Armed conflicts and attacks
Arts and culture
Business and economy
International relations
Law and crime
Twelve defendants involved in the Chinese slave scandal are charged for illegal detention and murder . (Xinhua)
Ayman al-Zawahri , the second in charge of Al Qaeda , issues a video calling for further jihad and calling for the overthrow of "corrupt" Governments in the Middle East . (Reuters) A landslide buries a bus carrying at least 40 people in mountains near Tehuacán in the Mexican state of Puebla . (New York Times)
Investigators find a suicide note from the two men accused of involvement in the 2007 Glasgow International Airport attack . (CNN)
Fretilin wins more votes than any other party in the East Timorese election with 29 per cent of the vote but has to form a coalition with other parties to form a government. (AP via the Washington Post) A power blackout hits eastern Georgia , leaving 2.5m people without electricity and briefly stranding a thousand on the Tbilisi Metro . (BBC)
The terror threat level in the United Kingdom is reduced from critical to severe. (The Guardian)
The 9th summit of the Assembly of the African Union , which lasted for 3 days, ends in Accra , Ghana . (BBC) (Ghana Home Page)
Over 700 students surrender at a mosque in Islamabad after being surrounded by Pakistani security forces. (BBC)
Japan 's first female Minister of Defense , Yuriko Koike , is sworn in a day after the resignation of her predecessor, Fumio Kyuma . (Marketwatch) The International Olympic Committee elects Sochi as the host city for the 2014 Winter Olympics during its session in Guatemala City . (IOC)
A tornado kills 14 people and injures at least 146 near Tianchang , Anhui Province , in eastern China . (Reuters)
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem says the government is open to peace negotiations with Israel without preconditions. (The Peninsula) BBC reporter Alan Johnston , held captive in Gaza for nearly four months, is released. (Reuters) (BBC) War in Afghanistan : Six Canadian soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb in the Panjwaii district. (CTV) Archived 2007-11-15 at the Wayback Machine
Scientists announce the discovery of a new species of cephalopod , dubbed 'octosquid ', found off the coast of Hawaii . (Star Bulletin)
A gunman opens fire at the New York-New York Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada , wounding three before being captured. (Los Angeles Times)
The Nigerian kidnappers of three-year-old British toddler Margaret Hill threaten to kill her, unless her father, Port Harcourt bar owner Mike Hill, takes her place. (Middle East Times)
A 6.1 magnitude earthquake hits the southern state of Chiapas in Mexico . (Reuters)
Bahrain will no longer participate in the Arab League boycott of Israel . (GulfNews) A Belgian court sentences former Rwandan army major Bernard Ntuyahaga to twenty years in jail for the murder of 10 Belgian Army peacekeepers and an undetermined number of civilians in the Rwandan genocide . (Reuters via CNN)
The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions votes to strike for higher wages as inflation in Zimbabwe rises above 10,000%. (allAfrica)
Nine people are killed at Culiacán International Airport in the Mexican state of Sinaloa as a cargo aircraft fails to take off and careens across a roadway, hitting several vehicles and business premises. (BBC News)
An armed man holds several people hostage at a bank in the Montreal suburb of Longueuil . The situation is resolved without injury. (CTV)
Two die and seven are seriously injured when a small plane crashes after missing the runway at Aerfort na Minna , in County Galway , Ireland . (RTÉ)
12 boats capsize during a junior regatta in Dún Laoghaire , Ireland, on the Irish Sea , with 120 children swept out to sea. All have been rescued, according to the Irish Coast Guard , although 15 have been brought to hospital . (RTÉ)
Eleven people are injured when a staircase collapses at the Natural History Museum in Dublin . (RTÉ)
Russia has officially declined a request by the UK to extradite Andrei Lugovoi for the murder of Alexander Litvinenko . Russia's constitution bars extradition of its citizens. (The Guardian) A study at the University of Jordan concluded that the country's economic problems are not a result of the 750,000 Iraqi refugees who have sought sanctuary there. Iraqi refugees now comprise over 10% of the Jordanian population . (Press TV)
On the 25th anniversary of their captivity, the Iranian government announces that Iranian diplomats Seyyed Mohsen Mousavi, Ahmad Motevasselian, Kazem Akhavan and Taghi Rastegar Moghaddam are still alive and being held in Israeli jails. The men were captured in 1982 in Lebanon . (PressTV)
