Timeline 2009 July - September
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2009 Jul 1,
California’s Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a fiscal state of
emergency after Lawmakers failed to balance the state's main checkbook.
State Controller John Chiang said his office is prepared to issue IOUs
totaling $3.3 billion in July.
(AP, 7/2/09)
2009 Jul 1, Utah ditched a
40-year-old requirement for bar customers to fill out applications and
pay a fee to become a member of a private club before entering a bar.
(SFC, 7/2/09, p.A5)
2009 Jul 1, The Financial Times
reported that Citigroup Inc increased interest rates on up to 15
million US credit card accounts just months before curbs on such rises
come into effect.
(AP, 7/1/09)
2009 Jul 1, A US federal “cash for
clunkers” scheme went into effect providing incentives for car buyers.
(Econ, 7/11/09, p.66)
2009 Jul 1, US car giants General
Motors and Ford suspended operations on their production lines in
Russia as the deepening economic crisis squeezes Russian consumers'
demand for new cars.
(AP, 7/1/09)
2009 Jul 1, Karl Malden (b.1912 as
Mladen Sekulovich), Academy Award-winning actor, died. His intelligent
characterizations on stage, screen and television made him a star
despite his plain looks. His more than 50 film credits included
"Patton," "Pollyanna," "Fear Strikes Out," "The Sting II," "Bombers
B-52," "Cheyenne Autumn," and "All Fall Down." Malden gained his
greatest fame as Lt. Mike Stone in the 1970s television show "The
Streets of San Francisco," in which Michael Douglas played the veteran
detective's junior partner.
(AP, 7/2/09)(SFC, 7/2/09, p.A8)
2009 Jul 1, In southern
Afghanistan an explosion killed two NATO troops and wounded six others.
(AP, 7/1/09)
2009 Jul 1, Albania's governing
Democrats claimed they won weekend parliamentary elections, but the
opposition Socialists accused PM Sali Berisha's party of attempting to
snatch victory. Near complete results showed the Democrats were ahead
by just over one percentage point. It was unclear whether Berisha had
secured enough seats in parliament needed to govern alone.
(AP, 7/1/09)
2009 Jul 1, In Argentina Juan Luis
Manzur, a doctor and vice governor in Tucuman province, replaced Health
Minister Graciela Ocana, who resigned on June 29 as concerns over the
virus rose. He announced plans to boost public health spending by $263
million this year and said pregnant women could miss work for 15 days
to avoid contracting swine flu.
(AP, 7/2/09)
2009 Jul 1, Bolivia enacted what
animal rights defenders called the world's first law that prohibits the
use of animals in circuses. A handful of other countries have banned
the use of wild animals in circuses, but the Bolivian ban includes
domestic animals as well. The law would become effective on July 1,
2010.
(AP, 7/30/09)(AP, 4/16/10)
2009 Jul 1, In Brazil Sao Paulo
state officials launched what they say is Latin America's first
passenger bus with an electric engine powered by hydrogen fuel cells.
The bus will start test runs on the streets of Sao Paulo in August and
will be joined by three similarly powered vehicles next year.
(AP, 7/1/09)
2009 Jul 1, British actress Mollie
Sugden (86), best-known for her role as Mrs. Slocombe in the television
comedy series "Are You Being Served?" (1972-1985), died.
(Reuters, 7/2/09)
2009 Jul 1, In Germany Marwa
al-Sherbini (31), a pregnant Muslim woman from Egypt, was stabbed to
death in a Dresden courtroom as her young son (3) watched. She was
involved in a court case against her neighbor for calling her a
terrorist and was set to testify against him when Alex Wiens (28)
stabbed her at least 16 times inside the courtroom. Her husband, Elwy
Okaz, who was in Germany on a research fellowship, came to her aid and
was also stabbed by Wiens and shot in the leg by a security guard who
initially mistook him for the attacker. On Nov 11 Wiens was sentenced
to life in prison.
(AP, 7/6/09)(AFP, 11/11/09)
2009 Jul 1, In Honduras thousands
demonstrated for the return of ousted Pres. Manuel Zelaya. Thousands
more rallied in favor of the military-backed government. The
Organization of American States said Honduran coup leaders have three
days to restore deposed President Manuel Zelaya to power, before
Honduras risks being suspended from the group.
(AP, 6/30/09)(SFC, 7/2/09, p.A3)
2009 Jul 1, The Indian government
announced a rise in petrol and diesel fuel prices, saying its hand had
been forced by the increase in global crude oil prices.
(AFP, 7/1/09)
2009 Jul 1, In India Tyeb Mehta
(b.1925), a celebrated modernist painter, died in Mumbai.
(SSFC, 7/5/09, p.C8)
2009 Jul 1, In Iran opposition
leader Mir Hossein Mousavi reasserted his claim that the June 12
election was illegitimate, and demanded that Iran's cleric-led
government release all political prisoners and institute electoral
reforms and press freedoms. A reformist political group said that
authorities banned the daily Etemad-e-Melli (National Confidence)
newspaper allied to presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi after he
denounced Iran's government as "illegitimate" because of claims of
voting fraud. Former President Mohammad Khatami lashed out at what he
termed "a poisonous security situation" in the wake of violent street
protests.
(AP, 7/1/09)(AP, 7/2/09)
2009 Jul 1, In Iran Clotilde Reiss
(24), a French academic, was among the hundreds of people detained
following the disputed presidential elections. She was released on bail
after a month and a half and later convicted of provoking unrest and
spying. In May, 2010, she was released after paying a $300,000 fine.
(AP, 5/15/10)(AP, 5/16/10)
2009 Jul 1, Iraq's government
approved a BP-led consortium's offer to develop a giant southern oil
field near Basra, moving forward with the only deal struck during a
disappointing international oil auction. On Oct 16 the Iraqi government
approved the deal by BP and its Chinese partner CNPC to develop the
17.8 billion barrel Rumaila field. A bombing in Kirkuk killed at least
30 people.
(AP, 7/1/09)(AP, 7/2/09)(AP, 10/17/09)
2009 Jul 1, In Libya an African
Union summit opened.
(AP, 7/1/09)
2009 Jul 1, In Namibia the annual
seal hunt opened despite objections by animal welfare groups. Hunters
were expected to club over 90,000 seals including 85,000 pups by Nov 15.
(SFC, 7/7/09, p.A2)(AFP, 8/4/09)
2009 Jul 1, In Nicaragua Managua
Mayor Alexis Arguello (b.1952), a three-time world boxing champion, was
found dead at his home. The La Prensa newspaper reported he was found
with a gunshot wound to the chest in an apparent suicide.
(AP, 7/1/09)
2009 Jul 1, Nigeria's President
Umaru Yar'Adua extended an amnesty offer to the jailed rebel leader
Henry Okah, detained on treason charges for over 18 months.
(AP, 7/1/09)
2009 Jul 1, In northwestern
Pakistan tribesmen attacked Taliban hide-outs, killing 28 militants and
suffering seven fatalities themselves. The intensifying battles
prompted them to ask for army troops to help. A new opinion poll was
released saying 81 percent of Pakistanis view the fundamentalist Muslim
militants as a critical threat to the country.
(AP, 7/1/09)
2009 Jul 1, Businessman Ricardo
Martinelli (57) was sworn in as Panama's new president, promising to
start the biggest job-creation push ever in the country. Martinelli
said he wants to make the nation of 3.3 million inhabitants the best
place to do business in Latin America.
(AP, 7/1/09)
2009 Jul 1, In Russia thousands of
casinos, slot-machine parlors and betting halls across the country shut
down, complying with sweeping new restrictions that require all
gambling business to relocate to four remote regions of the country.
Lawmakers had signed the casino closure law in 2006. Under the new law,
casinos and slot machines will be allowed to operate only in
Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea; the Primorsky region on the Pacific
coast; the mountainous Altai region in Siberia; and near the southern
cities of Krasnodar and Rostov.
(AP, 7/1/09)
2009 Jul 1, In San Sebastian,
Spain, a meeting was underway of five regional fisheries management
organizations, tasked primarily with protecting tuna populations
worldwide. The groups representing 80 countries met for the first time
in two years to assess stocks of the fish and determine what more can
be done to save the 23 tuna populations, nine of which are under threat.
(AP, 7/1/09)
2009 Jul 1, Darfur rebels signed
an accord with one of Sudan's main opposition parties in Cairo,
agreeing to push for a new transitional government, a move that will
infuriate Khartoum.
(Reuters, 7/3/09)
2009 Jul 1, Sweden took over the
rotating presidency of the EU.
(Econ, 7/4/09, p.51)
2009 Jul 1, Switzerland said it
had refused a request to extradite a Rwandan national wanted in his own
country for alleged genocide and war crimes. Other European countries
have also refused extradition requests arguing that suspects cannot at
present receive a fair trial in the country.
(AFP, 7/1/09)
2009 Jul 1, In southern Thailand a
rampaging elephant stomped three rubber tappers to death after it was
left to wander freely by its handler.
(AP, 7/1/09)
2009 Jul 1, Zimbabwe's former
finance minister Simba Makoni launched a new opposition party that
promises to "clean up" the country's political landscape.
(AFP, 7/1/09)
2009 Jul 2, The US Labor dept.
reported that employers cut a larger-than-expected 467,000 jobs in
June, driving the unemployment rate up to a 26-year high of 9.5
percent, suggesting that the economy's road to recovery will be bumpy.
(AP, 7/2/09)
2009 Jul 2, In NYC federal
marshals seized disgraced financier Bernard Madoff's $7 million
Manhattan penthouse and forced his wife to move out and leave her
possessions behind, including a fur coat she had asked to take with her.
(AP, 7/3/09)
2009 Jul 2, California State
Controller John Chiang began to issuing IOUs to pay taxpayer refunds
and vendors. On July 9 the SEC classified the IOUs as municipal
securities subject to regulation to prevent their being traded by
entrepreneurs in an open secondary market.
(SFC, 7/10/09, p.A1, 12)
2009 Jul 2, In South Carolina 2
victims were found in their family's small furniture and appliance shop
near downtown Gaffney around closing time. Stephen Tyler (45) was
killed. His daughter, Abby Tyler (15) died from her wounds on July
4. A day earlier and about seven miles away, family members found
the bodies of Hazel Linder (83) and her 50-year-old daughter, Gena
Linder Parker, bound and shot in Linder's home. The killing spree began
June 27, about 10 miles from Tyler Home Center, where peach farmer
Kline Cash (63) was found shot in his living room.
(AP, 7/4/09)(SSFC, 7/5/09, p.A11)
2009 Jul 2, Thousands of US
Marines poured from helicopters and armored vehicles into
Taliban-controlled villages in southern Afghanistan in Operation
Khanjar (Strike of the Sword), the first major operation under
President Barack Obama's strategy to stabilize the country. A parallel
British operation, Panchai Palang (Panther’s Claw), fought the Taliban
for control of the Nad Ali district. The Taliban responded with their
own Operation Foladi (Iron Net).
(AP, 7/2/09)(AP, 7/6/09)(Econ, 7/11/09, p.40)
2009 Jul 2, A British RAF Tornado
fighter aircraft crashed in a remote area of Scotland.
(AFP, 7/2/09)
2009 Jul 2, Canada said it has
forgiven C$2.3 million in debt owed by Haiti as part of a plan that
aims to relieve the world's poorest countries of C$1.3 billion in debt.
(Reuters, 7/2/09)
2009 Jul 2, Pina Bausch (b.1940),
influential German choreographer and dancer, died. She was the artistic
director of the Tanztheater Wuppertal, founded in 1973.
(SFC, 7/4/09, p.B3)
2009 Jul 2, A top Indian court
issued a landmark ruling that decriminalized gay sex between consenting
adults by declaring a colonial-era ban on homosexuality
unconstitutional. The decision applied only to the territory of the
capital, New Delhi.
(AFP, 7/2/09)(SFC, 7/3/09, p.A5)
2009 Jul 2, In Iraq bombings
killed at least three people in the Baghdad area in the first
significant violence since Iraqi forces assumed responsibility for
securing cities after the withdrawal of US combat troops from urban
areas earlier this week.
(AP, 7/2/09)
2009 Jul 2, Manabu Kurita caught a
22-pound, 4-ounce largemouth bass on Lake Biwa, Japan's largest lake.
On Jan 8, 2010, the Florida-based International Game Fish Association
credited him with tying the 77-year-old world record for catching the
biggest largemouth bass.
(AP, 1/9/10)
2009 Jul 2, Amnesty International
accused Israel and Palestinian militants of war crimes in the most
comprehensive report on the recent Gaza war. Both sides rejected the
findings.
(AP, 7/2/09)
2009 Jul 2, Liberia's truth and
reconciliation commission recommended that ex-President Charles Taylor
and seven other former warlords be prosecuted for crimes against
humanity for their alleged roles in the West African country's civil
war.
(AP, 7/2/09)
2009 Jul 2, African heads of state
meeting in Libya discussed a drastic new decision against the
International Criminal Court that would in practice give Sudan's
president impunity from prosecution for war crimes by the ICC, a draft
document at the AU summit showed. Leaders also struggled to overcome
divisions on a proposed "African government", as Libyan leader Moamer
Kadhafi pressed for a powerful new continental authority.
(AP, 7/2/09)(AFP, 7/2/09)
2009 Jul 2, In Nepal landslides
triggered by monsoon rains swept through three villages in the
mountainous west, burying homes and killing at least nine people.
(AP, 7/2/09)
2009 Jul 2, North Korea test-fired
four short-range missiles, further stoking tension in the region that
was already high due to Pyongyang's nuclear test and threats to boost
its nuclear arsenal in response to UN sanctions.
(Reuters, 7/2/09)
2009 Jul 2, In Rawalpindi,
Pakistan, a suicide bomber targeted employees of a nuclear facility
left 29 people wounded. Near Peshawar, the main city in the northwest,
a roadside bomb killed two policemen and wounded five more. Maulvi
Nazir, a powerful militant chieftain in the frontier region of South
Waziristan, declared a cease-fire against security forces.
(AP, 7/2/09)
2009 Jul 2, In Peru two buses
crashed head-on on a mountain road near Lake Titicaca, killing at least
23 people and injuring 50 more.
(AP, 7/2/09)
2009 Jul 2, South Africa urged its
public service doctors to halt wildcat strikes and accept a revised
wage offer after low salaries and abysmal working conditions led them
to abandon patients.
(AFP, 7/2/09)
2009 Jul 2, Spain's intelligence
chief, Alberto Saiz, resigned amid allegations he used government money
to go on hunting and fishing trips and had staffers remodel his house.
(AP, 7/2/09)
2009 Jul 2, The BBC reported that
Syria’s Pres. Assad has issued a presidential decree ordering honor
killers to face at least 2 years in prison.
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8130639.stm)
2009 Jul 2, The UN nuclear
agency's governing board (IAEA) chose Yukiya Amano, a veteran Japanese
diplomat as its new head. The term of the present head, Mohamed
ElBaradei, ends in November.
(AP, 7/2/09)
2009 Jul 2, In Vietnam an official
said for every 100 girls born to Vietnamese families, there are 112
boys born, a disparity in the sex ratio that has been rapidly
increasing in recent years. The rising imbalance was blamed on a
cultural preference for boys who can continue the bloodline and the
belief that boys can better care for parents as they age.
(AP, 7/2/09)
2009 Jul 3, Alaska Gov. Sarah
Palin announced her decision to leave office more than a year early,
effective July 26. The announcement left open the possibility of a
presidential run.
(AP, 7/4/09)
2009 Jul 3, In Washington state
federal agents said they have arrested 31 people and busted a drug
trafficking ring that was directed by a cartel in Jalisco, Mexico. The
2-week Operation Arctic Chill seized 23 guns including a .50 Desert
Eagle pistol and an AK-47-type assault rifle.
(SFC, 7/4/09, p.A5)
2009 Jul 3, The “Dog Days of
Summer” officially begin and continue to August 11. This period got its
name from the Egyptian belief that the Dog Star, Sirius, added heat to
Earth as it rose and fell with the sun during this period.
(SFC, 7/3/09, p.D8)
2009 Jul 3, US Marines moved into
villages in Taliban strongholds in southern Afghanistan, meeting little
resistance as they tried to win over local chiefs on the second day of
the biggest military operation here since the fall of the Taliban
government in 2001. In southeast Afghanistan two US soldiers were
killed when their base came under attack. The attack included an
attempted suicide truck bombing of the base in the Zirok district of
southeastern Paktika province. As many as 30 Taliban insurgents might
have been killed when troops called in air strikes.
(AP, 7/3/09)(AP, 7/6/09)
2009 Jul 3, Algeria, Niger and
Nigeria signed an accord to build a 10-billion-dollar trans-Saharan gas
pipeline linking vast reserves in Nigeria to Europe.
(AFP, 7/3/09)
2009 Jul 3, Australia announced a
155 million US dollar package for isolated Aboriginal communities,
after a new report revealed shocking levels of child abuse among the
downtrodden minority.
(AFP, 7/3/09)
2009 Jul 3, In Brazil prison
guards foiled a new attempt to smuggle a cell phone into Danilo
Pinheiro prison near the city of Sorocaba by a carrier pigeon wearing a
tiny backpack. Police said that the practice is becoming almost
commonplace.
(AP, 7/3/09)
2009 Jul 3, In London a fire
ripped through the 12-story Lakanal House block of Sceaux Gardens
Estate, a 1960s-era public housing block in south London, killing
six people including a newborn baby.
(AFP, 7/4/09)
2009 Jul 3, Ayatollah Ahmad
Jannati, a top Iranian cleric, said that some of the detained Iranian
staffers of the British Embassy in Tehran will be put on trial, and he
accused Britain of a role in instigating widespread protests that
erupted over the country's disputed presidential election.
(AP, 7/3/09)
2009 Jul 3, In Kashmir police used
batons and tear gas to break up fresh anti-India protests, with more
than two dozen people injured in the clashes in Srinagar and Baramullah.
(AFP, 7/3/09)
2009 Jul 3, In Libya peacekeepers
in Somalia and the war crimes warrant for Sudan's president dominated
the final day of an African Union summit, after a late-night compromise
on a new regional authority. Africa's leaders agreed to denounce the
International Criminal Court and refuse to extradite Sudan's President
Omar al-Bashir, who has been indicted for crimes against humanity in
Darfur.
(AFP, 7/3/09)(AP, 7/3/09)
2009 Jul 3, In Mexico City
kidnappers opened fire with AK-47 assault rifles during an attempted
rescue of the victim. The rescue failed with catastrophic errors. When
police fired back, two commanders, including the chief of the city's
elite rapid response force, were shot from behind by their own
officers. Meanwhile, one of the kidnappers inside the home fatally shot
Yolanda Ceballos (50) before killing himself. Seven other kidnappers
were captured. Anti-kidnapping chief Juan Maya Aviles was later
suspended.
(AP, 8/21/09)
2009 Jul 3, In Pakistan US
missiles slammed into the hideout of Taliban commander Noor Wali,
allied to warlord Baitullah Mehsud in the tribal belt in South
Waziristan. Another missile strike hit an insurgent communications
center in Kokat Khel. The strikes reportedly killed a total of 17
people. Pakistani warplanes bombed suspected militant hide-outs,
killing at least four insurgents and wounding seven others. The
Pakistani military said at least 13 militants and four local tribesmen
were killed over the last 24 hours in the districts of Swat and Dir. A
Pakistani helicopter crash killed 26 security personnel on the
mountainous border of the Orakzai and Khyber ethnic Pashtun tribal
regions. The Taliban claimed responsibility, but a senior security
official said the military MI-17 helicopter had crashed due to a
technical fault. Ehsan, alias Abu Jandal, a mid-level Taliban
commander, was killed in Qambar area.
(AFP, 7/3/09)(AP, 7/3/09)(AFP, 7/4/09)(SFC, 7/4/09,
p.A3)(AFP, 7/5/09)
2009 Jul 3, A top Kremlin aide
said Russia will allow the US to ship weapons across its territory to
Afghanistan, in a gesture aimed at bolstering US military operations
and improving strained ties between Washington and Moscow.
(AP, 7/3/09)
2009 Jul 3, In Sudan gunmen
kidnapped an Irish and Ugandan women from the office of the Irish aid
group Goal in the North Darfur city of Kutum. A Sudanese watchman was
also seized before being released later. Arab tribes supported by the
government were implicated. Sharon Commins (33) and her Ugandan
colleague, Hilda Kuwuki (42), were released on Oct 18.
(AFP, 7/4/09)(AP, 10/18/09)(AFP, 10/24/09)
2009 Jul 3, Sudanese police
arrested 13 women in a raid on a Khartoum cafe for wearing trousers in
violation of the country's strict Islamic law. 10 of them were flogged
inside a Khartoum police station. One of those arrested, journalist
Lubna Hussein, said she is challenging the charges, which can be
punishable by up to 40 lashes.
(AP, 7/13/09)(AP, 7/21/09)
2009 Jul 3, The head of
Venezuela's telecommunications regulatory agency said that 240 radio
stations will have their licenses revoked for failing to update their
registrations with the government. The government now controls six
television channels, including the Caracas-based international network
Telesur, two national radio networks and other smaller media outlets
including 600 radio stations and 72 community TV stations.
(AP, 7/3/09)
2009 Jul 4, Attacks began on more
than two dozen Internet sites in the United States and South Korea and
some were disabled by hackers. South Korea's spy agency later said the
attacks were possibly linked to North Korea. Some of the affected US
government Web sites, such as the Treasury Department, Federal Trade
Commission and Secret Service, were still reporting problems days after
it started during the July 4 holiday.
(Reuters, 7/8/09)(AP, 7/8/09)
2009 Jul 4, NYC police arrested a
dozen people and seized 33 pounds of heroin worth $30 million that was
stuffed inside Build-A-Bear toys.
(SSFC, 7/5/09, p.A11)
2009 Jul 4, In North Carolina 2
workers were killed when a truckload of fireworks exploded on a dock at
the southern end of Ocracoke Island. 2 others soon died from their
injuries.
(AP, 7/5/09)(SFC, 7/6/09, p.A10)
2009 Jul 4, In Tennessee Steve
McNair (36), a four-time Pro Bowl selection, was found dead with
multiple gunshot wounds on a sofa in his Nashville condominium living
room. Sahel Kazemi, (20), discovered near him, was killed by a single
gunshot wound. McNair was married with four children.
(AP, 7/5/09)
2009 Jul 4, Drake Levin (b.1946),
blues guitarist and former lead guitarist for Paul Revere and the
Raiders, died of cancer in SF.
(SFC, 7/17/09, p.D5)
2009 Jul 4, In Afghanistan
insurgent attacks in Helmand province killed 3 British soldiers. Gunmen
in the east abducted 16 mine-clearing personnel working for the United
Nations as they traveled between Paktia and Khost provinces.
(Reuters, 7/4/09)(AP, 7/5/09)(AP, 7/6/09)
2009 Jul 4, Albania's opposition
Socialists charged that the ruling Democrats were improperly trying to
influence the country's lengthy vote count by declaring victory before
all ballots from last week's national election were tallied.
(AP, 7/4/09)
2009 Jul 4, In Canada an explosion
damaged a natural gas pipeline in northeast British Columbia, the sixth
attack on an energy facility in that area in recent months. In a letter
to a local newspaper the bomber gave EnCana until mid-October to cease
operations in the area, or face larger attacks.
(Reuters, 7/4/09)(Econ, 8/15/09, p.32)
2009 Jul 4, A joint French-Spanish
operation captured 3 suspected members of ETA in the French city of Pau.
(SFC, 7/6/09, p.A2)
2009 Jul 4, The OAS suspended
Honduras participation in the organization because of last week's
military coup.
(AP, 7/4/09)
2009 Jul 4, In Mali dozens of
people were killed during clashes in the Timbuktu region between the
army and Al-Qaeda of the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) fighters.
(AFP, 7/21/09)
2009 Jul 4, In Myanmar UN chief
Ban Ki-moon gave a rare public speech outlining his vision for a
democratic Myanmar, just hours after the ruling junta refused to let
him meet opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
(AFP, 7/4/09)
2009 Jul 4, Nigeria's rebel group
MEND threatened to thwart a 10-billion-dollar trans-Saharan gas
pipeline linking vast reserves in Nigeria to Europe. The army vowed to
protect the project. Rebels Sichem Peace oil tanker and its six
crew members. The ship and crew were freed July 21 after spending 18
days in captivity in the Niger Delta.
(AFP, 7/4/09)(AP, 7/22/09)
2009 Jul 4, North Korea fired
seven ballistic missiles off its eastern coast, in a violation of UN
resolutions and an apparent message of defiance to the US on its
Independence Day.
(AP, 7/4/09)
2009 Jul 4, Pakistani warplanes
and helicopter gunships pounded Taliban positions in the country's
volatile northwest, killing at least 12 suspected insurgents. Clashes
between tribesmen and Taliban fighters left 16 people dead in the
remote Mohmand region. Army helicopters attacked a militant position in
the area the previous day’s helicopter crash and struck a militant
bunker on a peak. 10 bodies were reported found lying there.
(AP, 7/4/09)(Reuters, 7/4/09)
2009 Jul 5, In Florida 2 monorail
trains crashed in the Magic Kingdom section of Walt Disney World,
killing one train's operator.
(AP, 7/5/09)
2009 Jul 5, John Bachar (b.1957),
free-style rock climber, fell to his death from a dike wall in the
eastern Sierra near Mammoth Lakes, Ca.
(Econ, 7/18/09,
p.84)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bachar)
2009 Jul 5, Terry Herbert (55), an
unemployed treasure hunter, unearthed the biggest hoard of Anglo-Saxon
gold and silver ever found in a country field in Staffordshire. The
trove of at least 1,350 items, including five kilos (11 pounds) of gold
and a smaller amount of silver, was found by Herbert with a metal
detector near his home in Burntwood, some 15 miles north of Birmingham.
It is believed to date from the seventh century AD, and may have
belonged to Saxon royalty. It was later valued at more than three
million pounds, to be split equally between the man who found it and
the owner of the land.
(AFP, 9/24/09)(AFP,
11/26/09)(www.nydailynews.com/topics/Terry+Herbert)
2009 Jul 5, Bulgaria held
parliamentary elections. The Conservative opposition center-right GERB
party, led by ex-wrestler Boyko Borisov, won elections with 39.7% of
the vote as voters punished the governing Socialists for failing to
crack down on corruption.
(Reuters, 7/5/09)(AP, 7/6/09)(Econ, 7/11/09,
p.52)(Econ, 1/9/10, p.51)
2009 Jul 5, In China’s far west
protesters from a Muslim ethnic group clashed with police, with
activists saying police fired shots in the air and used batons to
disperse a crowd that had swelled to nearly 1,000. Over the next few
days some 192 people were killed and over 800 wounded in protests that
roiled Urumqi, the capital of western Xinjiang province. State media
said at least 20 people have died and more than 670,000 had to be
evacuated in China after torrential rain and floods destroyed houses,
damaged roads and caused rivers to overflow.
(AP, 7/5/09)(AFP, 7/5/09)(Time.com, 7/6/09)(AP,
7/16/09)
2009 Jul 5, Guinea-Bissau said the
second round of presidential elections has been brought forward to July
26 to enable farmers to continue harvesting unhindered.
(AFP, 7/5/09)
2009 Jul 5, Honduras' ousted
President Manuel Zelaya said he was getting on a flight home to reclaim
his post, accompanied by the UN General Assembly president and a group
of journalists. The interim government said it ordered the military to
prevent the landing of Zelaya's plane. Soldiers clashed with thousands
of Zelaya backers massed at the airport in hopes of welcoming home the
deposed leader removed a week earlier. Isis Obed Murillo Mencia (19)
was killed by soldiers as a crowd tried to break through an airport
fence. Pilots of the plane loaned by Venezuelan Pres. Hugo Chavez
circled the airport and decided not to risk a crash.
(AP, 7/5/09)(AP, 7/6/09)(SFC, 7/7/09, p.A3)
2009 Jul 5, Iran said it has
released a British-Greek journalist held for more than two weeks
following its disputed presidential elections as dissent continued. Ali
Reza Beheshti, the son of a prominent Iranian revolutionary icon, made
a rare public push for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's removal from
office. The Assembly of Qom Seminary Scholars and Researchers, a
pro-reform Iranian clerical group, said the outcome of last month's
presidential vote was "invalid," even though Supreme Leader Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei has upheld the result.
(AP, 7/5/09)(Reuters, 7/5/09)
2009 Jul 5, In Iraq an attack on
the checkpoint in western Baghdad killed two Iraqi police officers and
three soldiers.
(AP, 7/6/09)
2009 Jul 5, Mexicans voted in
midterm congressional elections. The old Institutional Revolutionary
Party made a big comeback in defiance of those who had written off what
is still the country's biggest and most representative party. The PAN
will lose some of its 206 seats in the lower house, and the PRI stands
to more than double its 106 seats.
(AP, 7/5/09)(AP, 7/6/09)
2009 Jul 5, Nigerian rebels
announced they had launched a fresh attack on an oil facility run by
the Anglo-Dutch group Shell in the restive Niger Delta. The militants
destroyed a Chevron oil pipeline junction in the latest attack on
Nigeria's key money earner since the government offered an amnesty.
(AP, 7/5/09)(AFP, 7/6/09)
2009 Jul 5, Pakistani fighter jets
targeted suspected Taliban hide-outs in a tribal region near
Afghanistan, killing as many as six people in North Waziristan. Gunship
helicopters shelled militant hideouts at Mangaltan area of Charbagh
town. At least ten militants were killed in the shelling. At least
three militants were killed and many injured in shelling in the Orakzai
region. Elsewhere in the northwest, two bomb explosions killed two
people and wounded 15 more in Upper Dir district.
(AP, 7/5/09)(AFP, 7/5/09)
2009 Jul 5, In the southern
Philippines suspected Muslim guerrillas detonated a bomb near a Roman
Catholic cathedral in Cotabato city, killing at least five people and
wounding 46.
(AP, 7/5/09)
2009 Jul 5, In Somalia heavy
shelling between rebels and government forces near the presidential
palace killed at least 12 people. PM Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke
looked for help from more African Union peacekeepers.
(AP, 7/5/09)
2009 Jul 5, An official Zimbabwe
newspaper reported that the government has promised to withdraw
soldiers from diamond fields in the east, a week after a rights group
alleged the military was committing killings and abuses in the area.
(AP, 7/5/09)
2009 Jul 6, In San Francisco crews
cleaning a homeless encampment in McLaren Park discovered a body later
identified as Ronnie Brown (32), who was last seen in San Leandro on
Oct 20, 2007. Brown, aka Allah, was on parole for a weapons conviction
and had been associated with people connected to Oakland’s Your Black
Muslim Bakery.
(SFC, 7/15/09, p.A13)
2009 Jul 6, In North Carolina
suspected killer Patrick Burris (41), a career criminal paroled just
two months ago, was shot to death by officers investigating a burglary
complaint at a home in Gastonia, 30 miles from Gaffney, SC, where the
killing spree started June 27.
(AP, 7/7/09)
2009 Jul 6, Robert McNamara
(b.1916), former US defense secretary, died. He was one of the main
architects of the US war in Vietnam (1961-1968). McNamara wrote or
co-authored 11 books on topics that mainly focused on issues of defense
and development, the most recent one in 2001.
(AFP, 7/6/09)
2009 Jul 6, In northern
Afghanistan four US soldiers were among six people killed by a roadside
bomb in Kunduz province. Two Americans were killed in a roadside blast
in southern Afghanistan. An American soldier died in a firefight with
militants in the east. In southern Kandahar, a suicide bomber killed
two people when he drove a car packed with explosives toward a line of
truck drivers waiting to supply foreign troops. The Taliban movement
said they had launched a guerrilla operation to thwart a major assault
by newly deployed US Marines on their Helmand strongholds. 3 NATO
troops died in a helicopter crash in Zabul province.
(AP, 7/6/09)(AFP, 7/6/09)(AP, 7/7/09)
2009 Jul 6, The 2nd Panafrican
Festival opened in Algiers and was scheduled to last to July 20. The
first Panafrican Festival took place back in 1969.
(AP, 7/9/09)
2009 Jul 6, In Croatia
deputy Jadranka Kosor (b.1953), a former journalist, was confirmed as
the new prime minister.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jadranka_Kosor)
2009 Jul 6, Ethnic Somali rebels
(ONLF) in Ethiopia's Ogaden region claimed they killed 90 government
troops in recent clashes, but the government denied any losses,
claiming victory instead.
(AFP, 7/6/09)
2009 Jul 6, Honduras' interim
government closed its main airport to all flights after blocking the
runway to prevent the return of ousted President Manuel Zelaya.
(AP, 7/6/09)
2009 Jul 6, In western India
people began falling ill after a night of drinking tainted home-brewed
liquor. The death toll soon rose to at least 112.
(AP, 7/8/09)(AP, 7/9/09)(AP, 7/10/09)
2009 Jul 6, In Iraq a car bomb
targeted a police patrol in Mosul but missed, killing an 18-year-old
man and injuring eight other bystanders.
(AP, 7/6/09)
2009 Jul 6, Israel deported
Cynthia McKinney, a former US congresswoman, Mairead Corrigan Maguire,
a Nobel peace prize laureate, and other activists who were arrested and
jailed after trying to break the naval blockade of the Gaza Strip. The
Israeli navy seized their boat last week as it tried to sail with
medical supplies from Cyprus to Gaza.
(AP, 7/6/09)
2009 Jul 6, Liberia's truth and
reconciliation commission recommended barring President Ellen Johnson
Sirleaf and dozens of other high-profile figures from public office for
30 years for supporting armed groups in the country's civil wars.
(AP, 7/7/09)
2009 Jul 6, Nepal's national
assembly sat for the first time in more than two months after the
Maoist party agreed to halt protests that have paralyzed parliament.
(AFP, 7/6/09)
2009 Jul 6, In Russia President
Barack Obama opened his first Moscow summit with confidence. Obama and
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev struck a preliminary deal to reduce
their stockpiles of nuclear warheads to as few as 1,500 each, pointing
the two countries' arsenals toward lower levels than in any previous
arms control agreement.
(AP, 7/6/09)
2009 Jul 6, Vasily Aksyonov
(b.1932), Russian novelist and Soviet dissident, died in Moscow. He was
forced into exile in 1980 after being branded as “anti-Soviet” and
lived in the US for over two decades. His over 20 novels included “The
Moscow Saga” (1994), which was adopted for a popular TV series in 2004.
(SFC, 7/8/09, p.D5)
2009 Jul 6, The office of South
Korea's Pres. Lee Myung-bak said he will donate about 33.1 billion won
($26 million), almost all of his personal fortune, to establish a new
youth scholarship program.
(AP, 7/6/09)
2009 Jul 6, Vatican Radio began
airing advertisements for the first time in its 80-year history.
Vatican debt last year was pegged at $22 Million.
(SFC, 7/27/09, p.D3)
2009 Jul 6, In Yemen a barber was
publicly executed after he was found guilty of raping and killing an
11-year-old boy who came to his shop for a haircut. The barber was
arrested in December 2008 and confessed during a January trial to
raping the boy inside his salon, killing him and cutting up his body
before dumping it outside San'a.
(AP, 7/6/09)
2009 Jul 7, Google announced its
new operating system, Google Chrome OS, which would initially target
low cost netbooks.
(SFC, 7/9/09, p.C1)
2009 Jul 7, Ron Nicolino (b.1939),
artist and former resident of Point Richmond, Ca., died of cancer. He
had attempted to string a collection of bras across the Grand Canyon in
the mid-1990s, but was unable to get federal permission. Instead he and
Ellen Duffy concocted the creation of a bra ball. A dispute led each
one to create their own versions. Nicolino’s 1,600 pound “Big Giant Bra
Ball” was left with his mother in Washington state.
(SFC, 7/16/09, p.D7)
2009 Jul 7, In eastern Afghanistan
a hand grenade thrown at a police vehicle exploded in a crowd, killing
one civilian and wounding 28 others in Khost province. A British
soldier died in an explosion in Helmand province. He was the 7th
British soldier killed in Afghanistan in a week. Hundreds of insurgents
attacked police posts and a government building in eastern Nuristan
province. The attacks continued into the next day leaving 6 policemen
and 21 insurgents dead. (AP, 7/7/09)(AP, 7/8/09)
2009 Jul 7, British officials
unveiled a memorial of 52 steel pillars in a London park, one for each
victim of the July 7, 2005, attacks on the city's transit system.
(AP, 7/7/09)
2009 Jul 7, The Cameroonian
newspaper Le Jour said five Chinese workers were abducted off the
oil-rich Bakassi peninsula in Cameroon near the border with Nigeria.
(AFP, 7/8/09)
2009 Jul 7, Canadian officials
said they had identified yet another new flu virus, this one a mixture
of human and swine influenzas, in two farm workers in Western Canada.
(Reuters, 7/8/09)
2009 Jul 7, In China mobs of Han
Chinese wielding meat cleavers and clubs and groups of Muslim Uighur
men beat people in the streets of Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang
region. The government imposed a curfew as it tried to stem communal
violence. The official Xinhua News Agency said that 1,434 suspects had
been arrested, and that checkpoints had been set up to stop rioters
from escaping.
(AP, 7/7/09)
2009 Jul 7, In Egypt 22 people
were killed in two separate accidents on the notoriously dangerous road
between the capital Cairo and the southern city of Minya.
(AP, 7/7/09)
2009 Jul 7, Ethiopia's parliament
adopted a new anti-terrorism bill despite criticism by rights groups
that the legislation violates civil liberties.
(AFP, 7/7/09)
2009 Jul 7, In India at least 16
people were killed and 25 injured after a fire tore through a
firecracker factory in Madurai.
(SFC, 7/9/09, p.A2)
2009 Jul 7, In Italy Matteo
Salvini, a member of the often xenophobic, anti-immigrant Northern
League party, resigned his seat in the lower chamber of Parliament
after being filmed singing a racist chant about Naples and its
residents.
(AP, 7/8/09)
2009 Jul 7, In northern Mexico an
anti-crime activist and a neighbor were killed by gunmen believed
linked to a drug cartel. Anti-crime activists said the slaying of
Benjamin LeBaron, a US citizen, in Chihuahua state was the first time
one of their own had been killed for denouncing crime and called it a
chilling warning. Jose Rodolfo Escajeda, a lieutenant and one of the
main operators of the Juarez cartel, was later presumed responsible for
the killing of LeBaron and a neighbor near Nuevo Casas Grandes.
(AP, 7/8/09)(AP, 9/6/09)
2009 Jul 7, In Pakistan a US
missile strike pulverized a compound in a stronghold of Taliban warlord
Baitullah Mehsud, killing 16 foreign and local militants in South
Waziristan. Two paramilitary soldiers were killed and nine security
personnel wounded in three bomb attacks in North and South Waziristan.
The military said that four militants were killed, including a brother
of Ibn-e-Amin, one of the most-wanted Taliban commanders in the Swat
valley.
(AFP, 7/7/09)
2009 Jul 7, In the Philippines a
crude bomb hidden on a motorcycle exploded in a port city on southern
Jolo island where al-Qaida-linked militants are active, killing at
least two people and wounding 24.
(AP, 7/7/09)
2009 Jul 7, In Moscow President
Barack Obama asked the Russian people to "forge a lasting partnership"
with the US, but he acknowledged after talks with PM Vladimir Putin
that on divisive issues there won't be "a meeting of the minds anytime
soon.
(AP, 7/7/09)
2009 Jul 7, Spanish police
arrested Jorge Alberto Soza (72), an ex-Argentine police official
suspected of human rights abuses committed during the South American
country's dirty war. Soza was wanted in Argentina in connection with 18
cases of kidnapping and torture between 1975 and 1977 when he was an
assistant Federal Police commissioner and chief delegate in the
southern Argentine city of Neuquen.
(AP, 7/24/09)
2009 Jul 7, Pope Benedict XVI
called for a radical rethinking of global economy in “Caritas et
Verite” (Charity in Truth) his 3rd encyclical.
(SFC, 7/8/09, p.A2)
2009 Jul 8, In SF Philip Day (63),
former head of SF City College, was charged with 8 felonies for using
public funds for political donations and other banned expenditures.
(SFC, 7/9/09, p.A1)
2009 Jul 8, In Chesnee, North
Carolina, Ricky Lee Blackwell shot a girl (8) twice in the driveway of
a home where he had taken her and his estranged wife to swim and play.
The girl's father was dating Blackwell's estranged wife. Blackwell shot
himself as police closed in. He was taken to a hospital but his
condition wasn't released.
(AP, 7/9/09)
2009 Jul 8, In Afghanistan a
roadside bomb attack killed two NATO soldiers.
(AP, 7/9/09)
2009 Jul 8, Australia said Chinese
authorities had detained Stern Hu, Rio Tinto Ltd's top iron ore
negotiator, as well as three other Rio employees on suspicion of
espionage and stealing state secrets, threatening to strain already
fraying ties.
(Reuters, 7/8/09)
2009 Jul 8, Australian residents
of rural Bundanoon, hoping to protect the earth and their wallets,
voted to ban the sale of bottled water, the first community in the
country, and possibly the world, to take such a drastic step in the
growing backlash against the industry.
(AP, 7/9/09)
2009 Jul 8, Azerbaijan police
arrested Adnan Hadzhizade, a video blogger and member of the "OL!"
opposition movement, and Emin Milli, a youth activist who also runs an
Internet TV program, after a fight in a Baku cafe with two unknown men.
Both were charged with hooliganism. A Baku court decision soon ordered
two months of pretrial detention for Milli and Hadzhizade, which
prompted criticism from international journalism advocates.
(AP, 7/14/09)
2009 Jul 8, The British government
set out plans to toughen regulation of its banking sector, including
greater oversight of bonuses paid to staff.
(AFP, 7/8/09)
2009 Jul 8, British scientists
claimed to have created human sperm from embryonic stem cells for the
first time. Several critics said the sperm cells were clearly abnormal.
The paper was retracted by the end of the month because two paragraphs
in its introduction had been plagiarized. Experts acknowledged that
concerns might be raised about the study's credibility.
(SFC, 7/9/09, p.A5)(AP, 7/31/09)
2009 Jul 8, In China hundreds of
helmeted troops in riot gear swarmed the central square of Urumqi,
capital of western Xinjiang, after ethnic riots left some 192 dead. The
city's Communist Party boss promised those behind the killings would be
executed. On July 11 China said 137 of the riot victims were Han while
46 were Uighurs and one was a Hui, another Muslim group. Uighurs on the
streets of Urumqi, and from exile activist groups disputed the new
figures.
(AP, 7/8/09)(AP, 7/11/09)(AP, 7/15/09)
2009 Jul 8, In France some 60
youths rioted outside Saint-Etienne after hearing that man had tried to
hang himself in jail. Mohamed Benmouna (21) died soon after at a
hospital.
(SFC, 7/9/09, p.A2)
2009 Jul 8, In Haiti Bill Clinton
said a lack of coordination among aid groups and Haitian leaders is
hurting efforts to ease poverty in the Caribbean nation, as he wrapped
up his first trip here as a special UN envoy.
(AP, 7/8/09)
2009 Jul 8, Indonesian President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono won a second term. Exit polls gave him a
massive lead in only the second presidential vote since the fall of
Suharto. Yudhoyono won 61% of the vote. Jusuf Kalla, his former
vice-president, won 12%. Megawati Sukarnoputri won 27%.
(AP, 7/8/09)(Econ, 9/12/09, SR p.4)
2009 Jul 8, In Iraq car bombs in
two Shiite villages near Mosul killed 16 civilians and injured more
than two dozen.
(AP, 7/10/09)
2009 Jul 8, The Irish government
said Irish voters who rejected the EU's Lisbon Treaty last year will be
asked to vote again Oct. 2 on the long-delayed blueprint for reform.
(AP, 7/8/09)
2009 Jul 8, G8 Leaders met in
L'Aquila, Italy, for talks on threats to global security and stability
at a summit where climate change, a continuing global economic crisis,
nuclear proliferation and world hunger took top billing.
(AP, 7/8/09)
2009 Jul 8, Protesters in Indian
Kashmir set fire to a police van and stoned other security vehicles
after the body of a missing young man was recovered in the regional
capital Srinagar.
(AFP, 7/8/09)
2009 Jul 8, Malaysian education
officials announced that they will abandon the use of English to teach
math and science, bowing to protesters who demanded more use of the
national Malay language.
(SFC, 7/9/09, p.A2)
2009 Jul 8, In Mexico
investigators found a severed head and two arms inside a plastic bag in
the of Ario de Rosales, Michoacan state.
(AP, 7/9/09)
2009 Jul 8, Nigerian MEND
militants said they blew up two key oil pipelines as they stepped up
attacks in response to a government amnesty offer.
(AFP, 7/8/09)
2009 Jul 8, In Pakistan a US drone
fired 6 missiles and killed 10 suspected militants at a training camp
about 35 kilometers northeast of Wana. At least 35 suspected militants
were killed in a second US missile strike targeting insurgents in the
northwest tribal belt.
(AFP, 7/8/09)(SFC, 7/9/09, p.A4)
2009 Jul 8, Saudi officials said a
criminal court has convicted and sentenced an al-Qaida militant to
death and given more 330 others jail terms, fines and travel bans in
the country's first known terrorism trials for suspected members of the
terror network. The 330 are believed to be among the 991 suspected
militants that Interior Minister Prince Nayef has said had been charged
with participating in terrorist attacks over the past five years.
(AP, 7/8/09)
2009 Jul 8, Somali pirates seized
a Turkish ship with 23 crew and were being shadowed by a Turkish
warship in the Gulf of Aden. The pirates first surrounded the Horizon-1
in speed boats and then boarded the ship, which was carrying sulfate
from Saudi Arabia to Jordan.
(AP, 7/8/09)
2009 Jul 8, A senior UN official
said fighting between tribes in southern Sudan has increasingly
targeted women and children and likely killed more than 1,000 people
since January.
(AP, 7/8/09)
2009 Jul 8, Switzerland's
government said it would forbid the Swiss bank UBS AG from complying
with any court-ordered transfer of data on tens of thousands of
American clients to the US government, and would consider seizing
documents to prevent that.
(AP, 7/8/09)
2009 Jul 9, In Florida Byrd and
Melanie Billings were killed at their sprawling home near Pensacola.
The wealthy Florida had 4 children and adopted 12 others with
developmental disabilities and other problems. Three men were soon
arrested in connection with the slayings.
(AP, 7/13/09)
2009 Jul 9, An Afghan government
spokesman said President Hamid Karzai has pardoned five heroin
smugglers, at least one of them a relative of a man who heads Karzai's
campaign for re-election next month. A truck rigged with explosives
blew up near Kabul killing 25 people including 13 primary school
students. Militants attacked a district headquarters in the southern
province of Zabul, sparking a clash in which 15 Taliban were killed. 30
insurgents planting bombs in a road in Zabul were killed in an Afghan
military ambush. Overnight clashes with troops killed 27 suspected
militants in Helmand.
(Reuters, 7/9/09)(AFP, 7/9/09)
2009 Jul 9, An African Union panel
said former UN chief Kofi Annan handed the International Criminal Court
the names of key suspects in Kenya's post-poll violence which he helped
end last year.
(AFP, 7/9/09)
2009 Jul 9, The US deported Luis
Arce Gomez (71), a key figure in Bolivia's last military dictatorship,
back home to serve a 30-year prison sentence for crimes including
genocide and political assassinations. Gomez, known as "the minister of
cocaine," took part in the July 1980 coup led by then-Gen. Luis Garcia
Meza and backed by drug traffickers.
(AP, 7/9/09)
2009 Jul 9, In China a 6.0
earthquake rocked Yunnan province, killing one person and destroying
thousands of houses. More than 400,000 people left their homes
following the tremor that left at least one person dead.
(AP, 7/10/09)
2009 Jul 9, Egypt’s Interior
Ministry said authorities have arrested 25 militants with links to
al-Qaida on suspicion of plotting attacks on oil pipelines and ships in
the Suez Canal.
(AP, 7/9/09)
2009 Jul 9, In Iran hundreds of
young men and women chanted "death to the dictator" and fled
baton-wielding police in Tehran as opposition activists sought to
revive street protests despite authorities' vows to "smash" any new
marches.
(AP, 7/9/09)
2009 Jul 9, In Iraq 2 suicide
bombings in Tal Afar, in Nineveh province, killed 38 people and wounded
66. Tal Afar is mainly home to minority Turkmen of the Shiite Muslim
faith. In Baghdad, 8 people were killed and 30 wounded by two bombs in
a market in Sadr City, a poor, Shiite Muslim area. 10 more people were
killed by bombs elsewhere in Baghdad. US forces released five Iranian
officials detained in January 2007 in northern Iraq on suspicion of
aiding local Shiite militants. An Iranian television report identified
the men as Mohsen Bagheri, Mahmoud Farhadi, Majid Ghaemi, Majid Dagheri
and Abbas Jami. A car driver was killed in a head-on collision with a
US Army Stryker vehicle, the lead vehicle of a US-Iraqi convoy in
western Diyala province.
(Reuters, 7/9/09)(AP, 7/9/09)(AP, 7/10/09)(AP,
7/11/09)
2009 Jul 9, In Italy the G8 opened
their summit to include the G5, which made their fifth straight
appearance at the annual summit, albeit as guests, to discuss climate
change, development aid, global economic growth and international trade.
(AP, 7/9/09)
2009 Jul 9, Mexican police found
four mutilated bodies in plastic bags on the side of a highway in La
Huacana, Michoacan state.
(AP, 7/9/09)
2009 Jul 9, In Nigeria Henry Okah,
a key militant in Nigeria's southern Niger Delta detained since
September 2007, accepted President Umaru Yar'Adua recent offer of
unconditional amnesty. Armed robbers killed six police officers as they
fled after a raid on a commercial bank at Idi-Iroko, a Nigerian border
town with Benin.
(AFP, 7/10/09)
2009 Jul 9, Pakistan’s government
announced a plan to allow some 2 million people who fled the offensive
to return home next week, saying the region was now secure and
essential services restored. A landmine killed five paramilitary
soldiers and wounded four others in the insurgency-plagued province of
Baluchistan. Dozens of militants overran a police post and killed four
officers in the northwest city of Khar.
(AFP, 7/9/09)(AP, 7/10/09)
2009 Jul 9-2009 Aug 2, Saudi
Arabian authorities arrested 44 suspected militants who sought to
recruit youths and finance their "deviant activities" through
charitable donations.
(AP, 8/19/09)
2009 Jul 9, In South Africa World
Cup organizers said a strike by construction workers entered its second
day as negotiators meet to try and resolve the standoff.
(AP, 7/9/09)
2009 Jul 9, South Korean Web sites
were attacked again after a wave of Web site outages in the US and
South Korea that several officials suspect North Korea was behind.
(AP, 7/9/09)
2009 Jul 9, The Swedish government
said it will expel Sylvere Ahorugeze (53) within three weeks,
fulfilling a request from authorities in Rwanda and marking the first
time an EU nation has sent back a suspect to face charges in the 1994
genocide.
(AP, 7/10/09)
2009 Jul 9, The UN passed a
resolution extending the lifetime of the International Criminal
Tribunal for Rwanda to next year. The latest extension is the second
for the Tanzania-based court which had originally been scheduled wind
up its lower court cases by December 2008, but had its life extended to
December 2009.
(AFP, 7/9/09)
2009 Jul 9, In Venezuela’s top
telecommunications official said President Hugo Chavez's government is
imposing new regulations on cable television while revoking the
licenses of more than 200 radio stations.
(AP, 7/9/09)
2009 Jul 10, General Motors
emerged from bankruptcy protection. CEO Fritz Henderson said the new GM
will be far faster and more responsive to customers than the old one,
and it will make money and repay government loans faster than required.
(AP, 7/10/09)
2009 Jul 10, A US plant scientists
said late blight, which caused the Irish Potato Famine of the 1840s and
1850s, is killing potato and tomato plants in home gardens from Maine
to Ohio and threatening commercial and organic farms.
(Reuters, 7/10/09)
2009 Jul 10, Police in Illinois
closed a black cemetery in Alsip and declared it a crime scene after
former employees were accused of dumping hundreds of unearthed corpses
in a scheme to resell their plots.
(SFC, 7/11/09, p.A4)
2009 Jul 10,
Kenneth Stampp (b.1913), US Berkeley historian, died. His books
included “The Peculiar Institution: Slavery in the Antebellum South”
(1956) and “The Era of Reconstruction, 1865-1877” (1965).
