Timeline 2009 July - September
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2009 Jul 1,
California’s Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a fiscal state of
emergency after Lawmakers failed to balance the state's main
checkbook. State Controller John Chiang said his office is prepared
to issue IOUs totaling $3.3 billion in July.
(AP, 7/2/09)
2009 Jul 1, Utah ditched a
40-year-old requirement for bar customers to fill out applications
and pay a fee to become a member of a private club before entering a
bar.
(SFC, 7/2/09, p.A5)
2009 Jul 1, The Financial Times
reported that Citigroup Inc increased interest rates on up to 15
million US credit card accounts just months before curbs on such
rises come into effect.
(AP, 7/1/09)
2009 Jul 1, A US federal “cash
for clunkers” scheme went into effect providing incentives for car
buyers.
(Econ, 7/11/09, p.66)
2009 Jul 1, US car giants
General Motors and Ford suspended operations on their production
lines in Russia as the deepening economic crisis squeezes Russian
consumers' demand for new cars.
(AP, 7/1/09)
2009 Jul 1, Karl Malden (b.1912
as Mladen Sekulovich), Academy Award-winning actor, died. His
intelligent characterizations on stage, screen and television made
him a star despite his plain looks. His more than 50 film credits
included "Patton," "Pollyanna," "Fear Strikes Out," "The Sting II,"
"Bombers B-52," "Cheyenne Autumn," and "All Fall Down." Malden
gained his greatest fame as Lt. Mike Stone in the 1970s television
show "The Streets of San Francisco," in which Michael Douglas played
the veteran detective's junior partner.
(AP, 7/2/09)(SFC, 7/2/09, p.A8)
2009 Jul 1, In southern
Afghanistan an explosion killed two NATO troops and wounded six
others.
(AP, 7/1/09)
2009 Jul 1, Albania's governing
Democrats claimed they won weekend parliamentary elections, but the
opposition Socialists accused PM Sali Berisha's party of attempting
to snatch victory. Near complete results showed the Democrats were
ahead by just over one percentage point. It was unclear whether
Berisha had secured enough seats in parliament needed to govern
alone.
(AP, 7/1/09)
2009 Jul 1, In Argentina Juan
Luis Manzur, a doctor and vice governor in Tucuman province,
replaced Health Minister Graciela Ocana, who resigned on June 29 as
concerns over the virus rose. He announced plans to boost public
health spending by $263 million this year and said pregnant women
could miss work for 15 days to avoid contracting swine flu.
(AP, 7/2/09)
2009 Jul 1, Bolivia enacted
what animal rights defenders called the world's first law that
prohibits the use of animals in circuses. A handful of other
countries have banned the use of wild animals in circuses, but the
Bolivian ban includes domestic animals as well. The law would become
effective on July 1, 2010.
(AP, 7/30/09)(AP, 4/16/10)
2009 Jul 1, In Brazil Sao Paulo
state officials launched what they say is Latin America's first
passenger bus with an electric engine powered by hydrogen fuel
cells. The bus will start test runs on the streets of Sao Paulo in
August and will be joined by three similarly powered vehicles next
year.
(AP, 7/1/09)
2009 Jul 1, British actress
Mollie Sugden (86), best-known for her role as Mrs. Slocombe in the
television comedy series "Are You Being Served?" (1972-1985), died.
(Reuters, 7/2/09)
2009 Jul 1, In Germany Marwa
al-Sherbini (31), a pregnant Muslim woman from Egypt, was stabbed to
death in a Dresden courtroom as her young son (3) watched. She was
involved in a court case against her neighbor for calling her a
terrorist and was set to testify against him when Alex Wiens (28)
stabbed her at least 16 times inside the courtroom. Her husband,
Elwy Okaz, who was in Germany on a research fellowship, came to her
aid and was also stabbed by Wiens and shot in the leg by a security
guard who initially mistook him for the attacker. On Nov 11 Wiens
was sentenced to life in prison.
(AP, 7/6/09)(AFP, 11/11/09)
2009 Jul 1, In Honduras
thousands demonstrated for the return of ousted Pres. Manuel Zelaya.
Thousands more rallied in favor of the military-backed government.
The Organization of American States said Honduran coup leaders have
three days to restore deposed President Manuel Zelaya to power,
before Honduras risks being suspended from the group.
(AP, 6/30/09)(SFC, 7/2/09, p.A3)
2009 Jul 1, The Indian
government announced a rise in petrol and diesel fuel prices, saying
its hand had been forced by the increase in global crude oil prices.
(AFP, 7/1/09)
2009 Jul 1, In India Tyeb Mehta
(b.1925), a celebrated modernist painter, died in Mumbai.
(SSFC, 7/5/09, p.C8)
2009 Jul 1, In Iran opposition
leader Mir Hossein Mousavi reasserted his claim that the June 12
election was illegitimate, and demanded that Iran's cleric-led
government release all political prisoners and institute electoral
reforms and press freedoms. A reformist political group said that
authorities banned the daily Etemad-e-Melli (National Confidence)
newspaper allied to presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi after he
denounced Iran's government as "illegitimate" because of claims of
voting fraud. Former President Mohammad Khatami lashed out at what
he termed "a poisonous security situation" in the wake of violent
street protests.
(AP, 7/1/09)(AP, 7/2/09)
2009 Jul 1, In Iran Clotilde
Reiss (24), a French academic, was among the hundreds of people
detained following the disputed presidential elections. She was
released on bail after a month and a half and later convicted of
provoking unrest and spying. In May, 2010, she was released after
paying a $300,000 fine.
(AP, 5/15/10)(AP, 5/16/10)
2009 Jul 1, Iraq's government
approved a BP-led consortium's offer to develop a giant southern oil
field near Basra, moving forward with the only deal struck during a
disappointing international oil auction. On Oct 16 the Iraqi
government approved the deal by BP and its Chinese partner CNPC to
develop the 17.8 billion barrel Rumaila field, the 2nd largest in
the Middle East. A bombing in Kirkuk killed at least 30 people.
(AP, 7/1/09)(AP, 7/2/09)(AP, 10/17/09)(Econ,
12/4/10, p.58)
2009 Jul 1, In Libya an African
Union summit opened.
(AP, 7/1/09)
2009 Jul 1, In Namibia the
annual seal hunt opened despite objections by animal welfare groups.
Hunters were expected to club over 90,000 seals including 85,000
pups by Nov 15.
(SFC, 7/7/09, p.A2)(AFP, 8/4/09)
2009 Jul 1, In Nicaragua
Managua Mayor Alexis Arguello (b.1952), a three-time world boxing
champion, was found dead at his home. The La Prensa newspaper
reported he was found with a gunshot wound to the chest in an
apparent suicide.
(AP, 7/1/09)
2009 Jul 1, Nigeria's President
Umaru Yar'Adua extended an amnesty offer to the jailed rebel leader
Henry Okah, detained on treason charges for over 18 months.
(AP, 7/1/09)
2009 Jul 1, In northwestern
Pakistan tribesmen attacked Taliban hide-outs, killing 28 militants
and suffering seven fatalities themselves. The intensifying battles
prompted them to ask for army troops to help. A new opinion poll was
released saying 81 percent of Pakistanis view the fundamentalist
Muslim militants as a critical threat to the country.
(AP, 7/1/09)
2009 Jul 1, Businessman Ricardo
Martinelli (57) was sworn in as Panama's new president, promising to
start the biggest job-creation push ever in the country. Martinelli
said he wants to make the nation of 3.3 million inhabitants the best
place to do business in Latin America.
(AP, 7/1/09)
2009 Jul 1, In Russia thousands
of casinos, slot-machine parlors and betting halls across the
country shut down, complying with sweeping new restrictions that
require all gambling business to relocate to four remote regions of
the country. Lawmakers had signed the casino closure law in 2006.
Under the new law, casinos and slot machines will be allowed to
operate only in Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea; the Primorsky region
on the Pacific coast; the mountainous Altai region in Siberia; and
near the southern cities of Krasnodar and Rostov.
(AP, 7/1/09)
2009 Jul 1, In San Sebastian,
Spain, a meeting was underway of five regional fisheries management
organizations, tasked primarily with protecting tuna populations
worldwide. The groups representing 80 countries met for the first
time in two years to assess stocks of the fish and determine what
more can be done to save the 23 tuna populations, nine of which are
under threat.
(AP, 7/1/09)
2009 Jul 1, Darfur rebels
signed an accord with one of Sudan's main opposition parties in
Cairo, agreeing to push for a new transitional government, a move
that will infuriate Khartoum.
(Reuters, 7/3/09)
2009 Jul 1, Sweden took over
the rotating presidency of the EU.
(Econ, 7/4/09, p.51)
2009 Jul 1, Switzerland said it
had refused a request to extradite a Rwandan national wanted in his
own country for alleged genocide and war crimes. Other European
countries have also refused extradition requests arguing that
suspects cannot at present receive a fair trial in the country.
(AFP, 7/1/09)
2009 Jul 1, In southern
Thailand a rampaging elephant stomped three rubber tappers to death
after it was left to wander freely by its handler.
(AP, 7/1/09)
2009 Jul 1, Zimbabwe's former
finance minister Simba Makoni launched a new opposition party that
promises to "clean up" the country's political landscape.
(AFP, 7/1/09)
2009 Jul 2, The US Labor dept.
reported that employers cut a larger-than-expected 467,000 jobs in
June, driving the unemployment rate up to a 26-year high of 9.5
percent, suggesting that the economy's road to recovery will be
bumpy.
(AP, 7/2/09)
2009 Jul 2, In NYC federal
marshals seized disgraced financier Bernard Madoff's $7 million
Manhattan penthouse and forced his wife to move out and leave her
possessions behind, including a fur coat she had asked to take with
her.
(AP, 7/3/09)
2009 Jul 2, California State
Controller John Chiang began to issuing IOUs to pay taxpayer refunds
and vendors. On July 9 the SEC classified the IOUs as municipal
securities subject to regulation to prevent their being traded by
entrepreneurs in an open secondary market.
(SFC, 7/10/09, p.A1, 12)
2009 Jul 2, In South Carolina 2
victims were found in their family's small furniture and appliance
shop near downtown Gaffney around closing time. Stephen Tyler (45)
was killed. His daughter, Abby Tyler (15) died from her wounds on
July 4. A day earlier and about seven miles away, family
members found the bodies of Hazel Linder (83) and her 50-year-old
daughter, Gena Linder Parker, bound and shot in Linder's home. The
killing spree began June 27, about 10 miles from Tyler Home Center,
where peach farmer Kline Cash (63) was found shot in his living
room.
(AP, 7/4/09)(SSFC, 7/5/09, p.A11)
2009 Jul 2, Thousands of US
Marines poured from helicopters and armored vehicles into
Taliban-controlled villages in southern Afghanistan in Operation
Khanjar (Strike of the Sword), the first major operation under
President Barack Obama's strategy to stabilize the country. A
parallel British operation, Panchai Palang (Panther’s Claw), fought
the Taliban for control of the Nad Ali district. The Taliban
responded with their own Operation Foladi (Iron Net).
(AP, 7/2/09)(AP, 7/6/09)(Econ, 7/11/09, p.40)
2009 Jul 2, A British RAF
Tornado fighter aircraft crashed in a remote area of Scotland.
(AFP, 7/2/09)
2009 Jul 2, Canada said it has
forgiven C$2.3 million in debt owed by Haiti as part of a plan that
aims to relieve the world's poorest countries of C$1.3 billion in
debt.
(Reuters, 7/2/09)
2009 Jul 2, Pina Bausch
(b.1940), influential German choreographer and dancer, died. She was
the artistic director of the Tanztheater Wuppertal, founded in 1973.
(SFC, 7/4/09, p.B3)
2009 Jul 2, A top Indian court
issued a landmark ruling that decriminalized gay sex between
consenting adults by declaring a colonial-era ban on homosexuality
unconstitutional. The decision applied only to the territory of the
capital, New Delhi.
(AFP, 7/2/09)(SFC, 7/3/09, p.A5)
2009 Jul 2, In Iraq bombings
killed at least three people in the Baghdad area in the first
significant violence since Iraqi forces assumed responsibility for
securing cities after the withdrawal of US combat troops from urban
areas earlier this week.
(AP, 7/2/09)
2009 Jul 2, Manabu Kurita
caught a 22-pound, 4-ounce largemouth bass on Lake Biwa, Japan's
largest lake. On Jan 8, 2010, the Florida-based International Game
Fish Association credited him with tying the 77-year-old world
record for catching the biggest largemouth bass.
(AP, 1/9/10)
2009 Jul 2, Amnesty
International accused Israel and Palestinian militants of war crimes
in the most comprehensive report on the recent Gaza war. Both sides
rejected the findings.
(AP, 7/2/09)
2009 Jul 2, Liberia's truth and
reconciliation commission recommended that ex-President Charles
Taylor and seven other former warlords be prosecuted for crimes
against humanity for their alleged roles in the West African
country's civil war.
(AP, 7/2/09)
2009 Jul 2, African heads of
state meeting in Libya discussed a drastic new decision against the
International Criminal Court that would in practice give Sudan's
president impunity from prosecution for war crimes by the ICC, a
draft document at the AU summit showed. Leaders also struggled to
overcome divisions on a proposed "African government", as Libyan
leader Moamer Kadhafi pressed for a powerful new continental
authority.
(AP, 7/2/09)(AFP, 7/2/09)
2009 Jul 2, In Nepal landslides
triggered by monsoon rains swept through three villages in the
mountainous west, burying homes and killing at least nine people.
(AP, 7/2/09)
2009 Jul 2, North Korea
test-fired four short-range missiles, further stoking tension in the
region that was already high due to Pyongyang's nuclear test and
threats to boost its nuclear arsenal in response to UN sanctions.
(Reuters, 7/2/09)
2009 Jul 2, In Rawalpindi,
Pakistan, a suicide bomber targeted employees of a nuclear facility
left 29 people wounded. Near Peshawar, the main city in the
northwest, a roadside bomb killed two policemen and wounded five
more. Maulvi Nazir, a powerful militant chieftain in the frontier
region of South Waziristan, declared a cease-fire against security
forces.
(AP, 7/2/09)
2009 Jul 2, In Peru two buses
crashed head-on on a mountain road near Lake Titicaca, killing at
least 23 people and injuring 50 more.
(AP, 7/2/09)
2009 Jul 2, South Africa urged
its public service doctors to halt wildcat strikes and accept a
revised wage offer after low salaries and abysmal working conditions
led them to abandon patients.
(AFP, 7/2/09)
2009 Jul 2, Spain's
intelligence chief, Alberto Saiz, resigned amid allegations he used
government money to go on hunting and fishing trips and had staffers
remodel his house.
(AP, 7/2/09)
2009 Jul 2, The BBC reported
that Syria’s Pres. Assad has issued a presidential decree ordering
honor killers to face at least 2 years in prison.
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8130639.stm)
2009 Jul 2, The UN nuclear
agency's governing board (IAEA) chose Yukiya Amano, a veteran
Japanese diplomat as its new head. The term of the present head,
Mohamed ElBaradei, ends in November.
(AP, 7/2/09)
2009 Jul 2, In Vietnam an
official said for every 100 girls born to Vietnamese families, there
are 112 boys born, a disparity in the sex ratio that has been
rapidly increasing in recent years. The rising imbalance was blamed
on a cultural preference for boys who can continue the bloodline and
the belief that boys can better care for parents as they age.
(AP, 7/2/09)
2009 Jul 3, Alaska Gov. Sarah
Palin announced her decision to leave office more than a year early,
effective July 26. The announcement left open the possibility of a
presidential run.
(AP, 7/4/09)
2009 Jul 3, In Washington state
federal agents said they have arrested 31 people and busted a drug
trafficking ring that was directed by a cartel in Jalisco, Mexico.
The 2-week Operation Arctic Chill seized 23 guns including a .50
Desert Eagle pistol and an AK-47-type assault rifle.
(SFC, 7/4/09, p.A5)
2009 Jul 3, The “Dog Days of
Summer” officially begin and continue to August 11. This period got
its name from the Egyptian belief that the Dog Star, Sirius, added
heat to Earth as it rose and fell with the sun during this period.
(SFC, 7/3/09, p.D8)
2009 Jul 3, US Marines moved
into villages in Taliban strongholds in southern Afghanistan,
meeting little resistance as they tried to win over local chiefs on
the second day of the biggest military operation here since the fall
of the Taliban government in 2001. In southeast Afghanistan two US
soldiers were killed when their base came under attack. The attack
included an attempted suicide truck bombing of the base in the Zirok
district of southeastern Paktika province. As many as 30 Taliban
insurgents might have been killed when troops called in air strikes.
(AP, 7/3/09)(AP, 7/6/09)
2009 Jul 3, Algeria, Niger and
Nigeria signed an accord to build a 10-billion-dollar trans-Saharan
gas pipeline linking vast reserves in Nigeria to Europe.
(AFP, 7/3/09)
2009 Jul 3, Australia announced
a 155 million US dollar package for isolated Aboriginal communities,
after a new report revealed shocking levels of child abuse among the
downtrodden minority.
(AFP, 7/3/09)
2009 Jul 3, In Brazil prison
guards foiled a new attempt to smuggle a cell phone into Danilo
Pinheiro prison near the city of Sorocaba by a carrier pigeon
wearing a tiny backpack. Police said that the practice is becoming
almost commonplace.
(AP, 7/3/09)
2009 Jul 3, In London a fire
ripped through the 12-story Lakanal House block of Sceaux Gardens
Estate, a 1960s-era public housing block in south London,
killing six people including a newborn baby.
(AFP, 7/4/09)
2009 Jul 3, Ayatollah Ahmad
Jannati, a top Iranian cleric, said that some of the detained
Iranian staffers of the British Embassy in Tehran will be put on
trial, and he accused Britain of a role in instigating widespread
protests that erupted over the country's disputed presidential
election.
(AP, 7/3/09)
2009 Jul 3, In Kashmir police
used batons and tear gas to break up fresh anti-India protests, with
more than two dozen people injured in the clashes in Srinagar and
Baramullah.
(AFP, 7/3/09)
2009 Jul 3, In Libya
peacekeepers in Somalia and the war crimes warrant for Sudan's
president dominated the final day of an African Union summit, after
a late-night compromise on a new regional authority. Africa's
leaders agreed to denounce the International Criminal Court and
refuse to extradite Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir, who has been
indicted for crimes against humanity in Darfur.
(AFP, 7/3/09)(AP, 7/3/09)
2009 Jul 3, In Mexico City
kidnappers opened fire with AK-47 assault rifles during an attempted
rescue of the victim. The rescue failed with catastrophic errors.
When police fired back, two commanders, including the chief of the
city's elite rapid response force, were shot from behind by their
own officers. Meanwhile, one of the kidnappers inside the home
fatally shot Yolanda Ceballos (50) before killing himself. Seven
other kidnappers were captured. Anti-kidnapping chief Juan Maya
Aviles was later suspended.
(AP, 8/21/09)
2009 Jul 3, In Pakistan US
missiles slammed into the hideout of Taliban commander Noor Wali,
allied to warlord Baitullah Mehsud in the tribal belt in South
Waziristan. Another missile strike hit an insurgent communications
center in Kokat Khel. The strikes reportedly killed a total of 17
people. Pakistani warplanes bombed suspected militant hide-outs,
killing at least four insurgents and wounding seven others. The
Pakistani military said at least 13 militants and four local
tribesmen were killed over the last 24 hours in the districts of
Swat and Dir. A Pakistani helicopter crash killed 26 security
personnel on the mountainous border of the Orakzai and Khyber ethnic
Pashtun tribal regions. The Taliban claimed responsibility, but a
senior security official said the military MI-17 helicopter had
crashed due to a technical fault. Ehsan, alias Abu Jandal, a
mid-level Taliban commander, was killed in Qambar area.
(AFP, 7/3/09)(AP, 7/3/09)(AFP, 7/4/09)(SFC,
7/4/09, p.A3)(AFP, 7/5/09)
2009 Jul 3, A top Kremlin aide
said Russia will allow the US to ship weapons across its territory
to Afghanistan, in a gesture aimed at bolstering US military
operations and improving strained ties between Washington and
Moscow.
(AP, 7/3/09)
2009 Jul 3, In Sudan gunmen
kidnapped an Irish and Ugandan women from the office of the Irish
aid group Goal in the North Darfur city of Kutum. A Sudanese
watchman was also seized before being released later. Arab tribes
supported by the government were implicated. Sharon Commins (33) and
her Ugandan colleague, Hilda Kuwuki (42), were released on Oct 18.
(AFP, 7/4/09)(AP, 10/18/09)(AFP, 10/24/09)
2009 Jul 3, Sudanese police
arrested 13 women in a raid on a Khartoum cafe for wearing trousers
in violation of the country's strict Islamic law. 10 of them were
flogged inside a Khartoum police station. One of those arrested,
journalist Lubna Hussein, said she is challenging the charges, which
can be punishable by up to 40 lashes.
(AP, 7/13/09)(AP, 7/21/09)
2009 Jul 3, The head of
Venezuela's telecommunications regulatory agency said that 240 radio
stations will have their licenses revoked for failing to update
their registrations with the government. The government now controls
six television channels, including the Caracas-based international
network Telesur, two national radio networks and other smaller media
outlets including 600 radio stations and 72 community TV stations.
(AP, 7/3/09)
2009 Jul 4, Attacks began on
more than two dozen Internet sites in the United States and South
Korea and some were disabled by hackers. South Korea's spy agency
later said the attacks were possibly linked to North Korea. Some of
the affected US government Web sites, such as the Treasury
Department, Federal Trade Commission and Secret Service, were still
reporting problems days after it started during the July 4 holiday.
(Reuters, 7/8/09)(AP, 7/8/09)
2009 Jul 4, NYC police arrested
a dozen people and seized 33 pounds of heroin worth $30 million that
was stuffed inside Build-A-Bear toys.
(SSFC, 7/5/09, p.A11)
2009 Jul 4, In North Carolina 2
workers were killed when a truckload of fireworks exploded on a dock
at the southern end of Ocracoke Island. 2 others soon died from
their injuries.
(AP, 7/5/09)(SFC, 7/6/09, p.A10)
2009 Jul 4, In Tennessee Steve
McNair (36), a four-time Pro Bowl selection, was found dead with
multiple gunshot wounds on a sofa in his Nashville condominium
living room. Sahel Kazemi, (20), discovered near him, was killed by
a single gunshot wound. McNair was married with four children.
(AP, 7/5/09)
2009 Jul 4, Drake Levin
(b.1946), blues guitarist and former lead guitarist for Paul Revere
and the Raiders, died of cancer in SF.
(SFC, 7/17/09, p.D5)
2009 Jul 4, In Afghanistan
insurgent attacks in Helmand province killed 3 British soldiers.
Gunmen in the east abducted 16 mine-clearing personnel working for
the United Nations as they traveled between Paktia and Khost
provinces.
(Reuters, 7/4/09)(AP, 7/5/09)(AP, 7/6/09)
2009 Jul 4, Albania's
opposition Socialists charged that the ruling Democrats were
improperly trying to influence the country's lengthy vote count by
declaring victory before all ballots from last week's national
election were tallied.
(AP, 7/4/09)
2009 Jul 4, In Canada an
explosion damaged a natural gas pipeline in northeast British
Columbia, the sixth attack on an energy facility in that area in
recent months. In a letter to a local newspaper the bomber gave
EnCana until mid-October to cease operations in the area, or face
larger attacks.
(Reuters, 7/4/09)(Econ, 8/15/09, p.32)
2009 Jul 4, A joint
French-Spanish operation captured 3 suspected members of ETA in the
French city of Pau.
(SFC, 7/6/09, p.A2)
2009 Jul 4, The OAS suspended
Honduras participation in the organization because of last week's
military coup.
(AP, 7/4/09)
2009 Jul 4, In Mali dozens of
people were killed during clashes in the Timbuktu region between the
army and Al-Qaeda of the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) fighters.
(AFP, 7/21/09)
2009 Jul 4, In Myanmar UN chief
Ban Ki-moon gave a rare public speech outlining his vision for a
democratic Myanmar, just hours after the ruling junta refused to let
him meet opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
(AFP, 7/4/09)
2009 Jul 4, Nigeria's rebel
group MEND threatened to thwart a 10-billion-dollar trans-Saharan
gas pipeline linking vast reserves in Nigeria to Europe. The army
vowed to protect the project. Rebels Sichem Peace oil tanker
and its six crew members. The ship and crew were freed July 21 after
spending 18 days in captivity in the Niger Delta.
(AFP, 7/4/09)(AP, 7/22/09)
2009 Jul 4, North Korea fired
seven ballistic missiles off its eastern coast, in a violation of UN
resolutions and an apparent message of defiance to the US on its
Independence Day.
(AP, 7/4/09)
2009 Jul 4, Pakistani warplanes
and helicopter gunships pounded Taliban positions in the country's
volatile northwest, killing at least 12 suspected insurgents.
Clashes between tribesmen and Taliban fighters left 16 people dead
in the remote Mohmand region. Army helicopters attacked a militant
position in the area the previous day’s helicopter crash and struck
a militant bunker on a peak. 10 bodies were reported found lying
there.
(AP, 7/4/09)(Reuters, 7/4/09)
2009 Jul 5, In Florida 2
monorail trains crashed in the Magic Kingdom section of Walt Disney
World, killing one train's operator.
(AP, 7/5/09)
2009 Jul 5, John Bachar
(b.1957), free-style rock climber, fell to his death from a dike
wall in the eastern Sierra near Mammoth Lakes, Ca.
(Econ, 7/18/09,
p.84)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bachar)
2009 Jul 5, Terry Herbert (55),
an unemployed treasure hunter, unearthed the biggest hoard of
Anglo-Saxon gold and silver ever found in a country field in
Staffordshire. The trove of at least 1,350 items, including five
kilos (11 pounds) of gold and a smaller amount of silver, was found
by Herbert with a metal detector near his home in Burntwood, some 15
miles north of Birmingham. It is believed to date from the seventh
century AD, and may have belonged to Saxon royalty. It was later
valued at more than three million pounds, to be split equally
between the man who found it and the owner of the land.
(AFP, 9/24/09)(AFP,
11/26/09)(www.nydailynews.com/topics/Terry+Herbert)
2009 Jul 5, Bulgaria held
parliamentary elections. The Conservative opposition center-right
GERB party, led by ex-wrestler Boyko Borisov, won elections with
39.7% of the vote as voters punished the governing Socialists for
failing to crack down on corruption.
(Reuters, 7/5/09)(AP, 7/6/09)(Econ, 7/11/09,
p.52)(Econ, 1/9/10, p.51)
2009 Jul 5, In China’s far west
protesters from a Muslim ethnic group clashed with police, with
activists saying police fired shots in the air and used batons to
disperse a crowd that had swelled to nearly 1,000. Over the next few
days some 192 people were killed and over 800 wounded in protests
that roiled Urumqi, the capital of western Xinjiang province. State
media said at least 20 people have died and more than 670,000 had to
be evacuated in China after torrential rain and floods destroyed
houses, damaged roads and caused rivers to overflow.
(AP, 7/5/09)(AFP, 7/5/09)(Time.com, 7/6/09)(AP,
7/16/09)
2009 Jul 5, Guinea-Bissau said
the second round of presidential elections has been brought forward
to July 26 to enable farmers to continue harvesting unhindered.
(AFP, 7/5/09)
2009 Jul 5, Honduras' ousted
President Manuel Zelaya said he was getting on a flight home to
reclaim his post, accompanied by the UN General Assembly president
and a group of journalists. The interim government said it ordered
the military to prevent the landing of Zelaya's plane. Soldiers
clashed with thousands of Zelaya backers massed at the airport in
hopes of welcoming home the deposed leader removed a week earlier.
Isis Obed Murillo Mencia (19) was killed by soldiers as a crowd
tried to break through an airport fence. Pilots of the plane loaned
by Venezuelan Pres. Hugo Chavez circled the airport and decided not
to risk a crash.
(AP, 7/5/09)(AP, 7/6/09)(SFC, 7/7/09, p.A3)
2009 Jul 5, Iran said it has
released a British-Greek journalist held for more than two weeks
following its disputed presidential elections as dissent continued.
Ali Reza Beheshti, the son of a prominent Iranian revolutionary
icon, made a rare public push for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's
removal from office. The Assembly of Qom Seminary Scholars and
Researchers, a pro-reform Iranian clerical group, said the outcome
of last month's presidential vote was "invalid," even though Supreme
Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has upheld the result.
(AP, 7/5/09)(Reuters, 7/5/09)
2009 Jul 5, In Iraq an attack
on the checkpoint in western Baghdad killed two Iraqi police
officers and three soldiers.
(AP, 7/6/09)
2009 Jul 5, Mexicans voted in
midterm congressional elections. The old Institutional Revolutionary
Party made a big comeback in defiance of those who had written off
what is still the country's biggest and most representative party.
The PAN will lose some of its 206 seats in the lower house, and the
PRI stands to more than double its 106 seats.
(AP, 7/5/09)(AP, 7/6/09)
2009 Jul 5, Nigerian rebels
announced they had launched a fresh attack on an oil facility run by
the Anglo-Dutch group Shell in the restive Niger Delta. The
militants destroyed a Chevron oil pipeline junction in the latest
attack on Nigeria's key money earner since the government offered an
amnesty.
(AP, 7/5/09)(AFP, 7/6/09)
2009 Jul 5, Pakistani fighter
jets targeted suspected Taliban hide-outs in a tribal region near
Afghanistan, killing as many as six people in North Waziristan.
Gunship helicopters shelled militant hideouts at Mangaltan area of
Charbagh town. At least ten militants were killed in the shelling.
At least three militants were killed and many injured in shelling in
the Orakzai region. Elsewhere in the northwest, two bomb explosions
killed two people and wounded 15 more in Upper Dir district.
(AP, 7/5/09)(AFP, 7/5/09)
2009 Jul 5, In the southern
Philippines suspected Muslim guerrillas detonated a bomb near a
Roman Catholic cathedral in Cotabato city, killing at least five
people and wounding 46.
(AP, 7/5/09)
2009 Jul 5, In Somalia heavy
shelling between rebels and government forces near the presidential
palace killed at least 12 people. PM Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke
looked for help from more African Union peacekeepers.
(AP, 7/5/09)
2009 Jul 5, An official
Zimbabwe newspaper reported that the government has promised to
withdraw soldiers from diamond fields in the east, a week after a
rights group alleged the military was committing killings and abuses
in the area.
(AP, 7/5/09)
2009 Jul 6, In San Francisco
crews cleaning a homeless encampment in McLaren Park discovered a
body later identified as Ronnie Brown (32), who was last seen in San
Leandro on Oct 20, 2007. Brown, aka Allah, was on parole for a
weapons conviction and had been associated with people connected to
Oakland’s Your Black Muslim Bakery.
(SFC, 7/15/09, p.A13)
2009 Jul 6, In North Carolina
suspected killer Patrick Burris (41), a career criminal paroled just
two months ago, was shot to death by officers investigating a
burglary complaint at a home in Gastonia, 30 miles from Gaffney, SC,
where the killing spree started June 27.
(AP, 7/7/09)
2009 Jul 6, Robert McNamara
(b.1916), former US defense secretary, died. He was one of the main
architects of the US war in Vietnam (1961-1968). McNamara wrote or
co-authored 11 books on topics that mainly focused on issues of
defense and development, the most recent one in 2001.
(AFP, 7/6/09)
2009 Jul 6, In northern
Afghanistan four US soldiers were among six people killed by a
roadside bomb in Kunduz province. Two Americans were killed in a
roadside blast in southern Afghanistan. An American soldier died in
a firefight with militants in the east. In southern Kandahar, a
suicide bomber killed two people when he drove a car packed with
explosives toward a line of truck drivers waiting to supply foreign
troops. The Taliban movement said they had launched a guerrilla
operation to thwart a major assault by newly deployed US Marines on
their Helmand strongholds. 3 NATO troops died in a helicopter crash
in Zabul province.
(AP, 7/6/09)(AFP, 7/6/09)(AP, 7/7/09)
2009 Jul 6, The 2nd Panafrican
Festival opened in Algiers and was scheduled to last to July 20. The
first Panafrican Festival took place back in 1969.
(AP, 7/9/09)
2009 Jul 6, In Croatia
deputy Jadranka Kosor (b.1953), a former journalist, was confirmed
as the new prime minister.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jadranka_Kosor)
2009 Jul 6, Ethnic Somali
rebels (ONLF) in Ethiopia's Ogaden region claimed they killed 90
government troops in recent clashes, but the government denied any
losses, claiming victory instead.
(AFP, 7/6/09)
2009 Jul 6, Honduras' interim
government closed its main airport to all flights after blocking the
runway to prevent the return of ousted President Manuel Zelaya.
(AP, 7/6/09)
2009 Jul 6, In western India
people began falling ill after a night of drinking tainted
home-brewed liquor. The death toll soon rose to at least 112.
(AP, 7/8/09)(AP, 7/9/09)(AP, 7/10/09)
2009 Jul 6, In Iraq a car bomb
targeted a police patrol in Mosul but missed, killing an 18-year-old
man and injuring eight other bystanders.
(AP, 7/6/09)
2009 Jul 6, Israel deported
Cynthia McKinney, a former US congresswoman, Mairead Corrigan
Maguire, a Nobel peace prize laureate, and other activists who were
arrested and jailed after trying to break the naval blockade of the
Gaza Strip. The Israeli navy seized their boat last week as it tried
to sail with medical supplies from Cyprus to Gaza.
(AP, 7/6/09)
2009 Jul 6, Liberia's truth and
reconciliation commission recommended barring President Ellen
Johnson Sirleaf and dozens of other high-profile figures from public
office for 30 years for supporting armed groups in the country's
civil wars.
(AP, 7/7/09)
2009 Jul 6, Nepal's national
assembly sat for the first time in more than two months after the
Maoist party agreed to halt protests that have paralyzed parliament.
(AFP, 7/6/09)
2009 Jul 6, In Russia President
Barack Obama opened his first Moscow summit with confidence. Obama
and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev struck a preliminary deal to
reduce their stockpiles of nuclear warheads to as few as 1,500 each,
pointing the two countries' arsenals toward lower levels than in any
previous arms control agreement.
(AP, 7/6/09)
2009 Jul 6, Vasily Aksyonov
(b.1932), Russian novelist and Soviet dissident, died in Moscow. He
was forced into exile in 1980 after being branded as “anti-Soviet”
and lived in the US for over two decades. His over 20 novels
included “The Moscow Saga” (1994), which was adopted for a popular
TV series in 2004.
(SFC, 7/8/09, p.D5)
2009 Jul 6, The office of South
Korea's Pres. Lee Myung-bak said he will donate about 33.1 billion
won ($26 million), almost all of his personal fortune, to establish
a new youth scholarship program.
(AP, 7/6/09)
2009 Jul 6, Vatican Radio began
airing advertisements for the first time in its 80-year history.
Vatican debt last year was pegged at $22 Million.
(SFC, 7/27/09, p.D3)
2009 Jul 6, In Yemen a barber
was publicly executed after he was found guilty of raping and
killing an 11-year-old boy who came to his shop for a haircut. The
barber was arrested in December 2008 and confessed during a January
trial to raping the boy inside his salon, killing him and cutting up
his body before dumping it outside San'a.
(AP, 7/6/09)
2009 Jul 7, Google announced
its new operating system, Google Chrome OS, which would initially
target low cost netbooks.
(SFC, 7/9/09, p.C1)
2009 Jul 7, Ron Nicolino
(b.1939), artist and former resident of Point Richmond, Ca., died of
cancer. He had attempted to string a collection of bras across the
Grand Canyon in the mid-1990s, but was unable to get federal
permission. Instead he and Ellen Duffy concocted the creation of a
bra ball. A dispute led each one to create their own versions.
Nicolino’s 1,600 pound “Big Giant Bra Ball” was left with his mother
in Washington state.
(SFC, 7/16/09, p.D7)
2009 Jul 7, In eastern
Afghanistan a hand grenade thrown at a police vehicle exploded in a
crowd, killing one civilian and wounding 28 others in Khost
province. A British soldier died in an explosion in Helmand
province. He was the 7th British soldier killed in Afghanistan in a
week. Hundreds of insurgents attacked police posts and a government
building in eastern Nuristan province. The attacks continued into
the next day leaving 6 policemen and 21 insurgents dead. (AP,
7/7/09)(AP, 7/8/09)
2009 Jul 7, British officials
unveiled a memorial of 52 steel pillars in a London park, one for
each victim of the July 7, 2005, attacks on the city's transit
system.
(AP, 7/7/09)
2009 Jul 7, The Cameroonian
newspaper Le Jour said five Chinese workers were abducted off the
oil-rich Bakassi peninsula in Cameroon near the border with Nigeria.
(AFP, 7/8/09)
2009 Jul 7, Canadian officials
said they had identified yet another new flu virus, this one a
mixture of human and swine influenzas, in two farm workers in
Western Canada.
(Reuters, 7/8/09)
2009 Jul 7, In China mobs of
Han Chinese wielding meat cleavers and clubs and groups of Muslim
Uighur men beat people in the streets of Urumqi, the capital of
Xinjiang region. The government imposed a curfew as it tried to stem
communal violence. The official Xinhua News Agency said that 1,434
suspects had been arrested, and that checkpoints had been set up to
stop rioters from escaping.
(AP, 7/7/09)
2009 Jul 7, In Egypt 22 people
were killed in two separate accidents on the notoriously dangerous
road between the capital Cairo and the southern city of Minya.
(AP, 7/7/09)
2009 Jul 7, Ethiopia's
parliament adopted a new anti-terrorism bill despite criticism by
rights groups that the legislation violates civil liberties.
(AFP, 7/7/09)
2009 Jul 7, In India at least
16 people were killed and 25 injured after a fire tore through a
firecracker factory in Madurai.
(SFC, 7/9/09, p.A2)
2009 Jul 7, In Italy Matteo
Salvini, a member of the often xenophobic, anti-immigrant Northern
League party, resigned his seat in the lower chamber of Parliament
after being filmed singing a racist chant about Naples and its
residents.
(AP, 7/8/09)
2009 Jul 7, In northern Mexico
an anti-crime activist and a neighbor were killed by gunmen believed
linked to a drug cartel. Anti-crime activists said the slaying of
Benjamin LeBaron, a US citizen, in Chihuahua state was the first
time one of their own had been killed for denouncing crime and
called it a chilling warning. Jose Rodolfo Escajeda, a lieutenant
and one of the main operators of the Juarez cartel, was later
presumed responsible for the killing of LeBaron and a neighbor near
Nuevo Casas Grandes.
(AP, 7/8/09)(AP, 9/6/09)
2009 Jul 7, In Pakistan a US
missile strike pulverized a compound in a stronghold of Taliban
warlord Baitullah Mehsud, killing 16 foreign and local militants in
South Waziristan. Two paramilitary soldiers were killed and nine
security personnel wounded in three bomb attacks in North and South
Waziristan. The military said that four militants were killed,
including a brother of Ibn-e-Amin, one of the most-wanted Taliban
commanders in the Swat valley.
(AFP, 7/7/09)
2009 Jul 7, In the Philippines
a crude bomb hidden on a motorcycle exploded in a port city on
southern Jolo island where al-Qaida-linked militants are active,
killing at least two people and wounding 24.
(AP, 7/7/09)
2009 Jul 7, In Moscow President
Barack Obama asked the Russian people to "forge a lasting
partnership" with the US, but he acknowledged after talks with PM
Vladimir Putin that on divisive issues there won't be "a meeting of
the minds anytime soon.
(AP, 7/7/09)
2009 Jul 7, Spanish police
arrested Jorge Alberto Soza (72), an ex-Argentine police official
suspected of human rights abuses committed during the South American
country's dirty war. Soza was wanted in Argentina in connection with
18 cases of kidnapping and torture between 1975 and 1977 when he was
an assistant Federal Police commissioner and chief delegate in the
southern Argentine city of Neuquen.
(AP, 7/24/09)
2009 Jul 7, Pope Benedict XVI
called for a radical rethinking of global economy in “Caritas et
Verite” (Charity in Truth) his 3rd encyclical.
(SFC, 7/8/09, p.A2)
2009 Jul 8, In SF Philip Day
(63), former head of SF City College, was charged with 8 felonies
for using public funds for political donations and other banned
expenditures.
(SFC, 7/9/09, p.A1)
2009 Jul 8, In Chesnee, North
Carolina, Ricky Lee Blackwell shot a girl (8) twice in the driveway
of a home where he had taken her and his estranged wife to swim and
play. The girl's father was dating Blackwell's estranged wife.
Blackwell shot himself as police closed in. He was taken to a
hospital but his condition wasn't released.
(AP, 7/9/09)
2009 Jul 8, In Afghanistan a
roadside bomb attack killed two NATO soldiers.
(AP, 7/9/09)
2009 Jul 8, Australia said
Chinese authorities had detained Stern Hu, Rio Tinto Ltd's top iron
ore negotiator, as well as three other Rio employees on suspicion of
espionage and stealing state secrets, threatening to strain already
fraying ties.
(Reuters, 7/8/09)
2009 Jul 8, Australian
residents of rural Bundanoon, hoping to protect the earth and their
wallets, voted to ban the sale of bottled water, the first community
in the country, and possibly the world, to take such a drastic step
in the growing backlash against the industry.
(AP, 7/9/09)
2009 Jul 8, Azerbaijan police
arrested Adnan Hadzhizade, a video blogger and member of the "OL!"
opposition movement, and Emin Milli, a youth activist who also runs
an Internet TV program, after a fight in a Baku cafe with two
unknown men. Both were charged with hooliganism. A Baku court
decision soon ordered two months of pretrial detention for Milli and
Hadzhizade, which prompted criticism from international journalism
advocates.
(AP, 7/14/09)
2009 Jul 8, The British
government set out plans to toughen regulation of its banking
sector, including greater oversight of bonuses paid to staff.
(AFP, 7/8/09)
2009 Jul 8, British scientists
claimed to have created human sperm from embryonic stem cells for
the first time. Several critics said the sperm cells were clearly
abnormal. The paper was retracted by the end of the month because
two paragraphs in its introduction had been plagiarized. Experts
acknowledged that concerns might be raised about the study's
credibility.
(SFC, 7/9/09, p.A5)(AP, 7/31/09)
2009 Jul 8, In China hundreds
of helmeted troops in riot gear swarmed the central square of
Urumqi, capital of western Xinjiang, after ethnic riots left some
192 dead. The city's Communist Party boss promised those behind the
killings would be executed. On July 11 China said 137 of the riot
victims were Han while 46 were Uighurs and one was a Hui, another
Muslim group. Uighurs on the streets of Urumqi, and from exile
activist groups disputed the new figures.
(AP, 7/8/09)(AP, 7/11/09)(AP, 7/15/09)
2009 Jul 8, In France some 60
youths rioted outside Saint-Etienne after hearing that man had tried
to hang himself in jail. Mohamed Benmouna (21) died soon after at a
hospital.
(SFC, 7/9/09, p.A2)
2009 Jul 8, In Haiti Bill
Clinton said a lack of coordination among aid groups and Haitian
leaders is hurting efforts to ease poverty in the Caribbean nation,
as he wrapped up his first trip here as a special UN envoy.
(AP, 7/8/09)
2009 Jul 8, Indonesian
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono won a second term. Exit polls
gave him a massive lead in only the second presidential vote since
the fall of Suharto. Yudhoyono won 61% of the vote. Jusuf Kalla, his
former vice-president, won 12%. Megawati Sukarnoputri won 27%.
(AP, 7/8/09)(Econ, 9/12/09, SR p.4)
2009 Jul 8, In Iraq car bombs
in two Shiite villages near Mosul killed 16 civilians and injured
more than two dozen.
(AP, 7/10/09)
2009 Jul 8, The Irish
government said Irish voters who rejected the EU's Lisbon Treaty
last year will be asked to vote again Oct. 2 on the long-delayed
blueprint for reform.
(AP, 7/8/09)
2009 Jul 8, G8 Leaders met in
L'Aquila, Italy, for talks on threats to global security and
stability at a summit where climate change, a continuing global
economic crisis, nuclear proliferation and world hunger took top
billing.
(AP, 7/8/09)
2009 Jul 8, Protesters in
Indian Kashmir set fire to a police van and stoned other security
vehicles after the body of a missing young man was recovered in the
regional capital Srinagar.
(AFP, 7/8/09)
2009 Jul 8, Malaysian education
officials announced that they will abandon the use of English to
teach math and science, bowing to protesters who demanded more use
of the national Malay language.
(SFC, 7/9/09, p.A2)
2009 Jul 8, In Mexico
investigators found a severed head and two arms inside a plastic bag
in the of Ario de Rosales, Michoacan state.
(AP, 7/9/09)
2009 Jul 8, Nigerian MEND
militants said they blew up two key oil pipelines as they stepped up
attacks in response to a government amnesty offer.
(AFP, 7/8/09)
2009 Jul 8, In Pakistan a US
drone fired 6 missiles and killed 10 suspected militants at a
training camp about 35 kilometers northeast of Wana. At least 35
suspected militants were killed in a second US missile strike
targeting insurgents in the northwest tribal belt.
(AFP, 7/8/09)(SFC, 7/9/09, p.A4)
2009 Jul 8, Saudi officials
said a criminal court has convicted and sentenced an al-Qaida
militant to death and given more 330 others jail terms, fines and
travel bans in the country's first known terrorism trials for
suspected members of the terror network. The 330 are believed to be
among the 991 suspected militants that Interior Minister Prince
Nayef has said had been charged with participating in terrorist
attacks over the past five years.
(AP, 7/8/09)
2009 Jul 8, Somali pirates
seized a Turkish ship with 23 crew and were being shadowed by a
Turkish warship in the Gulf of Aden. The pirates first surrounded
the Horizon-1 in speed boats and then boarded the ship, which was
carrying sulfate from Saudi Arabia to Jordan.
(AP, 7/8/09)
2009 Jul 8, A senior UN
official said fighting between tribes in southern Sudan has
increasingly targeted women and children and likely killed more than
1,000 people since January.
(AP, 7/8/09)
2009 Jul 8, Switzerland's
government said it would forbid the Swiss bank UBS AG from complying
with any court-ordered transfer of data on tens of thousands of
American clients to the US government, and would consider seizing
documents to prevent that.
(AP, 7/8/09)
2009 Jul 9, In Florida Byrd and
Melanie Billings were killed at their sprawling home near Pensacola.
The wealthy Florida couple had 4 children and adopted 12 others with
developmental disabilities and other problems. Three men were soon
arrested in connection with the slayings. In 2010 a jury found
Patrick Gonzalez Jr. guilty of 2 counts of 1st degree murder and one
count of robber. He had led a group of men dressed as ninjas in the
attack.
(AP, 7/13/09)(SFC, 7/14/09, p.A5)(SFC, 10/29/10,
p.A6)
2009 Jul 9, An Afghan
government spokesman said President Hamid Karzai has pardoned five
heroin smugglers, at least one of them a relative of a man who heads
Karzai's campaign for re-election next month. A truck rigged with
explosives blew up near Kabul killing 25 people including 13 primary
school students. Militants attacked a district headquarters in the
southern province of Zabul, sparking a clash in which 15 Taliban
were killed. 30 insurgents planting bombs in a road in Zabul were
killed in an Afghan military ambush. Overnight clashes with troops
killed 27 suspected militants in Helmand.
(Reuters, 7/9/09)(AFP, 7/9/09)
2009 Jul 9, An African Union
panel said former UN chief Kofi Annan handed the International
Criminal Court the names of key suspects in Kenya's post-poll
violence which he helped end last year.
(AFP, 7/9/09)
2009 Jul 9, The US deported
Luis Arce Gomez (71), a key figure in Bolivia's last military
dictatorship, back home to serve a 30-year prison sentence for
crimes including genocide and political assassinations. Gomez, known
as "the minister of cocaine," took part in the July 1980 coup led by
then-Gen. Luis Garcia Meza and backed by drug traffickers.
(AP, 7/9/09)
2009 Jul 9, In China a 6.0
earthquake rocked Yunnan province, killing one person and destroying
thousands of houses. More than 400,000 people left their homes
following the tremor that left at least one person dead.
(AP, 7/10/09)
2009 Jul 9, Egypt’s Interior
Ministry said authorities have arrested 25 militants with links to
al-Qaida on suspicion of plotting attacks on oil pipelines and ships
in the Suez Canal.
(AP, 7/9/09)
2009 Jul 9, In Iran hundreds of
young men and women chanted "death to the dictator" and fled
baton-wielding police in Tehran as opposition activists sought to
revive street protests despite authorities' vows to "smash" any new
marches.
(AP, 7/9/09)
2009 Jul 9, In Iraq 2 suicide
bombings in Tal Afar, in Nineveh province, killed 38 people and
wounded 66. Tal Afar is mainly home to minority Turkmen of the
Shiite Muslim faith. In Baghdad, 8 people were killed and 30 wounded
by two bombs in a market in Sadr City, a poor, Shiite Muslim area.
10 more people were killed by bombs elsewhere in Baghdad. US forces
released five Iranian officials detained in January 2007 in northern
Iraq on suspicion of aiding local Shiite militants. An Iranian
television report identified the men as Mohsen Bagheri, Mahmoud
Farhadi, Majid Ghaemi, Majid Dagheri and Abbas Jami. A car driver
was killed in a head-on collision with a US Army Stryker vehicle,
the lead vehicle of a US-Iraqi convoy in western Diyala province.