Eleven people are injured after a London Underground train derails, leaving hundreds of passengers trapped in an east London tunnel. (The Telegraph) [permanent dead link (thelondonpaper)
Armed residents of the Indian state of Nagaland burn down villages in the neighbouring state of Assam . (BBC)
Pakistani forces demolish the front walls of the Lal Masjid mosque in Islamabad . (CNN) Twenty-five people died and 33 are injured in an explosion in a karaoke bar in Tianshifu in northeast China . (AFP via ABC News Australia)
Pope Benedict XVI removes restrictions on celebrating the old Latin Mass , reviving an ancient Roman Rite Mass liturgy that was essentially abolished after the Second Vatican Council . (Washington Post via AP )
The New Seven Wonders of the World are announced. These are The Great Wall of China , Petra in Jordan , the Christ the Redeemer statue in Brazil , Machu Picchu in Peru , Mexico 's Chichen Itza Mayan site, the Colosseum in Rome and the Taj Mahal in India . (Reuters via ABC News Australia)
A bus crash in Java kills at least 14 people. 48 people were injured, many seriously. (AP via the Guardian)
2007 Amirli bombing : At least 105 people are killed when a suicide truck bomber attacks a market in Amirli in northern Iraq with a majority Shiite Turkmen population. (Reuters via ABC News Australia) The Government of Afghanistan states that it will investigate claims that United States and NATO air strikes caused heavy civilian casualties in Farah Province and Kunar Province . (Reuters)
Live Earth gets underway with concerts in Australia , the United States , Germany , South Africa , the United Kingdom , Brazil , Japan and China . (Sydney Morning Herald) King Gyanendra of Nepal celebrates his 60th birthday amid protests by students and youth wings of eight ruling parties.
Nigerian gunmen release British toddler Margaret Hill kidnapped in the south of Nigeria on Thursday. (CNN) The Boeing Company unveils its newest airplane, the Boeing 787 "Dreamliner" at its facility in Everett, Washington , USA. The 787 is an alternative to Airbus 's A350 . (MSNBC) (BBC) Valdis Zatlers is sworn in as the third President of Latvia . (AP via IHT) Polling in the Papua New Guinea election is extended due to weather and transport problems. (ABC News Australia)
A fierce battle breaks out between the Sri Lankan navy and the Tamil Tigers off the eastern coast of Trincomalee province. (AP via CNN)
The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade warns of an imminent terrorist threat in Indonesia . (AAP via News Limited)
Roger Federer defeats Rafael Nadal 7–6, 4–6, 7–6, 2–6, 6–2 to claim his fifth consecutive Wimbledon title, equaling an Open Era record set by Björn Borg in 1980. Borg was in attendance to present the Wimbledon trophy to Federer. (BBC) Portia Simpson-Miller , prime minister of Jamaica , announces that the Jamaican general election, 2007 will be held on August 27th, 2007 at a rally for People's National Party in Kingston, Jamaica . (Toronto Star)
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva announces plans to build a nuclear-powered submarine to patrol the waters off Brazil 's coast at a cost of US$ 500 million. (Reuters Alertnet) Mexico 's Interior Ministry increases security on strategic installations following attacks on pipelines . The People's Revolutionary Army (EPR) has claimed responsibility. (AP via Forbes) The Gadhafi Foundation announces a deal has been reached with families of more than 400 children infected with HIV in the case of five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor. (AP via the Guardian)
The European Union chooses Dominique Strauss-Kahn as its nominee to head the International Monetary Fund , making him the frontrunner to fill the position in October. (AP via the NYT)
All 24 police officers missing after a fight between police and Maoist insurgents in Chhattisgarh central India have been found dead. (Reuters via News Limited)
Amy St. Eve , the judge in the Conrad Black fraud case, orders the jury to go back to work after it advised her that it couldn't reach a verdict on all the counts before it. (Canadian Press via the Edmonton Sun) Raúl Castro , the interim leader of Cuba , sets a date in late October for local elections . (CBC) Chester Turner is sentenced to death for the murder of ten women and an unborn child in Los Angeles, California in the 1980s and 1990s. (AP via the IHT) Pope Benedict XVI approves a document issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith which redeclares the doctrine of Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus , that only the Roman Catholic Church is the true Christian church, and no other Christian denomination has the "means of salvation ." (AP via Yahoo! News) Mortars hit the Green Zone in Baghdad . The Green Zone has been attacked at least 80 times since March, killing 26. (CBS News)
