Current Affairs in Short: 30 June 2022

Israel's parliament votes to dissolve itself 

• Israel's parliament voted on June 30, 2022 to dissolve itself, marking the end of one-year-old experimental coalition government.
• This means that Israel will be going to polls in November for the fifth time in less than four years.
• Israel's foreign minister Yair Lapid is expected to be country's caretaker Prime Minister, succeeding Naftali Bennet who stepped down from his post. Bennet is Israel's shortest-serving Prime Minister.

Russian forces withdraw from Ukraine's Snake Island

• Russia's Defense Ministry has said that it has withdrawn its forces from a Black Sea island near Ukraine's port of Odesa.
• The Russian Ministry said that it has pulled back its forces from the Zmiyinyy (Snake) Island on June 30th in what it described as a "goodwill gesture."
• The Ministry added that the pullout has demonstrated that "the Russian Federation wasn't hampering the United Nations' efforts to establish a humanitarian corridor for taking agricultural products from the territory of Ukraine."
• This comes after Ukraine and the West accused Russia of blocking Ukrainian ports to prevent the exports of grain, leading to a global food crisis. 

Chinese spacecraft acquires images covering all of Mars 

• China's Tianwen-1 spacecraft has acquired images covering all of Mars, including visuals of its south pole.
• The data has been acquired after the spacecraft circled the planet more than 1,300 times since early last year.
• The spacecraft reached Mars in February 2021 on the country's inaugural mission there. A robotic rover after its successful landing. 

Scientists discover viruses like norovirus spread through mice saliva 

• Scientists have discovered that a class of viruses known to cause severe diarrhoeal diseases can spread through the saliva of mice, after growing in their salivary glands.
• The discovery has been made by a team of scientists at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH).
• The study shows that a new route of transmission exists for these common viruses including norovirus that affect billions of people every year across the world.
• The transmission of these viruses through saliva suggests that coughing, talking, sneezing, sharing food and utensils have the potential for spreading the viruses.

Jasprit Bumrah to lead India against England in 5th Test?

• Jasprit Bumrah is expected to lead India in its rescheduled 5th test against England, becoming the first fast bowler to lead the Indian Test team in 35 years. 
• The news has come after regular captain Rohit Sharma tested positive for COVID-19 for the second time on June 29th and may have to miss the match, which is scheduled to begin on July 1st.
• Jasprit Bumrah is currently one of the vice-captains of the team and he may be asked to lead in the absence of KL Rahul, who is currently recovering from a surgery. The last fast bowler to lead India was Kapil Dev, India's first World Cup-winning captain. 

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