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- Darfur conflict: Sudanese President Omar Hasan Ahmad al-Bashir, in a meeting with United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, makes a commitment to "ensure security for the civilian population by deploying civilian police and by disarming militias". (Reuters)
- Brazil's strict new gun control legislation, including a nationwide register of all firearms, both privately owned and government issued, comes into force. (BBC)
- Entertainer Bill Cosby, in an appearance with Jesse Jackson, criticizes the African American community, saying illiterate blacks are "going nowhere" and advising unemployed black men to "stop beating up your women". (CNN/archive.org)
- Occupation of Iraq: Four U.S. Army soldiers, including 1st. Lt. Jack M. Saville and Sgt. Tracy Perkins, are charged with offenses ranging up to involuntary manslaughter in the January 3 drowning death of an Iraqi detainee whom they reportedly forced to leap into the Tigris from atop a bridge in Samarra. (Reuters)
- U.S. presidential election: Several Democratic Party members of the U.S. House of Representatives request that the United Nations send observers to monitor the November 2 presidential election, citing the disputed 2000 presidential outcome. (AFP)
- A Medevac of airline Air TRK crashes during take-off from Tocumen International Airport in Panama City, Panama, after a stopover in a flight from Quito, Ecuador, to Washington, D.C., US, killing six passengers and one airport worker. (Estrella de Panama)
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- Australia and Thailand sign a free trade agreement. (Xinhua)
- The International Committee of the Red Cross and UNICEF state that there are more than 100 Iraqi children in custody of the US-led coalition, and a US soldier reports of child harassment in Abu Ghraib. (Der Spiegel via Pakistan News Service)
- The first direct Indonesian presidential election is held, with Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono expected to win with one-third of the vote. If no candidate wins at least 50 percent of the vote, the two top finishers will compete in a September runoff. The race for second place, between President Megawati Sukarnoputri and former army chief General Wiranto, is still too close to call. (VOA)(PolitInfo)
- Alfonso Durazo, spokesman and private secretary to Mexican President Vicente Fox, resigns over "political differences" with his boss, including the presidential ambitions of First Lady Marta Sahagún. The announcement came shortly after, but was not related to, a bad day for Fox's PAN party in state elections in its northern heartland. (BBC) (Reuters)
- Éric Gagné, former three-time All-Star Major League Baseball closer and 2003 NL Cy Young Award winner, has his record for consecutive games saved broken at 84.
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- Kenneth Lay, the former Chairman of Enron, is indicted by a grand jury in Houston, Texas. Enron filed for bankruptcy on December 2, 2001, after investigators discovered that it had hidden more than $1 billion in debt and inflated profits. (CNN) (BBC) (Democracy Now!)
- The archdiocese of Portland, Oregon, U.S., files for bankruptcy, claiming payouts for Roman Catholic sex abuse cases have exhausted all of its funds. (The Guardian)
- Japan tells the United Nations it should get a permanent seat on the Security Council because of its participation in the multinational force in Iraq. (VOA) (JapanToday)
- At a meeting with 20 pro-democracy lawmakers, Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa says he is powerless to ask Beijing to reconsider its decision to deny universal suffrage to Hong Kong's people. (VOA) (Radio Australia)
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- The World Health Organisation says that six months into its project against AIDS, 440,000 people in developing nations have received antiretroviral drugs. Despite being 60,000 short of its target, the organisation says it is still hopeful of achieving its aim of distributing to 3,000,000 people by the end of 2005 (BBC)
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- Stephen Hawking changes his position on black holes and Hawking radiation, stating that it is possible for information to escape, thereby reinforcing a central tenet of quantum physics. (New Scientist)
- The Iranian government rejected requests for Canadian government observers to attend the trial of intelligence agents charged with the death of Canadian photographer, Zahra Kazemi
- The Federal Marriage Amendment, a bid by members of the United States Republican Party to amend the United States Constitution to ban same-sex marriage in the United States, fails in the Senate by a larger-than-expected margin. (CNN)
