Portal:Current events/2010 July 23

Current events of July 23, 2010 (2010-07-23) (Friday)

Armed conflicts and incidents

• Part of Jos is sealed off as police search the city following the discovery of a booby-trap bomb. (BBC)
• North Korea responds to nearby joint United States-South Korean military exercises by stating that the acts resemble 19th century "gunboat diplomacy", describing them as "a threat to the Korean peninsula and the region of Asia as a whole". (BBC)
• One person is killed and 42 injured after a Swiss tourist train derails in the Alps. (CBC) (AP)
• Israel Defense Forces soldiers kill a Palestinian man attempting to enter the Israeli settlement of Barkan. (BBC) (Jerusalem Post)
• The United Nations Human Rights Council appoints Sir Desmond de Silva of Britain, Karl Hudson-Phillips of Trinidad and Tobago, and Mary Shanth Dairiam of Malaysia to investigate the Gaza flotilla raid. (Aljazeera) (Radio New Zealand)
• Guinea and Djibouti pledge to contribute troops towards the African Union Mission supporting the Transitional Federal Government in Somalia. (Al Jazeera) (AP)

Arts and culture

• The legal case over Precious is dismissed. (BBC)
• The Diocese of Rome criticises homosexual priests, accusing them of leading a "double life" and advising them to leave the priesthood. (BBC) (The Guardian)
• Singer Billy Corgan collapses during a performance of "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" in the United States. (BBC) (CNN) (CBS News) (Daily Mail)
• Black Swan is announced as the opening film of the 67th Venice International Film Festival. (BBC)

Disasetrs

• Alarms on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig are found to have been disabled before the explosion and subsequent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. (The Guardian)

International relations

• Serbia states its intention to never recognize Kosovo's independence after International Court of Justice's yesterday ruling. (BBC)
• Venezuela severs diplomatic relations with Colombia after Colombia claims Venezuela is a "haven for guerrillas". (BBC) (Latin American Herald Tribune) (Samaylive News)

Law and crime

• A Dutch court finds Trafigura guilty of illegally dumping toxic waste in Côte d'Ivoire in 2006. (BBC) (The Guardian)
• Two Spaniards and a journalist sue Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu, plus other Israeli ministers and officials, as a result of the Gaza flotilla raid. (BBC) (IOL) (The Irish Times)
• An investigation by The Independent uncovers the first evidence of a UK-based rendition recruitment drive, free of American involvement, suggesting MI5 was directly involved in the 2004 "illegal" transfer of a Moroccan national from a Belgian prison to London. (The Independent)
• Michael Conahan, a former judge in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, pleas guilty to racketeering conspiracy by assisting in the jailing of juvenile defendants in return for bribes. (BBC) (The Washington Post)
• China sentences an Uyghur journalist who spoke to foreign media after riots in Xinjiang last year to 15 years imprisonment. (BBC) (Reuters Africa)
• A court in the U.S. state of Arizona listens to challenges to the state's policy against illegal immigrants. (BBC)
• A panel decides Congolese militia leader Thomas Lubanga should stay in jail in The Hague: Lubanaga says he is not guilty of the charges against him. (Aljazeera) (BBC)
• A curfew is announced in the Bandipora and Kupwara districts of India in anticipation of demonstrations protesting the killing of youths during recent clashes with security forces. (Samaylive News)
• A Pakistan court requests that a mentally-ill woman who was charged but never went on trial for a 1996 desecration of the Koran be released. (BBC)
• Death of Ian Tomlinson:
  • The family of Ian Tomlinson, filmed being pushed to his death by police while walking home from work past the 2009 G-20 London summit protests, say the incident is being covered up by authorities. (The Independent)
  • The Independent Police Complaints Commission supports a prosecution for manslaughter. (The Guardian)

Politics

• France's defense ministry says it aided a recent raid by Mauritania against al-Qaeda in North Africa in a failed search for a French hostage. (Aljazeera) (BBC) (IOL) (Reuters)
• Nigeria's senate changes the country's constitution to reschedule elections. (BBC)
• Former President of Sri Lanka Chandrika Kumaratunga criticises the current government for "completely forgetting the legacy" of Sirimavo Bandaranaike, the first female prime minister on earth. (BBC)
• A paralyzed Cuban political prisoner achieves a successful application to leave Cuba and go to the United States. (Aljazeera)

Science

• President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announces plans to launch a manned shuttle into space by 2019. (BBC) (Press TV) (The Straits Times)
• The Indian government unveils a solar power touch-screen laptop, cheaper than America's iPad, expected to be on sale next year. (BBC) (The Guardian) (The Independent) (The Jakarta Post)

Sport

• The French Football Federation suspends its entire team that played in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. (BBC Sport) (The Independent) (Reuters)
• Professional footballer Gavin Grant is found guilty of murder. (BBC) (The Independent)