Today in History - August 7
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317Â Â Â Â Â Â
Aug 7, Flavius Julius Constantius II, Emperor Egypt, Byzantium, Rome
(337-61), was born.
   (MC, 8/7/02)
626Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Battle at
Constantinople: Slavs, Persians and Avars were defeated. Emp.
Heraclius repelled the attacks. The attacks began in 625.
   (PCh, 1992, p.60)(MC, 8/7/02)
1106Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Henry IV (54), Holy
Roman Emperor (1056/84-1105), died.
   (MC, 8/7/02)
1485Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Henry (VII) Tudor's
army landed in Milford Haven, South-Wales.
   (ON, 12/06, p.1)
1573Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Francis Drake’s
fleet returned to Plymouth.
   (MC, 8/7/02)
1585Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Tatar forces of
Khan Kutchum attacked a sleeping Cossack expedition under Yermak
near the mouth of the Vagay River in Siberia. The Cossacks were
decimated and Yermak drowned wearing a suit of armor given him by
Tsar Ivan.
   (ON, 2/04, p.5)
1620Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Kepler's mother was
arrested for witchcraft.
   (MC, 8/7/02)
1620Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, French king Louis
XIII beat his mother Marie de Medici at the Battle at Ponts-the-Ca,
Poitou.
   (MC, 8/7/02)
1642Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, A Royalist force
laid siege to Warwick Castle. Soldiers loyal to the king tried
without success to unseat the Parliamentarian forces that held it.
While a minor skirmish, the outcome would foreshadow the broader
struggle for the country. The siege was lifted on 23 August 1642
when the garrison was relieved by the forces of Robert Devereux, 3rd
Earl of Essex, and the Royalists were forced to retreat to
Worcester.
   (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warwick_Castle)
1661Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Benedetta Carlini
(b.1590), a Catholic mystic and lesbian nun who lived in
counter-reformation Italy, died after having spent thirty-five years
in prison. In 2021 a biographical film about Benedetta Carlini
called Benedetta, directed by Paul Verhoeven, was released.
   (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benedetta_Carlini)
1731Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, William Cosby
arrived in New York to assume his post as Governor for the New York
Province.
  Â
(www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/zenger/zengeraccount.html)
1742Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Nathanael Greene,
American Revolutionary War General, was born.
   (MC, 8/7/02)
1760Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Ft. Loudon,
Tennessee, surrendered to Cherokee Indians.
   (MC, 8/7/02)
1779Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Carl Ritter,
cofounder of modern science of geography, was born in Quedlinberg,
Prussia.
   (MC, 8/7/02)
1782Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, General George
Washington created the Order of the Purple Heart, a decoration to
recognize merit in enlisted men and noncommissioned officers.
Washington authorized the award of the Purple Heart for soldiers
wounded in combat.
   (AP, 8/7/97)(HN, 8/7/98)
1782Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, A statue of Peter
the Great was unveiled in St. Petersburg on the 100th anniversary of
his accession to the throne. It was made by French sculptor
Etienne-Maurice Falconet (1716-1791), who spent 12 years on the
work. Empress Catherine commissioned it in 1765.
   (WSJ, 8/5/06, p.P12)
1783Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, John Heathcoat
(d.1861), English inventor of lace-making machinery (1809), was
born. In 1816 Luddites burned down his Nottingham factory.
   (MC, 8/7/02)(Internet)
1789Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The U.S. War
Department was established by Congress.
   (AP, 8/7/97)
1794Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, George Washington
issued a proclamation telling a group of Western Pennsylvania
farmers to stop their Whiskey Rebellion. In the US in western
Pennsylvania, angry farmers protested a new federal tax on whiskey
makers. The protest flared into the open warfare known as the
Whiskey Rebellion between US marshals and whiskey farmers.
  Â
(http://www.ttb.gov/public_info/whisky_rebellion.shtml)(A&IP,
ESM, p.16)(HNQ, 10/14/99)
1802Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Napoleon ordered
the re-instatement of slavery on St. Domingue (Haiti).
   (MC, 8/7/02)
1814Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Pope Pius VII
reinstated the Jesuits.
   (MC, 8/7/02)
1818Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Henri Charles
Litolff, French composer, pianist, was born.
   (MC, 8/7/02)
1819Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, South American
liberator Simon Bolivar defeated Spanish forces under Gen. Jose
Barreiro in New Granada (Colombia) at the Battle of Boyaca. The
revolutionary army entered Bogota Aug 10.
   (HNQ, 9/12/99)(ON, 3/05, p.2)
1820Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The 1st potatoes
were planted in Hawaii.
   (MC, 8/7/02)
1821Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Caroline of
Brunswick (b.1768), wife of England’s King George IV, died. In 2006
Jane Robins authored “The Trial of Queen Caroline: The Scandalous
Affair that Nearly Ended a Monarchy.”
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_IV_of_the_United_Kingdom)(Econ,
8/5/06, p.76)
1826Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Marc Brunel hired
his son, Isambard, to replace William Armstrong as chief engineer
for building the tunnel under England’s Thames River.
   (ON, 4/06,
p.8)(www.bris.ac.uk/is/services/specialcollections/brunelchronology.html)
1833Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Powell Clayton,
Brig. General (Union volunteers), (Gov-R-Ark), was born in Pa.
   (MC, 8/7/02)(Internet)
1836Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Evander McIvor Law
(d.1920), Brig General (Confederate Army), was born in South
Carolina.
   (MC, 8/7/02)(Internet)
1864Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Union Gen. Philip
Henry Sheridan took command of his 30,000-man army at Harper’s
Ferry, West Virginia. His orders from Gen. Grant were to march into
the Shenandoah Valley and destroy the army of Confederate Gen. Jubal
Early.
   (ON, 10/20/11, p.11)
1864Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Union troops
captured part of Confederate General Jubal Early's army at
Moorefield, West Virginia.
   (HN, 8/7/98)
1876Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Margaretha Zelle
(aka Mata Hari) was born in the Netherlands. Mata Hari, otherwise
known as Margaretha G. Macleod, passed secrets to the Germans in
World War I.
   (WSJ, 1/16/97, p.A16)(HN, 8/7/98)
1882Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Hatfields of south
West Virginia and McCoys of eastern Kentucky re-engaged in a feud
that dated back to 1865. Some 100 were wounded or died. In 2007
medical evidence indicated that many of the descendants of the
McCoys suffered from an inherited disease that leads to hair-trigger
rage and violent outbursts.
  Â
(www.tugvalleychamberofcommerce.com/tour.html)(SFC, 4/6/07, p.A16)
1888Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The revolving door,
the brainchild of Philadelphia inventor Theophilus Van Kannel
(1841-1919), was patented. In 1889 he founded the Van Kannel
Revolving Door Company.
   (http://tinyurl.com/mdqrqxs)
1893Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Alfredo Catalani
(39), Italian composer, died.
   (MC, 8/7/02)(Internet)
1896Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Ernesto Lecuona,
composer (Malaguena), was born in Havana, Cuba.
   (MC, 8/7/02)
1903Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Louis Leakey,
anthropologist, archeologist and paleontologist, was born in Kenya.
He believed that Africa was the cradle of mankind.
   (HN, 8/7/98)(Internet)
1904Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Ralph Bunche
(d.1971), US diplomat and the first African-American Nobel Prize
winner (1950), was born. "There are no warlike peoples- just warlike
leaders."
   (HN, 8/7/98)(AP, 12/7/99)(MC, 8/7/02)
1906Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In North Carolina,
a mob defies a court order and lynches three African Americans which
becomes known as "The Lyerly Murders."
   (HN, 8/7/99)
1909Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Alice Huyler Ramsey
(22) arrived in San Francisco on a ferry boat after driving a 1909
Maxwell Model DA across the country. She had left New York on June
9.
   (SFC, 7/10/09, p.D3)
1910 Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In San Francisco
the Chutes vaudeville theater on Fillmore St. attracted Sophie
Tucker, who revived her career after being black-balled by Flo
Ziegfeld back in New York. Tucker performed the Grizzly Bear song in
San Francisco. Sophie Tucker at the Chutes theater creates a genuine
furor with her rendition of “The Dance of the Grizzly Bear.” She did
two Sunday through Saturday runs, August 7 - 13, and September 18 -
24. in 1910.
   (AJSF, Vol. 14. No. 2, Winter,
2003)(http://sfpl.org/index.php?pg=2000131701)
1912Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The Progressive
Party (Bull Moose Party) nominated Theodore Roosevelt for president.
Ex-President Theodore Roosevelt had stormed the Republican
convention but failed to wrest the nomination from William Howard
Taft. He then founded his own, short-lived, Progressive Party. The
party split allowed Taft to win the election.
   (WSJ, 6/5/96, p.A12)(AP, 8/7/97)(SFEC, 3/5/00,
p.D8)
1915Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In the assault up
Russell's Top at Gallipoli 232 Australians died.
   (MC, 8/7/02)
1916Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Persia formed an
alliance with Britain and Russia.
   (HN, 8/7/98)
1922Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The Irish
Republican Army cut the cable link between the United States and
Europe at Waterville landing station.
   (HN, 8/7/98)
1926Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Stan Freberg,
satirist, ad executive, cartoon voice (Bertie), was born in LA,
Calif.
   (MC, 8/7/02)
1926Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The United States
declared non-intervention in the Spanish Civil War.
   (HN, 8/7/98)
1927Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Edwin Edwards,
governor of Louisiana (1972-1980, 1984-1988, 1992-1996), was born.
   (HN, 8/7/98)
1927Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, US Major General
Leonard Wood (b.1860) died in Boston, Mass. His military service
included commands in Cuba (1900-1902) and the Philippines 1905 and
1921-1927. In 1910, he was named Chief of Staff of the Army,
the only medical officer to ever hold the position. In 2005 Jack
McCallum authored the biography “Leonard Wood.”
   (www.wood.army.mil/MGLeonardwood.htm)
1927Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The Peace Bridge
between the United States and Canada was dedicated during ceremonies
attended by the Prince of Wales, Canadian PM William Lyon Mackenzie
King and US Vice President Charles Dawes.
   (AP, 8/7/07)
1927Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Maia Wojciechowska
(d.2002) was born in Warsaw. She moved to the US in 1942 and became
an acclaimed author of children’s books. Her work included the
memoir "Till the Break of Day: Memories, 1939-1942."
   (SFC, 7/1/02, p.B5)
1928Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Amazing Randi
(James Randi), skeptic magician (Nova), was born in Toronto,
Ontario.
   (MC, 8/7/02)
1929Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Ruth
Carter-Stapleton, Pres. Carter’s sister, evangelist, was born in
Plains, Ga.
   (MC, 8/7/02)
1929Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Germany’s Graf
Zeppelin airship embarked from Lakehurst, New Jersey, on the first
round-the-world passenger voyage.
  Â
(www.airships.net/blog/graf-zeppelin-round-the-world-flight-august-1929)(Hem.,
2/96, p.43)
1930Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Marion, Indiana,
a mob broke into a jail and beat to death 2 young black men and hung
them from a tree in the courthouse square. Tommy Shipp and Abe Smith
and a 3rd teenager had just been arrested for a botched robbery that
left Claude Deeter, a white man, dead. James Cameron (16) was saved
from hanging, even as a noose was on his neck. In 2006 Cynthia Carr
authored “Our Town: A Heartland Lynching, a Haunted Town and the
Hidden History of White America.”
   (SSFC, 3/26/06, p.M3)
1930Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, James D. Phelan
(1897-1901), former 3-time mayor of SF, died. In 1914 he was elected
and served a single term in the US Senate. His unsuccessful 1920
reelection campaign used the slogan "Keep California White."
   (SFC, 11/7/00, p.A15)(SFC, 8/5/05, p.F4)
1931Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Leon Bismarck "Bix"
Beiderbecke (29), jazz cornetist (In Mist), died. In 1974 Richard M.
Sudhalter authored "Bix: Man and Legend."
   (WSJ, 6/13/03, p.W12)(MC, 8/7/02)
1932Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, American economist
Fred Manville Taylor (b.1855), died in Los Angeles. He is best known
for his contribution to the theory of market socialism. His
“Principles of Economics” (1911) went through 9 editions.
   (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_M._Taylor)
1932Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Abebe Bikila
(d.1973), barefoot runner from Ethiopia, winner of the 1960 Olympic
marathon, was born.
   (HN, 8/7/98)(www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7ZLB1-Ofyw)
1934Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The U.S. Court of
Appeals upheld a lower court ruling striking down the government's
attempt to ban the controversial James Joyce novel "Ulysses."
   (AP, 8/7/97)
1935      Aug 7, In Danzig
(Gdansk) 60% of voters agreed to Nazism (NSDAP).
   (MC, 8/7/02)
1936Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The United States
declared non-intervention in the Spanish Civil War.
   (HN, 8/7/00)
1938Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Nazi's closed the
theology department of Innsbruck university.
   (MC, 8/7/02)
1938Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Konstantin S.
Stanislavsky (75), Russian director (S Method), died.
   (MC, 8/7/02)
1940Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Churchill
recognized the De Gaulle government in exile.
   (MC, 8/7/02)
1941Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Rabindranath Tagore
(b.1861), a Bengali polymath who reshaped Bengali literature and
music, as well as Indian art with Contextual Modernism in the late
19th and early 20th centuries, died in Calcutta.
  Â
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabindranath_Tagore)
1941Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Romania 551 Jews
were shot in the Kishinev ghetto.
   (MC, 8/7/02)
1942Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Garrison Keillor,
American humorist and writer, was born.
   (HN, 8/7/00)
1942Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, B.J. (Billy Joe)
Thomas, singer (Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head, Hooked on a
Feeling), was born.
   (MC, 8/7/02)
1942Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The U.S. 1st Marine
Division under General A. A. Vandegrift landed on the islands of
Guadalcanal and Tulagi in the Solomon islands. This was the first
American amphibious landing of the war and the start of the first
major allied offensive in the Pacific during World War II. The
initial landing party included Navajo Codetalkers. This was the 1st
land Japanese defeat of WWII; Japan was building an air base with
designs on isolating the Australian continent.
   (AP, 8/7/97)(HN, 8/7/98)(WSJ, 10/12/99,
p.A24)(MC, 8/7/02)
1942Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The Nazi 36th
Police Battalion, made up of ethnic Estonians, massacred some 2,500
Jews at Novogrudok, Belarus (according to the Simon Wiesenthal
Foundation).
   (SSFC, 2/15/04, p.A4)
1942Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Transport 16
departed with French Jews to Nazi-Germany.
   (MC, 8/7/02)
1943Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, US Major Gen. Lewis
B. Hershey, the National Director of Selective Service, said: "There
are too many middle-class morons in the country, people with mental
diseases who can't pass Army tests."
   (SSFC, 8/5/18, DB p.50)
1944Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, July 20th Plot
trial under Nazi judge Roland Freisler began in Berlin.
   (MC, 8/7/02)
1944Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, German forces
launched a major counter attack against U.S. forces near Mortain,
France.
   (HN, 8/7/98)
1947Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The balsa
wood raft Kon-Tiki, which had carried a six-man crew 4,300 miles
across the Pacific Ocean, crashed into a reef in a Polynesian
archipelago. [see Apr 28]
   (AP, 8/7/97)
1953Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Eastern Airlines
entered the jet age with the Electra prop-jet.
   (MC, 8/7/02)
1956Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, British government
sent 3 aircraft carriers to Egypt.
   (MC, 8/7/02)
1957Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Oliver Hardy (65),
the heavier half of the Laurel and Hardy comedy team, died in North
Hollywood, Calif.
   (AP, 8/7/07)
1958Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Alberto Lleras
Camargo (1906-1990) began serving as President of Colombia and
continued to August 7, 1962.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberto_Lleras_Camargo)
1959Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The United States
launched Explorer 6, which sent back a picture of the Earth. The
satellite, popularly known as the "paddlewheel satellite," featured
a photocell scanner that transmitted a crude picture of the earth's
surface and cloud cover from a distance of 17,000 miles
   (HFA, '96, p.36)(AP, 8/7/97)(MC, 8/7/02)
1960Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Students staged
kneel-in demonstrations in Atlanta churches.
   (MC, 8/7/02)
1960Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Vaino Hannikainen
(60), Finnish composer, died.
   (MC, 8/7/02)
1960Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Ivory Coast became
independent from France. Felix Houphouet-Boigny (b.1905) began to
rule Ivory Coast as prime minister. Houphouet-Boigny led the country
until his death in 1993. Encouragement of investment and stability
made it one of region's most prosperous.
   (SFC, 12/25/99, p.A12)(AP, 9/24/02)
1961Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Soviet premier
Khrushchev predicted that the USSR economy would surpass that of the
US.