(SFC, 7/22/09, p.D5)
2009 Jul 10, In Afghanistan 8
British soldiers were reported killed over the last 24 hours. A US
service member wounded in June in Afghanistan died in the US.
(AP, 7/11/09)(AP, 7/12/09)
2009 Jul 10, Millions of
Argentines stayed home from work, churches in Bolivia canceled Mass and
Ecuador announced its first fatalities from swine flu, as the virus
continued its spread during the South American winter season.
(AP, 7/11/09)
2009 Jul 10, Britain’s the last
ever Royal Show closed in Warwickshire. The agricultural jamboree,
intended to spread innovation among farmers, ended a 170 year run.
(Econ, 7/11/09, p.57)
2009 Jul 10, In China boisterous
crowds turned up at mosques in riot-hit parts of Urumqi, ignoring
orders canceling Friday prayers due to the ethnic violence and forcing
officials to let them in.
(AP, 7/10/09)
2009 Jul 10, China’s state media
said 4 detained Rio Tinto Ltd. employees are accused of paying bribes
for secret information about China's stance in iron ore price talks. A
Chinese steel executive, also detained along with four Rio Tinto
employees, was being investigated for leaking China's "bottom line" on
iron ore prices. Chinalco denied the move was payback for a collapsed
deal.
(AP, 7/10/09)(Reuters, 7/10/09)
2009 Jul 10, In Iraq an American
soldier in Iraq shot and killed a truck driver who did not respond to
warnings to stop on a highway between Tikrit and Balad.
(AP, 7/11/09)
2009 Jul 10, In Italy the 3-day G8
summit came to close. World leaders launched a $15 billion initiative
to help farmers in poor countries boost production in a shift in the
way the West tackles world hunger.
(AP, 7/10/09)
2009 Jul 10, Nigerian militants
claimed to have blown up for a second time a recently repaired oil
pipeline operated by US petroleum giant Chevron.
(AP, 7/11/09)
2009 Jul 10, Earl Haig (91),
Scottish artist and son of WWI Field Marshal Douglas Haig, died. He
developed his gift for painting as a prisoner of war in World War II.
(AP, 7/15/09)
2009 Jul 10, Somali residents said
Islamist insurgent fighters in Baidoa have beheaded seven people
accused of abandoning their religion and of espionage, in the largest
mass execution since the Islamists were chased from power two and a
half years ago.
(AP, 7/10/09)
2009 Jul 10, South Korea’s spy
agency told lawmakers that a research institute affiliated with the
North's Ministry of People's Armed Forces received an order on June 7
to "destroy the South Korean puppet communications networks in an
instant." The Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported that the North has between
500-1,000 hacking specialists.
(AP, 7/11/09)
2009 Jul 10, In Spain charging
bull gored a young Spanish man to death at Pamplona's San Fermin
festival, the first such fatality in nearly 15 years. Nine others were
injured in a particularly dangerous and chaotic chapter of the running
of the bulls.
(AP, 7/10/09)
2009 Jul 10, In Switzerland
British conductor Edward Downes (b.1924) died with his wife Joan (74)
at an assisted suicide clinic. He was a longtime stalwart at the Royal
Opera and maestro of the first-ever performance at Sydney's iconic
Opera House.
(AP, 7/14/09)
2009 Jul 10, At the Vatican Pope
Benedict XVI stressed the church's opposition to abortion and stem cell
research in his first meeting with President Barack Obama.
(AP, 7/10/09)
2009 Jul 10, Zimbabwe's army and
police refused to vacate diamond fields where security forces are
accused of human rights abuses, despite a pledge last week for their
withdrawal. Finance Minister Tendai Biti said the government will
provide 142 million dollars in aid to small-scale farmers as the
country struggles to revive its shattered agricultural sector.
(AFP, 7/10/09)(AP, 7/10/09)
2009 Jul 11, In Afghanistan bomb
blasts killed 2 US Marines in Helmand province. At least six police
officers were killed by roadside bombs, two in southern Helmand
province and at least four south of Kabul in Logar province. In a
gunbattle in eastern Paktia province between insurgents and Afghan
police, two militants and one police officer were killed.
(AP, 7/12/09)(SFC, 7/13/09, p.A3)
2009 Jul 11, It was reported that
Brazilian police were investigating some 660 “secret acts” passed by
the Senate since 1995 which have awarded jobs and pay raises members of
staff.
(Econ, 7/11/09, p.39)
2009 Jul 11, In Brazil the body of
Arturo Gatti (37), former Canadian boxing champion, was found in a
hotel room at the northeastern Porto de Galinhas resort. He was
apparently strangled with the strap of a purse, which was found at the
scene with blood stains. His wife, Amanda Rodrigues (23), was soon
taken into custody after contradictions in her interrogation. A police
inquiry later concluded that he committed suicide using the strap of a
rucksack on a staircase in the early hours of the morning.
(AP, 7/12/09)(Reuters, 7/31/09)
2009 Jul 11, In Ghana US Pres.
Obama met with Ghanaian President John Atta Mills. Obama praised and
scolded the continent of his ancestors, asserting forces of tyranny and
corruption must yield if Africa is to achieve its promise.
(AP, 7/11/09)
2009 Jul 11, A ferry capsized off
Haiti's southern coast, killing at least five people. Authorities said
it wasn't clear how many people were on board, but as many as two dozen
could be missing.
(AP, 7/11/09)
2009 Jul 11, In India 2 boats
capsized in the Wainganga River in western Bhandara district leaving 26
women drowned.
(SFC, 7/13/09, p.A2)
2009 Jul 11, In Indonesia an
Australian working for the Indonesian subsidiary of US-based mining
giant Freeport McMoRan was shot dead by unknown attackers in Papua.
(AFP, 7/11/09)
2009 Jul 11, In Iraq a car bomb
has exploded in Gugjeli a Shiite village in northern Iraq, killing at
least four people. Another 6 people died in bombings in Baghdad.
(AP, 7/11/09)(SSFC, 7/12/09, p.A2)
2009 Jul 11, In Israel 2 religious
Jews were stabbed and another was beaten in a fight with secular Jews
in Jerusalem.
(AP, 7/11/09)
2009 Jul 11, In Mexico gunmen
boldly attacked federal forces across the western state of Michoacan
following the capture of Arnoldo Rueda Medina, an alleged member of La
Familia drug cartel. In Zitacuaro, a mountain town famous for its
Monarch butterfly nesting grounds, 3 federal agents were killed, and
two soldiers were fatally shot in the town of Zamora. Two federal
agents were killed and three others were wounded along a highway
between Morelia and the port City of Lazaro Cardenas when dozens of
gunmen ambushed their patrol cars.
(AP, 7/12/09)
2009 Jul 11, In central Pakistan
police killed one suspected militant and seized a truckload of
automatic weapons and explosives after a five-hour shootout at a
religious school in Dera Ghazi Khan, Punjab province. A clash with
militants in South Waziristan killed a soldier. Gunmen killed 5 police
officers and a forestry official responding to reports of a dead body
in Mansehra.
(AP, 7/11/09)(AP, 7/12/09)(SFC, 7/13/09, p.A2)
2009 Jul 11, Peru’s President Alan
Garcia shuffled his Cabinet following months of protests, replacing
seven of 16 ministers and naming a new chief, the third person to hold
the post in nine months.
(AP, 7/12/09)
2009 Jul 11, In Somalia a foreign
fighter and Nor Daqli, head of security for the capital, were among 16
people killed in fighting between UN-backed government forces and
Islamist insurgents in the north of Mogadishu.
(AP, 7/11/09)
2009 Jul 12, In Novato,
California, James Raphael Mitchell (27) bludgeoned to death Danielle
Keller, the mother of his one-year-old daughter. He was arrested late
the same day. Mitchell’s father, Jim Mitchell, was the co-founder of
San Francisco’s x-rated O’Farrell Theater.
(SFC, 7/14/09, p.A1)
2009 Jul 12, Colombia’s President
Alvaro Uribe delivered reparations totaling nearly $1 million to 279
victims of Colombia's long-running conflict.
(AP, 7/13/09)
2009 Jul 12, The Republic of Congo
held elections. Pres. Denis Sassou-Nguesso was re-elected with 78.6% of
the vote.
(SFC, 7/16/09, p.A2)
2009 Jul 12, Hondurans enjoyed
their first night of unfettered freedom in two weeks after the interim
government lifted a curfew imposed following the ouster of President
Manuel Zelaya.
(AP, 7/13/09)
2009 Jul 12, Indian Maoists killed
at least 30 policemen, including a senior officer, in two separate
ambushes in the eastern state of Chhattisgarh. A section of a bridge
being built for the New Delhi metro rail system collapsed, crushing to
death 5 workers and injuring 13 in a major setback to the project that
officials hope to complete before the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
(AFP, 7/12/09)
2009 Jul 12, In Indonesia gunmen
killed a security guard working for US mining conglomerate Freeport,
then ambushed police responding to the attack blamed on separatist
rebels in one of Indonesia's most underdeveloped and remote regions.
(AP, 7/12/09)
2009 Jul 12, Five Iranian
officials held in Iraq for more than two years by US forces returned
home after the US released them under pressure from the Iraqi
government. They were handed over to Iraqi officials on July 9. The
Iranians were detained in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil in January
2007. At the time, US authorities said the men included the operations
chief and other members of Iran's elite Quds Force, which is accused of
arming and training Iraqi militants.
(AP, 7/12/09)
2009 Jul 12, In Iraq bombings in
or near churches killed at least four people, including one that
happened as worshippers were leaving Mass in eastern Baghdad. It was
reported that below-average rainfall and insufficient water in the
Euphrates and Tigris rivers have left Iraq bone dry for a second
straight year, wrecking swaths of farm land, threatening drinking water
supplies and intensifying fierce sandstorms that have coated the
country in brown dust. The severity of the drought has resulted in a
testy water dispute between Iraq and Turkey, which has built five dams
along the Euphrates upstream from where it enters western Iraq.
(AP, 7/13/09)
2009 Jul 12, In Kyrgyzstan
government critic Almaz Tashiyev (Tashiev) died of complications from
head injuries after surgery. Relatives said he told them before the
operation that he had been beaten by eight police officers earlier in
the week. His death came after a series of attacks on reporters and
shortly before next week's presidential election, reinforcing concerns
about the risks faced by independent journalists in the Central Asian
nation. Junior lieutenant Shukurbek Nurmatov was arrested July 16 on
suspicion of being involved in the beating.
(AP, 7/13/09)(AP, 7/17/09)(Econ, 8/1/09, p.38)
2009 Jul 12, Mexican federal
agents captured 2 suspects in connection with a series of attacks on
federal forces across Michoacan state that left 5 officers and 2
soldiers dead.
(AP, 7/13/09)
2009 Jul 12, Nigerian rebels took
their battle with the government into the country's main city,
targeting an oil tanker loading facility in Lagos harbor in an
unprecedented attack there.
(AFP, 7/13/09)
2009 Jul 12, Pakistani fighter
jets pounded suspected militant hide-outs in the South Waziristan
tribal region as part of ongoing operations against Pakistani Taliban
chief Baitullah Mehsud. At least 8 militants were killed. A military
statement described continued reports of unrest in the Swat valley,
including a remote-controlled bomb that wounded 7 tribal police
officers in the past 24 hours.
(AP, 7/12/09)
2009 Jul 12, Somali government
forces with the help of African Union tanks fought Islamic militants in
the capital, with clashes killing at least seven people. Witnesses said
dozens of people were killed and some 150 wounded.
(AFP, 7/12/09)(AP, 7/13/09)
2009 Jul 12, In Spain 10 people
were injured, two of them seriously, in the Pamplona bull run, two days
after a man was gored to death by a bull.
(AP, 7/12/09)
2009 Jul 12, Swiss police divers
harpooned a zander fish, which was 70 centimeters (two feet three
inches) long and weighed eight kilos (17.5 pounds), after it bit six
swimmers over the weekend in Lac Majeur.
(AFP, 7/13/09)
2009 Jul 12, Thailand's swine flu
death toll rose to 18 as the government confirmed three more fatalities
and opened a vaccine plant to prevent tens of thousands of infections
across the country.
(AFP, 7/12/09)
2009 Jul 13, The US Fisheries
Service of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued a
ban on krill fishing within 200 miles of the Pacific coast of
California, Oregon and Washington due to concerns that commercial krill
fishing threatened food sources for fish, whales and seabirds.
(SFC, 7/14/09, p.A4)
2009 Jul 13, In southern
Afghanistan 2 US Marines were killed in a hostile incident. An
insurgent attack in eastern Nuristan province killed a US soldier. The
police chief of Jalrez district in Wardak province was killed along
with 3 officers in a roadside blast.
(AP, 7/14/09)(SFC, 7/14/09, p.A3)
2009 Jul 13, British and Israeli
officials said Britain has revoked several licenses granted to British
companies to sell weapons parts to Israel because of concerns over
their use in Israel's recent war in the Gaza Strip.
(AP, 7/13/09)
2009 Jul 13, In China police shot
dead two Uighur men and wounded a third on the streets of Urumqi, where
tens of thousands of troops are stationed to restore calm a week after
deadly ethnic riots.
(AP, 7/13/09)
2009 Jul 13, China's Health
Ministry ordered a hospital to stop using electric shock therapy to
cure youths of Internet addiction, saying there was no scientific
evidence it worked.
(AP, 7/14/09)
2009 Jul 13, In Cuba the body of
Rev. Mariano Arroyo Merino (74) was discovered in his room at the
parish he served in the coastal neighborhood of Regla, situated on
Havana Bay across from the capital. Authorities were still
investigating the death of another Spanish priest, the Rev. Eduardo de
la Fuente Serrano, whose body was found in a remote, sparsely populated
area just outside the capital in mid-February.
(AP, 7/13/09)
2009 Jul 13, In Germany retired
auto worker John Demjanjuk was formally charged with 27,900 counts of
acting as an accessory to murder, one for every person who died at
Sobibor during the time he is accused of serving as a guard at the Nazi
death camp.
(AP, 7/13/09)
2009 Jul 13, German automobile
group Daimler said it sold 40 percent of its stake in US electric car
maker Tesla Motors to United Arab Emirate's Aabar Investments group to
boost development of low-emission vehicles.
(AP, 7/13/09)
2009 Jul 13, Munich Re, the
world’s largest reinsurance group, invited 20 large companies to join
it in forming a consortium called Desertec to build a legion of solar
power stations in Africa and Arabia and connect them to Europe.
(Econ, 7/11/09, p.83)
2009 Jul 13, In Indonesia a
policeman's body was found at the bottom of a ravine near the
Indonesian operations of US mining conglomerate Freeport, raising the
death toll from a series of weekend ambushes in restive Papua province
to three.
(AP, 7/13/09)
2009 Jul 13, Iraqi authorities
imposed vehicle bans in two mostly Christian towns and increased
security around churches in Baghdad after attacks targeting the
Christian minority. An Iraqi soldier was killed when a bomb attached to
his private vehicle exploded at noon in an area of northern Mosul.
(AP, 7/13/09)
2009 Jul 13, Japan passed a law
that will allow children to receive organ transplants for the first
time, reversing a ban that doomed many young patients or forced them to
seek medical care abroad.
(AP, 7/13/09)
2009 Jul 13, Former Lebanese PM
Amin al-Hafez (83) died. He served a turbulent two-month term in 1973
before he was forced to resign.
(AP, 7/13/09)
2009 Jul 13, Mexican prosecutors
said they found the bound, blindfolded and tortured bodies of a dozen
people on a roadside near La Huacana in the western state of Michoacan.
The 12 bodies were soon identified as federal agents investigating
organized crime.
(AP, 7/14/09)(AP, 7/15/09)(SFC, 7/15/09, p.A2)
2009 Jul 13, Mexico and the US
announced that they were working on a protocol for sharing information
in arms trafficking cases.
(AP, 7/14/09)(AP, 8/6/09)
2009 Jul 13, Pakistan began
sending home about two million people displaced two months ago by the
army's assault on Taliban militants in the Swat valley. An explosion in
Punjab province destroyed a house used as a religious seminary, killing
at least nine people, seven of them children, and leaving many others
in critical condition.
(AP, 7/13/09)
2009 Jul 13, In Russia 5 suspected
militants and two law enforcement officers were killed in separate
attacks in the south. The militants were killed in two separate
gunbattles in Chechnya, while Interior Ministry troops in Dagestan died
in an ambush by insurgents.
(AP, 7/13/09)
2009 Jul 13, South Korea reported
that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il (67) has life-threatening
pancreatic cancer, days after fresh images of him looking gaunt spurred
speculation that his health was worsening following a reported stroke
last year.
(AP, 7/13/09)
2009 Jul 13, Turkey and four EU
countries (Austria, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary) formally agreed to
route the Nabucco natural gas pipeline across their territories,
pushing ahead with a US- and EU-backed attempt to make Europe less
dependent on Russian gas.
(AP, 7/13/09)(Econ, 7/18/09, p.47)
2009 Jul 13, Uganda said it would
arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir if he enters the country, an
unusual stance after a summit of African leaders denounced the
international arrest warrant against al-Bashir.
(AP, 7/13/09)
2009 Jul 13, The UN’s highest
court set travel rules for the Nicaraguan river that borders Costa
Rica, affirming freedom for Costa Rican boats while upholding
Nicaragua's right to regulate traffic.
(AP, 7/13/09)
2009 Jul 13, In Zimbabwe militants
from President Robert Mugabe's party disrupted the start of a national
conference aimed at drawing up a new constitution.
(AP, 7/13/09)
2009 Jul 14, President Barack
Obama unveiled a $12 billion initiative to boost community colleges and
propel the United States toward his goal of having the highest
proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020.
(AP, 7/14/09)
2009 Jul 14, Episcopalians meeting
in Anaheim, NY, declared gays and lesbians eligible any ordained
ministry.
(SFC, 7/15/09, p.A6)
2009 Jul 14, Exxon Mobil said it
would put $300 million into an effort to create a new generation of
biofuels, and to add $300 if plans with Synthetic Genomics, a San Diego
firm under Craig Venter, proved successful.
(Econ, 7/18/09, p.78)
2009 Jul 14, In San Francisco Rev.
Floyd Lotito (74), founder of St. Anthony’s Dining Room (1981) died
after a long struggle with Parkinson’s disease. The St. Anthony
free-meal program currently served nearly 2,600 meals per day.
(SFC, 7/20/09, p.C5)
2009 Jul 14, The Int’l. Accounting
Standards Board (IASB) proposed to put all financial assets into 2
buckets. Loans and securities would be in one and held at cost; all
others would be in another and held at fair value.
(Econ, 7/18/09, p.74)
2009 Jul 14, In Afghanistan a
NATO-contracted helicopter was shot down killing six Ukrainian crew
members on board and an Afghan child on the ground in Helmand province.
A roadside bomb killed one Italian soldier and wounded three others in
western Afghanistan. Another roadside blast hit a civilian vehicle in
Uruzgan province, killing three people and wounded six others. US
coalition and Afghan forces searched compounds in Kandahar and found
bomb-making materials, mortar rounds, AK-47 rifles, rocket-propelled
grenades and 100 pounds (45 kilograms) of opium.
(AP, 7/14/09)(SFC, 7/15/09, p.A2)(AP, 7/26/09)
2009 Jul 14, The European
Parliament elected ex-Polish Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek as its
president, making him the first leader from a former Soviet bloc
country to hold one of the top European Union posts.
(Reuters, 7/14/09)
2009 Jul 14, Iran’s official IRNA
news agency reported that authorities in the southeastern city of
Zahedan hanged 13 members of a Sunni Muslim rebel group convicted of
bombings and killings in the area. The report said Abdulhamid Rigi,
brother of Abdulmalik Rigi, leader of the group known as Jundallah or
soldiers of God, had been scheduled to be hanged along with the 13 men,
but his execution was postponed.
(AP, 7/14/09)
2009 Jul 14, In Iraq one person
was killed and 9 others were wounded when a bomb exploded near an
Internet cafe late at night in south Baghdad. Two traffic policemen
were killed in eastern Baghdad by 2 gunmen who refused to stop at a
checkpoint near the fortified Green Zone.
(AP, 7/15/09)
2009 Jul 14, Lithuania's
Parliament approved a censorship bill that sharply curbs the spreading
of public information that lawmakers say could harm the mental,
physical, intellectual and moral development of youngsters. The bill
comes into law on March 2010 at the latest.
(www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,4487209,00.html?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf)
2009 Jul 14, In Nairobi, Kenya,
authorities seized over 660 pounds of illegal ivory and black
rhinoceros horn, some of it still bloody, on a Mozambique-to-Asia plane.
(SFC, 7/15/09, p.A2)
2009 Jul 14, Nigeria's main
militant group declared a 60-day truce, effective July 15, in its "oil
war" with the government after the release of its leader Henry Okah
under an amnesty deal.
(AFP, 7/15/09)
2009 Jul 14, In Pakistan fighting
overnight in the lawless tribal belt killed 23 Taliban militants. An
attack in the Khyber region destroyed an oil tanker supplying NATO
forces based across the border in Afghanistan and left 2 civilians
dead. Troops killed 13 militants in the latest clashes in the Swat
Valley, underscoring the region's fragile security even as refugees
displaced by fighting return home.
(AFP, 7/14/09)(AP, 7/15/09)
2009 Jul 14, In Russia 6 men
emerged from three months of isolation in Soviet-era metal tubes after
completing an experiment simulating a mission to Mars.
(AP, 7/14/09)
2009 Jul 14, In Somalia two French
officials working as security advisers to the Somali government were
kidnapped in Mogadishu. Agent Marc Aubriere managed to escape on August
26.
(Reuters, 7/14/09)(AP, 8/26/09)(SFC, 8/27/09, p.A2)
2009 Jul 14, South Korean police
said hackers extracted files from computers they contaminated with the
virus that triggered cyberattacks last week in the United States and
South Korea, a sign that they tried to steal information from the
victims. North Korea has supposedly trained an elite group of hackers
at Mirim College, its military school.
(AP, 7/14/09)(Econ, 7/11/09, p.62)
2009 Jul 14, In Tanzania Tharcisse
Renzaho, the former prefect of Rwandan capital Kigali, was sentenced to
life for genocide-related crimes by the UN-backed war crimes court
trying masterminds of the country's 1994 massacre.
(AFP, 7/14/09)
2009 Jul 14, Venezuela's oil
minister Rafael Ramirez said workers at the state oil company must
support President Hugo Chavez's endeavors or be suspected of conspiring
against his socialist revolution.
(AP, 7/14/09)
2009 Jul 14, Zimbabwe's
constitution talks, violently disrupted by militant backers of
President Robert Mugabe, resumed with calls for tolerance in work on a
charter meant to pave the way to fresh polls.
(AFP, 7/14/09)
2009 Jul 15, Space shuttle
Endeavour rocketed toward the international space station as engineers
on Earth pored over launch pictures that showed debris breaking off the
fuel tank and striking the craft.
(AP, 7/16/09)
2009 Jul 15, In Alaska Anthony
Rollins, a 13-year decorated Anchorage police officer, was arrested
after being indicted for assaulting multiple women while on duty.
(SFC, 7/16/09, p.A6)
2009 Jul 15, California tax
officials said a bill to tax and regulate marijuana in California like
alcohol would generate nearly $1.4 billion in revenue for the
cash-strapped state.
(AP, 7/16/09)
2009 Jul 15, In Afghanistan at
least 4 civilians were killed and 13 were wounded in a late night
airstrike on the southern village of Shawalikot. 3 police were killed
by a suicide car bomber in Nimroz province, and two Afghan army
soldiers died in two other attacks in the south. NATO forces killed two
insurgents in an attack in the east.
(AP,
7/16/09)(http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20090717/wl_mcclatchy/3274354)
2009 Jul 15, Luxury carmaker
Jaguar, owned by India's Tata Motors, announced it would end Liverpool
production of its X-Type car by the end of the year with the loss of up
to 300 jobs.
(AFP, 7/15/09)
2009 Jul 15, In China the former
head of oil giant Sinopec was sentenced to death after being found
guilty of corrupt practices over many years, but state press reported
that he will likely not be executed. The Beijing court had found Chen
Tonghai guilty of graft amounting to 195.7 million yuan (28.8 million
dollars) when he served in top Sinopec ranks from 1999 to 2007.
(AFP, 7/15/09)
2009 Jul 15, In Egypt the two-day
Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) opened in Sharm-El-Sheik. 50 leaders from
the 118-nation grouping of mostly of African, Asian and Latin American
nations gathered for their 15th meeting to address the world's biggest
problems, such as terrorism and financial instability. Cuba's Pres.
Raul Castro called for an international financial system that better
takes into account developing countries interests.
(AP, 7/15/09)
2009 Jul 15, The EU urged Canada
to restore visa-free travel for Czech visitors, removed by Ottawa after
hundreds of Roma from the central European country sought asylum.
(Reuters, 7/15/09)
2009 Jul 15, Honduras' interim
government suggested that backers of ousted President Manuel Zelaya
were taking up arms to return him to power and it reinstated an
overnight curfew it had lifted only days earlier.
(AP, 7/16/09)
2009 Jul 15, In Ingushetia police
officials said that the body of Natalya Estemirova (b.1959), a
prominent rights activist, was found not far from the main city of
Nazran, hours after she was kidnapped in Chechnya.
(AP, 7/15/09)(Econ, 7/25/09, p.23)
2009 Jul 15, In Iran a
Russian-made Caspian Airlines TU-154 jet plane carrying nearly 170
people crashed shortly after takeoff from Tehran's Imam Khomeini
International Airport. It was headed to the Armenian capital Yerevan.
All on board were killed.
(AP, 7/15/09)
2009 Jul 15, In Iraq a suicide
bomber killed six people, including an Iraqi policeman, in an attack on
security forces in Ramadi, a former insurgent stronghold in western
Anbar province. A bombing in Sadr City killed 5 people.
(AP, 7/15/09)(SFC, 7/16/09, p.A2)
2009 Jul 15, A court in Indian-run
Kashmir ordered the arrest of four police officers for allegedly
destroying evidence in the rape and murder of two women that triggered
violent protests last month.
(AP, 7/15/09)
2009 Jul 15, In northwest Pakistan
a roadside bomb exploded at a police checkpoint, killing a paramilitary
soldier and a police officer and wounding six policemen in the Bannu
area.
(AP, 7/15/09)
2009 Jul 15, In the Philippines
five employees of a logging company, including a woman, were seized by
eight guerrillas belonging to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in
Kapai township in Lanao del Sur province. Army troops and police
rescued the victims on July 18 near Kapai without a fire fight. Basit
Kauyag was identified as the leader of the kidnappers.
(AP, 7/19/09)
2009 Jul 15, Mazen Abdul-Jawad
(32), a Saudi man, appeared on the Lebanese-based LBC satellite TV
station’s "Bold Red Line" program and shocked Saudis by publicly
confessing to sexual exploits. More than 200 people soon filed legal
complaints against Abdul-Jawad, dubbed a "sex braggart" by the media,
and many Saudis said he should be severely punished. On July 31
Abdul-Jawad was detained for questioning. The Jiddah offices of the LBC
station were closed soon thereafter.
(AP, 8/6/09)(AP, 8/9/09)
2009 Jul 15, In Turkmenistan
President Gurbanguli Berdymukhamedov led a ceremony for channeling
water across hundreds of miles to create Golden Age Lake in the heart
of the barren Karakum Desert, in a Soviet-style engineering feat that
some experts fear could unleash an environmental catastrophe.
(AP, 7/16/09)
2009 Jul 15, In Venezuela National
Guard troops seized a police station controlled by a leading opponent
of President Hugo Chavez, sparking clashes between soldiers and
protesters that authorities said injured eight people.
(AP, 7/15/09)
2009 Jul 16, Michelle Cawthra, a
former Colorado Dept. of Revenue supervisor, said love for her
ex-boyfriend Hysear Randell led her to steal $11 million in unclaimed
tax refunds from the state over a 2-year period. Randell was on trial
in Denver for theft, forgery, computer crimes and racketeering.
(SFC, 7/17/09, p.A6)
2009 Jul 16, In Phoenix, Arizona,
4 boys, all Liberian refugees (9-14) lured a Liberian girl (8) to a
storage shed and raped her. Charges against one of the boys, aged 8,
were dropped on Dec 16 after a judge ruled the boy was not competent to
stand trial.
(SFC, 8/10/09, p.A4)(SFC, 12/17/09, p.A12)
2009 Jul 16, In Chicago Willis
Tower was introduced to Chicago by Mayor Richard M. Daley and others
during a public Sears Tower renaming ceremony hosted by Willis Group
Holdings. The London-based insurance brokerage secured the naming
rights as part an agreement to lease 140,000 square feet of space, and
has said it plans to bring hundreds of jobs to the city.
(AP, 7/16/09)
2009 Jul 16, CIT Group Inc. shares
tumbled 75% as its inability to get emergency government funding raised
expectations that the commercial lender will file for bankruptcy
protection.
(AP, 7/16/09)(SFC, 7/17/09, p.C1)
2009 Jul 16, In California the UC
Board of Regents cut $813 million from US budgets and approved pay
raises, dividends and other benefits for over two dozen executives.
(http://tinyurl.com/n3hcj3)(SFC, 8/7/09, p.A1)
2009 Jul 16, In southeastern
Afghanistan local Taliban commanders threatened to kill a captured
American soldier unless the US military stops operations in Ghazni
province's Giro district and Paktika province's Khoshamand district.
The British soldier was killed during a foot patrol near Gereshk in
southern Helmand province.
(AP, 7/16/09)(AP, 7/17/09)
2009 Jul 16, Australia and China
traded warnings over Rio Tinto employees detained for spying, as the
United States urged Beijing to ensure transparency and fair treatment
for staff of foreign companies.
(Reuters, 7/16/09)
2009 Jul 16, The Chadian rebel
Union of Forces of Resistance (UFR) claimed the Chadian air force
attacked two villages in the southeastern Chadian region of Tissi.
Rebels claimed some 50 had been killed some 100 wounded. Sudan accused
Chad of launching air raids on its western region of Darfur.
(AFP, 7/16/09)
2009 Jul 16, Colombian authorities
extradited to the United States Gerardo Aguilar (50), alias "Cesar," a
FARC rebel "jailer" captured in last year's July 2 rescue of three US
military contractors and ex-presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt.
He faced drug-trafficking charges, kidnapping and other charges on an
indictment in Washington, D.C. federal court.
(AP, 7/17/09)
2009 Jul 16, In Egypt 8 Serb
tourists and 3 Egyptians were killed when a truck on the wrong side of
the road hit their coach head-on along Egypt's Red Sea coast.
(AP, 7/16/09)
2009 Jul 16, In Marseilles,
France, a worker was killed immediately when the roof of a stage being
built for a Madonna concert fell apart on top of several workers.
Madonna canceled her scheduled July 19 performance. A 2nd worker
died the next day.
(AP, 7/17/09)
2009 Jul 16, Iceland’s Althingi
(parliament) voted 33 to 28 to apply to join the EU.
(Econ, 7/25/09, p.50)
2009 Jul 16, The leaders of India
and Pakistan, following rare talks in Egypt, vowed to cooperate in the
fight against terror in the wake of the devastating Mumbai attacks.
(AFP, 7/16/09)
2009 Jul 16, In India Rita
Bahuguna Joshi, a leading politician of India's ruling Congress party,
was arrested and her house set on fire by activists after she suggested
that a rival leader be raped so she can better understand the plight of
rape victims.
(AP, 7/16/09)
2009 Jul 16, Iran announced that
Gholam Reza Aghazadeh, the head of its nuclear agency, has resigned, a
move that may have been connected to the country's postelection
turmoil. Aghazadeh told the semiofficial ISNA news agency that he
submitted his resignation from Iran's Atomic Energy Organization 20
days ago and also resigned from his other post as one of Pres.
Ahmadinejad's vice presidents.
(AP, 7/16/09)
2009 Jul 16, In Iraq 18 people
were injured in an explosion that targeted a minibus transporting
Shiite pilgrims to a holy shrine in Najaf. 3 US soldiers were killed in
a rocket attack on a base outside of Basra. On July 18 an
Iranian-backed militiaman confessed to the rocket attack near the Basra
airport.
(AP, 7/16/09)(AP, 7/17/09)(AP, 7/18/09)
2009 Jul 16, In Israel
Ultra-Orthodox Jews clashed with police using horses and water cannon
in Jerusalem in the third day of rioting over the arrest of a mentally
ill Hasidic woman who authorities say was starving her child.
(AP, 7/16/09)
2009 Jul 16, Mexico’s Interior
Secretary Fernando Gomez Mont said the government was pouring 1,500
federal police officers, 2,500 soldiers and 1,500 navy personnel into
Michoacan state, the home base for the violent La Familia cartel led by
Servando "La Tuta" Gomez.
(AP, 7/16/09)
2009 Jul 16, In northwestern
Pakistan gunmen killed UN employee Zill-e-Usman (59) and a guard during
a failed kidnap attempt at a refugee camp near Peshawar, a blow to
humanitarian efforts to help civilians displaced by army offensives
against the Taliban.
(AP, 7/16/09)(SFC, 7/17/09, p.A2)
2009 Jul 16, In Taiwan’s southern
city of Kaohsiung, more than 3,000 athletes and staff from 105
countries and territories marched into the World Games Stadium, a new,
eye-catching structure designed by renowned Japanese architect Toyo
Ito. China’s 100-strong delegation boycotted the opening ceremony of
the World Games in Taiwan, underscoring the limits of the historic
breakthrough in relations between Taipei and Beijing.
(AP, 7/16/09)
2009 Jul 16, In Tajikistan 5
militants were killed in a gunfight at a remote military checkpoint
near the border with Afghanistan. Law enforcement agencies later issued
a joint statement claiming the perpetrators of the attack were
suspected terrorists with Russian citizenship. Authorities said that
earlier this month Mirzo Ziyoyev, a rebel commander in Tajikistan's
1990s civil war, who later became a government minister, was killed by
members of a militant group he had allegedly joined recently. The
government said Azizov was a member of the Islamic Movement of
Uzbekistan, or IMU, an al-Qaida-linked militant group that has operated
in ex-Soviet Central Asia and Afghanistan.
(AP, 7/20/09)
2009 Jul 16, The UN Security
Council banned travel and froze assets of 10 North Korean individuals
and businesses linked to the country’s nuclear and ballistic missile
programs.
(SFC, 7/17/09, p.A2)
2009 Jul 17, In Douglas, Georgia,
federal authorities arrested Cecil Stephen Haire (51), the so-called
“limping bandit.” He was said to have robbed 23 banks across the
Southwest over the last 3 years.
(SFC, 7/22/09, p.A4)
2009 Jul 17, Walter Cronkite
(b.1916), TV journalist, died with his family by his side at his
Manhattan home after a long illness. On April 16, 1962, he replaced
Douglas Edwards as anchor of the CBS "Evening News." Polls in 1972 and
1974 had pronounced Cronkite the "most trusted man in America."
(AP, 7/18/09)
2009 Jul 17, In southern
Afghanistan a roadside bomb tore through a vehicle, killing a British
soldier and 11 civilians, including five children. In Nangarhar
province, a gunfight broke out between Taliban fighters and local
civilians after militants fired at an Afghan army officer who had come
to visit his relatives. 3 militants and two civilians were killed and
one civilian was missing. Eleven militants were captured, eight of them
Pakistanis.
(AP, 7/17/09)(AP, 7/18/09)(SFC, 7/18/09, p.A2)
2009 Jul 17, Leszek Kolakowski
(b.1927), Polish-born Oxford philosopher and historian of ideas, died
in Oxford. “We Learn history not in order to know how to behave or how
to succeed, but to know who we are.” His work included the 3-volume
series “Main currents of Marxism: Its Rise, Growth and Dissolution”
(1976).
(Econ, 8/1/09,
p.76)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leszek_Ko%C5%82akowski)
2009 Jul 17, In China government
officials in Beijing descended on the Open Constitution Initiative
(OCI), a public interest lawyer’s group that challenged abuse and
corruption by state and local governments. They took away almost
everything the group owned and tax authorities ordered it to pay
$207,900.
(Econ, 7/25/09, p.38)
2009 Jul 17, The Republic of
Congo's top opposition politician, Mathias Dzon, filed for an annulment
of the incumbent president's re-election and claimed there had been
vote-rigging and intimidation.
(AP, 7/17/09)
2009 Jul 17, In Ecuador a US
anti-narcotics force flew its last surveillance mission from Ecuador's
Pacific Coast. The force had begun dismantling its operation and would
be out of the country by September, two months before the end of its
lease.
(AP, 7/19/09)
2009 Jul 17, In Indonesia suicide
attacks at the Marriott and the Ritz-Carlton hotels in Jakarta killed 9
people including 2 suspected suicide bombers and wounded 53. Suspicion
quickly fell on Jemaah Islamiyah and anti-terror desk chief, Ansyaad
Mbai, said evidence pointed to Malaysian-born extremist Noordin
Mohammed Top. In 2010 the South Jakarta District Court found Amid
Abdillah guilty of violating the Anti-Terror Law by helping a splinter
of the Southeast Asian terror network Jemaah Islamiyah plan the suicide
bombings. The same court has earlier sentenced Saefudin Zuhri, an
in-law of Top, and Aris Susanto to eight years in prison for assisting
and harboring Top and two other suspects.
(AP, 7/17/09)(AFP, 7/18/09)(AP, 7/21/09)(AP,
8/7/09)(AP, 6/14/10)
2009 Jul 17, In Iran tens of
thousands of government opponents packed Iran's main Islamic prayer
sermon, chanting "freedom, freedom" and other slogans as their top
clerical backer Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani delivered a sermon bluntly
criticizing the country's leadership over the crackdown on election
protests. Outside, pro-government Basiji militiamen in front of a line
of riot police fired tear gas at thousands of protesters who chanted
"death to the dictator" and called on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to
resign.
(AP, 7/17/09)
2009 Jul 17, In Iraq two bombs
exploded around 3 a.m. in Karmah near the house of police Capt. Bahjat
Khawam. The bombs were planted under the police officer's car and near
a gate to his house. The officer's daughter (12) and a granddaughter
(4) were killed in the attack. In Baghdad bombings killed 3 Iraqis and
injured over 40 others. One bomb planted under a bridge killed a
married couple who were among hundreds of thousands of Shiite pilgrims
heading to a shrine to commemorate Imam Mousa al-Kazim.
(AP, 7/17/09)(SFC, 7/18/09, p.A2)
2009 Jul 17, In Japan 10 senior
citizen climbers were found dead in the northern mountains of Hokkaido,
apparently from hypothermia. Police began investigating possible
negligence by the tour organizers.
(AP, 7/17/09)
2009 Jul 17, The Malian army
announced that it had killed 26 "Islamist fighters" in the far north of
the country.
(AFP, 7/21/09)
2009 Jul 17, In Nouakchott,
Mauritania, police exchanged fire with suspected Islamic extremists,
killing one and wounding another who was wearing explosives wrapped
around his body. A 3rd suspect reportedly escaped.
(AP, 7/18/09)
2009 Jul 17, Mexico's central bank
cut its benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point, dropping
the interbank rate to 4.5% to stimulate a recession-dogged economy.
(AP, 7/18/09)
2009 Jul 17, In Namibia 2 European
journalists were fined $625 (US) by a court for filming the annual seal
hunt along the coast of the southern African nation. On July 31 British
investigative journalist Jim Wilckens and South African cameraman Bart
Smithers were found guilty of violating the Marine Resources Act by
entering a restricted area without permission.
(AFP, 7/18/09)(AFP, 8/4/09)
2009 Jul 17, In Pakistan a missile
believed to have been fired by a US drone killed five militants in
North Waziristan, a tribal region known as a haven for Taliban and al
Qaeda fighters. Militants destroyed two NATO fuel tankers in separate
roadside bomb attacks in the Khyber tribal region, one of the two land
routes for supplies going to Afghanistan.
(Reuters, 7/17/09)
2009 Jul 17, Russia said it would
lift a ban on live pigs and raw pork imports from the US state of
Wisconsin and Canada's Ontario province from July 18 due to what it
said was a "stabilization" of the situation of the H1N1 virus in those
places.
(Reuters, 7/17/09)
2009 Jul 17, The UN said an
international accord requiring governments to publicly identify sites
of environmental pollution will come into force on Oct. 8.
(AP, 7/17/09)
2009 Jul 18, In southern Tennessee
5 people were found dead in two neighboring rural homes near
Fayetteville, and a sixth body was discovered at a business about 30
miles away in Huntsville, Ala. Jacob Shaffer (30) of Fayetteville was
charged later that day with homicide.
(AP, 7/19/09)
2009 Jul 18, In Afghanistan a US
Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet crashed in central Ghazni,
killing the two crew members. A suicide driver blew up his
explosive-laden vehicle next to an Afghan army convoy in Zabul
province, killing three soldiers and wounding three others. 35
militants were killed during a joint operation by Afghan and coalition
troops in the Shah Walk Kot district of Kandahar province. In Nangarhar
province a suicide bomber attacked the Afghan-Pakistan border crossing
at Torkham, killing a border police officer and a civilian.
(AP, 7/18/09)(AP, 7/19/09)
2009 Jul 18, In Australian Min
Lin, his wife, two sons aged 12 and 9, and a female relative were
killed by blunt force trauma to the upper bodies and heads in their
home in a Sydney suburb. The family had run a convenience store for
more than six years after immigrating from China.
(AP, 7/19/09)
2009 Jul 18, In Canada wind and
dry conditions fueled large blazes that broke out in the rugged hills
along Okanagan Lake west of the city of Kelowna, British Columbia,
where housing subdivisions have encroached on the surrounding forest in
recent years.
(AP, 7/20/09)
2009 Jul 18, In Iraq a government
spokesman said the Iraqi Cabinet had approved a measure to confiscate
the assets of the family of toppled dictator Saddam Hussein and 52
former close aides who had used their powers to take over or misuse
public properties or funds. A roadside bomb killed three people,
including the son of a tribal leader, near Fallujah. In Mosul a police
officer was killed after a bomb exploded at a checkpoint. Also in Mosul
a civilian was killed by unidentified gunmen.
(AFP, 7/18/09)(SSFC, 7/19/09, p.A7)
2009 Jul 18, Mauritania held
post-coup elections. Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, a former military general
who ousted this Islamic nation's first freely elected president, vied
with 8 other candidates to become the legitimate ruler.
(AP, 7/18/09)
2009 Jul 18, Mexican soldiers
arrested Luis Ibarra, a suspected drug trafficker in the border city of
Tijuana. He was carrying jewelry, narcotics and $3.6 million in cash.
Ibarra belonged to a cell in charge of making and trafficking
methamphetamine for alleged drug kingpin Teodoro Garcia Simental.
(AP, 7/20/09)
2009 Jul 18, Pakistani government
warplanes flattened a suspected Taliban hide-out in the northwest,
killing nine associates of Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud.
(AP, 7/18/09)
2009 Jul 18, Sudanese rebels set
free 60 captured government soldiers and policemen in north Darfur. The
detainees had been held by the Justice and Equality Movement following
recent armed clashes.
(AP, 7/18/09)
2009 Jul 19,
Frank McCourt (78), former NYC teacher and Irish-born author, died of
cancer. He won a Pulitzer Prize for his memoir “Angela’s Ashes” (1996).
(SFC, 7/20/09, p.C5)
2009 Jul 19, Warren Titus (94),
founder of the Royal Viking and Seabourn cruise ship lines, died at a
hospice in Marin County, Ca. He helped father the modern cruise concept
as president of Peninsular and Oriental Navigation Co., which later
morphed into Princess Cruises. He left P.&O. to start the Royal
Viking Line in 1972. After the SF-based Royal Viking went out of
business in 1987, he was called by Atle Brynestad, a Norwegian
millionaire, to start Seabourn Cruise Lines.
(SFC, 7/31/09, p.D5)
2009 Jul 19, In
southern Afghanistan a Russian-owned civilian Mi-8 helicopter crashed
and burst into flames shortly after takeoff from the Kandahar
NATO base, killing 16 civilians in the latest in a string of deadly
aircraft crashes in the country. Gunmen killed a candidate for
provincial council in Kunduz province as he was traveling to a campaign
event. The US military denounced the release of a video showing a
soldier captured in Afghanistan, describing the images as Taliban
propaganda that violated international law. 3 civilians were killed
when German troops opened fire on their pickup truck. In Farah
province, a van full of civilians hit a roadside bomb, killing 11
people on board, including a child and his mother. A British soldier
was killed by an explosion while on a foot patrol in the Sangin region
of Helmand province.
(AP, 7/19/09)(Reuters, 7/19/09)(AP, 7/20/09)
2009 Jul 19, An amateur astronomer
in Australia detected a new scar on Jupiter that covered some 73
million square miles, an larger area than the Pacific ocean.
(SFC, 7/22/09, p.A1)
2009 Jul 19, In
Kazakhstan more than 5,000 ethnic Uighurs rallied in
Almaty to protest China's use of deadly force to quash Uighur protests
this month.
(AP, 7/19/09)
2009 Jul 19, In
Mauritania Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz (b.1956), former head of the junta
that toppled the country’s first freely elected leader, won the
presidency in a vote his opponents decried as a fraudulent "electoral
coup." The final result gave Aziz 52.47% of the vote, enabling him to
avoid a runoff. The Constitutional Court declared the result official
on July 23, just hours after the head of the election commission
resigned over doubts about the ballot.
(AP, 7/19/09)(AP, 7/23/09)
2009 Jul 19, In Pakistan at
least 26 people died in heavy overnight rains in Karachi.
(AP, 7/19/09)
2009 Jul 19, Palestinian
authorities allowed Al-Jazeera to resume operations in the West Bank,
four days after banning the Arab satellite station over the airing of a
claim linking President Mahmoud Abbas to the death of his legendary
predecessor, Yasser Arafat.
(AP, 7/19/09)
2009 Jul 19,
Philippine officials said hundreds of marines and army troops have been
deployed to two islands in the southern Philippines for a new offensive
aimed at eradicating al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf militants by the end of
this year.
(AP, 7/19/09)
2009 Jul 19,
Sudan said it was committed to peace with neighboring Chad after
accusing it of bombing its western Darfur region last week, but also
warned it would not be held back if threatened.
(AFP, 7/19/09)
2009 Jul 19, In
Thailand’s Yala province a 48-year-old rubber plantation owner was shot
dead in a drive-by shooting as he returned home by motorcycle. In
another attack a gold shopkeeper was killed after suspect insurgents
fired assault rifles into his shop in Narathiwat province before
fleeing on a motorcycle.
(AP, 7/20/09)
2009 Jul 19, In Turkey patrons of
a usually smoke-filled hookah bar stepped outside to light up as a ban
on indoor public smoking extended to bars, restaurants and coffeehouses.
(AP, 7/19/09)
2009 Jul 20, The United States and
India agreed on a defense pact that takes a major step toward allowing
the sale of sophisticated US arms to the South Asian nation as it
modernizes its military. New Delhi also approved sites for two US
nuclear reactors.
(Reuters, 7/20/09)
2009 Jul 20, In California Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger and four legislative leaders agreed to bridge a
$26.3 billion gap between expenditures and the state's plummeting
revenues. The agreement composed of cuts, borrowing and fund shifts was
not expected to resolve California's financial problems as the economy
continues to struggle and tax revenue lags far behind the level of the
boom years.
(AP, 7/21/09)
2009 Jul 20, In Afghanistan 10
Taliban were killed and three other militants wounded while making
bombs in a house in Ghazni province. A roadside bomb killed 4 US
soldiers.
(AP, 7/21/09)(SFC, 7/21/09, p.A3)
2009 Jul 20, Algeria’s Ministry of
Transport said the Chinese civil engineering group CCECC has won 3
contracts worth a total of 1.46 billion euros to build railways in
Algeria.
(AFP, 7/20/09)
2009 Jul 20, In Australia
Adelaide-based Vaxine began swine flu vaccine trials with 300 subjects.
Melbourne's CSL had 240 people in its seven-month trial, which started
Jul 22. The companies said their trials are the first tests of a swine
flu vaccine on humans.
(AP, 7/22/09)
2009 Jul 20, In eastern Democratic
Republic of Congo at least 24 people, most of them civilians, were
killed when rebels attacked an army base.
(Reuters, 7/23/09)
2009 Jul 20, In India Ajmal Kasab
(21), the lone surviving gunman in the Nov 26, 2008, Mumbai attacks,
pleaded guilty and gave a detailed account of the plot, his training in
Pakistan and his role in the rampage that killed 171 people dead and
paralyzed the city for three days.
(AP, 7/20/09)(SFC, 7/21/09, p.A3)
2009 Jul 20, Iran's supreme leader
issued a tough warning to the opposition to back down after pro-reform
former president Mohammad Khatami called for a referendum on the
government's legitimacy.
(AP, 7/20/09)
2009 Jul 20, In Malaysia Kartika
Sari Dewi Shukarno (32), a Muslim woman, was sentenced to six lashes
and a fine of 5,000 ringgit ($1,400) for having a beer in a nightclub
in Dec 2007. She would become the first woman in Malaysia to be given
the punishment under Islamic law. Her caning was delayed on Aug 24
because of the holy month of Ramadan. On Mar 30, 2010, the state's
sultan spared her the caning and instead ordered her to do 3 weeks of
community service.
(AP, 7/21/09)(AP, 8/19/09)(AP, 8/24/09)(AP, 4/1/10)
2009 Jul 20, In Mexico 3 men were
killed outside a bar before dawn in Ciudad Juarez, across from El Paso,
Texas.
(AP, 7/2o/09)
2009 Jul 20, Pakistani said
clashes between security forces and militants have left 20 people dead
in the northwest over the past 24 hours.
(AP, 7/20/09)
2009 Jul 20, A Palestinian
official said more than 30 Israeli settlers, some of them on horseback,
set fire to fields and olive trees and stoned Palestinian cars during a
rampage in the West Bank. Two Palestinians were lightly injured.
(AP, 7/20/09)
2009 Jul 20, Peru’s former
President Alberto Fujimori was convicted of embezzlement and sentenced
to 7 1/2 years in prison after he admitted illegally paying his spy
chief $15 million in government funds.
(AP, 7/21/09)
2009 Jul 20, The Russian rights
group, where slain activist Natalia Estemirova worked, said it has
suspended operations in Chechnya because of safety fears for her
co-workers. Memorial said it will continue tracking human rights abuses
in nearby Ingushetia. A spokesman for Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov,
who has condemned the murder and promised to find those responsible,
said a Moscow court had accepted a lawsuit from Kadyrov against
Memorial head Oleg Orlov for libel after the group's chairman blamed
Kadyrov for Estemirova's death.
(Reuters, 7/20/09)
2009 Jul 20, In Somalia Islamic
insurgents with alleged links with al-Qaida looted two United Nations
compounds in southern Somalia, and announced they will ban three UN
agencies from operating in areas the militants control.
(AP, 7/20/09)
2009 Jul 20, In South Africa 9
workers died when the roof of the mine shaft they were working in
collapsed and trapped them about half a mile (1 km) underground in
Rustenburg.
(AP, 7/21/09)
2009 Jul 20, In Thailand Southeast
Asian foreign ministers (ASEAN) endorsed the region's first human
rights watchdog, rejecting criticisms that the body would be powerless
to tackle rogue members such as Myanmar. 2 assailants on a motorcycle
shot and killed a Buddhist man who was traveling on a road in Pattani
province.
(AFP, 7/20/09)(AP, 7/20/09)
2009 Jul 20, A UN war crimes court
in the Hague convicted Milan Lukic and Sredoje Lukic, two Bosnian Serb
cousins, for a "callous" 1992 killing spree that included locking
scores of Muslims in two houses and burning them alive in Visegrad. He
sentenced Milan to life in prison and Sredoje to 30 years.
(AP, 7/20/09)
2009 Jul 20, In Venezuela Alicia
Torres, a judge handling one of Venezuela's most politically charged
cases, said that she was fired after complaining about pressure to rule
against an opponent of President Hugo Chavez. Torres said last week she
was pressured by a superior to prohibit Guillermo Zuloaga, president
and owner of the Globovision TV channel, from leaving the country.
(AP, 7/20/09)
2009 Jul 20, Zambia's Catholic
bishops and the International Press Institute condemned the arrest on
obscenity charges of a newspaper editor who says she was trying to draw
attention to the consequences of a health workers' strike. Chansa
Kabwela, editor of the independent Post, was arrested last week after
e-mailing pictures of a woman giving birth in the streets to policy
makers and aid groups.
