An armedPalestinian infiltrator and anIsraeli soldier are killed during an exchange of fire along the Gaza border, and at least three militants are injured during an Israeli air strike onGaza.(BBC)
China arrests a security ministry official on suspicion of spying for the United States; the official is reported to have been blackmailed by theCIA.(BBC)
TheVenezuelan government outlaws the commercial sale of guns and ammunition, the latest in a series of initiatives to improve security and cut crime.(BBC)
Samoa announces the pardon of 35 prisoners to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its independence fromNew Zealand.(BBC)
TheFood and Drug Administration, a U.S. government agency, goes to court to secure supplies of a drug used in lethal injections, which have dwindled since an importation ban.(BBC)
Clashes between supporters and opponents of Syrian presidentBashar al-Assad kill at least 12 and injure more than 40 people in theLebanese port city ofTripoli.(Reuters)
A court inCairo, Egypt, finds former presidentHosni Mubarak and former interior ministerHabib al-Adly guilty for complicity in the killings of demonstrators in the2011 revolution that ousted Mubarak and both are sentenced to life in prison. Mubarak and his two sons,Gamal andAlaa, are all acquitted on separate corruption charges.(BBC)
A plane carrying 153 people on boardcrashes in a residential neighborhood inLagos, Nigeria, killing everyone on board and 10 people on the ground.(CNN)
A heavily armed militia takes over a runway at theTripoli International Airport, demanding the release of their leader who went missing.(BBC)
A Libyan military court sentences a group of Russian, Belarussian and Ukrainian men to long prison terms, having found them guilty of serving as mercenaries forMuammar Gaddafi in theLibyan Civil War. A Russian who was deemed the group's leader was sentenced to life imprisonment, and the rest were sentenced to 10 years in prison with hard labor.(Reuters)
Mexican Drug War: The dismembered remains of 7 bodies are found in the Mexican state ofSinaloa. The bodies are discovered along with a written message accusing the authorities of cooperating with theSinaloa Cartel, suggesting that the message may have been written byLos Zetas.(Washington Post)
In a special message to theUnited Kingdom and theCommonwealth, the Queen says she has been "touched deeply" by seeing so many people celebrating her Diamond Jubilee together.(BBC)
Syrian uprising: Opposition activists on the ground in Syria report that a massacre has been committed in the small village of Qubair,Hama, by the government-hiredShabiha militia. Activists report 78 dead, mostly women and children.(BBC)
Bahraini uprising: Bahraini authorities re-arrestNabeel Rajab on suspicion of posting tweets seen as critical of the Bahraini regime.(BBC)
Controversy is stoked after a video emerges of a U.S. religious minister outlining his plan to imprison the country's gay and lesbian population behind an electric fence until they die.(Al Jazeera)
TheBBC receives over 2,000 complaints from viewers about its Jubilee coverage. The broadcaster is also criticised by other media for itsThames Diamond Jubilee Pageant coverage.(BBC)
The defence of imprisoned U.S. servicemanBradley Manning receives a boost with a ruling by the judge presiding over his trial atFort Meade inMaryland ordering theObama administration to hand over several documents the government had hoped would remain confidential.(The Guardian)
Li Wangyang, a labour activist and Chinese dissident jailed after the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing, is found dead in a hospital ward in central China, with foul play suspected.(Reuters UK)
Politics and elections
Mexican presidentFelipe Calderón signs a law making Mexico only the second country in the world to introduce binding targets on climate change.(BBC)
FootballerMahmoud al-Sarsak, who has been on hunger strike for 80 days while in prison without trial or charge, faces imminent danger of death according to human rights groups.(BBC)
U.S. military drone attacks carried out by theCIA onPakistan raise serious legal questions, announcesUnited Nations human rights chiefNavi Pillay at the end of a fact-finding visit to Pakistan.(BBC)
Archaeologists announce the discovery of the remains of the 16th-centuryCurtain Theatre, where some ofWilliam Shakespeare's plays were first performed.(BBC)
LinkedIn says that some of its members' passwords have been "compromised" following reports that more than six million passwords were leaked on the Internet.(BBC)
Last.fm also reports that some of its passwords have been leaked and urges users of its website to change them immediately.(BBC)
AGolden Dawn politician assaults two other politicians on a live television talk show and flees the scene ; at least one copycat incident is reported to have taken place with two MPs being assaulted by the neo-Nazi party's supporters.(The Guardian)
