Portal:Current events/July 2009

See also: July 2009 in sports

2009

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July 2009 was the seventh month of that common year. The month, which began on a Wednesday, ended on a Friday after 31 days.

Portal:Current events

This is an archived version of Wikipedia's Current events Portal from July 2009.

July 1, 2009 (2009-07-01) (Wednesday) TerreStar-1, the largest commercial telecommunication satellite ever built, is successfully launched. (spaceflightnow.com ) The European Union declares Ireland free of brucellosis, a disease which cost the country millions of euro to eradicate. (RTÉ) (The Irish Times) The Organization of American States gives Honduras three days to restore its deposed president, Manuel Zelaya. (The New York Times) Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt assumes the rotating presidency over the European Union. (Reuters) Officials in Comoros confirm that one passenger from Yemenia Flight 626, a 14-year-old girl, has been found alive. (BBC) Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader resigns amidst European Union negotiations standstill and economic crisis. (BBC) The Met Office issues a level-3 heat wave alert across London and the South East of England for the first time since June 2006. (BBC) Taoiseach Brian Cowen informs Dáil Éireann that Ireland has 11.9% unemployment, with June's growth the slowest rate of increase since January. (RTÉ) Three staff from the British Embassy in Tehran, Iran, are released after being detained for allegedly having a role in the post-election protests. (BBC) The remains of Jane Deasy are positively identified in the bodies recovered from Air France Flight 447. (RTÉ) Up to 30 people are feared dead after the MV Demas Victory capsizes and sinks in choppy Persian Gulf waters off the Qatari capital Doha. (Sky News) July 2, 2009 (2009-07-02) (Thursday) Heavy thunderstorms in Dublin lead to widespread flooding and the closure of some of the city's major roads and rail lines, as well as some evacuations. (RTÉ) (The Irish Times) A report by Amnesty International states that Israeli military activities and Palestinian militant rocket attacks during the Gaza War were war crimes. (BBC) The United States armed forces launch Operation Strike of the Sword against the Taliban in Helmand, Afghanistan. (BBC) The Honduran interim government defies international pressure to reverse the recent coup, saying there is no chance at all of ousted President Manuel Zelaya returning to office. (Reuters) A 148-year-old colonial law banning homosexual intercourse in India is overturned by the High Court in New Delhi. (BBC) (The Times) The South Korean Defence Ministry says North Korea has fired four missiles off its east coast. (Sky News) Japanese diplomat Yukiya Amano is elected Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency. (AP via The Washington Post) The first vaccine for H1N1 swine flu virus strain has been made by Novartis in Marburg, Germany. (BBC) A Royal Air Force plane crashes in a rural area of Argyll, United Kingdom. (The Guardian) July 3, 2009 (2009-07-03) (Friday) The African Union stops cooperation with the International Criminal Court because it charged Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir with war crimes. (BBC) Three people die and over a dozen are injured in riots after a dead pig is thrown into an under-construction mosque in Mysore, India. (CNN) John Demjanjuk is declared fit to stand trial for assisting in the deaths of 29,000 Jews in Treblinka extermination camp. (RTÉ) Disney XD is in Latin America and Brazil Energy ministers of Algeria, Niger and Nigeria sign the intergovernmental agreement on the Trans-Saharan gas pipeline. (Reuters) (Bloomberg) (BBC) Flooding affects parts of County Mayo and County Galway in Ireland. (RTÉ) (The Irish Times) United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrives in Burma, meeting junta leader Senior General Than Shwe and calling for the release of political prisoners. (BBC) (Bangkok Post) Two Iranian staff working for the British embassy in Tehran will face trial over allegedly inciting protests. (BBC) Three dinosaur species—Australovenator wintonensis, Wintonotitan wattsi and Diamantinasaurus matildae—are discovered in Australia. (BBC) (Sydney Morning Herald) Syria invites United States President Barack Obama to the Damascus summit. (Sky News) Algerian raï music star Cheb Mami is jailed for five years in France for trying to force his former partner to have an abortion. (BBC) (IOL) (Reuters) Manuel Pinho, Portugal's Economy Minister, resigns after performing a cuckold gesture at an opposition MP. (BBC) North Korea broadcasts its first ever beer commercial, for Taedonggang beer. (BBC) (The Los Angeles Times) Two more people die in Viareggio, Italy, following the train explosion, bringing the death toll to 21. (RTÉ) Six people, including three children, are killed after a fire in a high rise residential tower block in Camberwell, south London, England. (BBC) Russia opens a route for the United States to fly arms to Afghanistan. (The New York Times) American politician Sarah Palin, current Governor of Alaska and 2008 Vice Presidential candidate, announces her resignation as Governor, effective July 26. (Fox News) (CNN) Two aid workers, including one Irish woman, with the charity GOAL are kidnapped by an armed gang in Sudan's Darfur region. (RTÉ) Thirteen people are injured after the Paris to Cahors train derails near Limoges, France. (RTÉ) A 6.0 magnitude earthquake centred in the Sea of Cortez shakes western Mexico. (IOL) July 4, 2009 (2009-07-04) (Saturday) The Cherokee County killer claims his fifth victim in South Carolina, United States.(CNN) Ireland's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Micheál Martin, calls for the immediate release of two aid workers who were kidnapped in Sudan's Darfur region. (RTÉ) Bishop of Rochester Michael Nazir-Ali calls on homosexuals to "repent and be changed" and says the Church of England will not be "rolled over by culture". (The Daily Telegraph) North Korea test fires seven more missiles into the Sea of Japan. (The Daily Telegraph) (The Korea Times) (Xinhua) Torrential rain forces over 150,000 people from their homes, topples hundreds of houses and punches a hole in the spillway of a dam in southern China. (IOL) The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is denied access to meet detained National League for Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi while on a visit to Burma. (BBC) (Al Jazeera) (Bangkok Post) 12 militants are killed in an air raid in northwestern Pakistan. (Xinhua) Nine Chechen policeman are killed after their vehicle is attacked in neighbouring Ingushetia, southern Russia. (BBC) (The Hindu) The Iranian state-owned newspaper Kayhan calls for Mir-Hossein Mousavi to stand trial. (The Los Angeles Times) 35 people are arrested in Mazandran, northern Iran, during post-election protests. (Press TV) Serena Williams wins the women's singles at the 2009 Wimbledon Championships after defeating her sister, Venus Williams. (The Daily Telegraph) Three people die as a result of contracting swine flu in New Zealand, the country's first flu deaths. (IOL) (The Irish Times) July 5, 2009 (2009-07-05) (Sunday) Three people are killed and twenty injured following clashes in Ürümqi, capital of Xinjiang, western China. (BBC) (Xinhua) At least eight people die in blasts at two explosives factories in Madhya Pradesh, India. (BBC) One person dies after a monorail collision at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. (CNN) The Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans claims the debate over homosexuality