uesday,  June 25th, 2024 

 Julian Assange is freed after pleading guilty to US espionage charge. (Reuters) 

Julian Assange enters a plea deal with the U.S. Justice Department, in which he will be found guilty on one federal charge in exchange for his release back to Australia. (ABC News) 

China’s Chang’e 6 lunar exploration mission successfully returns to Earth after taking rock and soil samples from the far side of the moon. (AP) 

Officials in Blue Earth County, Minnesota, issue an evacuation warning due to flooding on the Blue Earth River breaching the Rapidan Dam, pushing it into an “imminent failure condition” upstream of several cities. Flooding also collapses a railroad bridge connecting South Dakota and Iowa and kills two people.  (AP) 

The International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants for Russia’s chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov and former defence minister Sergei Shoigu. (The Guardian) 

At least four people are killed and 40 others are injured when Russian Iskander-M ballistic missiles hit Pokrovsk in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. (Reuters) 

The European Union formally launches accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova. (Barron’s) 

Israeli forces bomb Gaza where one strike killed 10 family members of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh. (RFI) 

The Supreme Court of Israel rules that the Israel Defense Forces and the government of Israel are legally bound to conscript yeshiva students. (Times of Israel) 

Lawmakers from the Haredi community criticise the decision. (The Jerusalem Post) 

The Parliament Building in Nairobi is set ablaze and ten protesters are shot dead. (Reuters) 

Monday,  June 24th, 2024 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejects the U.S.-backed ceasefire proposal for the war in Gaza, instead committing to continuing the war and “the goal of eliminating Hamas.” (TIME) 

More than 150,000 Israelis rally and march in Tel Aviv to protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government, calling for new elections, the return of hostages, and a ceasefire. (Al Jazeera) 

Eleven Palestinians, including the director of Gaza’s Ambulance and Emergency Department, are killed in Israeli airstrikes on the al-Shati refugee camp, Bani Suhaila, and Gaza City. (Reuters) 

The Houthis claim to have carried out a joint military operation with the Islamic Resistance in Iraq to target four vessels in the Port of Haifa, Israel. (Al Jazeera) 

The death toll from the attack on a synagogue and Orthodox church in Derbent and Makhachkala, Dagestan, Russia, yesterday, increases to 20, with 46 others injured. (Reuters) 

At least 16 people are killed and 13 others are injured in Dagestan, Russia, when gunmen open fire on a synagogue and an Orthodox church in Derbent and on a traffic police post in Makhachkala. (Al Arabiya) 

Eight people are killed in a fire in an office building in Fryazino, Moscow Oblast, Russia. (BBC News) 

Twenty-two people are killed and two others are injured in a fire at a lithium battery factory in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi, South Korea. (Reuters) 

The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland reports that Scottish wildcat kittens have been born in the Cairngorms National Park, in a “major milestone” for the conservation of the critically endangered population. (The Guardian) 

Trial courts in Metro Manila, Philippines, dismiss the remaining charges filed against former senator Leila de Lima during the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte, including the last of the three involving her alleged conspiracy in the illegal drug trade, as well as another on her disobedience to a summons for a House hearing. (BBC News) 

Violence and riots resume in New Caledonia after eight pro-independence activists were flown to France for pre-trial detention yesterday. Protesters burn police vehicles, block roads, and set fire to the town hall in Koumac. (Al Jazeera) 

One person is killed and ten others are injured in Russian strikes on civilian infrastructure in Kharkiv, Ukraine. (Reuters) 

Eight Palestinians are killed in IDF airstrikes that hit a UNRWA-run vocational college in Gaza City that was being used to distribute aid. (Reuters) 

North Macedonia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs urges all its citizens in Lebanon to leave as soon as possible due to “deteriorating security” in the region from escalating conflicts. (Sloboden Pečat) 

Independence leader Christian Tein and seven other activists are flown to France for pre-trial detention after being arrested for inciting violence and riots in New Caledonia. (Al Jazeera) 

On the Grand Duke’s Official Birthday, Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg announces that his son and heir Guillaume will assume royal duties beginning in October, in preparation for Henri’s eventual abdication. (Luxembourg Times) 

In ice hockey, the Florida Panthers win the 2024 Stanley Cup Finals, beating the Edmonton Oilers in 7 games, making it their first championship in franchise history. The win comes after losing the previous year’s Stanley Cup Finals against the Vegas Golden Knights. The Panthers also avoid becoming the 5th team in National Hockey League history to lose a series despite having a 3-0 series lead, and the 2nd to do so in the Stanley Cup Finals since the 1941–42 Detroit Red Wings. (The Washington Post) 

The End