Portal:Current events/2005 July 17

July 17, 2005 (Sunday)

Disneyland celebrates its 50th Anniversary.
Former British Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath dies at his Salisbury home at the age of 89. (BBC)
Time correspondent Matthew Cooper reveals that last week he told a grand jury that Karl Rove—a top White House political adviser to U.S. President George W. Bush— was the first to reveal Valerie Plame's identity as a CIA agent. (BBC)
Fourteen Spanish Firefighters have died while attempting to battle a forest fire in the central province of Guadalajara. (BBC)
According to the Military of Pakistan, 17 people have died, including a Pakistani soldier, following clashes on the border with Afghanistan. (BBC)
Conflict in Iraq: A fuel truck bomb kills 98 people south of Baghdad as three more suicide car bombers strike the Iraqi capital. (Economic Times)
Israeli–Palestinian conflict:
- A Palestinian man is shot dead near the Israeli settlement of Netzarim in the Gaza Strip. Israel Defence Force sources claim he was armed. (BBC) (Euronews) (ABC News Online)
- Two Hamas mortars injure five residents of the Israeli settlement of Neve Dekalim in the Gaza Strip. Four Qassam rockets land on Israeli territory but no injuries are reported.
- An Israeli Air Force missile strike on a car in Beit Lahia misses the car but seriously wounds a Palestinian bystander. Two members of the Popular Resistance Committees are believed to have been in the car. (BBC) (Ha'aretz) (Reuters)
- Israeli troops mass for a military offensive on the Gaza Strip border prior to a visit to Israel by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. (BBC)
Thailand declares emergency in three southern provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala because of increasing violence of Muslim insurgency. (Bangkok Post) (The Nation, Thailand) (Channel News Asia)
In Yemen, president Ali Abdullah Saleh announces that he won't seek re-election next year. (Yemeni Observer) (Al-Jazeera) (Reuters AlertNet)
In Egypt, presidential feminist aspirant Nawal El Saadawi pulls out of the race due to restrictive election regulations for first-time candidates. (Al-Jazeera) (Reuters)
In Germany, the Party of Democratic Socialism renames itself The Party of the Left. in a plan to join forces with the Labour and Social Justice Party. (Deutsche Welle) (Reuters)
In The United Kingdom, Britain's Sunni Council announces a fatwa against suicide bombings. (BBC) (Al-Jazeera)
In Nigeria, Amaka Anajemba is sentenced for two years involvement with a money transfer scam worth $242 million. (IOL) (Forbes) (BBC)
Representatives of Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement reach a tentative peace settlement in negoations in Helsinki, Finland. They intend to sign a formal truce in August 15. (Jakarta Post) (Reuters) (Reuters AlertNet) (BBC)
In Turkey, Kurdistan Workers' Party has denied that it had anything to do with a minibus bombing in Kuşadası that killed five people. Turkish authorities have blamed the Party. (BBC)
In India, the government has dismissed a claim of Sunni Waqf Board that it should own the Taj Mahal. (BBC)
US golfer Tiger Woods wins his second Open Championship title on the Old Course at St Andrews.