may split the Church of England the way it has split the Episcopal Church in the United States. (BBC) An Irish government delegation arrives in Cairo to be briefed on the Sudan kidnappings. (RTÉ) Roger Federer defeats Andy Roddick to win the men's singles of the 2009 Wimbledon Championships. (BBC) (Washington Post) An Iranian political analyst employed by the British embassy in Tehran faces a lengthy prison sentence after being charged with "acting against national security". (The Times) Two British service personnel participating in Operation Panther's Claw are killed in separate attacks in southern Afghanistan. (BBC) Five people die in an explosion outside a Catholic cathedral in Cotabato, Mindanao, Philippines. (BBC) (Boston Globe) (GMA News) (The Irish Times) (Reuters) (RTÉ) Mexico holds its legislative election. (El Universal) A security operation is conducted to protect the personal details of British diplomat John Sawers. (BBC) Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is embarrassed by a lesbian kiss at his Sardinian estate. (The Times) First Minister of Northern Ireland Peter Robinson holds separate talks with both sides in the dispute over the Drumcree conflict. (RTÉ) Voters in Bulgaria go to the polls for a parliamentary election. (Sofia News Agency) (BBC) At least 23 Somalis are killed and over 50 are wounded in Mogadishu as government soldiers retaliate to mortars fired at the presidential palace by insurgents. (Al Jazeera) (BBC) (France 24) (Reuters) US Vice President Joe Biden says in an ABC interview that Washington will not interfere in an Israeli attack on Iran. (Al Jazeera) (The New York Times) July 6, 2009 (2009-07-06) (Monday) 2009 Honduran coup d'état Honduran President Manuel Zelaya diverts his jet to Nicaragua after being barred from landing in Tegucigalpa as ground troops kill two in a battle against supporters with the country in turmoil. (BBC) (The Guardian) United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urges the Organization of American States to restore constitutional order in Honduras following the coup. (AFP) Riots in China's Xinjiang region leave 156 dead and more than 800 injured. (Xinhua) (BBC) (Times of India) (Al Jazeera) South Africa's new "Hawks" serious crime squad begins work six months after its "Scorpions" predecessor was disbanded amid claims of political bias. (BBC) Egyptians mourn the death of Marwa El-Sherbini, called the "hijab martyr" after she was killed in a German courtroom by a man convicted of insulting her religion. (BBC) Burundi and Rwanda join the East African Community Customs Union. (BBC) Iran frees another British embassy worker, leaving one local worker in jail. (CNN) (Reuters) About 800 pages of the earliest surviving Christian Bible are displayed on the internet. (BBC) The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta says it has seized a chemical tanker with six crew and attacked a second oil facility. (Associated Press) (This Day) Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf's spokesman calls "surprising" a call by the country's truth commission that she be barred from office. (BBC) Nigerian militants hold six crew members of an oil tanker, including its Russian captain. (BBC) United States President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev agree on cutting their nuclear warheads and cooperate on military action in Afghanistan. (The Guardian) (Bloomberg) (Reuters) A Government delegation including hostage negotiators, led by Ireland's Ambassador to Egypt Gerard Corr continue efforts in Khartoum to locate two Irish and Ugandan aid workers who were kidnapped in Sudan. (RTÉ) Bolivian drug enforcement officials raid what they call the biggest cocaine laboratory ever found in their country. (BBC) European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana says he will not seek another term in office. (BBC) The center-right Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria party wins big in the Bulgarian parliamentary elections (BBC) Three gunmen open fire at a house in Miami, Florida, United States, killing one person and wounding eleven others. (San Francisco Chronicle) Iran says it will hold the US responsible for any Israeli attack against their country, in response to US Vice President Joe Biden's claim that the US will not interfere in an Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear facilities. (Al Jazeera) July 7, 2009 (2009-07-07) (Tuesday) July 2009 Ürümqi riots Chinese police arrest 1,434 people over rioting in Xinjiang province. (Xinhua) (BBC) (South African Star) Han Chinese take to the streets of Ürümqi following an earlier protest by Uighur women, amid rising ethnic tensions. (BBC) (The Times) (Xinhua) (Al Jazeera) Uighur rights activists criticise Muslim-majority countries for not speaking out against Chinese repression of Muslim Uighurs. (Al-Jazeera) A public memorial for Michael Jackson takes place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, with over 17,000 viewing in Los Angeles, and millions more viewing around the world. (AP via Google News) UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon begins his two-day visit to Ireland.(RTÉ) Police shoot dead the Cherokee County serial killer, identified as Patrick Tracy Burris, after he fired several times at the police. (BBC) Tunisian police charge nine men—including two air force officers—with plotting several deaths during joint military exercises with the US. (Jerusalem Post) (BBC) A £1m permanent memorial to the victims of the July 7, 2005 London bombings is unveiled in the city's Hyde Park. (BBC) (RTÉ) An institutional child abuse museum is suggested in Ireland by the Labour Party's Ruairi Quinn, with Education Minister Batt O'Keeffe criticising the Opposition on the issue. (RTÉ) The United Nations Security Council condemns the recent missile launches by North Korea. (Xinhua) The United Nations says around 204,000 people have fled violence in Mogadishu, Somalia as a result of a militant offensive against government forces. (CNN) Two bombs explode in the southern Philippines, killing two and injuring 53. (Philippine Daily Inquirer) (Bloomberg) Pope Benedict XVI calls for a new financial world order guided by ethics, dignity and the search for a common good. (The Times of India) (Associated Press) 12 people die in a U.S. missile strike on a training camp run by Baitullah Mehsud in South Waziristan, Pakistan. (Al Jazeera) (Reuters) Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya is to meet with United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. (Reuters) Iraq bans planned group visits to Saddam Hussein's grave. (BBC) United States President Barack Obama addresses graduates in Moscow, Russia. (BBC) (The New York Times) (RIA Novosti) A Mikoyan MiG-29 of the Serbian military crashes at Batajnica Air Base near Belgrad, killing the pilot and one soldier on the ground. (Sky News) Iranian opposition leaders call for the release of people who demonstrated in the aftermath of the disputed presidential election. (New Straits Times) Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court challenge a tribunal's decision not to indict Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on charges of genocide in Darfur. (Associated Press) Al Franken is sworn in as a U.S. Senator, the 60th caucusing with the Democratic Party which is a filibuster-proof majority. (The New York Times) July 8, 2009 (2009-07-08) (Wednesday) The European Commission fines GDF Suez and E.ON €553 million each over arrangements on the MEGAL pipeline. (Financial Times) (The Wall Street Journal) (Bloomberg) (Reuters) Taoiseach Brian Cowen announces that the second referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon in Ireland will be held on October 2. (RTÉ) (The Irish Times) North Korean leader Kim Jong-il makes a rare public appearance to mark the 15th anniversary of his father's death. (BBC) (CTV) (The Guardian) (MSNBC) (The Times) The 35th G8 Summit begins in L'Aquila, Italy. (BBC News) (CNN) July 2009 Ürümqi riots Chinese President Hu Jintao leaves the 35th G8 Summit and returns to Beijing to deal with the ongoing riots in Ürümqi. (Xinhua) (BBC) Turkey is to ask the United Nations Security Council to discuss ways to end the violence in Xinjiang. (Reuters) Debris and bodies from Yemenia Flight 626, which crashed off the Comoros in the Indian Ocean, wash up on Mafia Island, Tanzania. (BBC) Indonesian presidential election, 2009 Indonesians go to the polls for the first round of the presidential election. (Al Jazeera) President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is projected to win a second term. (KOMPAS) (Jakarta Post) Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim's trial on sodomy charges of engaging in sexual intercourse with a male aide is delayed after his main defence lawyer falls ill. (BBC) July 2009 Mindanao bombings The UN Development Program suspends feeding operations for Mindanao refugees. (GMA News) Increased security, particularly in Manila, leads many to speculate the return of martial law. (Philippine Daily Inquirer) Strikes by 70,000 workers in South Africa halt work on the World Cup 2010 stadiums. (BBC) (AFP) South Korea says North Korea is behind a number of cyber attacks on the websites of government agencies, banks and businesses in South Korea and the United States. (Yonhap) (BBC) (The Times) Exiled Honduran President Manuel Zelaya and interim President Roberto Micheletti agree to talks under mediation by Costa Rica. (The Guardian) Iran says two thirds of protesters have already been released and another 100 will be freed in the aftermath of the disputed presidential election. (Reuters) Germany defends its response to the stabbing of pregnant Egyptian Marwa El-Sherbini, saying Chancellor Angela Merkel will meet the Egyptian President to discuss the affair. (BBC) (CBC) (CNN) (The Guardian) (The Irish Times) Four Rio Tinto executives accused of espionage are detained by Chinese Authorities amid iron ore negotiations. (News.com.au) Two car bombs blow up in Mosul, the second of them killing at least nine people. (BBC) Undercover investigators smuggle bomb-making materials into government buildings in the United States, assembling bombs within, on ten occasions. (BBC) The Guardian claims that rival English newspaper, the Rupert Murdoch-owned News of the World tabloid, paid £1 million in court costs after its journalists were accused of involvement in phone tapping celebrities and politicians. (BBC) (Reuters) (The Sydney Morning Herald) It is claimed that the drug rapamycin, discovered in the soil of Easter Island in the 1970s, may help to fight the ageing process. (BBC) July 9, 2009 (2009-07-09) (Thursday) A magnitude 5.7 earthquake strikes Yunnan province of China, killing one person and destroying over 10,000 homes. (BBC) July 2009 Ürümqi riots Chinese President Hu Jintao returns to Beijing and chairs Politburo Meeting, vowing "severe punishment" on culprits as the social order in Ürümqi is being restored. (Xinhua) China opposes Turkey's attempt to place the riots on the agenda of the United Nations Security Council, saying it is a "domestic affair", as Turkish Trade and Industry Minister Nihat Ergun and some Turkish companies call for a boycott of Chinese goods. (Xinhua) (BBC) (Today's Zaman) (NASDAQ) 2009 Iranian election protests Tehran Governor Morteza Tamaddon vows to "smash" any new protests. (Al Bawaba) Iranian police fire tear gas at protesters near Tehran University as new protests continue. (BBC) (The Globe and Mail) (CNN) Sudan confirms negotiations are underway to free the kidnapped Irish and Ugandan aid workers Sharon Commins and Hilda Kawuki. (RTÉ) New cyber attacks strike South Korean websites, after several successive days of attacks. (Yonhap) (Associated Press) (The Korea Times) The death toll from a mass poisoning involving home-brewed alcohol in Gujarat, India rises to 71. (RTÉ) United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says G8 action on climate change is "not good enough". (BBC) Kul Bahadur Khadka, the Nepalese general appointed acting army chief by former Maoist Prime Minister Prachanda denies allegations of plans to stage a coup d'état. (BBC) British phone tapping controversy David Cameron is asked to dismiss one of his most trusted advisers over allegations of illegal phone hacking by the Rupert Murdoch-owned News of the World tabloid. (The Times) British police are to investigate phone hacking claims by a newspaper. (BBC) (Bloomberg) (The New York Times) A drone strike by the United States kills 50 Taliban militants in South Waziristan, Pakistan. (BBC) 25 people, including 21 civilians and 4 police, die and four are injured when an overturned truck carrying explosives blows up on a road south of Kabul, Afghanistan. (RTÉ) Bombs in Baghdad and northern Iraq kill at least 41 people and wounded more than 80, police say. (Sky News) The United States claims to have released five Iranian diplomats held in Iraq since 2007, but in fact delivers them into Iraqi custody. (Al Jazeera) (CNN) July 10, 2009 (2009-07-10) (Friday) July 2009 Ürümqi riots Turkey's Prime Minister Erdogan strengthens his rhetoric: "These incidents in China are as if they are genocide. We ask the Chinese government not to remain a spectator to these incidents." (Associated Press) (BBC) (Reuters) A curfew is reimposed in Ürümqi, days after it was lifted. (BBC) The families of "innocent victims" killed are to receive 200,000 yuan ($29,282) in compensation. (The Straits Times) (Xinhua) The trial of National League for Democracy General Secretary Aung San Suu Kyi resumes after a six week break. (BBC) (The Times of India) (The Guardian) More than 400,000 people are evacuated following an earthquake in Yunnan, China. (Bangkok Post) (Xinhua) One person is killed by a bull, (the third fatality since 1980), during the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain. (The Times) (CNN) (EITB) A senior Iranian cleric calls for changes to the election laws in the country to prevent further post-election unrest in the future. (Press TV) (The Los Angeles Times) Detained Nigerian leader for the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta Henry Okah accepts an amnesty by government. (BBC) (Vanguard) A Paris court convicts four men and a girl in the kidnapping, torture and murder of Ilan Halimi, sentencing the ringleader to life in prison. (AP via Yahoo) Automaker General Motors emerges from bankruptcy protection after 40 days under court supervision. (AP via Yahoo) July 11, 2009 (2009-07-11) (Saturday) The President of Peru Alan García names Javier Velásquez as the Prime Minister of Peru. (AFP via Google News) The death toll from the recent riots in Ürümqi rises to 184. (NDTV) (CNN) (China Daily) A mass funeral takes place in Srebrenica, Bosnia, to commemorate the 14th anniversary of the massacre that took place in the town. (Al Jazeera) (The Hindu) (Reuters) United States President Barack Obama addresses the Ghanaian parliament. (Al Jazeera) (BBC) (Joy FM) The UK announces that 8 British soldiers are killed in Afghanistan, the country's worst death toll in a 24-hour period. (Al Jazeera) July 12, 2009 (2009-07-12) (Sunday) Chinese Foreign Minister Jiechi Yang says tranquility can be restored in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region and the perpetrators will be brought into court without any