(Reuters, 7/9/09)(AP, 7/9/09)(AP, 7/10/09)(AP,
7/11/09)
2009 Jul 9, In Italy the G8
opened their summit to include the G5, which made their fifth
straight appearance at the annual summit, albeit as guests, to
discuss climate change, development aid, global economic growth and
international trade.
(AP, 7/9/09)
2009 Jul 9, Mexican police
found four mutilated bodies in plastic bags on the side of a highway
in La Huacana, Michoacan state.
(AP, 7/9/09)
2009 Jul 9, In Nigeria Henry
Okah, a key militant in Nigeria's southern Niger Delta detained
since September 2007, accepted President Umaru Yar'Adua recent offer
of unconditional amnesty. Armed robbers killed six police officers
as they fled after a raid on a commercial bank at Idi-Iroko, a
Nigerian border town with Benin.
(AFP, 7/10/09)
2009 Jul 9, Pakistan’s
government announced a plan to allow some 2 million people who fled
the offensive to return home next week, saying the region was now
secure and essential services restored. A landmine killed five
paramilitary soldiers and wounded four others in the
insurgency-plagued province of Baluchistan. Dozens of militants
overran a police post and killed four officers in the northwest city
of Khar.
(AFP, 7/9/09)(AP, 7/10/09)
2009 Jul 9-2009 Aug 2, Saudi
Arabian authorities arrested 44 suspected militants who sought to
recruit youths and finance their "deviant activities" through
charitable donations.
(AP, 8/19/09)
2009 Jul 9, In South Africa
World Cup organizers said a strike by construction workers entered
its second day as negotiators meet to try and resolve the standoff.
(AP, 7/9/09)
2009 Jul 9, South Korean Web
sites were attacked again after a wave of Web site outages in the US
and South Korea that several officials suspect North Korea was
behind.
(AP, 7/9/09)
2009 Jul 9, The Swedish
government said it will expel Sylvere Ahorugeze (53) within three
weeks, fulfilling a request from authorities in Rwanda and marking
the first time an EU nation has sent back a suspect to face charges
in the 1994 genocide.
(AP, 7/10/09)
2009 Jul 9, The UN passed a
resolution extending the lifetime of the International Criminal
Tribunal for Rwanda to next year. The latest extension is the second
for the Tanzania-based court which had originally been scheduled
wind up its lower court cases by December 2008, but had its life
extended to December 2009.
(AFP, 7/9/09)
2009 Jul 9, In Venezuela’s top
telecommunications official said President Hugo Chavez's government
is imposing new regulations on cable television while revoking the
licenses of more than 200 radio stations.
(AP, 7/9/09)
2009 Jul 10, General Motors
emerged from bankruptcy protection. CEO Fritz Henderson said the new
GM will be far faster and more responsive to customers than the old
one, and it will make money and repay government loans faster than
required.
(AP, 7/10/09)
2009 Jul 10, A US plant
scientists said late blight, which caused the Irish Potato Famine of
the 1840s and 1850s, is killing potato and tomato plants in home
gardens from Maine to Ohio and threatening commercial and organic
farms.
(Reuters, 7/10/09)
2009 Jul 10, Police in Illinois
closed a black cemetery in Alsip and declared it a crime scene after
former employees were accused of dumping hundreds of unearthed
corpses in a scheme to resell their plots.
(SFC, 7/11/09, p.A4)
2009 Jul 10,
Kenneth Stampp (b.1913), US Berkeley historian, died. His books
included “The Peculiar Institution: Slavery in the Antebellum South”
(1956) and “The Era of Reconstruction, 1865-1877” (1965).
(SFC, 7/22/09, p.D5)
2009 Jul 10, In Afghanistan 8
British soldiers were reported killed over the last 24 hours. A US
service member wounded in June in Afghanistan died in the US.
(AP, 7/11/09)(AP, 7/12/09)
2009 Jul 10, Millions of
Argentines stayed home from work, churches in Bolivia canceled Mass
and Ecuador announced its first fatalities from swine flu, as the
virus continued its spread during the South American winter season.
(AP, 7/11/09)
2009 Jul 10, Britain’s the last
ever Royal Show closed in Warwickshire. The agricultural jamboree,
intended to spread innovation among farmers, ended a 170 year run.
(Econ, 7/11/09, p.57)
2009 Jul 10, In China
boisterous crowds turned up at mosques in riot-hit parts of Urumqi,
ignoring orders canceling Friday prayers due to the ethnic violence
and forcing officials to let them in.
(AP, 7/10/09)
2009 Jul 10, China’s state
media said 4 detained Rio Tinto Ltd. employees are accused of paying
bribes for secret information about China's stance in iron ore price
talks. A Chinese steel executive, also detained along with four Rio
Tinto employees, was being investigated for leaking China's "bottom
line" on iron ore prices. Chinalco denied the move was payback for a
collapsed deal.
(AP, 7/10/09)(Reuters, 7/10/09)
2009 Jul 10, In Iraq an
American soldier in Iraq shot and killed a truck driver who did not
respond to warnings to stop on a highway between Tikrit and Balad.
(AP, 7/11/09)
2009 Jul 10, In Italy the 3-day
G8 summit came to close. World leaders launched a $15 billion
initiative to help farmers in poor countries boost production in a
shift in the way the West tackles world hunger.
(AP, 7/10/09)
2009 Jul 10, Nigerian militants
claimed to have blown up for a second time a recently repaired oil
pipeline operated by US petroleum giant Chevron.
(AP, 7/11/09)
2009 Jul 10, Earl Haig (91),
Scottish artist and son of WWI Field Marshal Douglas Haig, died. He
developed his gift for painting as a prisoner of war in World War
II.
(AP, 7/15/09)
2009 Jul 10, Somali residents
said Islamist insurgent fighters in Baidoa have beheaded seven
people accused of abandoning their religion and of espionage, in the
largest mass execution since the Islamists were chased from power
two and a half years ago.
(AP, 7/10/09)
2009 Jul 10, South Korea’s spy
agency told lawmakers that a research institute affiliated with the
North's Ministry of People's Armed Forces received an order on June
7 to "destroy the South Korean puppet communications networks in an
instant." The Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported that the North has
between 500-1,000 hacking specialists.
(AP, 7/11/09)
2009 Jul 10, In Spain charging
bull gored a young Spanish man to death at Pamplona's San Fermin
festival, the first such fatality in nearly 15 years. Nine others
were injured in a particularly dangerous and chaotic chapter of the
running of the bulls.
(AP, 7/10/09)
2009 Jul 10, In Switzerland
British conductor Edward Downes (b.1924) died with his wife Joan
(74) at an assisted suicide clinic. He was a longtime stalwart at
the Royal Opera and maestro of the first-ever performance at
Sydney's iconic Opera House.
(AP, 7/14/09)
2009 Jul 10, At the Vatican
Pope Benedict XVI stressed the church's opposition to abortion and
stem cell research in his first meeting with President Barack Obama.
(AP, 7/10/09)
2009 Jul 10, Zimbabwe's army
and police refused to vacate diamond fields where security forces
are accused of human rights abuses, despite a pledge last week for
their withdrawal. Finance Minister Tendai Biti said the government
will provide 142 million dollars in aid to small-scale farmers as
the country struggles to revive its shattered agricultural sector.
(AFP, 7/10/09)(AP, 7/10/09)
2009 Jul 11, In Afghanistan
bomb blasts killed 2 US Marines in Helmand province. At least six
police officers were killed by roadside bombs, two in southern
Helmand province and at least four south of Kabul in Logar province.
In a gunbattle in eastern Paktia province between insurgents and
Afghan police, two militants and one police officer were killed.
(AP, 7/12/09)(SFC, 7/13/09, p.A3)
2009 Jul 11, It was reported
that Brazilian police were investigating some 660 “secret acts”
passed by the Senate since 1995 which have awarded jobs and pay
raises members of staff.
(Econ, 7/11/09, p.39)
2009 Jul 11, In Brazil the body
of Arturo Gatti (37), former Canadian boxing champion, was found in
a hotel room at the northeastern Porto de Galinhas resort. He was
apparently strangled with the strap of a purse, which was found at
the scene with blood stains. His wife, Amanda Rodrigues (23), was
soon taken into custody after contradictions in her interrogation. A
police inquiry later concluded that he committed suicide using the
strap of a rucksack on a staircase in the early hours of the
morning.
(AP, 7/12/09)(Reuters, 7/31/09)
2009 Jul 11, In Ghana US Pres.
Obama met with Ghanaian President John Atta Mills. Obama praised and
scolded the continent of his ancestors, asserting forces of tyranny
and corruption must yield if Africa is to achieve its promise.
(AP, 7/11/09)
2009 Jul 11, A ferry capsized
off Haiti's southern coast, killing at least five people.
Authorities said it wasn't clear how many people were on board, but
as many as two dozen could be missing.
(AP, 7/11/09)
2009 Jul 11, In India 2 boats
capsized in the Wainganga River in western Bhandara district leaving
26 women drowned.
(SFC, 7/13/09, p.A2)
2009 Jul 11, In Indonesia an
Australian working for the Indonesian subsidiary of US-based mining
giant Freeport McMoRan was shot dead by unknown attackers in Papua.
(AFP, 7/11/09)
2009 Jul 11, In Iraq a car bomb
has exploded in Gugjeli a Shiite village in northern Iraq, killing
at least four people. Another 6 people died in bombings in Baghdad.
(AP, 7/11/09)(SSFC, 7/12/09, p.A2)
2009 Jul 11, In Israel 2
religious Jews were stabbed and another was beaten in a fight with
secular Jews in Jerusalem.
(AP, 7/11/09)
2009 Jul 11, In Mexico gunmen
boldly attacked federal forces across the western state of Michoacan
following the capture of Arnoldo Rueda Medina, an alleged member of
La Familia drug cartel. In Zitacuaro, a mountain town famous for its
Monarch butterfly nesting grounds, 3 federal agents were killed, and
two soldiers were fatally shot in the town of Zamora. Two federal
agents were killed and three others were wounded along a highway
between Morelia and the port City of Lazaro Cardenas when dozens of
gunmen ambushed their patrol cars.
(AP, 7/12/09)
2009 Jul 11, In central
Pakistan police killed one suspected militant and seized a truckload
of automatic weapons and explosives after a five-hour shootout at a
religious school in Dera Ghazi Khan, Punjab province. A clash with
militants in South Waziristan killed a soldier. Gunmen killed 5
police officers and a forestry official responding to reports of a
dead body in Mansehra.
(AP, 7/11/09)(AP, 7/12/09)(SFC, 7/13/09, p.A2)
2009 Jul 11, Peru’s President
Alan Garcia shuffled his Cabinet following months of protests,
replacing seven of 16 ministers and naming a new chief, the third
person to hold the post in nine months.
(AP, 7/12/09)
2009 Jul 11, In Somalia a
foreign fighter and Nor Daqli, head of security for the capital,
were among 16 people killed in fighting between UN-backed government
forces and Islamist insurgents in the north of Mogadishu.
(AP, 7/11/09)
2009 Jul 12, In Novato,
California, James Raphael Mitchell (27) allegedly bludgeoned to
death Danielle Keller, the mother of his one-year-old daughter. He
was arrested late the same day. Mitchell’s father, Jim Mitchell, was
the co-founder of San Francisco’s x-rated O’Farrell Theater. In 2011
Mitchell testified he did not kill Keller and had fought off two
attackers at her home on the day of her death. Mitchell was
convicted of 1st degree murder on July 12, 2011. On Aug 16 Mitchell
was sentenced to 35 years in prison.
(SFC, 7/14/09, p.A1)(SFC, 7/6/11, p.C5)(SFC,
7/13/11, p.C3)(SFC, 8/17/11, p.C3)
2009 Jul 12, Colombia’s
President Alvaro Uribe delivered reparations totaling nearly $1
million to 279 victims of Colombia's long-running conflict.
(AP, 7/13/09)
2009 Jul 12, The Republic of
Congo held elections. Pres. Denis Sassou-Nguesso was re-elected with
78.6% of the vote.
(SFC, 7/16/09, p.A2)
2009 Jul 12, Hondurans enjoyed
their first night of unfettered freedom in two weeks after the
interim government lifted a curfew imposed following the ouster of
President Manuel Zelaya.
(AP, 7/13/09)
2009 Jul 12, Indian Maoists
killed at least 30 policemen, including a senior officer, in two
separate ambushes in the eastern state of Chhattisgarh. A section of
a bridge being built for the New Delhi metro rail system collapsed,
crushing to death 5 workers and injuring 13 in a major setback to
the project that officials hope to complete before the 2010
Commonwealth Games.
(AFP, 7/12/09)
2009 Jul 12, In Indonesia
gunmen killed a security guard working for US mining conglomerate
Freeport, then ambushed police responding to the attack blamed on
separatist rebels in one of Indonesia's most underdeveloped and
remote regions.
(AP, 7/12/09)
2009 Jul 12, Five Iranian
officials held in Iraq for more than two years by US forces returned
home after the US released them under pressure from the Iraqi
government. They were handed over to Iraqi officials on July 9. The
Iranians were detained in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil in
January 2007. At the time, US authorities said the men included the
operations chief and other members of Iran's elite Quds Force, which
is accused of arming and training Iraqi militants.
(AP, 7/12/09)
2009 Jul 12, In Iraq bombings
in or near churches killed at least four people, including one that
happened as worshippers were leaving Mass in eastern Baghdad. It was
reported that below-average rainfall and insufficient water in the
Euphrates and Tigris rivers have left Iraq bone dry for a second
straight year, wrecking swaths of farm land, threatening drinking
water supplies and intensifying fierce sandstorms that have coated
the country in brown dust. The severity of the drought has resulted
in a testy water dispute between Iraq and Turkey, which has built
five dams along the Euphrates upstream from where it enters western
Iraq.
(AP, 7/13/09)
2009 Jul 12, In Kyrgyzstan
government critic Almaz Tashiyev (Tashiev) died of complications
from head injuries after surgery. Relatives said he told them before
the operation that he had been beaten by eight police officers
earlier in the week. His death came after a series of attacks on
reporters and shortly before next week's presidential election,
reinforcing concerns about the risks faced by independent
journalists in the Central Asian nation. Junior lieutenant Shukurbek
Nurmatov was arrested July 16 on suspicion of being involved in the
beating.
(AP, 7/13/09)(AP, 7/17/09)(Econ, 8/1/09, p.38)
2009 Jul 12, Mexican federal
agents captured 2 suspects in connection with a series of attacks on
federal forces across Michoacan state that left 5 officers and 2
soldiers dead.
(AP, 7/13/09)
2009 Jul 12, Nigerian rebels
took their battle with the government into the country's main city,
targeting an oil tanker loading facility in Lagos harbor in an
unprecedented attack there.
(AFP, 7/13/09)
2009 Jul 12, Pakistani fighter
jets pounded suspected militant hide-outs in the South Waziristan
tribal region as part of ongoing operations against Pakistani
Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud. At least 8 militants were killed. A
military statement described continued reports of unrest in the Swat
valley, including a remote-controlled bomb that wounded 7 tribal
police officers in the past 24 hours.
(AP, 7/12/09)
2009 Jul 12, Somali government
forces with the help of African Union tanks fought Islamic militants
in the capital, with clashes killing at least seven people.
Witnesses said dozens of people were killed and some 150 wounded.
(AFP, 7/12/09)(AP, 7/13/09)
2009 Jul 12, In Spain 10 people
were injured, two of them seriously, in the Pamplona bull run, two
days after a man was gored to death by a bull.
(AP, 7/12/09)
2009 Jul 12, Swiss police
divers harpooned a zander fish, which was 70 centimeters (two feet
three inches) long and weighed eight kilos (17.5 pounds), after it
bit six swimmers over the weekend in Lac Majeur.
(AFP, 7/13/09)
2009 Jul 12, Thailand's swine
flu death toll rose to 18 as the government confirmed three more
fatalities and opened a vaccine plant to prevent tens of thousands
of infections across the country.
(AFP, 7/12/09)
2009 Jul 13, The US Fisheries
Service of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
issued a ban on krill fishing within 200 miles of the Pacific coast
of California, Oregon and Washington due to concerns that commercial
krill fishing threatened food sources for fish, whales and
seabirds.
(SFC, 7/14/09, p.A4)
2009 Jul 13, In southern
Afghanistan 2 US Marines were killed in a hostile incident. An
insurgent attack in eastern Nuristan province killed a US soldier.
The police chief of Jalrez district in Wardak province was killed
along with 3 officers in a roadside blast.
(AP, 7/14/09)(SFC, 7/14/09, p.A3)
2009 Jul 13, British and
Israeli officials said Britain has revoked several licenses granted
to British companies to sell weapons parts to Israel because of
concerns over their use in Israel's recent war in the Gaza Strip.
(AP, 7/13/09)
2009 Jul 13, In China police
shot dead two Uighur men and wounded a third on the streets of
Urumqi, where tens of thousands of troops are stationed to restore
calm a week after deadly ethnic riots.
(AP, 7/13/09)
2009 Jul 13, China's Health
Ministry ordered a hospital to stop using electric shock therapy to
cure youths of Internet addiction, saying there was no scientific
evidence it worked.
(AP, 7/14/09)
2009 Jul 13, In Cuba the body
of Rev. Mariano Arroyo Merino (74) was discovered in his room at the
parish he served in the coastal neighborhood of Regla, situated on
Havana Bay across from the capital. Authorities were still
investigating the death of another Spanish priest, the Rev. Eduardo
de la Fuente Serrano, whose body was found in a remote, sparsely
populated area just outside the capital in mid-February.
(AP, 7/13/09)
2009 Jul 13, In Germany retired
auto worker John Demjanjuk was formally charged with 27,900 counts
of acting as an accessory to murder, one for every person who died
at Sobibor during the time he is accused of serving as a guard at
the Nazi death camp.
(AP, 7/13/09)
2009 Jul 13, German automobile
group Daimler said it sold 40 percent of its stake in US electric
car maker Tesla Motors to United Arab Emirate's Aabar Investments
group to boost development of low-emission vehicles.
(AP, 7/13/09)
2009 Jul 13, Munich Re, the
world’s largest reinsurance group, invited 20 large companies to
join it in forming a consortium called Desertec to build a legion of
solar power stations in Africa and Arabia and connect them to
Europe.
(Econ, 7/11/09, p.83)
2009 Jul 13, In Indonesia a
policeman's body was found at the bottom of a ravine near the
Indonesian operations of US mining conglomerate Freeport, raising
the death toll from a series of weekend ambushes in restive Papua
province to three.
(AP, 7/13/09)
2009 Jul 13, Iraqi authorities
imposed vehicle bans in two mostly Christian towns and increased
security around churches in Baghdad after attacks targeting the
Christian minority. An Iraqi soldier was killed when a bomb attached
to his private vehicle exploded at noon in an area of northern
Mosul.
(AP, 7/13/09)
2009 Jul 13, Japan passed a law
that will allow children to receive organ transplants for the first
time, reversing a ban that doomed many young patients or forced them
to seek medical care abroad.
(AP, 7/13/09)
2009 Jul 13, Former Lebanese PM
Amin al-Hafez (83) died. He served a turbulent two-month term in
1973 before he was forced to resign.
(AP, 7/13/09)
2009 Jul 13, Mexican
prosecutors said they found the bound, blindfolded and tortured
bodies of a dozen people on a roadside near La Huacana in the
western state of Michoacan. The 12 bodies were soon identified as
federal agents investigating organized crime.
(AP, 7/14/09)(AP, 7/15/09)(SFC, 7/15/09, p.A2)
2009 Jul 13, Mexico and the US
announced that they were working on a protocol for sharing
information in arms trafficking cases.
(AP, 7/14/09)(AP, 8/6/09)
2009 Jul 13, Pakistan began
sending home about two million people displaced two months ago by
the army's assault on Taliban militants in the Swat valley. An
explosion in Punjab province destroyed a house used as a religious
seminary, killing at least nine people, seven of them children, and
leaving many others in critical condition.
(AP, 7/13/09)
2009 Jul 13, In Russia 5
suspected militants and two law enforcement officers were killed in
separate attacks in the south. The militants were killed in two
separate gunbattles in Chechnya, while Interior Ministry troops in
Dagestan died in an ambush by insurgents.
(AP, 7/13/09)
2009 Jul 13, South Korea
reported that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il (67) has
life-threatening pancreatic cancer, days after fresh images of him
looking gaunt spurred speculation that his health was worsening
following a reported stroke last year.
(AP, 7/13/09)
2009 Jul 13, Turkey and four EU
countries (Austria, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary) formally agreed
to route the Nabucco natural gas pipeline across their territories,
pushing ahead with a US- and EU-backed attempt to make Europe less
dependent on Russian gas.
(AP, 7/13/09)(Econ, 7/18/09, p.47)
2009 Jul 13, Uganda said it
would arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir if he enters the
country, an unusual stance after a summit of African leaders
denounced the international arrest warrant against al-Bashir.
(AP, 7/13/09)
2009 Jul 13, The UN’s highest
court set travel rules for the Nicaraguan river that borders Costa
Rica, affirming freedom for Costa Rican boats while upholding
Nicaragua's right to regulate traffic.
(AP, 7/13/09)
2009 Jul 13, In Zimbabwe
militants from President Robert Mugabe's party disrupted the start
of a national conference aimed at drawing up a new constitution.
(AP, 7/13/09)
2009 Jul 14, President Barack
Obama unveiled a $12 billion initiative to boost community colleges
and propel the United States toward his goal of having the highest
proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020.
(AP, 7/14/09)
2009 Jul 14, Episcopalians
meeting in Anaheim, NY, declared gays and lesbians eligible any
ordained ministry.
(SFC, 7/15/09, p.A6)
2009 Jul 14, Exxon Mobil said
it would put $300 million into an effort to create a new generation
of biofuels, and to add $300 if plans with Synthetic Genomics, a San
Diego firm under Craig Venter, proved successful.
(Econ, 7/18/09, p.78)
2009 Jul 14, In San Francisco
Rev. Floyd Lotito (74), founder of St. Anthony’s Dining Room (1981)
died after a long struggle with Parkinson’s disease. The St. Anthony
free-meal program currently served nearly 2,600 meals per day.
(SFC, 7/20/09, p.C5)
2009 Jul 14, The Int’l.
Accounting Standards Board (IASB) proposed to put all financial
assets into 2 buckets. Loans and securities would be in one and held
at cost; all others would be in another and held at fair value.
(Econ, 7/18/09, p.74)
2009 Jul 14, In Afghanistan a
NATO-contracted helicopter was shot down killing six Ukrainian crew
members on board and an Afghan child on the ground in Helmand
province. A roadside bomb killed one Italian soldier and wounded
three others in western Afghanistan. Another roadside blast hit a
civilian vehicle in Uruzgan province, killing three people and
wounded six others. US coalition and Afghan forces searched
compounds in Kandahar and found bomb-making materials, mortar
rounds, AK-47 rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and 100 pounds (45
kilograms) of opium.
(AP, 7/14/09)(SFC, 7/15/09, p.A2)(AP, 7/26/09)
2009 Jul 14, The European
Parliament elected ex-Polish Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek as its
president, making him the first leader from a former Soviet bloc
country to hold one of the top European Union posts.
(Reuters, 7/14/09)
2009 Jul 14, Iran’s official
IRNA news agency reported that authorities in the southeastern city
of Zahedan hanged 13 members of a Sunni Muslim rebel group convicted
of bombings and killings in the area. The report said Abdulhamid
Rigi, brother of Abdulmalik Rigi, leader of the group known as
Jundallah or soldiers of God, had been scheduled to be hanged along
with the 13 men, but his execution was postponed.
(AP, 7/14/09)
2009 Jul 14, In Iraq one person
was killed and 9 others were wounded when a bomb exploded near an
Internet cafe late at night in south Baghdad. Two traffic policemen
were killed in eastern Baghdad by 2 gunmen who refused to stop at a
checkpoint near the fortified Green Zone.
(AP, 7/15/09)
2009 Jul 14, Lithuania's
Parliament approved a censorship bill that sharply curbs the
spreading of public information that lawmakers say could harm the
mental, physical, intellectual and moral development of youngsters.
The bill comes into law on March 2010 at the latest.
(www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,4487209,00.html?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf)
2009 Jul 14, In Nairobi, Kenya,
authorities seized over 660 pounds of illegal ivory and black
rhinoceros horn, some of it still bloody, on a Mozambique-to-Asia
plane.
(SFC, 7/15/09, p.A2)
2009 Jul 14, Nigeria's main
militant group declared a 60-day truce, effective July 15, in its
"oil war" with the government after the release of its leader Henry
Okah under an amnesty deal.
(AFP, 7/15/09)
2009 Jul 14, In Pakistan
fighting overnight in the lawless tribal belt killed 23 Taliban
militants. An attack in the Khyber region destroyed an oil tanker
supplying NATO forces based across the border in Afghanistan and
left 2 civilians dead. Troops killed 13 militants in the latest
clashes in the Swat Valley, underscoring the region's fragile
security even as refugees displaced by fighting return home.
(AFP, 7/14/09)(AP, 7/15/09)
2009 Jul 14, In Russia 6 men
emerged from three months of isolation in Soviet-era metal tubes
after completing an experiment simulating a mission to Mars.
(AP, 7/14/09)
2009 Jul 14, In Somalia two
French officials working as security advisers to the Somali
government were kidnapped in Mogadishu. Agent Marc Aubriere managed
to escape on August 26. Secret-agent Alexx Denis remained captive.
(Reuters, 7/14/09)(AP, 8/26/09)(SFC, 8/27/09,
p.A2)(Econ, 8/13/11, p.45)
2009 Jul 14, South Korean
police said hackers extracted files from computers they contaminated
with the virus that triggered cyberattacks last week in the United
States and South Korea, a sign that they tried to steal information
from the victims. North Korea has supposedly trained an elite group
of hackers at Mirim College, its military school.
(AP, 7/14/09)(Econ, 7/11/09, p.62)
2009 Jul 14, In Tanzania
Tharcisse Renzaho, the former prefect of Rwandan capital Kigali, was
sentenced to life for genocide-related crimes by the UN-backed war
crimes court trying masterminds of the country's 1994 massacre.
(AFP, 7/14/09)
2009 Jul 14, Venezuela's oil
minister Rafael Ramirez said workers at the state oil company must
support President Hugo Chavez's endeavors or be suspected of
conspiring against his socialist revolution.
(AP, 7/14/09)
2009 Jul 14, Zimbabwe's
constitution talks, violently disrupted by militant backers of
President Robert Mugabe, resumed with calls for tolerance in work on
a charter meant to pave the way to fresh polls.
(AFP, 7/14/09)
2009 Jul 15, Space shuttle
Endeavour rocketed toward the international space station as
engineers on Earth pored over launch pictures that showed debris
breaking off the fuel tank and striking the craft.
(AP, 7/16/09)
2009 Jul 15, In Alaska Anthony
Rollins, a 13-year decorated Anchorage police officer, was arrested
after being indicted for assaulting multiple women while on duty.
(SFC, 7/16/09, p.A6)
2009 Jul 15, California tax
officials said a bill to tax and regulate marijuana in California
like alcohol would generate nearly $1.4 billion in revenue for the
cash-strapped state.
(AP, 7/16/09)
2009 Jul 15, In Afghanistan at
least 4 civilians were killed and 13 were wounded in a late night
airstrike on the southern village of Shawalikot. 3 police were
killed by a suicide car bomber in Nimroz province, and two Afghan
army soldiers died in two other attacks in the south. NATO forces
killed two insurgents in an attack in the east.
(AP,
7/16/09)(http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20090717/wl_mcclatchy/3274354)
2009 Jul 15, Luxury carmaker
Jaguar, owned by India's Tata Motors, announced it would end
Liverpool production of its X-Type car by the end of the year with
the loss of up to 300 jobs.
(AFP, 7/15/09)
2009 Jul 15, In China the
former head of oil giant Sinopec was sentenced to death after being
found guilty of corrupt practices over many years, but state press
reported that he will likely not be executed. The Beijing court had
found Chen Tonghai guilty of graft amounting to 195.7 million yuan
(28.8 million dollars) when he served in top Sinopec ranks from 1999
to 2007.
(AFP, 7/15/09)
2009 Jul 15, In Egypt the
two-day Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) opened in Sharm-El-Sheik. 50
leaders from the 118-nation grouping of mostly of African, Asian and
Latin American nations gathered for their 15th meeting to address
the world's biggest problems, such as terrorism and financial
instability. Cuba's Pres. Raul Castro called for an international
financial system that better takes into account developing countries
interests.
(AP, 7/15/09)
2009 Jul 15, The EU urged
Canada to restore visa-free travel for Czech visitors, removed by
Ottawa after hundreds of Roma from the central European country
sought asylum.
(Reuters, 7/15/09)
2009 Jul 15, Honduras' interim
government suggested that backers of ousted President Manuel Zelaya
were taking up arms to return him to power and it reinstated an
overnight curfew it had lifted only days earlier.
(AP, 7/16/09)
2009 Jul 15, In Ingushetia
police officials said that the body of Natalya Estemirova (b.1959),
a prominent rights activist, was found not far from the main city of
Nazran, hours after she was kidnapped in Chechnya.
(AP, 7/15/09)(Econ, 7/25/09, p.23)
2009 Jul 15, In Iran a
Russian-made Caspian Airlines TU-154 jet plane carrying nearly 170
people crashed shortly after takeoff from Tehran's Imam Khomeini
International Airport. It was headed to the Armenian capital
Yerevan. All on board were killed.
(AP, 7/15/09)
2009 Jul 15, In Iraq a suicide
bomber killed six people, including an Iraqi policeman, in an attack
on security forces in Ramadi, a former insurgent stronghold in
western Anbar province. A bombing in Sadr City killed 5 people.
(AP, 7/15/09)(SFC, 7/16/09, p.A2)
2009 Jul 15, A court in
Indian-run Kashmir ordered the arrest of four police officers for
allegedly destroying evidence in the rape and murder of two women
that triggered violent protests last month.
(AP, 7/15/09)
2009 Jul 15, In northwest
Pakistan a roadside bomb exploded at a police checkpoint, killing a
paramilitary soldier and a police officer and wounding six policemen
in the Bannu area.
(AP, 7/15/09)
2009 Jul 15, In the Philippines
five employees of a logging company, including a woman, were seized
by eight guerrillas belonging to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front
in Kapai township in Lanao del Sur province. Army troops and police
rescued the victims on July 18 near Kapai without a fire fight.
Basit Kauyag was identified as the leader of the kidnappers.
(AP, 7/19/09)
2009 Jul 15, Mazen Abdul-Jawad
(32), a Saudi man, appeared on the Lebanese-based LBC satellite TV
station’s "Bold Red Line" program and shocked Saudis by publicly
confessing to sexual exploits. More than 200 people soon filed legal
complaints against Abdul-Jawad, dubbed a "sex braggart" by the
media, and many Saudis said he should be severely punished. On July
31 Abdul-Jawad was detained for questioning. The Jiddah offices of
the LBC station were closed soon thereafter.
(AP, 8/6/09)(AP, 8/9/09)
2009 Jul 15, In Turkmenistan
President Gurbanguli Berdymukhamedov led a ceremony for channeling
water across hundreds of miles to create Golden Age Lake in the
heart of the barren Karakum Desert, in a Soviet-style engineering
feat that some experts fear could unleash an environmental
catastrophe.
(AP, 7/16/09)
2009 Jul 15, In Venezuela
National Guard troops seized a police station controlled by a
leading opponent of President Hugo Chavez, sparking clashes between
soldiers and protesters that authorities said injured eight people.
(AP, 7/15/09)
2009 Jul 16, Michelle Cawthra,
a former Colorado Dept. of Revenue supervisor, said love for her
ex-boyfriend Hysear Randell led her to steal $11 million in
unclaimed tax refunds from the state over a 2-year period. Randell
was on trial in Denver for theft, forgery, computer crimes and
racketeering.
(SFC, 7/17/09, p.A6)
2009 Jul 16, In Phoenix,
Arizona, 4 boys, all Liberian refugees (9-14) lured a Liberian girl
(8) to a storage shed and raped her. Charges against one of the
boys, aged 8, were dropped on Dec 16 after a judge ruled the boy was
not competent to stand trial.
(SFC, 8/10/09, p.A4)(SFC, 12/17/09, p.A12)
2009 Jul 16, In Chicago Willis
Tower was introduced to Chicago by Mayor Richard M. Daley and others
during a public Sears Tower renaming ceremony hosted by Willis Group
Holdings. The London-based insurance brokerage secured the naming
rights as part an agreement to lease 140,000 square feet of space,
and has said it plans to bring hundreds of jobs to the city.
(AP, 7/16/09)
2009 Jul 16, CIT Group Inc.
shares tumbled 75% as its inability to get emergency government
funding raised expectations that the commercial lender will file for
bankruptcy protection.
(AP, 7/16/09)(SFC, 7/17/09, p.C1)
2009 Jul 16, In California the
UC Board of Regents cut $813 million from US budgets and approved
pay raises, dividends and other benefits for over two dozen
executives.
(http://tinyurl.com/n3hcj3)(SFC, 8/7/09, p.A1)
2009 Jul 16, Jeffrey Locker
(52), a debt-ridden motivational speaker, was found strangled and
stabbed in his car in East Harlem, hours after he was seen buying
condoms. In 2011 jurors found Kenneth Minor guilty of helping Locker
commit suicide.
(SFC, 3/4/11, p.A10)
2009 Jul 16, In southeastern
Afghanistan local Taliban commanders threatened to kill a captured
American soldier unless the US military stops operations in Ghazni
province's Giro district and Paktika province's Khoshamand district.
The British soldier was killed during a foot patrol near Gereshk in
southern Helmand province.
(AP, 7/16/09)(AP, 7/17/09)
2009 Jul 16, Australia and
China traded warnings over Rio Tinto employees detained for spying,
as the United States urged Beijing to ensure transparency and fair
treatment for staff of foreign companies.
(Reuters, 7/16/09)
2009 Jul 16, The Chadian rebel
Union of Forces of Resistance (UFR) claimed the Chadian air force
attacked two villages in the southeastern Chadian region of Tissi.
Rebels claimed some 50 had been killed some 100 wounded. Sudan
accused Chad of launching air raids on its western region of Darfur.
(AFP, 7/16/09)
2009 Jul 16, Colombian
authorities extradited to the United States Gerardo Aguilar (50),
alias "Cesar," a FARC rebel "jailer" captured in last year's July 2
rescue of three US military contractors and ex-presidential
candidate Ingrid Betancourt. He faced drug-trafficking charges,
kidnapping and other charges on an indictment in Washington, D.C.
federal court.
(AP, 7/17/09)
2009 Jul 16, In Egypt 8 Serb
tourists and 3 Egyptians were killed when a truck on the wrong side
of the road hit their coach head-on along Egypt's Red Sea coast.
(AP, 7/16/09)
2009 Jul 16, In Marseilles,
France, a worker was killed immediately when the roof of a stage
being built for a Madonna concert fell apart on top of several
workers. Madonna canceled her scheduled July 19 performance. A
2nd worker died the next day.
(AP, 7/17/09)
2009 Jul 16, Iceland’s Althingi
(parliament) voted 33 to 28 to apply to join the EU.
(Econ, 7/25/09, p.50)
2009 Jul 16, The leaders of
India and Pakistan, following rare talks in Egypt, vowed to
cooperate in the fight against terror in the wake of the devastating
Mumbai attacks.
(AFP, 7/16/09)
2009 Jul 16, In India Rita
Bahuguna Joshi, a leading politician of India's ruling Congress
party, was arrested and her house set on fire by activists after she
suggested that a rival leader be raped so she can better understand
the plight of rape victims.
(AP, 7/16/09)
2009 Jul 16, Iran announced
that Gholam Reza Aghazadeh, the head of its nuclear agency, has
resigned, a move that may have been connected to the country's
postelection turmoil. Aghazadeh told the semiofficial ISNA news
agency that he submitted his resignation from Iran's Atomic Energy
Organization 20 days ago and also resigned from his other post as
one of Pres. Ahmadinejad's vice presidents.
(AP, 7/16/09)
2009 Jul 16, In Iraq 18 people
were injured in an explosion that targeted a minibus transporting
Shiite pilgrims to a holy shrine in Najaf. 3 US soldiers were killed
in a rocket attack on a base outside of Basra. On July 18 an
Iranian-backed militiaman confessed to the rocket attack near the
Basra airport.
(AP, 7/16/09)(AP, 7/17/09)(AP, 7/18/09)
2009 Jul 16, In Israel
Ultra-Orthodox Jews clashed with police using horses and water
cannon in Jerusalem in the third day of rioting over the arrest of a
mentally ill Hasidic woman who authorities say was starving her
child.
(AP, 7/16/09)
2009 Jul 16, Mexico’s Interior
Secretary Fernando Gomez Mont said the government was pouring 1,500
federal police officers, 2,500 soldiers and 1,500 navy personnel
into Michoacan state, the home base for the violent La Familia
cartel led by Servando "La Tuta" Gomez.
(AP, 7/16/09)
2009 Jul 16, In northwestern
Pakistan gunmen killed UN employee Zill-e-Usman (59) and a guard
during a failed kidnap attempt at a refugee camp near Peshawar, a
blow to humanitarian efforts to help civilians displaced by army
offensives against the Taliban.
(AP, 7/16/09)(SFC, 7/17/09, p.A2)
2009 Jul 16, In Taiwan’s
southern city of Kaohsiung, more than 3,000 athletes and staff from
105 countries and territories marched into the World Games Stadium,
a new, eye-catching structure designed by renowned Japanese
architect Toyo Ito. China’s 100-strong delegation boycotted the
opening ceremony of the World Games in Taiwan, underscoring the
limits of the historic breakthrough in relations between Taipei and
Beijing.
(AP, 7/16/09)
2009 Jul 16, In Tajikistan 5
militants were killed in a gunfight at a remote military checkpoint
near the border with Afghanistan. Law enforcement agencies later
issued a joint statement claiming the perpetrators of the attack
were suspected terrorists with Russian citizenship. Authorities said
that earlier this month Mirzo Ziyoyev, a rebel commander in
Tajikistan's 1990s civil war, who later became a government
minister, was killed by members of a militant group he had allegedly
joined recently. The government said Azizov was a member of the
Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, or IMU, an al-Qaida-linked militant
group that has operated in ex-Soviet Central Asia and Afghanistan.
(AP, 7/20/09)
2009 Jul 16, The UN Security
Council banned travel and froze assets of 10 North Korean
individuals and businesses linked to the country’s nuclear and
ballistic missile programs.
(SFC, 7/17/09, p.A2)
2009 Jul 17, In Douglas,
Georgia, federal authorities arrested Cecil Stephen Haire (51), the
so-called “limping bandit.” He was said to have robbed 23 banks
across the Southwest over the last 3 years.
(SFC, 7/22/09, p.A4)
2009 Jul 17, Walter
Cronkite (b.1916), TV journalist, died with his family by his side
at his Manhattan home after a long illness. On April 16, 1962, he
replaced Douglas Edwards as anchor of the CBS "Evening News." Polls
in 1972 and 1974 had pronounced Cronkite the "most trusted man in
America."
(AP, 7/18/09)
2009 Jul 17, In southern
Afghanistan a roadside bomb tore through a vehicle, killing a
British soldier and 11 civilians, including five children. In
Nangarhar province, a gunfight broke out between Taliban fighters
and local civilians after militants fired at an Afghan army officer
who had come to visit his relatives. 3 militants and two civilians
were killed and one civilian was missing. Eleven militants were
captured, eight of them Pakistanis.
(AP, 7/17/09)(AP, 7/18/09)(SFC, 7/18/09, p.A2)
2009 Jul 17, Leszek Kolakowski
(b.1927), Polish-born Oxford philosopher and historian of ideas,
died in Oxford. “We Learn history not in order to know how to behave
or how to succeed, but to know who we are.” His work included the
3-volume series “Main currents of Marxism: Its Rise, Growth and
Dissolution” (1976).
(Econ, 8/1/09,
p.76)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leszek_Ko%C5%82akowski)
2009 Jul 17, In China
government officials in Beijing descended on the Open Constitution
Initiative (OCI), a public interest lawyer’s group that challenged
abuse and corruption by state and local governments. They took away
almost everything the group owned and tax authorities ordered it to
pay $207,900.
(Econ, 7/25/09, p.38)
2009 Jul 17, The Republic of
Congo's top opposition politician, Mathias Dzon, filed for an
annulment of the incumbent president's re-election and claimed there
had been vote-rigging and intimidation.
(AP, 7/17/09)
2009 Jul 17, In Ecuador a US
anti-narcotics force flew its last surveillance mission from
Ecuador's Pacific Coast. The force had begun dismantling its
operation and would be out of the country by September, two months
before the end of its lease.
(AP, 7/19/09)
2009 Jul 17, In Indonesia
suicide attacks at the Marriott and the Ritz-Carlton hotels in
Jakarta killed 9 people including 2 suspected suicide bombers and
wounded 53. Suspicion quickly fell on Jemaah Islamiyah and
anti-terror desk chief, Ansyaad Mbai, said evidence pointed to
Malaysian-born extremist Noordin Mohammed Top. In 2010 the South
Jakarta District Court found Amid Abdillah guilty of violating the
Anti-Terror Law by helping a splinter of the Southeast Asian terror
network Jemaah Islamiyah plan the suicide bombings. The same court
has earlier sentenced Saefudin Zuhri, an in-law of Top, and Aris
Susanto to eight years in prison for assisting and harboring Top and
two other suspects.
(AP, 7/17/09)(AFP, 7/18/09)(AP, 7/21/09)(AP,
8/7/09)(AP, 6/14/10)
2009 Jul 17, In Iran tens of
thousands of government opponents packed Iran's main Islamic prayer
sermon, chanting "freedom, freedom" and other slogans as their top
clerical backer Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani delivered a sermon bluntly
criticizing the country's leadership over the crackdown on election
protests. Outside, pro-government Basiji militiamen in front of a
line of riot police fired tear gas at thousands of protesters who
chanted "death to the dictator" and called on President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad to resign.
(AP, 7/17/09)
2009 Jul 17, In Iraq two bombs
exploded around 3 a.m. in Karmah near the house of police Capt.
Bahjat Khawam. The bombs were planted under the police officer's car
and near a gate to his house. The officer's daughter (12) and a
granddaughter (4) were killed in the attack. In Baghdad bombings
killed 3 Iraqis and injured over 40 others. One bomb planted under a
bridge killed a married couple who were among hundreds of thousands
of Shiite pilgrims heading to a shrine to commemorate Imam Mousa
al-Kazim.
(AP, 7/17/09)(SFC, 7/18/09, p.A2)
2009 Jul 17, In Japan 10 senior
citizen climbers were found dead in the northern mountains of
Hokkaido, apparently from hypothermia. Police began investigating
possible negligence by the tour organizers.
(AP, 7/17/09)
2009 Jul 17, The Malian army
announced that it had killed 26 "Islamist fighters" in the far north
of the country.
(AFP, 7/21/09)
2009 Jul 17, In Nouakchott,
Mauritania, police exchanged fire with suspected Islamic extremists,
killing one and wounding another who was wearing explosives wrapped
around his body. A 3rd suspect reportedly escaped.
(AP, 7/18/09)
2009 Jul 17, Mexico's central
bank cut its benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point,
dropping the interbank rate to 4.5% to stimulate a recession-dogged
economy.
(AP, 7/18/09)
2009 Jul 17, In Namibia 2
European journalists were fined $625 (US) by a court for filming the
annual seal hunt along the coast of the southern African nation. On
July 31 British investigative journalist Jim Wilckens and South
African cameraman Bart Smithers were found guilty of violating the
Marine Resources Act by entering a restricted area without
permission.
(AFP, 7/18/09)(AFP, 8/4/09)
2009 Jul 17, In Pakistan a
missile believed to have been fired by a US drone killed five
militants in North Waziristan, a tribal region known as a haven for
Taliban and al Qaeda fighters. Militants destroyed two NATO fuel
tankers in separate roadside bomb attacks in the Khyber tribal
region, one of the two land routes for supplies going to
Afghanistan.
(Reuters, 7/17/09)
2009 Jul 17, Russia said it
would lift a ban on live pigs and raw pork imports from the US state
of Wisconsin and Canada's Ontario province from July 18 due to what
it said was a "stabilization" of the situation of the H1N1 virus in
those places.
(Reuters, 7/17/09)
2009 Jul 17, The UN said an
international accord requiring governments to publicly identify
sites of environmental pollution will come into force on Oct. 8.
(AP, 7/17/09)
2009 Jul 18, In southern
Tennessee 5 people were found dead in two neighboring rural homes
near Fayetteville, and a sixth body was discovered at a business
about 30 miles away in Huntsville, Ala. Jacob Shaffer (30) of
Fayetteville was charged later that day with homicide.
(AP, 7/19/09)
2009 Jul 18, In Afghanistan a
US Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet crashed in central
Ghazni, killing the two crew members. A suicide driver blew up his
explosive-laden vehicle next to an Afghan army convoy in Zabul
province, killing three soldiers and wounding three others. 35
militants were killed during a joint operation by Afghan and
coalition troops in the Shah Walk Kot district of Kandahar province.
In Nangarhar province a suicide bomber attacked the Afghan-Pakistan
border crossing at Torkham, killing a border police officer and a
civilian.
(AP, 7/18/09)(AP, 7/19/09)
2009 Jul 18, In Australian Min
Lin, his wife, two sons aged 12 and 9, and a female relative were
killed by blunt force trauma to the upper bodies and heads in their
home in a Sydney suburb. The family had run a convenience store for
more than six years after immigrating from China.
(AP, 7/19/09)
2009 Jul 18, In Canada wind and
dry conditions fueled large blazes that broke out in the rugged
hills along Okanagan Lake west of the city of Kelowna, British
Columbia, where housing subdivisions have encroached on the
surrounding forest in recent years.
(AP, 7/20/09)
2009 Jul 18, In Iraq a
government spokesman said the Iraqi Cabinet had approved a measure
to confiscate the assets of the family of toppled dictator Saddam
Hussein and 52 former close aides who had used their powers to take
over or misuse public properties or funds. A roadside bomb killed
three people, including the son of a tribal leader, near Fallujah.
In Mosul a police officer was killed after a bomb exploded at a
checkpoint. Also in Mosul a civilian was killed by unidentified
gunmen.
(AFP, 7/18/09)(SSFC, 7/19/09, p.A7)
2009 Jul 18, Mauritania held
post-coup elections. Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, a former military
general who ousted this Islamic nation's first freely elected
president, vied with 8 other candidates to become the legitimate
ruler.
(AP, 7/18/09)
2009 Jul 18, Mexican soldiers
arrested Luis Ibarra, a suspected drug trafficker in the border city
of Tijuana. He was carrying jewelry, narcotics and $3.6 million in
cash. Ibarra belonged to a cell in charge of making and trafficking
methamphetamine for alleged drug kingpin Teodoro Garcia Simental.
(AP, 7/20/09)
2009 Jul 18, Pakistani
government warplanes flattened a suspected Taliban hide-out in the
northwest, killing nine associates of Taliban leader Baitullah
Mehsud.
(AP, 7/18/09)
2009 Jul 18, Sudanese rebels
set free 60 captured government soldiers and policemen in north
Darfur. The detainees had been held by the Justice and Equality
Movement following recent armed clashes.
(AP, 7/18/09)
2009 Jul 19,
Frank McCourt (78), former NYC teacher and Irish-born author, died
of cancer. He won a Pulitzer Prize for his memoir “Angela’s Ashes”
(1996).
(SFC, 7/20/09, p.C5)
2009 Jul 19, Warren Titus (94),
founder of the Royal Viking and Seabourn cruise ship lines, died at
a hospice in Marin County, Ca. He helped father the modern cruise
concept as president of Peninsular and Oriental Navigation Co.,
which later morphed into Princess Cruises. He left P.&O. to
start the Royal Viking Line in 1972. After the SF-based Royal Viking
went out of business in 1987, he was called by Atle Brynestad, a
Norwegian millionaire, to start Seabourn Cruise Lines.
(SFC, 7/31/09, p.D5)
2009 Jul 19,
In southern Afghanistan a Russian-owned civilian Mi-8 helicopter
crashed and burst into flames shortly after takeoff from the
Kandahar NATO base, killing 16 civilians in the latest in a string
of deadly aircraft crashes in the country. Gunmen killed a candidate
for provincial council in Kunduz province as he was traveling to a
campaign event. The US military denounced the release of a video
showing a soldier captured in Afghanistan, describing the images as
Taliban propaganda that violated international law. 3 civilians were
killed when German troops opened fire on their pickup truck. In
Farah province, a van full of civilians hit a roadside bomb, killing
11 people on board, including a child and his mother. A British
soldier was killed by an explosion while on a foot patrol in the
Sangin region of Helmand province.
(AP, 7/19/09)(Reuters, 7/19/09)(AP, 7/20/09)
2009 Jul 19, An amateur
astronomer in Australia detected a new scar on Jupiter that covered
some 73 million square miles, an larger area than the Pacific ocean.
(SFC, 7/22/09, p.A1)
2009 Jul 19, In
Kazakhstan more than 5,000 ethnic Uighurs rallied
in Almaty to protest China's use of deadly force to quash Uighur
protests this month.
