Timeline 2014 April - June Return to home2014 Apr 1, A
drug-smuggling tunnel with rail systems stretching hundreds of yards
across the US-Mexico border was discovered by law enforcement
officials. Glennys Rodriguez (73) from the San Diego suburb of Chula
Vista was charged the next day with helping run the operation. A 2nd
tunnel was found on April 3.
2014 Apr 1, California’s
PG&E was indicted on 12 federal counts related to the 2010 gas
pipeline explosion that leveled a San Bruno neighborhood and killed
(SFC, 4/2/14, p.A1)
2014 Apr 1, In downtown San
Francisco the First Church of the Last Laugh hosted the 36th annual
St. Stupid’s Day Parade.
(SFC, 4/2/14, p.A1)
2014 Apr 1, Chin Long Chiang
(b.1914), UC professor and biostatistics pioneer, died at his home
in Berkeley, Ca. He had begun applying statistical methods to the
world of health care and the study of diseases in the 1950s.
(SFC, 4/25/14, p.D3)
2014 Apr 1, Sen. Carl Levin, a
Michigan Democrat, opened a hearing on Caterpillar Inc.’s avoidance
of some $2.4 billion in taxes by shifting profits to a
wholly-controlled affiliate in Switzerland.
2014 Apr 1, Britain said PM
David Cameron has ordered an investigation into the Muslim
Brotherhood over concerns that the group is planning radical
activities from a base in London.
2014 Apr 1, A magnitude 8.2
earthquake struck off the coast of northern Chile near the copper
exporting port of Iquique, killing 7 and triggering a tsunami that
pounded the shore with 2m (7-foot) waves. The quake allowed some 300
inmates to escape from the Iquique women’s prison.
(Reuters, 4/2/14)(SSFC, 4/6/14, p.A4)
2014 Apr 1, China's Defense
Ministry said inspectors have uncovered widespread irregularities
and suspected corruption among military units based around Beijing,
a sign that a widening anti-graft campaign that is turning to the
sprawling 2.3 million-member People's Liberation Army.
2014 Apr 1, In China protests
against a proposed chemical plant in Maoming city, Guangdong
province, spread to Guangzhou, the provincial capital, even as
authorities signaled they may back down on construction plans in
attempt to head off more unrest.
2014 Apr 1, China's foreign
ministry expressed anger after Ilham Tohti, a prominent detained
Uighur academic, won a human rights award in the United States,
saying that he was a suspected criminal.
2014 Apr 1, Human Rights Watch
said China has pressured Nepal to impose tough controls on thousands
of Tibetan refugees, including arbitrary detention, excessive use of
force and intrusive surveillance.
2014 Apr 1, In Egypt violent
clashes erupted in Cairo and three other cities between police and
university students loyal to the ousted Islamist president.
2014 Apr 1, Wissam Tarif, a
Lebanese national who works for Avaaz, an online activism network,
arrived in Egypt in the morning and was deported in the evening. He
had come to present officials with a petition bearing over a million
signatures asking for the lifting of death sentences against 529
supporters of ousted Islamist Pres. Morsi.
2014 Apr 1, The EU’s economy
chief Olli Rehn's said the EU will make a swift payment of financial
aid to Ukraine and dismissed the possibility of economic sanctions
against Russia unless it takes more action.
2014 Apr 1, In France Manuel
Valls took up the post of President Francois Hollande's prime
minister, replacing Jean-Marc Ayrault who resigned in the wake of
the ruling Socialists' rout in local elections at the weekend.
2014 Apr 1, In Greece eight
Nigrita Prison guards were charged with torturing to death an
Albanian convict accused of fatally stabbing a guard in another jail
after being refused temporary release to visit his critically ill
mother. Ilie Kareli (42) was found fatally injured in his cell last
week after a severe beating.
2014 Apr 1, In Iraq a national
election campaign officially kicked off ahead of the April 30 vote.
A series of attacks north of Baghdad killed 8 soldiers.
2014 Apr 1, Japan eased its
weapons export restrictions in the first major overhaul of arms
transfer policy in nearly half a century.
2014 Apr 1, Japan raised its
sales tax to 8% from 5%, moving to stabilize government finances and
reduce soaring debt, but at the risk of undermining a shaky economic
2014 Apr 1, People in Japan
began their first homecomings in three years to a small area
evacuated after the Fukushima disaster.
2014 Apr 1, Japan’s
government-funded Riken Center said data in a widely heralded
stem-cell research paper was falsified. Haruko Obokata, the lead
researcher accused of the malpractice, denied any wrongdoing.
2014 Apr 1, In Kenya unknown
attackers in Mombasa shot dead Abubakar Shariff Ahmed, more commonly
known as Makaburi (meaning graveyard in Swahili). He was accused by
the US and the UN Security Council of supporting Somali militants.
