The British Antarctic Survey announces that the flow rate of 300 previously unmeasured glaciers increased by 12% between 1993 and 2003, adding to concerns over glacier retreat and the rise in sea levels caused by global warming . (British Antarctic Survey)
A Guyanese suspect who allegedly planned an attack on New York City 's JFK Airport surrenders in Port of Spain , Trinidad and Tobago . (Sky)
United States v. Libby : I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Jr. , former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney , is sentenced to 30 months in prison after being convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice in the CIA leak grand jury investigation . (CNN) U.S. President George W. Bush begins his tour of Europe in Prague before the G8 summit in Germany . During his visit, he intends to address the deployment of interceptor rockets , the establishment of radar bases in Poland and the Czech Republic , and the related tension that has arisen between the United States and Russia . (BBC) Spanish Basque separatist group ETA announces it will end its 15-month cease-fire tonight at midnight (CEST ). (RTÉ) Thailand 's interim government removes a ban on political party activities. (BBC) Eleven people are killed and around 30 injured in a train crash 10 kilometres north of Kerang, Victoria , Australia . (BBC) (RTÉ)
A three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Richmond, Virginia rules that the United States government cannot indefinitely detain U.S. residents as "enemy combatants ." (AP via CNN)
At least 78 die in monsoons in Bangladesh . (AP via CNN)
Two-thirds of the Iraqi Council of Representatives removes Speaker of the Council of Representatives Mahmoud al-Mashhadani due to repeated acts of violence to other members by him or his staff. (New York Times)
Flooding in the southern Chinese provinces of Guangdong , Guangxi , Guizhou , Hunan , Fujian , and Jiangxi damage agricultural land and crops, kill 66 people, and force 600,000 people from their homes. (BBC) Majeedah Bolkiah —daughter of Hassanal Bolkiah , Sultan of Brunei —marries Khairul Khalil , an official in the office of the Prime Minister in a lavish Islamic wedding ceremony. (AP via Yahoo! News) Newcastle, New South Wales remains on alert for rising floodwaters from the Hunter River as people evacuated from Maitland, New South Wales return to their home. (AAP via the West Australian)
Zimbabwean Minister of Lands Didymus Mutasa says the government will remove all remaining white farmers from their farms and divide their land among landless black citizens. (ReliefWeb) Ireland 's Green Party (Comhaontas Glas) agrees to go into government with Fianna Fáil as part of Ireland 's 30th Dáil when it opens on 14 June . (RTÉ) A 6.8 magnitude earthquake hits south of Puerto Quetzal , on Guatemala 's Pacific Coast. (USA Today)
Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom awards Sir Tim Berners-Lee the Order of Merit for his pioneering work on the worldwide web . (BBC) Gigantoraptor erlianensis birdlike dinosaur , is discovered in Inner Mongolia by paleontologist Xu Xing . (AFP via Discovery Channel) Shimon Peres is elected as the President of Israel after opponents bow out in the first round of the Israeli presidential elections . (Haaretz) (Los Angeles Times) An explosion in Beirut kills at least 10 people, including MP Walid Eido . (MSNBC)
Hamas militants kill at least 16 Palestinians , including 2 UNRWA workers and 13 Fatah members, as clashes intensify in the Gaza Strip . (Haaretz) Hamas and Fatah officials claim that they have agreed on a cease-fire , but fighting continues. (BBC)
A South African public sector strike closes down most of the schools and hospitals in that country. (BBC)
EADS Astrium unveils its space tourism project, one week ahead of the Paris Air Show . (BBC) A landmark ruling by the UK's highest appeal court, the Law Lords , allows the family of an Iraqi who died in UK military custody to sue the British Government and demand a public inquiry into the circumstances of his death. (The Times) (Scotsman)
A strike by Indian Airlines ground staff disrupts air traffic throughout India . (CNN-IBN)
An explosion at the Al-Askari Mosque in Samarra , Iraq is reported to have destroyed two of its minarets . (Reuters Alertnet) (BBC) (Reuters)
Indonesian police claim to have arrested Abu Dujana , the military leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah responsible for the 2002 Bali bombings . (BBC)
A U.S. federal jury convicts former Klansman James Ford Seale of kidnapping and conspiracy in connection with the 1964 deaths of two African-American teenagers in Mississippi . (AP via USA Today)
Fatah–Hamas conflict :Golf 's U.S. Open begins at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pennsylvania . (ESPN) Music producer and alleged con artist Lou Pearlman is arrested in Nusa Dua , Bali , Indonesia and deported to the United States territory of Guam . He is accused of defrauding over 1,800 individual investors out of a total of $ 317-million. He will eventually be returned to Florida to face criminal charges and a growing list of civil litigation. (Orlando Sentinel) Bertie Ahern of Fianna Fáil is elected as Ireland's Taoiseach for a record third term upon the opening of the 30th Dáil ; the Taoiseach then announces his new cabinet with ministries . (RTÉ) Entertainer Michael Barrymore is arrested in the UK along with two others over the murder of Stuart Lubbock , who was found dead in Barrymore's swimming pool in 2001. (Sky)
