Today in History - July 20
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833Â Â Â Â Â Â
Jul 20, Ansegis (Ansegius, 63), French abbot of Fontenelle, author,
died.
   (MC, 7/20/02)
1304Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Francisco Petrarch
(d.1374), Italian poet and scholar, founder of Renaissance Humanism,
was born in Arezzo. He was educated at Avignon and saw himself as a
Florentine, Italian, and man of the world. He was a poet and
autodidact who never stopped studying until his death.
   (V.D.-H.K.p.131)(HN, 7/20/98)
1402Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In the Battle of
Angora the Mongols, led by Tamerlane "the Terrible," defeated the
Ottoman Turks and captured Sultan Beyazid I. The Turks eventually
regained control of the city and it remained a part of the Ottoman
Empire for the next five centuries. Around 2,000 BCE the site of the
present day city was a Hittite village known as Ancyra. It was
conquered in 333 BC by Macedonians led by Alexander the Great.
Because of its central Anatolian Plateau location on the Ankara
River, it became an important commercial center. Angora’s name was
changed to Ankara in 1930.
   (HN, 7/20/98)(Ot, 1993, p.6)(HNQ, 4/15/02)
1573Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Lancelot of
Brederode (Netherlands), water beggar, was beheaded.
   (MC, 7/20/02)
1588Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20-22, The Spanish
Armada, after month in Corunna, set sail for England. The Duke of
Medina Sedonia sailed in the flagship San Martin with Admiral Juan
Martinez de Recalde.
   (HN, 7/20/01)(ON, 3/02, p.2)
1591Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Anne Hutchinson,
religious liberal who was banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony
for her views, was born.
   (HN, 7/20/98)
1627Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, English fleet
under George Villiers reached La Rochelle. [see Jul 10]
   (MC, 7/20/02)
1636Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, John Oldham,
trader in Mass., was murdered by Indians.
   (MC, 7/20/02)
1715Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The Riot Act went
into effect in England.
   (HFA, '96, p.34)(HN, 7/20/01)
1749Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Earl of
Chesterfield said: "Idleness is only refuge of weak minds."
   (MC, 7/20/02)
1752Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, John C. Pepusch
(85), English composer (Beggar's Opera), died.
   (MC, 7/20/02)
1773Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Scottish settlers
arrived at Pictou, Nova Scotia (Canada).
   (MC, 7/20/02)
1785Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Mahmud II, sultan
of Turkey (1808-39), Westernizer, reformer, was born.
   (MC, 7/20/02)
1788Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The governor of
the French colony of Pondicherry, Vietnam, abandoned plans to place
King Nhuyen Anh back on the throne.
   (HN, 7/20/98)
1808Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Napoleon decreed
that all French Jews adopt family names.
   (MC, 7/20/02)
1810Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Colombia declared
independence from Spain.
   (AP, 7/20/97)
1824Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Alexander
Schimmelfennig, Brig. General Union volunteers, was born in Prussia.
   (MC, 7/20/02)
1836Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Charles Darwin
climbed Green Hill on Ascension.
   (MC, 7/20/02)
1847Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Max Liebermann,
German impressionist painter, was born.
   (MC, 7/20/02)
1850Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, John Graves Shedd,
president of Marshall Field and Company, was born. He was the first
Chicago merchant to give his employees a half-day off on Saturdays.
   (HN, 7/20/98)
1861Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The New York
Tribune compared Peace Democrats to the venomous Copperhead snake,
which strikes without warning. During the American Civil War,
Northerners who advocated restoration of the Union through a
negotiated settlement with the South was referred to as Peace
Democrats.
   (HNQ, 10/9/99)
1861Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The Congress of
the Confederate States began holding sessions in Richmond, Va.
   (AP, 7/20/97)
1861Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In the first major
battle of the Civil War [see June 10], Confederate forces repelled
an attempt by the Union Army to turn their flank in Virginia. The
battle becomes known by the Confederates as Manassas, while the
Union called it Bull Run. It was fought on Judith Carter
Henry’s farm.
   (HN, 7/20/98)(HNQ, 5/10/02)
1862Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20-Sep 20, A guerrilla
campaign in GA (Porter's & Poindexter's) left US 580 and CS
2,866 casualties.
   (MC, 7/20/02)
1864Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Confederate
General John Bell Hood attacked Union forces under General William
T. Sherman outside Atlanta. Gen. Hood lashed out against the Union
right wing north of the city. Repulsed but undaunted, Hood turned to
strike the Federal left wing, Major General James B. McPherson’s
Army of the Tennessee, east of Atlanta. He deployed Major General
Benjamin F. Chatham’s corps northeast of the city and sent
Lieutenant General William J. Hardee's corps around McPherson’s left
flank with orders to crush the Army of the Tennessee on the morning
of July 22. Both corps were then to assail the rest of Sherman’s
host. Battle of Peachtree Creek was part of the Atlanta Campaign.
   (HN, 7/20/98)(HNQ, 7/19/01)(MC, 7/20/02)
1867Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Imperial troops in
Guizhou, China, killed 20,000 Miao rebels.
   (HN, 7/20/98)
1868Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The 1st use of tax
stamps on cigarettes.
   (MC, 7/20/02)
1870Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Vladimir D.
Nabokov, Russian jurist, minister of Justice (1918-19), was born.
   (MC, 7/20/02)
1871Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, British Columbia
joined Confederation as a Canadian province. Canada’s government
promised BC a railroad link to the eastern provinces as it joined
the nation.
   (AP, 7/20/97)(ON, 11/07, p.9)
1872Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Mahlon Loomis
patented a wireless radio.
   (MC, 7/20/02)
1881Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Sioux Indian
leader Sitting Bull, a fugitive since the Battle of the Little Big
Horn, surrendered to federal troops.
   (AP, 7/20/97)(HN, 7/20/98)
1890Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Theda Bara,
actress (Love Goddesses), was born as Theodosia Goodman in
Cincinnati.
   (MC, 7/20/02)
1894Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, 2000 federal
troops were recalled from Chicago with the end of the Pullman
strike.
   (MC, 7/20/02)
1903Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Pope Leo XIII
died. He served 25 years, four months and 17 days.
   (AP, 10/15/03)
1911Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Generals Henry
Wilson and Auguste Dubail signed a plan for British Expeditionary
army in case of war with Germany.
   (MC, 7/20/02)
1914Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Armed resistance
against British rule began in Ulster.
   (MC, 7/20/02)
1917Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The US draft
lottery in World War I went into operation.
   (AP, 7/20/97)
1917Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Alexander Kerensky
became the premier of Russia.
   (HN, 7/20/98)
1917Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The Pact of Corfu
was signed between the Serbs, Croats & Slovenes to form
Yugoslavia. [see Dec 1, 1918]
  Â
(www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1917yugoslavia1.html)
1919Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Sir Edmund
Hillary, the first man reach the summit of Mount Everest, was born
in New Zealand.
   (HN, 7/20/98)
1920Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Elliot L.
Richardson, US Attorney General (1973), Sec of Defense (1973), was
born.
   (MC, 7/20/02)
1921Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The Gramophone
Company opened the first dedicated HMV shop in Oxford Street,
London, in a former men's clothing shop; the composer Edward Elgar
participated in the opening ceremonies. In 2018 HMV collapsed close
to bankruptcy just before the new year after weak Christmas sales
and amid a declining market for CDs and DVDs.
   (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMV)AP,
4/6/13)(AFP, 2/5/19)
1923Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Mexico
Francisco Villa (aka Pancho Villa, b.1877) [Doroteo Arango], general
and revolutionist, died in an ambush. In c1999 Friedrich Katz of the
Univ. of Chicago published "The Life and Times of Pancho Villa." In
2001 Frank McLynn authored "Villa and Zapata."
   (WUD, 1994, p.1593)(WSJ, 8/13/97, p.A12)(SFC,
5/5/99, p.A2)(WSJ, 8/21/01, p.A14)(MC, 7/20/02)
1931Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The trial of
Constance May Flood Gavin, an alleged illegitimate daughter, began
in San Mateo, Ca., for a daughter’s share in James L. Flood estate.
Before closing arguments Judge George Buck ordered a directed
verdict in favor of the Flood family. 10 jurors refused to sign the
verdict. Buck lost elections the following year to Maxwell McNutt,
the lawyer for Constance. Gavin later received a $1.2 million
out-of-court settlement.
   (SMMB)(SSFC, 2/8/04, p.A28)
1933Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Nelson Doubleday,
publisher (Doubleday), owner (NY Mets), was born.
   (MC, 7/20/02)
1933Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Cormac McCarthy,
novelist (All the Pretty Horses), was born.
   (HN, 7/20/01)
1933Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Vatican state
secretary Pacelli (later Pope Pius XII) signed an accord with
Hitler.
   (MC, 7/20/02)
1935Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The 1st broadcast
of "Gang Busters" played on NBC-radio.
   (MC, 7/20/02)
1936Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Turkey signed a
treaty, the Montreux Convention, by which it agreed not to interfere
with transit through the Bosporus. It granted ships unrestricted
passage except in times of war.
   (SFEC, 1/11/98, p.A23)(WSJ, 7/28/05,
p.A7)(http://tinyurl.com/6lyog2)
1937Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Don Budge (22),
American tennis player, defeated Baron Gottfried von Cram (28) of
Germany at Wimbledon in a semi-final round to see who would face
England. James Thurber later described the Budge-Cramm five-set
marathon as “the greatest match in the history of the world.”
   (WSJ, 4/25/09, p.W8)
1937Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Guglielmo Marconi
(b.1874), Italian engineer, inventor of wireless telegraphy, marquis
(radio, Nobel 1909), died in Rome.
   (ON, 11/99, p.10)(MC, 7/20/02)
1938Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Diana Rigg,
actress (Emma Peel-Avengers, Hospital), was born in Doncaster,
England.
   (MC, 7/20/02)
1938Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Natalie Wood
(d.1981), (From Here to Eternity, West Side Story, Splendor in the
Grass, Rebel Without a Cause), was born as Natasha Nikolaevna
Gurdin.
   (MC, 7/20/02)
1939Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Judy Chicago,
artist, was born.
   (HN, 7/20/01)
1939Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Joseph Mendes da
Costa, sculptor, died.
   (MC, 7/20/02)
1942Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Time put Russian
composer Dmitri Shostakovitch on its cover.
   (MC, 7/20/02)
1942Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The first
detachment of the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC), later known
as WACs, began basic training at Fort Des Moines, Iowa.
   (HN, 7/20/02)(AP, 7/20/02)
1944Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, President
Roosevelt was nominated for an unprecedented fourth term of office
at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
   (AP, 7/20/97)
1944Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, US 15th Air Force
attacked Friedrichshafen and Memmingen. Flying Fortresses of US 8th
Air Force attacked Leipzig and Dessau.
   (MC, 7/20/02)
1944Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, A heavy storm
hampered a British offensive at Caen.
   (MC, 7/20/02)
1944Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, A branch of the
German resistance led by Count Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg planted
a bomb underneath the table where Hitler was standing at Hitler's
Rastenburg headquarters in East Prussia that wounded but did not
kill Hitler. This incited the Fuhrer to wipe out the Prussian
aristocracy. This is covered in Otto Friedrich's book on the Moltke
family: "Blood and Iron." [see 1800, Helmuth and/or 1840, James von
Moltke]
   (WSJ, 11/7/95, p.A-21)(AP, 7/20/97)(HN, 7/20/98)
      "In fact, although many of the
conspirators were tortured, beheaded and strangled by piano wire
hung from meat hooks... Col. Stauffenburg and three of his fellow
officers were executed by firing squad in the courtyard of the
Benderblock around midnight of that fateful day." Gen. Friedrich
Olbricht was executed along with Gen. Ludwig Beck, chief Germany
general staff. The 20th of July Special Commission of the Third
Reich was created after the July 20, 1944, assassination attempt on
Adolf Hitler to find and expose conspirators and other enemies of
the regime. Some 400 investigators employed all of the
Gestapo-designed methods of torture against enemies of the Nazis
until the end of the war. Some 5,000 Germans were executed in the
months following the assassination attempt for their part in the
conspiracy or alleged sympathy with the conspirators.
   (WSJ, 11/29/95, p.A-15)(HNQ, 12/3/98)(MC,
7/20/02)
      Ludwig and Kunrat
Hammerstein-Equord participated in the plot to kill Hitler and went
into hiding when the plot failed. 4 members of the family were taken
to concentration camps, but were later freed by the allies.
   (SFC, 2/5/00, p.A19)
1944Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The death march of
1,200 Jews from Lipcani, Moldavia, began.
   (MC, 7/20/02)
1945Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Paul Valery
(b.1871), French poet (Le cimetiere Marin, Mon Faust), died at age
73. He was buried in his home town of Sete.
   (SSFC, 6/17/01, p.T10)(MC, 7/20/02)
1947Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Carlos Santana,
legendary guitar player, was born in Autlan, Mexico.
   (SSFC, 10/14/07, Par p.18)
1948Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, William Forster,
US Communist Party chairman, was arrested.
   (MC, 7/20/02)
1948Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Syngman Rhee
(b.1875) was elected president of South Korea. He served to 1960.
   (HN, 4/26/98)(MC, 4/26/02)(MC, 7/20/02)
1949Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Israel's 19 month
war of independence ended with a ceasefire agreement with Syria.
According to Israel's Foreign Ministry, 6,373 people, or nearly 1
percent of the Jewish population, were killed during Israel's War of
Independence.
   (www.wikipedia.org)(AP, 12/8/07)
1950Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In one of the
first American actions in the Korean War, the U.S. Army’s Task Force
Smith was pushed back into the Naktong perimeter by superior North
Korean forces.
   (HN, 7/20/98)
1951Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Jordan's King
Abdullah Ibn Hussein was assassinated in Jerusalem by a Palestinian
extremist. Prince Hussein (15) witnessed the murder. Talal became
king with the assassination of his father, Abdullah ibn-Hussein, who
ruled when Jordan was a British mandate.
  Â
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullah_I_of_Jordan)(AP,
7/20/97)(HN, 7/20/98)(SFC, 2/6/99, p.A13)
1953Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, USSR and Israel
recovered diplomatic relations.
   (MC, 7/20/02)
1954Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, An armistice for
Indo-China was signed and Vietnam separated into North & South.
[see Jul 21]
   (MC, 7/20/02)
1954Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, West German secret
service head Otto John defected to German DR.
   (MC, 7/20/02)
1956Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Great Britain
refused to lend Egypt money to build Aswan Dam.
   (MC, 7/20/02)
1958Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, King Hussein of
Jordan broke off diplomatic relations with UAR.