   (MC, 8/7/02)
1964Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Congress passed the
Gulf of Tonkin resolution, giving President Johnson broad powers in
dealing with reported North Vietnamese attacks on U.S. forces. It
allowed the president to use unlimited military force to prevent
attacks on U.S. forces. U.S. Senators Wayne Morse of Oregon and
Ernest Gruening of Alaska share the distinction of casting the only
votes against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. The resolution
supported President Lyndon Johnson's military actions against North
Vietnam in retaliation for its attack on a U.S. spy ship in the
Tonkin Gulf. The resolution passed in the House 414-0 and the Senate
88-2. The resolution, which amounted to a declaration of war, was
repealed by Congress on January 13, 1971.
   (AP, 8/7/97)(HNQ, 6/24/98)(HN, 8/7/98)
1964Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Turkey began an air
attack on Greek-Cypriots.
   (MC, 8/7/02)
1965Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, San Francisco
police arrested Ronnie Davis, founder of the SF Mime Troupe, in
Lafayette Park. He was charged with performing in a public park
without a permit. The troupe’s permit had been revoked for its
adoption of “Il Candelaio.,” a 16th century play by Giordano Bruno.
Bill Graham, manager of the troupe, soon threw a benefit for the
troupe and hired an unknown band called the Jefferson Airplane. The
benefit raised $4000 and led Graham to leave the Mime Troupe and
open the Fillmore.
   (SFC, 8/8/15, p.C1)
1966Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The United States
lost seven planes over North Vietnam, the most in the war up to this
point.
   (HN, 8/7/98)
1966Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, There was a race
riot in Lansing, Michigan.
   (MC, 8/7/02)
1969Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The body of a
Vermont man was discovered by a work crew in a water-filled pit off
Interstate 93 in Salem, New Hampshire. In 2020 fingerprint evidence
identified him as Winston “Skip” Morris (30). He had been released
from prison three months earlier and was found shot at least six
times in the head.
   (AP, 4/6/20)
1970Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, At a hearing for
the "Soledad Brothers," Jonathon P. Jackson (17), the younger
brother of George L. Jackson, attempted an armed rescue attempt at
the Marin Civic Center. A shootout in the parking lot followed and 4
people were killed and 5 injured. Assistant DA Gary Thomas (d.2017)
grabbed a pistol from one of the convicts and shot dead three of
them. Among the dead were Jackson, Judge Harold Haley, Black Panther
James McClain, and convict William A. Christmas. Angela Davis was
charged with murder, kidnapping and conspiracy, but was acquitted in
1972 after spending a year in jail.
   (SFEC, 3/1/98, p.W21)(SFC, 8/19/98, p.A18)(AP,
8/7/00)(SSFC, 4/23/17, p.C2)
1970Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Colombia Misael
Pastrana (1923-1997), a member of the Conservative Party, began
serving as the country’s 31st president. He was elected by a margin
of 63,000 votes. Some who favored his opponent, Gen’l. Gustavo Rojas
Pinilla, formed the M-19 rebel group and waged war for almost 2
decades before they disarmed in 1989.
   (SFC, 8/23/97,
p.A20)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misael_Pastrana_Borrero)
1970Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Israel, Jordan and
Egypt agreed to a ceasefire under the terms of the US proposed Roger
Plan. The Roger Plan was originally proposed in a December 9, 1969,
speech at an Adult Education conference. The plan was formally
announced on 19 June 1970.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_Attrition)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogers_Plan)
1973Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Hermine
Braunsteiner Ryan (1919-1999) became the first Nazi war criminal
extradited from the United States to Germany. A US judge had
certified her extradition to the Secretary of State on May 1, 1973.
She became the first Nazi war criminal to be extradited from the US.
The NY Times had exposed the local housewife in 1964 as a former
guard at the Nazi Majdanek death camp in Poland.
   (SSFC, 4/4/10, Par.
p.4)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermine_Braunsteiner)
1973Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, A US plane
accidentally bombed a Cambodian village, killing 400 civilians.
   (HN,
8/7/98)(www.massviolence.org/+-Cambodia-+?id_rubrique=6&artpage=11-18)
1973Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Pat Halley
(1950-2007), a Detroit reporter for the Fifth Estate, tossed a pie
in the face of the teenage "Lord of the Universe" at a formal
session of Common Council in protest of the Guru's claim of
divinity. A week later Halley was savagely beaten and almost killed
by two devotees of the Guru Maharaj Ji (15). Halley was released
from Detroit General Hospital on Aug. 21 in good condition after
undergoing surgery to repair a caved-in portion of his skull.
  Â
(www.ex-premie.org/pages/fifthestate4.htm)(http://tinyurl.com/2w98lt)
1974Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, French stuntman
Philippe Petit walked a tightrope strung between the twin towers of
New York's World Trade Center. In 2002 Petit authored "To Reach the
Clouds: My High Wire Walk Between the Twin Towers." In 2003 Steven
Galloway authored "Ascension," a novel that featured a fictional
Gypsy tightrope walker named Ursari, who makes a final, fateful
skywalk between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center on July 4,
1976. In 2008 James Marsh produced his documentary film of the
event: Man On Wire.”
   (AP, 8/7/97)(SSFC, 9/8/02, p.M4)(SSFC, 10/11/03,
p.M3)(WSJ, 8/8/08, p.W1)
1975Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In China a dam
collapse in Henan province killed tens of thousands of people. The
event was covered up for many years. A typhoon from the South China
Sea brought three successive days of enormous rain storms to the
area of southern Henan Province. Altogether 62 dams failed in one
night, including two major dams. As a result of this catastrophe
85,600 people died according to the official government figures but
others place the toll at 230 thousand.
   (WSJ, 8/29/07,
p.A12)(www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/3gorges.htm)
1976Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Scientists in
Pasadena, Calif., announced that the Viking 1 spacecraft had found
the strongest indications to date of possible life on Mars.
   (AP, 8/7/97)
1977Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, "Shenandoah" closed
at Alvin Theater in NYC after 1,050 performances.
  Â
(www.angelfire.com/stars/scottbakula/Theatrecredits.html)
1983Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Some 675,000
employees struck ATT Corp.
  Â
(http://openweb.tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/1983-8/1983-08-07-CBS-4.html)
1983Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Cynthia Munoz (17)
of Campbell, Ca., was found raped and murdered with stab wounds. In
2007 prosecutors with DNA evidence charged Christopher Melvin
Holland (52) with the murder and sought his arrest. Holland was
arrested in San Jose, Ca., on Oct 18, 2007.
  Â
(http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=local&id=5710333)(SFC,
10/19/07, p.B5)
1985Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Spc. Edward
Pimental (20), a US Army soldier, left a discotheque in the western
German city of Wiesbaden with a woman and was soon killed.
Terrorists used Pimental's ID card to enter the US Rhein-Main air
base in Frankfurt. The following day, explosives packed in a
Volkswagen rocked the parking lot behind the base headquarters. Two
Americans were killed and 23 people were injured. In 1994 a
Frankfurt court found Eva Haule guilty of killing Pimental. In 1996
a judge said Birgit Hogefeld, who was also convicted in the Pimental
killing and the Rhein-Main bombing, had lured Pimental out of the
disco. In 2007 Haule (53) was released from jail after serving 21
years of a life sentence.
   (AP, 8/17/07)
1987Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Lynne Cox became
the 1st to swim from US to Russia across the Bering Strait.
   (http://tinyurl.com/lal2h)
1987Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The presidents of 5
Central American nations, meeting in Guatemala City, signed an
11-point agreement designed to bring peace to their region.
   (AP, 8/7/97)
1988Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The Writers Guild
of America ended their 6 months strike.
   (http://tinyurl.com/zlxht)
1988Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Iranian Foreign
Minister Ali Akbar Velayati signaled his government's acceptance of
Iraq's modified peace proposal aimed at bringing about a cease-fire
in the Persian Gulf.
   (AP, 8/7/98)
1989Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, A small plane
carrying Congressman Mickey Leland, D-Texas, and 15 others
disappeared during a flight in Ethiopia. The wreckage of the plane
was found six days later; there were no survivors.
   (AP, 8/7/99)
1990Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, President Bush
ordered US troops and warplanes to Saudi Arabia to guard the
oil-rich desert kingdom against a possible invasion by Iraq. The US
Persian Gulf War began. Operation Desert Shield ended Feb 28, 1991.
It cost $8.1 billion and left 383 US casualties with 458 wounded.
   (AP, 8/7/99)(WSJ, 9/22/99, p.A8)
1990Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The UN imposed
sanctions on Iraq and devastated the economy.
   (SFC, 9/4/96, p.A8)
1991Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The five permanent
members of the UN Security Council agreed to authorize Iraq to sell
as much as $1.6 billion in oil over six months to pay for food,
humanitarian supplies and war reparations; however, Baghdad rejected
the resolution.
   (AP, 8/7/01)
1992Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Jennifer Capriati
won the gold medal in tennis at the Barcelona Olympics, beating
Steffi Graf.
   (AP, 8/7/02)
1992Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The luxury liner
Queen Elizabeth 2 ran aground off Massachusetts.
   (AP, 8/7/97)
1992Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The 39-nation
Conference on Disarmament in Geneva produced the final draft of a
treaty to ban chemical weapons, ending 24 years of talks.
   (AP, 8/7/97)
1993Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The public got its
first glimpse inside Buckingham Palace as people were given the
opportunity to tour the London home of Queen Elizabeth II. Proceeds
from ticket sales were earmarked to help repair fire damage at
Windsor Castle.
   (AP, 8/7/98)
1994Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The 10th
International Conference on AIDS opened in Yokohama, Japan.
   (AP, 8/7/99)
1995Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Ten days before he
was to be put to death for the murder of a police officer, black
activist and radio reporter Mumia Abu-Jamal won a reprieve from the
original trial judge in Philadelphia. As of 2008, his legal appeals
are still unsettled and he is a prisoner at State Correctional
Institution Greene near Waynesburg, Pennsylvania.
   (AP,
8/7/00)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, More than 6 million
American Online customers worldwide were left stranded when the
system crashed for almost 19 hours.
   (AP, 8/7/97)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, There was a report
that cervical cancer in women was linked to the human papilloma
virus (HPV). There is an estimated 75 different strains of HPV and
that 97% of cervical cancers were due to the virus and commonly
spread by sexual intercourse.
   (SFC, 8/7/96, p.A5)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, NASA researchers
formally presented their case for the existence of life long ago on
Mars. [see Aug 6]
   (AP, 8/7/01)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The presidents of
Serbia and Croatia agreed to establish diplomatic relations.
   (SFC, 8/8/96, p.A11)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Honduras the
attorney general accused the army of spying on thousands of public
officials, judges, politicians and journalists.
   (SFC, 8/8/96, p.C1)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Russia communist
leader Gennady Zyuganov was elected to lead a coalition of
Communists and nationalists under the banner of the Popular
Patriotic Union.
   (SFC, 8/8/96, p.A8)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Spain flash
floods at a Pyrenees mountain campsite killed at least 71 [86]
people at a campground.
   (WSJ, 8/9/96, p.A1)(AP, 8/7/97)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, It was reported
that US retail space and semiconductor manufacturing capacity far
exceeded demand. A downturn in the economy was said to have already
begun.
   (WSJ, 8/7/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The space shuttle
Discovery was launched with a crew of six. A satellite was dropped
off to study the Earth’s ozone layer.
   (SFC, 8/8/97, p.A3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, A DC-8 cargo plane
crashed on take-off at Miami Int’l. Airport. Four people were killed
on the denim filled 29-year-old plane bound for the Dominican
Republic.
   (SFC, 8/8/97, p.A3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The US State Dept.
expressed concern over reports of Chinese nuclear-capable M-11
missiles sold to Pakistan.
   (SFC, 8/8/97, p.E3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Argentina Pres.
Eduardo Frei of Chile and Argentine Pres. Carlos Menem opened a $325
million pipeline for natural gas from Argentina to Santiago.
   (SFC, 8/8/97, p.E3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, From China it was
reported that Zhu Qihua planned to move the Big Green Mountain by
Lanzhou, a railroad hub, in order to clear the air of heavy smog.
   (WSJ, 8/7/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Mexico Jose
Paoletti Moreda and his son Renato were arrested on charges of
leading an operation that smuggled deaf people into the US and
forced them to work under virtual slavery conditions. Another couple
was arrested with ten deaf smuggled immigrants in Dallas on Aug 15.
   (SFC, 8/8/97, p.A3)(SFC, 8/16/97, p.A2)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Romania Prime
Minister Victor Ciorbea announced the closure of 17 factories at the
urging of the IMF. 30,000 jobs would be lost and the following day
thousands protested the closing of the essentially bankrupt
companies.
   (SFC, 8/9/97, p.C1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, A Russian capsule
on a fix-it mission docked gingerly with the crippled Mir space
station, bringing a new crew to salvage the orbiting outpost.
   (AP, 8/7/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Switzerland the
measures to freeze the assets of deposed Zairean Pres. Mobuto Sese
Seko were declared legal.
   (SFC, 8/8/97, p.E3)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The Federal
Aviation Administration, in a follow-up to the probe of the 1996
explosion that destroyed TWA Flight 800, ordered the inspection of
Boeing 747 fuel tanks.
   (AP, 8/7/99)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, A fire in Tracy,
Ca., burned some 2.5 million tires at Royster’s Tire Disposal. Some
6 million tires were expected to burn for weeks.
   (SFC, 8/8/98, p.A21)(SFC, 8/10/98, p.A20)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Utah five young
girls (ages 2-6) died from heat exposure after they were trapped in
the trunk of a car in West Valley City.
   (SFC, 8/8/98, p.A5)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Steve Fossett
departed from western Argentina on his 4th attempt to circle the
world in a balloon.
   (SFC, 8/12/98, p.A8)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In China the death
toll from the summer floods passed 2,000 and the Jingjiang flood
plain was ordered evacuated.
   (SFC, 8/8/98, p.A14)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Colombia Pres.
Andres Pastrana took office. Following his inauguration Pastrana
replaced the top leaders of the military.
   (SFC, 8/5/98, p.A10)(WSJ, 8/10/98, p.A1)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Congo Pres.
Kabila left Kinshasa for Lubumbashi, his former rebel base, to meet
with a visiting South African delegation.
   (SFC, 8/8/98, p.A13)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Two powerful bombs
exploded at the US embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam,
Tanzania. The bombings killed 224 people and marked the first
large-scale attack by al Qaeda. Twelve Americans were among the
dead, and over 4,800 were injured. In Nairobi at least 53 buildings
were damaged. The adjacent Ufundi Cooperative House was demolished
and the 22-story Cooperative Bank House had all its windows
shattered. Haroun Fazil of the Comoros Islands was later the 3rd
bombing suspect to be charged in the Kenya bombing. Ali Mohamed, a
former US Army sergeant, was involved in the US Embassy bombings. In
2000 he pleaded guilty for his role under the direction of Osama bin
Laden. In 2001 Mohamed Rashed Daoud Al-‘Owhali (24) of Saudi Arabia,
Khalfan Khamis Mohamed (27) of Tanzania, Wadi El-Hage (40) of Texas,
and Mohamed Sadeek Odeh (36) of Jordan were convicted on 302 counts.
In 2007 Walid Muhammad bin Attash told a military tribunal at
Guantanamo that he was responsible for organizing the 2000 Cole
attack in Yemen as well as the 1998 bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.
In 2014 Adel Abdul Bary, a suspect in the bombings, pleaded guilty
to lesser charges of making threats against Americans. Plaintiffs
began suing Sudan in 2001 in federal court in Washington for
harboring and providing support to al Qaeda. In 2020 the US Supreme
Court refused to hear Sudan's bid to avoid paying $3.8 billion in
damages to family members of people killed or injured in the
bombings.
   (SFC, 8/8/98, p.A1)(SFEC, 8/9/98, p.A1)(WSJ,
9/18/98, p.A1)(AP, 8/7/99)(SFC, 10/21/00, p.A1)(SFC, 5/30/01,
p.A13)(SFC, 9/21/01, p.A1)(SFC, 3/20/07, p.A3)(SFC, 9/20/14,
p.A5)(Reuters, 1/13/20)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Nairobi
Catherine Bwire (25) was one of 25 people blinded by the bombing.
She was pregnant and gave birth to a daughter on Oct 27.
   (SFC, 11/25/98, p.A16)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Pakistan Sadik
Howaida (34), later named as Mohammed Saddiq Odeh, was detained at
the Karachi airport. He reportedly confessed to participating in the
bombing in Nairobi. He said that he and 2 coconspirators had left
Nairobi and planned to enter Afghanistan a few days before the
bombing. He acknowledged that the team was recruited and financed by
Osama bin Laden who was ensconced in a fortress-style hideout in
Kandahar. Odeh later refused to admit responsibility to American
officials.
