1) Germany passes `no means no` rape law.
- Germany passed a "no means no" rape law, making any form of non-consensual sex punishable and helping authorities deport migrants and refugees who commit sex crimes.
- Under the new law, any case where sexual contact is forced on a victim who withholds consent will now be punishable as a crime. Previously, only cases where a victim physically resisted were punishable under German law.
- According to Justice Ministry figures, only one in 10 rapes in Germany is reported and just 8 per cent of rape trials result in a conviction.
- The new law includes a controversial measure making it easier to deport foreign nationals convicted of rape or sexual assault.
2) EU declares Spain, Portugal in violation of deficit rules.
- The European Commission officially declared Spain and Portugal in violation of the EU rules on government overspending, the first step towards unprecedented penalties against members of the 28-country bloc.
- Spain and Portugal didn’t take sufficient measures to bring their 2015 budget deficits within European Union limits, triggering a process which could eventually lead to financial sanctions.
- Portugal has sharply cut its budget deficit from close to 10% of GDP in 2010 to 4.4% last year, but that still exceeded the bloc’s limit.
- Spain has struggled to meet its budget deficit targets over the past few years despite robust economic growth. With the economy expanding 3.2%, Spain reported a budget gap of 5.1% of GDPIN 2015. The commission had set a target of 4.2%.
3) Heavy Flooding in China.
- Water levels are starting to recede in central and eastern China following a week of heavy downpours that broke levees, flooded cities and villages, halted public transportation, and left at least 181 people dead or missing.
- The National Ministry of Civil Affairs announced 181 people were reported missing or dead.
- Torrential rain has left the football stadium in Ezhou, China, looking more like a giant swimming pool.
4) Super typhoon Nepartak causes devastation across Taiwan`s coastline.
- Super typhoon Nepartak slammed into the east coast of Taiwan overturning cars, forcing thousands from their homes and leaving a trail of destruction in its wake with winds of up to 234km/h.
- Thousands of tourists have been evacuated from offshore islands ahead of category five Typhoon Nepartak.
5) India sets up apparel training centre in Kaduna, Nigeria.
- Apparel Training Centre has been established in Kaduna, Nigeria under the Cotton Technical Assistance Programme (Cotton TAP) for Africa which is being implemented by Department of Commerce, Government of India under 2nd India Africa Forum Summit.
- First of its kind centre in Nigeria set up in partnership with Government of Nigeria.
- It aims to support and catalyze the initiative of Nigeria in realising the objectives to rebuild the cotton and textile value chain.
6) Gambia and Tanzania outlaw child marriage.
- The Gambia and Tanzania have banned child marriage, with tough penalties for those who breach the rulings.
- Gambia`s President Yayha Jammeh announced that anyone marrying a girl below 18 would be jailed for up to 20 years.
- In Tanzania, the high court imposed a landmark ruling outlawing marriage under the age of 18 for boys and girls.
- Some 30% of underage girls are married in The Gambia, while in Tanzania the rate is 37%.
7) Paris to get first floating hotel on the River Seine.
- France’s first floating hotel has opened in Paris, giving visitors a chance to enjoy a riviera lifestyle in the heart of the capital.
- OFF Paris Seine, which is docked on the River Seine in Paris.
- The 58 room hotel is now the largest boat moored in the city, between the Austerlitz viaduct and Charles de Gaulle Bridge.
8) Asia`s longest single cave, double track tunnel completed.
- China has completed Asia’s longest 16 km single tunnel with double tracks for high-speed trains in the country’s northwest Shaanxi province.
- The tunnel, the longest of its kind in Asia, cuts through the Qinling Mountains.
- It is part of a high-speed rail line that links Xi’an, the provincial capital and Chengdu in China’s southwest Sichuan province.
- The 643 km line, with a designed speed of 250 km per hour, will slash the travel time between the two cities from 16 hours to just three hours.
9) US introduces Bill to bar Indian companies from hiring on H-1B visas.