(AP, 7/19/09)
2009 Jul 19,
In Mauritania Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz (b.1956), former head of the
junta that toppled the country’s first freely elected leader, won
the presidency in a vote his opponents decried as a fraudulent
"electoral coup." The final result gave Aziz 52.47% of the vote,
enabling him to avoid a runoff. The Constitutional Court declared
the result official on July 23, just hours after the head of the
election commission resigned over doubts about the ballot.
(AP, 7/19/09)(AP, 7/23/09)
2009 Jul 19, In Pakistan
at least 26 people died in heavy overnight rains in Karachi.
(AP, 7/19/09)
2009 Jul 19, Palestinian
authorities allowed Al-Jazeera to resume operations in the West
Bank, four days after banning the Arab satellite station over the
airing of a claim linking President Mahmoud Abbas to the death of
his legendary predecessor, Yasser Arafat.
(AP, 7/19/09)
2009 Jul 19,
Philippine officials said hundreds of marines and army troops have
been deployed to two islands in the southern Philippines for a new
offensive aimed at eradicating al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf militants
by the end of this year.
(AP, 7/19/09)
2009 Jul 19,
Sudan said it was committed to peace with neighboring Chad after
accusing it of bombing its western Darfur region last week, but also
warned it would not be held back if threatened.
(AFP, 7/19/09)
2009 Jul 19,
In Thailand’s Yala province a 48-year-old rubber plantation owner
was shot dead in a drive-by shooting as he returned home by
motorcycle. In another attack a gold shopkeeper was killed after
suspect insurgents fired assault rifles into his shop in Narathiwat
province before fleeing on a motorcycle.
(AP, 7/20/09)
2009 Jul 19, In Turkey patrons
of a usually smoke-filled hookah bar stepped outside to light up as
a ban on indoor public smoking extended to bars, restaurants and
coffeehouses.
(AP, 7/19/09)
2009 Jul 20, The United States
and India agreed on a defense pact that takes a major step toward
allowing the sale of sophisticated US arms to the South Asian nation
as it modernizes its military. New Delhi also approved sites for two
US nuclear reactors.
(Reuters, 7/20/09)
2009 Jul 20, In California Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger and four legislative leaders agreed to bridge
a $26.3 billion gap between expenditures and the state's plummeting
revenues. The agreement composed of cuts, borrowing and fund shifts
was not expected to resolve California's financial problems as the
economy continues to struggle and tax revenue lags far behind the
level of the boom years.
(AP, 7/21/09)
2009 Jul 20, In Afghanistan 10
Taliban were killed and three other militants wounded while making
bombs in a house in Ghazni province. A roadside bomb killed 4 US
soldiers.
(AP, 7/21/09)(SFC, 7/21/09, p.A3)
2009 Jul 20, Algeria’s Ministry
of Transport said the Chinese civil engineering group CCECC has won
3 contracts worth a total of 1.46 billion euros to build railways in
Algeria.
(AFP, 7/20/09)
2009 Jul 20, In Australia
Adelaide-based Vaxine began swine flu vaccine trials with 300
subjects. Melbourne's CSL had 240 people in its seven-month trial,
which started Jul 22. The companies said their trials are the first
tests of a swine flu vaccine on humans.
(AP, 7/22/09)
2009 Jul 20, In eastern
Democratic Republic of Congo at least 24 people, most of them
civilians, were killed when rebels attacked an army base.
(Reuters, 7/23/09)
2009 Jul 20, In India Ajmal
Kasab (21), the lone surviving gunman in the Nov 26, 2008, Mumbai
attacks, pleaded guilty and gave a detailed account of the plot, his
training in Pakistan and his role in the rampage that killed 171
people dead and paralyzed the city for three days.
(AP, 7/20/09)(SFC, 7/21/09, p.A3)
2009 Jul 20, Iran's supreme
leader issued a tough warning to the opposition to back down after
pro-reform former president Mohammad Khatami called for a referendum
on the government's legitimacy.
(AP, 7/20/09)
2009 Jul 20, In Malaysia
Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno (32), a Muslim woman, was sentenced to
six lashes and a fine of 5,000 ringgit ($1,400) for having a beer in
a nightclub in Dec 2007. She would become the first woman in
Malaysia to be given the punishment under Islamic law. Her caning
was delayed on Aug 24 because of the holy month of Ramadan. On Mar
30, 2010, the state's sultan spared her the caning and instead
ordered her to do 3 weeks of community service.
(AP, 7/21/09)(AP, 8/19/09)(AP, 8/24/09)(AP,
4/1/10)
2009 Jul 20, In Mexico 3 men
were killed outside a bar before dawn in Ciudad Juarez, across from
El Paso, Texas.
(AP, 7/2o/09)
2009 Jul 20, Pakistani said
clashes between security forces and militants have left 20 people
dead in the northwest over the past 24 hours.
(AP, 7/20/09)
2009 Jul 20, A Palestinian
official said more than 30 Israeli settlers, some of them on
horseback, set fire to fields and olive trees and stoned Palestinian
cars during a rampage in the West Bank. Two Palestinians were
lightly injured.
(AP, 7/20/09)
2009 Jul 20, Peru’s former
President Alberto Fujimori was convicted of embezzlement and
sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison after he admitted illegally
paying his spy chief $15 million in government funds.
(AP, 7/21/09)
2009 Jul 20, The Russian rights
group, where slain activist Natalia Estemirova worked, said it has
suspended operations in Chechnya because of safety fears for her
co-workers. Memorial said it will continue tracking human rights
abuses in nearby Ingushetia. A spokesman for Chechen leader Ramzan
Kadyrov, who has condemned the murder and promised to find those
responsible, said a Moscow court had accepted a lawsuit from Kadyrov
against Memorial head Oleg Orlov for libel after the group's
chairman blamed Kadyrov for Estemirova's death.
(Reuters, 7/20/09)
2009 Jul 20, In Somalia Islamic
insurgents with alleged links with al-Qaida looted two United
Nations compounds in southern Somalia, and announced they will ban
three UN agencies from operating in areas the militants control.
(AP, 7/20/09)
2009 Jul 20, In South Africa 9
workers died when the roof of the mine shaft they were working in
collapsed and trapped them about half a mile (1 km) underground in
Rustenburg.
(AP, 7/21/09)
2009 Jul 20, In Thailand
Southeast Asian foreign ministers (ASEAN) endorsed the region's
first human rights watchdog, rejecting criticisms that the body
would be powerless to tackle rogue members such as Myanmar. 2
assailants on a motorcycle shot and killed a Buddhist man who was
traveling on a road in Pattani province.
(AFP, 7/20/09)(AP, 7/20/09)
2009 Jul 20, A UN war crimes
court in the Hague convicted Milan Lukic and Sredoje Lukic, two
Bosnian Serb cousins, for a "callous" 1992 killing spree that
included locking scores of Muslims in two houses and burning them
alive in Visegrad. He sentenced Milan to life in prison and Sredoje
to 30 years.
(AP, 7/20/09)
2009 Jul 20, In Venezuela
Alicia Torres, a judge handling one of Venezuela's most politically
charged cases, said that she was fired after complaining about
pressure to rule against an opponent of President Hugo Chavez.
Torres said last week she was pressured by a superior to prohibit
Guillermo Zuloaga, president and owner of the Globovision TV
channel, from leaving the country.
(AP, 7/20/09)
2009 Jul 20, Zambia's Catholic
bishops and the International Press Institute condemned the arrest
on obscenity charges of a newspaper editor who says she was trying
to draw attention to the consequences of a health workers' strike.
Chansa Kabwela, editor of the independent Post, was arrested last
week after e-mailing pictures of a woman giving birth in the streets
to policy makers and aid groups.
(AP, 7/20/09)
2009 Jul 21, The US Senate
voted to stop production of the F-22 fighter plane, handing
President Barack Obama a victory as he tries to rein in defense
spending.
(Reuters, 7/21/09)
2009 Jul 21, In Delaware
creditors charged in a court filing that racetrack operator Magna
Entertainment Corp fraudulently transferred more than $125 million
to companies controlled by Canadian billionaire Frank Stronach
before filing for bankruptcy.
(Reuters, 7/22/09)
2009 Jul 21, The Ninth US
Circuit Court of Appeals in SF ruled that police who tell
investigators about alleged corruption in their departments have no
constitutional protection for their statements and can be fired.
(SFC, 7/22/09, p.D2)
2009 Jul 21, Oakland, Ca.,
residents overwhelmingly voted to approve a first-of-its kind tax on
medical marijuana sold at the city's four cannabis dispensaries.
(AP, 7/22/09)
2009 Jul 21, John Dawson (64),
co-founder of the “New Riders of the Purple Sage” (1969), a
psychedelic country rock band, died at his home in San Miguel de
Allende, Mexico. His band released 8 albums from 1971-1976 including
the gold certified “The Adventures of Panama Red” (1973). His songs
included “Glendale Train.” He was also a long time collaborator with
Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead.
(SFC, 7/25/09, p.C4)
2009 Jul 21, In Afghanistan
Taliban militants attacked three government buildings in Gardez and
a US base near Jalalabad and in near-simultaneous attacks, a
signature of major Taliban assaults. 8 insurgents and 5 Afghan
security forces died. Canadian troops were involved in two shooting
incidents in southern Afghanistan, killing a girl and wounding three
policemen. Afghan authorities said later that police arrested 7
would-be suicide bombers, who would have inflicted mayhem in further
coordinated strikes.
(AP, 7/21/09)(AP, 7/23/09)(AFP, 7/25/09)
2009 Jul 21, Several Chinese
Internet sites and parts of popular Web portals went offline amid
tightening controls that have already left mainland Web users
without access to Facebook, Twitter and other well-known social
networking sites.
(AP, 7/21/09)
2009 Jul 21, The general
manager of Dubai's Al Nassma said the world's first brand of
chocolate made with camels' milk plans to expand into new Arab
markets, Europe, Japan and the United States.
(AP, 7/21/09)
2009 Jul 21, French factory
workers angry over layoffs and cost cuts locked up their bosses at a
Michelin tire plant and a US-owned cigarette-paper mill. The
managers were released the next morning after regional officials
offered to mediate.
(AP, 7/22/09)
2009 Jul 21, Honduras’s interim
government ordered Venezuelan diplomats to leave the country in 72
hours as the int’l. community threatened new sanctions if
negotiations fail the resolve the overthrow of Pres. Manuel Zelaya.
(SFC, 7/22/09, p.A2)
2009 Jul 21, Iran's supreme
leader handed a humiliation to Pres. Ahmadinejad, ordering him to
dismiss Esfandiar Rahim Mashai, his choice for top deputy, after the
appointment drew sharp condemnation from their hard-line base.
Mashai, a relative by marriage to Ahmadinejad, angered hard-liners
in 2008 when he said Iranians were "friends of all people in the
world, even Israelis." Ahmadinejad appeared to openly defy the
order.
(AP, 7/22/09)(SFC, 7/22/09, p.A3)
2009 Jul 21, In Iraq bombs
killed 19 people and wounded 80 across the country. 6 bombs exploded
in Baghdad killing 14 people and wounded at least 30 others. These
included 2 bombs near a group of day laborers in Baghdad's Sadr City
area.
(AP, 7/21/09)(SFC, 7/22/09, p.A2)
2009 Jul 21, Japan’s PM Taro
Aso dissolved the powerful lower house of the parliament and vowed
his divided ruling party will make a new start in national elections
next month despite forecasts it may lose the grip it has held on the
nation for most of the past 55 years.
(AP, 7/21/09)
2009 Jul 21, In southern Japan
torrential rains triggered floods and landslides, leaving at least
six people dead and 10 others missing, including elderly residents
at a nursing home.
(AP, 7/22/09)
2009 Jul 21, In southwest Kenya
a bus driver swerved at a sharp corner and collided with another
bus, killing at least 22 people and injuring dozens.
(AP, 7/22/09)
2009 Jul 21, Mali's president's
office announced that Spain plans to help Mali fight Al-Qaeda of the
Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), which is active in the desert north of the
west African nation.
(AFP, 7/21/09)
2009 Jul 21, Mexican police
detained a woman (65) in the deaths of two professional wrestlers
who were found drugged in a low-rent hotel in Mexico City on June
29. One of the diminutive wrestlers went by the name "La Parkita"
(Little Death") and wore a skeleton costume in the ring. The other
was known as "Espectrito Jr." An autopsy on the two wrestlers, who
were brothers, detected a substance found in eye drops that can
damage the nervous system when mixed with alcohol. Three bodies, one
of them headless, were found floating in an irrigation ditch in the
northern border city of Ciudad Juarez, where drug violence has
spiked despite the presence of thousands of soldiers. Police
captured four men, members of the La Familia drug cartel, accused of
slaying 12 federal agents on the weekend of July 12 and dumping
their bloodied bodies along a highway in President Felipe Calderon's
home state of Michoacan.
(AP,
7/21/09)(http://alibi.com/index.php?story=28392&scn=news)(AP,
7/23/09)
2009 Jul 21, Pakistan’s
military said 3 days of clashes between security forces and
militants in the northwest left more than 56 militants and six
soldiers dead. Pakistani fighter jets destroyed two suspected
militant hide-outs in South Waziristan, killing six men believed to
be associates of Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud.
(AP, 7/21/09)(AP, 7/22/09)
2009 Jul 21, Spain’s foreign
minister, Miguel Angel Moratinos, drove across the border to
Gibraltar to meet with British foreign secretary, David Miliband,
and Gibraltar chief minister, Pater Caruana. This was the first time
in over 300 years that a Spanish government minister had visited the
British territory.
(Econ, 7/25/09, p.51)
2009 Jul 21, Sri Lanka welcomed
a tentative agreement with the IMF for a 2.5-billion-dollar bailout
as the country emerged from a near four-decade-long separatist war.
(AFP, 7/21/09)
2009 Jul 21, In Turkey a father
and two sons allegedly opened fire in the eastern village in Elazig
province, killing six people and wounding seven others. They were
soon captured.
(AP, 7/22/09)
2009 Jul 21, The WHO said
that deaths from the H1N1 swine flu virus have double in the
past 3 weeks to over 700.
(SFC, 7/22/09, p.A2)
2009 Jul 22, In Lynn,
Massachusetts, 6 boys, aged 7-15, used bricks to severely beat
Damien Merida (30), a Guatemalan immigrant, as he slept near
railroad tracks.
(http://tinyurl.com/l6cuf3)(SFC, 9/17/09, p.A7)
2009 Jul 22, Millions of Asians
turned their eyes skyward as dawn suddenly turned to darkness across
the continent in the longest total solar eclipse this century will
see.
(AP, 7/22/09)
2009 Jul 22, Officials said
Afghanistan was repositioning forces to the south after complaints
too few are involved in major US and British offensives against the
Taliban. A convoy belonging to a minor presidential candidate,
former Taliban commander Mullah Salam Rocketi, was ambushed as he
returned to Kabul after campaigning in northern Baghlan and one of
his campaign officials was killed.
(Reuters, 7/22/09)
2009 Jul 22, The Algerian
government issued a decree effective as of August shifting the dates
of the weekend to Friday and Saturday in a move viewed as a boost
the North African nation's faltering economy. Algeria had observed
its weekends on Thursdays and Fridays since 1976 as do a few other
countries including Iran and Saudi Arabia.
(AP, 7/22/09)
2009 Jul 22, In Iraq gunmen in
four cars opened fire on a convoy of buses carrying Iranian pilgrims
through Iraq, killing five of them near the village of Kebasi. Some
35 others were wounded.
(AP, 7/22/09)
2009 Jul 22, Israel’s education
minister said the Israeli government will remove references to what
Palestinians call the "catastrophe" of Israel's creation from
textbooks for Arab schoolchildren. The reference to "al-naqba," the
Arabic word catastrophe as Palestinians call their defeat and exile
in the war over Israel's 1948 creation, was controversially inserted
by a dovish education minister for the first time in 2007.
(AP, 7/22/09)
2009 Jul 22, Italian
authorities seized some euro200 million ($284 million) in assets and
businesses owned by the 'ndrangheta crime syndicate, including the
Cafe de Paris of "La Dolce Vita" movie fame. 12 other restaurants,
apartments and luxury cars were also impounded in the operation.
(AP, 7/22/09)
2009 Jul 22, Pakistan urged the
US to share intelligence from spy flights and arm its soldiers
against militants accused by Washington of plotting attacks from the
Afghan border.
(AP, 7/22/09)
2009 Jul 22, Amnesty
International reported that Saudi Arabia is holding more than 3,000
people in secret detention and has used torture to extract
confessions in its anti-terrorism crackdown since the Sept. 11, 2001
terror attacks.
(AP, 7/22/09)
2009 Jul 22, Somali Islamist
insurgents clashed with government forces and African Union
peacekeepers, killing 3 government, 3 insurgent fighters. The
renewed fighting between the radical Shebab militia and AU-backed
government forces killed at least 15 civilians in Mogadishu.
(AP, 7/23/09)(AFP, 7/24/09)
2009 Jul 22, South Africa
reported that wave of protests have erupted in townships across the
country over shoddy housing and public services, adding to pressure
on President Jacob Zuma to deliver on promises to fight poverty.
(AFP, 7/22/09)
2009 Jul 22, An international
arbitration panel awarded the Sudanese government control over
almost all major oil reserves in a disputed region of Sudan that
erupted into violence last year between state forces and former
southern rebels.
(AP, 7/22/09)
2009 Jul 23, US Vice President
Joe Biden pledged Washington's full support for Georgia a year after
its war with Russia and urged Moscow to abide by a ceasefire pact
and pull its troops back from two rebel regions.
(Reuters, 7/23/09)
2009 Jul 23, US Border Patrol
Agent Robert Rosas was killed near Campo, Ca. On July 25 Mexican
federal police detained four men suspected of involvement in the
killing of Rosas. Included was Ernesto Parra Valenzuela, identified
as the suspected killer of Rosas. In 2009 Christian Daniel Castro
Alvarez (17) pleaded guilty to murdering Rosas. On April 29, 2010,
Alvarez was sentenced to 40 years in prison. A 2nd suspect, Marcos
Manuel Rodriguez Perez, was arrested on April 11, 2011.
(AP,
7/26/09)(http://texasfred.net/archives/4628)(SFC, 7/27/09,
p.A4)(SFC, 11/21/09, p.A4)(AP, 4/29/10)(AP, 4/11/11)
2009 Jul 23, US
counter-terrorism officials said that Saad bin Laden (27), the
2nd-eldest son of Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, was apparently
killed in a US missile strike inside Pakistan this year.
(SFC, 7/24/09, p.A4)
2009 Jul 23, Federal
prosecutors arrested over 40 people in New Jersey and New York as
part of a major corruption and international money laundering
conspiracy probe. They included New Jersey Assemblyman Daniel Van
Pelt, Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano III, Secaucus Mayor Dennis
Elwell and Jersey City Deputy Mayor Leona Beldini. Several rabbis in
New York and New Jersey were also arrested. Some were accused of
laundering tens of millions of dollars and of black-market
trafficking of kidneys and fake Gucci handbags.
(AP, 7/23/09)(AP, 7/24/09)
2009 Jul 23, The Columbus
Salame plant in South San Francisco, established in 1967, was
devastated by fire.
(SFC, 7/24/09, p.D2)
2009 Jul 23, In Michigan the
last edition of The Ann Arbor News rolled off the presses After 174
years, with a three-word headline: "Farewell, Ann Arbor." It is
being replaced by AnnArbor.com, an online news site that will
produce a print edition twice a week.
(AP, 7/23/09)
2009 Jul 23, E. Lynn Harris
(b.1955), pioneer of gay black fiction, died while promoting his
latest book in Los Angeles. Long before the secret world of closeted
black gay men came to light in America, Harris introduced a
generation of black women to the phenomenon known as the "down low."
His debut "Invisible Life" (1994) was a coming-of-age story that
dealt with the then-taboo topic.
(AP, 7/24/09)
2009 Jul 23, In Afghanistan an
operation conducted by US-led coalition forces in the Baidar area of
Gelan district killed eight Taliban, five of them foreigners.
(AFP, 7/24/09)
2009 Jul 23, Arab health
ministers decided to ban children, the elderly and those with
chronic medical conditions from attending the annual Muslim
pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia this year in effort to slow the spread of
swine flu.
(AP, 7/23/09)
2009 Jul 23, Chinese
researchers reported that they have produced living mice from
connective tissue cells induced to revert to their embryonic state.
(SFC, 7/24/09, p.A11)
2009 Jul 23, In China a
landslide triggered by heavy rain hit a county in southwestern
Sichuan province, killing at least four people and leaving 53 others
missing.
(AP, 7/23/09)
2009 Jul 23, In China female
panda You You (pronounced Yo Yo) gave birth to the new cub at the
Wolong Giant Panda Research Center in southwestern Sichuan. This was
the first successful birth of a panda cub from artificial
insemination using frozen sperm, giving a new option for the
notoriously poor breeders.
(AP, 7/24/09)
2009 Jul 23, Iceland formally
applied to join the European Union but said it would not accept a
"rotten deal" for its fishing industry, a key sector of the island
nation's troubled economy.
(AP, 7/23/09)
2009 Jul 23, The wife of
Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi said that her brother
is among the hundreds arrested in Iran's postelection crackdown, and
she warned authorities not to publish any "forced confessions" from
him or other detainees.
(AP, 7/23/09)
2009 Jul 23, Israeli defense
officials said tests of a missile-defense system meant to shield
Israel from Iranian attack were aborted over the past week on three
occasions because of various malfunctions.
(AP, 7/23/09)
2009 Jul 23, In Japan Jerry Yu
(30), a US citizen who worked for a Japanese communications company
in Tokyo, was found dead of probable hypothermia off a trail just
below the peak of Mount Fuji. His colleague, Takeshi Nakamura (27),
was found dead the next day.
(AP, 7/24/09)
2009 Jul 23, In Kyrgyzstan
Almazbek Atambayev, the main opposition candidate, said he was no
longer taking part in this day’s presidential election, citing
widespread ballot-stuffing and the intimidation of election
monitors. Pres. Bakiyev (59) won another 5-year term with 76% of the
ballots. International monitors said the election was marred by
ballot-box stuffing and widespread irregularities in vote counting.
(AP, 7/23/09)(AP, 8/2/09)
2009 Jul 23, In Nigeria Wole
Soyinka, 1986 Nobel laureate in literature, slammed Nigeria's
handling of the crisis in the oil region and urged the government to
adopt a "holistic" approach in tackling it. Excepts of the news
conference were reported the next day on private Channels
television.
(AFP, 7/24/09)
2009 Jul 23, In Pakistan the
Taliban denied claims that Maulana Fazlullah, architect of a brutal
uprising in Pakistan's Swat valley, was wounded and threatened to
unleash renewed holy war. Pakistan said on July 8 it had "credible"
information that Fazlullah was injured during a blistering offensive
designed to crush Taliban militants. Two policemen were killed and
three others wounded when a roadside bomb exploded near a checkpoint
in Shangla district. A bomb hidden in a supposed gift of a tape
recorder killed another policeman at a checkpoint outside the town
of Karak, which borders the Taliban-infested North Waziristan tribal
district.
(AFP, 7/23/09)
2009 Jul 23, The Philippine
government ordered its military to stop offensives against Muslim
separatist rebels in a bid to restart peace talks, a move welcomed
by the guerrillas.
(AP, 7/23/09)
2009 Jul 23, In Poland say
seven people died in violent storms.
(AP, 7/24/09)
2009 Jul 23, South Africa’s
President Jacob Zuma's new government warned protesters they must
respect the law as violent demonstrations against shoddy public
services spread across townships.
(AP, 7/23/09)
2009 Jul 23, Yemeni security
forces opened fire on thousands of protesters in the south chanting
anti-government slogans, killing 12 and wounding scores of others.
Demonstrations by former army members in southern Yemen demanding
political reforms have been occurring regularly since August, 2007.
(AP, 7/24/09)
2009 Jul 24, President Barack
Obama conceded his words, that a white police officer "acted
stupidly" when he arrested a black university scholar in his own
home, were ill-chosen. He invited both men to visit him at the White
House, but stopped short of publicly apologizing for his remark.
Obama said he had personally telephoned the two men, Harvard
professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Cambridge, Mass., police Sgt.
James Crowley, in an effort to end the rancorous back-and-forth over
the issue. The case began on July 20, when word broke that Gates
(58) had been arrested five days earlier at the 2-story home he
rents from Harvard.
(AP, 7/25/09)
2009 Jul 24, Pres. Obama
challenged states and school districts to raise academic standards
and improve teacher quality if they want a chance at some $5 billion
in new grants in the administration’s “Race to the Top” program.
(SFC, 7/25/09, p.A3)
2009 Jul 24, The United States
transferred $200 million to the Palestinian government to help ease
a growing budget deficit.
(AP, 7/24/09)
2009 Jul 24, A federal minimum
wage increase took effect. Some economists said it could prolong the
recession by forcing small businesses to lay off the same workers
that the pay hike passed in better times was meant to help. The
increase to $7.25 meant 70 cents more an hour for the lowest-paid
workers in the 30 states that have lower minimums or no minimum
wage.
(AP, 7/24/09)
2009 Jul 24, The California
Senate approved a plan to close the state's $26 billion budget
deficit, providing a glimmer of hope after weeks of fiscal gloom.
(AP, 7/24/09)
2009 Jul 24, In Oakland, Ca., a
city parking department memo ordered parking officers to avoid
enforcing neighborhood parking violations in some wealthier
neighborhoods, but to continue enforcing the same violations in the
rest of the city.
(SFC, 2/25/10, p.A1)
2009 Jul 24, Isaiah M.K. Kalebu
(23) was arrested for breaking into a Seattle home and stabbing 2
women, one fatally. Kalebu had a history of mental illness.
(SSFC, 7/26/09, p.A12)
2009 Jul 24, In Afghanistan
four Taliban were killed in a clash with foreign forces In northern
Balkh province. Fighting killed two US soldiers. NATO troops came
under fire in the east and one NATO soldier was killed. Air strikes
followed killing several insurgents. Up to 12 insurgents were killed
in a gun battle with US-led troops in the eastern province of
Nangarhar.
(AFP, 7/24/09)(AP, 7/25/09)
2009 Jul 24, Burundi army
officials said 3 of its soldiers serving with African Union
peacekeepers in Somalia have died of a mysterious illness in a
Kenyan hospital where more than 10 others are being treated.
(AFP, 7/24/09)
2009 Jul 24, Via Rail, Canada's
national passenger rail service, said it was shutting down service
after mediated talks with the Teamsters union failed to resolve a
contract dispute, and locomotive engineers walked off the job.
(Reuters, 7/24/09)
2009 Jul 24, A senior Chechen
official held talks in Norway with prominent separatist figure
Akhmed Zakayev, who said they had agreed to seek a political
settlement of rebellion in the south Russian region.
(Reuters, 7/24/09)
2009 Jul 24, In China some
30,000 steelworkers in Tonghua clashed with police in a protest over
plans to merge their mill with another company. Angry employees of
Tonghua Iron and Steel Group attacked Jianlong Steel general manager
Chen Guojun during the protest and beat him to death.
(AP, 7/25/09)
2009 Jul 24, The UN refugee
agency said 536,000 people have been chased from their homes in
eastern Congo this year as a result of clashes between government
forces and rebels linked to neighboring Rwanda's 1994 genocide.
(AP, 7/24/09)
2009 Jul 24, In southern
Croatia a passenger train derailed, killing at least six people and
injuring about 20.
(AP, 7/24/09)
2009 Jul 24, In Europe deadly
summer wild fires spread across Spain, France, Italy and Greece with
holidaymakers rescued from beaches and thousands of firefighters
brought into the battle.
(AFP, 7/24/09)
2009 Jul 24, Ousted Honduras
President Manuel Zelaya stood on the edge of his country and called
on his fellow Hondurans to resist the coup-installed government. He
then quickly retreated back to Nicaraguan territory, saying he
wanted to avoid bloodshed and give negotiations another try.
(AP, 7/25/09)
2009 Jul 24, Iran’s President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad caved into pressure from hardline clerics and
the country's supreme leader and allowed the resignation of his top
deputy, Esfandiar Rahim Mashai, who last year angered conservatives
when he made friendly comments toward Israel.
(AP, 7/25/09)
2009 Jul 24, In Iran a Russian
Ilyushin-62 plane, operated by Tehran-based Aria Airlines and
carrying 153 passengers and crew, skidded off the runway and hit a
wall while landing in the northeastern city of Mashhad. 13 of the 16
people killed in the crash were members of the crew, 9 of them from
Kazakhstan. The plane landed at high speed and the tires failed.
(AP, 7/25/09)
2009 Jul 24, In northern Iraq
Fakri Hadi Gari, the deputy commander of a radical Sunni Islamic
group linked to al-Qaida, was arrested. Ansar al-Islam is believed
by the military to be behind attacks on US and Iraqi troops in
Mosul. Gari, also known as Abu Abbas and Mullah Halgurd, was
arrested with nine other suspected members. An American soldier died
of non-combat related injuries.
(AP, 8/4/09)(AP, 7/24/09)
2009 Jul 24, In Pakistan 10
militants were killed in Buner district and 29 were arrested
elsewhere in the region. Troops killed four militants in Swat and
destroyed a training camp and a militants' cave. In Upper Dir jets
pounded a suspected Taliban base, killing at least four militants.
(AFP, 7/24/09)(AFP, 7/25/09)
2009 Jul 24, The Arctic Sea, a
Maltese-flagged bulk carrier, was boarded by 8 attackers posing as
police. The timber carrying vessel was boarded off the Swedish
coast, searched by attackers, who reportedly tied up the crew for 12
hours. It disappeared following its last communication on July 28.
The failed to arrive at the Algerian port of Bejaia on August 4 as
planned. The 4,700-ton ship, originally called Okhotsk, built in
1991, had a Russian crew of 13 and was operated by a firm based in
the Russian port of Arkhangelsk. Russian naval warships tracked down
the ship off the Cape Verde islands and freed the crew. On August 18
Russia reported that eight people from Latvia, Estonia and Russia
had been arrested for piracy. On Aug 19 Yulia Latynina, a leading
Russian opposition journalist and commentator, reported that “the
Arctic Sea was carrying some sort of anti-aircraft or nuclear
contraption intended for a nice, peaceful country like Syria, and
they were caught with it." In March 2011 six men were convicted and
sentenced to 6-12 years in prison. Two others were already
convicted.
(Reuters, 8/9/09)(Reuters, 8/18/09)(AP,
8/19/09)(AP, 3/24/11)
2009 Jul 24, The IMF approved a
$2.6 billion loan to Sri Lanka.
(Econ, 8/8/09, p.35)
2009 Jul 24, Turkish commandos
captured five pirates in the Gulf of Aden as part of an
international mission to curb piracy off the coast of Somalia.
(AP, 7/24/09)
2009 Jul 24, Zimbabwe's
coalition government launched a campaign of "national healing" and
reconciliation, with political leaders urging supporters to end
years of political violence and intimidation.
(AP, 7/24/09)
2009 Jul 25, In Afghanistan 7
suicide bombers tried to storm state targets in Khost, killing one
civilian and wounding others in the third Taliban commando raid in a
week. A British soldier was killed when a bomb exploded in southern
Helmand province. A US service member died during a clash with
insurgents in the south. Afghan elders struck the first local truce
with Taliban insurgents in northwestern Badghis province after
nearly three weeks of talks.
(AFP, 7/25/09)(AP, 7/26/09)(AP, 7/27/09)
2009 Jul 25, In Algeria five
Islamists were killed by the army about 15 km (nine miles) east of
Tizi Ouzou.
(AFP, 7/29/09)
2009 Jul 25, Brazil agreed to
triple its compensation to Paraguay to operate the huge Itaipu
hydroelectric dam on their shared border, ending a decades-long
dispute between the neighbors. President Fernando Lugo persuaded
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to sign a deal
tripling Brazil's payments from $120 million to $360 million a year.
On Apr 6, 2011, Brazil's lower house of Congress finally approved
the deal.
(AFP, 7/25/09)(AP, 4/21/11)
2009 Jul 25, In Britain a new
poll was released showing solid support for the right to die. The
Royal College of Nursing said it was adopting a neutral stance on
the issue after its research showed nurses were divided. The British
Medical Association remained opposed.
(AP, 7/25/09)
2009 Jul 25, In eastern China
more than 3,000 villagers of Shipu town, in Zhejiang province,
blocked a highway and clashed with police while protesting alleged
official corruption in a land compensation deal.
(AP, 7/26/09)
2009 Jul 25, Chinese state
television launched an Arabic-language channel beamed to the Middle
East and Africa as part of efforts to expand the communist
government's media influence abroad.
(AP, 7/25/09)
2009 Jul 25, In Colombia at
least 16 suspected FARC guerrillas and one soldier have been killed
in clashes over the last 24 hours.
(AP, 7/25/09)
2009 Jul 25, Iran's opposition
leaders appealed to the top clerics in the holy city of Qom to
pressure the ruling Islamic regime to release protesters and
activists, who they say have been tortured following last month's
disputed presidential election. Protesters across the world called
on Iran to end its clampdown on opposition activists, demanding the
release of hundreds rounded up during demonstrations against the
country's disputed election.
(AP, 7/25/09)
2009 Jul 25, Iraqis voted in
elections in the self-ruled Kurdish north. Regional Kurdish
President Massoud Barzani, who has been a consistent critic of the
central government, won re-election with almost 70% of the vote,
while the leading candidate from the opposition party, Kamal
Mirawdeli, received 25%. A coalition of the two ruling parties,
Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party and Iraqi President Jalal
Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, received a little over 57%
of the vote for the 111-seat parliament, while the opposition
Gorran, or Change, party took about 23%.
(AP, 7/25/09)(AP, 7/29/09)
2009 Jul 25, Mexican police
captured 11 suspected members of the La Familia cartel and seized a
methamphetamine lab in the western state of Michoacan.
(AP, 7/25/09)
2009 Jul 25, In Pakistan a
remote controlled bomb killed two Pakistani soldiers in the tribal
Bajaur district. Troops retaliated killing three suspected Taliban
militants.
(AP, 7/25/09)
2009 Jul 25, Swedish wireless
equipment maker LM Ericsson said it had penned a deal to buy a
majority of Nortel Networks' North American wireless business for
$1.13 billion.
(AP, 7/25/09)
2009 Jul 25, In Sweden a woman
in her 40s and her five daughters were killed when they tried to
escape an apartment fire in a Stockholm suburb.
(AP, 7/26/09)
2009 Jul 25, Zimbabwe’s PM
Morgan Tsvangirai said compensation must be considered for victims
of political violence as the country held a weekend of national
reconciliation.
(AFP, 7/25/09)
2009 Jul 26, In New York a car
crash in Briarcliff killed 8 people including 4 children. Diane
Schuler (36) was drunk and high on marijuana when she went the wrong
way on Taconic State Parkway and crashed into an SUV.
(SFC, 7/27/09, p.A4)(SFC, 8/5/09, p.A5)
2009 Jul 26, Merce Cunningham
(b.1919), avant-garde dancer and choreographer, died at his home in
Manhattan.
(SFC, 7/28/09, p.A7)
2009 Jul 26, It was reported
that Marines in Helmand working alongside DEA-mentored Afghan police
seized 297 tons of poppy seeds, 77 pounds (35 kilograms) of heroin
and 300 pounds (135 kilograms) of opium in raids in mid-July. Some
1,200 pounds (550 kilograms) of hashish and 4,225 gallons (16,000
liters) of chemicals used to convert opium to heroin were also
seized.
(AP, 7/26/09)
2009 Jul 26, In northwestern
Algeria members of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb killed two local
security officers in an ambush in the Mascara region.
(AFP, 7/28/09)
2009 Jul 26, In Chechnya a
suicide bomber killed five people and wounded a number of others
near a concert hall in the capital. four policemen died trying to
prevent the bomber from entering the hall. 4 militants were found
dead after an explosion in the Nazran district of Ingushetia
province that borders Chechnya to the west.
(AP, 7/26/09)
2009 Jul 26, In Macao, China,
Fernando Chui (52), the sole candidate for chief executive in the
former Portuguese colony, was endorsed by a 300-member panel in the
first leadership change since Macao reverted to Chinese rule in
1999.
(AP, 7/26/09)
2009 Jul 26, Egypt's prosecutor
general officially charged 26 suspects, including two Lebanese and
five Palestinians, for spying for the militant group Hezbollah, as
well as plotting terrorist attacks and aiding militants in the Gaza
strip. Some were accused of planning to attack ships on the Suez
canal and tourists in Egypt.
(Reuters, 7/26/09)(AP, 7/26/09)
2009 Jul 26, Guinea-Bissau
voters went to the polls for a presidential runoff between two
former heads of state. The West African country’s veteran
leader was assassinated in March. On July 29 election officials
announced that Malam Bacai Sanha was the new president. Sanha took
63.39% of the runoff vote, beating opponent Kumba Yala, who took
36.69%.
(AFP, 7/26/09)(AP, 7/29/09)
2009 Jul 26, India launched the
first nuclear-powered submarine built on its soil, asserting itself
as a world power. It joined 5 other countries that can design and
construct such vessels. The 367-foot (112-meter) -long submarine,
named "Arihant" or "Destroyer of Enemies," was sent for sea trials
at a ceremony attended by PM Manmohan Singh.
(AP, 7/26/09)
2009 Jul 26, Human Rights Watch
said Iranian authorities are spreading fear by arresting prominent
human rights lawyers to prevent them from representing protesters
detained in the aftermath of the country's disputed presidential
election. An appeals court found Iran's Industry, Minister Ali Akbar
Mehrabian, guilty of fraud, in a new embarrassment for President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Ahmadinejad's office announced the dismissal of
Intelligence Minister Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejehi. No reasons were
given but the two had differed over top vice president Rahim Mashai.
(AP, 7/27/09)(AP, 7/27/09)
2009 Jul 26, In Iraq 5 people
were killed in a daylight attack at a popular money exchange office,
a reflection of the increasing crime in Iraq even as violence is on
the decline. 5 more people, including 3 police officers, were killed
and 23 others wounded when a suicide bomber struck a Ramadi funeral
for a police officer, who had been killed the day before in a
roadside bomb attack.
(AP, 7/26/09)(AP, 7/27/09)
2009 Jul 26, Hazem al-Braikan
(36), a Kuwaiti businessman linked to Citigroup and charged in the
United States with fraud, was found dead in his bed in Kuwait
City with a gunshot wound to the head and a handgun at his side. The
US SEC charged al-Braikan last week with scheming to make millions
by manipulating the stock of certain US companies.
(AP, 7/26/09)
2009 Jul 26, Gaza's top judge
said that he has ordered female lawyers to wear Muslim headscarves
when they appear in court, the latest sign that the Islamic militant
group is increasingly imposing its strict interpretation of Islamic
law on residents of the coastal strip.
(AP, 7/26/09)
2009 Jul 26, In northern
Nigeria Islamist militants attacked a police station in Bauchi.
Police killed over 50 militants and arrested more than 150 others.
The fundamentalists, known as Boko Haram (education is prohibited)
in the local Hausa language, clamored for the prohibition of western
education in Bauchi and Yobe states. In 2010 Nigerian police said 32
of its men were murdered in the Bauchi attack.
(AP, 7/26/09)(Reuters, 7/26/09)(Econ, 8/1/09,
p.44)(AFP, 7/29/10)
2009 Jul 26, In Pakistan
Moulana Sufi Mohammad, the radical Islamic cleric who brokered a
peace deal with the Taliban in Swat, was arrested in the restive
northwest. Sufi Mohammad is the father-in-law of Moulana Fazllulah,
the leader of the Taliban in Swat and head of a banned Pakistani
Islamist rebel group called Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi
(TNSM).
(AP, 7/26/09)
2009 Jul 26, Somali government
troops took full control of Belet Weyne, the strategic western town
where the national security minister was killed last month.
(AFP, 7/26/09)
2009 Jul 26, In Tajikistan a
small explosion hit the Tajik capital of Dushanbe. A 2nd small
explosion followed the next day. There were no injuries. A
high-profile meeting between the leaders of Afghanistan, Pakistan
and Russia, was scheduled to start July 30 for talks on
communications and transportation.
(AP, 7/27/09)
2009 Jul 26, In Tanzania a bus
crashed into a truck in Korogwe killing 33 people.
(SSFC, 7/26/09, p.A2)
2009 Jul 27, President Barack
Obama in Washington, DC, opened 2 days of high-level talks with
China. Obama called for deeper US-Chinese economic cooperation and
outlined a broad agenda for a positive relationship between two
countries that do not always see eye to eye.
(Reuters, 7/27/09)
2009 Jul 27, In North Carolina
Daniel Patrick Boyd (39) was arrested with his two sons and four
other North Carolina men. Prosecutors accused them of military-style
training at home and plotting "violent jihad" through a series of
terror attacks abroad. In 1991 Boyd and his brother were convicted
of bank robbery in Pakistan. They were also accused of carrying
identification showing they belonged to the radical Afghan guerrilla
group, Hezb-e-Islami, or Party of Islam. Each was sentenced to have
a foot and a hand cut off for the robbery, but the decision was
later overturned. In 2011 Zakarija Boyd (22) pleaded guilty to one
charge of conspiring to provide material support to terrorists.
(AP, 7/28/09)(SFC, 6/8/11, p.A8)
2009 Jul 27, Afghanistan’s
President Hamid Karzai said he wants new rules governing the conduct
of US-led forces in Afghanistan and would be willing to talk with
Taliban leaders who publicly renounce violence and endorse peace.
The British government announced the end of the first phase of
Operation Panther's Claw against the Taliban in southern
Afghanistan, saying it now needs to hold and build on the ground it
has cleared of insurgents. A Taliban rocket killed 4 civilians at
home in the central province of Ghazni overnight. A civilian was
killed in a bomb blast in eastern Khost province. The US military in
Afghanistan said it has stopped releasing body counts of insurgents
believed killed in operations because the tolls distract from the US
objective of protecting Afghans.
(AP, 7/27/09)(AFP, 7/27/09)
2009 Jul 27, Algerian papers
reported that security forces have killed five armed Islamic
extremists in the northeastern Tizi Ouzou region, about 100 km (60
miles) east of Algiers.
(AFP, 7/27/09)
2009 Jul 27, In Canada union
officials in Toronto said they had reached a tentative deal to
settle a civic workers strike that had halted garbage collection and
many other city services for more than a month.
(Reuters, 7/27/09)
2009 Jul 27, In Colombia three
soldiers and two civilians were killed in a rifle and grenade attack
on a boat carrying coca eradication workers on the San Juan river in
Choco state. Six people were wounded and six more were missing.
(AP, 7/28/09)
2009 Jul 27, A Congo government
spokesman said The Democratic Republic of Congo has suspended
transmission of French broadcaster Radio France International (RFI).
(Reuters, 7/27/09)
2009 Jul 27, El Salvador
announced a decision to close schools nationwide for two weeks to
combat the spread of swine flu. El Salvador has already confirmed
545 cases of swine flu, including seven deaths.
(AP, 7/27/09)
2009 Jul 27, In Ethiopia Bashir
Ahmed Makhtal (36), an Ethiopian-born Canadian citizen, was found
guilty of being a member of a rebel group fighting for autonomy for
an ethnically Somali part of the country. Bashir was convicted of
membership in the ONLF and supporting terrorism in Ogaden, and could
face the death penalty. His grandfather was a founder of the ONLF.
On August 3 he was sentenced to life in prison for terrorism-related
charges.
(Reuters, 7/27/09)(AP, 8/3/09)
2009 Jul 27, European Union
nations gave their final approval to a ban on imports of seal
products in an effort to force Canada to end its annual seal hunt.
(AP, 7/27/09)
2009 Jul 27, An overloaded
sailboat carrying an estimated 200 Haitian migrants sank off the
Turks and Caicos Islands and as many as 85 people were missing.
(AP, 7/28/09)
2009 Jul 27, Iran's supreme
leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered the closure of Kahrizak
prison, where rights workers say protesters detained in the
country's election turmoil have died.
(AP, 7/28/09)
2009 Jul 27, In Iraq 2 people
were killed in bombings targeting police officers, considered the
weakest link among the Iraqi security forces that have taken the
lead from withdrawing American forces. The first bombing came in
eastern Baghdad, when a roadside bomb targeted a police patrol but
missed, killing one civilian. A short time later, a bomb attached to
a car exploded in Fallujah, killing a police captain.
(AP, 7/27/09)
2009 Jul 27, Mexico announced a
pilot program to have special courts handle cases involving addicted
offenders who commit crimes while under the influence of drugs.
(AP, 7/27/09)
2009 Jul 27, Amnesty Int’l.
launched a campaign to repeal Nicaragua’s 2006 total ban on
abortion.
(SFC, 7/28/09, p.A4)
2009 Jul 27, In Nigeria
Residents of Gamboru-Ngala in Borno state said heavily armed members
of a Nigerian Taliban sect stormed the town and went on the rampage,
burning a police headquarters, a church and a customs post. Police
put the death toll in weekend religious clashes at 65, including 5
police officers.
(AP, 7/27/09)
2009 Jul 27, In Pakistan North
West Frontier Province Senior Minister Bashir Ahmad Bilour said
security forces had rescued dozens of children aged 6 to 15 who the
Taliban were allegedly training as suicide bombers.
(AP, 7/28/09)
2009 Jul 27, Russia’s Interior
Ministry said Semyon Mogilevich, an alleged organized crime boss who
is also wanted in the US, was released from pretrial detention 18
months after his arrest in Moscow. He has been on the FBI's wanted
list since 2003, accused of manipulating the stock of a
Pennsylvania-based company, YBM Magnex Inc., which collapsed in
1998.
(AP, 7/27/09)
2009 Jul 27, In Somalia mortar
attacks by rebels disrupted a parliamentary session as heavy
fighting between the militia and African Union-backed government
forces killed 7 civilians.
(AP, 7/27/09)
2009 Jul 27, Thousands of South
African council workers went on strike to press for wage hikes,
crippling public services in Africa's biggest economy and piling
political pressure on new President Jacob Zuma.
(AP, 7/27/09)
2009 Jul 27, Sweden said it was
demanding an explanation as to why Swedish-made anti-tank rocket
launchers, sold to Venezuela years ago, were obtained by Colombia's
main rebel group. Three launchers were recovered in October in a
FARC arms cache belonging to a rebel commander known as "Jhon 40"
and Colombia only recently asked Sweden to confirm whether they had
been sold to Venezuela,
(AP, 7/27/09)
2009 Jul 27, The Taiwanese and
Chinese presidents swapped messages, the first such exchange since
the two sides split amid civil war 60 years ago.
(AP, 7/27/09)
2009 Jul 27, The leader of the
Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, led solemn prayers in
Kiev on the first day of 10-day visit aimed at reasserting Moscow's
dominance over church leaders in Ukraine.
(AP, 7/27/09)
2009 Jul 28, The US government
turned up the pressure on the interim government of Honduras to
accept the return of exiled President Manuel Zelaya, suspending the
diplomatic visas of four Honduran officials a month after a military
coup.
(AP, 7/29/09)
2009 Jul 28, California’s Gov.
Schwarzenegger cut a half billion more from the state budget and
signed a package of legislation to wipe out the state’s $24 billion
deficit. It was later reported that state lawmakers added 336
employees between January and the end of July adding about $14.4
million a year to the state payroll.
(SFC, 7/29/09, p.A1)(SSFC, 8/9/09, p.A1)
2009 Jul 28, Tennessee state
Sen. Paul Stanley (47) resigned in Nashville after his extramarital
affair with an intern (22) was revealed by an investigation into an
extortion case. McKensie Morrison’s boyfriend was charged with
trying to extort $10,000 from the GOP lawmaker.
(SFC, 7/29/09, p.A6)
2009 Jul 28, It was reported
that scientists claimed to have created a form of aluminum that's
nearly transparent to extreme ultraviolet radiation and which is a
new state of matter.
(www.livescience.com/technology/090728-new-state-matter.html)
2009 Jul 28, At the EAA
AirVenture air show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Aabar Investments, an Abu
Dhabi-based sovereign wealth fund, and Virgin Galactic signed a
strategic partnership in which Aabar would take a 32% stake in
Virgin Galactic for $280 million. To date Virgin Galactic has been
wholly owned and funded by Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group.
(Econ, 9/12/09, p.87)(http://tinyurl.com/y8gtjad)
2009 Jul 28, Tony Rosenthal
(b.1914), American artist and abstract sculptor, died in
Southampton, NY. He created the Regent’s Cube located in the
Regent’s Plaza at the Univ. of Michigan, his alma mater.
Commissioned by the Class of 1965 and officially titled “Endover,”
the revolving cube is one of three designed Rosenthal. It was
installed on Regents’ Plaza (the open space bounded by the LS&A
Building, Michigan Union and Fleming Building) in 1968. The others
are at home in New York City and Miami.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Rosenthal)(www.ur.umich.edu/0001/Nov06_00/6.htm)
2009 Jul 28, Richard Holbrooke,
the US special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, said in Brussels
that Taliban militants are receiving more funding from sympathizers
abroad than from Afghanistan's illegal drug trade. NATO military
officials in Afghanistan have estimated that the Taliban raise
between $60-$100 million a year from the trade in illegal narcotics.