   (MC, 7/20/02)
1960Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The submarine
George Washington became the 1st submerged sub to fire a Polaris
missile.
   (MC, 7/20/02)
1962Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Dmitri
Shostakovitch completed his 13th Symphony.
   (MC, 7/20/02)
1967Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Race riots took
place in Memphis, Tenn.
   (MC, 7/20/02)
1967Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Pablo Neruda
received the 1st Viareggio-Versile prize.
   (MC, 7/20/02)
1968Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Joseph Keilberth
(b.1908), German conductor (Bayreuth Festival), died.
   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Keilberth)
1969Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Astronaut Neil
Armstrong took his legendary "one small step for man, one giant leap
for mankind." He and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin made the first successful
landing of a manned vehicle on the moon’s Sea of Tranquility when
they touched down in Apollo 11. Armstrong stepped down from the
ladder of the landing module Eagle to become the first man ever to
walk on the moon. The two astronauts explored the moon's surface for
2 1/2 hours, with amazed TV audiences looking on. Armstrong was
awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his accomplishments
and his contributions to the space program. Edwin Aldrin became the
second man to step foot on the moon shortly after Neil Armstrong
hopped off the lunar lander Eagle at 10:56 p.m. Armstrong and Aldrin
walked on the moon for about two hours during their 22-hour lunar
stay. Thomas Kelly (d.2002 at 72) was the engineer who had overseen
the building of the lunar module. In 2009 Buzz Aldrin authored
“Magnificent desolation: The Long Journey Home from the Moon.”
   (AP, 7/20/97)(HNPD, 7/20/98)(HNQ, 9/14/00)(SFC,
3/29/02, p.A24)(Econ, 7/18/09, p.82)
1973Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Bruce Lee
(b.1940), [Lee Yuen Kam], American-born martial arts expert and film
actor, died in Hong Kong 3 weeks before the opening of his new film
"Enter the Dragon." He was born in San Francisco and raised in Hong
Kong. In 2000 Davis Miller authored "The Tao of Bruce Lee, A Martial
Arts Memoir."
   (SFEC, 8/13/00, BR p.4)(SFC, 7/21/03,
p.D8)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Lee)
1974Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Turkey invaded
Cyprus.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_invasion_of_Cyprus)
1976Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Hank Aaron hit his
755th and final home run off the California Angels' Dick Drago at
Milwaukee County Stadium.
   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hank_Aaron)
1976Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, US Air Force
Brigadier General Harry Aderholt lowered the American flag for the
last time at Military Assistance Command Thailand headquarters on
Bangkok’s Sathorn Road.
   (www.nationmultimedia.com/sunday/20060709/)
1976Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The Viking I robot
spacecraft made a successful, first-ever landing on Mars and began
taking soil samples.
   (AP, 7/20/97)(HN, 7/20/98)
1977Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, A flash flood hit
Johnstown, Pa., killing more than 80 people and causing $350 million
worth of damage.
   (AP, 7/20/08)
1977Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The UN Security
Council voted to admit Vietnam to the world body.
   (AP, 7/20/07)
1982Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Irish Republican
Army bombs exploded in two London parks, killing 11 British
soldiers, along with seven horses belonging to the Queen’s Household
Cavalry. On May 22, 2013, British police charged John Downey (61)
from County Donegal in Ireland, over one of the bombings that killed
four soldiers and 7 horses in Hyde Park.
   (AP, 7/20/00)(AP, 5/22/13)
1983Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The US House
censured Reps. Gerry Studds of Massachusetts and Daniel B. Crane of
Illinois for having sexual relations with pages. Studds, a liberal
Democrat who acknowledged having sex with a 17-year-old male page in
1973 and making sexual advances to two others, admitted an error in
judgment but did not apologize. The first openly gay member of
Congress went on to win re-election until his retirement in the
mid-1990s. Crane admitted having sex several times with a
17-year-old female page in 1980. He apologized to the House in a
quavering voice "for the shame I have brought down on this
institution." The conservative Republican was defeated a year later.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_Congressional_page_sex_scandal)(AP,
9/30/06)
1984Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, James Fixx
(b.1932), jogger and writer, died of a heart attack while running in
Vermont. His books included “The Complete Book of Running” (1977).
   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Fixx)
1985Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, US divers found
the wreck of Spanish galleon Atocha.
   (www.atochastory.com/)
1987Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The UN Security
Council voted unanimously to approve a U.S.-sponsored resolution
demanding an end to the Persian Gulf war between Iraq and Iran, a
move supported by Iraq and dismissed by Iran.
   (AP, 7/20/97)
1988Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Massachusetts Gov.
Michael Dukakis received the Democratic presidential nomination at
the party's convention in Atlanta.
   (AP, 7/20/98)
1988Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Iranian leader
Ayatollah Khomeini accepted a truce with Iraq, even though he said
the decision was like drinking poison.
   (AP, 7/20/98)
1989Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, President Bush
called for a long-range space program to build an orbiting space
station, establish a base on the moon and send a manned mission to
the planet Mars.
   (AP, 7/20/99)
1990Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, William J. Brennan
(1906-1997), US Supreme Court Justice, one of the court’s most
liberal voices, left office after serving over 33 years.
   (AP,
7/20/00)(www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/legal_entity/90/)
1990Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, A federal appeals
court set aside Oliver North’s Iran-Contra convictions, reversing
one outright.
   (AP, 7/20/00)
1991      Jul 20,  Â
President Bush, visiting Turkey, was cheered by thousands of people
in Ankara.
   (AP, 7/20/01)
1991Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Lebanon joined
Syria in agreeing to participate in Mideast peace talks with Israel.
   (AP, 7/20/01)
1991Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Russian President
Boris N. Yeltsin banned political activity in government offices and
republic-run businesses, effectively curtailing the influence of the
Communist Party.
   (AP, 7/20/01)
1992Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Vaclav Havel, the
playwright who led the Velvet Revolution against communism, formally
stepped down as president of Czechoslovakia after failing to halt
the country's pending breakup into two entities. He was later
elected president of the Czech Republic.
   (AP, 7/20/02)
1993Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Vincent Foster
Jr., deputy White House council, was found dead in a Virginia Park
near Washington. His death was claimed to be a suicide. An
eye-witness later claimed to see “suspicious-looking man" and a car
with Arkansas license plates not far from the scene. His death was
later concluded to be a suicide. Information relating to these
events were later leaked by a source identified as "Deep Water."
   (SFC, 11/12/96, p.A7)(SFC, 7/16/97, p.A3)(WSJ,
2/18/98, p.A24)(AP, 7/20/98)
1993Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, A day after firing
William Sessions as FBI director, President Clinton named federal
judge Louis Freeh (b.1950) to replace him. Freeh served until June,
2001.
   (AP, 7/20/98)(WSJ, 6/14/02, p.A4)
1994Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, OJ Simpson offered
a $500,000 reward for evidence of ex-wife's killer.
   (www.courttv.com/news/flashback/july.html)
1994Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Bosnian Serbs
rejected an international peace plan sponsored by the United States,
Russia, France, Britain and Germany.
   (AP, 7/20/99)
1995Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Baseball
Hall-of-Famers Duke Snider and Willie McCovey pleaded guilty in New
York to tax evasion.
   (AP, 7/20/00)
1995Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Leaders of the
University of California voted to drop affirmative action policies
on admissions and hiring.
   (AP, 7/20/00)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, At the Atlanta
Olympics, Renata Mauer of Poland won the Games' first gold, in the
10-meter air rifle.
   (AP, 7/20/97)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In his weekly
radio address, President Clinton paid tribute to America's Olympic
athletes at the just-opened Atlanta games, as well as 16 high school
students from Montoursville, Pa., who died in the crash of TWA
Flight 800.
   (AP, 7/20/97)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, A new sculpture
museum was scheduled to open in Copan National Park, Honduras, with
exhibits of Mayan work.
   (Nat. Hist., 4/96, p.25)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Spain the
Basque separatist group ETA set off 3 bombs at tourist sites. One at
the airport of Reus and 2 at the beach resorts of Cambrils and
Salou.
   (SFC, 7/21/96, p.A18)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Uganda rebels
of the Lord’s Resistance Army abducted some 80 people, half of them
students, 125 miles north of Kampala.
   (WSJ, 7/23/96, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Seven people were
arrested after New York City police found scores of deaf Mexicans
kept in slave-like conditions and forced to peddle trinkets for the
smugglers who had brought them to the United States.
   (AP, 7/20/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, From Qatar it was
reported that as many as 30% of Qatari women work. Some 6,000
graduated each year from the Univ. of Qatar.
   (SFEC, 7/20/97, p.A20)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Palestinian
security forces arrested 4 Palestinian police officers who were
accused of planning to attack Jewish settlers. Israel had arrested 4
Palestinian policemen a week earlier for planned attacks at the
settlement of Har Bracha.
   (SFC, 7/21/97, p.A8)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Turkish troops
killed 50 Kurdish guerrillas in the southeast. That raised the
weekly total to 84.
   (SFC, 7/21/97, p.A9)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, A smoky fire
aboard the cruise ship Ecstasy just two miles from the Florida shore
forcing its return to port.
   (AP, 7/20/99)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Nigeria Gen’l.
Abubakar announced that elections would be held in 1999 and power
passed to a civilian president on May 29.
   (SFEC, 7/21/98, p.A1)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Russia won an
$11.2 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund to help
avert the devaluation of its currency. Anatoly Chubais later
admitted that he lied to the IMF about the state of the Russian
economy to get a $4.8 billion loan released.
   (AP, 7/20/99)(SFC, 9/9/98, p.A10)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Saudi Arabia
attacked a Yemeni island in the Red Sea and killed 3 guards. 3
islands and parts of the Empty Quarter, a vast desert with potential
for oil, were under contention.
   (SFEC, 7/21/98, p.A7)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Tajikistan 4 UN
employees were killed while on routine patrol.
   (SFC, 7/22/98, p.A12)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Tulia, Texas,
an indictment was handed down for the arrest of 46 people on drug
charges under the testimony of undercover agent Tom Coleman. A probe
into the arrests was opened in 2002 and in 2003 Gov. Rick Perry
pardoned 35 defendants. In 2004 45 of those arrested split a $6
million civil rights settlement. In 2005 Tom Coleman, former
undercover drug agent, was sentenced to 6 years on probation for
perjury in the bogus drug busts. In 2005 Nate Blakeslee authored
“Tulia: Race, Cocaine and Corruption in a Small Texas Town.”
   (SFC, 6/3/03, p.A3)(SFC, 8/23/03, p.A3)(SFC,
1/15/05, p.A6)(SSFC, 11/6/05, p.M3)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, After 38 years at
the bottom of the Atlantic, astronaut Gus Grissom’s "Liberty Bell
Seven" Mercury capsule was lifted to the surface.
   (AP, 7/20/00)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Algerian
government sources said rebels had cut the throats of 9 villagers in
Medea province.
   (SFC, 7/21/99, p.C2)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Belarus the
term of Pres. Lukashenko expired. He had extended his term to 2002
but the US said it would no longer recognize him.
   (WSJ, 7/22/99, p.A1)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Kashmir 20
Hindus were killed in 3 separate incidents by Muslim insurgents.
   (SFC, 7/21/99, p.C2)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The Mideast
summit, resurrected only hours after its reported demise, moved
forward with Secretary of State Madeleine Albright stepping in for
President Clinton, who had left for an economic summit in Japan.
   (SFC, 7/20/00, p.A1)(AP, 7/20/01)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, A federal grand
jury indicted two former Utah Olympic officials for their alleged
roles in paying one million dollars in cash and gifts to help bring
the 2002 games to Salt Lake City.
   (AP, 7/20/01)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Willamette
Industries of Portland was fined $11.2 million under the federal
Clean Air Act plus $8 mil in contributions to environmental
projects. It also agreed to install an estimated $74 million worth
of pollution control equipment. The company estimated the new
equipment at $28 mil.
   (SFC, 7/21/00, p.A5)(WSJ, 7/21/00, p.A1)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, It was reported
that an experiment at Princeton showed light traveling beyond its
previous known limit.
   (SFC, 7/20/00, p.A1)(WSJ, 7/20/00, p.A1)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Britain’s
Terrorism Act 2000 was the first of a number of general Terrorism
Acts passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It superseded
and repealed the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act
1989 and the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1996.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism_Act_2000)(Econ, 8/24/13,
p.53)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Egypt at least
15 people were killed when a 6-story factory building collapsed in
Alexandria.
   (SFC, 7/21/00, p.B10)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Japan Prime
Minister Mori presided in informal discussions between G-8 leaders
and 4 leaders from poor nations. Pres. Clinton arrived in Okinawa
and went directly to the Cornerstone of peace Memorial where the
names of 237,318 people, who died in the battle of Okinawa, are
inscribed.
   (SFC, 7/20/00, p.A12)(SFC, 7/21/00, p.A8)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The Stock Trading
Center of Vietnam (STC), located in Ho Chi Minh City, was officially
inaugurated. Trading commenced on July 28, 2000.
  Â
(http://chinese-school.netfirms.com/abacus-stocks-Vietnam-stock-exchange.html)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Ira Einhorn,
convicted in absentia of killing his girlfriend, was flown from
France and handed over to Philadelphia police.
   (AP, 7/20/02)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Vanessa Leggett, a
fledgling crime writer, was jailed in Texas on contempt charges for
refusing to hand over her research notes on Robert Angleton to a
federal grand jury. Leggett was released Jan 4, 2002.
   (SFC, 1/4/02, p.A17)(SFC, 1/5/02, p.A6)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, It was reported
that China planned to buy 38 Russian Su-30 MKK ground attack jets
worth $2 billion.
   (SFC, 7/20/01, p.D4)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, A G-8 economic
summit, planned in Genoa, Italy, expected over 100,000
demonstrators. The summit opened with raging street battles between
police and demonstrators; one protester was fatally shot by
officers. Carlo Giuliani (23) was shot and killed by police while
protesting at the G-8 summit. At least 100 people were injured. In
2008 a court convicted 15 Italian officials of abusing protesters
held in at police garrison following violent demonstrations during
the 2001 G8 summit in Genoa. In 2015 the European Court of Human
Rights awarded Arnaldo Cestaro $48,900 and ruled that his unpunished
police beating amounted to torture. In 2017 Europe's human rights
court found Italy guilty of torture over a raid in which riot police
kicked, punched and hit dozens of protesters who had gathered inside
a school building during the G8 meeting in Genoa.
