World Events: 2007Q2

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Indexes

Money

Business

Finance

Government

Organization

Violence

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World Event

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1-Apr-07

Solomon Islands - Magnitude-8.0 earthquake and tsunami (USGS): 28 people were killed (CNN International, 3-Apr-07); more than 100,000 became homeless (Bloomberg, 3-Apr-07).

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2-Apr-07

Ampara - Sri Lanka - Bus bomb killed at least 15 people (Washington Post-AP).

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New York, NY; Greenwood Village, CO - U.S. - Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) agreed to acquire First Data Corp. for about $29 billion (First Data Corp.).

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U.S.; Korea - United States and South Korea bilateral free trade agreement (FTA). (Bloomberg; NYT; Xinhua.)

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Washington, DC; New York, NY - U.S. - Hillary Clinton's campaign announced it raised $36 million in 2007Q1. The amount includes $10 million transferred from Senator Clinton's senate reelection account. (Hillary for President, HillaryClinton.com.)

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Washington, DC - U.S. - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide (CO2), are pollutants under the Clean Air Act. Environmental Defense argued that "Duke Energy must clean up old, polluting plants when it refurbishes them" (Environmental Defense) (U.S. Supreme Court: Environmental Defense v. Duke Energy Corp., Docket 05-848). (See also ScienceNOW; NYT; Los Angeles Times.)

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Irvine, CA - U.S. - Subprime mortgage lender New Century Financial Corporation filed for Chapter 11 protection (New Century Financial Corporation Restructuring Information web site). (See also Bloomberg; NYT.)

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Chicago, IL - U.S. - Real estate tycoon Sam Zell to acquire Tribune Co., which owns the Los Angeles Times, for $8.2 billion. (Tribune Company; Chicago Tribune; Los Angeles Times; Globe and Mail.)

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3-Apr-07

New Delhi - India - 14th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit. SAARC members: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

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Mogadishu - Somalia - Fighting between Ethiopian-Somali troops and Islamist insurgents reportedly killed about 400 people (Reuters India; Washington Post-AP; Los Angeles Times).

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Kiev - Ukraine - Thousands of supporters of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych protest against pro-West President Victor Yushchenko's decision on 2-Apr-07 to dissolve Parliament (Guardian Unlimited-AP; BBC; Bloomberg).

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4-Apr-07

Pakistan - Pakistani tribal forces killed more than 40 people linked to al Qaeda (VOA News; The Hindu, 5-Apr-07).

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Tehran - Iran - Iran pardoned and released 15 British sailors and marines accused of illegal incursion into Iranian territorial waters (BBC; VOA News; IRNA). The sailors and marines were detained on 23-Mar-07 (BBC). [4-Apr-07 - 5-Apr-07.]

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U,S. - Barack Obama's presidential campaign announced it raised at least $25 million in 2007Q1 (Barack Obama's presidential campaign). Total raised by Democratic and Republican presidential candidates: About $127 million (Xinhua, 5-Apr-07).

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5-Apr-07

London - U.K. - The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee voted to maintain the official Bank Rate paid on commercial bank reserves at 5.25%.

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U.S. - Hilary O. Shelton, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP): "Without intervention, sub-prime foreclosures will impose the greatest drain on African-American and Latino wealth ever experienced in this country" (National Fair Housing Alliance; Leadership Conference on Civil Rights; National Council of La Raza). Center for Responsible Lending (CRL): "As this year [2006] ends, 2.2 million households in the subprime market either have lost their homes to foreclosure or hold subprime mortgages that will fail over the next several years. These foreclosures will cost homeowners as much as $164 billion, primarily in lost home equity" (CRL report: Losing Ground: Foreclosures in the Subprime Market and Their Cost to Homeowners, Dec-06).

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Iraq - U.S. Black Hawk helicopter downed south of Baghdad (Washington Post-AP).

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Washington, DC - U.S. - Sen. Carl Levin, Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, released the declassified report of the Department of Defense Inspector General on its “Review of the Pre-Iraqi War Activities of the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy” (Report No. 07-INTEL-04, 9-Feb-07) (Carl Levin, U.S. Senator). The report debunks the intelligence assessment activities of the office of Under Secretary of Defense Doug Feith (Christian Science Monitor). (See also Los Angeles Times; dougfeith.com).