A Cessna 310 registered to the Competitor Liaison Bureau, an arm of NASCAR , attempting an emergency landing at Orlando Sanford International Airport crashes into two homes in Sanford , Florida . Three people in one of the homes are critically injured, and a fourth person, a four-year-old girl, died; an off-duty firefighter that first responded to the scene was also injured. Two people in the other house and both the pilot and passenger in the Cessna are killed; the passenger was Dr. Bruce Kennedy, husband of International Speedway Corporation president Lesa Kennedy and brother-in-law of NASCAR chief Brian France . (WESH.com)
Julian Moti is appointed as the Attorney-General of the Solomon Islands despite being wanted in Australia on child sex charges. (AAP via News Limited) Simón Trinidad , a high-ranking member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia , is found guilty of conspiracy to hold three Americans hostage by a U.S. court. (BBC) In observance of Captive Nations Week , there was a brief ceremony and laying of a wreath today at the Victims of Communism Memorial, Massachusetts and New Jersey Avenues, NW, Washington, D.C. . On 10 July , George W. Bush issued a Proclamation , designating July 15 through 21 as Captive Nations Week and called upon the American people to reaffirm the country's "commitment to all those seeking liberty, justice and self-determination ." This year marks the 49th observance of Captive Nations Week. (The White House)
Thailand 's highest court rules that a corruption case may proceed against former Prime Minister of Thailand Thaksin Shinawatra . (ABC News Australia) China executes the former head of the State Food and Drug Association Zheng Xiaoyu for corruption . (MSNBC) A Tamil man from Sydney is charged with multiple terrorism charges over alleged links with the Tamil Tigers . (Sydney Morning Herald)
Pakistani forces storm the Lal Masjid Mosque in Islamabad , bringing the Lal Masjid siege to an end. At least 3 soldiers and 40 militants die in the assault. (Reuters) (FOX) . Abdul Rashid Ghazi , a top clerics was confirmed dead according to Interior ministry sources.
The African kingdom of Lesotho declares a food crisis due to UN report showing a "major food gap" for 20% of the population. (Reuters) Archived 2010-01-22 at Archive-It
Two British teenagers are arrested at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra , Ghana , for attempting to smuggle 6.5 kg of cocaine worth £300,000 to the UK.(BBC)
An attorney convicted of leaking evidence given by U.S. baseball player Barry Bonds and other athletes from the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative (BALCO) Inquiry is sentenced to two and a half years in prison. (AP via San Jose Mercury News ) [permanent dead link
A Mexican federal court suspends the genocide trial of former President Luis Echeverría . (BBC)
The Spanish Civil Guard raids a boat operated by Odyssey Marine Exploration that it claims may have taken treasure worth hundreds of millions of dollars from a Spanish galleon . (Reuters via ABC News Australia) (BBC)
Cécilia Sarkozy , the wife of French President Nicolas Sarkozy , flies to Libya and visits the Bulgarian medics condemned to death for allegedly infecting children with HIV and also the families of the infected children. She will also meet Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi , the President of Libya . (BBC) The Nepalese government introduces a budget that scraps payments to King Gyanendra of Nepal and nationalises royal property. (AFP via ABC News Australia)
The Lebanese army has resumed shelling Fatah al-Islam positions inside the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp near Tripoli . All of the refugees have left the camp after recent fighting. (BBC)
A Philippines ferry , the MV Blue Water Princess , sinks off the southeastern coast of Luzon , leading to four deaths and 18 people being declared missing. (News Limited)
Iraq War :
Al-Qaeda :
Six Afghan policemen are killed by an improvised explosive device in the Khost Province . Another IED kills two civilians in the Paktika Province . (BBC)
An Israeli soldier is killed by Hamas forces in the Gaza Strip . It is the first Israeli combat casualty since November 2006 . (NYT)
Six Swiss Army recruits are killed by an avalanche on the Jungfrau mountain in Switzerland . (BBC)
A false alarm causes the diversion of American Airlines Flight 136. The plane crew was concerned that a passenger of Middle Eastern descent might have bypassed security controls . (BBC)