   (SFC, 7/17/01, p.A6)(AP, 7/20/02)(SFC, 7/21/01,
p.A1)(AP, 7/15/08)(SFC, 4/8/15, p.A2)(Reuters, 6/22/17)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Macedonia 2
int’l. monitors and their interpreter were found killed by a land
mine near Tetovo.
   (SFC, 7/21/01, p.E1)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Sri Lanka
thousands of demonstrators were blocked from marching into the
capital to protest the suspension of parliament by Pres.
Kumaratunga. 2 people were killed.
   (SFC, 7/20/01, p.D4)(WSJ, 7/20/01, p.A1)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In the West Bank
an explosion leveled the office of Yasser Arafat in Hebron and Rajai
Abu Rajab, an activist in the Tanzim, was found dead.
   (SFC, 7/21/01, p.E1)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The New
Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) was formally adopted at
the 37th session of the (OAU) Assembly of Heads of State and
Government in Lusaka, Zambia.
   (Econ, 2/10/07,
p.48)(http://www.nepad.org/2005/files/inbrief.php)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Omar Bernal, rebel
commander of the 63rd front of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia, or FARC, surrendered Saturday to soldiers in southern
Colombia, saying he had lost faith in the decades-old guerrilla
uprising.
   (AP, 7/20/02)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Greece police
arrested two more alleged November 17 terrorists, Iraklis Kostaris
and Costas Karatsolis, both 36-year-old real estate agents. One was
believed to be a hit man in four assassinations including those of a
U.S. Air Force sergeant and a British brigadier.
   (AP, 7/21/02)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, A car exploded
near a mosque in an Israeli Arab neighborhood of Tel Aviv, killing
the driver.
   (AP, 7/20/02)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The number of
Japanese who have died after taking diet pills imported from China
has risen to four and 124 have fallen ill, Kyodo news agency
reported quoting a Health Ministry report.
   (Reuters, 7/20/02)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Refugees in flight
from Liberia's war surged to 200,000, and those reaching safety in
neighboring Guinea spoke of worsening atrocities by President
Charles Taylor's forces: looting, raping, burning and killing
trapped villagers. Jubilant government troops strutted through
heavily looted Tubmanburg after driving away rebel forces who had
controlled it for close to three months.
   (AP, 7/20/02)(AP, 7/21/02)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In southeastern
Nigeria unarmed women occupying at least four ChevronTexaco
facilities said they had freed their two hostages in return for a
promise from oil executives to meet with them.
   (AP, 7/20/02)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Nigeria a huge
fire broke out Saturday at ChevronTexaco's main oil terminal, days
after unarmed village women ended a 10-day siege that crippled the
oil giant's local operations.
   (AP, 7/20/02)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20-22, In Nigeria
dozens of villagers have been killed, many hacked to death, in three
days of clashes between rival political factions battling for
influence in an oil-rich area of the Niger Delta.
   (AP, 7/23/02)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Lima, Peru, 29
people, and a lion and tiger that were part of the show, died in a
blaze started by bartenders who were doing tricks with fire at
Utopia, an unlicensed night club.
   (AP, 7/20/03)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In northeastern
Sicily a passenger train derailed and apparently crashed into an
abandoned house, killing at least eight people and injuring some 30
others.
   (AP, 7/21/02)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Sudan signed a
peace deal with southern rebels in Kenya.
   (WSJ, 7/22/02, p.A1)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, President Bush
welcomed Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi to his Texas ranch for a
two-day visit.
   (AP, 7/20/04)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, American generals
said a new Iraqi civil defense force would be created over the next
45 days with some 7,000 militia members. Gen. John Abizaid, the top
commander of coalition forces in Iraq, predicted that resistance to
U.S. forces in Iraq would grow in coming months as progress was made
in creating a new government to replace the dictatorial regime of
Saddam Hussein.
   (SFC, 7/21/03, p.A1)(AP, 7/20/04)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Two soldiers from
the 101st Airborne Division were killed and another wounded when
their convoy came under rocket-propelled grenade and small arms fire
in northern Iraq.
   (AP, 7/20/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, William Woolfolk
(86), writer for cartoon characters like Batman and Captain Marvel,
died. He coined one of Captain Marvel's signature lines: "Holy
Moley," and authored the 1968 bestseller "The Beautiful Couple."
   (SFC, 8/11/03, p.A16)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Ben Curtis, an
unknown PGA Tour rookie in his first major championship, won the
British Open.
   (AP, 7/20/04)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In France 2
explosions rocked central Nice, slightly injuring at least 16 people
and damaging several government buildings.
   (AP, 7/20/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The Israeli and
Palestinian prime ministers held a two-hour meeting, kicking off 10
days of international diplomacy aimed at solidifying a fragile
Mideast cease-fire.
   (AP, 7/20/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In southern Japan
weekend mudslides destroyed more than a dozen homes, killing 16
people.
   (AP, 7/22/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Liberia rebels
advanced deeper into the war-ravaged capital, trading mortar,
grenade and machine-gun fire with government troops.
   (AP, 7/20/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Puerto Rico
Jose Antonio Rivera Robles, was beaten to death at a gas station
after he reportedly stole a police car. In 2009 a jury in US federal
court convicted four Puerto Rican police officers in the beating
death. Two other officers previously pleaded guilty to felony
federal civil rights charges in the case.
   (AP,
8/13/09)(www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2009/August/09-crt-803.html)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Former national
security adviser Sandy Berger quit as an informal adviser to
Democrat John Kerry's presidential campaign after disclosure of a
criminal investigation into whether he'd mishandled classified
terrorism documents.
   (AP, 7/20/05)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Microsoft said it
would make a one-time dividend payment of $32 billion and buy back
up to $30 billion in company stock over the next 4 years.
   (WSJ, 7/21/04, p.A1)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Afghanistan US
forces killed one militant and captured 5 others including a brother
of Taliban leader Mullah Omar.
   (SFC, 7/21/04, p.A9)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Monsoon floods,
tornadoes and rains roared through already inundated villages in
South Asia, killing 42 more people. 15 died in Bangladesh and 27 in
India. Fresh rains in Asia took the rainy season death toll to
nearly 800.
   (AP, 7/21/04)(Reuters, 7/21/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Britain's
government backed long-standing plans to build a railway network
linking east and west London at a cost of around 10 billion pounds.
   (AFP, 7/20/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, EU lawmakers
elected a pro-European from Spain to be its next president as the
expanded European Parliament met for the first time. The 732-member
assembly chose Josep Borrell, a relatively unknown Spanish
Socialist, to its top job.
   (AP, 7/20/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Former Guam Gov.
Carl Gutierrez (1995-2003) was acquitted on charges he used
government workers and public money to build and improve his
cliffside ranch.
   (AP, 7/21/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, President Ricardo
Maduro said he is sending troops to help police quell a clash
between loggers and environmentalists in south-central Honduras.
   (AP, 7/20/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Iran a
prominent history professor twice condemned to death on blasphemy
charges was informed of a three year jail sentence for insulting
Islamic sacred beliefs.
   (AP, 7/20/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, A Filipino truck
driver held hostage in Iraq for nearly two weeks was freed, a day
after his nation withdrew its final peacekeepers from Iraq.
   (AP, 7/20/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, A bomb attack on
an Iraqi minibus killed four civilians and injured two others near
Baqouba.
   (AP, 7/20/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Israeli helicopter
gunships and tanks fired on Hezbollah guerrilla positions in
southern Lebanon, killing one guerrilla, Lebanese security officials
reported. Hezbollah said it killed two Israeli soldiers.
   (AP, 7/20/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The U.N. General
Assembly called for the structure to be torn down in compliance with
a world court ruling. Israel's construction of its West Bank barrier
continued.
   (AP, 7/21/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Nepal Communist
rebels freed about 50 students and a dozen teachers.
   (AP, 7/20/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Pakistani
officials acknowledged the closing and bulldozing of 2 refugee camps
Zarinoor 1 & 2 in South Waziristan. The government had decided
to dismantle all camps within 3 miles of the Afghan border.
   (SFC, 7/21/04, p.A9)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Saudi Arabia
the head of slain American hostage Paul M. Johnson Jr., who was
kidnapped and decapitated by militants last month, was found by
security forces during a raid that targeted the hideout of the Saudi
al-Qaida chief. Two militants were killed.
   (AP, 7/21/04)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, A day after being
tapped by President Bush, Supreme Court nominee John Roberts paid
courtesy calls on senators while a conservative group purchased TV
ad time in support of his nomination and abortion rights groups
staged protests.
   (AP, 7/20/06)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Eastman Kodak Co.
said it is cutting as many as 10,000 more jobs as the company that
turned picture-taking into a hobby for the masses navigates a tough
transition from film to digital photography.
   (AP, 7/20/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, SF Bay Area air
quality officials imposed the toughest regulations in the nation to
reduce flaring in the East Bay’s 5 oil refineries.
   (SFC, 7/21/05, p.B1)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Actor James Doohan
(85), who transported the crew of "Star Trek" through space on the
command "Beam me up, Scotty," died. He has asked that his ashes be
blasted into space.
   (AFP, 7/21/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Two Afghans
released from Guantanamo Bay claimed about 180 Afghans at the U.S.
detention facility were on a hunger strike to protest alleged
mistreatment and to push for freedom.
   (AP, 7/21/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Cambodia handed
over some 107 Montagnards, a largely Christian hilltribe people, to
Vietnamese authorities. More than 1,000 Montagnards fled to Cambodia
after security forces put down demonstrations in Vietnam's Central
Highlands in 2001 against land confiscation and religious
persecution of ethnic minorities. In January, Vietnam, Cambodia and
the UNHCR signed a memorandum of understanding to resettle or
repatriate about 700 ethnic minority Vietnamese who were estimated
at the time to be in Cambodia.
   (AFP, 7/20/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Haitang was
downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm as it moved into
southeast China, leaving a trail of destruction. The death toll in
Taiwan and in China rose to 15.
   (AFP, 7/20/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Canada legalized
gay marriage, becoming the world's 4th nation to grant full legal
rights to same-sex couples.
   (AP, 7/20/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In India the
Chattisgarh state government said it will begin supplying arms to
tribespeople who have formed vigilante groups to protect themselves
from attacks by Maoist rebels.
   (AP, 7/21/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Sunni Muslim
members on a committee drafting Iraq's new constitution suspended
their participation in the wake of a colleague's assassination,
saying they need more security. A suicide bomber blew himself up
outside an army recruiting center in central Baghdad, killing at
least 10 people.
   (AP, 7/20/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, A Milan prosecutor
sought arrest warrants for six more purported CIA operatives,
accusing them of helping plan the kidnapping of an Egyptian radical
Muslim cleric.
   (AP, 7/20/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Kashmir a car
bomb blew up an army jeep, killing 5 soldiers and at least one
civilian and injuring 20 others near a school in an elite
neighborhood of Srinagar.
   (AP, 7/20/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Japanese
electronics giant Hitachi said it has become the first foreign
company to win certification from US transport authorities for its
bomb-detection equipment, opening up major new markets.
   (AP, 7/20/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Kenya riot
police beat demonstrators with truncheons and fired tear gas
canisters as protests in Nairobi persisted over proposed
constitutional amendments that critics say leave the president with
too much power.
   (AP, 7/21/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Lebanon
PM-designate Fuad Siniora announced a cabinet of 24 ministers. The
lineup for the first time included a member of the Hizb Allah
movement. Mohammed Fneish became energy minister. Hizb Allah ally
Tarrad Hamadeh retained the post of labor minister.
   (http://tinyurl.com/m8ctm)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Mexico more
than 1,000 people marched through the streets of the colonial
capital of southern Oaxaca state to demand that picketers disband a
blockade that has trapped journalists inside a newspaper building
for about a month.
   (AP, 7/21/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Hurricane Emily
slammed into northeastern Mexico with 125 mph winds.
   (AP, 7/20/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Palestine the
ruling Fatah movement and the Islamic Hamas agreed to end several
days of clashes in northern Gaza that took the lives of two
bystanders.
   (AP, 7/20/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, President Vladimir
Putin said Russia won't allow foreign organizations to finance
political activities in the country.
   (AP, 7/20/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Yemen at least
11 people were killed in clashes with police after rioters threw
stones and set fires in streets to protest against subsidy cuts that
nearly doubled petrol prices.
   (AP, 7/20/05)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, President Bush
delivered his first address to the 97th annual NAACP convention
after having declining invitations for five years in a row. He
received mixed support. Bush said he knew racism existed in America
and that many black voters distrusted his Republican Party; Bush
promised to improve the GOP's rocky relations with blacks.
   (AP, 7/20/06)(SFC, 7/21/06, p.A4)(AP, 7/20/07)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The US Senate
voted 98-0 to renew the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act for another
quarter-century.
   (AP, 7/20/07)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The US released
new postage stamps featuring Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman,
Supergirl and a half dozen other superheroes.
   (AP, 7/20/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The SEC filed
criminal and civil charges against executives at Brocade
Communications in San Jose, Ca., for back-dating stock options.
Estimates had it that some 29% of 7,774 US companies may have
backdated option grants from 1996-2002.
   (SFC, 7/22/06, p.C3)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, California’s Gov.
Schwarzenegger authorized $150 million in loans to the state’s stem
cell agency. A day earlier Pres. Bush vetoed legislation that would
have expanded federal funding for stem cell research.
   (SFC, 7/21/06, p.B1)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Afghanistan
coalition forces killed 6 Taliban in the district of Garmser in
Helmand province.
   (AP, 7/22/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The UN food agency
said China became the world's third-largest food aid donor in 2005,
the same year it stopped receiving assistance from the World Food
Program, while the US and the EU remained the top two contributors.
   (AP, 7/20/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, German and US
scientists began a 2-year project to decipher the genetic code of
the Neanderthal.
   (SFC, 7/21/06, p.A6)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, India arrested
three men in connection with last week's Mumbai bombings that killed
more than 180 men.
   (Reuters, 7/21/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Iraq's top Shiite
cleric urged his followers to refrain from reprisal violence against
Sunnis, his strongest call yet for an end to increasing sectarian
bloodshed that threatens to erupt into full-scale civil war. Car
bombs in Baghdad killed 9 police officers and 6 civilians. A
roadside bomb in eastern Baghdad killed 2. Police in Baghdad found
38 bodies, most of whom were shot in the head. A car bomb exploded
at a village gas station in Tikrit, killing 13 people who had
gathered around the vehicle after discovering a corpse inside. An
explosion in Kirkuk killed 7 people. Gunmen assassinated a former
official of Saddam's Baath party in Karbala.
