Portal:Current events/July 2007

Police conduct a controlled explosion of a suspicious car in a carpark of the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley, where two suspects in the 2007 Glasgow International Airport attack are being held. (CNN)
Authorities evacuate part of Heathrow Airport while they investigate a suspect package. (Reuters)
An evacuation is made of the American Airlines terminal of JFK airport because of a suspicious package. The package was found at 10:20 AM local time, and bomb squad was sent to the scene. The package turned out to be carrying cologne, so the terminal was cleared and operations returned to normal within an hour. (Newsday) (San Jose Mercury News) (Wikinews)
Avraham Hirschson resigns as the Finance Minister of Israel as an investigation into alleged fraud and embezzlement continues. (JTA)
The Australian government upgrades its travel alert for the United Kingdom following the 2007 Glasgow International Airport attack and the 2007 London car bombs discovery. (Reuters)
A helicopter crash in the Raveau forest near the town La Charité-sur-Loire in central France kills three people involved in the French Grand Prix and injures two. (AFP via ABC News Australia)
The African Union meets in Accra, Ghana, for a summit with attention focussed on a proposal by Muammar al-Gaddafi of Libya for a pan-African government. (BBC)
Chinese archaeologists have found a hidden underground chamber within the tomb of Qin Shi Huang. (BBC)
The Concert for Diana occurs at the new Wembley Stadium on what would have been Princess Diana's 46th birthday. (BBC)
Canada celebrates its 140th anniversary. Canada Day marks the creation of the Dominion of Canada through the British North America Act on July 1, 1867. (CBC)
Alison Brimelow becomes President of the European Patent Office. (The Lawyer)

July 2, 2007 (Monday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Eight people die in a car bomb explosion at a tourist site in Yemen. (Sky)

Arts and culture

The Carlyle Group offers somewhere between £4 billion and £5 billion for the purchase of heavily-indebted Virgin Media. (WSJ)
Corporal Bill Henry "Willie" Apiata of the Special Air Service of New Zealand is awarded the Victoria Cross for bravery under fire in Afghanistan in 2004. (ABC News Australia)

Business and economy

Wesfarmers buys Coles Group for $A22 billion in Australia's biggest corporate deal. (Sydney Morning Herald)

International relations

U.S. President George W. Bush holds talks with the President of Russia Vladimir Putin in Kennebunkport, Maine discussing missile defense and Iran. (AP via NYT)
The United States accuses Iran of using Hezbollah to train Shia militants in Iraq. The Iranian Defence Minister had earlier called the US the "biggest sponsor of terrorism" in the world. (BBC) (Press TV)

Law and crime

Garda Síochána find over 1.5 tonnes of cocaine worth over €105 million off the coast of West Cork after a small ship sinks - the largest cocaine seizure in the history of Ireland. The naval diving squad are continuing the search, as experts believe more of the drug is still in the sea. (RTÉ)
Brahim Déby, heir apparent to President Idriss Déby of Chad, is murdered in Paris, France. (IHT)
U.S. President George W. Bush commutes Scooter Libby's prison sentence with a Grant of Executive Clemency for his role in the Plame Affair. (Reuters) (Whitehouse.gov)
Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas K. Mooney, the military attaché at the United States Embassy is found dead in western Cyprus. (AP via IHT)
British detectives continue the hunt for suspects in the 2007 Glasgow International Airport attack and the 2007 London car bombs plot. Two doctors are among the seven people currently in custody in the UK in connection with the attacks with another person held in Brisbane, Queensland. (BBC) (BBC) (BBC) (The Melbourne Age)
The trial over the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink opens in Istanbul, Turkey. (BBC)

July 3, 2007 (Tuesday)

United States counterterrorism experts say some of the men arrested in connection to terror plots in the United Kingdom had links to al-Qaeda in Iraq. (CNN)
The British government will designate and ban Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi and Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh as terrorist organizations. (Nasdaq)
Former President of Liberia Charles Taylor makes a surprise appearance at his trial for military atrocities in The Hague. (Associated Press, via the Washington Post)
Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto says she will return to Pakistan and is considering contesting the next presidential election. (IHT)
Lal Masjid clashes: At least seven people have been killed in clashes between security forces and militant students at a mosque in the Pakistani capital Islamabad. (BBC)
Ghana redenominates Ghanaian cedi. The new currency starts exchanging at GH¢ 0.92 to the US dollar, the highest valued African currency. (Ghanaweb.com) (MyJoyOnline)
Japan's Minister for Defense Fumio Kyuma resigns over comments he made about the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on the weekend. (BBC)
Alinghi beats Emirates Team New Zealand in the final race of the 2007 America's Cup, winning the regatta 5-2. (NZ Herald)