- Two US lawmakers has introduced in the House of Representatives a legislation, which if passed by the Congress would prevent Indian companies from hiring IT professionals on H-1B and L1 work visas.
- New bill proposes to bar companies that have over 50 employees and fifty percent of them on H1-B, L1 visas, from hiring more and encourage recruitment of American workers.
- The bill will encourage companies to recruit American workers.
- The bill, if passed into law, will also provide more authority to the Departments of Homeland Security and Labour to investigate fraud and abuse in the H-1B and L-1 programs.
10) China launches drive to eradicate violence against hospital staff.
- China is started a year-long campaign to stamp out persistent violence in its overcrowded hospitals by angry patients targeting medical staff.
- Many people in China have long faced issues from ticket touts illegally trading appointment tickets and rampant corruption that can push up the cost of receiving care.
- Since 2013, campaigns to discourage abuse of hospital personnel have reined in much of the violence, but as many as 71,000 instances of conflict have still required mediation by authorities.
- Low salaries for doctors feed corruption and people`s suspicions that staff are keener to earn money by prescribing unnecessary drugs and treatment than tending the sick.
11) England to host Farnborough Airshow.
- Farnborough International Airshow 2016 will be held from July 11 - 17 in the small town of Farnborough, southwest of London.
- The biennial aviation event will showcase 99 types of aircrafts and witness acrobatic performances by fighter jets.
- It`s an event that regularly sees a torrent of corporate deals, and has played a key role as a marketplace for Britain`s aerospace and defence firms.
About Farnborough:
- Farnborough a small town in southern England; the birthplace of aviation in the UK and home for almost 70 years of arguably the world`s most important air show.
12) Putin signs `Big Brother` law.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the controversial ``anti-terrorist`` legislation adopted by the lower and upper houses of parliament.
- The law boosts the government’s surveillance powers for the security services by requiring communication providers to store users` calls, messages, photographs and videos for six months, as well as metadata for up to three years.
13) Bosnia gets travelling `War Childhood Museum`.
- A new museum is documenting the experiences of children during the 1990s Bosnian war by asking people to contribute personal belongings from their childhood.
- Bosnians whose childhood was affected by the 1992-1995 ethnic war have donated cherished personal items from the era to the War Childhood Museum, a touring exhibition aimed at warning others about the dangers of conflict.
- The travelling museum features over 2,800 exhibits, including toys, letters, photographs, diaries and humanitarian food packaging.
14) Magnitude 6.4 quake strikes Ecuador`s northwest coast.
A strong 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck northern Ecuador in the same area devastated by a powerful quake in mid-April.
The quake was centred near the town of Esmeraldas, northwest of the capital, Quito, at a depth of about 35 km.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center did not issue a tsunami warning immediately after the quake.
The coastal region has been hit by a series of quakes since the April 7. 8 tremors that killed more than 650 people, the nation’s strongest quake in decades.
15) Bangladesh govt bans Zakir Naik’s Peace TV.
- Bangladesh’s Ministry of Information issued a circular cancelling the downlink permission to the controversial Islamic televangelist Zakir Naik’s Peace TV.
- The decision to ban the Mumbai-based preacher’s `Peace TV Bangla` was taken during a special meeting of Cabinet Committee on Law and Order
- The government decision follows wide allegations that the speeches, sermons and explanation of Islam by Dr. Naik were “inspiring acts of terrorism” and radicalising youths.
- Naik’s speeches are believed to have inspired some of the Bangladeshi militants, who killed 22 people, mostly foreigners, at an upscale restaurant in Dhaka.
16 China Navy Conducts Combat Drill in the South China Sea.
- The Chinese navy conducted combat drills near its southern island province of Hainan and the Paracel islands in the South China Sea.
- The drills come ahead of a ruling by the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration on a case brought by the Philippines disputing several of China‘s territory claims in the South China Sea.