- The governor of the Iraqi city of Mosul is killed in an attack on his vehicle. (BBC)
- France celebrates Bastille Day, and:
- The Butler Review into United Kingdom intelligence on Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq is published. It criticises the government for using unreliable intelligence, which it says was 'open to doubt' and 'seriously flawed', but blames no single individual. (BBC) (Guardian) (Independent)
- The death toll from monsoon flooding in South Asia reaches 300. (ABC Australia)
- Same-sex marriage in Canada: A court in Yukon rules that the territory's government must licence marriages between same-sex partners. Yukon becomes the fourth jurisdiction in Canada to perform same-sex marriages, after Ontario, British Columbia, and Quebec. (CBC)
- By a 3-to-2 vote, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission proposes requiring the registration of hedge funds (investment pools restricted to high-net-worth individuals and institutions). Although many hedge funds are already registered, that has thus far been voluntary. (thestreet.com)
- A Turkish court orders a retrial of four Kurdish former members of parliament who were jailed in 1994. They have been accused of supporting separatism and for making speeches in Kurdish. (BBC)
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- At least 88 children are killed and several others injured when a kitchen fire engulfs a thatched-roof school in the Kumbakonam district of Tamil Nadu, India. Five are arrested so far. (BBC) (Rediff News) (Times of India) (CNN)
- American celebrity Martha Stewart is sentenced to five months in a federal prison, five months of house arrest, two years probation, and ordered to pay a $30,000 fine, for attempting to cover up illegal stock trading. The sentence is stayed pending appeal. (Reuters)
- Acceding to the demands of Iraqi militants who kidnapped and threaten to behead truck driver Angelo de la Cruz, the Philippines agrees to withdraw from Iraq. Eleven soldiers leave today, while the remaining 32 are slated to withdraw at a later date. (BBC)
- Palestinian militants kidnap Ghazi al-Jabali, the Palestinian Authority Chief of Police of the Gaza Strip, at gunpoint following an ambush of his convoy and the wounding of two bodyguards. The Jenin Martyrs' Brigade claims responsibility. Hours later the police chief is released and another official of the Palestinian Authority kidnapped. (Reuters) (BBC)
- A United Nations tribunal trying the alleged masterminds of Rwanda's 1994 genocide convicts former finance minister Emmanuel Ndindabahizi on three counts of genocide and crimes against humanity, sentencing him to life in prison.
- The British government is reported to be considering the decriminalization of activities relating to prostitution, including the possibility of legal brothels. (BBC) (Independent)
- It is reported that former Chess World Champion Bobby Fischer was detained in Japan on July 13, 2004, and may face deportation due to competing in Yugoslavia in 1992. (ABC NEWS) (CNN)
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- People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals releases a video of gross cruelty to chickens taken at Pilgrim's Pride, one of KFC's suppliers in West Virginia. The supplier will investigate the claims. (The Independent) (FOX News)
- Sandy Berger resigns as a foreign affairs advisor to John Kerry's presidential campaign after it is reported that Berger was under investigation for allegedly illegally taking classified documents belonging to the U.S. National Archives, intended for review by the 9/11 Commission, related to the Clinton administration's handling of millennium terror threats. (Reuters)
- Canadian Prime minister Paul Martin announces his new cabinet, which includes new faces such as ice hockey great Ken Dryden and former BC premier Ujjal Dosanjh. (CBC)
- Gloria Arroyo, President of the Philippines, confirms that hostage Angelo de la Cruz has been freed by his captors after their demands for a one-month-early withdrawal of all 51 Filipino troops from Iraq were met. (Reuters)
- Ahmed Qurei, Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority, agrees to withdraw his resignation, three days after tendering it. Qurei is maintaining a threat to quit "because he has no powers". (Reuters)
- Human Rights Watch releases a report stating that Sudanese government documents confirm support for the Arab Janjaweed militia in their campaign of ethnic cleansing against African Muslims in Darfur.
- The United States House of Representatives votes to override a proposal by the Financial Accounting Standards Board that would require publicly traded companies to record all forms of share-based payments to employees, including stock options, as expenses. Similar legislation remains stalled in the United States Senate.