July 4, 2007 (Wednesday)

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)

July 5, 2007 (Thursday)

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) (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)

July 6, 2007 (Friday)

The 6th United States Circuit Court of Appeals in Ohio rejects a lawsuit against George W. Bush's domestic wiretapping program, saying that the plaintiffs did not have the right to sue. (CNET News)
Newly declassified French government documents show that as President François Mitterrand knowingly supported the Rwandan Genocide because he believed it would limit "Anglo-Saxon influence." (The Independent)
Iraqi doctor Bilal Abdullah is charged for his alleged involvement in the 2007 Glasgow International Airport attack. (BBC)
Australian authorities increase security as the interrogation of Dr. Mohamed Haneef over his possible involvement in the 2007 Glasgow International Airport attack and the 2007 London car bombs incidents continues. The Australian Federal Police conducts raids on two hospitals in Perth, Western Australia. (Reuters) (AP via the Houston Chronicle)
The No.1 Intermediate Court in Beijing sentences former State Food and Drug Administration chief Cao Wenzhuang to death with a two-year reprieve on charges of corruption. (NYT)
An investigation concludes that an explosion in Tianshifu, China that killed 25 was caused by improperly stored explosives. (Wikinews)

July 7, 2007 (Saturday)

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.

July 8, 2007 (Sunday)

Record breaking drought and heat continue as the 2007 Western North American heat wave kills hundreds of trout from water temperatures in Yellowstone, cities set all-time record highs, major interstate freeways are closed by wildfires (I-70, I-80, I-15), and a fire in central Utah becomes the largest in state history. (AP via Yahoo! News)
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 Bjorn 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)

July 9, 2007 (Monday)

A Piper Cherokee fixed-wing single engine airplane crashes during thunderstorms in Tyringham, Massachusetts, killing the two people on the plane. (The Berkshire Eagle)
Andrzej Lepper is sacked as the Deputy Prime Minister of Poland over allegations of corruption involving his Samoobrona party with the prospect of an early election. (Interfax Central Europe)
United States Senator David Vitter of Louisiana apologises after his name is found on a list associated with an escort agency operated by the so-called D.C. Madam. (AP via the Guardian)
Lal Masjid siege: An attempt to negotiate a peaceful end to the seven-day standoff at Islamabad's Red Mosque ends without any progress. (Al jazeera)
Four men are found guilty of conspiracy to murder over the failed terror attacks on the London Underground on July 21, 2005. (Sky)
The Election Commission of India issues notification for the election of the next Vice President of India. The election is scheduled to be held on August 10, 2007.
On the country's Independence Day, snow falls in Buenos Aires, Argentina, for the first time in 89 years and the second time in recorded history. Two people die of exposure in Argentina while one person dies in Chile. (BBC)
The Arab League agrees to send a delegation to Israel for the first time. (AP via CNN)
The Governor of Pennsylvania Ed Rendell orders a partial shutdown of state government functions following the failure of state legislators to agree on a budget. (AP via the Daily Review)

July 10, 2007 (Tuesday)

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.

July 11, 2007 (Wednesday)