   (AP, 7/20/06)(SFC, 7/21/06, p.A3)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Israeli troops met
fierce resistance from Hezbollah guerrillas as they crossed into
Lebanon to seek tunnels and weapons for a second straight day, and
Israel hinted at a full-scale invasion.
   (AP, 7/20/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Israeli forces
killed 3 people and wounded six in the Gaza Strip. The army dropped
leaflets on towns and villages warning that homes hiding weapons
would be attacked.
   (AP, 7/20/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In southwest
Pakistan 300 tribal militants surrendered to authorities, where
President Pervez Musharraf says an insurgency is dying down. In a
search near the former rebel stronghold of Dera Bugti, troops seized
10 surface-to-air missiles, 195 anti-personnel and anti-tank mines,
270 hand grenades, 205 rockets and 201 mortar shells.
   (AFP, 7/21/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Residents of
central Somalia said that hundreds of Ethiopian troops were
patrolling the town of Baidoa in armored vehicles, less than a day
after Islamic militants moved near the base of the weak, UN-backed
government.
   (AP, 7/20/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Bio Fuel Systems,
a Spanish company, claimed to have developed a method of breeding
plankton and turning the marine plants into oil, providing a
potentially inexhaustible source of clean fuel.
   (Reuters, 7/20/06)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, On the Caribbean
island of St. Maarten Georgia state athletes Randy Newton and Bryan
Kilgore were killed. Michael Registe was later accused of the
murders and faced extradition.
   (SSFC, 7/19/09, p.A6)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Luis Jefferson
Lira Rodriguez (20), a Venezuela soldier, massacred 8 people at
Ranch Adi, but said he acted on orders from at least one other
lieutenant who claimed there was a Colombian rebel camp nearby.
Officials later said rape was the motive and that the soldier acted
alone.
   (AP, 8/17/06)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, President Bush
signed an executive order prohibiting cruel and inhuman treatment,
including humiliation or denigration of religious beliefs, in the
detention and interrogation of terrorism suspects.
   (AP, 7/20/08)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Kevin Andre Smoot
(43), a former executive of Eagle Global Logistics’ freight
forwarding station in Houston, a company that shipped military cargo
to Iraq, pleaded guilty to lying about a fraud scheme that bilked
the government out of more than a million dollars. Smoot admitted
that he lied to federal investigators who questioned him about a
scheme to inflate invoices by adding a "war risk surcharge" of 50
cents for each kilogram of freight transported to Baghdad.
   (AP, 7/21/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Purdue Pharma
L.P., the maker of OxyContin, and 3 of its executives were ordered
to pay a $634.5 million fine for misleading the public about the
painkiller's risk of addiction.
   (AP, 7/21/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, A 4.2 earthquake
jolted San Francisco Bay area residents awake, breaking glass and
rattling nerves, although there were no immediate reports of
injuries.
   (AP, 7/20/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Ohio an
ambulance heading to a hospital was broadsided by a car in Crane
Township and 5 people were killed including 3 EMT technicians and 2
patients.
   (SFC, 7/21/07, p.A3)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Tammy Faye Messner
(b.1942) died in Missouri. As Tammy Faye Bakker she had helped her
husband, Jim, build a multimillion-dollar evangelism empire that
collapsed in disgrace. She divorced her husband of 30 years, with
whom she had two children, in 1992 while he was in prison for
defrauding millions from followers of their PTL ("Praise the Lord"
or "People that Love") television ministries. In 1993 she married
Roe Messner, a former PTL contractor and chief builder of Heritage
USA, a PTL theme park in South Carolina. In 1996 Messner was
sentenced to 27 months in prison for federal bankruptcy fraud.
   (AP, 7/22/07)(SSFC, 7/22/07, p.B7)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Pete Wilson
(b.1945), TV anchor for KGO-TV in SF, died one day after a heart
attack suffered during hip replacement surgery at Stanford Hospital.
   (SSFC, 7/22/07, p.A1)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Angola, Namibia
and South Africa launched a joint commission designed to lay the
groundwork for a sustainable and environmental approach of their
shared fishing grounds in the Atlantic Ocean.
   (AFP, 7/20/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, An election
committee said Bako Saakian, Nagorno-Karabakh's former security
chief, won the presidency of the Armenian-controlled breakaway
region with 85% of the vote.
   (AP, 7/20/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Hundreds of
thousands of people packed the streets of La Paz to protest efforts
to relocate Bolivia's capital in one of the largest demonstrations
in the history of the Andean country. La Paz backers said switching
the capital from Bolivia's largest city, with a metropolitan
population of 1.7 million, to Sucre, population 250,000, would be
expensive and divisive.
   (AP, 7/20/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Sen. Antonio
Carlos Peixoto de Magalhaes (79), one of Brazil's most influential
politicians, died. He had held on to power as the country came under
a military dictatorship and returned to democracy.
   (AP, 7/21/07)(SFC, 7/23/07, p.D6)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, China said it had
shut down several firms at the heart of food and drug safety scares,
including a chemical plant implicated in the deaths of 94 people in
Panama. China also said that it "strongly opposed" decisions by the
United States to initiate anti-dumping and countervailing duty
investigations on imports of some woven sacks and steel pipes from
China. Total deaths in Panama reached 116 from contaminated
medications.
   (AP, 7/20/07)(Reuters, 7/20/07)(AP, 5/10/08)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In southern China
a mentally ill man wielding a wrench wounded 18 children and a
teacher in a kindergarten before fleeing on a motorcycle. Police
nabbed the attacker at his home and sent him to hospital because he
had stabbed himself in the stomach.
   (AP, 7/21/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, A magnitude-6.1
quake hit far western Xinjiang's mountainous Tekes county. Chinese
authorities relocated 8,250 people after the earthquake damaged and
destroyed thousands of mud brick houses.
   (AP, 7/22/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Aid officials said
clashes between rival militia groups in eastern Congo have killed
nine fighters and reduced dozens of houses to smoldering ruins. The
fighting erupted a week ago in Minembwe, about 120 miles southwest
of the eastern lakeside city of Uvira.
   (AP, 7/20/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Ecuador's Pres.
Rafael Correa overturned a ban on the sale of shark fins, which are
popular in Asia, but stipulated they can only be sold if the sharks
are caught by fishermen accidentally.
   (AP, 7/20/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Ethiopia pardoned
and freed 38 opposition politicians and activists following
international condemnation of their imprisonment and days after US
lawmakers took steps to criticize the country's human rights record.
   (AP, 7/20/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, A heat wave
sweeping central and southeastern Europe killed at least 13 people
this week, with soaring temperatures sparking forest fires, damaging
crops and prompting calls to ban horse-drawn tourist carriages.
   (AP, 7/20/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Two suspects in
the 1994 Rwandan genocide, a priest and a prefect, were arrested in
France on a warrant from an international court investigating the
massacres. Wenceslas Munyeshyaka, a Roman Catholic priest in
Normandy, and Laurent Bucyibaruta, a former prefect, were jailed
before possible extradition to Tanzania where the UN International
Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda is based.
   (AP, 7/20/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Iraq 4 people
were killed and three wounded when clashes broke out in the Shiite
village of Ajemi near Khalis. A roadside bomb killed a U.S. soldier
in Diyala province. Iraqi troops detained 46 suspected militants and
killed five others in a new operation in eastern Diyala. A US
airstrike killed six militants in Husseiniyah, according to US
military, disputing claims by Iraqi officials and relatives of the
victims that 18 civilians died in the attack.
   (AP, 7/20/07)(AP, 7/21/07)(AP, 7/22/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Israel released
more than 250 Palestinian prisoners, aiming to bolster embattled
President Mahmoud Abbas in his power struggle with the Islamic
militants of Hamas.
   (AP, 7/20/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The UN said that
it had confined a group of peacekeepers to their base in Ivory Coast
after receiving allegations of widespread sexual abuse, the latest
in a string of accusations of sexual violations by UN forces around
the world.
   (AP, 7/20/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Suspected Islamic
rebels attacked Hindu pilgrims with hand grenades for the second
time in a week in India's portion of Kashmir, wounding 11 people.
   (AP, 7/21/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Lebanon’s army
used loudspeakers to urge Islamic extremists inside a Palestinian
refugee camp in northern Lebanon to surrender, as sporadic fighting
continued.
   (AP, 7/20/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Officials said
Liberia's former House speaker and an ex-military commander have
been charged with treason for their involvement in an alleged coup
plot.
   (AP, 7/20/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Nigeria filed a
new lawsuit against US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer claiming some 6.5
billion dollars in damages for deaths allegedly stemming from drug
trials. In Sokoto, Nigeria's main Islamic city, mobs burned down
houses in Shiite neighborhoods in apparent reprisal for the murder
this week of a radical Sunni Muslim cleric. In northern Nigeria at
least one person died and about 100 were detained in a series of
dawn raids following sectarian clashes sparked by the killing of a
popular Sunni cleric In southern Nigeria Gunmen killed a Lebanese
businessman in his home. Later in the day attackers tried to ambush
a truck carrying several foreign workers in what appeared to be a
kidnapping attempt.
   (AFP, 7/20/07)(AP, 7/20/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Pakistan’s Supreme
Court reinstated Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, ruling
that his suspension by President Gen. Pervez Musharraf was illegal.
Clashes broke out between Pakistani troops and militants in North
Waziristan after a suicide car bomber hit a security checkpoint,
killing four people. In northwestern Pakistan lightning and heavy
rain caused landslides that destroyed homes in two villages, killing
more than 70 people.
   (AP, 7/20/07)(AP, 7/21/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The WTO said
Rwanda plans to import a generic HIV/AIDS medicine made in Canada,
making it the first country to test a World Trade Organization
waiver on drug patents.
   (Reuters, 7/20/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Rade Terzic,
Serbia's former state prosecutor, was arrested on suspicion he
belonged to a criminal gang linked to former President Slobodan
Milosevic.
   (AP, 7/20/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, President Thabo
Mbeki hailed the launch of a rolling news network in South Africa as
an opportunity to break free of Western news agendas and give a more
rounded picture of the continent.
   (AP, 7/20/07)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Democratic
presidential candidate Barack Obama pledged steadfast aid to
Afghanistan in talks with its Western-backed leader and vowed to
pursue the war on terror "with vigor" if he is elected. 9 policemen
were killed in international military air strikes called in when
police and troops clashed after mistaking each other for Taliban.
International soldiers had moved into a district in Farah province
without informing police, who thought they were militants. 3
children were killed in the southern province of Helmand when a bomb
blew up a minivan. One NATO soldier was killed in Khost province. A
precision missile strike by British aircraft killed Abdul Rasaq, a
Taliban leader who led fighters in the Musa Qala area of Helmand
province.
   (AP, 7/20/08)(AFP, 7/20/08)(SFC, 7/21/08, p.A7)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Australia Pope
Benedict XVI said a "spiritual desert" was spreading throughout the
world and he challenged young people to shed the greed and cynicism
of their time to create a new age of hope for humankind.
   (AP, 7/20/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In central Bolivia
a Venezuelan military helicopter often used to transport Bolivian
President Evo Morales crashed. Four Venezuelan military personnel
and a Bolivian officer were reported killed.
   (AP, 7/21/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Beijing started
its most drastic pollution-control plan, restricting car use and
limiting factory emissions in a last-minute push to clear
smog-choked skies for the August Olympics.
   (AP, 7/20/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Well over a
million Colombians, clad in white and shouting "No more kidnapping,"
marked their independence day with marches and concerts demanding
freedom for hostages still held by leftist rebels.
   (AP, 7/20/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In northern India
a packed bus collided with a truck in Uttar Pradesh state, killing
at least 17 people and wounding 35 others.
   (AP, 7/20/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Activists said
Iran has sentenced eight women and one man convicted of adultery to
death by stoning. The nine, who are between 27 and 50 years old,
were convicted of adultery in separate cases in different Iranian
cities.
   (AP, 7/20/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Iraq a new
airport opened in Najaf in what the prime minister said was a key
step in the reconstruction of a country devastated by war. The
government said an oil refinery in Iraq's western desert has resumed
production. American soldiers killed two armed relatives of a
provincial governor during a raid in Salahuddin province against
al-Qaida in Iraq. 2 private security contractors were killed in a
car bombing in Mosul. 8 Iraqis were injured in the blast.
   (AP, 7/20/08)(AP, 7/21/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Israel British
PM Gordon Brown, on his first official visit as prime minister, said
that economic development was key to bringing peace to the Middle
East. Brown demanded that Israel cease settlement construction and
promised more money to jump-start the battered Palestinian economy.
   (AP, 7/20/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Barack Obama made
a brief stop in Kuwait, a key US ally. The delegation met with the
emir, Sheik Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah, and other senior officials.
   (AP, 7/21/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Lebanon
Shehadeh Jawhar, military commander of the Jund al-Sham group, died
from wounds in the previous day’s clash with members of the
mainstream Palestinian Fatah movement.
   (AP, 7/20/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 19, Morocco's police
seized more than 10 tons of drugs during raids in the north of the
country and along its coasts.
   (AP, 7/21/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Pakistan five
militants died in a failed assault on the Tora Warai military fort
near Hangu. The army said security forces had killed 15 militants
and detained 60 others, in the first major action against insurgents
under Pakistan's new government.
   (AP, 7/20/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In northern Spain
4 bombs exploded at popular seaside resorts in Cantabria, after
warning calls from the Basque separatist group ETA. No casualties
were reported.
   (AP, 7/20/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Sri Lankan
government forces captured a Tamil Tiger rebel base in the north
after a 48-hour battle that left at least 15 rebels dead. Air force
jets destroyed six rebel boats.
   (AP, 7/20/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, A state newspaper
reported that Zimbabwe will transfer ownership of all foreign-owned
firms that support Western sanctions against President Robert
Mugabe's government to locals and investors from "friendly"
countries.
   (Reuters, 7/20/08)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â 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)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â 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)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â 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)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â 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)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â 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)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â 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)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â 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)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â 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)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â 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.Â
   (AP, 7/21/09)(AP, 8/19/09)(AP, 8/24/09)(AP,
4/1/10)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â 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)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â 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)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â 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)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â 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)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â 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)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â 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)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â 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)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â 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)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â 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)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â 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)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â 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)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The Oakland, Ca.,
City Council adopted regulations permitting industrial-scale
marijuana farms.
