Monday, June 7, 2021

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Communal conflicts in Nigeria
  • Fulani herdsmen attack the community of Odugbeho in Agatu, Benue State, killing 40 civilians in the process. (Sahara Reporters)

Business and economy

• Alphabet Inc., parent company of Google, announces that it has settled an antitrust suit with the French Autorité de la concurrence with a payment of €220m (US$270 million). The settlement amounts to less than 0.7% of Alphabet Inc.'s yearly earnings. (BBC News) (The New York Times)

Disasters and accidents

• 2021 Ghotki rail crash
  • Two passenger trains collide in Ghotki, Sindh, Pakistan, killing 40 people and injuring nearly 120 others. (BBC News)
• June 2021 Pune fire
  • At least 18 people are killed in a fire at a chemical plant in Pune, Maharashtra, India. (BBC News)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines
      • COVID-19 vaccination in the Philippines
        • The Philippines begins the mass vaccination campaign for economic frontline workers. (Rappler)
      • The Philippines's Food and Drug Administration approves for emergency use the Sinopharm BBIBP-CorV vaccine. (Rappler)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Taiwan
      • Taiwan extends its nationwide alert level 3 until June 28 as the number of COVID-19 cases continues to remain high. (Focus Taiwan)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand
      • Thailand begins a long-awaited mass vaccination campaign against COVID-19 which aims to inoculate 70% of its population by the end of this year in order to prepare for a wider reopening next year. (The Straits Times)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Malta
      • Malta reports no new cases of COVID-19 for the first time since July 25, 2020, as bars, cinemas and theatres are reopened following months of closures. (Malta Today)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Spain
      • Spain reopens its international borders to travellers who have been vaccinated against COVID-19. For tourists from low-risk countries, no proof of vaccination, recovery, or diagnostic test will be required and antigen tests are now accepted for travellers from risk zone countries. (El País)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the Cook Islands
    • The Cook Islands reports the country's first positive case of COVID-19. (RNZ International)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Uganda
    • President Yoweri Museveni reimposes a lockdown including the closure of all educational institutions, the shutdown of weekly open markets, suspension of some inter-city travel, and the suspension of church services following an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases. (U.S. News & World Report)
• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approves the use of aducanumab to treat Alzheimer's disease, the first Alzheimer's drug to be approved in 18 years and the first to target the disease process. The drug is considered controversial as clinical trials gave conflicting results on its effectiveness. (The New York Times) (BBC News)

International relations

• U.S.-Mexico border crisis
  • In Guatemala, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris announces several steps to address the migration crisis at the Northern Triangle during a joint conference with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei. She also urged migrants not to flee to the Mexico–United States border. (NBC News)
• Russian President Vladimir Putin signs a law formalizing Russia's withdrawal from the Treaty on Open Skies. (MSN)
• Maldivian Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulla Shahid is elected the 76th President of the United Nations General Assembly. (The Indian Express)

Law and crime

• 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis
  • A pro-settler march that was scheduled for Thursday and would have traveled through sensitive sites in East Jerusalem is canceled after Israeli police refused to authorize it. However, the police said they would review a petition calling for the march to be rescheduled. The cancellation follows a warning from Hamas senior leader Khalil al-Hayya that the march could lead to renewed violence. (Al Jazeera English)
  • Attorney General of Israel Avichai Mandelblit tells the Supreme Court he will not intervene in the Sheikh Jarrah case. (Al Jazeera English)
• Immigration detention in Australia
  • The Federal Court of Australia finds an Iraqi asylum seeker detained for over two years was unlawfully imprisoned and orders the Commonwealth government to pay him AU$350,000 in damages. The case is expected to set a precedent for refugee rights claims in the future. (The Guardian)
• LGBT rights in India
  • The Madras High Court orders "strict action" to be taken against individuals that promote conversion therapy, and issues guidelines to the police, education institutes, and the judiciary on how to address LGBT issues and individuals. (Scroll.in)
• Donald Trump sexual misconduct allegations
  • The U.S. Justice Department announces it will defend former President Donald Trump in a defamation suit brought against him by E. Jean Carroll, who says Trump raped her in the 1990s. (The Wall Street Journal)
• Russian oppositional leader Alexei Navalny is returned to prison after fully recovering from his hunger strike. (Deutsche Welle)

Politics and elections

• 2021 Mexican legislative election
  • The National Electoral Institute reports that President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's coalition Juntos Hacemos Historia is projected to win between 265 and 292 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, retaining its majority but without the two-thirds majority that it previously had. His party National Regeneration Movement (MORENA) saw losses in Mexico City, previously a MORENA stronghold. López Obrador subsequently vows to do more to help the poor. (Reuters)
• 2021 Malian coup d'état
  • Assimi Goïta is sworn-in as President of Mali after the recent coup d'état, which was considered a "coup within a coup" after Goïta, who directed the 2020 coup, carried out another coup and arrested the leaders that were in charge after the 2020 coup. (Deutsche Welle)
• 2021 Haitian constitutional referendum
  • President Jovenel Moïse postpones the constitutional referendum, originally scheduled for June 27, to an unknown date citing rising COVID-19 cases in the country. (Al Jazeera English)