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons confirmed the destruction of the entire chemical weapons stockpile in Albania.(AP)
South Dakota executes Elijah Page for murder, the first execution in the state in 60 years.(Reuters)
The British Museum states that the Nebo-Sarsekim Tablet, a clay tablet dating from 695 BC, contains a cuneiform inscription confirming the existence of a figure mentioned in the Old Testament. (The Australian)
The Pakistan Army claims that Operation Silence at the Lal Masjid is in its final stages and that 95% of the complex is under its control. It has found the bodies of 73 militants. (CNN)
Four people who carried out failed suicide bombings in London are jailed for life, with no chance of release for at least 40 years. In passing the sentence, the judge ruled that the plot was "part of an al-Qaida inspired and controlled sequence of attacks", although the British government has always claimed the attacks were "home grown", and not connected to al-Qaida. (Guardian) (Guardian)
Indonesia evacuates thousands of people living near Mount Gamkonora as it appears likely to explode. (Reuters via ABC News Australia)
14 Philippines Marines are killed by insurgents in fighting. (BBC)
The Supreme Court of Libya upholds the death penalty for the six Bulgarian medics and one Palestinian doctor accused of infecting children with HIV. (AP)
The People's Republic of China bans diethylene glycol as an ingredient in toothpaste. (Reuters)
A Chilean court rejects the extradition of former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori. (BBC)

July 12, 2007 (Thursday)

The African kingdom of Lesotho declares a food crisis due to UN report showing a "major food gap" for 20% of the population. (Reuters)
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)
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:
- An interim report says the Iraqi government has made "mixed progress" on the goals set out by the U.S. Congress. (BBC) (NYT) (WSJ)
- The United States House of Representatives votes 223-201 to withdraw United States troops from Iraq. President George W. Bush has threatened to veto the Bill. (Bloomberg)
- An airstrike is carried out by two United States Army AH-64 Apache helicopters in Al-Amin al-Thaniyah, in the district of New Baghdad in Baghdad, during the occupation of Iraq. The helicopters carried out three airstrikes, killing several men—including Reuters news staff Saeed Chmagh and Namir Noor-Eldeen—and wounding two children. (The Washington Post)
Al-Qaeda:
- A National Counterterrorism Center report claims that Al-Qaeda has "regrouped to an extent not seen since 2001." (BBC)
- At a press conference, U.S. President George W. Bush denies the report, saying that it is "simply not the case." (BBC)
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)

July 13, 2007 (Friday)

The Fifteenth Pan American Games begin in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Official Website)
Conrad Black is found guilty on three charges of fraud and one charge of obstruction of justice in Chicago. (BBC)
The world's third largest optical telescope, the 10.4m Gran Telescopio Canarias on the island of La Palma, starts its commissioning observations. (The Guardian) (BBC)
Indonesia and the Philippines agree to expand intelligence sharing with hopes that it will help track down two suspects in the 2002 Bali bombings. (Reuters via ABC News Australia)
Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency reach agreement on resolving the disputes over the Iranian nuclear program. (Reuters)
Typhoon Man-yi:
- The death toll in the sinking of the MV Blue Water Princess of the coast of Luzon in the Philippines rises to 15. (Fox News)
- Okinawa, Japan suffers blackouts and flights are cancelled to and from the island as the typhoon passes through the island prefecture. (Reuters via News Limited)
North Korea's military seeks talks with the United States to discuss "peace and security on the Korean peninsula." (BBC)

July 14, 2007 (Saturday)

Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül asked the US for an explanation of alleged delivery of weapons to the PKK terrorist group. Gül said that ties with Turkey-US would collapse if arms to PKK claims confirmed. (Jerusalem Post) (Today Zeman) (PressTV)
Waziristan conflict (July 2007-present): At least 24 Pakistani soldiers are killed by a suicide attack by militants on a convoy in Waziristan near the Afghanistan border. (AP via Edmonton Sun)
Ten Sri Lankan soldiers die in fighting the Tamil Tigers in the Vavuniya district of northern Sri Lanka. (AP via Washington Post)
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles settles sexual abuse claims against its clergy at a cost of $ 600 million. (Fox News)
Iranian state radio reports that a South Korean flagged ship has sunk in the Sea of Oman off the coast of Iran with 13 crew members missing. (Reuters via ABC News Australia)
The President of Russia Vladimir Putin signs a decree suspending Russia's participation in the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) pact. (Reuters)
A shipment of fuel oil arrives in North Korea as part of an agreement to end its nuclear program. International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors are monitoring the shutdown of the Yongbyon reactor. North Korea later advises that it has shut the reactor down. (BBC via ABC News Australia) (AP via Jerusalem Post)
The Australian Federal Police charge Dr. Mohamed Haneef with "providing support to a terrorist organization" in relation to the 2007 Glasgow International Airport attack and the 2007 London car bombs. (BBC)
The Royal Malaysian Police obtain a remand order to hold Nathaniel Tan for four days in connection to an investigation of a violation of section 8 of the Official Secrets Act, which pertains to "wrongful communication" of an official secret. (The Star, Malaysia)

