Key Storylines
- AFRICA: Zambia’s President Edgar Lungu suffered a spell of dizziness during an official ceremony.
- AMERICAS: Novavax said its COVID-19 vaccine candidate was highly effective against the new coronavirus in a large, late-stage study in the US and Mexico.
- ASIA: French power group EDF called for a meeting with its partner China General Nuclear Power Group to discuss reports of a build-up of inert gases at its nuclear power station in China.
- EUROPE: Lithuania urged NATO to be united in deterring Russia, warning that Moscow was trying to “swallow” Belarus.
- MIDDLE EAST: Israel’s new government, the first in 12 years that isn’t led by Benjamin Netanyahu, officially started work.
- TECH & COMMUNICATIONS: US journalist Nathan Maung was released from detention by Myanmar’s authorities.
Top Story
- Global: First in-person G7 Summit since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic ends.
- The leaders of the Group of Seven countries criticized China and Russia and pledged to investigate the new coronavirus’ origins at the conclusion of the G7 Summit in the United Kingdom.
- The leaders made the statements in a 25-page joint statement issued at the conclusion of the first in-person G7 leaders summit since the COVID-19 pandemic started.
- In response, China accused the G7 of “political manipulation” and took chagrin to mentions of Xinjiang, Hong Kong, and Taiwan in the joint statement.
- The G7 leaders also endorsed a global minimum tax, and discussed ways to end the COVID-19 pandemic and tackle climate change.
- US President Joe Biden is now expected to discuss coordination in checking China and Russia at a NATO Summit later today.
- Reporting: AP, BBC, DPA, NYT, Reuters, WSJ
Africa
- Algeria: The government canceled the accreditation of the French public media broadcaster France 24 due to the outlet’s “clear and repeated hostility towards our country and its institutions.” (AFP)
- Somalia: The army said it killed 16 Shabab militants in an operation in the southern region of Lower Juba. (Xinhua)
- Zambia: President Edgar Lungu suffered a spell of dizziness during an official ceremony. (AFP)
Americas
- Region: Novavax said its COVID-19 vaccine candidate was highly effective against the new coronavirus in a large, late-stage study in the US and Mexico. (AP)
- Region: Argentina arrested Chilean fugitive Walther Klug Rivera, who is wanted for murders committed during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet in Chile. (AFP)
- Colombia: President Ivan Duque received his first dose of Pfizer/BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine amid a new record in daily COVID-19 deaths in the country. (Reuters)
- Nicaragua: President Daniel Ortega’s government arrested five more opposition leaders in a continued crackdown on the government’s opponents. (AP)
Asia
- China: French power group EDF called for a meeting with its partner China General Nuclear Power Group to discuss reports of a build-up of inert gases at its nuclear power station in the country. (Reuters)
- Indonesia: The government said it plans to allow the sales of only electric cars and motorcycles by 2050. (Reuters)
- Japan: The location of executed WWII-era Prime Minister Hideki Tojo’s remains was reportedly found in declassified US military documents. (AP)
- Myanmar: Ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi is set to go on trial on what observers and critics have called bogus charges. (AP)
- New Zealand: The government said it would formally apologize for the Dawn Raids of the 1970s that targeted Pacific Islanders for deportation. (AP)
Europe
- Region: Lithuania urged NATO to be united in deterring Russia, warning that Moscow was trying to “swallow” Belarus. (Reuters)
- Region: NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said NATO was “not entering a new Cold War and China is not our adversary” but added that NATO needed to “address together, as the alliance, the challenges that the rise of China poses to our security.” (AFP)
- Region: French European Affairs junior minister Clement Beaune said the Brexit tensions between the UK and the EU were “a test” for Europe. (Reuters)
- Ukraine: Kyiv said it was ready to take legal action against Gazprom to ensure the country’s access to natural gas supplies from central Asia. (FT)
- United Kingdom: Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to announce a delay in the lifting of coronavirus restrictions in the country due to the spread of the delta variant first identified in India. (AP)
Middle East
- Region: Iran said it does not expect Israel’s foreign and security policy to change under its new government. (Reuters)
- Region: A bomb-carrying drone launched by Yemen’s Houthi rebels crash-landed in a school in Saudi Arabia’s Asir province, Saudi Arabia said. (AP)
- Israel: The country’s new government, the first in 12 years that isn’t led by Benjamin Netanyahu, officially started work. (Reuters)
- Saudi Arabia: The country’s GDP contracted by 3% in the first quarter, according to government data. (Reuters)
- Syria: The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said more than a dozen people died after an attack on the pro-Turkish rebel-held city of Afrin. (UPI)
Tech & Communications
- Media: US journalist Nathan Maung was released from detention by Myanmar’s authorities. (Reuters)
- Social Media: Whatsapp launched a new marketing campaign in Germany and the United Kingdom to advertise the app’s encryption following a public backlash triggered by Whatsapp’s new usage rules. (DPA)
World
- Cyclones: Nothing to report.
- Hurricanes: Nothing to report.
- Earthquakes: Nothing to report.
- Volcanoes: Nothing to report.
- Global Disease Outbreaks:
- COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease: Global (as of 14JUN21)
- Confirmed cases: 175,991,126
- Deaths: 3,804,755
- Countries with confirmed cases: 192
- Sourcing: John Hopkins University
- Ebola Virus Disease: Guinea (as of 11JUN21)
- Confirmed cases: 16
- Deaths: 12
- Sourcing: WHO
- COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease: Global (as of 14JUN21)
Tomorrow’s Outlook (15JUN21)
- Global: An EU-US Summit will be held.
- Global: US President Joe Biden will meet with Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, later traveling to Switzerland to meet with Swiss President Guy Parmelin in Geneva.
- Global: South Korean President Moon Jae-in will embark on a European tour, attending the G7 Summit as an invited guest and visiting Austria, and Spain post-summit. (to 17JUN)
- Global: A United Nations Global Compact Leaders Summit will be held.
- Global: The foreign ministers of Arab League countries will hold an emergency meeting on Ethiopia’s GERD dam on the river Nile.
- Global: Fatou Bensouda’s term as the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court is scheduled to end.
- Global: UN World Elder Abuse Awareness Day – 2012
- Americas: The Organization of American States is expected to meet to discuss the situation in Nicaragua.
- Americas: US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas will conclude his visit to Mexico.
- Asia: The 15th ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting will be held virtually. (to 16JUN)
- Europe: Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are scheduled to meet in Nagorno-Karabakh.
- Europe: The Health Ministers of EU countries will meet and discuss strengthening the European Medicines Agency.
- Europe: Transparency International will release its Global Corruption Barometer report for European Union member-states.
- Europe: The European Court of Justice will rule on a privacy case related to Facebook.
- Europe: Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis will participate in the GLOBSEC 2021 Bratislava Forum. (to 17JUN)
- Belgium: Prime Minister Alexander De Croo and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will visit a Pfizer facility in the Puurs province.
- Israel: Israeli nationalists plan to hold a controversial flag march through the Old City in Jerusalem, pending police approval.
- Kuwait: The World Health Organization will open an office in the country.
- Morocco: The government will allow the entry of foreign nationals into the country.
- Myanmar: The country’s military junta is expected to hold a sedition trial against ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
- Spain: Colombian Vice President and Foreign Minister Marta Lucía Ramírez will visit and meet with Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya.
- United States: The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations will hold nominations hearings.
- Yemen: The UN Security Council will hold a meeting to discuss the country’s situation.
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