Portal:Current events/2007 August 16

August 16, 2007 (Thursday)

Three people are killed and another six injured as a seismic jolt disrupts an attempted mine rescue effort at the Crandall Canyon Mine near Huntington, Utah, United States. (NYT)
The leaders of Russia, China and Iran use the forum of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation to warn the United States not to become too heavily involved in Central Asia. (AP via IHT)
The British government is preparing to evacuate all Britons from Zimbabwe, about 22,000 people, due to increasing violence and shortage of food. (Times Online)
International conservation group BirdLife International launches a critical fundraising campaign to save 189 endangered species of birds. (San Jose Mercury News)
U.S. jihadist José Padilla is convicted on all counts of supporting terrorism. (AP via WTOP News)
Subprime mortgage crisis:
- Share prices continue to fall in Asian markets as a consequence of the subprime mortgage crisis with South Korea, Indonesia and the Philippines hardest hit. (NYT)
- The Bank of Japan injects 400 billion yen into its money market. (AP via IHT)
- The FTSE 100 falls below 6,000 points in trading in the morning session on the London Stock Exchange while other European markets fall as well. (Market Watch) (AP via Houston Chronicle)
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average sees a late recovery in late trading on the New York Stock Exchange after earlier losing 340 points. (Market Watch)
- The iBovespa falls by 3,500 points in the afternoon session on the São Paulo Stock Exchange. Brazil's stock market recorded its biggest one-day drop since the September 11, 2001 attacks. (Reuters)
- BSE Sensex falls by 642.70 points on a single day trade due to global factors. The fall is the second biggest in recent times.
Human rights in Iran: Over 200 people are arrested in Iran for attending an "illegal rock concert" which included alcohol and female singers. (Press TV)
The Red Cross estimates that the death toll from North Korean floods has reached 220. North Korea estimates that it has wiped out a tenth of its farmland. (BBC) (NYT)
The United States and Israel agree to a US$30 billion military aid package. (AP via Fox News)
2007 Atlantic hurricane season: Hurricane Dean becomes the first hurricane of the season, threatening the Lesser Antilles, while Tropical Storm Erin threatens Texas. At least five people died in thunderstorms resulting from Erin while another two people went missing. (CNN), (AP via the Guardian)
Peru's civil defense agency estimates that the death toll from the 2007 Peru earthquake is now 337 with 827 more injured. The coastal province of Ica is hardest hit. A 6.3 magnitude aftershock hits the country. The Government of Peru declares a state of emergency. (The Telegraph) Archived 2008-04-03 at the Wayback Machine (Bloomberg) (AFP via ABC News Auatralia)
The Supreme Court of Pakistan hears a petition from the former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to be able to return to the country and contest elections. (BBC)
Iraq War:
- United States forces launch an airborne assault on a desert compound south of Baghdad in search of Sunni militants in the first phase of Operation Marne Husky. (Reuters)
- United States officials state that there is little hope remaining of finding survivors of the Qahtaniya bombings. (Reuters)
The Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan Almaz Atambayev and the President of the People's Republic of China Hu Jintao meet to discuss Kyrgyz participation in a Turkmenistan-China gas pipeline. (Radio Free Europe)
Hugo Chávez, the President of Venezuela, announces plans to abolish term limits for the President by changing the Constitution. (BBC)
Japan is hit by a 5.3 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Honshū. (Bloomberg)