Portal:Current events/2005 July 20

July 20, 2005 (Wednesday)

Hurricane Emily makes landfall along the northeast coast of Mexico, about 75 miles south of the Mexico–United States border, with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph, causing damage along the coast. In Texas, flooding and tornadoes have been reported from the effects of Emily. (CBS news)
Police in Pakistan have detained about 200 suspected Islamist extremists in a series of raids on religious schools, mosques and other properties. (BBC)
Canada becomes the 4th nation in the world to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide.(National Post)
In mainland China, authorities evacuate more than a million people from Fujian and Zhejiang provinces due to Typhoon Haitang. In Taiwan, death toll rises to 7 with one missing and 31 injured. The typhoon also causes significant agricultural damage (People's Daily) (Xinhua) (Taipei Times) (Channel News Asia) (Reuters AlertNet)
Government of Thailand changes the new emergency laws, weakening two articles that would have, among other things, enforced curfews and censorship of personal communication. (Bangkok Post)
Saudi Arabian long-time ambassador to the US, prince Bandar bin Sultan, resigns for "personal reasons" (New York Times) (Al-Jazeera) (Bloomberg)
In Yemen, 8-13 people die during demonstrations against oil price increases (Al-Jazeera) (MENAFN) (Reuters AlertNet)
Indonesian government confirms first deaths connected to bird flu (Reuters)
In China, coal mine explosion in Shaanxi province kills 24–26 (Xinhua) (China Daily) (Reuters)
In Brazil, Delubio Soares, former treasurer for the ruling Worker's Party, admits in a parliamentary hearing that the party did not declare contributions worth $17 million (Bloomberg) (BBC)
Indian Army announces that it has unveiled a scam where contractors responsible for transportation of fuel to depots of its Northern Command had sold off the fuel and filled the tanks with water (Times of India) (NDTV)
James Doohan, the actor best known for playing Scotty on Star Trek: The Original Series and the first seven Star Trek films, dies at his home in Redmond, Washington.