After many years of controversy, the United Kingdom
House of Commons, the lower house of parliament, again votes in favour of legislation to ban
fox hunting.
The
European Parliament approves two laws that regulate the selling of
genetically modified food in the
EU territory, requiring labelling of all GM products (products with more than 0.9% genetically modified parts) and allowing member states to separate GM food and non-GM food and crops.
Politics and elections
On taking up the
EU presidency,
Italian Prime MinisterSilvio Berlusconi makes an embarrassing remark, causing an uproar of criticism from the 626-seat European Parliament and the European media, by insulting the German
MEPMartin Schulz (
SPD) with the words "Mr. Schulz, I know there is a producer in Italy who is making a film on the
Naziconcentration camps. I will suggest you for the role of
kapo. You'd be perfect."
A tape, purporting to be of
Saddam Hussein and to have been made on June 14, is broadcast on
Al Jazeera, the
Arabic language satellite television station. If it is Saddam, it marks the first public communication from the former
Iraqi leader since his disappearance early on in the
Invasion of Iraq.
Second Chechen War: At least 16 people are killed and 40 injured by two female
suicide bombers in an attack at Krylya, a popular music festival, at the
Tushino airfield near Moscow. The Russian authorities blame an on-going terrorism campaign by
Chechen rebels; the Chechen government denies any connection to the attacks.
(BBC)
2003 occupation of Iraq: 7 newly US-trained
Iraqipolicemen are killed and at least 13 are wounded by an
explosion while they are marching from training school in
Ramadi. The American forces overseeing the rebuilding of Iraq's infrastructure, who gave their blessing to the march taking place, blames loyalists to
Saddam Hussein; some people on the scene blame U.S. forces. It is the first attack on Iraqis collaborating with the invading coalition forces, as opposed to on the forces themselves.
(CNN)
In response to 500,000-strong protests earlier in the week,
Tung Chee-hwa, Chief Executive of
Hong Kong, announces that controversial provisions that are alleged capable of limiting civil liberties in
Hong Kong Basic LawArticle 23 will be rewritten.
(BBC)
MSNBC fires
conservativetalk show host
Michael Savage for making several anti-gay remarks towards a prank caller posing as a
homosexual. Savage, who was angered by aggressive personal attacks made by "East Coast Bob", the prank caller, stated that the caller "should only get
AIDS and die".
Gay rights group
GLAAD applauds the decision to fire Savage.
(Salon)
Thousands of people take part in the first
bull run of the annual
San Fermín festival in
Pamplona,
Spain. No serious injuries or gorings were reported.
(CNN)
A rare political drama happens in
Hong Kong. Chief Executive
Tung Chee Hwa is forced to postpone the legislation of
Hong Kong Basic Law Article 23, just few hours after he insists the second reading will go on schedule despite the giant protest on July 1.
The ferry
MV Nasrin-1 capsizes and sinks near
Chandpore in
Bangladesh. The whereabouts of most of the approximately 700 passengers is unknown.[1]
The U.S. government announces that two more officials of the defeated Iraqi government on the
U.S. list of most-wanted Iraqis were taken into custody on Tuesday.
Mizban Khadr al-Hadi was a high-ranking member of Iraq's
Baath Party Regional Command and Revolutionary Command Council, and
Mahmud Dhiyab al-Ahmad was a former Interior Minister. As to al-Ahmad this turns out to be an error - he surrenders to the American forces in August.
The
Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund announces that on legal advice it has frozen its funds as it faces a demand for £15 million ($25 million) damages for alleged malicious prosecution from the Franklin Mint in the US. The Mint had won a courtcase over its right to manufacture a
Diana, Princess of Wales lookalike doll. Hundreds of charities are expected face financial difficulties as a result of the freeze. Arc Charity Chief Executive James Churchill says "I hope that the Franklin Mint Corporation is aware of the damage that their action is causing to groups of vulnerable young people all over the world."
Former International Development Secretary
Clare Short urges that British Prime Minister
Tony Blair voluntarily leave the premiership. Blair, dining with
Bill Clinton in London's Guildhall, makes no comment.
Gay rights campaigner
Peter Tatchell claims the second most senior
Church of Englandcleric, Archbishop Hope of York, is gay. The Archbishop had previously described his sexuality as a "grey area". The claim follows the row over a nomination of an openly gay canon to a bishopric in England and his withdrawal after attacks from conservative groups within the Anglican communion.
NASA reports the
discovery of
PSR B1620−26 b (unofficially dubbed Methuselah), the oldest
extrasolar planet yet discovered. The planet, which is estimated to be 12.7 billion years old, is orbiting the pulsar
PSR B1620-26 in the core of the ancient globular star cluster
M4, located 5,600 light-years away in the summer constellation
Scorpius.
(HubbleSite.org)
Zahra Kazemi, an
Iranian-born Canadian journalist, dies of injuries received from a beating while in Iranian custody. She had been arrested on June 23 while taking photographs outside an Iranian prison. Her death sparks a furor between Canada and Iran over the disposition of her body and the punishment of her killers, and among international free speech groups concerned with freedom of the press in Iran.
The intelligence service of the United States says that the
CIA's head,
George Tenet, accepted President
George W. Bush's speech in
January, which included wrong information of
Iraq's plans to buy
uranium from Africa.[2] The office of
Prime MinisterTony Blair responded that it stands by its belief that
Saddam Hussein attempted to buy African uranium, claiming that it cannot share its information with the United States because it comes from "foreign intelligence sources."[3]
The United Kingdom media, following tip-offs from the
Israeli and British Intelligence Services, state that
Seán Ó Muireagáin of the
Real IRA had been captured in Israel.