- The European Union approves a 50-50 merger between BMG and Sony. (CNN)
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- Police seal off the Washington, DC, office building housing John Kerry's presidential campaign headquarters after an envelope containing a suspicious white powder is opened by a Kerry staff member. (ABC News)
- Major North American brewers Coors and Molson announce they will go ahead with a proposed merger, creating the world's fifth-biggest brewing company. (Toronto Star)
- In the United States, the 9/11 Commission releases its unanimous final report. The report harshly criticizes American intelligence agencies. (Democracy Now!)
- The 9/11 Commission releases a transcript of the hijackers' conversation in the final moments of United Airlines Flight 93, which details how the hijackers forced the plane into the ground in Pennsylvania. (Reuters)
- United States and Afghan forces kill 10 suspected Islamic militants and arrest five others. (Reuters)
- The United Nations raises its threat warning level for the Gaza Strip to "Phase Four" (the maximum is five) and plans to evacuate non-essential foreign staff from the Gaza Strip. (Reuters)
- Kenya calls on its citizens to leave Iraq, after the recent abductions of three Kenyan citizens (AP)
- In Canada, one person is reported to have died and five others hospitalized due to an E. coli contamination (AFP)
- In Turkey a passenger train travelling between Istanbul and Ankara derails at about 18:45 local time (16:45 UTC) near Pamukova in Sakarya Province. Initial fatality reports from the government suggested that 139 people were killed; this was reduced to approximately 30, without explanation, a few hours later, and the actual number is unclear. (BBC)
- Following Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin's cabinet shuffle two days earlier, Leader of the Opposition Stephen Harper announces a reshuffled Conservative Shadow Cabinet. (CBC)
- Ignacio Carrill, the Special Prosecutor for Past Social and Political Movements in Mexico, presents the findings of the investigation into the "dirty war", where it classifies the killings by government forces as genocide, and requests warrants be issued for the arrest of former president Luis Echeverría and 11 other ex-government figures. (BBC) (La Jornada in Spanish)
- Same-sex marriage in the United States: the House of Representatives today passes legislation preventing federal courts from ordering courts in other states recognize same-sex marriage granted elsewhere. (The NewStandard)
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- An Iranian court clears Mohammad Reza Aghdam-Ahmadi, the intelligence agent accused of killing the Iranian-Canadian journalist Zahra Kazemi, of charges of "semi-intentional murder", stating that the blood money should be paid from the state's treasury. (BBC)
- A militant group kidnaps an Egyptian diplomat, Mohamed Mamdouh Qutb, in Baghdad, Iraq. (BBC)
- A roadside bomb explodes in Karachi, Pakistan, killing an electrician and wounding six others. The victims were all students and staff at an Islamic seminary, and appear to be the targets of the attack. (BBC)
- In Mexico Judge César Flores refuses to authorize an arrest warrant for former president Luis Echeverría and other officials under the accusations of genocide for the killing of students during the "dirty war". Prosecutors are expected to appeal the decision. (BBC)
- During the third inning of a New York Yankees-Boston Red Sox game at Fenway Park, Jason Varitek and Alex Rodriguez get into a fight, igniting a bench-clearing brawl. The Red Sox win the game 11-10 on a walk-off home run by Bill Mueller.
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- Israeli-Palestinian conflict:
- Violence in Iraq:
- Fifteen insurgents are killed in a five-hour battle near the guerrilla stronghold of Buhriz near Baquba in which small-arms, artillery, and mortars are used.
- A U.S soldier is killed in a roadside bomb attack near Baiji, 90 miles south of Mosul.
- A former government official is killed in Baghdad.
- Guerillas murder two police officers in Mahumudiya, 25 miles south of Baghdad.
- A police officer, a Kurdish Patriotic Union of Kurdistan fighter, and a Kurdish woman and her two sons are killed in Kirkuk. (AP)
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- The 2004 Democratic National Convention opens in Boston, Massachusetts. (BBC) (Guardian)
- Violence in Iraq:
- A suicide bomber attacks near a U.S base in the northern city of Mosul, killing two civilians and an Iraqi security guard. Three U.S soldiers and an Iraqi security guard were wounded.
