The United Arab Emirates will suspend some BlackBerry mobile services from October amid concerns that data from some equipment is being exported offshore and managed by foreign organisations. Saudi Arabia plans to suspend some services later this month. (BBC)(Aljazeera)
Disasters
Thousands of troops are mobilised in Russia to tackle forest fires spreading in 17 regions, the worst in decades, as the death toll rises to 30. (Voice of Russia)(AFP)
Colombia denies claims by Venezuela that it is planning a military attack, a day after Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez said he was sending troops to their mutual border. (CNN)(Xinhua)
United Kingdom - Sarah's Law, a scheme which allows parents to check if someone with access to their children is a sex offender, will be extended to cover the whole of England and Wales by Spring 2011 after proving successful in four pilot areas. (BBC)
An antiques dealer is imprisoned for handling a copy of the First Folio by poet and playwright William Shakespeare, though cleared of actually stealing it, in the UK. (BBC)
The European Union announces it will end its mission to reform security forces in Guinea-Bissau due to the deteriorating situation in the country. (BBC)(News24)
Police fill the streets of Karachi and Hyderabad is also deserted. (Reuters)
Twin explosions kill at least 3 people and injure at least 50 others in a crowded shopping area in Kut, Wasit; women and children are seen bleeding in the streets. (BBC)
Authorities shoot dead at least 2 people for protesting on a highway near Srinagar in Kashmir. (Aljazeera)
The daughter of former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston once again call off their engagement after it's revealed that Johnston fathered a child with another woman. (ABC)
A letter is unveiled demonstrating how Robert Burns was "reduced and shattered" in his final days; it will soon be exhibited in Edinburgh, Scotland. (BBC)
Tokyo's "oldest woman" cannot be located, casting doubts upon her claim to the title. (BBC)(The Guardian)
Nearly £2 billion of savings are revealed to have been removed from the UK's nationalised Northern Rock bank. (The Guardian)
Ecuador says it will not drill for oil in the Yasuni National Park for at least a decade after being provided with $3.6 billion (£2.26 billion) - half the money it would receive from selling the oil - in a deal signed with the United Nations. (BBC)
Seven people go on trial in Kuwait accused of spying for Iran against Kuwait and the United States; they deny all charges and say they were tortured into confessing. (BBC)
The first major Earth-directed solar eruption in a decade will generate aurorae visible in non-polar areas from early August 4th to August 5th. (Foxnews.com)(CNN)
Officials say more than 28,000 people have died in Mexican drug violence since December 2006, thousands more than previously thought. (BBC)
India expresses deep regret that its police had to kill at least 28 people this week in Kashmir, with its Home Affairs Minister requesting that protesters stop. (BBC)
At a meeting of the national Security Council Medvedev states: "By no means you may allow anarchy [...] You must not let the situation go out of local authorities' control". (Xinhua)
At least 17 more people are killed during a third day of violence in Karachi, with police given orders to shoot on sight as buildings burn. Current death toll: At least 80. (BBC)
Troops in Bishkek fire shots as protesters travel to support Urmat Baryktabasov, an opposition politician who arrived back in Kyrgyzstan from overseas. (BBC)(UPI)
Tear gas is fired and 27 people, including Baryktabasov, are arrested. (France24)(China Daily)
Russian pianist, conductor and composer Mikhail Pletnev cancels some appearances while he deals with accusations that he raped a 14-year-old boy in Thailand. (BBC)
Pham Thanh Binh, the former boss of Vinashin, one of Vietnam's largest state-owned companies, is arrested on suspicion of nearly bankrupting the company. (BBC)
Israel charges three Arab men with spying for Syria; they deny the charges and one is alleged to be a human rights activist.[clarification needed](BBC)
A woman who is alleged to have been raped by two police officers appears on Egyptian television where she is interviewed about the experience. (BBC)
Preliminary results of the referendum on the new Constitution of Kenya show it has passed with 67 per cent of the vote following a peaceful election. (Aljazeera)
Those campaigning against the new Constitution concede defeat. (BBC)
Germany offers compensation of €3,800 to each family of 91 of the 142 people it killed and 11 it injured in an air strike near Kunduz, an incident which provoked outrage and led to political and military resignations. The Bundeswehr does not admit guilt and families say they may sue. (BBC)(Der Spiegel)
