Portal:Current events/2010 June 30

News

• United States
  • The United States government is sued by 10 plaintiffs, including an American citizen, challenging the country's no-fly list. (ABC News) (BBC) (The Wall Street Journal)
  • On the night streets of Crown Heights, Brooklyn, United States, five people are shot in two separate incidents. (ABC)
    • The Obama administration allows General Stanley A. McChrystal, until recently commander of the United States in its war in Afghanistan, to retire at a four star rank. Army rules state that he would have to serve for several more years to earn its additional retirement benefits, but the administration used its right to exempt him from these rules. (The New Zealand Herald) (Hindustan Times)
• Protests are held all across India and occupied Kashmir amid curfew restrictions for the past ten days. Ten adolescents are killed by the forces. (G.K) (Kashmir)
• Africa
  • The Democratic Republic of the Congo marks 50 years of independence with celebrations attended by Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon, the Belgian king and other world leaders, days after the funeral of Floribert Chebeya. (The Sydney Morning Herald) (Al Jazeera)
  • Guinea-Bissau's President Malam Bacai Sanhá takes a "sovereign decision" to inaugurate mutineering General Antonio Indjai as army chief, causing upset to the United States which decides not to support this. (news24.com) (BBC)
  • 11 Algerian paramilitary police are killed by militants in an ambush in the Sahara. (BBC)
• Iran:
  • A man claiming to be an Iranian nuclear scientist, Shahram Amiri, says he has escaped from United States agents whom he alleges were holding him illegally and calls for help from the Iranian government and human rights agencies. (France24) (BBC) (The Australian)
  • Iranian woman Sakineh Mohamamadi e Ashtiani is convicted of adultery and sentenced to death by stoning in the northwestern Iranian city of Tabriz. (The Jerusalem Post)
  • Iran sentences two officials to death and nine others to fines and floggings for the deaths in custody of three protesters during the 2009-2010 Iranian election protests. (AP) (BBC) (Tehran Times) (Ynetnews) (Voice of America)
  • Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad calls for a boycott of Israeli goods or companies that do business with Israel, including a blacklist of international companies that are Jewish-owned or have branches in Israel; among the companies targeted are Nestlé, Coca Cola, Intel, and IBM. (Ynetnews) (Press TV) (JTA)
• A man whom the United States considers to be the 11th member of a Russian spy ring goes missing in Cyprus. (Aljazeera)
• South Korean actor (Winter Sonata) and singer Park Yong-ha's mother finds him hanging by an electrical cord at his home in Seoul. (BBC) (AsiaOne) (TODAYonline) (The Vancouver Sun)

Politics and Elections

• The Prime Minister of Nepal, Madhav Kumar Nepal, announces his resignation by a live television address. (BBC) (Aljazeera) (Kantipur) (Times of India)
• Burundi's opposition leader Agathon Rwasa goes into hiding after being threatened by the country's government. (Aljazeera)
• Finland becomes the first country in the world to make broadband internet access a legal right. (MSNBC)
• Sudan releases its opposition leader Hassan al-Turabi after a month and a half. (BBC)
• Inauguration of Noynoy Aquino:
  • Benigno Aquino III is sworn in as the 15th President of the Philippines and Jejomar Binay is sworn the 15th Vice President of the Philippines.(Philippine Daily Inquirer)
  • Outgoing President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will become the representative of the 2nd district of Pampanga. (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
• Two people are killed overnight in Burundi and two others wounded in violence that follows a controversial presidential election in which incumbent Pierre Nkurunziza was the only candidate. (Daily Nation)
• Prime Minister Julia Gillard confirms she does not support the legalisation of same-sex marriage in Australia, (Ninemsn) and that she does not believe in God. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
• At least 30 people are injured by police while protesting the arrest of opposition party leaders in Bangladesh. (Aljazeera)

Science

• A 6.2-magnitude earthquake occurs in southern Mexico near the city of Pinotepa Nacional, shaking buildings as far away as Mexico City but not causing serious damage or casualties. (National Post)
• An unfinished secret tomb is found in Egypt. (The Straits Times)
• The discovery of fossilized remains of Leviathan melvillei, an extinct species of physeteroid whale, is announced in Nature. (AP) (BBC)

• Ireland officially exits recession. (The Wall Street Journal) (RTÉ) (The Independent) (The Daily Telegraph) (BBC)
• Rescuers have recovered eight bodies from the ruins of a southwest China village, two days after a devastating rain-triggered landslide destroyed 37 houses and buried 99 villagers under mud. 91 residents of Dazhai Village, Guanling County, Guizhou Province, remained missing. (Xinhua)
• 13 people are killed during attacks in Iraq: 4 people die in the town of Beiji. (TRT)

• 8 militants are killed in fighting at eastern Afghanistan's Jalalabad Airport. (Belfast Telegraph) (The Globe and Mail) (Press Association) (BBC)
• Israeli police arrest Hamas MP Mohammed Abu Teir for breaking a law by staying within the borders of the state of Israel after being ordered to leave Jerusalem. (Aljazeera) (Press TV) (Reuters) (The Jerusalem Post)
• Several people are injured in an explosion in Grozny, Chechnya. (CBC) (Al Jazeera) (RIA Novosti)
• Tony Blair is to receive a prestigious medal and $100,000 from the United States, presented by Bill Clinton, for his "steadfast" efforts in "the resolution of conflicts rooted in religion around the world". (BBC) (The Sydney Morning Herald) (The Straits Times)
• Lord Jay, Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office ahead of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, tells the Iraq Inquiry he felt "very uncomfortable" about Tony Blair declaring war on Iraq without another "necessary" United Nations resolution. (BBC)
• The Special Court for Sierra Leone, sitting in The Hague, rules that model Naomi Campbell can be called to testify against former President of Liberia Charles Taylor in relation to her blood diamond. (BBC) (Sky News) (The Guardian)
• The Italian government appeals to the European Court of Human Rights to overturn a ban on classroom crucifixes. (BBC)

Sports

• Goodluck Jonathan suspends the Nigeria national football team from international competition for two years due to poor performances in the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. (BBC) (The Guardian) (Reuters)
• Roger Federer is defeated by Tomáš Berdych of the Czech Republic at Wimbledon, so Federer will not contest the final for the first time since 2002, also his second Wimbledon loss during that time. (Daily Mail) (The Guardian) (BBC) (South Africa Post)