news & issues
International Headlines
29 JUNE • A Chinese spacecraft carrying three astronauts touched down in Mongolia after carrying out a manual docking with an orbiting module, a first for the country as it strives to match American and Russian exploits in space. The Chinese astronauts, including 33-year-old Liu Yang, China’s first female space traveler, have been living and working in the module as part of preparations for manning a permanent space station.
election over Ahmed Shafiq. Interim military rulers have said Mr. Morsi will have full presidential powers, although it remains to be seen what power sharing arrangement will be made between Egypt’s military elite and the newly elected Islamist leader.
Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi (Credit: Jonathan Rashad)
U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, DC.
28 JUNE • The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld key provisions in President Barack Obama’s healthcare overhaul law, ruling that the insurance mandate requiring most Americans to obtain insurance or pay a penalty is constitutional under Congress’s power to levy taxes. The vote was 5 to 4, with Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. joining the court’s four more liberal members. 26 JUNE • Turkey has warned Syria it will respond decisively to any further military action following an incident on 22 June during which a Turkish jet was shot down by Syria. Syria claimed the warplane violated its airspace, while Turkey maintains it was shot down in international airspace. Turkey had sought advice from its NATO allies on the incident and has reportedly moved troops to the Syrian border. 24 JUNE • Egypt’s Presidential Election Commission ruled that Mohammed Morsi, head of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party, has won the historic presidential Contact Magazine
23 JUNE • At least 14 people have been killed and more than 450,000 affected by flash floods in southern China. Torrential rainfall began in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, triggering mudslides and flooding which have destroyed almost 100,000 houses and 17,000 hectares of farmland. • Cyprus became the fifth eurozone country to request financial aid from its partners in the troubled European currency union as it struggles to shore up banks that took heavy losses on Greek debt. Government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou would not say how much Cyprus would request from the European bailout fund, saying the amount will be subject to negotiations in the coming days. 20 JUNE • President Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a joint statement from the Mexico G20 Summit which called for a “phased approach” to resolving the nuclear stand-off with Iran. The two countries agreed to keep lines of communication with Iran open to avoid the possibility of future military strikes. 18 JUNE • Greece has voted to continue its membership in the troubled euro zone. The pro-austerity New Democracy 9
party won the parliamentary election by a narrow margin, which means leaders will have to form a coalition government with the socialist Syzira party which opposes the strict austerity measures demanded by European and world leaders. 15 JUNE • Rulings by Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court allowed Hosni Mubarak’s last prime minister, Ahmed Shafik, to run for president and dissolved the country’s parliament two days before the presidential run-off. Islamists and others labeled the rulings an effective coup by the military in opposition to the popularly elected Muslim Brotherhood. 13 JUNE • The United States has accused Russia of manufacturing and selling arms—including Soviet-era attack helicopters—to Syria’s Assad regime that continue to kill Syrians on “an hourly basis.” Russia has denied these claims and accuses the U.S. of arming the Syrian opposition. • The UN’s peacekeeping chief asserted that the Syrian conflict has descended into civil war, but both opposition activists and the Syrian government have disputed this claim. Violence in Syria has continued to escalate despite former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan’s peace plan to which both sides agreed earlier this year.
Syrians protesting the Assad regime in March (Credit: Freedom House)
9 JUNE • Spain will seek a European bailout worth as much as 100 million euros to prop up ailing banks, making it the largest economy and fourth country to receive financial assistance within the troubled euro zone. June 2012