(AP, 7/28/09)
2009 Jul 28, The top UN
official in Afghanistan urged the Taliban not to disrupt elections,
as militants killed nine people, ambushed a presidential campaign
manager and fired rockets into a UN compound.
(AP, 7/28/09)
2009 Jul 28, Algeria's coast
guard arrested 19 illegal migrants in a dinghy off the western town
of Arzew, near Oran, as they tried to reach Europe.
(AP, 7/28/09)
2009 Jul 28, In Australia Shane
Kent (33), an Australian convert to Islam, admitted being part of a
terror cell that plotted to kill thousands of people by bombing
major sports events. The former forklift truck driver was about to
face a retrial on the charges, which he previously denied, after a
Supreme Court jury last September failed to reach a verdict.
(AFP, 7/28/09)
2009 Jul 28, In Bangladesh the
heaviest rain in 53 years battered the capital, Dhaka, leaving at
least six people dead and stranding thousands in their swamped
homes.
(AP, 7/28/09)
2009 Jul 28, A majority of
people in Britain see the Afghan war as impossible to win, according
to a new poll taken amid steeply rising casualties and growing
government emphasis on finding a political solution to the conflict.
(AP, 7/28/09)
2009 Jul 28, Britain said it
will withdraw its remaining 100-odd troops in Iraq to Kuwait by the
end of the month after the Iraqi parliament failed to pass a deal
allowing them to stay to protect oil platforms and provide training.
(AP, 7/28/09)
2009 Jul 28, A court in
southwest China accepted the country's first lawsuit filed by an
environmental group against a local government. The All-China
Environmental Federation had filed the suit on behalf of residents
against the local land resources bureau in Qingzhen city in Guizhou
province, which sold land to a drink and ice cream processing plant
they allege is a threat to a scenic lake area.
(AP, 7/31/09)
2009 Jul 28, Fiji’s
self-appointed PM Commodore Frank Bainimarama, who took power in a
bloodless 2006 coup, said aged and ailing President Ratu Josefa
Iloilo will retire on July 30.
(AP, 7/28/09)
2009 Jul 28, A Iranian
parliament official said 140 people detained in Iran's postelection
turmoil have been released from Tehran's main prison Evin.
(AP, 7/28/09)
2009 Jul 28, Iraqi forces
raided Camp Ashraf, an Iranian opposition settlement north of
Baghdad. The standoff continued into the next day and left 11 people
dead. A gang made up of members of the presidential guard and led by
the head of security for the 2nd biggest Shia party robbed a bank in
central Baghdad killing 8 security guards. Initially police said the
gunmen made off with 8 billion Iraqi dinars ($6.9 million). Five
members of Iraq's security forces charged in the bank robbery went
on trial on Aug 23. They had allegedly made off with $4.8 million.
On Sep 2 four members of the security forces, convicted of the
robbery, were sentenced to hang.
(AP, 7/29/09)(SFC, 7/29/09, p.A2)(Econ, 8/8/09,
p.43)(AP, 8/23/09)(SFC, 9/3/09, p.A2)
2009 Jul 28, President Felipe
Calderon said Mexico will start issuing nationwide identity cards
for its citizens starting this year, and by 2012 everyone will have
one. The body of Juan Daniel Martinez (48), a Mexican radio
journalist, was found beaten, gagged and partially buried the resort
city of Acapulco. Jose Ibarra, a federal agent who had been
investigating the Nov 13, 2008, killing of Mexican journalist
Armando Rodriguez, was shot dead at his home in the northern border
city of Ciudad Juarez.
(AP, 7/28/09)(AP, 7/29/09)(AP, 7/30/09)
2009 Jul 28, In Morocco a man
accused of leading a terrorist network was sentenced to life in
prison for terror attacks in Morocco, holdups in Europe, large-scale
money laundering projects and arms trafficking. Abdelkader Belliraj
(51), a dual Moroccan-Belgian national, had faced the death penalty.
34 co-defendants were handed sentences ranging from 30 years in
prison to one-year suspended sentences.
(AP, 7/28/09)
2009 Jul 28, Nigerian
authorities imposed curfews and poured security forces onto the
streets of several northern towns after a two-day wave of Islamic
militant attacks against police killed dozens of people.
(AP, 7/28/09)
2009 Jul 28, In Pakistan the
decapitated body of a Pakistani police constable was discovered in
the Swat town of Sangota. The find was a sign that Taliban militants
have not given up the fight for the northwestern valley, despite the
nearly three-month-old army offensive there. A suicide car bomber
rammed his vehicle into a checkpoint in North Waziristan tribal
region, causing an explosion that killed 2 police and wounded 5
other security officials.
(AP, 7/28/09)
2009 Jul 28, The UN refugee
agency said thousands of Somalis are preparing to cross the Gulf of
Aden to Yemen after fleeing fighting around the capital of
Mogadishu.
(AP, 7/28/09)
2009 Jul 28, Venezuela’s Pres.
Hugo Chavez recalled his ambassador from Bogota and threatened to
halt Colombian imports after the neighboring country said anti-tank
weapons found in a rebel arms cache came from Venezuela.
(AP, 7/28/09)
2009 Jul 29, In Van Nuys, Ca.,
Sandro Karmryan was kidnapped. He was beaten and held captive for
days as his tormentors tried to negotiate a $1 million ransom. In
2011 Suren Garibyan (34) was sentenced to 17½ years in prison
for his role in the kidnapping.
(SFC, 4/27/11, p.C2)
2009 Jul 29, Microsoft Corp.
and Yahoo Inc. agreed to a 10-year Internet search partnership,
capping a convoluted pursuit that dragged on for years and finally
setting the stage for the rivals to make an all-out assault against
the dominance of Google Inc. The extended reach will allow Microsoft
to introduce its recently upgraded search engine, called Bing, to
more people.
(AP, 7/29/09)
2009 Jul 29, The anti-death
penalty group Hands Off Cain said the number of prisoners put to
death worldwide decreased in 2008. At least 5,727 executions were
carried out in 2008, down from 5,851 the year before. China
accounted for at least 5,000 executions, or 87.3$ of the
total, the same estimate as last year.
(AP, 7/29/09)
2009 Jul 29, The Algerian media
reported that the army has killed 16 Islamist extremists in separate
operations in recent days. The bodies of eight Islamists were
discovered on July 27-28 near Batna, 435 km (270 miles) southeast of
Algiers, after army shelling followed by a ground operation. 3 other
armed Islamists were killed in two ambushes near Tizi Ouzou, 110 km
(70 miles) east of the capital, on July 27-28. At least 11 Algerian
soldiers were killed in an ambush by Islamic extremists while they
escorted a military convoy in an Algerian tourist region outside the
coastal town of Damous. Five Islamists were killed when the soldiers
shot back.
(AFP, 7/29/09)(AFP, 7/30/09)
2009 Jul 29, China’s state
media reported that contaminated drinking water has sickened more
than 2,600 people in northern China, including 59 who were
hospitalized with fevers, diarrhea, stomach aches and vomiting.
(AP, 7/29/09)
2009 Jul 29, In China Xu
Zhiyong (35), prominent legal scholar, was arrested in Beijing. A
week later he was accused of tax evasion. His group had tackled some
of China’s most politically sensitive cases.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xu_Zhiyong)(SFC,
8/5/09, p.A2)
2009 Jul 29, Cuban state media
said Russia and Cuba have signed agreements to search for oil in the
Gulf of Mexico. Moscow extended the island $150 million in credit
for construction materials and farm machinery.
(AP, 7/29/09)
2009 Jul 29, Germany entered
into deflation this month for the first time in 22 years according
to government statistics, with a projected 0.6% decline in prices
compared to one year ago.
(AP, 7/29/09)
2009 Jul 29, One of India’s
last queens, Maharani Gayatri Devi (90), died. She was feted as an
international style icon and spent time in jail after she became a
politician. Devi had married the Maharaja of Jaipur in 1939,
becoming a member of the royal family that effectively ruled the
city of Jaipur and the surrounding area of Rajasthan state. She
became a successful politician winning a seat in parliament in 1962
and retaining it twice in elections.
(AFP, 7/29/09)
2009 Jul 29, Iran's top
diplomat in Bolivia said the Islamic republic has approved a $280
million low-interest loan for President Evo Morales' government to
use as it sees fit. Gas and oil exploration are possibilities.
(AP, 7/29/09)
2009 Jul 29, Ireland said it
has agreed to accept two inmates from the Guantanamo prison camp in
Cuba within the next two months.
(AP, 7/29/09)
2009 Jul 29, In Kyrgyzstan a
number of protestors were detained, as police suppressed a series of
demonstrations against the disputed re-election of President
Kurmanbek Bakiyev. Police said 42 protesters were detained in
Bishkek. The opposition reported that about 80 people were detained
in Besh-Kungei.
(AP, 7/29/09)
2009 Jul 29, In Mexico gunmen
shot up and torched the home of Jesus Antonio Romero (39), a police
commander in Veracruz, killing the officer, his wife and his four
children, including a 6-year-old boy. He had been promoted a month
ago to deputy operations coordinator for the Veracruz-Boca del Rio
area, a hotbed of drug violence and a stronghold of the Zetas. In a
remote mountain town south of Ciudad Juarez, gunmen killed a
government welfare official and three police officers during a
robbery. Police announced the capture of six more suspected La
Familia members, including a man accused of being a chief financial
operator.
(AP, 7/30/09)
2009 Jul 29, Moldova held
elections. At least three people were killed and hundreds of others
arrested after protesters, some of whom used the social network
Twitter to organize after cell phone networks went down, stormed
parliament and the president's office. With 98% of the vote counted,
the four opposition parties had 50.9 percent to the Communists'
45.1%. A pro-European alliance of four parties won the most seats in
the 101-seat parliament but fell short of the 61 votes necessary to
elect a president.
(AP, 7/29/09)(AP, 7/30/09)(AP, 11/28/10)
2009 Jul 29, Morocco's King
Mohammed VI (45), on the eve of commemorations of his 10th
anniversary on the throne, granted pardons to 24,865 prisoners, and
commuted 32 death sentences.
(AFP, 7/29/09)
2009 Jul 29, In northern
Nigeria troops struggled to crush an Islamist sect as the death toll
from four days of clashes surged past 300. Thousands of people were
forced from their homes. Militants attacked security forces in Yobe
state. Police said that 43 sect members were killed in a shootout
near the city of Potiskum. The government, which blames the Boko
Haram sect for instigating days of violence in the mostly Muslim
region, shelled and stormed the group's mosque and headquarters in
Maiduguri. Sect leader Mohammed Yusuf escaped along with about 300
followers but his deputy was killed.
(AFP, 7/29/09)(AP, 7/30/09)
2009 Jul 29, Drug maker Pfizer
Inc. confirmed that it has resolved a long-running legal dispute
with the Nigerian government over allegations that children there
were harmed in a 1996 Pfizer study of an experimental antibiotic
during a meningitis outbreak. The settlement reportedly called for a
$75 million payment by Pfizer.
(AP, 7/29/09)
2009 Jul 29, In northwestern
Pakistan a bomb ripped through the parking area at a court in Dera
Ismail Khan, killing two men guarding a Shiite Muslim lawyer. Troops
waging an offensive elsewhere in the region killed at least four
suspected Taliban fighters over the last 24 hours.
(AP, 7/29/09)
2009 Jul 29, An unmanned
Russian cargo ship has docked successfully at the international
space station to deliver supplies for its six-member crew.
(AP, 7/29/09)
2009 Jul 29, In South Africa a
ceremony was held for “Fire Walker,” a new four-story sculpture in
Johannesburg. A plaque was unveiled with the names of the South
African artists who created it: William Kentridge and Gerhard Marx.
The three-dimensional steel conception by Marx was of a Kentridge
watercolor.
(AP, 7/29/09)
2009 Jul 29, In northern Spain
a powerful car bomb destroyed a police barracks housing officers and
their families in Burgos, injuring about 60 people and causing major
damage in the surrounding area. The attack was blamed on the Basque
separatist group ETA.
(AP, 7/29/09)
2009 Jul 29, A Sudanese court
adjourned the case of Lubna Ahmed al-Hussein, a woman journalist
facing 40 lashes for wearing "indecent" trousers. 10 women had
already been whipped on July 3 for similar offences against Islamic
law. "I wish to resign from the UN, I wish this court case to
continue," Hussein told a packed courtroom before the judge
adjourned the case to August 4.
(AFP, 7/29/09)
2009 Jul 29, In Tajikistan the
Pakistani and Tajik presidents pledged to step up efforts to fight
Islamist militants at a regional summit amid concerns about the
spread of violence from neighboring Afghanistan.
(AFP, 7/29/09)
2009 Jul 29, Turkey's
government said it is prepared to grant more rights to the nation's
Kurds in an effort to end the 25-year insurgency by Kurdish rebels.
(AP, 7/29/09)
2009 Jul 29, In Zimbabwe the
British Broadcasting Corp. resumed broadcasting for the first time
since it was banned in 2001. The five-month-old coalition government
said it also was considering allowing CNN back.
(AP, 7/30/09)
2009 Jul 30, A US federal judge
ordered the release of Mohammed Jawad, a Guantanamo Bay detainee
accused of attacking US troops with a grenade on December 17, 2002.
American authorities claimed he was at least 16-years old at the
time of his arrest, but it later emerged he may have been as young
as 12-years old.
(SFC, 7/31/09,
p.A5)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Jawad)
2009 Jul 30, Bill Leigon,
president of Hahn Family Wines in Soledad, Calif., said that visits
to the company's Web site have increased tenfold since news of an
Alabama ban on his Cycles Gladiator wine broke late last week.
Callers from across the country have been asking where they can buy
the wine. It was reported that the Alabama Alcoholic Beverage
Control Board had recently told stores and restaurants to quit
serving Cycles Gladiator wine because of a label that features a
nude nymph. The wine's label is copied from an 1895 French
advertising poster for Cycles Gladiator bicycles. It shows a side
view of a full-bodied nymph flying alongside a winged bicycle.
(AP, 7/31/09)
2009 Jul 30, The Taliban urged
Afghans to stay away from the Aug. 20 elections, dismissing the
balloting as an "American process" and threatening to block roads to
polling stations. In western Afghanistan a Taliban ambush on a NATO
convoy left nine insurgents and a policeman dead. A Taliban unit
ambushed a convoy of electoral material in Farah province.
Insurgents killed four Afghan soldiers in the gunbattle but the
ballots and other voting material were retrieved.
(AP, 7/30/09)(AP, 7/31/09)
2009 Jul 30, In China nearly a
thousand villagers gathered at government and police offices in
Zhentou township in Hunan province to highlight what they say is
deadly pollution being discharged from the Xianghe Chemical Factory
in nearby Liuyang city.
(AP, 8/2/09)
2009 Jul 30, A Hamburg court
ordered a German publisher to pay Sweden's Princess Madeleine
euro400,000 ($560,000) in damages for fabricating stories about her.
Sonnenverlag GmbH & Co KG magazines had carried false reports
about the 27-year-old princess being engaged and pregnant, among
other things. Sonnenverlag's parent company, Baden-Baden based
KLAMBT media group, confirmed the ruling.
(AP, 7/31/09)
2009 Jul 30, In Honduras Roger
Vallejo (38), a high school teacher in the capital of Tegucigalpa,
was wounded as thousands of Zelaya supporters blocked a highway and
clashed with security forces. Vallejo died of his wounds on Aug 1.
(AP, 8/2/09)
2009 Jul 30, Iranian police
fired tear gas and beat anti-government protesters with batons to
disperse thousands attending a graveside memorial for victims of
post-election violence.
(AP, 7/30/09)
2009 Jul 30, In Iraq a bomb
blast in a building used by a Sunni-backed political group in Iraq's
Diyala province killed at least seven people. Government spokesman
Ali al-Dabbagh confirmed that seven people were killed when Iraqi
forces seized control of the Iranian Camp Ashraf on July 28. The
government said it will change the name of the camp to New Iraqi
Camp to remove the Iranian reference. The camp was originally named
for one of the founders of the People's Mujahedeen, Ashraf Rajavi.
(AP, 7/30/09)
2009 Jul 30, Italy approved the
use of the abortion drug RU-486, drawing fierce protests by the
Vatican. The Italian Drug Agency ruled that the drug cannot be sold
in drug stores but can only be administered by doctors in a
hospital.
(AP, 7/31/09)
2009 Jul 30, Japanese astronaut
Koichi Wakata described his test of new underwear, called J-Wear, as
the shuttle Endeavour prepared to come home after over 2 weeks
aloft. Wakata tested the high-tech underwear for a month at a time
during his 4½ months aboard the ISS.
(SFC, 7/31/09, p.A9)
2009 Jul 30, A Libyan officials
said Libya and Canada have signed a memorandum of intent on nuclear
power. Since July 2007, Libya has signed three similar agreements
with France, Russia and Ukraine.
(AFP, 7/30/09)
2009 Jul 30, North Korea's
military seized four South Korean fishermen after their boat strayed
into North Korean waters. The fishermen were released on Aug 29.
(AP, 7/31/09)(AP, 8/29/09)
2009 Jul 30, In northern
Nigeria security forces hunted door-to-door for Islamic militants
after killing more than 100 of them by storming the sect's compound.
A top rights group said innocent people were getting executed in the
process. Mohammed Yusuf (39), the leader of the Boko Haram movement,
was shot dead while in police detention. In February, 2011, seven
suspects accused of killing Yusuf were arraigned in a federal court.
(AP, 7/30/09)(Reuters, 7/31/09)(AP, 7/19/11)
2009 Jul 30, On the Spanish
island of Majorca 2 civil guard officers were killed when their
booby-trapped car exploded near a barracks.
(AP, 7/30/09)
2009 Jul 30, South African
President Jacob Zuma accepted "very substantial damages" from
Britain's Guardian newspaper over an article that wrongly suggested
he was a rapist.
(AP, 7/30/09)
2009 Jul 30, The UN Security
Council unanimously extended the mandate for the joint UN-African
Union peacekeeping mission which has been slowly deploying in
Sudan's conflict-torn Darfur region.
(Reuters, 7/30/09)
2009 Jul 30, Venezuela's top
prosecutor, Attorney General Luisa Ortega, insisted that freedom of
expression in Venezuela "must be limited" and proposed legislation
that would slap additional restrictions on the country's news media.
(AP, 7/30/09)
2009 Jul 30, Zimbabwe’s Daily
News, a popular newspaper banned nearly six years ago, won a new
license to resume printing. It was renowned for its willingness to
criticize Pres. Robert Mugabe. CNN said Zimbabwe agreed last week to
allow it to resume working in the country.
(AFP, 7/31/09)
2009 Jul 30, Zimbabwe's health
minister said a cholera epidemic has ended, after more than 4,200
deaths and 100,000 cases since last August, but warned new outbreaks
remain a threat.
(AP, 7/30/09)
2009 Jul 31, California
authorities said the white striped fruit fly has been found in
Southern California, marking the first detection of the Southeast
Asian pest in the Western Hemisphere. Several thousand traps were
soon placed in the La Verne area of eastern Los Angeles County,
where 7 of the flies were found.
(SFC, 8/1/09, p.A4)
2009 Jul 31, A jury ordered
Joel Tenenbaum (b.1983), a student at Boston Univ., to pay damages
of $675,000 for sharing 30 songs over the Internet. He was later
ordered to destroy his illegal music files — but a judge declined to
force him to stop promoting the activity.
(Econ, 9/5/09, TQ
p.4)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joel_Tenenbaum)(AP, 12/7/09)
2009 Jul 31, The space shuttle
Endeavour returned to Florida after over 2 weeks aloft and a
successful construction job that boosted the size and power of the
international space station.
(AP, 8/1/09)
2009 Jul 31, In Afghanistan a
US service member died in the south of the country. In Geneva the UN
issued a report stating that the number of civilians killed in
conflict in Afghanistan has jumped 24% so far this year, with
bombings by insurgent and airstrikes by international forces the
biggest single killers.
(AP, 7/31/09)
2009 Jul 31, UN human rights
experts asked Azerbaijan to stop curbing free speech and to protect
journalists from harassment, violence and even murder.
(Reuters, 7/31/09)
2009 Jul 31, In southeastern
Bangladesh landslides caused by heavy monsoon rains killed 10
people.
(AP, 7/31/09)
2009 Jul 31, Britain's defense
ministry said Sikh soldiers have begun guarding the monarch and her
treasures. “Regiments take it in turn to stand in for the Household
Division and it just happens that two of the soldiers this time
round are Sikh.”
(AP, 7/31/09)
2009 Jul 31, In Colombia at
least eight former officials of the domestic intelligence agency
surrendered to face criminal charges for allegedly spying illegally
on opponents of President Alvaro Uribe including judges, journalists
and human rights workers.
(AP, 8/1/09)
2009 Jul 31, Cuba suspended
plans for a Communist Party congress and lowered its 2009 economic
growth projection from 2.5% to 1.7%, as the island's economy
struggled through a "very serious" crisis.
(AP, 7/31/09)
2009 Jul 31, An Indian court
issued a warrant for the arrest of Warren Anderson, the former head
of the American chemical company responsible for a gas leak that
killed at least 10,000 people in Bhopal 25 years ago. Anderson was
the head of Union Carbide Corp. when its factory in the central
Indian city leaked 40 tons of poisonous gas on Dec. 3, 1984, in the
world's worst industrial disaster. In 1989, Union Carbide paid $470
million in compensation to the Indian government and said officials
were responsible for the cleanup. India said its efforts were slowed
when Midland, Mich.-based Dow Chemical Co. took over Union Carbide
in 2001, seven years after Union Carbide sold its interest in the
Bhopal plant.
(AP, 7/31/09)
2009 Jul 31, Iran detained 3
Americans after they mistakenly crossed the border from northern
Iraq. They crossed into Iranian territory while hiking in a
mountainous area near the town of Ahmed Awaa. Freelance journalist
Shane Bauer, Sara Shourd and Josh Fattal, all graduates of the
University of California, Berkeley, were detained after apparently
straying across the border while hiking in Iraq's northern Kurdish
region.
(AP, 8/1/09)(AP, 11/9/09)
2009 Jul 31, In Iraq bombs
exploded near five Shiite mosques in Baghdad, killing at least 29
people, in an apparent coordinated attack that targeted worshippers
leaving Friday prayers. Iraqi police announced they had recovered
millions of dollars stolen on July 28 from a state-run bank in a
robbery that left eight guards dead.
(AP, 7/31/09)
2009 Jul 31, The Irish Times
newspaper won a long-running legal battle to protect the identity of
a key source who provided documents showing that former PM Bertie
Ahern was under investigation for corruption. Colm Keena and
Geraldine Kennedy had refused to comply with an October 2007 High
Court judgment ordering them to identify their source for the
confidential documents from a fact-finding tribunal into political
corruption. The scandal spurred Ahern to resign in May 2008 after 11
years in power.
(AP, 7/31/09)
2009 Jul 31, In Mexico
assailants gunned down five men and a woman in a pool hall in the
border city of Ciudad Juarez.
(AP, 7/31/09)
2009 Jul 31, Anuradha Koirala,
the founder of Nepalese charity Maiti Nepal, said British actress
Joanna Lumley has agreed to be its international ambassador. The
charity helps victims of human trafficking.
(AFP, 7/31/09)
2009 Jul 31, Nigeria's national
police claimed victory over a radical Islamist sect after its leader
was killed by security forces. Experts warned revenge attacks could
occur and a leading human rights group demanded a probe into the
killing. At least 300 people were killed in violence that erupted in
several states around northern Nigeria since July 26.
(Reuters, 7/31/09)
2009 Jul 31, Pakistan's Supreme
Court ruled that former Pres. Pervez Musharraf's imposition of
emergency rule in 2007 was unconstitutional.
(AP, 7/31/09)
2009 Jul 31, Turkey's navy
commandos aboard a frigate captured seven pirates in the Gulf of
Aden off Somalia's coast. Turkish commandos had captured five other
pirates in a similar operation in the Gulf of Aden a week ago.
(AP, 7/31/09)
2009 Jul 31, Venezuelan
regulators revoked the broadcast rights of 34 radio stations for
allegedly failing to submit the proper paperwork to the broadcasting
regulator, deepening a rift between President Chavez's government
and the private media. Venezuelan lawmakers approved an election law
to redraw voting districts, a step that President Hugo Chavez's
opponents say will give his party a big advantage in next year's
congressional vote.
(AP, 7/31/09)(AP, 8/1/09)(Econ, 8/8/09, p.32, 34)
2009 Jul 31, A new study by the
Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation and Vietnam's ministry of
defense said more than one-third of the land in six central
Vietnamese provinces remained contaminated with land mines and
unexploded bombs from the Vietnam War.
(AP, 7/31/09)
2009 Jul 31, Global Witness,
which monitors the exploitation of natural resources, backed calls
for a ban on trading in Zimbabwe diamonds due to human rights abuses
in mining of the gem.
(AFP, 7/31/09)
2009 Jul, Los Angeles police
arrested Mohammad Reza Sadeghnia. Prosecutors said he tried to hire
a man to kill Jamshid Sharmahd, who ran a LA-based radio programming
for the Iranian opposition group Tondar. Sadeghnia spent a year in
jai and thenwas placed on probation and traveled to Iran. H e failed
to return for a court date and was declared a fugitive.
(SFC, 12/4/10, p.A7)
2009 Jul, California’s Air
Resources Board adopted a 24-mile threshold for ships bound for
state ports to begin using low sulfur fuel.
(SFC, 3/29/11, p.C5)
2009 Jul, Oswaldo Juarez (21),
a Peruvian visiting Florida to study English, Juarez swallowed his
last pills, packed a few small suitcases and left the A.G. Holley
State Hospital following 19 months of treatment. He was the first US
case of a contagious, aggressive, especially drug-resistant form of
tuberculosis.
(AP, 12/27/09)
2009 Jul, In Puerto Rico Police
Stephanie Rodriguez Pizarro died in a San Juan housing project after
she sought treatment to help with marital and financial troubles. A
spiritual healer allegedly dropped a candle into an alcohol bath
where she was undergoing a Santeria ritual. She died of
second-degree burns over half her body. In 2010 healer Jose Cadiz
Tapia (46) was charged with negligent homicide.
(AP, 7/15/10)
2009 Jul, Latvia’s leading
newspaper, Diena, along with sister publication Dienas Bizness, was
bought by Luxembourg based Nedela S.A. in a highly clandestine
transaction. The deal was initially structured as a loan to
Tralmaks' company Nedela, allowing it to buy the two papers from
then-owner, Sweden's Bonnier Business Press. The loan was later
restructured, placing the Rowlands as the new owners. The Rowland
Capital family office runs an asset management business, Blackfish
Capital Management, a London based company.
(http://tinyurl.com/yjgb4ls)(Econ, 10/17/09,
p.64)
2009 Jul, Oman’s population was
estimated at 3.4 million.
(NYT 2011 Almanac, p.653)
2009 Aug 1, The new US
Post-9/11 GI Bill took effect to reimburse veterans for their full
undergraduate tuition at public colleges. An amount equivalent to
that tuition would go to veterans who choose private schools or
graduate programs.
(SFC, 8/1/09, p.A1)
2009 Aug 1, In San Francisco
David Wehrer (26) shot and killed himself when police caught up with
him 4 days after his partner, Robert Christopher (56), was found
dead in their Castro Street apartment.
(SFC, 8/17/09, p.C1)
2009 Aug 1, In Detroit a woman
(24) was shot killed during a street robbery by a boy (12).
(SFC, 8/20/09, p.A4)
2009 Aug 1, In Afghanistan 3 US
troops were killed by improvised explosives in Kandahar province and
a French soldier was killed in an insurgent attack in Kapisa
province. Two more ISAF troops were killed when two bomb blasts
struck their patrol in the south. A dozen rebels were killed in a
gunfight with police in the southwestern province of Nimroz. 4
Afghan soldiers were killed when their vehicle struck a roadside
bomb planted by "terrorists" in southern Helmand province. 3
policemen including a senior officer were killed when their vehicle
struck a roadside bomb in the northern province of Baghlan.
(AFP, 8/1/09)(AFP, 8/2/09)
2009 Aug 1, Australia's
centre-left ruling party voted for national recognition of same-sex
unions but stopped short of lifting a ban on gay marriage.
(AFP, 8/1/09)
2009 Aug 1, Brazilian police
said they have busted a ring that allegedly sent some 200 women in
the last year to the United States, Europe and elsewhere to work as
prostitutes. Most of the women were recruited through the Internet
or Brazilian brothels and then sent to Las Vegas, the Dominican
Republic and France.
(AP, 8/1/09)
2009 Aug 1, Burundi said it has
deployed a third battalion of 850 soldiers to Mogadishu to reinforce
the African Union peacekeeping mission there. With the new troops,
more than 5,000 soldiers from Burundi and Uganda are now taking part
in the AU Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), which began in March 2007 and
has cost the lives of 17 Burundian soldiers.
(AFP, 8/2/09)
2009 Aug 1, In Canada a fierce
thunderstorm caused an outdoor stage to collapse at the Big Valley
Jamboree in Camrose, a country music festival in central Alberta.
One person was killed and up to 40 others injured.
(AP, 8/2/09)
2009 Aug 1, Humanitarian groups
said members of the Lord's Resistance Army, a Ugandan rebel group,
have launched attacks against towns in the Central African Republic
that have left at least 10 people dead in the last two weeks. The
attacks by the LRA, launched from its rear bases in the Democratic
Republic of Congo, have also forced hundreds of people to flee their
villages.
(AFP, 8/2/09)
2009 Aug 1, It was reported
that output from Chile’s fish farms was expected to be down 40% this
year due to infectious salmon anemia (ISA). The virus also led to
premature harvesting for fear other fish would catch the disease,
which apparently turned up in imported salmon eggs.
(Econ, 8/1/09, p.34)
2009 Aug 1, China’s Ziketan
town in Qinghai province was put under collective quarantine when
laboratory tests showed it had been struck by the highly virulent
disease. 2 of its residents had recently died from pneumonic plague,
which spreads through the air, making it easier to contract than
bubonic plague, which requires that a person is bitten by an
infected flea. Its fatality rate was up to 100% if left untreated,
compared with 60% for bubonic plague. The outbreak was first
detected on July 30.
(AFP, 8/2/09)(AP, 8/4/09)
2009 Aug 1, Chinese police
detained the head of the Xianghe Chemical Factory and the government
suspended the chief and deputy chief of the city's environment
protection bureau.
(AP, 8/2/09)
2009 Aug 1, The war in Iraq
became an American-only effort after Britain and Australia, the last
of its international partners, pulled out. In Iraq a bomb hidden
inside a toilet struck a Sunni mosque south of Baghdad, injuring two
people, the latest in a wave of attacks against Islamic sites of
worship. Al-Jazeera television broadcast an audio clip purportedly
from Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, a former top deputy of Saddam Hussein,
calling on Sunni insurgents to unite under one political umbrella.
(AP, 8/1/09)
2009 Aug 1, In Tel Aviv,
Israel, a gunman shot and killed two people at a youth club in the
worst ever attack on homosexuals in Israel. The dead were identified
as a man (26) who was a counselor at the center and a girl (17).
Eleven people were wounded, four of them seriously.
(AP, 8/2/09)
2009 Aug 1, Kyrgyzstan allowed
Russia to open a second military base on its territory, expanding
Moscow's military reach to balance against the US presence.
(Reuters, 8/1/09)
2009 Aug 1, Police broke up
Malaysia's biggest street protest in nearly two years, firing tear
gas and chemical-laced water at thousands of opposition supporters
demanding an end to a law that allows detention without trial.
(AP, 8/1/09)
2009 Aug 1, Two Moroccan
magazines were taken off news stands after they published an opinion
poll on the 10 years under the reign of King Mohammed VI. The poll
revealed that 91% of Moroccans who were interviewed say that the
performance of the reign of King Mohammed VI is positive or very
positive.
(AFP, 8/1/09)
2009 Aug 1, Mozambique’s Pres.
Armando Guebuza inaugurated an 80-million-euro (113-million-dollar)
bridge over the Zambezi River, a major link for a country long
divided between north and south. Work on the bridge had begun in
1977.
(AFP, 8/2/09)
2009 Aug 1, In Nigeria robbers
hijacked the bus on Sagamu-Benin expressway in Ogun State and forced
passengers to lie on a road at gunpoint as they ransacked their bus.
20 people were crushed to death as a truck ran into them.
(AFP, 8/2/09)
2009 Aug 1, The Sydney Morning
Herald reported that North Korea is helping Myanmar build a secret
nuclear reactor and plutonium extraction plant to build an atomic
bomb within five years, citing the evidence of defectors. "In the
event that the testimony of the defectors is proved, the alleged
secret reactor could be capable of being operational and producing
one bomb a year, every year, after 2014."
(AFP, 8/1/09)
2009 Aug 1, In Pakistan an
angry mob of Muslims killed six Christians and wounded dozens after
burning 40 houses and a church over the alleged desecration of the
Koran in Gojra village, Punjab province. Two men wounded by gunfire
died in the hospital overnight. A building collapsed in Karachi
killing at least 21 people.
(AFP, 8/1/09)(AP, 8/2/09)(SSFC, 8/2/09, p.A6)
2009 Aug 1, In the Philippines
former President Corazon Aquino (b.1933) died. The "people power"
uprising she led in 1986 brought down the repressive 20-year regime
of Ferdinand Marcos and served as an inspiration to nonviolent
resistance across the globe. Due to the time difference her death
was reported in the US on July 31.
(Reuters, 8/1/09)
2009 Aug 1, Authorities in the
separatist Georgian region of South Ossetia said two mortar shells
were fired into the territory from Georgia proper. Georgia denied
the claim and suggested it was a provocation ahead of the
anniversary of last year's war with Russia.
(AP, 8/1/09)
2009 Aug 2, In eastern
Afghanistan 3 American soldiers died in a complex militant ambush,
raising NATO's two-day August death toll to nine and continuing the
bloodiest period of the eight-year war for US and allied troops.
(AP, 8/2/09)
2009 Aug 2, In Austria
researchers unveiled two piano pieces recently identified as
childhood creations by the revered composer.
(AP, 8/2/09)
2009 Apr 2, Austrian
authorities arrested British-born Julius Meinl V (b.1959), head of
Meinl Bank, for suspected breach of trust and deception of
investors. He had spun much of his family’s property portfolio into
Meinl European Land (MEL). By 2007 MEL had lost €1.8 billion in an
attempt to support its share price. He was released after posting a
€100 million bail.
(Econ, 8/1/09, p.60)
2009 Aug 2, China reported that
police in the northwest region of Xinjiang have arrested hundreds of
people in connection with disturbances that left at least 197 people
dead.
(AFP, 8/2/09)
2009 Aug 2, In Dagestan
militants shot and killed a police officer. In Ingushetia militants
killed three government workers.
(AP, 8/2/09)
2009 Aug 2, In eastern
Indonesia a plane carrying 16 people disappeared over a jungle-clad
and mountainous region of Papua. All aboard were killed.
(AP, 8/2/09)(AP, 8/5/09)
2009 Aug 2, In Iraq Tariq Aziz,
one of Saddam Hussein's best-known lieutenants, was convicted of
helping to plan the forced displacement of Kurds from northeastern
Iraq and sentenced to seven years in jail. The ruling came more than
four months after Aziz was sentenced to 15 years in prison for
crimes against humanity in the 1992 execution of Iraqi merchants.
Rania Ibrahim, a teenage Iraqi girl, was sentenced to seven and a
half years in prison for attempting to blow herself up at a
checkpoint in Baqouba in August, 2008. She claimed her husband's
female relatives strapped explosives on her. An explosives-laden car
exploded near an outdoor market in a mainly Sunni area of Haditha,
killing at least 5 people and wounding 34, raising concern that
sectarian violence could resurge.
(AP, 8/2/09)(SFC, 8/4/09, p.A2)(AP, 8/6/09)
2009 Aug 2, Mexican police
raided a church service in Apatzingan, Michoacan state, and arrested
Miguel Angel Beraza, a man known as "The Truck," and another
suspect. Beraza was suspected of moving a half ton of crystal
methamphetamine into the US each month and was said to be a
high-ranking lieutenant in the drug cartel known as La Familia.
(AP, 8/3/09)
2009 Aug 2, It was reported
that illegal blast fishing had become rampant in Nicaragua and was
spreading across Central America’s Pacific coast.
(SSFC, 8/2/09, p.A8)
2009 Aug 2, Red Cross and
Nigerian defense officials said more than 700 people were killed
during a 5-day uprising by a radical Islamic sect in the north. Over
700 dead bodies were given mass burial in Maiduguri town alone, as a
search for bodies continued.
(Reuters, 8/2/09)
2009 Aug 2, In Pakistan two
policemen were shot and killed by men who fled from a checkpoint in
the northwestern city of Peshawar. The military said that four
militants were killed and another 27, including a suspected local
commander, were arrested in several search-and-clearance operations
in Swat and nearby areas.
(AP, 8/2/09)
2009 Aug 2, In Peru attackers
believed to be Shining Path rebels killed three police officers and
two women in an assault on a remote police post in San Jose de Secce
in Ayacucho province, a coca-growing region.
(AP, 8/3/09)
2009 Aug 2, Stanley Robertson
(69), the last of Scotland’s traveling storytellers, died. He had
spent 47 years filleting fish for a living.
(Econ, 9/5/09, p.94)
2009 Aug 2, On the Spanish
Canary Island of La Palma strong winds fanned forest fires for a 2nd
day, and firefighters were forced to retreat as flames raged out of
control near two towns.
(AP, 8/2/09)
2009 Aug 2, In southeast Sudan
armed tribesmen attacked a fishing village where hundreds of
displaced people were camped near a river, leaving at least 185
people, most of them women and children, dead in the worst violence
in three months.
(AP, 8/3/09)
2009 Aug 2, In Zimbabwe 40
people were killed and 30 others injured when a bus overturned after
colliding with a lorry south of Harare.
(AP, 8/2/09)(AP, 8/3/09)
2009 Aug 3, Bank of America
agreed to pay $33 million to settle a complaint filed by the SEC
alleging that the bank misled investors over bonuses at Merrill
Lynch as BofA was finalizing its takeover of the securities firm in
late 2008.
(Econ, 8/8/09, p.63)
2009 Aug 3, In Afghanistan a
bomb hidden in a rubbish bin exploded near a police convoy in Herat,
killing 12 people, including a woman and a girl and 2 police
officers, as a wave of Taliban violence gripped the nation ahead of
elections. An ambush in Faryab province killed an Afghan driver, but
his passenger, a Korean engineer, escaped without injury.
(AFP, 8/3/09)(SSFC, 8/2/09, p.A2)
2009 Aug 3, Belgian authorities
recaptured Abdelhaq Melloul-Khayari, a convict who escaped twice in
as many weeks, including once from a Bruges prison by helicopter.
(AP, 8/3/09)
2009 Aug 3, Karlheinz Schreiber
(75), a German-Canadian arms dealer and key figure in a political
party financing scandal involving former Chancellor Helmut Kohl, was
extradited to Germany from Canada to face criminal charges after
losing a decade-long court battle. He was key figure in a
funding scandal which badly damaged Chancellor Angela Merkel's
conservatives a decade ago. Schreiber was arrested in Canada about
10 years ago, and is wanted by prosecutors in Augsburg for tax
evasion, fraud and bribery.
(AP, 8/3/09)(Reuters, 8/3/09)
2009 Aug 3, China’s state media
reported that more than 500 villagers in central China have been
found to have high concentrations of a dangerous metal in their
bodies after a series of leaks from the Changsha Xianghe Chemical
Plant in Hunan province's Zhentou township. 509 people were found to
have high concentrations of cadmium and 33 were hospitalized over
the weekend.
(AP, 8/3/09)
2009 Aug 3, Ecuadorean
President Rafael Correa, announced that "many" radio and TV
frequencies will revert to the state over what he called
irregularities in their licenses. He gave no specifics.
(AP, 8/3/09)
2009 Aug 3, Nikolaos Makarezos
(90), one of the leaders of the military dictatorship that ruled
Greece from 1967-1974, died. Makarezos, the junta's chief economic
policymaker, served as deputy prime minister and minister for
coordination under dictator George Papadopoulos.
(AP, 8/6/09)
2009 Aug 3, A seven-minute
video, apparently made by the Korps Brigade Mobil, or Brimob, the
paramilitary police, shows prisoner Yawen Wayeni lying in a jungle
clearing in eastern Indonesia moments after troops allegedly sliced
open his abdomen with a bayonet. Police said Wayeni, captured for
allegedly vandalizing several of their buildings and vehicles, was
shot in the thigh and stomach while resisting arrest and that he
died on the way to the hospital. The video was made public in the
Internet in 2010.
(AP,
8/4/10)(http://hub.witness.org/en/upload/killing-yawan-wayeni)
2009 Aug 3, In Iran Fahimeh
Mousavi-nejad, the wife of former Vice President Mohammad Abtahi on
trial for postelection violence, said his televised "confessions"
were made under pressure. Her husband was one of the top figures in
a trial that began Aug 1 for around 100 people detained in the
postelection crackdown. Iran's supreme leader formally endorsed
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for a second term as president in a ceremony
that sought to portray unity among the country's leadership but was
snubbed by prominent critics of the disputed election.
(AP, 8/3/09)
2009 Aug 3, In Iraq Asaib Ahl
al-Haq (League of the Righteous), a group believed to be responsible
for killing US soldiers and kidnapping British soldiers, agreed to
renounce violence following a weekend meeting with PM
al-Maliki. A suicide car bomber detonated his explosives at a police
checkpoint in Saqlawiya. 3 civilians were killed and 7 people were
wounded including 3 police officers.
(SFC, 8/4/09, p.A2)
2009 Aug 3, Israeli police said
that they had broken up an Israeli-American crime ring specializing
in tax fraud and money laundering in an operation codenamed
"American Pie." The chief suspect was Marvin Berkowitz (62) who
holds dual Israeli and US citizenship. Avigdor Lieberman, Israel's
ultranationalist foreign minister, promised to step down if he is
charged after police recommended that he be indicted for a string of
alleged corruption offenses.
(AP, 8/3/09)
2009 Aug 3, Kenya's Pres. Mwai
Kibaki said all prisoners on death row will immediately have their
sentences commuted to life imprisonment. Kenya's 97 prisons were
built for a population of about 15,000 but currently have an inmate
population of more than 40,000.
(AP, 8/3/09)
2009 Aug 3, Anders Fogh
Rasmussen, a former Danish prime minister, took office as NATO's new
secretary-general. He said his top priorities would be guiding the
war in Afghanistan to a successful conclusion, repairing ties with
Russia, and expanding NATO's partnership with moderate nations in
North Africa and the Middle East.
(AP, 8/3/09)
2009 Aug 3, The Palestinian
Fatah movement published a new platform saying it will keep pursuing
peace talks but reserves the right to resist Israeli occupation.
(AP, 8/3/09)
2009 Aug 3, In South Korea
thousands of riot police strengthened their siege of a troubled
South Korean auto firm, spraying liquid tear gas from a helicopter,
after talks to end a prolonged occupation by strikers collapsed.
(AFP, 8/3/09)
2009 Aug 3, In Switzerland
there was an arson attack at Novartis CEO Daniel Vasella's lodge in
Bach, Austria. An attack on his mother's grave took place a week
earlier. The next day drug maker Novartis said animal rights
militants were responsible.
(AP, 8/4/09)
2009 Aug 3, In Venezuela a
far-left party led by Lina Ron attacked the opposition-aligned
Globovision TV station. The next day Pres. Chavez condemned the
attack and had Ron arrested for taking part in the assault.
(SFC, 8/3/09, p.A2)
2009 Aug 4, A US federal court
panel ordered California to reduce its prison population by 40,000
over the next 2 years to meet constitutional standards for inmate
health care.
(SFC, 8/5/09, p.A1)
2009 Aug 4, Sen. Charles
Schumer, D-N.Y., said that the SEC plans to ban so-called "flash
trading," where high-frequency traders can get information just
before it becomes public.
(www.marketwatch.com/story/schumer-sec-to-ban-flash-trading-2009-08-04)
2009 Aug 4, SF Mayor Gavin
Newsom signed a $6.6 billion city budget, making it the city’s
biggest budget ever.
(SFC, 8/5/09, p.D1)
2009 Aug 4, In Bridgeville,
Pennsylvania, George Sodini (48) sprayed bullets into a fitness
class filled with women, killing three and then himself. He kept a
Web page in which he wrote about years of rejection by women and an
earlier plan for violence at the gym.
(AP, 8/5/09)
2009 Aug 4, In Afghanistan a
string of rockets slammed into Kabul at daybreak in the first major
attack on the relatively calm Afghan capital in the run-up to this
month's presidential election. A child and a man were lightly
wounded when they were hit by flying glass in residential areas next
to the airport, where most of the rockets landed. A suicide bomber
killed five people and wounded 18 in southern Zabul province.
(AP, 8/4/09)
2009 Aug 4, Antigua's highest
mountain, Boggy Peak, officially became "Mount Obama" as the small
Caribbean nation celebrated the American president on his birthday
and saluted him as a symbol of black achievement.
(AP, 8/4/09)(SFC, 8/5/09, p.A2)
2009 Aug 4, Australian police
said they thwarted a terrorist plot in which extremists with ties to
an al-Qaida-linked Somali Islamist group planned to invade a
military base and open fire with automatic weapons until they were
shot dead themselves. Some 400 officers from state and national
security services took part in 19 raids on properties in Melbourne,
before dawn, arresting four men and detaining several others for
questioning. Police said all four arrested are Australian citizens
of Somali or Lebanese descent aged between 22 and 26.
(AP, 8/4/09)
2009 Aug 4, In Belgium three
prisoners escaped from the sprawling Palace of Justice courthouse in
central Brussels when two armed men burst into a court hearing and
took them with them, bringing the total to 12 over the past two
weeks. Five of the escaped inmates have been caught again, but seven
remained at large.
(AP, 8/4/09)
2009 Aug 4, Officials said a
forest fire on the Canary Island of La Palma was brought under
control and another that raged for two weeks in Spain's northern
Catalonia region has been extinguished.
(AP, 8/4/09)
2009 Aug 4, China’s state media
reported that police have formally arrested 83 people on charges
including murder and arson in connection with last month's deadly
rioting in the western region of Xinjiang.
(AP, 8/4/09)
2009 Aug 4, In northern China
an unfinished factory building collapsed as torrential rain hit the
city of Shijiazhuang. 17 people were reported killed.
(AP, 8/4/09)
2009 Aug 4, Haiti’s lawmakers
voted to more than double the minimum wage after long hours of
debate and clashes between police and protesters, who complained
they can't feed and shelter their families on the current pay of
about $1.75 a day.
(AP, 8/4/09)
2009 Aug 4, In eastern India at
least 11 people were killed and 15 others seriously injured after
being struck by lightning in Burdwan district in West Bengal state.
(AP, 8/5/09)
2009 Aug 4, The Lithuanian
ministry said that the Lithuanian-flagged refrigerator vessel
Saturnas, with a crew of 14, was attacked by unidentified
perpetrators off the coast of Nigeria. Five crew members were said
to have been taken hostage. The attackers did not seize the vessel
itself but left in a high-speed boat with the hostages. The 5
Lithuanian sailors were reported freed on Aug 14, ending their
11-day ordeal.
(AFP, 8/4/09)(AFP, 8/14/09)
2009 Aug 4, In Mexico 4 bodies
were found in the border city of Ciudad Juarez. In the nearby town
of Llano Blanco, police chief Gerardo Silva (40) was found dead in a
pickup truck, shot five times.
(AP, 8/5/09)
2009 Aug 4, NATO's governing
body approved a plan to reorganize the alliance's command structure
in Afghanistan by setting up a new headquarters to handle the
day-to-day running of the war.
(AP, 8/4/09)
2009 Aug 4, In Niger clashes
erupted as citizens voted in a constitutional referendum to extend
President Mamadou Tandja's long rule amid low turnout after an
opposition boycott in the uranium-rich African nation. On Aug 7 the
Electoral Commission released provisional results saying that 92.5%
of votes cast supported a new constitution that would allow
President Mamadou Tandja to stay in power. About 68.3% of all
registered voters participated.
(AP, 8/4/09)(AP, 8/7/09)
2009 Aug 4, In North Korea
former US Pres. Bill Clinton met with North Korean leader Kim Jong
Il on the first day of a surprise visit to Pyongyang, with the
"exhaustive" talks covering a wide range of topics. Clinton was in
communist North Korea on a mission to secure the release of
Americans , who were arrested along the Chinese-North Korean border
in March and sentenced in June to 12 years of hard labor for illegal
entry and engaging in "hostile acts." After 140 days in custody, the
reporters were granted a pardon by North Korea.
(AP, 8/4/09)(AP, 8/5/09)
2009 Aug 4, Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas launched his Fatah movement's first
conference in two decades with a call for his people to limit their
resistance to Israel to marches and protests and not to abandon
peace talks despite years of setbacks. The 3-day general assembly’s
main task was to elect a new central committee.
(AP, 8/4/09)(Econ, 8/8/09, p.42)
2009 Aug 4, Sudanese police
fired tear gas and beat women protesting outside a Sudanese court
during the trial of a female journalist accused of violating the
Islamic dress code by wearing trousers in public. The judge
adjourned Lubna Hussein's trial for a month to seek clarification
from Sudan's foreign ministry.
