June 2006

Encyclopedia : J : JU : JUN : June 2006

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Other events in June 2006
World - Sci-Tech - Sports - Video games - [[Wikinews:Wikinews:2006/May|Wikinews]]
Africa - Britain and Ireland - India - Thailand
2006 developments by topic Monthly events, 2006

Deaths
1: Rocío Jurado 2: Vince Welnick 6: Billy Preston 7: Abu Musab al-Zarqawi 7: John Tenta 12: György Ligeti 12: Kenneth Thomson 13: Charles Haughey 19: Arthur Yap 21: Khamis al-Obeidi 22: Moose 23: Harriet the tortoise 23: Aaron Spelling

Events

Recent Formation of a new Iraqi government Montenegrin independence vote Chilean student protests Ongoing Atlantic hurricane season Avian influenza (H5N1) outbreak Black sites scandal Cole Inquiry East Timor military and political crisis World Cup 2006, Germany Horn of Africa food crisis Immigration law debates in the US Indonesian earthquake in Java Iran's nuclear program North Indian cyclone season NSA warrantless surveillance controversy Pacific hurricane season Pacific typhoon season Southern Hemisphere cyclone season Wimbledon Tennis Championships

Ongoing armed conflicts
Acholiland insurgency Arab-Israeli conflict (al-Aqsa Intifada) *Operation Summer Rains East African War * Chadian-Sudanese conflict * Darfur conflict in Sudan Iraq War Ituri conflict in the DR Congo Ivorian Civil War Nepal Civil War Second Chechen War South Thailand insurgency

Elections
Results 2 - 3: Czech Republic, Chamber of Deputies 4: Peru, Executive runoff 4: San Marino, Parliament 17: Slovakia, Parliament

Trials

Ongoing Chile: Alberto Fujimori (extradition) Chile: Augusto Pinochet Ethiopia: 111 defendants, including leaders of the CUD and journalists, for charges related to the 2005 elections. Iraq: Iraqi Special Tribunal *Saddam Hussein, among others Netherlands: ICC *Thomas Lubanga Netherlands: ICTY Sierra Leone: SCfSL *Charles Taylor UK: Leo O'Connor & David Keogh U.S.: Brian Nichols U.S.: Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling U.S.: Tom DeLay

• Extraordinary renditions. The Bundesnachrichtendienst (German intelligence agency) declares that it had known of Khalid El-Masri's seizure 16 months before Germany was officially informed of his mistaken arrest in the name of the War on Terror. Germany had previously claimed that it did not know of el-Masri's abduction by the CIA and his stay in the Salt Pit in Afghanistan until his return to the country in May 2004
• The 16th World Economic Forum on Africa is convened in Cape Town, South Africa.[(BBC)].
• China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States agree on a package of incentives and sanctions for Iran. [(CNN)].
• A report issued by the United States Army Corps of Engineers admits their responsibility for 2005 levee failures that flooded the majority of New Orleans, Louisiana in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. [(AP)] [(Full report via NOLA.com)]
• The United States Department of Homeland Security reveals that it plans to reallocate anti-terrorism funding to cities across the nation. Funding to New York City and Washington, D.C. is cut, while funding in cities such as Omaha, Nebraska and Los Angeles, California increases. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's office calls the report's statement that there are no "national monuments or icons" in New York City "outrageous."[(NYT)]
• The Government of Spain overturns the conviction of Imad Yarkas on charges of conspiracy in the September 11, 2001 attacks after the prosecutor admits that evidence of involvement in the conspiracy was "inconsistent, almost nonexistent." The Spanish government says it will provide further explanation in the coming days. [(AP)]
• Iran refuses to negotiate with the U.S. over its nuclear program.[(CNN)]
• The new Italian Justice Minister, Clemente Mastella, announces that left-wing militant Adriano Sofri could be pardoned before the end of the year [(AGI)].
• A number of fake million dollar bill gospel tracts, printed by Living Waters Publications, are seized from The Great News Network by the United States Secret Service as possible counterfeits. [(WorldNetDaily)]
• The Eureka Tower, the tallest residential tower in the world, exterior is completed at a height of 297.2m and 91 floors in Melbourne, Australia. It takes the title from Q1 on the Gold Coast, Australia

• The UK Independent newspaper reports that a great-grandson of Apache leader Geronimo has appealed to US President Bush to help recover the remains of his famous relative. The remains were purportedly stolen over 90 years ago by a group of students including the President's grandfather, and employed in ceremonies by Skull and Bones, a secret society at Yale University. [(Independent)] [(Yale Alumni Magazine)] [(Newwest.net)]
• British police shoot a suspect in an anti-terrorism raid, although his injuries are non-life threatening. The 23 year old was shot in front of his family as 250 police raided his home in Forest Gate, London. [(BBC)] [(ABC)]
• The BBC shows a video about a new alleged massacre by US troops in Ishaqi, Iraq, on March 15, 2006. [(BBC)]
• Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., writing in Rolling Stone magazine, accuses George W. Bush and his Republican Party of widespread voting fraud during the 2004 Presidential Election. [(Rolling Stone)] [(Editor and Publisher)]
• China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States propose a set of incentives and possible sanctions in an effort to encourage Iran to suspend or abandon its plans of nuclear development. [(Washington Post)]
• Female genital cutting is found to increase infant mortality and childbirth complications. [(BBC)] [(WHO)]
• Expedition 13/Soyuz TMA-8: Pavel Vinogradov and Jeffrey Williams spend more than six hours outside the International Space Station, conducting an extended maintenance spacewalk. [(VOA)], [(CNN)]