A ship carrying oil for fuel to North Korea departs from South Korea . The government of North Korea may close the Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center after the shipment arrives. (BBC)
The government of Côte d'Ivoire decides to ask the United Nations to probe the failed assassination attempt against Prime Minister Guillaume Soro . (BBC)
President Pervez Musharraf praises the military for ending the Lal Masjid siege and vows to eradicate terrorism from Pakistan . (BBC) The government of Sri Lanka plans to hold a "victory party" in Colombo after the fall of the last Tamil Tiger base in Thoppigala . (BBC)
The government of Liberia submits a bill to the Parliament which would allow the seizure of the assets of former President Charles G. Taylor , his relatives and associates. (BBC)
At a press conference , U.S. President George W. Bush admits for the first time that someone in his administration may have leaked the name of CIA agent Valerie Plame . (WSJ)
The board of Dow Jones & Company agrees to accept an offer of $ 5 billion from Rupert Murdoch 's News Limited . (Fox News)
The World Bank releases its Worldwide Governance Indicators , providing information on corruption, rule of law, and other indicators of stability on countries around the world. (WGI page)
TAM Linhas Aéreas Flight 3054 carrying 186 people crashes in Congonhas International Airport , São Paulo , Brazil . The death toll is estimated to be at least 200 people. (Reuters) (MSNBC) (CNN) (BBC) (Fox News) (Globo News Online) (AFP via ABC News Australia) The High Judicial Council of Libya commutes the death sentences against six foreign medical workers to life imprisonment . (Reuters via CNN)
A train carrying yellow phosphorus derails in western Ukraine , sending a toxic cloud over several villages. At least twenty people are hospitalized and hundreds are forced to evacuate. (AP via MSNBC)
The Sudanese government says that a recent attempted coup d'état did not have the support of the United States government, contrary to previous accusations from Nafi Ali Nafi, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir 's assistant. The government has arrested 14 members of the Umma Reform and Renewal Party for plotting the coup. (VOA News)
Five people are killed in a twin bomb blasts in Islamabad near the venue of a rally and meeting to be addressed by Pakistan Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry .
39 people are arrested, detained and kept at an undisclosed location in Pakistan due to an alleged connection with a recent attack on a plane carrying Pervez Musharraf .
All three men charged with supporting Tamil Tigers have been granted bail in Melbourne . (ABC News Australia)
Delegates arrive in Beijing for the resumption of six party talks on Wednesday involving North Korea , South Korea , China , Russia , Japan and the United States to discuss the second phase of a deal on North Korean nuclear disarmament. (BBC)
2007 Chūetsu offshore earthquake : The Government of Japan orders The Tokyo Electric Power Company to keep its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant closed pending safety checks after the earthquake caused a leak. (Bloomberg)
An initial probe into the crash of TAM Linhas Aéreas Flight 3054 suggests that the pilot tried to abort the landing. (CNN)
A steam pipe explodes in Midtown New York City outside Grand Central Terminal ; killing 1 person, injuring 44 and causing evacuations and delays throughout the area. (CNN)
A study in Nature island of Britain was severed from continental Europe by a giant flood that cut away the Weald-Artois Anticline about 200,000 years ago. (Nature)
Florida Governor Charlie Crist ends the state's temporary voluntary moratorium on the death penalty by signing the death warrant of Mark Dean Schwab , convicted in 1992 of kidnapping, raping and murdering an 11-year-old boy in Cocoa, Florida . He is scheduled to die on November 15, 2007. (Orlando Sentinel) [permanent dead link (WKMG) Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick and three others are indicted by a federal grand jury in connection with the Bad Newz Kennels dog fighting investigation . (ESPN) Suspected militants attack a Pakistan army convoy detonating a bomb and opening fire leading to the loss of at least 16 lives and 14 more injuries. (AP via Fox News)
The International Atomic Energy Agency confirms that North Korea has shut down all five of its nuclear reactors as six-party talks resume in Beijing . (Reuters)