United Nations monitors reach the site of the massacre inMazraat al-Qubeir, where up to 78 people are reported to have been killed.(Daily Star Lebanon)
Bahraini uprising: Bahraini authorities tear gas and sound bomb a pro-democracy rally, among the largest such rallies there in recent weeks. Meanwhile, a defence lawyer confirms that a court hearing is scheduled for next week in the case of a jailed 11-year-old boy accused of protesting against the regime.(Al Jazeera)(Press TV)
Chuck Blazer, theFIFA official whoblew the whistle on corruption within the governing body last year, faces accusations byJack Warner of secretly funding the rent on a luxury New York apartment using funds from the football federation he ran.(BBC)
UEFA confirms incidents of racist chanting were aimed atNetherlands players during an open training session ahead of the tournament.(BBC)(The Guardian)
An Irish fan becomes the target of a World Wide Web hunt after leaving his tickets in an airport shop.(BBC)
It is reported that heavy bombing onHoms has been taking place since this morning. Young activists of the Sham News Network also report violent clashes in various neighbourhoods ofDamascus between loyal forces and rebels ofthe Free Syrian Army(AGI)[permanent dead link]
Maria Sharapova defeatsSara Errani in the2012 French Open Women's Singles final, returning to the World No. 1 ranking, ending a four-year major title drought and completing a careerGrand Slam. Sharapova had been as low as World No. 126 during the drought, having suffered a serious shoulder injury in 2008.(ESPN)
Data released on the website of theGeneral Administration of Customs in the People's Republic of China indicates that China is significantly increasing its importation ofcrude oil to a record high, and some refineries have increased their processing rate.(Business Week)
Over documents delivered toSaif al-Islam, detained son of slain leaderMuammar Gaddafi,Libya arrests an Australian lawyer from theInternational Criminal Court (ICC) for trying "to deliver documents to the accused, documents that have nothing to do with his case and that represent a danger to the security of Libya".(Al Jazeera)
Law and crime
Three people are shot to death and three are wounded during a party held at an apartment complex near the campus ofAuburn University inAuburn, Alabama, U.S.(CNN)
Bahraini uprising: An 11-year-old child is released after weeks in detention, but still faces being put on trial for "joining an illegal gathering".(Al Jazeera)
Researchers uncover direct links between theFlame andStuxnet cyber-attacks onIran, saying the attackers worked together on both at early stages of each threat's development.(BBC)
Twenty three people are killed in an attack on two villages in northern Nigeria.(BBC)
Arts and culture
The size of theNobel Prize is being reduced by 20% in order to avoid an undermining of its capital in a long-term perspective.(Nobel Foundation)(BBC)
After six years,Google reaches a deal with a publishing group that opposed its scanning and publishing of books online.(BBC)
Dangote Cement opens a new line of production at its Obajana facility in theKogi State, making the plant the largest in Sub-Sahara Africa and one of the largest in the world.(AFP)
Al-Shabaab offers a reward of 10 camels for information about the whereabouts ofBarack Obama and chickens for information onHillary Clinton in response to the U.S. announcement of rewards of $3-7 million for various militant commanders.(BBC)
The U.S. threatens to impose sanctions on individual Somalis oppose peace plan.(BBC)
The U.S. withdraws a team of negotiators fromPakistan, withThe Pentagon announcing: "The decision was reached to bring the team home for a short period of time".(BBC)
The U.S. grants permission to seven countries on three continents to continue importing oil fromIran in contravention of the declared U.S. policy of isolating Iran.(BBC)
NHSFife apologises to Brown after finding it was "highly likely" one of its staff members leaked details of his son'scystic fibrosis toThe Sun, which ran a story about his medical condition.(BBC)
TheNME issues a public apology to English singer and lyricistSteven Patrick Morrissey over an article it published in 2007, which falsely suggested he was racist and led to a libel case.(BBC)
Turkey announces plans to introduce electiveKurdish language course in schools, a step aimed at easing tension that Kurdish minority activists argue does not go far enough.(AP via Fox News)(Al Jazeera)
Czech Republic goalkeeperPetr Čech drops a clanger in his country's game against 2004 championsGreece in a match that had the fewest shots in the European Championship since 1980.(BBC)(Al Jazeera)
An airstrike kills nineal Qaida fighters insouthern Yemen as the Yemeni military maintain pressure on the group a day after government troops backed by armed tribesmen recaptured two militant strongholds.(AP via ABC News)