- The Iraqi interim Interior Ministry's Deputy Chief of Tribal Affairs, Col. Musab al-Awadi, is assassinated in Baghdad, along with two of his bodyguards.
- Insurgents kill two Iraqi women working as cleaners for British forces in Basra in southern Iraq.
- Militants threaten to kill two Jordanian truck drivers they captured within 72 hours if their Jordanian employer does not stop doing business with the U.S. military. (AP)
- The International Maritime Bureau says that deaths due to piracy doubled in the first month of 2004 compared with the same period in 2003, to 30 people. Half of the killings were in Nigerian waters. Despite the increased violence, the total number of piracy attacks fell. In the economically critical Straits of Malacca however, attacks rose by a third. (BBC)
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- Barack Obama gives the Keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention, launching his career on the national stage.
- South African authorities announce that Al-Qaeda militants have illegally obtained a large number of South African passports, enabling operatives to travel to many African countries and Britain without visas. It is believed that the passports came from crime syndicates operating within the passport office. (AP)
- The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court orders the unsealing of investigative files related to the unsolved 1972 murder of 13-year-old altar boy Danny Croteau. Richard Lavigne, a defrocked priest convicted of child molestation, is the only suspect in the case. (ABC)
- A lower French court annuls the same-sex union of Stephane Chapin and Bertrand Charpentier, stating that the Civil Code does not allow same-sex unions and that allowing them is for the legislature. The couple say they will appeal against the court's ruling, even to the European Court of Human Rights. The mayor who officiated at the ceremony, Noel Mamere of the left-wing Greens Party, had been suspended from duties for one month by the national executive. (AP)
- Iran is alleged to have broken seals placed upon uranium centrifuges by the International Atomic Energy Agency and resumed their construction. (AP)
- Violence in Iraq:
- Guerilla mortar fire, directed at the Green Zone in Baghdad, strikes the nearby neighborhood of Salhiya, killing an Iraqi garbage collector, wounding another, and injuring 15 U.S. soldiers.
- Dr. Qassem el-Obaidi, assistant director of Mahmudiya hospital, is assassinated in Mahmudiya, 25 miles south of Baghdad.
- A suicide bomber launches a failed attack in Baquba, north of Baghdad, killing himself but inflicting no other casualties.
- The Jordanian company Daoud and Partners decides to withdraw from Iraq, so as to secure the release of two Jordanian hostages.[1]
- The United Nations warns that Bangladesh is on the verge of a humanitarian crisis, as severe flooding causes more than 350 deaths. Forty-one of the country's sixty-four districts are affected by the floods, and officials say 14 million people are either marooned or homeless; other estimates reach as high as 30 million. (BBC)
- The European Union's 25 foreign ministers jointly call on the United Nations to pass a resolution threatening sanctions if the Sudanese government does not rein in the Arab militias blamed for atrocities in Darfur. (BBC)
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- The Catholic Church says a "weeping statue" at a Vietnamese Catholic centre near Brisbane is not a miracle. (ABC)
- Violence in Iraq:
- A massive suicide car-bomb kills 70 Iraqi civilians in an attack near a police station in the city of Baquba, north of Baghdad.
- Insurgents launch simultaneous attacks on U.S bases around Ramadi, killing two U.S soldiers and wounding eight. One guerrilla and an Iraqi civilian are killed in the Ramadi fighting. Clashes between Marines and guerillas are reported elsewhere in Al Anbar province, west of Baghdad.
- A U.S soldier is killed and three wounded in a roadside bomb attack on a convoy in the town of Balad Ruz, north of Baghdad.
- A U.S soldier is killed and another three wounded in a roadside bomb attack in Baghdad. An Iraqi civilian was also injured in the blast.