ethnical discrimination, in a 1 hour 15 minute phone conversation regarding the recent incidents with his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoğlu. (Anadolu Agency) Countries in the Middle East take precautionary measures to control the spread of H1N1 during and after the Hajj, where several million Muslims from all over the world will arrive in Mecca for the annual pilgrimage in late November. (IRIN) Five people are killed and several injured in India after a bridge being constructed for the Delhi Metro collapses. (Indian Express) (Associated Press) (BBC) A 6.1 magnitude earthquake hits Puno Region in southern Peru with epicenter near Juliaca. (CBS) The opposition Democratic Party of Japan wins the most seats in the Tokyo prefectural election. (Kyodo) (The Daily Telegraph) Kidnapped Italian Red Cross volunteer Eugenio Vagni is freed by Abu Sayyaf. (The Philippine Star) (AFP) Head of the CIA Leon Panetta accuses former United States Vice President Dick Cheney of hiding an intelligence program from Congress. (CNN) (BBC) July 13, 2009 (2009-07-13) (Monday) Twelve European companies launch the €400 billion Desertec project to build solar thermal power stations in North Africa. (Bloomberg) Burma announces it will release an unspecified number of political prisoners to allow them to take part in the 2010 general election. (BBC) (Bangkok Post) (Reuters) Henry Okah, a guerrilla leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, is released from detainment after accepting an amnesty offered by the Nigerian government. (BBC) Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria sign an intergovernmental agreement on the construction of the Nabucco natural gas pipeline. (BBC) At least 16 people have died, including eight children, in the city of Mian Channu, Pakistan, after a bomb blast in a school. (CNN) (The Times of India) Greek police use bulldozers to completely clear a sprawling migrant camp that had been in place in the port town of Patras for over a decade. (Sky News) The United Kingdom halts some arms sales to Israel following the Gaza conflict. (The Times) (Haaretz) Ürümqi police shoot dead two armed suspects and injure another, all being from the Uyghur ethnic group. (BBC) (AP via Google News) (Xinhua) (ChinaDaily) The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta claims an attack on an oil depot in Lagos, Nigeria. (Forbes) (Vanguard) Russian President Dmitry Medvedev makes his first visit to South Ossetia. (RIA Novosti) (Bangkok Post) John Demjanjuk is charged with 27,900 counts of accessory to murder in World War II at a court in Germany. (Deutsche Welle) (AP) An explosion in Kabul, Afghanistan, kills a police chief and injures four others. The Taliban are the suspected culprits of the attack. (The New York Times) U.S. Senate confirmation hearings for United States Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor begin. (CNN) Former Prime Minister of Lebanon Amin al-Hafez dies at age 83. (AP via Google News) July 14, 2009 (2009-07-14) (Tuesday) Malaysian opposition party PAS wins the Manek Urai by-election against government-led Barisan Nasional. (The Straits Times) Jerzy Buzek, former Prime Minister of Poland, is elected the 28th President of the European Parliament, succeeding Hans-Gert Pöttering. (BBC) (AHN) (AFP) The World Health Organization reports that yields for an H1N1 virus vaccine are lower than expected. [http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090713/vaccine_090713/20090713?hub=Health July 15, 2009 (2009-07-15) (Wednesday) The Episcopal Church of the United States votes to overturn a three-year ban on the appointment of gay bishops. (BBC) The Catholic Church praises Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince after previously accusing the books of promoting witchcraft and the occult. (Irish Independent) Caspian Airlines Flight 7908, flying from Tehran to Yerevan, Armenia with 153 passengers and 15 crew members on board, crashes in Iran shortly after takeoff. (BBC) (Press TV) A 7.6-magnitude earthquake strikes off South Island, New Zealand, generating brief fears of a small tsunami. (Associated Press) (New Zealand Herald) (RTÉ) (USGS) China's foreign exchange reserves have reached a record of US$ 2.13 trillion, which is more than twice the size of Japan's—the second-biggest holder. (BBC) (Xinhua) China urges its citizens in Algeria to "take extra care" after reports circulate of a militant group's plans to avenge recent deaths of Muslim Uyghurs. (BBC) Maria del Carmen Bousada de Lara, the world's oldest new mother, is announced to have died of cancer aged 69, three years after giving birth. (BBC) Six people, including two traffic police, are killed and sixteen people are injured in a suicide attack in Anbar, Iraq. (RTÉ) A group of soldiers who took part in Israel's assault in Gaza say widespread abuses were committed against civilians under "permissive" rules of engagement. (BBC) Two people are killed and five are injured in the explosion at a Total petrochemicals plant in Carling, France. (France 24) (RTÉ) Chansa Kabwela, editor of Zambia's biggest-selling newspaper The Post, is charged with distributing obscene materials relating to a health sector crisis. (BBC) (IOL) (Sowetan) The British government opts not to end the Common Travel Area between the United Kingdom and Ireland. (BBC) (RTÉ) Space Shuttle Endeavour launches on mission STS-127 to the International Space Station. (BBC) July 16, 2009 (2009-07-16) (Thursday) A Ugandan study finds circumcising men who already have HIV does not protect their female partners from the virus. (BBC) A United Nations Security Council committee imposes further sanctions on North Korea. (BBC) (Xinhua) (Japan Today) China's GDP grows 7.9% year by year in the second quarter of 2009, despite the global economic crisis. (Xinhua) (China Daily) (BBC) Gholam Reza Aghazadeh, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran and Vice President of Iran, resigns for unknown reasons. (ISNA) (BBC) (Jerusalem Post) (Xinhua) Former South Korean President and Nobel Peace Prize winner Kim Dae-jung is in an intensive care unit in a Seoul hospital being treated for pneumonia. (Yonhap) (BBC) President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov of Turkmenistan announces the latest stage of a plan to channel drainage water from the country's cotton fields through desert. (BBC) Iceland votes by a narrow majority to set in motion an application to join the European Union, after five days of debate. (Al Jazeera) (BBC) (The Independent) (The Telegraph) The Holy See acknowledges Oscar Wilde as a "lucid analyst of the modern world", softening its hardline stance against the poet. (The Daily Telegraph) (The Guardian) Interim Honduran President Roberto Micheletti says he is willing to step down, only if Jose Manuel Zelaya ceases his claim to the presidency. (CNN) (AFP) Omar Bongo's son, Ali-Ben Bongo, is chosen to stand as the ruling party's presidential candidate in Gabon. (BBC) Chinese athletes withdraw from the opening ceremony of the World Games but say they will compete. (BBC) A magnitude 6.1 earthquake occurs off the coast of Papua New Guinea but causes little damage. (RTÉ) The 110-story Sears Tower in Chicago, United States is renamed the Willis Tower. (BBC) The black boxes from crashed Caspian Airlines Flight 7908 in Iran are recovered. (Bernama) (Press TV) (Press Association) Zac Sunderland, at the age of 17, becomes the youngest person to sail around the world alone. (BBC) Madonna's concert in Marseille, France is cancelled after her stage collapses, killing one and injuring nine. (AFP) (BBC) (Boston Globe) (CBC) (Japan Today) (MSNBC) (Pravda) (The Telegraph) July 17, 