10 things you need to know today: June 17, 2013

The Black Forest Fire burns behind a stand of trees on June 12, near Colorado Springs.

(Image credit: Chris Schneider/Getty Images)

last updated 8 January 2015

1. OBAMA ARRIVES AT G8 SUMMIT

President Obama arrives Monday in Northern Ireland for a two-day summit of the Group of Eight nations where Syria's civil war is expected to dominate his conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin. In their first face-to-face meeting in a year, Obama will try to persuade Putin to get his ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, to discuss a peace deal with rebels, but Putin has criticized the West in recent days for promising to send weapons to opposition forces. [Reuters]

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In the latest report based on leaks from Edward Snowden, Britain's The Guardian said Sunday that the U.K.'s counterpart to the American National Security Agency — the Government Communications Headquarters — electronically monitored foreign delegations at two 2009 G20 summit meetings in London. The Guardian says British intelligence agencies set up fake internet cafes and lured in delegates, recording their keystrokes and intercepting emails. [Guardian]

Colorado authorities have declared the 16,000 acres burned by the Black Forest fire to be a crime scene, as they suspect that someone started the massive wildfire intentionally. El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa says investigators are zeroing in on the point of origin. The fire, which began June 11, has been the most destructive in the state's history, destroying roughly 500 homes and killing two people who were apparently overcome as they loaded their car to evacuate. [Denver Post]

Blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng says officials at NYU are kicking him out of university housing under pressure from China's government. Chen was under house arrest, but escaped to the U.S. embassy in China last spring before traveling to New York. New York University officials say they had not been influenced by the Chinese government — they say they gave Chen and his family a one-year fellowship "to help them embrace the beginning of their new life," and the year is up. [New York Post, CNN]

China's foreign ministry announced Monday that it would hold talks with North Korea on Wednesday. The news came a day after North Korea made a surprise proposal on Sunday to hold "senior-level" discussions with the U.S. to ease tensions that mounted earlier this year over Pyongyang's long-range rocket launch and February nuclear test. U.S. officials are expected to discuss the offer in meetings in Washington this week with representatives from Japan and South Korea. [Associated Press]

Prince Philip, the 92-year-old husband of Britain's Queen Elizabeth, left a London hospital on Monday after an 11-day stay. The prince, also known as the Duke of Edinburgh, underwent exploratory surgery on his abdomen. No further information was released on his condition. Philip, the oldest living great-great-grandchild of Queen Victoria, is expected to spend two months convalescing, although he walked out of the hospital smiling and walking steadily. [Reuters]

Miss Connecticut — Erin Brady — won the Miss USA beauty pageant on Sunday. The 25-year-old accountant beat out contestants from every state and Washington, D.C., to take over the title held over the past year by Miss Maryland Nana Meriwether. Brady took the crown after answering a question about the U.S. Supreme Court's decision upholding widespread DNA tests. "There are so many crimes that if that's one step closer to stopping them," she said, "then we should be able to do so," she said. [Associated Press]

Justin Rose won the 113th United States Open on Sunday, becoming the first Englishman to capture the trophy at the storied golf tournament in 43 years. Phil Mickelson also made history, falling short of winning his first U.S. Open but finishing as runner-up for a record sixth time. Mickelson already held the record at five. Tiger Woods finished at 13 over par, his worst score at a major as a pro. [Golf.com]

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.

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