Portal:Current events/2010 July 1

• Israeli-Palestinian conflict:
  • In response to a rocket attack on southern Israel, Israeli airforce jets strike several targets in Gaza overnight, including Yasser Arafat International Airport, a weapons manufacturing facility and an infiltration tunnel into Israel. (Xinhua) (Arab News) (The Jerusalem Post)
  • European Union High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton says the planned demolition of Palestinian houses in East Jerusalem for an archeological park and tourist center is "an obstacle to peace" and "illegal under international law". (Arab News) (Israel National News)
  • The Methodist Church of Great Britain votes in Portsmouth to boycott Israeli-produced goods and services from the West Bank because of what it termed Israel's "illegal occupation of Palestinian lands". (The Jerusalem Post)
  • United States Middle East envoy George J. Mitchell accuses Hamas of “unacceptable and inhuman behavior” with regard to captive soldier Gilad Shalit, held in isolation in Gaza for the last four years, and calls for his immediate release. (The Jerusalem Post)
  • The son of a founding member of Hamas is granted asylum in the United States. (Aljazeera)
• 11 Kurdish, a soldier and three members of a Kurdish militia, part of the security forces, are killed in clashes in southeast Turkey, reports Anatolia news agency. (Khaleej Times)
• At least 42 people are killed and at least 175 are injured in three suicide bomb explosions at the Data Darbar Sufi shrine in Lahore. (The News International) (Aljazeera) (BBC) (CNN) (Xinhua)
• Somali President Sharif Ahmed joins Somali troops on the front line during battles on the 50^th anniversary of the country's independence. (CNN) (BBC)
• Millions of people in Senegal mourn the death of Grand Marabout of the Mourides, Serigne Mouhamadou Lamine Bara Mbacké. (ABC News) (BBC) (AP)

• People take to the streets in Ottawa to celebrate Canada's 143rd birthday. (CTV)

• China
  • China's Xinhua launches a global 24-hour English TV news channel. (AP via Yahoo!) (Channel News Asia)
  • The Shanghai–Nanjing High-Speed Railway goes into operation; the journey takes 73 minutes with a top-speed of 350km/h (217 mph). (Shanghai Daily) (Xinhua)

• Hurricane Alex, the first hurricane of the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season, makes landfall in northeastern Mexico as a Category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale with winds of 105 mph (165 km/h), and causes tornadoes that force people into shelters in southern Texas. (National Hurricane Center) (The Australian) (Aljazeera)
• Deepwater Horizon oil spill
  • According to recent estimates, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill has overtaken Ixtoc I in volume to become the United States' worst oceanic oil spill in recorded history. (MSNBC News Services) (USA Today)
  • Animal welfare groups sue BP for burning endangered sea turtles and ask the court to stop the controlled burning of spilled oil in the Gulf of Mexico, claiming BP is violating the Endangered Species Act and other laws. (The Australian)
• Six people are killed and ten others injured in Shenzhen after a Space Shuttle simulator ride plunged to the ground at a popular amusement park. (ntdtv)

• Inter-Korean Relations
  • North Korea asks the United Nations Security Council to investigate the sinking of the Cheonan. Diplomats say South Korea wants the council to condemn North Korea. (Aljazeera)
  • Two North Koreans are jailed in South Korea over an assassination plot on a high-ranking North Korean defector, Hwang Jang-yop. (Yonhap) (BBC)
• The Afghan government calls for an international inquiry amid what it sees as "unjust" claims made by Nita Lowey, current chair of the House Appropriations Committee in the United States, that suitcases of cash are being flown out of the country. The United States blocks billions of dollars of aid due to Lowey's claims. (AFP via Daily Times)

• More than 300 kilograms of drugs - opium, morphine, ice (methamphetamine hydrochloride), ketamine and dancing outreach - are incinerated in the suburbs of Lhasa, Tibet. (tibet.cn)
• An estimated 52,000 people took part in anti-government protests in the former British colony of Hong Kong. BBC News Bloomberg
• The United States Government actively seizes the domains of 7 U.S. based Websites for copyright infringement and replaces them with this. (The Register UK)
• The United Kingdom's Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) reports there has been a surge in cases of gay and bisexual men in some communities being forced to marry by their families. (The Guardian)

• Pierre Nkurunziza, the incumbent President of Burundi and sole candidate in the presidential election, is re-elected with more than 91% of the votes. (AFP), (AfricaNews), (Xinhua via CPD)
• The Parliament of Finland approves the construction of two nuclear power stations. (BBC) (CNN) (YLE)
• Ahmed M. Mahamoud Silanyo is elected president of Somaliland by defeating incumbent Dahir Riyale Kahin. (Aljazeera)
• Kenyan MPs vote to increase their salaries by 18%, making them among the best-paid lawmakers in the world. (BBC) (News24.com) (Reuters)

• Fossils discovered at the Franceville site in Gabon are claimed to be evidence that multicellular life on Earth began at least 1.5 billion years earlier than currently reckoned. (The Australian) (BBC)
• Astronomers confirm the first-ever direct picture of an extrasolar planet orbiting its star. (National Geographic)

• Rio de Janeiro's iconic Christ the Redeemer statue is unveiled after a £2.7 million restoration, in a display of green and yellow honouring the Brazil national football team at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. (BBC)