Portal:Current events/2020 June 17

• Kurdish–Turkish conflict (2015–present)
  • The Turkish Army launches a joint air-land external operation Claw-Eagle and Claw-Tiger into Northern Iraq against Kurdish insurgents. (The Guardian)
• Kashmir conflict, India–Pakistan relations
  • Four civilians are killed following Indian bombardment of territory in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, according to Pakistani officials. (Al Jazeera)

• Actions against memorials in the United Kingdom during the George Floyd protests, Rhodes Must Fall
  • The Oriel College governing body votes to remove a 109-year-old statue of Cecil Rhodes from the college grounds amid anti-racism protests. Campaigners say the statue is a symbol of racism and British imperialism. (BBC News)

• COVID-19 pandemic in Kazakhstan, Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
  • Kazakhstan's sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna announces that plans to sell shares in the state-run oil and gas company KazMunayGaz abroad will be delayed from this year to 2022 due to the pandemic. (Reuters)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    • Johns Hopkins University says that the death toll due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States has surpassed the number of American casualties during World War I. (CTV News)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Honduras
    • President Juan Orlando Hernández is hospitalized for COVID-19 and is being treated for pneumonia. Although receiving medicine via an intravenous drip, the president is claimed to be generally in good health, according to a spokesman for the Health Ministry. (Reuters)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil
    • Paulinho Paiakan, leader of the indigenous Kayapo tribe, dies after being hospitalized with COVID-19 in Redenção, Brazil. (France24)

• North Korea–South Korea relations
  • North Korea rejects South Korea's offer to send special envoys to defuse the current tensions on the peninsula, after having destroyed the Inter-Korean Liaison Office, and says the Korean People's Army will re-enter the demilitarized Kaesong and Mount Kumgang areas. (Yonhap) (Reuters)
• China–Japan relations
  • Japan says it will keep a close watch over the disputed Senkaku Islands after Chinese ships are seen near the islands for 65 days in a row. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga says that Japan has protested to China over the issue and that it would respond "calmly and firmly". (Reuters)
• Syria–United States relations
  • U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announces "toughest sanctions" on Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and his wife Asma in an effort to end the decade-long civil war in the country. (Reuters)
• 2020 United Nations Security Council election
  • Norway and Ireland win seats in the United Nations Security Council, joining new members India and Mexico. Canada, which was considered a favorite, and had strongly campaigned for a seat for four years on the council, fails to get enough votes. Canadian Foreign Minister François-Philippe Champagne says he is proud of the campaign but declines to comment on the reasons for their loss. (AP)

• Papua conflict, 2019 Papua protests
  • A court in Indonesia sentences Chairman of the National Committee for West Papua Buchtar Tabuni and six others to 11 months in prison for treason. The seven men were charged after they joined anti-racism protests that swept across two provinces in Western New Guinea last August. (Al Jazeera)
• Killing of Rayshard Brooks
  • Former Atlanta Police officer Garrett Rolfe is charged with murder and 10 other crimes in the death of Rayshard Brooks. Brooks was shot twice in the back after he fled from an attempted DUI arrest and stole another officer's taser. This officer, Devin Brosnan, has been charged with aggravated assault and two other crimes in the case. (NPR)

• The Supreme Council of Kyrgyzstan confirms former first deputy prime minister Kubatbek Boronov as the new prime minister. (Reuters)
• Vanuatu's opposition leader Ralph Regenvanu says he is taking the decision to suspend his party from parliament to the Supreme Court, saying the decision was an "outrage". (RNZ)
• Cook Islands Prime Minister Henry Puna says he is stepping down in September after nearly a decade in power. His deputy and Finance Minister Mark Brown will take over. (RNZ)

• The Indian Department of Telecommunications bars the state-run telecommunication company Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited from upgrading its 4G network with Chinese equipment, as tensions between India and China mount over the recent border skirmishes. (NDTV)