SOCCER: World Cup 2018 matchday 3 previews (Graphic DUE Jun 21, 17:00GMT)
Further details: See Index - Planning

FIFA World Cup 2018

Jun 27: Hayabusa2 approaches Ryugu asteroid

TOKYO -- Japan’s “Hayabusa2” asteroid exploration mission is set to arrive at asteroid Ryugu (formerly known as 1999 JU3) on June 27, after a five year flight.

Jun 23: OPEC meets amid Venezuela’s oil chaos

VIENNA -- OPEC and allies meet on Friday in Vienna to discuss whether to ease oil production quotas that Saudi Arabia wants to cut, as Venezuela faces crumbling output.

Battle of Yemen’s Hodeida airport

YEMEN -- Fears of a humanitarian crisis grew in Yemen’s strategic port city of Hodeidah after Saudi-led coalition forces seized the airport from Iranian backed Houthis.

U.S. withdraws from UN Human Rights Council

WASHINGTON -- The United States is leaving the United Nations’ Human Rights Council, which Ambassador Nikki Haley called “an organization that is not worthy of its name.”

Steps in U.S.-China trade conflict

WASHINGTON -- U.S. President Donald Trump escalated his trade conflict with China Monday, threatening to impose a 10 per cent tariff on $200 billion of Chinese goods.

U.S.-China trade war heats up

BEIJING -- The world’s two biggest economies are moving closer to an all-out trade war, with China raising import duties of 25 percent on $34 billion worth of U.S. goods.

Jun 24: Turkey set for tight election race

ANKARA -- Turkey votes on June 24 in both parliamentary and presidential elections with incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdogan well-placed to win a presidency with increased powers.

Jun 19: Wiki Leaks founder’s self-imposed incarceration

POLITICS -- Julian Assange, founder of whistleblowing website WikiLeaks, has been living inside the tiny Ecuadorian embassy in London for six years, unable to exit for fear of extradition to the U.S.

India on brink of worst-ever water crisis

ENVIRONMENT -- India is suffering from the worst water crisis in its history with 600 million people facing acute water shortage, a government think-tank says. The crisis is only going to get worse.

What the Greek-Macedonian name deal is about

ATHENS -- For 27 years, Greece and Macedonia have been bedevilled by one of the oddest disputes in international diplomacy -- what the smaller, younger country of 2.1 million should be called.

North Korea’s potential peace dividend

BUSINESS -- The Donald Trump-Kim Jong-un summit has raised hopes of a relaxation of sanctions on North Korea, allowing imports of much-needed fuel from South Korean refiners and exports of its rich mineral deposits.

“The Mastaba” art object by Christo

LONDON -- Artist Christo’s latest large scale work is an enormous 20-metre-high floating sculpture in London’s Hyde Park. Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Barrels and The Mastaba opens on June 18.

Pro-business Duque wins Colombian election

-- Conservative Ivan Duque has won Colombia’s presidential runoff pledging to change a landmark peace accord with FARC rebels which ended decades of conflict in the South American state.

French swimmer attempts Pacific crossing

CHOSHI -- French long distance swimmer Ben Lecomte is attempting to become the first person to swim across the Pacific Ocean. He has set off from Choshi, Japan, aiming to reach the U.S. west coast.

Jun 17-30: On this day in history

Transport and motoring

Military and conflicts

Aviation and aerospace

Science and technology

Rohingyas and Myanmar

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Jul 7-29: Tour de France, cycling’s blue riband

CYCLING -- The 2018 Tour de France starts in the Vendée region and ends three weeks later in Paris with the traditional circuits of the Champs Elysées. The race starts a week later than usual to avoid too much of an overlap with the FIFA World Cup in Russia.