• Pakistan bans The Da Vinci Code film because it is said to contain blasphemous material about Jesus. [(AP)]
• A strong quake measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale hits Southern Iran killing a young girl in the village of Ramkan. [(Pakistan Daily Times)]
• The United States military finds its soldiers innocent of any wrongdoing in the Ishaqi incident involving the deaths of 11 Iraqi civilians. [(The Age)]
• Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, while continuing to maintain that his country has the right to continue development on their nuclear technology, says that he "will not pass judgment on the proposals hastily," referring to the incentives package being offered by the US, Russia, United Kingdom, Germany, France and China in order to dissuade Iran from further nuclear development. [(Reuters)]
• Human Rights Watch releases a video showing South Sudanese Vice President Dr. Riek Machar Teny Dhurgon bribing cult and rebel leader Joseph Kony and his second-in-command Vincent Otti of the Lord's Resistance Army to not attack southern Sudanese citizens. [(Scoop)]
• A Russian diplomat is killed and four kidnapped in an attack near the Russian embassy in Baghdad, according to Russian and Iraqi officials. [(BBC)]
• In a special session of parliament, Montenegro declares its independence from Serbia. [(AP)]
• 2006 Toronto terrorism arrests: The Royal Canadian Mounted Police announce the arrest of 17 suspected Islamic terrorists in connection with a planned terrorist attack around Toronto. The RCMP say that three tons of ammonium nitrate was seized. In comparison, the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing used one ton. [(CBC)], [(CNN)], [(BBC)], [(Reuters)], [(VOA)]
• Czech parliament election leaves the Czech Republic with a even split between party blocs.
• In response to his million dollar bill gospel tracts being seized from The Great News Network by the United States Secret Service, Ray Comfort, founder of Living Waters Publications, states that he will refuse to turn over his supply of tracts without a warrant. [(WorldNetDaily)]

• The Islamic Courts militia captures the key town of Balad, located near the Somalian capital Mogadishu, from a member of the warlord coalition, ARPCT. Reports say at least 15 people are killed in the fighting. [(BBC)]

• Javier Solana, foreign policy chief of the European Union, arrives in Tehran to talk with the Iranian Government about its plans to develop uranium enrichment facilities. [(CNN)]
• The Islamic Court Union announces that it has seized Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, after battles with the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counterterrorism, a group of secular US-backed warlords. [(AP)]
• Alan García of the APRA is re-elected President of Peru after winning a runoff with the Union for Peru's Ollanta Humala on Sunday. [(FoxNews.com)]
• Serbia confirms the dissolution of Serbia and Montenegro and declares independence. [(BBC)]
• Australia calls for more South East Asian troops and police to help quell civil unrest in East Timor. [(Reuters)]

• 2006 Toronto terrorism case: Toronto police uncover an alleged subplot where Steven Vikash Chand, alias Abdul Shakur, intended to lead an invasion of the Parliament of Canada building and assassinate Prime Minister Stephen Harper. [(CBC)]
• Iraqi insurgency
• *Iraqi Health Ministry figures show 6,025 civilian bodies were delivered to Baghdad's central mortuary in the first five months of this year. [(BBC)]
• *The Iraqi administration has asked the United Nations to join the investigations into alleged massacres by American soldiers. [(zaman)]
• Chad-Sudan conflict
• *The Sudanese Janjaweed steal 350 head of cattle from Goz Beida, Chad. [(Voice of America)]
• *Rebel leader Timane Erdimi's UFDC-SCUD forces kill 32 people and wound 50 others in attacks from Sudan into the Chadian city of Tine. Rebels briefly took control of the city before the Military of Chad chased them back over the border. [(Mail and Guardian)]
• Australia's Howard government commissions Ziggy Switkowski to lead a commission on the introduction of nuclear energy in Australia. [(Bloomberg)]
• BAA plc, the owners of London's Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted Airports, accept a £10 billion takeover bid from a consortium led by Spains' Grupo Ferrovial and including the Quebec public employees' pension fund. [(BBC)]
• The trial of Tim Selwyn for sedition begins in Auckland, New Zealand. Selwyn is the first New Zealander in over 80 years to be charged with sedition. [(Newswire)]
• Iceland's Prime Minister Halldór Ásgrímsson resigns after poor showings in local elections. Foreign Minister Geir Haarde takes over. [(BBC)]
• The house of Jason Grimsley, was searched as part of the ongoing BALCO steroids probe. Grimsley, a relief pitcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks, asked for and received an unconditional release from the team the next day. [(USA Today)]

• A meteorite impact event occurs in northern Troms County, Norway. Locals compare the resultant explosion to the nuclear explosion at Hiroshima. The impact location was apparently desolate, and no structural damage or casualties are reported. [(Aftenposten)] [(PhysOrg)]
• A constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage is killed when it fails to gain the three-fifths majority required for cloture in the United States Senate. 49 Senators voted for the motion, and 48 voted against. This also fell far short of the two-thirds majority that would have been required for passage. [(ABC News)]
• A Syrian military court issues an arrest warrant for former Syrian Vice President Abdual-Halim Khaddam on charges of inciting a foreign country to invade, and having contacts in Israel. Another military court sentences prominent pro-Democracy and pro-Kurd Syrian blogger Mohammad Ghanem to 6 months in prison after he is convicted of insulting the president, discrediting the Syrian government and fomenting sectarian unrest. [(Al Jazeera)]
• Swiss investigator Dick Marty concludes that there are "serious indications" that the CIA operated secret prisons for suspected al-Qaeda leaders in Poland and Romania, adding that "authorities in several European countries actively participated with the CIA in these unlawful activities. Other countries ignored them knowingly, or did not want to know." [(Washington Post)]