   (SFEC, 8/16/98, p.A17)(SFC, 8/17/98,
p.12,17)(SFC, 8/18/98, p.A6)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Peru Pres.
Andres Pastrana took office.
   (SFC, 8/5/98, p.A10)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â cAug 7, Immediately after
the bombing of 2 US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, Sudanese
authorities arrested 2 men suspected of being involved in the plot.
[see Aug 21]
   (SFC, 7/30/99, p.A12)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Vietnam devalued
its currency 7%.
   (WSJ, 8/10/98, p.A10)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, President Clinton,
during a visit to his home state of Arkansas, promised to devote the
rest of his presidency to erasing poverty.
   (AP, 8/7/00)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The Southern Party
held its inaugural rally in Flat Rock, North Carolina, pledging to
work peacefully for a separate Southern nation.
   (AP, 8/7/00)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Wade Boggs became
the first player to homer for his three-thousandth hit.
   (AP, 8/7/00)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Islamic fighters
based in Chechnya seized at least 2 village in Dagestan. Warlords
Shamil Basayev and Wahabi commander Amir Khattab (Hattab) were
reported to be involved. This triggered the second Chechen war. The
Wahabis are a puritan branch of Sunni Islam founded in the 18th
century in Saudi Arabia.
   (SFEC, 8/8/99, p.A20)(Econ, 4/9/11, p.28)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In China Song
Yongyi, a research librarian at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa.,
was imprisoned while collecting data on the Cultural Revolution. On
Dec 12 he was charged with "the purchase and illegal provision of
intelligence to foreigners." Yongyi was released on Jan 28, 2000.
   (SFC, 1/26/00, p.A8)(SFC, 1/29/00, p.A8)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Pres. Isaias
Afwerki of Eritrea made an unconditional offer for cooperation with
the OAU to end its war with Ethiopia during a meeting with Algerian
Pres. Bouteflika, the OAU chairman.
   (SFC, 8/9/99, p.A10)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Indonesia a
tugboat and oil tanker collided under thick haze and the tanker
ignited killing 10 people.
   (SFC, 8/10/99, p.A10)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Kosovo French
troops kept ethnic Albanians away from Serbs on the Ibar River
bridge at the Kosovska Mitrovica mining center. In Vrbas, Serbia,
some 2,000 people rallied against Pres. Milosevic.
   (SFEC, 8/8/99, p.A21)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Finland the
village of Kutemajarvi planned a sex fair for people over age 45 to
commemorate the UN designation of 1999 as the Int'l. Year of Older
Persons.
   (SFC, 1/16/99, p.A12)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Vice President and
Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore selected Connecticut
Senator Joseph Lieberman as his running mate; Lieberman was the
first Jew on a major party’s presidential ticket.
   (SFC, 8/8/00, p.A1)(AP, 8/7/01)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, It was reported
that another 16 people were killed by rebels in northern Colombia
and that Occidental Petroleum had halted production at its 2nd
largest field due to rebel attacks. Rightist paramilitary killed 7
villagers in San Diego.
   (WSJ, 8/7/00, p.A1)(SFC, 8/9/00, p.A14)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Chechen rebels
claimed 11 Russian soldiers in a military convoy were killed by a
remote controlled mine.
   (SFC, 8/8/00, p.A12)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Malaysia Anwar
Ibrahim, former deputy prime minister, was convicted of sodomy and
sentenced to 9 years in prison. Sukma Dermawan, Ibrahim’s
codefendant and adopted brother, was also found guilty.
   (SFC, 8/8/00, p.A11)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Spain a bomb
exploded in Bilbao and killed 3 suspected Basque separatists, who
appeared to be transporting explosives.
   (SFC, 8/8/00, p.A12)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Venezuela’s Pres.
Hugo Chavez arrived in Saudi Arabia to begin a tour of 10
oil-producing nations that included Iraq.
   (SFC, 8/8/00, p.A10)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Three researchers
told a committee at the National Academy of Sciences they were
unswayed by arguments against human cloning and would soon try to
clone human beings.
   (AP, 8/7/02)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Larry Adler (87),
harmonica virtuoso, died in London.
   (SFC, 8/11/01, p.A17)(AP, 8/7/02)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Cambodia the
Constitutional Council approved legislation to establish a special
court to try former Khmer Rouge leaders for crimes against humanity.
   (SFC, 8/8/01, p.A9)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Colombia Pres.
Pastrana announced that he was suspending talks with the 5,000 ELN
rebels.
   (SFC, 8/8/01, p.A8)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Two Israelis were
shot dead on the West Bank. Israel gave its soldiers a freer hand to
fire on Palestinians.
   (WSJ, 8/8/01, p.A1)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Macedonia police
conducted a predawn raid in Skopje and 5 members of the National
Liberation Army were killed.
   (SFC, 8/8/01, p.A8)
2001 Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Peru a gunfight
between police and leftist rebels in the province of Satipo left 12
rebels and 4 police officers dead.
   (SFC, 8/10/01, p.A18)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In the Philippines
the Islamic and National fronts signed a separate unity pact to
bridge their 23-year split. Muslim separatists agreed to a
cease-fire with the government. Only the Abu Sayyaf was left
fighting the government.
   (SFC, 8/8/01, p.A8)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Romania a gas
explosion in the Vulcan coal mine killed at least 14 miners.
   (SFC, 8/8/01, p.A9)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The Vatican
denounced what it called a "slanderous campaign" against the Roman
Catholic Church over the Holocaust-era pope, Pius XII.
   (AP, 8/7/02)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Destiny Wright
disappeared at a sleepover with other children in Philadelphia.
Abdul El-Shabazz (18) was arrested the next day and led police to
her body.
   (SFC, 8/10/02, p.A5)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Former ImClone
Systems chief executive Samuel Waksal was indicted in New York on
charges of obstruction of justice and bank fraud in addition to
previous securities fraud and perjury charges. Waksal later pleaded
guilty to securities fraud and was sentenced to more than seven
years in prison.
   (AP, 8/7/03)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Ford Motor Co. and
Canadian fuel cell developer Ballard Power Systems Inc. jointly
unveiled a hydrogen-fueled internal combustion engine-driven
generator they said could help pave the way toward the
commercialization of fuel cell technology.
   (Reuters, 8/7/02)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, A U.S. Air Force
cargo plane crashed on a Puerto Rican mountaintop with at least 10
military personnel on board, and all were feared dead.
   (AP, 8/8/02)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Treasury Secretary
Paul O'Neill urged Argentina to adopt a sound recovery strategy. As
O'Neill prepared to leave Argentina, more than 5,000 people rallied
near the president's downtown offices to protest his visit.
   (AP, 8/7/02)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Afghanistan at
least 15 people were killed south of Kabul in a shootout between
police and recently escaped Pakistani members of al Qaeda.
   (Reuters, 8/7/02)(SFC, 8/9/02, p.A14)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The first British
Cabinet minister to visit this country in two decades met with
Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, saying Libya was making a serious
attempt to move away from its international pariah status.
   (AP, 8/7/02)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The IMF agreed to
lend Brazil $30 billion to stem a financial panic. This was its
biggest loan to date.
   (SFC, 8/8/02, p.A10)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Colombia a
remote-controlled mortar attack killed 21 people during the
inauguration of Pres. Alvaro Uribe. 69 people were wounded.
   (AP, 8/8/02)(SFC, 8/8/02,
p.A1)(www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=2519)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, About 30 Israeli
tanks firing heavy machineguns raided the northern Gaza Strip in a
sweep for militants and troops shot dead a Palestinian policeman.
   (AP, 8/7/02)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The Palestinian
Cabinet accepted Israel's proposal for a troop withdrawal from some
areas of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in exchange for Palestinian
security guarantees, even as Israeli troops hunting terror suspects
killed five Palestinians in three raids.
   (AP, 8/7/02)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In the Philippines
Marxist rebels vowed all-out resistance against the government's
renewed campaign to crush their revolt after President Gloria
Macapagal Arroyo ordered the deployment of troops in their
strongholds.
   (Reuters, 8/7/02)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Saudi Arabia's
Foreign Minister Prince Saud said his country had made it clear to
Washington, publicly and privately, that the U.S. military will not
be allowed to use the kingdom's soil in any way for an attack on
Iraq. Saud said the longtime U.S. ally does not plan to expel
American forces from an air base used for flights to monitor Iraq.
   (AP, 8/7/02)(AP, 8/8/02)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In eastern
Tajikistan a dam holding water in a lake in the Pamir Mountains
broke and flooded a village and killing 20 people.
   (AP, 8/7/02)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Scientists reported
a new vaccine that was successful against the Ebola virus in
monkeys.
   (WSJ, 8/7/03, p.D6)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In the August issue
of Foundations of Physics Letters, Peter Lynds of New Zealand
claimed to see time and motion in a new way. Lynds refutes an
assumption dating back 2,500 years, that time can be thought of in
physical, definable quantities. In essence, scientists have long
assumed that motion can be considered in frozen moments, or
instants, even as time flows on. "There isn't a precise instant
underlying an object's motion," he said. "And as its position is
constantly changing over time -- and as such, never determined -- it
also doesn't have a determined position at any time."
   (AP, 8/7/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Afghanistan some
40 suspected Taliban fighters killed 6 Afghan soldiers and a driver
for a US aid organization.
   (SFC, 8/8/03, p.A7)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Bangladesh and
Namibia pledged more than 6,000 troops for a UN peace-keeping force
to replace multinational soldiers now deploying in war-torn Liberia.
   (AP, 8/8/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Chechen rebels
using a shoulder-fired missile shot down a Russian military
helicopter in the mountains, killing three of the crew.
   (AP, 8/7/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Gunmen ambushed a
Russian military convoy near the border with Chechnya, killing six
soldiers and wounding seven.
   (AP, 8/8/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Denmark's
unemployment rate rose in June to 6.2 percent, the highest level in
almost five years.
   (AP, 8/7/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, An Indonesian court
sentenced Amrozi bin Nurhasyim to death in the 2002 Bali bombings
that killed 202 people.
   (AP, 8/7/04)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Iraq a car bomb
shattered a street outside the walled Jordanian Embassy, killed 19
people — including two children.
   (SFC, 8/9/03, p.A1)(AP, 8/7/08)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Liberia Charles
Taylor picked Vice Pres. Moses Blah (56) as his successor. West
African peacekeepers entered Liberia's rebel-besieged capital.
   (AP, 8/7/04)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, An opposition party
in the Turks and Caicos, a British territory, won legislative
elections and will return to power after eight years out of office.
   (AP, 8/8/03)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Greg Maddux became
the 22nd pitcher in major league history to reach 300 victories,
leading the Chicago Cubs to an 8-4 victory over San Francisco.
   (AP, 8/7/05)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, AP reported that a
beheading was broadcast on 2 Arab TV stations. The video of the
beheading was fake and had been initially made and posted on the
Internet in May by 3 people from the SF Bay Area. Benjamin
Vanderford of SF said he made the video to show how easy it is to
spread lies over the Internet.
   (SSFC, 8/8/04, p.A12)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Paul N. Adair
(b.1915), Texas oil field firefighter, died. The 1968 film
“Hellfighter” with John Wayne was based on his life.
   (SFC, 8/9/04, p.B6)(Econ, 8/14/04, p.78)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Interim Iraqi Prime
Minister Ayad Allawi signed a long-awaited amnesty law that would
pardon Iraqis who have played minor roles in the country's
15-month-long insurgency. The Iraqi government closed the Iraqi
offices of the Arab television station Al-Jazeera for 30 days,
accusing it of inciting violence.
   (AP, 8/7/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Clashes between
US-led forces and fighters loyal to al-Sadr continued for a 3rd day
in Najaf and Sadr City. 23 civilians were killed and 121 wounded in
the day’s fighting.
   (SSFC, 8/8/04, p.A1)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, A bomb exploded
outside a car dealership in Karachi, Pakistan, killing two people
and wounding three.
   (AP, 8/7/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Nahed Arreyes,
Palestinian justice minister, resigned to protest Yasser Arafat’s
refusal to share power.
   (SSFC, 8/8/04, p.A18)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The Romanian sitcom
"The Winding Road to Europe" featured villagers in the fictional La
Europa pub and swapping stories about how joining the EU will change
their lives. The European Union's Romania office has funded 12
15-minute episodes of "Winding Road" at $16,800 each, 4 of which had
already aired.
   (AP, 8/7/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The Edinburgh
Festival Fringe, a three-week cultural jamboree, began this weekend.
This year's event featured 1,700 shows, a big jump on last year's
1,541.
   (AP, 8/7/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Some 6,000 people
turned out for the start of a three-day gay and lesbian festival in
Singapore, where homosexual acts are still illegal. "Nation.04" -- a
festival of international DJs, podium dancers, pumping music and
muscular boys stripping off their tops on packed dance floors -- has
increased in size every year since it was launched four years ago.
   (AP, 8/8/04)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Peter Jennings
(67), Canadian-born ABC broadcaster, died of cancer. He had
delivered the news to Americans each night in five separate decades.
   (AP, 8/8/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, A British
remote-controlled vehicle cut away undersea cables that snarled a
Russian mini-submarine in deep waters off the Kamchatka Peninsula
allowing it to surface. 7 people trapped for nearly 3 days on the
mini-sub were rescued.
   (AP, 8/7/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In southern China
rescuers attempted to reach 123 miners trapped in a flooded coal
mine.
   (AP, 8/7/05)(AP, 8/9/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In India's
northeast Assam state suspected separatist rebels blew up a crucial
oil pipeline and nearby homes, shutting down operations.
   (AP, 8/7/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In central Iraq a
suicide bomber driving an empty fuel tanker detonated his vehicle
near a police station, killing at least two people. Three Iraqi
soldiers and two Oil Ministry employees were killed in two separate
drive-by shootings in Baghdad.
   (AP, 8/7/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Israeli Finance
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu resigned from his post to protest next
week's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank.
   (AP, 8/7/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7-2005 Aug 8, In Nepal
communist insurgents overran about 200 troops 340 miles northwest of
Kathmandu and killed at least 40 soldiers in fierce clashes between
the military and Maoist rebels.
   (AP, 8/9/05)(AP, 8/12/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Envoys to North
Korean disarmament talks suspended their meetings for three weeks,
deadlocked over the North's insistence on retaining a peaceful
nuclear program.
   (AP, 8/7/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Thousands of miners
stopped work for the first strike in South Africa's key gold sector
since 1987 after wage negotiations collapsed last week.
   (AP, 8/7/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Benon Sevan (67),
the former head of the scandal-tainted oil-for-food program,
resigned from the UN hours before he was expected to be accused of
getting kickbacks from the $67 billion operation.
   (AP, 8/8/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Voters across
Venezuela cast ballots to select thousands of local officials in
elections that could predict how well President Hugo Chavez's
political allies will fare in key congressional elections in
December. Chavez accused the US Drug Enforcement Agency of using its
agents as spies and said he was suspending cooperation with the DEA.
   (AP, 8/7/05)(SFC, 8/8/05, p.A3)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Zambia deported
Haroon Rashid Aswat (31), a Briton who has been questioned in
connection with the July 7 London transit bombings and is suspected
of links to al-Qaida.
   (AP, 8/7/05)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Arizona 9
illegal immigrants died when their SUV, crammed with up to 22
people, flipped while trying to evade pursuit by the Border Patrol.
   (WSJ, 8/8/06, p.A1)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In the SF Bay Area
Santa Clara County sheriff’s deputies seized over 20,000 marijuana
plants on Mount Hamilton. Street value at maturity was estimated at
$80 million.
   (SFC, 8/9/06, p.B5)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Sue Bierman (82),
former SF supervisor (1992-2000) died in a car crash in Cole Valley.
A park created in the wake of the demolition ramps leading to and
away from the Embarcadero Freeway (1959-1992) was soon renamed Sue
Bierman Park, after the former supervisor (d. 2006 at 82) who
battled city freeways.
  Â
(www.beyondchron.org/news/index.php?itemid=3563)(SSFC, 7/26/09,
p.A16)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Wal-Mart announced
chainwide pay caps and said they were intended to move people up the
company ladder.
   (SFC, 8/15/06, p.D3)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Utah doctors
successfully separated conjoined twins Kendra and Maliyah Herrin.
The 4-year-old sisters had been born fused at the midsection with
just one kidney and one set of legs. Reconstruction surgery
continued.
   (AP, 8/8/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, A new finding
implied that the universe is about 15.8 billion years old and about
180 billion light-years wide based on new evidence, which suggested
that the Hubble constant, a number that measures the expansion rate
and age of the universe, is actually 15% smaller than other studies
have found.