Lebanon prepares to bury anti-Syrian parliamentarian Walid Eido and nine others killed in yesterday's bombing , with a national day of mourning declared. (CNN) Iraq War : Three Sunni mosques near Baghdad are burned in apparent retaliation for the latest Al-Askari Mosque bombing . (Reuters via ABC News Australia) The Indian Airlines strike continues for a second day, causing continuing disruption to Indian aviation. (BBC)
New Zealand condemns the expulsion of its High Commissioner to Fiji , Mike Green, by Frank Bainimarama 's military government , which gave no reason for the expulsion. (BBC)
Cuba introduces a United Nations resolution on Puerto Rico calling on the United States to expedite Puerto Rico's self-determination process; the text also requests the General Assembly to consider the question and urges cleanup of Vieques island and release of Puerto Rican political prisoners. (UN) The San Antonio Spurs defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 4 of the 2007 NBA Finals to win the 2007 National Basketball Association Championship. (SI)
Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins wins the Hart Memorial Trophy as the National Hockey League 's most valuable player during the 2006–07 season in the annual NHL awards. (TSN)
The Comcast Center officially becomes the tallest building in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania after a topping out ceremony.
Nine firefighters are killed in a collapse at a furniture warehouse blaze in Charleston , South Carolina , the largest loss of firefighters in the United States in one incident since the collapse of the World Trade Center in 2001 .
The President of Turkey , Ahmet Necdet Sezer , vetoes a bill bringing forward a referendum of the direct election of the president. (BBC)
Floods kill four people in north Texas . (Reuters) (AP via The New York Times ) The European Union and United States restore foreign aid to the Palestinian Authority . (AP via Time)
Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar issues an ultimatum to the Palestinian Army of Islam to free kidnapped BBC journalist Alan Johnston or face military action. (BBC) A global internet pedophilia ring with over 700 suspects worldwide is smashed by UK police; 31 children are rescued. (Sky)
Two former Croatian generals, Mirko Norac and Rahim Ademi , go on trial in Zagreb , charged for alleged atrocities against Serb civilians in 1993. (AP via IHT)
Rwanda and Burundi join the East African Community in a meeting in Kampala , Uganda . (BBC) Mongolian authorities confirm a helicopter crash that claimed 14 lives last Wednesday. (BBC) As many as 36 people are killed south of Baghdad in fighting between Shiite militiamen and British forces doing door-to-door searches. (AP via San Jose Mercury News) [permanent dead link ]
Parts of Melbourne , Australia are in lockdown after a gunman shoots three people in the CBD , sparking a massive manhunt throughout the city. (The Age) (ABC)
New negotiations begin between Morocco and the Polisario . (Reuters) , (Herald Sun via Reuters)
Lebanon declares victory over Fatah al-Islam , an Al Qaeda -linked group, after a month-long battle at a Palestinian refugee camp. (Reuters via Daily Times) Inflation in Zimbabwe reaches 9,000%, the highest in the world. (CNN) NASA postpones the landing of Atlantis Kennedy Space Center due to inclement weather, prolonging STS-117 for another day. NASA states that it can extend the mission until June 24 if necessary. (CNN) A polar blast moving north over the South Island of New Zealand causes major disruptions and claims at least one life. (One)
The United Nations -backed Special Court for Sierra Leone finds three leaders of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council —Alex Tamba Brima , Brima Bazzy Kamara , and Santigie Borbor Kanu —guilty of war crimes . (AP via CNN)
The President of Egypt , Hosni Mubarak , invites the leaders of the Palestinian Authority , Israel , and Jordan to a summit on Sunday to discuss the Palestinian crisis. (FOX)
The Kuwaiti government condemns the besieging of its embassy in Iran and the beating of a diplomat, regarding it as an "attack on Kuwait." The Iranian Foreign Ministry says it regrets that the incident occurred. (Gulf News)
Deposed Prime Minister of Thailand Thaksin Shinawatra is ordered to return to Thailand to face charges in an asset-concealment case. (UPI)
Japan changes the name of Iwo Jima to its original name, Iwo To , to reflect the wishes of its original inhabitants. (BBC)
Inflation in Zimbabwe rises to 11,000%; U.S. ambassador Christopher Dell predicts it will reach 1.5 million percent by December. (BBC News) 2007 Israel-Gaza conflict : IDF soldiers near Hebron shoot an unarmed Palestinian , who later died. The IDF states that the man was trying to run through the gate ; the soldiers yelled for him to halt, which he did not; they then shot the man. (Ynetnews) Director Michael Hayden of the United States Central Intelligence Agency announces plans to declassify documents detailing illegal activities performed by the agency between 1950 and 1980 , including assassination plots, domestic spying and wiretapping , kidnapping, and human experiments . (BBC) Space Shuttle Atlantis lands safely at Edwards Air Force Base in California after inclement weather had prevented its programmed landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida , ending STS-117 . (ABC News Australia) An F5 tornado , the strongest recorded in Canada , hits the small community of Elie, Manitoba .
