Derek Chauvin is Found Guilty of Murdering George Floyd

Derek Chauvin was found guilty of two counts of murder on Tuesday in the death of George Floyd, whose final breaths last May under the knee of Mr. Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer, were captured on video, setting off months of protests against the police abuse of Black people.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/20/us/chauvin-guilty-murder-george-floyd.html

India Posts Daily Rise of Over 300,000 COVID-19 Cases, Record Death Toll

India on Thursday reported more than 300,000 coronavirus cases over the last 24 hours, the highest daily global total, while COVID-19-related deaths also jumped by a record.

https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/india-posts-daily-rise-over-300000-covid-19-cases-record-death-toll-2021-04-22/

Stampede at Israel Religious Celebration Kills at Least 44

A stampede early Friday at a mountainside religious celebration in Israel that drew tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews left at least 44 people dead and scores more injured.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/29/world/middleeast/israel-mount-meron-stampede.html

Mexico City Metro Overpass Collapses Onto Road; 13 Dead

An overpass in Mexico City's metro collapsed Monday night, sending a train plunging downward, trapping cars under rubble and killing at least 13 people, authorities said.

https://apnews.com/article/mexico-city-mexico-faee07a9250174f58365db6c915476d7

Israel, Hamas Trade Deadly Fire as Confrontation Escalates

A confrontation between Israel and Hamas sparked by weeks of tensions in contested Jerusalem escalated Tuesday as Israel unleashed new airstrikes on Gaza while militants barraged Israel with hundreds of rockets. The exchange killed a number of militants and civilians in Gaza and at least three people in Israel.

https://apnews.com/article/world-news-hamas-middle-east-israel-ad7d5a99e382dcdd3e5df45f33be1b43

‘Great Day for America’: Vaccinated Can Largely Ditch Masks

In a major step toward returning to pre-pandemic life, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention eased mask-wearing guidance for fully vaccinated people on Thursday, allowing them to stop wearing masks outdoors in crowds and in most indoor settings.

“Today is a great day for America,” President Joe Biden said during a Rose Garden address heralding the new guidance, an event where he and his staff went without masks.

https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-masks-cdc-guidelines-9d10c8b5f80a4ac720fa1df2a4fb93e5

China’s Mars Rover Mission Lands on the Red Plane

The United States now has company on Mars.

A Chinese spacecraft descended through the thin Martian atmosphere and landed safely on a large plain on Saturday morning, state media reported, accomplishing a feat that only two other nations have before.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/14/science/china-mars-rover-landing.html

‘Shocking and Horrifying’: Israel Destroys AP Office in Gaza

An Israeli airstrike on Saturday destroyed a high-rise building that housed The Associated Press office in the Gaza Strip, despite repeated urgent calls from the news agency to the military to halt the impending attack. AP called the strike “shocking and horrifying.”

https://apnews.com/article/media-israel-middle-east-business-israel-palestinian-conflict-fe452147166f55ba5a9d32e6ba8b53d7

Israel, Hamas Agree to Cease-Fire to End Bloody 11-Day War

Israel and Hamas agreed to a cease-fire Thursday, halting a bruising 11-day war that caused widespread destruction in the Gaza Strip, brought life in much of Israel to a standstill and left more than 200 people dead.

https://apnews.com/article/gaza-israel-middle-east-israel-palestinian-conflict-caac81bc36fe9be67ac2f7c27000c74b

Belarus Forces Airliner to Land and Arrests Opponent, Sparking U.S. and European Outrage

Belarusian authorities scrambled a fighter jet and flagged what turned out to be a false bomb alert to force a Ryanair plane to land on Sunday and then detained an opposition-minded journalist who was on board, drawing condemnation from Europe and the United States.

In what was described by some EU leaders as a hijacking, the passenger plane flying from Athens to Lithuania was suddenly diverted to Minsk, the capital of Belarus, escorted there by a Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jet. On its landing, authorities took journalist Roman Protasevich into custody.

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/belarus-forces-vilnius-bound-ryanair-plane-land-detain-blogger-2021-05-23/

Netanyahu Opponents Reach Coalition Deal to Oust Israeli PM

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s opponents announced Wednesday that they have reached a deal to form a new governing coalition, paving the way for the ouster of the longtime Israeli leader.

The dramatic announcement by opposition leader Yair Lapid and his main coalition partner, Naftali Bennett, came shortly before a midnight deadline and prevented what could have been Israel’s fifth consecutive election in just over two years.

https://apnews.com/article/middle-east-062e6baf13e774f30c4e697cb9f2d1f1

New Israeli Government Wins Majority Vote, Ending Netanyahu Tenure

Benjamin Netanyahu's 12-year run as Israel's prime minister ended on Sunday with parliament approving a new "government of change" led by nationalist Naftali Bennett.