Iraq War : The US Senate , with a 52-47 vote, fails by 8 votes to pass a bill that would have required withdrawal of all US troops (except for a small force) from Iraq by April 30, 2008.(TIME Magazine) As China struggles to deal with flooding in the provinces of Sichuan , Guizhou , Anhui , Hubei , and Jiangsu , the city of Chongqing is hit with the largest rainstorm in the city's meteorological records, killing 32. 12 people are reported missing. The city's transportation network has been shut down completely. (Xinhua via China Daily)
The National Resistance Movement , the governing party of Uganda , announces plans to introduce compulsory national service . (The Kampala Monitor)
TAM Linhas Aéreas Flight 3054 : TAM Linhas Aéreas claims that there was a braking problem in the aircraft. (AFP via ABC News Australia) Two United States Army soldiers are charged with murder of an Iraqi and their battalion commander is relieved of duty due to the incident. (The Los Angeles Times)
In the United Kingdom, the Labour Party wins a by-election in the seat of Sedgefield formerly held by Tony Blair as well as the constituency of Ealing Southall . (The Independent) [permanent dead link (Reuters via News Limited)
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 14,000 points for the first time in history, partly as a result of a good earnings report from IBM . (AFP via ABC News Australia)
The largest Viking treasure discovery in the United Kingdom since the nineteenth century made near Harrogate in northern England is announced. (Reuters via Melbourne Herald Sun)
Suspected Somali insurgents target a peace meeting with mortar fire but accidentally kill six children. (Reuters via Canada.com)
A U.S. federal judge dismisses a case brought by Valerie Plame against members of the Bush Administration in connection with the Plame affair . (CNN)
Death toll in the Mumbai building collapse rises to 26 as rescue operations continues.
Russia expels four British diplomats in the ongoing row over the extradition of Andrei Lugovoi for the suspected murder of Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko . (Sky) A report commissioned by the Solomon Islands Government is critical of the handling of last year's Honiara riots by the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI). (AAP via News Limited)
Iraq 's main Sunni Arab political block, the Iraqi Accord Front , agrees to end its boycott of the Iraqi Council of Representatives . (Reuters) Heritage Oil and Gas finds a petroleum deposit in Uganda . HOG estimates the deposit contains several billions of barrels of oil, the largest find in Africa in over a decade. (AllAfrica) Japanese media reports claim that the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant will remain closed for at least a year following the 2007 Chūetsu offshore earthquake . (BBC) Three bombs in Pakistan kill at least 52 people with at least 160 people killed in bomb attacks since the storming of the Lal Masjid mosque. (Reuters)
Castleberry's Food Company of Augusta, Georgia issues a recall on hot dog chili sauce and other products, due to contamination of Clostridium botulinum . 8 people contracted Botulism poisoning from Castleberry's products. This prompts the first botulism recall of canned foods in the United States in over 30 years. (CDC)
Five mountain climbers freeze to death in the Italian Alps . (Reuters via News Limited)
People are evacuated from houses in Oxford due to the 2007 United Kingdom floods as the 350,000 people in Gloucestershire without running water are supplied with bottled water. (BBC)
Tony Blair meets with Israeli and Palestinian leaders on his first trip to the region as a peace envoy. (Reuters) Republic of Macedonia , Albania and Serbian autonomous province of Kosovo are experiencing blackouts as a result of the 2007 European heatwave that spreads over the Balkans. It also causes bushfires everywhere in the region between Croatia , Hungary , Serbia and Greece . (MIA-Macedonian Informative Agency) (International Herald Tribune) (BBC News) Team Astana retires from the 2007 Tour de France following Kazakh rider Alexander Vinokourov testing positive for a banned blood transfusion . (ICWales) New Haven , Connecticut becomes the first United States city to give identification cards to undocumented immigrants . (BBC) Pakistani militants fire rockets at the town of Bannu resulting in at least seven deaths and 30 injuries. (Reuters via Canada) [permanent dead link North Waziristan region, about 35 militants attacked on security forces killing 4 and injuring 6.Vladimir Putin , the President of Russia , accuses the United Kingdom of "colonial thinking" for wishing to extradite Andrei Lugovoi to face trial for the alleged murder of Alexander Litvinenko . (The Telegraph) Archived 2007-10-13 at the Wayback Machine Marie-Noëlle Thémereau resigns as the President of New Caledonia . (ABC News Australia) A boiler explosion in a towel factory in North Karachi kills 8 and injures 28.