(AP, 8/4/09)
2009 Aug 4, In Thailand a
passenger plane skidded off the runway and crashed into a building
after landing on the Thai resort island of Samui, killing the chief
pilot and injuring at least seven people including foreign tourists.
(AP, 8/4/09)
2009 Aug 5, Euna Lee (36) and
Laura Ling (32), American journalists freed by North Korea, returned
home to the United States along with former Pres. Clinton for a
jubilant, emotional reunion with family members and friends they
hadn't seen since their arrests on March 17.
(AP, 8/5/09)
2009 Aug 5, Federal jurors in
Alexandria, Va., convicted former Louisiana Rep. William Jefferson
on 11 0f 16 counts that included bribery, racketeering and money
laundering. The next day jurors said Jefferson must forfeit $470,000
in bribery receipts. On Nov 13 he was sentenced to 13 years in
prison.
(SFC, 8/6/09, p.A6)(SFC, 8/7/09, p.A5)(SFC,
11/14/09, p.A7)
2009 Aug 5, In Arizona Brenda
Arenas (15), was shot in the head during a botched carjacking in
Tucson. She died in her mother's arms soon after the attack. Her
3-year-old sister watched the crime from the backseat of the car. On
Jan 29, 2011, Orel Vasquez (20) Christian Vasquez (26), and Juan
Leon (29) approached a border crossing point at Nogales and told US
officers they were wanted for the shooting and were turning
themselves in.
(Reuters, 1/30/11)
2009 Aug 5, Outraged southern
Afghan villagers said that a pre-dawn airstrike by foreign troops
killed three children and a man in the latest case of civilian
deaths at the hands of Western troops. A US military spokeswoman
said a helicopter had fired on four insurgents carrying jugs on
motorcycles through a field away from a populated area of the local
district, Arghandab. In eastern Nangarhar province a roadside bomb
killed two tribal elders and four armed guards. Across southern
Afghanistan roadside explosions and a US airstrike killed at least
15 people, including members of a family who hit a mine on their way
to a wedding party.
(AP, 8/5/09)(AP, 8/6/09)
2009 Aug 5, Australian police
charged four men with planning to attack an army base and shoot
soldiers as the government considered whether to ban a Somalia
militant group linked to the plot.
(Reuters, 8/5/09)
2009 Aug 5, In Colombia David
Murcia Guzman, a Colombian businessman, was convicted in a notorious
pyramid scheme that authorities say bilked investors out of more
than $2.4 billion. Guzman was convicted of money laundering and
illegal wealth accumulation through the company he founded, DMG
Group Holdings SA. A New York court has sought his extradition.
Murcia was extradited to the US on Jan 5, 2009.
(AP, 8/5/09)(AP, 1/5/10)
2009 Aug 5, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
was sworn in for a second term as Iran's president while security
forces battled hundreds of protesters chanting "Death to the
Dictator" in the streets around parliament where the ceremony was
held.
(AP, 8/5/09)
2009 Aug 5, Amos Kenan
(b.1927), Israeli artist and writer, died in Tel Aviv. As a member
of Israel's founding generation his writing and art helped define
modern Israeli culture. Kenan was party to several efforts to create
an alliance with the Palestinians. He helped pen a 1957 manifesto
calling for the creation of a Palestinian state in federation with
Israel at a time when few Israelis acknowledged the Palestinians'
existence as a national group.
(AP, 8/5/09)
2009 Aug 5, In Nairobi, Kenya,
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton criticized Kenya for
rampant graft and corruption as she made the case that business and
trade across Africa cannot grow without good governance and solid
democracy.
(AP, 8/5/09)
2009 Aug 5, In Mexico 5 bodies,
one of them headless, were found in a van in the border city of
Ciudad Juarez. US Sen. Patrick Leahy a Democrat from Vermont,
delayed the release of $100 million of a $1.4 billion, three-year
package meant to help Mexico combat drug traffickers. Leahy said
Mexico needs effective police forces and a justice system that
works.
(AP, 8/5/09)
2009 Aug 5, In Pakistan the 2nd
wife of Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud was killed in a US drone
attack targeting her husband at a home in the tribal belt near the
Afghan border. Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud was also killed in the
US missile strike in South Waziristan. He had led a violent campaign
of suicide attacks and assassinations against the Pakistani
government. News of his death was not made public until 2 days
later.
(AFP, 8/5/09)(AP, 8/7/09)
2009 Aug 5, In South Korea
helicopter-borne police commandos fought militant strikers at the
Ssangyong Motor Co.’s Pyeongtaek factory, seizing all but one key
building.
(SFC, 8/5/09, p.A2)
2009 Aug 5, Venezuela’s
President Hugo Chavez said his government will buy dozens of Russian
tanks because Venezuela feels threatened by a pending deal for the
US military to increase its presence in neighboring Colombia.
(AP, 8/6/09)
2009 Aug 5, Zimbabwe's veteran
Vice-President Joseph Msika (86) died. His death was expected to
reignite debate over who will eventually succeed President Robert
Mugabe.
(Reuters, 8/5/09)
2009 Aug 6, The US Senate
confirmed Justice Sonia Sotomajor to the Supreme Court on a largely
partisan vote of 68-31.
(SFC, 8/7/09, p.A1)
2009 Aug 6, The Securities and
Exchange Commission said that former American International Group
Inc. CEO Maurice "Hank" Greenberg agreed to pay a $15 million fine
to settle fraud charges.
(AP, 8/7/09)
2009 Aug 6, Writer-director
John Hughes (b.1950) died of a heart attack while visiting family in
NYC. His films in the 1980s and '90s included "The Breakfast Club,"
"Ferris Bueller's Day Off" and "Home Alone." He also wrote or
directed such hits as "National Lampoon's Vacation," "Pretty in
Pink," "Planes, Trains & Automobiles" and "Uncle Buck."
(AP, 8/7/09)
2009 Aug 6, In western
Afghanistan four American service members were killed in a roadside
bombing. 3 British paratroopers were killed after their armored
vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb and Taliban opened fire during a
patrol with Afghan forces north of Lashkar Gah in Helmand province.
Roadside bombs killed 5 policemen in Kandahar's Arghandab district.
An airstrike in Zabul province killed 3 suspected militants who were
planting a bomb on a road.
(AP, 8/6/09)(AP, 8/7/09)
2009 Aug 6, In Belgium a fire
killed nine elderly people at a care home in the Flemish town of
Melle. Officials later said it was probably caused by an electrical
fault.
(AFP, 8/7/09)
2009 Aug 6, Two well-dressed
thieves walked into a London Bond Street jewelry store and, after
brandishing handguns at shop workers, made off with $65 million
worth of gems in one of Britain's biggest jewelry heists. The arrest
of one suspect was announced on Aug 12. On Sep 7 a 9th suspect,
David Joseph (22), was detained. On June 25, 2010, Aman Kassaye (24)
was convicted for his role in the robbery. On Aug 6, 2010, Kassaye
was sentenced to 23 years in jail. Three other men involved in the
robbery, Solomun Beyene, Clinton Mogg and Thomas Thomas, were
sentenced to 16 years each. Two others were cleared by the court.
(AP, 8/12/09)(SFC, 8/13/09, p.A2)(SFC, 9/8/09,
p.A2)(AFP, 6/25/10)(AP, 8/6/10)
2009 Aug 6, DR Congo President
Joseph Kabila met his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame in the
lakeside city of Goma for the first official bilateral talks between
the neighboring states in 13 years.
(AP, 8/6/09)
2009 Aug 6, Ethiopia’s Federal
High Court issued the guilty verdicts against 13 men, including a
US-based professor, convicted in absentia for plotting to overthrow
the government. Berhanu Nega, Ethiopian-born professor with US
nationality and teacher of economics at Philadelphia's Bucknell
Univ., was accused of masterminding a plan to topple PM Meles
Zenawi.
(Reuters, 8/7/09)
2009 Aug 6, Iraq's cabinet
approved a bill to ban smoking in public places. A roadside bomb
struck a car full of Shiite pilgrims in southern Baghdad, killing
one and wounding four others. Gunmen broke into a goldsmith shop in
the western Baghdad district of Baiyaa, killing the owner and making
off with an unknown quantity of gold.
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8188265.stm)(AP, 8/6/09)(AP,
8/7/09)
2009 Aug 6, Japan's first jury
trial since World War II concluded with a mixed group of citizens
and professional judges convicting a man of murder and sentencing
him to a tougher-than-expected 15 years in prison.
(AP, 8/6/09)
2009 Aug 6, In Mexico 11
people, including two police officers and nine gunmen, died
following a running battle between police and gunmen in the central
city of Pachuca.
(AP, 8/7/09)
2009 Aug 6, Nigeria began a
60-day amnesty for militants fighting in the country's oil-rich
Delta region, a government official said, but the main militant
group said it would not participate. A cache of weapons and
ammunitions was uncovered at an arms depot owned by Niger Delta
militant leader Mujahid Dokubo-Asari in Port Harcourt.
(AP, 8/6/09)(AFP, 8/7/09)
2009 Aug 6, Nigeria's northern
Kano state withdrew a landmark criminal and civil suit against US
drug group Pfizer over a 1996 drug trial that left 11 children dead
and 189 others deformed. The withdrawal of the suit followed a
75-million dollar (52 million euros) out-of-court settlement between
the two parties.
(AFP, 8/6/09)
2009 Aug 6, In northern
Pakistan a bus veered off a narrow mountain road and plunged into a
river, leaving about 34 people, including 26 soldiers, missing and
presumed dead. Sardar Rustam Jamali, the excise and taxation
minister in the western province of Baluchistan, was killed when
robbers tried to steal his car in an eastern neighborhood of the
city.
(AP, 8/6/09)
2009 Aug 6, In Paraguay Social
Development Minister Pablino Caceres said he would meet with a 6
protesters who have hammered long nails through their hands and tied
themselves to crosses or laid in coffins in an appeal for land.
(AP, 8/6/09)
2009 Aug 6, In the northern
Philippines heavy monsoon rains inundated wide areas, triggering
flash floods and landslides that killed 21 people, including two
French citizens and a Belgian who were touring Mount Pinatubo.
Typhoon Morakot left seven others missing in landslides and
floodwaters.
(AP, 8/7/09)(AP, 8/9/09)
2009 Aug 6, Russia’s PM Putin
and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, signed an
agreements in Ankara that included the construction of part of the
South Stream gas pipeline through the Black Sea.
(AP, 8/6/09)(Econ, 8/15/09, p.47)
2009 Aug 6, US Secretary of
State Hillary Rodham Clinton, speaking in Kenya, pledged to "expand
and extend" American support for Somalia's weak interim government
as it struggles against Islamist extremists believed linked to
al-Qaida.
(AP, 8/6/09)
2009 Aug 6, Juan Manuel
Inciarte Gallardo (55), a suspected member of the armed Basque group
ETA, was deported from Mexico and arrested in Spain, where he is
wanted for allegedly killing five Spanish police officers and a
pregnant wife of one of the officers. Inciarte allegedly took part
in the slaying of the five police officers and the pregnant wife of
one officer between 1983 and 1985. He was wanted on terrorism
charges.
(AP, 8/6/09)
2009 Aug 6, In South Korea
unionists who occupied a car plant in protest at mass layoffs agreed
to end a 77-day sit-in which halted production and sparked violent
clashes with police.
(AFP, 8/6/09)
2009 Aug 6, Rescue workers
searched for missing people after the Princess Ashika ferry,
carrying 149 passengers and crew, sank overnight off the coast of
Tonga. 93 people were missing and feared dead.
(SFC, 8/6/09, p.A2)(AP, 8/9/09)
2009 Aug 6, In northern Yemen
local officials and the rebels said Shiite Muslim rebels have seized
a key control post on a strategic highway linking the capital San'a
with Saudi Arabia, overcoming an army brigade after 12 hours of
intense combat.
(AP, 8/6/09)
2009 Aug 7, Pres. Obama signed
into law a measure tripling the budget of the $1 billion incentive
“cash for clunkers” program.
(SFC, 8/8/09, p.A5)
2009 Aug 7, The US
Environmental Protection Agency said the US Department of
Agriculture has agreed to pay $30,000 in penalties for alleged
improper maintenance of underground storage tanks in Puerto Rico.
(AP, 8/8/09)
2009 Aug 7, In eastern
Afghanistan an American service member was killed in an attack on a
convoy. A blast in Kandahar's Zhari district killed an Afghan guard
escorting a NATO supply convoy.
(AP, 8/7/09)
2009 Aug 7, Britain’s Ministry
of Justice said Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs (79) has been
officially released from his prison sentence. Biggs earned notoriety
for his role in the 1963 Great Train Robbery, for which he was
sentenced to 30 years in prison. Escaping, he spent 35 years as a
celebrity fugitive, living a party lifestyle in Brazil before
returning home.
(AFP, 8/7/09)
2009 Aug 7, James Robinson
(71), a former California priest, arrived at London's Heathrow
Airport after being extradited from the United States. He was
charged with sexually abusing young boys when he served in the
United Kingdom between 1959 and 1983.
(AP, 8/8/09)
2009 Aug 7, In China Li Peiying
(60), the former head of Beijing airport's management company, was
executed following his conviction on corruption charges. He was
found guilty in February of accepting almost $4 million in bribes
and embezzling about $12 million in public money since 1995.
(AP, 8/7/09)
2009 Aug 7, Guatemala's top
three police officials were fired after hundreds of pounds of
cocaine allegedly disappeared from a shipment seized by authorities.
Interior Minister Raul Velazquez said police made the 1-ton seizure
on Aug 6, but when federal prosecutors weighed the drugs, 258 pounds
(117 kilograms) were missing.
(AP, 8/7/09)
2009 Aug 7, Indonesia's
anti-terrorism unit engaged in a shootout in Central Java during a
raid targeting suspected militants behind deadly bomb attacks in
Jakarta last month.
(Reuters, 8/7/09)
2009 Aug 7, In Iraq a suicide
car bomb devastated a Shiite mosque in northern Iraq, one of a
series of attacks that killed at least 37 Shiite pilgrims and
worshippers. The deadliest blast occurred in Rasheediyah, north of
Mosul, when a suicide car bomb struck a mosque, killing at least 30
people and trapping dozens more underneath the rubble. In Baghdad 3
roadside bombs targeting Shiite pilgrims killed 7 people returning
from Karbala.
(AP, 8/7/09)
2009 Aug 7, In Mexico Zambrano
Flores, a top lieutenant of the Tijuana-based Arellano Felix cartel,
was arrested in Tijuana. Police seized 10 rifles, 7 pistols, almost
4,000 rounds of ammunition during his arrest.
(AP, 8/8/09)
2009 Aug 7, Nepal's Maoists
launched a fresh round of protests, paralyzing parliament and
accusing the new government of failing to address their demands.
(AFP, 8/7/09)
2009 Aug 7, Nigeria's President
Umaru Yar'Adua formally received the first set of 32 Niger Delta
militants who have surrendered their arms under an amnesty he
offered them in June and commended them for their "patriotism."
(AP, 8/8/09)
2009 Aug 7, In Pakistan a
deadly shooting reportedly took place at a meeting of top Taliban
commanders Hakimullah Mehsud (28), a deputy to Baitullah Mehsud and
the warlord's main spokesman, and Wali-ur Rehman, a senior commander
in Mehsud's umbrella Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) movement. They
had convened to discuss the choice of a successor to Baitullah
Mehsud. Both commanders later phoned international media
organizations to prove they were alive.
(AFP, 8/9/09)(AP, 8/12/09)(Econ, 10/17/09, p.34)
2009 Aug 7, A Peruvian
government prosecutor presented homicide charges against two police
generals and 15 other officers for a June government crackdown at an
Amazon highway blockade manned by Indians protesting development on
their ancestral lands. The criminal charges, which must be ratified
by a judge, were the first to implicate police in violence that left
at least 33 dead, including 23 police.
(AP, 8/12/09)
2009 Aug 7, Portugal said it
has agreed to take two Syrian detainees from Guantanamo prison.
(AP, 8/7/09)
2009 Aug 7, Sri Lankan
authorities questioned Selvarasa Pathmanathan, former chief arms
smuggler the new leader of the Tamil Tiger rebels, after he was
arrested 2 days earlier in Southeast Asia and flown to Sri Lanka.
Rebels said he was arrested in Kuala Lumpur.
(AP, 8/7/09)
2009 Aug 7, International donor
the Global Fund, which had a financial dispute with Zimbabwe's
previous government, took the unusual step of giving $37.9 million
in aid directly to Zimbabwe's new unity government instead of
channeling it through private groups.
(AP, 8/7/09)
2009 Aug 8, Sonia Sotomayor was
sworn-in as the first Hispanic on the US Supreme Court.
(AP, 8/8/09)
2009 Aug 8, In Dinuba, Ca., a
car fleeing from police ran a stop sign and slammed into a pickup,
killing three people in the car and four young children in the
truck.
(AP, 8/9/09)
2009 Aug 8, In Chino, Ca., a
2-day prison riot began. It housed almost twice as many prisoners as
it was designed for and was typical of California’s 33 state
prisons. At this time California spent about $49,000 a year on each
prisoner, almost twice the national average.
(Econ, 8/15/09, p.28)
2009 Aug 8, Continental Express
Flight 2816, en route with 47 passengers to Minneapolis from
Houston, was stranded overnight at Rochester, Minn., after being
forced to land due to storms. On Nov 24 the Dept. of Transportation
levied $175,000 in fines against Continental, ExpressJet and Mesaba
Airlines for keeping the plane on the tarmac.
(SFC, 11/25/09, p.A6)
2009 Aug 8, Near Hoboken, New
Jersey, 9 people died in an air collision over the Hudson River,
including 3 members of a Pennsylvania family in the private plane
and five Italian tourists and a pilot from New Jersey in a Liberty
Tours helicopter.
(AP, 8/9/09)(SSFC, 8/9/09, p.A9)
2009 Aug 8, NATO helicopters
wounded five Afghan police by mistake during a battle with
insurgents in Ghazni province. A British soldier, serving with
NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), was killed by
an improvised explosive device (IED). A US soldier was killed in the
south in a hostile fire incident.
(Reuters, 8/8/09)(AFP, 8/9/09)(AP, 8/11/09)
2009 Aug 8, In China hundreds
of villagers rioted after news broke about the lead poisoning at the
Wugang Manganese Smelting Plant in Wenping township, central Hunan
province. A crowd of 600 to 700 people overturned four police cars
and smashed a local government sign. China later detained two
factory officials after 1,354 children were reported poisoned by
lead pollution from the manganese processing plant.
(AP, 8/20/09)
2009 Aug 8, India’s army said
its troops killed three Islamic militants along the de facto Kashmir
border, thwarting the seventh attempt by rebels to infiltrate from
Pakistan in a week.
(AFP, 8/8/09)
2009 Aug 8, In northern India
landslides triggered by heavy rains killed at least 43 people in
three remote villages in Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand state.
(AP, 8/9/09)
2009 Aug 8, Indonesian police
reportedly killed Noordin Mohammad Top, the self-proclaimed
Southeast Asian commander of al-Qaida, in a 16-hour siege of a
village hide-out in Central Java. Authorities said they could not
confirm that a recovered body was that of the militant leader
without DNA tests. DNA tests failed to confirm Top’s death. Police
raided a house on the outskirts of Jakarta where they killed two
suspected militants and seized bombs and a car rigged to carry them.
The house was just 3 miles (5 kilometers) from the president's
residence.
(AP, 8/8/09)(AP, 8/9/09)(AP, 8/12/09)
2009 Aug 8, In northern Italy
rules for officially condoned vigilante groups took effect.
(Econ, 8/15/09, p.46)
2009 Aug 8, In Mauritania a
suicide bomber killed himself outside the French Embassy, wounding
two embassy guards and a woman in the street. An African branch of
Al-Qaida later said the attack was a response to the aggression of
"crusaders" including former colonial ruler France, and to
Mauritanian leaders against Islam and Muslims.
(AP, 8/8/09)(AP, 8/18/09)
2009 Aug 8, In Mexico
assailants in the state of Guerrero opened fire on a car carrying a
couple and their 3-year-old son, killing all three. In Chihuahua
gunmen killed four people in an attack in a bar.
(AP, 8/10/09)
2009 Aug 8, In Moldova the four
pro-Western parties that upset the Communists in recent elections
agreed on a coalition deal to form a new government.
(AP, 8/8/09)
2009 Aug 8, Myanmar government
troops seized a weapons factory near the Chinese border after being
informed about it during a ministerial meeting with China on
combating transnational crime. This triggered several days of
clashes with an ethnic militia that sent more than 30,000 refugees
fleeing across the border into China.
(AP, 9/9/09)
2009 Aug 8, In Pakistan a
gunfight between militants and supporters of a pro-government tribal
elder killed 6 militants and 2 tribesmen in the Mohmand tribal
region near the Afghan border.
(AFP, 8/9/09)
2009 Aug 8, Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas was named head of his Fatah movements at his
party's first conference in two decades, strengthening the hand of
the Western-backed leader in his bid to revive peace talks with
Israel.
(AP, 8/8/09)
2009 Aug 8, Russian President
Dmitry Medvedev hailed the Russian victory in a war with Georgia a
year ago, saying the war had redrawn the map of the Caucasus for
good.
(Reuters, 8/8/09)
2009 Aug 8, In Somalia’s pirate
stronghold of Harardhere, fighting over the last 24 hours killed at
least 12 people. A dispute over a car escalated as clan militias got
involved. Mortar shells slammed into a busy market in the capital,
Mogadishu, killing six people and wounding 18.
(AP, 8/8/09)
2009 Aug 8, In South Africa US
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and South African President Jacob
Zuma pledged to cement closer ties between their new
administrations.
(AFP, 8/8/09)
2009 Aug 8, Sri Lanka held
local elections near an area once dominated by the Tamil Tiger
rebels, but voters largely stayed away from the polls in the
violence-scarred region. Voter turnout was 22% in Jaffna and 52% in
Vavuniya, according to election monitors. The pro-Tiger Tamil
National Alliance (TNA) scored unexpected success with 8 of 23 seats
in Jaffna and 5 of 11 seats in Vavuniya.
(AP, 8/8/09)(Econ, 8/15/09, p.35)
2009 Aug 8, Typhoon Morakot
lashed Taiwan with powerful winds and downpours leaving at least one
person killed and five missing.
(AFP, 8/8/09)
2009 Aug 8, Venezuela’s
President Hugo Chavez said he's returning his ambassador to
Colombia, moving to resolve rising diplomatic tensions after weapons
sold to Venezuela were found in a rebel cache.
(AP, 8/8/09)
2009 Aug 9, In San Francisco
Bruce Sherman (66), accordionist and singer of sea chanteys,
committed suicide.
(SSFC, 9/6/09, p.A2)
2009 Aug 9, In Afghanistan a
suicide attacker in a bomb-filled vehicle blew up close to a US-led
coalition military convoy in Nangarhar province, but did no harm to
the troops. 3 Afghan army soldiers were killed after their vehicle
was struck by a roadside bomb in Shahjoy district, Zabul province. A
US soldier was killed in the south in a hostile fire incident.
(AFP, 8/9/09)(AP, 8/11/09)
2009 Aug 9, US Secretary of
State Hillary Rodham Clinton arrived in oil-rich Angola to
underscore America's presence in one of sub-Saharan Africa's largest
energy producers where America is competing with China for
resources.
(AP, 8/9/09)
2009 Aug 9, Typhoon Morakot
slammed into China's eastern coast, forcing the evacuation of nearly
a million people after earlier lashing Taiwan with torrential rains
that caused the island's worst flooding in 50 years and left dozens
missing and feared dead.
(AP, 8/9/09)
2009 Aug 9, The French
advertising group Publicis said it would buy the digital advertising
agency Razorfish from Microsoft for 530 million dollars (380 million
euros).
(AFP, 8/9/09)
2009 Aug 9, Iran's police chief
acknowledged that detained protesters were abused in prison and the
country's top prosecutor said those responsible for the mistreatment
should be punished, in unusually pointed criticism of security
officials. Revolutionary Guard Commander Yadollah Javani called for
opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and former President Mohammad
Khatami to be put on trial.
(AP, 8/9/09)
2009 Aug 9, Iraqi authorities
arrested Daniel Fitzsimmons, a British contractor, on murder charges
over the shooting deaths of a British and an Australian contractor
in Baghdad's protected Green Zone. Two employees of ArmorGroup Iraq,
identified as Paul McGuigan of Britain and Darren Hoare of
Australia, were killed in the firearms incident. On Feb 28, 2011, An
Iraqi court convicted Fitzsimmons and sentenced him to 20 years in
prison, making him the first Westerner convicted in an Iraqi court
since the 2003 US invasion.
(AP, 8/9/09)(AP, 8/10/09)(AP, 2/28/11)
2009 Aug 9, Italians newspapers
reported that burglars earlier in the week had made off with jewels
and cash worth 11 million euros (15.6 million dollars) from the
hotel room of a Saudi princess in Sardinia, sparking a diplomatic
incident. On Sep 15 Sardinia police said most of the jewels had been
recovered.
(AFP, 8/9/09)(AP, 9/15/09)
2009 Aug 9, Madagascar's bitter
political rivals signed a power-sharing deal, agreeing to create an
interim government to end months of violence.
(AP, 8/9/09)
2009 Aug 9, In Mexico some 400
people marched in Guadalajara to protest the negative affects of
free trade and to demand benefits for retired Mexican laborers who
worked in the US as Pres. Barack Obama, Mexican President Felipe
Calderon and Canadian PM Stephen Harper arrived for a two-day
summit.
(AP, 8/9/09)
2009 Aug 9, Mexican lawyer
Silvia Raquenel Villanueva, known for defending high-profile drug
trafficking suspects, was shot to death at a street market in the
northern city of Monterrey. Army soldiers killed two suspects in a
shootout with gunmen in the western state of Michoacan. Federal
police arrested Dimas Diaz, a drug cartel suspect they believe was
behind a plot to kill President Felipe Calderon in retaliation for
his crackdown on organized crime. Dia was the alleged financial
operator of the Pacific cartel.
(AP, 8/10/09)
2009 Aug 9, In Pakistan two
civilians and a policeman were killed when militants ambushed a
police convoy in the northwestern town of Bannu. Two Pakistani
soldiers were killed and four were wounded near Naurak village in
the troubled North Waziristan tribal district when a remote-control
bomb targeting a military convoy exploded. At least eight dead
bodies of suspected Taliban militants were found in different areas
of the northwestern Swat valley.
(AFP, 8/9/09)
2009 Aug 9, Gaza militants
launched mortar shells at a border crossing between Gaza and Israel
just as Palestinian patients were being transferred into Israel for
medical treatment.
(AP, 8/10/09)
2009 Aug 9, On the Spanish
island of Mallorca a small bomb exploded in a restaurant, causing
minor damage and no injuries. A caller, who said he was calling on
ETA's behalf, warned of the bomb.
(AP, 8/9/09)
2009 Aug 9, In southern Taiwan
Typhoon Morakot spawned a mudslide engulfing the mountain village of
Shiao Lin, burying up to 600 people. The official death toll from
Morakot stood at 14. Another 51, not including the people in Shiao
Lin.
(AP, 8/10/09)
2009 Aug 10, In Oakland, Ca.,
Hassani Campbell (5) was reported missing by his foster parents
Louis Ross (38) and Jennifer Campbell (33). The couple were arrested
on Aug 28 on suspicion of killing the boy, who suffered from
cerebral palsy.
(SFC, 8/29/09, p.A1)
2009 Aug 10, At least three
Afghan police and two civilians were killed in a brazen attack by
Taliban gunmen and suicide bombers on government buildings near
Kabul. A US soldier was killed in the south in a hostile fire
incident. 22 Taliban insurgents and two Afghan soldiers also died in
violence.
(Reuters, 8/10/09)(AP, 8/11/09)
2009 Aug 10, Australia said it
has pledged 7.8 million US dollars this year to help save more than
100 indigenous languages which are in grave danger of dying out.
(AFP, 8/10/09)
2009 Aug 10, Canada’s Nortel
Networks said its chief executive would step down immediately and
its board would shrink from nine directors to just three as the
bankrupt telecom equipment maker sheds its major assets.
(Reuters, 8/10/09)
2009 Aug 10, China said that it
has released more than 1,200 detainees held over the unrest in Tibet
last year while more than 700 people are still being held over last
month's riots in Xinjiang. China's police said they have installed
2.75 million surveillance cameras since 2003 and are expanding the
system into the largely neglected countryside.
(AFP, 8/10/09)
2009 Aug 10, US Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton arrived in the strife-torn Democratic Republic
of Congo on the fourth leg of her seven-nation African tour. Clinton
said she would press Democratic Republic of Congo's government to
address the root causes of the conflict in the east and stop the use
of women as "weapons of war."
(Reuters, 8/10/09)
2009 Aug 10, In Cuba 14 people
were killed and at least 33 hospitalized after two trucks loaded
with passengers collided in the central Cuban province of Ciego de
Avila.
(AP, 8/10/09)
2009 Aug 10, Leaders of the
Union of South American Nations (UNASUL), a 12-member group inspired
by Brazil, met in Quito, Ecuador, in an attempt to further
integration. Colombia’s Pres. Uribe did not attend, in part because
Ecuador broke of ties with Colombia last year.
(Econ, 8/15/09, p.31)
2009 Aug 10, In Iraq a double
truck bombing tore through the village of a small Shiite ethnic
minority near the northern city of Mosul killing at least 35 people
in Khazna. 9 blasts wracked Baghdad in a wave of violence that
killed 22 people. All told more than 250 were left wounded.
(AP, 8/10/09)(SFC, 8/11/09, p.A4)
2009 Aug 10, Israeli warplanes
bombed a smuggling tunnel along the Gaza-Egypt border in response to
Palestinian rocket and mortar fire, in a brief flare-up of violence
at a time of relative quiet in the volatile Palestinian territory.
(AP, 8/10/09)
2009 Aug 10, Typhoon Etau
slammed into the west coast of Japan. 13 people were killed in
raging floodwaters and landslides, and 10 others were missing.
(AP, 8/10/09)
2009 Aug 10, In Mexico Pres.
Obama huddled with the leaders of Mexico and Canada for a swift
North American summit, where the swine flu epidemic and knotty
disputes over cross-border trade dominated a lengthy agenda.
(AP, 8/10/09)
2009 Aug 10, Mexican soldiers
arrested Juan Daniel Carranco Salazar, the alleged leader of the
Gulf cartel's operations in the Caribbean resort of Cancun. State
prosecutors in Baja California announced their arrest of state
detective Sergio Alvarado Chong in the border city of Mexicali with
8 kilograms (17.64 pounds) of cocaine.
(AP, 8/11/09)
2009 Aug 10, New Zealand
announced that it will cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 10 to 20
percent below 1990 levels by 2020.
(AP, 8/10/09)
2009 Aug 10, In Pakistan attack
helicopters and artillery pounded militant hideouts following
clashes between rebels and security forces in North Waziristan. 3
militants were reported killed.
(AFP, 8/10/09)
2009 Aug 10, In central
Slovakia 19 workers were trapped underground after a fire and
explosion hit the Handlova coal mine. The trapped workers were nine
miners who were initially sent to battle a blaze and 11 sent as
reinforcements as the fire grew. All were believed killed.
(AP, 8/10/09)(AP, 8/11/09)
2009 Aug 11, Bernard Madoff's
long-time deputy, Frank DiPascali, pleaded guilty to financial
crimes including helping others carry out Wall Street's biggest
investment fraud, but shed little more light in court on the
decades-long swindle.
(Reuters, 8/11/09)
2009 Aug 11, General Motors
Corp. said its Chevrolet Volt rechargeable electric car should get
230 miles per gallon of gasoline in city driving, more than four
times the mileage of the current champion, the Toyota Prius.
(AP, 8/11/09)
2009 Aug 11, The US Homeland
Security department was scheduled to return $2.4 million to Mexico's
tax administration, the first batch of money seized during a
binational investigation into smuggled oil that authorities expect
to lead to more arrests and seizures. So far this year, oil theft
was up 10 percent, and confirmed in 19 states, up from 13 in 2008.
(AP, 8/11/09)
2009 Aug 11, Former US
President Bill Clinton appointed the physician and Harvard
University professor Paul Farmer as the UN Deputy Special Envoy to
Haiti to assist in advancing the economic and social development of
the impoverished Caribbean nation.
(www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=31740)
2009 Aug 11, Eunice Kennedy
Shriver (88), the sister of President John F. Kennedy, died at a
Hyannis hospital. She carried on the family's public service
tradition by founding the Special Olympics and championing the
rights of the mentally disabled. Shriver organized the first Special
Olympics in 1968 in Chicago.
(AP, 8/11/09)
2009 Aug 11, In Richmond, Ca.,
distraught boyfriend Nathaniel Burris (46) shot and killed toll
collector Deborah Ross (51) in her booth at the Richmond-San Rafael
Bridge. He also shot and killed Golden Gate Transit bus driver Ersie
Charles Everette III (58) in the parking lot and then escaped.
Burris was arrested later in the day in Placer County.
(SFC, 8/12/09, p.A1)(SFC, 8/13/09, p.A12)
2009 Aug 11, An Afghan official
said authorities have hired some 10,000 Afghan tribesmen to protect
this month's presidential election, raising the possibility that
village militias could be enlisted to fight against the Taliban. In
southern Afghanistan roadside bombs killed nine civilians. The body
of a Polish soldier, who had disappeared while under fire a day
earlier, was found in Ghazni province.
(AP, 8/11/09)
2009 Aug 11, In Brazil
authorities charged Bishop Edir Macedo and nine other people linked
to the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God with siphoning off
billions of dollars in donations from his mostly poor followers to
buy jewelry, TV stations and other businesses for himself. Macedo,
who founded the church in 1977, owns a large television network,
three newspapers and several radio stations. He also owns a tourism
agency and an air taxi company.
(AP, 8/11/09)
2009 Aug 11, In Brazil police
were reported to be investigating the "Canal Livre" crime TV show
saying the show's host, state legislator Wallace Souza, was
suspected of commissioning at least five murders to boost his
ratings and prove his claim that Brazil's Amazon region is awash in
violent crime. Police also have accused Souza of drug trafficking.
(AP, 8/11/09)
2009 Aug 11, Canada signed a
free trade deal with Panama and said it wanted to conclude more such
agreements, given that talks to open up the global trading system
were going nowhere.
(Reuters, 8/11/09)
2009 Aug 11, In Chechnya Zarema
Sadulayeva, the head of the Save the Generation Chechen aid
group, and her husband, Alik Dzhabrailov, were found shot dead in
the trunk of their car a day after being kidnapped.
(AP, 8/11/09)
2009 Aug 11, China formally
arrested four employees of Anglo-American mining giant Rio Tinto
Ltd. for infringing trade secrets and bribery, but stopped short of
laying politically explosive espionage charges in a case that has
strained ties with key trading partner Australia.
(AP, 8/12/09)
2009 Aug 11, Authorities in the
Democratic Republic of Congo arrested Gregoire Ndahimana, a former
Rwandan mayor, for his alleged role in the 1994 genocide. Measures
were taken for him to be transferred to the International Criminal
Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.
(AFP, 8/12/09)
2009 Aug 11, In Congo US
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for the Democratic
Republic of Congo to punish soldiers responsible for rape as she
toured the war-torn east. She also unveiled a $17 million plan to
help fight the sexual violence in eastern Congo.
(AFP, 8/11/09)(SFC, 8/12/09, p.A3)
2009 Aug 11, In France restive
youths in a Paris suburb torched a tourist bus and nearly a
half-dozen cars and hurled objects at police, in a night of
fullblown unrest prompted by the death of a teen fleeing police on
Aug 9. Some witnesses claimed a police car hit the young
motorcyclist after he tried to flee a document check outside the
project.
(AP, 8/11/09)
2009 Aug 11, In Honduras some
10,000 protesters arrived in Tegucigalpa after staging weeklong
walks across Honduras, producing one of the largest demonstrations
in support of Zelaya since he was ousted by the army June 28 and
flown out of the country.
(AP, 8/12/09)
2009 Aug 11, In Indonesia
UNAIDS regional director Prasada Rao cited a new report saying more
than 1.5 million women living with HIV in Asia were infected by
their partners and 50 million more are at risk of infection. Rao
spoke on the sidelines of the ninth International Congress on AIDS
in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP), which is being held on the
Indonesian resort island of Bali.
(AFP, 8/11/09)
2009 Aug 11, Iran's opposition
said at least 69 people have died in two months of postelection
unrest based on accounts from the victims' families, more than
double the official toll released by parliament. Mir Hossein
Mousavi, the top opposition leader, said that the abuse and death of
protesters detained after the disputed presidential elections shows
the need for "deep change" in the country, in the most sweeping call
for reform of the system to date.
(AP, 8/11/09)(AP, 8/12/09)
2009 Aug 11, In southeastern
Kenya assailants armed with arrows, spears and machetes killed
Campbell Bridges (72), a Scottish-born geologist, in an apparent
dispute over mining rights. In 1968 Bridges became the first to
record the discovery of gemstone-quality tsavorite, in Tanzania.
Tsavorite, mined in Tanzania and Kenya, is a green variety of garnet
that shines even before polishing. On Aug 19 Kenyan police arrested
Alfred Makogo Njiruka, the chairman of a small miners association
and the suspected mastermind in the killing of Bridges.
(AP, 8/13/09)(AP, 8/20/09)
2009 Aug 11, Kuwaiti
authorities announced they have arrested an al-Qaida-linked group
that was planning to attack Camp Arifjan, a key US military base in
Kuwait. 5 of the suspects are cousins who were convicted for
involvement in the 2002 attack on a group of US Marines training on
the Kuwaiti island of Failaka, where one Marine was killed and
another wounded.
(AP, 8/11/09)(AP, 8/13/09)
2009 Aug 11, Liechtenstein
raised the gate on its tax-haven fortress, making a deal enabling
London to snare about 5,000 British accounts holders with up to 3.0
billion pounds in secret deposits.
(AFP, 8/11/09)
2009 Aug 11, In northern Mexico
Monterrey city police were told not to sit in parked patrol cars
observing traffic, because officials suspect they could be spying
for criminal gangs or drug cartels. Gunmen attacked a vehicle
carrying a prison director in Chihuahua, killing three bodyguards
and wounding two more seriously.
(AP, 8/12/09)
2009 Aug 11, A Myanmar court
convicted Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi of violating her
house arrest by allowing John Yettaw, an uninvited American, to stay
at her home. The head of the military-ruled country ordered the
democracy leader to serve an 18-month sentence under house arrest.
Yettaw was also convicted, and had just spent a week in a prison
hospital for epileptic seizures.
(AP, 8/11/09)(AP, 8/15/09)
2009 Aug 11, In Pakistan police
officials in Islamabad confirmed that they had registered a criminal
case against former Pres. Pervez Musharraf for detaining 60 Supreme
Court judges and their families following emergency rule in 2007.
(SFC, 8/12/09, p.A3)
2009 Aug 11, In Pakistan at
least 10 militants were killed in a suspected US drone strike in
South Waziristan region, the same area where Pakistani Taliban
leader Baitullah Mehsud is said to have been killed last week.
(Reuters, 8/11/09)
2009 Aug 11, The Palestinian
Fatah movement ended a 4-day conference. Pres. Abbas was unanimously
re-elected as party head and a group of younger leaders were elected
to its top council, bolstering its credentials as the West's best
hope for Mideast peace. Also elected were Marwan Barghouti (50), a
firebrand militant leader now jailed by Israel and seen as a likely
future president, and Jibril Rajoub (56), a former aide to the late
Yasser Arafat who led several crackdowns against Hamas.
(AP, 8/11/09)(Econ, 8/15/09, p.41)
2009 Aug 11, In Papua New
Guinea a charter plane carrying 13 people to a popular tourist site
vanished on approach in bad weather to an airport nestled in rugged
terrain. No survivors were found in the wreckage, which was located
the next day in the mountainous Kokoda region.
(AP, 8/11/09)(AP, 8/12/09)
2009 Aug 11, In Somalia 4
European aid workers and two Kenyan pilots were released after being
held hostage for nine months.
(AP, 8/11/09)
2009 Aug 11, In South Africa a
report to the Parliament said first year students at 4 universities
were found to be unable to read or write properly. The country’s
education system was described as dysfunctional.
(SSFC, 8/16/09, p.A4)
2009 Aug 11, Taiwanese
authorities put the confirmed death toll from Morakot at 62 and
listed 57 people as missing, but that did not include residents in
the village of Shiao Lin.
(AP, 8/11/09)
2009 Aug 11, A Thai court
rejected a US request to extradite Viktor Bout, an alleged Russian
arms smuggler dubbed the "Merchant of Death," dealing a setback to
American efforts to try him on charges of plotting to supply weapons
to Colombian rebels. The court rejected the extradition request
because Bout had not been accused of committing any crimes against
Thailand, which has not listed FARC as a terrorist group.
(AP, 8/11/09)
2009 Aug 11, Yemen’s government
launched "Operation Scorched Earth," an all-out offensive to stamp
out an uprising in the northern Saada province, after rebels claimed
they had wrested more control of the region from Sunni-led
government troops.
(AP, 8/13/09)(AFP, 2/8/10)
2009 Aug 11, Two Yemenis jailed
in the United States over terrorism charges received a tumultuous
public welcome on their return home after serving more than six
years in prison. Sheik Mohammed Ali Hasan Al-Moayad (60) and his
assistant Mohammed Zayed were arrested in 2003 and convicted of
supporting terrorist groups such as Al-Qaida. Al-Moayad was
sentenced to 75 years in prison and Mohammed Zayed received 45
years, but on August 7 they pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of
supporting the Palestinian militant group Hamas and given six years
time served.
(AP, 8/11/09)
2009 Aug 12, Pres. Obama
awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest
civilian honor, to 16 “agents of change.”
(SFC, 8/13/09, p.A5)
2009 Aug 12, In Atlanta,
Georgia, Ehsanul Islam (23) was convicted of aiding terrorist groups
by sending videotapes of US landmarks overseas and plotting to
support “violent jihad.” He faced a maximum of 60 years in prison.
(SFC, 8/13/09, p.A4)
2009 Aug 12, In Montana a
grizzly bear named Maximus, one of the largest in the state, was
found shot to death on a ranch near Dupuyer. He had stood 7½
feet tall and weighed 800 lbs.
(SSFC, 8/23/09, p.A7)
2009 Aug 12, In southern
Afghanistan helicopter-borne US Marines backed by Harrier jets
stormed a Taliban-held town before dawn, launching a new operation
(Eastern Resolve 2) to uproot Taliban fighters from a longtime base
and provide security for next week's presidential election. Marines
said they killed between seven and 10 militants in Dahaneh and
seized about 66 pounds (30 kilograms) of opium, which the militants
use to finance their insurgency. A blast on a road in the Gereshk
district of Helmand province ripped through a vehicle carrying a
family, killing 11 people, including two women and nine men. In
Kandahar province three children were killed after they started
playing with a bomb which they had found on the side of the road
west of the provincial capital.
(AP, 8/12/09)(AP, 8/13/09)
2009 Aug 12, Australian forces
shot 2 Afghan policemen on a motorcycle at the Dorafshan checkpoint
near Tarin Kowt. One of the Afghans was shot 16 times and died. The
other was wounded. The Australian military later said the soldiers
did not know the men were police and were acting in self-defense.
(AFP,
10/13/09)(www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/08/12/2653950.htm)
2009 Aug 12, In Argentina
Retired Gen. Santiago Riveros and four other members of the military
were convicted and sentenced to long prison terms in the 1976
killing of Floreal Avellaneda (14), the son of a communist activist.
(www.cidh.oas.org/annualrep/87.88eng/chap5.htm)(AP, 8/12/09)
2009 Aug 12, Argentina’s
customs service confiscated a total of 4.2 metric tons (4.6 tons) of
pseudoephedrine, chemical that can be used to make methamphetamine,
at several government warehouses at the port in Buenos Aires during
an investigation into drug traffickers with ties to Mexico.
(AP, 8/13/09)
2009 Aug 12, In La Paz,
Bolivia, exploding envelopes wounded 7 people, 3 of them severely.
(AP, 8/13/09)
2009 Aug 12, In Chile Mapuche
activist Fabian Facundo Mendoza Collio (24) was shot and killed by
police during a confrontation with Mapuche Indians outside
Collipulli. Hours after the Collio was killed, an agricultural
warehouse in the area was set on fire, destroying about $1 million
worth of equipment.
(AP, 8/13/09)
2009 Aug 12, China’s state
media reported that authorities in northern China have shut down the
Dongling Lead and Zinc Smelting Co. in Shaanxi province after it was
found to have caused lead poisoning that sickened more than 300
children. Media later reported that 851 children in Changqing
township had tested positive for lead poisoning.
(AP, 8/12/09)(AP, 8/14/09)(AFP, 8/19/09)
2009 Aug 12, The WTO upheld
American complaints that China breaks trade commitments by the way
it regulates the import and distribution of foreign publications,
films and music. The initial complaint was filed in 2007 and was
later joined by the EU, Japan, Australia and others.
(Econ, 8/15/09, p.36)
2009 Aug 12, A French teenager
(16) shot and killed his parents and twin brothers, apparently while
they were asleep in their home on the island of Corsica.
(AFP, 8/13/09)
2009 Aug 12, In France a
35-year-old convert to Islam, identified only as Carole, complained
of religious discrimination after trying to go swimming in a
"burquini," a full-body swimsuit, in the town of Emerainville,
southeast of Paris. Officials insisted they banned the woman's use
of the Islam-friendly suit at a local pool because of France's pool
hygiene standards.
(AP, 8/13/09)
2009 Aug 12, In Honduras
supporters of ousted President Manuel Zelaya clashed with police in
Tegucigalpa and some of them attacked the second-ranking member of
Congress.
(AP, 8/12/09)
2009 Aug 12, In Mexico’s border
city of Nuevo Laredo, city police found a bullet-ridden sport
utility vehicle belonging to the federal Communications and
Transportation Department crashed into a post on a street. There was
blood on the seats, and four department employees identified as
cargo inspectors were reported missing.
(AP, 8/12/09)
2009 Aug 12, In Nigeria US
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton encouraged the government to take
a firmer line on corruption and offered US help to implement badly
needed electoral reforms in Africa's biggest energy producer.
(Reuters, 8/12/09)
2009 Aug 12, In northwestern
Pakistan's tribal belt clashes between Taliban militants and
followers of pro-government Turkistan Bitani left at least 70
fighters dead.
(AP, 8/12/09)(SFC, 8/13/09, p.A2)
2009 Aug 12, Philippine troops
overran two jungle camps of al-Qaida-linked militants in their
deadliest clash in years, with 23 soldiers and 31 guerrillas killed.
The two camps served as a stronghold and a bomb factory for the Abu
Sayyaf on Basilan. Troops found several bombs, booby traps and 15
assault rifles and grenade launchers.
(AP, 8/13/09)
2009 Aug 12, Russian PM
Vladimir Putin made a surprise visit to Abkhazia and said Russia
will spend at least 15 billion rubles ($470 million) next year to
build Russian military bases in Abkhazia and tighten the separatist
Georgian region's borders.
(AP, 8/12/09)
2009 Aug 12, Chechen Interior
Ministry spokesman Magomed Deniyev said 2 policemen were killed in
separate attacks during the night as they returned to their homes.
(AP, 8/12/09)
2009 Aug 12, Ruslan
Amerkhanov, the construction minister in Russia's violence-plagued
Ingushetia, was shot to death in his office. Ingush Security Council
secretary Alexei Vorobyov said investigators believe the killing
could be related to recent audits of construction projects that
turned up building violations and misuse of funds.
(AP, 8/12/09)
2009 Aug 12, World Bank
President Robert Zoellick pledged to boost development aid to Rwanda
to help the rebuild the country ripped apart by genocide.
(Reuters, 8/12/09)
2009 Aug 12, In Somalia masked
gunmen killed five Pakistani preachers outside the Tawfiq Mosque in
Galkayo following morning prayers.
(AP, 8/12/09)
2009 Aug 12, Yemeni government
forces used artillery and aircraft to attack Shiite rebels near the
border with Saudi Arabia in an escalation of the five-year-old
conflict. A local government official said 20 rebels were killed. A
local Health Ministry official said 12 others died in fighting
across Saada and 51 were injured.
(AP, 8/12/09)
2009 Aug 12, Doctors at
Zimbabwe's state hospitals went on strike, demanding higher salaries
and payment of their monthly allowances.
(AFP, 8/12/09)
2009 Aug 13, Legendary
guitarist and inventor Les Paul (94), who pioneered the design of
solid body Gibson electric guitars that bore his name, died at a New
York hospital of complications from pneumonia. Paul was born as
Lester William Polsfuss in Waukesha, Wisconsin, on June 9, 1915. He
created one of the first solid-body electric guitars in 1941, but it
took nearly 10 years before he, working with Gibson Guitar Corp.,
perfected it.
(Reuters, 8/13/09)
2009 Aug 13, Australian police
said a 20-year-old Australian man has been charged with infecting
more than 3,000 computers around the world with a virus designed to
capture banking and credit card data.
(AP, 8/13/09)
2009 Aug 13, It was reported
that millions of sockeye salmon have disappeared mysteriously from
the Fraser river on Canada's Pacific Coast. It was once known as the
world's most fertile spawning ground for sockeye. Up to 10.6 million
bright-red sockeye salmon were expected to return to spawn this
summer. The latest estimates say fewer than 1 million have returned.
