Portal:Current events/2011 July 5

July 5, 2011 (Tuesday)

Armed conflict and attacks

Arab Spring:
- 2011 Syrian uprising:
  - Demonstrators against the regime in Hama are met with tanks and troops that surround the city. (Al Jazeera)
  - Amnesty International calls for a United Nations investigation into allegations of human rights abuses in Syria. (BBC)
  - At least six people are killed and at least 20 others are arrested as regime forces attack Hama. (BBC)
- 2011 Libyan civil war:
  - Government spokesperson Moussa Ibrahim states that two boatloads of arms intended for use by anti-Gaddafi forces have been seized near Janzour outside Tripoli. (Al Jazeera)
  - At least 11 people killed near Misrata. (Al Jazeera)
- 2011 Egyptian revolution: 3 ministers from the regime of Hosni Mubarak, ousted from power by a popular revolution, are acquitted in court of the misuse of public money. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
A F-15 Eagle fighter aircraft from the Japan Air Self-Defense Force based in Naha Air Base on Okinawa crashed on a training exercise on the East China Sea, leading to Japan grounding all F-15 while investigating the cause. (Kyodo News)(San Francisco Chronicle)
At least 35 people are killed and 28 others are wounded during two explosions in Taji, Iraq. (Al Jazeera) (BBC)
Northern Province of Sri Lanka, severely affected by the civil war, is opened to foreigners and journalists who hold passports. (BBC)
Israeli forces kill two Palestinian militants and wound one more in the Gaza Strip. (BBC)
Freedom Flotilla II:
- The Dignite al Karama, the French vessel, manages to set sail for Gaza without being obstructed. Those on board include Olivier Besancenot and MEP Nicole Kiil-Nielsen. (Al Jazeera)
- Greek port authorities prevent the Swedish vessel "Juliano" from joining the flotilla at the Port of Athens. (Ynet News)

Arts and culture

Ghulam Nabi Azad, health minister of India, describes homosexual sex as "unnatural" and homosexuality as a "disease" which is "spreading fast" throughout the country. (BBC) (AP via The Washington Post) (The New Zealand Herald) (The Irish Times)
Venezuela celebrates 200 years of independence from Spain featuring street parties and a military parade. (BBC)
Sting cancels a performance in Astana, Kazakhstan, in support of striking oil and gas workers and calls for "the spotlight of the international media [to be shone] on their situation in the hope of bringing about positive change". (The Guardian)
Sony Music Ireland investigates a possible hacking incident after the early morning appearance of stories relating to R. Kelly, The X Factor and the hoax deaths of members of The Script on its website. (The Irish Times) (RTÉ)

Business and economy

Christine Lagarde officially starts as managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). (RTÉ) (The Irish Times) (BBC)
European sovereign debt crisis:
- Bailouts for Greece's financial system are challenged in a German court amid concerns that the result may rock the European Union. (The Guardian)
- Concerns grow that Portugal's banks may need another bailout after it is downgraded to "junk" status. (BBC)
Trainmaker Bombardier Transportation cuts 1,400 jobs from its United Kingdom factory in the English city of Derby after missing out on the £1.4bn Thameslink project. (BBC) (Channel 4 News)
Barclays Capital raises its forecast for crude oil prices, referring to the "intensification of the geopolitical background" for the market. (Reuters)

Disasters

A 6.5 magnitude earthquake occurs 30 kilometres west of Taupo in the Waikato Region of the North Island of New Zealand. (TV New Zealand)
The Japanese media reports that Ryu Matsumoto is to resign as Minister of State for Disaster Management after making insensitive remarks while touring areas hit by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. (AP via ABC News America) (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
President of Argentina Cristina Fernández de Kirchner announces social benefits and tax deferments designed to assist those affected by the eruption of Puyehue-Cordón Caulle. (BBC)
Brian Schweitzer, the Governor of the US state of Montana declares a state of emergency in counties affected by an oil spill in the Yellowstone River. (CNN)
The US city of Phoenix, Arizona is hit by a large dust storm leaving thousands of people without power and grounding flights at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. (Arizona Republic) (ABC)
One person is killed and 29 injured in an escalator malfunction on the Beijing Subway at Beijing Zoo Station. (The Guardian)