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Santorini Island - Greece - Cruise ship Sea Diamond sinks on 6-apr-07 after hitting a rock on 5-Apr-07; 2 people are missing (BBC News). [5-Apr-07 - 6-Apr-07.]

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6-Apr-07

Brussels - Belgium - IPCC released "Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability" report. Key findings include: "A global assessment of data since 1970 has shown it is likely that anthropogenic warming has had a discernible influence on many physical and biological systems"; "Poor communities can be especially vulnerable, in particular those concentrated in high-risk areas. They tend to have more limited adaptive capacities, and are more dependent on climate-sensitive resources such as local water and food supplies."

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Ramadi - Iraq - Suicide truck bomber kills at least 35 people; the truck was loaded with chlorine (BBC News).

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Kabul - Afghanistan - Suicide bomber kills 6 people (VOA News).

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Beijing - China - China State Council banned trade in human organs (Xinhua; BBC News; CNN International-AP).

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7-Apr-07

Japan - Japanese banks, including Mizuho Corporate Bank, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. to provide Citigroup Inc. with a 1.7 trillion yen line of credit; Citigroup to acquire Nikko Cordial Corp. (The Japan Times-Kyodo News; Washington Post; The Australian. See also: Bloomberg). Citigroup announced it launched its tender offer for 100% of the shares of Nikko Cordial on 14-Mar-07 (Citigroup).

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Diwaniya - Iraq - U.S. forces bomb Diyaniya (Al Jazeera-Agencies; Washington Post); 16 people were killed (Washington Post). Throughout Iraq, at least 64 were dead (Guardian Unlimited-AP). [7-Apr-07 - 8-Apr-07.]

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Los Angeles, CA - U.S. - Thousands of people protested the Bush administration immigration reform plan ($3,500 Z-visas and $10,000 re-entry fines) (VOA News).

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Iraq - Fighters kill 10 U.S. soldiers outside Baghdad (Washington Post; Los Angeles Times). [7-Apr-07 - 8-Apr-07.]

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8-Apr-07

Vatican City - Vatican - Pope Benedict XVI, in his "Urbi et Orbi" Easter message: "Afghanistan is marked by growing unrest and instability; In the Middle East, besides some signs of hope in the dialogue between Israel and the Palestinian authority, nothing positive comes from Iraq, torn apart by continual slaughter as the civil population flees." (Holy See, Vatican.)

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Baghdad; Mahmudiya - Iraq - Blasts killed at least 20 people (Al Jazeera-Agencies).

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Afghanistan - Roadside bombs killed 7 Nato soldiers (6 from Canada) (Al Jazeera-Agencies; CBC News; VOA News-AFP & Reuters).

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9-Apr-07

Najaf - Iraq - Tens of thousands demonstrate against the occupation of Iraq (VOA News). (See also: Al Jazeera-Agencies; BBC News; Guardian Unlimited-AP; Tehran Times-AFP).

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Natanz - Iran - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: "From now on, Iran is placed in the category of the nations producing fuel at industrial level." (IRNA). (See also: Bloomberg; BBC News; Guardian Unlimited-AP; National Post; Xinhua.)

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Iraq - Saifeddin Fulayh Hassan Taha al-Rawi, former commander of Iraq's Republican Guard: "The enemy [U.S.] used neutron and phosphorus weapons against Baghdad airport . . . " (Al Jazeera).

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10-Apr-07

U.S. - U.S. charged China with copyright piracy and interference in the distribution of products, at the World Trade Organization (WTO) (Washington Post; CNN; Xinhua; Al Jazeera-Agencies.)

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Somalia - Hawiye clan claimed that recent fighting between Ethiopian forces and Islamists killed 1,086 people; property losses estimated at $1.5 billion (Al Jazeera-Agencies).

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Muqdadiya - Iraq - Woman suicide bomber killed 17 police recruits (Gulf News; PakTribune; Guardian Unlimited-AP.)

