Portal:Current events/2016 June 28

June 28, 2016 (Tuesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Business and economics

Volkswagen emissions scandal
- Volkswagen and the United States Justice Department agree on a $14.7 billion settlement for its emissions-cheating program. The breakdown: $10 billion to consumers to cover buybacks and fixes; $2 billion for green energy funds investment; and, $2.7 billion to offset diesel emissions. In addition, VW agrees on a settlement with 44 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico that will cost at least $600 million. As for Europe, Volkswagen says its diesel vehicles don't violate European Union emissions standards. (Reuters) (Nasdaq)
IKEA is to recall 27 million Malm chests of drawers in North America due to the danger they pose to children. Since 2014, at least three children have died when the drawers toppled over on them. (BBC)
Toyota is recalling 1.43 million hybrids worldwide—Toyota Prius, Toyota Prius Plug-in, and Lexus CT200h—from model years 2010-2012 because of a possible airbag inflator defect. The company says it is not aware of any injuries or deaths related to this issue. (Reuters) (AP via U.S. News & World Report)

Disasters and accidents

EgyptAir Flight 804
- One of the flight recorders of EgyptAir Flight 804 has been fully repaired in Paris after being found in the Mediterranean Sea and will now be sent to Egypt to be analyzed. (Euronews)
Three crew members are missing and one worker is injured following the head-on collision of two BNSF Railway freight trains near the American town of Panhandle, Texas. Officials, concerned that flames from box car fires could cause a fast-moving grass fire, order an evacuation of some nearby areas. (AP via MSN)
A huge explosion completely destroys a house and damages 24 others in Mississauga, Canada. At least one person is dead and 13 others are injured, according to Mississauga Fire and Emergency Services. Thousands of residents are forced to evacuate and many spend the night at a local community shelter. (CBC News) (CP24)

International relations

Politics and elections

United Kingdom withdrawal from the European Union
- The European Parliament's first debate on the UK's vote to leave is marked by bitter exchanges as prominent pro-Brexit figure Nigel Farage is booed and heckled by members of the European Parliament and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker is heckled after saying that he is neither a robot nor a bureaucrat. (BBC)
- Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn refuses to resign after losing a vote of no confidence, with 80% of voting members of the Parliamentary Labour Party voting against him. Critics which include fellow MPs cite his failure to do more in the effort for the UK to remain in the EU as the main issue. (The Guardian)
- Prime Minister David Cameron will turn over his office no later than 9 September 2016. (Daily Mail)
- Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon schedules a meeting Wednesday with European Parliament President Martin Schulz about remaining in the EU, and intends to discuss the Scottish issue with the European Commission. (Time) (Reuters)
Following a South African Constitutional Court order, the National Treasury reports President Jacob Zuma should pay back $500,000, the public funds spent upgrading his private residence. (Gulf News) (Business Standard)

Science and technology

Durham and Oxford universities' geologists, working with a helium exploration company, discover an at least 54 billion cubic foot field of helium in the Tanzanian East African Rift Valley. Previously, helium has only been found in small quantities. This field, found using a new exploration approach connected to volcanic activity, could potentially meet global demand for several years. (BBC) (Phys.org) (Goldschmidt conference)
A massive collapse of a mountain in Glacier Bay National Park in Southeast Alaska leaves an estimated 130 million tons of rock and soil on top of Lamplugh Glacier. The collapse was the largest seen in many years. (Alaska Dispatch News)

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