2009 (2009-07-17) (Friday) Footage of FARC leader Jorge Briceño saying he financed Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa's 2006 campaign is broadcast on Colombian television. (BBC) (AFP) Timothy Kirkhope MEP defends alleged homophobic remarks made by European Conservatives and Reformists' leader Michał Kamiński in a television interview. (BBC) Pope Benedict XVI slips in the bath in his mountain chalet and is treated for a fractured wrist in Aosta, Italy. (BBC) (The Guardian) (The Irish Times) (RTÉ) (The Telegraph) A second person dies from the collapse of a stage being built in Marseille for Madonna's forthcoming tour to France. (AFP) (BBC) (Daily Mail) (The Guardian) (The Times) Irish President Mary McAleese announces her intention to convene a meeting of the Council of State on 22 July. (The Irish Times) Brazil complains of 64 containers with over 1,400 tonnes of British used condoms, syringes and rotting nappies located in three of the country's ports. (BBC) (The Guardian) (Sky News) Two journalists from South Africa and the United Kingdom are due in court after being allegedly attacked and then arrested while filming seal hunters in Namibia. (BBC) Hong Kong appoints a new chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. (SCMP) Ruslan Balayev, Ingushetia's minister for sport, is shot dead in his car. (The Irish Times) Ghana is set to receive a US$600 million three-year loan from the International Monetary Fund. (BBC) (Reuters) The World Bank approves a US$76 million loan for Mozambique. (Reuters Africa) An argument between the National Portrait Gallery and online encyclopedia Wikipedia over use of images escalates. (BBC) Bombings at the Marriott and Ritz-Carlton Hotels in Jakarta, Indonesia, kill at least nine people and injure at least 50 others. (AP) (Herald Sun) (Reuters) (The Times) Former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani holds Friday prayers in Tehran and calls for the release of political prisoners from the election protests. (BBC) (Associated Press) (Press TV) At least 14 people, including 11 Serbian tourists, are killed and at least 10 tourists are injured in a bus collision with a lorry on a road near Port Safaga, Egypt. (BBC) (Jang Group) (Reuters UK) (Reuters Africa) 22 prominent figures, including Poland's Lech Wałęsa and the Czech Republic's Václav Havel, warn in an open letter to the Barack Obama administration against developing closer ties with Russia. (The New York Times) BBC staff's expenses claims are revealed to include candles, flowers, champagne and a hamper. (The Daily Telegraph) 49 members of a Sicilian Mafia syndicate are jailed in Italy in what the government describes as a landmark case. (BBC) July 18, 2009 (2009-07-18) (Saturday) Last surviving Battle of Jutland veteran and last surviving founder member of the Royal Air Force Henry Allingham dies at the age of 113. At the time of his death he was the oldest living man in the world. (BBC) (AFP) (RTÉ) Ireland's Green Party, part of the ruling coalition, votes by a two to one majority to campaign for the Treaty of Lisbon prior to the 2 October referendum. (France 24) Three people are missing in Nachterstedt, Germany, after their home collapses into a lake. (Deutsche Welle) Voters in Mauritania go to the polls for a presidential election, its first election since the coup d'état last year. (Al Jazeera) (BBC) (Xinhua) Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad receives a slice as Nablus bakers attempt to set a record for the world's biggest kunafa. (BBC) A woman is killed and two people are seriously injured in an accident involving a motorcycle on the Tour de France in France, the race's first fatal accident since 2002. (BBC) (RTÉ) The Justice and Equality Movement releases sixty prisoners in Kutum, Darfur. (BBC) Brazil demands the return of over 1,400 tonnes of hazardous British waste. (BBC) (The Independent) (The Times) Over 100 UK and US schoolchildren and teachers are quarantined in Beijing due to swine flu. (BBC) China admits it shot dead 12 rioters in one riot incident in Ürümqi. (BBC) Forty-seven people are injured in a collision between two Muni Metro light rail cars at the West Portal Station in San Francisco, United States. (San Francisco Chronicle) (KGO-TV) Paul Biyoghé Mba is appointed Prime Minister of Gabon after Jean Eyeghe Ndong launches his presidential campaign. (France 24) (Reuters) July 19, 2009 (2009-07-19) (Sunday) Ten policemen are arrested in Michoacán, Mexico, in connection with the murder of 12 federal police whose bodies were found piled next to a road. (France 24) 26 people are killed through electrocution, drowning and collapsing roofs in Karachi, Pakistan. (RTÉ) (Reuters) (The Times of India) A preserved barracks in the Netherlands that was used by Nazi Germany to process Jews and others on their way to concentration camps, known to have been occupied at one point by Anne Frank, is destroyed by fire. (France 24) The last British Embassy worker being held in Iran after the disputed re-election of president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the ensuing street protests is released. (Sky News) Giant jellyfish wreak havoc around the Sea of Japan. (CNN) Henry Surtees, son of former Formula One world champion John Surtees, is killed by a flying wheel from a crash at the Brands Hatch round of the FIA Formula Two Championship supporting the WTCC. July 20, 2009 (2009-07-20) (Monday) Ajmal Kasab, the only surviving gunman in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, pleads guilty in an Indian court, ending months of denials. (Associated Press) (The Times of India) Iranian reformists call for a referendum to resolve the political crisis in the country. (Al Jazeera) (The Malaysia Star) (Reuters) Wildfires force thousands of residents to flee in the Okanagan, western Canada. (AFP) (Toronto Star) India and the United States sign a defence pact. (BBC) 260 cars pile up in Germany. (News 24) Tuvalu announces its plan to become the world's first carbon neutral country by 2020. (Telegraph) July 21, 2009 (2009-07-21) (Tuesday) Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso dissolves the House of Representatives, setting the stage for a general election on August 30. (Xinhua) NASA scientists confirm an impact event on Jupiter, the first observed since the impact of Shoemaker-Levy 9 on July 16–22, 1994. (New Scientist) Foreign Minister Miguel Ángel Moratinos becomes the first Spanish government official to visit Gibraltar in 300 years. (The New York Times) July 22, 2009 (2009-07-22) (Wednesday) Chinese and Russian troops begin a five-day joint military drill, aimed at boosting their ability to fight terrorism. (Xinhua) The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague issues a decision on the borders of Abyei, a region subject to violent contention in Sudan. (BBC) The longest total solar eclipse of the 21st century takes place over parts of Asia and the Pacific Ocean. (ABC News Australia) The first Tamiflu-resistant H1N1 case is found in Canada, bringing the world total of such cases to five. (Sympatico MSN News Canada) Ireland's Council of State meets to consider two pieces of controversial legislation at Áras an Uachtaráin in Dublin. (RTÉ) U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warns that it could arm its allies in the Gulf and extend a "defense umbrella" over the region, if Iran goes nuclear. (Sky News) Ukrainian former Interior Ministry official Oleksiy Pukach confesses to murdering journalist Georgiy R. Gongadze and implicates other high-ranking officials.