“Oil prices edged up towards a seven-week high on Wednesday as markets assessed the outcome of U.S.-China trade talks, yet to be reviewed by U.S. President Donald Trump. Brent crude futures were up 9 cents, or 0.1%, to $66.96 a barrel at 0802 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was up 18 cents, or 0.3%, to $65.16. U.S. and Chinese officials agreed on a framework to put their trade truce back on track and resolve China’s export restrictions on rare earth minerals and magnets, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Tuesday at the conclusion of two days of intense negotiations in London. The two countries are the world’s largest economies and oil consumers.” (06/11/25)
“Iran on Wednesday [killed] a man convicted in the fatal shootings of seven people during a 2022 protest over the death of Mahsa Amini, though human rights activists say he was tortured into confessing to killings likely carried out by security services. The hanging of Abbas Kourkouri, also known as Mojahed Kourkouri, marks the first [state-ordered killing] in nearly a year for someone arrested in the protests surrounding the death of Amini, who had been detained by police allegedly over not wearing her hijab, or headscarf, to their liking. Her death sparked months of demonstrations. Even today, some women refuse to wear their headscarves in public, openly defying a hijab law instituted by the country’s theocracy. It’s unclear why authorities chose now to execute Kourkouri, 42, though tensions have been rising regionally over Iran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program, and the result of talks with the United States remains uncertain.” (06/11/25)
“At least two people were killed on Tuesday after a string of bomb explosions targeted police posts in the southwestern Colombian city of Cali, officials said. Spanish news agency EFE reported that at least 36 people were injured in the explosions. While it remains unclear who carried out the apparently coordinated attacks, guerrilla groups that split from the once-powerful FARC militia are known to be active in the area.” (06/10/25)
“US Democratic Congresswoman LaMonica McIver has been indicted for ‘forcibly impeding and interfering’ with federal law enforcement over a recent confrontation outside an immigration centre. A scuffle occurred during her visit to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) centre in Newark, New Jersey, on 9 May. … Ms McIver, who faces a maximum term of 17 years in prison, has called the charges a ‘brazen attempt at political intimidation’ and says she will plead not guilty. A federal grand jury in New Jersey brought the three-count indictment against Ms McIver on Tuesday. It replaces the two assault charges that she previously faced.” (06/11/25)
“A federal judge Wednesday told lawyers for a South Carolina inmate scheduled to [be killed by state employees] in two days that he doesn’t plan to stop the execution because they didn’t have evidence there were problems with the state’s lethal injection process. Federal judge Richard Gergel limited arguments in Stephen Stanko’s case to just lethal injection since that’s the method the condemned inmate chose for his death Friday evening. His lawyers had wanted to argue about the state’s most recent execution by firing squad, saying Stanko changed his mind about dying by bullets because of accounts about the firing squad death of Mikal Mahdi and autopsy results that showed the shooters nearly missed his heart. However, Gergel closed that door right at the start of the 50-minute hearing at the federal courthouse in Charleston. The state Supreme Court ruled against Stanko last month.” (06/11/25)
“The Gaza civil defence agency said 31 people were killed and ‘about 200’ wounded Wednesday when Israeli troops fired on people waiting to enter a food distribution centre. ‘We transported at least 31 martyrs and about 200 wounded as a result of Israeli tank and drone fire on thousands of citizens… on their way to receive food from the American aid centre,’ civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP. The Israeli military had no immediate comment.” (06/11/25)
“Brian Wilson, the legendary frontman and co-founder of the Beach Boys, has died at the age of 82, his family announced. ‘We are heartbroken to announce that our beloved father Brian Wilson has passed away,’ his family said in a statement shared online. ‘We are at a loss for words right now,’ they added. ‘Please respect our privacy at this time as our family grieving. We realize that we are sharing our grief with the world.'” (06/11/25)
“Los Angeles police have announced they are making mass [abductions] in the city’s downtown area, as people gathered in defiance of an overnight curfew imposed after days of protests against Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown and military deployment. Late on Tuesday night local time, the LAPD wrote on X that ‘multiple groups’ continued to congregate within the designated downtown curfew area. ‘Those groups are being addressed and mass [abductions] are being initiated,’ it said. The mayor, Karen Bass, had announced a 10-hour curfew for a 1 square mile area of downtown, where demonstrations against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) have continued. The curfew was to run from 8pm to 6am, Bass said.” (06/11/25)
“The U.S. Justice Department has filed a civil rights lawsuit against the proprietor of a Palestinian-owned coffee shop in Oakland. The lawsuit alleges the owner of Jerusalem Coffee House, Fathi Abdulrahim Harara, discriminated against Jewish customers on two occasions in the summer and fall of 2024. Filed on Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the suit accuses Harara and his company, Native Grounds, of violating Title II of the Civil Rights Act, which protects people from discrimination by private businesses on the basis of race, color, religion or national origin. … Last year, Harara allegedly twice confronted customers for wearing hats with the Star of David on them.” (06/11/25)
“The Sudanese army has accused the forces of eastern Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar of attacking Sudanese border posts, the first time it has accused its northwestern neighbour of direct involvement in the country’s civil war, now in its third year. The war between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), whom the military also accused of joint involvement in the recent attack, has drawn in multiple countries, while international attempts at bringing about peace have so far failed. Early in the war, Sudan had accused Haftar of supporting the RSF via weapons deliveries. It has long accused Haftar’s ally the United Arab Emirates of supporting the RSF as well, including via direct drone strikes last month. The UAE denies those allegations.” (06/10/25)
