Wednesday, June 15th, 2022 

Whisky War The Danish Foreign Ministry announces that it has reached a deal with Canada to divide the long-disputed Hans Island in the Arctic in half between Canada’s Nunavut territory and Greenland. (Reuters) 

The Federal Reserve raises its benchmark interest rate by 0.75% to a target range of between 1.5% and 1.75% amid surging inflation. It is the largest interest rate increase in the United States since 1994. (BBC News) 

The United States announces a new $1 billion military aid package to Ukraine that includes 18 howitzers, artillery rockets, night vision devices, and for the first time, two Harpoon anti-ship missile units. (Reuters) 

Two people are killed and seven others are injured in a Turkish military action against the Sinjar Resistance Units in Sinjar District, Iraq. A 12-year-old child is reported to be among the deceased. (Reuters)  

The European Union launches legal action against the United Kingdom, alleging a breach of post-Brexit agreements regarding the Northern Ireland Protocol. (CNN) 

Opposition parties in Thailand file a no-confidence motion in prime minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and 10 of his ministers, accusing them of “graft, economic mismanagement and of undermining democracy and clinging to power”. (Reuters) 

FIFA announces the names of the cities in Canada, Mexico and the United States that will host the FIFA World Cup in 2026. (ESPN) 

The Federal Ministry of Health says that it will hold consultations with over 200 representatives from medical, legal and other fields on legalizing the sale of cannabis in licensed shops for recreational purposes. (ABC News) 

Tuesday,  June 14th, 2022 

The World Health Organization announces plans to officially rename the monkeypox virus in order to combat stigma and racism surrounding the disease. (Bloomberg) 

The European Union removes Russia’s largest bank Sberbank, the Russian Agricultural Bank and the Credit Bank of Moscow from the SWIFT international payments system as part of another round of economic sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. (Ukrinform) 

Six people are reported injured in an alleged shelling attack on Klintsy, Bryansk Oblast, Russia. (Reuters) 

Finnish authorities remove the country’s last remaining monument of Soviet Union founder and leader Vladimir Lenin in Kotka, Kymenlaakso, relocating the 1979 gift from the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic to a museum. (Yle) 

In a joint operation, the Oromo Liberation Army and the Gambela Liberation Front launch an attack on the regional capital of Gambela city. The fighting lasted for several hours before security forces were able to recapture the city from the rebels, with heavy casualties reported on both sides. (BBC News)  

Ten people are killed and three others are injured in a shootout between security forces and suspected criminals in Texcaltitlán, State of Mexico. (Reuters) 

A Tajik border guard is killed and three others are injured in a clash with Kyrgyzstan border troops. (Reuters) 

An explosion at a chemical factory in Firouzabad, Fars, Iran, injures 103 people. (AP) 

Spain removes all COVID-19 entry requirements for anyone arriving into the country from the European Union or the Schengen Area. However, travellers from outside the EU will still need to be fully vaccinated or provide proof of a negative PCR test within 72 hours before departure in order to enter Spain. (Euronews) 

The World Health Organization announces plans to officially rename the monkeypox virus in order to combat stigma and racism surrounding the disease. (Bloomberg) 

The Danish Foreign Ministry announces that it has reached a deal with Canada to divide the long-disputed Hans Island in the Arctic in half between Canada’s Nunavut territory and Greenland. (Reuters) 

The Federal Ministry of Health says that it will hold consultations with over 200 representatives from medical, legal and other fields on legalizing the sale of cannabis in licensed shops for recreational purposes. (ABC News) 

A Cambodian court convicts 60 members of the former Cambodia National Rescue Party of treason, including Cambodian-American lawyer Theary Seng. (ABC News) 

Police in Ecuador arrest an indigenous leader after incidents that occurred during recent protests against the economic policies of president Guillermo Lasso. (Reuters) 

Monday,  June 13th, 2022 

Russian forces destroy the last remaining bridge leading to Sievierodonetsk in Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine, trapping all remaining Ukrainian civilians in the city, according to regional governor Serhiy Haidai. (Reuters) 

The Donetsk People’s Republic says that five people have been killed and 22 others injured in an artillery attack on a marketplace in central Donetsk. Pro-Russian media accuses NATO of supplying the munitions used in the attack. (Reuters) 

The Wikimedia Foundation files an appeal against a Russian court order demanding the removal of certain Russo-Ukrainian War-related information from the Russian-language Wikipedia, which is one of the few remaining fact-checked sources still available to the general Russian public. (Reuters)  

Global stocks and government bonds plunge with the MSCI World Index dropping by 2.95%, the DOW by 4.68%, the S&P 500 by 3.88%, STOXX Europe 600 by 2.41%, Japan’s Nikkei 225 by 3.01%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng by 3.99%, and South Korea’s KOSPI by 3.52%. Bitcoin drops by 12.1% and Ethereum by 13.6%. (Reuters)  

