Portal:Current events/2007 August 24

August 24, 2007 (Friday)

Former NASA astronaut Lisa Nowak, whose arrest ended her career, apologized to U.S. Air Force Captain Colleen Shipman, her former romantic rival and the woman she is accused of terrorizing. (Los Angeles Times)
Former Ku Klux Klan member James Seale is sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in the 1964 murder of two black men in the U.S. state of Mississippi. (Reuters via News Limited)
The Georgian government announces that its forces have fired on a Russian aircraft that was claimed to have violated Georgian airspace, possibly shooting it down. (BBC)
United States District Court judge William Hoeveler rules against former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega returning to Panama after he completes his sentence in a United States prison stating that there was no reason why he shouldn't be extradited to France to face a prison term there. (Reuters)
Citing a "very reliable" source at the University of Miami, the Swedish broad sheet newspaper Norra Skåne reports that Cuban leader Fidel Castro is dead. (Norra Skåne) (The Expressen)
Part of the Montreal Metro and the street above are closed off after the formation of cracks at McGill station, causing severe traffic problems in downtown. There is no indication as to when the road or station will be re-opened. (CBC)
At least 20 people are killed in Peloponnese, Greece as a result of 150 wildfires burning out of control: two regions have been declared as disaster areas. (Athens News Agency)
A U.S. circuit judge sentences John Couey to death for the rape and murder of a 9-year-old girl Jessica Lunsford in Citrus County, Florida. (ABC News America)
Russia sells Venezuela 98 Ilyushin Il-114 aircraft. (Reuters)^{[permanent dead link‍]}
Flood warnings are in place in 10 US states from Ohio to Texas with at least 25 people believed to have died in the past week. (BBC)
Mexican oil platforms resume production following the end of the threat from Hurricane Dean. (Reuters)
Three British Army soldiers die in Afghanistan in a suspected friendly fire incident. (BBC)
Bangladesh eases curfew arrangements in place in its major cities following a reduction in street violence. (Reuters)
Sixty suspected Al Qaeda in Iraq gunmen attack police facilities in Samarra, Iraq, resulting in at least 3 deaths and 9 injuries. (AP via Fox News)
Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, urges the Government of Myanmar to show restraint in its treatment of students and pro-democracy activists who have been protesting against the regime. (ABC News Australia)
At least four Pakistan Army soldiers die in a suicide bomber attack on a military convoy near Miranshah, the main city of North Waziristan near the Afghan border. (BBC)
The explosion of a car bomb outside a police station in the Basque city of Durango, Spain, is believed to be the first attack by the separatist group ETA since it called off a ceasefire in June. (AP via CNN)
Dozens of people are rescued from floods on the Sunshine Coast of the Australian state of Queensland. (ABC News)
Two people are killed and eleven are injured when a hot air balloon bursts into flames in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada. (CNN)