An international aid ship, the Saint Mariam, bearing only female passengers from all backgrounds, including singer May Hariri and several Americans, is to leave Tripoli bound for Gaza after overcoming an Israeli diplomatic mission designed to prevent it from setting sail. (The Guardian)
Smoke from Russian wildfires covers famous landmarks and delays more than 140 flights at Moscow airports while official figures indicate that 14,340 people died in Moscow during July 2010; 4,824 more than the same month last year. (Sky News)(Bloomberg)(The Guardian)
After meeting Pakistani President Zardari at Chequers UK Prime Minister Cameron speaks of an "unbreakable" friendship between Britain and Pakistan in his attempts to recover from remarks he made about Pakistan's alleged promotion of terrorism. (BBC)
Zardari reiterates his desire to combat terrorism and says he has secured a deal with Britain to lobby the European Union for funds for a "Marshall Plan" to rebuild Pakistan and Afghanistan. (The Guardian)(BBC)
Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, sentenced to death in Iran, speaks out, saying Iran is "desperately trying to distract attention and confuse the media so that they can kill me in secret". (The Guardian)
Police near Colombo arrest a suspected fraudster for whom they had previously appealed to Interpol; it is unknown if he denies the charges brought against him. (BBC)
Hungarian actress Zsa Zsa Gabor, hospitalised after falling in the United States last month, is not released from hospital as had been initially expected due to a negative reaction to her morphine. (BBC)
An oil spill stretching at least two miles long occurs in the Arabian Sea offshore Mumbai, India, after a vessel from Panama collides with another vessel from St. Kitts. The Panamanian ship was carrying 2,662 tons of oil, 283 tons of diesel and 88,040 liters of lube oil when it became grounded and started to leak. (CNN)(Sify)
At least 8 people are killed and 32 others injured during a car bomb outside a restaurant in Ramadi, Iraq. (Aljazeera)
The death toll of Saturday's explosion in Basra, Iraq, rises to 43, with the number of injured people being over 100. Police say the explosion was as a result of a power generator short-circuiting but other sources claim it was due to a car bomb. (Aljazeeera)(Euronews)(BBC)
United States Representative Ron Klein calls for an investigation into American military aid to Lebanon to determine whether the Lebanese soldiers involved used American-supplied military equipment or received American-funded training. (The Jerusalem Post)
A bridegroom accidentally shoots dead three relations and injures eight others while celebrating with an AK-47 at his wedding in Akcagoze, Gaziantep in Turkey; the man has been detained. (BBC)(News24)
Torrential rains worsen the ongoing flood crisis across Pakistan, which has so far affected 14 million people, as rescue helicopters are forced to stay on the ground in the northwest of the country. (Aljazeera)(BBC)
Landslips wreak further destruction in Pakistan: 28 corpses retrieved so far in 2 villages. (BBC)
Food prices soar in Pakistan as the floods destroy one million acres of crops so far. (The Express Tribune)
There is a further cave-in at the mine near Copiapó, Chile where people have been working since Thursday to rescue 34 miners trapped underground; work is currently suspended in an incident that is rare in that part of the world. (BBC)
There is "significant concern" after an investigation into the UK Border Agency (UKBA) reveals abuse and racial manhandlement of asylum seekers by staff. (The Guardian)
More than 1,000 journalists march through Mexico City in protest at the repeated killings and disappearances of their colleagues throughout Mexico. (Aljazeera)
Japan marks the 65th anniversary of the 1945 atomic bombing of Nagasaki. The United States, which perpetrated the attack, upsets survivors by not sending an ambassador due to "scheduling reasons" this time, though France and the UK send representatives for the first time. (China Daily)(Yomiuri Shimbun)(BBC)
Mayor of Nagasaki Tomihisa Taue calls for the international elimination of nuclear weapons before representatives of a record 32 countries. (Japan Times)
The Turkish government promotes two new generals. (BBC)
Israeli police examine office computers and issue a warrant to Channel 2 calling on it to surrender a military document they want. (The Jerusalem Post)
A man from Israel is released after being detained as a suspected spy in Libya in return for the safe delivery to Gaza of 20 prefabricated houses, whose ship was forced to divert to Egypt in July. (BBC)(The Sydney Morning Herald)
An anonymous transsexual is involved in a landmark case in Hong Kong to win the right to marry her boyfriend. (BBC)
More than 200 Mexican police suspend and hold their own commander at gunpoint in a Ciudad Juárez hotel over allegations of drugs-related corruption. (BBC)