Seán Ó Muireagáin, a
Northern Irishjournalist, arrested by
Israel and held for five days without legal representation in a case of mistaken identity, is released and leaves Israel. The affair causes considerable embarrassment to the Israeli and British secret services, the former having arrested Ó Mureagáin on the advice of the latter, who claimed incorrectly that he was a
Real IRA man with the same name. In the confused aftermath, the Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman suggests that Ó Muireagáin may have been guilty, while Prime Minister
Sharon's spokesman states categorically that he was innocent and the entire affair an error. He claims that Ó Muireagáin is a former convicted
Provisional IRAterrorist.
Following the 500,000-people protest on July 1, the government of
Hong Kong is hit by two resignations of high-ranking officials in one day. One is the Financial Secretary
Antony Leung and the other is the Security Secretary
Regina Ip, who was in charge of the controversial
Article 23.[7]
An 86-year-old man accidentally hits the accelerator instead of the brake at a
farmer's market in
Santa Monica, California, driving his car through a closed-off street and killing at least 10 people (including a 3-year-old girl and a 7-month-old boy) and injuring over 50 others. One of the dead is the daughter-in-law of actor
Dennis Weaver.
Same-sex marriage in Canada: the federal government releases its draft bill to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples while protecting the rights of clergy not to perform marriages that run counter to their religious beliefs. The government will seek a reference from the
Supreme Court of Canada to ensure the bill is constitutional.[8]
India declines a United States request to send an occupation force to
Iraq. Their United States Envoy assures that Indo-US relations will not be hampered by the refusal.
In a press conference in
Belfast,
journalistSeán Ó Muireagáin denies
Israeli claims that suspected him of being a
Real IRA activist. He states that he is not, and never has been, a member or supporter of the IRA. Israel repeats that the arrest of Ó Muireagáin was "unfortunate", but refuses to apologise. Israel's treatment of Ó Muireagáin is strongly criticised in Ireland.
SDLP ex-minister
Sean Farren states that Ó Muireagáin is "well known and respected" in
Northern Ireland.
U.S.
Basketball:
Eagle County, Colorado District Attorney Mark Hurlbert announces that
Los Angeles Lakers star
Kobe Bryant has been charged with one count of felony sexual assault, stemming from a June 30 incident at a gated resort involving a 19-year-old woman.
British Open (golf): Rookie
Ben Curtis, ranked 396th in the world, becomes the first golfer to win a major golf tournament in the first attempt in more than 90 years.
SCO v. IBM Linux lawsuit:SCO Group announces that it intends to sell binary-only licences to use the free
Linux operating system which will remove the threat of litigation from licence-holders. Linux advocates react by stating that SCO has no basis for this action, and that doing this may cause SCO to forfeit their rights under the
GNU GPL to use or distribute Linux or Linux-derived code in any form.
SCO press releaseCNet story
A severe
storm strikes
Memphis, Tennessee, leaving several dead and as many as 300,000 without power, including extremely severe damage to the power grid in some areas.[19][20]
Die Zeit, a German newspaper, publishes an
opinion poll which claims that almost one in three Germans under the age of 30 believe the United States government "could have ordered the
September 11 attacks [on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon] itself". 1000 people took part in the survey.
California officials announce that over 110% of the required signatures to force a recall election of Governor
Gray Davis are in setting the stage for what will be the first gubernatorial recall election in the United States in 82 years.[21]
The Minister of Justice in Finland,
Johannes Koskinen, said that there could be legalized
brothels for example for
handicapped people. He got very angry response of organizations for handicapped. 66% of people in
Ilta-Sanomat newspaper's readers said that prostitution must be under state control.
The United States' provisional authority in
Iraq releases photos of what are presumably the dead bodies of
Uday and
Qusay Hussein in an attempt to show the Iraqi people proof that the two were actually killed in a U.S. military operation.[22]
California lieutenant governor
Cruz Bustamante announces that governor
Gray Davis will face a recall election on October 7. This will be the second gubernatorial recall election in the United States history (the first occurred 82 years beforehand).[23]
Italian officials have decided to attempt a restoration of
Michelangelo's David using distilled water.[24]
Oakwood mutiny: A group of approximately 50 rogue soldiers from the Armed Forces of the Philippines seizes a portion of a shopping mall and the adjacent hotel in
Makati City,
Metro Manila in the
Philippines demanding President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's resignation. They claim to have surrounded the occupied zones with explosives and have temporarily held several people in the hotel, including Australian
AmbassadorRuth Pierce. The group is said by some officials to be connected to ousted President
Joseph Estrada and oppositionist Senator
Gregorio Honasan, who staged several
coup attempts in the late 1980s.[27][28]
The
BBC reports that an extensive investigation of
Loch Ness by a BBC team, using 600 separate sonar beams, found no trace of any "sea monster" in the loch. Loch Ness is a popular tourist attraction because of the rumors surrounding an alleged monster or
plesiosaur populating the lake (see
Loch Ness Monster). The BBC team stated that it is now conclusively proven that "Nessie" does not exist.[29]
Ambassador
Ole Wøhlers Olsen, the Muslim
Danish coordinator for the U.S.-led provisional authority in southern
Iraq resigns unexpectedly, to be replaced by Sir
Hilary Synnott, currently the British High Commissioner to Pakistan. Ambassador Olsen, who had been critical of the lack of support for his reconstruction efforts, declared the British and Danish foreign services had chosen to replace him at that time instead of in October, as earlier planned, stating that he himself had been prepared to continue his work in
Basra.[30]