Portal:Current events/2022 July 19

Business and economy

• Gazprom signs a memorandum of understanding for the development of Iranian oil and gas fields and related infrastructure worth $40 billion. (Reuters)
• The European Commission proposes a new, joint defense procurement system for EU member states. It would be operational by the end of this year, with initial funding of €500 million. (AP)

Disasters and accidents

• 2022 European heat waves
  • 2022 United Kingdom heat wave
    • A record high temperature of 40.3 °C (104.5 °F) is reported at Coningsby, Lincolnshire, and a record overnight minimum temperature of 25.9 °C (78.6 °F) is reported at Emley Moor transmitting station in West Yorkshire. (BBC News) (BBC News 2)
    • Scotland reports a record temperature of 35.1 °C (95.2 °F) at Floors Castle. Initially, the highest temperature was thought to have been set at RAF Charterhall, reaching 34.8 °C (94.6 °F). (BBC News) (BBC News 2)
    • A major incident is declared in London following a "huge surge" in fires, according to the London Fire Brigade. Several homes are destroyed in Wennington on the outskirts of East London. No casualties have been reported. Hertfordshire and Leicestershire fire services also declare major incidents due to the high volume of emergency calls. (Sky News)
  • 2022 European and Mediterranean wildfires
    • The death toll from the wildfires and heat wave in Spain and Portugal increases to more than 1,700 people, with more than 1,063 deaths in Portugal. (ABC News) (Axios)
• At least 23 people are killed and 30 others are injured in a truck and bus crash in Minya, Egypt. (ABC News)
• Flooding has killed eight people and affected more than 8,500 others in Maradi and Zinder, Niger, since June, according to Civil Protection. (FloodList)
• Four people are killed and 13 are injured after a gas explosion in Tianjin, China. (AP)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Oceania
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Kiribati
      • The United States donates nearly 20,000 doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to Kiribati through the COVAX initiative. (US embassy Fiji)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in the Pitcairn Islands
      • The Pitcairn Islands reports the territory's first case of COVID-19 in a Pitcairn Islander who returned from medical treatment abroad. (RNZ)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    • COVID-19 vaccination in the United States
      • The U.S. CDC votes unanimously to recommend the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine for people over the age of 18 years. (CNBC)
• The Nigerian government announces that Nigeria will develop a vaccine for lassa fever, a viral hemorrhagic fever caused by the lassa virus. (Premium Times)

International relations

• Enlargement of the European Union
  • Accession of Albania to the European Union, Accession of North Macedonia to the European Union
    • Negotiations on the accession of North Macedonia and Albania to the European Union begin in Brussels. (Euronews)
• Iran–Russia relations
  • Russian president Vladimir Putin makes a state visit to Iran for talks with his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi and Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Putin will also meet with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. (BBC News)

Politics and elections

• 2022 United Kingdom government crisis
  • 2022 Conservative Party leadership election
    • Kemi Badenoch is eliminated from the leadership race in the fourth round of voting. (The Guardian)

Law and crime

• 2022 abortion protests
  • Multiple Democratic members of Congress are arrested during pro-abortion demonstrations outside the U.S. Supreme Court. (Detroit Free Press)