ENVIRONMENT -- The Spring climbing season saw Mount Everest become even more overcrowded than any previous year since it was first conquered in 1953 by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.
2019 saw a record 891 climbers reach the summit, leading to dangerous congestion on the limited routes up to the world’s highest peak.
ENERGY -- U.S. President Donald Trump has again criticised Germany over its Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline deal with Russia, threatening to impose sanctions on the project he says will leave Berlin “captive” to Moscow.
MIDEAST -- Two oil tankers were hit, and their crews evacuated, in a suspected attack in the Gulf of Oman early on Thursday, causing oil prices to surge and raising the already heightened tensions in the Middle East.
CRIME -- Following his conviction for drug trafficking in February, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman is likely to spend the rest of his life at a U.S. maximum security jail when he is sentenced on June 25.
UK -- Former foreign secretary Boris Johnson won by far the most support from Conservative Party lawmakers in the first round of the contest to replace Theresa May as British prime minister.
CLIMATE CHANGE -- Britain is aiming to become the first G7 economy to reach “net zero” fossil-fuel pollution by 2050. The move comes after oil giant BP warned that global emissions rose by an “unsustainable” two percent in 2018.
ART -- “Salvator Mundi”, a painting controversially attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, whose whereabouts has been a mystery since it sold for a staggering $450m in 2017, is allegedly decorating a yacht in the Red Sea.
CHINA -- Steps by the Chinese and Hong Kong governments in recent years have raised fears among residents that the freedoms they enjoy in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory are being eroded.
IRAN -- The UN’s nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, says Iran is increasing its uranium enrichment activities, following through on a threat to ignore limits on stockpiling materials agreed to in a 2015 deal with world powers.
GAMING -- Nintendo showcased several franchise updates at the E3 Expo in Los Angeles, including for the first time, its Switch remake of “The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening” – originally released for the Game Boy in 1993.
SPACE -- On July 20, 1969, American astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first man to set foot on the Moon, declaring, as he stepped on to the lunar surface, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
HISTORY -- A half century ago the world experienced generation-defining events, the Moon landing, dawn of the information age, rising protest against the Vietnam War and an era of affordable air travel for millions of people.
MILITARY -- The United States will likely move forward with plans to expand its military presence in Poland, which could include more than 1,000 new troops and the permanent stationing of forces in the country.
EUROPE -- Luxury cruise vessels docking in European ports produce two to five times more cancer-causing gases than entire passenger car fleets in those cities, according to a report by Transport & Environment, a think tank.
ASIA -- India’s mobile-broadband subscriptions more than doubled from 218 million to 500 million between 2016 and 2018, driven by the world’s cheapest data costs and an insatiable appetite for digital services.
BUSINESS -- All but three of Africa’s 55 countries have signed up to the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), creating a single market that covers more than a billion people with a collective GDP of over $2 trillion.
EU -- The European Commission has ruled that Italy is breaching EU rules over its growing government debt, starting a process that could lead to financial sanctions. Italy’s debt grew to 132.2 percent of GDP in 2018, second only to bailed-out Greece.
MILITARY -- The U.S. plans to sell more than $2 billion worth of weapons to Taiwan, a move that has angered China and is likely to escalate the growing trade war between the world’s two biggest economies.
NOVOSIBIRSK -- Russia’s prototype stealth drone is due to make its maiden flight in July or August. The Sukhoi S-70 Okhotnik (Hunter) will be fully autonomous and follow a pre-programmed flight path, according to TASS.
BUSINESS -- China’s largest technology company, Huawei Technologies Co., is working on contingency plans, operating 24 hours a day, after U.S. President Trump put the telecom giant on a trade blacklist.
BREXIT -- The success of a potential UK post-Brexit free trade deal with the U.S. may be determined by Washington’s demands, as can be surmised from previous trade talks it has held with other would-be trade partners.
BREXIT -- Irish passport applications from Great Britain have more than doubled since the UK voted to leave the EU in 2016, soaring to more than 98,500 last year from 46,200 in the year before the Brexit referendum.
HEALTH -- More than 70,200 Americans died from drug overdoses in 2017, and almost 45,500 deaths involved opioids. Now the first opioid trial has kicked off against Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals.
MOVIES -- Movie theatre box office records for an animated feature are set to be smashed in June when Toy Story 4 is released -- Pixar’s latest blockbuster has already broken advance ticket sales records in the United States.
POLITICS -- Spain’s Supreme Court has halted the exhumation of the remains of former dictator General Francisco Franco. The issue has divided public opinion since the government announced the decision in March.
POLITICS -- The United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Theresa May is to step-down as Conservative Party leader on June 7, triggering a contest that will elect a new prime minister.
BUSINESS -- China’s powerful planning body has threatened to use rare earths exports as leverage in the trade war with the U.S., in a sign of increasing tensions between the two powers.
SPORT -- Barcelona star Lionel Messi earned $127m in salary and endorsements over the past 12 months, surpassing soccer rivals Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar, to top Forbes’ list of the world’s highest paid athletes.
SOCCER -- Reigning champions United States opened their World Cup campaign with a 13-0 demolition of Thailand, setting a new record for the biggest victory at the FIFA Women's World Cup.
F1 -- The French Grand Prix, the eighth race of the Formula One 2019 season, takes place at the Castellet circuit, where Lewis Hamilton claimed victory when France returned to the F1 calendar last year.
SOCCER -- Copa America 2019 is set to get under way on June 14 and it will run for three weeks until the final on July 7. Group games will finish on June 24 -- knockout fixtures are played from June 27.
MOTOGP -- Seventh round of the 2019 MotoGP season, Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
GOLF -- The 119th U.S. Open will be played at Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, California. The links-style course, celebrating its 100th birthday this year, is hosting the major for the sixth time.
CRICKET -- Ten teams are competing to be crowned World Champions at the ICC Cricket World Cup in England and Wales, with England, currently the top-ranked One Day International team, seeking their first World Cup title on home soil.
SOCCER -- The 15th CONCACAF Gold Cup will be hosted in the United States, with Costa Rica and Jamaica also hosting matches, and features 16 teams all battling to be crowned continental champions. Chicago’s Soldier Field stadium will host the final on July 7.
SOCCER -- Since the first FIFA Women’s World Cup in 1991, four different national teams have claimed the trophy. The Americans have their sights set on a record-extending fourth victory after vanquishing Japan in the 2015 final.
CYCLING -- The route of the 2019 Tour de France will feature 30 categorised climbs, five mountain finishes set to up encourage breakaways and attacks. The total race starts inBrussels on July 6 and ends in Paris on July 28.
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