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Sudan - Chadian forces clashed with soldiers in Sudan; 17 Sudanese soldiers were killed (BBC News). (See also: Bloomberg; Washington Post-AP, 11-Apr-07.)

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11-Apr-07

Tokyo - Japan - China-Japan Summit. China-Japan trade: $240 billion in 2006 (Washington Post-Reuters). (See also: Bloomberg; BBC News; Xinhua.) [11-Apr-07 - 13-Apr-07.]

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New York, NY - U.S. - Citigroup Inc. to cut about 17,000 jobs to save from $2.1 billion in 2007 to $4.6 billion in 2009 (Citigroup Inc.).

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Algiers - Algeria - Al Qaeda suicide bombers killed 33 people (Al Jazzier-Al Jazeera and Agencies, 12-Apr-07; VOA News-AFP-AP-Reuters). (See also: CNN International; Bloomberg, 12-Apr-07; NYT; Xinhua.)

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Washington, DC - U.S. - US Senate passed S.5, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for human embryonic stem cell research (The Library of Congress-THOMAS; VOA News).

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12-Apr-07

Baghdad - Iraq - Truck bomb damaged Sarafiya Bridge over the Tigris; killed at least 10 people (CNN International; Guardian Unlimited-AP; Al Jazeera-Agencies). (See also: BBC News).

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Baghdad - Iraq - Suicide bomber targeted Iraq's parliament; killed 1 MP (UPI). (See also: Telegraph; Al Jazeera-Agencies; BBC News.)

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Wheeler Island - India - India test-launched Agni III, a ballistic missile capable of delivering a nuclear weapon with a range of more than 3,000 kilometers (VOA News; The Times of India; DailyIndia; Washington Post-Reuters).

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Washington, DC - U.S. - World Bank President and neocon architect of the Iraq war Paul D. Wolfowitz apologized for his role in promoting and increasing the salary of his girlfriend Shaha Ali Riza (CNN; Bloomberg; NYT; BBC News; Economist; Al Jazeera). (World Bank Group.)

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Shahjoy - Afghanistan - Afghan forces claimed they killed 35 fighters (Al Jazeera-Agencies).

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U.S. - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to allow "corn milling" ethanol producers to emit up to 250 tons of pollution per year; the previous limit was 100 tons per year (Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2006-0089) (EPA; ENS). The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE), while still having concerns, was "on balance . . . pleased" (ACE).

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13-Apr-07

Guerrero - Mexico - Magnitude-5.4 earthquake (USGS).

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Mountain View, CA; New York, NY - U.S. - Google Inc. to acquire DoubleClick Inc. for $3.1 billion (Google Inc.; DoubleClick Inc.). (See also: Bloomberg; NYT; PC World.)

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14-Apr-07

Karbala; Baghdad - Iraq - Car bomb in Karbala killed about 40 people (BBC News); car bomb targeting a bridge in Baghdad killed 10 people (CTV; Washington Post). (See also: Washington Post-Reuters; Al Jazeera-Agencies; Guardian Unlimited-AP).

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Washington, DC - U.S. - World Bank Group-International Monetary Fund meeting Spring Meeting (IMF). Key U.S. issue: foreign-exchange surveillance (Bloomberg); key issue for China: trade protectionism (Xinhua). [14-Apr-07 - 15-Apr-07.]

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Moscow; St Petersburg - Russia - About 4,000 people protested against President Vladimir V. Putin; the protests were organized by the Other Russia coalition which is led by Gary Kasparov. More than 10,000 people protested in support of President Putin. (The Moscow Times, 16-Apr-07.) (See also: NYT; Washington Post.) [14-Apr-07 - 15-Apr-07.]

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15-Apr-07

U.S. - Lenders have abused the National Student Loan Data System (Washington Post).

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Baghdad; Taji - Iraq - Bombs killed at least 45 people (International Herald Tribune-AP). 2 UK military helicopters crashed near Taji; 2 service members were killed (BBC News; VOA News).