(Reuters, 4/4/14)(SFC, 4/3/14, p.A2)(Econ,
2014 Apr 1, Lebanon's
parliament approved a much-anticipated law that protects women
against domestic violence after a years-long campaign by women's
rights activists and the recent slaying of four women.
2014 Apr 1, In northern Myanmar
illegal Chinese logging and demand for monkey bones threatened the
rare snub-nosed monkey according to British-based Fauna & Flora
International. The International Union for Conservation of Nature
(IUCN) estimated that only 260 to 330 survive in the wild.
2014 Apr 1, NATO foreign
ministers agreed to suspend all practical cooperation with Russia,
draft measures to strengthen defenses and reassure nervous eastern
European countries in the worst East-West crisis since the Cold War
ended in 1991.
2014 Apr 1, A Nigerian Shariah
court freed two men accused of gay sex and belonging to a homosexual
club, saying the prosecution failed to prove its case. The two were
among 12 detained in northern Bauchi state in January.
2014 Apr 1, Philippine
officials said government prosecutors will file plunder cases in an
anti-graft court against three senators for misuse of congressional
funds worth billions of pesos. Juan Ponce Enrile, former movie actor
Ramon Revilla Jr and Jose "Jinggoy" Estrada, son of former president
and Manila Mayor Joseph Estada - were found to have amassed 172
million pesos, 242 million pesos and 183 million pesos,
respectively, from illegal kickbacks.
2014 Apr 1, Russia warned
Ukraine against integration with NATO, saying Kiev's previous
attempts to move closer to the bloc had strained ties with Russia
and caused problems between Moscow and the defense alliance. Russia
sharply hiked the price for natural gas to Ukraine and threatened to
reclaim billions previous discounts. Ukrainian police moved to
disarm members of a radical nationalist group after a shooting spree
in the capital.
(Reuters, 4/1/14)(AP, 4/1/14)
2014 Apr 1, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said at least 150,000 people have been
killed in Syria's three-year-old civil war, a third of them
2014 Apr 1, In Thailand gunmen
killed one person and wounded four others in an attack on
anti-government protesters in central Bangkok.
2014 Apr 1, In Turkey riot
police fired water cannon in Ankara to disperse thousands of people
protesting outside the Supreme Electoral Council (YSK) against local
election results which saw the ruling party dominate the electoral
map. Election results in Ankara were particularly close.
2014 Apr 1, The UN said it was
trying to evacuate 19,000 Muslims urgently from Bangui and other
parts of Central African Republic who are surrounded by anti-balaka
Christian militia threatening their lives.
2014 Apr 1, In western Yemen
clashes left dead 3 soldiers and 2 al-Qaida militants.
2014 Apr 2, A federal appeals
court granted a temporary stay on Arizona’s new restrictions on the
use of abortion drugs, which had gone into effect a day earlier.
(SFC, 4/3/14, p.A8)
2014 Apr 2, In Detroit,
Michigan, Steve Utash (54) was punched and kicked by several people
as he stopped to check on a boy (10) who was struck when he stepped
in front of Utash’s pickup truck. On Apr 12 a boy (16) was charged
with assault and ethnic intimidation in the beating of Utash, who
remained in critical condition. On June 16, 2014, Bruce Wimbush (18)
acknowledged that he punched Utash during the attack and agreed to
testify against others. On June 19 three others pleaded guilty to
the assault on Utash. On July 7, 2014, Wonzey Saffold (30) was
sentenced to up to ten years in prison for his role in the attack.
(SSFC, 4/13/14, p.A8)(SFC, 6/17/14, p.A7)(SFC,
6/20/14, p.A6)(SFC, 7/8/14, p.A5)
2014 Apr 2, In Texas soldier
Ivan Lopez gunned down 3 people before
killing himself at the Fort Hood Army base. He was under psychiatric
care but had showed no signs of violence or suicidal tendencies.
2014 Apr 2, Washington DC
Councilwoman Muriel Bowser defeated Mayor Vincent Gray in a mayoral
primary leaving Gray to serve nine months as a lame duck. Weeks
earlier federal prosecutors said Gray knew of an illegal $668,000
slush fund that helped him defeat incumbent Adrian Fenty in 2010.
(SFC, 4/3/14, p.A11)
2014 Apr 2, In Washington state
the official death toll from the March 22 mudslide, based on the
number of victims' remains sent to the coroner's office, rose to 29,
up from 28 a day earlier.
2014 Apr 2, In Afghanistan a
suicide bomber wearing a military uniform killed 6 police officers
inside the heavily fortified Interior Ministry compound in Kabul.
