Portal:Current events/2006 June 15

June 15, 2006 (Thursday)

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito breaks a tie in a 5-4 decision in Hudson v. Michigan, allowing evidence admitted in cases where police did not knock and announce themselves when executing a search warrant. (CNN)
Hundreds are wounded in fighting between rival factions of the Movement of the Democratic Forces of Casamance led by Salif Sadio, who supports the continuation of the Casamance Conflict, and Magne Dieme, who supports reconciliation with the Government of Senegal. The fighting has spread to The Gambia and Guinea-Bissau may intervene. (allAfrica.com)
Burundi rebel group Fighters of the National Liberation Forces, the last active rebel group in the country, shell the capital Bujumbura with 15 60mm mortars injuring at least eight civilians despite ongoing peace talks between the group and the Government of Burundi in Tanzania. (News24.com)
Coalition forces in Afghanistan launch and execute Operation Mountain Thrust to drive Taliban forces out of the southern provinces of Afghanistan. The operation is the largest operation since the start of the Afghanistan war. (National Post), (Ottawa Citizen)
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops approves a new English translation for mass. Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune
Bill Gates, Chairman of the Microsoft Corporation announces he will step down from his daily duties in 2008. He wants to shift his daily life to his charity, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. His successors will be Microsoft Technical Officer Ray Ozzie (software architecturing) and Craig Mundie for researching and strategic affairs. MSNBC
U.S. President George W. Bush announces the establishment of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands National Monument, the largest Marine Protected Area in the world.(BBC)
The U.S. military suffers its 2500th fatal casualty in the Iraq war. 18,490 have been wounded. (Toronto Star)(truthout)
The United Kingdom agrees to jail former Liberian president Charles Taylor if he is convicted, removing a key obstacle to a proposed trial to be held at The Hague under the auspices of the Special Court for Sierra Leone. (BBC)
A video of a U.S. Marine singing a song, entitled "Hadji Girl", about the killing of Iraqi civilians, sparks outrage after being widely distributed on the Internet. Amidst huge condemnation, Cpl Joshua Belile issues an apology. A Marine spokesman, Lt. Col. Scott Fazekas, said that they were investigating. (BBC) (NYT)
Clean up crews try to stop coal tar in the Dasha River entering the Wangkuai Reservoir supplying the city of Baoding in northern China. (New Kerala)
A bomb explodes in Kandahar killing 10 and wounding 15 people. (AP)
Two Israeli teenage girls escape kidnapping attempt in the West Bank. Three Palestinian suspects armed with a pistol are arrested soon afterwards.(Ynet)
A claymore mine suspected of being laid by the Tamil Tigers kills 58 people in Sri Lanka. (Reuters)
Google officially became a word in the Oxford English Dictionary. (ResourceShelf)