July 15, 2007 (Sunday)

Sudan and a breakaway faction of the Justice and Equality Movement of Darfur sign a peace treaty. (Sudan Tribune)
Two doctors arrested at the Royal Alexandra Hospital, Paisley, Scotland in connection with 2007 Glasgow International Airport attack were released without any charges.
A law legalising abortion in the first ten weeks of pregnancy comes into effect in Portugal. (Reuters via News Limited)
A Somali peace conference in Mogadishu gets off to a bad start as it is disrupted by mortar shells. (AFP via ABC)
Shimon Peres is sworn in as the President of Israel. (Reuters via News Limited)
Two scientists Gert van der Heijden and Eugene Starostin claim that they have solved a 75-year-old problem related to developable surfaces and the Möbius strip. (Nature)
Australia extradites Antun Gudelj to Croatia for the 1991 murder of Josip Reihl-Kir, the police chief of Osijek and two associates - this event fueled tensions during the Croatian War of Independence. (AFP via ABC News Australia)
Waziristan conflict (July 2007-present):
- Pro-Taliban militants in Pakistan's North Waziristan region say they have ended their truce with the government. (BBC)
- Two suicide bombings in northwestern Pakistan kill at least 31 people. (CNN)
Brazil defeats Argentina 3-0 in the 2007 Copa América final. (Brisbane Times)

July 16, 2007 (Monday)

Felisa Miceli, the Argentine Economy Minister, resigns over approximately $60,000 found in a bag in her office. (Reuters via the Scotsman)
The President of the United States George W. Bush and the President of Poland Lech Kaczyński agree to proceed with building a missile defense system in Europe despite Russian concerns. (Reuters)
The President of the United States announces a Middle East peace conference in the fall involving Israel, Palestinians and neighboring countries. (NYT)
Britain expels four Russian diplomats and suspends visa negotiations over Russia's failure to extradite Andrei Lugovoy in connection with the murder of Alexander Litvinenko. (Reuters via News Limited)
At least 86 people are killed and 136 injured in a car bomb and truck bomb attacks in Kirkuk, Iraq. (Radio Australia)
China punishes 95 officials for allowing workers and children to labour in slave-like conditions in brick kilns. (Reuters)
Israel agrees to remove 178 Palestinian militants from its watch list after they sign a pledge renouncing attacks against it. (CNN)
International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors confirm the closure of the Yongbyon reactor in North Korea. (BBC)
ATN Bangla television reports that Bangladeshi police have arrested former Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina on charges of extorting money from a businessman. (AP via IHT)
Dr Mohamed Haneef is granted bail by a Queensland magistrate on charges of supporting a terrorist organisation in relation to the 2007 Glasgow International Airport attack and the 2007 London car bombs. The Australian government later revokes his visa. (The Courier-Mail) (Sydney Morning Herald)
A 6.8 magnitude earthquake hits Japan with a tsunami warning being issued in Niigata Prefecture, Honshū. At least eight people have been killed and over 700 injured. There was a fire in the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant as well as a small leak but not sufficient to damage the environment. (BBC) (CNN) (AFP via Reuters) (Kyodo News), (AFP via ABC News Australia)
A $280,000 Porsche 911 is stolen from a showroom in Penang, Malaysia and following recovery from the police is stolen again on the same night.

July 17, 2007 (Tuesday)

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)

July 18, 2007 (Wednesday)

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 confirms that the 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) (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)

July 19, 2007 (Thursday)

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) (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)

July 20, 2007 (Friday)

