Current events

July 14, 2004

• The French President, Jacques Chirac, announces that France will hold a referendum over the proposed consitution for the European Union in 2005, in an interview to mark Bastille Day. (Reuters) (BBC)
• The Butler Report into United Kingdom intelligence on Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq is published. It mildly criticises the government. (BBC)

July 13, 2004

• Khaled al-Harbi, a disabled militant Saudi sheikh linked to al-Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden, turns himself in to the Saudi authorities in Tehran under an amnesty program of the Saudi King. (BBC)
• Al Jazeera television reports that a Bulgarian hostage held in Iraq by suspected al-Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has been executed. A video tape of the murder was provided to Al Jazeera. The group vows to execute another hostage within 24 hours. (Reuters)
• The United States Department of State adds the Continuity Irish Republican Army (CIRA) to its list of foreign terrorist organisations which means that CIRA assets in the US will be frozen and visas denied to members of CIRA. (BBC)
• In the episode televised on Tuesday, June 13 Ken Jennings surpasses U.S. Dollar 1 million in winnings on the television game show Jeopardy.(AP)

July 12, 2004

• Montenegro adopts new state symbols including a new red flag bearing King Nikola's .
• Pedro Santana Lopes becomes the prime minister of Portugal. (BBC)
• The Philippines announces the withdrawal of its forces from Iraq. (Reuters)
• The United States Department of Homeland Security asks the Justice Department's office of legal counsel to research on the legal requirements for postponing the November elections, stating that they are concerned that terrorists might disrupt the elections. (Newsday)
• Albertan Premier Ralph Klein announces that the province has completed repayment of its public debt, which once stood at $2323 billion. (CBC)

July 11, 2004

• Ashraf Jehangir Qazi is nominated by Kofi Annan to be the UN new envoy to Iraq. (Rediff News)
• Boris Tadic is inaugurated as the President of Serbia after winning the Serbian presidential election, 2004. (Bulgarian News Network)
• Flash floods caused by severe hail and rain strike Edmonton, Alberta (Canada), causing widespread damage including structural damage to the West Edmonton Mall. (CBC News)
• Monsoon rains force millions of people to flee their homes in India, Nepal and Bangladesh. At least 80 people are reported killed. (BBC)

July 9, 2004

• In its advisory opinion asked for by the United Nations General Assembly the International Court of Justice states that the Israeli West Bank barrier is illegal and calls for the General Assembly and the Security Council to remedy the situation. (New Straits Times) (NZZ) (BBC)
• The final report of the US Senate Intelligence Committee states that the Central Intelligence Agency described the danger presented by weapons of mass destruction in Iraq in an unreasonable way, largely unsupported by the available intelligence. (BBC)
• Ahmed Nazif is appointed the new Prime Minister of Egypt after the resignation of previous Prime Minister Atef Obeid, and the entire cabinet. (BBC)

July 8, 2004

• US Marine Corporal Wassef Ali Hassoun appears unharmed at the US Embassy in Beirut. Hassoun disappeared from his unit in Iraq on June 21, and was incorrectly reported as having been beheaded by the group that captured him. The United States Navy has launched an investigation into the incident. (Reuters) (BBC)
• It is revealed that rock superstar David Bowie had an emergency angioplasty to treat a blocked coronary artery while in Germany last month. He is now recovering at home in New York. (BBC). Bowie's own website (BowieNet) had ascribed the cancellation of 11 concerts on 30 June to "a trapped/pinched nerve in his shoulder".
• Mexico and Venezuela become associate members of Mercosur (Southern Common Market). (BBC)
• The Republic of China Defense Ministry reveals that the Chiang family has asked that Chiang Kai-shek and Chiang Ching-kuo both be buried in the Wu Chih-shan Military Cemetery in Taipei County. The state burial is scheduled for Spring 2005. (Taiwan News)(Reuters)
• India presents its national budget hiking its defence outlay. (Rediff India)

July 7, 2004

• Kenneth Lay, the former Chairman of Enron, is indicted by a grand jury in Houston, Texas. Enron filed for bankruptcy in December 2, 2001, after investigators discovered that it had hidden more than $1 billion in debt and inflated profits. (CNN) (BBC)
• The archdiocese of Portland, Oregon, U.S, files for bankruptcy, claiming payouts for sexual abuse of boys by its priests have exhausted all of its funds. (The Guardian)
• Japan tells the United Nations it should get a permanent seat on the Security Council because of its participation in the multinational force in Iraq. (VOA) (JapanToday)
• At a meeting with 20 pro-democracy lawmakers, Chief Executive Source | Copyright

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