   (SFC, 7/21/10, p.C1)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In northern
Afghanistan 2 American civilians and an Afghan soldier were killed
in a shooting on an Afghan military base. An Afghan soldier who
trained others at the base outside Mazar-e-Sharif started shooting
during a weapons exercise. The shooter was killed. The international
community endorsed sweeping Afghan government plans to take
responsibility for security by 2014, forge peace to end nine years
of war and take greater control of aid projects. NATO forces
detained a Taliban operative who had been in the final preparation
stages for attacks against an int’l. conference.
   (AP, 7/20/10)(AFP, 7/20/10)(AP, 7/22/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, It was reported
that at least 26 people have died in Argentina from exposure, carbon
monoxide inhalation from heaters and other weather-related causes. A
cold front across much of South America was linked to dozens of
deaths, mounting losses for cattle ranchers and other hardships.
   (AP, 7/20/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The Australian Sex
Party promised to spice up campaigning for next month's elections
with a manifesto "unlike Australia had ever seen before." The
party's policies include legalizing euthanasia, decriminalizing all
drugs for personal use, and watering down strict anti-pornography
laws.
   (AFP, 7/20/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The Bank of Canada
raised its key interest rate, as expected, but warned the domestic
and global recovery will be slower than it had previously forecast,
suggesting any further hikes may be gradual. Borrowing costs rose 25
basis points to 0.75%.
   (Reuters, 7/20/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Paris-based
International Energy Agency said China has overtaken the United
States as the world's largest energy consumer. The IE said China's
2009 consumption of energy sources ranging from oil and coal wind
and solar power was equal to 2.265 billion tons of oil, compared to
2.169 billion tons for the US.
   (AP, 7/20/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Guinea's top court
announced final results from last month's presidential election and
confirmed that the top two finishers will face each other in a
runoff. Former PM Cellou Dalein Diallo garnered nearly 44 percent of
the vote, short of the simple majority needed to avoid a second
round. Longtime opposition politician Alpha Conde won just about 18
percent, while another ex-premier, Sidya Toure came in third place
with close to 13 percent of the vote.
   (AP, 7/20/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Iran's parliament
authorized tit-for-tat retaliation against countries that inspect
cargo on Iranian ships and aircraft as part of new UN sanctions over
Tehran's nuclear program.
   (AP, 7/20/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Iranian newspapers
reported the hanging of 3 men in a prison in Kerman and one in
public in the city of Ahvaz after they were convicted of drug
trafficking.
   (AFP, 7/20/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Iraqi officials
discovered that 4 al-Qaida-linked detainees escaped from Karkh
prison in the Baghdad area, which was handed over by the US to Iraqi
authorities a week ago. The four men were officially listed in a
security report as Mohammed Hamid, Qais Azmi, Malik Nazzal and
Hussein Ahmed. A car bomb near a roadside restaurant just north of
Baghdad killed one person and wounded seven Iranian pilgrims heading
to Karbala.
   (AP, 7/22/10)(AP, 7/23/10)  Â
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Israel canceled a
warning to its people to avoid traveling to Turkey, citing an end to
stormy protests over Israel's deadly raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla.
   (AP, 7/20/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Italian engineers
launched a 3-month, 8,000-mile test drive of a robotic vehicle from
Parma to China.
   (SFC, 7/21/10, p.A2)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Pakistani army
guards shot and killed three suspected suicide bombers and two other
militants as they tried to enter a sprawling military firing range
in the northwest.
   (AP, 7/20/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Kurdish rebels
killed six Turkish soldiers and wounded 15 in an overnight raid on a
military outpost along the border with Iraq. Another soldier died in
a separate attack.
   (AP, 7/20/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Seoul's
mass-circulation Dong-a Ilbo newspaper said Kwon Ho Ung, North
Korea's chief delegate from 2004 to 2007 for high-level talks with
the South's then liberal government, has been executed by firing
squad.
   (AP, 7/20/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, A Somali human
rights group said at least 53 civilians were killed over the past
week in clashes between government forces and Islamic militants.
   (SFC, 7/21/10, p.A2)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Spain's Parliament
rejected a proposal to ban women from wearing in public places
Islamic veils that reveal only the eyes.
   (AP, 7/20/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Sudan expelled
three top Chadian rebel chiefs on the eve of a visit to Chad by
Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir.
   (AFP, 7/20/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Taiwan’s Pres. Ma
Ying-jeou announced the formation of a new commission to battle
corruption and vote buying. A week earlier 3 high court judges and a
prosecutor were detained amid allegations that they took bribes to
fix the outcome of a high profile case.
   (Econ, 7/24/10, p.42)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Uganda's
government defended the forced repatriation of 1,700 Rwandan
refugees, action that the UN refugee agency condemned for being
heavy-handed. Two people died while trying to escape the roundup.
The Rwandans were forced out of Uganda on July 14 because they had
no refugee status and had become a security risk.
   (AP, 7/20/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez said he would put a representative on the
board of opposition television station Globovision, the leftist
leader's boldest move yet against his fiercest media critic.
   (Reuters, 7/20/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Yemeni tribal
chief Sheikh Zaidan al-Moqannay, his son and four of his bodyguards
were killed in a rebel ambush in Saada. Rebel spokesman Mohammed
Abdul Salam denied that the rebels ambushed Moqannay, claiming that
he was killed in confrontations which also resulted in the death of
three rebels. Rebels said they welcomed a Qatari offer to help
consolidate a truce.
   (AFP, 7/21/10)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Basketball star
Yao Ming (30) announced his retirement after a trailblazing career
that made him China's best-known athlete and helped spur the game's
global growth.
   (AFP, 7/20/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Arizona a new
law went into effect requiring prisoner visitors to pay a one-time
$25 background check fee. In August the Tempe-based Middle Ground
Prison Reform filed a lawsuit seeking to have the fee declared a tax
and any money paid so far returned to visitors.
   (AP, 9/13/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Minnesota ended a
state government shutdown after 20 days, millions in lost revenue
and frustration on the part of residents and lawmakers.
   (SFC, 7/21/11, p.A6)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, NYC authorities
said a high-end prostitution ring catering to Wall Street clients,
who often would spend over $10,000 for a night bingeing on sex and
cocaine, has been busted and 17 people indicted.
   (Reuters, 7/20/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The Los Angeles
passed a pioneering new law intended to protect bicyclists from
harassment by motorists.
   (SFC, 7/21/11, p.A6)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Wells Fargo agreed
to pay $85 million to settle Federal Reserve claims that it steered
borrowers into costlier loans and falsified data in mortgage
applications.
   (SFC, 7/21/11, p.D2)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Zillow, an online
real estate information site, went public at $20 per shares. Share
value closed $35.77.
   (SFC, 7/21/11, p.A1)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, NASA said that the
Hubble Space Telescope has found a 4th moon circling Pluto. It was
later named Kerberos.
   (SFC, 7/21/11,
p.A6)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moons_of_Pluto)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Afghanistan a
suicide bomber killed four people in Mazar-i-Sharif.
   (AFP, 7/23/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Bangladesh a
Dhaka court indicted 430 people for serious crimes related to the
February, 2009, mutiny among border guards.
   (SFC, 7/21/11, p.A2)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Lucian Freud
(b.1922), Berlin-born realist painter, died in London. The grandson
of psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud was widely seen as Britain's top
contemporary artist. In 2013 Geordie Greig authored “Breakfast with
Lucian: The Astounding Lie and Outrageous Times of Britain’s Great
Modern Painter.”Â
   (AFP,
7/22/11)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucian_Freud)(Econ, 10/26/13,
p.94)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Five Dominican
Republic students set a world record after reading aloud for 300
straight hours to raise awareness about books. And they kept going.
Guinness World Records recognized the university students for
breaking the previous record of 240 hours set in 2009 by a group of
women from Miami Dade College.
   (AP, 7/20/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Ecuador a judge
ordered Emilio Palacio, a former columnist for El Universo, and 3 of
the paper’s directors, to pay Pres. Rafael Correa $40 million in
damages for an article published in February, 2010, regarding a
mutiny by police. Correa had asked for $80m. In September an appeals
courts upheld 3-year prison sentences for the columnist and
directors as well as $42 million in fines. On Feb 16, 2012,
Ecuador's highest court upheld the criminal libel verdict.
   (Econ, 7/30/11, p.34)(SFC, 9/21/11, p.A2)(AP,
2/16/12)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Egypt Maj. Gen.
Mamdouh Shaheen presented a new law barring foreign monitors for
upcoming parliamentary elections. He said Egyptian election monitors
will observe the process instead.
   (AP, 7/20/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Haiti a man
(18) was sexually assaulted by peacekeepers from Uruguay on a UN
base along the southern coast. The alleged attack only became public
in late August when a video taken by cell phone was circulated and
the UN announced an investigation. The six Uruguayan marines were
expelled from Haiti in September and jailed at home while military
and civilian prosecutors investigated allegations. The former
peacekeepers were freed in January, 2012, pending a military trial
on charges of violating rules against fraternizing with civilians
inside military bases.
   (AP, 9/6/11)(AP, 1/9/12)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Iran's
Revolutionary Guard said it has shot down an unmanned US spy plane
that was trying to gather information on the underground Fordo
uranium enrichment site.
   (AP, 7/20/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Ireland’s
lawmakers declared that the Vatican encouraged Catholic bishops not
to tell police about suspected pedophile priests sabotaging the 1996
Irish bishops’ decision to begin reporting suspected cases of child
abuse to police.
   (SFC, 7/21/11, p.A3)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Jamaica a
mother and daughter were beheaded by attackers who invaded their
home in Spanish Town, a gritty area outside Kingston, near where a
wanted 18-year-old gang member was found with his head chopped off
earlier this week. On August 2 police said three suspects had been
arrested and investigators sought six more.
   (AP, 7/21/11)(AP, 8/2/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Kenyan authorities
burned five tons of contraband elephant ivory in hopes of raising
awareness about rising levels of poaching. Africa had 1.3 million
elephants in the 1970s but only 500,000 remained today.
   (AP, 7/20/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, A magnitude-6.1
temblor centered in Kyrgyzstan hit shortly after midnight in a
mountainous area some 20 miles (35 km) away from the eastern Uzbek
city of Ferghana, which has a population of more than 200,000. The
earthquake killed at least 14 people, including 13 in Uzbekistan and
one in Tajikistan.
   (AP, 7/20/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Malawi
demonstrations in the commercial center of Blantyre, in the capital
and other major towns turned violent as protesters also looted
several shops belonging to ruling party officials and allies of
President Bingu wa Mutharika. At least one person was killed and
several others injured.
   (AP, 7/20/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The Mexican army
in north-central state of Queretaro seized a cache of more than 926
tons (840 metric tons) of precursor chemicals used to make
methamphetamines.
   (AP, 7/21/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The Dutch
government announced plans to equip 125 police officers with mobile
devices that can scan detainees' fingerprints to check whether they
are illegal immigrants.
   (AP, 7/20/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Dutch prosecutors
released some details about four Dutch citizens arrested on
suspicion of involvement in cyber attacks as part of the
loosely-knit hackers group known as "Anonymous." They said the
suspects are thought to have belonged to a splinter group called
AntiSec NL, which hacked the sites of dating service Pepper.nl and
communications software maker Nimbuzz, among others.
   (AP, 7/20/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Senegal’s Interior
Minister Ousmane Ngom banned political protests in downtown Dakar,
citing security reasons, just days before a mass rally planned to
protest against the embattled regime.
   (AFP, 7/20/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Serbia arrested
Goran Hadzic (52), the last major war crimes suspect from the 1990s
Yugoslav conflicts, closing what its president called a "burdensome"
page in the country's history. The Croatian Serb wartime leader had
been indicted in 2004 for crimes against humanity during the 1991-95
Croatian war.
   (Reuters, 7/20/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Syrian security
forces swept through restive neighborhoods, detaining dozens of
people, including George Sabra, a key opposition figure. Authorities
released prominent political activist Ali Abdullah of the Damascus
Declaration opposition group, three days after he was taken from his
home near Damascus.
   (AP, 7/20/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The United Nations
said it faces a $4.3 billion shortfall in helping the 50 million
people worldwide in need of emergency food, shelter and other
humanitarian aid. The UN declared famine in 2 regions of southern
Somalia.
   (AP, 7/20/11)(SFC, 7/21/11, p.A2)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Yemeni police
officials said a British man was killed when his car blew up in what
was likely a bombing in the port city of Aden.
   (AP, 7/20/11)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, James Holmes (24)
dressed in riot gear burst into a movie theater in Aurora, Colo.,
during the early morning showing of the Batman film "The Dark Knight
Rises" and methodically began shooting patrons, killing at least 12
people and injuring at least 50.
   (AFP, 7/20/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Yale University,
one of the leading centers of liberal education in the United
States, defended controversial restrictions on protests and
political parties at its new Singapore campus. The first batch of
students will start classes in August 2013 at an NUS facility before
the new campus officially opens in 2015.
   (AFP, 7/20/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Chicago lottery
winner Urooj Khan (46) died weeks after winning a $1 million jackpot
from the Illinois Lottery. Authorities later said he died from
cyanide poisoning and in 2013 began exhumation proceedings.
   (SFC, 1/11/13, p.A6)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Massachusetts
Rezwan Ferdaus (26), a Muslim American, admitted that he had plotted
to use remote controlled model planes packed with explosives to blow
up the Pentagon and the US Capitol.
   (SFC, 7/21/12, p.A5)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Texas
instructor Staff Sgt. Luis Walker was found guilty on all 28 charges
he faced including rape and sexual assault. He was among 12 Lackland
Air Force Base instructors investigated for sexual misconduct toward
at least 31 female trainees. The next day Walker was sentenced to 20
years in prison.
   (SFC, 7/21/12, p.A5)(AP, 7/21/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Virginia
Mohamad Soueid (48) was sentenced to 18 months in prison for acting
as an unregistered foreign agent of the Syrian government. He had
earlier admitted to spying on Syrian dissidents in the US.
   (SFC, 7/21/12, p.A5)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Bahrain
thousands of anti-government protesters clashed with riot police
firing tear gas during demonstrations against plans to limit
political marches.
