Portal:Current events/2014 June 26

• 2014 Northern Iraq offensive
  • The Prime Minister of Iraq Nouri al-Maliki confirms that the Syrian Air Force bombed Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant positions in Iraq earlier in the week. (BBC News)
  • Insurgents capture the town of Mansouriyat al-Jabal, containing four natural gas fields, which is about 110km northeast of Baghdad. (Reuters)
  • Iraqi forces launch an airborne assault on rebel-held Tikrit with at least one helicopter crashing. (Reuters via The Nation)

• The Catholic Synod of Bishops releases the instrumentum laboris, or working document, for the upcoming 3rd extraordinary general assembly, taking place from October 5 to 19. (Catholic World News)

• Authorities in China's Xinjiang region sentence nine people for up to 14 years for terrorism offences. (Reuters)

• Jung Hong-won will stay on as the Prime Minister of South Korea despite resigning after the sinking of the MV Sewol as two nominations as replacements have fallen through. (AFP via The Australian)
• Germany starts easing immigration restrictions on Ukrainian Jews as a result of the crisis in Ukraine.(ABC News)

• 2014 FIFA World Cup
  • Uruguay's star striker Luis Suárez is expelled from the tournament, banned for nine international matches and suspended from all football-related activity for four months for biting Giorgio Chiellini of Italy in Tuesday's Group D match. The verdict, the most severe against any player in FIFA World Cup history, means Suárez will be unable to play or train for his club Liverpool until 27 October. (Press Association) (BBC Sport)
• 2014 NBA draft
  • In North American basketball, the National Basketball Association holds its annual draft in the Barclays Center in Brooklyn with the Cleveland Cavaliers selecting Canadian Andrew Wiggins as the first pick. (TIME)