• Scientists in Greece announce to have revealed previously hidden ancient Greek letters on the Antikythera mechanism, thought to be one of the world's first known analog computers. [(The Register)]
• A delegation from the rebel Lord's Resistance Army arrives in Juba, Sudan for peace talks with the Ugandan government to be mediated by Riek Machar, Vice President of Southern Sudan.[(BBC)]
• Conflict in Iraq
• *According to an aide to Iraq's prime minister Nuri al-Maliki, the leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq and one of the world's most wanted men, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, was killed by a U.S. air raid. Al-Zarqawi's body was retrieved and visually identified by known scars, tattoos and fingerprints. [(CNN)][(BBC)]
• *First Lieutenant Ehren Watada, 28, publicly refuses to go to Iraq, saying it would make him party to war crimes. [(Reuters)] [(Aljazeera)] [(ABC)] [(FOX)]
• *Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki fills the last open posts of his Council of Ministers, appointing Qadir Obeidi as defense minister and Jawad Bulani as interior minister.[(BBC)]
• Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa, a former ambassador to France and one of the first women in Bahrain to practice law, is elected President of the Sixty-first United Nations General Assembly. [(Hindustan Times)], [(UN.org)]
• The Broadmead area of Bristol, United Kingdom is temporarily closed following the discovery of a suspected unexploded German bomb from World War II [(BBC)].
• Microsoft makes Windows Vista beta 2 available for general download. [PC World]
• Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad declares his successor, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, betrayed his trust — Mahathir's strongest criticism of Abdullah's administration yet. ([Malaysia Today])
• The U.S. House of Representatives definitively rejects the concept of Net neutrality ([ZDNet])

• Seven Palestinian civilians, including women and three children, are killed in an explosion on a beach in the Gaza Strip crowded by holiday makers, sparking an intense international debate as for its cause. [(Ynet)],[(Guardian)],[(The Australian)],[(Reuters)],[(Haaretz)],[(Süddeutsche Zeitung)],[(New York Times)], [(BBC)]
• Disney/Pixar's new film Cars opens worldwide (except in UK)
• The 2006 FIFA World Cup begins at the FIFA World Cup Stadium Munich. [(BBC)]
• The suspected WWII 'bomb' under Broadmead in Bristol, United Kingdom turns out to be a piece of reinforced concrete. [(BBC)]
• Celebrations for Thailand's King Rama IX's Diamond Jubilee begins.

• Three prisoners commit suicide at Guantanamo Bay detainment camp in protest against the internationally criticized conditions at the camp. Human rights organisations express concern.[(Houston Chronicle)], [(New Zealand Herald)], [(CNN)], [(Reuters)]
• The first tropical depression of the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season forms in the northwestern Caribbean Sea. [(CNN)]
• The militant Hamas group calls off its truce with Israel after seven civilians are killed in the Gaza Strip. More than seventy Qassam rockets were launched at Israeli towns by Hamas militants since Friday morning, wounding Palestenian and Israeli civilians alike. [(Globe and Mail)], [(Haaretz)]
• A Yemeni man, linked to the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, has been deported from New Zealand. It is only the second time that section 72 of the Immigration Act, which deals with threats to national security, has been used to deport someone. Its use requires the consent of the Governor-General, and there is no right of appeal. [(newswire)]

• Iraqi eye-witnesses claim Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was briefly interrogated and kicked in the chest by the U.S. military before his subsequent death. [(The Sunday Times)]
• The first named storm of the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season forms, Tropical Storm Alberto (2006), from Tropical Depression One. [(CNN)] [(NHC)]

• Fatah activists reportedly attack the Palestinian parliament building, setting fire to the fourth floor and riddling the building with gunfire. [(AP)], [(VoA)]
• Tropical Storm Alberto threatens to hit the Northwest coast of Florida, United States. Hurricane warnings are issued and Gov. Jeb Bush declares a state of emergency. Mandatory evacuations are ordered for low-lying areas. [(AP via NBC Weather Plus)]
• Albania signs a Stabilisation and Association Agreement, a first step toward joining the European Union. [(VOA)]
• U.S. officials say that North Korea is planning to test the Taepodong-2 intercontinental ballistic missile that may be able to reach the United States. [(Reuters)]
• Five people are killed, and about 80 injured, when an Israeli train travelling between Tel Aviv and Haifa collides with a truck on a level crossing near Netanya. The first anniversary of a similar accident on Israel Railways near Revadim on the Beersheba line is in nine days' time. [(Reuters)], [(CNN)], [(Ynetnews)], [(Wikinews)]
• A Palestinian sniper opens fire on highway 443 near Jerusalem, killing one person and wounding four. All victims are Palestinians living in Jerusalem. [(Haaretz)]
• A blackout hits Auckland, New Zealand, lasting for several hours after a severe storm lashed the country. Many media outlets compared it to the 1998 Auckland power crisis. [(New Zealand Herald)]