A suicide car bomber kills at least 22 people in the Iraqi town of Hilla . (BBC)
One of Hungary 's top health official says almost 500 people in the country have died in the past week as a result of a heat wave . (BBC)
Dozens of people are missing in Sulawesi , Indonesia as a result of recent floods and landslides . (BBC)
The 5 Bulgarian nurses and the Palestinian assistant, imprisoned in Libya for 8 years and that had been sentenced to death, in several trials based on allegations of having inoculated AIDS to children, are leaving Libya and returning back to Sofia with Mrs Cécilia Sarkozy who negotiated their liberation. (Reuters Alertnet)
Balochistan Government spokesman and media consultant to Chief Minister Jam Muhammad Yousaf, Abdur Raziq Bugti is shot dead by unknown armed men.War in Afghanistan : Three soldiers in the NATO -led International Security Assistance Force are killed. (Xinhua) The top United Nations official in Haiti raises concerns about a sharp increase in lynchings and other forms of mob violence. (AP via IHT)
The United States and India confirm a deal on nuclear co-operation . (BBC)
Clinical trials for MVA85A , a new vaccine against tuberculosis , are started in South Africa . (BBC) Abel Mutsakani, editor of the ZimOnline , is shot and seriously wounded in Johannesburg , South Africa in what may have been an assassination attempt. (AllAfrica)
A study published in The Lancet cannabis use to psychosis . (BBC)
An independent review set up by NASA finds out that astronauts were allowed to fly despite being drunk in at least two occasions. (BBC)
The United States Congress passes a bill containing measures recommended by the 9/11 Commission . (BBC)
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation dispatches a team to investigate the shooting of four mountain gorillas in the Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo . (CNN)
Yakub Memon , one of the masterminds behind the 1993 Bombay bombings , is sentenced to death in India . (BBC) The European Commission accuses Intel Corporation of anti-competitive practices against Advanced Micro Devices . (BBC)
A Serbian gunman kills at least nine people in the village of Jabukovac in eastern Serbia. (AP via Forbes)
The Israeli Defense Force suspends a company for shooting an unarmed man in West Bank city of Hebron . (ABC)
Two news helicopters belonging to KTVK Channel 3 & KNXV Channel 15-ABC collide while covering a car chase in Phoenix, Arizona , leaving all four dead (KTVK Pilot Scott Bowerbank, Photographer Jim Cox, KNXV Pilot Craig Smith & Photographer Rick Krolax (KPHO Phoenix) (KVOA Tucson) (BBC)
Former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin is charged with "complicity in slanderous denunciations" and "complicity in using forgeries" for allegedly trying to discredit current President Nicolas Sarkozy . (NDTV)
Jailed policeman Eugene de Kock claims in an interview from prison that former South African President Frederik Willem de Klerk had hands "soaked in blood" and had ordered political killings and other crimes during the anti-apartheid conflict. (BBC)
A general strike goes into its third day in Swaziland ; strikers demand democratic elections and an end to absolute monarchy . (M&C)
Mohammad Ashfaq, a government appointed imam , is chased out of the Red Mosque in Pakistan by 200 students. A suicide bomb near the mosque kills at least 13 and injures another 50. (ABC News Australia) (Reuters via Canada.com)
The death toll from floods and landslides on the Sulawesi island of Indonesia rises to 107. (AFP via ABC)
The President of Indonesia Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono meets with the Prime Minister of Australia John Howard to discuss security issues and the possibility of a bilateral free trade agreement. (AFP via ABC News Australia)
The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions drops the charge of supporting a terrorist organization against Mohamed Haneef . (News Limited) Australian Federal Police admits all their main evidence against Haneef was wrong.