(AP, 7/20/09)
2009 Jul 21, The US Senate voted
to stop production of the F-22 fighter plane, handing President Barack
Obama a victory as he tries to rein in defense spending.
(Reuters, 7/21/09)
2009 Jul 21, In Delaware creditors
charged in a court filing that racetrack operator Magna Entertainment
Corp fraudulently transferred more than $125 million to companies
controlled by Canadian billionaire Frank Stronach before filing for
bankruptcy.
(Reuters, 7/22/09)
2009 Jul 21, The Ninth US Circuit
Court of Appeals in SF ruled that police who tell investigators about
alleged corruption in their departments have no constitutional
protection for their statements and can be fired.
(SFC, 7/22/09, p.D2)
2009 Jul 21, Oakland, Ca.,
residents overwhelmingly voted to approve a first-of-its kind tax on
medical marijuana sold at the city's four cannabis dispensaries.
(AP, 7/22/09)
2009 Jul 21, John Dawson (64),
co-founder of the “New Riders of the Purple Sage” (1969), a psychedelic
country rock band, died at his home in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.
His band released 8 albums from 1971-1976 including the gold certified
“The Adventures of Panama Red” (1973). His songs included “Glendale
Train.” He was also a long time collaborator with Jerry Garcia and the
Grateful Dead.
(SFC, 7/25/09, p.C4)
2009 Jul 21, In Afghanistan
Taliban militants attacked three government buildings in Gardez and a
US base near Jalalabad and in near-simultaneous attacks, a
signature of major Taliban assaults. 8 insurgents and 5 Afghan security
forces died. Canadian troops were involved in two shooting incidents in
southern Afghanistan, killing a girl and wounding three policemen.
Afghan authorities said later that police arrested 7 would-be suicide
bombers, who would have inflicted mayhem in further coordinated strikes.
(AP, 7/21/09)(AP, 7/23/09)(AFP, 7/25/09)
2009 Jul 21, Several Chinese
Internet sites and parts of popular Web portals went offline amid
tightening controls that have already left mainland Web users without
access to Facebook, Twitter and other well-known social networking
sites.
(AP, 7/21/09)
2009 Jul 21, The general manager
of Dubai's Al Nassma said the world's first brand of chocolate made
with camels' milk plans to expand into new Arab markets, Europe, Japan
and the United States.
(AP, 7/21/09)
2009 Jul 21, French factory
workers angry over layoffs and cost cuts locked up their bosses at a
Michelin tire plant and a US-owned cigarette-paper mill. The managers
were released the next morning after regional officials offered to
mediate.
(AP, 7/22/09)
2009 Jul 21, Honduras’s interim
government ordered Venezuelan diplomats to leave the country in 72
hours as the int’l. community threatened new sanctions if negotiations
fail the resolve the overthrow of Pres. Manuel Zelaya.
(SFC, 7/22/09, p.A2)
2009 Jul 21, Iran's supreme leader
handed a humiliation to Pres. Ahmadinejad, ordering him to dismiss
Esfandiar Rahim Mashai, his choice for top deputy, after the
appointment drew sharp condemnation from their hard-line base. Mashai,
a relative by marriage to Ahmadinejad, angered hard-liners in 2008 when
he said Iranians were "friends of all people in the world, even
Israelis." Ahmadinejad appeared to openly defy the order.
(AP, 7/22/09)(SFC, 7/22/09, p.A3)
2009 Jul 21, In Iraq bombs killed
19 people and wounded 80 across the country. 6 bombs exploded in
Baghdad killing 14 people and wounded at least 30 others. These
included 2 bombs near a group of day laborers in Baghdad's Sadr City
area.
(AP, 7/21/09)(SFC, 7/22/09, p.A2)
2009 Jul 21, Japan’s PM Taro Aso
dissolved the powerful lower house of the parliament and vowed his
divided ruling party will make a new start in national elections next
month despite forecasts it may lose the grip it has held on the nation
for most of the past 55 years.
(AP, 7/21/09)
2009 Jul 21, In southern Japan
torrential rains triggered floods and landslides, leaving at least six
people dead and 10 others missing, including elderly residents at a
nursing home.
(AP, 7/22/09)
2009 Jul 21, In southwest Kenya a
bus driver swerved at a sharp corner and collided with another bus,
killing at least 22 people and injuring dozens.
(AP, 7/22/09)
2009 Jul 21, Mali's president's
office announced that Spain plans to help Mali fight Al-Qaeda of the
Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), which is active in the desert north of the west
African nation.
(AFP, 7/21/09)
2009 Jul 21, Mexican police
detained a woman (65) in the deaths of two professional wrestlers who
were found drugged in a low-rent hotel in Mexico City on June 29. One
of the diminutive wrestlers went by the name "La Parkita" (Little
Death") and wore a skeleton costume in the ring. The other was known as
"Espectrito Jr." An autopsy on the two wrestlers, who were brothers,
detected a substance found in eye drops that can damage the nervous
system when mixed with alcohol. Three bodies, one of them headless,
were found floating in an irrigation ditch in the northern border city
of Ciudad Juarez, where drug violence has spiked despite the presence
of thousands of soldiers. Police captured four men, members of the La
Familia drug cartel, accused of slaying 12 federal agents on the
weekend of July 12 and dumping their bloodied bodies along a highway in
President Felipe Calderon's home state of Michoacan.
(AP,
7/21/09)(http://alibi.com/index.php?story=28392&scn=news)(AP,
7/23/09)
2009 Jul 21, Pakistan’s military
said 3 days of clashes between security forces and militants in the
northwest left more than 56 militants and six soldiers dead. Pakistani
fighter jets destroyed two suspected militant hide-outs in South
Waziristan, killing six men believed to be associates of Taliban
commander Baitullah Mehsud.
(AP, 7/21/09)(AP, 7/22/09)
2009 Jul 21, Spain’s foreign
minister, Miguel Angel Moratinos, drove across the border to Gibraltar
to meet with British foreign secretary, David Miliband, and Gibraltar
chief minister, Pater Caruana. This was the first time in over 300
years that a Spanish government minister had visited the British
territory.
(Econ, 7/25/09, p.51)
2009 Jul 21, Sri Lanka welcomed a
tentative agreement with the IMF for a 2.5-billion-dollar bailout as
the country emerged from a near four-decade-long separatist war.
(AFP, 7/21/09)
2009 Jul 21, In Turkey a father
and two sons allegedly opened fire in the eastern village in Elazig
province, killing six people and wounding seven others. They were soon
captured.
(AP, 7/22/09)
2009 Jul 21, The WHO said
that deaths from the H1N1 swine flu virus have double in the past
3 weeks to over 700.
(SFC, 7/22/09, p.A2)
2009 Jul 22, In Lynn,
Massachusetts, 6 boys, aged 7-15, used bricks to severely beat Damien
Merida (30), a Guatemalan immigrant, as he slept near railroad tracks.
(http://tinyurl.com/l6cuf3)(SFC, 9/17/09, p.A7)
2009 Jul 22, Millions of Asians
turned their eyes skyward as dawn suddenly turned to darkness across
the continent in the longest total solar eclipse this century will see.
(AP, 7/22/09)
2009 Jul 22, Officials said
Afghanistan was repositioning forces to the south after complaints too
few are involved in major US and British offensives against the
Taliban. A convoy belonging to a minor presidential candidate, former
Taliban commander Mullah Salam Rocketi, was ambushed as he returned to
Kabul after campaigning in northern Baghlan and one of his campaign
officials was killed.
(Reuters, 7/22/09)
2009 Jul 22, The Algerian
government issued a decree effective as of August shifting the dates of
the weekend to Friday and Saturday in a move viewed as a boost the
North African nation's faltering economy. Algeria had observed its
weekends on Thursdays and Fridays since 1976 as do a few other
countries including Iran and Saudi Arabia.
(AP, 7/22/09)
2009 Jul 22, In Iraq gunmen in
four cars opened fire on a convoy of buses carrying Iranian pilgrims
through Iraq, killing five of them near the village of Kebasi. Some 35
others were wounded.
(AP, 7/22/09)
2009 Jul 22, Israel’s education
minister said the Israeli government will remove references to what
Palestinians call the "catastrophe" of Israel's creation from textbooks
for Arab schoolchildren. The reference to "al-naqba," the Arabic word
catastrophe as Palestinians call their defeat and exile in the war over
Israel's 1948 creation, was controversially inserted by a dovish
education minister for the first time in 2007.
(AP, 7/22/09)
2009 Jul 22, Italian authorities
seized some euro200 million ($284 million) in assets and businesses
owned by the 'ndrangheta crime syndicate, including the Cafe de Paris
of "La Dolce Vita" movie fame. 12 other restaurants, apartments and
luxury cars were also impounded in the operation.
(AP, 7/22/09)
2009 Jul 22, Pakistan urged the US
to share intelligence from spy flights and arm its soldiers against
militants accused by Washington of plotting attacks from the Afghan
border.
(AP, 7/22/09)
2009 Jul 22, Amnesty International
reported that Saudi Arabia is holding more than 3,000 people in secret
detention and has used torture to extract confessions in its
anti-terrorism crackdown since the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.
(AP, 7/22/09)
2009 Jul 22, Somali Islamist
insurgents clashed with government forces and African Union
peacekeepers, killing 3 government, 3 insurgent fighters. The renewed
fighting between the radical Shebab militia and AU-backed government
forces killed at least 15 civilians in Mogadishu.
(AP, 7/23/09)(AFP, 7/24/09)
2009 Jul 22, South Africa reported
that wave of protests have erupted in townships across the country over
shoddy housing and public services, adding to pressure on President
Jacob Zuma to deliver on promises to fight poverty.
(AFP, 7/22/09)
2009 Jul 22, An international
arbitration panel awarded the Sudanese government control over almost
all major oil reserves in a disputed region of Sudan that erupted into
violence last year between state forces and former southern rebels.
(AP, 7/22/09)
2009 Jul 23, US Vice President Joe
Biden pledged Washington's full support for Georgia a year after its
war with Russia and urged Moscow to abide by a ceasefire pact and pull
its troops back from two rebel regions.
(Reuters, 7/23/09)
2009 Jul 23, US Border Patrol
Agent Robert Rosas was killed near Campo, Ca. On July 25 Mexican
federal police detained four men suspected of involvement in the
killing of Rosas. Included was Ernesto Parra Valenzuela, identified as
the suspected killer of Rosas. In 2009 Christian Daniel Castro Alvarez
(17) pleaded guilty to murdering Rosas. On April 29, 2010, Alvarez was
sentenced to 40 years in prison.
(AP,
7/26/09)(http://texasfred.net/archives/4628)(SFC, 7/27/09, p.A4)(SFC,
11/21/09, p.A4)(AP, 4/29/10)
2009 Jul 23, US counter-terrorism
officials said that Saad bin Laden (27), the 2nd-eldest son of Al-Qaida
leader Osama bin Laden, was apparently killed in a US missile strike
inside Pakistan this year.
(SFC, 7/24/09, p.A4)
2009 Jul 23, Federal prosecutors
arrested over 40 people in New Jersey and New York as part of a major
corruption and international money laundering conspiracy probe. They
included New Jersey Assemblyman Daniel Van Pelt, Hoboken Mayor Peter
Cammarano III, Secaucus Mayor Dennis Elwell and Jersey City Deputy
Mayor Leona Beldini. Several rabbis in New York and New Jersey were
also arrested. Some were accused of laundering tens of millions of
dollars and of black-market trafficking of kidneys and fake Gucci
handbags.
(AP, 7/23/09)(AP, 7/24/09)
2009 Jul 23, The Columbus Salame
plant in South San Francisco, established in 1967, was devastated by
fire.
(SFC, 7/24/09, p.D2)
2009 Jul 23, In Michigan the last
edition of The Ann Arbor News rolled off the presses After 174 years,
with a three-word headline: "Farewell, Ann Arbor." It is being replaced
by AnnArbor.com, an online news site that will produce a print edition
twice a week.
(AP, 7/23/09)
2009 Jul 23, E. Lynn Harris
(b.1955), pioneer of gay black fiction, died while promoting his latest
book in Los Angeles. Long before the secret world of closeted black gay
men came to light in America, Harris introduced a generation of black
women to the phenomenon known as the "down low." His debut "Invisible
Life" (1994) was a coming-of-age story that dealt with the then-taboo
topic.
(AP, 7/24/09)
2009 Jul 23, In Afghanistan an
operation conducted by US-led coalition forces in the Baidar area of
Gelan district killed eight Taliban, five of them foreigners.
(AFP, 7/24/09)
2009 Jul 23, Arab health ministers
decided to ban children, the elderly and those with chronic medical
conditions from attending the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia
this year in effort to slow the spread of swine flu.
(AP, 7/23/09)
2009 Jul 23, Chinese researchers
reported that they have produced living mice from connective tissue
cells induced to revert to their embryonic state.
(SFC, 7/24/09, p.A11)
2009 Jul 23, In China a landslide
triggered by heavy rain hit a county in southwestern Sichuan province,
killing at least four people and leaving 53 others missing.
(AP, 7/23/09)
2009 Jul 23, In China female panda
You You (pronounced Yo Yo) gave birth to the new cub at the Wolong
Giant Panda Research Center in southwestern Sichuan. This was the first
successful birth of a panda cub from artificial insemination using
frozen sperm, giving a new option for the notoriously poor breeders.
(AP, 7/24/09)
2009 Jul 23, Iceland formally
applied to join the European Union but said it would not accept a
"rotten deal" for its fishing industry, a key sector of the island
nation's troubled economy.
(AP, 7/23/09)
2009 Jul 23, The wife of Iranian
opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi said that her brother is among
the hundreds arrested in Iran's postelection crackdown, and she warned
authorities not to publish any "forced confessions" from him or other
detainees.
(AP, 7/23/09)
2009 Jul 23, Israeli defense
officials said tests of a missile-defense system meant to shield Israel
from Iranian attack were aborted over the past week on three occasions
because of various malfunctions.
(AP, 7/23/09)
2009 Jul 23, In Japan Jerry Yu
(30), a US citizen who worked for a Japanese communications company in
Tokyo, was found dead of probable hypothermia off a trail just below
the peak of Mount Fuji. His colleague, Takeshi Nakamura (27), was found
dead the next day.
(AP, 7/24/09)
2009 Jul 23, In Kyrgyzstan
Almazbek Atambayev, the main opposition candidate, said he was no
longer taking part in this day’s presidential election, citing
widespread ballot-stuffing and the intimidation of election monitors.
Pres. Bakiyev (59) won another 5-year term with 76% of the ballots.
International monitors said the election was marred by ballot-box
stuffing and widespread irregularities in vote counting.
(AP, 7/23/09)(AP, 8/2/09)
2009 Jul 23, In Nigeria Wole
Soyinka, 1986 Nobel laureate in literature, slammed Nigeria's handling
of the crisis in the oil region and urged the government to adopt a
"holistic" approach in tackling it. Excepts of the news conference were
reported the next day on private Channels television.
(AFP, 7/24/09)
2009 Jul 23, In Pakistan the
Taliban denied claims that Maulana Fazlullah, architect of a brutal
uprising in Pakistan's Swat valley, was wounded and threatened to
unleash renewed holy war. Pakistan said on July 8 it had "credible"
information that Fazlullah was injured during a blistering offensive
designed to crush Taliban militants. Two policemen were killed and
three others wounded when a roadside bomb exploded near a checkpoint in
Shangla district. A bomb hidden in a supposed gift of a tape recorder
killed another policeman at a checkpoint outside the town of Karak,
which borders the Taliban-infested North Waziristan tribal district.
(AFP, 7/23/09)
2009 Jul 23, The Philippine
government ordered its military to stop offensives against Muslim
separatist rebels in a bid to restart peace talks, a move welcomed by
the guerrillas.
(AP, 7/23/09)
2009 Jul 23, In Poland say seven
people died in violent storms.
(AP, 7/24/09)
2009 Jul 23, South Africa’s
President Jacob Zuma's new government warned protesters they must
respect the law as violent demonstrations against shoddy public
services spread across townships.
(AP, 7/23/09)
2009 Jul 23, Yemeni security
forces opened fire on thousands of protesters in the south chanting
anti-government slogans, killing 12 and wounding scores of others.
Demonstrations by former army members in southern Yemen demanding
political reforms have been occurring regularly since August, 2007.
(AP, 7/24/09)
2009 Jul 24, President Barack
Obama conceded his words, that a white police officer "acted stupidly"
when he arrested a black university scholar in his own home, were
ill-chosen. He invited both men to visit him at the White House, but
stopped short of publicly apologizing for his remark. Obama said he had
personally telephoned the two men, Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates
Jr. and Cambridge, Mass., police Sgt. James Crowley, in an effort to
end the rancorous back-and-forth over the issue. The case began on July
20, when word broke that Gates (58) had been arrested five days earlier
at the 2-story home he rents from Harvard.
(AP, 7/25/09)
2009 Jul 24, Pres. Obama
challenged states and school districts to raise academic standards and
improve teacher quality if they want a chance at some $5 billion in new
grants in the administration’s “Race to the Top” program.
(SFC, 7/25/09, p.A3)
2009 Jul 24, The United States
transferred $200 million to the Palestinian government to help ease a
growing budget deficit.
(AP, 7/24/09)
2009 Jul 24, A federal minimum
wage increase took effect. Some economists said it could prolong the
recession by forcing small businesses to lay off the same workers that
the pay hike passed in better times was meant to help. The increase to
$7.25 meant 70 cents more an hour for the lowest-paid workers in the 30
states that have lower minimums or no minimum wage.
(AP, 7/24/09)
2009 Jul 24, The California Senate
approved a plan to close the state's $26 billion budget deficit,
providing a glimmer of hope after weeks of fiscal gloom.
(AP, 7/24/09)
2009 Jul 24, In Oakland, Ca., a
city parking department memo ordered parking officers to avoid
enforcing neighborhood parking violations in some wealthier
neighborhoods, but to continue enforcing the same violations in the
rest of the city.
(SFC, 2/25/10, p.A1)
2009 Jul 24, Isaiah M.K. Kalebu
(23) was arrested for breaking into a Seattle home and stabbing 2
women, one fatally. Kalebu had a history of mental illness.
(SSFC, 7/26/09, p.A12)
2009 Jul 24, In Afghanistan four
Taliban were killed in a clash with foreign forces In northern Balkh
province. Fighting killed two US soldiers. NATO troops came under fire
in the east and one NATO soldier was killed. Air strikes followed
killing several insurgents. Up to 12 insurgents were killed in a gun
battle with US-led troops in the eastern province of Nangarhar.
(AFP, 7/24/09)(AP, 7/25/09)
2009 Jul 24, Burundi army
officials said 3 of its soldiers serving with African Union
peacekeepers in Somalia have died of a mysterious illness in a Kenyan
hospital where more than 10 others are being treated.
(AFP, 7/24/09)
2009 Jul 24, Via Rail, Canada's
national passenger rail service, said it was shutting down service
after mediated talks with the Teamsters union failed to resolve a
contract dispute, and locomotive engineers walked off the job.
(Reuters, 7/24/09)
2009 Jul 24, A senior Chechen
official held talks in Norway with prominent separatist figure Akhmed
Zakayev, who said they had agreed to seek a political settlement of
rebellion in the south Russian region.
(Reuters, 7/24/09)
2009 Jul 24, In China some 30,000
steelworkers in Tonghua clashed with police in a protest over plans to
merge their mill with another company. Angry employees of Tonghua Iron
and Steel Group attacked Jianlong Steel general manager Chen Guojun
during the protest and beat him to death.
(AP, 7/25/09)
2009 Jul 24, The UN refugee agency
said 536,000 people have been chased from their homes in eastern Congo
this year as a result of clashes between government forces and rebels
linked to neighboring Rwanda's 1994 genocide.
(AP, 7/24/09)
2009 Jul 24, In southern Croatia a
passenger train derailed, killing at least six people and injuring
about 20.
(AP, 7/24/09)
2009 Jul 24, In Europe deadly
summer wild fires spread across Spain, France, Italy and Greece with
holidaymakers rescued from beaches and thousands of firefighters
brought into the battle.
(AFP, 7/24/09)
2009 Jul 24, Ousted Honduras
President Manuel Zelaya stood on the edge of his country and called on
his fellow Hondurans to resist the coup-installed government. He then
quickly retreated back to Nicaraguan territory, saying he wanted to
avoid bloodshed and give negotiations another try.
(AP, 7/25/09)
2009 Jul 24, Iran’s President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad caved into pressure from hardline clerics and the
country's supreme leader and allowed the resignation of his top deputy,
Esfandiar Rahim Mashai, who last year angered conservatives when he
made friendly comments toward Israel.
(AP, 7/25/09)
2009 Jul 24, In Iran a Russian
Ilyushin-62 plane, operated by Tehran-based Aria Airlines and carrying
153 passengers and crew, skidded off the runway and hit a wall while
landing in the northeastern city of Mashhad. 13 of the 16 people killed
in the crash were members of the crew, 9 of them from Kazakhstan. The
plane landed at high speed and the tires failed.
(AP, 7/25/09)
2009 Jul 24, In northern Iraq
Fakri Hadi Gari, the deputy commander of a radical Sunni Islamic group
linked to al-Qaida, was arrested. Ansar al-Islam is believed by the
military to be behind attacks on US and Iraqi troops in Mosul. Gari,
also known as Abu Abbas and Mullah Halgurd, was arrested with nine
other suspected members. An American soldier died of non-combat related
injuries.
(AP, 8/4/09)(AP, 7/24/09)
2009 Jul 24, In Pakistan 10
militants were killed in Buner district and 29 were arrested elsewhere
in the region. Troops killed four militants in Swat and destroyed a
training camp and a militants' cave. In Upper Dir jets pounded a
suspected Taliban base, killing at least four militants.
(AFP, 7/24/09)(AFP, 7/25/09)
2009 Jul 24, The Arctic Sea, a
Maltese-flagged bulk carrier, was boarded by 8 attackers posing as
police. The timber carrying vessel was boarded off the Swedish coast,
searched by attackers, who reportedly tied up the crew for 12 hours. It
disappeared following its last communication on July 28. The failed to
arrive at the Algerian port of Bejaia on August 4 as planned. The
4,700-ton ship, originally called Okhotsk, built in 1991, had a Russian
crew of 13 and was operated by a firm based in the Russian port of
Arkhangelsk. Russian naval warships tracked down the ship off the Cape
Verde islands and freed the crew. On August 18 Russia reported that
eight people from Latvia, Estonia and Russia had been arrested for
piracy. On Aug 19 Yulia Latynina, a leading Russian opposition
journalist and commentator, reported that “the Arctic Sea was carrying
some sort of anti-aircraft or nuclear contraption intended for a nice,
peaceful country like Syria, and they were caught with it."
(Reuters, 8/9/09)(Reuters, 8/18/09)(AP, 8/19/09)
2009 Jul 24, The IMF approved a
$2.6 billion loan to Sri Lanka.
(Econ, 8/8/09, p.35)
2009 Jul 24, Turkish commandos
captured five pirates in the Gulf of Aden as part of an international
mission to curb piracy off the coast of Somalia.
(AP, 7/24/09)
2009 Jul 24, Zimbabwe's coalition
government launched a campaign of "national healing" and
reconciliation, with political leaders urging supporters to end years
of political violence and intimidation.
(AP, 7/24/09)
2009 Jul 25, In Afghanistan 7
suicide bombers tried to storm state targets in Khost, killing one
civilian and wounding others in the third Taliban commando raid in a
week. A British soldier was killed when a bomb exploded in southern
Helmand province. A US service member died during a clash with
insurgents in the south. Afghan elders struck the first local truce
with Taliban insurgents in northwestern Badghis province after nearly
three weeks of talks.
(AFP, 7/25/09)(AP, 7/26/09)(AP, 7/27/09)
2009 Jul 25, In Algeria five
Islamists were killed by the army about 15 km (nine miles) east of Tizi
Ouzou.
(AFP, 7/29/09)
2009 Jul 25, Brazil agreed to
triple its compensation to Paraguay to operate the huge Itaipu
hydroelectric dam on their shared border, ending a decades-long dispute
between the neighbors.
(AFP, 7/25/09)
2009 Jul 25, In Britain a new poll
was released showing solid support for the right to die. The Royal
College of Nursing said it was adopting a neutral stance on the issue
after its research showed nurses were divided. The British Medical
Association remained opposed.
(AP, 7/25/09)
2009 Jul 25, In eastern China more
than 3,000 villagers of Shipu town, in Zhejiang province, blocked a
highway and clashed with police while protesting alleged official
corruption in a land compensation deal.
(AP, 7/26/09)
2009 Jul 25, Chinese state
television launched an Arabic-language channel beamed to the Middle
East and Africa as part of efforts to expand the communist government's
media influence abroad.
(AP, 7/25/09)
2009 Jul 25, In Colombia at least
16 suspected FARC guerrillas and one soldier have been killed in
clashes over the last 24 hours.
(AP, 7/25/09)
2009 Jul 25, Iran's opposition
leaders appealed to the top clerics in the holy city of Qom to pressure
the ruling Islamic regime to release protesters and activists, who they
say have been tortured following last month's disputed presidential
election. Protesters across the world called on Iran to end its
clampdown on opposition activists, demanding the release of hundreds
rounded up during demonstrations against the country's disputed
election.
(AP, 7/25/09)
2009 Jul 25, Iraqis voted in
elections in the self-ruled Kurdish north. Regional Kurdish President
Massoud Barzani, who has been a consistent critic of the central
government, won re-election with almost 70% of the vote, while the
leading candidate from the opposition party, Kamal Mirawdeli, received
25%. A coalition of the two ruling parties, Barzani's Kurdistan
Democratic Party and Iraqi President Jalal Talabani's Patriotic Union
of Kurdistan, received a little over 57% of the vote for the 111-seat
parliament, while the opposition Gorran, or Change, party took about
23%.
(AP, 7/25/09)(AP, 7/29/09)
2009 Jul 25, Mexican police
captured 11 suspected members of the La Familia cartel and seized a
methamphetamine lab in the western state of Michoacan.
(AP, 7/25/09)
2009 Jul 25, In Pakistan a remote
controlled bomb killed two Pakistani soldiers in the tribal Bajaur
district. Troops retaliated killing three suspected Taliban militants.
(AP, 7/25/09)
2009 Jul 25, Swedish wireless
equipment maker LM Ericsson said it had penned a deal to buy a majority
of Nortel Networks' North American wireless business for $1.13 billion.
(AP, 7/25/09)
2009 Jul 25, In Sweden a woman in
her 40s and her five daughters were killed when they tried to escape an
apartment fire in a Stockholm suburb.
(AP, 7/26/09)
2009 Jul 25, Zimbabwe’s PM Morgan
Tsvangirai said compensation must be considered for victims of
political violence as the country held a weekend of national
reconciliation.
(AFP, 7/25/09)
2009 Jul 26, In New York a car
crash in Briarcliff killed 8 people including 4 children. Diane Schuler
(36) was drunk and high on marijuana when she went the wrong way on
Taconic State Parkway and crashed into an SUV.
(SFC, 7/27/09, p.A4)(SFC, 8/5/09, p.A5)
2009 Jul 26, Merce Cunningham
(b.1919), avant-garde dancer and choreographer, died at his home in
Manhattan.
(SFC, 7/28/09, p.A7)
2009 Jul 26, It was reported that
Marines in Helmand working alongside DEA-mentored Afghan police seized
297 tons of poppy seeds, 77 pounds (35 kilograms) of heroin and 300
pounds (135 kilograms) of opium in raids in mid-July. Some 1,200 pounds
(550 kilograms) of hashish and 4,225 gallons (16,000 liters) of
chemicals used to convert opium to heroin were also seized.
(AP, 7/26/09)
2009 Jul 26, In northwestern
Algeria members of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb killed two local
security officers in an ambush in the Mascara region.
(AFP, 7/28/09)
2009 Jul 26, In Chechnya a suicide
bomber killed five people and wounded a number of others near a concert
hall in the capital. four policemen died trying to prevent the bomber
from entering the hall. 4 militants were found dead after an explosion
in the Nazran district of Ingushetia province that borders Chechnya to
the west.
(AP, 7/26/09)
2009 Jul 26, In Macao, China,
Fernando Chui (52), the sole candidate for chief executive in the
former Portuguese colony, was endorsed by a 300-member panel in the
first leadership change since Macao reverted to Chinese rule in 1999.
(AP, 7/26/09)
2009 Jul 26, Egypt's prosecutor
general officially charged 26 suspects, including two Lebanese and five
Palestinians, for spying for the militant group Hezbollah, as well as
plotting terrorist attacks and aiding militants in the Gaza strip. Some
were accused of planning to attack ships on the Suez canal and tourists
in Egypt.
(Reuters, 7/26/09)(AP, 7/26/09)
2009 Jul 26, Guinea-Bissau voters
went to the polls for a presidential runoff between two former heads of
state. The West African country’s veteran leader was assassinated
in March. On July 29 election officials announced that Malam Bacai
Sanha was the new president. Sanha took 63.39% of the runoff vote,
beating opponent Kumba Yala, who took 36.69%.
(AFP, 7/26/09)(AP, 7/29/09)
2009 Jul 26, India launched the
first nuclear-powered submarine built on its soil, asserting itself as
a world power. It joined 5 other countries that can design and
construct such vessels. The 367-foot (112-meter) -long submarine, named
"Arihant" or "Destroyer of Enemies," was sent for sea trials at a
ceremony attended by PM Manmohan Singh.
(AP, 7/26/09)
2009 Jul 26, Human Rights Watch
said Iranian authorities are spreading fear by arresting prominent
human rights lawyers to prevent them from representing protesters
detained in the aftermath of the country's disputed presidential
election. An appeals court found Iran's Industry, Minister Ali Akbar
Mehrabian, guilty of fraud, in a new embarrassment for President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Ahmadinejad's office announced the dismissal of
Intelligence Minister Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejehi. No reasons were
given but the two had differed over top vice president Rahim Mashai.
(AP, 7/27/09)(AP, 7/27/09)
2009 Jul 26, In Iraq 5 people were
killed in a daylight attack at a popular money exchange office, a
reflection of the increasing crime in Iraq even as violence is on the
decline. 5 more people, including 3 police officers, were killed and 23
others wounded when a suicide bomber struck a Ramadi funeral for a
police officer, who had been killed the day before in a roadside bomb
attack.
(AP, 7/26/09)(AP, 7/27/09)
2009 Jul 26, Hazem al-Braikan
(36), a Kuwaiti businessman linked to Citigroup and charged in the
United States with fraud, was found dead in his bed in Kuwait
City with a gunshot wound to the head and a handgun at his side. The US
SEC charged al-Braikan last week with scheming to make millions by
manipulating the stock of certain US companies.
(AP, 7/26/09)
2009 Jul 26, Gaza's top judge said
that he has ordered female lawyers to wear Muslim headscarves when they
appear in court, the latest sign that the Islamic militant group is
increasingly imposing its strict interpretation of Islamic law on
residents of the coastal strip.
(AP, 7/26/09)
2009 Jul 26, In northern Nigeria
Islamist militants attacked a police station in Bauchi. Police killed
over 50 militants and arrested more than 150 others. The
fundamentalists, known as Boko Haram (education is prohibited) in the
local Hausa language, clamored for the prohibition of western education
in Bauchi and Yobe states. In 2010 Nigerian police said 32 of its men
were murdered in the Bauchi attack.
(AP, 7/26/09)(Reuters, 7/26/09)(Econ, 8/1/09,
p.44)(AFP, 7/29/10)
2009 Jul 26, In Pakistan Moulana
Sufi Mohammad, the radical Islamic cleric who brokered a peace deal
with the Taliban in Swat, was arrested in the restive northwest. Sufi
Mohammad is the father-in-law of Moulana Fazllulah, the leader of the
Taliban in Swat and head of a banned Pakistani Islamist rebel group
called Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM).
(AP, 7/26/09)
2009 Jul 26, Somali government
troops took full control of Belet Weyne, the strategic western town
where the national security minister was killed last month.
(AFP, 7/26/09)
2009 Jul 26, In Tajikistan a small
explosion hit the Tajik capital of Dushanbe. A 2nd small explosion
followed the next day. There were no injuries. A high-profile meeting
between the leaders of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Russia, was scheduled
to start July 30 for talks on communications and transportation.
(AP, 7/27/09)
2009 Jul 26, In Tanzania a bus
crashed into a truck in Korogwe killing 33 people.
(SSFC, 7/26/09, p.A2)
2009 Jul 27, President Barack
Obama in Washington, DC, opened 2 days of high-level talks with China.
Obama called for deeper US-Chinese economic cooperation and outlined a
broad agenda for a positive relationship between two countries that do
not always see eye to eye.
(Reuters, 7/27/09)
2009 Jul 27, In North Carolina
Daniel Patrick Boyd (39) was arrested with his two sons and four other
North Carolina men. Prosecutors accused them of military-style training
at home and plotting "violent jihad" through a series of terror attacks
abroad. In 1991 Boyd and his brother were convicted of bank robbery in
Pakistan. They were also accused of carrying identification showing
they belonged to the radical Afghan guerrilla group, Hezb-e-Islami, or
Party of Islam. Each was sentenced to have a foot and a hand cut off
for the robbery, but the decision was later overturned.
(AP, 7/28/09)
2009 Jul 27, Afghanistan’s
President Hamid Karzai said he wants new rules governing the conduct of
US-led forces in Afghanistan and would be willing to talk with Taliban
leaders who publicly renounce violence and endorse peace. The British
government announced the end of the first phase of Operation Panther's
Claw against the Taliban in southern Afghanistan, saying it now needs
to hold and build on the ground it has cleared of insurgents. A Taliban
rocket killed 4 civilians at home in the central province of Ghazni
overnight. A civilian was killed in a bomb blast in eastern Khost
province. The US military in Afghanistan said it has stopped releasing
body counts of insurgents believed killed in operations because the
tolls distract from the US objective of protecting Afghans.
(AP, 7/27/09)(AFP, 7/27/09)
2009 Jul 27, Algerian papers
reported that security forces have killed five armed Islamic extremists
in the northeastern Tizi Ouzou region, about 100 km (60 miles) east of
Algiers.
(AFP, 7/27/09)
2009 Jul 27, In Canada union
officials in Toronto said they had reached a tentative deal to settle a
civic workers strike that had halted garbage collection and many other
city services for more than a month.
(Reuters, 7/27/09)
2009 Jul 27, In Colombia three
soldiers and two civilians were killed in a rifle and grenade attack on
a boat carrying coca eradication workers on the San Juan river in Choco
state. Six people were wounded and six more were missing.
(AP, 7/28/09)
2009 Jul 27, A Congo government
spokesman said The Democratic Republic of Congo has suspended
transmission of French broadcaster Radio France International (RFI).
(Reuters, 7/27/09)
2009 Jul 27, El Salvador announced
a decision to close schools nationwide for two weeks to combat the
spread of swine flu. El Salvador has already confirmed 545 cases of
swine flu, including seven deaths.
(AP, 7/27/09)
2009 Jul 27, In Ethiopia Bashir
Ahmed Makhtal (36), an Ethiopian-born Canadian citizen, was found
guilty of being a member of a rebel group fighting for autonomy for an
ethnically Somali part of the country. Bashir was convicted of
membership in the ONLF and supporting terrorism in Ogaden, and could
face the death penalty. His grandfather was a founder of the ONLF. On
August 3 he was sentenced to life in prison for terrorism-related
charges.
(Reuters, 7/27/09)(AP, 8/3/09)
2009 Jul 27, European Union
nations gave their final approval to a ban on imports of seal products
in an effort to force Canada to end its annual seal hunt.
(AP, 7/27/09)
2009 Jul 27, An overloaded
sailboat carrying an estimated 200 Haitian migrants sank off the Turks
and Caicos Islands and as many as 85 people were missing.
(AP, 7/28/09)
2009 Jul 27, Iran's supreme leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered the closure of Kahrizak prison,
where rights workers say protesters detained in the country's election
turmoil have died.
(AP, 7/28/09)
2009 Jul 27, In Iraq 2 people were
killed in bombings targeting police officers, considered the weakest
link among the Iraqi security forces that have taken the lead from
withdrawing American forces. The first bombing came in eastern Baghdad,
when a roadside bomb targeted a police patrol but missed, killing one
civilian. A short time later, a bomb attached to a car exploded in
Fallujah, killing a police captain.
(AP, 7/27/09)
2009 Jul 27, Mexico announced a
pilot program to have special courts handle cases involving addicted
offenders who commit crimes while under the influence of drugs.
(AP, 7/27/09)
2009 Jul 27, Amnesty Int’l.
launched a campaign to repeal Nicaragua’s 2006 total ban on abortion.
(SFC, 7/28/09, p.A4)
2009 Jul 27, In Nigeria Residents
of Gamboru-Ngala in Borno state said heavily armed members of a
Nigerian Taliban sect stormed the town and went on the rampage, burning
a police headquarters, a church and a customs post. Police put the
death toll in weekend religious clashes at 65, including 5 police
officers.
(AP, 7/27/09)
2009 Jul 27, In Pakistan North
West Frontier Province Senior Minister Bashir Ahmad Bilour said
security forces had rescued dozens of children aged 6 to 15 who the
Taliban were allegedly training as suicide bombers.
(AP, 7/28/09)
2009 Jul 27, Russia’s Interior
Ministry said Semyon Mogilevich, an alleged organized crime boss who is
also wanted in the US, was released from pretrial detention 18 months
after his arrest in Moscow. He has been on the FBI's wanted list since
2003, accused of manipulating the stock of a Pennsylvania-based
company, YBM Magnex Inc., which collapsed in 1998.
(AP, 7/27/09)
2009 Jul 27, In Somalia mortar
attacks by rebels disrupted a parliamentary session as heavy fighting
between the militia and African Union-backed government forces killed 7
civilians.
(AP, 7/27/09)
2009 Jul 27, Thousands of South
African council workers went on strike to press for wage hikes,
crippling public services in Africa's biggest economy and piling
political pressure on new President Jacob Zuma.
(AP, 7/27/09)
2009 Jul 27, Sweden said it was
demanding an explanation as to why Swedish-made anti-tank rocket
launchers, sold to Venezuela years ago, were obtained by Colombia's
main rebel group. Three launchers were recovered in October in a FARC
arms cache belonging to a rebel commander known as "Jhon 40" and
Colombia only recently asked Sweden to confirm whether they had been
sold to Venezuela,
(AP, 7/27/09)
2009 Jul 27, The Taiwanese and
Chinese presidents swapped messages, the first such exchange since the
two sides split amid civil war 60 years ago.
(AP, 7/27/09)
2009 Jul 27, The leader of the
Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, led solemn prayers in Kiev
on the first day of 10-day visit aimed at reasserting Moscow's
dominance over church leaders in Ukraine.
(AP, 7/27/09)
2009 Jul 28, The US government
turned up the pressure on the interim government of Honduras to accept
the return of exiled President Manuel Zelaya, suspending the diplomatic
visas of four Honduran officials a month after a military coup.
(AP, 7/29/09)
2009 Jul 28, California’s Gov.
Schwarzenegger cut a half billion more from the state budget and signed
a package of legislation to wipe out the state’s $24 billion deficit.
It was later reported that state lawmakers added 336 employees between
January and the end of July adding about $14.4 million a year to the
state payroll.
(SFC, 7/29/09, p.A1)(SSFC, 8/9/09, p.A1)
2009 Jul 28, Tennessee state Sen.
Paul Stanley (47) resigned in Nashville after his extramarital affair
with an intern (22) was revealed by an investigation into an extortion
case. McKensie Morrison’s boyfriend was charged with trying to extort
$10,000 from the GOP lawmaker.
(SFC, 7/29/09, p.A6)
2009 Jul 28, It was reported that
scientists claimed to have created a form of aluminum that's nearly
transparent to extreme ultraviolet radiation and which is a new state
of matter.
(www.livescience.com/technology/090728-new-state-matter.html)
2009 Jul 28, At the EAA AirVenture
air show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Aabar Investments, an Abu Dhabi-based
sovereign wealth fund, and Virgin Galactic signed a strategic
partnership in which Aabar would take a 32% stake in Virgin Galactic
for $280 million. To date Virgin Galactic has been wholly owned and
funded by Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group.
(Econ, 9/12/09, p.87)(http://tinyurl.com/y8gtjad)
2009 Jul 28, Tony Rosenthal
(b.1914), American artist and abstract sculptor, died in Southampton,
NY. He created the Regent’s Cube located in the Regent’s Plaza at the
Univ. of Michigan, his alma mater. Commissioned by the Class of 1965
and officially titled “Endover,” the revolving cube is one of three
designed Rosenthal. It was installed on Regents’ Plaza (the open space
bounded by the LS&A Building, Michigan Union and Fleming Building)
in 1968. The others are at home in New York City and Miami.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Rosenthal)(www.ur.umich.edu/0001/Nov06_00/6.htm)
2009 Jul 28, Richard Holbrooke,
the US special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, said in Brussels that
Taliban militants are receiving more funding from sympathizers abroad
than from Afghanistan's illegal drug trade. NATO military officials in
Afghanistan have estimated that the Taliban raise between $60-$100
million a year from the trade in illegal narcotics.
(AP, 7/28/09)
2009 Jul 28, The top UN official
in Afghanistan urged the Taliban not to disrupt elections, as militants
killed nine people, ambushed a presidential campaign manager and fired
rockets into a UN compound.
(AP, 7/28/09)
2009 Jul 28, Algeria's coast guard
arrested 19 illegal migrants in a dinghy off the western town of Arzew,
near Oran, as they tried to reach Europe.
(AP, 7/28/09)
2009 Jul 28, In Australia Shane
Kent (33), an Australian convert to Islam, admitted being part of a
terror cell that plotted to kill thousands of people by bombing major
sports events. The former forklift truck driver was about to face a
retrial on the charges, which he previously denied, after a Supreme
Court jury last September failed to reach a verdict.
(AFP, 7/28/09)
2009 Jul 28, In Bangladesh the
heaviest rain in 53 years battered the capital, Dhaka, leaving at least
six people dead and stranding thousands in their swamped homes.
(AP, 7/28/09)
2009 Jul 28, A majority of people
in Britain see the Afghan war as impossible to win, according to a new
poll taken amid steeply rising casualties and growing government
emphasis on finding a political solution to the conflict.
(AP, 7/28/09)
2009 Jul 28, Britain said it will
withdraw its remaining 100-odd troops in Iraq to Kuwait by the end of
the month after the Iraqi parliament failed to pass a deal allowing
them to stay to protect oil platforms and provide training.
(AP, 7/28/09)
2009 Jul 28, A court in southwest
China accepted the country's first lawsuit filed by an environmental
group against a local government. The All-China Environmental
Federation had filed the suit on behalf of residents against the local
land resources bureau in Qingzhen city in Guizhou province, which sold
land to a drink and ice cream processing plant they allege is a threat
to a scenic lake area.
(AP, 7/31/09)
2009 Jul 28, Fiji’s self-appointed
PM Commodore Frank Bainimarama, who took power in a bloodless 2006
coup, said aged and ailing President Ratu Josefa Iloilo will retire on
July 30.
(AP, 7/28/09)
2009 Jul 28, A Iranian parliament
official said 140 people detained in Iran's postelection turmoil have
been released from Tehran's main prison Evin.
(AP, 7/28/09)
2009 Jul 28, Iraqi forces raided
Camp Ashraf, an Iranian opposition settlement north of Baghdad. The
standoff continued into the next day and left 11 people dead. A gang
made up of members of the presidential guard and led by the head of
security for the 2nd biggest Shia party robbed a bank in central
Baghdad killing 8 security guards. Initially police said the gunmen
made off with 8 billion Iraqi dinars ($6.9 million). Five members of
Iraq's security forces charged in the bank robbery went on trial on Aug
23. They had allegedly made off with $4.8 million. On Sep 2 four
members of the security forces, convicted of the robbery, were
sentenced to hang.
(AP, 7/29/09)(SFC, 7/29/09, p.A2)(Econ, 8/8/09,
p.43)(AP, 8/23/09)(SFC, 9/3/09, p.A2)
2009 Jul 28, President Felipe
Calderon said Mexico will start issuing nationwide identity cards for
its citizens starting this year, and by 2012 everyone will have one.
The body of Juan Daniel Martinez (48), a Mexican radio journalist, was
found beaten, gagged and partially buried the resort city of Acapulco.
Jose Ibarra, a federal agent who had been investigating the Nov 13,
2008, killing of Mexican journalist Armando Rodriguez, was shot
dead at his home in the northern border city of Ciudad Juarez.
(AP, 7/28/09)(AP, 7/29/09)(AP, 7/30/09)
2009 Jul 28, In Morocco a man
accused of leading a terrorist network was sentenced to life in prison
for terror attacks in Morocco, holdups in Europe, large-scale money
laundering projects and arms trafficking. Abdelkader Belliraj (51), a
dual Moroccan-Belgian national, had faced the death penalty. 34
co-defendants were handed sentences ranging from 30 years in prison to
one-year suspended sentences.
(AP, 7/28/09)
2009 Jul 28, Nigerian authorities
imposed curfews and poured security forces onto the streets of several
northern towns after a two-day wave of Islamic militant attacks against
police killed dozens of people.
(AP, 7/28/09)
2009 Jul 28, In Pakistan the
decapitated body of a Pakistani police constable was discovered in the
Swat town of Sangota. The find was a sign that Taliban militants have
not given up the fight for the northwestern valley, despite the nearly
three-month-old army offensive there. A suicide car bomber rammed his
vehicle into a checkpoint in North Waziristan tribal region, causing an
explosion that killed 2 police and wounded 5 other security officials.
(AP, 7/28/09)
2009 Jul 28, The UN refugee agency
said thousands of Somalis are preparing to cross the Gulf of Aden to
Yemen after fleeing fighting around the capital of Mogadishu.
(AP, 7/28/09)
2009 Jul 28, Venezuela’s Pres.
Hugo Chavez recalled his ambassador from Bogota and threatened to halt
Colombian imports after the neighboring country said anti-tank weapons
found in a rebel arms cache came from Venezuela.
(AP, 7/28/09)
2009 Jul 29, Microsoft Corp. and
Yahoo Inc. agreed to a 10-year Internet search partnership, capping a
convoluted pursuit that dragged on for years and finally setting the
stage for the rivals to make an all-out assault against the dominance
of Google Inc. The extended reach will allow Microsoft to introduce its
recently upgraded search engine, called Bing, to more people.
(AP, 7/29/09)
2009 Jul 29, The anti-death
penalty group Hands Off Cain said the number of prisoners put to death
worldwide decreased in 2008. At least 5,727 executions were carried out
in 2008, down from 5,851 the year before. China accounted for at least
5,000 executions, or 87.3$ of the total, the same estimate as
last year.
(AP, 7/29/09)
2009 Jul 29, The Algerian media
reported that the army has killed 16 Islamist extremists in separate
operations in recent days. The bodies of eight Islamists were
discovered on July 27-28 near Batna, 435 km (270 miles) southeast of
Algiers, after army shelling followed by a ground operation. 3 other
armed Islamists were killed in two ambushes near Tizi Ouzou, 110 km (70
miles) east of the capital, on July 27-28. At least 11 Algerian
soldiers were killed in an ambush by Islamic extremists while they
escorted a military convoy in an Algerian tourist region outside the
coastal town of Damous. Five Islamists were killed when the soldiers
shot back.
(AFP, 7/29/09)(AFP, 7/30/09)
2009 Jul 29, China’s state media
reported that contaminated drinking water has sickened more than 2,600
people in northern China, including 59 who were hospitalized with
fevers, diarrhea, stomach aches and vomiting.
(AP, 7/29/09)
2009 Jul 29, In China Xu Zhiyong
(35), prominent legal scholar, was arrested in Beijing. A week later he
was accused of tax evasion. His group had tackled some of China’s most
politically sensitive cases.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xu_Zhiyong)(SFC,
8/5/09, p.A2)
2009 Jul 29, Cuban state media
said Russia and Cuba have signed agreements to search for oil in the
Gulf of Mexico. Moscow extended the island $150 million in credit for
construction materials and farm machinery.
(AP, 7/29/09)
2009 Jul 29, Germany entered into
deflation this month for the first time in 22 years according to
government statistics, with a projected 0.6% decline in prices compared
to one year ago.
(AP, 7/29/09)
2009 Jul 29, One of India’s last
queens, Maharani Gayatri Devi (90), died. She was feted as an
international style icon and spent time in jail after she became a
politician. Devi had married the Maharaja of Jaipur in 1939, becoming a
member of the royal family that effectively ruled the city of Jaipur
and the surrounding area of Rajasthan state. She became a successful
politician winning a seat in parliament in 1962 and retaining it twice
in elections.
(AFP, 7/29/09)
2009 Jul 29, Iran's top diplomat
in Bolivia said the Islamic republic has approved a $280 million
low-interest loan for President Evo Morales' government to use as it
sees fit. Gas and oil exploration are possibilities.
(AP, 7/29/09)
2009 Jul 29, Ireland said it has
agreed to accept two inmates from the Guantanamo prison camp in Cuba
within the next two months.
(AP, 7/29/09)
2009 Jul 29, In Kyrgyzstan a
number of protestors were detained, as police suppressed a series of
demonstrations against the disputed re-election of President Kurmanbek
Bakiyev. Police said 42 protesters were detained in Bishkek. The
opposition reported that about 80 people were detained in Besh-Kungei.
(AP, 7/29/09)
2009 Jul 29, In Mexico gunmen shot
up and torched the home of Jesus Antonio Romero (39), a police
commander in Veracruz, killing the officer, his wife and his four
children, including a 6-year-old boy. He had been promoted a month ago
to deputy operations coordinator for the Veracruz-Boca del Rio area, a
hotbed of drug violence and a stronghold of the Zetas. In a remote
mountain town south of Ciudad Juarez, gunmen killed a government
welfare official and three police officers during a robbery. Police
announced the capture of six more suspected La Familia members,
including a man accused of being a chief financial operator.
(AP, 7/30/09)
2009 Jul 29, Moldova held
elections. At least three people were killed and hundreds of others
arrested after protesters, some of whom used the social network Twitter
to organize after cell phone networks went down, stormed parliament and
the president's office. With 98% of the vote counted, the four
opposition parties had 50.9 percent to the Communists' 45.1%.
(AP, 7/29/09)(AP, 7/30/09)
2009 Jul 29, Morocco's King
Mohammed VI (45), on the eve of commemorations of his 10th anniversary
on the throne, granted pardons to 24,865 prisoners, and commuted 32
death sentences.
(AFP, 7/29/09)
2009 Jul 29, In northern Nigeria
troops struggled to crush an Islamist sect as the death toll from four
days of clashes surged past 300. Thousands of people were forced from
their homes. Militants attacked security forces in Yobe state. Police
said that 43 sect members were killed in a shootout near the city of
Potiskum. The government, which blames the Boko Haram sect for
instigating days of violence in the mostly Muslim region, shelled and
stormed the group's mosque and headquarters in Maiduguri. Sect leader
Mohammed Yusuf escaped along with about 300 followers but his deputy
was killed.
(AFP, 7/29/09)(AP, 7/30/09)
2009 Jul 29, Drug maker Pfizer
Inc. confirmed that it has resolved a long-running legal dispute with
the Nigerian government over allegations that children there were
harmed in a 1996 Pfizer study of an experimental antibiotic during a
meningitis outbreak. The settlement reportedly called for a $75 million
payment by Pfizer.
(AP, 7/29/09)
2009 Jul 29, In northwestern
Pakistan a bomb ripped through the parking area at a court in Dera
Ismail Khan, killing two men guarding a Shiite Muslim lawyer. Troops
waging an offensive elsewhere in the region killed at least four
suspected Taliban fighters over the last 24 hours.
(AP, 7/29/09)
2009 Jul 29, An unmanned Russian
cargo ship has docked successfully at the international space station
to deliver supplies for its six-member crew.
(AP, 7/29/09)
2009 Jul 29, In South Africa a
ceremony was held for “Fire Walker,” a new four-story sculpture in
Johannesburg. A plaque was unveiled with the names of the South African
artists who created it: William Kentridge and Gerhard Marx. The
three-dimensional steel conception by Marx was of a Kentridge
watercolor.
(AP, 7/29/09)
2009 Jul 29, In northern Spain a
powerful car bomb destroyed a police barracks housing officers and
their families in Burgos, injuring about 60 people and causing major
damage in the surrounding area. The attack was blamed on the Basque
separatist group ETA.