Law and crime

News of the World phone hacking affair:
- British tabloid the News of the World faces fresh allegations linking it to hacking activities, this time after it emerges that the mobile phone of murdered 13-year-old schoolgirl Milly Dowler was interfered with and messages left by relatives were deleted. This gave relatives the false impression that Milly Dowler was still alive when she was not. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
- Colin Stagg, the man who was falsely accused of Rachel Nickell's 1992 murder on Wimbledon Common, is informed that he too had his phone hacked by the News of the World, as many as six years after he was acquitted. Robert Napper later admitted responsibility. (The Guardian)
- It is revealed that police have contacted the parents of murdered schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman amid concerns that the News of the World tabloid also hacked them. (The Guardian) (Channel 4 News) (BBC) (The Belfast Telegraph)
- Peta Buscombe, Baroness Buscombe states in an interview on the BBC that the News of the World tabloid told lies to the Press Complaints Commission (PCC), an alteration in opinion. (The Guardian)
- David Cameron and Ed Miliband condemn the continuing revelations concerning the News of the World's alleged hacking activities. (The Guardian) (Channel 4 News)
- In an unusual move, House of Commons Speaker John Bercow allows an emergency debate to discuss the possibilities of a public inquiry and of a cover-up, occurring in the House of Commons tomorrow. (The Guardian)
- Ford Motor Company announces it is pulling all advertising from the News of the World tabloid following reports that it allegedly hacked the voicemail of murdered 13-year-old schoolgirl Milly Dowler; mobile communications company T-Mobile, Currys and PC World all consider joining Ford. (The Financial Times) (The Daily Telegraph)
- Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator at the centre of the allegations, apologises for any hurt he has caused. (The Telegraph)
- The family of a victim of the 7 July 2005 London bombings allegedly had their phones hacked. (Sky News)
Both The Sun and Daily Mirror tabloid newspapers are accused of being in contempt of court for publishing articles about the arrest of Christopher Jefferies in relation to the murder of Joanna Yeates; Jefferies was later released without charge. British Attorney General Dominic Grieve is seeking to bring charges against the newspapers. Judges will make a decision on the case at a later date.(BBC) (The Belfast Telegraph)
13 UK Uncut activists appear in court on charges of aggravated trespass after peacefully occupying the luxury London food retailer Fortnum & Mason during a protest against tax avoidance in March. More than 100 other activists are also expected to be put on trial later, with Labour MP John McDonnell claiming such a trial would be "outrageous" and "fly in the face of public opinion". (The Guardian)
The Netherlands is held responsible for the deaths of three Bosniaks during the Srebrenica massacre in Bosnia, according to a court ruling in The Hague. (BBC) (Al Jazeera) (Reuters via The Guardian)
25-year-old navy medic Michael Lyons is found guilty in Plymouth of refusing to attend rifle training; Lyons says he developed a moral objection to the war in Afghanistan due to revelations made public by WikiLeaks. (The Guardian)
New South Wales police are given more powers to remove burqas as anyone refusing to do so faces fines of thousands of dollars or months behind bars. (BBC) (AFP via France 24) (The Guardian)
Up to 7,000 police march on Yonge Street in Newmarket, Ontario, including some Royal Canadian Mounted Police and American officers, accompanied by thousands of spectators for the funeral procession for Canadian YRP police Constable Garrett Styles, killed when a 15-year-old underage driver accelerated during a traffic stop. (CBC) (The Toronto Star) (The Hamilton Spectator)
The Supreme Court of England and Wales dismisses an attempt by police to suspend a legal ruling limiting the powers of police bail. (BBC)
A Somali man, Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame, is charged in the US city of New York with assisting the terrorist groups Al Shaabab and Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. (New York Times)
Casey Anthony is acquitted of murder in relation to the death of her daughter Caylee, but guilty on four counts of misdemeanor providing false information to a law enforcement officer. (AP via Detroit Free Press)(USA Today)

Sport

A United Kingdom House of Commons inquiry into allegations of corruption associated with bids for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup tournaments accuses FIFA of trying to dismiss the allegations and questions FIFA President Sepp Blatter's commitment to reform. (Reuters vis TV New Zealand)
Yuri Ogorodonik is sacked as the coach of India's track and field squad after eight athletes were suspended within a week for failing doping tests. (AP via USA Today)