In talks in Manila, the Philippines and Vietnam agree to work together on a framework for resolving maritime territorial disputes in the South China Sea. (Voice of America)
Law and crime
Russian police detain 1,200 illegal Vietnamese migrants in raids in Moscow. (ABC News)
The UK Foreign Office has warned its embassy staff in Southwest Asia to be vigilant as Eid al-Fitr approaches. British embassies remained open. (WSJ)
In his Ramadan message to Muslims, Pope Francis calls for mutual respect. The message is timed for the Muslim feast of Eid al-Fitr, Since 1967, the Vatican has issued an annual greeting to the world’s Muslims on that date. (CNN)
A man crashes his car into a crowd of pedestrians in Venice Beach, California, U.S., injuring eleven people and killing one. The driver fled the scene and was being sought by authorities, but later turned himself in. (CNN)(CBS Los Angeles)
Law and crime
16-year-old Hannah Anderson was abducted after cheerleading practice from Sweetwater High School in National City, California. The suspect was later identified by authorities as 40-year-old James Lee DiMaggio, owner of a home in Boulevard, California. The bodies of her mother Christina and brother Ethan Anderson and the family's dog, Cali, were found in DiMaggio's burned home. DiMaggio was later killed by FBI agents during a shootout at the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness in Idaho, where he had been camping with Hannah Anderson. (Los Angeles Times)
Robert Mugabe is declared the run-away winner of Zimbabwe's controversial presidential election by a 61% majority, extending his 33-year rule. (AFP via News24)
President Barack Obama affirms that the US will attend the upcoming G-20meeting, despite differences with the Russian government and the cancellation of bilateral talks between Obama and President Putin. (BBC)
Portugal's treasury secretary Joaquim Pais Jorge resigns after media reports and opposition politicians questioned his previous role at Citigroup. (Reuters)
A bus carrying 31 passengers, while crossing the Truc Khe Bridge that was under repair in Cam Lộ (Quảng Trị, Viet Nam), falls into a river, leaving 17 passengers injured. (Tuoitrenews)
International relations
The Republic of China lifts sanctions imposed on the Philippines after presidentBenigno Aquino apologized to the family of a Taiwanese fisherman shot dead in disputed waters. (BBC)
Law and crime
A shooting spree in Dallas, Texas, U.S., kills 4, wounds 4 and the gunman is subsequently arrested. (CNN)
A 31-year-old Florida man kills his wife and posts a picture of her corpse with a confession onto Facebook. The picture is removed and the man is arrested. (CNN)
James Lee DiMaggio, a suspect in the Boulevard, California murders of Christina and Ethan Anderson, and the abduction of Hannah Anderson, is shot to death by an FBI agent in Ada County, Idaho. Hannah Anderson was unharmed. (CNN)
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, in a major policy shift in the War on Drugs, announces that the federal government, following some states' stances, will direct its prosecutors to no longer insist on automatic mandatory minimum prison sentences for non-violent, low-level, non-repeat offender drug offenses where the defendant is not involved with gangs and/or cartels. (MSN)
American politician and former House RepresentativeJesse Jackson Jr. is sentenced to 30 months in prison for spending $750,000 in campaign funds on personal items, and will serve his sentence first before his wife, former Chicago alderman Sandi Jackson, who was given a one year term for tax fraud. (NBC)
Israeli–Palestinian peace talks start amid controversy over Israeli settlement expansion and the release of 26 Palestinians convicted of murdering Israelis. (Reuters)
A group of researchers led by a team at the University of Milan unveils a device which uses a magnetic pulse to stimulate the brain and measure the resulting electrical waves in order to more accurately assess the remaining level of brain function and consciousness in brain-damaged individuals. (NBC)(Bloomberg)
The Brazilian Chamber of Deputies passes a controversial bill regulating the allocation of royalties derived from that country´s oil exploration, when 75% of the money will only go to education and the other 25% only for health. (R7)(BBC)
Australian native and East Central University (Oklahoma) Tigers senior baseball player Christopher Lane, 22, is shot and killed in Ada, Oklahoma, while jogging during a visit to his girlfriend. Two teenagers, James Francis Edwards, Jr., 15, and Chancey Allen Luna, 16, were then arrested and charged with first-degree murder with no bail; Michael Dewayne Jones, 17, was charged with being an accessory to murder after the fact. They stated they did it purely out of boredom. (NBC)
A wildfire erupts near Yosemite National Park, growing to 25 square miles (~65 square kilometers) overnight.(KTVU)
Law and crime