   (AP, 8/7/06)(http://tinyurl.com/jnc7x)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Oil company BP
scrambled to assess pipeline corrosion in Alaska that will shut
shipments from the nation's biggest oil field, removing about 8% of
daily US crude production and driving oil and gasoline prices
sharply higher. BP said it would have to replace 16 miles of
pipeline at the Prudhoe Bay field.
   (AP, 8/7/06)(AP, 8/7/07)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, John Weinberg (81),
former head of the Goldman Sachs investment firm, died. He and John
Whitehead led the firm from 1976-1985. Weinberg led it by himself
until 1990.
   (Econ, 8/19/06, p.73)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Suspected Taliban
militants hanged a woman (70) and her son (30) from a tree in
Helmand province after accusing them of spying for the government.
   (AP, 8/9/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Robert McNaught of
the Siding Spring Observatory in Australia made the 1st sighting of
a comet that came to be called Comet McNaught.
   (Econ, 1/20/07, p.89)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Belgian officials
said thefts of drain covers in Charleroi have soared in recent days
as skyrocketing metal prices have made them lucrative.
   (Reuters, 8/8/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Brazil suspected
PCC gang members in the pre-dawn hours attacked 78 symbols of
government and businesses across Sao Paulo state, many in the city
itself. Police killed two suspects after they allegedly opened fire
on a gas station, torched a bus and tried to flee in a car as
officers chased them. This marked the third time in four months that
the gang has unleashed its fury on the streets to oppose the prison
transfer of its leaders.
   (AP, 8/8/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, China’s state media
said the death toll from Tropical Storm Prapiroon, named after the
Thai god of rain, rose to 80 with 9 more people missing.
   (AFP, 8/6/06)(AP, 8/8/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, An explosion at a
Chinese perfume factory killed at least seven people and left three
hospitalized.
   (AP, 8/7/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Colombia’s
President Alvaro Uribe inaugurated an unprecedented second term,
promising to seek an elusive peace with leftist rebels while
maintaining the hardline security policies credited with a sharp
drop in murder and kidnappings.
   (AP, 8/7/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Gunmen in Haiti
killed Guido Vitiello (67), an Italian businessman, and kidnapped
his wife, Gigliola Martino (65), amid a spate of violence in the
impoverished Caribbean nation. Martino was released Aug 10.
   (AP, 8/8/06)(AP, 8/11/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Indonesia barred
Islamic militants from traveling to the Mideast to fight Israel
after a Jakarta group said more than 200 had already gone.
   (WSJ, 8/8/06, p.A1)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, A suicide truck
bomber struck the provincial headquarters of an Iraqi police
commando force north of Baghdad, killing ten policemen. In Baquba
six Iraqi soldiers were killed and another 15 wounded when
insurgents attacked their checkpoint. In all insurgent and militia
attacks left at least 30 Iraqis killed or found dead. Two Iraqi
journalists were killed in separate incidents in Baghdad. Mohammed
Abbas Hamad (28), a journalist for the Shiite-owned newspaper
Al-Bayinnah Al-Jadida, was shot by gunmen at he left his home.
Police found the bullet-riddled body of freelance journalist Ismail
Amin Ali (30), about a half mile from where he was abducted two
weeks ago.
   (AP, 8/7/06)(AFP, 8/7/06)(AP, 8/8/06)(WSJ,
8/8/06, p.A1)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The death toll in
an Israeli airstrike on a Shiite neighborhood in south Beirut
reached 41. Across the country 77 Lebanese were killed along with
three Israeli soldiers. The UN said an oil spill caused by Israeli
raids on a Lebanese power plant could rival the 1989 Exxon Valdez
disaster that despoiled the Alaskan coast if not urgently addressed.
the Jiyyeh plant, which was bombed by Israel on July 14 and July 15
a few days into its offensive against Hezbollah. 12,000 tons of
leaking oil had already polluted more than 140 kilometers (87 miles)
of the Lebanese coast and spread north into Syrian waters.
   (AP, 8/8/06)(AP, 8/9/06)(AFP, 8/8/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Morocco’s state
news agency reported that security services have arrested 44
suspected terrorists and dismantled a network allegedly planning
attacks.
   (AP, 8/7/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Dutch police
arrested a Rwandan immigrant, identified as Joseph M. (38), and
charged him with war crimes and torture for his alleged role in the
1994 genocide that tore apart his home country.
   (AP, 8/10/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, A pro-North Korean
newspaper in Japan said floods last month in North Korea killed at
least 549 people and left 295 others still missing.
   (AP, 8/7/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In northwestern
Pakistan a discarded ordnance shell exploded in a tribal village,
killing three young brothers who were playing with the explosive. A
relief official said flooding and heavy rains in northwestern
Pakistan in recent days have left 144 people dead and 97 others
injured.
   (AP, 8/7/06)(AP, 8/8/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Sri Lanka 17
civilians working for a French aid agency were found slain execution
style in Muttur after fierce battles between rebels and the
government over water supplies. All but one were Tamils. In 2008 a
local rights group accused Colombo of a major cover-up of the August
2006 killing of Action Against Hunger (ACF) workers and for the
first time named a list of suspects.
   (AP, 8/7/06)(AP, 8/29/06)(AFP, 4/3/08)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The only rebel
leader to have signed onto a peace deal for Darfur was sworn in as a
senior aide to the Sudanese president as international aid groups
said the fighting in the war-torn region has intensified.
   (AP, 8/7/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Venezuelan
authorities captured Elias Verde, the alleged head of an
international drug trafficking group that was involved in a major
cocaine smuggling operation earlier this year in France.
   (AP, 8/8/06)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In SF Barry Bonds
his record breaking 756th homerun. He had just tied Hank Aaron’s
record on August 4. The Giants lost to the Washington Nationals 8-6.
The ball was later auctioned to fashion designer Marc Ecko for a
record $752,467, which included a 20% buyer’s premium.
   (AP, 8/8/07)(SSFC, 9/16/07, p.B1)(SFC, 9/18/07,
p.A1)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, A US jury convicted
Gregory Reyes (44), the former chief executive of Brocade
Communications Systems Inc., on all counts in the government's first
criminal trial of options backdating.
   (Reuters, 8/8/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The US FDA approved
a new drug to help patients with AIDS. Pfizer’s Selzentry is the
first anti-AIDS drug that blocks the CCR5 receptor, often used by
the HIV virus to enter white blood cells.
   (SFC, 8/7/07, p.A4)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Scientists reported
that a widespread die-off of frogs, toads and salamanders is
primarily due to the chytrid fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis.
Global climate change was believed to encourage the spread of the
fungus.
   (SFC, 8/7/07, p.A4)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, A group of 75
Taliban militants tried to overrun a US-led coalition base in
southern Afghanistan, a rare frontal attack that left more than 20
militants dead. Taliban militants clashed with police in the same
district where 23 South Koreans were abducted by Afghan insurgents.
Four militants were killed and six wounded.
   (AP, 8/7/07)(AP, 8/8/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez said Venezuela would invest in a
regasification plant for liquid natural gas for Argentina, which is
weathering an energy crisis. Chavez was in Argentina as part of a
regional tour.
   (AP, 8/8/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Administers in
Vienna said that the mid-Pacific nation of Palau has ratified the
Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, bringing to 139 the number of
countries that have fully endorsed the pact. The treaty, which bans
all nuclear explosions, will not enter into force until it has been
ratified by 44 states listed in an annex that participated in a 1996
disarmament conference and have nuclear power or research reactors.
Only 34 of the 44 countries have both signed and ratified the pact.
The holdouts are China, Colombia, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran,
Israel, Pakistan, North Korea and the United States.
   (AP, 8/7/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The toll from
severe floods across South Asia soared to nearly 1,900 and although
water levels in the region's swollen rivers started to recede,
millions of people in Bangladesh, India and Nepal still faced
hunger. About 40% of Bangladesh was under water.
   (AFP, 8/7/07)(Econ, 8/11/07, p.34)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Britain called for
the Bush administration to release five British residents held at
Guantanamo Bay, a policy reversal that suggests new PM Gordon Brown
is pursuing a tougher line with the US than his predecessor.
   (AP, 8/7/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Britain’s
Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said tests had confirmed a second
foot-and-mouth outbreak in southern England as he awaited an initial
report into biosecurity at a vaccine laboratory suspected of being
at the center of the cases.
   (AP, 8/7/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Britain's GW
Pharmaceuticals Plc said that Health Canada had approved its
cannabis-based medicine Sativex for treatment of cancer patients.
   (AP, 8/7/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Â Â Â
Juan Carlos Ramirez Abadia (44), an alleged Colombian drug kingpin
wanted by the United States, was arrested in a luxury condominium on
the outskirts of Sao Paulo, Brazil. He had extensive plastic surgery
but was identified by Brazilian and American anti-drug agents using
advanced voice recognition technology.
   (AP, 8/7/07)(AP, 8/10/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, China Daily
reported that foreign exchange and public security authorities had
closed down the operations of an illegal bank based in Shenzhen,
across the border from Hong Kong. It did business in every province
of the country and in the year and half to May had done some $544
million in unspecified transactions.
  Â
(www.chinaknowledge.com/news/news-detail.aspx?ID=9654)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, State media said
Chinese city traffic police have an average life expectancy of just
43 years because of the dire working conditions and pollution.
   (AP, 8/7/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Mobs torched
government buildings and foreign aid offices, as street violence
triggered by the appointment of East Timor's new PM spread to
Baucau, the 2nd-largest city. The former ruling Fretilin party won
21 seats in the 65-member Parliament, well short of a majority, but
insisted it had the right to form the next government. Gusmao's
party won 18, but formed a coalition that now comprises 37 seats.
   (AP, 8/7/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, A European diplomat
said that Russian officials told the Iranians about two weeks ago
that Russian fuel roads to the Bushehr reactor would be held back as
long as unresolved questions about Tehran's past nuclear activities
remained.
   (AP, 8/7/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Georgia accused
Russia of "undisguised aggression," saying two Russian fighter jets
intruded on its airspace and fired a missile that landed near a
house. Russia denied the allegation.
   (AP, 8/7/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Indian communist
parties, which shore up the government, rejected a landmark nuclear
pact between New Delhi and Washington saying it compromised India's
sovereignty and imposed US influence. In northeastern Assam state,
gunmen killed 4 traders in the village of Harinagar after they
refused to pay about $1,200 each. Police blamed the militant group
Dima Halam Daogah, which demands an autonomous state for people of
the Dimasa tribe.
   (AP, 8/7/07)(AP, 8/9/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Kurdish guerrillas
killed a Turkish lieutenant in the southeast, as the Iraqi prime
minister arrived for a visit. Turkey and Iraq agreed to try to root
out a Kurdish rebel group from northern Iraq, but Iraq's prime
minister said his parliament would have the final say on efforts to
halt the guerrillas' cross-border attacks into Turkey. Iraq's
semi-autonomous Kurdish government approved a regional oil law,
paving the way for foreign investment in their northern oil and gas
fields even as similar US-backed legislation for the entire country
remained stalled. Two US Marines died west of Baghdad, one in
fighting and the other in a non-combat incident that was under
investigation.
   (AP, 8/7/07)(AP, 8/9/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Israeli police,
using sledgehammers, chain saws and power clippers, stormed a
building in the biblical city of Hebron and dragged out hundreds of
Jewish settlers who had holed up there illegally.
   (AP, 8/7/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Ahmed Benchemsi,
the publisher of two Moroccan weeklies charged with showing
disrespect to the monarchy, defended himself, reserving the right to
criticize his country's political system. A day earlier magistrates
in Casablanca charged Benchemsi, the publisher of the Nishan and
TelQuel weeklies, and ordered him to stand trial.
   (AFP, 8/7/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, ECOWAS said the
last refugees from Liberia and Sierra Leone in Nigeria have been
allowed to settle and they will have access to work, education and
health on the same terms as Nigerians, West African regional bloc.
   (AP, 8/8/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Nigeria 6
Russian hostages, kidnapped on June 3, were freed in the oil
producing Niger Delta after two months in captivity. Rusal, the
world's largest aluminium producer, acquired 77 percent of the
Nigerian company Alscon in February.
   (AFP, 8/7/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Pakistan
government forces attacked two militant bases with helicopter
gunships and artillery in some of the army's toughest action in the
lawless Afghan border region since militant attacks began surging
last month. Low-level al-Qaida members, including Arabs and
Chechens, were among 12 militant fighters killed. 2 gunmen on a
motorcycle opened fire on paramilitary forces in a town in North
West Frontier Province, killing one.
   (AP, 8/7/07)(AP, 8/8/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, A large explosion
in northern Gaza killed an 8-year-old boy and his 6-year-old sister
and injured five other children. Witnesses said a group of children
stumbled upon a homemade rocket or a mortar shell and began playing
with it. The device exploded, injuring all seven children, two of
whom died later of their wounds.
   (AP, 8/7/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Darfur rebel
commanders shot down a government MiG 29 plane they say was bombing
civilian villages in their areas in Sudan's Darfur region.
   (Reuters, 8/8/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, A judge in Trinidad
ordered three men extradited to the US to face charges in an alleged
plot to attack New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, and
a confidential US document said they planned to seek help from Iran.
   (AP, 8/7/07)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, A US federal judge
ruled that American Indian plaintiffs were entitled to $455 million,
a fraction of the $47 billion they sought in a year trial for
alleged losses on royalties overseen by the Interior Department
since 1887.
   (SFC, 8/8/08, p.A6)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, A federal judge
ordered Detroit’s Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick to jail for violating the
terms of his bond in his perjury case, a decision the judge said he
would have made for any "John Six-Pack" defendant before him.
   (AP, 8/7/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Arizona an SUV
packed with suspected illegal immigrants flipped over southeast of
Phoenix killing at least 9 people. There were 19 people in the
vehicle.
   (SFC, 8/8/08, p.A4)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In northern
California the Muir Heritage Land Trust said it will pay $1.8
million for 423 acres in Franklin Canyon, ending a long-standing
land fight.
   (SFC, 8/8/08, p.B1)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Afghan and
coalition forces killed at least four militants in Nahr Surkh
district of Helmand province. In central Afghanistan US-led
coalition forces "inadvertently" killed four women and a child
during a clash that killed several militants.
   (AP, 8/8/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Algeria 18
people were reported dead from a crash between a van and a bus near
the city of Mascara, and 25 were reported injured. Three men who
were in critical condition subsequently died.
   (AFP, 8/8/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, It was reported
that two subsidiaries of government-owned Dubai World have acquired
a 20% stake in Canada’s circus operator Cirque du Soleil. In May the
circus had agreed to perform on Palm Jumeirah, a man-made island,
for 15 years starting in 2011.
   (SFC, 8/7/08, p.C2)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, It was reported
that the Dubai-based Al Yousuf Group has invested $10 million in
Zap, a Santa Rosa, Ca., firm that makes electric cars.
   (SFC, 8/7/08, p.C1)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Thailand first
lady Laura Bush, meeting with refugees who fled a brutal campaign by
Myanmar's military junta, urged China and other countries to join
the US in imposing sanctions against the country.
   (AP, 8/7/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The US Olympic team
chose Lopez Lomong, one of the "Lost Boys" of Sudan, to carry the
flag at the Olympic opening ceremony, throwing the spotlight on
China's much-criticized policy on Darfur.
   (AFP, 8/7/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, A new US Embassy
report released by the Japanese Foreign Ministry said the USS
Houston submarine was already leaking during nine earlier port calls
in Japan and the amount of radiation leaked was larger than
initially reported. It "has been steadily leaking a small amount" of
radiation from June 2006 to July 2008 when it entered a drydock in
Hawaii.
   (AP, 8/7/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Critics of China's
human rights record made sure they were not forgotten, a day before
the grand opening of the Beijing Olympics, with protest actions the
world over and in China itself. Thousands of Tibetan exiles
demonstrated in Nepal and India.
   (AFP, 8/7/08)(AP, 8/7/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Heavy shelling
overnight in the Georgian breakaway province of South Ossetia
wounded at least 21 people. Cyber attacks from Russia began to
target Georgian government Web sites. An organization known as the
Russian Business Network was the leading suspect in the attacks.
Georgia’s Pres. Saakashvili ordered the shelling of Tskhinvali, the
capital of South Ossetia.
