Portal:Current events/2017 June 14
June 14, 2017 (Wednesday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- War in Afghanistan
- After a week-long assault, ISIL-KP captures the Tora Bora cave complex from the Taliban, allegedly in reaction to the 2017 Nangarhar airstrike. The Taliban say the fighting is still underway. (New York Times)
- Congressional baseball shooting
- A gunman opens fire at a Congressional Baseball practice, injuring five people, including United States Congressman Steve Scalise (R-LA-01) who is in critical condition. The suspected gunman later died from injuries after exchanging gunfire with Capitol Police. (WUSA) (ABC News)
- War in Somalia
- A suicide bomber explodes a car bomb near a hotel, al-Shabaab militants then storm the hotel and a pizza restaurant, killing least 20 people and taking others hostage, in Somalia's capital Mogadishu. All five attackers are later killed. (Hindustan Times) (Reuters)
Business and economics
- Banking in the United States
- The U.S. Federal Reserve raises the federal funds rate by a quarter percentage point to a level between the 1.0-to-1.25 percent range, and outlines a plan to trim its bond holdings and other securities. This is the fourth increase since December 2015. (CBS News) (Reuters)
Disasters and accidents
- Grenfell Tower fire
- A large fire consumes the 24-storey Grenfell Tower apartment block in North Kensington, West London, with the entire building evacuated and over 40 fire engines and 200 firefighters battling the blaze. At least 17 people are dead and more people are treated for injuries, with more people possibly being trapped inside. (BBC) (The Guardian) (NBC News) (New York Times) (ABC via Yahoo!)
- Castlemartin Training Area
- Two British Army soldiers are killed and two others are injured in an incident involving a tank at Castlemartin Training Area in Pembrokeshire, Wales. (The Independent) (BBC)
- Earthquakes in Guatemala
- At least six people are killed and seven injured by a 6.9 magnitude earthquake in western Guatemala. (AP via Yahoo! News)
International relations
- Egypt–Saudi Arabia relations
- The Egyptian parliament approves the transfer of two uninhabited Red Sea islands, Tiran Island and Sanafir Island, to Saudi Arabia. (Reuters)
Law and crime
- Presidency of Donald Trump
- Nearly 200 members of the Democratic Party in the United States Congress file a lawsuit in the federal court, claiming that U.S. President Trump profits from business dealings with foreign governments, in violation of the United States Constitution’s emolument clauses. This is the third such suit of its kind, following on the heels of the most recent suit by the Attorneys General of Maryland and the District of Columbia.(The New York Times)
- Manus Regional Processing Centre
- Australia agrees to pay AUS$70 million in compensation to 1,905 people who have been detained on Manus Island since 2012, so avoiding a public trial against the government and the Transfield and G4S private companies for the detainees' degrading and cruel treatment. (The Telegraph)
- Flint water crisis
- Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette charges five people, including the director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, with involuntary manslaughter for their roles in the Legionnaires' disease outbreak that led to 12 deaths. (The Washington Post) (Detroit Free Press)
- Killing of Patricia O'Connor
- The woman whose remains were found scattered along the Military Road in Wicklow, Ireland was named locally today as Patricia O'Connor, a 61 year old from Rathfarnham. A man was arrested in connection with this on Tuesday. (BBC)
- San Francisco UPS shooting
- Four people, including the gunman, are dead, and six injured, after a man opens fire at people in a UPS building in the Potrero Hill neighborhood of San Francisco, California. (Los Angeles Times) (San Francisco Chronicle)
Politics and elections
- Aftermath of the United Kingdom general election, 2017
- Tim Farron resigns as leader of the Liberal Democrats amid controversy concerning his views on gay sexual practices. (The Independent)
- Government of Ireland
- Leo Varadkar becomes the first gay Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland. (NPR)
- 2017 vote of no confidence in the government of Mariano Rajoy
- Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, survives a no-confidence vote, presented by Podemos, as he is called to declare as a witness in the trial for Gürtel corruption scandal in 26 July. (Al Jazeera)
Science and technology
- Two-headed animals
- The deceased body of a rare two-headed porpoise is located for the first time in the North Sea by Dutch fishermen. (National Geographic)