Portal:Current events/2015 June 24

June 24, 2015 (Wednesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Boko Haram
- Over 42 people are shot dead by suspected Boko Haram gunmen in two attacks on villages in Nigeria's Borno state. (AFP via Dawn)
Xinjiang Conflict
- A police checkpoint on the outskirts of Kashgar in Xinjiang is attacked by ethnic Uighurs, with at least 18 killed according to US-based Radio Free Asia. (BBC)

Disasters and accidents

Pakistani heat wave
- The death toll from the heat wave reaches nears 800 in Sindh province with 744 people dead in the city of Karachi alone. (BBC)

Health

Middle East respiratory syndrome outbreak in South Korea
- The government of South Korea announces that it will provide maximum financial aid to hospitals and clinics affected by the MERS outbreak. (Yonhap)

International relations

The People's Republic of China claims that the Golden Triangle regions of Laos, Myanmar and Thailand are the source of most of its imports of heroin and methamphetamine. The region has been known for drug cultivation for centuries. (AP via ABC News America)
The President of France François Hollande warns that France "will not tolerate" acts that threaten its security following claims by Wikileaks that the United States spied on him and his two predecessors Nicolas Sarkozy and Jacques Chirac between 2006 and 2012. (BBC)
Israel revokes permits for 500 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to enter Jerusalem for Friday prayers following a rocket attack on southern Israel. (AFP via France 24)
Trans-Pacific Partnership
- The United States Senate approves a motion giving President Barack Obama fast track authority to complete trade negotiations with 11 countries in the Asia-Pacific region. (CNBC)
- The United States Senate passes the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) and the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) bills by, respectively, 60–38 and 76–22. (The Hagstrom Report via Tri-State Livestock News)(US Senate Democrats)

Law and crime

A Dutch court orders the Netherlands to reduce its carbon emissions by at least 25% by 2020. (BBC)
Boston Marathon bombing
- Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is formally sentenced to death in a federal court. He confirms his guilt and apologizes to the victims. (CNN)
- Tsarnev is sent to the US Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, where 61 other inmates are awaiting their lethal injections. (NBC News)
China's customs officers seize more than 100,000 t (98,000 long tons; 110,000 short tons) of meat, many of which expired, some more than 40 years ago. (China Daily)(NPR)

Politics and elections

2016 United States presidential election
- Bobby Jindal, the Governor of Louisiana, announces that he will be a candidate for the Republican Party nomination in the 2016 Presidential election.(New York Times)
The United States House of Representatives votes 247-180 to allow states to opt out of Barack Obama's carbon emissions reduction if the state governor believes compliance would increase electricity bills too much or have an adverse effect on reliability of supply. (AP)

Sports

In ice hockey:
- The National Hockey League announces that it has formally opened the process of expanding the league and will begin evaluating bids from interested parties. The most widely speculated expansion markets include Las Vegas, Seattle, Quebec City, and a second team in the Toronto area. (ESPN)
- Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price wins the Hart Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player, the Vezina Trophy as the league's most outstanding goaltender, and the Ted Lindsay Award as the league's most outstanding player as chosen by fellow players. Price becomes the first player to win both the Hart and Vezina Trophies in the same season since José Théodore, also of the Canadiens, in 2002. (AP via ESPN)