(AFP) July 23, 2009 (2009-07-23) (Thursday) The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 9000 for the first time since January. (The New York Times) The United States signs the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia. (BBC) Two Swedish passenger ferries sailing between the mainland and Gotland collide in fog just off the port of Nynäshamn south of Stockholm, injuring at least 15 people. (Reuters) The Bank of Canada declares the recession has ended in Canada predicting the economy will grow by 1.3 per cent over the summer months. (CTV) Voters in Kyrgyzstan go to the polls for a presidential election, as the main opposition candidate Almazbek Atambayev pulls out. (AFP via Google News) (BBC) The SEACOM high speed internet link to East Africa goes live. (AFP) (BBC) (All Africa.com) Ireland's Dublin Area Rapid Transit (DART) celebrates its twenty-fifth anniversary. (Irish Independent) (The Irish Times) The FBI arrests 30 officials and rabbis in the U.S. state of New Jersey as part of a public corruption and international money laundering probe called Operation Bid Rig. Authorities also search a synagogue and remove several boxes. (Newark Star-Ledger) Peter Harry Carstensen, premier of the state of Schleswig-Holstein, intentionally loses a vote of confidence, clearing the way for early elections simultaneously with the German federal election, 2009. (Deutsche Welle) Chicago White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle completes a perfect game against the Tampa Bay Rays. (ESPN.com) July 24, 2009 (2009-07-24) (Friday) China produces a giant panda using frozen sperm. (BBC) (The Irish Times) (The Washington Post) (Xinhua) At least six people die as a Croatian high-speed train travelling from Zagreb to Split derails 30km from its destination. (AP via Google News) Chloe Smith wins the Norwich North by-election, the first British constituency by-election since the United Kingdom Parliamentary expenses scandal, and gains the Conservative Party a seat held by Labour for the past 12 years. (The Guardian) 20 people are killed in a bus crash near Rostov-on-Don, Russia. (BBC) The President of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, is declared as the winner of the Indonesian presidential election. (AP via Google News) Wildfires in the north east of Spain claim the lives of six firefighters in that region. (Sky News) The trial of Burmese National League for Democracy General Secretary Aung San Suu Kyi nears its end. (Jakarta Globe) (The Times) (Al Jazeera) Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is urged to dismiss his choice of Vice President, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei. (Associated Press) (Press TV) Aria Air Flight 1525 crashes in Mashhad, Iran, killing at least 17 people and injuring 19 of the 153 people on board. (BBC) The Gran Telescopio Canarias, the world's largest reflecting telescope, is inaugurated by King Juan Carlos I of Spain. (The New York Times) Afghan President Hamid Karzai, setting out his election manifesto, vows to make foreign troops sign a framework governing how they operate in a bid to limit civilians casualties. (Reuters) Canada's national rail service, Via Rail, cancels train service due to a strike by its engineer workers. (CTV) FBI and IRS agents arrests 44 people, including five rabbis, two New Jersey state legislators, and three mayors in Operation Bid Rig. (The New York Times) A group of 8 people were trapped for 8 hours in an Otis elevator in Toronto. A repair man who tried to fix the elevator fell 10 floors to his death. (CityNews) July 25, 2009 (2009-07-25) (Saturday) Harry Patch, the last surviving World War I veteran to have fought in the trenches, dies aged 111. (BBC) (CNN) Worldwide protests in 80 cities take place in support of Iranian protesters following the disputed presidential election. (The Times) (CNN) (Al Jazeera) Voters go to the polls in Iraqi Kurdistan for legislative and presidential elections. (The New York Times) (The Hindu) (Xinhua) Wildfires in France, Greece, Sardinia and Spain kill and injure dozens. (RTÉ) Felipe Massa is critically injured in a 160mph crash during qualifying for the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix, when a suspension component from Rubens Barrichello's car hits him on his helmet. (TSN) July 26, 2009 (2009-07-26) (Sunday) Seven people are killed in hurricane-force winds reaching 130 km/h in Poland and two more are killed by wind in the Czech Republic. Hail falls on 60,000 hectares of crops in Austria, causing damage of at least €20 million. (Sydney Morning Herald) (BBC) Dozens are killed in clashes between radical Islamists and security forces in Bauchi, Nigeria, following a police station attack by an armed gang in retaliation for the arrests of their leaders. (The Irish Times) (Reuters) Chinese hackers target the website of Australia's biggest film festival in Melbourne over a documentary about Uyghur leader Rebiya Kadeer. (BBC) (France 24) (The Guardian) Fernando Chui Sai On is elected the third Chief Executive of Macau. (BBC) Six people are killed in an apartment building fire in Rinkeby, Stockholm. (RTÉ) (Stockholm News) India launches its first nuclear submarine, the INS Arihant. (The Times of India) (Associated Press) (Xinhua) (RIA Novosti) Voters in Guinea-Bissau take part in a runoff presidential election between Kumba Ialá and Malam Bacai Sanhá. (CNN) (IOL) French President Nicolas Sarkozy takes ill whilst exercising. (RTÉ) At least five people are killed and more are wounded by a suicide attack at a concert hall in the Chechen capital Grozny. (BBC) July 27, 2009 (2009-07-27) (Monday) President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo delivers her last State of the Nation Address and denies plans to extend her term which end in June 2010 as plans to convene a constituent assembly to amend the constitution erupts. (BBC) (Philippine Daily Inquirer) A line of wildfires in the Mediterranean region, which has killed eight people, spreads to Croatia. (RTÉ) (The Times) At least 150 people are killed as clashes continue between radical Islamists in northern Nigeria after two days of unrest. (BBC) (Associated Press) (Africasia) Canada challenges the seal ban of the European Union at the World Trade Organization. (BBC) (CBC) (Reuters) The United States and China begin the first U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue. (AFP) (Xinhua) (Reuters) Former Liberian leader Charles Taylor denies cannibalism at his war trial in The Hague. (BBC) (The Times) A rural community in the Eastern Cape in South Africa lays claim to the entire town of Mthatha in one of the biggest land restitution cases since the end of apartheid. (Sky News) Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church begins a visit to Ukraine. (BBC) French President Nicolas Sarkozy leaves hospital after tests due to his fainting fits. (BBC) (RTÉ) (The Times) German health minister Ulla Schmidt is criticised when her official car is stolen during the burglarization of her driver's hotel room in Alicante, Spain. (BBC) (Deutsche Welle) A Saudi man facing flogging or imprisonment for speaking of his illegal sexual conquests on television apologises for his actions. (BBC) A break-in at Christ Church Cathedral in Waterford, Ireland, damages the building and the Thomas Elliott organ, dating from 1817. (The Irish Times) (RTÉ) (Sunday Tribune) Researchers outline bokodes, a proposed replacement for the black and white stripes of the traditional barcode. (BBC) A British-led military offensive, Operation Panther's Claw, succeeds in clearing the Taliban from parts of southern Helmand Province in Afghanistan. (CNN) Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha's alliance wins enough seats to form a government, though it fell one seat short of a