SUMMER 2015

June 26: Gunman Kills Dozens at Beach Resort in Tunisia

A gunman, identified as 23-year-old Seifeddine Rezgui, opens fire at the Port El Kantaoui resort, killing 38 tourists. It is the second attack on tourists in Tunisia in three months. In March, the attack at the National Bardo Museum in Tunis killed 22 people. The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for both attacks.

July 1: Cuba and U.S. Agree to Open Embassies

Cuba and the U.S. reach an agreement to open embassies in Washington D.C. and Havana. The U.S. Embassy in Havana is scheduled to open by the end of July. The reestablishment of embassies is another major step in rebuilding relations between the two countries.

July 20: Cuba's flag is raised outside its mission in Washington DC

Cuba's flag is raised outside its mission in Washington DC, officially re-opening it as an embassy and restoring full diplomatic relations between the two countries for the first time since 1961. In Havana, the U.S. mission is also restored to embassy status, but the American flag will not be raised until Secretary of State John Kerry visits next month.

August 14: American Flag Raised in Cuba

The U.S. flag is raised outside the newly reopened embassy in Havana during a ceremony in which Secretary of State John Kerry also speaks. The ceremony is another signal to an end of fifty years of strained relations between the U.S. and Cuba. During his televised speech, Kerry says, "We remain convinced the people of Cuba would be best served by a genuine democracy, where people are free to choose their leaders, express their ideas, practice their faith.”

June 29: Greece Misses Debt Payment

Greece misses a critical debt payment of 1.5 billion euros to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), increasing the country's financial crisis. Greece's international creditors refuse to extend the country's bailout program. The IMF places Greece in arrears, a classification used to avoid saying a country that doesn't pay its debt on time is in default. The missed payment creates alarm and chaos. Greece shuts down its banking system, ordering its banks to close for six days. Standard & Poor's releases a statement about Greece that said, "a commercial default is inevitable within the next six months."

Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras calls for a referendum where voters will decide whether or not to accept the terms of the country's creditors. Tsipras urges voters to choose "no," which is met with Pro-European protests in Athens. Tsipras writes a letter to the international creditors, which says that Greece will accept the bailout offered if many of the conditions are changed. However, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany dismisses Tsipras' letter, saying that the letter is too late and that there should be no more negotiations until Greece holds its referendum on July 5.

July 5: Greece Holds Referendum

In a referendum, 61% of voters back Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras call to vote "no" on the proposed budget cuts by creditors in return for loans that Greece needs. After the referendum, European leaders say that negotiations with Greece will resume. However, the chance of Greece staying in the euro looks slim.

July 6: Banks remain closed for a sixth working day

Also, the government continues to limit money transfers and ATM cash withdrawals to control the drain on deposits. Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, a contentious figure seen as an obstacle in further negotiations, resigns the day after the referendum. He is replaced by Euclid Tsakalotos, an economist who has been negotiating with Greece's creditors.

July 13: After a week of tense negotiations, Tsipras and eurozone leaders agree to a deal.

As part of the deal, Greece will receive a third bailout package worth about $95 billion as long as parliament quickly agrees to a series of reforms, including increasing taxes, cutting back on pensions and raising the retirement age, reforming the financial sector. The package does not include debt relief, but it temporarily calms fears of a "Grexit," or exit from the eurozone. Banks, which have been shuttered for about three weeks, open again on July 20.

August 19: Germany Backs Third Bailout for Greece The German Parliament votes on and approves a third bailout for Greece. Parliament's approval is seen as a victory for Chancellor Angela Merkel who supports the bailout. The $95 billion bailout still needs to be approved by other governments in Europe.

(Aug. 20): After being approved by Germany and otherEuropean governments, Greece receives $14.5 billion,the first payment of a new three-year bailout that is worth a total of $95.6 billion.

August 20: Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras Resigns

The latest bailout for Greece creates tension within Prime Minister Tsipras' Syriza party, prompting Tsipras to resign. On August 27 an interim government is formed with Judge Vassiliki Thanou-Christophilou taking over as prime minister until September 20, when an election will be held, Greece's third election in 2015. In assuming her temporary role, Thanou-Christophilou, also the country's most senior judge, becomes Greece's first ever female prime minister.

July 5: U.S. Beats Japan in Women's World Cup

In the 2015 Women's World Cup Final in Vancouver, British Columbia, the U.S. rout Japan, 5-2. It is a rematch of the 2011 final, which Japan won with penalty kicks. Carli Lloyd scores the first hat trick in Women's World Cup final history, scoring three goals in the first fifteen minutes of the game. Lloyd is awarded the Golden Ball for being the World Cup's most outstanding player. It's a record third World Cup for the U.S. women, having previously won in 1991 and 1999.