• U.S. Supreme Court, in its decision of Hill v. McDonough, allows challenge of constitutionality of lethal injection. [(Chicago Tribune)]
• In House v. Bell, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that new DNA forensic evidence is permissible during post-conviction appeals for death row inmates. [(Washington Post)]
• The cancellation of end-of-the-year exams and a nationwide strike by teachers protesting low pay sparks a large scale riot in the Guinean capital of Conakry. 16 people are killed. [(CNN)]
• U.S. President George W. Bush makes a surprise 5-hour visit to Iraq to meet with newly named Prime Minister of Iraq Nouri al-Maliki, President of Iraq Jalal Talibani, national political leaders and U.S. troops. The visit was kept a secret from al-Maliki until five minutes before they met. [(MSNBC)]
• Israeli investigation brings evidence that a buried explosive device caused the Gaza beach blast in which seven Palestenian civilians were killed, rather than an artillery shelling as stated by the Hamas-led Palestenian government. A former Pentagon official paid by the Human Rights Watch organization asserts than an Israeli shelling caused the tragedy. United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan retracts earlier skeptic remarks he made on Israel's position on the incident. Süddeutsche Zeitung reports numerous flaws in the Palestenian footage from the beach, including a dead man later walking around. [(Ynet)],[(Guardian)],[(The Australian)],[(Reuters)],[(Haaretz)],[(Süddeutsche Zeitung)]

[Subsequent examination] of the evidence by The Guardian supports the Human Rights Watch assessment.

70,000 coalition forces begin a crackdown on insurgents in Baghdad, the Iraqi PM's office says. [(CNN)]

Two Israeli missiles fired from an aircraft hit a van carrying a Palestinian rocket-launching squad in Gaza with Grad 122 mm rockets. Two Islamic Jihad militants and seven civilians are killed, including two schoolchildren and three medical personnel. Israeli Defense minister expresses sorrow, but no apology. [(Reuters)], [(Haaretz)]

At least 10 people are killed and 20 others are wounded in car bombing attacks in a popular market in Kirkuk, Iraq. [(Sydney Daily Telegraph)]

The South Central Farm in Los Angeles, California, reportedly the largest urban farm in the United States, is raided by the LAPD, with assistance from the Los Angeles Fire Department. [link] [link] [link]

• Violent riots in Conakry, Guinea continue. [(CNN)]
• Ron Wood of The Rolling Stones admitted to a rehabilitation clinic to undergo treatment for alcohol abuse, [(Sydney Morning Herald)]
• Two specimens of Mesozygiella dunlopi, dating to the Early Cretaceous and the oldest known orb-weaver spiders, are discovered in amber. [(BBC)]
• The Islamic Courts Union captures the Somali town Jowhar from the secular warlords of the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism, one week after taking over Mogadishu. [(BBC)]
• Abu Bakar Bashir is released from prison after serving a 26 month sentence for his role in the 2002 Bali bombing. [(CNN)]
• State of Origin II at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, Australia is won by Queensland over New South Wales 30-6. This brings the 2006 State of Origin series to 1 all even after New South Wales won the first game on 24 May, 2006

• U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito breaks a tie in a 5-4 decision in Hudson v. Michigan, allowing evidence admitted in cases where police did not knock and announce themselves when executing a search warrant. [(CNN)]
• Hundreds are wounded in fighting between rival factions of the Movement of the Democratic Forces of Casamance led by Salif Sadio, who supports the continuation of the Casamance Conflict, and Magne Dieme, who supports reconciliation with the Government of Senegal. The fighting has spread to The Gambia and Guinea-Bissau may intervene. [(allAfrica.com)]
• Burundi rebel group Fighters of the National Liberation Forces, the last active rebel group in the country, shell the capital Bujumbura with 15 60mm mortars injuring at least eight civilians despite ongoing peace talks between the group and the Government of Burundi in Tanzania. [(News24.com)]
• Coalition forces in Afghanistan launch and execute Operation Mountain Thrust to drive Taliban forces out of the southern provinces of Afghanistan. The operation is the largest operation since the start of the Afghanistan war. [(National Post)], [(Ottawa Citizen)]
• The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops approves a new English translation for mass. [Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune]
• Bill Gates, Chairman of the Microsoft Corporation announces he will step down from his daily duties in 2008. He wants to shift his daily life to his charity, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. His successors will be Microsoft Technical Officer Ray Ozzie (software architecturing) and Craig Mundie for researching and strategic affairs. [MSNBC]
• U.S. President George W. Bush announces the establishment of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands National Monument, the largest Marine Protected Area in the world.[(BBC)]
• The U.S. military suffers its 2500th fatal casualty in the Iraq war. 18,490 have been wounded. [(Toronto Star)][(truthout)]
• The United Kingdom agrees to jail former Liberian president Charles Taylor if he is convicted, removing a key obstacle to a proposed trial to be held at The Hague under the auspices of the Special Court for Sierra Leone. [(BBC)]
• A video of a U.S. Marine singing a song, entitled "Hadji Girl", about the killing of Iraqi civilians, sparks outrage after being widely distributed on the Internet. Amidst huge condemnation, Cpl Joshua Belile issues an apology. A Marine spokesman, Lt. Col. Scott Fazekas, said that they were investigating. [(BBC)] [(NYT)]
• Clean up crews try to stop coal tar in the Dasha River entering the Wangkuai Reservoir supplying the city of Baoding in northern China. [(New Kerala)]
• A bomb explodes in Kandahar killing 10 and wounding 15 people. [(AP)]
• Two Israeli teenage girls escape kidnapping attempt in the West Bank. Three Palestinian suspects armed with a pistol are arrested soon afterwards.[(Ynet)]
• A claymore mine suspected of being laid by the Tamil Tigers kills 58 people in Sri Lanka. [(Reuters)]