   (AP, 7/21/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Sir Alastair
Burnet (84), British veteran television newscaster, died. He was
ITN's head anchor from 1967 to 1991, except between 1974 and 1976,
when he anchored the BBC's coverage of the two 1974 general
elections and edited the Daily Express. He edited The Economist from
1965-1974.
   (AFP, 7/20/12)(Econ, 7/28/12, p.82)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Brunei 12
military personnel including six cadets were killed in an air force
Bell 212 helicopter crash while flying home after jungle training. 2
cadets survived.
   (AFP, 7/21/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Chile’s government
announced that 14.4% of Chileans were living below the poverty line,
down from 15.1% in 2009. The United Nation’s Economic Commission for
Latin America and the Caribbean had found the poverty rate to be
15%.
   (Economist, 9/29/12, p.40)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, A Beijing court
rejected dissident artist Ai Weiwei's lawsuit over a $2.4 million
fine imposed on his company for tax evasion. He said the case is
part of an intimidation campaign to stop him from criticizing the
government.
   (AP, 7/20/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In the Ivory Coast
nine women were sentenced to two years in prison each for
involvement in female genital mutilation, marking the first time
such a case results in jail time in the West African nation.
   (AP, 7/20/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In the Ivory Coast
seven people were killed and 13 wounded in an attack on a
UN-protected displaced persons camp. Angry youths from Kokoma
torched the displaced persons' camp at Niambly on the outskirts of
town, populated mainly by Guere people.
   (AFP, 7/21/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Iraqi officials
said hundreds of Iraqis had flown out of Syria over the past two
days to escape an escalating civil war. They said an estimated 50
buses, some 3,000 people, had so far come through al-Walid.
   (AP, 7/20/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The African
Development Bank gave impoverished Malawi $40 million in budget
help, just days after two of the country's biggest donors, the World
Bank and Britain unveiled new aid packages.
   (AFP, 7/20/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In western Mexico
a bus traveling to a beach went off a cliff killing at least 24
people in Tequepexpan.
   (SSFC, 7/22/12, p.A2)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The Nepalese film
"Highway" was released in Nepal. It had already become the first
Nepali film to qualify for the Berlin International Film Festival's
Panorama category for new directors. It was directed by Deepak
Rauniyar (33) and co-produced by "Lethal Weapon" star Danny Glover.
   (AFP, 7/26/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Nigeria's first
lady was sworn into a senior government post in the oil-rich state
of Bayelsa, an appointment tagged as scandalous by some opponents.
   (AFP, 7/20/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Puntland security
forces of the semi-autonomous region in northern Somalia seized a
boat carrying weapons that were being smuggled from al-Qaida
militants in Yemen to fighters in Somalia.
   (AP, 7/21/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Saudi authorities
warned non-Muslim expatriates against eating, drinking or smoking in
public during Ramadan, or face expulsion. The monthlong
sunrise-to-sunset fast began today for Sunni Muslims.
   (AP, 7/20/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Sierra Leone's
health ministry said an outbreak of cholera in the west African
country has killed 66 people and sickened more than 3,800 since
January.
   (AFP, 7/21/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Finance ministers
from the 17 countries that use the euro unanimously approved the
terms for a bailout loan for Spanish banks of up to €100 billion
($122.9 billion).
   (AP, 7/20/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Sri Lanka
completed a $2.6 billion IMF bailout, but sought fresh loans to
support an economy emerging from decades of ethnic war. The original
July 2009 IMF bailout was secured when the island's foreign reserves
had dropped to a dangerously low level of $1 billion.
   (AFP, 7/21/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Syrian troops and
tanks drove rebels from a Damascus neighborhood where some of the
heaviest of this week's fighting in the capital left cars gutted and
fighters' bodies in the streets. A fourth member of President Bashar
Assad's inner circle, national security chief Gen. Hisham Ikhtiyar,
died of wounds he suffered in the July 18 bomb blast. The death toll
for the last 2 days was over 470 people.
   (AFP, 7/20/12)(SFC, 7/21/12, p.A2)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Turkey an
explosion and fire shut down twin pipelines that carry oil from Iraq
to the Mediterranean.
   (AP, 7/21/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The UN refugee
agency said up to 30,000 Syrians have fled into Lebanon over the
past 48 hours. The UN Security Council added a "final" 30 days to
the mandate of the UN Supervision Mission, tasked with overseeing a
ceasefire that was supposed to have taken effect in April but which
has been violated daily.
   (AFP, 7/20/12)(AFP, 7/21/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The United
Nations' highest court ordered Senegal to prosecute former Chadian
dictator Hissene Habre on torture charges "without further delay" if
the country does not extradite him to Belgium.
   (AP, 7/20/12)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Demonstrators took
to the streets in dozens of US cities to vent their anger over the
acquittal in Florida of the man who shot unarmed black teenager
Trayvon Martin to death and to call for federal charges in the
racially tinged case.
   (Reuters, 7/20/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Helen Thomas (92),
the first woman to head a White House news bureau, died.
   (Econ, 8/3/13, p.78)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Afghan Pres.
Karzai approved a new law governing next year's presidential and
provincial elections. It defines the legal framework for the
elections and was approved by parliament earlier this week.
   (AP, 7/20/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In China
motorcycle taxi driver Ji Zhongxing detonated a homemade bomb at
Beijing's main airport after eight years of frustration trying to
seek redress for an attack by city guards that left him paralyzed
and in debt. On Oct 15 Zhongxing was sentenced to six years in
prison.
   (AP, 7/24/13)(SFC, 10/16/12, p.A2)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, China’s central
bank ended all restrictions on lending rates,which previously had a
floor of 70% of the PBOC benchmark rate.
   (Econ, 7/27/13, p.61)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Colombia 19
soldiers were killed in two clashes blamed on the Marxist FARC
guerrillas, the heaviest casualties the armed forces have suffered
since the government began peace talks late last year.
   (Reuters, 7/21/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Dubai 3 Britons
jailed for more than a year on drugs charges were reported freed as
part of an amnesty for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
   (Reuters, 7/20/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In France 6 people
were arrested after overnight violence that erupted in Trappes near
Versailles. The trouble began two days earlier when police checked
the identity of a woman wearing a Muslim veil and engaged in a
scuffle with her husband. It is illegal in France for women to wear
full face veils in public but the law is contested in the mainly
Muslim suburbs that ring major cities.
   (Reuters, 7/20/13)(Econ, 7/27/13, p.44)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, An Indian court
sentenced six men, convicted of the gang rape last March 15 of a
Swiss woman, to life in prison.
   (Reuters, 7/20/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Iraq a
coordinated wave of 12 late-night car bombings and other attacks
killed 57 people. These attacks and others around the country killed
a total of 71.
   (AP, 7/21/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, An Italian court
convicted five employees of an Italian cruise company over the Jan,
2012, Costa Concordia shipwreck that killed 32 crew and passengers,
handing down a maximum sentence of two years and 10 months reached
in plea bargains. The ship's captain was denied a plea bargain and
was being tried separately.
   (AP, 7/20/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Gunmen In Mali
kidnapped four election workers and a deputy mayor in the remote
northern town of Tessalit. All were free the next day.
   (Reuters, 7/21/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Myanmar’s Pres.
Thein Sein lifted a state of emergency, declared last March 22, in
the central part of the country.
   (SSFC, 7/21/13, p.A2)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Russia G20
finance ministers, meeting in Moscow, said their countries consider
strengthening economic growth and creating jobs to be top
priorities.
   (AP, 7/21/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Syrian government
forces bombed Saraqeb, a strategic rebel town in the country's north
for the third straight day, pounding it with airstrikes that killed
at least 5 people.
   (AP, 7/20/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Turkey police
fired water cannon and tear gas in downtown Istanbul to disperse
anti-government demonstrators after barring them from entering a
park where they had hoped to celebrate the wedding of a couple who
met during last month's widespread protests.
   (AP, 7/20/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Venezuela
gunmen stormed a graduation party at a home in central Bolivar state
and killed 8 people, including 6 teenagers in Caicara del Orinoco.
   (Reuters, 7/21/13)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, An Int’l. AIDS
opened in Melbourne, Australia, with a tribute to delegates killed
in the July 17 shoot down of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 over
eastern Ukraine.
   (SFC, 7/21/14, p.A2)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, A French rally
against the deadly Israeli offensive in Gaza once again descended
into chaos as protesters looted shops and riot police lobbed tear
gas and rubber bullets into the crowds.
   (AFP, 7/20/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Iraq mortar
rounds rained down on Shiite neighborhoods in the town of
Mahmoudiya, killing 11 civilians and wounding 31. Islamic State (IS)
fighters stormed Mar (Saint) Behnam, a 4th century monastery run by
the Syriac Catholic church near the predominantly Christian town of
Qaraqosh, and expelled its five resident monks.
   (AP, 7/21/14)(AFP, 7/21/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Israel widened its
ground offensive, sending more troops into Gaza after demolishing
more than a dozen Hamas tunnels and intensifying tank fire on border
areas. The first major ground battle in two weeks exacted a steep
price with 65 Palestinians and 13 Israeli soldiers killed and
thousands of terrified Palestinian civilians forced to flee the
Shijaiyah neighborhood of Gaza City. In all, at least 432
Palestinians have been killed and more than 3,000 wounded in the
past two weeks. The overall death toll on the Israeli side rose to
20, including 18 soldiers. Doctors said a son, daughter-in-law and
granddaughter of senior Hamas leader Khalil al-Haya were killed
early today when their house was hit by a tank shell in Gaza City.
   (AP, 7/20/14)(AFP, 7/20/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Israel and Hamas
agreed to observe an immediate two-hour humanitarian ceasefire in
Gaza's Shejaiya neighborhood, halting a blistering bombing campaign
in the area. A building in southern Gaza was reportedly hit by an
Israeli airstrike this evening, killing 25 members of the same
family.
   (AFP, 7/20/14)(AP, 7/21/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Jamaica’s
environment minister, Robert Pickersgill, said a severe drought is
worsening and that water supplies are already well below normal.
Temporary shutoffs in Kingston were taking place daily.
   (SFC, 7/22/14, p.A20)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Libya heavy
fighting erupted around Tripoli International Airport, where rival
militias have been battling for control, killing at least four
people and forcing thousands from their homes.
   (Reuters, 7/20/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Nicaragua
attacks on buses carrying supporters of the ruling Sandinista
Liberation Front left 5 people dead and 28 wounded. Three men were
soon charged with murder and organized crime.
   (http://tinyurl.com/p6uqf6u)(SFC, 7/25/14, p.A2)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Pakistan's
military bombed six militant hideouts in Shawal village, North
Waziristan, killing at least 28 insurgents.
   (AFP, 7/20/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Palestinian
Islamist militant group's armed wing reportedly seized Israeli
soldier Shaul Alon in heavy fighting on the Gaza border. The next
day Hamas spokesman Abu Ubaida displayed Alon's photo ID and serial
number but showed no image of him in captivity.
   (Reuters, 7/21/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, South Sudanese
rebels and government soldiers clashed in the northern town of
Nasir, adding to fears that a shaky ceasefire agreement signed in
May could totally collapse.
   (Reuters, 7/20/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Ukraine accused
separatist rebels of hiding evidence that a Russian missile was used
to shoot down a Malaysian airliner, while Britain said Moscow faced
"pariah" status and the threat of further economic sanctions.
Ukraine's Western-backed government said it had "compelling
evidence" the Russian SA-11 radar-guided missile battery was not
just brought in from Russia but manned by three Russians who had now
taken it back over the border.
   (Reuters, 7/20/14)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The United States
and Cuba quietly ushered in a new era of post-Cold War relations,
formally restoring diplomatic ties severed more than five decades
ago and re-establishing embassies in each other’s capitals.
   (Reuters, 7/20/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Barack Obama
welcomed Nigeria's freshly elected Pres. Muhammadu Buhari to the
White House, lending a personal endorsement after the country's
first ever democratic transition.
   (AFP, 7/20/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Lockheed Martin
agreed to buy Sikorsky, which makes the Black Hawk helicopter for
the US Army, from United Technologies in a $9 billion deal.
  Â
(www.wsj.com/articles/lockheed-agrees-to-buy-sikorsky-for-9-billion-1437392758)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, A NATO airstrike
hit two Afghan military checkpoints in a restive province east of
Kabul, killing 7 Afghan troops in what an Afghan official described
as an accident due to bad coordination. President Ashraf Ghani
expressed his "profound sorrow" over the tragedy and ordered an
investigation into the killings.
   (AP, 7/20/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, PM David Cameron
set out a five-year strategy to tackle extremism in Britain, vowing
to take on those responsible for radicalizing young British Muslims
and demanding that internet companies do more to help.
   (Reuters, 7/20/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, British
cosmologist Stephen Hawking launched the biggest-ever search for
intelligent life in the universe in a 10-year, $100-million
(143-million-euro) project to scan the heavens. The Breakthrough
Listen project was backed by Russian Silicon Valley entrepreneur
Yuri Milner.
   (AFP, 7/20/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, China's state
media said Ling Jihua, former President Hu Jintao's top aide, has
been stripped of his party membership, removed from all government
positions, and will be criminally prosecuted on corruption charges.
   (AP, 7/20/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In eastern China
an unemployed man suffering from a liver ailment blew himself up in
an explosion that also killed one other person and injured 24
outside Huxi Park in Heze city, Shandong province.
   (AP, 7/21/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In northern China
the colliery at Hegang, Heilongjiang province, flooded trapping 15
miners with at least 4 killed. Investigators blamed the accident on
a downpour. Six men were rescued on July 27 with five still trapped.
   (AFP, 7/26/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Greece reopened
its banks and started the process of paying off billions of euros
owed to international creditors in the first signs of a return to
normal after a deal to agree a new package of bailout reforms.
   (Reuters, 7/20/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In India Moni
Orang (63), a mother of five, was seized from her home in the
northeastern state of Assam after local priests said she was casting
spells. Orang was dismembered and beheaded by machete-wielding
villagers who accused her of practicing witchcraft. Seven people
were soon arrested. Villagers the next day stormed the local police
station to protest against the arrests.
   (AFP, 7/21/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Iran and Germany
moved tentatively towards reviving a once close trade relationship,
anticipating the lifting of western economic sanctions against
Tehran following a landmark nuclear deal as Economy Minister Sigmar
Gabriel made the first top level German government visit to Tehran
in 13 years.
   (Reuters, 7/20/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Israel’s attorney
general ordered a criminal investigation into excessive spending at
his residences by PM Netanyahu.
