Portal:Current events/2010 July 13

July 13, 2010 (Tuesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

82 police officers are injured overnight in riots across Northern Ireland, sparked by the annual Orange march through Catholic neighborhoods. (BBC News)
A ship bound from Libya, the Al-Amal, due to deliver humanitarian aid from Algeria, Morocco and Nigeria to the Gaza Strip, changes course for Egypt after being warned to stay away by the Israeli Navy and receiving pressure from the United States to "act responsibly". (Aljazeera)
Pakistani embassy officials confirm missing Iranian nuclear scientist Shahram Amiri, who was reported to have been kidnapped by the United States Central Intelligence Agency, is taking refuge in the country's Washington, D.C. embassy. (Aljazeera)
Chile tests a package marked "anthrax" delivered to the country's foreign ministry. (Reuters)
Farmers in Gaza are shot at by Israeli militants as they attempt to harvest their crops. (Aljazeera)
Ugandan authorities arrest a number of people in connection with the July 2010 Kampala attacks which left at least 74 people dead. (Aljazeera)
An Afghan soldier attacks British soldiers as a base near Lashkar Gah, killing three (one a Nepalese citizen) and wounding four more, before defecting to the Taliban. (AP) (Aljazeera)

Arts, culture and entertainment

There is a row in the United States about privacy fears connected to an exchange in ownership of a gay teenagers' database. (BBC) (CNET News)
One death and three injuries result from a stampede during pulling of Ratha-Yatra chariots in Puri, India. (samaylive)
Los Angeles police in the United States review a recording of actor and director Mel Gibson allegedly verbally abusing his ex-girlfriend, Oksana Grigorieva. (BBC) (News24.com) (iAfrica)

Business and economy

The Washington, D.C.-based global lender International Monetary Fund halts funds to the Bank of Central African States (BEAC) used by oil-producing nations in Central Africa, impacting on the Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic. (Reuters Africa)
The EU announces that Estonia is to become the seventeenth member of the euro on 1 January 2011. (BBC) (The Irish Times) (RTÉ) (The Washington Post)
At least 4 groups of Chinese private investors are interested in acquiring American International Assurance (AIA), the Asian division of insurance giant American International Group (AIG). (Channel NewsAsia)
Data collected by the United States Federal Reserve System suggests that the country's financial market, while still fragile, is showing signs of improvement. (Reuters)
The Nigerian Minister of Finance announces that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation is insolvent, and is asking the government for funds to help pay off debts and continue operations. (BBC News)

Health

Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS figures demonstrate a fall by up to 25 per cent in the prevalence of HIV among young people aged between 15 and 24 in Africa. (BBC) (Reuters)
President of the United States Barack Obama unveils his country's first national strategy to cut HIV/AIDS infections and improve care for those with the disease. (The Sydney Morning Herald)

Law and crime

Six more New Orleans police officers are charged with: shooting dead two civilians, injuries caused to four other civilians, and conspiracy to cover up the incidents on a bridge in the aftermath of the deadly Hurricane Katrina in 2005. (BBC) (Reuters) (CBC News)
A Zimbabwe court frees human rights activist Farai Maguwu on bail after five weeks in detention, accused of providing false information about the diamond trade, charges he denies. (BBC) (IOL) (The Irish Times) (Mail & Guardian) (South Africa Mercury)
Human rights groups express concern that some of the soldiers due to march down the Champs Elysées in Paris tomorrow as part of the Bastille Day celebrations may be war criminals and write an open letter to President of France Nicolas Sarkozy. (France24)
The United Kingdom strips Russian spy Anna Chapman of her citizenship after the United States deports her. (Aljazeera) (BBC)
Colton Harris-Moore, otherwise known as the "Barefoot Bandit", pleads guilty to illegally landing a plane in The Bahamas, and currently faces jail or deportation. (CNN)
A four-year-old boy dies during an exorcism ritual carried out by a traditional healer in the Russian Far East. (The Sydney Morning Herald)

Politics and elections

Cuban ex-President Fidel Castro makes his first televised appearance in nearly a year, predicting possible nuclear war in the Middle East. (BBC) (The Guardian)
Spain receives a group of seven dissidents freed by Cuba for human rights reasons. (Aljazeera) (BBC)
A strike in Kashmir in protest at lack of independence from India leads to the closure of shops and businesses on Martyrs' Day, for a third successive day. (Aljazeera)
Senior Rwandan opposition official André Kagwa Rwisereka disappears after his car is found abandoned by the Mukula River near Butare. (Reuters)
Senior religious leaders in Southern Sudan call on people to vote for independence in a referendum to be held in January 2011. (BBC)
Fiji expels Australia's acting High Commissioner as part of a long-running dispute. (BBC)
France's lower house of parliament approves a bill that bans wearing burqa and niqāb in public. (BBC) (Aljazeera) (France24) (RTÉ)
Tens of thousands of surviving Africans in 12 former colonies who served France in two world wars and Algeria's war of independence are to have their war pensions raised to the same level as those of their French comrades, according to Nicolas Sarkozy. (BBC)
French Labour Minister Éric Wœrth resigns as UMP party treasurer at the request of President Nicolas Sarkozy to focus on pension reform. (France24)
The French government approves a draft law that would raise the retirement age to 62 from the age of 60 that has been enshrined since 1982. (BBC) (France24) (RTÉ)
The Supreme Court of India tentatively approves the Tamil Nadu government's new quota law, providing 69% of employment in educational institutions to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and other backward classes. (samaylive)
Israeli authorities use bulldozers to demolish three Palestinian buildings in East Jerusalem. (BBC)
The United States 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in New York City strikes down the Federal Communications Commission's "fleeting expletives" policy that gave it power to fine broadcasters who air a single expletive on air. (The Washington Post)
President of the United States Barack Obama nominates Jacob Lew to replace Peter Orszag as the chief of the Office of Management and Budget. (The Washington Post)
The United States Senate announces it will vote on financial reform legislations on 15 July. (The Washington Post)

Science & Weather

The Philippines' first typhoon of the year moves toward the country's eastern coast, with 33 of the country's 81 provinces and the capital Manila being placed under storm alert. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
The company behind the Green Dam Youth Escort internet filtering software in China has closed its operation, due to lack of funding. (Information Week)
17 people die and a further 44 are missing in Chinese landslides. (The Irish Times)

Sports

South Africa confirms a plan to bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics after its success in hosting the 2010 FIFA World Cup which concluded on Sunday. (BBC Sport) (Reuters)
The 2010 FIFA World Cup runner-up Netherlands national football team embarks on an open-top boat tour of Amsterdam's canals drinking beer, lined by hundreds of thousands of people. (BBC Sport) (Chicago Tribune)
Cricket: Australia and Pakistan contest the first neutral Test at Lord's Cricket Ground since 1912. (BBC Sport)
George Steinbrenner, owner of the New York Yankees, dies after suffering a massive heart attack in Florida. (NBC Sports/MSNBC)