Greeks withdraw their cash from banks and stock up on non-perishable food ahead of Sunday's election.(Al Jazeera)
Syrian uprising: The Syrian government begins printing money for the first time in a sign that the Syrian economy is on the verge of total collapse.(The Atlantic Wire)
International relations
Spanish prime ministerMariano Rajoy is embroiled in controversy after sending a text to his finance minister in which he claimed "Spain is not Uganda."(BBC)
UEFA slapsRussia with a suspended six-point deduction due to the behaviour of their fans during their victory over theCzech Republic; Russian presidentVladimir Putin blames Poland for the trouble.(BBC)
Two ex-heads ofChina'sfootball league, Nan Yong and his predecessor Xie Yalong, are both accused of accepting bribes and are jailed for 10-and-a-half years each for corruption, making them the most senior football officials sentenced in the country.(BBC)
Mexican Drug War: Víctor Manuel Báez Chino, a journalist for the Mexican newspaperMilenio, isfound dead after being kidnapped in the coastal state of Veracruz.(Milenio)
Violent protests demanding election reform inTogo enter into a third day.(BBC)
Coca-Cola says that it will start doing business inBurma after sixty years as soon as the U.S. government issues a license allowing American companies to make such investments.(The Washington Times)
Venezuela's presidentHugo Chávez gives a televised address from the country's defence ministry to discuss his defence plans.(BBC)
HBO issues a public apology for any offence suffered after the use of a severed head inGame of Thrones; the head on a spike is said to resemble that of former U.S. presidentGeorge W. Bush.(BBC)
Science and health
A 10-year-old girl receives what is believed to be the world's firststem cell assisted vein transplant.(HealthDay)
TheYemeni army capturesShuqra, the third militant stronghold to fall in the last week.(BBC)
Police officers attempting to evict landless farmers occupying a property in theParaguayan department ofCanindeyú turn into clashes, killing 16 officers and farmers.(BBC)
China suspends three officials and the government ofAnkang city apologizes to a woman,Feng Jianmei, 23, who is forced to undergo an illegal abortion seven months into her pregnancy after graphic photos of the mother and her dead baby are circulated online.(AP viaThe Star)
Baker Atyani,Al Arabiya's TV bureau chief forsoutheast Asia, disappears with four other people on the restive southern Philippine island ofJolo where Muslim militants are active.(AP viaTIME)
Ukrainian prime ministerMykola Azarov is accused by the opposition of violating the law by drinking an alcoholic beverage in a government building.(Reuters)
ABlue IslandsATR 42 aircraft suffers an undercarriage collapse on the runway atJersey Airport. The aircraft is later evacuated with no injuries reported.(BBC)
UEFA opens disciplinary proceedings against theCroatian Football Federation after bananas are thrown and racist chants are heard at the Italy-Croatia game.(BBC)
Google reveals it has removed so-called 'terrorism videos' from the web at the request of governments, as well as blocking more than 100 YouTube videos which allegedly insult theThai monarchy.(BBC)
Disasters
A fire breaks out in a prison in the southeastTurkish province ofŞanlıurfa, killing 13 prisoners.(BBC)
Intennis,David Nalbandian is disqualified from the final of the2012 AEGON Championships after kicking an advertising board into the left shin of a line judge, seriously injuring him; his opponent,Marin Čilić, who was trailing Nalbandian at the time, is awarded the title and Nalbandian stands to lose the prize money he would have received for finishing as runner-up.(BBC)(Sky Sports)
The largest stockholder of theLondon-based telecommunications firmVodafone, institutional investor Orbis, ends its opposition to a planned acquisition by Vodafone ofCable & Wireless Worldwide; the deal now seems certain to go through.(Reuters)
International relations
A new round of talks on nuclear power betweenIran and six world powers opens inMoscow.(BBC)
Rangers, set to be liquidated, do not appear on theScottish Premier League fixture list and are instead replaced by a mysterious entity known as "Club 12".(BBC)
British police investigatetennis playerDavid Nalbandian after yesterday's disqualification from the final of the2012 AEGON Championships over kicking an advertising board into the left shin of a line judge, seriously injuring him; his opponent,Marin Čilić, who was trailing Nalbandian at the time, was awarded the title and Nalbandian lost the prize money he would have received for finishing as runner-up.(BBC)
Striking miners and riot police clash in northernSpain asMariano Rajoy's austerity drive causes escalating violence.(BBC)
