June 4 — East Asia: CHINA
China issues a national plan for addressing climate change, pledging to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, while not compromising economic growth and development. The plan is to use more wind, nuclear, and hydro power, as well as make coal-powered plants more efficient. At the same time, China reiterates that rich countries are responsible for most of the greenhouse gases and should take more responsibility in the fight to reduce them.
June 4 — Europe/North America: RUSSIA/UNITED STATES
Russian President Vladimir Putin threatens to retaliate if the United States deploys its missile defense system in Eastern Europe. Russia rebukes U.S. claims of a potential threat from rogue states, such as Iran and North Korea, and blames the United States for starting a new arms race.
June 4 — Africa/International Organizations: LIBERIA/SPECIAL COURT FOR SIERRA LEONE
The United Nations-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone begins the trial of Liberia’s former president, Charles Taylor. Taylor faces eleven charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity over his alleged role in the civil war in Sierra Leone. He is accused of supporting the Sierra Leone rebels who committed widespread atrocities. The trial, which is being held in The Hague, Netherlands, is expected to last up to eighteen months.
June 6 — East Asia: CHINA
China issues a five-year plan that pledges to bolster inspections and tests of its food exports. The decision follows several high-profile international recalls of tainted Chinese products. For example, Chinese toothpaste thought to contain a chemical found in anti-freeze was recalled after it was linked to the deaths of fifty people in Panama last year. The United States has blamed Chinese pet food ingredients containing melamine for the deaths of cats and dogs across the country.
June 6 — Europe: SPAIN
The Basque separatist group ETA formally ends the ceasefire that it declared “permanent” in March 2006. The move is a setback for Spain’s prime minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, who insisted on negotiations with ETA despite strong opposition from conservatives.
June 13 — Middle East: IRAQ
Two bomb explosions in the Iraqi city of Samarra destroy the two minarets of the al-Askari shrine, a holy site of Shia Muslims. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki blames al Qaeda in Iraq and supporters of former president Saddam Hussein for the attack. Maliki also declares a curfew in Samarra and in Najaf, the site of another important Shia shrine. The al-Askari mosque is one of the four major Shia shrines in Iraq. Built in the tenth and eleventh centuries, it contains tombs of two of the twelve revered Shia imams. A day later, in retaliation, suspected Shia militants destroy three Sunni mosques near the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.
June 14 — Middle East: PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES
After a week of fighting between two Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah, in the Gaza Strip, Hamas seizes Fatah positions, including the headquarters of Fatah’s Preventative Security force and the presidential compound. As a result, Hamas takes full control of the Gaza Strip, while Fatah remains in control of the West Bank. A day later, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas dissolves the Hamas-led government and declares a state of emergency. He will rule by decree until early elections.
June 15 — Middle East: PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas appoints former Finance Minister Salam Fayyad, an independent, prime minister and asks him to form an emergency government. However, Hamas’ Ismail Haniya says that he is still prime minister and the replacement is illegal. The international community gives its backing to President Abbas.
June 18 — Africa: EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY
The East African Community (EAC) — comprised of Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania — admits Rwanda and Burundi as new members. Member-states do not pay duties on goods within the EAC, which is the most significant part of the membership. The EAC plans further economic integration, including a common market and a single currency.
June 20 — South Asia: AFGHANISTAN
Three NATO soldiers are killed in southern Afghanistan by a roadside bomb. In 2007, about ninety foreign soldiers have been killed fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan. Earlier this month, a suicide bomb attack on a police bus in the country’s capital, Kabul, killed thirty-five people and injured more than thirty. This was one of the most devastating attacks in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. The attack resembled the tactics used by insurgents in Iraq.
June 23 — Europe: EUROPEAN UNION
At a summit in Brussels, the European Union agrees to a draft treaty that will replace the draft constitution rejected two years ago by Dutch and French voters. The treaty includes a long-term president and a Foreign Affairs Representative of the European Union, fewer national veto powers, and more powers for the European Parliament. A new voting system, referred to as a “double majority,” will match a country’s voting strength to its population. Its introduction, however, will be delayed until 2014, as a compromise reached with Poland, which vehemently opposed the new system that reduces its voting powers.
June 25 — Middle East: IRAQ
A suicide bombing at a hotel in central Baghdad kills several senior Sunni tribal leaders from the western Anbar province. One of the leaders was a co-founder of the Anbar Salvation Council, which has worked closely with the U.S.-led coalition.
June 25 — South Asia/International Organizations: AFGHANISTAN/UNITED NATIONS
The United Nations World Drug Report says that Afghanistan produces more than 90 percent of the world’s illegal opium, which is used to make heroin. The enormous scale of opium production in Afghanistan stifles efforts to restore security in the country. The report also notes that despite improvements in drug law enforcement, drug traffickers use new routes from Afghanistan through Africa to distribute heroin.
June 26 —Latin America/International Organizations: ECUADOR/UNITED NATIONS
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) declares that the Galapagos Islands, the first place it officially designated as a World Heritage site in 1978, is in danger. Situated 620 miles off of Ecuador’s coast and home to unique animals and plants, the islands are endangered by increased tourism, growing immigration, and the introduction of more invasive species.
June 26 —Latin America: VENEZUELA
The Venezuelan government extends state control of the country’s oil industry by taking a majority control of operations in its oil-rich Orinoco Belt. As a result, U.S. oil companies ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil end their operations in Venezuela, while others, including Chevron Corp, Great Britain’s BP, Norway’s Statoil, and France’s Total, agree to reduced stakes in the industry.
June 27 —Europe: UNITED KINGDOM
Tony Blair steps down as the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister after ten years in office. He is replaced by Gordon Brown, the new leader of the Labour Party and the former Chancellor of the Exchequer. At the same time, Tony Blair is appointed an envoy for the group of Middle East mediators called the Quartet, comprised of the United States, the European Union, the United Nations, and Russia, which works on peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.