   (AP, 8/7/08)(WSJ, 8/12/08, p.A9)(Econ, 8/30/08,
p.49)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Sheik Salah
al-Obeidi said Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr will call on his
fighters to maintain a cease-fire against American troops but may
lift the order if a planned Iraq-US security agreement lacks a
timetable for the withdrawal of American forces. A roadside bomb
killed eight Bedouins, including three women and two children, on a
remote desert highway west of Nasiriyah frequently used by US and
Iraqi troops. Gunmen killed a senior member of the Sunni Iraqi
Islamic Party, Mahmoud Younis Fathi, and a colleague as they were
driving to work in the northern city of Mosul. Elsewhere in Mosul,
three Iraqi policemen were killed when a booby-trapped wooden cart
exploded after they arrived to collect a body that had been left on
the street beside it.
   (AP, 8/7/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Japan accepted over
200 Indonesian nurses into the country, an unprecedented move as
Tokyo struggles to quell a labor shortage triggered by sinking
fertility rates.
   (AP, 8/7/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Maldives Pres.
Maumoon Abdul Gayoom signed and adopted a new constitution that
allows multiparty elections and other democratic reforms after
decades of authoritarian rule. Under the constitution Islam is the
only religion its people can legally practice.
   (AP, 8/7/08)(AFP, 6/5/12)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Pakistan's ruling
coalition announced plans to seek the impeachment of Pres. Pervez
Musharraf, alleging the US-backed former general had "eroded the
trust of the nation" during his eight years in power. Musharraf
cancelled his trip to the Olympics in Beijing.
   (AP, 8/7/08)(SFC, 8/8/08, p.A2)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, A device exploded
on a beach in Sochi, a Black Sea Russian resort that will host the
2014 Winter Olympics, killing two people and wounding three.
   (AP, 8/7/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Sri Lanka army
troops attacked and captured a rebel bunker in Welioya, where
separate clashes killed 15 rebels and four soldiers. In nearby
Vavuniya district, fighting killed two rebels and wounded two
soldiers.
   (AP, 8/8/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Turkey a series
of explosions at a municipal government building in Istanbul
slightly injured three people. Shells from a mortar-like mechanism
were fired from a cemetery near a municipal government building.
   (AP, 8/7/08)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â 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)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â 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)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â 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)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â 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)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â 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)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â 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)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â 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)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â 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)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â 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)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â 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)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â 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)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â 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)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â 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)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â 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)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Portugal said it
has agreed to take two Syrian detainees from Guantanamo prison.
   (AP, 8/7/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â 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)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â 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)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Elena Kagan was
sworn in as the 112th person to serve on the US Supreme Court.
   (SSFC, 8/8/10, p.A7)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, San Francisco began
charging a $7 fee for visitors to the arboretum in Golden Gate Park.
   (SFC, 9/18/10, p.A1)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The last bus
departed the San Francisco Transbay Terminal allowing demolition to
soon begin of the 71-year-old terminal.
   (SFC, 12/2/10, p.C2)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, It was reported
that an ice island measuring 100 square miles has broken off the
Petermann Glacier in northern Greenland.
   (SFC, 8/7/10, p.A2)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The
Panamanian-registered MSC Chitra smashed into the St.
Kitts-registered MV-Khalijia-II near Mumbai's Jawahar Lal Nehru
port. The environment minister of Maharashtra state told reporters
the next day that about 2 tons of oil was pouring into the water
every hour. Indian authorities plugged the fuel leak on Aug 9 after
some 500 tons of oil had spewed into the Arabian Sea.
   (AP, 8/9/10)(AP, 8/10/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Iraq explosions
killed at least 20 people at Basra’s al-Ashaar market. 5 policemen
were killed in an overnight shootout at a suspected bomb workshop in
Baghdad. One policeman was shot dead at a checkpoint in Fallujah. A
suicide bomber killed a policeman and injured 3 others on foot
patrol in Mosul.
   (SSFC, 8/8/10, p.A5)(AP, 8/7/10)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Some 45,000 Verizon
Communications Inc. workers from Massachusetts to Washington, D.C.,
went on strike after negotiations fizzled over a new labor contract
for more than a fifth of the company's work force. The company's
revenue rose 2.8% to $27.5 billion in the second quarter. Workers
returned to work on Aug 22, despite not reaching an overall
settlement.
   (AP, 8/7/11)(SSFC, 8/21/11, p.A10)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, San Diego police
officer Jeremy Henwood (36) died one day after being shot in the
face while sitting in his patrol car. Suspect Dejon Marquee White
(23) was fatally shot by police as he tried to avoid arrest.
   (SFC, 8/8/11, p.A5)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Marshall Grant,
bassist in the original Johnny Cash trio, died in Jonesboro, Ark.
   (SFC, 8/10/11, p.C8)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Hugh L. Carey,
former New York governor (1975-1982), died at his shelter Island
summer home. Before becoming governor Carey spent 14 years
representing Brooklyn districts in the US House of Representatives.
   (SFC, 8/8/11, p.C3)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Ohio a family
argument outside Akron ended in the shooting deaths of eight people
in two places, including an 11-year-old. Two more people were
wounded.
   (AP, 8/8/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Mark Hatfield (89),
former Oregon governor (1958-1966) and US Senator (1967-1997), died
in Portland. In 1965 Hatfield was the only US governor to vote
against a resolution supporting Pres. Johnson’s policy in Vietnam.
   (SFC, 8/9/11, p.C4)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Texas billionaire
and philanthropist Charles Wyly (77) died after a car accident in
western Colorado. His family has donated millions of dollars to
Republican causes and Dallas arts projects. Charles Wyly had helped
his brother run their startup computer software company, University
Computing, and later founded and led several other companies
including arts and crafts retail chain Michaels Stores Inc., which
was sold in 2006. He also was a former member of a White House
Advisory Council for Management Improvement. Last summer, the SEC
accused Wyly and his brother of using offshore havens to hide more
than a half-billion dollars in profits over 13 years of insider
stock trading.
   (AP, 8/8/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Nancy Wake (98),
Australia's greatest World War II heroine, died in London. She was a
prominent figure in the French Resistance.
   (AFP, 8/8/11)(Econ, 8/13/11, p.82)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Afghanistan two
French Foreign Legion soldiers and five others were injured in a
clash with insurgents in the northeastern Tagab valley. They were
among four NATO troops killed in two separate insurgent attacks.
   (AFP, 8/7/11)(AP, 8/7/11)
011Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Cape Verde islanders
voted for a new president as Pedro Pires wrapped up two terms at the
helm of a nation hailed for its stable democracy. His ruling party
faced a split vote. A run-off was scheduled for August 21.
   (AFP, 8/8/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Typhoon Muifa blew
down power lines and billboards in the Chinese financial hub of
Shanghai and aimed at a northeast port city where beaches were
closed and sandbags were piled on the waterfront. At least one death
was reported with one person missing.
   (AP, 8/7/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Dubai water
pipes ruptured during maintenance at the seven-building Oceana
complex on one of the iconic palm islands, forcing residents to bath
in the sea and head to the malls to use the restroom.
   (AP, 8/11/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Egypt a Coptic
Christian was killed and four Muslims were wounded in clashes in the
southern province of Minya after clashes triggered by a road
accident.
   (AFP, 8/8/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Indian army and
police claimed they killed a Pakistani commander of Lashkar-e-Taiba
militants during a gunbattle in Poonch region of Kashmir. An
investigation found the dead man was a local Hindu resident and
mentally unsound. A soldier and police officer were arrested and
investigated for murder.
   (AP, 8/8/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Iraq insurgents
killed at least two people and wounded 11 in an overnight bomb
attack on the home of a Shiite family in the mainly Sunni town of
Iskandiriyah.
   (AFP, 8/7/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Libyan PM Baghdadi
Mahmudi said government troops have recaptured the strategic town of
Bir Ghanam, southwest of Tripoli, from rebel forces.
   (AFP, 8/7/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Nepal airports,
hotels, restaurants, government offices and public transport became
smoke-free under a new law that went into effect today.
   (AP, 8/7/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Rival Palestinian
groups Fatah and Hamas opened talks in Egypt aimed at implementing a
reconciliation agreement struck in May.
   (AFP, 8/7/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Saudi Arabia’s King
Abdullah demanded a stop to Syria’s “killing machine.”
   (Econ, 8/13/11, p.43)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Sao Tome and
Principe voted peacefully in the second round of a presidential
election. Former strongman Manuel Pinto da Costa (75) was elected
back to power.
   (AP, 8/8/11)(AFP, 9/3/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Tropical Storm
Muifa battered South Korea with strong rain and winds leaving four
people dead and two missing.
   (AFP, 8/8/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Syrian government
forces killed at least 59 people including 42 in the eastern city of
Deir el-Zour. 10 people were reported shot dead in Idlib while
taking part in a funeral. The 22-member Arab League, which had been
silent since the uprising began, said it is "alarmed" by the
situation in Syria and called for the immediate halt of all
violence. Saudi Arabia said it is recalling its ambassador to Syria
for consultations.
   (AP, 8/7/11)(AP, 8/8/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Sudanese security
forces seized all the copies of Al-Ahdath newspaper from the
printers, in the latest sign of a clampdown on independent media in
Khartoum.
   (AFP, 8/7/11)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The US Dept. of
Justice reached a $60 million settlement with Pfizer for violating
the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). This covered similar
offences by Wyeth, which was acquired by Pfizer in 2009.
   (Econ, 8/11/12, p.58)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Arizona Jared
Lee Loughner pleaded guilty to 19 of 49 charges related to the Jan
8, 2011, shootings that killed 6 people and wounded then Rep.
Gabrielle Giffords and 12 others. The government agreed not to seek
the death penalty in the plea deal.
   (SFC, 8/8/12, p.A4)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Louisiana police
found the body of Michaela "Mickey" Shunick. She had been last seen
riding her bicycle from a friend's house early May 19, days before
her 22nd birthday. Eight days later, the bike was found partially
submerged in a swampy area under a highway bridge. Brandon Lavergne
(33), a registered sex offender, has been charged with first-degree
murder and aggravated kidnapping in Shunick's death.
   (Huffington, 8/10/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In North Carolina
Academi LLC, formerly knows as Blackwater, agreed to pay $7.5
million to settle federal crime charges related to arms smuggling
and other crimes.
   (SFC, 8/8/12, p.A4)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Texas Marvin
Wilson (54), convicted of killing a police informant, was executed
after the US Supreme Court rejected arguments that he was too
mentally impaired to qualify for the death penalty. Wilson was
convicted of murdering Jerry Williams (21) in November 1992, several
days after police seized 24 grams of cocaine from Wilson's apartment
and arrested him.
   (AP, 8/7/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, DreamWorks
Animation said it plans to build a $3.2 billion "entertainment zone"
in Shanghai, as the US film giant seeks to bolster its presence in
the booming Chinese market.
   (AFP, 8/7/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Shares in Standard
Chartered PLC dropped 22% sharply as investors reacted to US charges
that the bank was involved in laundering money for Iran.
   (AP, 8/7/12)(Econ, 8/18/12, p.64)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Judith Crist
(b.1922), American film critic, died at her home in Manhattan.
   (SFC, 8/8/12, p.C4)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Afghanistan an
American soldier was killed when two individuals wearing Afghan
National Army uniforms turned their weapons against ISAF service
members in Paktia province. 9 civilians were killed in a roadside
bomb explosion on the outskirts of Kabul. A suicide truck bomb
attack was launched against a NATO base south of the capital. A
French soldier and around 10 Taliban fighters were killed in an
early morning ambush and subsequent firefight during a joint
operation with the Afghan army in Kapisa province near Kabul.
   (AFP, 8/7/12)(AFP, 8/10/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Bahrain authorities
charged 15 policemen with mistreating medics during last year's
crackdown on opposition protesters. An independent commission found
3 protesters were shot at close range. Bahrain said in June that 3
police officers would be charged with murder.
   (AP, 8/7/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Jessica Harper
(50), former security chief of Lloyds Banking Group, pleaded guilty
at Southwark Crown Court in London to taking the money from her
employers using false invoices over a four-year period from 2007 to
2011 and then laundering the cash.
   (AFP, 8/7/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In China Dolkar Kyi
(26) immolated herself at Tso monastery in Kanlho prefecture (Gannan
in Chinese), Gansu province, after chanting slogans calling for the
return of the Dalai Lama.
   (AFP, 8/7/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Egypt gunmen
opened fire late this night on three security checkpoints around
el-Arish, the capital of North Sinai province. Egypt’s military in
response started a joint military-police ground operation in Sinai,
backed by warplanes, to "restore stability and regain control" of
the Sinai.
   (AP, 8/8/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Italy official
government statistics showed that the economy contracted by 0.7
percent in the second quarter compared with the previous three
months, shrinking for the fourth quarter in a row.
   (AP, 8/7/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Hundreds of
tourists evacuated beach resorts along Mexico's Caribbean coast as
Hurricane Ernesto headed toward landfall near Mexico's border with
Belize. It weakened to a tropical storm while moving over land the
next day.
   (AP, 8/8/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Nigeria
assailants shot at troops on patrol, sparking an exchange of fire
that left two soldiers and two of the gunmen dead in Okene city.
   (AFP, 8/8/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In the Philippines
relentless rains submerged half of Manila, triggered a landslide
that killed 8 people and sent emergency crews scrambling to rescue
and evacuate tens of thousands of residents.
   (AP, 8/7/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Russia began
hosting a 3-day meeting of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation
forum (APEC) on Russky Island, just off the coast of Vladivostok. A
3,100 meter cable bridge to the island was the longest cable bridge
in the world.
   (Economist, 9/8/12, p.52)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Senegal at least
23 people were killed in a collision between a bus and a truck near
the town of Kaffrine.
   (AFP, 8/7/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The Competition
Tribunal of South Africa fined Telkom, the one-time monopoly state
telephone company, with a $54.8 million fine over unfair
competition.
   (AP, 8/7/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, South African
officials recorded snowfall across every South African province
except Limpopo. South African Weather Service records show it has
snowed in Johannesburg on only 22 other days in the last 103 years.
The last snow fell there in June 2007.
   (AP, 8/7/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Syria total of
225 people, mostly civilians, were reported killed. A Turkish
government official said 1,328 Syrian refugees had crossed the
border by midmorning, nearly double the number of refugees who
reached Turkey a day earlier.
   (AFP, 8/8/12)(AP, 8/7/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, A Turkish
government official said 1,328 Syrian refugees had crossed the
border by midmorning, nearly double the number of refugees who
reached Turkey a day earlier.
   (AP, 8/7/12)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, President Barack
Obama canceled his Moscow summit with Russian President Vladimir
Putin. The decision reflected both US anger over Russia's harboring
of National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden and growing
frustration within the Obama administration over what it sees as
Moscow's stubbornness on other key issues, including missile defense
and human rights.
   (AP, 8/7/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The United States
updated sanctions on Myanmar to maintain a ban on importing rubies
and jade amid a relaxation of curbs on US trade with the Southeast
Asian nation.
   (Reuters, 8/7/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Arkansas-based
Tyson Foods Inc, declared it would no longer accept cattle that had
been fed the most popular brand of the feed additive, called Zilmax,
a powerful and fast-selling product from pharmaceutical company
Merck & Co.
   (Reuters, 8/13/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Denver, at the
National Cattlemen's Beef Association conference, meat producer JBS
USA presented a video showing short clips of cows struggling to walk
and displaying other signs of distress. It was shown as part of a
panel discussion on the pros and cons of using a class of drugs
known as beta-agonists - the additives fed to cattle in the weeks
before slaughter to add up to 30 pounds to bodyweight and reduce fat
content in the meat.
   (Reuters, 8/13/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Afghanistan the
Taliban ambushed a convoy of a female Afghan senator, seriously
wounding her in the attack and killing her 8-year-old daughter and a
bodyguard in the Muqur district of Gazni province. Senator Rouh Gul
Khirzad's husband, son and another daughter were also wounded in the
attack.
   (AP, 8/7/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, British police
arrested Domenico Rancadore (64), a senior member of an Italian
mafia clan. He had been sentenced to seven years in jail while on
the run and was detained in west London under a European arrest
warrant.
   (Reuters, 8/8/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, China fined six
companies, including Mead Johnson Nutrition Co, Danone and New
Zealand dairy giant Fonterra, a total of $110 million following an
investigation into price fixing and anti-competitive practices by
foreign baby formula makers.
   (Reuters, 8/7/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, A new government of
technocrats appointed by the left-leaning Czech president lost a
parliamentary confidence vote, leaving the country stuck in a
political crisis.
   (AP, 8/7/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Tegucigalpa,
Honduras, Edwin Mejia (15) shot and killed traffic officer Santos
Arita (42) after he and gang partner Eduardo Aguilera (15) were
stooped for illegally riding tandem on a stolen motorcyle. Aguilera
was soon caught and beaten to death by police. Mejia was also beaten
and faced trial.