(AP, 7/29/09)
2009 Jul 29, A Sudanese court
adjourned the case of Lubna Ahmed al-Hussein, a woman journalist facing
40 lashes for wearing "indecent" trousers. 10 women had already been
whipped on July 3 for similar offences against Islamic law. "I wish to
resign from the UN, I wish this court case to continue," Hussein told a
packed courtroom before the judge adjourned the case to August 4.
(AFP, 7/29/09)
2009 Jul 29, In Tajikistan the
Pakistani and Tajik presidents pledged to step up efforts to fight
Islamist militants at a regional summit amid concerns about the spread
of violence from neighboring Afghanistan.
(AFP, 7/29/09)
2009 Jul 29, Turkey's government
said it is prepared to grant more rights to the nation's Kurds in an
effort to end the 25-year insurgency by Kurdish rebels.
(AP, 7/29/09)
2009 Jul 29, In Zimbabwe the
British Broadcasting Corp. resumed broadcasting for the first time
since it was banned in 2001. The five-month-old coalition government
said it also was considering allowing CNN back.
(AP, 7/30/09)
2009 Jul 30, A US federal judge
ordered the release of Mohammed Jawad, a Guantanamo Bay detainee
accused of attacking US troops with a grenade on December 17, 2002.
American authorities claimed he was at least 16-years old at the time
of his arrest, but it later emerged he may have been as young as
12-years old.
(SFC, 7/31/09,
p.A5)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Jawad)
2009 Jul 30, Bill Leigon,
president of Hahn Family Wines in Soledad, Calif., said that visits to
the company's Web site have increased tenfold since news of an Alabama
ban on his Cycles Gladiator wine broke late last week. Callers from
across the country have been asking where they can buy the wine. It was
reported that the Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board had recently
told stores and restaurants to quit serving Cycles Gladiator wine
because of a label that features a nude nymph. The wine's label is
copied from an 1895 French advertising poster for Cycles Gladiator
bicycles. It shows a side view of a full-bodied nymph flying alongside
a winged bicycle.
(AP, 7/31/09)
2009 Jul 30, The Taliban urged
Afghans to stay away from the Aug. 20 elections, dismissing the
balloting as an "American process" and threatening to block roads to
polling stations. In western Afghanistan a Taliban ambush on a NATO
convoy left nine insurgents and a policeman dead. A Taliban unit
ambushed a convoy of electoral material in Farah province. Insurgents
killed four Afghan soldiers in the gunbattle but the ballots and other
voting material were retrieved.
(AP, 7/30/09)(AP, 7/31/09)
2009 Jul 30, In China nearly a
thousand villagers gathered at government and police offices in Zhentou
township in Hunan province to highlight what they say is deadly
pollution being discharged from the Xianghe Chemical Factory in nearby
Liuyang city.
(AP, 8/2/09)
2009 Jul 30, A Hamburg court
ordered a German publisher to pay Sweden's Princess Madeleine
euro400,000 ($560,000) in damages for fabricating stories about her.
Sonnenverlag GmbH & Co KG magazines had carried false reports about
the 27-year-old princess being engaged and pregnant, among other
things. Sonnenverlag's parent company, Baden-Baden based KLAMBT media
group, confirmed the ruling.
(AP, 7/31/09)
2009 Jul 30, In Honduras Roger
Vallejo (38), a high school teacher in the capital of Tegucigalpa, was
wounded as thousands of Zelaya supporters blocked a highway and clashed
with security forces. Vallejo died of his wounds on Aug 1.
(AP, 8/2/09)
2009 Jul 30, Iranian police fired
tear gas and beat anti-government protesters with batons to disperse
thousands attending a graveside memorial for victims of post-election
violence.
(AP, 7/30/09)
2009 Jul 30, In Iraq a bomb blast
in a building used by a Sunni-backed political group in Iraq's Diyala
province killed at least seven people. Government spokesman Ali
al-Dabbagh confirmed that seven people were killed when Iraqi forces
seized control of the Iranian Camp Ashraf on July 28. The government
said it will change the name of the camp to New Iraqi Camp to remove
the Iranian reference. The camp was originally named for one of the
founders of the People's Mujahedeen, Ashraf Rajavi.
(AP, 7/30/09)
2009 Jul 30, Italy approved the
use of the abortion drug RU-486, drawing fierce protests by the
Vatican. The Italian Drug Agency ruled that the drug cannot be sold in
drug stores but can only be administered by doctors in a hospital.
(AP, 7/31/09)
2009 Jul 30, Japanese astronaut
Koichi Wakata described his test of new underwear, called J-Wear, as
the shuttle Endeavour prepared to come home after over 2 weeks aloft.
Wakata tested the high-tech underwear for a month at a time during his
4½ months aboard the ISS.
(SFC, 7/31/09, p.A9)
2009 Jul 30, A Libyan officials
said Libya and Canada have signed a memorandum of intent on nuclear
power. Since July 2007, Libya has signed three similar agreements with
France, Russia and Ukraine.
(AFP, 7/30/09)
2009 Jul 30, North Korea's
military seized four South Korean fishermen after their boat strayed
into North Korean waters. The fishermen were released on Aug 29.
(AP, 7/31/09)(AP, 8/29/09)
2009 Jul 30, In northern Nigeria
security forces hunted door-to-door for Islamic militants after killing
more than 100 of them by storming the sect's compound. A top rights
group said innocent people were getting executed in the process.
Mohammed Yusuf (39), the leader of the Boko Haram movement, was shot
dead while in police detention.
(AP, 7/30/09)(Reuters, 7/31/09)
2009 Jul 30, On the Spanish island
of Majorca 2 civil guard officers were killed when their booby-trapped
car exploded near a barracks.
(AP, 7/30/09)
2009 Jul 30, South African
President Jacob Zuma accepted "very substantial damages" from Britain's
Guardian newspaper over an article that wrongly suggested he was a
rapist.
(AP, 7/30/09)
2009 Jul 30, The UN Security
Council unanimously extended the mandate for the joint UN-African Union
peacekeeping mission which has been slowly deploying in Sudan's
conflict-torn Darfur region.
(Reuters, 7/30/09)
2009 Jul 30, Venezuela's top
prosecutor, Attorney General Luisa Ortega, insisted that freedom of
expression in Venezuela "must be limited" and proposed legislation that
would slap additional restrictions on the country's news media.
(AP, 7/30/09)
2009 Jul 30, Zimbabwe’s Daily
News, a popular newspaper banned nearly six years ago, won a new
license to resume printing. It was renowned for its willingness to
criticize Pres. Robert Mugabe. CNN said Zimbabwe agreed last week to
allow it to resume working in the country.
(AFP, 7/31/09)
2009 Jul 30, Zimbabwe's health
minister said a cholera epidemic has ended, after more than 4,200
deaths and 100,000 cases since last August, but warned new outbreaks
remain a threat.
(AP, 7/30/09)
2009 Jul 31, California
authorities said the white striped fruit fly has been found in Southern
California, marking the first detection of the Southeast Asian pest in
the Western Hemisphere. Several thousand traps were soon placed in the
La Verne area of eastern Los Angeles County, where 7 of the flies were
found.
(SFC, 8/1/09, p.A4)
2009 Jul 31, A jury ordered Joel
Tenenbaum (b.1983), a student at Boston Univ., to pay damages of
$675,000 for sharing 30 songs over the Internet. He was later ordered
to destroy his illegal music files — but a judge declined to force him
to stop promoting the activity.
(Econ, 9/5/09, TQ
p.4)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joel_Tenenbaum)(AP, 12/7/09)
2009 Jul 31, The space shuttle
Endeavour returned to Florida after over 2 weeks aloft and a successful
construction job that boosted the size and power of the international
space station.
(AP, 8/1/09)
2009 Jul 31, In Afghanistan a US
service member died in the south of the country. In Geneva the UN
issued a report stating that the number of civilians killed in conflict
in Afghanistan has jumped 24% so far this year, with bombings by
insurgent and airstrikes by international forces the biggest single
killers.
(AP, 7/31/09)
2009 Jul 31, UN human rights
experts asked Azerbaijan to stop curbing free speech and to protect
journalists from harassment, violence and even murder.
(Reuters, 7/31/09)
2009 Jul 31, In southeastern
Bangladesh landslides caused by heavy monsoon rains killed 10 people.
(AP, 7/31/09)
2009 Jul 31, Britain's defense
ministry said Sikh soldiers have begun guarding the monarch and her
treasures. “Regiments take it in turn to stand in for the Household
Division and it just happens that two of the soldiers this time round
are Sikh.”
(AP, 7/31/09)
2009 Jul 31, In Colombia at least
eight former officials of the domestic intelligence agency surrendered
to face criminal charges for allegedly spying illegally on opponents of
President Alvaro Uribe including judges, journalists and human rights
workers.
(AP, 8/1/09)
2009 Jul 31, Cuba suspended plans
for a Communist Party congress and lowered its 2009 economic growth
projection from 2.5% to 1.7%, as the island's economy struggled through
a "very serious" crisis.
(AP, 7/31/09)
2009 Jul 31, An Indian court
issued a warrant for the arrest of Warren Anderson, the former head of
the American chemical company responsible for a gas leak that killed at
least 10,000 people in Bhopal 25 years ago. Anderson was the head of
Union Carbide Corp. when its factory in the central Indian city leaked
40 tons of poisonous gas on Dec. 3, 1984, in the world's worst
industrial disaster. In 1989, Union Carbide paid $470 million in
compensation to the Indian government and said officials were
responsible for the cleanup. India said its efforts were slowed when
Midland, Mich.-based Dow Chemical Co. took over Union Carbide in 2001,
seven years after Union Carbide sold its interest in the Bhopal plant.
(AP, 7/31/09)
2009 Jul 31, Iran detained 3
Americans after they mistakenly crossed the border from northern Iraq.
They crossed into Iranian territory while hiking in a mountainous area
near the town of Ahmed Awaa. Freelance journalist Shane Bauer, Sara
Shourd and Josh Fattal, all graduates of the University of California,
Berkeley, were detained after apparently straying across the border
while hiking in Iraq's northern Kurdish region.
(AP, 8/1/09)(AP, 11/9/09)
2009 Jul 31, In Iraq bombs
exploded near five Shiite mosques in Baghdad, killing at least 29
people, in an apparent coordinated attack that targeted worshippers
leaving Friday prayers. Iraqi police announced they had recovered
millions of dollars stolen on July 28 from a state-run bank in a
robbery that left eight guards dead.
(AP, 7/31/09)
2009 Jul 31, The Irish Times
newspaper won a long-running legal battle to protect the identity of a
key source who provided documents showing that former PM Bertie Ahern
was under investigation for corruption. Colm Keena and Geraldine
Kennedy had refused to comply with an October 2007 High Court judgment
ordering them to identify their source for the confidential documents
from a fact-finding tribunal into political corruption. The scandal
spurred Ahern to resign in May 2008 after 11 years in power.
(AP, 7/31/09)
2009 Jul 31, In Mexico assailants
gunned down five men and a woman in a pool hall in the border city of
Ciudad Juarez.
(AP, 7/31/09)
2009 Jul 31, Anuradha Koirala, the
founder of Nepalese charity Maiti Nepal, said British actress Joanna
Lumley has agreed to be its international ambassador. The charity helps
victims of human trafficking.
(AFP, 7/31/09)
2009 Jul 31, Nigeria's national
police claimed victory over a radical Islamist sect after its leader
was killed by security forces. Experts warned revenge attacks could
occur and a leading human rights group demanded a probe into the
killing. At least 300 people were killed in violence that erupted in
several states around northern Nigeria since July 26.
(Reuters, 7/31/09)
2009 Jul 31, Pakistan's Supreme
Court ruled that former Pres. Pervez Musharraf's imposition of
emergency rule in 2007 was unconstitutional.
(AP, 7/31/09)
2009 Jul 31, Turkey's navy
commandos aboard a frigate captured seven pirates in the Gulf of Aden
off Somalia's coast. Turkish commandos had captured five other pirates
in a similar operation in the Gulf of Aden a week ago.
(AP, 7/31/09)
2009 Jul 31, Venezuelan regulators
revoked the broadcast rights of 34 radio stations for allegedly failing
to submit the proper paperwork to the broadcasting regulator, deepening
a rift between President Chavez's government and the private media.
Venezuelan lawmakers approved an election law to redraw voting
districts, a step that President Hugo Chavez's opponents say will give
his party a big advantage in next year's congressional vote.
(AP, 7/31/09)(AP, 8/1/09)(Econ, 8/8/09, p.32, 34)
2009 Jul 31, A new study by the
Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation and Vietnam's ministry of
defense said more than one-third of the land in six central Vietnamese
provinces remained contaminated with land mines and unexploded bombs
from the Vietnam War.
(AP, 7/31/09)
2009 Jul 31, Global Witness, which
monitors the exploitation of natural resources, backed calls for a ban
on trading in Zimbabwe diamonds due to human rights abuses in mining of
the gem.
(AFP, 7/31/09)
2009 Jul, Oswaldo Juarez (21), a
Peruvian visiting Florida to study English, Juarez swallowed his last
pills, packed a few small suitcases and left the A.G. Holley State
Hospital following 19 months of treatment. He was the first US case of
a contagious, aggressive, especially drug-resistant form of
tuberculosis.
(AP, 12/27/09)
2009 Jul, In Puerto Rico Police
Stephanie Rodriguez Pizarro died in a San Juan housing project after
she sought treatment to help with marital and financial troubles. A
spiritual healer allegedly dropped a candle into an alcohol bath where
she was undergoing a Santeria ritual. She died of second-degree burns
over half her body. In 2010 healer Jose Cadiz Tapia (46) was charged
with negligent homicide.
(AP, 7/15/10)
2009 Jul, Latvia’s leading
newspaper, Diena, along with sister publication Dienas Bizness, was
bought by Luxembourg based Nedela S.A. in a highly clandestine
transaction. The deal was initially structured as a loan to Tralmaks'
company Nedela, allowing it to buy the two papers from then-owner,
Sweden's Bonnier Business Press. The loan was later restructured,
placing the Rowlands as the new owners. The Rowland Capital family
office runs an asset management business, Blackfish Capital Management,
a London based company.
(http://tinyurl.com/yjgb4ls)(Econ, 10/17/09, p.64)
Go to http://www.timelinesdb.com
Go to August 2009
End of file
2009 August
2009 Aug 1, The new US Post-9/11
GI Bill took effect to reimburse veterans for their full undergraduate
tuition at public colleges. An amount equivalent to that tuition would
go to veterans who choose private schools or graduate programs.
(SFC, 8/1/09, p.A1)
2009 Aug 1, In San Francisco David
Wehrer (26) shot and killed himself when police caught up with him 4
days after his partner, Robert Christopher (56), was found dead in
their Castro Street apartment.
(SFC, 8/17/09, p.C1)
2009 Aug 1, In Detroit a woman
(24) was shot killed during a street robbery by a boy (12).
(SFC, 8/20/09, p.A4)
2009 Aug 1, In Afghanistan 3 US
troops were killed by improvised explosives in Kandahar province and a
French soldier was killed in an insurgent attack in Kapisa province.
Two more ISAF troops were killed when two bomb blasts struck their
patrol in the south. A dozen rebels were killed in a gunfight with
police in the southwestern province of Nimroz. 4 Afghan soldiers were
killed when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb planted by
"terrorists" in southern Helmand province. 3 policemen including a
senior officer were killed when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb in
the northern province of Baghlan.
(AFP, 8/1/09)(AFP, 8/2/09)
2009 Aug 1, Australia's
centre-left ruling party voted for national recognition of same-sex
unions but stopped short of lifting a ban on gay marriage.
(AFP, 8/1/09)
2009 Aug 1, Brazilian police said
they have busted a ring that allegedly sent some 200 women in the last
year to the United States, Europe and elsewhere to work as prostitutes.
Most of the women were recruited through the Internet or Brazilian
brothels and then sent to Las Vegas, the Dominican Republic and France.
(AP, 8/1/09)
2009 Aug 1, Burundi said it has
deployed a third battalion of 850 soldiers to Mogadishu to reinforce
the African Union peacekeeping mission there. With the new troops, more
than 5,000 soldiers from Burundi and Uganda are now taking part in the
AU Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), which began in March 2007 and has cost
the lives of 17 Burundian soldiers.
(AFP, 8/2/09)
2009 Aug 1, In Canada a fierce
thunderstorm caused an outdoor stage to collapse at the Big Valley
Jamboree in Camrose, a country music festival in central Alberta. One
person was killed and up to 40 others injured.
(AP, 8/2/09)
2009 Aug 1, Humanitarian groups
said members of the Lord's Resistance Army, a Ugandan rebel group, have
launched attacks against towns in the Central African Republic that
have left at least 10 people dead in the last two weeks. The attacks by
the LRA, launched from its rear bases in the Democratic Republic of
Congo, have also forced hundreds of people to flee their villages.
(AFP, 8/2/09)
2009 Aug 1, It was reported that
output from Chile’s fish farms was expected to be down 40% this year
due to infectious salmon anemia (ISA). The virus also led to premature
harvesting for fear other fish would catch the disease, which
apparently turned up in imported salmon eggs.
(Econ, 8/1/09, p.34)
2009 Aug 1, China’s Ziketan town
in Qinghai province was put under collective quarantine when laboratory
tests showed it had been struck by the highly virulent disease. 2 of
its residents had recently died from pneumonic plague, which spreads
through the air, making it easier to contract than bubonic plague,
which requires that a person is bitten by an infected flea. Its
fatality rate was up to 100% if left untreated, compared with 60% for
bubonic plague. The outbreak was first detected on July 30.
(AFP, 8/2/09)(AP, 8/4/09)
2009 Aug 1, Chinese police
detained the head of the Xianghe Chemical Factory and the government
suspended the chief and deputy chief of the city's environment
protection bureau.
(AP, 8/2/09)
2009 Aug 1, The war in Iraq became
an American-only effort after Britain and Australia, the last of its
international partners, pulled out. In Iraq a bomb hidden inside a
toilet struck a Sunni mosque south of Baghdad, injuring two people, the
latest in a wave of attacks against Islamic sites of worship.
Al-Jazeera television broadcast an audio clip purportedly from Izzat
Ibrahim al-Douri, a former top deputy of Saddam Hussein, calling on
Sunni insurgents to unite under one political umbrella.
(AP, 8/1/09)
2009 Aug 1, In Tel Aviv, Israel, a
gunman shot and killed two people at a youth club in the worst ever
attack on homosexuals in Israel. The dead were identified as a man (26)
who was a counselor at the center and a girl (17). Eleven people were
wounded, four of them seriously.
(AP, 8/2/09)
2009 Aug 1, Kyrgyzstan allowed
Russia to open a second military base on its territory, expanding
Moscow's military reach to balance against the US presence.
(Reuters, 8/1/09)
2009 Aug 1, Police broke up
Malaysia's biggest street protest in nearly two years, firing tear gas
and chemical-laced water at thousands of opposition supporters
demanding an end to a law that allows detention without trial.
(AP, 8/1/09)
2009 Aug 1, Two Moroccan magazines
were taken off news stands after they published an opinion poll on the
10 years under the reign of King Mohammed VI. The poll revealed that
91% of Moroccans who were interviewed say that the performance of the
reign of King Mohammed VI is positive or very positive.
(AFP, 8/1/09)
2009 Aug 1, Mozambique’s Pres.
Armando Guebuza inaugurated an 80-million-euro (113-million-dollar)
bridge over the Zambezi River, a major link for a country long divided
between north and south. Work on the bridge had begun in 1977.
(AFP, 8/2/09)
2009 Aug 1, In Nigeria robbers
hijacked the bus on Sagamu-Benin expressway in Ogun State and forced
passengers to lie on a road at gunpoint as they ransacked their bus. 20
people were crushed to death as a truck ran into them.
(AFP, 8/2/09)
2009 Aug 1, The Sydney Morning
Herald reported that North Korea is helping Myanmar build a secret
nuclear reactor and plutonium extraction plant to build an atomic bomb
within five years, citing the evidence of defectors. "In the event that
the testimony of the defectors is proved, the alleged secret reactor
could be capable of being operational and producing one bomb a year,
every year, after 2014."
(AFP, 8/1/09)
2009 Aug 1, In Pakistan an angry
mob of Muslims killed six Christians and wounded dozens after burning
40 houses and a church over the alleged desecration of the Koran in
Gojra village, Punjab province. Two men wounded by gunfire died in the
hospital overnight. A building collapsed in Karachi killing at least 21
people.
(AFP, 8/1/09)(AP, 8/2/09)(SSFC, 8/2/09, p.A6)
2009 Aug 1, In the Philippines
former President Corazon Aquino (b.1933) died. The "people power"
uprising she led in 1986 brought down the repressive 20-year regime of
Ferdinand Marcos and served as an inspiration to nonviolent resistance
across the globe. Due to the time difference her death was reported in
the US on July 31.
(Reuters, 8/1/09)
2009 Aug 1, Authorities in the
separatist Georgian region of South Ossetia said two mortar shells were
fired into the territory from Georgia proper. Georgia denied the claim
and suggested it was a provocation ahead of the anniversary of last
year's war with Russia.
(AP, 8/1/09)
2009 Aug 2, In eastern Afghanistan
3 American soldiers died in a complex militant ambush, raising NATO's
two-day August death toll to nine and continuing the bloodiest period
of the eight-year war for US and allied troops.
(AP, 8/2/09)
2009 Aug 2, In Austria researchers
unveiled two piano pieces recently identified as childhood creations by
the revered composer.
(AP, 8/2/09)
2009 Apr 2, Austrian authorities
arrested British-born Julius Meinl V (b.1959), head of Meinl Bank, for
suspected breach of trust and deception of investors. He had spun much
of his family’s property portfolio into Meinl European Land (MEL). By
2007 MEL had lost €1.8 billion in an attempt to support its share
price. He was released after posting a €100 million bail.
(Econ, 8/1/09, p.60)
2009 Aug 2, China reported that
police in the northwest region of Xinjiang have arrested hundreds of
people in connection with disturbances that left at least 197 people
dead.
(AFP, 8/2/09)
2009 Aug 2, In Dagestan militants
shot and killed a police officer. In Ingushetia militants killed three
government workers.
(AP, 8/2/09)
2009 Aug 2, In eastern Indonesia a
plane carrying 16 people disappeared over a jungle-clad and mountainous
region of Papua. All aboard were killed.
(AP, 8/2/09)(AP, 8/5/09)
2009 Aug 2, In Iraq Tariq Aziz,
one of Saddam Hussein's best-known lieutenants, was convicted of
helping to plan the forced displacement of Kurds from northeastern Iraq
and sentenced to seven years in jail. The ruling came more than four
months after Aziz was sentenced to 15 years in prison for crimes
against humanity in the 1992 execution of Iraqi merchants. Rania
Ibrahim, a teenage Iraqi girl, was sentenced to seven and a half years
in prison for attempting to blow herself up at a checkpoint in Baqouba
in August, 2008. She claimed her husband's female relatives strapped
explosives on her. An explosives-laden car exploded near an outdoor
market in a mainly Sunni area of Haditha, killing at least 5 people and
wounding 34, raising concern that sectarian violence could resurge.
(AP, 8/2/09)(SFC, 8/4/09, p.A2)(AP, 8/6/09)
2009 Aug 2, Mexican police raided
a church service in Apatzingan, Michoacan state, and arrested Miguel
Angel Beraza, a man known as "The Truck," and another suspect. Beraza
was suspected of moving a half ton of crystal methamphetamine into the
US each month and was said to be a high-ranking lieutenant in the drug
cartel known as La Familia.
(AP, 8/3/09)
2009 Aug 2, It was reported that
illegal blast fishing had become rampant in Nicaragua and was spreading
across Central America’s Pacific coast.
(SSFC, 8/2/09, p.A8)
2009 Aug 2, Red Cross and Nigerian
defense officials said more than 700 people were killed during a 5-day
uprising by a radical Islamic sect in the north. Over 700 dead bodies
were given mass burial in Maiduguri town alone, as a search for bodies
continued.
(Reuters, 8/2/09)
2009 Aug 2, In Pakistan two
policemen were shot and killed by men who fled from a checkpoint in the
northwestern city of Peshawar. The military said that four militants
were killed and another 27, including a suspected local commander, were
arrested in several search-and-clearance operations in Swat and nearby
areas.
(AP, 8/2/09)
2009 Aug 2, In Peru attackers
believed to be Shining Path rebels killed three police officers and two
women in an assault on a remote police post in San Jose de Secce in
Ayacucho province, a coca-growing region.
(AP, 8/3/09)
2009 Aug 2, Stanley Robertson
(69), the last of Scotland’s traveling storytellers, died. He had spent
47 years filleting fish for a living.
(Econ, 9/5/09, p.94)
2009 Aug 2, On the Spanish Canary
Island of La Palma strong winds fanned forest fires for a 2nd day, and
firefighters were forced to retreat as flames raged out of control near
two towns.
(AP, 8/2/09)
2009 Aug 2, In southeast Sudan
armed tribesmen attacked a fishing village where hundreds of displaced
people were camped near a river, leaving at least 185 people, most of
them women and children, dead in the worst violence in three months.
(AP, 8/3/09)
2009 Aug 2, In Zimbabwe 40 people
were killed and 30 others injured when a bus overturned after colliding
with a lorry south of Harare.
(AP, 8/2/09)(AP, 8/3/09)
2009 Aug 3, Bank of America agreed
to pay $33 million to settle a complaint filed by the SEC alleging that
the bank misled investors over bonuses at Merrill Lynch as BofA was
finalizing its takeover of the securities firm in late 2008.
(Econ, 8/8/09, p.63)
2009 Aug 3, In Afghanistan a bomb
hidden in a rubbish bin exploded near a police convoy in Herat, killing
12 people, including a woman and a girl and 2 police officers, as a
wave of Taliban violence gripped the nation ahead of elections. An
ambush in Faryab province killed an Afghan driver, but his passenger, a
Korean engineer, escaped without injury.
(AFP, 8/3/09)(SSFC, 8/2/09, p.A2)
2009 Aug 3, Belgian authorities
recaptured Abdelhaq Melloul-Khayari, a convict who escaped twice in as
many weeks, including once from a Bruges prison by helicopter.
(AP, 8/3/09)
2009 Aug 3, Karlheinz Schreiber
(75), a German-Canadian arms dealer and key figure in a political party
financing scandal involving former Chancellor Helmut Kohl, was
extradited to Germany from Canada to face criminal charges after losing
a decade-long court battle. He was key figure in a funding
scandal which badly damaged Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives a
decade ago. Schreiber was arrested in Canada about 10 years ago, and is
wanted by prosecutors in Augsburg for tax evasion, fraud and bribery.
(AP, 8/3/09)(Reuters, 8/3/09)
2009 Aug 3, China’s state media
reported that more than 500 villagers in central China have been found
to have high concentrations of a dangerous metal in their bodies after
a series of leaks from the Changsha Xianghe Chemical Plant in Hunan
province's Zhentou township. 509 people were found to have high
concentrations of cadmium and 33 were hospitalized over the weekend.
(AP, 8/3/09)
2009 Aug 3, Ecuadorean President
Rafael Correa, announced that "many" radio and TV frequencies will
revert to the state over what he called irregularities in their
licenses. He gave no specifics.
(AP, 8/3/09)
2009 Aug 3, Nikolaos Makarezos
(90), one of the leaders of the military dictatorship that ruled Greece
from 1967-1974, died. Makarezos, the junta's chief economic
policymaker, served as deputy prime minister and minister for
coordination under dictator George Papadopoulos.
(AP, 8/6/09)
2009 Aug 3, A seven-minute video,
apparently made by the Korps Brigade Mobil, or Brimob, the paramilitary
police, shows prisoner Yawen Wayeni lying in a jungle clearing in
eastern Indonesia moments after troops allegedly sliced open his
abdomen with a bayonet. Police said Wayeni, captured for allegedly
vandalizing several of their buildings and vehicles, was shot in the
thigh and stomach while resisting arrest and that he died on the way to
the hospital. The video was made public in the Internet in 2010.
(AP,
8/4/10)(http://hub.witness.org/en/upload/killing-yawan-wayeni)
2009 Aug 3, In Iran Fahimeh
Mousavi-nejad, the wife of former Vice President Mohammad Abtahi on
trial for postelection violence, said his televised "confessions" were
made under pressure. Her husband was one of the top figures in a trial
that began Aug 1 for around 100 people detained in the postelection
crackdown. Iran's supreme leader formally endorsed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
for a second term as president in a ceremony that sought to portray
unity among the country's leadership but was snubbed by prominent
critics of the disputed election.
(AP, 8/3/09)
2009 Aug 3, In Iraq Asaib Ahl
al-Haq (League of the Righteous), a group believed to be responsible
for killing US soldiers and kidnapping British soldiers, agreed to
renounce violence following a weekend meeting with PM al-Maliki.
A suicide car bomber detonated his explosives at a police checkpoint in
Saqlawiya. 3 civilians were killed and 7 people were wounded including
3 police officers.
(SFC, 8/4/09, p.A2)
2009 Aug 3, Israeli police said
that they had broken up an Israeli-American crime ring specializing in
tax fraud and money laundering in an operation codenamed "American
Pie." The chief suspect was Marvin Berkowitz (62) who holds dual
Israeli and US citizenship. Avigdor Lieberman, Israel's
ultranationalist foreign minister, promised to step down if he is
charged after police recommended that he be indicted for a string of
alleged corruption offenses.
(AP, 8/3/09)
2009 Aug 3, Kenya's Pres. Mwai
Kibaki said all prisoners on death row will immediately have their
sentences commuted to life imprisonment. Kenya's 97 prisons were built
for a population of about 15,000 but currently have an inmate
population of more than 40,000.
(AP, 8/3/09)
2009 Aug 3, Anders Fogh Rasmussen,
a former Danish prime minister, took office as NATO's new
secretary-general. He said his top priorities would be guiding the war
in Afghanistan to a successful conclusion, repairing ties with Russia,
and expanding NATO's partnership with moderate nations in North Africa
and the Middle East.
(AP, 8/3/09)
2009 Aug 3, The Palestinian Fatah
movement published a new platform saying it will keep pursuing peace
talks but reserves the right to resist Israeli occupation.
(AP, 8/3/09)
2009 Aug 3, In South Korea
thousands of riot police strengthened their siege of a troubled South
Korean auto firm, spraying liquid tear gas from a helicopter, after
talks to end a prolonged occupation by strikers collapsed.
(AFP, 8/3/09)
2009 Aug 3, In Switzerland there
was an arson attack at Novartis CEO Daniel Vasella's lodge in Bach,
Austria. An attack on his mother's grave took place a week earlier. The
next day drug maker Novartis said animal rights militants were
responsible.
(AP, 8/4/09)
2009 Aug 3, In Venezuela a
far-left party led by Lina Ron attacked the opposition-aligned
Globovision TV station. The next day Pres. Chavez condemned the attack
and had Ron arrested for taking part in the assault.
(SFC, 8/3/09, p.A2)
2009 Aug 4, A US federal court
panel ordered California to reduce its prison population by 40,000 over
the next 2 years to meet constitutional standards for inmate health
care.
(SFC, 8/5/09, p.A1)
2009 Aug 4, Sen. Charles Schumer,
D-N.Y., said that the SEC plans to ban so-called "flash trading," where
high-frequency traders can get information just before it becomes
public.
(www.marketwatch.com/story/schumer-sec-to-ban-flash-trading-2009-08-04)
2009 Aug 4, SF Mayor Gavin Newsom
signed a $6.6 billion city budget, making it the city’s biggest budget
ever.
(SFC, 8/5/09, p.D1)
2009 Aug 4, In Bridgeville,
Pennsylvania, George Sodini (48) sprayed bullets into a fitness class
filled with women, killing three and then himself. He kept a Web page
in which he wrote about years of rejection by women and an earlier plan
for violence at the gym.
(AP, 8/5/09)
2009 Aug 4, In Afghanistan a
string of rockets slammed into Kabul at daybreak in the first major
attack on the relatively calm Afghan capital in the run-up to this
month's presidential election. A child and a man were lightly wounded
when they were hit by flying glass in residential areas next to the
airport, where most of the rockets landed. A suicide bomber killed five
people and wounded 18 in southern Zabul province.
(AP, 8/4/09)
2009 Aug 4, Antigua's highest
mountain, Boggy Peak, officially became "Mount Obama" as the small
Caribbean nation celebrated the American president on his birthday and
saluted him as a symbol of black achievement.
(AP, 8/4/09)(SFC, 8/5/09, p.A2)
2009 Aug 4, Australian police said
they thwarted a terrorist plot in which extremists with ties to an
al-Qaida-linked Somali Islamist group planned to invade a military base
and open fire with automatic weapons until they were shot dead
themselves. Some 400 officers from state and national security services
took part in 19 raids on properties in Melbourne, before dawn,
arresting four men and detaining several others for questioning. Police
said all four arrested are Australian citizens of Somali or Lebanese
descent aged between 22 and 26.
(AP, 8/4/09)
2009 Aug 4, In Belgium three
prisoners escaped from the sprawling Palace of Justice courthouse in
central Brussels when two armed men burst into a court hearing and took
them with them, bringing the total to 12 over the past two weeks. Five
of the escaped inmates have been caught again, but seven remained at
large.
(AP, 8/4/09)
2009 Aug 4, Officials said a
forest fire on the Canary Island of La Palma was brought under control
and another that raged for two weeks in Spain's northern Catalonia
region has been extinguished.
(AP, 8/4/09)
2009 Aug 4, China’s state media
reported that police have formally arrested 83 people on charges
including murder and arson in connection with last month's deadly
rioting in the western region of Xinjiang.
(AP, 8/4/09)
2009 Aug 4, In northern China an
unfinished factory building collapsed as torrential rain hit the city
of Shijiazhuang. 17 people were reported killed.
(AP, 8/4/09)
2009 Aug 4, Haiti’s lawmakers
voted to more than double the minimum wage after long hours of debate
and clashes between police and protesters, who complained they can't
feed and shelter their families on the current pay of about $1.75 a day.
(AP, 8/4/09)
2009 Aug 4, In eastern India at
least 11 people were killed and 15 others seriously injured after being
struck by lightning in Burdwan district in West Bengal state.
(AP, 8/5/09)
2009 Aug 4, The Lithuanian
ministry said that the Lithuanian-flagged refrigerator vessel Saturnas,
with a crew of 14, was attacked by unidentified perpetrators off the
coast of Nigeria. Five crew members were said to have been taken
hostage. The attackers did not seize the vessel itself but left in a
high-speed boat with the hostages. The 5 Lithuanian sailors were
reported freed on Aug 14, ending their 11-day ordeal.
(AFP, 8/4/09)(AFP, 8/14/09)
2009 Aug 4, In Mexico 4 bodies
were found in the border city of Ciudad Juarez. In the nearby town of
Llano Blanco, police chief Gerardo Silva (40) was found dead in a
pickup truck, shot five times.
(AP, 8/5/09)
2009 Aug 4, NATO's governing body
approved a plan to reorganize the alliance's command structure in
Afghanistan by setting up a new headquarters to handle the day-to-day
running of the war.
(AP, 8/4/09)
2009 Aug 4, In Niger clashes
erupted as citizens voted in a constitutional referendum to extend
President Mamadou Tandja's long rule amid low turnout after an
opposition boycott in the uranium-rich African nation. On Aug 7 the
Electoral Commission released provisional results saying that 92.5% of
votes cast supported a new constitution that would allow President
Mamadou Tandja to stay in power. About 68.3% of all registered voters
participated.
(AP, 8/4/09)(AP, 8/7/09)
2009 Aug 4, In North Korea former
US Pres. Bill Clinton met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il on the
first day of a surprise visit to Pyongyang, with the "exhaustive" talks
covering a wide range of topics. Clinton was in communist North Korea
on a mission to secure the release of Americans , who were arrested
along the Chinese-North Korean border in March and sentenced in June to
12 years of hard labor for illegal entry and engaging in "hostile
acts." After 140 days in custody, the reporters were granted a pardon
by North Korea.
(AP, 8/4/09)(AP, 8/5/09)
2009 Aug 4, Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas launched his Fatah movement's first conference in two
decades with a call for his people to limit their resistance to Israel
to marches and protests and not to abandon peace talks despite years of
setbacks. The 3-day general assembly’s main task was to elect a new
central committee.
(AP, 8/4/09)(Econ, 8/8/09, p.42)
2009 Aug 4, Sudanese police fired
tear gas and beat women protesting outside a Sudanese court during the
trial of a female journalist accused of violating the Islamic dress
code by wearing trousers in public. The judge adjourned Lubna Hussein's
trial for a month to seek clarification from Sudan's foreign ministry.
(AP, 8/4/09)
2009 Aug 4, In Thailand a
passenger plane skidded off the runway and crashed into a building
after landing on the Thai resort island of Samui, killing the chief
pilot and injuring at least seven people including foreign tourists.
(AP, 8/4/09)
2009 Aug 5, Euna Lee (36) and
Laura Ling (32), American journalists freed by North Korea, returned
home to the United States along with former Pres. Clinton for a
jubilant, emotional reunion with family members and friends they hadn't
seen since their arrests on March 17.
(AP, 8/5/09)
2009 Aug 5, Federal jurors in
Alexandria, Va., convicted former Louisiana Rep. William Jefferson on
11 0f 16 counts that included bribery, racketeering and money
laundering. The next day jurors said Jefferson must forfeit $470,000 in
bribery receipts. On Nov 13 he was sentenced to 13 years in prison.
(SFC, 8/6/09, p.A6)(SFC, 8/7/09, p.A5)(SFC,
11/14/09, p.A7)
2009 Aug 5, Outraged southern
Afghan villagers said that a pre-dawn airstrike by foreign troops
killed three children and a man in the latest case of civilian deaths
at the hands of Western troops. A US military spokeswoman said a
helicopter had fired on four insurgents carrying jugs on motorcycles
through a field away from a populated area of the local district,
Arghandab. In eastern Nangarhar province a roadside bomb killed two
tribal elders and four armed guards. Across southern Afghanistan
roadside explosions and a US airstrike killed at least 15 people,
including members of a family who hit a mine on their way to a wedding
party.
(AP, 8/5/09)(AP, 8/6/09)
2009 Aug 5, Australian police
charged four men with planning to attack an army base and shoot
soldiers as the government considered whether to ban a Somalia militant
group linked to the plot.
(Reuters, 8/5/09)
2009 Aug 5, In Colombia David
Murcia Guzman, a Colombian businessman, was convicted in a notorious
pyramid scheme that authorities say bilked investors out of more than
$2.4 billion. Guzman was convicted of money laundering and illegal
wealth accumulation through the company he founded, DMG Group Holdings
SA. A New York court has sought his extradition. Murcia was extradited
to the US on Jan 5, 2009.
(AP, 8/5/09)(AP, 1/5/10)
2009 Aug 5, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
was sworn in for a second term as Iran's president while security
forces battled hundreds of protesters chanting "Death to the Dictator"
in the streets around parliament where the ceremony was held.
(AP, 8/5/09)
2009 Aug 5, Amos Kenan (b.1927),
Israeli artist and writer, died in Tel Aviv. As a member of Israel's
founding generation his writing and art helped define modern Israeli
culture. Kenan was party to several efforts to create an alliance with
the Palestinians. He helped pen a 1957 manifesto calling for the
creation of a Palestinian state in federation with Israel at a time
when few Israelis acknowledged the Palestinians' existence as a
national group.
(AP, 8/5/09)
2009 Aug 5, In Nairobi, Kenya, US
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton criticized Kenya for rampant
graft and corruption as she made the case that business and trade
across Africa cannot grow without good governance and solid democracy.
(AP, 8/5/09)
2009 Aug 5, In Mexico 5 bodies,
one of them headless, were found in a van in the border city of Ciudad
Juarez. US Sen. Patrick Leahy a Democrat from Vermont, delayed the
release of $100 million of a $1.4 billion, three-year package meant to
help Mexico combat drug traffickers. Leahy said Mexico needs effective
police forces and a justice system that works.
(AP, 8/5/09)
2009 Aug 5, In Pakistan the 2nd
wife of Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud was killed in a US drone attack
targeting her husband at a home in the tribal belt near the Afghan
border. Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud was also killed in the US
missile strike in South Waziristan. He had led a violent campaign of
suicide attacks and assassinations against the Pakistani government.
News of his death was not made public until 2 days later.
(AFP, 8/5/09)(AP, 8/7/09)
2009 Aug 5, In South Korea
helicopter-borne police commandos fought militant strikers at the
Ssangyong Motor Co.’s Pyeongtaek factory, seizing all but one key
building.
(SFC, 8/5/09, p.A2)
2009 Aug 5, Venezuela’s President
Hugo Chavez said his government will buy dozens of Russian tanks
because Venezuela feels threatened by a pending deal for the US
military to increase its presence in neighboring Colombia.
(AP, 8/6/09)
2009 Aug 5, Zimbabwe's veteran
Vice-President Joseph Msika (86) died. His death was expected to
reignite debate over who will eventually succeed President Robert
Mugabe.
(Reuters, 8/5/09)
2009 Aug 6, The US Senate
confirmed Justice Sonia Sotomajor to the Supreme Court on a largely
partisan vote of 68-31.
(SFC, 8/7/09, p.A1)
2009 Aug 6, The Securities and
Exchange Commission said that former American International Group Inc.
CEO Maurice "Hank" Greenberg agreed to pay a $15 million fine to settle
fraud charges.
(AP, 8/7/09)
2009 Aug 6, Writer-director John
Hughes (b.1950) died of a heart attack while visiting family in NYC.
His films in the 1980s and '90s included "The Breakfast Club," "Ferris
Bueller's Day Off" and "Home Alone." He also wrote or directed such
hits as "National Lampoon's Vacation," "Pretty in Pink," "Planes,
Trains & Automobiles" and "Uncle Buck."
(AP, 8/7/09)
2009 Aug 6, In western Afghanistan
four American service members were killed in a roadside bombing. 3
British paratroopers were killed after their armored vehicle was hit by
a roadside bomb and Taliban opened fire during a patrol with Afghan
forces north of Lashkar Gah in Helmand province. Roadside bombs killed
5 policemen in Kandahar's Arghandab district. An airstrike in Zabul
province killed 3 suspected militants who were planting a bomb on a
road.
(AP, 8/6/09)(AP, 8/7/09)
2009 Aug 6, In Belgium a fire
killed nine elderly people at a care home in the Flemish town of Melle.
Officials later said it was probably caused by an electrical fault.
(AFP, 8/7/09)
2009 Aug 6, Two well-dressed
thieves walked into a London Bond Street jewelry store and, after
brandishing handguns at shop workers, made off with $65 million worth
of gems in one of Britain's biggest jewelry heists. The arrest of one
suspect was announced on Aug 12. On Sep 7 a 9th suspect, David Joseph
(22), was detained. On June 25, 2010, Aman Kassaye (24) was convicted
for his role in the robbery. On Aug 6, 2010, Kassaye was sentenced to
23 years in jail. Three other men involved in the robbery, Solomun
Beyene, Clinton Mogg and Thomas Thomas, were sentenced to 16 years
each. Two others were cleared by the court.
(AP, 8/12/09)(SFC, 8/13/09, p.A2)(SFC, 9/8/09,
p.A2)(AFP, 6/25/10)(AP, 8/6/10)
2009 Aug 6, DR Congo President
Joseph Kabila met his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame in the lakeside
city of Goma for the first official bilateral talks between the
neighboring states in 13 years.
(AP, 8/6/09)
2009 Aug 6, Ethiopia’s Federal
High Court issued the guilty verdicts against 13 men, including a
US-based professor, convicted in absentia for plotting to overthrow the
government. Berhanu Nega, Ethiopian-born professor with US nationality
and teacher of economics at Philadelphia's Bucknell Univ., was accused
of masterminding a plan to topple PM Meles Zenawi.
(Reuters, 8/7/09)
2009 Aug 6, Iraq's cabinet
approved a bill to ban smoking in public places. A roadside bomb struck
a car full of Shiite pilgrims in southern Baghdad, killing one and
wounding four others. Gunmen broke into a goldsmith shop in the western
Baghdad district of Baiyaa, killing the owner and making off with an
unknown quantity of gold.
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8188265.stm)(AP, 8/6/09)(AP,
8/7/09)
2009 Aug 6, Japan's first jury
trial since World War II concluded with a mixed group of citizens and
professional judges convicting a man of murder and sentencing him to a
tougher-than-expected 15 years in prison.
(AP, 8/6/09)
2009 Aug 6, In Mexico 11 people,
including two police officers and nine gunmen, died following a running
battle between police and gunmen in the central city of Pachuca.
(AP, 8/7/09)
2009 Aug 6, Nigeria began a 60-day
amnesty for militants fighting in the country's oil-rich Delta region,
a government official said, but the main militant group said it would
not participate. A cache of weapons and ammunitions was uncovered at an
arms depot owned by Niger Delta militant leader Mujahid Dokubo-Asari in
Port Harcourt.
(AP, 8/6/09)(AFP, 8/7/09)
2009 Aug 6, Nigeria's northern
Kano state withdrew a landmark criminal and civil suit against US drug
group Pfizer over a 1996 drug trial that left 11 children dead and 189
others deformed. The withdrawal of the suit followed a 75-million
dollar (52 million euros) out-of-court settlement between the two
parties.
(AFP, 8/6/09)
2009 Aug 6, In northern Pakistan a
bus veered off a narrow mountain road and plunged into a river, leaving
about 34 people, including 26 soldiers, missing and presumed dead.
Sardar Rustam Jamali, the excise and taxation minister in the western
province of Baluchistan, was killed when robbers tried to steal his car
in an eastern neighborhood of the city.
(AP, 8/6/09)
2009 Aug 6, In Paraguay Social
Development Minister Pablino Caceres said he would meet with a 6
protesters who have hammered long nails through their hands and tied
themselves to crosses or laid in coffins in an appeal for land.
(AP, 8/6/09)
2009 Aug 6, In the northern
Philippines heavy monsoon rains inundated wide areas, triggering flash
floods and landslides that killed 21 people, including two French
citizens and a Belgian who were touring Mount Pinatubo. Typhoon Morakot
left seven others missing in landslides and floodwaters.
(AP, 8/7/09)(AP, 8/9/09)
2009 Aug 6, Russia’s PM Putin and
his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, signed an agreements in
Ankara that included the construction of part of the South Stream gas
pipeline through the Black Sea.
(AP, 8/6/09)(Econ, 8/15/09, p.47)
2009 Aug 6, US Secretary of State
Hillary Rodham Clinton, speaking in Kenya, pledged to "expand and
extend" American support for Somalia's weak interim government as it
struggles against Islamist extremists believed linked to al-Qaida.
(AP, 8/6/09)
2009 Aug 6, Juan Manuel Inciarte
Gallardo (55), a suspected member of the armed Basque group ETA, was
deported from Mexico and arrested in Spain, where he is wanted for
allegedly killing five Spanish police officers and a pregnant wife of
one of the officers. Inciarte allegedly took part in the slaying of the
five police officers and the pregnant wife of one officer between 1983
and 1985. He was wanted on terrorism charges.
(AP, 8/6/09)
2009 Aug 6, In South Korea
unionists who occupied a car plant in protest at mass layoffs agreed to
end a 77-day sit-in which halted production and sparked violent clashes
with police.
(AFP, 8/6/09)
2009 Aug 6, Rescue workers
searched for missing people after the Princess Ashika ferry, carrying
149 passengers and crew, sank overnight off the coast of Tonga. 93
people were missing and feared dead.
(SFC, 8/6/09, p.A2)(AP, 8/9/09)
2009 Aug 6, In northern Yemen
local officials and the rebels said Shiite Muslim rebels have seized a
key control post on a strategic highway linking the capital San'a with
Saudi Arabia, overcoming an army brigade after 12 hours of intense
combat.
(AP, 8/6/09)
2009 Aug 7, Pres. Obama signed
into law a measure tripling the budget of the $1 billion incentive
“cash for clunkers” program.
(SFC, 8/8/09, p.A5)
2009 Aug 7, The US Environmental
Protection Agency said the US Department of Agriculture has
agreed to pay $30,000 in penalties for alleged improper maintenance of
underground storage tanks in Puerto Rico.
(AP, 8/8/09)
2009 Aug 7, In eastern Afghanistan
an American service member was killed in an attack on a convoy. A blast
in Kandahar's Zhari district killed an Afghan guard escorting a NATO
supply convoy.
(AP, 8/7/09)
2009 Aug 7, Britain’s Ministry of
Justice said Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs (79) has been officially
released from his prison sentence. Biggs earned notoriety for his role
in the 1963 Great Train Robbery, for which he was sentenced to 30 years
in prison. Escaping, he spent 35 years as a celebrity fugitive, living
a party lifestyle in Brazil before returning home.
(AFP, 8/7/09)
2009 Aug 7, James Robinson (71), a
former California priest, arrived at London's Heathrow Airport after
being extradited from the United States. He was charged with sexually
abusing young boys when he served in the United Kingdom between 1959
and 1983.
(AP, 8/8/09)
2009 Aug 7, In China Li Peiying
(60), the former head of Beijing airport's management company, was
executed following his conviction on corruption charges. He was found
guilty in February of accepting almost $4 million in bribes and
embezzling about $12 million in public money since 1995.
(AP, 8/7/09)
2009 Aug 7, Guatemala's top three
police officials were fired after hundreds of pounds of cocaine
allegedly disappeared from a shipment seized by authorities. Interior
Minister Raul Velazquez said police made the 1-ton seizure on Aug 6,
but when federal prosecutors weighed the drugs, 258 pounds (117
kilograms) were missing.
(AP, 8/7/09)
2009 Aug 7, Indonesia's
anti-terrorism unit engaged in a shootout in Central Java during a raid
targeting suspected militants behind deadly bomb attacks in Jakarta
last month.
(Reuters, 8/7/09)
2009 Aug 7, In Iraq a suicide car
bomb devastated a Shiite mosque in northern Iraq, one of a series of
attacks that killed at least 37 Shiite pilgrims and worshippers. The
deadliest blast occurred in Rasheediyah, north of Mosul, when a suicide
car bomb struck a mosque, killing at least 30 people and trapping
dozens more underneath the rubble. In Baghdad 3 roadside bombs
targeting Shiite pilgrims killed 7 people returning from Karbala.
(AP, 8/7/09)
2009 Aug 7, In Mexico Zambrano
Flores, a top lieutenant of the Tijuana-based Arellano Felix cartel,
was arrested in Tijuana. Police seized 10 rifles, 7 pistols, almost
4,000 rounds of ammunition during his arrest.
(AP, 8/8/09)
2009 Aug 7, Nepal's Maoists
launched a fresh round of protests, paralyzing parliament and accusing
the new government of failing to address their demands.
(AFP, 8/7/09)
2009 Aug 7, Nigeria's President
Umaru Yar'Adua formally received the first set of 32 Niger Delta
militants who have surrendered their arms under an amnesty he offered
them in June and commended them for their "patriotism."
(AP, 8/8/09)
2009 Aug 7, In Pakistan a deadly
shooting reportedly took place at a meeting of top Taliban commanders
Hakimullah Mehsud (28), a deputy to Baitullah Mehsud and the warlord's
main spokesman, and Wali-ur Rehman, a senior commander in Mehsud's
umbrella Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) movement. They had convened
to discuss the choice of a successor to Baitullah Mehsud. Both
commanders later phoned international media organizations to prove they
were alive.
(AFP, 8/9/09)(AP, 8/12/09)(Econ, 10/17/09, p.34)
2009 Aug 7, A Peruvian government
prosecutor presented homicide charges against two police generals and
15 other officers for a June government crackdown at an Amazon highway
blockade manned by Indians protesting development on their ancestral
lands. The criminal charges, which must be ratified by a judge, were
the first to implicate police in violence that left at least 33 dead,
including 23 police.
(AP, 8/12/09)
2009 Aug 7, Portugal said it has
agreed to take two Syrian detainees from Guantanamo prison.
(AP, 8/7/09)
2009 Aug 7, Sri Lankan authorities
questioned Selvarasa Pathmanathan, former chief arms smuggler the new
leader of the Tamil Tiger rebels, after he was arrested 2 days earlier
in Southeast Asia and flown to Sri Lanka. Rebels said he was arrested
in Kuala Lumpur.
(AP, 8/7/09)
2009 Aug 7, International donor
the Global Fund, which had a financial dispute with Zimbabwe's previous
government, took the unusual step of giving $37.9 million in aid
directly to Zimbabwe's new unity government instead of channeling it
through private groups.