The Canadian government has closed the river to commercial and
recreational sockeye fishing for the third straight year, hitting
the livelihood of nearby Indian reserves.
(Reuters, 8/13/09)
2009 Aug 13, In Chechnya a gun
battle between police an 2 suspected militants left the 2 militants
dead as well as 4 police officers.
(SFC, 8/15/09, p.A3)
2009 Aug 13, Chinese officials
retreated from a plan to install anti-pornography software on every
computer sold, but said Internet cafes, schools and other public
places must use the program.
(SFC, 8/14/09, p.A2)
2009 Aug 13, In Dagestan some
10 men opened fire on a police post in Buinaksk, killing 4 officers.
The gunmen then entered a sauna complex nearby and killed 7 women
working there.
(SFC, 8/15/09, p.A3)
2009 Aug 13, Ecuador’s Citizen
Participation Minister Doris Soliz called for the creation of local
citizen committees to defend the government and its "revolution,"
sparking criticism that the president aims to control opponents in a
system reminiscent of Cuba or Venezuela.
(AP, 8/13/09)
2009 Aug 13, The EU said it was
extending its sanctions on Myanmar to cover members of the judiciary
responsible for the verdict in the trial of opposition leader Aung
San Suu Kyi.
(Reuters, 8/13/09)
2009 Aug 13, In India thousands
of schools, colleges and cinemas shut down in Mumbai to combat the
spread of swine flu as the government struggled to contain public
anxiety.
(AFP, 8/13/09)
2009 Aug 13, In Iran a group of
former reformist lawmakers appealed to a powerful clerical body to
investigate Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's qualification to
rule in an unprecedented challenge to the country's most powerful
man over the postelection crackdown.
(AP, 8/14/09)
2009 Aug 13, In Iraq a gunfight
erupted during an attempted bank heist in Baghdad, as a court
official announced that five members of Iraq's presidential guard
will go on trial later this month for their alleged roles in the
deadly July 28 robbery of Baghdad’s Rafidain Bank. In the northwest
city of Sinjar 2 suicide bombers blew themselves up at a popular
cafe killing 21 people and wounding 30 others.
(AP, 8/13/09)(SFC, 8/14/09, p.A2)
2009 Aug 13, In Japan a woman
(23) crashed her moped when it hit a rope that was stretched across
the road. She suffered a fractured skull after being thrown from her
bike near western Tokyo's US Yokota Air Base. Police later arrested
four children, three boys and one girl aged between 15 and 18, of US
military personnel on suspicion of attempted murder.
(AFP, 12/5/09)
2009 Aug 13, In Liberia US
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hailed the country’s post-war
transition to democracy and threw support behind President Ellen
Johnson Sirleaf, who has faced calls to resign because she helped
fund a warlord.
(AFP, 8/13/09)
2009 Aug 13, In Mexico state
security officials banned police from setting up sobriety
checkpoints in the northern city of Monterrey because they say the
officers routinely use them to extort motorists. Bishop Eduardo
Patino Leal was detained in the town of Huatusco, Veracruz state,
lost control of his vehicle and ran over 6 Indian street vendors,
killing one.
(AP, 8/14/09)
2009 Aug 13, North Korea freed
Yu Seong-Jin (44), a South Korean worker it had detained since
March, raising hopes of better cross-border relations after 18
months of bitter hostility from the communist state.
(AFP, 8/13/09)
2009 Aug 13, In northwest
Pakistan helicopter gunships pummeled the bases of Taliban commander
Hakimullah Mehsud, killing at least 12 insurgents as government
forces ratcheted up pressure on the militants following their top
leader's reported death. 2 intelligence officials said a suicide
bomber killed pro-government lashkar leader Malik Khadeen, who was
instrumental in fighting Uzbek militants operating with the Taliban
in South Waziristan. In the Bajur tribal area authorities found the
bodies of two anti-Taliban lashkar leaders near a security
checkpoint. The two lashkar commanders, Malik Sehar Gul and Malik
Jalindhar, had been kidnapped the night before.
(AP, 8/13/09)
2009 Aug 13, Scottish officials
said they were considering early release for the Lockerbie bomber,
leading to sharp debate among victims' relatives in the US and
Britain over whether he should be allowed to return home to Libya.
British media said Abdel Baset Ali al-Megrahi could soon be freed on
compassionate grounds because he is terminally ill with cancer.
(AP, 8/13/09)
2009 Aug 13, The crew of two
Egyptian fishing vessels overpowered Somali pirates after being held
hostage for four months and, with machetes and tools, killed at
least two pirates before sailing to freedom. The fight took place
near the coastal town of Las Qorey off the Gulf of Aden. The pirates
had demanded a ransom of $1.5 million.
(AP, 8/14/09)
2009 Aug 13, Taiwan deployed
thousands of extra troops as it faced growing public anger and
pressure to rescue people trapped by landslides. The confirmed death
toll from the destruction wreaked by the typhoon rose to at least
116.
(AFP, 8/13/09)
2009 Aug 13, In Venezuela
attackers injured 12 of the journalists as they passed out leaflets
warning against a new education law that critics fear could lead to
indoctrination in schools. Their fliers warned against a provision
for sanctions against reports that "produce terror" among children
or incite hate. The government condemned the violence and ordered an
investigation.
(AP, 8/15/09)
2009 Aug 13, Yemeni warplanes
bombed a northern province bordering Saudi Arabia for a second
straight day, in an ongoing offensive that has brought casualties
and pushed the area close to an all-out war.
(AP, 8/13/09)
2009 Aug 14, Real estate lender
Colonial BancGroup Inc. was shut down by federal officials in the
biggest US bank failure this year. The FDIC, which was appointed
receiver of the Montgomery, Ala.-based Colonial and its about $25
billion in assets, said the failed bank's 346 branches in Alabama,
Florida, Georgia, Nevada and Texas will reopen at the normal times
starting on Aug 15 as offices of Winston-Salem, N.C.-based BB&T.
Regulators also closed four other banks: Community Bank of Arizona,
based in Phoenix; Union Bank, based in Gilbert, Ariz.; Community
Bank of Nevada, based in Las Vegas; and Dwelling House Savings and
Loan Association, located in Pittsburgh. The closures boosted to 77
the number of federally insured banks that have failed in 2009.
(AP, 8/15/09)
2009 Aug 14, Lynette “Squeaky”
Fromme (60), the Charles Manson follower convicted of trying to
assassinate President Gerald Ford in 1975, was released from a Texas
prison hospital after more than three decades behind bars.
(AP, 8/14/09)
2009 Aug 14, It was reported
that in North Carolina nine women, who lived at the edges of the
poor community in Rocky Mount, have disappeared since 2005. Six
bodies have been found along rural roads just a few miles outside
town, most so decomposed that investigators could not tell how they
died. At least one of the women was strangled. All the deaths have
been classified as homicides. Three women were still missing.
(AP, 8/14/09)
2009 Aug 14, In California the
Lockheed fire in Santa Cruz County, which began on Aug 12, covered
over 5,00 acres and was only 15% contained. 9 big wildfires across
the state covered over 100,000 acres.
(SFC, 8/15/09, p.A8)
2009 Aug 14, Hillary Clinton
ended her whirlwind seven-nation African trip at Cape Verde, with a
tough love message that Africans must tackle their own problems.
(AFP, 8/14/09)
2009 Aug 14, An Australian
judge ruled that Christian Rossiter (49), a quadriplegic man who
says he cannot "undertake any basic human functions," has the right
to direct a nursing home to stop feeding him and allow him to die.
(AP, 8/14/09)(SFC, 8/15/09, p.A2)
2009 Aug 14, In Dagestan gunmen
killed 2 traffic police officers in Makhachkala. 3 suspected
militants were killed in a separate episode.
(SFC, 8/15/09, p.A3)
2009 Aug 14, In Germany shares
in Volkswagen, Europe's biggest carmaker, plunged after it approved
a takeover of luxury auto manufacturer Porsche to create a sector
giant.
(AFP, 8/14/09)
2009 Aug 14, In Honduras 2
dozen supporters of ousted Pres. Zelaya were charged with sedition
in an intensifying crackdown on protests against the coup-installed
government.
(AP, 8/15/09)
2009 Aug 14, In Iraq
journalists took to the streets in Baghdad to protest what they say
is political pressure to silence the media. The rally came as
journalist Ahmed Abdul-Hussein was threatened with a lawsuit over
editorials related to the July 28 Baghdad bank robbery that left
eight security guards dead.
(AP, 8/14/09)
2009 Aug 14, In Libya a
delegation of US senators led by John McCain met with Libya's leader
to discuss the possible delivery of non-lethal defense equipment.
(AP, 8/15/09)
2009 Aug 14, In northern Mexico
a fight among prisoners killed 19 inmates and left more than 20
injured at the prison in the city of Gomez Palacio, Durango state.
The battle apparently involved inmates jailed on drug or organized
crime charges. Assailants in pickup trucks opened fire on Monclova
police chief Juan Carlos Pacheco as he headed home. Pacheco was not
hurt but three of the police officers guarding him died. Federal
police announced the capture of Hector Oyarzabal, an alleged La
Familia leader, who was described as director of the gang's drug
operations in several towns of the state of Mexico, which surrounds
most of Mexico City. In Ciudad Juarez two women and a man were found
shot to death in their car.
(AP, 8/15/09)
2009 Aug 14, Nigeria’s banking
chief said the government will inject US$2.55 billion into five
troubled banks, in Africa's first major bank rescue program since
the global credit crunch began. Central Bank Chief Sanusi Lamido
Sanusi also announced the sacking of the heads of five major banks
for piling up debts worth billions of dollars and poor management.
The heads of Afribank plc, Intercontinental Bank plc, Union Bank
plc, Oceanic Bank plc and Finbank plc were removed by Sanusi. The
Nigerian anti-graft agency soon froze the accounts of the sacked
directors for running the institutions into insolvency.
(AP, 8/14/09)(AFP, 8/22/09)
2009 Aug 14, In Nigeria the
number of polio cases caused by the vaccine was reported to have
doubled so far this year with 124 children paralyzed, compared to 62
in 2008, out of about 42 million children vaccinated. For every case
of paralysis, hundreds of other children don't develop symptoms, but
pass on the disease.
(AP, 8/14/09)
2009 Aug 14, Pakistan lifted a
ban on political activities in its tribal regions, granting the
areas close to Afghan border parliamentary representation for the
first time in the hopes it would reduce the grip of the Taliban
there. 3 bomb explosions killed a man and wounded 18 other people in
Baluchistan, an impoverished but oil-rich province where Baluch
nationalist groups have been fighting for more autonomy for decades.
(AP, 8/14/09)
2009 Aug 14, In the southern
Gaza town of Rafah on the Egyptian border fighting broke out when
Hamas security men surrounded a mosque where about 100 members of
Jund Ansar Allah, or the Soldiers of the Companions of God, were
holed up. Abdel-Latif Moussa, the leader of the group, defied Gaza's
Hamas rulers by declaring in a prayer sermon that the territory was
an Islamic emirate. 11 homemade rockets were launched from Gaza into
Egypt. Only five of the rockets detonated, injuring a young girl.
(AP, 8/15/09)
2009 Aug 14, A Swiss court
backed the government's plan to give aid agencies 7 million Swiss
francs ($6 million) seized from bank accounts linked to Haiti's
former dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier. The Duvalier
family, which wants to reclaim the money, can now appeal the case to
Switzerland's highest court. The accounts have been blocked since
2002.
(AP, 8/14/09)
2009 Aug 14, Taiwan's president
said floods and mudslides unleashed by Typhoon Morakot last weekend
have killed about 500 people on the island, as he called on rescue
crews to step up their efforts. Ma said the death toll includes 120
confirmed deaths, and about 380 people believed to be buried in the
debris of a landslide in Shiao Lin, the hardest-hit village. Taiwan
asked major world donors for heavy equipment to alleviate damages
from Typhoon Morakot. Aid offers were initially refused on Aug 11.
On Aug 23 the death toll from Typhoon Morakot was raised to at least
650.
(AP, 8/14/09)(Reuters, 8/15/09)(AP, 8/23/09)
2009 Aug 14, A Taiwanese
telephone company said Seabed movements believed caused by Typhoon
Morakat damaged seven undersea cables linking Asian nations,
disrupting Internet and telephone services.
(AP, 8/14/09)
2009 Aug 14, In Venezuela
lawmakers loyal to President Hugo Chavez gave final approval on to
legislation that has raised fears among government opponents of
impending socialist indoctrination in schools. The National Assembly
also approved a law that paves the way for the government to take
over private buildings and land in urban areas.
(AP, 8/14/09)
2009 Aug 15, In Georgia former
college professor Lothar Karl Schweder (77) and his wife Sherry (65)
were found mauled to death by dogs near their home in Lexington.
(SFC, 8/18/09, p.A7)
2009 Aug 15, In southern
California the body of Jasmine Fiore (28), a swimsuit model, was
found stuffed in a suitcase and dumped into a trash bin in Orange
County. Her husband Ryan Alexander Jenkins (32), a reality TV show
contestant and CEO of Skyhomes in Calgary, Canada, reported her
missing the same day. On Aug 20 Jenkins was charged with murder and
believed to be hiding in Canada. On Aug 23 Jenkins was found dead of
apparent suicide in a motel in Hope, British Columbia.
(SFC, 8/20/09, p.A5)(SFC, 8/20/09, p.A9)(Reuters,
8/24/09)
2009 Aug 15, In Afghanistan a
suicide car bomb exploded outside the main gate of NATO's
headquarters five days before presidential elections, killing seven
and wounding 91 in the biggest attack in the Afghan capital in six
months. A British soldier succumbed to injuries sustained while out
on foot patrol in Helmand province, becoming the 201st British
military fatality in Afghanistan.
(AP, 8/15/09)(AFP, 8/16/09)
2009 Aug 15, In northern
Algeria an explosion followed by gunfire left one police officer
dead and two others wounded at a beach. A head-on collision between
a lorry and a minibus killed 16 people on the outskirts of the city
of Ghazaouet, including more than a dozen members of the same family
traveling together.
(AFP, 8/15/09)
2009 Aug 15, Canada said it
will pay some farmers to stop raising hogs and offer loans to help
others restructure, assistance that drew praise from Canadian hog
farmers and concerns from a top US farmer group.
(Reuters, 8/15/09)
2009 Aug 15, In southern Chile
Manuel Calfiu, head of the Mapuche community Meli Wixan Mapu, said
dozens of Indian communities agreed to form the Mapuche Territorial
Alliance to fight for political autonomy, said after several days of
violence over land seizures.
(AP, 8/15/09)
2009 Aug 15, Three Iraqi men
herding cattle were killed after wandering into the middle of a
US-Iraqi mortar training exercise north of the Iraqi capital.
(AP, 8/16/09)
2009 Aug 15, In Kuwait a fire
at a wedding tent killed 57 women and children as it consumed the
structure in a blazing inferno lasting just three minutes. The
bridegroom’s ex-wife was later found to be the arsonist. In 2010 a
Kuwaiti appeals court confirmed a death sentence against Nasra
Yussef Mohammed al-Enezi (23). She had been convicted in March of
setting fire to the wedding tent as her husband took a second wife.
(AP, 8/16/09)(AP, 8/18/09)(SFC, 8/18/09,
p.A4)(AFP, 5/26/10)
2009 Aug 15, Japan's PM Taro
Aso expressed deep regret over the suffering his country inflicted
on Asian countries during World War II in a solemn ceremony that
marked the 64th anniversary of Tokyo's surrender.
(AP, 8/15/09)
2009 Aug 15, In Mexico the
dismembered body of Jesus Arroyo, a legal adviser for the leftist
Democratic Revolution Party, was found in an ice box in Ciudad
Altamirano, in Guerrero state. In Guadalajara singer Carlos Vicente
Ocaranza, who specialized in drug ballads, was shot to death outside
a bar. His manager died of wounds 2 days later. Ocaranza was better
known as "El Loco Elizalde," or The Crazy Elizalde, a reference to
his distant relation by marriage to Valentin Elizalde, a much more
famous musician, also killed by gunshots in 2006.
(AP,
8/15/09)(www.wtop.com/?nid=105&sid=1646540)
2009 Aug 15, In Myanmar US Sen.
Jim Webb won the release of John Yettaw (53), an American prisoner
convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison for swimming
secretly to the residence of detained democracy leader Aung San Suu
Kyi.
(AP, 8/15/09)
2009 Aug 15, Nigeria's
anti-graft agency said it had recovered more than 50 billion naira
($320.5 million / €224.2 million) in looted funds and secured 70
convictions in the past year. Police in the western Nigerian state
of Niger raided the Darul Islam community and detained hundreds of
its members, weeks after an uprising by a radical sect killed almost
800 in the remote northeast. Sect leader Amrul Bashir Abdullahi
said: "We decided to create a camp for ourselves outside the
community because of the problems in the larger society. These are
problems of corruption, drunkenness, prostitution and so on which
Allah forbids."
(AFP, 8/15/09)(Reuters, 8/16/09)
2009 Aug 15, In Pakistan a
suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden car into a checkpoint in
the northwestern Swat Valley, killing at least five people in a
reminder that extremists can still strike despite the military's
retaking of the area. Air strikes by government fighter jets killed
16 militants and destroyed several Taliban hideouts in tribal South
Waziristan.
(AP, 8/15/09)(AFP, 8/17/09)
2009 Aug 15, In the Gaza Strip
Abdel-Latif Moussa, the leader of an al-Qaida-inspired group, blew
himself up during a shootout with Hamas security forces, ending
hours of violence sparked by a rebellious sermon at a Salafist
mosque near the Egyptian border. A total of 24 people, including six
Hamas police officers and an 11-year-old girl, were killed and 150
were wounded.
(AP,
8/15/09)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdel_Latif_Moussa)
2009 Aug 15, In Peru farmers
freed 13 police officers and four civilians seized at a
hydroelectric dam in the Andean region after local officials agreed
to provide them with fertilizer.
(AP, 8/15/09)
2009 Aug 15, In Puerto Rico
Ricardo Lebron Berrios (23), a prisoner being taken to jail to face
car theft charges, allegedly shot one police officer to death and
gravely wounded a second, then escaped in their squad car.
(AP, 8/16/09)
2009 Aug 15, Somali pirates
found seven dead colleagues floating in the ocean and vowed to take
revenge against Egyptian fishermen they say killed them during an
August 13 escape.
(Reuters, 8/15/09)
2009 Aug 15, South Korea's
president renewed his offer of aid for impoverished North Korea if
it abandons its nuclear weapons and called for talks on the
reduction of conventional weapons along their heavily fortified
border.
(AP, 8/15/09)
2009 Aug 15, Sri Lanka's Roman
Catholic leaders called for the release of ethnic Tamils held in
military-run displacement camps, saying they are confined like
prisoners behind barbed wire.
(AP, 8/15/09)
2009 Aug 15, Taiwan's President
Ma Ying-jeou bowed to public anger, apologizing for his government's
slow response to Typhoon Morakot, which devastated central and
southern parts of the island.
(AFP, 8/15/09)
2009 Aug 15, Yemen widened a
military offensive against Shiite rebels in the country's north,
blasting the fighters' positions with artillery and airstrikes.
(AP, 8/15/09)
2009 Aug 16, Y.E. Yang (37) of
South Korea won the PGA Championship at Chaska, Minnesota, with a
2-under par 70 beating Tiger Woods who shot a 5 over par 75.
(AP, 8/17/09)
2009 Aug 16, In San Francisco
BART management and union leaders reached a tentative contract
agreement less that 6 hours before a planned strike to shut down the
regional rail system.
(SFC, 8/17/09, p.A1)
2009 Aug 16, Afghan President
Hamid Karzai took part in a live television debate with two of his
main rivals running in this week's election, a first for an
incumbent head of state in the war-scarred country. The Afghan
defense ministry said that more than 30 rebels, including
foreigners, were killed in an operation pounding Taliban centers in
a bid to secure a northeast troublespot for key elections. Two US
troops and a US civilian died in gun and bomb attacks in eastern
Afghanistan. 3 British soldiers were killed in an explosion in the
volatile south.
(AFP, 8/16/09)(AFP, 8/17/09)
2009 Aug 16, Chinese
authorities in central Henan province called off the takeover of
Linzhou Iron and Steel Co. Ltd., a state-owned steel plant, after
workers protested and trapped an official in the factory office for
four days, the second time in a month that the country's
steelworkers have rallied to successfully avoid privatization.
(AP, 8/16/09)
2009 Aug 16, Iran expanded its
mass trial of opposition supporters, adding 25 more defendants
including a Jewish teenager who are accused of involvement in unrest
over the disputed presidential election.
(AP, 8/16/09)
2009 Aug 16, The US Peace Corps
says it has pulled more than 100 American volunteers out of
Mauritania for security reasons. The volunteers left for neighboring
Senegal and will not return to Mauritania.
(AP, 8/17/09)
2009 Aug 16, North Korean
leader Kim Jong Il held talks with Hyun Jeong-eun, the head of South
Korea's Hyundai Group, in a rare meeting that could warm prospects
for a resumption of stalled cross-border projects.
(AP, 8/16/09)
2009 Aug 16, In Pakistan seven
suspected Taliban militants were killed during a gunfight with
soldiers in Kabal village, about 20 kilometers northwest of Mingora
in the Swat Valley. Police arrested militant commander Qari
Saifullah, a close Mehsud aide, as he was being treated in a private
hospital in Islamabad.
(AP, 8/17/09)(AP, 8/18/09)
2009 Aug 16, It was reported
that Peru has become the world’s largest “factory” of counterfeit US
dollars. Police were said to seize some $10 million in false dollars
each month in Lima alone. The Peruvian dollars were mostly found in
such countries as Italy, France, Germany and Ecuador. Gunmen robbed
12 foreigners on an ecological tourism trip to the Manu nature
reserve in the Tres Cruces area of the Cusco region.
(SSFC, 8/16/09, p.A4)(AP, 8/16/09)
2009 Aug 16, Two Russian air
force fighters rehearsing acrobatic maneuvers collided near Moscow,
killing one pilot and sending the jets crashing into nearby vacation
homes.
(AP, 8/16/09)
2009 Aug 16, An American cargo
plane arrived in Taiwan with supplies for victims of the recent
Typhoon Morakot disaster. It was the first American military
aircraft to land in Taiwan in the 30 years since the US severed its
diplomatic ties in favor of China.
(Econ, 8/22/09, p.36)
2009 Aug 16, In Uruguay some 20
dead Fraser's dolphins turned up this weekend on the Punta Negra
beach in Piriapolis outside Montevideo. Experts theorized the
tropical dolphins became disoriented or were carried there by
changing water currents.
(AP, 8/18/09)
2009 Aug 17, Albert Gonzalez
(28) of Miami, a former informant for the US Secret Service who
helped the agency hunt hackers, was indicted in New Jersey and
charged with conspiring with two other unnamed suspects to steal the
private information. He allegedly stole information from 130 million
credit and debit card accounts in what federal prosecutors called
the largest case of identity theft yet. He was already in jail
awaiting trial in a hacking case. On Aug 28 Gonzalez agreed to plead
guilty and serve up to 25 years in federal prison.
(AP, 8/18/09)(SFC, 8/29/09, p.A4)
2009 Aug 17, In Afghanistan
former Uzbek militia chief General Abdul Rashid Dostum threw his
support behind President Hamid Karzai one day after returning from
exile in Turkey. Four minor candidates announced they were
withdrawing and throwing their support behind Karzai. A roadside
bomb in southern Afghanistan killed a US service member, while an
American civilian working for the military died after insurgents
attacked a patrol in the east.
(AP, 8/17/09)
2009 Aug 17, The Central
African Republic’s Communications Minister Cyriaque Gonda said on
state radio that the government has set a three-year timetable to
disarm, demobilize and reintegrate former rebels.
(AFP, 8/17/09)
2009 Aug 17, Czech media
reported that two Russians have been ordered out of Prague,
including a deputy military attache. Prague has previously
complained about an increase in Russian spying that it linked to the
US plans. Russia responded by ordering two Czech diplomats out of
Russia.
(Reuters, 8/18/09)
2009 Aug 17, In Ingushetia a
suicide bomber attacked a police station in Nazran city in Russia's
North Caucasus with an explosives-laden truck, killing at least 21
people and wounding more than 100 others. 9 officers were still
missing.
(AP, 8/17/09)(AP, 8/18/09)
2009 Aug 17, The new head of
Iran's judiciary suggested that he would prosecute security agents
accused of torture in the postelection crackdown, a nod from the
country's conservative leadership to widespread anger to reports
that jailed protesters were abused.
(AP, 8/17/09)
2009 Aug 17, Human Rights Watch
said Iraqi militiamen are torturing and killing gay men with
impunity in a systematic campaign that has spread from Baghdad to
several other cities.
(AP, 8/17/09)
2009 Aug 17, Israeli soldiers
mistakenly shot and wounded an Egyptian policeman near Eilat along
the border between the two countries.
(AP, 8/17/09)
2009 Aug 17, In Mexico at least
8 people were killed early in the day when gunmen opened fire in a
bar in drug-plagued Ciudad Juarez on the Texas border. Gunmen killed
a father and his 4-year-old son and wounded the mother as the family
drove on a highway near Ciudad Juarez. 2 girls, ages 12 and 14, died
after being struck by lightning on a soccer field during a religious
service in the city of Tuxtla Gutierrez in Chiapas state. In
Monterrey four gunmen died in a shootout with soldiers and three
other suspects were detained. Three soldiers suffered light injuries
in the clash.
(AP,
8/17/09)(www.wtop.com/?nid=105&sid=1646540)(AP, 8/18/09)
2009 Aug 17, North Korea said
it would restart tours to a scenic mountain resort and allow
reunions for families separated since the Korean War, a surprise
move that could help ease months of tensions with South Korea over
Pyongyang's missile and nuclear tests.
(AP, 8/17/09)
2009 Aug 17, In northwest
Pakistan a bomb blast claimed by Taliban militants killed seven
people including children, as 31 insurgents were reported dead in a
fresh wave of unrest. Overnight in Swat's main town Mingora, a
suicide bomber blew himself up, wounding four soldiers as they tried
to arrest him. Security forces captured Maulvi Umar, the Pakistani
Taliban's top spokesman, and he acknowledged the death of the
group's leader in a recent US missile strike.
(AFP, 8/17/09)(AP, 8/18/09)
2009 Aug 17, Russian media
reported that the Arctic Sea has been found near Cape Verde and that
the ship's 15-man Russian crew has been taken aboard a Russian naval
vessel.
(AP, 8/17/09)
2009 Aug 17, In Russia powerful
explosion took place during repair work at the Sayano-Shushinskaya
hydroelectric plant in southern Siberia. The death toll soon reached
69 with 6 still missing and feared dead after an engine room was
suddenly flooded. The accident produced an oil spill and the slick
that floated down the Yenisei River.
(AP, 8/17/09)(AP, 8/18/09)(AP, 8/21/09)(AP,
8/23/09)
2009 Aug 17, It was reported
that 200,000 Russian military officers faced early retirement, as
the government conducts a sweeping reform that will eliminate the
jobs of six out of every 10 members of its top-heavy officer corps.
(AP, 8/17/09)
2009 Aug 17, In Somalia gunmen
stormed a UN aid compound in Wajid overnight, sparking a gunbattle
that killed three of the attackers and wounded one. Hundreds of
pro-government militiamen rolled into Bula Hawa town near the Kenyan
border after al-Shabab fighters abandoned it.
(AP, 8/17/09)
2009 Aug 17, In Sweden the
Aftonbladet tabloid published an incendiary article claiming that
Israeli soldiers had harvested the organs of some Palestinians whom
they had shot. Israel quickly denounced the article, while Sweden
defended its freedom of expression.
(Econ, 8/29/09, p.44)
2009 Aug 17, In Thailand
thousands of supporters of deposed PM Thaksin Shinawatra rallied in
central Bangkok and then marched to the royal palace, seeking a
pardon for the fugitive leader.
(AP, 8/17/09)
2009 Aug 17, Former Zambian
President Frederick Chiluba (1991-2001) was cleared of corruption
charges following a six-year trial after a magistrate ruled that
$500,000 of allegedly embezzled funds could not be traced to
government money.
(AP, 8/17/09)(Econ, 8/22/09, p.43)(Econ,
11/21/09, p.51)
2009 Aug 18, Robert Novak (78),
political columnist, died in Washington DC after a battle with brain
cancer that was diagnosed in July 2008. He was a conservative,
pugilistic debater and proud owner of the "Prince of Darkness"
moniker, which he used in his 2007 memoir: "The Prince of Darkness:
50 Years Reporting in Washington." A column of his in 2003 outed
Valerie Plame as a CIA agent.
(AP, 8/18/09)
2009 Aug 18, A Taliban suicide
bomber attacked a NATO convoy on the outskirts of Kabul, killing 8
people and wounding more than 50, just days before the presidential
election that the militant group has vowed to disrupt. A suicide
bomber struck the gates of an Afghan army base in the southern
Uruzgan province, killing 3 Afghan soldiers and two civilians. Two
US soldiers were killed and 3 wounded in a separate blast in eastern
Afghanistan.
(AP, 8/18/09)(SFC, 8/19/09, p.A3)
2009 Aug 18, An international
claims commission in The Hague awarded Ethiopia slightly more than
Eritrea as it settled mutual claims worth hundreds of millions of
dollars for death, injury, rape, looting and destruction during
their two-year border conflict. This concluded a complex arbitration
that was part of the 2000 peace agreement closing out a border
conflict that cost tens of thousands of lives.
(AP, 8/19/09)
2009 Aug 18, In Indonesia a
dump truck, packed with more than 60 plantation workers and their
families, overturned and killing at least 25 with dozens injured. At
least three children were among the dead near Sampit town in Central
Kalimantan.
(AP, 8/19/09)
2009 Aug 18, Iraqi forces
seized a launcher loaded with 13 Iranian-made rockets after an
attack the previous day against the US base outside the southern
city of Basra.
(AP, 8/18/09)
2009 Aug 18, Israeli government
officials said Israel has quietly stopped approving new building
projects in the West Bank while publicly still refusing US demands
for an official settlement freeze.
(AP, 8/18/09)
2009 Aug 18, In Lebanon 8
members of an al-Qaida-inspired group sawed bars off their cell
windows in a high-security prison, scaled down the building using
blankets tied together, then stood on each other's shoulders to help
one jump over a wall and escape. Prison guards managed to stop the
other seven from fleeing. Officials described the escaped prisoner,
Taha al-Hajj Suleiman, as a Syrian militant and a "dangerous" member
of the Fatah Islam group. Suleiman was caught the next day in the
woods just north of the Roumieh prison.
(AP, 8/18/09)(AP, 8/19/09)
2009 Aug 18, In Mexico gunmen
shot up the offices of the Siglo de Torreon newspaper in Torreon,
Coahuila state.
(SFC, 8/19/09, p.A2)
2009 Aug 18, In Mozambique an
overcrowded ferry with 50 people went down off the coast in a
northern province. 17 people were feared drowned.
(AP, 8/19/09)
2009 Aug 18, Pakistani
government and UN officials said flash floods have killed at least
27 people in the northwest, and that more than 80,000 have seen
their homes or crops destroyed.
(AP, 8/18/09)
2009 Aug 18, Russia's President
Dmitry Medvedev hosted Israeli counterpart Shimon Peres for talks
that were expected to focus on the Middle East and the Iranian
nuclear standoff.
(AP, 8/18/09)
2009 Aug 18, Former South
Korean Pres. Kim Dae-jung (85) died. He spent years as a dissident
under a military dictatorship and later won the Nobel Peace Prize
for seeking reconciliation with communist North Korea.
(AP, 8/18/09)
2009 Aug 18, In Sudan clashes
between rival militias broke out in the southern oil-rich Unity
state, the latest to hit a region still recovering from two decades
of civil war.
(AFP, 8/18/09)
2009 Aug 18, In Zimbabwe a
truck hit a bus head-on, killing 11 people including six members of
a family returning from a funeral.
(AP, 8/19/09)
2009 Aug 19, US authorities in
collaboration with Venezuela led to the seizure of about a ton of
cocaine aboard a ship in the Caribbean Sea. Two Venezuelans and a
Colombian were arrested.
(AP, 8/20/09)
2009 Aug 19, Don Hewitt (86), a
TV news pioneer, died. He created the "60 Minutes" news hour in 1968
and produced the popular CBS newsmagazine for 36 years.
(AP, 8/19/09)
2009 Aug 19, Afghan journalists
rejected a Foreign Ministry demand that they suspend the
broadcasting of news about attacks or violence on election day,
accusing the government of unconstitutional censorship. Police
stormed a bank in Kabul and killed three insurgents who had taken it
over, while a wave of attacks killed at least six election workers
around the country on the eve of the presidential election.
(AP, 8/19/09)
2009 Aug 19, Australia
celebrated the biggest trade deal in its history and said it proved
vital ties with China had survived a series of bruising rows. PM
Kevin Rudd said ExxonMobil's 41.3 billion US dollar liquefied
natural gas contract with PetroChina would create up to 6,000 jobs
and pump billions of dollars into the economy. PetroChina ordered
2.25 million tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) a year over two
decades from ExxonMobil's share of the still-undeveloped Gorgon
plant off Western Australia.
(AFP, 8/19/09)
2009 Aug 19, Brazilian
prosecutors said Father Clodoveo Piazza, an Italian priest who ran
an award-winning shelter for homeless children in Brazil, has been
charged with sexually abusing boys for years and allowing visiting
foreigners to exploit the children. Piazza, now working as a
missionary in Mozambique, was charged along with another former
director of the nonprofit group Fraternal Help Organization, a
private group based in Salvador.
(AP, 8/20/09)
2009 Aug 19, London's
Metropolitan Police said two men were arrested in the Aug 6 robbery
of $66 million in jewelry. The Barnes Flying Squad, a specialist
unit that deals with armed robberies and high value thefts, made the
arrests.
(AP, 8/20/09)
2009 Aug 19, French police with
Spanish help detained three suspected members of Basque separatist
group ETA in a French Alps ski resort and seized material for making
explosives, after a series of bombings claimed by the group on the
Spanish island of Mallorca.
(AP, 8/19/09)
2009 Aug 19, Germany launched a
campaign to put 1 million electric cars on the road by 2020, making
battery research a priority as it tries to position the country as a
market leader.
(AP, 8/19/09)
2009 Aug 19, Rights group
Amnesty International alleged widespread abuse of protesters
demanding the return of the Honduran president ousted in a coup,
saying in a report that hundreds of people have been beaten and
detained under the interim government.
(AP, 8/19/09)
2009 Aug 19, Iran’s President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad nominated Ahmad Vahidi as Defense Minister.
Vahidi had commanded a unit of the Revolutionary Guard known as the
Quds Force at the time of the July 18, 1994, attack on a Jewish
cultural center in Argentina. The Quds Force is involved in
operations abroad, including working with Lebanon's Hezbollah
militant group, which is accused to carrying out the Buenos Aires
attack.
(AP, 8/21/09)
2009 Aug 19, In Iraq a truck
bomb tore through the Foreign Ministry, knocking out concrete slabs
and windows and leaving a mass of charred cars outside killing at
least 65 people and wounding 250. A suicide truck bomber took aim at
the Finance Ministry complex causing part of a nearby overpass to
collapse killing least 28 people. A wave of explosions around
Baghdad killed at least 8 more people as mortars struck inside the
Green Zone. The total death toll from the string of blasts was later
set at 92. One of the suspected masterminds said in a confession
broadcast on Aug 23 that attackers paid $10,000 to get a bomb-laden
truck past checkpoints and next to the Finance Ministry. A US
soldier died of a non-combat related injury.
(AP, 8/19/09)(AP, 8/20/09)(AP, 8/23/09)(AP,
9/8/09)
2009 Aug 19, Philippine troops
clashed with about 30 Muslim gunmen, who took over Mantangule islet
in the southern part of Palawan Island, killing at least seven and
capturing two.
(AP, 8/19/09)
2009 Aug 19, Saudi authorities
said they have arrested 44 suspected militants with al-Qaida links
in a yearlong sweep that also uncovered dozens of machine guns and
electronic circuits for bombs.
(AP, 8/20/09)
2009 Aug 19, In Sudan former
enemies from the north and south signed a deal aimed at bolstering
the 2005 peace deal that ended a 22-year civil war, the African
continent's longest.
(AP, 8/20/09)
2009 Aug 19, Swiss banking
giant UBS AG agreed to turn over to the IRS the details of 4,450
accounts suspected of holding undeclared assets by American
customers, piercing Switzerland's long-standing tradition of banking
secrecy.
(AP, 8/19/09)
2009 Aug 19, Syrian President
Bashar Assad opened talks with Iranian officials in a visit expected
to include an appeal to free a French academic accused of plotting
to overthrow the Islamic regime.
(AP, 8/19/09)
2009 Aug 19, In Zimbabwe 10
lawmakers from PM Morgan Tsvangirai's party were arrested and
charged with disturbing the peace as they headed into the Finance
Ministry for a meeting.
(AP, 8/19/09)
2009 Aug 20, In Colorado a
Black Hawk helicopter crashed during training on Mount Massive, the
state’s 2nd highest mountain. 4 soldiers were killed in the crash.
(SFC, 8/21/09, p.A8)
2009 Aug 20, Afghans voted to
elect a president for only the second time in history as fears
emerged of poor turnout. Some $300 million was spent in
organizational costs alone. Top security officials said 26 civilians
and security forces have died in election-day militant attacks.
Insurgents launched scattered rocket, suicide and bomb attacks that
closed some polling sites. In northern Baghlan province, insurgent
attacks closed 14 polling sites, and several police were reported
killed. In southern Helmand province more than 20 rockets landed in
the capital of Lashkar Gah, including one near a line of voters that
killed a child. Initial election results weren't expected until Aug
22. Taliban militants cut off the nose and both ears of an Afghan
father of 8 he tried to vote. The attack became the third confirmed
report of the Taliban mutilating people who sought to cast ballots
in the electoral contest. Some 400 insurgent incidents took place
during the poll.
(AP, 8/20/09)(AP, 8/31/09)(Econ, 8/29/09,
p.35)(Econ, 11/7/09, p.40)
2009 Aug 20, Angola and South
Africa signed a number of trade agreements including cooperation in
the oil sector, following major bilateral talks aimed at
strengthening economic relations.
(AFP, 8/20/09)
2009 Aug 20, Australia passed a
clean energy law requiring the country to produce 20 percent of its
power from renewable sources by 2020 in move that could draw
billions of dollars of green investment.
(AFP, 8/20/09)
2009 Aug 20, A French
government-sponsored report was released saying that decomposing
algae covering some beaches in Brittany represent a serious health
risk and gases that can kill within minutes were detected on a beach
where a horse died last month.
(AP, 8/20/09)
2009 Aug 20, Usain Bolt of
Jamaica set a world record of 19.19 seconds in the 200 meters at the
world championships in Berlin, adding to the gold he won in the 100.
(AP, 8/20/09)
2009 Aug 20, Diplomats said
Iran has lifted a year-long ban and allowed UN nuclear inspectors to
visit a nearly completed nuclear reactor as well as granting greater
monitoring rights at another atomic site.
(SFC, 8/21/09, p.A2)
2009 Aug 20, The Iraqi
government announced the detention of 11 army and police commanders,
accusing them of negligence in the previous day’s bombings. The
government also decided to keep concrete blast barriers around
potential targets. A bicycle bomb exploded near a restaurant in
Baghdad killing two people. There were three bombings in Babil
province, a region once so notorious for violence it was called the
Triangle of Death. A bomb attached to a minibus killed three and
wounded eight in Hillah, while two bombs at a market in Musayyib
wounded 45.
(AP, 8/20/09)(AP, 8/21/09)(SFC, 8/21/09, p.A4)
2009 Aug 20, Drug developer
Warner Chilcott, which focuses on women's healthcare and
dermatology, completed its move to Ireland from Bermuda.
(AP, 8/21/09)
2009 Aug 20, Italian customs
found a boat with five Eritrean survivors of what it called a
"shocking tragedy. Around 75 African migrants died in the
Mediterranean after their stranded boat ran out of food and water.
(Reuters, 8/21/09)
2009 Aug 20, The Association of
Parents of Disappeared People (APDP) said their workers have
discovered several unmarked graves containing about 1,500
unidentified bodies in Indian Kashmir, and alleged that some of
corpses were likely innocent people killed by government forces.
APDP said at least eight of the graves held more than one body.
(AP, 8/20/09)
2009 Aug 20, In Mexico the body
of leftist congressman Armando Chavarria was found in the passenger
seat of a vehicle in Guerrero’s state capital of Chilpancingo. State
police said three human heads were found in ice boxes in the
municipality of Coyuca de Catalan. The mutilated bodies were in bags
nearby. A message from alleged drug traffickers was also found.
(AP, 8/21/09)
2009 Aug 20, Pakistan's
military said that about 60 militants had surrendered to authorities
in northwest Swat valley, where the government claims to have
eliminated Taliban extremists. Baluchistan authorities found the
bodies of 10 policemen in a remote mountain pass. Earlier this week,
the separatist Baluch Republican Army called local media
organizations and said it had killed the remaining 10 of 25 police
officers kidnapped last month.
(AP, 8/20/09)(AP, 8/21/09)
2009 Aug 20, Russia’s PM
Vladimir Putin ordered that key parts of Russia's aging
infrastructure be checked and upgraded after a power plant accident
in Siberia left scores feared dead and strained the vast region's
power supply. The confirmed death toll in the power plant accident
rose to 17 after three more bodies were found. 57 were still
missing.
(AP, 8/20/09)
2009 Aug 20, Russian
authorities flew the suspected hijackers of the cargo vessel Arctic
Sea to Moscow and took off them for interrogation, dismissing
suggestions that the ship may have been carrying weapons.
(Reuters, 8/20/09)
2009 Aug 20, Kenny MacAskill,
Scotland’s justice secretary, freed Abdel Baset al-Megrahi (57),
former Libyan intelligence agent and alleged Lockerbie bomber (Dec
21, 1988), on compassionate grounds after eight years in jail
allowing him to go home to Libya to die. Al-Megrahi has terminal
prostate cancer and has been given less than three months to live.
In 2010 Professor Karol Sikora, who assessed for the Libyan
authorities, told The Sunday Times it was "embarrassing" that he had
outlived his three-month prognosis and that al-Megrahi could survive
for 10 years or longer. It was later reported that BP had promoted
the deal in order to protect a $900 million oil and gas exploration
deal off the Libyan Mediterranean coast.
(AP, 8/20/09)(Econ, 8/29/09, p.48)(AP,
7/03/10)(SFC, 7/16/10, p.A2)
2009 Aug 20, In central Somalia
fighting between government soldiers and Islamic insurgents killed
at least 40 people as the warring sides tried to gain ground in
strategic towns.
(AP, 8/20/09)(SFC, 8/21/09, p.A2)
2009 Aug 20, Swiss President
Hans-Rudolf Merz and Libyan PM al-Baghdadi Ali al-Mahmoudi signed an
accord pledging to restore relations between the two countries and
to have Hannibal Gadhafi July 15, 2008, arrest examined by a joint
arbitration tribunal in London. The next day Merz defended his
apology to Libya for the arrest of Moammar Gadhafi's son, saying it
was the only way to secure the release of two Swiss citizens
detained by Tripoli.
(AP, 8/21/09)
2009 Aug 20, Taiwan's Cabinet
approved a NT$100 billion ($3 billion) reconstruction budget after
the island's worst typhoon in more than 50 years killed hundreds of
people and wiped out roads and bridges in the mountainous south.
(AP, 8/20/09)
2009 Aug 21, Guaranty Bank
became the 2nd-largest US bank to fail this year after the Texas
lender was shut down by regulators and most of its operations sold
at a loss of billions of dollars for the US government to a major
Spanish bank. Guaranty's failure, along with those of three small
banks in Georgia and Alabama, brought to 81 the number of US bank
failures this year.
(AP, 8/22/09)
2009 Aug 21, In Oakland, Ca.,
Ricardo Cortes Jr. (14), was shot and killed by gang member Julio
Montano. Gang member Francisco Zamora accompanied Montano and drove
him from the scene. They thought they were avenging a friend who had
been slain by a rival gang. Cortes had nothing to do with gangs. In
2010 Montano (23) and Zamora (29) were convicted of 1st degree
murder. On Dec 9 Montano was sentenced to 40 years to life in
prison. Zamora was sentenced 27 years to life.
(SFC, 10/1/10, p.C4)(SFC, 12/11/10, p.C1)
2009 Aug 21, Afghan President
Hamid Karzai's campaign and chief rival Abdullah Abdullah both said
they had won Afghanistan's election, but Washington's chief envoy
warned candidates not to declare victory prematurely.
(Reuters, 8/21/09)
2009 Aug 21, Australian leader
Kevin Rudd and his trans-Tasman counterpart John Key chaired the
first-ever joint meeting of their cabinets, and said it had been a
valuable opportunity to discuss their joint challenges. They vowed
closer military ties and collaboration on climate change in the
historic meeting.
(AFP, 8/22/09)
2009 Aug 21, A massive oil and
gas leak forced the evacuation of an oil rig off Australia's
northwest coast. PTTEP Australasia, a branch of Thai-owned PTT
Exploration and Production Co. Ltd., said about 40 barrels of oil
had been discharged in the initial incident, and it was still
attempting to bring the leak under control at the rig, owned by
Norway's Seadrill. After 2 days PTTEP said plugging the leak will
take weeks. Government officials said there was little threat of
environmental damage. By the end of October an estimated 400 barrels
a day of oil continued leaking from the fissure off the Australian
coast. PTTEP Australasia has failed repeatedly to stop the leak but
said it is still trying.
(AFP, 8/22/09)(AP, 8/23/09)(AP, 10/30/09)
2009 Aug 21, In Chechnya
suicide bombers on bicycles detonated explosives, killing at least
four police officers and a civilian in coordinated attacks in the
capital.
(AP, 8/21/09)
2009 Aug 21, Chile's health
ministry said it ordered a quarantine for two turkey farms outside
the port city of Valparaiso after genetic tests confirmed sick birds
were afflicted with the same swine flu virus circulating in humans.
(AP, 8/21/09)
2009 Aug 21, In Iraq a small
truck passed through an Iraqi police checkpoint in southern Baghdad
but was not searched minutes before exploding at the front gate of
the market, killing two and wounding 20.
(AP, 8/21/09)
2009 Aug 21, Mexico
decriminalized small amounts of marijuana, cocaine and heroin, a
move that prosecutors say makes sense even in the midst of the
government's grueling battle against drug traffickers. Gunmen killed
an army officer Capt. Alejandro Aranda and another man in a bowling
alley in Ciudad Juarez, a border city that has seen Mexico's highest
levels of drug-related violence in recent years.
(AP, 8/21/09)(AP, 8/22/09)
2009 Aug 21, New Zealanders
voted overwhelmingly to overturn a law that prohibits parents from
hitting children, according to the results of a nationwide
referendum, but the government said the law is working and won't be
changed. In the postal vote 87.6% of voters responded "No" to the
question: "Should a smack as part of good parental correction be a
criminal offense in New Zealand?"
(AP, 8/21/09)
2009 Aug 21, Leading Pakistani
Taliban commander Hakimullah Mehsud was appointed the new head of
the militant group. Hakimullah (28), the military chief of
Baitullah's Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or Pakistani Taliban
Movement, commanded 3 tribal regions and has a reputation as
Baitullah's most ruthless deputy. A US drone fired a missile into a
suspected militant hide-out in North Waziristan, killing 12 people
in an attempt to take out Siraj Haqqani, a jihadist commander
accused of attacks on Western troops in Afghanistan. Haqqani, a
prime suspect in suicide blasts in Kabul, held close ties to
Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency and controlled a
swathe of territory in North Waziristan and eastern Afghanistan.
(AP, 8/22/09)(AP, 8/21/09)(SFC, 8/22/09,
p.A2)(Econ, 10/17/09, p.36)
2009 Aug 21, Philippine police
arrested Dinno-Amor Rosalejos Pareja, also known as Khalil Pareja,
the alleged leader of a radical Islamist group believed to be
responsible for one of Southeast Asia's deadliest terror attacks.
Pareja is allegedly the leader of the Rajah Solaiman Movement, a
group of Christian converts to Islam. The group is believed to be
behind the 2004 ferry bombing that killed 116 people in Manila Bay.
It was the second-most deadly terrorist attack in Southeast Asia
after the 2002 attack on the Indonesian resort island of Bali that
killed 202 people.
(AP, 8/21/09)
2009 Aug 21, A landslide at
Portugal’s Maria Luisa beach in Albufeira on the Algarve coast
killed five people and injured at least four.
(AP, 8/22/09)
2009 Aug 21, Slovakia stopped
Hungary’s Pres. Laszlo Solyom from crossing its border. This was a
breach of EU rules on freedom of movement. Solyom had planned
to unveil a statue of St. Stephen, the first king of Hungary, in the
predominantly Hungarian city of Komarno. Slovakia’s government had
objected to the visit as the date coincided with the “Prague Spring”
of 1968, when Hungary, as part of the Warsaw pact, took part in the
Soviet crush of Czechoslovakia’s independence movement.