While they are not yet ready to say they are reopening the case after the 2008 inquiry jury's final verdict and report (faulty driving and unlawful killing), the Metropolitan Police Authority Specialist Crime and Operations Command in London is investigating the credibility and accuracy of supposedly new information from an unspecified source regarding the August 1997 Death of Diana, Princess of Wales. (NBC)
Chiribiquete National Park, in Colombia, is expanded from its previous 1.2 Million Hectares to 3 Million Hectares becoming one of the largest protected zones in the Amazon. This announcement was made by the Colombian government after Ecuador decided to open up Yasuni National Park to oil drilling after a six year initiative to protect the rain forest.[citation needed]
The lawyer of two Norwegians who have been imprisoned in the Congo since 2009 says one of the two, Tjostolv Moland, is found dead in his prison cell. (Business Week)(NRK)
Torrential rain and floods in north-eastChina, together with Typhoon Utor-triggered floods in southern China, jointly result in at least 91 people dead and 111 missing. (BBC)
Six gunshots are fired from an AK-47 at an elementary school in Decatur, Georgia, U.S. No one was injured, and premises were evacuated. Suspected gunman, a 20-year-old man arrested. (CNN)
The African Diaspora Maritime Corp. withdraws from the America's Cup amid controversy over being denied an opportunity to be the American defender in the competition based on ethnicity. (San Francisco Appeal)
A wave of bomb attacks kill 41 people in Iraq. (BBC)
A bomb explodes in a bus carrying Yemeni Air Force personnel to a base near the capital Sana'a, killing at least one officer and injuring others. (Reuters)
The U.N team in charge of the investigation on the alleged recent chemical attacks in Syria comes under fire from snipers; none of the U.N. delegates are injured and the team reaches one of the alleged hit sites. The U.S. Secretary of StateJohn Kerry describes the attack as "a shame and an offense to the world and humanity that deserves the proper punishment". (CNN)
Khalaf Muftah, a former Syrian assistant information minister, warns that if Syria was attacked, his country would retaliate against Israel. (Times Of Israel)
Clashes erupt in the West Bank after three Palestinian men are shot dead during an early morning raid by Israeli troops in the Palestinian refugee camp of Qalandia. (The Washington Post)
The Russian foreign ministry warned that an attack on the Syrian government could be "catastrophic" and told Western countries to show "prudence" over the crisis happening there. (France 24)
Syrian Foreign MinisterWalid Muallem said he rejects "utterly and completely" that Syrian government forces used chemical weapons, while the U.S. and its allies prepare their forces for an alleged imminent attack, which is said to be "well defined in time and space", limited to targeting command and control, airfields and artillery. (BBC)(NBC)
Moscow evacuates nationals; Iran dismisses "ridiculous" reports of Assad in Tehran; UN inspectors return to site of alleged chemical attack. (The Times Of Israel)
The Saudi army is on full alert after the US-led West increased the level of its threats and said a strike on Syria may come within the next few days. (Fars News)
Russia: UN response to alleged attack still premature; Jordan says no Syria strike from its soil. (Haaretz)
United Nations Special Envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi says any military action against Syria in response to apparent chemical attacks must be taken after a decision by the United Nations Security Council. "What they [American administration] will decide I don't know, but certainly international law is very clear," he adds. (Reuters)
US Vice President Joe Biden says there "is no doubt that Syria's government was responsible for a recent chemical attack in Damascus". (Al Jazeera)
British Prime MinisterDavid Cameron says the UK's National Security Council has agreed that the "world should not stand by" after the "unacceptable use" of chemical weapons by the Syrian government. However, a full report from the UN investigation on the chemical attack is expected before taking any measure. (BBC)
Syrians in the capital Damascus race against time to prepare for a foreign strike, with many hoarding supplies and others scrambling to find accommodation further away from potential military targets. (Reuters)
Russian and Chinese officials walk out of the UN Security Council meeting in New York after U.S. Permanent Representative Samantha Power calls for immediate action on Syria. (Itar Tass)
Downing Street publishes the UK government's motion on Syria, which proposes waiting for a UN Security Council decision before MPs vote on any military action. (BBC)
UN chemical weapons inspectors resume their investigations in Syria(BBC)
Syria's deputy foreign minister says that the United States, Britain and France helped "terrorists" use chemical weapons in Syria, and that the same groups would soon use them against Europe. (Reuters)