Palestinian footballerMahmoud Sarsak, on hunger strike over his detention without charge for three years in anIsraeli jail, agrees to resume eating if released from captivity.(BBC)
The formerPrime Minister of Romania,Adrian Năstase, narrowly survives a suicide attempt by gunshot to the throat following a controversial court decision sentencing him to two years in jail.(BBC)
The Supreme Elections Commission in Egypt announces that the results ofthe presidential election are not going to be released on Thursday due to complaints by rival candidates.(USA Today)
U.S. artistLeRoy Neiman, one of the world's most commercially successful contemporary artists and an official painter of five Olympiads famed for his instant renditions of sporting action, dies in New York.(BBC)
ALucian Freud self-portrait painted on an egg shell is sold at auction to a private collector for £27,000.(BBC)
Air France announces its decision to cut just under 10% of the total workforce (more than 5,000 jobs) by the end of next year in an attempt to restore profitability.(BBC)
Oakland-based group Courage to Resist asks participants in the 42nd annual Pride parade this Sunday to march in celebration of the imprisoned U.S. servicemanBradley Manning, imprisoned by the U.S. government for alleged leaking of classified information into the public domain.(San Francisco Examiner)
NATO-backedAfghan security forces end a 12-hour siege carried out byTaliban insurgents on the Spozhmai Hotel outsideKabul, killing all five insurgents.(BBC)
Ugandan ethics ministerSimon Lokodo signs a government statement saying that it does not discriminate againsthomosexuals and that they are free to meet.(IOL)
Khilal Mamedov, a prominentAzeri human rights activist andjournalist, is arrested on suspicion of drug possession, a move a fellow rights watchdog says is politically motivated.(MSNBC)
Daphne Leef and several other Israeli activists tried to restart the housing protests by re-erecting a tent encampment in theRothschild Boulevard in Tel-Aviv. The municipality had not given a permit and as a result Leef, along with eleven other activists, were arrested when they resisted the 20 policemen and municipal inspectors who arrived to dismantle the tents. The protesters' tents were confiscated by the police forces as well.(Jerusalem Post)(Ynet)
Greece's new coalition seeks to slow down austerity by proposing a two-year extension to the period allocated to it to meet bailout targets, without further cuts to salaries and pensions.(BBC)
Algo Centre Mall inElliot Lake, Ontario undergoes a partial structural failure when a segment of the rooftop parking deck collapses into the building. 22 people are injured and two bodies are recovered four days later.(Toronto Star)
Ulster Bank opens branches on a Sunday for the first time as the payments crisis affecting the bank continues unabated.(BBC)
Disasters
Tropical Storm Debby continues to organize off the coast ofFlorida, lashing the state with high winds and heavy rains. The outer bands of the storm spawn two tornadoes, killing one person nearSarasota.(CNN)
Rescue efforts end after a boat capsized nearChristmas Island, with more than 90 people still missing.(Al Jazeera)
NATO is to meet on Tuesday, based on a request fromTurkey to consult them on what to do withSyria which shot down a Turkish jet after it had entered Syrian airspace.(Al Jazeera)
Imprisoned U.S. servicemanBradley Manning's civilian lawyer argues the U.S. government is deliberately attempting to prevent his client from receiving a fair trial.(The Guardian)
Philipp Lahm, captain of theGermany team due to meet the winner, concludes that Italy are "a bit stronger" than England.(BBC)
France midfielderSamir Nasri criticises the media after his team's quarter-final exit toSpain, saying "you are always looking for shit, you write nothing but shit in your papers". His comments came after aL'Equipe journalist wrote an article that upset Nasri's mother.(AFP via NDTV)(BBC)(Al Jazeera)
At least 33 army officers, including a general, defect toTurkey.(BBC)(CNN)
Turkey's deputy prime minister,Bülent Arınç, states that Syrian forces opened fire on a second Turkish plane, a CASA search and rescue plane searching for the wreckage of an F-4 fighter jet earlier shot down by Syria.(AP via FOX News)(BBC)
At least 40 people are injured due to a fire attack by protesters on a religious shrine inIndia.(GloboNews)
Mexican Drug War: Alleged drug traffickers shoot and kill 3 policemen who were on an anti-narcotics operative inside theMexico City International Airport. The assassins were wearing law enforcement uniforms, although the Mexican authorities said that the cartel members sometimes wear false uniforms. No suspects have been arrested.(Yahoo! News)
Tens of thousands ofUlster Bank customers will now be unable to access their money until at least the end of the week as the crisis worsens, with monthly salaries due to be paid this week.(The Irish Times)(Irish Examiner)