   (SFC, 7/22/15, p.A3)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Italy’s Foreign
Ministry said four Italian construction workers working in Mellitah,
Libya, have been kidnapped.
   (SFC, 7/21/15, p.A2)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Japan about
10,000 spectators watched the purification rite at the annual Marine
Day at the Hamaori Festival in Chigasaki. This also marked the
arrival of summer in the Chigasaki region.
   (AP, 7/20/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Workers in
Lithuania began dismantling the last Soviet statues in Vilnius,
following calls prompted by the Ukraine crisis that symbols of the
Soviet occupation be removed.
   (AP, 7/20/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Malaysia’s The
Edge, which has a daily and a weekly business newspaper, ran
extensive reports alleging Malaysian businessman Low Taek Jho and
PetroSaudi International had cheated Malaysia of $1.83 billion in
cash through an aborted joint venture with 1MDB in 2009. On July 24
The Edge media group said the government will suspend its publishing
permits for three months as of July 27, over the reports alleging
fraud.
   (AP, 7/24/15)(SSFC, 7/26/15, p.A6)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In southern Nepal
protesters clashed with police as the government tried to collect
the public's suggestions on the draft of the country's long-overdue
constitution. About 200 protesters from Rastriya Prajatantra Party
Nepal scuffled with police at the national stadium and demanded that
Nepal remain a Hindu nation.
   (AP, 7/20/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In northern
Nigeria at least 2 people were killed by a car suicide bomb at a
checkpoint on the outskirts of Damaturu, capital of Yobe state.
   (Reuters, 7/20/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In the northern
Philippines New People's Army guerrillas fired on 11 army outposts
and a police station in the northeastern provinces of Albay,
Camarines Norte and Sorsogon, sparking a clash that killed one of
the insurgents.
   (AP, 7/21/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In the southern
Philippines a teenager who was kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf gunmen in
March escaped her captors when government troops discovered the
militants' jungle hideout. Store cashier Ledejie Tomarong and two
children had been snatched by at least six gunmen who failed to
kidnap the teen's employer, a wealthy bakery owner, in Zamboanga del
Sur province.
   (AP, 7/21/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Senegal the
trial of former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre, accused of
overseeing the deaths of thousands, had a chaotic beginning as
security forces ushered the ex-leader into and then out of the
Senegal courtroom amid protests by his supporters.
   (AP, 7/20/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, A Syrian Kurdish
militia said it was in near full control of the northeastern city of
Hasaka, expanding its sway at the expense of the Damascus government
in the wake of an Islamic State attack in the area.
   (Reuters, 7/20/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Activists said the
Islamic State group is banning private internet access in its Syrian
bastion Raqa, forcing residents and even its own fighters to use
internet cafes where they can be monitored.
   (AFP, 7/20/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Turkey a
suspected Islamic State suicide bomber killed 33 people, mostly
young students, in an attack on the town of Suruc near the Syrian
border. The students from the Federation of Socialist Youth
Associations had been planning a trip to Kobani to build a library,
plant a forest and build a playground. The bomber was later
identified as Seyh Abdurrahman Alagoaz (20) from Adiyaman.
    (AP, 7/20/15)(AFP, 7/21/15)(AFP,
8/14/15)(Econ, 7/25/15, p.40)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The United Arab
Emirates announced new legislation aimed at combatting intolerance
that outlaws actions which stoke religious hatred and discriminate
based on religious or ethnic background.
   (AP, 7/20/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The United Nations
Security Council endorsed a deal to curb Iran's nuclear program in
return for sanctions relief, but it will be able to re-impose UN
penalties during the next decade if Tehran breaches the historic
agreement.
   (Reuters, 7/20/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The UN's Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO) said markets and farms in Nigeria,
Burkina Faso, Niger, Ivory Coast and Ghana have been hit with the
deadly H5N1 virus over the past six months.
   (Reuters, 7/20/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Yemen a
spokesman said local fighters and army units backed by the exiled
government have taken control of Tawahi, the last district of
central Aden still held by the Iran-allied Houthi militia and its
allies.
   (AP, 7/20/15)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The US government
moved to seize more than $1 billion in assets purchased with money
that it believes was stolen from a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund
overseen by PM Najib Razak. US investigators alleged that more than
$3.5 billion had been misappropriated from 1MDB and that hundreds of
millions had been paid to PM Najib Razak.
   (SFC, 7/21/16, p.A2)(Econ, 11/19/16, p.33)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, US Rep. Mark Takai
(49) of Hawaii died in Honolulu of pancreatic cancer.
   (SFC, 7/22/16, p.D5)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, A Michigan TV
station reported that the US Justice Department and Environmental
Protection Agency will fine Enbridge Inc $62 million for a 2010 oil
spill that released crude oil into the Kalamazoo River in Michigan.
   (Reuters, 7/20/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Rhode Island Gov.
Gina Raimondo signed legislation banning the use of bullhooks to
train elephants, making her state the first to do so.
   (http://tinyurl.com/hrewt2q)(SFC, 7/22/16, p.A7)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, A Texas voter
identification law, considered the strictest in the nation, was
struck down in a federal appeals court that ruled it discriminated
against minorities and the poor. The court ruled it must be changed
before the November elections.
   (CSM, 7/21/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Southwest Airlines
was forced to cancel more than 700 flights because of a faulty
router that brought its systems down for 12 hours. Some 2,300
flights were cancelled over the next 24 hours.
   (http://tinyurl.com/gmta4ek)(Econ, 8/13/16, p.46)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, SpaceX delivered
more than 2 tons of supplies to the International Space
Station including a space station docking port needed for future
rocket ships.
   (AP, 7/20/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Paleontologists
reported the naming of Murusraptor barrosaensis, a new species of
megaraptorid dinosaur discovered in 2001 in Argentina’s northwestern
Patagonia. It was found in tock dating back 80 million years.
   (http://tinyurl.com/gr2lg8p)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Bangladesh a
senior officer with the police-led Rapid Action Battalion (RAB),
which is involved in counter-terrorism, said a list of 260 young men
missing for over a year has been compiled from reports from families
and intelligence tip-offs.
   (Reuters, 7/20/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, A British nuclear
submarine collided with an unspecified merchant vessel off the coast
of Gibraltar, forcing it to dock in the disputed territory.
   (AFP, 7/21/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Monitoring groups
Resolve and Invisible Children said kidnappings in Central Africa by
the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) hit a six-year high in the first
half of 2016 just as Uganda threatened to roll back its involvement
in an operation to hunt down the rebels. Their report said the LRA
has abducted 498 civilians between January and June of this year.
   (Reuters, 7/20/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In China 5 people
died when a seaplane they were traveling in crashed into a bridge in
Shanghai on its maiden flight to Zhoushan, an island in the eastern
province of Zhejiang.
   (Reuters, 7/20/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, A Czech court
sentenced US citizen Kevin Dahlgren to life in prison for stabbing
to death a family of four of his relatives whom he had been visiting
in 2013.
   (Reuters, 7/20/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Czech police said
an international law enforcement team has broken up a gang that
allegedly produced amphetamines to distribute on the black market in
Sweden. Police said seven suspected members of the group have been
arrested in a joint operation by Czech, Swedish and Hungarian
forces.
   (AP, 7/20/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The French
government forced a divisive labor bill through Parliament without a
vote for third and final time.
   (AP, 7/20/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In India
protesters from the low-caste Dalit community blocked roads and
attacked government buses in PM Narendra Modi's home state in a
third day of demonstrations over the flogging of four men accused of
skinning a cow. Opposition lawmakers disrupted parliament to protest
against the floggings in Gujarat and demanded that PM Modi apologize
to the victims.
   (Reuters, 7/20/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Police in northern
India said that they have arrested two men for raping a young woman
for the second time in three years. The woman told police that she
was gang-raped again on July 13 because she was unwilling to
withdraw the case.
   (AP, 7/20/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Government forces
in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir removed dozens of black
and Pakistani flags hoisted by residents observing a "black day" to
protest the killing of a top rebel leader.
   (AP, 7/20/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Iraqis endured the
hottest day so far this year, with temperatures soaring up to 51
degrees Celsius (124 Fahrenheit) in Baghdad and as much as 53
degrees Celsius (127 Fahrenheit) in the southern part of the
country.
   (AP, 7/20/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Israel's
parliament passed a charged bill that would allow the assembly to
oust a sitting lawmaker deemed to be inciting against the state.
   (AP, 7/20/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Israel said that
it and the Republic of Guinea renewed diplomatic ties after 49
years.
   (Reuters, 7/20/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The Italian coast
guard coordinated five separate rescue operations that saved 567
migrants. The bodies of 21 women and one man were found in a pool of
fuel at the bottom of one smuggler’s boat.
   (AP, 7/21/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Pakistan Samia
Shahid (28), a dual British-Pakistani citizen, was murdered during a
visit to her family in their village in Punjab province. Her husband
later branded her death an "honor killing" and called for the UK and
Pakistani governments to ensure his wife received justice. A
forensic examination later concluded that Samia Shahid, 28, of
Bradford was killed by asphyxiation.
   (AFP, 7/29/16)(AP, 8/4/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Romania's
Constitutional Court ruled that a request from an anti-gay group to
change the constitution to state that marriage is a union between a
man and a woman is constitutional. Any change would need to be
approved by two-thirds of lawmakers.
   (AP, 7/20/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Saudi Arabia's top
clerics renewed a religious edict that warns against playing Pokemon
— this time as the wildly popular mobile phone application "Pokemon
Go". First issued in 2001 when the game was played with cards, the
decree says Pokemon violates Islamic prohibitions against gambling
uses devious Masonic-like symbols and promotes "forbidden images.”
   (AP, 7/20/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Syrian rebel
group Nour al-Din al-Zinki Movement, which has received US
military backing, said it is investigating the beheading of a young
child in Aleppo after video footage circulated showing the boy being
killed by a man activists identified as a member of the group.
   (Reuters, 7/20/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Five Taiwanese
fishing boats set sail for Itu Aba, Taiwan's sole holding in the
South China Sea, in protest against a court ruling that deems it a
rock rather than an island, limiting its rights to surrounding
resource-rich waters.
   (Reuters, 7/20/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Turkey’s
government declared a state of emergency for at least three months.
State-run Anadolu news agency said the country's defense ministry
has sacked at least 262 military court judges and prosecutors. An
investigation was launched on all military judges and prosecutors as
authorities continued with a crackdown on people suspected of
backing a failed military coup, which the government has blamed on a
US-based cleric.
   (AP, 7/20/16)(Econ, 7/23/16, p.14)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Turkish
broadcaster NTV said Turkey’s military has carried out air strikes
against members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in
northern Iraq, killing 20 militants.
   (Reuters, 7/20/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Ukrainska Pravda
journalist Pavel Sheremet (44) died in an explosion in Kiev as he
got into his car to drive to work to anchor a talk show on a local
radio station. The Belarusian-born Sheremet irked officials in
Belarus and Russia before he moved to Ukraine, where he said there
were fewer hurdles to independent reporting.
   (AP, 7/20/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In southern Yemen
a suicide bomber blew himself up at a checkpoint in Aden, killing 4
soldiers and wounding six.
   (AP, 7/20/16)  Â
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Zambian police
arrested 28 opposition supporters on suspicion of rioting and making
petrol bombs. The UPND said in a statement they were only empty
bottles.
   (Reuters, 7/20/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Zimbabwe tens
of thousands gathered to show their support for 92-year-old
President Robert Mugabe in the capital, Harare. The massive turnout
was organized by Mugabe's ruling party, ZANU-PF, in response to
recent anti-government demonstrations and a nationwide strike
protesting a rapidly declining economy.
   (AP, 7/20/16)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The US Treasury
Dept. hit Exxon Mobil Corp. with a $2 million fine for violating
Russia sanctions while Sec. of State Rex Tillerson served as CEO.
Exxon-Mobil said it would sue to stop the fine.
   (SFC, 7/21/17, p.A7)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, US Dept. of
Homeland Security confirmed that passengers flying into the US from
airports in 10 Muslim-majority countries affected by a ban on
laptops may now take their laptops and other large electronic
devices into plane cabins with them.
   (SFC, 7/21/17, p.A14)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In central
California more than 3,000 firefighters battled a raging wildfire
that has destroyed 29 structures and forced thousands to flee their
homes as it threatened a picturesque gold rush town outside Yosemite
National Park.
   (Reuters, 7/20/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Chester Bennington
(41), the lead singer of Linkin Park, was found dead in his home in
Palos Verdes Estates, Los Angeles County, in an apparent suicide.
   (SFC, 7/21/17, p.D5)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Nevada O.J.
Simpson (70) was granted parole after more than eight years in
prison for a Las Vegas hotel-room heist, successfully making his
case for freedom in a nationally televised hearing that reflected
America's enduring fascination with the former football star.
Simpson was due to be freed on October 1.
   (AP, 7/21/17)(SFC, 7/21/17, p.D1)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In southern
Afghanistan Abdur Rahman (23), the son of Taliban leader Mullah
Haibatullah Akhundz died carrying out a suicide attack in Helmand
province. Taliban fighters drove three captured Humvee vehicles into
checkpoints during heavy fighting around Gereshk.
   (Reuters, 7/22/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Amnesty said it
had unearthed 101 cases of secret detention and documented at least
24 different types of torture at more than 20 different sites in
Cameroon between 2013 and 2017.
   (AFP, 7/20/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, China outlined a
development strategy designed to make it the world’s leading
artificial intelligence power by 2030.
   (Econ 7/29/17, p.11)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Egypt gunmen
attacked a three-car police convoy on the main Cairo-to-Fayoum road
killing one policeman and injuring three others.
   (AP, 7/21/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, European and US
authorities said they had shut down AlphaBay and Hansa Market and
arrested their operators. AlphaBay, the largest so-called darknet
market, was taken down in early July at the same time that
authorities arrested Alexandre Cazes (25), a Canadian man living in
Bangkok. Dutch police said they had taken control of Hansa market in
June. Two men accused of operating Hansa were arrested in Germany.
   (SFC, 7/21/17, p.C1)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Germany's
president signed legislation legalizing gay marriage, paving the way
for it to take effect this fall.
   (AP, 7/21/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, German customs
authorities said they've seized over 3.8 tons of cocaine that
arrived in Hamburg in shipping containers from South America in
three operations between March and May.
   (AP, 7/20/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In northern India
an inter-city bus plunged into a deep gorge, killing 28 people and
injuring 10 others in Rampur Bushahar, Himachal Pradesh state.