• The United States House of Representatives passes a resolution supporting President Bush's policy on Iraq 256-153. [(L.A. Times)]
• Surveillance and intelligence reports have confirmed that North Korea is preparing to test its Taepodong-2 missiles on Sunday. [(Toronto Star)] [(BBC)]
• The Italian pretender, Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples, is arrested as part of an investigation into corruption and prostitution. [(BBC)]
• An H5 strain of avian flu has been detected in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island. The bird flu currently has a "low risk" to humans.[(Globe and Mail)]
• Chinese journalist Yang Xiaoqing, a reporter for the state-run China Industrial Economy News, is sentenced to one year in prison at the Longhui No. 1 People's Court in Hunan province for extortion. Xiaoqing wrote an article exposing local Communist Party official Yang Jianxin's embezzlement of state assets. Jianxin has been reassigned to an advisory post in Shaoyang city. Hundreds of protesters block police cars to prevent them from taking Xiaoqing to jail. [(CPJ)]
• The Winnipeg police have made numerous arrests in the relation to the Shedden massacre, including five members from the Bandidos motorcycle club. [(CBC)]
• Prachanda, reclusive leader of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), meets with Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, in what is thought to be his first visit to the capital Kathmandu in decades. [(BBC)]
• *After ten hours of talks, they agree to form a new Government with representatives of the Maoists included and a new election to be held in 2007. The rebels agree to suspend their people's government. [link]
• Israeli air strike near Gaza kills one Islamic Jihad militant and wounds two others, reportedly on their way to launch Qassam rockets. No civilians were hurt in the strike. More than a hundred Qassam rockets were launched against Israeli towns in the past week, six of them on Friday. [(CNN)],[(Israeli MFA)]
• Evangelist Gilbert Deya is arrested by police at Edinburgh Sheriff Court in relation to allegations by Kenyan police of involvement in child trafficking. [(BBC)]

• Violence intensifies in Sri Lanka as government troops allegedly attack Tamils in a church in response to an attack on the navy by the Tamil Tigers. [(BBC)]
• Avian flu: The EU Community Reference Laboratory for Avian Influenza in Weybridge, UK, confirms that birds sent from Hungary after investigations began on June 9 in Kiskunmajsa, a region where a significant amount of poultry is farmed, tested positive for the H5N1 strain of the virus. This is the first time that the virus has been found in Hungary.

• The Washington Post reveals that the current United States administration turned down an Iranian attempt to settle disagreements about recognizing the right of existence of Israel and alleged Iranian support of terrorism in 2003. [(Washington Post)]
• According to an investigative report by Ron Suskind, Al-Qaeda was 45 days from launching a gas attack on the New York City subway when it was called off by Osama bin Laden's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahri, in 2003. [(Globe and Mail)], [(MSNBC)]
• The people of Catalonia accept the proposed changes to the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia, notably a change that would define Catalonia as a nation. [(CBC)]
• The Israeli town of Sderot shuts down for 24 hours in protest of continuing Qassam rocket attacks. More than six hundred Qassam rockets were launched against Israeli towns since Israel's disengagement from the Gaza Strip, a hundred of which in the past week. One rocket left parts of Sderot without electricity for several hours this morning.[(Haaretz)], [(IHT)].

• The Carolina Hurricanes win ice hockey's Stanley Cup in game seven of a best of seven series for the first time defeating the Edmonton Oilers 3-1. [(USA Today)], [(CBC)]
• Kathleen Blanco, the Governor of the U.S. state of Louisiana, calls in the Louisiana National Guard to patrol the streets of New Orleans following six deaths on the preceding weekend. [(Chicago Tribune)]
• The United States Army charges three soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division 3rd Brigade Combat Team with murder in relation to the deaths of three men in custody in Iraq. [(USA Today)]
• The Mujahedeen Shura Council in Iraq claims that they have captured two United States soldiers. [(CBC)]
• Iraqi prosecutors in the Trials of Saddam Hussein call for Saddam Hussein to be sentenced to death, together with his half brother Barzan al-Tikriti and former vice-president Taha Yassin Ramadan. [(Daily Mail)]
• North Korea is said to be readying for long-range missile test of Taepadong-2 missile thought to have a range which includes the western USA coastline. [(CNN)]

• The Washington Post, under the Freedom of Information Act, obtains the transcript of an investigative interview with Donald Rumsfeld. The U.S. Secretary of Defense cited poor memory, loose office procedures, and preoccupation with "the wars" as the reasons he did not know how his department nearly squandered $30 billion leasing several hundred tanker aircraft from Boeing. [(The RawStory)] [(Washington Post)]
• Iraqi officials have unconfirmed reports that they have found the bodies of the two U.S. soldiers the American military began looking for at the beginning of this week. The bodies of PFC Kristian Menchaca of Houston, Texas, and PFC Thomas Lowell Tucker of Madras, Oregon showed several signs of torture. [(MSNBC)] [(CNN)]
• : David Safavian, former George W. Bush White House official, is convicted of four felony counts of lying and obstruction of justice related to his dealings with lobbyist Jack Abramoff. [(CNN)]
• Charles Taylor, former President of Liberia, leaves Sierra Leone for his human rights trial at The Hague. [(Reuters)]
• Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi announces plans to withdraw his country's troops from Iraq. The 600 soldiers had been deployed to Iraq in 2004 to aid in reconstruction and sparked controversy in Japan, as it was the most ambitious overseas deployment by Japan since World War II. [(Reuters)]
• Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinean President Mahmoud Abbas will attend a common meeting later this week. [(MSNBC)]

