virus, which killed two people in Ghana, show a ghostly appearance. The symptoms of the Marburg virus, which has no vaccine and has an 88 percent mortality rate, appear suddenly. In the first stage, high fever, severe headache, extreme fatigue and muscle aches are seen in those who are infected with the virus. Patients who struggle with severe diarrhoea, abdominal pain, stomach cramps, nausea and vomiting in the coming days, exhibit a ghostly appearance at this stage with profound, blank facial expressions and an extremely lethargic demeanour. In the last days of the cases, besides the blood in their vomit; Due to bleeding in the face, nose, gums and vagina areas, they lose excessive blood and go into shock. (July 12)
Cancer – Processed meats: French health surveillance agencies and experts have confirmed a link between nitrate used in processed meats and colon cancer. “We recommend reducing the consumption of nitrates used in food,” said Anses, the French national food safety agency. Nitrate, which is used in many food products, is used especially in delicatessen products to extend the shelf life of the products and improve their taste. In 2015, the World Health Organization conducted a similar study and shared its results with the public. The World Health Organization has determined that processed meats contain carcinogens. (July 13)
Dengue – Vietnam: Dengue cases doubled in the country. The dengue virus is transmitted to humans through mosquitoes. The disease, which generally causes mild fever after the incubation period, can be fatal in some cases. Scientists warn that high temperatures and prolonged rainfall are causing an increase in mosquitoes that carry malaria and dengue fever. (July 14)
Monkeypox – India: For the first time in the country, a person has been diagnosed with the monkeypox virus. (July 14)
Covid-19 – Japan: The daily number of Covid-19 cases has risen to over 100 thousand again. (July 15)
Human and animal rights
Denmark: Traditional hunt has been limited to 500 dolphins this year after the backlash caused by the mass killing of more than 1,400 dolphins in the Faroe Islands, Denmark last year! In this hunt, known as “Grindadrap” in Faroese, dolphins and pilot whales are led ashore and killed by being struck on the head with iron rods and hooks, or stabbed. The majority of the island’s people, on the other hand, support the hunt, which has been going on since the 16th century, stating that dolphins have been a source of food for them for centuries. (July 11)
Sudan: For the first time in nearly 10 years, a woman was sentenced to death by stoning for adultery. (July 13)
Poland – A mass grave containing the ashes of about 8,000 people has been found near a Nazi concentration camp in Poland. (July 14)
France – Afghanistan: Afghan immigrant who was tried in France for sexual assault of underage girls and rape of a 12-year-old boy said that such attacks are considered normal in Afghanistan. (July 14)
Japan – More than 30 green sea turtles with stab wounds to their necks and limbs have been found off the coast of the island of Kumajuba, Japan. Japan Ministry of Environment classifies green turtles as creatures in danger of extinction. (July 17)
Science – Technology – Discovery
Space: The first fully colour photograph of the James Webb Space Telescope has been published. The photograph, which includes galaxies billions of light years away from Earth, is the deepest and most detailed photograph of the universe ever taken. The $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) was launched into space on December 25, 2021; It was said that it would replace the famous Hubble Space Telescope. The telescope, which is planned to conduct various studies in space, has two important goals: One is to photograph the first known stars of the Universe 13.5 billion years ago; The other is to look at whether planets very far from Earth are habitable. The photo shared with Biden and then with the public; It showed that James Webb was able to achieve his initial goal. (July 12)
China – The Beijing Supreme Court has mandated that judges in the country now consult AI in every case and explain in writing if they oppose the recommendations. Artificial intelligence connected to the police and social credit system has the power to automatically punish people. (July 14)
USA – Russia: The Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) announced that it has signed an agreement with NASA to integrate flights to the International Space Station. With this agreement, Russian cosmonauts were allowed to fly in a US-made spacecraft in exchange for US astronauts to board Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft. In the statement made by Roscosmos, “The agreement is in the interest of Russia and the USA and will contribute to the development of cooperation within the framework of the ISS program”, while it was stated that the agreement will facilitate the exploration of space for peaceful purposes. (July 15)
Culture – Art – History – New discoveries
Van Gogh: Van Gogh’s (1853-1890) painting titled ‘Head of a Peasant Woman’, exhibited in the National Gallery of Scotland, was X-rayed while Van Gogh’s concealed self-portrait was revealed.
Lesley Stevenson, one of the experts at the gallery, described this moment as follows:
“The painting was donated to the institution in 1960 by Edinburgh lawyer Alexander Maitland. This painting was also examined in preparation for the Royal Scottish Academy’s summer exhibition. In the process, we found another painting that had been hidden under layers of cardboard and glue for over 100 years. It was a great feeling. I was very surprised to see Van Gogh looking at me. When we first looked at the X-ray scan, of course, we were very excited. This is a great discovery because it adds a new piece to what we know about Van Gogh’s life.”
Stevenson reported that five similar works, painted on the back of used canvases, are exhibited at the Van Gogh Museum in the Netherlands, all of which were made in 1883-1885 while he was living in Nuenen, the Netherlands. And he stated that they thought this painting was one of Van Gogh’s self-portraits. In order to save money, the Dutch artist often reused used canvases by turning them over. (July 14)
