June 2 — Europe/South Asia: DENMARK/PAKISTAN/AFGHANISTAN
A car bomb explodes outside the Danish embassy in Pakistans capital, Islamabad, killing six people and injuring 30. Al Qaeda, based in Afghanistan, claims responsibility for the attack. The group says the attack is in revenge for the February reprinting of a controversial cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad in Danish newspapers. They deem the cartoon offensive to Islam, which prohibits the depiction of Muhammad.
June 2 — East Asia/Middle East: AUSTRALIA/IRAQ
Australia’s new government under Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announces the end of Australia’s combat operations in Iraq and begins pulling out its troops. Australia has more than 500 soldiers in Iraq, who have trained 33,000 Iraqi soldiers over a five-year period. After winning the November 2007 elections, Prime Minister Rudd promised to overturn some of the previous administrations policies, including Australias military deployment to Iraq.
June 2 — Africa/International Organizations: SOMALIA/UNITED NATIONS
The UN Security Council votes unanimously to allow countries to use their naval ships for the next six months to fight pirates in Somalias territorial waters. The Somali government has been unable to control its 1,800-mile long coast. In the past year, pirates have attacked 26 ships. Simultaneously, the UN launches peace talks with various groups involved in Somalia’s conflict.
June 3 — East Asia/North America: SOUTH KOREA/UNITED STATES
South Korea’s government delays the implementation of a beef import agreement with the United States following weeks of street protests. The country stopped importing U.S. beef in 2003 due to fears of mad cow disease.
June 10 — Europe
Two truck drivers die in Spain and Portugal during strikes that have swept through Europe over the rising price of fuel. Fishermen, too, have protested for several weeks in Belgium, Italy, France, Portugal, and the UK, some blocking ports and demanding government subsidies to offset rising fuel costs.
June 12 — Europe: IRELAND/EUROPEAN UNION
In a referendum, Irish voters reject the European Union’s Lisbon Treaty, which contains institutional reforms designed to run the expanded union efficiently. Many no voters cite distrust of European bureaucracy or insufficient understanding of the treaty. Ireland is the only EU country to hold a referendum on the proposed treaty. So far, 18 EU members have ratified the treaty in their parliaments.
June 15 — South Asia: AFGHANISTAN/PAKISTAN
Afghan President Hamid Karzai threatens to send troops into Pakistan in pursuit of Taliban militants. The threat comes two days after Taliban fighters broke into a jail in Afghanistans southern province of Kandahar, freeing about 870 prisoners, many of them Taliban militants. Karzai has long accused Pakistan of not doing enough to stop the Talibans cross-border attacks.
June 17 — Europe/International Organizations: FRANCE/NATO
French President Nicolas Sarkozy announces that France intends to return to full participation in NATOs integrated military command structure. Although France was a founding member of NATO in 1949, President Charles de Gaulle withdrew the country from the integrated military structure in 1966, because he perceived it to be dominated by U.S. interests. Since 1995, however, France has participated in NATOs peacekeeping missions.
June 18 — Europe: EUROPEAN UNION
The European Parliament passes immigration legislation allowing undocumented migrants to be held in detention for periods of up to 18 months and creating a five-year reentry ban against those expelled. Member countries of the South American MERCOSUR organization issue a joint protest against the directive. Also, human rights groups, including Amnesty International, criticize the measures as overly restrictive.
June 19 — Africa: NIGERIA
In two separate incidents, militant groups in Nigeria blow up a Chevron oil pipeline and attack an offshore production and storage vessel owned by Royal Dutch Shell. The incidents temporarily halt oil production by both producers in Nigeria. The attacks on the Niger Delta have caused the reduction of Nigeria’s oil output by at least 20 percent in recent years, and have helped drive up oil prices.
June 20 — Europe/Latin America: EUROPEAN UNION/CUBA
The European Union lifts the diplomatic sanctions it imposed on Cuba in 2003. The largely symbolic measures were imposed in protest of the imprisonment of more than 70 Cuban dissidents. According to the Cuban Commission for Human Rights, there are still about 230 political detainees in Cuban prisons. The EU says that by removing the sanctions it wants to encourage the new Cuban government of Raul Castro to implement more reforms.
June 21 — Africa: CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
The government of the Central African Republic signs a peace deal with the country’s two main rebel groups: the Popular Army for the Restoration of Democracy and the Republic, and the Union of Democratic Forces Coalition. The deal calls for the disarmament and demobilization of rebel fighters in exchange for amnesty. The Central African Republic has experienced years of low-level violence since its independence in 1960.
June 22 — Latin America: BOLIVIA
Tarija, a gas-rich province in Bolivia, becomes the country’s fourth province to vote in favor of autonomy. In recent weeks the provinces of Beni, Pando, and Santa Cruz, Bolivias richest province, also voted overwhelmingly for autonomy. The referenda are in response to the push for land redistribution and wealth-sharing measures by the government of President Evo Morales. The Morales government does not recognize the referenda, which would divide the gas and oil-rich eastern half of Bolivia from the poorer, predominantly indigenous western half.
June 23 — Europe/Middle East: EUROPEAN UNION/IRAN
The European Union approves new financial sanctions against Iran over the countrys refusal to curb its uranium enrichment program. The sanctions include freezing the assets of its largest bank, Bank Melli, which is suspected of providing services to Irans missile programs.
June 24 — Middle East: ISRAEL/PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES
Israel re-imposes its blockade on the Gaza Strip, which it had consented to ease as part of an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire deal that came into effect on June 19. The move is prompted by Palestinian militants firing multiple rockets from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel.
June 25 — East Asia: NEW ZEALAND
New Zealand reaches its largest-ever settlement with seven indigenous Maori tribes, which include more than 100,000 people. The settlement hands over 420 million New Zealand dollars ($318 million) in forestry land, as part of a reconciliation process over the loss of land and natural resources during European settlement of the country in the nineteenth century. The agreement will make the Maori tribes the largest private forest owners in New Zealand.
June 27 — Africa: ZIMBABWE
Incumbent Robert Mugabe wins Zimbabwe’s controversial presidential run-off election after the opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, withdraws from the race. Tsvangirai says that government-sponsored, violent intimidation of opposition supporters has made free and fair elections impossible. This is Mugabe’s sixth term as president.
June 29 — East Asia: NORTH KOREA
As part of the six-party agreement, North Korea hands over a declaration of its nuclear assets. This is seen as an important step toward its denuclearization process. The declaration has to include all of the country’s nuclear weapons, programs, materials, and facilities. In return, North Korea has been promised a million tons of heating oil or other aid, as well as the lifting of international trade and financial restrictions. Also, the United States has agreed to normalize diplomatic relations with North Korea, including removing it from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list.