The President of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva orders an inquiry into the crash of TAM Linhas Aéreas Flight 3054. (CNN)
The UK Crown Prosecution Service ends its inquiry into the "Cash for honours" claims with a finding that the evidence is not sufficient to warrant charges being laid. (Washington Post)
China shuts down a chemical plant associated with deaths in Panama from tainted medicine and two petfood plants associated with the deaths of pets in the United States. (AP via CNN)
Hundreds of thousands of Bolivians protest proposals to shift the capital from La Paz to Sucre. (AP via International Herald Tribune)
United States District Judge James Jones levies a fine of $634.5 million on Purdue Pharma and three executives for misleading the public about OxyContin. (AP via International Herald Tribune)
The Government of Ethiopia pardons and frees opposition leaders who had been sentenced to life imprisonment for their roles in riots following 2005 elections. Prime Minister Meles Zenawi denies that the release was forced by the United States. (BBC)
The Supreme Court of Pakistan unanimously reinstates Iftikhar Chaudhry as Chief Justice.
Taliban insurgents stop a bus in Afghanistan and kidnap some of the passengers including South Koreans. (Reuters)
Israel has begun releasing 250 Palestinian prisoners associated with Fatah. (BBC)
2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup: After the Argentina vs Chile semi-final game ended, a scuffle between Toronto Police officers and members of the Chilean team led to the arrest of 21 players. (TSN)
Shoaib Mansoor's Khuda Ke Liye is released all over Pakistan by Geo Films and is considered to be the revival of cinema in Pakistan.
Tewkesbury was flooded

July 21, 2007 (Saturday)

Alan Webb breaks the 25-year-old American Record in the mile run with a 3:46.91. (USA Track and Field (Flo)
A radar failure disrupts international air travel to Brazil causing disruption to thousands of travellers. (CBS)
Italian police arrest three Moroccans and accuse them of running a small "terror school" in a small mosque near Perugia. (CNN)
In the UK, the Royal Air Force has one of its busiest weekends in peacetime rescuing hundreds of people from flooding after days of heavy rain lead to widespread flooding. (Observer)
The death toll of recent floods in China rises to 40. (Reuters)
NASA mission scientists raise concerns that ongoing prolonged Martian dust storms could disable the Mars Exploration Rovers. (AP via the Washington Post)
War in Iraq:
- United States forces attack an insurgent position in Hussainiya a Shiite suburb north of Baghdad, inflicting casualties. (New York Times)
- US and Iraqi troops raid a Sunni mosque and detain 18 suspected militants. (AFP via Pakistan Daily Times)
The United Nations suspends a Moroccan peacekeeping contingent in the Côte d'Ivoire following allegations of widespread sexual abuse. (Reuters via CNN)
Somali pirates demand $1.5 million in ransom for the release of a Danish freighter and its crew. (AFP via ABC News Australia)
Pratibha Patil wins the 13th presidential election in India to become the first female President of India. (Washington Post)
The Taliban threatens to kill 18 South Koreans taken hostage in Afghanistan, prompting the government in Seoul to confirm an earlier plan to withdraw its troops from the country by the end of the year. Separately, the Taliban claims that it has executed two German hostages. (AP via Fox News) (Reuters) (Reuters) However, the Afghan government disputes the claim, stating that one died of a heart attack and the other is still alive. (CNN)
Two Rwandan men wanted for their role in the 1994 genocide are arrested in France. (BBC)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the seventh and final volume of the Harry Potter series, is released worldwide. (Reuters via Malaysia Star) (China Daily) (New Delhi Television Limited) It is announced later that more than 11 million copies were sold during the first 24 hours. (Reuters)
Press censorship: A Spanish judge orders the confiscation of an edition of the Spanish satirical magazine El Jueves for its depiction of the heir apparent Crown Prince Felipe and his wife in a cartoon. (Guardian) (Times Online)

July 22, 2007 (Sunday)

Voters in Cameroon go to the polls for parliamentary elections. Opposition leaders denounce the election as fraudulent. (BBC)
Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, holds an Emergency Cabinet meeting to discuss floods with the British Army called in to help in the worst affected areas of England and Wales. (ABC News Australia)
Khurshid Kasuri, the Foreign Minister of Pakistan warns the United States that it would be completely counterproductive" to launch a strike against Al Qaeda and Taliban positions in the tribal areas of Pakistan. (CNN)
Several thousand protesters opposed to Thailand's military government clash with Thai police in Bangkok. (BBC)
Irish golfer Pádraig Harrington wins the British Open defeating Sergio García in a playoff. (Bloomberg)
A bus crash in the French Alps kills 27 Polish pilgrims. (Gazeta)
Waziristan War: Security forces in Pakistan have killed six fighters in clashes in North Waziristan, according to the military. (Aljazeera)
The Burj Dubai becomes the world's tallest building overtaking Taipei 101 in Taipei. (NDTV)
More than 100 people die in floods and landslides in China. (Reuters via ABC News Australia)
Turkish voters go to the polls for general elections. The ruling AKP led by the Prime Minister of Turkey Tayyip Erdogan wins a resounding victory. (BBC), (Reuters)
2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup Final: Argentina defeated the Czech Republic 2-1 to win its sixth World Cup title. (TSN)

