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 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 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 United States military finds its soldiers not guilty 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)
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)
The 40th Anniversary High Mass of the Church of Satan occurred in Los Angeles, where Satanists gathered from nine different countries to celebrate the day. (LA CityBeat)
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 Vice President of SyriaAbdul 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)
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)
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)
Fatah activists reportedly attack the Palestinian parliament building, setting fire to the fourth floor and riddling the building with gunfire. (AP), (VoA)
A Palestinian sniper opens fire on highway 443 near Jerusalem, killing one person and wounding four. All victims are Palestinians living in Jerusalem. (Haaretz)
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)
Two Israelimissiles 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)[permanent dead link], (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)
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)
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
A video of a U.S. Marine singing a song, entitled "Hadji Girl", about the killing of Iraqicivilians, 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)
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)
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. [4][permanent dead 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)
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)
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).
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)
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)
JapanesePrime MinisterJunichiro 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)[permanent dead link]
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)
U.S.PresidentGeorge 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)
Actor, singer, dancer, and television producer Aaron Spelling dies at age 83 due to complications from the stroke that had occurred five days before on 18 June 2006. There was a private funeral several days later.
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)
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)
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)[permanent dead link],(BBC)
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)
Italians reject the modification of their constitution. In a two-day referendum, "No" beats "Yes" approximately 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)
The Hamas-led Palestiniangovernment has reportedly agreed to implicitly recognise Israel, paving the way to reopening peace talks with it. Other Hamas officials later deny these reports. (BBC).
Ronaldo broke the all-time FIFA 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.
After numerous attempts to revive the film franchise over the past nineteen years, Superman is the central character in a new film from director Bryan Singer entitled Superman Returns.
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)
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)
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)
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)
An upgraded Qassam rocket lands in the cemetery of Ashkelon, an Israeli city with a population exceeding 117,000. This is the furthest range Qassam rockets have reached to date. (Ynet)