• War in Afghanistan: Six Canadian soldiers are wounded following two separate attacks in the southern provinces of Afghanistan. The six casualties are the first coalition casualties since Operation Mountain Thrust began on June 12, 2006. [(CBC)]
• The Government of Chad demands that the Security Council act to stop Janjaweed and UFDC incursions into Chad. [(Reuters)]
• In a press conference in South Africa, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir says that United Nations peacekeeping forces shall never enter Sudan because they are controlled by an international Jewish conspiracy involving "heavy propaganda and media campaigns." [(SudanTribune)]
• The United States Marine Corps announces that it will be charging seven Marines and one sailor with charges including murder in relation to the death of civilian Hashim Ibrahim Awad in Al Hamdaniya, Iraq, on April 26. A fourth soldier from the 101st Airborne Division was charged in connection with the shooting deaths of three detainees during an operation in Salaheddin province in May. [(NBC)] [(CNN)]
• Xanana Gusmão, President of East Timor, asks Prime Minister Marí Alkatiri to resign. [(CNN)]
• Saddam Hussein's principal defense lawyer, Khamis al-Obeidi, is assassinated in Baghdad. [(BBC)]
• Ukraine's formerly estranged Orange Revolution allies reach an agreement to restore Yulia Tymoshenko as Prime Minister of Ukraine after three months of uncertainty. [(Kyiv Post)]
• Katharine Jefferts Schori, the Episcopal bishop of Nevada, and the new leader of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America has said that homosexuality is not a sin. [(Melbourne Herald Sun)]

• The International Astronomical Union officially names Pluto's recently discovered moons, S/2005 P 2 and S/2005 P 1, Nix (after Nyx, the Greek Goddess of Darkness) and Hydra (multi-headed monster from Greek myth) respectively. [(SMH)], [(National Geographic)]
• East Timor President Xanana Gusmão threatens to resign over the social unrest in his country. [(BBC)]
• The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation raids terror suspects in Miami, Florida, with seven arrests made. The detainees are charged with terrorism conspiracy, in connection of being in the early stages of planning attacks against Chicago's Sears Tower and possibly FBI and government buildings in the Miami area. [(Associated Press)] [(FOX News)] [(CNN)]
• The International Committee of the Red Cross admits the Israeli Magen David Adom and the Palestine Red Crescent Society. The resolution, ending 58 years of struggle, was passed by a 237-54 vote, over Muslim objections. [(CNN)] [(BBC)]
• Japan dispatches ships and planes to monitor developments in North Korea as that country prepares to test a long range missile. [(Associated Press)]
• United States and coalition forces have found 500 pre-1991 chemical weapons since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. A Pentagon official has stated that the weapons were degraded beyond the point of use, but the report states they remain a danger and are still potentially lethal. [(AFP)] [(FOX News)]
• After 16 years in office, Angelo Cardinal Sodano retires as Cardinal Secretary of State. He will be succeeded by Tarcisio Cardinal Bertone, until now Archbishop of Genoa. [(Holy See Bollettino)]

• Human Rights Watch estimates that several hundred civilians in eastern Chad have been massacred by Sudanese Janjaweed and UFDC attacks in the past week alone. HRW also accuses the Government of Sudan of using child soldiers. HRW Africa Director Peter Takirambudde refers to the attacks as "havoc," and that civilians "are trapped between the carnage in Darfur and Chad's downward spiral into chaos." [(CNN)]
• Director of the United States Missile Defense Agency, Air Force Lt. Gen. Henry A. Obering III, stated that he is "very confident" any North Korean missile headed towards the United States would be destroyed mid-flight by interceptor missiles if approved by the President. [(Associated Press)]
• U.S. President George W. Bush has issued an executive order stating that he will limit taking of private property by the federal government and that it must "benefit... the general public...and not merely for the purpose of economic interest of private properties..." [(White House Press Release)]
• Saddam Hussein has ended a brief hunger strike, after missing one meal in his prison. He did this in protest of the killing of one of his lawyers. [(Reuters)]
• A United States warship is reported to have shot down a missile in the Pacific, in a test of their now operational sea-based missile defense system. [(AFP)]
• Harriet, a Galapagos tortoise, has passed away at 175. Harriet was one of the oldest known animals in the world. [(BBC)]
• Norman Mineta announces his resignation as United States Secretary of Transportation effective from July 7, 2006. [(Associated Press)]
• The New York Times publishes a major story on secret CIA surveillance of international private banking for the last five years via the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) and rejects government requests to withdraw it. [(NYT)]
• Prime Minister of Poland Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz announced a dismissal of Zyta Gilowska, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance. PM's advisor Paweł Wojciechowski was introduced as her successor. Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz declared that Gilowska's policy will be continued. [(CNN)]

• In Germany, 378 people (including 122 England fans) are arrested after a violent confrontation between England supporters and Germany supporters in Stuttgart. Approximately 60,000 England supporters are present in Stuttgart for Sunday's World Cup second round game with Ecuador. [(BBC)]
• Current Bolivian Minister of Hydrocarbons Andrés Soliz Rada asks Bolivia’s chief prosecutor to issue charges against former heads of Enron, its subsidiary Prisma Energy International, former President of Bolivia Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada, former Vice President Víctor Hugo Cárdenas, former Enron director for Bolivia Peter E. Weidler, several ministers during Sánchez's 1993-1997 presidency, and former executives of Bolivia's state oil company for “contracts damaging to the state, contravening the constitution and falsification of contracts.” Lozada is charged with genocide for his role in the Bolivian Gas War. [(Reuters)]
• President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of Philippines signs a law that repeals the death penalty. [(Sun Star)]
• In Vietnam, President Trần Đức Lương, Prime Minister Phan Văn Khải and the Chairman of the Assembly Nguyen Van An resign, citing old age. [(BBC)]