(AP, 8/7/09)
2009 Aug 8, Sonia Sotomayor was
sworn-in as the first Hispanic on the US Supreme Court.
(AP, 8/8/09)
2009 Aug 8, In Dinuba, Ca., a car
fleeing from police ran a stop sign and slammed into a pickup, killing
three people in the car and four young children in the truck.
(AP, 8/9/09)
2009 Aug 8, In Chino, Ca., a 2-day
prison riot began. It housed almost twice as many prisoners as it was
designed for and was typical of California’s 33 state prisons. At this
time California spent about $49,000 a year on each prisoner, almost
twice the national average.
(Econ, 8/15/09, p.28)
2009 Aug 8, Continental Express
Flight 2816, en route with 47 passengers to Minneapolis from Houston,
was stranded overnight at Rochester, Minn., after being forced to land
due to storms. On Nov 24 the Dept. of Transportation levied $175,000 in
fines against Continental, ExpressJet and Mesaba Airlines for keeping
the plane on the tarmac.
(SFC, 11/25/09, p.A6)
2009 Aug 8, Near Hoboken, New
Jersey, 9 people died in an air collision over the Hudson River,
including 3 members of a Pennsylvania family in the private plane and
five Italian tourists and a pilot from New Jersey in a Liberty Tours
helicopter.
(AP, 8/9/09)(SSFC, 8/9/09, p.A9)
2009 Aug 8, NATO helicopters
wounded five Afghan police by mistake during a battle with insurgents
in Ghazni province. A British soldier, serving with NATO's
International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), was killed by an
improvised explosive device (IED). A US soldier was killed in the south
in a hostile fire incident.
(Reuters, 8/8/09)(AFP, 8/9/09)(AP, 8/11/09)
2009 Aug 8, In China hundreds of
villagers rioted after news broke about the lead poisoning at the
Wugang Manganese Smelting Plant in Wenping township, central Hunan
province. A crowd of 600 to 700 people overturned four police cars and
smashed a local government sign. China later detained two factory
officials after 1,354 children were reported poisoned by lead pollution
from the manganese processing plant.
(AP, 8/20/09)
2009 Aug 8, India’s army said its
troops killed three Islamic militants along the de facto Kashmir
border, thwarting the seventh attempt by rebels to infiltrate from
Pakistan in a week.
(AFP, 8/8/09)
2009 Aug 8, In northern India
landslides triggered by heavy rains killed at least 43 people in three
remote villages in Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand state.
(AP, 8/9/09)
2009 Aug 8, Indonesian police
reportedly killed Noordin Mohammad Top, the self-proclaimed Southeast
Asian commander of al-Qaida, in a 16-hour siege of a village hide-out
in Central Java. Authorities said they could not confirm that a
recovered body was that of the militant leader without DNA tests. DNA
tests failed to confirm Top’s death. Police raided a house on the
outskirts of Jakarta where they killed two suspected militants and
seized bombs and a car rigged to carry them. The house was just 3 miles
(5 kilometers) from the president's residence.
(AP, 8/8/09)(AP, 8/9/09)(AP, 8/12/09)
2009 Aug 8, In northern Italy
rules for officially condoned vigilante groups took effect.
(Econ, 8/15/09, p.46)
2009 Aug 8, In Mauritania a
suicide bomber killed himself outside the French Embassy, wounding two
embassy guards and a woman in the street. An African branch of Al-Qaida
later said the attack was a response to the aggression of "crusaders"
including former colonial ruler France, and to Mauritanian leaders
against Islam and Muslims.
(AP, 8/8/09)(AP, 8/18/09)
2009 Aug 8, In Mexico assailants
in the state of Guerrero opened fire on a car carrying a couple and
their 3-year-old son, killing all three. In Chihuahua gunmen killed
four people in an attack in a bar.
(AP, 8/10/09)
2009 Aug 8, In Moldova the four
pro-Western parties that upset the Communists in recent elections
agreed on a coalition deal to form a new government.
(AP, 8/8/09)
2009 Aug 8, Myanmar government
troops seized a weapons factory near the Chinese border after being
informed about it during a ministerial meeting with China on combating
transnational crime. This triggered several days of clashes with an
ethnic militia that sent more than 30,000 refugees fleeing across the
border into China.
(AP, 9/9/09)
2009 Aug 8, In Pakistan a gunfight
between militants and supporters of a pro-government tribal elder
killed 6 militants and 2 tribesmen in the Mohmand tribal region near
the Afghan border.
(AFP, 8/9/09)
2009 Aug 8, Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas was named head of his Fatah movements at his party's
first conference in two decades, strengthening the hand of the
Western-backed leader in his bid to revive peace talks with Israel.
(AP, 8/8/09)
2009 Aug 8, Russian President
Dmitry Medvedev hailed the Russian victory in a war with Georgia a year
ago, saying the war had redrawn the map of the Caucasus for good.
(Reuters, 8/8/09)
2009 Aug 8, In Somalia’s pirate
stronghold of Harardhere, fighting over the last 24 hours killed at
least 12 people. A dispute over a car escalated as clan militias got
involved. Mortar shells slammed into a busy market in the capital,
Mogadishu, killing six people and wounding 18.
(AP, 8/8/09)
2009 Aug 8, In South Africa US
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and South African President Jacob
Zuma pledged to cement closer ties between their new administrations.
(AFP, 8/8/09)
2009 Aug 8, Sri Lanka held local
elections near an area once dominated by the Tamil Tiger rebels, but
voters largely stayed away from the polls in the violence-scarred
region. Voter turnout was 22% in Jaffna and 52% in Vavuniya, according
to election monitors. The pro-Tiger Tamil National Alliance (TNA)
scored unexpected success with 8 of 23 seats in Jaffna and 5 of 11
seats in Vavuniya.
(AP, 8/8/09)(Econ, 8/15/09, p.35)
2009 Aug 8, Typhoon Morakot lashed
Taiwan with powerful winds and downpours leaving at least one person
killed and five missing.
(AFP, 8/8/09)
2009 Aug 8, Venezuela’s President
Hugo Chavez said he's returning his ambassador to Colombia, moving to
resolve rising diplomatic tensions after weapons sold to Venezuela were
found in a rebel cache.
(AP, 8/8/09)
2009 Aug 9, In San Francisco Bruce
Sherman (66), accordionist and singer of sea chanteys, committed
suicide.
(SSFC, 9/6/09, p.A2)
2009 Aug 9, In Afghanistan a
suicide attacker in a bomb-filled vehicle blew up close to a US-led
coalition military convoy in Nangarhar province, but did no harm to the
troops. 3 Afghan army soldiers were killed after their vehicle was
struck by a roadside bomb in Shahjoy district, Zabul province. A US
soldier was killed in the south in a hostile fire incident.
(AFP, 8/9/09)(AP, 8/11/09)
2009 Aug 9, US Secretary of State
Hillary Rodham Clinton arrived in oil-rich Angola to underscore
America's presence in one of sub-Saharan Africa's largest energy
producers where America is competing with China for resources.
(AP, 8/9/09)
2009 Aug 9, Typhoon Morakot
slammed into China's eastern coast, forcing the evacuation of nearly a
million people after earlier lashing Taiwan with torrential rains that
caused the island's worst flooding in 50 years and left dozens missing
and feared dead.
(AP, 8/9/09)
2009 Aug 9, The French advertising
group Publicis said it would buy the digital advertising agency
Razorfish from Microsoft for 530 million dollars (380 million euros).
(AFP, 8/9/09)
2009 Aug 9, Iran's police chief
acknowledged that detained protesters were abused in prison and the
country's top prosecutor said those responsible for the mistreatment
should be punished, in unusually pointed criticism of security
officials. Revolutionary Guard Commander Yadollah Javani called for
opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and former President Mohammad
Khatami to be put on trial.
(AP, 8/9/09)
2009 Aug 9, Iraqi authorities
arrested Daniel Fitzsimmons, a British contractor, on murder charges
over the shooting deaths of a British and an Australian contractor in
Baghdad's protected Green Zone. Two employees of ArmorGroup Iraq,
identified as Paul McGuigan of Britain and Darren Hoare of Australia,
were killed in the firearms incident.
(AP, 8/9/09)(AP, 8/10/09)
2009 Aug 9, Italians newspapers
reported that burglars earlier in the week had made off with jewels and
cash worth 11 million euros (15.6 million dollars) from the hotel room
of a Saudi princess in Sardinia, sparking a diplomatic incident. On Sep
15 Sardinia police said most of the jewels had been recovered.
(AFP, 8/9/09)(AP, 9/15/09)
2009 Aug 9, Madagascar's bitter
political rivals signed a power-sharing deal, agreeing to create an
interim government to end months of violence.
(AP, 8/9/09)
2009 Aug 9, In Mexico some 400
people marched in Guadalajara to protest the negative affects of free
trade and to demand benefits for retired Mexican laborers who worked in
the US as Pres. Barack Obama, Mexican President Felipe Calderon and
Canadian PM Stephen Harper arrived for a two-day summit.
(AP, 8/9/09)
2009 Aug 9, Mexican lawyer Silvia
Raquenel Villanueva, known for defending high-profile drug trafficking
suspects, was shot to death at a street market in the northern city of
Monterrey. Army soldiers killed two suspects in a shootout with gunmen
in the western state of Michoacan. Federal police arrested Dimas Diaz,
a drug cartel suspect they believe was behind a plot to kill President
Felipe Calderon in retaliation for his crackdown on organized crime.
Dia was the alleged financial operator of the Pacific cartel.
(AP, 8/10/09)
2009 Aug 9, In Pakistan two
civilians and a policeman were killed when militants ambushed a police
convoy in the northwestern town of Bannu. Two Pakistani soldiers were
killed and four were wounded near Naurak village in the troubled North
Waziristan tribal district when a remote-control bomb targeting a
military convoy exploded. At least eight dead bodies of suspected
Taliban militants were found in different areas of the northwestern
Swat valley.
(AFP, 8/9/09)
2009 Aug 9, Gaza militants
launched mortar shells at a border crossing between Gaza and Israel
just as Palestinian patients were being transferred into Israel for
medical treatment.
(AP, 8/10/09)
2009 Aug 9, On the Spanish island
of Mallorca a small bomb exploded in a restaurant, causing minor damage
and no injuries. A caller, who said he was calling on ETA's behalf,
warned of the bomb.
(AP, 8/9/09)
2009 Aug 9, In southern Taiwan
Typhoon Morakot spawned a mudslide engulfing the mountain village of
Shiao Lin, burying up to 600 people. The official death toll from
Morakot stood at 14. Another 51, not including the people in Shiao Lin.
(AP, 8/10/09)
2009 Aug 10, In Oakland, Ca.,
Hassani Campbell (5) was reported missing by his foster parents Louis
Ross (38) and Jennifer Campbell (33). The couple were arrested on Aug
28 on suspicion of killing the boy, who suffered from cerebral palsy.
(SFC, 8/29/09, p.A1)
2009 Aug 10, At least three Afghan
police and two civilians were killed in a brazen attack by Taliban
gunmen and suicide bombers on government buildings near Kabul. A US
soldier was killed in the south in a hostile fire incident. 22 Taliban
insurgents and two Afghan soldiers also died in violence.
(Reuters, 8/10/09)(AP, 8/11/09)
2009 Aug 10, Australia said it has
pledged 7.8 million US dollars this year to help save more than 100
indigenous languages which are in grave danger of dying out.
(AFP, 8/10/09)
2009 Aug 10, Canada’s Nortel
Networks said its chief executive would step down immediately and its
board would shrink from nine directors to just three as the bankrupt
telecom equipment maker sheds its major assets.
(Reuters, 8/10/09)
2009 Aug 10, China said that it
has released more than 1,200 detainees held over the unrest in Tibet
last year while more than 700 people are still being held over last
month's riots in Xinjiang. China's police said they have installed 2.75
million surveillance cameras since 2003 and are expanding the system
into the largely neglected countryside.
(AFP, 8/10/09)
2009 Aug 10, US Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton arrived in the strife-torn Democratic Republic of Congo
on the fourth leg of her seven-nation African tour. Clinton said she
would press Democratic Republic of Congo's government to address the
root causes of the conflict in the east and stop the use of women as
"weapons of war."
(Reuters, 8/10/09)
2009 Aug 10, In Cuba 14 people
were killed and at least 33 hospitalized after two trucks loaded with
passengers collided in the central Cuban province of Ciego de Avila.
(AP, 8/10/09)
2009 Aug 10, Leaders of the Union
of South American Nations (UNASUL), a 12-member group inspired by
Brazil, met in Quito, Ecuador, in an attempt to further integration.
Colombia’s Pres. Uribe did not attend, in part because Ecuador broke of
ties with Colombia last year.
(Econ, 8/15/09, p.31)
2009 Aug 10, In Iraq a double
truck bombing tore through the village of a small Shiite ethnic
minority near the northern city of Mosul killing at least 35 people in
Khazna. 9 blasts wracked Baghdad in a wave of violence that killed 22
people. All told more than 250 were left wounded.
(AP, 8/10/09)(SFC, 8/11/09, p.A4)
2009 Aug 10, Israeli warplanes
bombed a smuggling tunnel along the Gaza-Egypt border in response to
Palestinian rocket and mortar fire, in a brief flare-up of violence at
a time of relative quiet in the volatile Palestinian territory.
(AP, 8/10/09)
2009 Aug 10, Typhoon Etau slammed
into the west coast of Japan. 13 people were killed in raging
floodwaters and landslides, and 10 others were missing.
(AP, 8/10/09)
2009 Aug 10, In Mexico Pres. Obama
huddled with the leaders of Mexico and Canada for a swift North
American summit, where the swine flu epidemic and knotty disputes over
cross-border trade dominated a lengthy agenda.
(AP, 8/10/09)
2009 Aug 10, Mexican soldiers
arrested Juan Daniel Carranco Salazar, the alleged leader of the Gulf
cartel's operations in the Caribbean resort of Cancun. State
prosecutors in Baja California announced their arrest of state
detective Sergio Alvarado Chong in the border city of Mexicali with 8
kilograms (17.64 pounds) of cocaine.
(AP, 8/11/09)
2009 Aug 10, New Zealand announced
that it will cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 10 to 20 percent below
1990 levels by 2020.
(AP, 8/10/09)
2009 Aug 10, In Pakistan attack
helicopters and artillery pounded militant hideouts following clashes
between rebels and security forces in North Waziristan. 3 militants
were reported killed.
(AFP, 8/10/09)
2009 Aug 10, In central Slovakia
19 workers were trapped underground after a fire and explosion hit the
Handlova coal mine. The trapped workers were nine miners who were
initially sent to battle a blaze and 11 sent as reinforcements as the
fire grew. All were believed killed.
(AP, 8/10/09)(AP, 8/11/09)
2009 Aug 11, Bernard Madoff's
long-time deputy, Frank DiPascali, pleaded guilty to financial crimes
including helping others carry out Wall Street's biggest investment
fraud, but shed little more light in court on the decades-long swindle.
(Reuters, 8/11/09)
2009 Aug 11, General Motors Corp.
said its Chevrolet Volt rechargeable electric car should get 230 miles
per gallon of gasoline in city driving, more than four times the
mileage of the current champion, the Toyota Prius.
(AP, 8/11/09)
2009 Aug 11, The US Homeland
Security department was scheduled to return $2.4 million to Mexico's
tax administration, the first batch of money seized during a binational
investigation into smuggled oil that authorities expect to lead to more
arrests and seizures. So far this year, oil theft was up 10 percent,
and confirmed in 19 states, up from 13 in 2008.
(AP, 8/11/09)
2009 Aug 11, Eunice Kennedy
Shriver (88), the sister of President John F. Kennedy, died at a
Hyannis hospital. She carried on the family's public service tradition
by founding the Special Olympics and championing the rights of the
mentally disabled. Shriver organized the first Special Olympics in 1968
in Chicago.
(AP, 8/11/09)
2009 Aug 11, In Richmond, Ca.,
distraught boyfriend Nathaniel Burris (46) shot and killed toll
collector Deborah Ross (51) in her booth at the Richmond-San Rafael
Bridge. He also shot and killed Golden Gate Transit bus driver Ersie
Charles Everette III (58) in the parking lot and then escaped. Burris
was arrested later in the day in Placer County.
(SFC, 8/12/09, p.A1)(SFC, 8/13/09, p.A12)
2009 Aug 11, An Afghan official
said authorities have hired some 10,000 Afghan tribesmen to protect
this month's presidential election, raising the possibility that
village militias could be enlisted to fight against the Taliban. In
southern Afghanistan roadside bombs killed nine civilians. The body of
a Polish soldier, who had disappeared while under fire a day earlier,
was found in Ghazni province.
(AP, 8/11/09)
2009 Aug 11, In Brazil authorities
charged Bishop Edir Macedo and nine other people linked to the
Universal Church of the Kingdom of God with siphoning off billions of
dollars in donations from his mostly poor followers to buy jewelry, TV
stations and other businesses for himself. Macedo, who founded the
church in 1977, owns a large television network, three newspapers and
several radio stations. He also owns a tourism agency and an air taxi
company.
(AP, 8/11/09)
2009 Aug 11, In Brazil police were
reported to be investigating the "Canal Livre" crime TV show saying the
show's host, state legislator Wallace Souza, was suspected of
commissioning at least five murders to boost his ratings and prove his
claim that Brazil's Amazon region is awash in violent crime. Police
also have accused Souza of drug trafficking.
(AP, 8/11/09)
2009 Aug 11, Canada signed a free
trade deal with Panama and said it wanted to conclude more such
agreements, given that talks to open up the global trading system were
going nowhere.
(Reuters, 8/11/09)
2009 Aug 11, In Chechnya Zarema
Sadulayeva, the head of the Save the Generation Chechen aid
group, and her husband, Alik Dzhabrailov, were found shot dead in the
trunk of their car a day after being kidnapped.
(AP, 8/11/09)
2009 Aug 11, China formally
arrested four employees of Anglo-American mining giant Rio Tinto Ltd.
for infringing trade secrets and bribery, but stopped short of laying
politically explosive espionage charges in a case that has strained
ties with key trading partner Australia.
(AP, 8/12/09)
2009 Aug 11, Authorities in the
Democratic Republic of Congo arrested Gregoire Ndahimana, a former
Rwandan mayor, for his alleged role in the 1994 genocide. Measures were
taken for him to be transferred to the International Criminal Tribunal
for Rwanda (ICTR) headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.
(AFP, 8/12/09)
2009 Aug 11, In Congo US Secretary
of State Hillary Clinton called for the Democratic Republic of Congo to
punish soldiers responsible for rape as she toured the war-torn east.
She also unveiled a $17 million plan to help fight the sexual violence
in eastern Congo.
(AFP, 8/11/09)(SFC, 8/12/09, p.A3)
2009 Aug 11, In France restive
youths in a Paris suburb torched a tourist bus and nearly a half-dozen
cars and hurled objects at police, in a night of fullblown unrest
prompted by the death of a teen fleeing police on Aug 9. Some witnesses
claimed a police car hit the young motorcyclist after he tried to flee
a document check outside the project.
(AP, 8/11/09)
2009 Aug 11, In Honduras some
10,000 protesters arrived in Tegucigalpa after staging weeklong walks
across Honduras, producing one of the largest demonstrations in support
of Zelaya since he was ousted by the army June 28 and flown out of the
country.
(AP, 8/12/09)
2009 Aug 11, In Indonesia UNAIDS
regional director Prasada Rao cited a new report saying more than 1.5
million women living with HIV in Asia were infected by their partners
and 50 million more are at risk of infection. Rao spoke on the
sidelines of the ninth International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the
Pacific (ICAAP), which is being held on the Indonesian resort island of
Bali.
(AFP, 8/11/09)
2009 Aug 11, Iran's opposition
said at least 69 people have died in two months of postelection unrest
based on accounts from the victims' families, more than double the
official toll released by parliament. Mir Hossein Mousavi, the top
opposition leader, said that the abuse and death of protesters detained
after the disputed presidential elections shows the need for "deep
change" in the country, in the most sweeping call for reform of the
system to date.
(AP, 8/11/09)(AP, 8/12/09)
2009 Aug 11, In southeastern Kenya
assailants armed with arrows, spears and machetes killed Campbell
Bridges (72), a Scottish-born geologist, in an apparent dispute over
mining rights. In 1968 Bridges became the first to record the discovery
of gemstone-quality tsavorite, in Tanzania. Tsavorite, mined in
Tanzania and Kenya, is a green variety of garnet that shines even
before polishing. On Aug 19 Kenyan police arrested Alfred Makogo
Njiruka, the chairman of a small miners association and the
suspected mastermind in the killing of Bridges.
(AP, 8/13/09)(AP, 8/20/09)
2009 Aug 11, Kuwaiti authorities
announced they have arrested an al-Qaida-linked group that was planning
to attack Camp Arifjan, a key US military base in Kuwait. 5 of the
suspects are cousins who were convicted for involvement in the 2002
attack on a group of US Marines training on the Kuwaiti island of
Failaka, where one Marine was killed and another wounded.
(AP, 8/11/09)(AP, 8/13/09)
2009 Aug 11, Liechtenstein raised
the gate on its tax-haven fortress, making a deal enabling London to
snare about 5,000 British accounts holders with up to 3.0 billion
pounds in secret deposits.
(AFP, 8/11/09)
2009 Aug 11, In northern Mexico
Monterrey city police were told not to sit in parked patrol cars
observing traffic, because officials suspect they could be spying for
criminal gangs or drug cartels. Gunmen attacked a vehicle carrying a
prison director in Chihuahua, killing three bodyguards and wounding two
more seriously.
(AP, 8/12/09)
2009 Aug 11, A Myanmar court
convicted Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi of violating her house
arrest by allowing John Yettaw, an uninvited American, to stay at her
home. The head of the military-ruled country ordered the democracy
leader to serve an 18-month sentence under house arrest. Yettaw was
also convicted, and had just spent a week in a prison hospital for
epileptic seizures.
(AP, 8/11/09)(AP, 8/15/09)
2009 Aug 11, In Pakistan police
officials in Islamabad confirmed that they had registered a criminal
case against former Pres. Pervez Musharraf for detaining 60 Supreme
Court judges and their families following emergency rule in 2007.
(SFC, 8/12/09, p.A3)
2009 Aug 11, In Pakistan at least
10 militants were killed in a suspected US drone strike in South
Waziristan region, the same area where Pakistani Taliban leader
Baitullah Mehsud is said to have been killed last week.
(Reuters, 8/11/09)
2009 Aug 11, The Palestinian Fatah
movement ended a 4-day conference. Pres. Abbas was unanimously
re-elected as party head and a group of younger leaders were elected to
its top council, bolstering its credentials as the West's best hope for
Mideast peace. Also elected were Marwan Barghouti (50), a firebrand
militant leader now jailed by Israel and seen as a likely future
president, and Jibril Rajoub (56), a former aide to the late Yasser
Arafat who led several crackdowns against Hamas.
(AP, 8/11/09)(Econ, 8/15/09, p.41)
2009 Aug 11, In Papua New Guinea a
charter plane carrying 13 people to a popular tourist site vanished on
approach in bad weather to an airport nestled in rugged terrain. No
survivors were found in the wreckage, which was located the next day in
the mountainous Kokoda region.
(AP, 8/11/09)(AP, 8/12/09)
2009 Aug 11, In Somalia 4 European
aid workers and two Kenyan pilots were released after being held
hostage for nine months.
(AP, 8/11/09)
2009 Aug 11, In South Africa a
report to the Parliament said first year students at 4 universities
were found to be unable to read or write properly. The country’s
education system was described as dysfunctional.
(SSFC, 8/16/09, p.A4)
2009 Aug 11, Taiwanese authorities
put the confirmed death toll from Morakot at 62 and listed 57 people as
missing, but that did not include residents in the village of Shiao Lin.
(AP, 8/11/09)
2009 Aug 11, A Thai court rejected
a US request to extradite Viktor Bout, an alleged Russian arms smuggler
dubbed the "Merchant of Death," dealing a setback to American efforts
to try him on charges of plotting to supply weapons to Colombian
rebels. The court rejected the extradition request because Bout had not
been accused of committing any crimes against Thailand, which has not
listed FARC as a terrorist group.
(AP, 8/11/09)
2009 Aug 11, Yemen’s government
launched "Operation Scorched Earth," an all-out offensive to stamp out
an uprising in the northern Saada province, after rebels claimed they
had wrested more control of the region from Sunni-led government troops.
(AP, 8/13/09)(AFP, 2/8/10)
2009 Aug 11, Two Yemenis jailed in
the United States over terrorism charges received a tumultuous public
welcome on their return home after serving more than six years in
prison. Sheik Mohammed Ali Hasan Al-Moayad (60) and his assistant
Mohammed Zayed were arrested in 2003 and convicted of supporting
terrorist groups such as Al-Qaida. Al-Moayad was sentenced to 75 years
in prison and Mohammed Zayed received 45 years, but on August 7 they
pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of supporting the Palestinian
militant group Hamas and given six years time served.
(AP, 8/11/09)
2009 Aug 12, Pres. Obama awarded
the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor,
to 16 “agents of change.”
(SFC, 8/13/09, p.A5)
2009 Aug 12, In Atlanta, Georgia,
Ehsanul Islam (23) was convicted of aiding terrorist groups by sending
videotapes of US landmarks overseas and plotting to support “violent
jihad.” He faced a maximum of 60 years in prison.
(SFC, 8/13/09, p.A4)
2009 Aug 12, In Montana a grizzly
bear named Maximus, one of the largest in the state, was found shot to
death on a ranch near Dupuyer. He had stood 7½ feet tall and
weighed 800 lbs.
(SSFC, 8/23/09, p.A7)
2009 Aug 12, In southern
Afghanistan helicopter-borne US Marines backed by Harrier jets stormed
a Taliban-held town before dawn, launching a new operation (Eastern
Resolve 2) to uproot Taliban fighters from a longtime base and provide
security for next week's presidential election. Marines said they
killed between seven and 10 militants in Dahaneh and seized about 66
pounds (30 kilograms) of opium, which the militants use to finance
their insurgency. A blast on a road in the Gereshk district of Helmand
province ripped through a vehicle carrying a family, killing 11 people,
including two women and nine men. In Kandahar province three children
were killed after they started playing with a bomb which they had found
on the side of the road west of the provincial capital.
(AP, 8/12/09)(AP, 8/13/09)
2009 Aug 12, Australian forces
shot 2 Afghan policemen on a motorcycle at the Dorafshan checkpoint
near Tarin Kowt. One of the Afghans was shot 16 times and died. The
other was wounded. The Australian military later said the soldiers did
not know the men were police and were acting in self-defense.
(AFP,
10/13/09)(www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/08/12/2653950.htm)
2009 Aug 12, In Argentina Retired
Gen. Santiago Riveros and four other members of the military were
convicted and sentenced to long prison terms in the 1976 killing of
Floreal Avellaneda (14), the son of a communist activist.
(www.cidh.oas.org/annualrep/87.88eng/chap5.htm)(AP,
8/12/09)
2009 Aug 12, Argentina’s customs
service confiscated a total of 4.2 metric tons (4.6 tons) of
pseudoephedrine, chemical that can be used to make methamphetamine, at
several government warehouses at the port in Buenos Aires during an
investigation into drug traffickers with ties to Mexico.
(AP, 8/13/09)
2009 Aug 12, In La Paz, Bolivia,
exploding envelopes wounded 7 people, 3 of them severely.
(AP, 8/13/09)
2009 Aug 12, In Chile Mapuche
activist Fabian Facundo Mendoza Collio (24) was shot and killed by
police during a confrontation with Mapuche Indians outside Collipulli.
Hours after the Collio was killed, an agricultural warehouse in the
area was set on fire, destroying about $1 million worth of equipment.
(AP, 8/13/09)
2009 Aug 12, China’s state media
reported that authorities in northern China have shut down the Dongling
Lead and Zinc Smelting Co. in Shaanxi province after it was found to
have caused lead poisoning that sickened more than 300 children. Media
later reported that 851 children in Changqing township had tested
positive for lead poisoning.
(AP, 8/12/09)(AP, 8/14/09)(AFP, 8/19/09)
2009 Aug 12, The WTO upheld
American complaints that China breaks trade commitments by the way it
regulates the import and distribution of foreign publications, films
and music. The initial complaint was filed in 2007 and was later joined
by the EU, Japan, Australia and others.
(Econ, 8/15/09, p.36)
2009 Aug 12, A French teenager
(16) shot and killed his parents and twin brothers, apparently while
they were asleep in their home on the island of Corsica.
(AFP, 8/13/09)
2009 Aug 12, In France a
35-year-old convert to Islam, identified only as Carole, complained of
religious discrimination after trying to go swimming in a "burquini," a
full-body swimsuit, in the town of Emerainville, southeast of Paris.
Officials insisted they banned the woman's use of the Islam-friendly
suit at a local pool because of France's pool hygiene standards.
(AP, 8/13/09)
2009 Aug 12, In Honduras
supporters of ousted President Manuel Zelaya clashed with police in
Tegucigalpa and some of them attacked the second-ranking member of
Congress.
(AP, 8/12/09)
2009 Aug 12, In Mexico’s border
city of Nuevo Laredo, city police found a bullet-ridden sport utility
vehicle belonging to the federal Communications and Transportation
Department crashed into a post on a street. There was blood on the
seats, and four department employees identified as cargo inspectors
were reported missing.
(AP, 8/12/09)
2009 Aug 12, In Nigeria US
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton encouraged the government to take a
firmer line on corruption and offered US help to implement badly needed
electoral reforms in Africa's biggest energy producer.
(Reuters, 8/12/09)
2009 Aug 12, In northwestern
Pakistan's tribal belt clashes between Taliban militants and followers
of pro-government Turkistan Bitani left at least 70 fighters dead.
(AP, 8/12/09)(SFC, 8/13/09, p.A2)
2009 Aug 12, Philippine troops
overran two jungle camps of al-Qaida-linked militants in their
deadliest clash in years, with 23 soldiers and 31 guerrillas killed.
The two camps served as a stronghold and a bomb factory for the Abu
Sayyaf on Basilan. Troops found several bombs, booby traps and 15
assault rifles and grenade launchers.
(AP, 8/13/09)
2009 Aug 12, Russian PM Vladimir
Putin made a surprise visit to Abkhazia and said Russia will spend at
least 15 billion rubles ($470 million) next year to build Russian
military bases in Abkhazia and tighten the separatist Georgian region's
borders.
(AP, 8/12/09)
2009 Aug 12, Chechen Interior
Ministry spokesman Magomed Deniyev said 2 policemen were killed in
separate attacks during the night as they returned to their homes.
(AP, 8/12/09)
2009 Aug 12, Ruslan
Amerkhanov, the construction minister in Russia's violence-plagued
Ingushetia, was shot to death in his office. Ingush Security Council
secretary Alexei Vorobyov said investigators believe the killing could
be related to recent audits of construction projects that turned up
building violations and misuse of funds.
(AP, 8/12/09)
2009 Aug 12, World Bank President
Robert Zoellick pledged to boost development aid to Rwanda to help the
rebuild the country ripped apart by genocide.
(Reuters, 8/12/09)
2009 Aug 12, In Somalia masked
gunmen killed five Pakistani preachers outside the Tawfiq Mosque in
Galkayo following morning prayers.
(AP, 8/12/09)
2009 Aug 12, Yemeni government
forces used artillery and aircraft to attack Shiite rebels near the
border with Saudi Arabia in an escalation of the five-year-old
conflict. A local government official said 20 rebels were killed. A
local Health Ministry official said 12 others died in fighting across
Saada and 51 were injured.
(AP, 8/12/09)
2009 Aug 12, Doctors at Zimbabwe's
state hospitals went on strike, demanding higher salaries and payment
of their monthly allowances.
(AFP, 8/12/09)
2009 Aug 13, Legendary guitarist
and inventor Les Paul (94), who pioneered the design of solid body
Gibson electric guitars that bore his name, died at a New York hospital
of complications from pneumonia. Paul was born as Lester William
Polsfuss in Waukesha, Wisconsin, on June 9, 1915. He created one of the
first solid-body electric guitars in 1941, but it took nearly 10 years
before he, working with Gibson Guitar Corp., perfected it.
(Reuters, 8/13/09)
2009 Aug 13, Australian police
said a 20-year-old Australian man has been charged with infecting more
than 3,000 computers around the world with a virus designed to capture
banking and credit card data.
(AP, 8/13/09)
2009 Aug 13, It was reported that
millions of sockeye salmon have disappeared mysteriously from the
Fraser river on Canada's Pacific Coast. It was once known as the
world's most fertile spawning ground for sockeye. Up to 10.6 million
bright-red sockeye salmon were expected to return to spawn this summer.
The latest estimates say fewer than 1 million have returned. The
Canadian government has closed the river to commercial and recreational
sockeye fishing for the third straight year, hitting the livelihood of
nearby Indian reserves.
(Reuters, 8/13/09)
2009 Aug 13, In Chechnya a gun
battle between police an 2 suspected militants left the 2 militants
dead as well as 4 police officers.
(SFC, 8/15/09, p.A3)
2009 Aug 13, Chinese officials
retreated from a plan to install anti-pornography software on every
computer sold, but said Internet cafes, schools and other public places
must use the program.
(SFC, 8/14/09, p.A2)
2009 Aug 13, In Dagestan some 10
men opened fire on a police post in Buinaksk, killing 4 officers. The
gunmen then entered a sauna complex nearby and killed 7 women working
there.
(SFC, 8/15/09, p.A3)
2009 Aug 13, Ecuador’s Citizen
Participation Minister Doris Soliz called for the creation of local
citizen committees to defend the government and its "revolution,"
sparking criticism that the president aims to control opponents in a
system reminiscent of Cuba or Venezuela.
(AP, 8/13/09)
2009 Aug 13, The EU said it was
extending its sanctions on Myanmar to cover members of the judiciary
responsible for the verdict in the trial of opposition leader Aung San
Suu Kyi.
(Reuters, 8/13/09)
2009 Aug 13, In India thousands of
schools, colleges and cinemas shut down in Mumbai to combat the spread
of swine flu as the government struggled to contain public anxiety.
(AFP, 8/13/09)
2009 Aug 13, In Iran a group of
former reformist lawmakers appealed to a powerful clerical body to
investigate Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's qualification to
rule in an unprecedented challenge to the country's most powerful man
over the postelection crackdown.
(AP, 8/14/09)
2009 Aug 13, In Iraq a gunfight
erupted during an attempted bank heist in Baghdad, as a court official
announced that five members of Iraq's presidential guard will go on
trial later this month for their alleged roles in the deadly July 28
robbery of Baghdad’s Rafidain Bank. In the northwest city of Sinjar 2
suicide bombers blew themselves up at a popular cafe killing 21 people
and wounding 30 others.
(AP, 8/13/09)(SFC, 8/14/09, p.A2)
2009 Aug 13, In Japan a woman (23)
crashed her moped when it hit a rope that was stretched across the
road. She suffered a fractured skull after being thrown from her bike
near western Tokyo's US Yokota Air Base. Police later arrested four
children, three boys and one girl aged between 15 and 18, of US
military personnel on suspicion of attempted murder.
(AFP, 12/5/09)
2009 Aug 13, In Liberia US
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hailed the country’s post-war
transition to democracy and threw support behind President Ellen
Johnson Sirleaf, who has faced calls to resign because she helped fund
a warlord.
(AFP, 8/13/09)
2009 Aug 13, In Mexico state
security officials banned police from setting up sobriety checkpoints
in the northern city of Monterrey because they say the officers
routinely use them to extort motorists. Bishop Eduardo Patino Leal was
detained in the town of Huatusco, Veracruz state, lost control of his
vehicle and ran over 6 Indian street vendors, killing one.
(AP, 8/14/09)
2009 Aug 13, North Korea freed Yu
Seong-Jin (44), a South Korean worker it had detained since March,
raising hopes of better cross-border relations after 18 months of
bitter hostility from the communist state.
(AFP, 8/13/09)
2009 Aug 13, In northwest Pakistan
helicopter gunships pummeled the bases of Taliban commander Hakimullah
Mehsud, killing at least 12 insurgents as government forces ratcheted
up pressure on the militants following their top leader's reported
death. 2 intelligence officials said a suicide bomber killed
pro-government lashkar leader Malik Khadeen, who was instrumental in
fighting Uzbek militants operating with the Taliban in South
Waziristan. In the Bajur tribal area authorities found the bodies of
two anti-Taliban lashkar leaders near a security checkpoint. The two
lashkar commanders, Malik Sehar Gul and Malik Jalindhar, had been
kidnapped the night before.
(AP, 8/13/09)
2009 Aug 13, Scottish officials
said they were considering early release for the Lockerbie bomber,
leading to sharp debate among victims' relatives in the US and Britain
over whether he should be allowed to return home to Libya. British
media said Abdel Baset Ali al-Megrahi could soon be freed on
compassionate grounds because he is terminally ill with cancer.
(AP, 8/13/09)
2009 Aug 13, The crew of two
Egyptian fishing vessels overpowered Somali pirates after being held
hostage for four months and, with machetes and tools, killed at least
two pirates before sailing to freedom. The fight took place near the
coastal town of Las Qorey off the Gulf of Aden. The pirates had
demanded a ransom of $1.5 million.
(AP, 8/14/09)
2009 Aug 13, Taiwan deployed
thousands of extra troops as it faced growing public anger and pressure
to rescue people trapped by landslides. The confirmed death toll from
the destruction wreaked by the typhoon rose to at least 116.
(AFP, 8/13/09)
2009 Aug 13, In Venezuela
attackers injured 12 of the journalists as they passed out leaflets
warning against a new education law that critics fear could lead to
indoctrination in schools. Their fliers warned against a provision for
sanctions against reports that "produce terror" among children or
incite hate. The government condemned the violence and ordered an
investigation.
(AP, 8/15/09)
2009 Aug 13, Yemeni warplanes
bombed a northern province bordering Saudi Arabia for a second straight
day, in an ongoing offensive that has brought casualties and pushed the
area close to an all-out war.
(AP, 8/13/09)
2009 Aug 14, Real estate lender
Colonial BancGroup Inc. was shut down by federal officials in the
biggest US bank failure this year. The FDIC, which was appointed
receiver of the Montgomery, Ala.-based Colonial and its about $25
billion in assets, said the failed bank's 346 branches in Alabama,
Florida, Georgia, Nevada and Texas will reopen at the normal times
starting on Aug 15 as offices of Winston-Salem, N.C.-based BB&T.
Regulators also closed four other banks: Community Bank of Arizona,
based in Phoenix; Union Bank, based in Gilbert, Ariz.; Community Bank
of Nevada, based in Las Vegas; and Dwelling House Savings and Loan
Association, located in Pittsburgh. The closures boosted to 77 the
number of federally insured banks that have failed in 2009.
(AP, 8/15/09)
2009 Aug 14, Lynette “Squeaky”
Fromme (60), the Charles Manson follower convicted of trying to
assassinate President Gerald Ford in 1975, was released from a Texas
prison hospital after more than three decades behind bars.
(AP, 8/14/09)
2009 Aug 14, It was reported that
in North Carolina nine women, who lived at the edges of the poor
community in Rocky Mount, have disappeared since 2005. Six bodies have
been found along rural roads just a few miles outside town, most so
decomposed that investigators could not tell how they died. At least
one of the women was strangled. All the deaths have been classified as
homicides. Three women were still missing.
(AP, 8/14/09)
2009 Aug 14, In California the
Lockheed fire in Santa Cruz County, which began on Aug 12, covered over
5,00 acres and was only 15% contained. 9 big wildfires across the state
covered over 100,000 acres.
(SFC, 8/15/09, p.A8)
2009 Aug 14, Hillary Clinton ended
her whirlwind seven-nation African trip at Cape Verde, with a tough
love message that Africans must tackle their own problems.
(AFP, 8/14/09)
2009 Aug 14, An Australian judge
ruled that Christian Rossiter (49), a quadriplegic man who says he
cannot "undertake any basic human functions," has the right to direct a
nursing home to stop feeding him and allow him to die.
(AP, 8/14/09)(SFC, 8/15/09, p.A2)
2009 Aug 14, In Dagestan gunmen
killed 2 traffic police officers in Makhachkala. 3 suspected militants
were killed in a separate episode.
(SFC, 8/15/09, p.A3)
2009 Aug 14, In Germany shares in
Volkswagen, Europe's biggest carmaker, plunged after it approved a
takeover of luxury auto manufacturer Porsche to create a sector giant.
(AFP, 8/14/09)
2009 Aug 14, In Honduras 2 dozen
supporters of ousted Pres. Zelaya were charged with sedition in an
intensifying crackdown on protests against the coup-installed
government.
(AP, 8/15/09)
2009 Aug 14, In Iraq journalists
took to the streets in Baghdad to protest what they say is political
pressure to silence the media. The rally came as journalist Ahmed
Abdul-Hussein was threatened with a lawsuit over editorials related to
the July 28 Baghdad bank robbery that left eight security guards dead.
(AP, 8/14/09)
2009 Aug 14, In Libya a delegation
of US senators led by John McCain met with Libya's leader to discuss
the possible delivery of non-lethal defense equipment.
(AP, 8/15/09)
2009 Aug 14, In northern Mexico a
fight among prisoners killed 19 inmates and left more than 20 injured
at the prison in the city of Gomez Palacio, Durango state. The battle
apparently involved inmates jailed on drug or organized crime charges.
Assailants in pickup trucks opened fire on Monclova police chief Juan
Carlos Pacheco as he headed home. Pacheco was not hurt but three of the
police officers guarding him died. Federal police announced the capture
of Hector Oyarzabal, an alleged La Familia leader, who was described as
director of the gang's drug operations in several towns of the state of
Mexico, which surrounds most of Mexico City. In Ciudad Juarez two women
and a man were found shot to death in their car.
(AP, 8/15/09)
2009 Aug 14, Nigeria’s banking
chief said the government will inject US$2.55 billion into five
troubled banks, in Africa's first major bank rescue program since the
global credit crunch began. Central Bank Chief Sanusi Lamido Sanusi
also announced the sacking of the heads of five major banks for piling
up debts worth billions of dollars and poor management. The heads of
Afribank plc, Intercontinental Bank plc, Union Bank plc, Oceanic Bank
plc and Finbank plc were removed by Sanusi. The Nigerian anti-graft
agency soon froze the accounts of the sacked directors for running the
institutions into insolvency.
(AP, 8/14/09)(AFP, 8/22/09)
2009 Aug 14, In Nigeria the number
of polio cases caused by the vaccine was reported to have doubled so
far this year with 124 children paralyzed, compared to 62 in 2008, out
of about 42 million children vaccinated. For every case of paralysis,
hundreds of other children don't develop symptoms, but pass on the
disease.
(AP, 8/14/09)
2009 Aug 14, Pakistan lifted a ban
on political activities in its tribal regions, granting the areas close
to Afghan border parliamentary representation for the first time in the
hopes it would reduce the grip of the Taliban there. 3 bomb explosions
killed a man and wounded 18 other people in Baluchistan, an
impoverished but oil-rich province where Baluch nationalist groups have
been fighting for more autonomy for decades.
(AP, 8/14/09)
2009 Aug 14, In the southern Gaza
town of Rafah on the Egyptian border fighting broke out when Hamas
security men surrounded a mosque where about 100 members of Jund Ansar
Allah, or the Soldiers of the Companions of God, were holed up.
Abdel-Latif Moussa, the leader of the group, defied Gaza's Hamas rulers
by declaring in a prayer sermon that the territory was an Islamic
emirate. 11 homemade rockets were launched from Gaza into Egypt. Only
five of the rockets detonated, injuring a young girl.
(AP, 8/15/09)
2009 Aug 14, A Swiss court backed
the government's plan to give aid agencies 7 million Swiss francs ($6
million) seized from bank accounts linked to Haiti's former dictator
Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier. The Duvalier family, which wants to
reclaim the money, can now appeal the case to Switzerland's highest
court. The accounts have been blocked since 2002.
(AP, 8/14/09)
2009 Aug 14, Taiwan's president
said floods and mudslides unleashed by Typhoon Morakot last weekend
have killed about 500 people on the island, as he called on rescue
crews to step up their efforts. Ma said the death toll includes 120
confirmed deaths, and about 380 people believed to be buried in the
debris of a landslide in Shiao Lin, the hardest-hit village. Taiwan
asked major world donors for heavy equipment to alleviate damages from
Typhoon Morakot. Aid offers were initially refused on Aug 11. On Aug 23
the death toll from Typhoon Morakot was raised to at least 650.
(AP, 8/14/09)(Reuters, 8/15/09)(AP, 8/23/09)
2009 Aug 14, A Taiwanese telephone
company said Seabed movements believed caused by Typhoon Morakat
damaged seven undersea cables linking Asian nations, disrupting
Internet and telephone services.
(AP, 8/14/09)
2009 Aug 14, In Venezuela
lawmakers loyal to President Hugo Chavez gave final approval on to
legislation that has raised fears among government opponents of
impending socialist indoctrination in schools. The National Assembly
also approved a law that paves the way for the government to take over
private buildings and land in urban areas.
(AP, 8/14/09)
2009 Aug 15, In Georgia former
college professor Lothar Karl Schweder (77) and his wife Sherry (65)
were found mauled to death by dogs near their home in Lexington.
(SFC, 8/18/09, p.A7)
2009 Aug 15, In southern
California the body of Jasmine Fiore (28), a swimsuit model, was found
stuffed in a suitcase and dumped into a trash bin in Orange County. Her
husband Ryan Alexander Jenkins (32), a reality TV show contestant and
CEO of Skyhomes in Calgary, Canada, reported her missing the same day.
On Aug 20 Jenkins was charged with murder and believed to be hiding in
Canada. On Aug 23 Jenkins was found dead of apparent suicide in a motel
in Hope, British Columbia.
(SFC, 8/20/09, p.A5)(SFC, 8/20/09, p.A9)(Reuters,
8/24/09)
2009 Aug 15, In Afghanistan a
suicide car bomb exploded outside the main gate of NATO's headquarters
five days before presidential elections, killing seven and wounding 91
in the biggest attack in the Afghan capital in six months. A British
soldier succumbed to injuries sustained while out on foot patrol in
Helmand province, becoming the 201st British military fatality in
Afghanistan.
(AP, 8/15/09)(AFP, 8/16/09)
2009 Aug 15, In northern Algeria
an explosion followed by gunfire left one police officer dead and two
others wounded at a beach. A head-on collision between a lorry and a
minibus killed 16 people on the outskirts of the city of Ghazaouet,
including more than a dozen members of the same family traveling
together.
(AFP, 8/15/09)
2009 Aug 15, Canada said it will
pay some farmers to stop raising hogs and offer loans to help others
restructure, assistance that drew praise from Canadian hog farmers and
concerns from a top US farmer group.
(Reuters, 8/15/09)
2009 Aug 15, In southern Chile
Manuel Calfiu, head of the Mapuche community Meli Wixan Mapu, said
dozens of Indian communities agreed to form the Mapuche Territorial
Alliance to fight for political autonomy, said after several days of
violence over land seizures.
(AP, 8/15/09)
2009 Aug 15, Three Iraqi men
herding cattle were killed after wandering into the middle of a
US-Iraqi mortar training exercise north of the Iraqi capital.
(AP, 8/16/09)
2009 Aug 15, In Kuwait a fire at a
wedding tent killed 57 women and children as it consumed the structure
in a blazing inferno lasting just three minutes. The bridegroom’s
ex-wife was later found to be the arsonist. In 2010 a Kuwaiti appeals
court confirmed a death sentence against Nasra Yussef Mohammed al-Enezi
(23). She had been convicted in March of setting fire to the wedding
tent as her husband took a second wife.
(AP, 8/16/09)(AP, 8/18/09)(SFC, 8/18/09, p.A4)(AFP,
5/26/10)
2009 Aug 15, Japan's PM Taro Aso
expressed deep regret over the suffering his country inflicted on Asian
countries during World War II in a solemn ceremony that marked the 64th
anniversary of Tokyo's surrender.
(AP, 8/15/09)
2009 Aug 15, In Mexico the
dismembered body of Jesus Arroyo, a legal adviser for the leftist
Democratic Revolution Party, was found in an ice box in Ciudad
Altamirano, in Guerrero state. In Guadalajara singer Carlos Vicente
Ocaranza, who specialized in drug ballads, was shot to death outside a
bar. His manager died of wounds 2 days later. Ocaranza was better known
as "El Loco Elizalde," or The Crazy Elizalde, a reference to his
distant relation by marriage to Valentin Elizalde, a much more famous
musician, also killed by gunshots in 2006.
(AP, 8/15/09)(www.wtop.com/?nid=105&sid=1646540)
2009 Aug 15, In Myanmar US Sen.
Jim Webb won the release of John Yettaw (53), an American prisoner
convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison for swimming secretly
to the residence of detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
(AP, 8/15/09)
2009 Aug 15, Nigeria's anti-graft
agency said it had recovered more than 50 billion naira ($320.5 million
/ €224.2 million) in looted funds and secured 70 convictions in the
past year. Police in the western Nigerian state of Niger raided the
Darul Islam community and detained hundreds of its members, weeks after
an uprising by a radical sect killed almost 800 in the remote
northeast. Sect leader Amrul Bashir Abdullahi said: "We decided to
create a camp for ourselves outside the community because of the
problems in the larger society. These are problems of corruption,
drunkenness, prostitution and so on which Allah forbids."
(AFP, 8/15/09)(Reuters, 8/16/09)
2009 Aug 15, In Pakistan a suicide
bomber rammed an explosives-laden car into a checkpoint in the
northwestern Swat Valley, killing at least five people in a reminder
that extremists can still strike despite the military's retaking of the
area. Air strikes by government fighter jets killed 16 militants and
destroyed several Taliban hideouts in tribal South Waziristan.
(AP, 8/15/09)(AFP, 8/17/09)
2009 Aug 15, In the Gaza Strip
Abdel-Latif Moussa, the leader of an al-Qaida-inspired group, blew
himself up during a shootout with Hamas security forces, ending hours
of violence sparked by a rebellious sermon at a mosque near the
Egyptian border. A total of 24 people, including six Hamas police
officers and an 11-year-old girl, were killed and 150 were wounded.
(AP, 8/15/09)
2009 Aug 15, In Peru farmers freed
13 police officers and four civilians seized at a hydroelectric dam in
the Andean region after local officials agreed to provide them with
fertilizer.
(AP, 8/15/09)
2009 Aug 15, In Puerto Rico
Ricardo Lebron Berrios (23), a prisoner being taken to jail to face car
theft charges, allegedly shot one police officer to death and gravely
wounded a second, then escaped in their squad car.
(AP, 8/16/09)
2009 Aug 15, Somali pirates found
seven dead colleagues floating in the ocean and vowed to take revenge
against Egyptian fishermen they say killed them during an August 13
escape.
(Reuters, 8/15/09)
2009 Aug 15, South Korea's
president renewed his offer of aid for impoverished North Korea if it
abandons its nuclear weapons and called for talks on the reduction of
conventional weapons along their heavily fortified border.
(AP, 8/15/09)
2009 Aug 15, Sri Lanka's Roman
Catholic leaders called for the release of ethnic Tamils held in
military-run displacement camps, saying they are confined like
prisoners behind barbed wire.
(AP, 8/15/09)
2009 Aug 15, Taiwan's President Ma
Ying-jeou bowed to public anger, apologizing for his government's slow
response to Typhoon Morakot, which devastated central and southern
parts of the island.
(AFP, 8/15/09)
2009 Aug 15, Yemen widened a
military offensive against Shiite rebels in the country's north,
blasting the fighters' positions with artillery and airstrikes.
(AP, 8/15/09)
2009 Aug 16, Y.E. Yang (37) of
South Korea won the PGA Championship at Chaska, Minnesota, with a
2-under par 70 beating Tiger Woods who shot a 5 over par 75.
(AP, 8/17/09)
2009 Aug 16, In San Francisco BART
management and union leaders reached a tentative contract agreement
less that 6 hours before a planned strike to shut down the regional
rail system.
(SFC, 8/17/09, p.A1)
2009 Aug 16, Afghan President
Hamid Karzai took part in a live television debate with two of his main
rivals running in this week's election, a first for an incumbent head
of state in the war-scarred country. The Afghan defense ministry said
that more than 30 rebels, including foreigners, were killed in an
operation pounding Taliban centers in a bid to secure a northeast
troublespot for key elections. Two US troops and a US civilian died in
gun and bomb attacks in eastern Afghanistan. 3 British soldiers were
killed in an explosion in the volatile south.
