New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard becomes the first transgender athlete chosen to compete in the Olympic Games, as the New Zealand Olympic Committee announces she is selected to compete in the Tokyo Olympics as part of the women's weightlifting team.
S&P 500
-0.33%
$6,259
BTC
+0.37%
$118,033
OIL (WTI)
+3.27%
$68
June 21, 2021 (Monday)
2.2 minutes to read
Health and environment
Malaysia surpasses 700,000 cases of COVID-19.
Indonesia surpasses two million cases of COVID-19 after reporting a record 14,536 new cases in the past 24 hours.
Medsafe grants a provisional approval for the Pfizer–BioNTech vaccine for children between the ages of 12 and 15.
China reports 25 new confirmed cases, up from 17 infections a day earlier.
International relations
The Argentinian and Mexican foreign ministries announce in a joint statement that they are withdrawing their respective ambassadors from Nicaragua for consultations in response to President Daniel Ortega's increasing crackdown on dissidents, including the arrest of five potential presidential candidates this month.
The United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom impose sanctions against Belarus for last month's diverting of Ryanair Flight 4978, which led to the arrest of journalist Roman Protasevich.
Law and crime
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announces that the nine Catalan separatist leaders involved in the unsuccessful 2017 independence bid will be pardoned tomorrow, saying that this is needed to ease tensions with Catalonia. President of the Catalan Government Pere Aragonès welcomes the pardons but says that they will pursue more concessions, such as a new authorized independence referendum. The Spanish oppositional parties subsequently announce that they will try to reverse the pardons.
A judge in Peru rejects a plea from public prosecutor José Domingo Pérez to send Popular Force party leader and presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori back to prison for allegedly violating her bail conditions over charges of money laundering and corruption. Pérez says that he will appeal the judge's ruling.
Politics and elections
The Australian National Party undergoes a leadership spill, replacing Michael McCormack with New England Representative Barnaby Joyce. Joyce previously lead the Nationals from 2016 to 2018 and was replaced by McCormack following sexual harassment allegations. As per the party's coalition agreement with the Australian Liberal Party, Joyce is set to replace McCormack as Deputy Prime Minister. Many Nationals have been critical of the Morrison Government's move towards carbon neutrality and hope that Joyce will counter this.
Prime Minister Stefan Löfven's government collapses after a vote of no-confidence is adopted by the Riksdag. Löfven has one week to either resign or call a snap election.
Ethiopian voters head to the polls to elect a new session to the House of Peoples' Representatives after months of delays. The election occurs in the midst of multiple problems affecting the country, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, deteriorating conditions in the Tigray Region brought on by the Tigray War, and the jailing of multiple oppositional figures.
Sports
Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Carl Nassib becomes the first active National Football League player to come out as gay.
The Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games announce that it will allow spectactors at the 2020 Summer Olympics with a 50% cap at venues and up to a maximum of 10,000 people. However, the fans would be restricted in the event of state of emergency or any other restrictions to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Get the app