July 23, 2007 (Monday)

The British MP George Galloway is thrown out of the House of Commons chamber and then suspended for 18 days after an inquiry into his Mariam Appeal campaign. (The Independent)
The United States arrests Zhenli Ye Gon, a Mexican citizen accused of making large amounts of crystal meth in a laboratory. (Reuters)
A wave of car bombings kills at least 17 people in Baghdad. (Reuters)
Democratic Party candidates in the 2008 United States presidential election participate in the YouTube debate in Charleston, South Carolina. (CNN)
War in Afghanistan: Approximately 60 Taliban and six North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) troops die in two days of heavy fighting. (AFP via ABC News Australia)
Former King of Afghanistan Mohammed Zahir Shah dies after prolonged illness.
Summer 2007 United Kingdom floods: Up to a million Britons could be affected by floods with both the River Severn and River Thames threatening to break their banks. Up to 350,000 people in Gloucestershire could be without running water for two weeks with some people unable to move back to their homes for a year. (UK Telegraph)
Japan allows International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to visit the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant shut down after the recent 2007 Chūetsu offshore earthquake. (AFP via News Limited)
Flash floods and landslides in central Indonesia kill at least 30 people. (News Limited)
The 2007 Taliban-seized South Korean hostage crisis: The Taliban sets a new deadline for the South Korean captives. (BBC)
Storms continue in China with floods and landslides with 150 deaths occurring last week in the country due to storms. (Reuters)
Comedian Drew Carey will replace Bob Barker as host of The Price Is Right. (AP via MSNBC.com)

July 24, 2007 (Tuesday)

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) In another attack in the 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)
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)

July 25, 2007 (Wednesday)

The New England Journal of Medicine reports about Oscar, a hospice cat with the ability to predict which patients will die hours before their death. (New England Journal of Medicine) (CNN)
Nurses in Fiji go on strike over a 5 per cent pay cut imposed on them by the interim government of Frank Bainimarama with teachers and other government workers to join them next week. (ABC)
A United States federal court judge orders Sudan to pay $8 million in compensation to the victims of the bombing of the USS Cole. (CNN)
2007 Tour de France
- Italian rider Christian Moreni fails a doping test and is led away for questioning by French police (Fox News)
- Race leader Michael Rasmussen is withdrawn from the race and fired by his team for providing incorrect information about his whereabouts before the start of the Tour, deepening the drug controversies surrounding the 2007 edition. (New York Times)
The President of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva removes Defense Minister Waldir Pires, who is responsible for civil aviation, from his Cabinet and replaces him with former Justice Minister Nelson Jobim after two major crashes in ten months. (New York Times)
The United States House Committee on the Judiciary votes 22-17 to approve a report citing former White House counsel Harriet Miers and current Chief of Staff for President George W. Bush Joshua Bolten for failing to comply with subpoenas regarding the dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy. (CNN)
A car bomb in the Mansour district of Baghdad kills at least 30 Iraqis celebrating their team's victory in an Asian Cup match against South Korea. Another suicide attack in East Baghdad kills another 20. (BBC) (Reuters)
8 of the 23 South Koreans held hostage by the Taliban in Afghanistan are released, while one of the hostages is executed. The Taliban gives further warning that the remaining hostages will be killed. (CNN)
The first delegation from the Arab League comprising the foreign ministers of Egypt and Jordan visits Israel to talk about the Arab Peace Initiative. (BBC)
Iraq's largest Sunni Arab bloc, The Iraqi Accordance Front, suspends its membership in Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's coalition government. (Fox News)
Pratibha Patil is sworn-in as the first woman President of India.^{[citation needed]}
A Russian subcontractor advises that Iran's first nuclear power reactor will be ready in August 2008. (Reuters)
The Australian Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions reviews the case against Mohamed Haneef accused of giving material support to terrorism following concerns being raised about the strength of the case. (Sydney Morning Herald)
More houses are evacuated in Oxford as the River Thames breaks its banks. (Reuters via News Limited)
North and South Korea conduct high-level talks to resolve a border dispute. (BBC)
The President of France Nicolas Sarkozy travels to Libya following the release of the medical workers sentenced to death in the HIV trial in Libya. (Reuters via CNN)
Controversial American academic Ward Churchill is dismissed by the Board of Regents of the University of Colorado after accusations of academic misconduct. (Guardian) (IHT)