- Seven Iraqi policemen and 35 guerillas are killed in a battle in the town of Suwariyah, southeast of Baghdad, that was started by a raid by Iraqi security forces backed by U.S and Ukrainian troops.[2]
- About 220 North Koreans fly to South Korea from an unnamed third country, following 247 who arrived the day before. They arrive at Incheon International Airport on a plane chartered by the South Korean government. The North Korean government describes their apparent defection as "kidnapping". (BBC)
- A United Airlines flight carrying 246 passengers to Los Angeles, US, is forced to return to Sydney, Australia, after a bomb threat. Police later describe a hoax warning, found written on an air sickness bag. (CNN)
- The Organisation of the Islamic Conference and the Muslim World League, two Saudi-based international Islamic organizations, warn of Muslim anger in the event of an attack on the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and say Israel would be held responsible for any aggression against the mosque. (ArabNews)
- Roman Catholic Bishop Misael Vacca Ramírez, abducted by the left-wing rebel group National Liberation Army (ELN) in Colombia, tells local television he has been set free. (BBC)
- Traces of ricin are found in jars of baby food in a supermarket in Irvine, California. (Bloomberg)
- Francis Crick dies at the age of 88.
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- United States Senator John Kerry formally accepts the 2004 Democratic Presidential candidate nomination. In his acceptance speech he undertakes to "restore trust and credibility to the White House". (MSNBC)
- Pakistan announces the capture of Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, only the second person on the FBI Most Wanted Terrorists list to be detained. He is wanted in connection with the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings. The US Government had offered a reward of up to $25 million for information leading to the arrest of Ghailani. (BBC) CNN
- The Bank of England says that consumer debt in the United Kingdom has passed one trillion pounds for the first time. Coupled with increasing interest rates, this increased amount of debt has caused a sharp rise in the number of people seeking help with money problems – up 44% on five years ago. (BBC)
- Two Australian anti-war protestors who daubed "No War" in red paint on the top sail of the Sydney Opera House on March 18, 2003, take their case to the New South Wales Court of Appeal. David Burgess, 33, and Will Saunders, 42, claim their defence of self-defence was not heard by their original trial judge. (Sydney Morning Herald)
- The International Criminal Court says it will launch an investigation into ongoing atrocities at the Barlonyo refugee camp in northern Uganda. Reports say that more than 200 people have killed by rebels from the Lord's Resistance Army since the beginning of the year. (Mail & Guardian)
- In Vietnam, dissident pro-democracy activist Dr Nguyen Dan Que is sentenced by the Ho Chi Minh People's Court for "abusing democratic rights to jeopardise the interests of the state, and the legitimate rights and interests of social organisations and citizens". Que is the third dissident this month to be jailed after using the Internet to criticise the ruling Communist government. (Vietnam News Agency) (note the Agency is state-controlled), (Miami Herald).
- Doughnut maker Krispy Kreme announces that its accounting practices are the subject of an informal inquiry by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The inquiry is concerned with the company's repurchase of franchises as well as a recent earnings warning. (AP)
- Scientists at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute announce the discovery of a new genus of deep sea worms, Osedax (meaning bone devourer). The worms feed on lipids found in the bones of whale carcasses. (MBARI)
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- A plea bargain in a US court reveals details of an alleged Libyan plot to assassinate Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Abdullah. Leading US Muslim activist Abdurahman Alamoudi, founder of the American Muslim Council, admits taking part in the plot, as he pleads guilty to three charges of illegal dealings with Libya. US Attorney General John Ashcroft says the case has provided "critical intelligence" in the war on terror. (BBC)
- The Olympic Stadium in Berlin is given a new lease of life after a four-year renovation. The stadium is to stage the Football World Cup 2006 final, Germany's biggest sporting spectacle since reunification, exactly 70 years after the infamous Nazi Olympics. (BBC)
- Valve & Sierra's joint WON system was permanently shut down, and replaced by VALVE's new Steam Client. Steam (software)
- The Vatican denounces feminism, claiming that it would blur differences between men and women and threatens the institution of the traditional family of one man and one woman, stating that the drive for equality makes "homosexuality and heterosexuality virtually equivalent, in a new model of polymorphous sexuality". (AP)
- Iran states that it has resumed building nuclear centrifuges to enrich uranium, reversing an October 2003 pledge to Britain, France and Germany to suspend all uranium enrichment-related activities. The United States contends that the purpose is to produce weapons grade uranium. (Reuters)
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