
Argentina’s Diego Maradona has come out to defend Lionel Messi after the Barcelona attacker missed a penalty in his team’s draw against Iceland on Saturday. Speaking to Telesur, the 1986 World Champion said: ”I missed five penalties in a row and I was still Diego Armando Maradona.

Germany cancelled all media activities on Monday following their 1-0 defeat to Mexico in their 2018 World Cup opener on Sunday. The team trained behind closed doors while a news conference with former captain Philipp Lahm on Germany's bid for the 2024 European Championships was cancelled.

The auditing work of one of the world's Big Four accounting firms has been sharply criticized by the industry's watchdog. KPMG audits had shown an unacceptable deterioration and will be subject to closer supervision, the Financial Reporting Council said.

Hundreds of migrants were rescued by Spanish authorities in the Strait of Gibraltar in recent days, with authorities in Tarifa having to equip a municipal gym to accommodate them once on land. With reception centres increasingly under strain, Tarifa’s municipal authorities, working alongside the Guardia Civil, the police, the Red Cross and the Spanish maritime rescue service, have again stepped up to give the migrants shelter and ensure their basic needs are met.

Fears are deepening on the Irish border over a hard Brexit, researchers showed. Almost half of residents are against a technological solution to customs checks, according to a study of those living on both sides of the frontier by Queen’s University Belfast academics.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is releasing this Monday its new International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11). The ICD is the foundation for identifying health trends and statistics worldwide, and contains around 55 000 unique codes for injuries, diseases and causes of death. It provides a common language that allows health professionals to share health information across the globe.

Uruguay will be handed the rotating chair of Mercosur this Monday in a brief summit ceremony to take place in Paraguay. Attending will be Brazil's Michel Temer, Uruguay's Tabare Vázquez, the host Paraguay Horacio Cartes and in representation of Argentina, vice president Gabriela Michetti. President Mauricio Macri is in the midst of a cabinet reshuffle and waiting for market reaction this Monday following the naming of a new Central Bank chairman.

Global Times Editorial
The Trump administration announced tariffs on Chinese high-tech and industrial imports worth of US$50 billion. The first round, on imports totaling US$34 billion, will begin July 6, while the second round is still under review.

The following editorial on the current US/China trade war was published by the official news agency Xinhua,

Tributes have been paid to renowned physicist Prof Stephen Hawking in a Westminster Abbey memorial service. British actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who played Hawking in a BBC drama, and astronaut Tim Peake were among those giving readings at the ceremony.