Disasters and accidents
International relations
The 27 members of the EU agree on guidelines for a new treaty after negotiations to replace EU's current constitution. (CNN)
At least 18 people die in fights between police and gangsters in a Rio de Janeiro favela (BBC)
Protesters take to the streets in Iran as the government introduces petrol rationing and raises prices. (CNN) Dr. Ashraf Marwan , who had been accused of being a senior Mossad agent operating in Egypt prior to the Yom Kippur War , is found dead below the balcony of his home in London ; Scotland Yard investigates the "unexplained" death. (Haaretz) ,(Guardian)
At least ten people drown and thousands move to higher ground as a cyclone hits Balochistan , Pakistan . (CNN)
Prime Minister Gordon Brown , United Kingdom :Longstanding tradition is abandoned in the House of Commons as every serving Member of Parliament , and others, clap and give a standing ovation to Tony Blair after he finishes his last Prime Minister's Questions .
Queen Elizabeth II accepts the resignation of Tony Blair as Prime Minister .Gordon Brown , MP for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath and former Chancellor of the Exchequer , accepts Queen Elizabeth II 's invitation to form a new government, becoming the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.Tony Blair takes the Chiltern Hundreds to stand down as MP for Sedgefield and accepts a role as the main Middle East envoy for the Quartet on the Middle East . His appointment is announced at the United Nations headquarters . Zalmay Khalilzad , United States Ambassador to the United Nations , welcomes the appointment of Blair as envoy.
Journalists learn that Patricia Hewitt and Margaret Beckett will not be reappointed Health Secretary and Foreign Secretary , respectively, when Brown assembles his government.
Brown begins contact by telephone with U.S. President George W. Bush , French President Nicolas Sarkozy , Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel , Prime Minister of Italy Romano Prodi , and Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern , discussing working closely together. (All of the above, BBC News) (10 Downing Street) The wreckage of PMTair Flight U4 241 is discovered in Kampot Province , Cambodia ; all 22 people on board are killed in the crash. (BBC)
The Government of Kyrgyzstan abolishes capital punishment . (Nasdaq)
Jamaican -born Floridian Barrington Irving becomes the youngest person—and the first black person —to fly solo around the world . (Miami Herald) [permanent dead link ]
It is announced that people will be asked to commit to a 7-point pledge on global warming during the July 7 Live Earth concerts. (Live Earth)
The June 2007 Texas floods cause evacuations in some areas. (MSNBC)
The death toll of the June 2007 United Kingdom floods rises to six, with Northern England and the English Midlands hardest hit. (The Telegraph) [permanent dead link ]
Eleven Colombian lawmakers hostages out of twelve are killed by the leftist guerilla group FARC . Abducted in 2002, the FARC alleges that the hostages died in a crossfire when an unidentified military group attacked. The FARC blames the Colombian government , but the government says they knew nothing of the location or of any attempt of rescue. (CNN)
Russia successfully test fires a sea-based ballistic missile , the Bulava . (BBC) A TAAG-Angola Airlines Boeing 737 crashes in northern Angola , resulting in the death of at least five passengers on the same day the European Union bans the airline from European airspace . (Reuters via News Limited)
Scientists take a first step towards making synthetic life by transferring genetic material from one species of bacteria to another, making it a copy of the first. (Reuters via News Limited)
Record high temperatures in Greece lead to nine deaths through heat stroke ; outbreaks of wildfires , killing two people; and extensive power cuts. (AP via the Washington Post)
A bill to legalize millions of illegal immigrants living in the United States is defeated in the United States Senate . (AP via the Houston Chronicle)
Former Libyan intelligence agent Abdelbaset al-Megrahi , convicted of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 , wins a case for an appeal in the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission . (The Guardian)
An Italian man is arrested in Spain on suspicion of bribery in connection with the kidnapping of Madeleine McCann . (Sky)
Premiership of Gordon Brown , United Kingdom :In a major Cabinet reshuffle , every person's post is changed, bar one.