   (AP, 12/27/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Iraq a roadside
bomb struck a police patrol in Mosul, killing 3 policemen and
wounding two others. Another bomb in Mosul missed a police convoy
but killed one civilian passer-by and wounded two others. Later, a
bomb attached to a car killed two people in Musayyib. Gunmen
attacked on a policeman's home in Tikrit killing the policeman, his
wife, two sons and one daughter. As people gathered car bomb parked
about 10 meters away exploded, killing 8 people and wounding 30.
   (AP, 8/7/13)(AP, 8/8/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Israel gave
preliminary approval for the construction of more than 800 new homes
in Jewish settlements on occupied West Bank land where Palestinians
seek statehood.
   (Reuters, 8/8/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Italy allowed 102
migrants who were stranded on a tanker in the Mediterranean to
disembark on the Sicilian coast after Malta refused them entry for
three days despite European Union calls for it to help on
humanitarian grounds.
   (Reuters, 8/7/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Japanese officials
said highly radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear
plant was pouring out at a rate of 300 tons a day. PM Shinzo Abe
ordered the government to step in and help in the clean-up.
   (Reuters, 8/7/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, A fire engulfed
Kenya's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, forcing the indefinite
suspension of international passenger flights and choking a vital
travel gateway to east Africa. First responders looted electronics,
a bank and an ATM during and after the blaze.
   (Reuters, 8/7/13)(AP, 8/8/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, An explosion at the
border with Lebanon wounded 4 Israeli soldiers. The Lebanese Army
said the troops were 400 meters inside Lebanese territory when the
blast occurred. The area was known for having land mines.
   (Reuters, 8/7/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, North Korea said it
is lifting a ban on operations at a jointly run factory park
shuttered since Pyongyang pulled out its 53,000 workers in April
amid tensions with South Korea. The rivals agreed to meet next week
for talks meant to restart the complex.
   (AP, 8/7/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In southwestern
Pakistan a bomb planted outside a shopping center killed a
13-year-old girl and wounded over 20 people in Mastung district,
Baluchistan province. A bomb blast that appeared to be targeting a
provincial government minister killed 11 people before dawn at a
soccer field in Karachi.
   (AP, 8/7/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Syrian government
forces killed at least 62 rebels in an ambush near Damascus, a blow
to opposition fighters confronting a regime offensive in the
capital. In the north a missile struck the rebel-held city of Raqqa,
killing 3 people and wounding dozens including children. Kurdish
gunmen captured about 70 government troops who fled the air base of
Mannagh in the northern province of Aleppo.
   (AP, 8/7/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Tanzania's
semi-autonomous Zanzibar region men riding a motorbike threw acid at
two British teenage girls (18) in leaving them with facial, chest
and back injuries. The girls had been volunteering at a local school
in Zanzibar.
   (Reuters, 8/8/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Togo’s environment
minister said Emile N'Bouke, a high-profile ivory trafficker, has
been arrested. Activists said his work has fueled the slaughter of
more than 10,000 elephants dating back to the 1970s.
   (AP, 8/8/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In southern Yemen a
US drone killed 7 suspected al Qaeda militants, a day after US and
British embassies evacuated some staff because of growing fears of
attacks.
   (AP, 8/7/13)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Pres. Obama said he
has authorized targeted US airstrikes against Islamic State fighters
in northern Iraq and military airdrops of humanitarian supplies to
besieged religious minorities.
   (Reuters, 8/7/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Pres. Obama signed
a $16.3 billion bipartisan measure to address health care for
veterans.
   (SFC, 8/8/14, p.A6)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The US Justice
Department said it has taken control of more than $480 million
looted by former Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha and his associates
after a court ruling. The money stolen during Abacha's 1993-1998 de
facto presidency and stashed in banks around the world will be
returned to the Nigerian government.
   (Reuters, 8/8/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Central
California seven robbers invaded a house used by pot growers and
engaged the occupants in a gun battle that killed two of the
attackers. Authorities soon arrested 3 of the suspected robbers.
   (Reuters, 8/9/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, A New York district
judge sentenced Rudy Kurniawan (37) to a decade in prison. He was
convicted of making bogus vintage wine in his southern California
kitchen and selling it for millions.
   (SFC, 8/8/14, p.D8)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Washington state
a four-day search for a missing girl who vanished from her Steele
Creek Mobile Home Park home over the weekend came to a tragic end,
as authorities said they believe they have found the body of
6-year-old Jenise Wright.
   (AP, 8/8/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Brazil police in
Rio said they have arrested over 20 people as alleged members of a
paramilitary militia group that charged monthly fees for protection
against drug gangs and for illegal services like cable TV
connections. Members included former police, firefighters, private
security and off-duty prison guards.
   (SFC, 8/8/14, p.A2)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Cambodia a
UN-backed war crimes tribunal sentenced Khmer Rouge leaders Khieu
Samphan (83) and Nuon Chea (88) to life in prison on war crime
charges from 1975-1979, when the Khmer Rouge held power under top
leader Pol Pot (d.1998).
   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khieu_Samphan)(SFC,
8/7/14, p.A4)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, China’s state media
said plans are in place to build lighthouses on five islands in the
South China Sea, in defiance of calls from the United States and the
Philippines for a freeze on such activity to ease tension over rival
claims. At least two of the islands appear to be in waters also
claimed by Vietnam.
   (Reuters, 8/7/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Colombia’s Pres.
Juan Manuel Santos took the oath for his 2nd term and promised to
redouble his efforts to end the nation’s half-century war with FARC.
   (SSFC, 8/10/14, p.A4)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In eastern Cuba a
homemade boat carrying 32 people left Manzanillo. After three weeks
15 badly sunburned and dehydrated survivors were rescued by the
Mexican Navy.
   (Reuters, 9/5/14)(Reuters, 10/5/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, An oil company
owned by Israeli billionaire Dan Gertler said it had discovered
reserves of around 3 billion barrels in the Democratic Republic of
Congo.
   (Reuters, 8/7/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Iraqi government
forces, Shiite militiamen and Kurdish troops launched a large
operation to free Amerli, a Turkmen town that has been besieged by
jihadists for 50 days.
   (AFP, 8/7/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Jihadists seized
Qaraqosh, Iraq's largest Christian town and surrounding areas,
sending tens of thousands of panicked residents fleeing in what was
being called a humanitarian disaster. In Kirkuk a blast ripped
through a Shiite mosque where displaced people had sought refuge,
killing at least eight and wounding 47.
   (AFP, 8/7/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Sunni militants
from the Islamic State group seized the Mosul Dam, Iraq's largest
dam, forcing Kurdish forces to withdraw from the area and placing
them in control of enormous power and water resources and access to
the river that runs through the heart of Baghdad.
   (AP, 8/7/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Lebanon
militants from Syria who overran the border town of Arsal mostly
withdrew back across the rugged hills separating the two countries
as a cease-fire appeared to hold, allowing Lebanese troops to free 7
fellow soldiers and ambulances to evacuate dozens of casualties. At
least 17 soldiers were killed in the clashes, while 10 remained
missing, along with an unknown number of policemen.
   (AP, 8/7/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Moscow imposed a
total ban on imports of many Western foods in retaliation against
sanctions over Ukraine, a stronger than expected measure that
isolates Russian consumers from world trade to a degree unseen since
Soviet days.
   (Reuters, 8/7/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, It was reported
that Russia has granted former US intelligence contractor Edward
Snowden an extension to stay in Russia for three more years.
   (Reuters, 8/7/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Sierra Leone
police and soldiers blockaded rural areas hit by the deadly Ebola
virus, after neighboring Liberia declared a state of emergency to
tackle the worst-ever outbreak of the disease, which has killed 932
people.
   (Reuters, 8/7/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, South Korea's
Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning said China has
confirmed it had blocked "some foreign messaging applications
through which terrorism-related information" was circulating. These
included KakaoTalk and Line. It named other blocked apps as Didi,
Talk Box and Vower. The service disruptions in China began a month
ago.
   (Reuters, 8/7/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Thai police said
authorities are investigating the discovery of nine surrogate babies
in a Bangkok condominium who are believed to share the same Japanese
biological father. On Aug 22 Interpol said it has launched an
investigation into the “Baby Factory” case in which Mitsutoki
Shigeta (24), a Japanese businessman, fathered 16 surrogate babies.
   (Reuters, 8/7/14)(SFC, 8/23/14, p.A2)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Turkish PM Recep
Tayyip Erdogan branded Amberin Zaman, a prominent female journalist,
a "shameless woman" and told her "to know your place".
   (AFP, 8/8/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Turkish officials
said up to 800 people from Iraq's Yazidi community have fled across
the border to Turkey after escaping a lightning offensive by
jihadists from the Islamic State (IS) group.
   (AFP, 8/7/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In eastern Ukraine
a Dutch recovery team called off its work at the site where
Malaysian airliner MH 17 was shot down over rebel held territory
last month, saying the frontline location had become too dangerous.
Ukraine said the halt to the recovery meant it would stop observing
a ceasefire at the site. 7 more Ukrainian service members were
killed in the past day of fighting. Sustained shelling in Donetsk
struck residential buildings and a hospital, killing at least 4
people and wounding 10 others. Russian citizen Alexander Borodai,
the PM of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, said he was
stepping down in favor of a local field commander, Alexander
Zakharchenko.
   (Reuters, 8/7/14)(AP, 8/7/14)(AFP, 8/7/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In southern Yemen
troops defending Sayoun clashed for a 2nd day with suspected
al-Qaida militants killing at least 7 and raising the militant death
toll to 25.
   (SFC, 8/8/14, p.A2)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, An “unprecedented”
agreement between the Chicago Police Department and the American
Civil Liberties Union went into effect. It will allow independent
evaluations of the department’s controversial "stop and frisk"
program.
   (CSM, 8/8/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Dallas police
Officer Brad Miller shot and killed Christian Taylor (19), who was
found roaming inside a car dealership in the early hours of the
morning. The FBI was called in to investigate the shooting. Miller
was fired on August 10.
   (SSFC, 8/9/15, p.A7)(SFC, 8/12/15, p.A5)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Vermont Jody
Herring (40), upset about losing custody of her daughter, used a
hunting rifle to fatally shoot child-welfare agency worker Lara
Sobel, who had handled her case. Herring was detained by people in
and around the building after the shooting in Barre City. Herring
was soon also charged with the murder 3 women whose bodies were
found earlier in the day.
   (AP, 8/8/15)(SSFC, 8/9/15, p.A7)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Virginia a
federal jury convicted Irek Hamidullin (55), a former Russian
military tank commander, of planning and leading a Taliban attack on
US forces in Afghanistan. He allegedly led three groups of
insurgents in a 2009 attack on Afghan border police in Khost
province.
   (AP, 8/7/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Afghanistan an
early morning truck bomb tore through buildings in central Kabul,
killing at least 15 people and wounding 248 others. A suicide
bombing at a police academy killed 27 people and wounded 28. One
international service member and 8 Afghan contractors were killed in
an attack on Camp Integrity.
   (Reuters, 8/8/15)(AFP, 8/8/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Bangladesh a
gang armed with machetes hacked secular blogger Niloy Chakrabarti
(40) to death at his home in Dhaka, sparking protests in the capital
over the fourth such murder in Bangladesh this year.
   (AFP, 8/7/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Arthur Finger
(b.1926), former SF Bay Area media veteran, died at his home in
Vancouver, BC. In 1963 and 1965 the State of California awarded him
two gold medals for his “Mayor Art’s Almanac,” the first TV newscast
for children in the US.
   (SFC, 8/10/15, p.C1)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Chile Manuel
Contreras (86) died. He had led Chile's now-defunct and much feared
secret police force for several years under the dictatorship of
Augusto Pinochet. After his death was announced, dozens of people
gathered outside the hospital to celebrate.
   (Reuters, 8/8/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In eastern Congo
DRC an earthquake killed 2 children and a police officer and
triggered fears that nearby volcano Mount Nyiragongo could erupt.
   (Reuters, 8/7/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The European Union
appealed to member countries to live up to pledges to provide planes
and other assets so that its border agency can help Greece and
Hungary cope with a migrant influx.
   (AP, 8/7/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, News weekly Der
Spiegel said Germany's domestic spy agency named not just bloggers
but also lawmakers in a criminal complaint that sparked a
controversial treason probe.
   (AFP, 8/7/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Doctors in Ghana
stopped providing emergency care in a strike over allowances and
training.
   (AFP, 8/7/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, PM Alexis Tsipras
said Greece's infrastructure cannot handle the thousands of people
landing on its shores from places like war-torn Syria and
Afghanistan and needs European Union help.
   (AP, 8/7/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In northern India a
building wall collapsed while being constructed, killing 10 workers
near Narnaul, Haryana state.
   (AP, 8/7/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Iraq several
thousand demonstrators gathered in Baghdad to protest at rampant
corruption and abysmal electricity services, calling for officials
to be held to account.
   (AFP, 8/7/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Iraq and Syria
the US-led coalition conducted 19 air strikes on Islamic State
targets with 10 in Iraq and nine in Syria.
   (Reuters, 8/8/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Italy arrested five
North African men on suspicion of multiple homicide and human
trafficking in the presumed drowning of more than 200 people, saying
they used clubs and knives against migrants.
   (Reuters, 8/7/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In central Mali
gunmen stormed a hotel in Sevare in an apparent attempt to kidnap
Westerners, killing 4 soldiers, 4 UN contractors and a driver in an
ongoing standoff with the army. 4 attackers were killed. The Macina
Liberation Front (FLM) was suspected.
   (AFP, 8/7/15)   (AP, 8/8/15)(AFP,
8/9/15)(SSFC, 8/9/15, p.A6)(AP, 8/11/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In western Nepal
Dahlia Yehia (27), an American teacher from Texas, disappeared from
the resort town of Pokhara. Police later arrested a local teacher,
Narayan Paudel, who was hosting Yehia while she was in Pokhara to
help victims of a devastating earthquake in April. Paudel confessed
to hammering the victim to death and throwing her body into the Seti
River.
   (AP, 9/8/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Nigeria
suspected pirates traveling by speedboat killed 4 soldiers and a
policeman and stole weapons in a raid late today on a military base
in the oil-rich southern delta region.
   (Reuters, 8/8/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, North Korea
announced that it will turn back its current standard time by 30
minutes effective August 15. The move will allow it to differentiate
its time zone from that of Japan and South Korea.
   (AP, 8/7/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Pakistan a
suspected US drone strike killed 4 militants in the village of Datta
Khel, North Waziristan.
   (AP, 8/7/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In the Philippines
a homemade bomb believed to have been set off by Abu Sayyaf
militants killed two soldiers in Basilan province.
   (AP, 8/7/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, A Saudi soldier was
killed by shelling from across the Yemeni border, becoming the third
death this week.
   (AFP, 8/7/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, It was reported
that Thailand’s new Inheritance Tax Act 2015 has gone into effect
and that it will start collecting inheritance tax for the first time
next February.
   (AP, 8/7/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The UK-based Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said at least 230 people were kidnapped
or detained, including dozens of Christians, some of whom were taken
from a church in Qaryatain, the town captured overnight after heavy
fighting with the Syrian army.
   (Reuters, 8/7/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Two Thailand
military courts handed down the country’s harshest sentences in
recent decades for insulting the monarchy. A man in Bangkok was
sentenced to prison for 30 years for six Facebook postings, and a
mother of two young girls in the province of Chiang Mai was
sentenced to 28 years for seven postings.
   (AP, 8/7/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Turkey 5 people
including a Turkish soldier died and several others were injured in
clashes in the restive Kurdish-majority southeast, as violence raged
between Kurdish militants and security forces.
   (AFP, 8/7/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Turkey’s official
Anatolia news agency reported that the government has frozen the
assets of officials from Yemen's former regime including
ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh, along with Huthi rebel leaders. The
freeze will be in place until February 26, 2016.
   (AP, 8/7/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Turkey an
Iranian bus was hit in Dogubayazit district of the eastern Agri
province. The driver was fatally shot in the head. Turkish
authorities blamed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants. The
passengers were unhurt.
   (AFP, 8/8/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Saudi-backed Yemeni
officials said pro-government forces have retaken Labouza base, the
last military base in the country's south that was held by Shiite
rebels known as Houthis.
   (AP, 8/7/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The UN Security
Council unanimously adopted a resolution aimed at identifying those
responsible for using chlorine and other chemical weapons in attacks
in Syria.
   (SFC, 8/8/15, p.A3)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Kansas Caleb
Schwab (10), the son of state Rep. Scott Schwab, was decapitated as
he rode a 168-foot-tall water slide at the Schlitterbahn WaterPark
in Kansas City. In 2018 the water park co-owner Jeff Henry was
arrested. The slide's designer, John Schooley was also arrested.
