World roundup: June 4 2025

Stories from Syria, India, Russia, and elsewhere

TODAY IN HISTORY

June 4, 1615: The army of the Tokugawa Shogunate captures Osaka, ending a siege that had begun the previous month. This was the second Tokugawa siege of Osaka in less than a year—the initial siege, which lasted from November 1614 to January 1615, had ended with a peace agreement that quickly collapsed. With its capture of Osaka, the Tokugawa clan was able to force the disbanding of the Toyotomi clan, the last serious obstacle to full Tokugawa control over Japan.

Japanese artist Utagawa Yoshitora’s 1868 The Fall of Osaka Castle (Wikimedia Commons)

June 4, 1989: Chinese soldiers charged with enforcing a declaration of martial law enter Beijing’s Tiananmen Square overnight, beginning a violent dispersal of protesters that left many people dead. The square had been the site of large student-led protests since mid-April, motivated by a wide array of issues but chiefly concerned with economic challenges, demands for political reform, and calls for a government anti-corruption campaign. The military action and ensuing bloodshed broke up the demonstrations. Official figures put the June 3-4 death toll at 241, 218 of them civilians, while various unofficial claims have put it at 300-1000 and above.

INTERNATIONAL

The United Nations General Assembly elected five new Security Council members for the 2026-2027 term on Tuesday: Bahrain from the Asia-Pacific region, Colombia from the Latin America/Caribbean region, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Liberia from Africa, and Latvia from Eastern Europe. When they take their seats in January they’ll be replacing Algeria, Guyana, South Korea, Sierra Leone and Slovenia.

MIDDLE EAST

SYRIA

The Israeli military (IDF) attacked targets in southern Syria on Tuesday after someone launched a couple of projectiles from that region into Israel earlier in the day. The identity of that “someone” is unknown, though while the Syrian government has been at pains to disavow any involvement Israeli officials appear to be holding it responsible regardless of the perpetrator. The projectiles fired into Israel caused neither damage nor casualties, but according to the Syrian Foreign Ministry the IDF retaliation caused “significant human and material losses.” I haven’t seen any detail beyond that.