Portal:Current events/2005 June 13

June 13, 2005 (Monday)

In Canada, after 5 days of non-stop rain, the city of Calgary is under its first local state of emergency. The Elbow River has risen to an extreme high and the town of Bragg Creek, just west of the city, is totally evacuated. This would be the first of 3 waves of major flooding.
An earthquake of magnitude 7.9 hits Chile with epicenter in the northern region of Tarapaca near the Bolivian border, killing at least 8 people. (CNN)
The jury in Michael Jackson's trial for child molestation finds the pop star not guilty on all counts. (CNN), (BBC)
Swedish diplomat Jan Eliasson is unanimously elected President of the United Nations General Assembly. He will take over the presidency on September 20, 2005. (RealOpinion.com)
Ninety-two people, almost all children, have died after a flash flood hit a school in Shalan, Heilongjiang province, China. (BBC).
Italians end voting in a two-day referendum about strict fertility treatment laws. The Catholic Church has recommended that Catholics boycott the poll, which needs 50% turnout to be valid. Initial turnout has been low and it is projected not to reach the 50% level. (Reuters AlertNet) (Reuters)^{[permanent dead link‍]} (BBC) (IHT)
In the Philippines, president Gloria Arroyo's press secretary Ignacio Bunye states that the president is ready to face proper impeachment charges if the opposition follows the proper legal process. Many politicians have expressed support to her. (ABS-CBN) (Manila Bulletin)
Philippines police are ready to charge former National Bureau of Investigation deputy director Samuel Ong for illegal wiretapping and sedition (Sun Star)
The last Australian peacekeeping troops leave East Timor. (SBS) (ABC) (Reuters)
In South Korea, Kim Woo Choong, former head of Daewoo Group, intends to return to the country after five years living abroad. He faces charges of fraud after the collapse of Daewoo Group (Korea Times) (Korea Herald) (Channel News Asia) (BBC)
In Canada, Cineplex Odeon announces that it is purchasing Famous Players, uniting the two largest movie theatre chains. Famous Players is currently owned by Viacom and will be purchased for about $500 million CAD. In fear of unfair competition, the Federal Commission of Competition has announced that Cineplex needs to sell off 35 of its theatres. (CBC)
In Nigeria, president Olusegun Obasanjo gives an order that all illegal oil refineries in the Niger River delta should be destroyed (Reuters SA) (IHT)
In Mexico, army soldiers and federales take over the city of Nuevo Laredo near the US border. The whole local police force is detained for investigation in connection to drug trafficking and for drug testing. City's just-appointed police chief Alejandro Dominguez was assassinated last Wednesday. On Saturday, a policeman shot a federal agent (Houston Chronicle) (Reuters AlertNet) (BBC)
14 people drown off the coast of Morocco in a boat that tried to reach Spain (Al-Jazeera) (BBC)
In France, police arrest serial impostor Frédéric Bourdin, who had taken a role of a schoolboy (BBC)