Portal:Current events/2014 June 18

June 18, 2014 (Wednesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

2014 Northern Iraq offensive
- Forty Indians working for a Turkish construction company are abducted by militants in Mosul. (IANS via Biharprabha)
- Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant militants lay siege to Iraq's largest oil refinery, located in Baiji. (AP)
War in North-West Pakistan
- US drones launch a series of missiles against militants in North Waziristan, resulting in at least four deaths. (The News (Pakistan))
Syrian Civil War
- Opposition activists claim that Syrian Army helicopters have bombed a refugee camp near the border with Jordan, killing at least 20 people. (Reuters via Trust)
- The OPCW releases a preliminary report indicating more chemical weapons have been used since the August 2013 attacks, confirming France's suspicions that the Syrian government has still been using chlorine gas attacks. (KUNA) (Daily Star)

Business and economics

Disasters and accidents

The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency reports that a boat carrying 97 Indonesians has capsized with 66 missing. (AP via Fox News)
June 16th- 18th Tornado outbreak continues. Tornadoes rip through parts of the northern plains region again affecting mainly South Dakota. Two towns hard hit are Wessington Springs, SD, by an EF2 tornado, and Alpena, SD, by an EF4 tornado.

Politics and elections

Luxembourg's Chamber of Deputies votes to equalize same-sex marriage and adoption rights from 1 January, 2015. (The Independent)
The New Flemish Alliance decides to opt for membership in the moderately euroskeptic European Conservatives and Reformists group in the European Parliament, meaning this group will surpass the liberal ALDE group as the third-largest. (EUobserver)

Health

2014 West Africa Ebola outbreak
- Seven people are reported to have died from the latest outbreak of Ebola virus in Monrovia, Liberia. (BBC News)

Law and crime

Former President of Turkey Kenan Evren, 96, is given a life sentence for his role in the 1980 Turkish coup d'état. (Euronews)
The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, a tribunal of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, rules 2–1 to cancel several trademarks of the NFL's Washington Redskins on the basis that they were "disparaging to Native Americans." The cancellation will be stayed while the team appeals in federal court, a process likely to take years. (ESPN)

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