(AFP, 8/16/09)(AFP, 8/17/09)
2009 Aug 16, Chinese authorities
in central Henan province called off the takeover of Linzhou Iron and
Steel Co. Ltd., a state-owned steel plant, after workers protested and
trapped an official in the factory office for four days, the second
time in a month that the country's steelworkers have rallied to
successfully avoid privatization.
(AP, 8/16/09)
2009 Aug 16, Iran expanded its
mass trial of opposition supporters, adding 25 more defendants
including a Jewish teenager who are accused of involvement in unrest
over the disputed presidential election.
(AP, 8/16/09)
2009 Aug 16, The US Peace Corps
says it has pulled more than 100 American volunteers out of Mauritania
for security reasons. The volunteers left for neighboring Senegal and
will not return to Mauritania.
(AP, 8/17/09)
2009 Aug 16, North Korean leader
Kim Jong Il held talks with Hyun Jeong-eun, the head of South Korea's
Hyundai Group, in a rare meeting that could warm prospects for a
resumption of stalled cross-border projects.
(AP, 8/16/09)
2009 Aug 16, In Pakistan seven
suspected Taliban militants were killed during a gunfight with soldiers
in Kabal village, about 20 kilometers northwest of Mingora in the Swat
Valley. Police arrested militant commander Qari Saifullah, a close
Mehsud aide, as he was being treated in a private hospital in Islamabad.
(AP, 8/17/09)(AP, 8/18/09)
2009 Aug 16, It was reported that
Peru has become the world’s largest “factory” of counterfeit US
dollars. Police were said to seize some $10 million in false dollars
each month in Lima alone. The Peruvian dollars were mostly found in
such countries as Italy, France, Germany and Ecuador. Gunmen robbed 12
foreigners on an ecological tourism trip to the Manu nature reserve in
the Tres Cruces area of the Cusco region.
(SSFC, 8/16/09, p.A4)(AP, 8/16/09)
2009 Aug 16, Two Russian air force
fighters rehearsing acrobatic maneuvers collided near Moscow, killing
one pilot and sending the jets crashing into nearby vacation homes.
(AP, 8/16/09)
2009 Aug 16, An American cargo
plane arrived in Taiwan with supplies for victims of the recent Typhoon
Morakot disaster. It was the first American military aircraft to land
in Taiwan in the 30 years since the US severed its diplomatic ties in
favor of China.
(Econ, 8/22/09, p.36)
2009 Aug 16, In Uruguay some 20
dead Fraser's dolphins turned up this weekend on the Punta Negra beach
in Piriapolis outside Montevideo. Experts theorized the tropical
dolphins became disoriented or were carried there by changing water
currents.
(AP, 8/18/09)
2009 Aug 17, Albert Gonzalez (28)
of Miami, a former informant for the US Secret Service who helped the
agency hunt hackers, was indicted in New Jersey and charged with
conspiring with two other unnamed suspects to steal the private
information. He allegedly stole information from 130 million credit and
debit card accounts in what federal prosecutors called the largest case
of identity theft yet. He was already in jail awaiting trial in a
hacking case. On Aug 28 Gonzalez agreed to plead guilty and serve up to
25 years in federal prison.
(AP, 8/18/09)(SFC, 8/29/09, p.A4)
2009 Aug 17, In Afghanistan former
Uzbek militia chief General Abdul Rashid Dostum threw his support
behind President Hamid Karzai one day after returning from exile in
Turkey. Four minor candidates announced they were withdrawing and
throwing their support behind Karzai. A roadside bomb in southern
Afghanistan killed a US service member, while an American civilian
working for the military died after insurgents attacked a patrol in the
east.
(AP, 8/17/09)
2009 Aug 17, The Central African
Republic’s Communications Minister Cyriaque Gonda said on state radio
that the government has set a three-year timetable to disarm,
demobilize and reintegrate former rebels.
(AFP, 8/17/09)
2009 Aug 17, Czech media reported
that two Russians have been ordered out of Prague, including a deputy
military attache. Prague has previously complained about an increase in
Russian spying that it linked to the US plans. Russia responded by
ordering two Czech diplomats out of Russia.
(Reuters, 8/18/09)
2009 Aug 17, In Ingushetia a
suicide bomber attacked a police station in Nazran city in Russia's
North Caucasus with an explosives-laden truck, killing at least 21
people and wounding more than 100 others. 9 officers were still missing.
(AP, 8/17/09)(AP, 8/18/09)
2009 Aug 17, The new head of
Iran's judiciary suggested that he would prosecute security agents
accused of torture in the postelection crackdown, a nod from the
country's conservative leadership to widespread anger to reports that
jailed protesters were abused.
(AP, 8/17/09)
2009 Aug 17, Human Rights Watch
said Iraqi militiamen are torturing and killing gay men with impunity
in a systematic campaign that has spread from Baghdad to several other
cities.
(AP, 8/17/09)
2009 Aug 17, Israeli soldiers
mistakenly shot and wounded an Egyptian policeman near Eilat along the
border between the two countries.
(AP, 8/17/09)
2009 Aug 17, In Mexico at least 8
people were killed early in the day when gunmen opened fire in a bar in
drug-plagued Ciudad Juarez on the Texas border. Gunmen killed a father
and his 4-year-old son and wounded the mother as the family drove on a
highway near Ciudad Juarez. 2 girls, ages 12 and 14, died after being
struck by lightning on a soccer field during a religious service in the
city of Tuxtla Gutierrez in Chiapas state. In Monterrey four gunmen
died in a shootout with soldiers and three other suspects were
detained. Three soldiers suffered light injuries in the clash.
(AP,
8/17/09)(www.wtop.com/?nid=105&sid=1646540)(AP, 8/18/09)
2009 Aug 17, North Korea said it
would restart tours to a scenic mountain resort and allow reunions for
families separated since the Korean War, a surprise move that could
help ease months of tensions with South Korea over Pyongyang's missile
and nuclear tests.
(AP, 8/17/09)
2009 Aug 17, In northwest Pakistan
a bomb blast claimed by Taliban militants killed seven people including
children, as 31 insurgents were reported dead in a fresh wave of
unrest. Overnight in Swat's main town Mingora, a suicide bomber blew
himself up, wounding four soldiers as they tried to arrest him.
Security forces captured Maulvi Umar, the Pakistani Taliban's top
spokesman, and he acknowledged the death of the group's leader in a
recent US missile strike.
(AFP, 8/17/09)(AP, 8/18/09)
2009 Aug 17, Russian media
reported that the Arctic Sea has been found near Cape Verde and that
the ship's 15-man Russian crew has been taken aboard a Russian naval
vessel.
(AP, 8/17/09)
2009 Aug 17, In Russia powerful
explosion took place during repair work at the Sayano-Shushinskaya
hydroelectric plant in southern Siberia. The death toll soon reached 69
with 6 still missing and feared dead after an engine room was suddenly
flooded. The accident produced an oil spill and the slick that floated
down the Yenisei River.
(AP, 8/17/09)(AP, 8/18/09)(AP, 8/21/09)(AP, 8/23/09)
2009 Aug 17, It was reported that
200,000 Russian military officers faced early retirement, as the
government conducts a sweeping reform that will eliminate the jobs of
six out of every 10 members of its top-heavy officer corps.
(AP, 8/17/09)
2009 Aug 17, In Somalia gunmen
stormed a UN aid compound in Wajid overnight, sparking a gunbattle that
killed three of the attackers and wounded one. Hundreds of
pro-government militiamen rolled into Bula Hawa town near the Kenyan
border after al-Shabab fighters abandoned it.
(AP, 8/17/09)
2009 Aug 17, In Sweden the
Aftonbladet tabloid published an incendiary article claiming that
Israeli soldiers had harvested the organs of some Palestinians whom
they had shot. Israel quickly denounced the article, while Sweden
defended its freedom of expression.
(Econ, 8/29/09, p.44)
2009 Aug 17, In Thailand thousands
of supporters of deposed PM Thaksin Shinawatra rallied in central
Bangkok and then marched to the royal palace, seeking a pardon for the
fugitive leader.
(AP, 8/17/09)
2009 Aug 17, Former Zambian
President Frederick Chiluba (1991-2001) was cleared of corruption
charges following a six-year trial after a magistrate ruled that
$500,000 of allegedly embezzled funds could not be traced to government
money.
(AP, 8/17/09)(Econ, 8/22/09, p.43)(Econ, 11/21/09,
p.51)
2009 Aug 18, Robert Novak (78),
political columnist, died in Washington DC after a battle with brain
cancer that was diagnosed in July 2008. He was a conservative,
pugilistic debater and proud owner of the "Prince of Darkness" moniker,
which he used in his 2007 memoir: "The Prince of Darkness: 50 Years
Reporting in Washington." A column of his in 2003 outed Valerie Plame
as a CIA agent.
(AP, 8/18/09)
2009 Aug 18, A Taliban suicide
bomber attacked a NATO convoy on the outskirts of Kabul, killing 8
people and wounding more than 50, just days before the presidential
election that the militant group has vowed to disrupt. A suicide bomber
struck the gates of an Afghan army base in the southern Uruzgan
province, killing 3 Afghan soldiers and two civilians. Two US soldiers
were killed and 3 wounded in a separate blast in eastern Afghanistan.
(AP, 8/18/09)(SFC, 8/19/09, p.A3)
2009 Aug 18, An international
claims commission in The Hague awarded Ethiopia slightly more than
Eritrea as it settled mutual claims worth hundreds of millions of
dollars for death, injury, rape, looting and destruction during their
two-year border conflict. This concluded a complex arbitration that was
part of the 2000 peace agreement closing out a border conflict that
cost tens of thousands of lives.
(AP, 8/19/09)
2009 Aug 18, In Indonesia a dump
truck, packed with more than 60 plantation workers and their families,
overturned and killing at least 25 with dozens injured. At least three
children were among the dead near Sampit town in Central Kalimantan.
(AP, 8/19/09)
2009 Aug 18, Iraqi forces seized a
launcher loaded with 13 Iranian-made rockets after an attack the
previous day against the US base outside the southern city of Basra.
(AP, 8/18/09)
2009 Aug 18, Israeli government
officials said Israel has quietly stopped approving new building
projects in the West Bank while publicly still refusing US demands for
an official settlement freeze.
(AP, 8/18/09)
2009 Aug 18, In Lebanon 8 members
of an al-Qaida-inspired group sawed bars off their cell windows in a
high-security prison, scaled down the building using blankets tied
together, then stood on each other's shoulders to help one jump over a
wall and escape. Prison guards managed to stop the other seven from
fleeing. Officials described the escaped prisoner, Taha al-Hajj
Suleiman, as a Syrian militant and a "dangerous" member of the Fatah
Islam group. Suleiman was caught the next day in the woods just north
of the Roumieh prison.
(AP, 8/18/09)(AP, 8/19/09)
2009 Aug 18, In Mexico gunmen shot
up the offices of the Siglo de Torreon newspaper in Torreon, Coahuila
state.
(SFC, 8/19/09, p.A2)
2009 Aug 18, In Mozambique an
overcrowded ferry with 50 people went down off the coast in a northern
province. 17 people were feared drowned.
(AP, 8/19/09)
2009 Aug 18, Pakistani government
and UN officials said flash floods have killed at least 27 people in
the northwest, and that more than 80,000 have seen their homes or crops
destroyed.
(AP, 8/18/09)
2009 Aug 18, Russia's President
Dmitry Medvedev hosted Israeli counterpart Shimon Peres for talks that
were expected to focus on the Middle East and the Iranian nuclear
standoff.
(AP, 8/18/09)
2009 Aug 18, Former South Korean
Pres. Kim Dae-jung (85) died. He spent years as a dissident under a
military dictatorship and later won the Nobel Peace Prize for seeking
reconciliation with communist North Korea.
(AP, 8/18/09)
2009 Aug 18, In Sudan clashes
between rival militias broke out in the southern oil-rich Unity state,
the latest to hit a region still recovering from two decades of civil
war.
(AFP, 8/18/09)
2009 Aug 18, In Zimbabwe a truck
hit a bus head-on, killing 11 people including six members of a family
returning from a funeral.
(AP, 8/19/09)
2009 Aug 19, US authorities in
collaboration with Venezuela led to the seizure of about a ton of
cocaine aboard a ship in the Caribbean Sea. Two Venezuelans and a
Colombian were arrested.
(AP, 8/20/09)
2009 Aug 19, Don Hewitt (86), a TV
news pioneer, died. He created the "60 Minutes" news hour in 1968 and
produced the popular CBS newsmagazine for 36 years.
(AP, 8/19/09)
2009 Aug 19, Afghan journalists
rejected a Foreign Ministry demand that they suspend the broadcasting
of news about attacks or violence on election day, accusing the
government of unconstitutional censorship. Police stormed a bank in
Kabul and killed three insurgents who had taken it over, while a wave
of attacks killed at least six election workers around the country on
the eve of the presidential election.
(AP, 8/19/09)
2009 Aug 19, Australia celebrated
the biggest trade deal in its history and said it proved vital ties
with China had survived a series of bruising rows. PM Kevin Rudd said
ExxonMobil's 41.3 billion US dollar liquefied natural gas contract with
PetroChina would create up to 6,000 jobs and pump billions of dollars
into the economy. PetroChina ordered 2.25 million tons of liquefied
natural gas (LNG) a year over two decades from ExxonMobil's share of
the still-undeveloped Gorgon plant off Western Australia.
(AFP, 8/19/09)
2009 Aug 19, Brazilian prosecutors
said Father Clodoveo Piazza, an Italian priest who ran an award-winning
shelter for homeless children in Brazil, has been charged with sexually
abusing boys for years and allowing visiting foreigners to exploit the
children. Piazza, now working as a missionary in Mozambique, was
charged along with another former director of the nonprofit group
Fraternal Help Organization, a private group based in Salvador.
(AP, 8/20/09)
2009 Aug 19, London's Metropolitan
Police said two men were arrested in the Aug 6 robbery of $66 million
in jewelry. The Barnes Flying Squad, a specialist unit that deals with
armed robberies and high value thefts, made the arrests.
(AP, 8/20/09)
2009 Aug 19, French police with
Spanish help detained three suspected members of Basque separatist
group ETA in a French Alps ski resort and seized material for making
explosives, after a series of bombings claimed by the group on the
Spanish island of Mallorca.
(AP, 8/19/09)
2009 Aug 19, Germany launched a
campaign to put 1 million electric cars on the road by 2020, making
battery research a priority as it tries to position the country as a
market leader.
(AP, 8/19/09)
2009 Aug 19, Rights group Amnesty
International alleged widespread abuse of protesters demanding the
return of the Honduran president ousted in a coup, saying in a report
that hundreds of people have been beaten and detained under the interim
government.
(AP, 8/19/09)
2009 Aug 19, Iran’s President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad nominated Ahmad Vahidi as Defense Minister. Vahidi
had commanded a unit of the Revolutionary Guard known as the Quds Force
at the time of the July 18, 1994, attack on a Jewish cultural center in
Argentina. The Quds Force is involved in operations abroad, including
working with Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group, which is accused to
carrying out the Buenos Aires attack.
(AP, 8/21/09)
2009 Aug 19, In Iraq a truck bomb
tore through the Foreign Ministry, knocking out concrete slabs and
windows and leaving a mass of charred cars outside killing at least 65
people and wounding 250. A suicide truck bomber took aim at the Finance
Ministry complex causing part of a nearby overpass to collapse killing
least 28 people. A wave of explosions around Baghdad killed at least 8
more people as mortars struck inside the Green Zone. The total death
toll from the string of blasts was later set at 92. One of the
suspected masterminds said in a confession broadcast on Aug 23 that
attackers paid $10,000 to get a bomb-laden truck past checkpoints and
next to the Finance Ministry. A US soldier died of a non-combat related
injury.
(AP, 8/19/09)(AP, 8/20/09)(AP, 8/23/09)(AP, 9/8/09)
2009 Aug 19, Philippine troops
clashed with about 30 Muslim gunmen, who took over Mantangule islet in
the southern part of Palawan Island, killing at least seven and
capturing two.
(AP, 8/19/09)
2009 Aug 19, Saudi authorities
said they have arrested 44 suspected militants with al-Qaida links in a
yearlong sweep that also uncovered dozens of machine guns and
electronic circuits for bombs.
(AP, 8/20/09)
2009 Aug 19, In Sudan former
enemies from the north and south signed a deal aimed at bolstering the
2005 peace deal that ended a 22-year civil war, the African continent's
longest.
(AP, 8/20/09)
2009 Aug 19, Swiss banking giant
UBS AG agreed to turn over to the IRS the details of 4,450 accounts
suspected of holding undeclared assets by American customers, piercing
Switzerland's long-standing tradition of banking secrecy.
(AP, 8/19/09)
2009 Aug 19, Syrian President
Bashar Assad opened talks with Iranian officials in a visit expected to
include an appeal to free a French academic accused of plotting to
overthrow the Islamic regime.
(AP, 8/19/09)
2009 Aug 19, In Zimbabwe 10
lawmakers from PM Morgan Tsvangirai's party were arrested and charged
with disturbing the peace as they headed into the Finance Ministry for
a meeting.
(AP, 8/19/09)
2009 Aug 20, In Colorado a Black
Hawk helicopter crashed during training on Mount Massive, the state’s
2nd highest mountain. 4 soldiers were killed in the crash.
(SFC, 8/21/09, p.A8)
2009 Aug 20, Afghans voted to
elect a president for only the second time in history as fears emerged
of poor turnout. Some $300 million was spent in organizational costs
alone. Top security officials said 26 civilians and security forces
have died in election-day militant attacks. Insurgents launched
scattered rocket, suicide and bomb attacks that closed some polling
sites. In northern Baghlan province, insurgent attacks closed 14
polling sites, and several police were reported killed. In southern
Helmand province more than 20 rockets landed in the capital of Lashkar
Gah, including one near a line of voters that killed a child. Initial
election results weren't expected until Aug 22. Taliban militants cut
off the nose and both ears of an Afghan father of 8 he tried to vote.
The attack became the third confirmed report of the Taliban mutilating
people who sought to cast ballots in the electoral contest. Some 400
insurgent incidents took place during the poll.
(AP, 8/20/09)(AP, 8/31/09)(Econ, 8/29/09,
p.35)(Econ, 11/7/09, p.40)
2009 Aug 20, Angola and South
Africa signed a number of trade agreements including cooperation in the
oil sector, following major bilateral talks aimed at strengthening
economic relations.
(AFP, 8/20/09)
2009 Aug 20, Australia passed a
clean energy law requiring the country to produce 20 percent of its
power from renewable sources by 2020 in move that could draw billions
of dollars of green investment.
(AFP, 8/20/09)
2009 Aug 20, A French
government-sponsored report was released saying that decomposing algae
covering some beaches in Brittany represent a serious health risk and
gases that can kill within minutes were detected on a beach where a
horse died last month.
(AP, 8/20/09)
2009 Aug 20, Usain Bolt of Jamaica
set a world record of 19.19 seconds in the 200 meters at the world
championships in Berlin, adding to the gold he won in the 100.
(AP, 8/20/09)
2009 Aug 20, Diplomats said Iran
has lifted a year-long ban and allowed UN nuclear inspectors to visit a
nearly completed nuclear reactor as well as granting greater monitoring
rights at another atomic site.
(SFC, 8/21/09, p.A2)
2009 Aug 20, The Iraqi government
announced the detention of 11 army and police commanders, accusing them
of negligence in the previous day’s bombings. The government also
decided to keep concrete blast barriers around potential targets. A
bicycle bomb exploded near a restaurant in Baghdad killing two people.
There were three bombings in Babil province, a region once so notorious
for violence it was called the Triangle of Death. A bomb attached to a
minibus killed three and wounded eight in Hillah, while two bombs at a
market in Musayyib wounded 45.
(AP, 8/20/09)(AP, 8/21/09)(SFC, 8/21/09, p.A4)
2009 Aug 20, Drug developer Warner
Chilcott, which focuses on women's healthcare and dermatology,
completed its move to Ireland from Bermuda.
(AP, 8/21/09)
2009 Aug 20, Italian customs found
a boat with five Eritrean survivors of what it called a "shocking
tragedy. Around 75 African migrants died in the Mediterranean after
their stranded boat ran out of food and water.
(Reuters, 8/21/09)
2009 Aug 20, The Association of
Parents of Disappeared People (APDP) said their workers have discovered
several unmarked graves containing about 1,500 unidentified bodies in
Indian Kashmir, and alleged that some of corpses were likely innocent
people killed by government forces. APDP said at least eight of the
graves held more than one body.
(AP, 8/20/09)
2009 Aug 20, In Mexico the body of
leftist congressman Armando Chavarria was found in the passenger seat
of a vehicle in Guerrero’s state capital of Chilpancingo. State police
said three human heads were found in ice boxes in the municipality of
Coyuca de Catalan. The mutilated bodies were in bags nearby. A message
from alleged drug traffickers was also found.
(AP, 8/21/09)
2009 Aug 20, Pakistan's military
said that about 60 militants had surrendered to authorities in
northwest Swat valley, where the government claims to have eliminated
Taliban extremists. Baluchistan authorities found the bodies of 10
policemen in a remote mountain pass. Earlier this week, the separatist
Baluch Republican Army called local media organizations and said it had
killed the remaining 10 of 25 police officers kidnapped last month.
(AP, 8/20/09)(AP, 8/21/09)
2009 Aug 20, Russia’s PM Vladimir
Putin ordered that key parts of Russia's aging infrastructure be
checked and upgraded after a power plant accident in Siberia left
scores feared dead and strained the vast region's power supply. The
confirmed death toll in the power plant accident rose to 17 after three
more bodies were found. 57 were still missing.
(AP, 8/20/09)
2009 Aug 20, Russian authorities
flew the suspected hijackers of the cargo vessel Arctic Sea to Moscow
and took off them for interrogation, dismissing suggestions that the
ship may have been carrying weapons.
(Reuters, 8/20/09)
2009 Aug 20, Kenny MacAskill,
Scotland’s justice secretary, freed Abdel Baset al-Megrahi (57), former
Libyan intelligence agent and alleged Lockerbie bomber (Dec 21, 1988),
on compassionate grounds after eight years in jail allowing him to go
home to Libya to die. Al-Megrahi has terminal prostate cancer and has
been given less than three months to live. In 2010 Professor Karol
Sikora, who assessed for the Libyan authorities, told The Sunday Times
it was "embarrassing" that he had outlived his three-month prognosis
and that al-Megrahi could survive for 10 years or longer. It was later
reported that BP had promoted the deal in order to protect a $900
million oil and gas exploration deal off the Libyan Mediterranean coast.
(AP, 8/20/09)(Econ, 8/29/09, p.48)(AP, 7/03/10)(SFC,
7/16/10, p.A2)
2009 Aug 20, In central Somalia
fighting between government soldiers and Islamic insurgents killed at
least 40 people as the warring sides tried to gain ground in strategic
towns.
(AP, 8/20/09)(SFC, 8/21/09, p.A2)
2009 Aug 20, Swiss President
Hans-Rudolf Merz and Libyan PM al-Baghdadi Ali al-Mahmoudi signed an
accord pledging to restore relations between the two countries and to
have Hannibal Gadhafi July 15, 2008, arrest examined by a joint
arbitration tribunal in London. The next day Merz defended his apology
to Libya for the arrest of Moammar Gadhafi's son, saying it was the
only way to secure the release of two Swiss citizens detained by
Tripoli.
(AP, 8/21/09)
2009 Aug 20, Taiwan's Cabinet
approved a NT$100 billion ($3 billion) reconstruction budget after the
island's worst typhoon in more than 50 years killed hundreds of people
and wiped out roads and bridges in the mountainous south.
(AP, 8/20/09)
2009 Aug 21, Guaranty Bank became
the 2nd-largest US bank to fail this year after the Texas lender was
shut down by regulators and most of its operations sold at a loss of
billions of dollars for the US government to a major Spanish bank.
Guaranty's failure, along with those of three small banks in Georgia
and Alabama, brought to 81 the number of US bank failures this year.
(AP, 8/22/09)
2009 Aug 21, Afghan President
Hamid Karzai's campaign and chief rival Abdullah Abdullah both said
they had won Afghanistan's election, but Washington's chief envoy
warned candidates not to declare victory prematurely.
(Reuters, 8/21/09)
2009 Aug 21, Australian leader
Kevin Rudd and his trans-Tasman counterpart John Key chaired the
first-ever joint meeting of their cabinets, and said it had been a
valuable opportunity to discuss their joint challenges. They vowed
closer military ties and collaboration on climate change in the
historic meeting.
(AFP, 8/22/09)
2009 Aug 21, A massive oil and gas
leak forced the evacuation of an oil rig off Australia's northwest
coast. PTTEP Australasia, a branch of Thai-owned PTT Exploration and
Production Co. Ltd., said about 40 barrels of oil had been discharged
in the initial incident, and it was still attempting to bring the leak
under control at the rig, owned by Norway's Seadrill. After 2 days
PTTEP said plugging the leak will take weeks. Government officials said
there was little threat of environmental damage. By the end of October
an estimated 400 barrels a day of oil continued leaking from the
fissure off the Australian coast. PTTEP Australasia has failed
repeatedly to stop the leak but said it is still trying.
(AFP, 8/22/09)(AP, 8/23/09)(AP, 10/30/09)
2009 Aug 21, In Chechnya suicide
bombers on bicycles detonated explosives, killing at least four police
officers and a civilian in coordinated attacks in the capital.
(AP, 8/21/09)
2009 Aug 21, Chile's health
ministry said it ordered a quarantine for two turkey farms outside the
port city of Valparaiso after genetic tests confirmed sick birds were
afflicted with the same swine flu virus circulating in humans.
(AP, 8/21/09)
2009 Aug 21, In Iraq a small truck
passed through an Iraqi police checkpoint in southern Baghdad but was
not searched minutes before exploding at the front gate of the market,
killing two and wounding 20.
(AP, 8/21/09)
2009 Aug 21, Mexico decriminalized
small amounts of marijuana, cocaine and heroin, a move that prosecutors
say makes sense even in the midst of the government's grueling battle
against drug traffickers. Gunmen killed an army officer Capt. Alejandro
Aranda and another man in a bowling alley in Ciudad Juarez, a border
city that has seen Mexico's highest levels of drug-related violence in
recent years.
(AP, 8/21/09)(AP, 8/22/09)
2009 Aug 21, New Zealanders voted
overwhelmingly to overturn a law that prohibits parents from hitting
children, according to the results of a nationwide referendum, but the
government said the law is working and won't be changed. In the postal
vote 87.6% of voters responded "No" to the question: "Should a smack as
part of good parental correction be a criminal offense in New Zealand?"
(AP, 8/21/09)
2009 Aug 21, Leading Pakistani
Taliban commander Hakimullah Mehsud was appointed the new head of the
militant group. Hakimullah (28), the military chief of Baitullah's
Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or Pakistani Taliban Movement, commanded 3
tribal regions and has a reputation as Baitullah's most ruthless
deputy. A US drone fired a missile into a suspected militant hide-out
in North Waziristan, killing 12 people in an attempt to take out Siraj
Haqqani, a jihadist commander accused of attacks on Western troops in
Afghanistan. Haqqani, a prime suspect in suicide blasts in Kabul, held
close ties to Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency and
controlled a swathe of territory in North Waziristan and eastern
Afghanistan.
(AP, 8/22/09)(AP, 8/21/09)(SFC, 8/22/09, p.A2)(Econ,
10/17/09, p.36)
2009 Aug 21, Philippine police
arrested Dinno-Amor Rosalejos Pareja, also known as Khalil Pareja, the
alleged leader of a radical Islamist group believed to be responsible
for one of Southeast Asia's deadliest terror attacks. Pareja is
allegedly the leader of the Rajah Solaiman Movement, a group of
Christian converts to Islam. The group is believed to be behind the
2004 ferry bombing that killed 116 people in Manila Bay. It was the
second-most deadly terrorist attack in Southeast Asia after the 2002
attack on the Indonesian resort island of Bali that killed 202 people.
(AP, 8/21/09)
2009 Aug 21, A landslide at
Portugal’s Maria Luisa beach in Albufeira on the Algarve coast killed
five people and injured at least four.
(AP, 8/22/09)
2009 Aug 21, Slovakia stopped
Hungary’s Pres. Laszlo Solyom from crossing its border. This was a
breach of EU rules on freedom of movement. Solyom had planned to
unveil a statue of St. Stephen, the first king of Hungary, in the
predominantly Hungarian city of Komarno. Slovakia’s government had
objected to the visit as the date coincided with the “Prague Spring” of
1968, when Hungary, as part of the Warsaw pact, took part in the Soviet
crush of Czechoslovakia’s independence movement.
(Econ, 8/29/09, p.46)
2009 Aug 21, In Somalia an
insurgent attack on a peacekeeping base sparked gunbattles that killed
at least 22 people, as the undermanned African peacekeeping force tried
to maintain the government's tenuous hold on Somalia's battered capital.
(Reuters, 8/21/09)
2009 Aug 22, Vicki Cruse (40) from
Santa Paula, Calif., died in an accident during the World Aerobatic
Championships at Britain's Silverstone motor racing circuit. She was a
former member of the US national aerobatics team and was the first
woman to qualify to race in her class at the Reno National Championship
Air Races.
(AP, 8/22/09)
2009 Aug 22, The West Australian
town of Broome, with deep historical ties to Japan, voted to sever its
sister city relationship with the Japanese village of Taiji to protest
an annual dolphin slaughter near there. At an extraordinary meeting on
October 13 Broome rescinded the decision, which it said was made in
haste and without wide consultation, and issued an apology to the
Japanese community in Broome and Taiji, their families and friends for
any disrespect caused by council's resolution. But it noted that it did
not condone the harvest of dolphins in Taiji, with which it forged
sister-city relations in 1981.
(AP, 8/24/09)(AFP, 10/16/09)
2009 Aug 22, Colombian authorities
said police have captured Jose Armando Cadena Cabrera, a guerrilla
suspected of killing a US military contractor and a Colombian soldier
after their surveillance plane crashed in the jungle in 2003.
(AP, 8/22/09)
2009 Aug 22, The EU published a
list of nearly 4,000 airlines that it says should reduce their impact
on the environment from 2012 or face being banned from European
airports.
(AP, 8/22/09)
2009 Aug 22, Cologne prosecutors
said they are investigating 100 professors across Germany on suspicion
they took bribes to illegally help students with their doctorates. The
investigation has been going on for more than a year after it emerged
that a law professor at Hannover University had organized degrees for
61 students whose exam results were otherwise insufficient.
(AP, 8/22/09)
2009 Aug 22, India and Nepal
agreed to a new trade treaty as PM Madhav Kumar Nepal ended a five-day
official visit to the regional giant that both countries hailed a great
success.
(AFP, 8/22/09)
2009 Aug 22, In Indonesia a group
of thieves killed an endangered Sumatran tiger in a zoo in Jambi
province on Sumatra island and stole most of its body. Police suspected
the theft was motivated by the animal's valuable fur and bones. The
number of Sumatran tigers has dwindled to about 250 from about 1,000 in
the 1970s, according to the Washington DC-based World Wildlife Fund.
(AP, 8/23/09)
2009 Aug 22, In Iraq an attack on
a police checkpoint in the Azamiyah district of Baghdad left two
officers dead.
(AP, 8/23/09)
2009 Aug 22, In Italy a lucky
lotto player in Tuscany won Italy's record euro147.8 million ($211.8
million) state lottery, pocketing what has been billed as Europe's
biggest jackpot.
(AP, 8/23/09)
2009 Aug 22, In Tijuana, Mexico,
at least three police officers were in critical condition after gunmen
opened fire on their patrol cars.
(AP, 8/22/09)
2009 Aug 22, In Nigeria a top
militant commander and nearly 1,000 of his followers surrendered to the
government, handing over rocket launchers, gunboats, guns and bullets
in the biggest move since a government amnesty began two weeks ago.
Ebikabowei "Boyloaf" Victor Ben, state commander for the region's
biggest armed group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger
Delta (MEND), and 25 commanders under his leadership delivered weapons
to police overnight.
(AP, 8/22/09)
2009 Aug 22, In Pakistan a suicide
bomber blew himself up to evade capture during a raid in Kanju town in
the troubled northwestern Swat Valley. Local media said two security
officials were killed and two others were wounded.
(AP, 8/22/09)
2009 Aug 22, In Somalia Islamic
insurgents attacked a government checkpoint in Mogadishu, sparking a
gunbattle that killed at least five people on the first day of the
Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
(AP, 8/22/09)
2009 Aug 22, In Tanzania a fire
ripped through a dormitory in the rural Iringa district, killing 12
schoolgirls and wounding 23 others. Preliminary investigations
indicated the fire was caused by a candle after a student fell asleep
studying.
(AP, 8/24/09)
2009 Aug 22, Venezuelan police
dispersed opponents of Pres. Chavez's government as thousands
demonstrated both for and against an education law that critics fear
will lead to political indoctrination in schools.
(AP, 8/23/09)
2009 Aug 23, Afghan former Foreign
Minister Abdullah Abdullah, President Karzai's main challenger, said he
had evidence last week's election had been widely rigged by the
incumbent and that he had lodged more than 100 complaints. The Election
Complaints Commission (ECC) said it had received 225 complaints of
which 35 had been labeled a priority. An American service member died
in an insurgent attack. Two Estonian soldiers were killed after their
unit stumbled on a roadside bomb in southern Helmand province.
(Reuters, 8/23/09)(AP, 8/24/09)
2009 Aug 23, NATO military
commanders told US President Barack Obama's envoy on that they needed
more troops and other resources to beat back a resurgent Taliban,
particularly in eastern Afghanistan near the Pakistan border.
(Reuters, 8/23/09)
2009 Aug 23, In the Bahamas
Stefania Fernandez (18), Miss Venezuela, was the fairest of them all
once again, winning the 2009 Miss Universe crown for the second year
straight and the sixth time since the pageant's creation.
(AP, 8/24/09)
2009 Aug 23, A Chinese state news
agency reported that a drought in the north has left nearly 5 million
people short of drinking water and damaged crops, while dry weather in
the south could cause more shortages.
(AP, 8/23/09)
2009 Aug 23, In Greece a raging
fire bore down on Athens' northern suburbs, prompting panicked
residents to battle the flames with tree limbs and buckets, and police
to order 10,000 people to evacuate one town immediately. The fires
ignited late on Aug 21; by today they were reported across an area more
than 25 miles (40 kilometers) wide.
(AP, 8/23/09)
2009 Aug 23, The Iraqi military
broadcast the confession of a Sunni man, Wisam Ali Khazim Ibrahim (57),
identified as the mastermind of one of two Aug 19 suicide truck
bombings targeting government buildings in Baghdad. In northern Iraq
gunmen attacked a police checkpoint in Mosul, killing one police
officer. An American soldier died of injuries sustained during an
attack on a US patrol in the Iraqi capital.
(AP, 8/23/09)
2009 Aug 23, Mexican army soldiers
captured Luis Ricardo Magana. Prosecutors described him as a leading
member of the violent La Familia drug cartel. A team of top US law
enforcement officials began a three-day visit to Mexico to explore ways
to improve efforts against arms smuggling into Mexico as part of joint
efforts to combat drug gangs.
(AP, 8/24/09)
2009 Aug 23, In Pakistan a suicide
bombing on the outskirts in the northwestern city of Peshawar killed
three people and wounded 15 others. Police in Karachi arrested seven
members of the banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi movement in a raid. The
al-Qaida-linked movement is blamed for two failed assassination
attempts against former President Pervez Musharraf and the beheading of
Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.
(AP, 8/23/09)(AP, 8/24/09)
2009 Aug 23, In Zimbabwe a cabinet
retreat by the unity government collapsed this weekend as President
Robert Mugabe's ministers walked out after the deputy prime minister
said last year's polls were fraudulent.
(AP, 8/23/09)
2009 Aug 24, A senior
administration said that Pres. Obama has approved establishment of the
new unit, to be known as the High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group,
which will be overseen by the National Security Council.
(AP, 8/24/09)
2009 Aug 24, The US government
cash for clunkers program ended.
(SFC, 8/24/09, p.A4)
2009 Aug 24, Reader’s Digest,
founded in 1922, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The
company piled on debt following a $1.6 billion leveraged buyout in 2007
by investors led by Ripplewood Holdings LLC, a NY private equity firm.
(SFC, 8/25/09, p.D3)
2009 Aug 24, In the San Francisco
Bay Area Alexander Robert Youshock (17), a former Hillsdale High School
student in San Mateo, lit 2 of 10 pipe bombs before he was tackled by
teachers. Youshock also carried a chain saw and a sword and planned to
attack students as the ran from the bombs.
(SFC, 8/25/09, p.A1)(SFC, 8/27/09, p.A1)
2009 Aug 24, Mohammed Jawad (~21),
a Guantanamo prisoner once charged with wounding two US soldiers and
their interpreter was back home in Afghanistan, months after a war
crimes case against him unraveled when a military judge ruled his
confession was coerced.
(AP, 8/24/09)
2009 Aug 24, Argentine federal
police uncovered four tons (4,200 kilograms) of ephedrine worth
millions in oil drums and boxes to be sent to Mexico and the US. The
lead investigator called it the largest illegal shipment of the
methamphetamine precursor ever seized there.
(AP, 8/24/09)
2009 Aug 24, Bangladesh awarded
three offshore blocks to two global energy companies to explore for gas
in the Bay of Bengal. The US-based ConocoPhillips and Ireland's Tullow
Oil could start exploration work by early next year.
(AP, 8/25/09)
2009 Aug 24, In China 14 workers
were killed in a gas explosion at a coal mine in northern Shanxi
province.
(AP, 8/25/09)
2009 Aug 24, In Honduras foreign
ministers from seven OAS nations launched a direct, high-profile
attempt to persuade the interim government to restore ousted Pres.
Manuel Zelaya. The delegation failed to win a pledge to restore ousted
President Manuel Zelaya.
(AP, 8/24/09)(AP, 8/25/09)
2009 Aug 24, In Iran conservative
rivals handed a new snub to Pres. Ahmadinejad, appointing Gholam
Hossein Mohseni Ejehi, the man he fired from the post of intelligence
minister, as the country's state prosecutor. Senior opposition figure
Mahdi Karroubi made public an account of a prisoner who was raped by
jailers. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered the closure of
Kahrizak prison, where at least 3 prisoners are known to have died.
(AP, 8/24/09)(SFC, 8/25/09, p.A3)
2009 Aug 24, Iraqi lawmakers said
major Shiite groups have formed a new alliance that will exclude Iraqi
PM al-Maliki, a step likely to stoke fears of increasing Iranian
influence and shake up the political landscape before January
parliamentary elections. The new bloc, called the Iraqi National
Alliance, will include the largest Shiite party, the Supreme Iraqi
Islamic Council, or SIIC, and anti-US cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's bloc,
which both have close ties to Tehran, as well as some small Sunni and
secular parties.
(AP, 8/24/09)
2009 Aug 24, Israeli soldiers
fired on a group of suspicious Palestinians across the border in
northern Gaza. 3 Palestinians were wounded. 2 mortar shells were later
fired from Gaza slightly wounding one soldier.
(SFC, 8/25/09, p.A2)
2009 Aug 24, Kenya began its first
national census in a decade amid an outcry over one question that asks
people to identify their ethnic group, a contentious issue in this East
African nation.
(AP, 8/24/09)
2009 Aug 24, An American UN
peacekeeper under investigation for sexual exploitation and abuse of
minors in Liberia was found dead in his house in Monrovia. Sources said
it appeared that the American, a civilian in the Liberia mission, known
as UNMIL, had committed suicide due to the investigations.
(Reuters, 8/26/09)
2009 Aug 24, Mexican police in the
northern state of Sinaloa found four severed human heads in a cooler by
the side of a rural roadway.
(AP, 8/24/09)
2009 Aug 24, Myanmar police seized
more than 100 blocks of heroin and nearly 3 million methamphetamine
tablets near the border with Thailand in one of the military-ruled
country's largest drug seizures.
(AP, 8/26/09)
2009 Aug 24, Nigeria's anti-graft
agency EFCC declared two sacked bank directors wanted over alleged
frauds and running their institutions into insolvency.
(AFP, 8/24/09)
2009 Aug 24, In the eastern
Pakistani city of Sargodha, police arrested six militants in two raids.
They were said to be linked to Mehsud's Taliban and had planned to
launch strikes next week on at least two places of worship. Among the
six was Zaid Mustafa, said to have recruited potential suicide bombers
for training in Afghanistan and who is suspected of providing
logistics, explosives and other support for terror attacks in Lahore,
Karachi or Rawalpindi. Gunmen shot dead an Afghan television journalist
and severely wounded his colleague in northwestern Pakistan.
(AP, 8/24/09)
2009 Aug 24, It was reported that
Peruvian police expecting to find a shipment of cocaine hidden in a
crate holding two live turkeys were surprised to discover the drug
surgically implanted inside the birds.
(AP, 8/24/09)
2009 Aug 24, In Rustenberg, South
Africa some 13,000 platinum miners at Impala Platinum, the world's
second-largest producer, downed tools over a pay dispute.
(AFP, 8/26/09)
2009 Aug 24, The Stockholm
District Court threatened to fine Internet provider Black Internet
500,000 Swedish kronor (about $70,000) unless it stopped serving Pirate
Bay. Court documents showed the company has to comply with the order
until the ongoing case between Pirate Bay and the entertainment
industry is over.
(AP, 8/25/09)
2009 Aug 24, Taiwan's government
confirmed that 292 people were killed and 385 missing after Typhoon
Morakot struck the island and caused its worst flooding in half a
century earlier this month.
(AP, 8/24/09)
2009 Aug 25, The US White House
forecast a 10-year federal deficit of $9 trillion, more than the sum of
all previous deficits since America’s founding.
(SFC, 8/26/09, p.A6)
2009 Aug 25, US Senator Jim Webb,
back from a rare trip to Myanmar, called sanctions against the military
regime "overwhelmingly counter-productive" and asked the opposition to
consider taking part in upcoming elections.
(AFP, 8/26/09)
2009 Aug 25, Sony Corp. unveiled a
new electronic book reader for the American market, dubbed the “Daily
Edition.” It was scheduled to become available in December for $399 and
compete with Amazon’s Kindle.
(Econ, 8/29/09, p.56)
2009 Aug 25, Sen. Edward M.
Kennedy (b.1932) of Massachusetts, died at his home on Cape Cod after a
yearlong struggle with brain cancer. He was the last surviving brother
in an enduring political dynasty and one of the most influential
senators in history. His memoir “True Compass: A Memoir” was published
in September.
(AP, 8/26/09)(Econ, 9/19/09, p.97)
2009 Aug 25, New Mexico Gov. Bill
Richardson met with Ricardo Alarcon, president of Cuba's parliament, as
well as members of the island's chamber of commerce as he headed a
trade mission there this week.
(AP, 8/25/09)
2009 Aug 25, The Afghan election
commission said President Hamid Karzai and top challenger Abdullah
Abdullah both have roughly 40% of the nationwide vote for president
with 10% of ballots counted. A large explosion detonated in Kandahar
and was followed by gunfire on the street afterward. A major bombing
killed at least 43 people and wounded 65 in Kandahar just after dark.
(AP, 8/25/09)(AP, 8/26/09)
2009 Aug 25, Argentina's Supreme
Court ruled out prison for pot possession, saying the government should
go after major traffickers and provide treatment instead of jail for
consumers of marijuana.
(AP, 8/25/09)
2009 Aug 25, In Belize PM Dean
Barrow rushed thru the nationalization of Belize Telemedia, the
country’s dominant telecommunications company, and appointed a new
board of directors. This was seen locally as an escalation in Barrow’s
long standing dispute with Michael Ashcroft, a British peer with
interests in Belize Bank.
(Econ, 10/24/09, p.41)(http://tinyurl.com/ykson7t)
2009 Aug 25, Four Ethiopian
athletes, two women and two men, fled their hotel in London and failed
to make a connecting flight to Edinburgh ahead of the Falkirk Cup
athletics event.
(AFP, 8/26/09)
2009 Aug 25, In Chechnya a suicide
bombing killed three police officers at a gas station-carwash complex
in the Shali region. Earlier in the day the Chechen Interior Ministry
said a policeman was killed and another wounded in an overnight clash
with militants.
(AP, 8/25/09)(AP, 8/28/09)
2009 Aug 25, Iraq recalled its
ambassador from Syria and demanded that Damascus hand over two
suspected Saddam Hussein loyalists it has linked to the Aug 19 suicide
attacks.
(AP, 8/25/09)
2009 Aug 25, An Israeli air strike
on a smuggling tunnel between the Gaza Strip and Egypt killed three
Palestinians and wounded seven.
(AP, 8/25/09)
2009 Aug 25, The World Food
Program said that 3.8 million Kenyans need emergency food aid because
of a prolonged drought, which is even causing electrical blackouts in
the capital because there's not enough water for hydroelectric plants.
(AP, 8/25/09)
2009 Aug 25, Nicaragua said it
will reroute the San Juan River on the border with Costa Rica. The
river has been at the center of a lengthy dispute between the two
Central American countries. The UN’s highest court last month set
travel rules for the San Juan River, affirming freedom for Costa Rican
boats to navigate the waterway while upholding Nicaragua's right to
regulate traffic. The judgment ended a four-year legal battle. Under an
1858 treaty, the entire river belongs to Nicaragua up to the Costa
Rican bank, but Costa Rican ships have freedom of navigation for
commerce.
(AP, 8/26/09)
2009 Aug 25, The UN said Somalia
is facing its worst humanitarian crisis in 18 years, with more than
half of the population needing humanitarian aid amid an escalating
crisis.
(AP, 8/25/09)
2009 Aug 25, South Korea launched
its first rocket, just months after rival North Korea's launch drew
international anger, but space officials said the satellite it carried
failed to enter its intended orbit.
(AP, 8/25/09)
2009 Aug 25, Turkey's military
indicated that it would back government efforts to grant more rights to
Kurds and improve the economy of their region. The military, however,
drew the line at moves that would involve negotiating with Kurdish
rebels, harm Turkey's unity or make Kurdish an official language.
(AP, 8/25/09)
2009 Aug 25, An international
forum in Turkey sought to boost aid and investment in Pakistan as a way
to support its democratic institutions and curb violence there.
(AP, 8/25/09)
2009 Aug 26, In California Phillip
Garrido (58) and his wife Nancy (55) were arrested for their 1991
kidnapping of Jaycee Lee Dugard (11) from a bus stop outside her
home in South Lake Tahoe. Police freed Dugard and her 2 children who
were fathered by Dugard, who had kept them in tents in a fenced,
backyard compound in Antioch, Ca.
(AP, 8/28/09)
2009 Aug 26, In southern
California the Station Fire began in Los Angeles County and soon grew
to become the largest wildfire in county history. It did not get
contained until Sep 1.
(SFC, 11/14/09, p.A4)
2009 Aug 26, Dominick Dunne
(b.1925), novelist and Vanity Fair columnist, died. His books included
“The Two Mrs. Grenvilles” (1985), based on the 1955 Woodward murder
case.
(SFC, 8/27/09, p.A9)
2009 Aug 26, Ellie Greenwich
(b.1940), songwriter, died. Her string of hits in the 1960s included
“Da Doo Ron Ron” (1963), “Chapel of Love” (1964) and “Be My Baby”
(1963). Many of her songs were done in collaboration with producer Phil
Spector and her husband Jeff Barry.
(SFC, 8/28/09, p.D5)
2009 Aug 26, Afghan President
Hamid Karzai widened his lead after officials released more partial
vote results. The latest returns boosted Karzai's standing to 44.8% and
Abdullah’s at 35.1%. The count was based on returns from 17% of polling
stations nationwide. In eastern Afghanistan a firefight left as many as
12 militants dead. Reports of the death toll varied widely. A spokesman
of the governor of Paktika province said 12 militants died, while
police said two were killed. The US military did not report any deaths.
7 insurgents, including a wounded commander, were detained.
(AP, 8/26/09)(AP, 8/27/09)
2009 Aug 26, Australia's highest
court ruled that the country's military justice system is
unconstitutional because its judges are not independent of the military
command, throwing into doubt 171 cases judged in the past two years.
(AP, 8/26/09)
2009 Aug 26, A Brazilian
prosecutor in Amazonas state accused Wallace Souza, a former police
officer and TV crime show host, of attempting to have a federal judge
assassinated in 2007. Souza was already accused of setting up at least
5 killings to boost his TV ratings. Souza was soon kicked out of the
state legislature and on Oct 5 police issued a warrant for his arrest.
(SFC, 8/27/09, p.A2)(AP, 10/7/09)
2009 Aug 26, In Cambodia a Phnom
Penh Municipal Court Judge found Michael James Dodd of Washington, DC,
guilty of soliciting sex from a 14-year-old girl. He was arrested in
October 2008 at his rented house in Phnom Penh, in the girl's company.
He was sentenced to 10 years in prison and ordered to pay 20 million
riel ($4,878) in compensation to the girl's family.
(AP, 8/26/09)
2009 Aug 26, China’s state media
reported that the majority of transplanted organs in China come from
executed prisoners in a rare disclosure about an industry often
criticized for being opaque and unethical.
(AP, 8/26/09)
2009 Aug 26, In China six members
of an alleged "terror gang" were detained in the suburbs of the city of
Aksu, 675km (420 miles) southwest of Urumqi. The Ministry of Public
Security later said a "large quantity" of materials and tools needed to
make explosive devices was seized.
(AFP, 9/16/09)
2009 Aug 26, In Colombia hooded
men in uniforms without insignias shot and killed 12 members of the Awa
indigenous group, including five children, on a reserve in a region
plagued by the cocaine trade.
(AP, 8/26/09)
2009 Aug 26, In the Republic of
Congo 7 people, including five Russian crew members, were killed when a
cargo plane crashed on the outskirts of Brazzaville.
(AFP, 8/26/09)
2009 Aug 26, In Greece the fires
around Athens were put out or contained to small areas after razing 80
square miles (210 square km) of forest and hillside scrub, an area more
than three times the size of Manhattan. It was the most destructive
blaze in decades in the Attica region, and the worst in Greece since
wildfires in 2007 killed 76 people and blackened 1,060 square miles
(2,750 square km).
(AP, 8/26/09)
2009 Aug 26, Central America's
development bank said it is freezing credits to Honduras following the
June 28 coup that ousted President Manuel Zelaya. Many other
multilateral agencies and foreign governments have put Honduras aid
projects on hold, in the face of the interim government's refusal to
reinstate Zelaya.
(AP, 8/26/09)
2009 Aug 26, A small Indonesian
ferry sank off the resort island of Bali, killing nine people while
three others are still missing.
(Reuters, 8/26/09)
2009 Aug 26, Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim
(b.1950), the scion of a revered clerical family, died of lung cancer
in Iran, the country that was long his key ally. He channeled rising
Shiite Muslim power after the fall of Saddam Hussein to become one of
Iraq's most influential politicians.
(AP, 8/26/09)
2009 Aug 26, In Mexico gunmen in
Ciudad Juarez killed Pablo Pasillas (33), the aide of a Mexican federal
agent investigating the death of a crime reporter, a month after the
first agent assigned to the case was shot dead. In a separate attack,
gunmen in the western town of Tlaquepaque wounded Maximiano Barbosa,
the founder of Mexico's most influential debtors group, as well as his
son.
(AP, 8/27/09)
2009 Aug 26, Nigerian authorities
arrested two dozen people wanted over massive debts owed to troubled
banks in a scandal that has rocked the country's financial industry.
(AFP, 8/26/09)
2009 Aug 26, In Bucharest,
Romania, fans at first politely applauded the Roma performers sharing a
stage with Madonna. Then the pop star condemned widespread
discrimination against Roma, or Gypsies, and the cheers gave way to
jeers. Official Romanian data put the local Roma population at 500,000.
(AP, 8/27/09)
2009 Aug 26, Top Russian officials
acknowledged for the first time that the Arctic Sea, a ship hijacked
last month in the Baltic Sea, might have been carrying a suspicious
cargo, deepening the mystery around its seizure.
(AFP, 8/26/09)
2009 Aug 26, Russia, worried about
North Korean missile and nuclear tests, said it has deployed
sophisticated air defenses in its Far East region to protect against
any potential test mishap.
(AFP, 8/26/09)
2009 Aug 26, Somali pirates in the
Gulf of Aden fired at a US Navy helicopter as it made a surveillance
flight over the Win Far, a Taiwanese-flagged fishing vessel seized in
April, the first such attack by pirates on an American military
aircraft.