The United States and Vietnam celebrate the 15th anniversary of diplomatic relations by conducting what the United States describes as a "series of naval engagement activities" in the South China Sea, risking a disagreement with China. (BBC)(China Daily)
The United States defends its decision to appoint as Venezuelan ambassador Larry Palmer, who has expressed negative views of the country in the past, including insinuating that it has ties with Colombian rebels. (Aljazeera)
Saudi Arabia permits the use of BlackBerry devices for now, having previously considering banning them as they were unable to intercept and decrypt communications on that platform. (BBC)
Guatemala issues arrest warrants for 18 former senior officials and policemen who killed 7 prisoners in 2006. (BBC)
An American museum launches an appeal designed to restore 5 dresses that actress Vivien Leigh wore in the film Gone with the Wind (1939) ahead of 2014's 75th anniversary. (BBC)
The internet parody video "Newport State of Mind", which had received hundreds of thousands of hits, is taken off YouTube due to a "copyright claim" by EMI Publishing. (BBC)
The Bank of England's governor Mervyn King admits the economy will not grow very much and inflation will stay higher for longer in the UK, describing as a "choppy recovery" being ahead over the next two years. (BBC)
Fidel Castro agrees with former U.S. intelligence agents who say Israel is planning for a sudden attack on Iran, but states that Israel won't start the war as it would be outnumbered. (Xinhua)
Former Kyrgyz prime minister Igor Chudinov is arrested and charged with abuse of power during his 2007-2009 reign. (Xinhua)
The Women's Commission of West Bengal says there will be an inquiry into the case of a tribal woman who is reported to have been paraded naked around several villages and filmed in this act via a mobile phone. (BBC)
NATO forces kill three civilians in a raid on a house in Wardak Province, prompting hundreds of angry people to block a main road to express their frustration with the United States. (Aljazeera)
At least two people are killed, including one case of self-immolation from a balcony, while more than 80 sustain wounds after troops interrupt a protest against poor conditions with batons and flashbangs at a prison in Astana, Kazakhstan. (BBC)
Charles Taylor's defence lawyer Courtenay Griffiths is told not to speak, on a temporary basis, at Taylor's trial due to loss of temper; Griffiths apologises and is permitted to continue. (BBC)
Anti-government protests in Potosí, Bolivia enter their third week, affecting mining production, blocking road and air transport, stranding tourists and reducing food supplies. (BBC)
Scientists announce the discovery of a chemical compound which destroys the reproduction capabilities of bacteria that are antibiotic-resistant. (FierceBiotech)
The eurozone economy grows by 1% in the second quarter of 2010, with the German economy growing by 2.2%, its fastest quarterly growth in more than 20 years. (BBC)(Aljazeera)(MarketWatch)(AP)
Erastus Akingbola, former head of the Intercontinental Bank of Nigeria, is charged with 22 counts of involvement in the bank's near collapse at a court in Lagos; he denies all counts. (BBC)
Peru's health ministry is deployed into the Amazon to battle the vampire bats blamed for the deaths of four children from rabies. (BBC)
India's health ministry completely rejects as "unscientific" and a "conspiracy" claims by researchers that medical tourists are spreading a new "superbug" that is alleged to have originated in the country. India states that its hospitals are safe. (Aljazeera)
A rally takes place outside Google's offices in the U.S. state of California against a proposal to change online data treatment. (BBC)
Gabon signs over US$4 billion of contracts with Indian and Singaporean companies for infrastructure projects, on the eve of the country's 50th anniversary since independence. (AFP)(Xinhua)(Press TV)
China announces a national day of mourning for the victims of mudslides in the northwest of the country, as the death toll rises to 1,239 people. (China Daily)(BBC)(Aljazeera)
A court in Somalia imprisons for six years and fines $500 radio journalist Abdifatah Jama Mire for the broadcast of an interview with a militia leader in Puntland. (RTÉ)(Aljazeera)
Several political parties in Azerbaijan release a statement criticising the ruling of Baku Yasamal Court against 15 Shia Muslims, arrested in February while practising their religion in Baku. (Press TV)
Inspections of Israel's nuclear programme are urged by some concerned countries in a letter sent to Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States. (Aljazeera)
In Baghdad, Iraq multiple suicide bombings go off during mid-day rush hour, killing 4 and injuring about 16, another strike at 7:15am hits a mini-bus heading from Sadr City into downtown Baghdad, killing 3 including a police officer, and 9 others are wounded. Also, three other bombs go off simultaneously in a business district killing 1 and injuring 7. (AFP via Google News)
