Portal:Current events/2014 July 1

• 2014 pro-Russian conflict in Ukraine
  • The President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko states that the Ukraine government's forces will resume offensive operations against pro-Russian rebels. (Reuters)
• Gaza-Israel conflict
  • Israel's military hits 34 targets across the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip in response to the more than 20 rockets that were fired into Israel from Gaza since Sunday. One Palestinian man is killed after throwing a grenade at security forces in the raids. (AP)
• Islamist insurgency in Nigeria
  • A car bomb explodes in a market in the northeast Nigerian town of Maiduguri, the birthplace of Boko Haram, with dozens feared dead. (AP via SFGate)

• The United States imposes a record $9 billion fine on BNP Paribas for helping clients bypass sanctions against Cuba, Iran, and Sudan. The bank is also barred from certain US dollar dominated transactions for one year. (Reuters)

• Malaysia states that it will extradite a junior military official who returned home after being charged with sexual assault at its diplomatic mission in New Zealand. (AP via Netscape)

• Former President of France Nicolas Sarkozy is held for questioning over alleged corruption. (BBC News)
• A Ku Klux Klan flag is erected in the east of Belfast, Northern Ireland, sparking outrage amid a recent surge in racist attacks in the city. (The Guardian)

• The German Social Democrat Martin Schulz is reelected President of the European Parliament for another two and a half years. (Deutsche Welle)
• The Council of Representatives of Iraq is due to meet for the first time since recent elections to try and counter the surge made by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. However, the meeting is delayed due to a lack of quorum. (CNN)
• The Cabinet of Japan lifts a ban on the Japan Self-Defense Forces fighting overseas. The move is aimed towards defending allied countries. (Australia Network News)

• In cricket, former New Zealand player Lou Vincent is banned for life for match fixing. (ABC News Australia with AAP)