Cyprus says that it plans to askits European partners for a loan of about 1.8 billion euros by the end of this week; this would make Cyprus the fifth European country to seek help.(Reuters)(Al Jazeera)
International relations
UKLabour MPTom Watson adds his voice to the growing opposition to the extradition ofRichard O'Dwyer, calling it an example of a younger generation being "hung out to dry by lawmakers".(The Guardian)
The mother ofJulian Assange reports that theWikiLeaks editor-in-chief has been "buoyed" by the public's support since he sought refuge inEcuador's London embassy, refers to U.S. threats to withdraw billions of dollars in aid from Ecuador if it granted asylum, and condemns the Australian government, which has not sought to intervene on behalf of her son, as "nothing more than a puppet" of the United States.(BBC)
TheUnited States Supreme Court rules that the sentence of life imprisonment without parole cannot be automatically given to a minor at all, extending its earlier restrictions on its automatic use in cases involving minors.(Catholic News)
TheUnited States Supreme Court rules thatArizona'simmigration law is mostly unconstitutional, except for the part that allows for law enforcement officers, in the course of their duties, to ask about an illegal immigrant's legal status if they have actual reasons to believe that the person is an immigrant and is here illegally, especially if they are of relevance to a case.(CNN)(Al Jazeera)
Police launch an investigation into allegations of online racist abuse duringEngland's quarter-final exit on penalties after their latest defeat on Sunday.(BBC)
Bahraini uprising: The government ofBahrain announces it will pay US$2.6 million to the relatives of 17 people who died in the revolt against the government.(Reuters)
Bhutan's four-century oldWangdue Phodrang Dzong, a ridge-topmonastery, catches fire and is destroyed; however no relics were destroyed since the monastery was undergoing a renovation.(CNN)
A boat carrying around 150 people capsizes 107 nautical miles north of Australia'sChristmas Island.(Reuters)
Law and crime
Imprisoned U.S. servicemanBradley Manning wins his battle against the U.S. government to account for the steps his prosecutors have taken to disclose to his lawyers evidence that could be crucial in his defence.(The Guardian)
Social networkFacebook perturbs some of its users by making its @facebook.com email system the default contact shown on profiles without asking for permission.(BBC)
An 11-year-old girl, Ashton Jojo, vacationing with her family at a miniature golf course atOrange Lake Resort, inOrange County, Florida, is accidentally electrocuted after she falls into a 2-foot deep pond at the course while looking for her lost golf ball.(MSNBC)[permanent dead link]
International relations
TheSomali president urges everyone to donate funds to Somalia to help combatpirates.(Reuters)
At least 14 people are killed and more than 50 wounded in a series of car bomb attacks inIraq.(BBC)
Business and economics
The share price ofBarclays bank plunges by 17 per cent after it was hit with a record fine for distorting key interest rates to rig international markets.(Al Jazeera)
British Prime MinisterDavid Cameron says the management ofBarclays faces "serious questions" about its role in distorting key interest rates to rig international markets.(BBC)
European Union leaders agree to use a bailout fund to recapitalise struggling banks and to work on a plan for tighter budgetary and political union.(AP viaUSA Today)
A petition objecting to the extradition ofRichard O'Dwyer to the United States garners 160,000 signatures in less than five days.(The Guardian)
A representative forWikiLeaks editor-in-chiefJulian Assange declines a Metropolitan Police order to surrender himself at a police station, instead electing to remain inEcuador's London embassy until he is granted asylum.(BBC)(The Guardian)
South Korea abruptly postpones signing a military treaty with Japan after opposition parties inSeoul accuse the government of trying to rush it without proper discussion.(The New York Times)
83 people are killed, mostly civilians, in the violence acrossSyria. In a single incident, 30 people are killed while attending a funeral in the town of Zamalka, just east of Damascus.(Sacramento Bee)[permanent dead link]
A top leader of the Texan gang known asBarrio Azteca is extradited to the United States from Mexico. The gang member was responsible for killing two U.S. consulate workers inCiudad Juárez in March 2010.(Chicago Tribune)
UEFA presidentMichel Platini dismisses suggestions that France midfielderSamir Nasri ought to be suspended for two years as "ridiculous and shameful".(ESPN)
Michel Platini suggestsUEFA Euro 2020 could be spread across the continent.(BBC)