Romani evictions and deportations from illegal campsites by French authorities:
A major road bridge is barricaded near Bordeaux during a holiday weekend by Romani objecting to forced evictions by French authorities. (BBC)
Politicians, some from within PresidentNicolas Sarkozy's own party, object to the treatment of the Romani as "reminiscent of roundups during the war". (Deutsche Welle)
Israeli courts deem that its government was "responsible" for the death of a female Palestinian child, who was hit by a rubber bullet in 2007. (BBC)(Aljazeera)
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is to give the £4.6 million advance and all royalties from his forthcoming memoirs, A Journey, to a sports centre for badly injured soldiers; pacifists and the families of soldiers killed under his leadership call it "blood money". (BBC)(Sky News)(The Guardian)
Fiji officially designates the word "Fijian" as the term for the nationality of all the people of the islands including Indo-Fijians. The word was previously used only for indigenous inhabitants. (People's Daily)(Fijivillage)
A train derails in Sudbury, Suffolk, UK after hitting a sewage truck on a level crossing, injuring 18 people. Main article: 2010 Sudbury train accident.
A U.S. report claims that the Chinesemilitary has been secretly expanding; the U.S. asks for dialogue with China to avert a "miscalculated" response. (BBC)(Al Jazeera)
Julian Assange of Wikileaks says the United States has approached the website to try to negotiate the release of a further 15,000 Afghanistan war documents which the military desires to keep secret; the United States denies this. (Aljazeera)
A North Koreanfighter plane crashes in China near the border, killing the pilot and possibly a second pilot bailing out. Pictures posted by local residents show a Soviet plane design which were used in the Korean War. It is suggested to have been a defection attempt. (BBC)(Yonhap)
Scientists blame a peculiar double earthquake for the deadly tsunami responsible for the deaths of 192 people in the South Pacific last September, and described as "unlike anything seismologists have seen before". (BBC)
A court in Israel court jails a man who broke into the Turkish embassy in Tel Aviv and asked for asylum; his lawyer says the man was once an Israeli informer whose life is now under threat. (BBC)(News24)(Citizen.co.za)
A court in Colombia declares as unconstitutional a controversial deal allowing the United States to freely use its military bases and says it will have to be redrafted; other Latin American countries have expressed concern that the United States is exerting excessive influence on the region. (BBC)(The Age)(The Sydney Morning Herald)
Venezuela's government begins a trial ban of the publication of "violent, bloody or grotesque" photographs in newspapers, as a result of controversy over pictures of bloodied corpses riddled with bullets appear on the front page of newspapers. (BBC)
The Philippines is shocked by mobile phone footage apparently demonstrating police torture of a naked man charged with theft; many suspensions occur. (BBC)
The United Nations issues a report stating that Israel restricts with live ammunition access to land used for farming and fishing by Palestinians, causing a loss of livelihood for tens of thousands of Palestinians. (BBC)(United Nations Report)
Former chief of the Sri Lankan armed forces Sarath Fonseka admits he expects to be jailed after being charged with corruption and believes the verdict has been decided in advance; Fonseka has been elected to the Sri Lankan parliament since the charges were pressed. (BBC)
Mexico City legalises the fining of shops which give away free plastic bags in an environmental initiative. (BBC)
Canada Post advises customers that it cannot accept mail to Gaza until further notice. Israel Post continues to inform postal services around the world that mail service to Gaza is unavailable. (Reuters)
South African health minister Aaron Motsoaledi accuses of murder public sector workers who disrupt important treatment of patients while striking for better pay. (BBC)(News24)
Remains of a 104-year-old woman's body are discovered in her son's backpack during a nationwide search in Japan for missing centenarians. It is thought they may have been there for a decade. (AFP)(BBC)
An Irish-born Australian man who admitted after initially pleading innocence to breaching the state of emergency during the anti-government protests in Thailand is deported to Australia; he says he was beaten, was treated harshly and was not shown an arrest warrant. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
A quadriplegic man leaves hospital in Hong Kong for his own home after 19 years, having written to the country's leader 6 years ago to ask that he be allowed to die. (BBC)