majority. (BBC) July 28, 2009 (2009-07-28) (Tuesday) At least fifteen people die and at least 65 more disappear after a boat carrying 200 Haitian migrants sinks near the Turks and Caicos Islands. (BBC) (Daily Express) (Houston Chronicle) (Reuters) (Toronto Star) Violence in Nigeria continues as troops shell the home of Ustaz Mohammed Yusuf in Maiduguri, Borno State. (BBC) (The Miami Herald) England and Japan will stage the Rugby World Cup in 2015 and 2019 respectively. (BBC) (The Guardian) (RTÉ) (Taiwan News) (The Times) The United States and China continue the first U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue. (The Washington Post) South African police clash with about 200 protesters at an informal settlement outside Johannesburg. (BBC) Kashmiri minister Omar Abdullah resigns over claims he was involved in a sex trafficking and underage prostitution racket. (The Times) The Garda Síochána and Metropolitan Police Service in London arrest and charge three men in connection with Ireland's largest cocaine seizure in West Cork in July 2007. (RTÉ) Abdelkader Belliraj, accused of leading an Islamist militant group and committing six murders in Belgium, is sentenced to life imprisonment in Morocco. (BBC) Efforts to free two aid workers from Ireland and Uganda who were kidnapped in Darfur on 3 July are said to be "ongoing". (RTÉ) Iran releases 140 people detained in its post-election unrest as the supreme leader orders a prison where jailed protesters were killed be closed. (The Daily Telegraph) (Press TV) Uyghur activist Rebiya Kadeer lands in Tokyo despite anger from China. (BBC) (China Daily) (The Japan Times) Protests outside Croke Park threaten to disrupt U2's 360° Tour Gothenburg dates and several football matches. (Bloomberg) (CBC) (The Guardian) (NME) (RTÉ) (Taiwan News) AIDS campaigners and human rights groups accuse the Cambodian government of herding HIV-affected families into an "Aids colony" outside Phnom Penh. (The Guardian) Licia Nunez, a model and soap opera actress, admits meeting Silvio Berlusconi at a health spa in 2008 but denies she is a prostitute. (The Times) A national memorial is to be erected and a national day of remembrance is considered in Ireland for victims of child abuse. (Irish Examiner) The longlist for the 2009 Man Booker Prize is announced. (The Guardian) Chinese scientists announce the discovery of "vampire gene", Tryp-SPc. (AsiaNews) Italian officials evacuate a newly built hospital in Agrigento in western Sicily after tests show it risked collapse in an earthquake. (BBC) 22 people are killed, 41 are injured and seven are missing after heavy rain and floods in Sichuan. (China Daily) July 29, 2009 (2009-07-29) (Wednesday) Nigerian battles The death toll in Nigeria's worst violence since November 2008 reaches over 250. (The Sydney Morning Herald) Boko Haram members flee Maiduguri after the military storms their leader's base and overruns their enclave. (BBC) São Tomé and Príncipe signs a loan deal with former colonial power Portugal aimed at anchoring the dobra to the euro. (BBC) Moldova goes to the polls for a parliamentary election, with an exit poll suggesting a setback for the Communist Party. (Boston Globe) (BBC) (Reuters) (The Moscow Tkmes) (Time) Massoud Barzani is re-elected President of Kurdistan. (IOL) Guinea-Bissau former leader Malam Bacai Sanhá wins a presidential run-off to decide who replaces the assassinated João Bernardo Vieira. (BBC) A car bomb explodes outside a police barracks in the northern Spanish city of Burgos, injuring dozens of people. (RTÉ) (Sky News) An Internet blog belonging to a group calling itself "al-Qaeda Organisation Indonesia" claims responsibility for the July 17 Jakarta hotel bombings. (IOL) Iran announces it is to put 20 people detained during protests on trial after the disputed presidential election. (Xinhua) (AFP) Venezuela "freezes" diplomatic relations with Colombia, after a dispute over Swedish weapons bought by Venezuela were allegedly found on FARC rebels. (Colombia Reports) (El Universal) (BBC) Dozens of people are arrested at opposition rallies in Kyrgyzstan, protesting against the disputed presidential election. (Press TV) (AFP) (The Straits Times) China announces it will reduce its use of the death penalty for all but the most serious crimes. (China Daily) (Reuters India) (BBC) The trial of Sudanese journalist and United Nations worker Lubna Ahmed Hussein, who faces 40 lashes for wearing trousers, is adjourned. (BBC) French President Nicolas Sarkozy claims he is fine after his fainting fit. (IOL) The International Monetary Fund says it will take "unprecedented" measures to help poor countries cope with the economic downturn. (BBC) Cuba and Russia sign a deal which allows Russia to begin oil exploration in the Gulf of Mexico. (BBC) A rocket is launched from Kazakhstan carrying two British-built satellites designed to help monitor natural disasters. (BBC) July 30, 2009 (2009-07-30) (Thursday) 70,000 people are evacuated from Bryan, TX, United States, after ammonium nitrate is released during a fire at the El Dorado Chemical Company warehouse there.(AP via google) Palmanova bombing At least two people are killed in a car bomb explosion at a Guardia Civil barracks in Palma Nova on the Spanish island of Mallorca. (RTÉ) (Straits Times) Travel chaos ensues as police order the closure of all airports and ports to prevent the culprits escaping. (BBC) (BBC) (Daily Mail) Albania's Prime Minister Sali Berisha indicates he may legalise gay marriage in the country. (CBS) (Straits Times) 2009 Nigeria religious violence Nigerian forces attack a mosque used by the militant Islamist Boko Haram group. (This Day) (Al Jazeera) (The Times) Boko Haram Islamist sect leader Ustaz Mohammed Yusuf is shot and killed in Nigeria. (The Times) The United States Coast Guard calls off its search for as many as 79 Haitians missing after their boat capsized near the Turks and Caicos Islands with two hundred people onboard. (Al Jazeera) (CNN) Iranian police clash with mourners at a Tehranian cemetery for a memorial to those killed in post-election violence, using teargas to disperse crowds from the grave of Neda Agha-Soltan and forcing Opposition leader Mir-Hossein Mousavi to make his exit. (BBC) (RTÉ) Cook Islands Prime Minister Jim Marurai fires Foreign Minister Wilkie Rasmussen, accusing him of plotting to topple the government. (RNZI) A South Korean fishing boat is towed away by a North Korean patrol boat. (Al Jazeera) (BBC) (The Korea Times) (RTÉ) Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin says he is ready for dialogue "with all political forces represented in the new parliament". (RTÉ) Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd promises to create 50,000 green jobs and apprenticeships to combat climate change and unemployment simultaneously. (Straits Times) U.S. President Barack Obama arranged a meeting with police officer Sgt. James Crowley and African American public intellectual Henry Louis Gates at the White House in a bid to quell a dispute over racial profiling that arose from an altercation between the two of them. (AP via New York Times) Referendum Commission research indicates a significant increase in the level of understanding of the Treaty of Lisbon among Irish voters. (RTÉ) Islamist militants kill at least 15 Algerian soldiers and injure 20 others in an ambush outside Tipaza. (BBC) 8 people are killed and 10 are injured in a bomb attack on the offices of a Sunni political party, Kitab Sultan, in Diyala Governorate. (Straits Times) Multiple sclerosis sufferer Debbie Purdy wins a "landmark victory" in the House of Lords in her fight to allow her husband to help her commit suicide abroad. (RTÉ) (Sky