   (SFC, 8/11/16, p.A6)(SFC, 4/5/18, p.A5)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The body of Vanessa
Marcotte (27) of NYC was found in some woods in Princeton, Mass. She
had been out for a run while visiting her mother. In 2017 DNA
evidence from her hands identified Angelo Colon-Ortiz (31) of nearby
Worcester as the suspect in her murder.
   (SFC, 4/16/17, p.A7)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Gen. Abdul Raziq, a
senior Afghan police official regarded as one of the country's most
powerful men, said he has banned the use of the Pakistani currency
in the key southern province of Kandahar. Raziq said the currency
ban is in retaliation against Pakistan's protection of the Taliban.
   (AP, 8/7/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Afghanistan five
gunmen wearing Afghan military uniforms abducted an American and an
Australian in Kabul.
   (AP, 8/8/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Ethiopia about
50 people were killed in clashes between police and anti-government
demonstrators as protests swept the vast Oromia region and Addis
Ababa.
   (AFP, 8/8/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Iran said it has
executed Shahram Amiri (39), a nuclear scientist convicted of
handing over "confidential and vital" information to the United
States. Amiri disappeared in Saudi Arabia in June 2009 and
resurfaced a year later in the United States. He returned to Tehran
in July 2010, saying he had been kidnapped at gunpoint by two
Farsi-speaking CIA agents in the Saudi city of Medina.
   (AFP, 8/7/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In central Mali
fighting broke out near the village of Tenenkou in the Mopti region
and continued into the next day. Five soldiers were missing after
the clashes with militants, in the latest in a string of attacks on
army and UN forces claimed by the Islamist group Ansar Dine.
   (Reuters, 8/9/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Pakistan a
suicide bomber carried out the attack at the government-run hospital
in the southwestern city of Quetta that killed 53 people and wounded
dozens.
   (AP, 8/8/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Philippine
President Rodrigo Duterte publicly linked more than 150 judges,
mayors, lawmakers, police and military personnel to illegal drugs,
ordering them to surrender for investigation.
   (AP, 8/7/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Voters in the tiny
west African archipelago of Sao Tome and Principe went to the polls
to elect a new president, but only one candidate stood in a runoff
the incumbent boycotted as fraudulent. Some 111,000 voters had
originally been due to choose between Evaristo Carvalho, who won
49.8 percent in the first round, and President Manuel Pinto da
Costa, who took 24.83 percent.
   (AFP, 8/7/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Syria rebels
breached the government siege on opposition neighborhoods in the
city of Aleppo, marking a major military breakthrough that prompted
an intense airstrike campaign.
   (AP, 8/7/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Thai voters
overwhelmingly approved a new junta-backed constitution that lays
the foundation for a civilian government influenced by the military
and controlled by appointed, rather than elected, officials.
   (AP, 8/7/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Turkey hundreds
of thousands gathered in Istanbul summoned by President Tayyip
Erdogan to denounce a failed coup.
   (Reuters, 8/7/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Ukraine’s military
said 3 soldiers have been killed and four others injured over the
last 24 hours in fresh clashes between pro-Russian rebels and
government forces in the war-scarred east.
   (AFP, 8/7/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Yemen a
Saudi-led coalition air strike killed 9 civilians outside Sanaa this
evening, as forces loyal to the exiled government stepped up an
offensive in the area.
   (Reuters, 8/8/16)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Chantek (39), a
male orangutan, died at Zoo Atlanta. He was among the first apes to
learn sign language, could clean his room and memorized the way to a
fast-food restaurant.
   (Reuters, 8/8/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Google fired James
Damore, a software engineer, who had written a memo saying the
company’s efforts to hire more women are biased.
   (Econ, 8/12/17, p.10)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, China’s state news
agency Xinhua said thunderstorms have battered northeastern Liaoning
province for several days, killing three people and prompting the
evacuation of almost 190,000.
   (Reuters, 8/7/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Congolese security
forces killed at least 14 members of separatist sect Bundu dia Kongo
(BDK) during clashes in the capital Kinshasa and southwestern city
of Matadi in which at least one police officer also died.
   (Reuters, 8/7/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Germany some
2,600 pigs and piglets died in a fire at a farm southwest of Berlin
that caused an estimated 800,000 euros ($950,000) in damage in the
area of Frankenfoerde.
   (AP, 8/8/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Indonesia said that
it will barter coffee, palm oil and other commodities for 11
Russian-made Sukhoi fighter jets, calling US and European sanctions
against Russia an opportunity to boost the Southeast Asian nation's
trade.
   (AP, 8/7/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Iranian state news
agency IRNA reported that security forces have broken up a group
linked to Islamic State which was planning attacks in religious
centers in the country and trying to hide weapons in home
appliances. 27 militants were detained.
   (Reuters, 8/7/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Iran signed the
country's biggest-ever car deal o build tens of thousands of cars
annually under a joint venture with French automobile manufacturer
Groupe Renault, buoying its manufacturing industry in defiance of
the Trump administration's moves to isolate the country.
   (AP, 8/7/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Malaysia's deputy
minister in charge of religious affairs said he is investigating an
international atheist organization after a picture of the group's
local chapter went viral, sparking claims that Muslim apostates were
involved. The Kuala Lumpur chapter of Atheist Republic, a
Canada-based organization, posted a picture of the group's members
attending a gathering last week, sparking uproar among some Muslims
and leading to threats of death and violence against the group on
social media.
   (Reuters, 8/7/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Morocco dozens
of sub-Saharan migrants crossed into Spain in the early hours today
after running through a border gate into the enclave of Ceuta.
   (Reuters, 8/7/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Nigerian protesters
demanded that President Muhammadu Buhari, receiving treatment in
London for an undisclosed ailment for more than three months, either
return or resign.
   (AFP, 8/7/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Pakistan the JuD
charity said it has entered politics by forming a new party. The new
Milli Muslim League party will follow the ideology of Jamaat-ud-Dawa
(JuD), which the US says is a front for banned militant group
Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT) and is run by Hafiz Saeed, the alleged
mastermind of the 2008 attacks that killed 166 people.
   (Reuters, 8/7/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Pakistani security
forces killed four Taliban militants in the eastern city of Lahore
hours after a truck bomb killed one person and wounded 22.
   (Reuters, 8/8/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas and Jordan’s King Abdullah II met for about
two hours, after a red-carpet welcome for the monarch at the
Palestinian government compound in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
   (AP, 8/7/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Russia said it will
speed up work on reducing dependency on US payment systems and the
dollar as a settling currency in response to the new sanctions.
   (Reuters, 8/7/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Russia two
members of the feminist punk band Pussy Riot were detained after a
protest outside the prison colony in Siberia's Yakutia where
Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov is being held.
   (AP, 8/7/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Sicily 15
firefighters were arrested on suspicion of deliberately setting
fires or having friends or family call in false alarms so they could
be called to work and earn money, announcing the arrest of the
alleged ringleader.
   (AP, 8/7/17)(AFP, 8/11/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Slovakia a
junior partner in the ruling coalition, the Slovak National Party
(SNS), surprised its partners by pulling out of an agreement
underpinning the government and calling for a new deal.
   (Reuters, 8/7/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, South Sudan's
government forces overtook the rebel-held stronghold and opposition
headquarters of Pagak, along the Ethiopian border. Opposition IO
rebels still held territory in Panyijiar County in Unity state as
well rural areas of Jonglei state and Akobo state, traditionally
areas where South Sudan's Nuer people live.
   (AP, 8/7/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Syria government
warplanes bombed Ein Tarma, a suburb of Damascus and an area
controlled by the Failaq al-Rahman rebel group, which does not
recognize a recent truce.
   (AP, 8/7/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, An attack near the
Syrian border reportedly killed 36 members of an Iraqi Shi'ite
militia and seven of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards. The US-led
coalition fighting Islamic State denied responsibility. Islamic
State claimed it was responsible for the attack near At Tanf.
   (Reuters, 8/8/17)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, US President Donald
Trump warned the world against doing business with Iran as he hailed
the "most biting sanctions ever imposed", triggering a mix of anger,
fear and defiance in Tehran.
   (AFP, 8/7/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The Trump
administration announced that it will go ahead with imposing 24
percent tariffs on an additional $16 billion in Chinese imports.
   (SFC, 8/8/18, p.A4)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The California
Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said the
Mendocino Complex grew to span 290,692 acres (117,639 hectares) by
this morning, with barely a third of it contained since two
wildfires merged at the southern tip of the Mendocino National
Forest. The Carr Fire, which has torched 167,000 acres in the scenic
Shasta-Trinity region north of Sacramento, was now 47 percent
contained. The Ferguson Fire was 43 percent contained.
   (Reuters, 8/7/18)(SFC, 8/8/18, p.A9)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Florida SpaceX
used its newest style booster for a second time at Cape Canaveral to
put a communications satellite into orbit for Indonesia.
   (AP, 8/7/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Arvonne Fraser
(92), a leading voice on women's issues in Minnesota, nationally and
abroad, died in Hudson, Wis.
   (SSFC, 8/12/18, p.C10)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, A pharmaceutical
company filed a lawsuit to prevent Nebraska from using lethal
injection drugs next week in what would be the state's first
execution in more than two decades. The federal lawsuit could delay
the Aug. 14 execution of Carey Dean Moore, who was sentenced to
death for killing two Omaha cab drivers in 1979. Germany-based
Fresenius Kabi opposes the use of its drugs in executions.
   (AP, 8/8/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Afghanistan a
string of Taliban attacks killed 12 people overnight, including four
women who died in the crossfire during a shootout between insurgents
and soldiers. An errant NATO airstrike in Azrah, Logar province,
killed nine Afghan police. Around 30 Taliban fighters were reported
killed in the battle.
   (AP, 8/7/18)(SFC, 8/8/18, p.A3)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, An Algerian court
convicted human rights activist Salim Yezza to a one-year suspended
prison sentence and fined him 100,000 dinars (about $115.00) for
inciting violence more than four years after his statements in
support of a minority. Yezza, who lives in France, was arrested July
16 at the airport in Biskra as he tried to return home after
attending his father's funeral.
   (AP, 8/7/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, New York-based
Human Rights Watch said accused the Bangladesh government of using
abusive measures in handling student-led protests calling for safer
roads.
   (AP, 8/7/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In China six people
were imprisoned for up to four years for their part in a scheme to
cheat on the national graduate school exam.
   (AP, 8/8/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Ethiopia's
government signed an agreement to end hostilities with the Oromo
Liberation Front, which it had previously declared a terrorist
movement. The government signed a reconciliation agreement to end
hostilities with the OLF's exiled leader Dawud Ibsa, who lives in
exile in Asmara, Eritrea.
   (Reuters, 8/7/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The European Union
reiterated its "firm support to the sovereignty and territorial
integrity of Georgia within its internationally recognized borders"
and lamented the Russian military presence in Abkhazia and South
Ossetia. Russia's PM Dmitry Medvedev said an attempt by NATO to
incorporate the former Soviet republic of Georgia could trigger a
new, "horrible" conflict.
   (AP, 8/7/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In southwestern
Germany a mother (48) and her partner were convicted and jailed for
repeatedly raping the woman's young son, now 10, and selling him to
pedophiles on the internet, abusing him for more than two years.
   (AP, 8/7/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Greece's PM Alexis
Tsipras said the demolition of 3,200 buildings will start
immediately in the Attica region, which includes the capital Athens,
in response to the death of dozens of people who were unable to
escape a maze of poorly planned streets in the country's worst
wildfire disaster.
   (AP, 8/7/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In India Muthuvel
Karunanidhi (94), a highly popular scriptwriter-turned-politician in
the southern state of Tamil Nadu, died after a prolonged illness. He
became the state's chief minister in 1969 and held that position
five times for a total of 19 years.
   (AP, 8/7/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Iranians awoke to
renewed US sanctions that had been lifted by Tehran's nuclear deal
with world powers. The newly imposed American sanctions targeted US
dollar financial transactions, Iran's automotive sector, and the
purchase of commercial planes and metals, including gold.
   (AP, 8/7/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, An Israeli strike
killed two militants of the Gaza Strip's ruling Hamas movement after
shots were fired at soldiers. The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades
confirmed in a statement that the dead men were its fighters, naming
them as Ahmed Murjan and Abdel-Hafez al-Silawi.
   (AFP, 8/7/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Italy's Senate
approved a decree curbing temporary job contracts and penalizing
firms that move production abroad, passing the first major
legislation by the new government.
   (Reuters, 8/7/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Mexico Elba
Esther Gordillo, the flamboyant former leader of the powerful
teachers' union, was released from custody after a court determined
there weren't sufficient grounds to proceed in a years-long
money-laundering case.
   (AP, 8/8/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Authorities in Peru
said at least nine people have died from food poisoning following a
funeral ceremony. Another 20 people were hospitalized with stomach
pains and vomiting after a wake the previous day in the Ayacucho
region.
   (AP, 8/7/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Philippine
President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to kill corrupt police,
including those accused of involvement in illegal drugs and other
crimes, in an expletives-laden encounter on live TV.
   (AP, 8/7/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, It was reported
that Romanian and German archaeologists have discovered a
prehistoric fortress dating back as far as 3,400 years in western
Romania. Last week they completed a dig uncovering 55 hectares (135
acres) of the 80-hectare (198-acre) site, built between 1,400 BC and
1,200 BC, located near the town of Santana.
   (AP, 8/7/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Russia Maria
Alekhina, an activist from the Pussy Riot punk collective, led a
protest outside the headquarters of the state penitentiary agency in
response to torture and slave labor in Russian prisons.
   (SFC, 8/8/18, p.A2)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The lawyer for
Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov, hunger striking in a Russian jail
for nearly three months, said that the prisoner has lost 30 kg from
his original weight of 100 kg, his heart rate has slowed and he has
very low levels of red blood cells. The 42-year-old was serving a
20-year sentence in the far north of Russia after being convicted
three years ago of arson attacks in his native Crimea following its
annexation by Moscow. According to Kiev's estimates, Russia is
currently holding around 70 Ukrainian political prisoners.
   (AFP, 8/8/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Saudi Arabia began
selling Canadian assets in an escalating row after Ottawa criticized
the arrest of a female activist.
   (Reuters, 8/8/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Authorities in
Spain said the death toll from a particularly virulent heatwave rose
to nine in just one week, as the country suffered sky-high
temperatures.
   (AFP, 8/7/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Swiss army
helicopters began airlifting water to thousands of thirsty cows who
are suffering in a drought and heatwave that has hit much of Europe.
   (Reuters, 8/7/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, UN
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he has chosen former Chilean
President Michelle Bachelet to be the world body's new human rights
chief.
   (Reuters, 8/8/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, A Zimbabwe court
freed on bail 27 opposition supporters arrested last week on
accusations of fomenting violence in the aftermath of President
Emmerson Mnangagwa's election victory over Nelson Chamisa.
   (Reuters, 8/7/18)
 2018      Aug 7, Joint
statement by the heads of mission of EU states in Zimbabwe along
with the US, Canada and Switzerland condemned the "violence,
attacks, and acts of intimidation targeted at opposition leaders and
supporters," saying such violations have no place in a democratic
society. New York-based Human Rights Watch said Zimbabwean security
forces and unidentified gunmen have beaten and harassed dozens of
people in a crackdown on the political opposition following a
disputed election.
   (AP, 8/7/18)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, US President Donald
Trump said the US Federal Reserve must cut rates "bigger and faster"
for the United States to be competitive against other countries.
   (Reuters, 8/7/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, President Donald
Trump said that South Korea has agreed to pay the United States
"substantially more" for protection against North Korea and that
talks have begun to further increase payments.
   (AP, 8/7/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The US and Turkey
announced they'd agreed to form a coordination center to set up the
safe zone in northeastern Syria. The coordination center would be
based in Turkey and would be set up "as soon as possible".
   (AP, 8/8/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Twitter temporarily
locked the campaign account of Senate Majority Leader Mitch
McConnell after it shared a video in which some protesters spoke of
violence outside his Kentucky home, where he was recovering from a
shoulder fracture.
   (SFC, 8/9/19, p.A6)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In southern
California Zachary Castaneda (33) was taken into custody after he
went on a two-hour stabbing and robbery rampage, killing four people
and wounding two others. The suspect and all the victims were
Hispanic.
   (AP, 8/8/19)(SFC, 8/9/19, p.A7)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Kary Banks Mullis
(b.1944), Nobel Prize winner (1993), died at his home in Newport
Beach, Ca. He was awarded the prize in chemistry for developing
polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology, which allowed molecular
biologists to create millions of copies of a single strand of DNA in
a few hours.