The last remaining free inmate to have escaped from a prison in the U.S. state of Arizona is captured alongside his accomplice. (The New York Times)
A man sues game-maker NCsoft, stating he would not have begun to play one of their games, Lineage II, if he had known it was addictive and claims it has left him unable to function. (GameSpy)
An injunction prevents public sector workers from continuing their national strike for better pay in South Africa; the army had previously been deployed and the country's health minister accused strikers of murder. (BBC)
Relatives accuse authorities of not doing enough to save 33 miners who have spent the past 15 days trapped in a collapsed mine near Copiapó in the Atacama Desert. (BBC)
The United States is hit by a salmonella scare, with hundreds of people now thought to be ill across the country due to bad eggs; poisoning is expected to increase in the coming weeks. (The Age)
Iran unveils a long range unmanned bomber, the Karrar drone their latest addition in a number of recently disclosed military hardware. (The Guardian), (Los Angeles Times)
Palestinian official Wassel Abu Yousef objects to Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu's talk of "preconditions" that the Palestinians should recognize Israel as the state of Jews and says such comments are a threat to direct talks next month. (Xinhua)
Law and crime
South African trade unions state that a court injunction successfully sought by the government is intended to "intimidate" workers who are striking in the hope of receiving better pay. (BBC)(News24)
After a federal investigation by the United States, 47 foreign-born gang members are arrested in New England, including members of the "True Somali Bloods", "True Sudanese Bloods" and the "Asian Boyz". Over half are arrested in the U.S. state of Maine. (Portland Press Herald)
4 mutilated and decapitated corpses are located by police hanging by their ankles from a bridge outside Cuernavaca, Morelos. (BBC)
The al-Shabaab rebel group in Somalia says it has called 11 truckloads of reinforcements to take over the capital Mogadishu after a week-long battle. (Al Jazeera)
At least 43 people are killed in the violence. (Press TV)
Sri Lanka urges Saudi Arabia to investigate the case of a Sri Lankan maid who had nails and needles pushed into her by her employers as a "punishment". Doctors later remove 24 nails and needles from her body. (Arab News)(Lanka Business Online)(BBC)
Suspected Taliban insurgents attack two coalition allied military bases in eastern Afghanistan; both attacks are repelled by coalition forces, killing 24 militants while taking no casualties. (BBC)
Business and economy
Cuba eases property laws, allowing foreign investors to lease government land for up to 99 years. (AP)(Al Jazeera)
International relations
China and India state that the military ties between the two countries will not be affected despite the recent visa dispute.[2][3]
A small semi-train is driven through the streets of Gaza after six months of construction, to the delight of children living in harsh conditions. (Xinhua)
At least 38 people, including the driver, are killed in Ecuador when a bus falls down a cliff outside the capital Quito, reportedly after the driver fell asleep. (Reuters Africa)(Sky News Australia)
Afghanistan's former deputy attorney-general Fazel Ahmed Faqiryar is sacked over his refusal to obstruct corruption investigations into senior government officials; Faqiryar is critical of PresidentHamid Karzai. (Aljazeera)
Four Israeli settlers, including a pregnant woman, are shot dead in a shooting outside Kiryat Arba, when a gunman opens fire on their car. Hamas claims responsibility for the murder. (Haaretz)
Marco Antonio Leal García, the Mayor of Hidalgo, Tamaulipas, in northeastern Mexico, is shot dead while operating his car; his 4-year-old daughter is wounded. (BBC)
3,200 police officers have been fired so far this year by Mexico's federal police force due to extracurricular activities. (BBC)(AP via France24)(Aljazeera)
The Indian government decides not to ban the controversial BlackBerry devices for at least two months after the North American manufacturer allows "lawful access" to encrypted data it had been feared would be a security threat. (Aljazeera)(BBC)
Talks begin between the government and workers striking for better conditions in South Africa in the third week of a conflict which has seen troops deployed. (BBC)(TIMES Live)(Reuters)
Following an Israeli-course on editingWikipedia to further a national agenda, a Palestinian group initiates a plan to establish its view on the encyclopaedia.[5][6]
Law and crime
The Danish-based Kurdish TV station Roj TV faces terror charges for supporting PKK. (Denmark.DK)
The South African government improves a pay offer to more than a million striking public sector workers in an attempt to end the two-week-long strike. (AllAfrica.com)(BBC)(CNN)