(Econ, 8/29/09, p.46)
2009 Aug 21, In Somalia an
insurgent attack on a peacekeeping base sparked gunbattles that
killed at least 22 people, as the undermanned African peacekeeping
force tried to maintain the government's tenuous hold on Somalia's
battered capital.
(Reuters, 8/21/09)
2009 Aug 22, Vicki Cruse (40)
from Santa Paula, Calif., died in an accident during the World
Aerobatic Championships at Britain's Silverstone motor racing
circuit. She was a former member of the US national aerobatics team
and was the first woman to qualify to race in her class at the Reno
National Championship Air Races.
(AP, 8/22/09)
2009 Aug 22, The West
Australian town of Broome, with deep historical ties to Japan, voted
to sever its sister city relationship with the Japanese village of
Taiji to protest an annual dolphin slaughter near there. At an
extraordinary meeting on October 13 Broome rescinded the decision,
which it said was made in haste and without wide consultation, and
issued an apology to the Japanese community in Broome and Taiji,
their families and friends for any disrespect caused by council's
resolution. But it noted that it did not condone the harvest of
dolphins in Taiji, with which it forged sister-city relations in
1981.
(AP, 8/24/09)(AFP, 10/16/09)
2009 Aug 22, Colombian
authorities said police have captured Jose Armando Cadena Cabrera, a
guerrilla suspected of killing a US military contractor and a
Colombian soldier after their surveillance plane crashed in the
jungle in 2003.
(AP, 8/22/09)
2009 Aug 22, The EU published a
list of nearly 4,000 airlines that it says should reduce their
impact on the environment from 2012 or face being banned from
European airports.
(AP, 8/22/09)
2009 Aug 22, Cologne
prosecutors said they are investigating 100 professors across
Germany on suspicion they took bribes to illegally help students
with their doctorates. The investigation has been going on for more
than a year after it emerged that a law professor at Hannover
University had organized degrees for 61 students whose exam results
were otherwise insufficient.
(AP, 8/22/09)
2009 Aug 22, India and Nepal
agreed to a new trade treaty as PM Madhav Kumar Nepal ended a
five-day official visit to the regional giant that both countries
hailed a great success.
(AFP, 8/22/09)
2009 Aug 22, In Indonesia a
group of thieves killed an endangered Sumatran tiger in a zoo in
Jambi province on Sumatra island and stole most of its body. Police
suspected the theft was motivated by the animal's valuable fur and
bones. The number of Sumatran tigers has dwindled to about 250 from
about 1,000 in the 1970s, according to the Washington DC-based World
Wildlife Fund.
(AP, 8/23/09)
2009 Aug 22, In Iraq an attack
on a police checkpoint in the Azamiyah district of Baghdad left two
officers dead.
(AP, 8/23/09)
2009 Aug 22, In Italy a lucky
lotto player in Tuscany won Italy's record euro147.8 million ($211.8
million) state lottery, pocketing what has been billed as Europe's
biggest jackpot.
(AP, 8/23/09)
2009 Aug 22, In Tijuana,
Mexico, at least three police officers were in critical condition
after gunmen opened fire on their patrol cars.
(AP, 8/22/09)
2009 Aug 22, In Nigeria a top
militant commander and nearly 1,000 of his followers surrendered to
the government, handing over rocket launchers, gunboats, guns and
bullets in the biggest move since a government amnesty began two
weeks ago. Ebikabowei "Boyloaf" Victor Ben, state commander for the
region's biggest armed group, the Movement for the Emancipation of
the Niger Delta (MEND), and 25 commanders under his leadership
delivered weapons to police overnight.
(AP, 8/22/09)
2009 Aug 22, In Pakistan a
suicide bomber blew himself up to evade capture during a raid in
Kanju town in the troubled northwestern Swat Valley. Local media
said two security officials were killed and two others were wounded.
(AP, 8/22/09)
2009 Aug 22, In Somalia Islamic
insurgents attacked a government checkpoint in Mogadishu, sparking a
gunbattle that killed at least five people on the first day of the
Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
(AP, 8/22/09)
2009 Aug 22, In Tanzania a fire
ripped through a dormitory in the rural Iringa district, killing 12
schoolgirls and wounding 23 others. Preliminary investigations
indicated the fire was caused by a candle after a student fell
asleep studying.
(AP, 8/24/09)
2009 Aug 22, Venezuelan police
dispersed opponents of Pres. Chavez's government as thousands
demonstrated both for and against an education law that critics fear
will lead to political indoctrination in schools.
(AP, 8/23/09)
2009 Aug 23, Afghan former
Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah, President Karzai's main
challenger, said he had evidence last week's election had been
widely rigged by the incumbent and that he had lodged more than 100
complaints. The Election Complaints Commission (ECC) said it had
received 225 complaints of which 35 had been labeled a priority. An
American service member died in an insurgent attack. Two Estonian
soldiers were killed after their unit stumbled on a roadside bomb in
southern Helmand province.
(Reuters, 8/23/09)(AP, 8/24/09)
2009 Aug 23, NATO military
commanders told US President Barack Obama's envoy on that they
needed more troops and other resources to beat back a resurgent
Taliban, particularly in eastern Afghanistan near the Pakistan
border.
(Reuters, 8/23/09)
2009 Aug 23, In the Bahamas
Stefania Fernandez (18), Miss Venezuela, was the fairest of them all
once again, winning the 2009 Miss Universe crown for the second year
straight and the sixth time since the pageant's creation.
(AP, 8/24/09)
2009 Aug 23, A Chinese state
news agency reported that a drought in the north has left nearly 5
million people short of drinking water and damaged crops, while dry
weather in the south could cause more shortages.
(AP, 8/23/09)
2009 Aug 23, In Greece a raging
fire bore down on Athens' northern suburbs, prompting panicked
residents to battle the flames with tree limbs and buckets, and
police to order 10,000 people to evacuate one town immediately. The
fires ignited late on Aug 21; by today they were reported across an
area more than 25 miles (40 kilometers) wide.
(AP, 8/23/09)
2009 Aug 23, The Iraqi military
broadcast the confession of a Sunni man, Wisam Ali Khazim Ibrahim
(57), identified as the mastermind of one of two Aug 19 suicide
truck bombings targeting government buildings in Baghdad. In
northern Iraq gunmen attacked a police checkpoint in Mosul, killing
one police officer. An American soldier died of injuries sustained
during an attack on a US patrol in the Iraqi capital.
(AP, 8/23/09)
2009 Aug 23, Mexican army
soldiers captured Luis Ricardo Magana. Prosecutors described him as
a leading member of the violent La Familia drug cartel. A team of
top US law enforcement officials began a three-day visit to Mexico
to explore ways to improve efforts against arms smuggling into
Mexico as part of joint efforts to combat drug gangs.
(AP, 8/24/09)
2009 Aug 23, In Pakistan a
suicide bombing on the outskirts in the northwestern city of
Peshawar killed three people and wounded 15 others. Police in
Karachi arrested seven members of the banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi
movement in a raid. The al-Qaida-linked movement is blamed for two
failed assassination attempts against former President Pervez
Musharraf and the beheading of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel
Pearl.
(AP, 8/23/09)(AP, 8/24/09)
2009 Aug 23, In Zimbabwe a
cabinet retreat by the unity government collapsed this weekend as
President Robert Mugabe's ministers walked out after the deputy
prime minister said last year's polls were fraudulent.
(AP, 8/23/09)
2009 Aug 24, A senior
administration said that Pres. Obama has approved establishment of
the new unit, to be known as the High-Value Detainee Interrogation
Group, which will be overseen by the National Security Council.
(AP, 8/24/09)
2009 Aug 24, The US government
cash for clunkers program ended.
(SFC, 8/24/09, p.A4)
2009 Aug 24, Reader’s Digest,
founded in 1922, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The
company piled on debt following a $1.6 billion leveraged buyout in
2007 by investors led by Ripplewood Holdings LLC, a NY private
equity firm.
(SFC, 8/25/09, p.D3)
2009 Aug 24, In the San
Francisco Bay Area Alexander Robert Youshock (17), a former
Hillsdale High School student in San Mateo, lit 2 of 10 pipe bombs
before he was tackled by teachers. Youshock also carried a chain saw
and a sword and planned to attack students as the ran from the
bombs.
(SFC, 8/25/09, p.A1)(SFC, 8/27/09, p.A1)
2009 Aug 24, Mohammed Jawad
(~21), a Guantanamo prisoner once charged with wounding two US
soldiers and their interpreter was back home in Afghanistan, months
after a war crimes case against him unraveled when a military judge
ruled his confession was coerced.
(AP, 8/24/09)
2009 Aug 24, Argentine federal
police uncovered four tons (4,200 kilograms) of ephedrine worth
millions in oil drums and boxes to be sent to Mexico and the US. The
lead investigator called it the largest illegal shipment of the
methamphetamine precursor ever seized there.
(AP, 8/24/09)
2009 Aug 24, Bangladesh awarded
three offshore blocks to two global energy companies to explore for
gas in the Bay of Bengal. The US-based ConocoPhillips and Ireland's
Tullow Oil could start exploration work by early next year.
(AP, 8/25/09)
2009 Aug 24, In China 14
workers were killed in a gas explosion at a coal mine in northern
Shanxi province.
(AP, 8/25/09)
2009 Aug 24, In Honduras
foreign ministers from seven OAS nations launched a direct,
high-profile attempt to persuade the interim government to restore
ousted Pres. Manuel Zelaya. The delegation failed to win a pledge to
restore ousted President Manuel Zelaya.
(AP, 8/24/09)(AP, 8/25/09)
2009 Aug 24, In Iran
conservative rivals handed a new snub to Pres. Ahmadinejad,
appointing Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejehi, the man he fired from the
post of intelligence minister, as the country's state prosecutor.
Senior opposition figure Mahdi Karroubi made public an account of a
prisoner who was raped by jailers. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei ordered the closure of Kahrizak prison, where at least 3
prisoners are known to have died.
(AP, 8/24/09)(SFC, 8/25/09, p.A3)
2009 Aug 24, Iraqi lawmakers
said major Shiite groups have formed a new alliance that will
exclude Iraqi PM al-Maliki, a step likely to stoke fears of
increasing Iranian influence and shake up the political landscape
before January parliamentary elections. The new bloc, called the
Iraqi National Alliance, will include the largest Shiite party, the
Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council, or SIIC, and anti-US cleric Muqtada
al-Sadr's bloc, which both have close ties to Tehran, as well as
some small Sunni and secular parties.
(AP, 8/24/09)
2009 Aug 24, Israeli soldiers
fired on a group of suspicious Palestinians across the border in
northern Gaza. 3 Palestinians were wounded. 2 mortar shells were
later fired from Gaza slightly wounding one soldier.
(SFC, 8/25/09, p.A2)
2009 Aug 24, Kenya began its
first national census in a decade amid an outcry over one question
that asks people to identify their ethnic group, a contentious issue
in this East African nation. Kenya’s 2009 census put the population
at about 39 million.
(AP, 8/24/09)(Econ, 10/30/10, p.45)
2009 Aug 24, An American UN
peacekeeper under investigation for sexual exploitation and abuse of
minors in Liberia was found dead in his house in Monrovia. Sources
said it appeared that the American, a civilian in the Liberia
mission, known as UNMIL, had committed suicide due to the
investigations.
(Reuters, 8/26/09)
2009 Aug 24, Mexican police in
the northern state of Sinaloa found four severed human heads in a
cooler by the side of a rural roadway.
(AP, 8/24/09)
2009 Aug 24, Myanmar police
seized more than 100 blocks of heroin and nearly 3 million
methamphetamine tablets near the border with Thailand in one of the
military-ruled country's largest drug seizures.
(AP, 8/26/09)
2009 Aug 24, Nigeria's
anti-graft agency EFCC declared two sacked bank directors wanted
over alleged frauds and running their institutions into insolvency.
(AFP, 8/24/09)
2009 Aug 24, In the eastern
Pakistani city of Sargodha, police arrested six militants in two
raids. They were said to be linked to Mehsud's Taliban and had
planned to launch strikes next week on at least two places of
worship. Among the six was Zaid Mustafa, said to have recruited
potential suicide bombers for training in Afghanistan and who is
suspected of providing logistics, explosives and other support for
terror attacks in Lahore, Karachi or Rawalpindi. Gunmen shot dead an
Afghan television journalist and severely wounded his colleague in
northwestern Pakistan.
(AP, 8/24/09)
2009 Aug 24, It was reported
that Peruvian police expecting to find a shipment of cocaine hidden
in a crate holding two live turkeys were surprised to discover the
drug surgically implanted inside the birds.
(AP, 8/24/09)
2009 Aug 24, In Rustenberg,
South Africa some 13,000 platinum miners at Impala Platinum, the
world's second-largest producer, downed tools over a pay dispute.
(AFP, 8/26/09)
2009 Aug 24, The Stockholm
District Court threatened to fine Internet provider Black Internet
500,000 Swedish kronor (about $70,000) unless it stopped serving
Pirate Bay. Court documents showed the company has to comply with
the order until the ongoing case between Pirate Bay and the
entertainment industry is over.
(AP, 8/25/09)
2009 Aug 24, Taiwan's
government confirmed that 292 people were killed and 385 missing
after Typhoon Morakot struck the island and caused its worst
flooding in half a century earlier this month.
(AP, 8/24/09)
2009 Aug 25, The US White House
forecast a 10-year federal deficit of $9 trillion, more than the sum
of all previous deficits since America’s founding.
(SFC, 8/26/09, p.A6)
2009 Aug 25, US Senator Jim
Webb, back from a rare trip to Myanmar, called sanctions against the
military regime "overwhelmingly counter-productive" and asked the
opposition to consider taking part in upcoming elections.
(AFP, 8/26/09)
2009 Aug 25, Sony Corp.
unveiled a new electronic book reader for the American market,
dubbed the “Daily Edition.” It was scheduled to become available in
December for $399 and compete with Amazon’s Kindle.
(Econ, 8/29/09, p.56)
2009 Aug 25, Sen. Edward M.
Kennedy (b.1932) of Massachusetts, died at his home on Cape Cod
after a yearlong struggle with brain cancer. He was the last
surviving brother in an enduring political dynasty and one of the
most influential senators in history. His memoir “True Compass: A
Memoir” was published in September.
(AP, 8/26/09)(Econ, 9/19/09, p.97)
2009 Aug 25, New Mexico Gov.
Bill Richardson met with Ricardo Alarcon, president of Cuba's
parliament, as well as members of the island's chamber of commerce
as he headed a trade mission there this week.
(AP, 8/25/09)
2009 Aug 25, The Afghan
election commission said President Hamid Karzai and top challenger
Abdullah Abdullah both have roughly 40% of the nationwide vote for
president with 10% of ballots counted. A large explosion detonated
in Kandahar and was followed by gunfire on the street afterward. A
major bombing killed at least 43 people and wounded 65 in Kandahar
just after dark.
(AP, 8/25/09)(AP, 8/26/09)
2009 Aug 25, Argentina's
Supreme Court ruled out prison for pot possession, saying the
government should go after major traffickers and provide treatment
instead of jail for consumers of marijuana.
(AP, 8/25/09)
2009 Aug 25, In Belize PM Dean
Barrow rushed thru the nationalization of Belize Telemedia, the
country’s dominant telecommunications company, and appointed a new
board of directors. This was seen locally as an escalation in
Barrow’s long standing dispute with Michael Ashcroft, a British peer
with interests in Belize Bank. In 2011 Belize’s Court of appeal
ruled that the nationalization was unconstitutional.
(Econ, 10/24/09,
p.41)(http://tinyurl.com/ykson7t)(Econ, 7/2/11, p.30)
2009 Aug 25, Four Ethiopian
athletes, two women and two men, fled their hotel in London and
failed to make a connecting flight to Edinburgh ahead of the Falkirk
Cup athletics event.
(AFP, 8/26/09)
2009 Aug 25, In Chechnya a
suicide bombing killed three police officers at a gas
station-carwash complex in the Shali region. Earlier in the day the
Chechen Interior Ministry said a policeman was killed and another
wounded in an overnight clash with militants.
(AP, 8/25/09)(AP, 8/28/09)
2009 Aug 25, Iraq recalled its
ambassador from Syria and demanded that Damascus hand over two
suspected Saddam Hussein loyalists it has linked to the Aug 19
suicide attacks.
(AP, 8/25/09)
2009 Aug 25, An Israeli air
strike on a smuggling tunnel between the Gaza Strip and Egypt killed
three Palestinians and wounded seven.
(AP, 8/25/09)
2009 Aug 25, The World Food
Program said that 3.8 million Kenyans need emergency food aid
because of a prolonged drought, which is even causing electrical
blackouts in the capital because there's not enough water for
hydroelectric plants.
(AP, 8/25/09)
2009 Aug 25, Nicaragua said it
will reroute the San Juan River on the border with Costa Rica. The
river has been at the center of a lengthy dispute between the two
Central American countries. The UN’s highest court last month set
travel rules for the San Juan River, affirming freedom for Costa
Rican boats to navigate the waterway while upholding Nicaragua's
right to regulate traffic. The judgment ended a four-year legal
battle. Under an 1858 treaty, the entire river belongs to Nicaragua
up to the Costa Rican bank, but Costa Rican ships have freedom of
navigation for commerce.
(AP, 8/26/09)
2009 Aug 25, The UN said
Somalia is facing its worst humanitarian crisis in 18 years, with
more than half of the population needing humanitarian aid amid an
escalating crisis.
(AP, 8/25/09)
2009 Aug 25, South Korea
launched its first rocket, just months after rival North Korea's
launch drew international anger, but space officials said the
satellite it carried failed to enter its intended orbit.
(AP, 8/25/09)
2009 Aug 25, Turkey's military
indicated that it would back government efforts to grant more rights
to Kurds and improve the economy of their region. The military,
however, drew the line at moves that would involve negotiating with
Kurdish rebels, harm Turkey's unity or make Kurdish an official
language.
(AP, 8/25/09)
2009 Aug 25, An international
forum in Turkey sought to boost aid and investment in Pakistan as a
way to support its democratic institutions and curb violence there.
(AP, 8/25/09)
2009 Aug 26, In California
Phillip Garrido (58) and his wife Nancy (55) were arrested for their
1991 kidnapping of Jaycee Lee Dugard (11) from a bus stop
outside her home in South Lake Tahoe. Police freed Dugard and her 2
children who were fathered by Dugard, who had kept them in tents in
a fenced, backyard compound in Antioch, Ca.
(AP, 8/28/09)
2009 Aug 26, In southern
California the Station Fire began in Los Angeles County and soon
grew to become the largest wildfire in county history. It did not
get contained until Sep 1.
(SFC, 11/14/09, p.A4)
2009 Aug 26, Dominick Dunne
(b.1925), novelist and Vanity Fair columnist, died. His books
included “The Two Mrs. Grenvilles” (1985), based on the 1955
Woodward murder case.
(SFC, 8/27/09, p.A9)
2009 Aug 26, Ellie Greenwich
(b.1940), songwriter, died. Her string of hits in the 1960s included
“Da Doo Ron Ron” (1963), “Chapel of Love” (1964) and “Be My Baby”
(1963). Many of her songs were done in collaboration with producer
Phil Spector and her husband Jeff Barry.
(SFC, 8/28/09, p.D5)
2009 Aug 26, Afghan President
Hamid Karzai widened his lead after officials released more partial
vote results. The latest returns boosted Karzai's standing to 44.8%
and Abdullah’s at 35.1%. The count was based on returns from 17% of
polling stations nationwide. In eastern Afghanistan a firefight left
as many as 12 militants dead. Reports of the death toll varied
widely. A spokesman of the governor of Paktika province said 12
militants died, while police said two were killed. The US military
did not report any deaths. 7 insurgents, including a wounded
commander, were detained.
(AP, 8/26/09)(AP, 8/27/09)
2009 Aug 26, Australia's
highest court ruled that the country's military justice system is
unconstitutional because its judges are not independent of the
military command, throwing into doubt 171 cases judged in the past
two years.
(AP, 8/26/09)
2009 Aug 26, A Brazilian
prosecutor in Amazonas state accused Wallace Souza, a former police
officer and TV crime show host, of attempting to have a federal
judge assassinated in 2007. Souza was already accused of setting up
at least 5 killings to boost his TV ratings. Souza was soon kicked
out of the state legislature and on Oct 5 police issued a warrant
for his arrest.
(SFC, 8/27/09, p.A2)(AP, 10/7/09)
2009 Aug 26, In Cambodia a
Phnom Penh Municipal Court Judge found Michael James Dodd of
Washington, DC, guilty of soliciting sex from a 14-year-old girl. He
was arrested in October 2008 at his rented house in Phnom Penh, in
the girl's company. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison and
ordered to pay 20 million riel ($4,878) in compensation to the
girl's family.
(AP, 8/26/09)
2009 Aug 26, China’s state
media reported that the majority of transplanted organs in China
come from executed prisoners in a rare disclosure about an industry
often criticized for being opaque and unethical.
(AP, 8/26/09)
2009 Aug 26, In China six
members of an alleged "terror gang" were detained in the suburbs of
the city of Aksu, 675km (420 miles) southwest of Urumqi. The
Ministry of Public Security later said a "large quantity" of
materials and tools needed to make explosive devices was seized.
(AFP, 9/16/09)
2009 Aug 26, In Colombia hooded
men in uniforms without insignias shot and killed 12 members of the
Awa indigenous group, including five children, on a reserve in a
region plagued by the cocaine trade.
(AP, 8/26/09)
2009 Aug 26, In the Republic of
Congo 7 people, including five Russian crew members, were killed
when a cargo plane crashed on the outskirts of Brazzaville.
(AFP, 8/26/09)
2009 Aug 26, In Greece the
fires around Athens were put out or contained to small areas after
razing 80 square miles (210 square km) of forest and hillside scrub,
an area more than three times the size of Manhattan. It was the most
destructive blaze in decades in the Attica region, and the worst in
Greece since wildfires in 2007 killed 76 people and blackened 1,060
square miles (2,750 square km).
(AP, 8/26/09)
2009 Aug 26, Central America's
development bank said it is freezing credits to Honduras following
the June 28 coup that ousted President Manuel Zelaya. Many other
multilateral agencies and foreign governments have put Honduras aid
projects on hold, in the face of the interim government's refusal to
reinstate Zelaya.
(AP, 8/26/09)
2009 Aug 26, A small Indonesian
ferry sank off the resort island of Bali, killing nine people while
three others are still missing.
(Reuters, 8/26/09)
2009 Aug 26, Abdul-Aziz
al-Hakim (b.1950), the scion of a revered clerical family, died of
lung cancer in Iran, the country that was long his key ally. He
channeled rising Shiite Muslim power after the fall of Saddam
Hussein to become one of Iraq's most influential politicians.
(AP, 8/26/09)
2009 Aug 26, In Mexico gunmen
in Ciudad Juarez killed Pablo Pasillas (33), the aide of a Mexican
federal agent investigating the death of a crime reporter, a month
after the first agent assigned to the case was shot dead. In a
separate attack, gunmen in the western town of Tlaquepaque wounded
Maximiano Barbosa, the founder of Mexico's most influential debtors
group, as well as his son.
(AP, 8/27/09)
2009 Aug 26, Nigerian
authorities arrested two dozen people wanted over massive debts owed
to troubled banks in a scandal that has rocked the country's
financial industry.
(AFP, 8/26/09)
2009 Aug 26, In Bucharest,
Romania, fans at first politely applauded the Roma performers
sharing a stage with Madonna. Then the pop star condemned widespread
discrimination against Roma, or Gypsies, and the cheers gave way to
jeers. Official Romanian data put the local Roma population at
500,000.
(AP, 8/27/09)
2009 Aug 26, Top Russian
officials acknowledged for the first time that the Arctic Sea, a
ship hijacked last month in the Baltic Sea, might have been carrying
a suspicious cargo, deepening the mystery around its seizure.
(AFP, 8/26/09)
2009 Aug 26, Russia, worried
about North Korean missile and nuclear tests, said it has deployed
sophisticated air defenses in its Far East region to protect against
any potential test mishap.
(AFP, 8/26/09)
2009 Aug 26, Somali pirates in
the Gulf of Aden fired at a US Navy helicopter as it made a
surveillance flight over the Win Far, a Taiwanese-flagged fishing
vessel seized in April, the first such attack by pirates on an
American military aircraft.
(AP, 8/27/09)
2009 Aug 26, In South Africa
soldiers, demanding higher wages, tried to scale the fence at the
Union Buildings where President Jacob Zuma has his office. Police
used teargas, rubber bullets and water cannons to disperse the
soldiers, who marched despite a court order barring their protest.
(AP, 9/1/09)
2009 Aug 26, In Spain Bunol's
town hall estimated more than 40,000 people, some from as far away
as Japan and Australia, took up arms with 100 tons of tomatoes in
the yearly food fight known as the "Tomatina," now in its 64th year.
(AP, 8/26/09)
2009 Aug 26, In Thailand
suspected Muslim insurgents detonated a car bomb outside a crowded
open-air restaurant during lunchtime, wounding 26 people.
(SFC, 8/26/09, p.A2)
2009 Aug 26, Doctors at
Zimbabwe's state hospitals called off a crippling two-week strike,
broken by the reality that the government had no money to meet their
wage demands.
(AFP, 8/26/09)
2009 Aug 27, Chicago's 9-story
old main post office, which dated from the 1920s and has been vacant
for more than a decade, was sold at auction for $40 million to
International Property Developers North America Inc, which did not
specify its plans.
(AP, 8/28/09)
2009 Aug 27, Toyota confirmed
that it would stop making cars at the NUMMI plant in Fremont, Ca.,
idling some 4,700 workers.
(SFC, 8/28/09, p.A1)
2009 Aug 27, In Afghanistan a
US service member died in a militant attack involving a roadside
bomb and gunfire, a death that pushed August into a tie with July as
the deadliest months of the eight-year war.
(AP, 8/27/09)
2009 Aug 27, A senior UN
official condemned Australia's controversial intervention into
remote Aboriginal communities, describing the measures as
discriminatory and finding entrenched racism in Australia.
(Reuters, 8/27/09)
2009 Aug 27, Mike Perham (17)
became the youngest person to sail solo around the world with
assistance, as he entered British waters after 156 days at sea. The
Guinness Book of World Records created a new category for Perham:
youngest sailor to circumnavigate the globe solo, supported. His
father, Peter, sailed in a boat behind him, but did not offer
assistance, which Guinness defines as being accompanied on the boat
by another human being.
(AFP, 8/27/09)
2009 Aug 27, In Honduras a plan
was made public in which the interim leader offered to resign and
back exiled President Manuel Zelaya's return home, provided the
ousted leader gives up his claim to the presidency.
(AP, 8/28/09)
2009 Aug 27, In Iraq car bombs
targeted primarily Iraqi troops in the city and a northern Baghdad
suburb, killing one and wounding 22 people. Iraqi forces tightened
security around Shiite mosques, shrines and political party offices
ahead of the funeral of Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, a top Shiite leader,
who died in Iran a day earlier.
(AP, 8/27/09)
2009 Aug 27, In Mexico the
bodies of four farm workers were found dumped in a stable for bulls
in the western state of Michoacan. The bodies bore signs of torture
and had the letter "Z" carved into their foreheads, a possible
reference to the Zetas, hit men tied to the Gulf cartel. In the
northern state of Nuevo Leon, state Public Safety Secretary Aldo
Fasci said about 2,000 police officers across the state had been
fired over the last two years for suspected links to organized crime
and drug cartels. Speaking at a meeting of private security firms,
he said 500 others were dismissed for other causes.
(AP, 8/28/09)
2009 Aug 27, In Oaxaca, Mexico,
supporters of a teacher’s union tried to retake a school controlled
by Section 59 when gunfire erupted and teacher Antonio Norberto
Camacho was shot to death. Section 59 was created in the midst of
the protests led by Section 22 and anti-government groups in 2006.
(AP, 8/29/09)
2009 Aug 27, In Myanmar fresh
fighting erupted between government forces and an armed ethnic group
in the remote northeast, forcing tens of thousands to flee across
the border into China.
(Reuters, 8/28/09)
2009 Aug 27, In Pakistan a
suicide bomber killed at least 19 security officers at the Torkham
security checkpoint, one of the main border crossings for convoys
ferrying NATO supplies into Afghanistan. A suspected US drone fired
two missiles at a militant hide-out in northwest Pakistan, killing
at least six people and wounding nine.
(AP, 8/27/09)(AP, 8/30/09)
2009 Aug 27, In Russia Sergei
Mikhalkov (96), an author favored by Stalin who wrote the lyrics for
the Soviet and Russian national anthems, died. He fathered two noted
film directors. As a functionary and later chairman of the
government-regulated Soviet Writers' Union, Mikhalkov became an
integral part of the propaganda machine designed to indoctrinate
Soviet citizens and weed out dissidents.
(AP, 8/27/09)(Econ, 9/12/09, p.96)
2009 Aug 27, In Saudi Arabia a
suicide bomber targeted the assistant interior minister, Prince
Mohammed bin Nayef, and blew himself up just before going into a
gathering of well-wishers for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in
Jiddah. Nayef was slightly wounded.
(AP, 8/28/09)
2009 Aug 27, In Sudan Martin
Luther Agwai, the outgoing military commander of the joint
UN-African Union (UNAMID) peacekeeping force in the western Sudan
region, said there is no more war in Darfur. Agwai defended his
soldiers against persistent criticism of their effectiveness,
insisting they have ended the massacres that long plagued the
Sudanese region. The Nigerian officer will be replaced next week by
Rwandan Patrick Nyamvumba.
(AFP, 8/27/09)
2009 Aug 27, Taiwan's president
angered China with his surprise announcement that he has agreed to
let the Dalai Lama visit the island to comfort survivors of a
devastating typhoon.
(AP, 8/27/09)
2009 Aug 27, A Turkish train
collided with a construction vehicle during a journey from Ankara to
Istanbul, derailing several carriages and leaving many people
injured.
(AP, 8/27/09)
2009 Aug 27, Uruguay lawmakers
approved a bill allowing gay and lesbian couples to adopt. The
99-seat Chamber or Representatives passed the bill 40-13, with the
remaining members absent. The law, still needing Senate approval,
was supported by socialist President Tabare Vazquez's Broad Front
coalition, which has already legalized gay civil unions and ended a
ban on homosexuals in the armed forces.
(AP, 8/28/09)
2009 Aug 27, Vietnam police
took Bui Thanh Hieu, who writes a blog under the pen name Nguoi Buon
Gio, or Wind Trader, into custody for questioning. Pham Doan Trang,
a writer for the popular online newspaper VietnamNet, was detained
the day before. Both were released on Sep 6.
(AP, 9/6/09)
2009 Aug 27, In Zimbabwe South
Africa’s President Jacob Zuma he met with PM Tsvangirai who has
accused Mugabe's ZANU-PF party of stalling on reforms and continuing
to attack and harass its activists.
(AP, 8/28/09)
2009 Aug 28, The space shuttle
Discovery with 7 astronauts blasted off from Cape Canaveral just
before midnight to bring supplies to the int’l. space station.
(SFC, 8/29/09, p.A4)
2009 Aug 28, California Gov.
Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency in Los Angeles and
Monterey counties due to wild fires.
(SSFC, 8/30/09, p.A10)
2009 Aug 28, Afghan Taliban
insurgents ambushed a police convoy, killing three policemen and
wounding about 30 others near Ghazni. In northern Afghanistan
foreign troops attacked a militant commander in Kunduz province,
killing him and his six men. A female militant who engaged troops
with an assault rifle and with ammunition packed to her chest was
among the dead. In eastern Afghanistan an American service member
died in a bomb blast that also wounded Cami McCormick, a CBS Radio
News correspondent. This made August the deadliest month of the
eight-year war for US forces.
(AP, 8/28/09)(AP, 8/29/09)
2009 Aug 28, PM Gordon Brown
said Britain will commit 665 million pounds ($1.08 billion) in aid
to help Pakistan stabilize its violent border areas and tackle the
underlying causes of extremism.
(AP, 8/28/09)
2009 Aug 28, In Cameroon a
petroleum-loaded cargo train collided with another train in the
southwest of the capital Yaounde. 2 firefighters were killed when 4
petroleum tankers exploded.
(AP, 8/30/09)
2009 Aug 28, Two Chechen
militants blew themselves up to escape capture, wounding three
policemen and three civilians in the process.
(AP, 8/28/09)
2009 Aug 28, In China 15 miners
died after inhaling poisonous gas at the Jicai Graphite Mine near
Chenzhou City in central Hunan province.
(AP, 8/29/09)
2009 Aug 28, Dagestan police
killed three militants who had opened fire on a police post in
Makhachkala, the capital. A policeman was shot dead in a separate
attack in the capital.
(AP, 8/28/09)
2009 Aug 28, Denmark announced
the 5 winners of its biennial Index design awards. The winners
included: Kiva.org, of the SF Bay Area for bringing money and
intellectual capital to the working poor; Better Place, of the SF
Bay Area for a clean energy system for all-electric cars; the
Freeplay fetal heart rate monitor; Philip Design for its India-team
designed safe kitchen stove for one-room homes; and Rotterdam-based
Pig 05049 for its list of 185 good and bad products made from a
single pig.
(SFC, 8/29/09, p.E1)
2009 Aug 28, Iceland's
parliament approved a controversial deal to pay back billions of
euros (dollars) lost by British and Dutch savers in the collapse of
the online Icesave bank. The deal provided for the payment of 3.8
billion euros by 2023 to the British and Dutch governments for the
compensation they forked out to disgruntled savers.
(AFP, 8/28/09)
2009 Aug 28, It was reported
that dozens of impoverished Indian farmers in southern Andhra
Pradesh state have killed themselves in recent weeks due to debt and
poor rainfall.
(SFC, 8/28/09, p.A2)
2009 Aug 28, India's first moon
mission, launched amid much fanfare in 2008, came to an abrupt end
after the country's lunar craft lost contact with its controllers.
The satellite was launched on October 22 and then fired a
TV-set-sized probe painted in the green, white and orange colors of
the Indian flag which landed on the moon on November 14.
(AFP, 8/29/09)
2009 Aug 28, In Indonesia the
overcrowded ferry Sari Mulia capsized in the Negara River in the
South Kalimantan province, leaving at least 19 people dead and 15
others missing.
(AP, 8/29/09)(AP, 8/30/09)
2009 Aug 28, Iran’s President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called for the leaders of the opposition to be
prosecuted over the postelection turmoil, stepping up pressure
against the pro-reform movement that says he won the election by
fraud. Ahmadinejad also admitted for the first time that some
detained protesters were abused in custody but also denied any
government involvement, claiming instead that it was the work of
Iran's enemies and the opposition.
(AP, 8/28/09)
2009 Aug 28, In Iraq two
American soldiers died following an attack on a patrol in eastern
Baghdad.
(AP, 8/28/09)
2009 Aug 28, In Mexico a convoy
of gunmen engaged state police in a running shootout that killed
five officers and possibly one of the attackers in the western
Mexico state of Jalisco. Americo Delgado (80), a lawyer for
convicted Mexican drug kingpin Benjamin Arellano Felix, was found
stabbed to death in his home. Felix was in prison serving a
22-year-sentence on drug trafficking and organized crime charges and
was fighting extradition to the United States.
(AP, 8/28/09)(AP, 8/29/09)
2009 Aug 28, In Mozambique
talks aimed at determining who should lead Madagascar in a new
interim government ended in failure with the ousted president and
the man who replaced him in a military coup both claiming the right
to do so. The parties set a deadline of Sept. 4 to arrive at a
compromise.
(AP, 8/28/09)
2009 Aug 28, A Pakistani court
ordered the government to lift any remaining restrictions on Abdul
Qadeer Khan, a scientist alleged to have spread nuclear technology
to Iran, North Korea and Libya. Mehdi-Muhammed Ghezali, a Swedish
national and former Guantanamo detainee, was arrested on the
outskirts of Dera Ghazi Khan in southern Pakistani town along with a
group of foreigners, including 7 Turks and 3 other Swedes, who
lacked proper immigration stamps. They were allegedly trying to join
al-Qaida in the lawless tribal areas.
(AP, 8/28/09)
2009 Aug 28, In Pakistan
helicopter gunships destroyed a training camp for suicide bombers in
the Swat Valley, killing six Taliban fighters, as scattered violence
killed 12 others in the region recently retaken by the army. 12
suspected foreign militants were arrested in Dera Ghazi Khan on the
edge of the South Waziristan tribal area, after they allegedly
sneaked into the country from Iran.
(AP, 8/29/09)
2009 Aug 28, Mehdi-Muhammed
Ghezali, a Swedish national and former Guantanamo detainee, was
arrested on the outskirts of Dera Ghazi Khan in southern Pakistani
town along with a group of foreigners, including 7 Turks and 3 other
Swedes, who lacked proper immigration stamps. They were allegedly
trying to join al-Qaida in the lawless tribal areas.
(AP, 9/14/09)
2009 Aug 28, In southern Sudan
the Lou-Nuer tribe attacked a village of the Dinka tribe in Twic
East County, leaving 46 people dead and 15 in critical condition.
The attackers wore new military uniforms and were using new machine
guns, but did not provide their identity.
(Reuters, 8/29/09)(AP, 9/1/09)
2009 Aug 28, In Thailand former
journalist Daranee Charnchoengsilpakul was sentenced to 18 years in
prison for insulting King Bhumibol Adulyadej during a speech in
2008.
(SFC, 8/29/09, p.A2)
2009 Aug 28, NATO’s Sec. Gen.
Fogh Rasmussen ended a 2-day visit to Turkey where he got a
commitment for more Turkish troops to work on reconstruction
projects in Afghanistan.
(Econ, 9/12/09,
p.57)(www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=107181)
2009 Aug 28, The United Arab
Emirates confirmed that it has seized a cargo ship earlier this
month bound for Iran with a cache of banned arms from North Korea.
Diplomats identified the vessel as a Bahamas-flagged cargo vessel,
the ANL Australia, carrying rocket-propelled grenades and other
weapons.
(AP, 8/29/09)
2009 Aug 28, In Zimbabwe South
Africa’s President Jacob Zuma met with President Robert Mugabe and
other leaders and appeared cautiously optimistic that their
differences within the coalition government could be resolved.
(AP, 8/28/09)
2009 Aug 29, California Gov.
Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency in Mariposa County due
to a wild fire in Yosemite National Park.
(SSFC, 8/30/09, p.A10)
2009 Aug 29, In San Francisco
the Outlands Music and Arts Festival continued in Golden Gate Park
for the 2nd of 3 days with 7 stages and nearly 100 bands. Ticket
prices were $95 for a single day and $225.50 for all 3 days.
(SSFC, 8/30/09, p.C2)
2009 Aug 29, In southeast
Georgia 7 people were found dead inside a dingy mobile home at a
trailer park built on the grounds of a historic US plantation near
Brunswick. One of two critically injured survivors died soon after.
Police arrested Guy Heinze Jr. (22), a family member who called 911
to report finding the people slain, but the charges were
drug-related and police wouldn't say if the man was a suspect in the
killings. On Sep 4 police Heinze on 8 counts of first-degree murder.
(AP, 8/30/09)(SFC, 8/31/09, p.A5)(SFC, 9/5/09,
p.A6)
2009 Aug 29, Chris Connor
(b.1927 as Mary Loutsenhizer), jazz singer of the 1950s and 1960s,
died. Her 2 charted hits included “I Miss You” (1956) and “Trust in
Me” (1957).
(SFC, 9/1/09, p.C5)
2009 Aug 29, Afghan President
Hamid Karzai widened his lead in the presidential race as new vote
tallies were released, inching closer to the 50 percent threshold of
votes he needs to avoid a run-off. The latest results show Karzai
ahead with 46.2% of the votes already counted against Abdullah's
31.4%.
(AP, 8/29/09)
2009 Aug 29, Australian
authorities intercepted a boat carrying 52 suspected asylum seekers,
the 18th such vessel to be discovered this year.
(AFP, 8/29/09)
2009 Aug 29, Britain’s PM
Gordon Brown made a surprise visit to Afghanistan, where he pledged
to speed up the training of Afghan security forces.
(AFP, 8/29/09)
2009 Aug 29, Britain’s Cairn
Energy began pumping crude from a vast oilfield in the Indian desert
state of Rajasthan that is set to increase the country's crude
output by 20 percent.
(AFP, 8/29/09)
2009 Aug 29, The EU signed a
temporary trade pact with Mauritius, Seychelles, Zimbabwe and
Madagascar calling for tariffs on European goods to be removed over
the next 15 years.
(AP, 8/29/09)
2009 Aug 29, In Iraq a suicide
truck bomber attacked a small police station in the remote village
of Hamad north of Baghdad, killing at least 12 people. a second
attack occurred near Mosul in the city of Sinjar, where a parked
truck bomb killed at least four people and wounded 23 others. A
suicide bomber on a motorcycle killed 2 people in a market in
eastern Baghdad.
(AP, 8/29/09)(SSFC, 8/30/09, p.A7)
2009 Aug 29, In northwestern
Mexico a shooting killed eight people partying on a seaside
boulevard in Navolato, Sinaloa state. Among the dead were two
brothers in their 30s who had a record of car theft, Investigators
were considering the possibility that the gunmen belonged to a
criminal gang known as the "Death Squad," which has been killing car
thieves in the region.
(AP, 8/31/09)
2009 Aug 29, Fighting erupted
in northeast Myanmar after days of clashes in which the leader of
ethnic forces said more than 30 government troops had been killed.
Hundreds of ethnic rebels fled clashes in northeastern Myanmar,
surrendering their weapons and uniforms to Chinese border police and
crossing to safety after several days of skirmishes with Myanmar
government troops. The UN and Chinese officials said up to 30,000
civilian refugees have streamed into China to escape the fighting.
(Reuters, 8/29/09)(AP, 8/30/09)
2009 Aug 29, Portugal’s
government said 2 Syrians previously held at Guantanamo Bay have
arrived in Portugal as free men.
(AP, 8/29/09)
2009 Aug 29, Somali witnesses
said hundreds of Ethiopian troops have crossed the border and seized
control of the Somali town of Belet Weyne from Islamist insurgents.
(AP, 8/29/09)
2009 Aug 29, In Sudan an armed
group kidnapped two foreign civilians working for the joint
UN-African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur. The UNAMID workers,
a Nigerian man and a Zimbabwean woman, were released on Dec 13.
(AP, 8/29/09)(AFP, 12/13/09)
2009 Aug 30, In Utah a fire,
which already destroyed 3 houses and covered over 15 square miles,
threatened the rural town of New Harmony.
(SFC, 8/31/09, p.A4)
2009 Aug 30, Major allegations
of fraud in Afghanistan's presidential election topped 550, more
than doubling the figure investigators reported just two days
earlier.
(AP, 8/30/09)
2009 Aug 30, British police
estimated that about 220,000 people turned up to dance, drink and
eat jerk chicken for the first of two days of the Notting Hill
Carnival in west London. The Afro-Caribbean carnival began the 1950s
in response to deteriorating race relations, and has been based in
Notting Hill since 1964.
(AFP, 8/31/09)
2009 Aug 30, In Cameroon a
passenger train carrying about 1,000 people crashed in the northwest
of Yaounde. Nine people were killed in the crash and its aftermath.
(AP, 8/30/09)
2009 Aug 30, In eastern China
Yu Xiaochun (37) was going home when she was surrounded by five
Wal-Mart employees, four men and one woman, all in their 20s, who
accused her of shoplifting. They fought and Yu fell to the ground
and was taken to a hospital, where she died on Sept. 2. Two
employees, a man surnamed Liu and a man surnamed Yu, were detained
following her death.
(AP, 9/8/09)
2009 Aug 30, Gabon held free
elections for the first time in more than 41 years. 18 candidates
vied to replace the late President Omar Bongo, who ruled for more
than four decades and ran as the only candidate in many elections.
The leading contender was the dead ruler's son, Ali Bongo Ondimba
(50). He put up posters of himself every 30 feet (9 meters) on the
capital's main highway and crisscrossed the country in a private jet
to campaign. On Sep 3 Ali Bongo Ondimba was declared the winner with
41.7% of the vote.
(AP, 8/30/09)(AP, 9/3/09)
2009 Aug 30, Israeli legal
authorities indicted former PM Ehud Olmert on corruption charges,
the first criminal indictment ever filed against a current or past
Israeli prime minister. Olmert was accused of illegally accepting
funds from an American backer, double-billing for trips abroad and
concealing funds from a government watchdog.
(AP, 8/30/09)
2009 Aug 30, Japan's ruling
party conceded a crushing defeat as voters were poised to hand the
opposition a landslide victory in nationwide elections, driven by
economic anxiety and a powerful desire for change. The
left-of-center Democratic Party of Japan, under Yukio Hatoyama (62),
won 308 of the 480 seats in the lower house of parliament, ousting
the Liberal Democrats, who have governed Japan for all but 11 months
since 1955.
(AP, 8/30/09)(Econ, 9/5/09, p.29)
2009 Aug 30, Libyan leader
Moamer Kadhafi and Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi laid the foundation
stone for an ambitious highway stretching along the entire Libyan
coast.
(AFP, 8/30/09)
2009 Aug 30, The Myanmar junta
ended a news blackout about clashes with ethnic rebels near the
China border, saying three days of fighting killed 26 government
forces and at least eight rebels.
(AP, 8/30/09)
2009 Aug 30, In Pakistan a
suicide bomber killed 17 police recruits in the Swat Valley in the
deadliest attack since the army regained control over the
northwestern valley from the Taliban. After the blast, security
forces pursuing Taliban suspects killed 18 militants in a gunbattle
just outside Mingora.
(AP, 8/30/09)(AP, 8/31/09)
2009 Aug 30, In Zimbabwe
Godknows Dzoro Mtshakazi, a member of PM Morgan Tsvangirai's party,
was killed by soldiers in Shurugwi for playing a song praising
the premier.
(AFP, 9/8/09)
2009 Aug 31, In southern
California fashion designer Anand Jon Alexander was sentenced to 59
years to life in prison for sexually assaulting aspiring models he
lured to Los Angeles.
(AP, 9/1/09)
2009 Aug 31, In southern
California a massive fire in the Angeles National Forest nearly
doubled in size overnight, threatening 12,000 homes in a
20-mile-long swath of flame and smoke and surging toward a
mountaintop broadcasting complex. 2 firefighters died a day earlier
when their vehicle rolled down a mountainside amid the flames.
(AP, 8/31/09)(SFC, 8/31/09, p.A4)
2009 Aug 31, Florida’s Gov.
Crist signed a 20-year gambling pact with the Seminole Indian tribe,
which agreed to pay Florida $12.5 million a month for 30 months for
running, currently illegal, slot machines and blackjack games.
(Econ, 9/5/09, p.40)
2009 Aug 31, Deere & Co.,
the world's largest agricultural-equipment maker, said its board of
directors has approved a plan to establish a new manufacturing and
parts center in Russia.
(AP, 8/31/09)
2009 Aug 31, The Walt Disney
Co. said it is buying Marvel Entertainment Inc. for $4 billion in
cash and stock, bringing such characters as Iron Man and Spider-Man
into the family of Mickey Mouse and WALL-E.
(AP, 8/31/09)
2009 Aug 31, In Afghanistan 2
bombings killed two US service members, the last day of the
deadliest month of the war for US forces.
(AP, 8/31/09)
2009 Aug 31, In China a
demonstration occurred when angry villagers from Fujian province's
Fengwei town confronted 2,000 riot police over a wastewater
treatment plant that had fouled local air and water. At least 10
people were injured when the demonstrations turned violent and riot
police fired warning shots.
(AP, 9/1/09)
2009 Aug 31, Egyptian police
found the entrances to four tunnels and two tons of explosives
hidden near the border with Gaza. A day earlier they had thwarted an
attempt to smuggle 500 kg (1,100 lb) of explosives into Gaza.
(AP, 9/1/09)
2009 Aug 31, The European
Commission said an EU-wide transition of power-draining light bulbs
to more energy efficient ones will start Aug 1. The new rules follow
an agreement reached by the 27 EU governments last year to phase out
the traditional incandescent light bulb over three years starting
this year to help European countries lower greenhouse gas emissions.
(AP, 8/31/09)
2009 Aug 31, A Georgian court
sentenced a Turkish cargo ship captain to 24 years in prison for
smuggling and border violations.
(AP, 9/3/09)
2009 Aug 31, A Guatemalan court
convicted and sentenced a former paramilitary to 150 years in prison
for the forced disappearance of six people who were abducted and
presumably killed during the country's civil war. The sentence
against Felipe Cusanero represents 25 years for each victim who
disappeared between 1982 and 1984 from the village of Choatalum.
(AP, 9/2/09)
2009 Aug 31, Muhsin Mohammed
Muhsin (11) was kidnapped around noon on his way home from a
neighbor's funeral in Baghdad's eastern Shiite district of Sadr
City. Kidnappers demanded $100,000, but the father of six said he
only had $10,000. 3 days later police found the boy dumped in the
garbage with his head and hands chopped off. His body showed burns
and marks of torture.
(AP, 9/22/09)
2009 Aug 31, African leaders
gathered in Libya for a special summit to discuss the continent's
trouble spots, on the eve of celebrations to mark 40 years of Moamer
Kadhafi's rule.