Heading into opposition, Netanyahu, 71, the most dominant Israeli politician of his generation, pledged he would soon return to power.

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israels-knesset-vote-new-government-end-netanyahus-record-reign-2021-06-13/

Biden Signs Bill Making Juneteenth a Federal Holiday

President Joe Biden signed legislation Thursday establishing a new federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery, saying he believes it will go down as one of the greatest honors he has as president.

https://apnews.com/article/biden-juneteenth-federal-holiday-9bb62a3448376e05d87ac79cf27970d2

Iranian Hard-Liner Ebrahim Raisi Wins Presidential Vote

Iran’s ultraconservative judiciary chief, Ebrahim Raisi, has been elected president after a vote that many Iranians skipped, seeing it as rigged in his favor.

The Interior Ministry announced the final results on Saturday, saying Mr. Raisi had won with nearly 18 million of 28.9 million ballots cast in the voting a day earlier. Turnout was 48.8 percent — a significant decline from the last presidential election, in 2017.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/19/world/middleeast/iran-election-president-raisi.html

Many Feared Dead After Florida Beachfront Condo Collapses

A wing of a 12-story beachfront condo building collapsed with a roar in a town outside Miami early Thursday, killing at least one person and trapping residents in rubble and twisted metal. Rescuers pulled out dozens of survivors and continued to look for more.

Nearly 100 people were still unaccounted for at midday, authorities said, raising fears that the death toll could climb sharply. But officials did not know how many were in the tower when it fell around 1:30 a.m.

https://apnews.com/article/miami-building-collapses-25ee9ff94dd07d2a0ae3da742a6cb8dd

Bill Cosby Freed as Court Overturns His Sex Assault Conviction

Bill Cosby had his conviction for sexual assault overturned by a Pennsylvania appeals court on Wednesday and was freed from prison, a dramatic reversal in a case had represented the first high-profile sexual assault trial to unfold in the aftermath of the #MeToo movement.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/30/arts/television/bill-cosby-release-conviction.html

Donald Rumsfeld, Defense Secretary During Iraq War, Is Dead at 88

Donald H. Rumsfeld, the secretary of defense for Presidents Gerald R. Ford and George W. Bush, who presided over America’s Cold War strategies in the 1970s and, in the new world of terrorism decades later, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, died on Tuesday at his home in Taos, N.M. He was 88.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/30/us/politics/donald-rumsfeld-dead.html

Trump Organization Is Charged in 15-Year Tax Scheme

The Trump Organization, the real estate business that catapulted Donald J. Trump to tabloid fame, television riches and ultimately the White House, was charged Thursday with fraud and tax crimes in connection with what prosecutors said was a 15-year-long scheme to compensate a top executive off the books.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office, which has been conducting the investigation, also accused the executive, Allen H. Weisselberg, Mr. Trump’s long-serving and trusted chief financial officer, of avoiding taxes on $1.7 million in income. He faced grand larceny, tax fraud and other charges.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/01/nyregion/allen-weisselberg-charged-trump-organization.html

Official: Haiti President Jovenel Moïse Assassinated at Home

Gunmen assassinated Haitian President Jovenel Moïse and wounded his wife in their home early Wednesday, inflicting more chaos on the unstable Caribbean country that was already enduring an escalation of gang violence, anti-government protests and a recent surge in coronavirus infections.

https://apnews.com/article/haiti-president-jovenel-moise-killed-b56a0f8fec0832028bdc51e8d59c6af2

‘Overdue’: Biden Sets Aug. 31 for US Exit from Afghanistan

President Joe Biden said Thursday the U.S. military operation in Afghanistan will end on Aug. 31, delivering an impassioned argument for exiting the nearly 20-year war without sacrificing more American lives even as he bluntly acknowledged there will be no “mission accomplished” moment to celebrate.

https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-afghanistan-government-and-politics-86f939c746c7bc56bb9f11f095a95366

Hundreds Missing and at Least 69 Are Dead in Western Europe Flooding

Following a day of frantic rescue efforts and orders to evacuate towns rapidly filling with water unloosed by violent storms, the German authorities said late Thursday that after confirming dozens of deaths, they were unable to account for at least 1,300 other people.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/15/world/europe/flooding-germany-belgium-switzerland-netherlands.amp.html