   (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kary_Mullis)(SFC,
8/13/19, p.C3)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, US immigration
authorities arrested nearly 700 people at seven agricultural
processing plants across Mississippi in what federal officials said
could be the largest worksite enforcement operation in a single
state.
   (Reuters, 8/8/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Cyntoia Brown (31),
championed by celebrities as a symbol of unfair sentencing, was
released from the Tennessee Prison for Women, where she had been
serving a life sentence for killing a man when she was a 16-year-old
prostitute. Brown was convicted in 2006 of murdering 43-year-old
Nashville real estate agent Johnny Allen.
   (AP, 8/7/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Tennessee convict
Curtis Ray Watson (44) was discovered missing, several hours after
being seen near a house at West Tennessee State Penitentiary where
employee Debra Johnson (64) lived. Authorities say Johnson was found
sexually assaulted and deceased in the house with a cord around her
neck. Watson, who had escaped on a tractor, was captured on August
11 in the town of Henning.
   (AP, 8/11/19)(SFC, 8/12/19, p.A4)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, US firm FireEye
said, a cybersecurity researcher, said one of the most effective
teams of Chinese government-backed hackers is also conducting
financially-motivated side operations. The findings were announced
at the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas.
   (Reuters, 8/7/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Afghanistan a
suicide car-bomb attack on a police station in Kabul killed 14
people and wounded 145. The Taliban claimed responsibility.
Separately, security forces conducted raids on two Islamic State
militant hideouts in Kabul overnight and killed two militants and
seized a large quantity of explosives and bomb-making equipment.
Three members of the security forces were also killed.
   (Reuters, 8/7/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, British Airways
canceled almost 100 flights to and from London airports after its
check-in systems were hit by computer problems.
   (AP, 8/7/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Bottles featuring
busty blondes, raunchy taglines and lewd labels were banned from one
of Britain's biggest beer festivals in a crackdown on sexist
advertising.
   (Reuters, 8/7/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, China's rare earths
association said it would support Chinese counter-measures in the
escalating trade row with the United States, which it accused of
"bullying".
   (Reuters, 8/7/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Egypt's President
Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi urged the nation to back his government's
efforts to defeat Islamic militants, saying it's the mission of
every Egyptian.
   (AP, 8/7/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Greek Energy
Minister Kostis Hatzidakis said Greece, Israel, Cyprus and the
United States have agreed to enhance cooperation in energy, cyber
and infrastructure security following a meeting of the ministers
from the four countries in Athens.
   (AP, 8/7/19)  Â
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Indonesia's capital
announced new curbs on private cars as it moved to rein in choking
air pollution. Experts warned the measures were unlikely to stamp
out the problem.
   (Reuters, 8/7/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Kyrgyzstan special
forces failed to capture former president Almazbek Atambayev during
a raid on his compound outside Bishkek. One officer was left dead
and a police chief in a critical condition.
   (AP, 8/8/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Jewish leaders in
the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius said they are indefinitely closing
the city's sole synagogue and community center following threats
sparked by an emotional debate over the country's World War II-era
history.
   (AP, 8/7/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, A Myanmar court
jailed an Australian publisher for 13 years on drugs charges, a year
after police uncovered a stash of methamphetamines and opium at his
home. Ross Dunkley (62) was arrested along with business partner
John Mackenzie and several Myanmar women in a June 2018 bust in
Yangon.
   (Reuters, 8/7/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, New Zealand's
dollar fell heavily after its central bank stunned markets with an
aggressive interest rate cut and said negative rates were possible,
fuelling bets on more global easing. The RBNZ slashed rates by 50
basis points against an expected 25 basis points to 1%.
   (Reuters, 8/7/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Pakistan’s PM Imran
Khan’s government announced a series of measures to oppose what it
called “unilateral and illegal actions” by India. He also said
Pakistan will review bilateral agreements, take the matter to the
United Nations Security Council and ensure the army remains
vigilant.
   (Bloomberg, 8/8/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Puerto Rico's
Supreme Court overturned the swearing in of Pedro Pierluisi as the
island's governor less than a week ago, clearing the way for Justice
Sec. Wanda Vasquez to be sworn in after weeks of turmoil.
   (SFC, 8/8/19, p.A5)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Saudi Arabia and
the United Arab Emirates state media said their countries are
providing Sudan 540,000 tons of wheat to support the country whose
president was ousted earlier this year.
   (Reuters, 8/7/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Spanish police
arrested five French tourists, ages 18 to 19, on suspicion of
gang-raping a 20-year-old Norwegian woman in the Costa Blanca resort
of Benidorm.
   (Reuters, 8/8/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Syrian state media
reported that government forces have captured two northwestern
villages in an intensified offensive on the last rebel-held part of
the country, inching closer to the town of Kfar Zeita which has been
held by insurgents since 2012.
   (AP, 8/7/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Oleg Melnikov (28),
founder of the anti-slavery group Alternativa, left Turkey for the
Idlib province of Syria late today. The Russian vigilante activist
who freed hundreds of people from slavery missed planned calls at
9am, 12pm and 3pm on the following day, after which colleague Maxim
Vaganov followed the group's policy and informed the media and the
Russian embassy that he had disappeared.
   (The Telegraph, 8/9/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Thailand delivered
4,500 bottles of cannabis oil to treat hospital patients, its first
official use of marijuana for medical purposes since a measure
legalizing such use took effect this year.
   (Reuters, 8/7/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Ukraine's new
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called Russian President Vladimir
Putin to urge him to help halt fighting in eastern Ukraine.
   (AP, 8/7/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Members of the
United Nations signed the Singapore Convention on Mediation, an
agreement it hopes will make it easier to settle cross-border
commercial disputes and stabilize trade relationships.
   (Reuters, 8/7/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, It was reported
that a confidential UN report reveals that North Korea has been
employing a range of sophisticated cyberattacks in an effort to
bankroll its development of weapons of mass destruction.
   (BGR News, 8/7/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, UN political chief
Rosemary DiCarlo said reports suggest more than 100,000 people in
Syria have been detained, abducted or gone missing during the
eight-year conflict, with the government mainly responsible.
   (AP, 8/7/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Venezuela's Pres.
Nicolas Maduro suspended mediated talks with the opposition movement
to protest US Pres. Trump's latest sanctions.
   (SFC, 8/9/19, p.A2)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Yemen at least
one presidential guard was killed and four people, including two
civilians, were wounded as supporters of a killed militia commander
marched on the presidential palace and clashed with troops stationed
there.
   (AP, 8/8/19)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, US treasury
department head Steven Mnuchin said the US has imposed sanctions on
Hong Kong’s leader Carrie Lam, and 10 other senior Chinese and Hong
Kong officials, in response to the crackdown on free speech and
political freedoms in the city.
   (AP, 8/8/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, A US federal judge
granted the government's request to immediately end the Paramount
Decrees, a set of antitrust rules from the late 1940s and early
1950s that ended Hollywood's monopoly on producing, distributing and
exhibiting movies.
   (Reuters, 8/7/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, US Postmaster
General Louis DeJoy said the USPS faces a "dire" financial position
even as it posted a slightly narrower third-quarter loss amid
soaring package demand during the coronavirus pandemic.
   (Reuters, 8/7/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Officials in
Anchorage, Alaska, won a key ruling in favor of a ban on indoor
restaurant dining after a standoff over COVID-19 restrictions moved
to court.
   (Reuters, 8/7/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The California
insurance commissioner's office said it has settled a case with
drugmaker AbbVie. The company will pay $24 million to settle
allegations of $1.2 billion in fraudulent insurance claims related
to prescriptions of the arthritis drug Humira.
   (SFC, 8/8/20, p.C1)
2020 Â Â Â Aug 7, California to date had 543,657 cases
of coronavirus and 10,097 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 60,018 cases
and 899 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 4,926,063 with
the death toll at 160,980.
   (sfist.com, 8/7/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Florida the
Broward State Attorney’s Office said it is dropping the armed
robbery case against Seattle Seahawks cornerback Quinton Dunbar
(28), but will prosecute New York Giants cornerback Deandre Baker
(22) for stealing jewelry and money from people, at gunpoint, nearly
3 months ago at a house party in Miramar.
   (Miami Herald, 8/7/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The Crow Tribe in
Montana ordered its members to lock down for two weeks beginning
today as tribal leaders moved to slow a sharp spike in coronavirus
cases and deaths on yet another reservation in the country.
   (AP, 8/7/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, New York Governor
Andrew Cuomo said that all school districts in his state, once the
epicenter of the nation's COVID-19 crisis, could open for in-person
learning in the fall based on their current low infection rates of
the virus.
   (Reuters, 8/7/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Portland's nightly
protests turned violent again even after the city's mayor pleaded
for demonstrators to stay off the streets. A police officer hit by a
rock early today suffered what was described as a serious injury.
The overnight protest was in a residential neighborhood 6 miles away
from the federal courthouse.
   (AP, 8/7/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Thousands of bikers
poured into the small South Dakota city of Sturgis as the 80th
Sturgis Motorcycle Rally rumbled to life despite fears it could lead
to a massive coronavirus outbreak. Daily virus cases have been
trending upward in South Dakota, but the seven-day average is still
only around 84, with fewer than two deaths per day.
   (AP, 8/7/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Dalia Samoudi (23),
a Palestinian woman, died after being shot in the chest by an
apparent stray bullet during an Israeli raid in the occupied West
Bank city of Jenin.
   (AP, 8/7/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Cincinnati-based
Meridian Bioscience Inc. (VIVO) reported fiscal third-quarter profit
of $27.5 million.
   (AP, 8/7/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Pfizer Inc said it
has signed a multiyear agreement to make COVID-19 treatment
remdesivir for developer Gilead Sciences Inc, which is under
pressure to increase tight supplies of the antiviral drug.
   (Reuters, 8/7/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Bulgarian police
removed dozens of tent camps that had blocked key city intersections
across the country as part of antigovernment protests.
   (SFC, 8/8/20, p.A2)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, China sentenced a
fourth Canadian citizen to death on drug charges in less than two
years following a sharp downturn in ties over the arrest of an
executive of Chinese tech giant Huawei. Ye Jianhui was sentenced by
the Foshan Municipal Intermediate Court in the southern province of
Guangdong. The court said he had been found guilty of manufacturing
and transporting illegal drugs. Death sentences are automatically
referred to China’s highest court for review.
   (Politico, 8/7/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Israeli operatives,
at the behest of the United States, assassinated Abu Muhammad
al-Masri, al Qaeda's second-highest leader, in Tehran according to a
NY Times report in November. Iran at this time identified the
victims as Habib Daoud, a Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese history
professor, and his daughter. Intelligence officials later said those
were aliases. Al-Masri was a mastermind behind the 1998 attacks on
American embassies in multiple African countries. Iran denied the NY
Times report.
   (NY Times, 11/14/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In North Korea a
train carrying goods arrived in the "totally blocked" city of
Kaesong, following the discovery there of the country's first
suspected coronavirus case.
   (The Telegraph, 8/8/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Pakistan recorded
782 new cases of the coronavirus in the past 24 hours and 17 deaths.
In total Pakistan has reported 282,642 confirmed cases and 6,052
deaths.
   (SFC, 8/8/20, p.A5)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, South Korea's
Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said local biotech firm Genexine
Inc has received regulatory approval for a Phase I human clinical
trial of its experimental coronavirus treatment drug.
   (AP, 8/7/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Spain reported
1,895 new coronavirus infections in the past day, mainly in the
regions of the Basque Country, Catalonia and Aragon. Spain has seen
a total of 314,362 cases of COVID-19 and recorded 28,503 deaths.
   (Reuters, 8/7/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Switzerland said it
has signed an agreement with Moderna to secure early access to the
COVID-19 vaccine the US biotech company is developing.
   (Reuters, 8/7/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, A Venezuelan court
sentenced two former US special forces soldiers to 20 years in
prison for their part in a failed beach attack aimed at overthrowing
President Nicolás Maduro. Former Green Berets Luke Denman and Airan
Berry admitted to taking part in the May 4 operation orchestrated by
a third ex-US soldier who remains in the United States.
   (AP, 8/7/20)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, The US is now
averaging 100,000 new COVID-19 infections a day. Total US COVID-19
cases reached over 35,707,822 with the death toll at 616,547.
   (AP, 8/7/21)(sfist.com, 8/8/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, It was reported
that more than 65,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have expired in
Alabama due to low demand for inoculations. The state ranks last
(34%) for the percentage of people fully vaccinated.
   (AP, 8/7/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In northern
California Gary Maynard (47), man who taught criminal justice at
Sonoma State University, was arrested on and charged with setting
fire to public land around the massive Dixie Fire and in Shasta
County.
   (CBS News, 8/11/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, A Chicago police
officer was killed and another fighting for their life after being
shot late today during a traffic stop.
   (AP, 8/8/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In southeastern
Minnesota, a single-engine plane crashed into a vacant lot and burst
into flames, igniting a fire at a nearby house. No one on board
survived.
   (AP, 8/8/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Dennis “Dee Tee”
Thomas (70), a founding member of the long-running soul-funk band
Kool & the Gang known for such hits as “Celebration” and “Get
Down On It,” died in New Jersey.
   (AP, 8/8/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Michael Thomas
(85), investment banker, writer and Bête Noire of the Moneyed Class,
died in Brooklyn. His books included "Green Monday (1980), "Someone
Else’s Money" (1982) and "Hanover Place" (1990). As a trustee of the
Robert Lehman Foundation, he helped prepare and publish a scholarly
catalog of Mr. Lehman’s vast art collection at the Met. The catalog
ran to 15 volumes and took several decades to complete.
   (NY Times, 8/15/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Texas Democrats
again refused to return to the state Capitol as Gov. Greg Abbott
began a 3rd attempt at passing new election laws.
   (SSFC, 8/8/21, p.A9)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Texas three
women were found killed at a condo on South Padre Island. Yordi
Barthelemy (23) fled the scene of the shooting but later turned
himself in and was arrested in the neighboring community of Port
Isabel.
   (The Grio, 8/12/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Â Â Â
In Afghanistan Taliban fighters entered the capital of northern
Jawzjan province, after sweeping through nine of 10 districts in the
province. More than half of Afghanistan’s 421 districts and district
centers are now in Taliban hands.
   (AP, 8/7/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, It was reported
that around 50 bodies have been discovered over the last two weeks
in the Setit River, which flows through some of the most troubled
areas of the nine-month conflict in Ethiopia's Tigray region.
   (AP, 8/7/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In France thousands
of people marched in Paris and other cities during a fourth
consecutive week of protests against COVID-19 entrance requirements
and what opponents see as restrictions on personal freedom.
   (AP, 8/7/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Greece flames
swept through a town near Athens overnight and hundreds of people
were evacuated by ferry from the island of Evia east of the capital
as wildfires burned across the country for a fifth day.
   (Reuters, 8/7/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, India's health
minister said Johnson & Johnson's single-dose COVID-19 vaccine
has been approved for emergency use.
   (Reuters, 8/7/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Israeli warplanes
struck two targets in the Gaza Strip early today, in response to
incendiary balloons launched from Gaza into Israel.
   (AP, 8/7/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Italy Maria
Licciardi (70), reputed top Naples crime syndicate boss, was
arrested as she was about to board a flight to Spain. Investigators
have alleged that Licciardi ran extortion rackets as head of the
Licciardi Camorra crime syndicate clan.
   (AP, 8/7/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Japan Allyson
Felix won her 11th medal, which made her the most decorated American
track-and-field athlete in Olympic history.
   (NY Times, 8/8/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Top-ranked Japan
prevailed over the US, 2-0, to win its first gold medal in baseball
in the six trips to the Olympics since 1992.
   (AP, 8/7/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, New Zealand
immigration services said Larry Page, Google's co-founder and one of
the world's richest men, has become a local resident. He had applied
on November 3, 2020, under a category for wealthy investors and was
approved on Feb. 4. The visa requires applicants to have NZ$10
million ($7 million) to invest in New Zealand over a three-year
period.
   (AP, 8/7/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In southwestern
Nigeria a Swiss national was kidnapped along with a Nigerian
citizen. Two of the gunmen were shot dead by police while the others
escaped with the hostages in Ogun state.
   (AP, 8/9/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Russia wildfires
in the Siberia region endangered a dozen villages and prompted
authorities to evacuate some residents. 93 fires were active in the
region.
   (SSFC, 8/8/21, p.A8)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Thailand riot
police fired water cannons teat gas and rubber bullets to repel
antigovernment protesters who marched on an army base where PM
Prayuth Chan-ocha has his residence.
   (SSFC, 8/8/21, p.A8)
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