Portal:Current events/2021 June 15

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Somali Civil War
  • June 2021 Mogadishu bombing
    • A suicide bomber detonates his explosives at a military camp in Mogadishu where new recruits were queueing outside the camp, killing 15 people and injuring many others. This is the deadliest attack in Mogadishu since December 2019. (Al Jazeera English)
• 2021 Myanmar protests
  • The anti-coup militia group Karenni National Defence Force announces that it has stopped its operations against the Burmese military following pleas by civilians residing in the areas they operate in, which have seen 100,000 civilians displaced. The group says that it will continue its opposition to the military junta through other means. Additionally, deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi appears in court for the second day, and was reported to be in "better condition". (Reuters)
• Colombian conflict
  • 36 people are injured in a car bomb attack on a U.S. military base in Colombia. The Colombian government suspects possible self-attribution for the attack to the National Liberation Army. (Reuters)

Business and economy

• Australia–United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement
  • The British government announces that a free trade agreement has been reached between Australia and the United Kingdom. (BBC News)
• Censorship in India, Violence against Muslims in India
  • The Indian Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology strips Twitter of legal protection from prosecution after the social media site refuses to take down a tweet featuring a video of an elderly Muslim man in Ghaziabad being assaulted by a Hindu mob and being forced to chant "Jai Shri Ram". Uttar Pradesh police, who demanded the removal of the tweet, alleges the video was "misleading". (NDTV)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Israel
      • Israel lifts its indoor face mask requirement for those except unvaccinated people in healthcare facilities, airplane passengers, and people who must quarantine as the number of new cases continues to decline. (Ynetnews) (The Times of Israel)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia, COVID-19 vaccination in Malaysia
      • The Malaysian Drug Control Authority grants a conditional approval for emergency use of the CanSino Convidecia and Johnson & Johnson vaccines. The authorities also approve the use of the Pfizer–BioNTech vaccine for people over the age of 12. (The Star)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Oman
      • The Omani Health Ministry reports that the black fungus infection was detected in three patients. (Al Jazeera English)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand
      • Thailand surpasses 200,000 cases of COVID-19. (Bangkok Post)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
    • COVID-19 pandemic in France, COVID-19 vaccination in France
      • France begins to vaccinate children between the ages of 12 and 18 years old using special child-sized needles in order to achieve herd immunity and reduce the spread of variants of COVID-19. The age eligibility of 12 years is one of the lowest of any European Union nation. (The Independent)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Slovenia
      • Slovenia declares the end of its eight-month state of emergency, which means that cultural and sports events will be able to reopen at 75% capacity for people who can demonstrate that they have either been vaccinated, tested negative or have recovered from COVID-19. (U.S. News & World Report)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey
      • Turkey administers a single-day record of 1.4 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccines. (Anadolu Agency)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Ecuador
    • Ecuador's health regulatory authority Arcsa approves the usage of the CanSino Convidecia vaccine. (Reuters)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    • The United States surpasses 600,000 deaths from COVID-19, even as daily deaths are reported to be decreasing. (Voice of America) (Associated Press)

International relations

• Cross-Strait relations
  • The Taiwanese Defense Ministry reports that 28 Chinese air force planes, including four H-6 bombers capable of carrying nuclear weapons, entered Taiwan's air defense identification zone and flew close to the southern tip of the main island and around the Pratas Islands. This is China's largest incursion since Taiwan began monitoring such activities last year. (Reuters)
• Armenia–Turkey relations, Azerbaijan–Turkey relations
  • Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announces that Turkey will open a consulate in Shusha, a Nagorno-Karabakh city captured by Azerbaijan during last year's war, and that he will look to co-produce military drones with Azerbaijan. Both announcements followed his tour of the contested region with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev the same day. The Armenian Foreign Ministry condemns the visit as a provocation. (Al-Monitor)

Law and crime

• 2020–2021 United States racial unrest, 2021 Uptown Minneapolis unrest, Killing of Deona Knajdek
  • Heavily-armed police officers in Minneapolis begin clearing an intersection of Lake Street and Hennepin Avenue in Uptown neighborhood which had been the site of protests since June 3, when Winston Boogie Smith was killed by law enforcement. Tensions escalated dramatically since the death of protester Deona Knajdek when she was killed when a speeding car rammed into her car, which she was using to protect protesters. (WCCO-TV)
• 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis
  • Seventeen Palestinians are arrested and 33 more are injured after Israeli police fire tear gas and rubber bullets at Palestinians protesting at the Damascus Gate over the procession of a march called Dance of Flags through Jerusalem's Old City. (Al Jazeera English)
• LGBT rights in Hungary
  • The Hungarian National Assembly passes a law banning content depicting or promoting same-sex relationships and gender reassignment to anyone under the age of 18. 157 MPs voted in favor, with all opposition parties except the far-right Jobbik boycotting the vote. (Euronews)
• A French court issues the French subsidiary of the Dutch multinational conglomerate IKEA a €1 million (US$1.2 million) fine for conducting illegal employee monitoring activities on its employees and applicants between 2009 and 2012. Its former chief executive officer is also given a two-year prison sentence. (RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg)

Politics and elections

• 2021 Peruvian general election
  • Pedro Castillo of the left-wing Free Peru party claims victory in the presidential election, with the final tally putting him 44,058 votes ahead of his rival Keiko Fujimori of the right-wing Popular Force party. (Reuters)
• Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison denies reports by the Australian Broadcasting Company's Four Corners program that his close friend Tim Stewart, who was referred to the national terror hotline by his own family for his extreme far-right political views, influenced his decision to mention "ritual abuse" in a speech regarding child sexual abuse earlier this year, in line with the QAnon conspiracy theory. (News)
• Canadian Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff Michael Rouleau resigns following criticisms of him playing golf with former General Jonathan Vance, who is accused of sexual misconduct. (BBC News)

Sports

• UEFA Euro 2020
  • Portuguese football player Cristiano Ronaldo becomes the highest-scoring player in the history of the UEFA European Championship, when he scored his 10th and 11th goals in a match against Hungary. He also becomes the first player to score in five different tournaments. (ESPN)