Portal:Current events/2018 June 27
< Portal:Current events
June 27, 2018 (Wednesday)
Business and economy
- Shares in African international airline Fastjet fall by 72% amid equity talks amongst shareholders, with the airline warning that trading may be suspended entirely and the company liquidated if a solution is not found. (BBC)
Disasters and accidents
- 2018 United Kingdom wildfires
- Greater Manchester Police declares a major incident as a wildfire continues to spread on Saddleworth Moor, forcing nearby homes to be evacuated. The fire is described as the "biggest in living memory" in the United Kingdom. Army assistance is granted to tackle the blaze. (The Guardian), (The Independent)
- A large wildfire has broken out in Glenshane Pass in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, rapidly growing to cover around one square mile of dry gorse. High temperatures hamper efforts to tackle the wildfire, and firefighters have to be airlifted close to the front line. (BBC)
- Two cars collide near Waverley, Taranaki, New Zealand, killing seven people. It is the nation's deadliest road accident since 2005. (Newshub)
- An explosion at a hospital in the U.S. state of Texas kills one person and injures multiple others. Search dogs are brought in to search the rubble; the building and nearby care homes are evacuated. (BBC)
- An SUV and a bus collide in Marishda, East Midnapore, West Bengal, India, killing the SUV's six occupants. (Xinhua)
- Sierra Negra erupts on the island of Isabela, the largest island of the Galápagos archipelago. Authorities have arranged evacuations and banned tourists from the area. (BBC)
International relations
- The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons is granted the power to assign blame for chemical attacks by its constituent countries. The move, proposed by the United Kingdom, received wide support, but was condemned by Russia. (BBC)
Law and crime
- Trump administration family separation policy
- A federal judge in California orders a halt to most family separations at the US-Mexico border and the reunification of all families. (WAVY-TV)
- At appeal, Australian actress Rebel Wilson is ordered to pay back A$4.7m that she won in damages and interest from Bauer Media Group in what was Australia's largest ever libel payout. Wilson is also ordered to pay 80% of the group's appeal costs. The case stemmed from allegations that libelous articles portraying her as a serial liar had resulted in her losing acting jobs. The Victorian Court of Appeal finds that Wilson has not proved a connection between the libel and any failure to land roles. The case prompted national discussion over potential chilling effects on legitimate journalism. (BBC)
- LGBT rights in Australia
- Police in New South Wales, Australia, reclassify 27 murders from 1976 to 2000 as possible homophobic hate crimes following a review prompted by an Australian Institute of Criminology report that suggested crimes against LGBT victims had been insufficiently investigated. (BBC)
- Supreme Court of the United States
- US Supreme Court Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy announces his retirement, effective July 31, 2018. (BBC)
- 2017-18 Spanish constitutional crisis
- The Supreme Court of Spain confirms the prosecution of the independentists leaders accused of the crime of rebellion, embezzlement and disobedience. (El País)
Politics and elections
- Elections in Indonesia
- Local elections take place across Indonesia, including races for 17 governors. (Al Jazeera English)
- European migrant crisis
- Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat says that migrant rescue ship MV Lifeline, stranded in international waters with over 200 rescued people on board for five days, has been granted permission to dock on the island and will do so later today. Muscat says that those on board will be split among Malta and seven other European Union nations. (BBC)
- Austrian troops and police conduct a border exercise simulating a possible mass arrival of migrants similar to one in 2015, amid tensions within the European Union over migrant rescue ships and fears that Germany may close its borders. (Sky News)
- Politics of Scotland
- Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon reshuffles her cabinet. Nine new junior ministers are appointed, with the devolved Parliament set to vote on the changes tomorrow. (BBC)
- United States House of Representatives elections in New York, 2018
- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defeats Democratic incumbent New York leader Joseph Crowley in what has been described as the "biggest Democratic primary upset victory in years". (Mother Jones)
- Politics of Romania
- The cabinet of Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dăncilă survives a motion of no confidence. During the vote, several thousand opposition supporters protest outside Parliament, calling for the resignation of the government. (Business Review)
Science and technology
- Japanese space probe Hayabusa2 arrives at its target, 162173 Ryugu, an Apollo asteroid. It is planned to return material from the asteroid to Earth by the end of 2020. (BBC)
- Enceladus, a moon of Saturn, is reported to host complex carbon-based molecules. Considered a precursor to life, the compounds were only previously known to exist on Earth and some meteorites. (BBC)
- The first known interstellar object to pass through the Solar System, ʻOumuamua, has been identified as a very inactive comet and not an asteroid, as previously thought. (Reuters)
Sports
- FIFA World Cup title-holders Germany's football team are knocked out of the 2018 competition in the group stage for the first time since 1938 after losing to South Korea. This is the fourth time that the reigning champions have been knocked out in the group stage in the last five tournaments. (BBC)