Monday

Finance:

• On June 27, 2025, Ripple Labs officially announced it would drop its cross-appeal in its long-running legal battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), marking the definitive end of the case. This followed the SEC’s earlier decision on March 19, 2025 to withdraw its own appeal of the 2023 court ruling that declared XRP is not a security when traded on public exchanges. As part of the final settlement, Ripple agreed to pay a reduced civil penalty of $50 million, down from the original $125 million. The resolution eliminates a major regulatory uncertainty for XRP, significantly strengthening its legal standing and opening the door to broader institutional adoption, mainstream exchange listings, and the potential launch of XRP-based financial products like ETFs.

• Just one day prior, on June 26, 2025, a platform called SunnyMining announced the launch of an AI-powered cloud mining program that allows users to earn daily returns by mining cryptocurrencies including XRP, BTC, and DOGE. Although the timing appeared to capitalize on Ripple’s legal breakthrough, SunnyMining’s announcement lacked transparency—offering no verifiable metrics, strategic partnerships, or funding disclosures.

Military Activity:

• On June 29, 2025, Russia launched a massive air assault on Ukraine, deploying 477 drones and 60 missiles, including 41 Kh-101 cruise missiles, from bases in Kursk, Shatalovo, Oryol, Bryansk, Millerovo, and Crimea. Ukraine’s Air Force reported this as the largest combined drone and missile strike since the war began, targeting regions including Lviv, Zaporizhzhia, Cherkasy, Mykolaiv, Kremenchuk, Ivano-Frankivsk, Poltava, and Shakhtars’k in Dnipropetrovsk. 

• Specific strikes involved eight Kh-101 missiles near Drohobych, three near Kremenchuk, three Onyx missiles on Mykolaiv City, five Kinzhal ballistic missiles on Kremenchuk, and one Iskander-M missile on Shakhtars’k. Ukrainian defenses downed 211 drones and 33 cruise missiles, achieving a 22.9% missile interception rate, with others jammed or lost. The attack damaged civilian infrastructure and injured six people, including a child, in Cherkasy.

Social:

• Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, and his fiancée, Lauren Sánchez, held their wedding celebrations in Venice, Italy, from June 26-28, 2025. This multi-day event, reportedly costing between $47 million and $56 million, generated significant public attention. While city officials emphasized the potential economic and reputational benefits for Venice, the festivities also coincided with protests by groups like "No Space for Bezos," who voiced concerns about wealth inequality and the broader impact of large-scale private events on Venice's public spaces and local residents. Despite these public expressions of concern, the celebrations proceeded with guests arriving via private jets and boats, and security measures were in place. Bezos also reportedly made donations to Venetian environmental research organizations.

Environment:

• On June 29, 2025, heavy rainfall triggered severe flooding at Ayub Teaching Hospital in Abbottabad, Pakistan, forcing hospital staff to relocate patients to the roadside as water overwhelmed the facility. News reports indicated that floodwaters inundated the hospital’s corridors and wards, disrupting operations at this 1,460-bed tertiary care center, a critical healthcare provider for northern Pakistan. The flooding was part of widespread flash floods across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with The Guardian and 24 News HD reporting at least 32 deaths due to rain-related incidents in the region. This event highlighted the hospital’s vulnerability to extreme weather, a challenge compounded by the intense monsoon season affecting the area.

• The incident underscored broader infrastructure challenges in Pakistan’s healthcare system during severe weather events. A Dawn News report from June 27, 2025, had noted rising water levels in Abbottabad’s rivers and canals, signaling heightened flood risks.

Space:

• On Saturday, June 28, 2025, the first space launch of the day was SpaceX’s Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket, carrying the Starlink Group 10-34 mission from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. The payload consisted of a batch of Starlink satellites deployed into low Earth orbit (LEO) to support SpaceX’s global broadband internet constellation, aimed at providing high-speed connectivity worldwide. The Falcon 9, a two-stage rocket with a reusable first stage, is designed to deliver payloads efficiently, with the booster typically landing on a droneship for reuse. Later that morning, Rocket Lab launched its Electron rocket from Launch Complex 1B (LC-1B) at Māhia Peninsula, New Zealand, for the “Symphony in the Stars” mission. The payload was a single communications satellite, likely EchoStar’s Lyra Block-1, placed into a 650 km sun-synchronous orbit to enable Internet-of-Things (IoT) connectivity. The Electron rocket is a small-lift vehicle optimized for precise orbital placements, catering to commercial clients.

• The afternoon of June 28 saw two additional orbital launches. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) launched the H-IIA F50 rocket from Launch Area Y1 (LA-Y1) at Tanegashima Space Center, Japan, deploying the GOSAT-GW (Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite - Global Water) for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). This satellite, orbiting at 666 km in a sun-synchronous orbit, is equipped to monitor greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4, NO2) and water cycles, providing data for climate and environmental research. The launch marked the final flight of the H-IIA rocket, concluding its operational history as Japan transitions to newer launch vehicles. On the same day, SpaceX conducted its second launch of the day, deploying Starlink Group 15-7 via another Falcon 9 Block 5 from Vandenberg’s SLC-4E. This mission delivered 26 Starlink satellites into LEO to enhance the constellation’s global internet coverage, with the reusable first stage designed to land on a droneship, aligning with SpaceX’s standard operations.

• On Sunday, June 29, 2025, Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket launched the NS-33 mission from Launch Site One in West Texas. The suborbital flight carried six passengers—Allie Kuehner, Carl Kuehner, Leland Larson, Freddie Rescigno, Jr., Owolabi Salis, and James Sitkin—who experienced several minutes of weightlessness after crossing the Kármán line at approximately 100 km altitude. The New Shepard, a reusable vehicle with a booster and crew capsule, is built for space tourism and scientific experiments, with the booster landing vertically and the capsule returning via parachute. This mission, Blue Origin’s 13th crewed flight and fifth New Shepard launch of 2025, provided passengers with a view of Earth and a brief microgravity experience, contributing to the expansion of commercial space tourism.

Sports:

• From June 27 to 29, 2025, a range of major international sports events unfolded. In Formula 1, the Austrian Grand Prix concluded with Lando Norris taking the win for McLaren, followed by teammate Oscar Piastri in second, marking a one-two finish for the team. Max Verstappen retired on the opening lap after contact with Kimi Antonelli, ending a streak of 31 consecutive points finishes. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton finished third and fourth, respectively, as teams continue to shift momentum in the championship standings.

• UFC 317, held in Las Vegas during International Fight Week, featured two title fights. Ilia Topuria defeated Charles Oliveira by first-round knockout to win the vacant lightweight title, extending his professional record to 17–0. In the co-main event, Alexandre Pantoja submitted Kai Kara-France in the third round to retain his flyweight championship. Both results added clarity to the title picture in their respective divisions.

• In golf, LIV Golf Dallas ended with Patrick Reed winning a four-man playoff to secure his first individual title in the league. Crushers GC, led by Bryson DeChambeau, earned their third straight team victory.

• In darts, the bet365 US Darts Masters concluded with Luke Humphries defeating Nathan Aspinall 8–6 at Madison Square Garden, claiming his second World Series of Darts title in front of a large U.S. audience.
• The 2025 NHL Draft, held June 27–28 in Los Angeles, featured the New York Islanders selecting defenseman Matthew Schaefer first overall. The San Jose Sharks picked forward Michael Misa second, and the Chicago Blackhawks selected Swedish center Anton Frondell third.

• The first round included top prospects from several countries, including Canada, Sweden, the United States, Russia, and the Czech Republic. As Wimbledon begins on June 30, these events mark the start of a busy summer in international sports.

Thanks for reading!