(AP, 8/27/09)
2009 Aug 26, In South Africa
soldiers, demanding higher wages, tried to scale the fence at the Union
Buildings where President Jacob Zuma has his office. Police used
teargas, rubber bullets and water cannons to disperse the soldiers, who
marched despite a court order barring their protest.
(AP, 9/1/09)
2009 Aug 26, In Spain Bunol's town
hall estimated more than 40,000 people, some from as far away as Japan
and Australia, took up arms with 100 tons of tomatoes in the yearly
food fight known as the "Tomatina," now in its 64th year.
(AP, 8/26/09)
2009 Aug 26, In Thailand suspected
Muslim insurgents detonated a car bomb outside a crowded open-air
restaurant during lunchtime, wounding 26 people.
(SFC, 8/26/09, p.A2)
2009 Aug 26, Doctors at Zimbabwe's
state hospitals called off a crippling two-week strike, broken by the
reality that the government had no money to meet their wage demands.
(AFP, 8/26/09)
2009 Aug 27, Chicago's 9-story old
main post office, which dated from the 1920s and has been vacant for
more than a decade, was sold at auction for $40 million to
International Property Developers North America Inc, which did not
specify its plans.
(AP, 8/28/09)
2009 Aug 27, Toyota confirmed that
it would stop making cars at the NUMMI plant in Fremont, Ca., idling
some 4,700 workers.
(SFC, 8/28/09, p.A1)
2009 Aug 27, In Afghanistan a US
service member died in a militant attack involving a roadside bomb and
gunfire, a death that pushed August into a tie with July as the
deadliest months of the eight-year war.
(AP, 8/27/09)
2009 Aug 27, A senior UN official
condemned Australia's controversial intervention into remote Aboriginal
communities, describing the measures as discriminatory and finding
entrenched racism in Australia.
(Reuters, 8/27/09)
2009 Aug 27, Mike Perham (17)
became the youngest person to sail solo around the world with
assistance, as he entered British waters after 156 days at sea. The
Guinness Book of World Records created a new category for Perham:
youngest sailor to circumnavigate the globe solo, supported. His
father, Peter, sailed in a boat behind him, but did not offer
assistance, which Guinness defines as being accompanied on the boat by
another human being.
(AFP, 8/27/09)
2009 Aug 27, In Honduras a plan
was made public in which the interim leader offered to resign and back
exiled President Manuel Zelaya's return home, provided the ousted
leader gives up his claim to the presidency.
(AP, 8/28/09)
2009 Aug 27, In Iraq car bombs
targeted primarily Iraqi troops in the city and a northern Baghdad
suburb, killing one and wounding 22 people. Iraqi forces tightened
security around Shiite mosques, shrines and political party offices
ahead of the funeral of Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, a top Shiite leader, who
died in Iran a day earlier.
(AP, 8/27/09)
2009 Aug 27, In Mexico the bodies
of four farm workers were found dumped in a stable for bulls in the
western state of Michoacan. The bodies bore signs of torture and had
the letter "Z" carved into their foreheads, a possible reference to the
Zetas, hit men tied to the Gulf cartel. In the northern state of Nuevo
Leon, state Public Safety Secretary Aldo Fasci said about 2,000 police
officers across the state had been fired over the last two years for
suspected links to organized crime and drug cartels. Speaking at a
meeting of private security firms, he said 500 others were dismissed
for other causes.
(AP, 8/28/09)
2009 Aug 27, In Oaxaca, Mexico,
supporters of a teacher’s union tried to retake a school controlled by
Section 59 when gunfire erupted and teacher Antonio Norberto Camacho
was shot to death. Section 59 was created in the midst of the protests
led by Section 22 and anti-government groups in 2006.
(AP, 8/29/09)
2009 Aug 27, In Myanmar fresh
fighting erupted between government forces and an armed ethnic group in
the remote northeast, forcing tens of thousands to flee across the
border into China.
(Reuters, 8/28/09)
2009 Aug 27, In Pakistan a suicide
bomber killed at least 19 security officers at the Torkham security
checkpoint, one of the main border crossings for convoys ferrying NATO
supplies into Afghanistan. A suspected US drone fired two missiles at a
militant hide-out in northwest Pakistan, killing at least six people
and wounding nine.
(AP, 8/27/09)(AP, 8/30/09)
2009 Aug 27, In Russia Sergei
Mikhalkov (96), an author favored by Stalin who wrote the lyrics for
the Soviet and Russian national anthems, died. He fathered two noted
film directors. As a functionary and later chairman of the
government-regulated Soviet Writers' Union, Mikhalkov became an
integral part of the propaganda machine designed to indoctrinate Soviet
citizens and weed out dissidents.
(AP, 8/27/09)(Econ, 9/12/09, p.96)
2009 Aug 27, In Saudi Arabia a
suicide bomber targeted the assistant interior minister, Prince
Mohammed bin Nayef, and blew himself up just before going into a
gathering of well-wishers for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in
Jiddah. Nayef was slightly wounded.
(AP, 8/28/09)
2009 Aug 27, In Sudan Martin
Luther Agwai, the outgoing military commander of the joint UN-African
Union (UNAMID) peacekeeping force in the western Sudan region, said
there is no more war in Darfur. Agwai defended his soldiers against
persistent criticism of their effectiveness, insisting they have ended
the massacres that long plagued the Sudanese region. The Nigerian
officer will be replaced next week by Rwandan Patrick Nyamvumba.
(AFP, 8/27/09)
2009 Aug 27, Taiwan's president
angered China with his surprise announcement that he has agreed to let
the Dalai Lama visit the island to comfort survivors of a devastating
typhoon.
(AP, 8/27/09)
2009 Aug 27, A Turkish train
collided with a construction vehicle during a journey from Ankara to
Istanbul, derailing several carriages and leaving many people injured.
(AP, 8/27/09)
2009 Aug 27, Uruguay lawmakers
approved a bill allowing gay and lesbian couples to adopt. The 99-seat
Chamber or Representatives passed the bill 40-13, with the remaining
members absent. The law, still needing Senate approval, was supported
by socialist President Tabare Vazquez's Broad Front coalition, which
has already legalized gay civil unions and ended a ban on homosexuals
in the armed forces.
(AP, 8/28/09)
2009 Aug 27, Vietnam police took
Bui Thanh Hieu, who writes a blog under the pen name Nguoi Buon Gio, or
Wind Trader, into custody for questioning. Pham Doan Trang, a writer
for the popular online newspaper VietnamNet, was detained the day
before. Both were released on Sep 6.
(AP, 9/6/09)
2009 Aug 27, In Zimbabwe South
Africa’s President Jacob Zuma he met with PM Tsvangirai who has accused
Mugabe's ZANU-PF party of stalling on reforms and continuing to attack
and harass its activists.
(AP, 8/28/09)
2009 Aug 28, The space shuttle
Discovery with 7 astronauts blasted off from Cape Canaveral just before
midnight to bring supplies to the int’l. space station.
(SFC, 8/29/09, p.A4)
2009 Aug 28, California Gov.
Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency in Los Angeles and
Monterey counties due to wild fires.
(SSFC, 8/30/09, p.A10)
2009 Aug 28, Afghan Taliban
insurgents ambushed a police convoy, killing three policemen and
wounding about 30 others near Ghazni. In northern Afghanistan foreign
troops attacked a militant commander in Kunduz province, killing him
and his six men. A female militant who engaged troops with an assault
rifle and with ammunition packed to her chest was among the dead. In
eastern Afghanistan an American service member died in a bomb blast
that also wounded Cami McCormick, a CBS Radio News correspondent. This
made August the deadliest month of the eight-year war for US forces.
(AP, 8/28/09)(AP, 8/29/09)
2009 Aug 28, PM Gordon Brown said
Britain will commit 665 million pounds ($1.08 billion) in aid to help
Pakistan stabilize its violent border areas and tackle the underlying
causes of extremism.
(AP, 8/28/09)
2009 Aug 28, In Cameroon a
petroleum-loaded cargo train collided with another train in the
southwest of the capital Yaounde. 2 firefighters were killed when 4
petroleum tankers exploded.
(AP, 8/30/09)
2009 Aug 28, Two Chechen militants
blew themselves up to escape capture, wounding three policemen and
three civilians in the process.
(AP, 8/28/09)
2009 Aug 28, In China 15 miners
died after inhaling poisonous gas at the Jicai Graphite Mine near
Chenzhou City in central Hunan province.
(AP, 8/29/09)
2009 Aug 28, Dagestan police
killed three militants who had opened fire on a police post in
Makhachkala, the capital. A policeman was shot dead in a separate
attack in the capital.
(AP, 8/28/09)
2009 Aug 28, Denmark announced the
5 winners of its biennial Index design awards. The winners included:
Kiva.org, of the SF Bay Area for bringing money and intellectual
capital to the working poor; Better Place, of the SF Bay Area for a
clean energy system for all-electric cars; the Freeplay fetal heart
rate monitor; Philip Design for its India-team designed safe kitchen
stove for one-room homes; and Rotterdam-based Pig 05049 for its list of
185 good and bad products made from a single pig.
(SFC, 8/29/09, p.E1)
2009 Aug 28, Iceland's parliament
approved a controversial deal to pay back billions of euros (dollars)
lost by British and Dutch savers in the collapse of the online Icesave
bank. The deal provided for the payment of 3.8 billion euros by 2023 to
the British and Dutch governments for the compensation they forked out
to disgruntled savers.
(AFP, 8/28/09)
2009 Aug 28, It was reported that
dozens of impoverished Indian farmers in southern Andhra Pradesh state
have killed themselves in recent weeks due to debt and poor rainfall.
(SFC, 8/28/09, p.A2)
2009 Aug 28, India's first moon
mission, launched amid much fanfare in 2008, came to an abrupt end
after the country's lunar craft lost contact with its controllers. The
satellite was launched on October 22 and then fired a TV-set-sized
probe painted in the green, white and orange colors of the Indian flag
which landed on the moon on November 14.
(AFP, 8/29/09)
2009 Aug 28, In Indonesia the
overcrowded ferry Sari Mulia capsized in the Negara River in the South
Kalimantan province, leaving at least 19 people dead and 15 others
missing.
(AP, 8/29/09)(AP, 8/30/09)
2009 Aug 28, Iran’s President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called for the leaders of the opposition to be
prosecuted over the postelection turmoil, stepping up pressure against
the pro-reform movement that says he won the election by fraud.
Ahmadinejad also admitted for the first time that some detained
protesters were abused in custody but also denied any government
involvement, claiming instead that it was the work of Iran's enemies
and the opposition.
(AP, 8/28/09)
2009 Aug 28, In Iraq two American
soldiers died following an attack on a patrol in eastern Baghdad.
(AP, 8/28/09)
2009 Aug 28, In Mexico a convoy of
gunmen engaged state police in a running shootout that killed five
officers and possibly one of the attackers in the western Mexico state
of Jalisco. Americo Delgado (80), a lawyer for convicted Mexican drug
kingpin Benjamin Arellano Felix, was found stabbed to death in his
home. Felix was in prison serving a 22-year-sentence on drug
trafficking and organized crime charges and was fighting extradition to
the United States.
(AP, 8/28/09)(AP, 8/29/09)
2009 Aug 28, In Mozambique talks
aimed at determining who should lead Madagascar in a new interim
government ended in failure with the ousted president and the man who
replaced him in a military coup both claiming the right to do so. The
parties set a deadline of Sept. 4 to arrive at a compromise.
(AP, 8/28/09)
2009 Aug 28, A Pakistani court
ordered the government to lift any remaining restrictions on Abdul
Qadeer Khan, a scientist alleged to have spread nuclear technology to
Iran, North Korea and Libya. Mehdi-Muhammed Ghezali, a Swedish national
and former Guantanamo detainee, was arrested on the outskirts of Dera
Ghazi Khan in southern Pakistani town along with a group of foreigners,
including 7 Turks and 3 other Swedes, who lacked proper immigration
stamps. They were allegedly trying to join al-Qaida in the lawless
tribal areas.
(AP, 8/28/09)
2009 Aug 28, In Pakistan
helicopter gunships destroyed a training camp for suicide bombers in
the Swat Valley, killing six Taliban fighters, as scattered violence
killed 12 others in the region recently retaken by the army. 12
suspected foreign militants were arrested in Dera Ghazi Khan on the
edge of the South Waziristan tribal area, after they allegedly sneaked
into the country from Iran.
(AP, 8/29/09)
2009 Aug 28, Mehdi-Muhammed
Ghezali, a Swedish national and former Guantanamo detainee, was
arrested on the outskirts of Dera Ghazi Khan in southern Pakistani town
along with a group of foreigners, including 7 Turks and 3 other Swedes,
who lacked proper immigration stamps. They were allegedly trying to
join al-Qaida in the lawless tribal areas.
(AP, 9/14/09)
2009 Aug 28, In southern Sudan the
Lou-Nuer tribe attacked a village of the Dinka tribe in Twic East
County, leaving 46 people dead and 15 in critical condition. The
attackers wore new military uniforms and were using new machine guns,
but did not provide their identity.
(Reuters, 8/29/09)(AP, 9/1/09)
2009 Aug 28, In Thailand former
journalist Daranee Charnchoengsilpakul was sentenced to 18 years in
prison for insulting King Bhumibol Adulyadej during a speech in 2008.
(SFC, 8/29/09, p.A2)
2009 Aug 28, NATO’s Sec. Gen. Fogh
Rasmussen ended a 2-day visit to Turkey where he got a commitment for
more Turkish troops to work on reconstruction projects in Afghanistan.
(Econ, 9/12/09,
p.57)(www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=107181)
2009 Aug 28, The United Arab
Emirates confirmed that it has seized a cargo ship earlier this month
bound for Iran with a cache of banned arms from North Korea. Diplomats
identified the vessel as a Bahamas-flagged cargo vessel, the ANL
Australia, carrying rocket-propelled grenades and other weapons.
(AP, 8/29/09)
2009 Aug 28, In Zimbabwe South
Africa’s President Jacob Zuma met with President Robert Mugabe and
other leaders and appeared cautiously optimistic that their differences
within the coalition government could be resolved.
(AP, 8/28/09)
2009 Aug 29, California Gov.
Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency in Mariposa County due to
a wild fire in Yosemite National Park.
(SSFC, 8/30/09, p.A10)
2009 Aug 29, In San Francisco the
Outlands Music and Arts Festival continued in Golden Gate Park for the
2nd of 3 days with 7 stages and nearly 100 bands. Ticket prices were
$95 for a single day and $225.50 for all 3 days.
(SSFC, 8/30/09, p.C2)
2009 Aug 29, In southeast Georgia
7 people were found dead inside a dingy mobile home at a trailer park
built on the grounds of a historic US plantation near Brunswick. One of
two critically injured survivors died soon after. Police arrested Guy
Heinze Jr. (22), a family member who called 911 to report finding the
people slain, but the charges were drug-related and police wouldn't say
if the man was a suspect in the killings. On Sep 4 police Heinze on 8
counts of first-degree murder.
(AP, 8/30/09)(SFC, 8/31/09, p.A5)(SFC, 9/5/09, p.A6)
2009 Aug 29, Chris Connor (b.1927
as Mary Loutsenhizer), jazz singer of the 1950s and 1960s, died. Her 2
charted hits included “I Miss You” (1956) and “Trust in Me” (1957).
(SFC, 9/1/09, p.C5)
2009 Aug 29, Afghan President
Hamid Karzai widened his lead in the presidential race as new vote
tallies were released, inching closer to the 50 percent threshold of
votes he needs to avoid a run-off. The latest results show Karzai ahead
with 46.2% of the votes already counted against Abdullah's 31.4%.
(AP, 8/29/09)
2009 Aug 29, Australian
authorities intercepted a boat carrying 52 suspected asylum seekers,
the 18th such vessel to be discovered this year.
(AFP, 8/29/09)
2009 Aug 29, Britain’s PM Gordon
Brown made a surprise visit to Afghanistan, where he pledged to speed
up the training of Afghan security forces.
(AFP, 8/29/09)
2009 Aug 29, Britain’s Cairn
Energy began pumping crude from a vast oilfield in the Indian desert
state of Rajasthan that is set to increase the country's crude output
by 20 percent.
(AFP, 8/29/09)
2009 Aug 29, The EU signed a
temporary trade pact with Mauritius, Seychelles, Zimbabwe and
Madagascar calling for tariffs on European goods to be removed over the
next 15 years.
(AP, 8/29/09)
2009 Aug 29, In Iraq a suicide
truck bomber attacked a small police station in the remote village of
Hamad north of Baghdad, killing at least 12 people. a second attack
occurred near Mosul in the city of Sinjar, where a parked truck bomb
killed at least four people and wounded 23 others. A suicide bomber on
a motorcycle killed 2 people in a market in eastern Baghdad.
(AP, 8/29/09)(SSFC, 8/30/09, p.A7)
2009 Aug 29, In northwestern
Mexico a shooting killed eight people partying on a seaside boulevard
in Navolato, Sinaloa state. Among the dead were two brothers in their
30s who had a record of car theft, Investigators were considering the
possibility that the gunmen belonged to a criminal gang known as the
"Death Squad," which has been killing car thieves in the region.
(AP, 8/31/09)
2009 Aug 29, Fighting erupted in
northeast Myanmar after days of clashes in which the leader of ethnic
forces said more than 30 government troops had been killed. Hundreds of
ethnic rebels fled clashes in northeastern Myanmar, surrendering their
weapons and uniforms to Chinese border police and crossing to safety
after several days of skirmishes with Myanmar government troops. The UN
and Chinese officials said up to 30,000 civilian refugees have streamed
into China to escape the fighting.
(Reuters, 8/29/09)(AP, 8/30/09)
2009 Aug 29, Portugal’s government
said 2 Syrians previously held at Guantanamo Bay have arrived in
Portugal as free men.
(AP, 8/29/09)
2009 Aug 29, Somali witnesses said
hundreds of Ethiopian troops have crossed the border and seized control
of the Somali town of Belet Weyne from Islamist insurgents.
(AP, 8/29/09)
2009 Aug 29, In Sudan an armed
group kidnapped two foreign civilians working for the joint UN-African
Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur. The UNAMID workers, a Nigerian
man and a Zimbabwean woman, were released on Dec 13.
(AP, 8/29/09)(AFP, 12/13/09)
2009 Aug 30, In Utah a fire, which
already destroyed 3 houses and covered over 15 square miles, threatened
the rural town of New Harmony.
(SFC, 8/31/09, p.A4)
2009 Aug 30, Major allegations of
fraud in Afghanistan's presidential election topped 550, more than
doubling the figure investigators reported just two days earlier.
(AP, 8/30/09)
2009 Aug 30, British police
estimated that about 220,000 people turned up to dance, drink and eat
jerk chicken for the first of two days of the Notting Hill Carnival in
west London. The Afro-Caribbean carnival began the 1950s in response to
deteriorating race relations, and has been based in Notting Hill since
1964.
(AFP, 8/31/09)
2009 Aug 30, In Cameroon a
passenger train carrying about 1,000 people crashed in the northwest of
Yaounde. Nine people were killed in the crash and its aftermath.
(AP, 8/30/09)
2009 Aug 30, In eastern China Yu
Xiaochun (37) was going home when she was surrounded by five Wal-Mart
employees, four men and one woman, all in their 20s, who accused her of
shoplifting. They fought and Yu fell to the ground and was taken to a
hospital, where she died on Sept. 2. Two employees, a man surnamed Liu
and a man surnamed Yu, were detained following her death.
(AP, 9/8/09)
2009 Aug 30, Gabon held free
elections for the first time in more than 41 years. 18 candidates vied
to replace the late President Omar Bongo, who ruled for more than four
decades and ran as the only candidate in many elections. The leading
contender was the dead ruler's son, Ali Bongo Ondimba (50). He put up
posters of himself every 30 feet (9 meters) on the capital's main
highway and crisscrossed the country in a private jet to campaign. On
Sep 3 Ali Bongo Ondimba was declared the winner with 41.7% of the vote.
(AP, 8/30/09)(AP, 9/3/09)
2009 Aug 30, Israeli legal
authorities indicted former PM Ehud Olmert on corruption charges, the
first criminal indictment ever filed against a current or past Israeli
prime minister. Olmert was accused of illegally accepting funds from an
American backer, double-billing for trips abroad and concealing funds
from a government watchdog.
(AP, 8/30/09)
2009 Aug 30, Japan's ruling party
conceded a crushing defeat as voters were poised to hand the opposition
a landslide victory in nationwide elections, driven by economic anxiety
and a powerful desire for change. The left-of-center Democratic Party
of Japan, under Yukio Hatoyama (62), won 308 of the 480 seats in the
lower house of parliament, ousting the Liberal Democrats, who have
governed Japan for all but 11 months since 1955.
(AP, 8/30/09)(Econ, 9/5/09, p.29)
2009 Aug 30, Libyan leader Moamer
Kadhafi and Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi laid the foundation stone for
an ambitious highway stretching along the entire Libyan coast.
(AFP, 8/30/09)
2009 Aug 30, The Myanmar junta
ended a news blackout about clashes with ethnic rebels near the China
border, saying three days of fighting killed 26 government forces and
at least eight rebels.
(AP, 8/30/09)
2009 Aug 30, In Pakistan a suicide
bomber killed 17 police recruits in the Swat Valley in the deadliest
attack since the army regained control over the northwestern valley
from the Taliban. After the blast, security forces pursuing Taliban
suspects killed 18 militants in a gunbattle just outside Mingora.
(AP, 8/30/09)(AP, 8/31/09)
2009 Aug 30, In Zimbabwe Godknows
Dzoro Mtshakazi, a member of PM Morgan Tsvangirai's party, was
killed by soldiers in Shurugwi for playing a song praising the
premier.
(AFP, 9/8/09)
2009 Aug 31, In southern
California fashion designer Anand Jon Alexander was sentenced to 59
years to life in prison for sexually assaulting aspiring models he
lured to Los Angeles.
(AP, 9/1/09)
2009 Aug 31, In southern
California a massive fire in the Angeles National Forest nearly doubled
in size overnight, threatening 12,000 homes in a 20-mile-long swath of
flame and smoke and surging toward a mountaintop broadcasting complex.
2 firefighters died a day earlier when their vehicle rolled down a
mountainside amid the flames.
(AP, 8/31/09)(SFC, 8/31/09, p.A4)
2009 Aug 31, Florida’s Gov. Crist
signed a 20-year gambling pact with the Seminole Indian tribe, which
agreed to pay Florida $12.5 million a month for 30 months for running,
currently illegal, slot machines and blackjack games.
(Econ, 9/5/09, p.40)
2009 Aug 31, Deere & Co., the
world's largest agricultural-equipment maker, said its board of
directors has approved a plan to establish a new manufacturing and
parts center in Russia.
(AP, 8/31/09)
2009 Aug 31, The Walt Disney Co.
said it is buying Marvel Entertainment Inc. for $4 billion in cash and
stock, bringing such characters as Iron Man and Spider-Man into the
family of Mickey Mouse and WALL-E.
(AP, 8/31/09)
2009 Aug 31, In Afghanistan 2
bombings killed two US service members, the last day of the deadliest
month of the war for US forces.
(AP, 8/31/09)
2009 Aug 31, In China a
demonstration occurred when angry villagers from Fujian province's
Fengwei town confronted 2,000 riot police over a wastewater treatment
plant that had fouled local air and water. At least 10 people were
injured when the demonstrations turned violent and riot police fired
warning shots.
(AP, 9/1/09)
2009 Aug 31, Egyptian police found
the entrances to four tunnels and two tons of explosives hidden near
the border with Gaza. A day earlier they had thwarted an attempt to
smuggle 500 kg (1,100 lb) of explosives into Gaza.
(AP, 9/1/09)
2009 Aug 31, The European
Commission said an EU-wide transition of power-draining light bulbs to
more energy efficient ones will start Aug 1. The new rules follow an
agreement reached by the 27 EU governments last year to phase out the
traditional incandescent light bulb over three years starting this year
to help European countries lower greenhouse gas emissions.
(AP, 8/31/09)
2009 Aug 31, A Georgian court
sentenced a Turkish cargo ship captain to 24 years in prison for
smuggling and border violations.
(AP, 9/3/09)
2009 Aug 31, A Guatemalan court
convicted and sentenced a former paramilitary to 150 years in prison
for the forced disappearance of six people who were abducted and
presumably killed during the country's civil war. The sentence against
Felipe Cusanero represents 25 years for each victim who disappeared
between 1982 and 1984 from the village of Choatalum.
(AP, 9/2/09)
2009 Aug 31, Muhsin Mohammed
Muhsin (11) was kidnapped around noon on his way home from a neighbor's
funeral in Baghdad's eastern Shiite district of Sadr City. Kidnappers
demanded $100,000, but the father of six said he only had $10,000. 3
days later police found the boy dumped in the garbage with his head and
hands chopped off. His body showed burns and marks of torture.
(AP, 9/22/09)
2009 Aug 31, African leaders
gathered in Libya for a special summit to discuss the continent's
trouble spots, on the eve of celebrations to mark 40 years of Moamer
Kadhafi's rule.
(AFP, 8/31/09)
2009 Aug 31, Mexican authorities
said they have arrested four men accused of killing at least 211 people
for the Juarez cartel. The men allegedly belong to La Linea, a gang of
hit men for the Juarez cartel. One of the men alone was accused of
killing 97 people and another 87.
(AP, 8/31/09)
2009 Aug 31, Thousands of Myanmar
refugees headed home from China as fighting between government troops
and a rebel militia that left more than 30 people dead appeared to be
over.
(AP, 8/31/09)
2009 Aug 31, Nepal's PM Madhav
Kumar Nepal opened the first climate change conference of Himalayan
nations with a warning about the dangers of melting glaciers, floods
and violent storms for the region.
(AFP, 8/31/09)
2009 Aug 31, The Nigerian
anti-graft agency filed charges against 16 bank chiefs arrested for
incurring billions of dollars in bad loans for five ailing banks.
(AFP, 8/31/09)
2009 Aug 31, The Pakistani army
said it killed at least 45 Taliban militants over the last 24 hours in
scattered gunbattles across the northwestern Swat Valley.
(AP, 8/31/09)
2009 Aug 31, In Sri Lanka reporter
J.S. Tissainayagam, singled out by President Barack Obama as an example
of persecuted journalists around the globe, was sentenced to 20 years
in prison on charges of violating the country's harsh anti-terror law.
He was arrested in March, 2008, and indicted five months later under
the anti-terror law.
(AP, 8/31/09)
2009 Aug 31, Turkmenistan
President Gurbanguli Berdymukhamedov said a base will be built at the
Caspian Sea port city of Turkmenbashi to help "effectively fight
smugglers, terrorists and any other forces." Turkmenistan is locked in
a dispute with Azerbaijan, on the opposite shore, over several oil and
gas fields.
(AP, 8/31/09)
2009 Aug, Colombia’s Supreme Court
suspended further extraditions of paramilitary leaders arguing that the
gravity of the drug charges they face in the US pales in comparison
with the mass murders and other enormities that they are accused of in
Colombia.
(Econ, 10/31/09, p.46)
2009 Aug, In Fiji Laisenia Qarase
and Mahendra Chaudhry, rivals to military leader Commodore Bainimarama,
joined forces against him.
(Econ, 11/14/09, p.53)
2009 Aug, Jamaica’s government
received an extradition request for Christopher "Dudus" Coke (40). By
late October it had only responded with requests for more information
about the gun and drug trafficking charges against the reputed gang
leader. Coke, the alleged leader of the "Shower Posse" gang, is charged
in the US Southern District of New York with conspiracy to distribute
cocaine and marijuana and conspiracy to illegally traffic in firearms.
(AP, 10/29/09)
2009 Aug, In Mexico the director
of immigrant affairs in the southern border city of Tapachula was found
in a tub of cement, months after he was kidnapped.
(Econ, 9/26/09, p.48)
Go to http://www.timelinesdb.com
Go to September 2009
End of file
2009 September
2009 Sep 1, A top State Department
official said the US has released $214 million of an aid package to
help Mexico fight drug trafficking, including funds for five
helicopters for the military to be delivered by year's end.
(AP, 9/2/09)
2009 Sep 1, In San Francisco
charges were filed against 5 workers of the Public Utilities Commission
and 2 workers at city approved vendors in a scam that bilked the city
of over $200,000 in goods from 2003-2007. Donnie Alan Thomas and Miles
Bonner, line workers making over $95,000 a year, masterminded the scam.
Hatim Mansori (11) was stabbed on his first MUNI ride by himself. No
footage of his assailant was captured. Mansori suffered
life-threatening wounds, but was recovering.
(SFC, 9/2/09, p.D2)(SSFC, 11/15/09, p.A13)
2009 Sep 1, In Southern California
the Station wildfire continued to rage with 53 homes up in smoke,
thousands more threatened and new rounds of evacuations as towering
flames crackled close to foothill neighborhoods just 15 miles north of
downtown Los Angeles. On Sep 3 investigators said the fire was an act
of arson. On Oct 17 the US Forest Service said the 250-square-mile
Station fire was 100% contained, 52 days after it began.
(AP, 9/1/09)(SFC, 9/4/09, p.A7)(SFC, 10/20/09, p.A5)
2009 Sep 1, Idaho hunters began
stalking gray wolves, following their removal from the federal
endangered species a few months earlier. The quota for this season was
220. The quota in Montana was set at 75.
(SFC, 9/2/09, p.A8)
2009 Sep 1, In southern
Afghanistan an American service member died of wounds suffered in a
bombing the day before.
(AP, 9/1/09)
2009 Sep 1, In the Bahamas an
amended fisheries laws took effect to give full protection to all sea
turtles found in the Atlantic archipelago's waters by banning the
harvest, possession, purchase and sale of the endangered reptiles,
including their eggs.
(AP, 8/30/09)
2009 Sep 1, A Chilean judge
ordered the arrests of 129 former security officers on charges tied to
the disappearance of leftists and the slaying of the communist party
leadership during the Pinochet dictatorship.
(AP, 9/1/09)
2009 Sep 1, The 53-nation
Commonwealth says it has suspended Fiji automatically after it failed
to respond to a demand to begin restoring democracy to the island
nation.
(AP, 9/1/09)
2009 Sep 1, Ammar al-Hakim (38),
the son of the late leader of Iraq's largest Shiite political party,
acknowledged setbacks and reached out to political rivals as he
formally replaced his father at the helm of the Iranian-backed Supreme
Islamic Iraqi Council. Two American soldiers were killed in a vehicle
accident in northern Iraq.
(AP, 9/1/09)(AP, 9/3/09)
2009 Sep 1, In Japan dolphin
hunting season opened in Taijii. Over the next 6 months fishermen were
expected to catch about 2,300 of Japan’s annual quota of 20,000
dolphins, to be sold for meat and to aquariums.
(SSFC, 9/20/09, p.A20)
2009 Sep 1, Malaysian police
arrested Alain Robert (47), a French climber nicknamed "Spiderman,"
after he scaled the iconic 88-story Petronas Twin Towers.
(AP, 9/1/09)
2009 Sep 1, Pakistani government
forces destroyed four militant bases and killed 40 insurgents of
Lashkar-e-Islam in a new offensive near the Khyber Pass, the main route
for supplies to US and NATO troops in Afghanistan. 43 militants were
arrested.
(AP, 9/1/09)
2009 Sep 1, Mohammed Nayef (14)
one of three Palestinians who hurled Molotov cocktails at a guard post
near a Jewish settlement in the West Bank, died of gunshot shots from
Israeli troops inflicted the previous evening. The Hamas militant group
said two of its fighters have been killed in the Gaza Strip.
(AP, 9/1/09)
2009 Sep 1, In Slovakia a new
language law was scheduled to come into force to promote the use of
Slovak in public. Hungarian speakers, who numbered about a fifth of the
population, viewed this as a direct attack on their right to speak
their mother-tongue.
(Econ, 8/1/09, p.47)
2009 Sep 1, South Africa’s defense
ministry said it has issued around 2,000 letters of dismissal to
soldiers who last week staged an illegal march and tried to storm the
seat of government.
(AFP, 9/1/09)
2009 Sep 1, In Taiwan the wife and
adult children of Taiwan's former Pres. Chen Shui-bian were convicted
of perjury and sentenced to prison for lying to investigators in a
high-profile corruption case against the ex-leader. Chen (58) was
accused of embezzling $3.15 million during his 2000-2008 presidency
from a special presidential fund, receiving bribes worth at least $9
million in connection with a government land deal, and laundering some
of the money through Swiss bank accounts.
(AP, 9/2/09)
2009 Sep 1, Ukrainian PM Yulia
Tymoshenko said Russia and Ukraine have resolved a long standing
dispute over natural gas supplies, after meeting her Russian
counterpart Vladimir Putin at a resort on the Baltic coast in northern
Poland.
(Reuters, 9/1/09)
2009 Sep 2, US federal prosecutors
hit Pfizer Inc. with a record-breaking $2.3 billion in fines for
illegal drug promotions surrounding the marketing of 13 drugs.
(SFC, 9/3/09, p.C1)
2009 Sep 2, BP announced the
discovery of oil at its new Tiber Prospect oil reserve in the Gulf of
Mexico. It later estimated the reserve held between 4 and 6 billion
barrels of oil. Its Deepwater Horizon rig had drilled down 7 miles to
reach the oil.
(http://tinyurl.com/mhnujo)(SSFC, 9/6/09, p.E4)
2009 Sep 2, A Taliban suicide
bomber killed Abdullah Laghmani, Afghanistan's deputy chief of
intelligence, during a visit to a mosque in Laghman province. The blast
east of Kabul also killed the executive director of Laghman's
governor's office, the head of Laghman's provincial council, two of
Laghmani's body guards, and 18 civilians. An intelligence officer
kidnapped a few days ago by Taliban militants in Kunduz province was
found hanging from a tree on the outskirts of Baghlan city. 4 militants
were killed overnight when a roadside bomb they were planting
detonated. On Dec 20 Abdul Rahman, a Taliban military commander in
Laghman, and three members of his insurgent network were arrested for
the murder of Laghmani.
(AP, 9/2/09)(AP, 12/29/09)
2009 Sep 2, In central Afghanistan
American troops stormed through a hospital run by a Swedish charity in
Wardak province, breaking down doors and tying up staff in a search for
militants. The charity's country director later said this went against
an agreement between NATO forces and charities working in the area, and
was a clear violation of internationally recognized rules and
principles.
(AP, 9/7/09)
2009 Sep 2, In Algeria Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez called for closer economic ties with Algeria,
notably in the energy sector, during a two-day visit here.
(AFP, 9/3/09)
2009 Sep 2, In Burkina Faso 5
people were killed and 150,000 left homeless as heavy rainfall
triggered flooding across West Africa.
(Reuters, 9/2/09)
2009 Sep 2, In Chile Judge Manuel
Valderrama said the accounts of General Pinochet and his family reached
a value of $25,978,602.79 shortly before his death in December 2006.
The investigating judge said that more than $20 million of the funds
have no justifiable origin.
(AP, 9/2/09)
2009 Sep 2, In eastern China a
chemical explosion near Linyi city in Shandong province killed 18
people and injured 10 others.
(AP, 9/2/09)
2009 Sep 2, The IMF said China is
buying the equivalent of $50 billion of the International Monetary
Fund's first bond sale in a move that might boost Beijing's standing in
the Fund and help its quiet campaign to expand the reach of its tightly
controlled currency. Brazil, Russia and India have also agreed to
participate in the $80 billion issue.
(www.wsoctv.com/money/20698248/detail.html)(Econ,
9/19/09, p.83)
2009 Sep 2, In El Salvador
Christian Poveda (52), a French filmmaker who recently made a
documentary about the lives of members of El Salvador's street gangs,
was found shot dead in Tonacatepeque, a rural region north of San
Salvador. Earlier this year, Poveda, who lived in El Salvador, made the
documentary "La Vida Loca," which follows the lives of members La 18
street gang and received widespread attention in El Salvador. 4 Mara 18
members and a policeman were soon detained. On Dec 16 police arrested
10 more members of the Mara 18 gang. 9 other gang members already in
prison have also been charged in the case.
(AP, 9/3/09)(AP, 12/17/09)
2009 Sep 2, In Germany 6 countries
met for talks to try to address concerns about Iran's nuclear program.
The German government said it has received no official word yet on new
proposals that Tehran is pledging to make.
(AP, 9/2/09)
2009 Sep 2, In Greece a van bomb
exploded outside the Athens Stock Exchange, injuring a woman and
causing extensive damage to the building in what police said was a
coordinated double bombing that also targeted a government building in
the northern city of Thessaloniki.
(AP, 9/2/09)
2009 Sep 2, Authorities in Guinea
banned live political chat shows, the latest sign of political unease
after violent demonstrations and accusations of phone censorship
deepened a row over delayed elections. The military junta that has run
the world's top bauxite producer since a December 2008 coup is facing
mounting opposition and criticism after it delayed until 2010 elections
which the military leader has not ruled out standing in.
(Reuters, 9/3/09)
2009 Sep 2, In India a helicopter
carrying Y.S.R. Reddy (60), a powerful politician from southern Andhra
Pradesh state, disappeared in heavy rains as it flew over a forested
region largely controlled by Maoist rebels. Wreckage and the bodies of
all 5 aboard were found the next day.
(AP, 9/2/09)(AP, 9/3/09)
2009 Sep 2, A powerful 7.0
earthquake rattled southern Indonesia, killing at least 64 people
crushed by falling rock or collapsed buildings and sending thousands
fleeing outdoors for safety in the middle of the work day. More than
10,000 buildings were severely damaged.
(AP, 9/2/09)(AP, 9/4/09)
2009 Sep 2, Liberia's Defense
Minister Brownie Samukai said police had arrested six Pakistani men
earlier in the week who tried to enter Liberia on fake US passports
with possible intent to carry out terrorism.
(AP, 9/3/09)
2009 Sep 2, In Mexico gunmen broke
into a drug rehabilitation center in Ciudad Juarez, lined people
against a wall and shot 18 dead. The brazen attack followed the killing
of Jose Manuel Revuelta, the No. 2 security official in Michoacan,
President Felipe Calderon's home state. 2 bodyguards and a truck driver
were also killed in the crossfire. The federal Attorney General's
Office announced the arrest of its two top officials in Quintana Roo, a
state on the Yucatan Peninsula, for allegedly protecting the Gulf and
the Beltran Levya drug cartels. Chihuahua state authorities said they
were investigating reports that rehabilitation centers have turned into
hideouts for drug smugglers being sought by police and hit men from
rival gangs.
(AP, 9/3/09)(AP, 9/4/09)
2009 Sep 2, Dutch prosecutors said
they will charge an Arab cultural group under hate speech laws for
publishing a cartoon that suggests the death of 6 million Jews during
World War II is a fabrication.
(AP, 9/2/09)
2009 Sep 2, In Pakistan government
forces killed three suspected militants, captured 35 others and
destroyed six of their bases on the second day of its new offensive
near Pakistan's famed Khyber Pass. Suspected militants opened fire on a
vehicle carrying the religious affairs minister, wounding him and
killing his driver in a brazen attack in the heart of Islamabad. Hamid
Saeed Kazmi had been critical of Muslim extremists blamed for scores of
attacks in Pakistan over the last 2½ years.
(AP, 9/2/09)
2009 Sep 2, In Peru drug-funded
Shining Path rebels shot down an air force helicopter in the
coca-growing highlands of Junin province, killing three troops and
wounding five. The military said three rebels were arrested and another
four killed.
(AP, 9/3/09)
2009 Sep 2, In Thailand a number
of drive-by shootings in the provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala
left eight dead, including a Muslim teacher and his son (13). Security
forces raided a rubber plantation in Yala and a house in Narathiwat,
sparking separate gunbattles in which two suspected insurgents were
killed.
(AP, 9/3/09)
2009 Sep 2, Vietnamese authorities
arrested blogger Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh (30), who writes under the pen
name Me Nam, at her home in Nha Trang. Quynh's arrest was the latest in
a series of police moves against writers who criticized government
policies toward China. The government tightened its rules for bloggers
earlier this year, saying they must restrict their writings to personal
matters. Quynh was released on Sep 12.
(AP, 9/4/09)(AP, 9/12/09)
2009 Sep 3, Washington cut off
millions of dollars in aid to Honduras. Interim Pres. Roberto
Micheletti vowed that ousted Pres. Zelaya would not return to power
despite increasing international pressure.
(AP, 9/4/09)
2009 Sep 3, The San Francisco Bay
Bridge was completely shut down at 8pm to replace a 300-foot section of
the bridge as part of the project to replace the entire eastern span by
2013. The bridge was expected to reopen on Sep 8. The original
estimated cost of $132 million was now projected at $527.6 million.
(SSFC, 8/30/09, p.A14)(SFC, 9/3/09, p.A1)
2009 Sep 3, The Ford Motor Co.
settled a lawsuit filed by residents of a northern New Jersey town over
toxic waste dumped there in the 1960s and '70s. Thousands of tons of
paint sludge and other toxic material from Ford's old Mahwah factory
were dumped in Ringwood, and residents sued in 2006 claiming that the
waste led to illnesses ranging from skin rashes to cancer, and
threatened the Wanaque Reservoir. The Record of Bergen County reported
that residents of Ringwood will receive about $10 million.
(AP, 9/4/09)
2009 Sep 3, In the US Virgin
Islands two ticket agent contractors who worked for Delta Airlines and
an airport employee were arrested after being indicted by a federal
grand jury on charges of conspiracy to smuggle illegal immigrants into
the US.
(AP, 9/5/09)
2009 Sep 3, Sergio Saucedo (30), a
drug trafficker, was taken from his home in Horizon City, outside of El
Paso, Texas. He was murdered and mutilated in Ciudad Juarez in
retaliation for the loss of 700 pounds (315 kilos) of marijuana seized
by border patrol agents. His body was found on Sep 8.
(AP, 3/20/10)(http://tinyurl.com/m7lpok)
2009 Sep 3, SpaceX signed a
contract worth $50 million with ORBCOMM, a satellite communications
firm, to launch 18 satellites.
(Econ, 9/12/09, p.87)
2009 Sep 3, The US Embassy in
Afghanistan said it has banned alcohol and assigned American personnel
to watch over the embassy's security guards following allegations of
lewd behavior and sexual misconduct at their living quarters.
(AP, 9/3/09)
2009 Sep 3, In Australia
millionaire Michael McGurk (45), a Scottish-born property developer,
was gunned down in front of his son (10) outside their exclusive Sydney
home. In 2007 McGurk had unsuccessfully tried to sue the Sultan of
Brunei over an alleged eight million US dollar agreement to buy a
400-year-old gold-lined miniature Koran.
(AFP, 9/4/09)
2009 Sep 3, Hundreds of Chinese
protested deteriorating public safety after a series of mysterious
syringe attacks further unnerved residents in the western Chinese city
of Urumqi where ethnic rioting in July killed nearly 200 people.
(AP, 9/3/09)
2009 Sep 3, EU regulators launched
an antitrust probe into US software maker Oracle Corp.'s takeover of
Sun Microsystems Inc., saying they wanted to make sure Oracle was
committed to developing Sun's rival open-source database software MySQL.
(AP, 9/3/09)
2009 Sep 3, The government of
Gabon declared the eldest son of the late dictator Omar Bongo the
winner of weekend presidential elections, triggering a rampage in a
coastal city and allegations of fraud. Interior Minister Jean-Francois
Ndongou said Ali Bongo, the country's defense minister who campaigned
from a private jet and plastered the capital with billboards, won with
41.7% of the vote. The top two opposition leaders — Andre Mba Obame and
Pierre Mamboundou — were nearly tied, receiving 25.8% and 25.2% of the
vote respectively.
(AP, 9/3/09)
2009 Sep 3, In India heavy rain
triggered a landslide in Sakinaka, a densely populated suburban Mumbai
slum killing at least 12 people and injuring 25 others. Many others
remained trapped under piles of mud and stones.
(AP, 9/4/09)
2009 Sep 3, In Iraq a car bomb
apparently targeting Osama al-Tikriti, the leader of Iraq's largest
Sunni political party (the Iraqi Islamic Party), wounded four people in
Baqouba. The politician escaped unharmed. Police arrested Adnan
al-Obeidi, the deputy transport minister, after he was allegedly filmed
taking a bribe in a sting operation. Police had filmed al-Obeidi
accepting a $100,000 bribe from a company doing work at the Baghdad
airport.
(AP, 9/3/09)
2009 Sep 3, In Iraq Ahmed Hashim
Abed, suspected of masterminding the March 31, 2004, attack on
Blackwater guards, was captured in a covert operation by US Navy SEALs.
Abed later alleged that he was beaten by US Navy SEALs. In 2010 two of
the 3 accused Navy SEALs were acquitted. Petty Officer 2nd Class
Matthew McCabe, of Perrysburg, Ohio, the SEAL charged with assaulting
Abed, was scheduled to be court-martialed May 3, 2010, in Virginia.
(AP, 4/22/10)(http://tinyurl.com/yd5smcb)(AP,
4/23/10)
2009 Sep 3, Japan’s Dainippon
Sumitomo Pharma Co. said it is acquiring US drug maker Sepracor Inc.,
which makes insomnia drug Lunesta, for about $2.6 billion in an effort
to expand in the US market.
(AP, 9/3/09)
2009 Sep 3, In Kazakhstan a court
convicted Yevgenii Zhovtis of vehicular manslaughter and sentenced him
to 4 years in prison. Zhovtis, Kazakhstan’s best known human rights
activists, claimed he had been blinded by the lights of an oncoming car
when he hit a hit and killed a pedestrian on a country road late at
night.
(Econ, 9/12/09, p.46)
2009 Sep 3, Myanmar-born Kyaw Zaw
Lwin, an American citizen also known as Nyi Nyi Aung, was arrested when
he arrived at Yangon airport. Lwin started a hunger strike on Dec. 4 to
protest conditions of political prisoners in Myanmar. He ended his
hunger strike Dec. 15 and was subsequently placed in solitary
confinement. On Jan 1, 2010, Lwin was charged for forgery and violation
of the foreign currency act. Lwin (40) was released on March 18, 2010.
(AP, 12/29/09)(AP, 1/1/10)(AFP, 3/18/10)
2009 Sep 3, Russian’s Foreign
Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko warned Georgia that attempts to
block ships from reaching a Moscow-aligned separatist region of Georgia
could end in military intervention.
(AP, 9/3/09)
2009 Sep 3, Rwanda's state radio
reported that Alfred Mukezamfura, former speaker of parliament, was
sentenced in absentia to life in prison for inciting hatred during the
1994 genocide in which some 800,000 people died. Mukezamfura fled the
country in March to Belgium where he has sought asylum.
(AFP, 9/3/09)
2009 Sep 3, In central Serbia a
series of explosions at an underground ammunition factory in Uzice
killed at least seven people and injured 15.
(AP, 9/4/09)
2009 Sep 3, In Thailand a bomb
hidden in a motorcycle parked outside a row of open-air shops and
restaurants in Pattani city exploded, killing a Buddhist man and
wounding 24 others.
(AP, 9/3/09)
2009 Sep 3, A water rights battle
over the historic Tigris and Euphrates rivers simmered, as Iraq and
Syria appealed for increased water flows to cope with severe drought
but Turkey said it was already too overstretched.
(AP, 9/3/09)
2009 Sep 4, A US federal appeals
court has ruled that former Attorney General John Ashcroft can be sued
by people who claim they were wrongfully detained as material witnesses
after 9/11, and called the government practice "repugnant to the
Constitution." The ruling allows Abdullah al-Kidd, a US citizen, to
proceed with a lawsuit that claims his constitutional rights were
violated when he was detained in 2003 as a material witness in a
federal terrorism case.
(AP, 9/5/09)
2009 Sep 4, US regulators closed
the First Bank of Kansas in Missouri, pushing to 85 the number of US
banks that have failed this year.
(SFC, 9/5/09, p.D1)
2009 Sep 4, The US Embassy in
Afghanistan says it has fired eight security guards following
allegations of lewd behavior and sexual misconduct at their living
quarters. Two other guards resigned and also left. All of them appeared
in photographs that depicted guards and supervisors in various stages
of nudity at parties flowing with alcohol. The management team of the
private contractor that provided the guards was also to being replaced
immediately.
(AP, 9/4/09)
2009 Sep 4, In northern
Afghanistan a US jet blasted two fuel tankers hijacked by the Taliban
in Kunduz province, setting off a huge fireball that killed dozens of
civilians who had rushed to the scene to collect fuel. As many as 142
civilians died in the German-ordered NATO airstrike. A French soldier
was killed and nine others injured when their vehicles were hit by a
bomb near Bagram Air Base north of Kabul. A Polish soldier was killed
in the east. A French marine was killed in an IED attack.
(AP, 9/4/09)(AFP, 9/5/09)(AP, 9/17/09)(AP,
10/8/09)(Econ, 1/2/10, p.37)
2009 Sep 4, Arab League chief Amr
Moussa, speaking in Italy, said any Israeli offer for a settlement
freeze that doesn't include east Jerusalem is unacceptable and "will
suspend the peace process." Aides of Israel’s PM said Benjamin
Netanyahu will approve hundreds of new housing units in West Bank
settlements before slowing settlement construction, in an apparent snub
of Washington's public demand for a total settlement freeze.
(AP, 9/4/09)
2009 Sep 4, The Belgian government
said it has accepted a US request to take in one detainee from U.S.
military prison at Guantanamo Bay.
(AP, 9/4/09)
2009 Sep 4, In China security
forces in the far-west city of Urumqi used tear gas to break up fresh
protests, as thousands of Han Chinese demanded better security after a
reported spate of attacks with syringes.
(Reuters, 9/4/09)
2009 Sep 4, In Ingushetia a
roadside bomb blast ripped through a police car, killing three officers
and wounding two others. Ingush authorities shot dead 3 insurgents. One
man, identified as Rustam Dzortov, was a suspected ringleader of rebel
operations in Ingushetia and had organized the suicide bombing of
Ingush President Yunus Bek Yevkurov's motorcade earlier this year. The
two others may have been planning a terrorist act in Moscow. In
neighboring Chechnya two suspected insurgents were killed in a similar
incident. The suspected insurgents were found to have explosives
strapped to them, hand grenades, and train tickets to Moscow.
(AP, 9/4/09)(AP, 9/5/09)
2009 Sep 4, Mexican federal police
detained Armando Medina (49), a small-town mayor of Mugica, Michoacan
state, on suspicion of aiding drug traffickers. This is the same state
where eight other city chiefs have been arrested since May on similar
charges. In the northern state of Durango, two gunmen were killed in a
shootout with federal police in the city of Gomez Palacio. The federal
government auctioned off property seized from drug traffickers,
smugglers, money launderers and tax evaders, including a DC-9 jet that
was used to transport 5.5 metric tons of cocaine in 2006. The agency
did not disclose the identity of winning bidders. Mexican soldiers,
acting on a tip about armed men, detained Jose Rodolfo Escajeda in
Nuevo Casas Grandes, in northern Chihuahua state. The suspected drug
gang leader was linked to a 2006 border incursion by armed traffickers
into Texas and the killing of an anti-crime activist in July. Five
gunmen and a bystander were killed in a shootout at a lake that began
when assailants opened fire on an army patrol on the outskirts of the
northern city of Monterrey. A Ciudad Juarez police officer was shot to
death outside his home..
(AP, 9/5/09)(AP, 9/6/09)
2009 Sep 4, Pakistan said
paramilitary troops have killed five suspected militants and arrested
24 in an ongoing operation in the northwestern Khyber tribal region.
(AP, 9/4/09)
2009 Sep 4, In southern Sudan
heavily armed fighters attacked an ethnic Dinka settlement in
Bony-Thiang, north of the state capital Malakal, killing 20 people.
Angry Dinka groups then launched a retaliatory raid on the nearby
Shilluk village of Bon, killing five people including a woman and two
children.
(AFP, 9/5/09)
2009 Sep 4, In southern Thailand
bomb believed to have been planted by Islamic insurgents exploded
outside a restaurant where security forces were eating breakfast,
killing a policeman and wounding 12 other people.
(AP, 9/4/09)
2009 Sep 4, Thousands of opponents
of Hugo Chavez marched against the Venezuelan president across Latin
America, accusing him of everything from authoritarianism to
international meddling. The protests, coordinated through Twitter and
Facebook, drew more than 5,000 people in Bogota, and thousands more in
the capitals of Venezuela and Honduras. Smaller demonstrations were
held in other Latin American capitals, as well as New York and Madrid.