(AFP, 8/31/09)
2009 Aug 31, Mexican
authorities said they have arrested four men accused of killing at
least 211 people for the Juarez cartel. The men allegedly belong to
La Linea, a gang of hit men for the Juarez cartel. One of the men
alone was accused of killing 97 people and another 87.
(AP, 8/31/09)
2009 Aug 31, Thousands of
Myanmar refugees headed home from China as fighting between
government troops and a rebel militia that left more than 30 people
dead appeared to be over.
(AP, 8/31/09)
2009 Aug 31, Nepal's PM Madhav
Kumar Nepal opened the first climate change conference of Himalayan
nations with a warning about the dangers of melting glaciers, floods
and violent storms for the region.
(AFP, 8/31/09)
2009 Aug 31, The Nigerian
anti-graft agency filed charges against 16 bank chiefs arrested for
incurring billions of dollars in bad loans for five ailing banks.
(AFP, 8/31/09)
2009 Aug 31, The Pakistani army
said it killed at least 45 Taliban militants over the last 24 hours
in scattered gunbattles across the northwestern Swat Valley.
(AP, 8/31/09)
2009 Aug 31, In Sri Lanka
reporter J.S. Tissainayagam, singled out by President Barack Obama
as an example of persecuted journalists around the globe, was
sentenced to 20 years in prison on charges of violating the
country's harsh anti-terror law. He was arrested in March, 2008, and
indicted five months later under the anti-terror law.
(AP, 8/31/09)
2009 Aug 31, Turkmenistan
President Gurbanguli Berdymukhamedov said a base will be built at
the Caspian Sea port city of Turkmenbashi to help "effectively fight
smugglers, terrorists and any other forces." Turkmenistan is locked
in a dispute with Azerbaijan, on the opposite shore, over several
oil and gas fields.
(AP, 8/31/09)
2009 Aug, In Georgia Kristi
Cornwell (38), a former probation officer, disappeared in
Blairsville. Her bones were found on Jan 1, 2011. Scott Carringer,
the primary suspect in her disappearance, killed himself in the
spring of 2010 during a standoff with Atlanta police.
(SFC, 1/4/11, p.A5)
2009 Aug, Pennsylvania Central
Bucks East High School English teacher Natalie Munroe started a blog
for friends and family in suburban Philadelphia. Munroe blogged
about 85 times and only about 15 to 20 of the posts involved her
being a teacher. In 2011 she was suspended for the profanity-laced
blog in which she called her students "disengaged, lazy whiners,"
and daring to ask: “Why are today's students unmotivated, and what's
wrong with calling them out?”
(AP, 2/16/11)
2009 Aug, In China a new
micro-blogging service (Sina Weibo), similar to Twitter, began
operating.
(Econ, 10/30/10, p.42)
2009 Aug, Colombia’s Supreme
Court suspended further extraditions of paramilitary leaders arguing
that the gravity of the drug charges they face in the US pales in
comparison with the mass murders and other enormities that they are
accused of in Colombia.
(Econ, 10/31/09, p.46)
2009 Aug, In Fiji Laisenia
Qarase and Mahendra Chaudhry, rivals to military leader Commodore
Bainimarama, joined forces against him.
(Econ, 11/14/09, p.53)
2009 Aug, Jamaica’s government
received an extradition request for Christopher "Dudus" Coke (40).
By late October it had only responded with requests for more
information about the gun and drug trafficking charges against the
reputed gang leader. Coke, the alleged leader of the "Shower Posse"
gang, is charged in the US Southern District of New York with
conspiracy to distribute cocaine and marijuana and conspiracy to
illegally traffic in firearms.
(AP, 10/29/09)
2009 Aug, In Mexico the
director of immigrant affairs in the southern border city of
Tapachula was found in a tub of cement, months after he was
kidnapped.
(Econ, 9/26/09, p.48)
2009 Sep 1, A top State
Department official said the US has released $214 million of an aid
package to help Mexico fight drug trafficking, including funds for
five helicopters for the military to be delivered by year's end.
(AP, 9/2/09)
2009 Sep 1, In San Francisco
charges were filed against 5 workers of the Public Utilities
Commission and 2 workers at city approved vendors in a scam that
bilked the city of over $200,000 in goods from 2003-2007. Donnie
Alan Thomas and Miles Bonner, line workers making over $95,000 a
year, masterminded the scam. In 2011 Thomas pleaded guilty to 4
felony charges. Hatim Mansori (11) was stabbed on his first MUNI
ride by himself. No footage of his assailant was captured. Mansori
suffered life-threatening wounds, but was recovering.
(SFC, 9/2/09, p.D2)(SSFC, 11/15/09, p.A13)(SFC,
9/20/11, p.C2)
2009 Sep 1, In Southern
California the Station wildfire continued to rage with 53 homes up
in smoke, thousands more threatened and new rounds of evacuations as
towering flames crackled close to foothill neighborhoods just 15
miles north of downtown Los Angeles. On Sep 3 investigators said the
fire was an act of arson. On Oct 17 the US Forest Service said the
250-square-mile Station fire was 100% contained, 52 days after it
began.
(AP, 9/1/09)(SFC, 9/4/09, p.A7)(SFC, 10/20/09,
p.A5)
2009 Sep 1, Idaho hunters began
stalking gray wolves, following their removal from the federal
endangered species a few months earlier. The quota for this season
was 220. The quota in Montana was set at 75.
(SFC, 9/2/09, p.A8)
2009 Sep 1, In southern
Afghanistan an American service member died of wounds suffered in a
bombing the day before.
(AP, 9/1/09)
2009 Sep 1, In the Bahamas an
amended fisheries laws took effect to give full protection to all
sea turtles found in the Atlantic archipelago's waters by banning
the harvest, possession, purchase and sale of the endangered
reptiles, including their eggs.
(AP, 8/30/09)
2009 Sep 1, A Chilean judge
ordered the arrests of 129 former security officers on charges tied
to the disappearance of leftists and the slaying of the communist
party leadership during the Pinochet dictatorship.
(AP, 9/1/09)
2009 Sep 1, The 53-nation
Commonwealth says it has suspended Fiji automatically after it
failed to respond to a demand to begin restoring democracy to the
island nation.
(AP, 9/1/09)
2009 Sep 1, Ammar al-Hakim
(38), the son of the late leader of Iraq's largest Shiite political
party, acknowledged setbacks and reached out to political rivals as
he formally replaced his father at the helm of the Iranian-backed
Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council. Two American soldiers were killed in
a vehicle accident in northern Iraq.
(AP, 9/1/09)(AP, 9/3/09)
2009 Sep 1, In Japan dolphin
hunting season opened in Taijii. Over the next 6 months fishermen
were expected to catch about 2,300 of Japan’s annual quota of 20,000
dolphins, to be sold for meat and to aquariums.
(SSFC, 9/20/09, p.A20)
2009 Sep 1, Malaysian police
arrested Alain Robert (47), a French climber nicknamed "Spiderman,"
after he scaled the iconic 88-story Petronas Twin Towers.
(AP, 9/1/09)
2009 Sep 1, Pakistani
government forces destroyed four militant bases and killed 40
insurgents of Lashkar-e-Islam in a new offensive near the Khyber
Pass, the main route for supplies to US and NATO troops in
Afghanistan. 43 militants were arrested.
(AP, 9/1/09)
2009 Sep 1, Mohammed Nayef (14)
one of three Palestinians who hurled Molotov cocktails at a guard
post near a Jewish settlement in the West Bank, died of gunshot
shots from Israeli troops inflicted the previous evening. The Hamas
militant group said two of its fighters have been killed in the Gaza
Strip.
(AP, 9/1/09)
2009 Sep 1, In Slovakia a new
language law was scheduled to come into force to promote the use of
Slovak in public. Hungarian speakers, who numbered about a fifth of
the population, viewed this as a direct attack on their right to
speak their mother-tongue.
(Econ, 8/1/09, p.47)
2009 Sep 1, South Africa’s
defense ministry said it has issued around 2,000 letters of
dismissal to soldiers who last week staged an illegal march and
tried to storm the seat of government.
(AFP, 9/1/09)
2009 Sep 1, In Taiwan the wife
and adult children of Taiwan's former Pres. Chen Shui-bian were
convicted of perjury and sentenced to prison for lying to
investigators in a high-profile corruption case against the
ex-leader. Chen (58) was accused of embezzling $3.15 million during
his 2000-2008 presidency from a special presidential fund, receiving
bribes worth at least $9 million in connection with a government
land deal, and laundering some of the money through Swiss bank
accounts.
(AP, 9/2/09)
2009 Sep 1, Ukrainian PM Yulia
Tymoshenko said Russia and Ukraine have resolved a long standing
dispute over natural gas supplies, after meeting her Russian
counterpart Vladimir Putin at a resort on the Baltic coast in
northern Poland.
(Reuters, 9/1/09)
2009 Sep 2, US federal
prosecutors hit Pfizer Inc. with a record-breaking $2.3 billion in
fines for illegal drug promotions surrounding the marketing of 13
drugs.
(SFC, 9/3/09, p.C1)
2009 Sep 2, BP announced the
discovery of oil at its new Tiber Prospect oil reserve in the Gulf
of Mexico. It later estimated the reserve held between 4 and 6
billion barrels of oil. Its Deepwater Horizon rig had drilled down 7
miles to reach the oil.
(http://tinyurl.com/mhnujo)(SSFC, 9/6/09, p.E4)
2009 Sep 2, A Taliban suicide
bomber killed Abdullah Laghmani, Afghanistan's deputy chief of
intelligence, during a visit to a mosque in Laghman province. The
blast east of Kabul also killed the executive director of Laghman's
governor's office, the head of Laghman's provincial council, two of
Laghmani's body guards, and 18 civilians. An intelligence officer
kidnapped a few days ago by Taliban militants in Kunduz province was
found hanging from a tree on the outskirts of Baghlan city. 4
militants were killed overnight when a roadside bomb they were
planting detonated. On Dec 20 Abdul Rahman, a Taliban military
commander in Laghman, and three members of his insurgent network
were arrested for the murder of Laghmani.
(AP, 9/2/09)(AP, 12/29/09)
2009 Sep 2, In central
Afghanistan American troops stormed through a hospital run by a
Swedish charity in Wardak province, breaking down doors and tying up
staff in a search for militants. The charity's country director
later said this went against an agreement between NATO forces and
charities working in the area, and was a clear violation of
internationally recognized rules and principles.
(AP, 9/7/09)
2009 Sep 2, In Algeria
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called for closer economic ties
with Algeria, notably in the energy sector, during a two-day visit
here.
(AFP, 9/3/09)
2009 Sep 2, In Burkina Faso 5
people were killed and 150,000 left homeless as heavy rainfall
triggered flooding across West Africa.
(Reuters, 9/2/09)
2009 Sep 2, In Chile Judge
Manuel Valderrama said the accounts of General Pinochet and his
family reached a value of $25,978,602.79 shortly before his death in
December 2006. The investigating judge said that more than $20
million of the funds have no justifiable origin.
(AP, 9/2/09)
2009 Sep 2, In eastern China a
chemical explosion near Linyi city in Shandong province killed 18
people and injured 10 others.
(AP, 9/2/09)
2009 Sep 2, The IMF said China
is buying the equivalent of $50 billion of the International
Monetary Fund's first bond sale in a move that might boost Beijing's
standing in the Fund and help its quiet campaign to expand the reach
of its tightly controlled currency. Brazil, Russia and India have
also agreed to participate in the $80 billion issue.
(www.wsoctv.com/money/20698248/detail.html)(Econ,
9/19/09, p.83)
2009 Sep 2, In El Salvador
Christian Poveda (52), a French filmmaker who recently made a
documentary about the lives of members of El Salvador's street
gangs, was found shot dead in Tonacatepeque, a rural region north of
San Salvador. Earlier this year, Poveda, made the documentary "La
Vida Loca," which follows the lives of members La 18 street gang and
received widespread attention in El Salvador. 4 Mara 18 members and
a policeman were soon detained. On Dec 16 police arrested 10 more
members of the Mara 18 gang. 9 other gang members already in prison
have also been charged in the case. On Mar 9, 2011 a court sentenced
10 gang members and a police officer to prison terms ranging from
four to 30 years. 20 additional defendants were acquitted, but 17 of
them were serving time for other crimes.
(AP, 9/3/09)(AP, 12/17/09)(AP, 3/10/11)
2009 Sep 2, In Germany 6
countries met for talks to try to address concerns about Iran's
nuclear program. The German government said it has received no
official word yet on new proposals that Tehran is pledging to make.
(AP, 9/2/09)
2009 Sep 2, In Greece a van
bomb exploded outside the Athens Stock Exchange, injuring a woman
and causing extensive damage to the building in what police said was
a coordinated double bombing that also targeted a government
building in the northern city of Thessaloniki.
(AP, 9/2/09)
2009 Sep 2, Authorities in
Guinea banned live political chat shows, the latest sign of
political unease after violent demonstrations and accusations of
phone censorship deepened a row over delayed elections. The military
junta that has run the world's top bauxite producer since a December
2008 coup is facing mounting opposition and criticism after it
delayed until 2010 elections which the military leader has not ruled
out standing in.
(Reuters, 9/3/09)
2009 Sep 2, In India a
helicopter carrying Y.S.R. Reddy (60), a powerful politician from
southern Andhra Pradesh state, disappeared in heavy rains as it flew
over a forested region largely controlled by Maoist rebels. Wreckage
and the bodies of all 5 aboard were found the next day.
(AP, 9/2/09)(AP, 9/3/09)
2009 Sep 2, A powerful 7.0
earthquake rattled southern Indonesia, killing at least 64 people
crushed by falling rock or collapsed buildings and sending thousands
fleeing outdoors for safety in the middle of the work day. More than
10,000 buildings were severely damaged.
(AP, 9/2/09)(AP, 9/4/09)
2009 Sep 2, Liberia's Defense
Minister Brownie Samukai said police had arrested six Pakistani men
earlier in the week who tried to enter Liberia on fake US passports
with possible intent to carry out terrorism.
(AP, 9/3/09)
2009 Sep 2, In Mexico gunmen
broke into a drug rehabilitation center in Ciudad Juarez, lined
people against a wall and shot 18 dead. The brazen attack followed
the killing of Jose Manuel Revuelta, the No. 2 security official in
Michoacan, President Felipe Calderon's home state. 2 bodyguards and
a truck driver were also killed in the crossfire. The federal
Attorney General's Office announced the arrest of its two top
officials in Quintana Roo, a state on the Yucatan Peninsula, for
allegedly protecting the Gulf and the Beltran Levya drug cartels.
Chihuahua state authorities said they were investigating reports
that rehabilitation centers have turned into hideouts for drug
smugglers being sought by police and hit men from rival gangs.
(AP, 9/3/09)(AP, 9/4/09)
2009 Sep 2, Dutch prosecutors
said they will charge an Arab cultural group under hate speech laws
for publishing a cartoon that suggests the death of 6 million Jews
during World War II is a fabrication.
(AP, 9/2/09)
2009 Sep 2, In Pakistan
government forces killed three suspected militants, captured 35
others and destroyed six of their bases on the second day of its new
offensive near Pakistan's famed Khyber Pass. Suspected militants
opened fire on a vehicle carrying the religious affairs minister,
wounding him and killing his driver in a brazen attack in the heart
of Islamabad. Hamid Saeed Kazmi had been critical of Muslim
extremists blamed for scores of attacks in Pakistan over the last
2½ years.
(AP, 9/2/09)
2009 Sep 2, In Peru drug-funded
Shining Path rebels shot down an air force helicopter in the
coca-growing highlands of Junin province, killing three troops and
wounding five. The military said three rebels were arrested and
another four killed.
(AP, 9/3/09)
2009 Sep 2, In Thailand a
number of drive-by shootings in the provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani
and Yala left eight dead, including a Muslim teacher and his son
(13). Security forces raided a rubber plantation in Yala and a house
in Narathiwat, sparking separate gunbattles in which two suspected
insurgents were killed.
(AP, 9/3/09)
2009 Sep 2, Vietnamese
authorities arrested blogger Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh (30), who writes
under the pen name Me Nam, at her home in Nha Trang. Quynh's arrest
was the latest in a series of police moves against writers who
criticized government policies toward China. The government
tightened its rules for bloggers earlier this year, saying they must
restrict their writings to personal matters. Quynh was released on
Sep 12.
(AP, 9/4/09)(AP, 9/12/09)
2009 Sep 3, Washington cut off
millions of dollars in aid to Honduras. Interim Pres. Roberto
Micheletti vowed that ousted Pres. Zelaya would not return to power
despite increasing international pressure.
(AP, 9/4/09)
2009 Sep 3, The San Francisco
Bay Bridge was completely shut down at 8pm to replace a 300-foot
section of the bridge as part of the project to replace the entire
eastern span by 2013. The bridge was expected to reopen on Sep 8.
The original estimated cost of $132 million was now projected at
$527.6 million.
(SSFC, 8/30/09, p.A14)(SFC, 9/3/09, p.A1)
2009 Sep 3, The Ford Motor Co.
settled a lawsuit filed by residents of a northern New Jersey town
over toxic waste dumped there in the 1960s and '70s. Thousands of
tons of paint sludge and other toxic material from Ford's old Mahwah
factory were dumped in Ringwood, and residents sued in 2006 claiming
that the waste led to illnesses ranging from skin rashes to cancer,
and threatened the Wanaque Reservoir. The Record of Bergen County
reported that residents of Ringwood will receive about $10 million.
(AP, 9/4/09)
2009 Sep 3, In the US Virgin
Islands two ticket agent contractors who worked for Delta Airlines
and an airport employee were arrested after being indicted by a
federal grand jury on charges of conspiracy to smuggle illegal
immigrants into the US.
(AP, 9/5/09)
2009 Sep 3, Sergio Saucedo
(30), a drug trafficker, was taken from his home in Horizon City,
outside of El Paso, Texas. He was murdered and mutilated in Ciudad
Juarez in retaliation for the loss of 700 pounds (315 kilos) of
marijuana seized by border patrol agents. His body was found on Sep
8. On April 1, 2011, the West Texas Federal Court jury found Cesar
Obregon-Reyes and Rafael Vega guilty of abducting Sergio Saucedo
from his home.
(AP, 3/20/10)(http://tinyurl.com/m7lpok)(AP,
4/2/11)
2009 Sep 3, SpaceX signed a
contract worth $50 million with ORBCOMM, a satellite communications
firm, to launch 18 satellites.
(Econ, 9/12/09, p.87)
2009 Sep 3, The US Embassy in
Afghanistan said it has banned alcohol and assigned American
personnel to watch over the embassy's security guards following
allegations of lewd behavior and sexual misconduct at their living
quarters.
(AP, 9/3/09)
2009 Sep 3, In Australia
millionaire Michael McGurk (45), a Scottish-born property developer,
was gunned down in front of his son (10) outside their exclusive
Sydney home. In 2007 McGurk had unsuccessfully tried to sue the
Sultan of Brunei over an alleged eight million US dollar agreement
to buy a 400-year-old gold-lined miniature Koran.
(AFP, 9/4/09)
2009 Sep 3, Hundreds of Chinese
protested deteriorating public safety after a series of mysterious
syringe attacks further unnerved residents in the western Chinese
city of Urumqi where ethnic rioting in July killed nearly 200
people.
(AP, 9/3/09)
2009 Sep 3, EU regulators
launched an antitrust probe into US software maker Oracle Corp.'s
takeover of Sun Microsystems Inc., saying they wanted to make sure
Oracle was committed to developing Sun's rival open-source database
software MySQL.
(AP, 9/3/09)
2009 Sep 3, The government of
Gabon declared the eldest son of the late dictator Omar Bongo the
winner of weekend presidential elections, triggering a rampage in a
coastal city and allegations of fraud. Interior Minister
Jean-Francois Ndongou said Ali Bongo, the country's defense minister
who campaigned from a private jet and plastered the capital with
billboards, won with 41.7% of the vote. The top two opposition
leaders — Andre Mba Obame and Pierre Mamboundou — were nearly tied,
receiving 25.8% and 25.2% of the vote respectively.
(AP, 9/3/09)
2009 Sep 3, In India heavy rain
triggered a landslide in Sakinaka, a densely populated suburban
Mumbai slum killing at least 12 people and injuring 25 others. Many
others remained trapped under piles of mud and stones.
(AP, 9/4/09)
2009 Sep 3, In Iraq a car bomb
apparently targeting Osama al-Tikriti, the leader of Iraq's largest
Sunni political party (the Iraqi Islamic Party), wounded four people
in Baqouba. The politician escaped unharmed. Police arrested Adnan
al-Obeidi, the deputy transport minister, after he was allegedly
filmed taking a bribe in a sting operation. Police had filmed
al-Obeidi accepting a $100,000 bribe from a company doing work at
the Baghdad airport.
(AP, 9/3/09)
2009 Sep 3, In Iraq Ahmed
Hashim Abed, suspected of masterminding the March 31, 2004, attack
on Blackwater guards, was captured in a covert operation by US Navy
SEALs. Abed later alleged that he was beaten by US Navy SEALs. In
2010 two of the 3 accused Navy SEALs were acquitted. Petty Officer
2nd Class Matthew McCabe, of Perrysburg, Ohio, the SEAL charged with
assaulting Abed, was scheduled to be court-martialed May 3, 2010, in
Virginia.
(AP, 4/22/10)(http://tinyurl.com/yd5smcb)(AP,
4/23/10)
2009 Sep 3, Japan’s Dainippon
Sumitomo Pharma Co. said it is acquiring US drug maker Sepracor
Inc., which makes insomnia drug Lunesta, for about $2.6 billion in
an effort to expand in the US market.
(AP, 9/3/09)
2009 Sep 3, In Kazakhstan a
court convicted Yevgenii Zhovtis of vehicular manslaughter and
sentenced him to 4 years in prison. Zhovtis, Kazakhstan’s best known
human rights activists, claimed he had been blinded by the lights of
an oncoming car when he hit a hit and killed a pedestrian on a
country road late at night.
(Econ, 9/12/09, p.46)
2009 Sep 3, Myanmar-born Kyaw
Zaw Lwin, an American citizen also known as Nyi Nyi Aung, was
arrested when he arrived at Yangon airport. Lwin started a hunger
strike on Dec. 4 to protest conditions of political prisoners in
Myanmar. He ended his hunger strike Dec. 15 and was subsequently
placed in solitary confinement. On Jan 1, 2010, Lwin was charged for
forgery and violation of the foreign currency act. Lwin (40) was
released on March 18, 2010.
(AP, 12/29/09)(AP, 1/1/10)(AFP, 3/18/10)
2009 Sep 3, Russian’s Foreign
Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko warned Georgia that attempts to
block ships from reaching a Moscow-aligned separatist region of
Georgia could end in military intervention.
(AP, 9/3/09)
2009 Sep 3, Rwanda's state
radio reported that Alfred Mukezamfura, former speaker of
parliament, was sentenced in absentia to life in prison for inciting
hatred during the 1994 genocide in which some 800,000 people died.
Mukezamfura fled the country in March to Belgium where he has sought
asylum.
(AFP, 9/3/09)
2009 Sep 3, In central Serbia a
series of explosions at an underground ammunition factory in Uzice
killed at least seven people and injured 15.
(AP, 9/4/09)
2009 Sep 3, In Thailand a bomb
hidden in a motorcycle parked outside a row of open-air shops and
restaurants in Pattani city exploded, killing a Buddhist man and
wounding 24 others.
(AP, 9/3/09)
2009 Sep 3, A water rights
battle over the historic Tigris and Euphrates rivers simmered, as
Iraq and Syria appealed for increased water flows to cope with
severe drought but Turkey said it was already too overstretched.
(AP, 9/3/09)
2009 Sep 4, A US federal
appeals court has ruled that former Attorney General John Ashcroft
can be sued by people who claim they were wrongfully detained as
material witnesses after 9/11, and called the government practice
"repugnant to the Constitution." The ruling allows Abdullah al-Kidd,
a US citizen, to proceed with a lawsuit that claims his
constitutional rights were violated when he was detained in 2003 as
a material witness in a federal terrorism case.
(AP, 9/5/09)
2009 Sep 4, US regulators
closed the First Bank of Kansas in Missouri, pushing to 85 the
number of US banks that have failed this year.
(SFC, 9/5/09, p.D1)
2009 Sep 4, The US Embassy in
Afghanistan says it has fired eight security guards following
allegations of lewd behavior and sexual misconduct at their living
quarters. Two other guards resigned and also left. All of them
appeared in photographs that depicted guards and supervisors in
various stages of nudity at parties flowing with alcohol. The
management team of the private contractor that provided the guards
was also to being replaced immediately.
(AP, 9/4/09)
2009 Sep 4, In northern
Afghanistan a US jet blasted two fuel tankers hijacked by the
Taliban in Kunduz province, setting off a huge fireball that killed
dozens of civilians who had rushed to the scene to collect fuel. As
many as 142 civilians died in the German-ordered NATO airstrike. A
French soldier was killed and nine others injured when their
vehicles were hit by a bomb near Bagram Air Base north of Kabul. A
Polish soldier was killed in the east. A French marine was killed in
an IED attack.
(AP, 9/4/09)(AFP, 9/5/09)(AP, 9/17/09)(AP,
10/8/09)(Econ, 1/2/10, p.37)
2009 Sep 4, Arab League chief
Amr Moussa, speaking in Italy, said any Israeli offer for a
settlement freeze that doesn't include east Jerusalem is
unacceptable and "will suspend the peace process." Aides of Israel’s
PM said Benjamin Netanyahu will approve hundreds of new housing
units in West Bank settlements before slowing settlement
construction, in an apparent snub of Washington's public demand for
a total settlement freeze.
(AP, 9/4/09)
2009 Sep 4, The Belgian
government said it has accepted a US request to take in one detainee
from U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay.
(AP, 9/4/09)
2009 Sep 4, In China security
forces in the far-west city of Urumqi used tear gas to break up
fresh protests, as thousands of Han Chinese demanded better security
after a reported spate of attacks with syringes.
(Reuters, 9/4/09)
2009 Sep 4, In Ingushetia a
roadside bomb blast ripped through a police car, killing three
officers and wounding two others. Ingush authorities shot dead 3
insurgents. One man, identified as Rustam Dzortov, was a suspected
ringleader of rebel operations in Ingushetia and had organized the
suicide bombing of Ingush President Yunus Bek Yevkurov's motorcade
earlier this year. The two others may have been planning a terrorist
act in Moscow. In neighboring Chechnya two suspected insurgents were
killed in a similar incident. The suspected insurgents were found to
have explosives strapped to them, hand grenades, and train tickets
to Moscow.
(AP, 9/4/09)(AP, 9/5/09)
2009 Sep 4, Mexican federal
police detained Armando Medina (49), a small-town mayor of Mugica,
Michoacan state, on suspicion of aiding drug traffickers. This is
the same state where eight other city chiefs have been arrested
since May on similar charges. In the northern state of Durango, two
gunmen were killed in a shootout with federal police in the city of
Gomez Palacio. The federal government auctioned off property seized
from drug traffickers, smugglers, money launderers and tax evaders,
including a DC-9 jet that was used to transport 5.5 metric tons of
cocaine in 2006. The agency did not disclose the identity of winning
bidders. Mexican soldiers, acting on a tip about armed men, detained
Jose Rodolfo Escajeda in Nuevo Casas Grandes, in northern Chihuahua
state. The suspected drug gang leader was linked to a 2006 border
incursion by armed traffickers into Texas and the killing of an
anti-crime activist in July. Five gunmen and a bystander were killed
in a shootout at a lake that began when assailants opened fire on an
army patrol on the outskirts of the northern city of Monterrey. A
Ciudad Juarez police officer was shot to death outside his home..
(AP, 9/5/09)(AP, 9/6/09)
2009 Sep 4, Pakistan said
paramilitary troops have killed five suspected militants and
arrested 24 in an ongoing operation in the northwestern Khyber
tribal region.
(AP, 9/4/09)
2009 Sep 4, In southern Sudan
heavily armed fighters attacked an ethnic Dinka settlement in
Bony-Thiang, north of the state capital Malakal, killing 20 people.
Angry Dinka groups then launched a retaliatory raid on the nearby
Shilluk village of Bon, killing five people including a woman and
two children.
(AFP, 9/5/09)
2009 Sep 4, In southern
Thailand bomb believed to have been planted by Islamic insurgents
exploded outside a restaurant where security forces were eating
breakfast, killing a policeman and wounding 12 other people.
(AP, 9/4/09)
2009 Sep 4, Thousands of
opponents of Hugo Chavez marched against the Venezuelan president
across Latin America, accusing him of everything from
authoritarianism to international meddling. The protests,
coordinated through Twitter and Facebook, drew more than 5,000
people in Bogota, and thousands more in the capitals of Venezuela
and Honduras. Smaller demonstrations were held in other Latin
American capitals, as well as New York and Madrid.
(AP, 9/5/09)
2009 Sep 5, Crews working on a
seismic retrofit of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge found what
authorities called a "significant crack" in the eastern span that
could keep the California landmark closed beyond a planned holiday
weekend shutdown.
(AP, 9/6/09)
2009 Sep 5, In Louisiana Dennis
Carter Sr. (50) shot his estranged wife, son and 2-year-old grandson
to death and critically wounded his pregnant daughter-in-law at
their rural home, then killed himself as police tried to pull over
his car 20 minutes later.
(AP, 9/6/09)
2009 Sep 5, A small airplane
crashed into a Tulsa, Okla., park killing all 5 people on board.
(SSFC, 9/6/09, p.A7)
2009 Sep 5, Milwaukee police
arrested Walter Ellis (49) after DNA evidence linked him to the
slaying of 9 women, including 8 suspected prostitutes, dating back
to 1986. On Feb 18, 2011, Ellis was convicted in the deaths of 7
women and faced a mandatory sentence of life in prison.
(SFC, 9/8/09, p.A6)(SFC, 2/19/11, p.A6)
2009 Sep 5, In Afghanistan a US
soldier serving in the NATO-led coalition died after coming under
fire in the east of the country. Gunmen snatched New York Times
reporter Stephen Farrell, who has dual British-Irish nationality,
and his interpreter Sultan Munadi, while they were reporting on the
aftermath of a NATO air strike on fuel tankers that killed scores of
people. On Sep 9 Farrell was freed in a raid that killed a British
soldier as well as Afghan translator Sultan Munadi (34).
(AFP, 9/5/09)(AFP, 9/9/09)
2009 Sep 5, The Group of 20
rich and developing countries held talks in London. They were
expected to commit to further efforts to boost growth, despite
fledging signs of an economic recovery. Top finance officials agreed
to curb hefty bankers’ bonuses, but the US and Britain shied away
from imposing a cap.
(AP, 9/5/09)(SSFC, 9/6/09, p.A5)
2009 Sep 5, In Britain racially
charged violence erupted between a group protesting Islamic
extremism and counter-demonstrators in the central city of
Birmingham. Authorities arrested 90 people. The clashes erupted when
a rally by the English Defense League ran into counter-demonstrators
including anti-fascists and youths of South Asian descent.
(AP, 9/6/09)
2009 Sep 5, Keith Waterhouse
(80) a prolific British author, journalist and playwright, died.
Waterhouse was best known for the 1959 novel Billy Liar -- the story
of a day-dreamer who plans his escape from a depressing job as an
undertaker. It was made into a film in 1963.
(AFP, 9/5/09)
2009 Sep 5, The sightseeing
boat Ilinden, carrying 55 Bulgarian tourists, sank in Lake Ohrid on
Macedonia's western border, and 15 people drowned.
(AP, 9/5/09)(AFP, 9/6/09)
2009 Sep 5, Chinese leaders
removed the Communist Party chief of the restive western city of
Urumqi, trying to appease public anger following sometimes violent
protests this week that the government worries could re-ignite
deadly ethnic rioting. The removal of Li Zhi came amid reports of
police again dispersing crowds outside Urumqi's government offices
using tear gas, and more unconfirmed reports of needle attacks.
(Reuters, 9/5/09)
2009 Sep 5, In Colombia a
grenade exploded in a crowd celebrating a national soccer team win
in Medellin, killing one person and wounding at least 30. Police
thought a reveler may have accidentally detonated the grenade by
mishandling it.
(AP, 9/6/09)
2009 Sep 5, In Iraq hundreds of
Sunni Arabs opposed to the presence of Kurdish troops in disputed
areas of northern Iraq demonstrated against a plan to deploy a mixed
force of American, Kurdish and Iraqi soldiers in the area.
(AP, 9/5/09)
2009 Sep 5, In southern Mexico
gunmen killed Jose Francisco Fuentes Esperon (43), a state
congressional candidate, his wife (38) and two sons (9&13) in
their home in Villahermosa in the Gulf coast state of Tabasco.
Police later arrested a boy (16) and two young men for allegedly
killing Fuentes and his family. Chihuahua state prosecutors reported
that a severed human head was found placed on a car hood in the
border city of Ciudad Juarez, along with a message relating to drug
cartels.
(AP, 9/5/09)(AP, 9/7/09)
2009 Sep 5, Gani Fawehinmi (71)
prominent Nigerian lawyer and rights activist died in Lagos after a
prolonged battle with cancer. Fawehinmi, holder of Nigeria's highest
legal title, the Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), was an author,
publisher, philanthropist, social critic, human and civil rights
lawyer and politician.
(AFP, 9/5/09)
2009 Sep 5, Pakistan officials
said troops killed 43 alleged militants in an operation in the
Khyber tribal region while airstrikes left several more dead in the
stronghold of the new Taliban chief elsewhere in the northwest.
Government fighter jets and helicopter gunships pounded militant
hide-outs in three villages of the Orakzai tribal region, the
stronghold of new Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud. The
tortured body of Akhtar Ali (28), operator of an electrical repair
shop, was dumped on the doorstep of the family home in Mingora. He
had been kidnapped on Sep 1. His death was believed to have resulted
from a case of mistaken identity.
(AP, 9/5/09)(Econ, 10/3/09, p.49)
2009 Sep 5, In Somalia at least
six civilians were killed and 18 others wounded in clashes that
erupted when insurgents attacked government and African Union forces
in Mogadishu.
(AFP, 9/6/09)
2009 Sep 5, In Sweden Tesfaldet
Tesloy (28), an illegal Eritrean immigrant who has lived in Sweden
for six years, appeared on TV to collect a tax-free lottery prize of
1.2 million Swedish crown (101,654 pounds). Sweden's attempts to
deport the man have failed due to his country's refusal to take him
back, highlighting a common problem for immigration officials.
(Reuters, 9/5/09)
2009 Sep 5, The IMF said
Zimbabwe has received about 400 million dollars, as Special Drawing
Rights, in support from the International Monetary Fund, part of its
broader effort to cushion the blows of the global economic crisis.
To convert the SDRs into hard currency, Zimbabwe would have to find
another country to buy them. Otherwise the money serves to bolster
Harare's meager foreign reserves.
(AFP, 9/5/09)
2009 Sep 5, Milwaukee police
arrested Walter Ellis (49) after DNA evidence linked him to the
slaying of 9 women, including 8 suspected prostitutes, dating back
to 1986.
(SFC, 9/7/09, p.A6)
2009 Sep 6, British PM Gordon
Brown said he would support compensation claims against Libya by
families of IRA victims who say Tripoli helped to arm the
guerrillas.
(Reuters, 9/6/09)
2009 Sep 6, In Ecuador Lt. Col.
John Merino, President Rafael Correa's chief of security, died of
swine flu. Ecuador has reported 36 confirmed deaths from swine flu
as of last week, along with 1,382 infected.
(AP, 9/7/09)
2009 Sep 6, The El Salvador
navy said it has found 76 migrants aboard a boat in the Pacific.
They included 25 Bangladeshis, 25 Nepalese, 21 Eritreans and five
Ecuadoreans. The boat had set sail a week ago from the Ecuadorean
port of Manta.
(AP, 9/7/09)
2009 Sep 6, In Hong Kong a man
hurled acid at pedestrians in the Mong Kok shopping district, in the
neighborhood's fourth acid attack in a year. The attacker (28),
arrested nearby, targeted a couple strolling through the district,
but also hurt nine others.
(AP, 9/6/09)
2009 Sep 6, In Iran Venezuela’s
President Hugo Chavez sealed an agreement to export 20,000 barrels
per day of gasoline to Iran. The deal would give Tehran a cushion if
the West carries out threats of fuel sanctions over Iran's nuclear
program. The two countries also agreed to set up a bank together to
help finance joint projects.
(AP, 9/7/09)
2009 Sep 6, In Iraq a gunman
broke into a house in Mosul, killing a 3-year-old girl and her
grandmother before fleeing. Gunmen also attacked checkpoints in the
city, killing three policemen. In southeast Baghdad, a car parked
near a security checkpoint exploded, killing one person and wounding
five civilians.
(AP, 9/6/09)
2009 Sep 6, In Mexico attackers
shot four men to death in a motel parking lot in the border city of
Ciudad Juarez.
(AP, 9/8/09)
2009 Sep 6, Pakistani military
destroyed two training centers and 17 militant homes. 2 people
kidnapped by militants were recovered. Troops killed 33 militants
during the latest action to pacify the Khyber Pass. Thousands of
civilians were reported fleeing the latest military operation in the
northwestern Khyber tribal region. 3 policemen were found fatally
shot, each by a single bullet to the head, west of Islamabad.
(AP, 9/6/09)(AP, 9/7/09)
2009 Sep 6, In the southern
Philippines the Superferry 9, carrying nearly 1,000 passengers, sank
leaving at least 9 people dead. After rescue efforts one passenger
was left unaccounted.
(AFP, 9/6/09)(AP, 9/7/09)
2009 Sep 6, Somali authorities,
who say they were not informed of a hostage exchange plan, stopped a
deal to swap three hostages held by Somali pirates with 23 suspected
pirates, who had been held in the Seychelles.
(AP, 9/7/09)
2009 Sep 6, Six South Koreans
camping and fishing along a river flowing from North Korea were
swept away when it suddenly doubled in height, because a new dam in
the North released a large amount of water without warning. On Oct
14 North Korea offered a rare apology for unleashing the dam water
and promised to alert Seoul to such measures in the future.
(AP, 9/6/09)(AP, 10/14/09)
2009 Sep 7, US snacks company
Kraft Foods launched a 10.2 billion pound bid for its British rival
Cadbury, with traders expecting the price to run higher as takeover
activity returns to the markets. Cadbury immediately rejected the
offer.
(AP, 9/7/09)
2009 Sep 7, In Tennessee 3
people were shot to death at a mobile home near Lafayette.
(SFC, 9/8/09, p.A6)
2009 Sep 7, Six American
tourists in Antigua were charged with assault and malicious damage
after refusing to pay a cab fare on Sep 4, which they thought was
excessive and later scuffling with police officers. They were
released on $5,000 bail each. Their Carnival Cruise Lines ship left
without them. On Oct 3 five New York tourists pleaded guilty to
fighting with plainclothes police officers after disputing the $100
cab fare. Prosecutors dropped charges against a sixth tourist.
(AP, 9/8/09)(AP, 10/3/09)
2009 Sep 7, Three British
Muslims were convicted of conspiring to kill thousands of civilians
by blowing up trans-Atlantic flights in mid-air with liquid
explosives disguised as soft drinks. Abdulla Ahmed Ali (28), Assad
Sarwar (29), and Tanvir Hussain (28) were found guilty of conspiracy
to murder by detonating explosives on aircraft. The men's arrests in
August 2006 had led to huge travel chaos. 5 others were also tried.
Umar Islam was convicted of conspiracy to murder. The jury failed to
reach a verdict on 3 others. Donald Stewart-Whyte was cleared.
(AP, 9/7/09)(Econ, 9/12/09, p.62)
2009 Sep 7, Gabon's main
opposition parties demanded authorities conduct a recount of a
disputed election the government said was won by the son of the
country's long-ruling president.
(AP, 9/7/09)
2009 Sep 7, In Guatemala four
prison officials were shot to death in three separate attacks that
authorities believed were retaliation for a jail crackdown.
Officials over the weekend had seized cell phones and moved inmates
to different prisons to break up an extortion ring.
(AP, 9/7/09)
2009 Sep 7, A small Indonesian
military plane crashed on Borneo with nine passengers and crew
aboard, killing four.
(AP, 9/7/09)
2009 Sep 7, President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad said Iran will neither halt uranium enrichment nor
negotiate over its nuclear rights but is ready to sit and talk with
world powers over "global challenges."
(AP, 9/7/09)
2009 Sep 7, In western Iraq a
suicide car bomber targeted a line of vehicles stopped at a
checkpoint near Ramadi, killing eight people and wounding 16. In
Baghdad a bomb killed a driver as he approached a military
checkpoint in Sadr City district. Two children playing with a hand
grenade they found in a stream were killed when it exploded in the
northern city of Kirkuk. Abdul-Basit Turki, director general of the
Finance Ministry’s auditing department, was charged with wasting
public funds. Bombings killed at least 17 people nationwide.
(AP, 9/7/09)(SFC, 9/8/09, p.A4)
2009 Sep 7, Israel officially
approved the construction of hundreds of new homes in the West Bank,
deepening an already unprecedented rift with the US over Israeli
settlement expansion. Israel PM Netanyahu vanished from public view
in Israel for most of the day. His office said he had visited a
secret security facility. It was later confirmed that he had made a
secret trip to Russia, which included a meeting with the
Russia’s Pres. Dmitry Medvedev.
(AP, 9/7/09)(AP, 9/20/09)
2009 Sep 7, Yukio Hatoyama,
Japan's next prime minister, vowed to slash greenhouse gas emissions
by 25% from 1990 levels by 2020.
(AP, 9/7/09)
2009 Sep 7, Mexican President
Felipe Calderon accepted the resignation of Attorney General Eduardo
Medina-Mora, who was leading the battle against drug cartels, making
the biggest shake-up yet in his offensive against organized crime.
Calderon said he will send the Senate the nomination of Arturo
Chavez, a little known lawyer who has worked as both a state and
federal prosecutor, to replace Medina-Mora. In the Pacific port of
Lazaro Cardenas, about 150 federal police officers assigned to fight
cartels went on strike, saying they have not been paid in two months
or received hazard bonuses.
(AP, 9/7/09)(AP, 9/8/09)
2009 Sep 7, Five Pakistani
soldiers were killed in a land mine blast in the Taliban bastion of
South Waziristan. A suspected US missile strike killed 5 people at
Machi Khel village in North Waziristan close to the Afghan border.
Al-Qaida operations chief Ilyas Kashmiri, a Pakistani national, was
later believed to be among the dead.
(AP, 9/7/09)(SFC, 9/8/09, p.A2)(AP, 9/17/09)
2009 Sep 7, A Sudanese judge
convicted Lubna Hussein, a woman journalist, for violating the
public indecency law by wearing trousers outdoors and fined her
$200, but did not impose a feared flogging penalty. Hussein said she
will not pay a penny while still in court custody, wearing the same
trousers that had sparked her arrest.
(AP, 9/7/09)
2009 Sep 7, UK-based
Global Witness said they had found serious discrepancies in reports
of Sudan's oil revenues which could mean Khartoum's government was
underpaying its strife torn south by hundreds of millions of
dollars.
(Reuters, 9/7/09)
2009 Sep 7, Taiwan's Premier
Liu Chao-shiuan resigned amid strong criticism of the government's
slow response to the most devastating storm to hit the island in 50
years. Pres. Ma Ying-jeou named Nationalist Party Secretary General
Wu Den-yih (61) to replace Liu.
(AP, 9/7/09)
2009 Sep 7, The UN’s Children's
Fund reacted furiously to Sri Lanka's decision to expel its
spokesman over his allegedly pro-rebel stance in the final stages of
the island's ethnic war. James Elder, communications chief for
UNICEF in Sri Lanka, was accused by the government of issuing
"propaganda" in support of the Tamil Tiger separatists before their
defeat at the hands of government forces in May.
(AFP, 9/7/09)
2009 Sep 7, Turkish military
police stormed an Istanbul villa to rescue nine captive women whose
scantily clad images were posted online after they were recruited
for a television reality show. The women had been held captive for
about two months. About 14 people had been working on the show for
the Istanbul Grup Bilisim Electronic, Trade, Communication and
Advertisement company.
(AP, 9/10/09)
2009 Sep 8, Pres. Obama made a
speech aired on C-SPAN, addressed to school children encouraging
them to study hard and stay in school.
(SFC, 9/9/09, p.A6)
2009 Sep 8, A review committee
on NASA, led by Norman Augustine, delivered a summary report saying
the agency does not have enough money to return to the moon. The
Augustine report also said that NASA should stop traveling to the
Int’l. Space Station and to low Earth orbit in general, leaving
these to the private sector.
(Econ, 9/12/09, p.87)
2009 Sep 8, Philip Barry (52)
of Brooklyn was charged with operating an alleged $40 million Ponzi
scheme that stretched for three decades and apparently helped
finance a pornography business. He had turned himself in to
authorities in August after running the scheme for 31 years. Barry
spent a portion of his investors' money on real-estate purchases
that he hoped would appreciate. They did not.
(http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2009/09/brooklyns_philip_barry_may_hav.html)
2009 Sep 8, A US District judge
in San Francisco sentenced Williams “Boots” Del Biaggio III (41),
former co-owner of the San Jose Sharks hockey team, to over 8 years
in prison for bilking investors of million of dollars in a series of
schemes to help buy a stake in the Nashville Predators professional
hockey team and to pay off debts.
(SFC, 9/9/09, p.D3)
2009 Sep 8, The SF Bay Bridge
opened as work to fix a crack on the cantilever section of the
bridge was fixed ahead of schedule. Cars were allowed to start
crossing around 6:30 a.m.
(www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_13290522?source=rss)
2009 Sep 8, In Connecticut
Annie Le (24), a California graduate student at Yale, disappeared
after entering a laboratory building. She was due to be married on
Sep 13. On Sep 13 police found her body stuffed behind a wall in the
high-security laboratory building where she worked. On June 3, 2011,
Raymond Clark III was sentenced to 44 years in prison for the
murder.
(SSFC, 9/13/09, p.A16)(AP, 9/14/09)(SFC, 6/4/11,
p.A4)
2009 Sep 8, Afghan President
Hamid Karzai surpassed for the first time the 50% threshold needed
to avoid a run-off in the presidential election, according to
preliminary results, but with fraud allegations rising, a UN-backed
commission ordered a re-count of tainted ballots. A suicide car bomb
exploded outside the gates of the ISAF military airport in Kabul,
killing three civilians and wounding nine people, including four
foreign soldiers.
(AP, 9/8/09)(AFP, 9/9/09)
2009 Sep 8, In Afghanistan
Marine Corporal Dakota Meyer (21) saved the lives of 13 Marines and
23 Afghan soldiers during a 6-hour fight the with Taliban that left
5 other US soldiers dead in Kunar province. Marine Staff Sgt. Juan
Rodriguez-Chavez accompanied Meyer. In 2011 the Kentucky farm boy
was awarded the US Medal of Honor. For his valor, Rodriguez-Chavez,
who hailed originally from Acuna, Mexico, would be awarded the Navy
Cross.
(SFC, 9/15/11, p.A12)(AP, 9/15/11)
2009 Sep 8, Across northern
Argentina and southern Brazil a violent storm that spawned a tornado
and mudslides killed at least 15 people. Dozens were injured in the
winds and hail as their homes were destroyed.
(AP, 9/8/09)
2009 Sep 8, The British
government said the last remaining armed paramilitary groups in
Northern Ireland had pledged to decommission all their weapons
within six months. Hours later army experts in Northern Ireland
defused a massive roadside bomb, averting what could have been a
"devastating" explosion in the long-troubled British province.
(AP, 9/8/09)(AFP, 9/8/09)
2009 Sep 8, A British judge
sentenced Neil Lewington (44), a racist who planned to attack people
he considered "non-British," to at least six years in jail for
terrorist offenses.
(AP, 9/8/09)
2009 Sep 8, Deutsche Telekom AG
and France Telecom SA said they intend to combine their British
mobile phone units, shaking up the country's intensely competitive
market and forming the country's biggest mobile operator. Analysts
said Nokia Siemens Networks, the key equipment vendor to British
operations of Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom, had most to lose
in the merger.
(AP, 9/8/09)(Reuters, 9/8/09)
2009 Sep 8, In central China's
Henan province an explosion at an illegal coal mine killed 42 miners
and left another 37 men trapped. Elsewhere in Henan province 13
workers were killed in gold mine fire sparked by the severing of
electrical wires in a cave-in.
(AP, 9/8/09)(AP, 9/9/09)
2009 Sep 8, Colombia’s
President Alvaro Uribe signed legislation calling for a national
referendum on amending the constitution to allow him to seek
re-election for a second time.
(AP, 9/9/09)
2009 Sep 8, In the Democratic
Republic of Congo two Norwegians were sentenced to death by a court
for murdering a Congolese man in the northeast of the country in
May.
(AFP, 9/8/09)
2009 Sep 8, A security official
said Egyptian border guards shot dead four sub-Saharan migrants as
they tried to illegally enter Israel.
(AFP, 9/8/09)
2009 Sep 8, The EU said that a
member states could be allowed to ban gambling websites if its
intention was to stop crime.
(Reuters, 9/8/09)
2009 Sep 8, Guatemalan
President Alvaro Colom declared "a state of public calamity" to help
mobilize funds and resources to confront a food shortage that will
affect thousa