Portal:Current events/2021 June 2

Arts and culture

• The Finnish city of Oulu is chosen as the European Capital of Culture for 2026. (Yle Uutiset)

Disasters and accidents

• 2021 Pacific typhoon season
  • Tropical Storm Choi-wan (Dante) makes landfall in central and southern Philippines, killing at least three people and leaving hundreds displaced. (The Washington Post)
• The Iranian Navy replenishment and training ship IRIS Kharg catches fire and sinks at Jask, Hormozgan, Iran. It was the largest vessel in their fleet. (Reuters)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia
      • Malaysia reports a record 126 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, which is the first time that daily deaths exceeded 100. This thereby brings the nationwide death toll to 2,993. (The Malaysian Reserve)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam, Travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic
      • Vietnam reverses an international flight suspension imposed in Hanoi's Noi Bai International Airport, which was originally supposed to end on June 7, and in Ho Chi Minh City's Tan Son Nhat International Airport, which was originally supposed to end on June 14. (The Straits Times)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
    • COVID-19 pandemic in France, COVID-19 vaccination in France
      • President Emmanuel Macron announces that French teenagers aged 12 to 18 years old will be eligible for COVID-19 vaccine beginning from June 15 as the country reaches milestone of 50% of the adult population vaccinated with a first dose. (France 24)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Spain
      • The Spanish government and regional authorities agree to allow bars and nightclubs to reopen for the first time in 10 months, with these establishments on regions with below 50 case rate per 100,000 population over 14 days can be open until 3:00 a.m. with 50% capacity. (Euronews)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Mauritius
    • Mauritius approves the usage of the single-dose Sputnik Light vaccine. (Reuters)

Law and crime

• Aftermath of the 2021 United States Capitol attack
  • Paul Allard Hodgkins, a Tampa man who was seen in the U.S. Senate chamber during the January 6 riot at the United States Capitol, pleads guilty, making him the second suspect to do so after Jon Schaffer. (Politico)
• Steamship Authority cyberattack
  • A ransomware attack affects Steamship Authority, the ferry service between the mainland of Massachusetts and the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. (Associated Press)
• According to a spokesperson for the independence movement, the leader of the Polisario Front, Brahim Ghali, arrived safely in Algiers, Algeria. Ghali, who was hospitalized due to COVID-19 in Spain, left the country after Spanish authorities refused to hold him in custody. The move angered Morocco due to Algeria's support of the Polisario Front. (Reuters)
• CEOs of several South Korean companies ask President Moon Jae-in to pardon Samsung's chairman Lee Jae-yong, who was sentenced to 30 months' imprisonment for bribery, embezzlement and other offences. Moon did not elaborate but had said in March that he would consider public opinion. Before taking office in 2017, Moon had said that he would not pardon those convicted of serious economic crimes. (Reuters)
• Nicaraguan opposition figure Cristiana Chamorro Barrios is placed under house arrest in Managua as the government accuses her of money laundering. (Bangkok Post)

Politics and elections

• Politics of Israel
  • 2019–2021 Israeli political crisis
    • Yair Lapid, leader of the Yesh Atid and opposition, informs outgoing President Reuven Rivlin that he and Yamina leader Naftali Bennett have reached a deal to form a coalition government, which will remove Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from power. (The Times of Israel)
    • Mansour Abbas, leader of the United Arab List party, agrees to join the coalition. This is the first time in Israel's history that an Arab party will be part of the ruling government. (Al Jazeera English)
  • 2021 Israeli presidential election
    • The Knesset elects Isaac Herzog as the 11th president of Israel. (The Washington Post)
• Syrian refugees extend their sit-in protests in front of the Danish Parliament for a third week, protesting the Danish government's decision in April to cancel the residency permits for refugees from the Damascus area. The government says that the region is safe for refugees to return to, while the protesters say otherwise. (Al Jazeera English)

Science and technology

• Twitter suspensions
  • Twitter suspends the account of Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari for 12 hours for posting a tweet invoking the violence of the Nigerian Civil War, where he fought as a major general, in his threats against the Biafran separatist group Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). Authorities blame IPOB for a recent series of attacks on government buildings in Rivers State. (Al Jazeera English)
• NASA announces the selection of two new missions to Venus, VERITAS and DAVINCI+, which will launch between 2028 and 2030. They will be the first American spacecraft sent to Venus since the Magellan mission in 1989. The missions will focus on mapping the surface of Venus and calculating the atmosphere's composition to better understand Venus's geological history. (Reuters) (NPR)

Sports

• 2021 Kentucky Derby
  • Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit tests positive for a second drug test, and now faces disqualification. (The New York Times)