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16-Apr-07

Blacksburg, VA - U.S. - Gunman killed 33 people, including students, at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech University Campus Alert). (See Also: CNN; Bloomberg; Al Jazeera-Agencies.)

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Reston, VA - U.S. - Investment group including J.C. Flowers & Co., Friedman Fleischer & Lowe LLC, Bank of America Corp., and JPMorgan Chase & Co. to acquire SLM Corporation (Sallie Mae) for about $25 billion; Sallie Mae is the U.S.'s leading provider of student loans (Sallie Mae) (See also: NYT; CNNMoney.com; Bloomberg; Houston Chronicle-AP; BusinessWeek). The student loan sector is estimated at $85 billion per year (Bloomberg).

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New York, NY - U.S. - Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) up 108.33 to 12,720.46 (Dow Jones & Co.). (See also: Yahoo! Finance.)

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Mosul - Iraq - 13 Iraqi soldiers and 2 academics were killed (Al Jazeera-Agencies).

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Alexandria, VA - U.S. - CNA Corporation (CNAC) released "National Security and the Threat of Climate Change." The Military Advisory Board included 11 of the U.S.'s most senior former officers and national security experts. Key findings include: "Projected climate change poses a serious threat to America's national security; climate change acts as a threat multiplier for instability . . .; projected climate change will add to tensions even in stable regions of the worldclimate change, national security and energy dependence are a related set of global challenges." (The CNA Corporation). (See also: ENS.)

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17-Apr-07

Washington, DC - U.S. - Federal regulators encourage financial institutions to work with homeowners who are unable to make mortgage payments (The Federal Reserve Board).

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Washington, DC - U.S. - George Soros criticized AIPAC: "[C]riticism of our policies toward Israel is very muted indeed. . . One explanation is to be found in the pervasive influence of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) . . . AIPAC's mission is to ensure American support for Israel but in recent years it . . . became closely allied with the neocons and was an enthusiastic supporter of the invasion of Iraq. . . The current policy of not seeking a political solution but pursuing military escalation—not just an eye for an eye but roughly speaking ten Palestinian lives for every Israeli one—has reached a particularly dangerous point." (The New York Review of Books, Vol. 54, No. 6, 12-Apr-07). (See also: Executive Intelligence Review; Al Jazeera-Agencies; Washington Post-Reuters.)

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18-Apr-07

Baghdad - Iraq - Despite the surge in U.S. forces, bomb attacks killed 190 people in Baghdad (VOA News-AFP-AP-Reuters); more than 230 were killed throughout Iraq (Forbes-AP; Al Jazeera-Al Jazeera-Agencies). (See also: NYT; Washington Post; BBC; Times of India; Xinhua.)

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Mogadsishu - Somalia - Islamic insurgents battled Ethiopian forces; at least 113 people were reportedly killed (VOA News-AFP-AP-Reuters, 21-Apr-07). (See also: BBC News, 21-Apr-07; Al Jazeera-Agencies, 21-Apr-07.) [18-Apr-07 - 21-Apr-01.]

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Washington, DC - U.S. - The Supreme Court of the United States upheld a federal ban on Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003” (Supreme Court of the United States: Gonzales, Attorney General v. Carhart et al., Docket No. 05-380, 18-Apr-07). (See also: NYT-Congressional Quarterly; Washington Post.)

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19-Apr-07

Washington, DC - U.S. - U.S. Senator Harry Reid (D) for Nevada, regarding Iraq war: ". . . this war is lost" (NYT; Washington Post-Reuters; San Francisco Chronicle-AP). (See also: Sen. Reid's website, press release, 19-Apr-07.)

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20-Apr-07

New York, NY - U.S. - Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) surged 153.35 to a record 12,961.98 (Dow Jones). (See also: Yahoo! Finance; NYT-AP, 21-Apr-07; Los Angeles Times, 21-Apr-07.)

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Houston, TX - U.S. - An alleged Jacobs Sverdrup contractor employee with NASA killed a NASA civil servant, then himself, at NASA's Johnson Space Centre (NASA JSP). (See also: CBS News-AP; Al Jazeera-Agencies.)

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