July 19, 2023 - Your Morning Digest
Putin avoids the BRICS Summit, Extreme weather across the United States, and more
It’s July 19th and here are the top four stories from overnight that you need to be aware of:
1) Evacuations in Crimea
Overnight, a massive fire broke out at a Russian ammunition dump in occupied Crimea due to rolling explosions. According to Russian media, Vladimir Putin has been briefed on the issue that has forced thousands of Crimean residents to evacuate and prompted leaders to redirect traffic away from the local highway. Some reports from on the ground suggest that the fire broke out at a military training ground. Whether this was caused by an attack by a third-party or explosions within the ammunition dump remains unclear, however. Learn more about the explosion here.
2) Extreme Weather Across America Today
More than 70 million Americans across the country are currently under a heat warning. Just this month, there have been over 1,800 records broken for the amount of heat cities are dealing with. The heat dome that has impacted South Florida and the southwest region of America will only continue for the foreseeable future.
Meanwhile, intense rains have forced significant flooding to occur in Western Kentucky, with some areas reporting over 7 inches of rain. This morning, the Graves Graves County Sheriff's Office is warning residents to remain off the roadways due to the flash flooding. The flooding threat for many Americans continues today.
3) FIFA President Pleads with Fans to Buy More Tickets
New Zealand residents are not purchasing enough tickets to the upcoming Women’s World Cup hosted by New Zealand and Australia. The World Cup is scheduled to begin tomorrow, July 20th and run through August 20th. FIFA’s President, Gianni Infantino pleaded with New Zealand residents at a recent press conference saying: “New Zealand, we want you. We need you.” While over one million tickets have been sold in Australia to date, uptick in New Zealand has not grown as quickly, promoting concerns from the soccer federation. Learn more about FIFA’s growing issue here.
4) Vladimir Putin Will Not Attend the BRICS Summit
After significant discussion, Vladimir Putin will not attend next month’s BRICS Summit held in South Africa. Earlier this week, South Africa’s Vice President stated that if Putin were to attend, the country would likely be forced to execute the International Criminal Court arrest warrant issued against Putin. Yesterday, it was reported that South Africa asked the ICC for an exception to avoid arresting Putin. To avoid a potential international crisis, it appears as though Vladimir Putin will stay away from South Africa and avoid an arrest, for now.