Five thousand Zimbabweans have been arrested in the last month for violating price controls . (AP via CNN)
New Zealand Environment Minister David Benson-Pope resigns from the Cabinet . (Bloomberg) Steve Bracks resigns as the Premier of Victoria . John Thwaites , the Deputy Premier, announces his resignation later in the day. (Sydney Morning Herald) (Sydney Morning Herald) Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf , by long tradition an honorary member of the AIK soccer club , concedes that he is a supporter of the rivaling club Djurgården . (TT via Dagens Nyheter) Barry Bonds hits career home run number 754. (New York Times) Milt Stegall breaks the all time CFL touchdown record, with his 139th touchdown.Jihad Shaar is beaten to death by Israel Defense Force soldiers.(Haaretz) The Simpsons Movie arrives in cinemas worldwide.(The Simpsons Movie)
Nuradin Abdi , a Somali citizen living in the United States , pleads guilty to providing material support to terrorists in connection with a plot to blow up a shopping mall in Columbus, Ohio . (CNN) The President of Nicaragua Daniel Ortega offers to give up SAM-7 surface-to-air missiles in exchange for helicopters , surgical supplies and medicine from the United States . (AP via Washington Post)
The board of News Corporation formally approves a $ 5 billion bid for Dow Jones with Dow Jones agreeing to the terms. (Reuters) (ABC News Australia) , (CNN Money) [permanent dead link
Archaeologists discover the remains of the lost city of Rhakotis in Alexandria 's East Bay. (National Geographic) Retired United States Army Lieutenant-General Philip Kensinger is censured by the Army over his role in the series of errors following the death of Ranger Pat Tillman in 2004. (AP via New York Times)
The United Nations Security Council authorises up to 26,000 troops and soldiers being sent to the Darfur region of Sudan (United Nations African Union Mission in Darfur or UNAMID ). (Reuters)
The United States House of Representatives passes the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act , a comprehensive ethics and lobbying reform bill 411-8. It bans lobbyists and their clients from giving members of the United States Congress gifts and provides for mandatory disclosure of earmarks in expenditure bills. (Fox News)
Australia and New Zealand refer a dispute over an Australian ban on apple imports from New Zealand to the World Trade Organization . (ABC News Australia) Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt is jailed for six years, fined Rs. 25,000 and his probation plea rejected on charges of obtaining weapons from gangsters in a case associated with the 1993 Mumbai bombings . (Sky) Worsening floods affecting eastern India , Bangladesh and Nepal has led to millions of people leaving their homes. (BBC News) 160 people confirmed dead in Bangladesh alone.
Flood alerts are issued for Hubei province in China as the swollen Yangtze River puts the Three Gorges Dam to the test. Another 27 people have died and Beijing 's airport was closed on Monday night due to heavy rain. (Reuters) (AP via Washington Post) Archived 2012-11-02 at the Wayback Machine Khang Khek Ieu aka Comrade Duch, a former Khmer Rouge prison chief, has been handed over to a United Nations backed genocide tribunal. (AFP via ABC News Australia) Operation Banner , the deployment of British Army soldiers in Northern Ireland to support the Police Service of Northern Ireland , ends at midnight marking the conclusion of the Northern Ireland peace process . Operation Banner has been the longest British Army operation in history, lasting 38 years. (RTÉ) (BBC) Zimbabwe :
The Australian Synchrotron officially opens in Melbourne , Victoria . (ABC News Australia)
Events
Recent Ongoing Natural disasters
Elections
Recent: July 1 : Mali , Parliament (1st round) 1 : Saint Barthelemy and Saint Martin , Territorial Council (SB) and Territorial Council (SM) 7 : Latvia , referendum on security laws 8 : Saint Barthelemy and Saint Martin , Territorial Council (SB) and Territorial Council (SM) 19 : India , President 19 : Nagorno-Karabakh , President 22 : Cameroon , Parliament 22 : Turkey , Parliament 22 : Mali , Parliament (2nd round) 24 : Vietnam , President 29 : Japan , House of Councillors
Holidays and observances
August