• The Sudanese government announces the lifting of a partial ban on United Nations operations in the conflict-hit Darfur region. The ban was made after the government accused the UN of transporting a rebel leader who opposes a recent peace deal. [(BBC)]
• Arcelor declares its merger with Mittal Steel. The new company will be called Arcelor-Mittal. [(CNN-IBN)] [(BBC)]
• Eight Palestinian militants, including Hamas militants, infiltrate into an army post in Israel using a tunnel. Two Israeli soldiers are killed, one kidnapped and three wounded in the attack, in which at least two Palestinian militants die. Israeli PM vows a fierce military response to the attack once the soldier, Gilad Shalit, is returned. Two infantry brigades and supporting armoured regiments are deployed along the Gaza Strip border, in preparation for a major offensive.[(Haaretz)],[(Reuters UK)],[(BBC)]
• José Ramos Horta resigns as both Foreign and Interim Defence Minister of East Timor amidst ongoing political turmoil. [(SMH)]
• Italians vote in a referendum on whether to approve the modification of 53 articles in the constitution. Approval would give more power to the prime minister and to the regions, making Italy a federal state. [(Scotsman)]
• The world's second richest man, Warren Buffett, pledges to donate approximately $37 billion USD in shares to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, effectively making it the largest charitable organization in history. [(Fortune)][(NYT)][(BBC)]
• WWE Stable Degeneration X reunites at Vengeance 2006.

• Electronic IDs will be distributed to all under the age of 12 in Belgium, as a means of protection from child abduction, and will carry a special code in addition to a hotline. [(The Telegraph Group Limited)]
• U.S. President George W. Bush criticises the disclosure of a program to monitor financial transactions by suspected terrorists as "disgraceful". White House Press Secretary Tony Snow also states that news organizations, including the New York Times, should think if "the public's right to know, in some cases, might override somebody's right to live..." [(CNN)][(White House Press Briefing)]
• Waziristan War: a suicide car bombing kills six Pakistani soldiers. [BBC]
• Marí Alkatiri resigns as Prime Minister of East Timor after weeks of political unrest. [(Melbourne Herald-Sun)], [(Reuters)]
• A suicide bomb in Pannapittya, Sri Lanka, kills three people, including Parami Kulkathunga, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Sri Lankan Army. [(Asian Tribune)]
• Israel has stated that they will ensure that the Hamas-controlled Palestinian government is "toppled" if their captured soldier, Gilad Shalit, is killed. Three Palestinian groups claiming to hold Shalit refuse to provide information about his health via the Palestine Red Crescent, unless all jailed Palestinian women and teenagers are released from Israeli prisons. Three Qassam rockets are launched from the Gaza Strip against Israeli towns, one of them wounding 4 civilians in Sderot and causing a power outage throughout the city. [(ABC News America)], [(Haaretz)], [(AFP/High Ranking Source)], [(Jerusalem post)]
• Italians reject the modification of their constitution. In a two-day referendum, "No" beats "Yes" aproximately 61% to 38%, thus keeping the text unchanged. The Northern League had announced its withdrawal from the centre-right opposition coalition if reform was defeated. Votes of Italians living abroad are still to be counted. [(BBC)][(CorriereDellaSera)]

• Chadian rebels attack the neighboring Central African Republic. They have reportedly formed an alliance with CAR rebels. Large areas of both countries have descended into violence. [(BBC)]
• Armenian President Robert Kocharian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev agree to allow the residents of Nagorno-Karabakh to decide the region's future status through a popular vote. [(Radio Free Europe-Armenian Liberty)]
• The most recent attempt in the United States to adopt a flag desecration amendment fails in the Senate by one vote. [(CNN)]
• Popular musician Axl Rose from the band Guns N' Roses is arrested in Stockholm, Sweden, for alleged violent conduct including biting a security guard on the leg. [(BBC)]
• Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says Iran does "not need" to talk with the United States over its nuclear program. [(CBS News)]
• The Hamas-led Palestinian government has reportedly agreed to implicitly recognise Israel, paving the way to reopening peace talks with it. Other Hamas officials later deny these reports. [(BBC)].
• A Palestinian militant group kidnaps and an hour later kills a 19-year-old Israeli tertiary student, Eliyahu Asheri. The same group later threatens it will kill the student if the Israeli offensive continues. [(Haaretz)]
• The Iraqi Special Tribunal announces that Saddam Hussein and six co-defendants will face trial on August 21 in relation to the 1980s Anfal campaign in which 100,000 Kurds are estimated to have died. [(China Post)]
• A vote in the Legislative Yuan to recall Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian, who is implicated in numerous corruption scandals, fails to gain the necessary two-thirds majority. [(Bloomberg)] [(AP)]
• Nguyen Minh Triet becomes President of Vietnam with Nguyễn Tấn Dũng expected to become the new Prime Minister of Vietnam. [(CNN)], [(BBC)]
• Ronaldo broke the all-time World Cup finals goal-scoring record of 14 goals set by Gerd Müller of Germany, scoring his 15th World Cup goal, and Brazil's first goal of the match (Round of 16), against Ghana in his 18th World Cup match.