Candidate Hussain Nazari and 8 members of his entourage were killed
overnight by their abductors in Sar-i-Pul province.
2014 Apr 2, Britain summoned
the Spanish ambassador to condemn what it called a provocative
incursion by Spanish boats into Gibraltar's territorial waters a day
2014 Apr 2, British authorities
warned people with heart or lung conditions to avoid exertion as a
combination of European emissions and Sahara dust created a "perfect
storm" of pollution that blanketed the country in smog.
2014 Apr 2, In Chile a
7.6-magnitude aftershock struck just before midnight. No new major
damage or casualties were reported.
2014 Apr 2, In southern China
local authorities said torrential rains have left 14 people dead.
Rains have battered Guangdong and Hong Kong since March 29,
grounding some flights in Guangzhou and Shenzhen.
2014 Apr 2, In Croatia Marina
Lovric Merzel, prefect of Sisak county for the ruling Social
Democrat party, was arrested on corruption charges.
2014 Apr 2, In Egypt a series
of explosions outside Cairo University killed two people, including
a police brigadier-general.
2014 Apr 2, The EU and the US
sought ways to reduce the political clout Russia gets from its vast
energy reserves by promising to wean Ukraine and the rest of the
continent off those supplies.
2014 Apr 2, The European
Union's antitrust authority said it is imposing a 302 million-euro
($416 million) fine against 11 producers of high voltage power
cables for operating a cartel. Six European companies, three
Japanese and two South Korean producers reportedly colluded to
allocate customers between themselves from 1999 for about 10 years
on an almost worldwide scale.
2014 Apr 2, A study by Europe’s
Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature
(IUCN) said almost a quarter of Europe's bumblebees are at risk of
extinction due to loss of habitats and climate change, threatening
pollination of crops worth billions of dollars.
2014 Apr 2, Germany's antitrust
authority said it has fined a group of brewers 231.2 million euros
($319 million) for allegedly fixing the price of beer, the second
round of punishments it has made in the case.
2014 Apr 2, Germany’s
Chancellor Angela Merkel's Cabinet approved a national minimum wage,
guaranteeing workers at least 8.50 euros per hour ($11.75) starting
2014 Apr 2, Lufthansa canceled
almost 900 domestic and intercontinental flights after the pilots'
union started a three-day strike in a wage dispute with Germany's
2014 Apr 2, In Iraq a series of
bombings killed 8 people, including army recruits, as the country
prepared for April 30 parliamentary elections.
2014 Apr 2, Italian police
arrested 24 alleged separatists for terrorism after thwarting a plan
to take over St Mark's Square in Venice armed with guns and a
rudimentary "tank" made from a digger.
2014 Apr 2, Kazakhstan PM Serik
Akhmetov (55) unexpectedly announced his resignation and was swiftly
replaced by Karim Masimov (49), his influential predecessor. Masimov
had stepped down as prime minister in 2012 after occupying the
position for five years, during which he shepherded the country's
economy through the global financial crisis.
2014 Apr 2, Lebanese troops
moved into a restive Sunni area in the northern city of Tripoli, in
the second stage of a plan aimed at quelling deadly Syria-linked
2014 Apr 2, In Libya employees
at state-owned Jumhuriya, one of Libya's biggest banks, began a
two-day strike demanding greater protection after a colleague was
shot dead at work a day earlier.
2014 Apr 2, Palestinian foreign
minister Riyad al-Malki said he has delivered requests for
membership of several UN agencies, as part of a move that shook a
fragile Middle East peace process.
2014 Apr 2, Suspected Filipino
Abu Sayyaf insurgents seized Gao Huayuan (29) a Chinese tourist, and
Marcy Dayawan (40), a hotel receptionist, from the Singamata Reef
Resort in eastern Malaysia and then fled in a speed boat. The
kidnappers soon demanded a ransom of 500 million pesos ($11.3
million). On May 30 Malaysia’s PM Najib Razak said both victims have
(AP, 4/3/14)(AFP, 4/5/14)(AP, 4/10/14)(AP,
2014 Apr 2, Qatar's emir held
talks in Sudan at a time of strained ties with his country's Gulf
neighbors over its perceived support for the Egypt-based Muslim
Brotherhood. After the emir's departure, Sudan's Finance Minister
Badraldin Mahmoud Abbas told reporters that Qatar will provide Sudan
with $1 billion to help boost its reserves of hard currency.
2014 Apr 2, A Russian soldier
shot dead Ukrainian naval officer Stanislav Karachevsky in eastern
Crimea, the second Ukrainian death reported since Russia took
control of the Black Sea peninsula.
