Key Storylines
- AFRICA: The African Union will not be party to talks that exclude significant actors in an effort to get Sudan’s transition back on track after last year’s military coup.
- AMERICAS: Defense minister Luis Lara warned that Ecuador’s democracy is at risk as anti-government protests in Quito grow increasingly violent.
- ASIA: Indonesian president Joko Widodo is planning to meet the leaders of Russia and Ukraine following the Group of Seven summit in Germany later this month.
- EUROPE: A drone strike may have caused a fire that broke out at the Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery in Russia’s southern Rostov region that borders Ukraine.
- MIDDLE EAST: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is set to make his first visit to Turkey following the slaying of Saudi columnist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul.
- TECH & COMMUNICATIONS: Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, and many other tech companies formed the Metaverse Standards Forum with the goal to develop industry standards to ensure compatibility between the companies’ metaverse technology.
Top Story
- Afghanistan: A 6.1 Magnitude Earthquake Killed 920 People and Wounded 600 Others.
- A 6.1 magnitude earthquake killed 920 people in Afghanistan with more than 600 injured and the toll expected to grow as information trickles in from remote mountain villages.
- The quake struck about 44km (27 miles) from the south-eastern city of Khost shortly after 01:30 local time (21:00 Tuesday GMT)
- Prime Minister Mohammad Hassan Akhund convened an emergency meeting at the presidential palace to coordinate the relief effort for victims in Paktika and Khost.
- Witnesses reported feeling the quake in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, as well as Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad.
- Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif in a statement offered his condolences over the earthquake, saying his nation will provide help to the Afghan people.
- Bilal Karimi, a deputy spokesman for the Taliban government, gave no specific death toll but wrote on Twitter that hundreds of people were killed and injured in the earthquake, which shook four districts in Paktika.
- Reuters, BBC, AP, AFP, AVA, Bloomberg
Africa
- Region: the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases on the continent reached 11,742,933. (Xinhua)
- Kenya: UN negotiators began talks in Nairobi toward reaching a new global pact for protecting nature and wildlife, after a previous round of talks in March failed to make progress. (Reuters)
- Malawi: President Lazarus Chakwera stripped his Vice-President Saulos Chilima of all his delegated powers after the latter was named in a $150m (£123m) corruption scandal involving government contracts. (BBC)
- Sudan: The African Union will not be party to talks that exclude significant actors in an effort to get the country’s transition back on track after last year’s military coup. (AFP)
- Zimbabwe: The government lifted a midnight-to-dawn curfew imposed as part of COVID-19 containment measures. (Xinhua)
Americas
- Brazil: Leading presidential candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva released a 121-point political platform focusing on social and environmental issues. (AFP)
- Colombia: A group of former FARC leaders acknowledged their responsibility for war crimes and kidnappings during a hearing of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace tribunal. (AP)
- Ecuador: Defense minister Luis Lara warned that the country’s democracy is at risk as anti-government protests in Quito grow increasingly violent. (AP)
- Mexico: Pope Francis blasted the violence in the country as he mourned the slayings of two of his “brother” Jesuits who were gunned down in a remote church by drug gang members. (AP)
- United States: Senators presented a bipartisan gun safety bill. (NYT)
Asia
- Indonesia: President Joko Widodo is planning to meet the leaders of Russia and Ukraine following the Group of Seven summit in Germany later this month. (AP)
- Japan: Fugitive Mitsuhiro Taniguichi, wanted for pandemic relief fraud amounting to 960 million yen, was deported from Indonesia. (Reuters)
- Myanmar: Defense minister Gen. Mya Tun Oo was welcomed to an annual meeting with his counterparts at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Phnom Penh. (AP)
- North Korea: Kim Jong-un convened a meeting of the Central Military Commission to discuss defense policies and continuing arms buildup. (AP)
- South Korea: The first two suspected cases of monkeypox were reported in the country. (Reuters)
Europe
- France: President Emmanuel Macron pressed on with efforts to end the crisis created by his failure to retain a parliamentary majority but with no solution in sight to an impasse that jeopardizes his reform plans. (AFP)
- Italy: The country’s political landscape has shifted after Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio announced his departure from the 5-Star Movement. (AP)
- Russia: A drone strike may have caused a fire that broke out at the Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery in southern Rostov region that borders Ukraine. (AFP)
- Spain: Google reopened its news aggregator nearly eight years after it closed the service because of a law which imposed fees on the company for using publishers’ content. (AFP)
- United Kingdom: A new study predicts that Brexit will cost workers an average £470 per year by the end of this decade. (Reuters)
Middle East
- Iraq: Six people, including a soldier, were killed during a clash between two tribes sparked by a dispute over agricultural land. (AFP)
- Israel: Lawmakers voted in favor of dissolving parliament in a preliminary vote sending the country to its fifth national election in just over three years. (AP)
- Saudi Arabia: Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is set to make his first visit to Turkey following the slaying of Saudi columnist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul. (AP)
- Syria: The United States arrested a member of the US Air Force in connection to April’s explosive attack on the Green Village military base in Deir ez-Zor. (Reuters)
- Yemen: Suspected al-Qaida militants have attacked a security post in the southern province of Shabwa sparking clashes that left five troops and three militants dead. (AP)
Tech & Communications
- Technology: Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, and many other tech companies formed the Metaverse Standards Forum with the goal to develop industry standards to ensure compatibility between the companies’ metaverse technology. (Reuters)
World
- Cyclones: Nothing to Report.
- Hurricanes: Nothing to Report.
- Earthquakes:
- Khost, Afghanistan
- Magnitude: 5.9
- Depth: 10.0 km
- Map
- Khost, Afghanistan
- Volcanoes: Nothing to Report.
- Global Disease Outbreaks:
- COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease: Global (as of 22JUN22)
- Confirmed cases: 540,643,457
- Deaths: 6,322,412
- Countries with confirmed cases: 192
- Sourcing: John Hopkins University
- COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease: Global (as of 22JUN22)
Tomorrow’s Outlook (23JUN22)
- Event: Atlantic Council hosts discussion on global food security crisis.
- Global: UN Security Council briefing on Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.
- Global: WHO to assess whether to declare Monkeypox a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
- Global: International Widows Day.
- Global: United Nations Public Service Day.
- Austria: Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons Meeting of States Parties in Vienna.
- Belgium: NATO Sec Gen Jens Stoltenberg meets Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala.
- China: 14th Annual BRICS Summit, virtual.
- Estonia: Victory Day.
- Europe: EU restrictions on trade with Crimea to expire unless extended.
- Europe: European Council meeting of EU heads of state and government in Brussels. (to 25JUN)
- Germany: ILA Berlin Air Show. (to 25JUN)
- Germany: European Systemic Risk Board meeting in Frankfurt.
- Grenada: Parliamentary elections.
- Luxembourg: National Day.
- Malaysia: UN human rights expert on Myanmar holds press conference after visit.
- Rwanda: Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Kigali. (to 25JUN)
- Rwanda: Commonwealth Business Forum in Kigali.
- United States: Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol holds hearing.
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