• Up to 200,000 people in the Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania area of the northeast United States are ordered to evacuate their homes due to the rising level of the Susquehanna River. 46 of 67 of Pennsylvania's counties are under a state of emergency. Extensive flooding is also occurring in surrounding states, including New York, where Governor George Pataki states "This is the worst flooding by far I’ve seen in my 12 years as governor." Governor Jon Corzine declares his entire state under a state of emergency. [(CBS News Alert)] [(FOX News)]

• An angry mob in Dili, East Timor, attacks a refugee camp as the 2006 East Timor crisis continues. [(Melbourne Age)]

• Israel launches an offensive into the southern Gaza Strip, following aerial strikes on bridges and electric power installations. Meanwhile, four Israeli war planes fly over the palace of Syria's president Bashar Assad in Latakia, reportedly while he was at the palace. [(Haaretz)], [(CNN)], [(BBC)], [(Reuters)]

• Members of the militant wing of Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party, Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, claim they have launched a chemical-tipped missile at the Israeli town of Sderot. The same group has recently claimed to possess about 20 biological warheads for Qassam rockets fired daily at Israeli towns. The Israeli Army says they have not detected a launch of any such rocket, nor received reports of such a weapon hitting Israel. At least four Qassam rockets are launched against Israeli towns on Wednesday. [(Reuters)], [(Haaretz)]

• A new audio tape, allegedly from Osama Bin Laden, is released praising Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. [(Associated Press)]
• Internet Explorer Version 7 Beta 3 is released for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003
• The United States House of Representatives votes to end a 25-year ban on off-shore drilling. [(MSNBC)]
• Former Governor of the U.S. state of Alabama Don Siegelman is convicted of bribery and conspiracy. [(WTVM)]
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes up over 215 points as a result of the United States Federal Reserve saying that it would consider the overall economy, and direction of inflation, in setting the interest rate. The Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the 17th consecutive time to 5.25% due to ongoing concerns about inflation. [(Associated Press)] [(Yahoo)] [(International Herald Tribune)]
• A suicide bomber attacks the funeral of a Shiite soldier in Kirkuk, Iraq, killing four and wounding 27. [(USA Today)]
• The Supreme Court of the United States rules in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld that the Bush Administration has no authority to try detained prisoners held in Guantanamo Bay by military tribunal, and that the proceedings violate the Geneva Convention as well as the US constitution. [(BBC)]
• British House of Commons by-elections for the constituencies of Blaenau Gwent and Bromley and Chislehurst are held to fill vacant parliamentary seats. [(BBC)]
• Operation Summer Rains:

* Israeli government puts off an offensive to the northern Gaza Strip, and freezes military operations in the southern Gaza strip, to allow further time for diplomatic negotiations. There have been no Palestinian fatalities in two days of Israeli operations in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. [(Haaretz)]

* Six Qassam rockets are launched from the northern Gaza Strip against Israeli towns. The Israel Defense Forces fire over 400 artillery shells at unpopulated areas in the Gaza Strip, to suppress further rocket attacks. [(Ynet)]

* Russia asks Israel to avoid harming Palestinian civilians in any offensive in the Gaza Strip and urges militants to free the abducted Israeli soldier. [(Independent SA)]

* The body of Israeli student Eliyahu Asheri is found buried in a field near Ramallah with a head shot. Asheri, 18, was kidnapped and killed on Sunday night by a Palestinian militant group. [(Haaretz)]

* Failed Israeli air strike against two Islamic Jihad militants in Gaza leaves one civilian lightly wounded. [(Ynet)]

* The body of Noam Moskovich, an Alzheimer's patient who was claimed to be abducted by Palestinian militants, is found in Rishon LeZion. Police ruled out both criminal and terrorist motives. [(Jerusalem Post)]

* Israeli soldiers arrest 62 Hamas members in the West Bank, including 8 ministers and 20 lawmakers in the Palestinian Authority, raising concern at concurrent G8 summit. Israeli officials announce that further arrests are expected, and that the suspects will face standard criminal proceedings. [(Haaretz)], [(Reuters Alertnet)]

Kuwait holds a Parliamentary election, the country's first with universal suffrage. Opposition parties win a parliamentary majority but no women are elected.[(Fox News)] [(Turkish Press)]

The cabinet Balkenende II of the Netherlands resigns after a row between the coalition partners about the citizenship of former MP Ayaan Hirsi Ali. [(Expatica.com)], [(BBC)]

• A judge orders the arrest of former Mexican President Luis Echeverría on charges relating to the 1968 Tlatelolco Massacre. [(Reuters)]
• The United States military orders an investigation into claims that five US soldiers raped an Iraqi woman and then murdered her and three members of her family. [(Houston Chronicle)]
• With the election of Trish Law in a by-election, the National Assembly for Wales becomes the first legislature in the world to have a majority of female members. [(BBC)]
• Operation Summer Rains:
• * On the sixth day to the abduction of Cpl. Gilad Shalit, his father calls the abductors to provide him with a sign of life from Gilad, as a humane requisite. He also personally thanks Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak for his personal involvement in resolving the crisis. [(Ynet)]
• * Israeli air strike kills one Islamic Jihad militant in the Gaza Strip, the first Palestinian fatality in the IDF incursion. A child is lightly wounded in another air strike in the Gaza Strip. [