- China claims nearly all the South China Sea, but its claims overlap in part with those of Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.
17) Israel passes law to force NGOs to reveal foreign funding.
Israel’s parliament has passed a law that will force human rights groups that receive more than half their funding from abroad including from European governments to disclose it prominently in official reports.
The law requires organisations to state that they rely on foreign funding in all communication with public officials and on TV, newspapers, billboards and online.
Representatives of these groups must also declare they depend on foreign contributions to the heads of parliamentary committees when participating in meetings. Failure to comply will result in fines.
The law will compel the relevant groups to report their main source of income to the NGO registrar, publish it on their website and state it in relevant publications.
18) Hague Tribunal Rejects Beijing`s Claims in South China Sea.
- The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) has rejected China’s claims to economic rights across South China Sea.
- Court attributed that there was no legal basis for China to claim historic rights over the waters of the South China Sea and that it had breached the Philippines` sovereign rights with its actions.
- The ruling came from an arbitration tribunal under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea which both China and Philippines have signed. The ruling is binding but the tribunal has no powers for enforcement.
19) Zika health emergency declared across half of Peru.
- Zika health emergency declared across the northern half of Peru after confirming that 102 people have been infected with the virus.
- 90-day emergency was announced and local authorities were working to prevent the spread of the disease, which is principally transmitted by mosquitos.
- Zika is seen as a cause of microcephaly abnormally small heads and brains in babies.
- Capital Lima has been included in the emergency area – even though most outbreaks were detected in the northern Jaen province, near the Ecuador border. The city has been included because of its large population.
About Peru:
Capital: Lima
Currency: Peruvian nuevo sol
President: Ollanta Humala
Prime Minister: Pedro Cateriano
20) Army Chief extends invitation to Australian special forces to train with India.
- Gen Dalbir Singh, the Chief of Army Staff of India is on a five day visit to Australia.
- During the Goodwill visit, the Australian Army showcased some of its best facilities and institutions.
- The Army Chief has also extended invitation to the Australian Army to participate in the inaugural Joint Special Forces Training Exercise being planned in India in Oct 2016.
21) Vice President Ansari on a two-day visit to Mongolia to attend 11th Asia-Europe Meeting.
- Vice-President Mohammad Hamid Ansari leave for Mongolia to lead the Indian delegation at the 11th Asia -Europe Meeting (ASEM) which is being held at Ulaan Baatar.
- The theme for the Summit is ``20 Years of ASEM: Partnership for the Future through Connectivity``.
- At the Summit, India’s efforts would be inclined towards more successful outcomes and the building of a resilient and multidimensional web of interconnectivity between the two continents – Asia and Europe.
22) Operation `Sankat Mochan` launched to evacuate Indian citizens from South Sudan.
- The Union Government has started the operation `Sankat Mochan` to evacuate Indian citizens stranded in South Sudan’s capital Juba. Sankat Mochan in Hindi means reliever from troubles.
- The operation is being undertaken by Indian Air Force (IAF) and will be headed by Union Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs General (Retd.) V.K. Singh.
- The Indian Ambassador in South Sudan Srikumar Menon and his team is organising this operation on the ground.
- Two heavy-lift C-17 military transport aircrafts have been deployed by UIAF in service to make the evacuation.
23) WHO declares India as Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus free.
- World Health Organisation (WHO) has officially declared India as Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus free country, i.e. mothers and newborns are free from tetanus at the time of birth.
- It was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi after inaugurating the Call to Action Summit 2015 on reducing child and maternal deaths across the world in New Delhi.
- WHO also certified India yaws-free after a team of experts verified interruption of disease transmission in the country.
- Tetanus is an infection caused by the bacterium Clostridium tetani. It can occur whenever there is an open wound in the body.
- In case of MNF, a new-born or the child delivering mother can be infected with MNT due to unhygienic birthing practices such as the use of unsterilized instruments or contaminated dressings and non-institutional deliveries.