July 26, 2007 (Thursday)

The United States Senate passes a package of measures recommended by the 9/11 Commission. (Fox News)
The United States Food and Drug Administration suspends a gene therapy study and reviews 28 others after the death of a patient. (AP via CNN)
Two people are killed and four injured in an explosion at the Mojave Airport in California. (Reuters)
The Dow Jones Industrial Average falls more than 300 points due to concerns about weaknesses in the United States housing market and weak profit results. (Reuters via CNN)
NASA confirms that it discovered the apparent sabotage of a non-critical component of the International Space Station due to be carried up by the Space Shuttle Endeavour on August 7. (CNN)
A car bomb in Baghdad kills at least 25 Iraqis and injures at least 50 more. (ABC News Australia)
Mohammad Dahlan resigns as National Security Adviser to the President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas due to his role in the recent defeat of Fatah in the Gaza Strip. (New York Times)
United States District Court judge Nancy Gertner orders the United States Government to pay $101.5 million in compensation to four men for wrongful convictions when the Federal Bureau of Investigation withheld exculpatory evidence. (AP via Fox News)
Israeli troops and airstrike kill four militants in an incursion into the Gaza Strip including three members of Islamic Jihad and one Hamas member. (BBC)
Former Bangladesh Telecommunication Minister Aminul Huq is sentenced to 31 years in jail for his role in aiding Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh with terrorist bomb attacks in the country.
An explosion at an ordnance depot in Aleppo, Syria kills at least 15 people and injures 50 others. (AP via Jerusalem Post)
Effects of the 2007 European heat wave worsen with new forest fires being reported. (BBC)
A magnitude 7 earthquake in the Maluku Sea off the coast of Indonesia triggers a tsunami warning for North Maluku in Indonesia which is later cancelled. (AP via the Houston Chronicle) (BBC)
War in Afghanistan: United States-led troops kill more than 50 insurgents in the Helmand province of Afghanistan. (Reuters)
Summer 2007 United Kingdom floods: Flood water levels in the River Thames is expected to rise further as England expects more heavy rain. Two people die in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire trying to pump water out of a club. (BBC) (Daily Telegraph)
North Korea walks out of talks with South Korea over the failure to resolve a sea border. (AP via Fox News)

July 27, 2007 (Friday)

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 correlates 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, Photogapher 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)

July 28, 2007 (Saturday)

Pakistan raises concerns about a draft bill adopted by the United States Congress that ties United States foreign aid to progress in the fight against Al Qaeda and the Taliban. (The Hindu)
Colombia's intelligence chief Andrés Peñate claims FARC rebels accidentally killed 11 politicians it was holding, after running into another rebel unit. (BBC)
The President of the United States George W. Bush urges Congress to pass legislation to expand potential surveillance targets. (Bloomberg)
The death toll from the Summer 2007 United Kingdom floods rises to nine as police find a body near Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire. (Reuters via ABC News Australia)
War in Afghanistan: A British soldier is killed by a rocket attack in the Helmand Province. (BBC)
The Lal Masjid in Islamabad is closed indefinitely following a suicide bombing with Pakistani authorities warning of more bomb attacks to come. (Reuters via CNN)
Dr Mohamed Haneef, the Indian doctor freed in Australia of supporting terrorism, indicates that he would like to return to India as soon as possible. He later received clearance from the Australian Government to leave tonight. (Reuters) (ABC News Australia)
Bernard Kouchner, the French Foreign Minister, arrives in Lebanon to reduce tensions between the Prime Minister of Lebanon Fouad Siniora and the pro-Syrian opposition. (BBC)
Rwanda abolishes capital punishment. (Calcutta News)