   (AP, 7/20/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Iran elite
Revolutionary Guard forces killed three terrorists and wounded four
others in a clash in a border area in the country's northwest.
   (AP, 7/21/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The Israeli
military shot and killed a Palestinian attacker (26) who tried to
stab soldiers at a West Bank checkpoint near Hebron.
   (AP, 7/20/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Italy a Rome
court convicted dozens of defendants in a wide-ranging corruption
trial that revealed a system of kickbacks and intimidation to gain
control of city contracts, but acquitted all of the defendants on
key charges of mafia-style association. Massimo Carminati (59) was
sentenced to 20 years in prison. His right-hand man and fellow
defendant Salvatore Buzzi (61) was handed a 19-year jail term.
   (AP, 7/20/17)(AFP, 7/20/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Kuwait state news
agency KUNA said the government has ordered Iran to reduce its
embassy staff from 19 to 4 and close down its technical offices in
the Gulf Arab state following a court case last year which
implicated "Iranian parties" of involvement in a spy cell.
   (Reuters, 7/20/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Mexican Marines
killed eight alleged drug traffickers in a rare Mexico City gun
battle. Presumed gang members retaliated by burning vehicles in
unprecedented unrest in the country's safest city.
   (AFP, 7/21/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Moldova lawmakers
voted to overhaul the electoral system, as thousands of opposition
activists massed outside saying the changes favored the two largest
parties.
   (Reuters, 7/20/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In northern
Morocco protester Imad Atabi was in a coma after being struck on the
head during clashes between demonstrators and security forces in
Al-Hoceima. On August 8 he died of his injuries.
   (AFP, 7/21/17)(AFP, 8/8/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Syria rebels
killed at least 28 members of government and allied forces east of
the capital Damascus.
   (Reuters, 7/20/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Tanzanian
opposition number two Tundu Lissu was arrested, three days after
having called President John Magufuli a "dictator".
   (AFP, 7/21/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Many Venezuelan
streets were deserted and barricaded for a strike called by foes of
President Nicolas Maduro to demand a presidential election and the
abandonment of a plan for a new congress they fear would institute a
dictatorship. Two people were killed in clashes during the
nationwide strike.
   (Reuters, 7/20/17)(AFP, 7/21/17)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Pres. Donald Trump
for a second day criticized the Federal Reserve, breaking with a
long-standing tradition at the White House of avoiding any
influence, real or perceived, on the independence of the US central
bank.
   (AP, 7/21/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, A top CIA expert
on Asia said China is waging a "quiet kind of cold war" against the
United States, using all its resources to try to replace America as
the leading power in the world.
   (AP, 7/21/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, California's
Ferguson Fire near Yosemite National Park, which began July 13, has
now burned through 22,892 acres in Mariposa County and was just 7%
contained.
   (SFC, 7/21/18, p.C1)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Kristin Wilczynski
(50) was fatally struck in Hamden, Connecticut. In 2019 her husband
filed a $35 million lawsuit filed against the federal government
saying that an off-duty police officer, who struck and killed his
wife with a vehicle, worked for the FBI at the time.
   (http://tinyurl.com/y6ze7qoq)(AP, 7/21/19)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Cardiologist Dr.
Mark Hausknecht (65) was fatally shot by a fellow bicyclist at the
Texas Medical Center in Houston. Joseph James Pappas (62) was later
accused of the killing. On August 3 Pappas fatally shot himself
during a confrontation with authorities. Pappas' mother had died in
April 1997 on the doctor's operating table.
   (SSFC, 7/22/18, p.A11)(SFC, 8/4/18, p.A6)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Hawaii Justin
Waiki was killed during a shootout with police three days after
fatally shooting a police officer on the Big Island.
   (SFC, 7/21/18, p.A5)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Utah
10-month-old Alex Hidalgo Jr. was stabbed multiple times and found
covered in blood in a garbage can. Alex Hidalgo (37) of Ogden was
arrested the next day and charged with aggravated murder and
obstruction of justice.
   (SFC, 7/23/18, p.A4)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The Wall Street
Journal reported that Facebook has suspended Crimson Hexagon, a
Boston analytics firm, from its site and says it is investigating
whether the company's contracts with the US government and a Russian
non-profit violated policies.
   (AFP, 7/21/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Abu Dhabi
Chinese President Xi Jinping, his Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and
other Chinese officials held morning meetings with powerful crown
prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan, the crown prince of
Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktuom, and others at the
presidential palace as China and the UAE seek to deepen economic
ties.
   (AP, 7/20/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Afghan officials
said battles between Taliban and Islamic State fighters in a remote
district of northern Jawzjan province have caused heavy casualties
and displaced thousands of people in recent days. Top NATO commander
in Afghanistan, General John Nicholson, estimated this year that
Islamic State has around 1,500 fighters in Afghanistan, mainly in
the east and in a "pocket" in Jawzjan.
   (Reuters, 7/20/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Human Rights Watch
urged the Brazilian government to establish buffer zones nationwide
when pesticides are sprayed and reduce the use of highly toxic
products. Some 4,000 pesticide poisoning case were reported in
Brazil last year.
   (SFC, 7/21/18, p.A2)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, A report by the
consulting firm Oliver Wyman said quitting the EU could leave
British households up to 960 pounds ($1,260) worse off each year.
   (Reuters, 7/20/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Bulgaria's
parliament voted to bar the government from signing bilateral
agreements with other European Union countries on readmitting
migrants who arrived in Europe via the Black Sea state.
   (Reuters, 7/20/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Canada's
government said the nation's annual inflation rate rose to 2.5
percent in June, its highest level in more than six years, on the
back of higher fuel and food prices.
   (AP, 7/20/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Chile's
archdiocese of the city of Rancagua said the Vatican has dismissed
Chilean deacon Luis Rubio over sexual abuse accusations, amid a
widespread abuse scandal gripping the country's Catholic Church.
   (AFP, 7/21/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, China's government
posted a cartoon video featuring a soybean on the website of China
Global Television Network (CGTN), the overseas news network of
state-owned China Central Television. It seemed to be designed to
undermine support for the trade dispute from US farmers, key
supporters of President Donald Trump, by highlighting the damage
tariffs could have on American soybean exports.
   (Reuters, 7/20/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, It was reported
that Ethiopia has passed a law that grants amnesty to political
prisoners who have been released recently and reverses decades of
security-obsessed rule.
   (Reuters, 7/20/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, French President
Emmanuel Macron fired Alexandre Benalla, the head of his personal
security detail, but faced criticism for failing to act sooner,
after video was released showing the man posing as a police officer
and beating a protester while off duty in May.
   (Reuters, 7/20/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, France sent 50
tons of medical aid to government-controlled eastern Ghouta in Syria
after Russia agreed to facilitate its delivery, raising hopes for
future aid efforts.
   (Reuters, 7/21/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Germany a man
armed with a knife attacked people on a bus in the northern city of
Luebeck, wounding at least 14 people, two seriously, before being
arrested by police.
   (Reuters, 7/20/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, German astronaut
Alexander Gerst played a duet of Kraftwerk's 1978 song "Spacelab"
with the band to cheers from an audience in Stuttgart.
   (AP, 7/21/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Germany-based
Bayer, the maker of a permanent contraceptive implant subject to
thousands of injury reports and repeated safety restrictions by
regulators, said that it will stop selling Essure in the US, the
only country where it remains available.
   (AP, 7/21/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The Israeli army
struck 60 Hamas sites including weapon manufacturing sites, a drone
warehouse and a military operations room following the death of an
Israeli soldier shot near the border. Three Hamas militants were
killed as air raids sent fireballs exploding into the sky over Gaza.
A fourth Palestinian was shot dead in protests near the border.
   (AFP, 7/21/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Japan's PM Shinzo
Abe warned the US that higher tariff on auto imports would backfire
and harm not only America's jobs and economy but also devastate the
global economy.
   (AP, 7/20/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Japan's parliament
approved a contentious law allowing up to three casino resorts to
open in this wealthy nation and possibly lure more foreign visitors.
   (AP, 7/20/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Kazakhstan
Nuraly Kiyasov "confessed his guilt in the presence of an attorney"
while being questioned over the death a day earlier of figure skater
Denis Ten. Police sought a second man, named as Arman Kudaibergenov,
in the case.
   (AP, 7/20/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Mexico 12
people were killed after a passenger van crashed on the outskirts of
Mexico City.
   (AP, 7/20/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The Netherlands
and Turkey said they were resuming full diplomatic ties for the
first time since Dutch officials barred two Turkish ministers from
attending an election rally in 2017.
   (AFP, 7/20/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Pakistani security
forces killed Hidayat Ullah, the mastermind of the country's worst
ever suicide bombing, in an early morning shootout in the southwest
province of Balochistan. An official said Ullah was facilitator of
Hafeez Nawaz, who carried out the suicide bombing last week which
killed at least 149 people.
   (AFP, 7/20/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Peru hundreds
of villagers in the remote Sihuas province broke into offices of the
local prosecutor and court, destroying thousands of criminal case
files to protest corruption in the judicial system.
   (AP, 7/21/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In the Philippines
radio commentator Joey Llana (38) was shot about a dozen times as he
was leaving for work in a new fatal attack in a country with an
alarming record of killings of journalists.
   (AP, 7/20/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Russian President
Vladimir Putin said a plan to raise the retirement age would be
reviewed, signaling a retreat from a reform that is needed to
balance state finances but which has hurt his popularity.
   (Reuters, 7/20/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The official Saudi
Press Agency said the kingdom "rejects and disapproves" of Israel's
new legislation which it argued contradicts international law.
   (AP, 7/21/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Singapore's
government said a major cyberattack on the government health
database stole the personal information of about 1.5 million people,
including PM Lee Hsien Loong.
   (Reuters, 7/20/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Somalia's Islamist
militant group al Shabaab captured Af Urur, a small but strategic
town 100 km (60 miles) south of Bosaso city in the semi-autonomous
Puntland region. Puntland military forces had left the town a day
earlier.
   (Reuters, 7/20/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, A South Korean
court sentenced former President Park Geun-hye to an additional
eight years for abusing state funds and violating election laws. She
was already serving a 24-year prison term over a massive corruption
scandal that led to her removal from office last year.
   (AP, 7/20/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Swedish PM Stefan
Lofven said his government is working "every minute" to get
necessary resources to the hundreds of firefighters and emergency
workers fighting some 50 blazes mostly in central and western Sweden
but also in the north, above the Arctic Circle.
   (AP, 7/20/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Syrian rebels
began evacuating the border with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights,
leaving for the rebel-held north in a surrender deal that restores
President Bashar al-Assad's control of the frontier.
   (Reuters, 7/20/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Pope Francis
accepted the resignation of a senior Roman Catholic bishop in
Honduras, following allegations of financial and sexual impropriety
against the cleric.
   (Reuters, 7/21/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, A Vietnamese court
convicted American William Nguyen of disturbing public order after
he took part in a rare protest in June and ordered him deported.
Nguyen, who is of Vietnamese descent, admitted to the violation and
showed remorse, which resulted in a lenient sentence.
   (AP, 7/20/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Zimbabwe Samuel
Undenge, a former minister who served under ex president Robert
Mugabe, was found guilty of corruption and sentenced to four years
in jail, the first conviction of a Mugabe-era official since he
stepped down.
   (Reuters, 7/20/18)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The Washington
Post reported late today that US President Donald Trump's
administration will pause its enforcement of a new rule barring
federally funded family planning clinics from referring women for
abortions. Clinics would now have two months to comply before facing
penalties.
   (Reuters, 7/21/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, A blistering heat
wave roasted the eastern half of the US. Boston officials declared a
heat emergency through the weekend.
   (SSFC, 7/21/19, p.A8)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In South Carolina
Denali Berries Stuckey (29), black transgender women, was found dead
on the shoulder of a North Charleston road. Stuckey was the third
known black trans woman murdered in South Carolina since 2018 and
the 12th known transgender person to violently die this year in the
US.
   (AP, 7/25/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In southern Texas
five people were killed and seven others injured in a three-vehicle
accident on US-95 near Victoria.
   (SFC, 7/23/19, p.A6)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, British Airways
and Lufthansa both said they were suspending flights to Cairo for
unspecified reasons related to safety and security.
   (AP, 7/20/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Bulgaria reported
an outbreak of African swine fever at a breeding farm for pigs near
the Danube city of Ruse in the north east of the Balkan country and
said all pigs on the holding, or 17,000, will be culled.
   (Reuters, 7/20/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Tens of thousands
gathered in Hong Kong to voice support for the police and call for
an end to violence, after a wave of protests against an extradition
bill triggered clashes between police and activists and plunged the
city into crisis.
   (Reuters, 7/20/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Iraq's military
said its troops in partnership with security agencies and
paramilitary forces launched the second phase of an operation aimed
at clearing remnants of the Islamic State group from north of
Baghdad and surrounding areas.
   (AP, 7/20/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Iraqi Kurdistan's
security services said they had arrested a man for assassinating a
Turkish diplomat in the regional capital Erbil on July 17, and
believed the suspect was the brother of a lawmaker in the Turkish
parliament.
   (Reuters, 7/20/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The self-styled
Libyan National Army declared "zero hour" in its offensive to
capture the capital, Tripoli, from the UN-backed government.
   (AP, 7/20/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Libya's National
Oil Corporation confirmed that production at its 290,000 barrels per
day El Sharara oilfield was currently offline.
   (Reuters, 7/20/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Mexico announced
that it is sponsoring a $31 million tree planting program in El
Salvador known as "Sowing Life".
   (SSFC, 7/21/19, p.A2)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In western Nigeria
four Turkish nationals were kidnapped late today in Gbale village,
Kwara state. Police soon began conducting a rescue operation.
   (Reuters, 7/21/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Voters in the
turbulent former tribal zones of northwestern Pakistan went to the
polls in the first provincial elections since the region lost the
semi-autonomous status it had held since the British colonial era.
   (Reuters, 7/20/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Polish police
detained 25 people in Bialystok, after attacks on those taking part
in the city's first equality march amid accusations that the ruling
Law and Justice (PiS) party benefits from fuelling anti-gay
sentiment.
   (Reuters, 7/21/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, In Russia more
than 10,000 people took to the streets of Moscow to protest against
the exclusion of most opposition-minded candidates from an election
for the city's legislature.
   (Reuters, 7/20/19)
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