The S&P 500 closes more than 20% below its January 3 record closing high, confirming that the index is in a bear market. (Reuters) 

Taiwan reports their first cases of the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants in five Taiwanese citizens who arrived overseas. (The Straits Times) 

M23 rebels capture the town of Bunagana. The Congolese military accuses Rwanda of assisting the rebels in the capture of the town. (Al Jazeera) 

The British government confirms that it will go ahead with plans to terminate the Northern Ireland Protocol in order to make it easier for goods to flow between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The European Union accuses the UK of breaking international law by reneging on the agreement made during Brexit negotiations. (BBC News) 

Indigenous peoples in Ecuador block highways leading to the capital Quito, to protest president Guillermo Lasso’s policies and to call for economic reforms. (Reuters) 

The End

Sunday, June 12th, 2022 

Demonstrators participate in more than 450 rallies nationwide to push for gun law changes after mass shootings in United States. (NBC News) 

At least 30 members of the American neo–fascist group Patriot Front are arrested for conspiring to riot at a pride event in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, United States. (AP) 

Authorities in Argentina seize an Iranian Boeing 747 which was transferred to Venezuela last year. It is unclear if the impound is related to sanctions that have been imposed on both countries. (Reuters) 

Three months after McDonald’s suspended its operations in Russia and sold its 850 restaurants to Alexander Govor, the rebranded restaurants are reopened as Vkusno & tochka. (AP) 

The Celsius Network cryptocurrency lending platform announced it was “pausing all withdrawals, swap, and transfers between accounts” amidst a large pullback in the cryptocurrency market. (CNBC) 

Voters in France go to the polls to elect the first round of the 577 members of the 16th National Assembly. (AP) 

Exit polls show the coalition of left-wing parties headed by far-left deputy Jean-Luc Mélenchon barely edging out President Emmanuel Macron’s coalition Ensemble Citoyens for the most votes in the first round, winning 25.6% and 25.2% of the votes respectively. Overall turnout is projected to be 47%, the lowest recorded for a French election. (The Guardian) 

The referendum for the reform of the judicial system is invalidated as it did not reach the required 50% threshold. (Reuters) 

At this year’s Tony Awards, A Strange Loop wins Best Musical while The Lehman Trilogy wins Best Play. (New York Times) 

Saturday, June 11th, 2022 

Russian forces shell the Azot chemical plant in Sievierodonetsk, Luhansk Oblast. Governor Serhiy Haidai says that the attack has caused a massive fire at the plant. (Reuters) 

Top oil and petrochemicals producers Iran and Venezuela sign a 20-year economic cooperation agreement. (Reuters) 

The former president of Bolivia Jeanine Áñez is sentenced to ten years in prison for the crimes of breach of duty and resolutions contrary to the Constitution and laws of Bolivia during the 2019 Bolivian political crisis. (elDiarioAR.com) 

North Korea appoints Choe Son-hui as its next foreign minister. (Reuters) 

The End

Thursday, June 9th, 2022 

NASA announces that the James Webb Space Telescope collided with a micrometeoroid last month, but continues to function normally. (Phys.org) 

The Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) sentences to death two Britons and a Moroccan who had joined Ukrainian forces on charges of terrorism, mercenary activities, and attempting to overthrow the DPR’s government. (AP) 

The European Parliament adopts a resolution urging to amend the treaties of the European Union in order to abolish the unanimity principle in decision-making with respect to sanctions and foreign policy and to grant the Parliament the right to legislative initiative. (Politico) 

Thailand removes cannabis and hemp plants from its list of illegal narcotics, and will allow people to grow an unlimited number of these plants in farms and gardens for medicinal purposes as long as they inform the authorities. However, public consumption of these plants is discouraged by official authorities. (The Guardian) 

A 2-seater Beechcraft plane violates the airspace of seven countries in Eastern Europe, and is intercepted by two Hungarian Air Force Gripen jets, two USAF F-16s and two Romanian Air Force F-16s before being abandoned at an airfield near Targovishte, Bulgaria. (The Straits Times) 

Poland decides to lift its state of emergency over attempts by migrants to cross the Belarus–Poland border, saying that the border barrier it has been building is mostly complete. (AP) 

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) claims that 500 disguised members of the Rwandan special forces have intruded into the DRC. (Reuters) 

A People’s Liberation Army Air Force Chengdu J-7 aircraft crashes in a residential area in Laohekou, Hubei, China, killing at least one person on the ground as the pilot ejects out of the aircraft. (CNN) 

Governor Larry Hogan outlines a long-term preparedness plan on how Maryland will deal with COVID-19 including a focus on treatments that would keep people out of hospitals as well as on how the state would respond to future variants. (The Washington Post) 

Seven people are killed and 46 others are injured by a fire, suspected to be an arson attack, that spread through an office building in Daegu, South Korea. The suspect is killed in the fire. (AP) 

Three people are killed and another is injured in a mass shooting in Smithsburg, Maryland, United States. (AP) 

The End