July 29, 2007 (Sunday)

The Prime Minister of Israel Ehud Olmert announces that United States military and defense aid to Israel will total $30 billion over the next ten years. (Irish Examiner)
Six people die in a bus crash while travelling to the Barbados Crop Over Festival. (CNN)
A study published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London claims that the number of North Atlantic tropical cyclones in the season has more than doubled in the past hundred years. (CNN)
Moitree Express begins on trail journey between Dhaka and Kolkata paving way for possible reopening of train route connectivity between Bangla Desh and India
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Gordon Brown arrives in the United States for his first official meeting with President George W. Bush. (ABC News Australia) (AP via ABC News)
Approximately 5,000 Brazilians demonstrate in São Paulo over the recent crash of TAM Linhas Aéreas Flight 3054. (BBC)
Alberto Contador of Spain wins the 2007 Tour de France with Cadel Evans of Australia finishing second and Levi Leipheimer of the United States finishing third. (DPA via Bangkok Post)
Iraq beats Saudi Arabia to win the Asian Cup, creating a rare moment of recent national unity. (Reuters) (The New York Times)
Farooq Ahmad Sheikh, a commander of the militant group Hizbul Mujahideen is shot dead by police in India when a grenade he threw did not explode.
Association of South East Asian Nations foreign ministers adopt a plan to strengthen the South East Asian Nuclear Weapons Free Zone. (Reuters)
A human rights group claims that four Roman Catholic priests are in detention in China. (Westfall Weekly News)
Seven crew members die in the crash of an An-12 cargo plane at Moscow's Domodedovo airport. (Reuters via ABC News Australia)
Japanese voters go to the polls for elections for half of the House of Councillors. The ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito Party lost seats with the opposition Democratic Party of Japan becoming the largest party in the chamber. (Reuters) (Reuters via CNN)

July 30, 2007 (Monday)

A new species of scallop as well as a new species of octopus are discovered off the coast of Nova Scotia. [1]
Juan Manuel Santos, the Defense Minister of Colombia, claims that the military has been infiltrated by FARC and drug gangs. (Reuters via Canada.com)
Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Internal Revenue Service search the house of Senator Ted Stevens in Girdwood, Alaska. (AP via ABC News America)
The United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the United States Secretary of Defense Robert Gates travel to the Middle East to offer increased aid to allies of the United States and to seek advice on Iraq. (Reuters)
Bedouin clash with Egyptian riot police near the Gaza Strip. (Reuters via ABC News Australia)
The Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas travels to Moscow seeking Russian support. (Itar-Tass)
International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors visit the Arak heavy-water reactor site in Iran. (Reuters)
The Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts is hospitalized after suffering a seizure at his summer home in Maine. (The Washington Post)
The President of the United States George W. Bush and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Gordon Brown pledge to continue close relations in their first meeting. (The New York Times)
Islamic militants occupy a shrine in a tribal area of Pakistan and name it after the Lal Masjid in Islamabad recently stormed by the Pakistan army. (BBC)
A 15th village in the Czech Republic rejects by referendum the US plan to place anti-ballistic missiles at a nearby military base. The vote was 97% against the plan, however, the vote is non-binding on the national government. (Ceske Noviny) (Monsters and Critics)
An Afghan governor asks the Taliban to extend Monday's deadline for the lives of 22 South Koreans, after militants warned the Afghan government to release 23 of its captured fighters or else hostages will die. The Taliban later executes a hostage. (AP via The China Post) (BBC)
Papua New Guinea's Electoral Commission extends the counting period for the recent election due to polling and counting delays in some seats. (ABC News Australia)
Deaths in China from floods, lightning and landslides during the summer approach 700. (Reuters)
Victoria's Labor caucus elects John Brumby as Premier and Rob Hulls as his deputy. (ABC News Australia)
Sixty-nine miners are trapped in a flooded coal mine in Henan province in central China. (Reuters via CNN)
The President of the Ivory Coast Laurent Gbagbo visits the former rebel held north for the first time since 2002 where stockpiled weapons will be burnt as a symbol of reconciliation after the end of an uprising. (BBC)

July 31, 2007 (Tuesday)