July 14: Iran Agrees to Historic Nuclear Deal

Iran and the group of six nations (the US, UK, France, China, Russia, and Germany) reach a historic agreement to limit Iran's ability to produce a nuclear weapon in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. "Today's announcement marks one more chapter in our pursuit of a safer, more helpful and more hopeful world," says U.S. President Barack Obama."Today is the end to acts of tyranny against our nation and the start of cooperation with the world," says President Hassan Rouhani. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calls the agreement a "historic mistake”.

July 14: New Horizons Spacecraft Reaches Pluto

The spacecraft New Horizons passes by Pluto, and comes within 7,800 miles of its surface, its closest flyby. The craft captures images of Pluto and sends them back to Earth. The mission measures the diameter of Pluto (1,472 miles), confirms the presence of nitrogen and methane ice at the polar region, and discovers that there are higher levels of nitrogen emitting from the atmosphere into space.

European Migrant crisis

• This year, the number of migrants reaching Europe has reached unprecedented levels.

• It is a crisis with roots in Africa, the Middle East and Asia, with many people heading from sub-Saharan Africa, Eritrea, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan to European shores.

Migrants crossing EU

• 219,000 in 2014• 300,000 in 2015, up to August

21 August 2015 - Germany says it will lift restrictions

Germany, like all other EU countries, is bound by the Dublin Regulation, which means that anyone seeking asylum in the EU has to lodge their application in the first EU country they enter.On 21 August, Germany suspended this for Syrians, making it easier for people from there to seek asylum. But the move led to confusion elsewhere in Europe.

1 September 2015 - Hungary blocks migrants from travelling

When police sealed off a railway station in Budapest to stop migrants travelling north to Germany, Hungary said it was following EU rules. As numbers built up in Budapest the station doors were reopened, but international rail services were suspended.Many decided to walk towards Austria in order to get out of Hungary.

2 September - The death of Alan Kurdi

Alan, 3, and his family left Turkey to try and reach the Greek island of Kos. Their boat overturned and Alan, his five-year-old brother Ghalib and his mother Rehanna, died, along with nine others.An image of Alan's body on a Turkish beach led to impassioned debates in the press and on social media, with many appealing for European states to take in more migrants.

5 September 2015 - Migrants arrive in Munich

To help ease the build-up of people in Hungary, Austria and Germany agreed to open their borders. Thousands headed for Munich, where they received a warm welcome at the station.The new arrivals are among 800,000 people expected to claim asylum in Germany this year, but Berlin has asked other EU countries to do more to share the burden.

August 12: Warehouse Explosions Kill Dozens in China

At a warehouse in the port city of Tianjin, China, multiple explosions kill at least 114 people. Another 70 people are missing, including 64 firefighters. Dozens of homes are damaged in the blast. The warehouse stores hazardous materials. Because of the explosion and the large amount of materials being stored, which is a violation of safety rules, a massive cleanup is underway in Tianjin.

August 16: Several Fires Rage in Western United States

Firefighters work to contain several fires throughout multiple western states, including Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Colorado, Montana, and California. The wildfires are moving rapidly due to wind, heat, and drought conditions. Thousands of people are evacuated from the region. Many people in Washington have lost power. Several homes and buildings are destroyed.

August 16: Plane Crash Kills Dozens in Indonesia

Trigana Air Service Flight TGN267, a commercial aircraft, disappears during bad weather and crashes in a remote part of eastern Indonesia. All 54 people on board are killed. It is Indonesia's third major aircraft crash in the last eight months. (Aug. 18): According to the National Transportation Safety committee, Indonesian rescue teams reach the crash site and recover all 54 bodies as well as the plane's black box.

August 17: Bangkok Blast Kills at Least 20

A bomb explodes inside Erawan Shrine, a popular site for tourists in Bangkok, Thailand. The blast kills at least 20 and injures more than 123 others. No one claims responsibility for the bombing. It is the worst explosion in a series of them since the military took power in May 2014.

Sept 9: Queen Elizabeth II is Britain's Longest-Reigning Monarch

She's surpassed her great-great grandmother Queen Victoria in her time on the throne. It's 63 years and counting for Queen Elizabeth in a reign that she has dedicated to duty and service.

The Queen has “done and said nothing that anybody will remember”

The historian David Starkey has claimed that Queen Elizabeth II, in contrast to Victoria, “will not give her name to her age. Or, I suspect, to anything else.”Writing in Radio Times, the historian said it was precisely because the Queen chose not to make her political views public that she had secured the monarchy for at least another generation and extinguished any threat of republicanism.The Queen has radically redefined the constitutional role of the monarchy, Dr Starkey argued. “To the monarch’s three existing political rights (to be consulted, to encourage and to warn) she has added a fourth: the duty to be silent and make no public comment. And not just on matters of direct political controversy, but on anything controversial at all.”