Syria's ambassador to the United Nations accuses Britain of conspiring with rebel forces to carry out the chemical attack that killed hundreds of Syrian civilians last week. (Telegraph)
At least 51 people are killed and dozens wounded in a series of bombings and attacks in and around Baghdad. (Sky News)
Arts and culture
The eastern span of the San Francisco Bay Bridge closes forever as construction crews finish the replacement. The new span is scheduled to open Tuesday. (ABC)
Former U.S. Army Major and psychiatrist Nidal Malik Hasan is sentenced to death for the November 5, 2009, Fort Hood massacre that killed 13 and wounded 32 others. He will be granted an automatic appeal; the Army general (convening authority) who will review the case can grant him life without parole; any eventual military execution would need presidential approval. (CNN)
The Parliament of the United Kingdom defeats a government motion supporting intervention in the war by 13 votes, effectively ruling out British military involvement in an international response to the chemical attacks. (BBC)
French President François Hollande says "political solution" is the ultimate goal for Syria, sounding more cautious than earlier. "Everything must be done for a political solution but it will only happen if the coalition is able to appear as an alternative with the necessary force, notably from its army," he said. (Reuters)
Russia sends two warships to the eastern Mediterranean. (Reuters)
Lebanon and Jordan say the Lebanese air space and the Jordanian territories would not be made available for military intervention in Syria. (Xinhua)
Allegations are made that the lines between Hezbollah and the Syrian regime are so blurred that Israel will hold Damascus responsible if Hezbollah bombards Israel in the coming days. (Jerusalem Post)
A Kuwaiti newspaper reports that Gulf leaders have been in touch with Israel, and have asked that Israel act “with restraint” in the event of an attack by Western nations on Syria. (Israel National News)
Britain is sending six Typhoon fighter jets to Cyprus to guard against potential retaliation by the Assad regime in the event of air strikes against Syria. (The Telegraph)
Britain's Joint Intelligence Committee concludes it is "highly likely" that the regime of Bashar al-Assad was responsible for the chemical weapons attacks in Syria last week that have prompted moves towards launching military strikes. (The Guardian)
A bus accident kills 41 people and injures 33 in Kenya. (MSN Kenya)
Health
8.6 million Americans take prescription sleeping pills to catch some sleep, according to the first federal health study to focus on actual use. (NBC)
Scientists at Vienna's Institute of Molecular Biotechnology and Edinburgh University's Human Genetics Unit in Edinburgh, Scotland, clone a human mini-brain (a cerebral organoid), using stem cells; the first time brain tissue development has been replicated in three dimensions – which could help with schizophrenia and autism neurological research. (MSN)
Members of the UK's Fire Brigades Union vote to take industrial action in a dispute over pensions, threatening the country's first national firefighters' strike since 2002. (BBC)
Defence Secretary Hagel says US still building "international coalition", despite UK and Germany ruling out action. (Al Jazeera)
The United Nations team of chemical weapons inspectors has headed out on the last day of its probe into a deadly poison gas attack in Syria. (The Guardian)
Damascus said Friday that a US intelligence report concluding that the Syrian regime used chemical weapons in an onslaught that killed close to 1,500 people was "entirely fabricated". (France 24)
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the five permanent Security Council members that it may be two weeks before final results of an analysis of samples experts collected at the site of a chemical weapons attack last week in Syria are ready, diplomats said on Friday. (Yahoo! News)
Indonesia's highest court has upheld the death sentence for Lindsay Sandiford, a British woman convicted of smuggling $2.5 million worth of cocaine into the resort island of Bali, a court official has said. (Al Jazeera)
Lebanon has charged five men, including a Syrian army officer and a Sunni cleric close to the Syrian government, over bomb attacks on two mosques in the northern city of Tripoli last week that killed at least 47 people (Al Jazeera)
American President Barack Obama says that he is ready to order a limited strike, but will seek approval from Congress. (CNN)
The UN inspectors leave Damascus after concluding their inspection. (Los Angeles Times)
Several countries advise their citizens against traveling to Lebanon as regional tensions grow over a possible US military strike on Syria. (Jerusalem Post)
At least 15 people die after liquid ammonia leaks from a refrigeration unit at a cold storage plant in Shanghai. (AP via News24)
Law and crime
A teenager is found guilty of taking part in the fatal gang rape of a woman on a Delhi bus last year and is sentenced to three years in juvenile detention. (BBC)(Reuters)