(AP, 9/5/09)
2009 Sep 5, Crews working on a
seismic retrofit of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge found what
authorities called a "significant crack" in the eastern span that could
keep the California landmark closed beyond a planned holiday weekend
shutdown.
(AP, 9/6/09)
2009 Sep 5, In Louisiana Dennis
Carter Sr. (50) shot his estranged wife, son and 2-year-old grandson to
death and critically wounded his pregnant daughter-in-law at their
rural home, then killed himself as police tried to pull over his car 20
minutes later.
(AP, 9/6/09)
2009 Sep 5, A small airplane
crashed into a Tulsa, Okla., park killing all 5 people on board.
(SSFC, 9/6/09, p.A7)
2009 Sep 5, Milwaukee police
arrested Walter Ellis (49) after DNA evidence linked him to the slaying
of 9 women, including 8 suspected prostitutes, dating back to 1986.
(SFC, 9/8/09, p.A6)
2009 Sep 5, In Afghanistan a US
soldier serving in the NATO-led coalition died after coming under fire
in the east of the country. Gunmen snatched New York Times reporter
Stephen Farrell, who has dual British-Irish nationality, and his
interpreter Sultan Munadi, while they were reporting on the aftermath
of a NATO air strike on fuel tankers that killed scores of people. On
Sep 9 Farrell was freed in a raid that killed a British soldier as well
as Afghan translator Sultan Munadi (34).
(AFP, 9/5/09)(AFP, 9/9/09)
2009 Sep 5, The Group of 20 rich
and developing countries held talks in London. They were expected to
commit to further efforts to boost growth, despite fledging signs of an
economic recovery. Top finance officials agreed to curb hefty bankers’
bonuses, but the US and Britain shied away from imposing a cap.
(AP, 9/5/09)(SSFC, 9/6/09, p.A5)
2009 Sep 5, In Britain racially
charged violence erupted between a group protesting Islamic extremism
and counter-demonstrators in the central city of Birmingham.
Authorities arrested 90 people. The clashes erupted when a rally by the
English Defense League ran into counter-demonstrators including
anti-fascists and youths of South Asian descent.
(AP, 9/6/09)
2009 Sep 5, Keith Waterhouse (80)
a prolific British author, journalist and playwright, died. Waterhouse
was best known for the 1959 novel Billy Liar -- the story of a
day-dreamer who plans his escape from a depressing job as an
undertaker. It was made into a film in 1963.
(AFP, 9/5/09)
2009 Sep 5, The sightseeing boat
Ilinden, carrying 55 Bulgarian tourists, sank in Lake Ohrid on
Macedonia's western border, and 15 people drowned.
(AP, 9/5/09)(AFP, 9/6/09)
2009 Sep 5, Chinese leaders
removed the Communist Party chief of the restive western city of
Urumqi, trying to appease public anger following sometimes violent
protests this week that the government worries could re-ignite deadly
ethnic rioting. The removal of Li Zhi came amid reports of police again
dispersing crowds outside Urumqi's government offices using tear gas,
and more unconfirmed reports of needle attacks.
(Reuters, 9/5/09)
2009 Sep 5, In Colombia a grenade
exploded in a crowd celebrating a national soccer team win in Medellin,
killing one person and wounding at least 30. Police thought a reveler
may have accidentally detonated the grenade by mishandling it.
(AP, 9/6/09)
2009 Sep 5, In Iraq hundreds of
Sunni Arabs opposed to the presence of Kurdish troops in disputed areas
of northern Iraq demonstrated against a plan to deploy a mixed force of
American, Kurdish and Iraqi soldiers in the area.
(AP, 9/5/09)
2009 Sep 5, In southern Mexico
gunmen killed Jose Francisco Fuentes Esperon (43), a state
congressional candidate, his wife (38) and two sons (9&13) in their
home in Villahermosa in the Gulf coast state of Tabasco. Police later
arrested a boy (16) and two young men for allegedly killing Fuentes and
his family. Chihuahua state prosecutors reported that a severed human
head was found placed on a car hood in the border city of Ciudad
Juarez, along with a message relating to drug cartels.
(AP, 9/5/09)(AP, 9/7/09)
2009 Sep 5, Gani Fawehinmi (71)
prominent Nigerian lawyer and rights activist died in Lagos after a
prolonged battle with cancer. Fawehinmi, holder of Nigeria's highest
legal title, the Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), was an author,
publisher, philanthropist, social critic, human and civil rights lawyer
and politician.
(AFP, 9/5/09)
2009 Sep 5, Pakistan officials
said troops killed 43 alleged militants in an operation in the Khyber
tribal region while airstrikes left several more dead in the stronghold
of the new Taliban chief elsewhere in the northwest. Government fighter
jets and helicopter gunships pounded militant hide-outs in three
villages of the Orakzai tribal region, the stronghold of new Pakistani
Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud. The tortured body of Akhtar Ali (28),
operator of an electrical repair shop, was dumped on the doorstep of
the family home in Mingora. He had been kidnapped on Sep 1. His death
was believed to have resulted from a case of mistaken identity.
(AP, 9/5/09)(Econ, 10/3/09, p.49)
2009 Sep 5, In Somalia at least
six civilians were killed and 18 others wounded in clashes that erupted
when insurgents attacked government and African Union forces in
Mogadishu.
(AFP, 9/6/09)
2009 Sep 5, In Sweden Tesfaldet
Tesloy (28), an illegal Eritrean immigrant who has lived in Sweden for
six years, appeared on TV to collect a tax-free lottery prize of 1.2
million Swedish crown (101,654 pounds). Sweden's attempts to deport the
man have failed due to his country's refusal to take him back,
highlighting a common problem for immigration officials.
(Reuters, 9/5/09)
2009 Sep 5, The IMF said Zimbabwe
has received about 400 million dollars, as Special Drawing Rights, in
support from the International Monetary Fund, part of its broader
effort to cushion the blows of the global economic crisis. To convert
the SDRs into hard currency, Zimbabwe would have to find another
country to buy them. Otherwise the money serves to bolster Harare's
meager foreign reserves.
(AFP, 9/5/09)
2009 Sep 5, Milwaukee police
arrested Walter Ellis (49) after DNA evidence linked him to the slaying
of 9 women, including 8 suspected prostitutes, dating back to 1986.
(SFC, 9/7/09, p.A6)
2009 Sep 6, British PM Gordon
Brown said he would support compensation claims against Libya by
families of IRA victims who say Tripoli helped to arm the guerrillas.
(Reuters, 9/6/09)
2009 Sep 6, In Ecuador Lt. Col.
John Merino, President Rafael Correa's chief of security, died of swine
flu. Ecuador has reported 36 confirmed deaths from swine flu as of last
week, along with 1,382 infected.
(AP, 9/7/09)
2009 Sep 6, The El Salvador navy
said it has found 76 migrants aboard a boat in the Pacific. They
included 25 Bangladeshis, 25 Nepalese, 21 Eritreans and five
Ecuadoreans. The boat had set sail a week ago from the Ecuadorean port
of Manta.
(AP, 9/7/09)
2009 Sep 6, In Hong Kong a man
hurled acid at pedestrians in the Mong Kok shopping district, in the
neighborhood's fourth acid attack in a year. The attacker (28),
arrested nearby, targeted a couple strolling through the district, but
also hurt nine others.
(AP, 9/6/09)
2009 Sep 6, In Iran Venezuela’s
President Hugo Chavez sealed an agreement to export 20,000 barrels per
day of gasoline to Iran. The deal would give Tehran a cushion if the
West carries out threats of fuel sanctions over Iran's nuclear program.
The two countries also agreed to set up a bank together to help finance
joint projects.
(AP, 9/7/09)
2009 Sep 6, In Iraq a gunman broke
into a house in Mosul, killing a 3-year-old girl and her grandmother
before fleeing. Gunmen also attacked checkpoints in the city, killing
three policemen. In southeast Baghdad, a car parked near a security
checkpoint exploded, killing one person and wounding five civilians.
(AP, 9/6/09)
2009 Sep 6, In Mexico attackers
shot four men to death in a motel parking lot in the border city of
Ciudad Juarez.
(AP, 9/8/09)
2009 Sep 6, Pakistani military
destroyed two training centers and 17 militant homes. 2 people
kidnapped by militants were recovered. Troops killed 33 militants
during the latest action to pacify the Khyber Pass. Thousands of
civilians were reported fleeing the latest military operation in the
northwestern Khyber tribal region. 3 policemen were found fatally shot,
each by a single bullet to the head, west of Islamabad.
(AP, 9/6/09)(AP, 9/7/09)
2009 Sep 6, In the southern
Philippines the Superferry 9, carrying nearly 1,000 passengers, sank
leaving at least 9 people dead. After rescue efforts one passenger was
left unaccounted.
(AFP, 9/6/09)(AP, 9/7/09)
2009 Sep 6, Somali authorities,
who say they were not informed of a hostage exchange plan, stopped a
deal to swap three hostages held by Somali pirates with 23 suspected
pirates, who had been held in the Seychelles.
(AP, 9/7/09)
2009 Sep 6, Six South Koreans
camping and fishing along a river flowing from North Korea were swept
away when it suddenly doubled in height, because a new dam in the North
released a large amount of water without warning. On Oct 14 North Korea
offered a rare apology for unleashing the dam water and promised to
alert Seoul to such measures in the future.
(AP, 9/6/09)(AP, 10/14/09)
2009 Sep 7, US snacks company
Kraft Foods launched a 10.2 billion pound bid for its British rival
Cadbury, with traders expecting the price to run higher as takeover
activity returns to the markets. Cadbury immediately rejected the offer.
(AP, 9/7/09)
2009 Sep 7, In Tennessee 3 people
were shot to death at a mobile home near Lafayette.
(SFC, 9/8/09, p.A6)
2009 Sep 7, Six American tourists
in Antigua were charged with assault and malicious damage after
refusing to pay a cab fare on Sep 4, which they thought was excessive
and later scuffling with police officers. They were released on $5,000
bail each. Their Carnival Cruise Lines ship left without them. On Oct 3
five New York tourists pleaded guilty to fighting with plainclothes
police officers after disputing the $100 cab fare. Prosecutors dropped
charges against a sixth tourist.
(AP, 9/8/09)(AP, 10/3/09)
2009 Sep 7, Three British Muslims
were convicted of conspiring to kill thousands of civilians by blowing
up trans-Atlantic flights in mid-air with liquid explosives disguised
as soft drinks. Abdulla Ahmed Ali (28), Assad Sarwar (29), and Tanvir
Hussain (28) were found guilty of conspiracy to murder by detonating
explosives on aircraft. The men's arrests in August 2006 had led to
huge travel chaos. 5 others were also tried. Umar Islam was convicted
of conspiracy to murder. The jury failed to reach a verdict on 3
others. Donald Stewart-Whyte was cleared.
(AP, 9/7/09)(Econ, 9/12/09, p.62)
2009 Sep 7, Gabon's main
opposition parties demanded authorities conduct a recount of a disputed
election the government said was won by the son of the country's
long-ruling president.
(AP, 9/7/09)
2009 Sep 7, In Guatemala four
prison officials were shot to death in three separate attacks that
authorities believed were retaliation for a jail crackdown. Officials
over the weekend had seized cell phones and moved inmates to different
prisons to break up an extortion ring.
(AP, 9/7/09)
2009 Sep 7, A small Indonesian
military plane crashed on Borneo with nine passengers and crew aboard,
killing four.
(AP, 9/7/09)
2009 Sep 7, President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad said Iran will neither halt uranium enrichment nor
negotiate over its nuclear rights but is ready to sit and talk with
world powers over "global challenges."
(AP, 9/7/09)
2009 Sep 7, In western Iraq a
suicide car bomber targeted a line of vehicles stopped at a checkpoint
near Ramadi, killing eight people and wounding 16. In Baghdad a bomb
killed a driver as he approached a military checkpoint in Sadr City
district. Two children playing with a hand grenade they found in a
stream were killed when it exploded in the northern city of Kirkuk.
Abdul-Basit Turki, director general of the Finance Ministry’s auditing
department, was charged with wasting public funds. Bombings killed at
least 17 people nationwide.
(AP, 9/7/09)(SFC, 9/8/09, p.A4)
2009 Sep 7, Israel officially
approved the construction of hundreds of new homes in the West Bank,
deepening an already unprecedented rift with the US over Israeli
settlement expansion. Israel PM Netanyahu vanished from public view in
Israel for most of the day. His office said he had visited a secret
security facility. It was later confirmed that he had made a secret
trip to Russia, which included a meeting with the Russia’s Pres.
Dmitry Medvedev.
(AP, 9/7/09)(AP, 9/20/09)
2009 Sep 7, Yukio Hatoyama,
Japan's next prime minister, vowed to slash greenhouse gas emissions by
25% from 1990 levels by 2020.
(AP, 9/7/09)
2009 Sep 7, Mexican President
Felipe Calderon accepted the resignation of Attorney General Eduardo
Medina-Mora, who was leading the battle against drug cartels, making
the biggest shake-up yet in his offensive against organized crime.
Calderon said he will send the Senate the nomination of Arturo Chavez,
a little known lawyer who has worked as both a state and federal
prosecutor, to replace Medina-Mora. In the Pacific port of Lazaro
Cardenas, about 150 federal police officers assigned to fight cartels
went on strike, saying they have not been paid in two months or
received hazard bonuses.
(AP, 9/7/09)(AP, 9/8/09)
2009 Sep 7, Five Pakistani
soldiers were killed in a land mine blast in the Taliban bastion of
South Waziristan. A suspected US missile strike killed 5 people at
Machi Khel village in North Waziristan close to the Afghan border.
Al-Qaida operations chief Ilyas Kashmiri, a Pakistani national, was
later believed to be among the dead.
(AP, 9/7/09)(SFC, 9/8/09, p.A2)(AP, 9/17/09)
2009 Sep 7, A Sudanese judge
convicted Lubna Hussein, a woman journalist, for violating the public
indecency law by wearing trousers outdoors and fined her $200, but did
not impose a feared flogging penalty. Hussein said she will not pay a
penny while still in court custody, wearing the same trousers that had
sparked her arrest.
(AP, 9/7/09)
2009 Sep 7, UK-based Global
Witness said they had found serious discrepancies in reports of Sudan's
oil revenues which could mean Khartoum's government was underpaying its
strife torn south by hundreds of millions of dollars.
(Reuters, 9/7/09)
2009 Sep 7, Taiwan's Premier Liu
Chao-shiuan resigned amid strong criticism of the government's slow
response to the most devastating storm to hit the island in 50 years.
Pres. Ma Ying-jeou named Nationalist Party Secretary General Wu Den-yih
(61) to replace Liu.
(AP, 9/7/09)
2009 Sep 7, The UN’s Children's
Fund reacted furiously to Sri Lanka's decision to expel its spokesman
over his allegedly pro-rebel stance in the final stages of the island's
ethnic war. James Elder, communications chief for UNICEF in Sri Lanka,
was accused by the government of issuing "propaganda" in support of the
Tamil Tiger separatists before their defeat at the hands of government
forces in May.
(AFP, 9/7/09)
2009 Sep 7, Turkish military
police stormed an Istanbul villa to rescue nine captive women whose
scantily clad images were posted online after they were recruited for a
television reality show. The women had been held captive for about two
months. About 14 people had been working on the show for the Istanbul
Grup Bilisim Electronic, Trade, Communication and Advertisement company.
(AP, 9/10/09)
2009 Sep 8, Pres. Obama made a
speech aired on C-SPAN, addressed to school children encouraging them
to study hard and stay in school.
(SFC, 9/9/09, p.A6)
2009 Sep 8, A review committee on
NASA, led by Norman Augustine, delivered a summary report saying the
agency does not have enough money to return to the moon. The Augustine
report also said that NASA should stop traveling to the Int’l. Space
Station and to low Earth orbit in general, leaving these to the private
sector.
(Econ, 9/12/09, p.87)
2009 Sep 8, Philip Barry (52) of
Brooklyn was charged with operating an alleged $40 million Ponzi scheme
that stretched for three decades and apparently helped finance a
pornography business. He had turned himself in to authorities in August
after running the scheme for 31 years. Barry spent a portion of his
investors' money on real-estate purchases that he hoped would
appreciate. They did not.
(http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2009/09/brooklyns_philip_barry_may_hav.html)
2009 Sep 8, A US District judge in
San Francisco sentenced Williams “Boots” Del Biaggio III (41), former
co-owner of the San Jose Sharks hockey team, to over 8 years in prison
for bilking investors of million of dollars in a series of schemes to
help buy a stake in the Nashville Predators professional hockey team
and to pay off debts.
(SFC, 9/9/09, p.D3)
2009 Sep 8, The SF Bay Bridge
opened as work to fix a crack on the cantilever section of the bridge
was fixed ahead of schedule. Cars were allowed to start crossing around
6:30 a.m.
(www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_13290522?source=rss)
2009 Sep 8, In Connecticut Annie
Le (24), a California graduate student at Yale, disappeared after
entering a laboratory building. She was due to be married on Sep 13. On
Sep 13 police found her body stuffed behind a wall in the high-security
laboratory building where she worked.
(SSFC, 9/13/09, p.A16)(AP, 9/14/09)
2009 Sep 8, Afghan President Hamid
Karzai surpassed for the first time the 50% threshold needed to avoid a
run-off in the presidential election, according to preliminary results,
but with fraud allegations rising, a UN-backed commission ordered a
re-count of tainted ballots. A suicide car bomb exploded outside the
gates of the ISAF military airport in Kabul, killing three civilians
and wounding nine people, including four foreign soldiers.
(AP, 9/8/09)(AFP, 9/9/09)
2009 Sep 8, Across northern
Argentina and southern Brazil a violent storm that spawned a tornado
and mudslides killed at least 15 people. Dozens were injured in the
winds and hail as their homes were destroyed.
(AP, 9/8/09)
2009 Sep 8, The British government
said the last remaining armed paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland
had pledged to decommission all their weapons within six months. Hours
later army experts in Northern Ireland defused a massive roadside bomb,
averting what could have been a "devastating" explosion in the
long-troubled British province.
(AP, 9/8/09)(AFP, 9/8/09)
2009 Sep 8, A British judge
sentenced Neil Lewington (44), a racist who planned to attack people he
considered "non-British," to at least six years in jail for terrorist
offenses.
(AP, 9/8/09)
2009 Sep 8, Deutsche Telekom AG
and France Telecom SA said they intend to combine their British mobile
phone units, shaking up the country's intensely competitive market and
forming the country's biggest mobile operator. Analysts said Nokia
Siemens Networks, the key equipment vendor to British operations of
Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom, had most to lose in the merger.
(AP, 9/8/09)(Reuters, 9/8/09)
2009 Sep 8, In central China's
Henan province an explosion at an illegal coal mine killed 42 miners
and left another 37 men trapped. Elsewhere in Henan province 13 workers
were killed in gold mine fire sparked by the severing of electrical
wires in a cave-in.
(AP, 9/8/09)(AP, 9/9/09)
2009 Sep 8, Colombia’s President
Alvaro Uribe signed legislation calling for a national referendum on
amending the constitution to allow him to seek re-election for a second
time.
(AP, 9/9/09)
2009 Sep 8, In the Democratic
Republic of Congo two Norwegians were sentenced to death by a court for
murdering a Congolese man in the northeast of the country in May.
(AFP, 9/8/09)
2009 Sep 8, A security official
said Egyptian border guards shot dead four sub-Saharan migrants as they
tried to illegally enter Israel.
(AFP, 9/8/09)
2009 Sep 8, The EU said that a
member states could be allowed to ban gambling websites if its
intention was to stop crime.
(Reuters, 9/8/09)
2009 Sep 8, Guatemalan President
Alvaro Colom declared "a state of public calamity" to help mobilize
funds and resources to confront a food shortage that will affect
thousands of families.
(AP, 9/9/09)
2009 Sep 8, Iranian security
forces cracked down on the opposition's campaign to highlight torture
and abuse of prisoners in the country's postelection crisis, shutting
down offices of pro-reform leaders and arresting five of their aides in
a startling series of raids.
(AP, 9/9/09)
2009 Sep 8, In Iraq a roadside
bomb killed Lt. Col. Zaid Hussein Khalaf, the head of an anti-terrorism
police unit, and four of his bodyguards in the northern town of Armili,
home to a large Shiite population. A roadside bomb struck a police
patrol near the town of Daqouq, killing two policemen and wounding 3
others. A Health Ministry official escaped an assassination attempt
when a roadside bomb hit his convoy in the eastern part of Baghdad, but
one ministry employee died in the blast. Roadside bombs killed 4 US
soldiers in separate incidents.
(AP, 9/8/09)
2009 Sep 8, Mike Bongiorno (85),
called Italy's "Quiz King," died. His big TV break came in the 1950s
when he helped popularize the quiz show on Italian pubcaster Rai. One
of his biggest hits was "Lascia o Raddoppia?" (Double or quits) the
Italian version of "The $64,000 Question."
(www.variety.com/article/VR1118008405.html?categoryid=14&cs=1&nid=2562)
2009 Sep 8, Kenya replaced its
police chief on months after human rights groups complained that some
his officers killed and raped during the violent aftermath of the
disputed December 2007 elections, but activists said more reforms are
needed to restore confidence in a notoriously predatory police force.
(AP, 9/8/09)
2009 Sep 8, In Mexico Police a
body with both arms cut off was found dumped on a street in the border
city of Ciudad Juarez. The court system in southern Tabasco state said
rural journalists Roberto Juarez and Lazaro Abreu Tejero Sanchez have
been arrested for allegedly working as informants for the Zetas, a gang
aligned with the Gulf drug cartel.
(AP, 9/9/09)
2009 Sep 8, In northwest Pakistan
Taliban militants attacked a group of boys on their way to school,
killing four and wounding three in Orakzai ethnic Pashtun tribal
region, because they were minority Shi'ite Muslims. Taliban militants
are from the majority Sunni community and attack Shi'ites as part of
their strategy to fight the government. Tribesmen retaliated after the
attack and killed at least two militants and wounded several.
Government aircraft attacked militants in a village, 30 km (20 miles)
east of Kalaya, killing six of them and destroying four hideouts.
Gunmen kidnapped a Greek man after killing a police guard in the
northern Chitral region on the Afghan border.
(Reuters, 9/8/09)
2009 Sep 8, Russia's foreign
minister rejected speculation that the Arctic Sea, a hijacked
Russian-crewed freighter, was carrying S-300 missiles possibly destined
for Iran. A Russian shipping expert and an EU anti-piracy official have
speculated that the vessel was carrying a clandestine cargo, possibly
S-300 surface-to-air missiles for Iran or Syria.
(AP, 9/8/09)
2009 Sep 8, Somalia graduated its
first 500 naval recruits hoping they would form the backbone of the
country’s first naval force in nearly two decades. 8 civilians were
killed and 31 wounded overnight during clashes pitting insurgents
against government and African Union forces in Mogadishu.
(SFC, 9/9/09, p.A2)(AFP, 9/8/09)
2009 Sep 8, Sudanese journalist
Lubna Ahmed Hussein, who spent a day in jail for refusing to pay a fine
for wearing "indecent trousers," vowed on her release to keep up the
battle against the law. The UN’s human rights office said Sudan's
conviction Hussein for indecency for wearing trousers violates
international law and is emblematic of wider gender discrimination in
the Islamic country.
(AFP, 9/8/09)(Reuters, 9/8/09)
2009 Sep 8, The Turkish
conglomerate, Dogan Yayin, was slapped with a 3.75 lira ($2.5 billion)
fine for allegedly evading taxes in the transfer of assets from one of
its companies to another. This followed a $609 million fine levied in
February against Aydin Dogan’s conglomerate.
(http://tinyurl.com/mkkebw)(Econ, 9/12/09, p.72)
2009 Sep 8, In northwestern Turkey
flash floods triggered by torrential rains killed six people and left
swaths of lands awash. At least three people were reported missing.
(AP, 9/8/09)
2009 Sep 8, Uganda’s defense
spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Felix Kulayigye, said Ugandan troops have
crossed into the neighboring Central African Republic (CAR) in pursuit
of Lord's Resistance Army rebels with Bangui's blessing.
(AFP, 9/8/09)
2009 Sep 8, Yemen’s the Interior
Ministry said 4 Yemenis carrying explosives and guns had been arrested
near the US embassy in San'a.
(AP, 9/8/09)
2009 Sep 9, President Barack
Obama, in a major speech before Congress, promised to overhaul the
nation's health care system. Not a single Republican has endorsed any
of the plans approved so far by four House and Senate committees. Rep.
Joe Wilson, R-S.C., heckled Obama with a shout of “You lie!” regarding
Obama’s assertion of no planned medical care to illegal immigrants.
Wilson soon apologized but refused to do so on the House floor.
(AP, 9/9/09)(SFC, 9/11/09, p.A18)
2009 Sep 9, The US, Britain,
Cyprus, Japan and Singapore signed on to an international plan, the
“New York Declaration,” to fight piracy off the coast of Somalia. The
New York Declaration is an agreement between the signatory flag states
which condemns acts of piracy and armed robbery against vessels and
seafarers and recognizes that self protection measures taken by vessels
can be highly effective in avoiding, delaying and deterring acts of
piracy. The nonbinding political document was originally tabled on May
29, 2009.
(SFC, 9/10/09,
p.A2)(www.unmultimedia.org/tv/unifeed/d/13476.html)
2009 Sep 9, Lawyers said 3 Chinese
Muslims detained at Guantanamo Bay formally accepted an offer to take
up new lives in the Pacific island nation of Palau and could be moved
there as early as next month.
(AP, 9/10/09)
2009 Sep 9, California Assemblyman
Mike Duvall, R-Yorba Linda, resigned after a videotape surfaced of his
bragging about sexual exploits with 2 women, one of whom reportedly
worked as a lobbyist.
(SFC, 9/10/09, p.A11)
2009 Sep 9, In Afghanistan a
suicide bomber blew himself up outside the Camp Bastion NATO base in
southern Helmand province, killing at least two Afghan civilians and
wounding several foreign and local troops. British commandos freed NY
Times reporter Stephen Farrell (46) in a raid on a Taliban hide-out in
northern Afghanistan. Farrell and his translator had been taken hostage
on Sep 5. A British soldier died during the raid as well as Afghan
translator, Sultan Munadi (34) and 2 civilians.
(AFP, 9/9/09)(AP, 9/9/09)
2009 Sep 9, Australia announced
that it has launched a war crimes investigation into the 1975 killing
of five Australian-based journalists during an attack by Indonesian
forces in East Timor.
(AP, 9/9/09)
2009 Sep 9, Colombian customs
agents said they seized $11.3 million in cash from a shipping container
in the nation's largest cargo port. Ret. Gen. Francisco Pedraza was
captured at the installations of the IV Brigade in Medellin, Antioquia.
He is being investigated for homicide, forced displacement and
terrorism as part of an investigation into the 2001 massacre of at
least 26 people in Naya, Cauca state.
(AP, 9/9/09)(AP, 9/10/09)
2009 Sep 9, Dubai’s Sheikh
Mohammed al-Maktoum opened the Arabian Peninsula's first metro system,
the $7.6 billion project, hoping to capture the world's spotlight on
the catchy date of 9/9/09, whether the sleek system is fully ready to
go or not.
(AP, 9/9/09)(Econ, 9/12/09, p.52)
2009 Sep 9, In Ecuador Gloria
Daniela Lopez, a Los Angeles college student, was stabbed to death in
Ambato. Her body was found the next day with her throat slit. A family
friend later said she had been decapitated and possibly raped. A local
police investigation was said to be stalled because she was American.
(SFC, 10/9/09, p.D5)
2009 Sep 9, Gabon’s the opposition
claimed that violence in Port-Gentil, Gabon's second city, claimed 15
lives after last week's disputed presidential election, far more than
the official toll provided by the government.
(AFP, 9/9/09)
2009 Sep 9, Grenada’s PM Tillman
Thomas said Grenada has sold some 100 Venezuelan-built houses at a deep
discount to people left homeless by Hurricane Ivan in 2004. Venezuela
financed the construction of 120 homes. They were finished three years
ago, but electrical inspections delayed their sale. Valued at $92,000
each, the structures were sold for only $2,000, to help cover the cost
of the land title transfer. The government selected mostly single
mothers who were renting or living with relatives. The unsold
structures were planned to be used as shelters for victims of domestic
violence and sexual abuse.
(AP, 9/9/09)
2009 Sep 9, In Iraq a car bomb
exploded outside a house in the flash point city of Kirkuk, killing
eight people inside the building and wounding one. US-backed Iraqi
soldiers raided a home in southeastern Baghdad before dawn, killing two
men inside and arresting an Iraqi soldier from an intelligence unit. A
roadside bomb struck an Iraqi patrol in the Abu Ghraib district,
killing one soldier and injuring two others. An Iraqi army colonel was
killed by a bomb attached to his car in the insurgent stronghold of
Mosul.
(AP, 9/9/09)
2009 Sep 9, In Jamaica John A.
Terry (65), Britain’s honorary consul in Montego Bay, was found
strangled in bed with a note denouncing him as a homosexual.
(Econ, 9/19/09, p.49)(AP, 10/3/09)
2009 Sep 9, Conservationists said
poaching and drought-related hunger have killed more than 100 of
Kenya's famous elephants in the north of the country so far this year.
Around 23,000 elephants live in Kenya but populations can be devastated
by poaching within a couple of years. A recent survey in Chad showed
its elephant population had declined from 3,800 to just over 600 in the
past three years.
(AP, 9/9/09)
2009 Sep 9, A Malaysian government
report said indigenous tribal girls have been sexually abused by
loggers in remote jungles on Borneo island, in the first official
verification of rape accusations involving timber companies.
(AP, 9/9/09)
2009 Sep 9, In Mexico a
Bolivian-born man, clutching a Bible and claiming a divine mission,
hijacked a plane with more than 100 people aboard after takeoff from
Cancun. The incident ended quickly and without bloodshed when police
arrested Jose Flores (44) in Mexico City. Police in Morelia said that
they had seized eight counterfeit police and rescue vehicles including
an intensive care ambulance with official-looking logos and paint jobs.
The vehicles belonged to gang members who planned to use them to
conduct illegal activities.
(Reuters, 9/10/09)(AP, 9/10/09)
2009 Sep 9, Salvadoran authorities
said they had arrested 4 alleged Mara 18 gang members and a police
officer in the Sep 2 slaying of French documentary filmmaker Christian
Poveda. The arrested officer was identified as Jose Napoleon Espinoza,
an agent assigned to the 911 emergency phone system in Soyapango
outside the capital, San Salvador.
(AP, 9/10/09)
2009 Sep 9, In Sierra Leone at
least 221 people, including many schoolchildren returning from
holidays, remained missing a day after the wooden Teh Teh ferry
capsized at sea. 39 people survived. 30 bodies were recovered and all
the missing were feared dead.
(AP, 9/10/09)(AP, 9/12/09)
2009 Sep 9, The Dalai Lama
received Slovakia's Jan Langos award for his promotion of human rights
and his leadership in the nonviolent campaign by Tibetans seeking
autonomy from China. The Jan Langos Foundation gives its award to "an
outstanding figure of the local defiance against oppressed regimes and
their security services" and to civil servants and politicians who
"endeavor for human dignity and freedom."
(AP, 9/9/09)
2009 Sep 9, A Somali Islamic court
cut off the hands of two men accused of theft and lashed another
accused of rape.
(AP, 9/9/09)
2009 Sep 9, In South Korea
performers from around the world have gathered on the South Korean
island of Jeju for this week's international Delphic Games, popularly
known as the "Culture Olympics." The first Delphic Games of the modern
era were held in Russia in 2000 and the second in Malaysia in 2005.
(AP, 9/9/09)
2009 Sep 9, Spain’s PM Rodriguez
Zapatero told Parliament the 2010 budget would aim to raise overall
taxes by 1.5% of GDP in order to help meet demands of the most needy.
Unemployment, the worst in Europe, had reached 18% and was still
climbing.
(Econ, 9/12/09, p.58)
2009 Sep 9, Thailand's national
police chief resigned after being transferred to an inactive post in
the wake of an official recommendation that he be prosecuted for his
role in a deadly crackdown against anti-government protesters last year.
(AP, 9/9/09)
2009 Sep 9, A teacher (29) in
Bangkok, Thailand, was captured on film beating a student (14) and
bashing his head against a blackboard. The 50-second clip, filmed by a
classmate using a mobile phone, was broadcast Sep 21 on a nationally
televised morning news program, sparking national outrage and pledges
from education officials to crack down on corporal punishment in
classrooms.
(AP, 9/22/09)
2009 Sep 9, In Turkey flash floods
roared across a major highway and a commercial district in Istanbul,
killing at least 32 people and forcing dozens to scramble onto the
roofs of cars and trucks. Some of the dead drowned inside their
vehicles.
(Reuters, 9/9/09)(AFP, 9/10/09)
2009 Sep 9, A Uganda army
spokesman said government forces have rescued 100 kidnapped children
and young adults during an operation against the Lord’s Resistance Army
rebel group in neighboring Central African Republic.
(AP, 9/9/09)
2009 Sep 9, Uruguay’s Senate gave
final approval for gay and lesbian couples to adopt children, making it
the first country in Latin America to do so. The executive branch will
decide when the law takes effect.
(SFC, 9/10/09, p.A2)
2009 Sep 9, In Yemen 17 rebels
were killed in an air strike, according to a government statement,
which said they were caught sneaking through the mountains near Saada.
Four men survived the attack and were in custody.
(AP, 9/10/09)
2009 Sep 10, NASA made a
successful first test of its Ares I rocket at promontory, Utah. It was
created as part of a plan to return to the moon, but a recent panel
said their isn’t enough money for the moon project.
(SFC, 9/11/09, p.A13)
2009 Sep 10, GM announced that it
agreed to the sale of 55% of Ruesselsheim-based Adam Opel and Vauxhall
unit to Canadian auto parts maker Magna International Inc. and Russian
lender Sberbank. Detroit-based GM will keep a 35% stake and continue to
work with Opel on developing vehicles, sharing technology and
engineering resources.
(AP, 9/11/09)
2009 Sep 10, The UN-backed
commission investigating fraud in Afghanistan's election issued its
first orders to exclude some ballots from the final tally, throwing out
votes from 83 polling stations in areas of strong support for President
Hamid Karzai. A US service member was killed in an attack on a patrol.
Another service member was killed after coming under fire.
(AP, 9/10/09)(AP, 9/11/09)
2009 Sep 10, The African Union
joined international condemnation of a new "unity" government named by
Madagascar leader Andry Rajoelina who overthrew the recognized
president this year.
(AP, 9/11/09)
2009 Sep 10, Australia announced
liquefied natural gas (LNG) deals worth up to 60 billion US dollars
with Japan and South Korea, raising its status as a major energy
supplier.
(AP, 9/10/09)
2009 Sep 10, Guy Laliberte, the
Canadian billionaire founder of the Cirque du Soleil, said that he aims
to read a statement to the world about the planet's water problems
after taking a Russian rocket to the space station. Laliberte and two
others will blast off Sep 30 from the Russian space program's Baikonur
launch facility in Kazakhstan. He said his reading from space will be
part of several shows in 14 cities around the world beginning Oct 9.
(AP, 9/10/09)
2009 Sep 10, Colombia’s police
said they have seized $55 million in properties and assets from drug
traffickers in a 2 day operation in five cities in Antioquia state and
six cities in Cundinamarca state. The assets included shares in a
popular soccer team.
(AP, 9/10/09)
2009 Sep 10, A new book, whose
title translates as "Hold-Ups, Swindles and Treasons," by French
journalists Antonin Andre and Karim Rissouli, hit French stores
alleging that a vote last year to elect the leader of France's
Socialist Party was rigged, sparking further disarray among the
once-mighty champions of the left.
(AP, 9/10/09)
2009 Sep 10, Berlin won Spain's
prestigious Prince of Asturias prize for its contribution to promoting
peace and harmony.
(AP, 9/10/09)
2009 Sep 10, In India hundreds of
students, who were jammed into a narrow New Delhi school staircase,
panicked and set off a stampede that left five girls dead and 31 other
students injured. Mohammed Shahabuddin, a 12-year old snack vendor, had
to have his left leg amputated after Bihar state railway police threw
him out of a moving train when he failed to pay them 10 rupees (20
cents) as a bribe. The boy had offered the policemen five rupees, which
was all the money he had.
(AP, 9/10/09)(AP, 9/11/09)
2009 Sep 10, In northern Iraq a
suicide truck bomber hit the Kurdish village of Wardek before dawn,
killing at least 25 people and injuring 50 others, in what appeared to
be the latest in a string of attacks targeting Kurds and other ethnic
and religious groups in the region. The government of the
semiautonomous Kurdish region arrested the head of the provincial
intelligence service, Brig. Abdul-Rahman Ali, on accusations he was
directly involved in the planning of an Aug. 13 bombing near Mosul. 3
successive bombs exploded at a popular market in the city of
Mahmoudiya, killing 4 people and wounding 30. Violence broke out at Abu
Ghraib prison and two prisoners were killed.
(AP, 9/10/09)(AP, 9/11/09)
2009 Sep 10, The Japanese space
agency successfully launched a new rocket carrying an unmanned cargo
ship on a $680 million maiden voyage to the Int’l. Space Station.
(SFC, 9/11/09, p.A9)
2009 Sep 10, Amnesty International
issued a new report saying Japan executes mentally ill prisoners, some
of whom are driven insane by harsh treatment while on death row.
(AP, 9/10/09)
2009 Sep 10, Lebanese Prime
Minister-designate Saad Hariri said he is abandoning efforts to form a
new government after the Hezbollah-led parliament minority rejected his
list for a national unity Cabinet. This forced President Michel
Suleiman to start consultations with lawmakers from scratch over naming
a new premier.
(AP, 9/10/09)
2009 Sep 10, Mexican defense dept.
said soldiers have arrested Michael Escalante (29) of El Paso,
suspected of killing 18 people in a series of attacks this year in
violence-plagued Ciudad Juarez, across from El Paso, Texas.
(AP, 9/10/09)
2009 Sep 10, In northeast Nepal a
bus veered off a highway and plunged into a river, killing at least 11
people and leaving about 20 missing and feared dead.
(AP, 9/10/09)
2009 Sep 10, In Russia Venezuela’s
President Hugo Chavez recognized the pro-Russian rebel regions of
Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states, a rare boost to the
Kremlin's campaign for their international acceptance.
(Reuters 9/10/09)
2009 Sep 10, In Uganda at least 7
people were killed in clashes after the government prevented a
representative of the traditional ruler of the Buganda kingdom from
traveling to a region northeast of the capital for a political rally.
(SFC, 9/11/09, p.A2)
2009 Sep 10, Vietnamese and US
scientists wrapped up their annual meetings on Agent Orange, launching
a task force to examine health issues in areas where the defoliant was
used during the Vietnam War. Vietnam has said 1 million to 4 million of
its citizens may have suffered serious health consequences after being
exposed to dioxin, a highly toxic element in Agent Orange.
(AP, 9/10/09)
2009 Sep 10, A Yemeni army
statement said the government launched a new offensive against Shiite
rebels in the north, destroying many of their vehicles and hideouts.
The rebels said they have been able to keep the government from
entering the northern town of Saada, which has been at the center of
the rebellion.
(AP, 9/10/09)
2009 Sep 11, Pres. Obama slapped
punitive tariffs on all car and light truck tires entering the US from
China as the rising tide of imported tires hurt American producers.
(SFC, 9/12/09, p.A4)
2009 Sep 11, The US said it would
accept Iran's offer of wide-ranging talks with major powers despite the
Islamic Republic's stated refusal to discuss its nuclear program.
(Reuters, 9/11/09)
2009 Sep 11, In Richmond, Ca.,
Kaneesha Mallard (19) of Hercules and her boyfriend, Alfred Thomas (20)
of Vallejo, were killed by a spray of bullets while parked at the snack
shop of a Union 76 gas station.
(SFC, 9/17/09, p.D2)
2009 Sep 11, In Owosso,
Michigan, Harlan James Drake (33) killed an abortion protester outside
a school along with the owner of a nearby gravel pit.
(SFC, 9/12/09, p.A4)
2009 Sep 11, Jim Carrol (60),
poet, addict and author, died in Manhattan following a heart attack.
His books included “Basketball Diaries” (1978), which was turned into a
1995 movie. His 1980 song “People who Died” became a punk classic.
(SFC, 9/16/09, p.D5)
2009 Sep 11, Larry Gelbart
(b.1928, comedy writer, died in Los Angeles. His work included
developing the MASH TV series and co-writing the books for the Broadway
musical “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” and the film
“Tootsie.” His 1998 memoir was titled “Laughing Matters.”
(SFC, 9/12/09, p.A5)
2009 Sep 11, Afghan former foreign
minister Abdullah Abdullah, the chief challenger to President Hamid
Karzai, called for a full investigation of hundreds of reports of fraud
in the Aug. 20 presidential contest. 14 civilians were killed Uruzgan
province when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb in Churra district. In
Kandahar six civilians were killed by an improvised explosive device in
the Maiwand district. Four police were killed in Nangarhar when
militants attacked a border police checkpoint. In eastern Paktika
province, a suicide bomber detonated his explosives in Bermel district.
Only the bomber died.
(AP, 9/11/09)(AP, 9/12/09)
2009 Sep 11, A risk consultancy
said Australians have overtaken Americans as the world's biggest
individual producers of carbon dioxide, which is blamed for global
warming. British firm Maplecroft placed Australia's per capita output
at 20.58 tons a year, some four percent higher than the United States
and top of a list of 185 countries.
(AFP, 9/11/09)
2009 Sep 11, In Belgium the
Flemish education board banned religious symbols in all 700 secular
state schools under its control.
(Econ, 9/19/09, p.64)
2009 Sep 11, In Chile police and
hooded protesters clashed Santiago on the anniversary of the 1973
military coup that toppled elected President Salvador Allende. State
television reported one death amid the disturbances.
(AP, 9/12/09)
2009 Sep 11, Chinese officials
said mystery needle attacks appeared to spread in China's far western
region as authorities arrested nine new suspects in three cities. Since
last week, more than 500 people in Urumqi have reported attacks, though
only about 100 showed evidence of being pricked.
(AP, 9/11/09)
2009 Sep 11, In Colombia two bombs
being carried by donkeys exploded, killing two coca-eradication workers
and wounding six soldiers in Norte de Santander state.
(AP, 9/11/09)
2009 Sep 11, In Cuba Juan Almeida
Bosque (b.1927), a comrade-in-arms of Fidel Castro since the start of
his guerrilla struggle more than a half-century ago, died of a heart
attack. Almeida was the only black commander among the rebel leaders.
(AP, 9/12/09)
2009 Sep 11, In Germany 12
officers were injured in late night clashes with left-wing
demonstrators in Hamburg following a far-right rally.
(AP, 9/12/09)
2009 Sep 11, Europe's biggest
automaker Volkswagen said it planned to invest 4.0 billion euros (5.8
billion dollars) to boost its presence in China over the next three
years.
(AP, 9/11/09)
2009 Sep 11, Authorities in
Guatemala arrested nine suspects, including five police officers, in
the May 10 killing of lawyer Rodrigo Rosenberg, who accused President
Alvaro Colom of involvement in his death in a posthumously released
video.
(AP, 9/11/09)
2009 Sep 11, In Iraq prison
inmates at Abu Ghraib rioted for a 2nd day to demand better conditions.
The facility, now under Iraqi control, has been renamed the Baghdad
Central Prison.
(SFC, 9/12/09, p.A3)
2009 Sep 11, A Kenyan magistrate
sentenced Jon Cardon Wagner, an American who founded a popular chain of
coffee shops, to 15 years' imprisonment for the statutory rape of three
teenage Kenyan girls. Wagner's lawyer Mohammed Nyaoga said his client
is the victim of an extortion racket and will appeal. Nairobi Java
House began a culture of gourmet coffee drinking nine years ago and now
has eight coffee shops in the capital.
(AP, 9/11/09)
2009 Sep 11, A senior Lebanese
military official said two rockets were fired toward Israel from the
town of Qlaileh inside Lebanon. Israel responded with a barrage of 14
rockets. No injuries or damage were reported.
(AP, 9/11/09)(SFC, 9/12/09, p.A2)
2009 Sep 11, Malaysian authorities
seized a consignment of 10,000 copies of the Bible sent from Jakarta to
Kuching in Sarawak state, because the Indonesian-language books
contained the word "Allah," a translation that has been banned in this
Muslim-majority country. Another 5,100 Bibles, also imported from
Indonesia, were reportedly seized in March. Church officials said Allah
is not exclusive to Islam but is an Arabic word that predates Islam.
(AP, 10/29/09)
2009 Sep 11, Mexican authorities
found at least $5 million hidden in a shipment of ammonium sulfate at a
Pacific coast port.
(AP, 9/12/09)
2009 Sep 11, The Pakistani
Military said it had arrested the Swat Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan
and commanders Mahmood Khan, Fazle Ghaffar, Abdul Rehman and Sartaj Ali
in the suburbs of Mingora, striking its first direct blow against the
leadership of the insurgency in the one-time tourist resort.
(AP, 9/11/09)
2009 Sep 11, In Peru lawyer
Alfredo Crespo announced the publication of a book of manuscripts
written in prison by Shining Path rebel leader Abimael Guzman. On Sep
13 the justice minister asked a public prosecutor to file "apology for
terrorism" charges against Crespo.
(AP, 9/14/09)
2009 Sep 11, In Somalia mortars
slammed into Mogadishu, killing three civilians and at least 12 men at
a home for disabled veterans. Nearly a dozen other former soldiers were
wounded in the attack.
(AP, 9/12/09)
2009 Sep 11, In South Africa
reports on gender testing on running sensation Caster Semenya has
determined she has male and female sexual organs. This triggered
outrage and dealt a blow to her family, who may have been unaware of
the reported condition. There was worry about how the 18-year-old will
handle all this. Testing determined that Semenya has internal testes,
meaning the runner herself, who was raised in a poor village, may have
been unaware of such a condition. The condition is generally referred
to as intersexuality. The older term for someone who has both male and
female organs is hermaphrodite.
(AP, 9/11/09)
2009 Sep 11, South Africa and the
European Union started a summit expected to be dominated by calls from
African nations for sanctions against Zimbabwe to be lifted.
(AP, 9/11/09)
2009 Sep 11, Spain's government
agreed to send 220 more troops to Afghanistan, raising the total to
about 1,000.
(AP, 9/11/09)
2009 Sep 11, In Spain Venezuela’s
Pres. Chavez paid a brief courtesy call on King Juan Carlos and met
briefly with PM Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero to discuss energy issues
and Spanish investment in oil-rich Venezuela.
(AP, 9/11/09)
2009 Sep 11, Sri Lankan
authorities sent home nearly 10,000 war refugees amid growing
international concern for the nearly 300,000 Tamil civilians still
detained in government-run camps.
(AP, 9/11/09)
2009 Sep 11, A Taiwan court
sentenced ex-president Chen Shui-bian (58) to life in jail after a
corruption trial he claims was political revenge for his lifelong push
to declare independence from China. The court also handed a life term
to his wheelchair-bound wife Wu Shu-chen.
(AFP, 9/11/09)
2009 Sep 11, In Uganda 3 people
including a child were shot dead in rioting in Kampala. Clashes began
on Sep 10 after the government prevented a representative of the
traditional ruler of the Buganda kingdom from traveling to a region
northeast of the capital for a political rally. The overall death toll
from the unrest rose to at least 24 following deaths in hospitals.
(AP, 9/11/09)(AP, 9/12/09)(AP, 9/14/09)(Econ,
9/19/09, p.59)
2009 Sep 11, Venezuela’s President
Hugo Chavez returned home from a world tour. He said he has signed
military agreements with Russia and is soon expecting the arrival of
some "little rockets," which reach up to 186 miles (300km) and are
strictly for defense purposes.
(AP, 9/12/09)
2009 Sep 11, In Vietnam the
Canadian environmental firm Hatfield Consultants said new environmental
tests confirm extremely high levels of dioxin, the toxic ingredient of
Agent Orange, in people, fish and soil near Danang airport, a former US
air base where American troops stored the herbicide during the Vietnam
War.
(AP, 9/11/09)
2009 Sep 12, Researchers reported
finding dangerous methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)
bacteria in sand and water for the first time at five public beaches
along the coast of Washington state.
(AP, 9/12/09)
2009 Sep 12, William E. Sparkman
(51), a US census worker, was found bound with duct tape and a rope
around his neck near a cemetery in Clay County in a remote patch of
Kentucky’s Daniel Boone National Forest. The word "fed" was scrawled on
his chest. The area where Sparkman was found has a history of problems
with prescription drug and methamphetamine trading. State police later
said evidence at the death scene indicated that it was staged as a
murder and that Sparkman had committed suicide.
(AP, 9/24/09)(SFC, 11/25/09, p.A4)
2009 Sep 12, Dr. Norman Borlaug
(b.1914), Nobel Prize winner (1970), died at his Dallas home. He was
known as the father of the “green revolution” for his work in
high-yield crop varieties, which helped to more than double food
production between 1960 and 1990.
(SFC, 9/14/09, p.A7)
2009 Sep 12, Christopher Kelly
(51), former chief fundraiser for ousted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich,
died in Chicago after being found slumped over in his car the previous
evening. An overdose of drugs was suspected. Kelly faced at least 8
years in prison after pleading guilty to fraud charges in 2 separate
cases.
(SFC, 9/14/09, p.A4)
2009 Sep 12, In Afghanistan a
Taliban ambush killed six private security guards working for a
construction company in the eastern province of Kunar. In Khost
province a suspected militant rocket attack killed three civilians in
Sabari district. In Kandahar 3 suicide bombers tried to attack an
office of the country's intelligence agency. Officers and the bombers
traded gunfire. One bomber blew himself up and killed an intelligence
officer, while the other bombers’ explosives went off but didn't kill
anyone. Coalition and Afghan forces killed 11 militants during an
overnight raid in northern Kunduz province. In Kunduz province a
turncoat policeman poisoned 8 other officers at a guard post, killed
his commander and called in the Taliban who beheaded or shot 7 other
policemen. A roadside bomb killed two US troops in the east. In western
Afghanistan 3 US soldiers were killed following a roadside bomb attack
and small arms fire. Altogether 50 civilians, security forces and
militants were killed in the spate of attacks, including 20
noncombatants killed in two roadside bomb explosions. In western Farah
province a battle that included airstrikes killed about 50 Taliban
militants after an insurgent ambush left 3 US troops and 7 Afghan
soldiers dead.
(AP, 9/12/09)(AP, 9/13/09)(SSFC, 9/13/09, p.A4)(SFC,
9/14/09, p.A2)
2009 Sep 12, Australia intercepted
a boat carrying 83 suspected asylum seekers off its northwest coast
after it was spotted from the air by a military patrol plane. Later in
the day the Australian navy intercepted a suspected people-smuggling
boat carrying 65 asylum seekers off the country's northwest coast.
(AFP, 9/12/09)(AFP, 9/13/09)
2009 Sep 12, President Evo Morales
said Bolivia has decided to buy a presidential plane from Russia after
Moscow offered to set up an aircraft maintenance center in the South
American nation. Defense Minister Walker San Miguel announced in early
August that Bolivia had agreed to purchase an Antonov presidential
plane with satellite phone, Internet links and a meeting room from
Russia for $30 million.
(AP, 9/12/09)
2009 Sep 12, In Chechnya three
police were wounded when a suicide bomber blew himself up in Grozny. An
alleged militant was killed in a separate incident in Chechnya.
(AP, 9/12/09)
2009 Sep 12, China decried a US
decision to impose added duty on Chinese-made tires, saying the move
sent a dangerous protectionist signal before a G20 summit and could
stoke reactions impeding global recovery. The tire duty was the first
time Washington has applied special "safeguard" provisions Beijing
agreed to before joining the WTO in 2001.
(Reuters, 9/12/09)
2009 Sep 12, A court in western
China's Xinjiang region sentenced three people to up to 15 years in
prison in the first trials over a series of mysterious syringe attacks
that led to mass protests against the local government. In eastern
China 3 people died and an additional 17 required medical treatment
after they were exposed to bags of a toxic chemical illegally dumped by
a factory in Dongyang.
(AP, 9/12/09)(AP, 9/16/09)
2009 Sep 12, Costa Rican
authorities detained 54 US-bound migrants from Africa and Nepal after
their boat arrived on the country's coast. Authorities also took into
cu