Alistair Darling becomes Chancellor of the Exchequer , David Miliband becomes Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs , and Jacqui Smith becomes the first female Secretary of State for the Home Department .Alan Johnson takes Health , Jack Straw takes Justice and First Secretary of State , Hilary Benn takes Environment , Des Browne remains as Defence Secretary but also becomes Secretary of State for Scotland , and Ruth Kelly takes Transport .Douglas Alexander takes Secretary of State for International Development ; Peter Hain remains Secretary of State for Wales but also becomes Work and Pensions Secretary ; Shaun Woodward becomes Northern Ireland Secretary ; John Hutton takes Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Secretary ; Hazel Blears takes Communities Secretary and Minister for Equality ; James Purnell takes Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families ; and Tessa Jowell becomes Minister for the Olympics and will only attend Cabinet when required.Baroness Ashton becomes Leader of the House of Lords ; Harriet Harman —Labour 's deputy leader—becomes Leader of the House of Commons and Minister for Women ; whilst Ed Balls becomes Children, Schools and Families Secretary . John Denham becomes Innovation, University and Skills Secretary ; and Baroness Scotland becomes the new Attorney General of England and Wales . The Cabinet is set to change. (Office of the Prime Minister) Rivers in Gippsland , Victoria, Australia flood , leading to evacuations in Bairnsdale and Sale as a result of days of heavy rain. (ABC) (ABC) A car bomb in the Bayaa district of Baghdad kills at least 20 people and injures another 35. (Reuters Alertnet)
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors arrive at the Yongbyon reactor in North Korea to discuss plans to shut it down. It follows North Korea test firing of short-range missiles yesterday. (AP via CNN) The United States Supreme Court hands down a divided decision against two school districts in Seattle, Washington and Louisville, Kentucky , saying the districts' plans to admit students to schools based partially on their race violates constitutional guarantees of equal protection . (CNN)
The commercial space station prototype Genesis II Bigelow Aerospace is launched at 15:02 UTC from Russia by a Dnepr . (NASASpaceflight.com)
UNESCO designates 22 new World Heritage Sites , including the Sydney Opera House ; Canada 's Rideau Canal ; Japan 's Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine ; Turkmenistan 's Parthian Fortresses of Nisa ; India 's Red Fort complexes; the Lope-Okanda Landscape of Gabon ; the Richtersveld desert of South Africa ; the rock carvings of Twyfelfontein in Namibia ; the fortified tower houses of Guangdong Province in the People's Republic of China ; Teide National Park in the Canary Islands , Spain ; the ancient beech forests of Central Europe; Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge in Bosnia and Herzegovina ; Bordeaux and the Port de la Lune in France ; the Old Town of Corfu in Greece ; and the Palace of Galerius in Gamzigrad-Romuliana in Serbia . (The Globe and Mail) (UNESCO press-release) The bald eagle is removed from the endangered species list. (National Geographic)
The EPR nuclear power plant , under construction in Finland and 18 months behind schedule, is reported as having a number of safety-related design and manufacturing "deficiencies." (New Scientist)
Spanish scientists find fossil evidence of humans living in Europe over a million years ago in Burgos , Spain . (Xinhua via the Hindu)
Rebels unsuccessfully try to assassinate Guillaume Soro , Prime Minister of Ivory Coast , but kill three others in a rocket attack. (Bloomberg)
British police defuse a bomb in Central London ; a second bomb is found hours later. (CNN) (The Globe and Mail)
At least 13 people die in clashes between militants and Indian security forces in Jammu and Kashmir . (BBC)
The European Union revises its list of designated terrorist organizations, removing Anti-Imperialist Territorial Units , Unit for Revolutionary Proletarian Initiative , and Units for Proletarian Initiative while adding Revolutionary Struggle . (Payvand)
After 16 years of existence, the (U.S.) National Football League announces that it will shut down its European operation known as NFL Europa , with immediate effect. (NFL.com)
Apple Inc. releases the iPhone to great fanfare.The Free Software Foundation releases version 3 of the GNU General Public License [1]
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