News Watch

A man in Reading, England, stabbed six people in Forbury Gardens park on June 20, killing three, including an American expatriate. The attacker was arrested within five minutes of the attack’s unfolding.

The attacker was identified as a Libyan national who had been granted asylum in 2012. He was not on any terrorist watch lists, however the incident is being investigated as an act of terrorism.

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At press time, at least 166 people had been killed during protests in Ethiopia that began after a popular Oromo-ethnic singer was killed on June 29. Most of the deaths occurred in the Oromia region, which is majority Oromo, but 10 people were killed in protests in the capital, Addis Ababa.

The singer, Hachalu Hundessa, was considered a folk hero after his music helped inspire protests that resulted in the removal of the country’s previous prime minister in 2018. His killers and...

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Indian and Chinese soldiers skirmished along a disputed border in the Ladakh region of Kashmir on June 15. At least 20 Indian soldiers were killed and 45 Chinese soldiers were killed or injured (China has not released official numbers of casualties). It was the first casualties from military actions between the two countries along that border in 45 years. According to both countries, no firearms were used in the fighting, as a treaty between them bans guns from the region.

Though the...

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Angry over defectors in South Korea floating balloons carrying literature over the border, North Korea destroyed most avenues of communication with South Korea, severing hotlines on June 8 and then, on June 16, blowing up a joint liaison office in the city of Kaesong, near the border with South Korea. The office had been built by South Korea in 2018 as a place to hold high-level meetings between the two countries.

Much of the recent activity has been ordered by Kim Yo Jong, the sister...

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The UN-recognized government of Libya, the Government of National Accord (GNA), regained complete control of the capital city, Tripoli, on June 4, 14 months after a rebel force, the Libyan National Army (LNA), had taken over the eastern portion of the city.

Led by Khalifa Haftar, a former general under Muammar Gaddafi, the LNA is the armed forces of the House of Representatives, the formerly UN-recognized government that still controls most of the northeastern parts of the country....

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More than 150 Pakistan International Airlines pilots were grounded on June 25 after it was discovered that their pilot’s licenses were either fraudulent or had been gained through cheating on the license test.

A Pakistan International Airlines flight crashed in a neighborhood near the airport in Lahore on May 22 during a second landing attempt, killing 97 people. The investigators of that crash released their findings on June 24, blaming it on human error. They said the pilot...

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An earthquake measuring 7.4 in magnitude occurred along the coast of the state of Oaxaca, Mexico, on June 23, killing at least six people, all found in one house that collapsed in the city of Oaxaca. It was felt 435 miles away in Mexico City. More than 400 aftershocks were recorded, the strongest being 4.6 in magnitude.

Temperatures in the Siberian town of Verkhoyansk, 57 miles north of the Arctic Circle, reached 100° Fahrenheit on June 22, the first time a triple-digit temperature has ever been recorded within the Arctic Circle. The average summer high in Verkhoyansk is 64°F. (Verkhoyansk is also where the coldest temperature for the Arctic was recorded, -90°F, in 1892.)

Throughout the months of March, April and May 2020, temperatures north of the Arctic Circle were averaging 50°F...

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