News) Iraq's government admit that seven Iranian exiles were killed when Iraqi forces took control of their camp north of Baghdad. (Reuters) University College Dublin quarantines seven language students after around sixty mainly Italian and Russian students are assessed by doctors for swine flu. (RTÉ) The United States Presidential Medal of Freedom is awarded to several international figures including Stephen Hawking, Billie Jean King, Harvey Milk, Sidney Poitier, Mary Robinson, Desmond Tutu and Muhammad Yunus. (Boston Globe) (The Los Angeles Times) (San Francisco Chronicle) July 31, 2009 (2009-07-31) (Friday) Nigerian battles The commander of the operation against the Boko Haram group claims that Islamic sect leader Mohammed Yusuf was alive when captured. (BBC) Human Rights Watch calls for a probe into the death. (Al Jazeera) Spain Spain is on red alert as ETA marks its 50th anniversary following the bombing of Burgos and the bombing of Palma Nova. (Deutsche Welle) (RTÉ) An airport in Ibiza is evacuated as police search for four male and two female suspects. (The Daily Telegraph) Venezuela A new media law limiting freedom of speech, under which journalists could be imprisoned for publishing "harmful" material, is placed before the National Assembly. (BBC) (El Universal) (Miami Herald) (The Washington Post) The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) says the bill is "a devastating blow at the remains of democracy" in Venezuela. (El Universal) U.S. House of Representatives approves an extra $2 billion to the Car Allowance Rebate System. (The Wall Street Journal) A Norwegian cargo vessel with a crew of six sinks after a storm in Swedish waters near Strömstad. (CBC) (Reuters) (RTÉ) Eight Dutch tourists are killed and 42 people are injured in a bus crash near Barcelona. (Bangkok Post) (RTÉ) (The Times of India) Patrizia D'Addario, the escort at the centre of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's sex scandal, claims he and his party offered her a seat in the European Parliament until his wife complained. (BBC) Gazprom launches construction of the Sakhalin–Khabarovsk–Vladivostok gas pipeline. (Reuters) (UPI) British Airways loses £148m in the last three months, the company's first loss since privatisation in 1987. (Sky News) The verdict in the trial of National League for Democracy General Secretary Aung San Suu Kyi, scheduled for today, is postponed until August 11. (Bangkok Post) (Al Jazeera) (RTÉ) (The Straits Times) Twenty-nine people are killed in Iraq after bombs explode at Shiite mosques in Baghdad. (Yahoo News) Space Shuttle Endeavour lands at Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, United States, ending a 16-day mission to the International Space Station (ISS). (BBC) Aerial photographs reveal the streetplan of the lost Roman city of Altinum, regarded by some scholars as a forerunner of Venice. (BBC) (Der Spiegel) (The Times) Briton Gary McKinnon, accused of carrying out the biggest ever U.S. military hacking operation, loses his court appeal to have his case heard in Britain, and faces extradition to the United States. (CNN) (RTÉ) Filmmaker Benicio del Toro is presented with the International Tomás Gutiérrez Alea Prize by the Cuban government in Havana. (BBC) (The New York Times) Research claiming to have created human sperm in a Newcastle laboratory is withdrawn due to evidence of plagiarism. (The Daily Telegraph) Three United States tourists are detained by Iranians in Iraq. (BBC) The giant Swiss bank UBS and that nation's government have agreed to settle a lawsuit brought against UBS by United States tax authorities, in an agreement that seems likely to result in giving the Internal Revenue Service access to thousands of previously secret U.S. client accounts. (Globe & Mail) A church in Copenhagen offers blessings to 18 same-sex couples from around the world who are typically chastised. (The Copenhagen Post)

July 2009 S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31  Ongoing events Economic Automotive industry crisis Financial crisis Worldwide recession Health / Medicine H1N1 - 2009 flu pandemic H5N1 ("Bird Flu") Humanitarian Haitian migrant shipwreck Mediterranean wildfires Political / Military Spanish bombings Bombing of Burgos Bombing of Palma Nova Honduran political crisis Iranian election protests Peruvian political crisis Nigerian battles North Korean nuclear program Obama–Gates controversy Piracy in Somalia Thai political crisis Treaty of Lisbon ratification  Recent deaths July 31: Bobby Robson 30: Peter Zadek 27: George Russell 26: Merce Cunningham 25: Stanley Middleton 25: Harry Patch 24: José Carlos da Costa Araújo 24: Harry Towb 23: E. Lynn Harris 19: Frank McCourt 19: Henry Surtees 18: Henry Allingham 17: Meir Amit 17: Walter Cronkite 17: Leszek Kołakowski 15: Natalya Estemirova 11: Reg Fleming 11: Arturo Gatti 11: Ji Xianlin 10: Edward Downes 10: Ebba Haslund 6: Vasily Aksyonov 6: Oscar G. Mayer Jr. 6: Robert McNamara 6: Mathieu Montcourt 5: Takeo Doi 4: Allen Klein 4: Robert Louis-Dreyfus 4: Steve McNair 4: Lasse Strömstedt 4: Jean-Baptiste Tati Loutard 1: Alexis Argüello 1: Karl Malden 1: Marwa El-Sherbini 1: Mollie Sugden 1: Lyudmila Zykina  Ongoing conflicts Worldwide War on terror Africa / Middle East Chadian Civil War War in Darfur Kivu conflict Iraq War Israeli–Palestinian conflict Maghreb insurgency Niger Delta conflict Nigerian religious violence Somali Civil War Second Tuareg Rebellion Turkey–PKK conflict Asia War in Afghanistan Balochistan conflict Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir Insurgency in the Philippines Laotian Secret War Ethnic conflict in Nagaland Naxalite–Maoist insurgency War in North-West Pakistan South Thailand insurgency Americas Colombian conflict Mexican drug war  Elections Recent July 8: Indonesia, President (1st Round) 12: Republic of the Congo, President 18: Mauritania, President 23: Kyrgyzstan, President 29: Moldova, Parliament Upcoming August 2: Comoros, Parliament 4: Niger, Constitutional referendum 20: Afghanistan, President 20: Niger, Parliament 30: Gabon, President 30: Japan, Parliament  Trials Recently concluded New Zealand: Nai Yin Xue New Zealand: David Bain (retrial) Peru: Alberto Fujimori Sweden: The Pirate Bay United States: James Charles Kopp, Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, Phil Spector, Bernard Madoff Ongoing Burma: Aung San Suu Kyi Cambodia]]: Khmer Rouge Tribunal Canada: Larry O'Brien France: Church of Scientology Iraq: Supreme Criminal Tribunal Italy: Raffaele Sollecito, Amanda Knox Netherlands: Thomas Lubanga (ICC), Radovan Karadžić (ICTY) Republic of China]]: Chen Shui-bian Russia: Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Platon Lebedev Sierra Leone: Charles Taylor (SCFSL) Singapore: Tak Boleh Tahan Thailand: Thaksin Shinawatra United States: Jena Six Upcoming Germany: John Demjanjuk United Kingdom: Allen Stanford United States: Viktor Bout, Noshir Gowadia, William J. Jefferson, Sheila Dixon, Joseph Bruno  Holidays  and observances August Current 1: Feast of Kamál (Baháʼí Faith) 1: Feast of the Cross (Eastern Christianity) 1–14: Dormition Fast (Eastern Christianity) 1: Lammas/Lughnasadh (Gaels, Neopaganism, Wicca in Northern Hemisphere, England, Scotland)) 1: Imbolc (Neopaganism, Wicca in Southern Hemisphere) 1: Emancipation Day (Barbados, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago) 1: Independence Day (Benin) 1: Province Day (Guadalcanal) 1: Army Day (China) 1: Swiss National Day 1: King's Birthday (Tonga) 1: Yorkshire Day (Yorkshire) Upcoming 2: National Tree Day (Australia) 2: Virgen de los Angeles (Costa Rica) 2: Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising Day (Macedonia)