2014 Apr 2, A Saudi Arabian
court sentenced Faris al-Zahrani, a top al-Qaeda strategist, to
death and jailed 15 others for their role in a series of attacks in
the kingdom last decade. Zahrani was arrested in Abha, a city near
the Yemeni border, in August 2004.
2014 Apr 2, The Swiss
government said it has decided not to adopt European Union sanctions
against 33 people in connection with Russia's annexation of Crimea,
but will prevent them from using Switzerland to get around the visa
bans and asset freezes.
2014 Apr 2, In Syria Brahim
Benchakroun, a former Guantanamo detainee, was reportedly killed
while fighting government forces in Latakia province. He was better
known in Syria as Abu Ahmad al-Maghribi.
2014 Apr 2, In Thailand workers
at a scrap shop in Bangkok accidentally detonated a large bomb
believed to have been dropped during World War II, killing at least
7 people and injuring 19 others.
2014 Apr 2, Ukraine took the
first step toward granting more powers to the regions in line with
Western wishes but stopped well short of creating the federation
sought by Russia.
2014 Apr 2, Ukraine's ousted
president, Viktor Yanukovych, said that he was "wrong" to invite
Russian troops into Crimea, and vowed to try to persuade Russia to
return the Black Sea peninsula.
2014 Apr 2, In Yemen al-Qaeda
attacked an army headquarters in a heavily patrolled district of
Aden, leaving 11 people dead, including three attackers, despite
recent government measures to improve security.
2014 Apr 3, President Barack
Obama signed a decree authorizing punitive sanctions, such as
seizure of assets and visa bans, against anyone in South Sudan
deemed to be threatening peace efforts, targeting UN peacekeeping
forces and violating human rights.
2014 Apr 3, It was reported
that the US government masterminded the creation of a "Cuban
Twitter" — a communications network designed to undermine the Cuba’s
communist government, built with secret shell companies and financed
through foreign banks. The project, dubbed "ZunZuneo," slang for a
Cuban hummingbird's tweet, was publicly launched soon after Cuba’s
2009 arrest of US contractor Alan Gross.
2014 Apr 3, Mississippi Gov.
Phil Bryant signed the Mississippi Religious Freedom Restoration
Act. It banned the state government from limiting the free practice
of religion effective July 1.
(SFC, 4/26/14, p.A6)(http://tinyurl.com/lf9kcnu)
2014 Apr 3, Frank Janssen, the
father of a North Carolina prosecutor, was kidnapped from his home
in Wake Forest. He was held for five days in Atlanta before being
rescued by the FBI. Seven people were soon arrested in the case.
Janssen’s daughter had prosecuted a high-ranking member of the
Bloods street gang.
(SFC, 4/22/14, p.A6)
2014 Apr 3, The state of Texas
executed Tommy Lynn Sells after the US Supreme Court refused to
issue an 11th hour stay to allow lawyers time to investigate the
source and quality of the lethal drugs used put their client to
death. Mr. Sells was on death row for 13 years following his
conviction for killing a 13-year-old Texas girl on New Year’s Eve
2014 Apr 3, Texas-based
Anadarko Petroleum said it has agreed to pay the US government over
$5.1 billion to thousands of sites polluted by toxins and compensate
thousands of personal-injury claimants. The case originated with
claims against Kerr-McGee, an Oklahoma energy company that went
bankrupt and was bought by Anadarko nearly a decade ago.
(SFC, 4/4/14, p.A6)
2014 Apr 3, In Australia a
large shark killed Christine Armstrong (63) near her terrified
husband and friends as they took their daily morning swim off a
popular east coast beach near the village of Tathra.
2014 Apr 3, Britain's Queen
Elizabeth II paid a private call on Pope Francis at the Vatican,
making him the fifth pontiff she has met.
2014 Apr 3, In Cambodia 118
employees passed out at work at the Shen Zhou and Daqian Textile
factories in Phnom Penh.
2014 Apr 3, Chadian officials
said they are withdrawing their peacekeepers from the regional
mission in Central African Republic.
2014 Apr 3, The European
Parliament voted to stop Internet providers from charging for
preferential access to their networks, a step cheered by consumer
groups but bemoaned by the telecommunications industry.
2014 Apr 3, The European Space
Agency launched its Sentinel 1A satellite on a Russian Soyuz rocket
from French Guiana. It was the first of six satellites for a new
system designed to better monitor climate change, environmental
disasters and catastrophes like floods, volcanic eruptions and
(AP, 4/3/14)(SFC, 4/5/14, p.A2)
2014 Apr 3, Germany’s Deutsche
Post said it is no longer accepting letters bound for Crimea after
its Ukrainian counterpart told the Geneva-based Universal Postal
Union (UPU) that delivery to the region was no longer guaranteed.
2014 Apr 3, Former Guinea
Bissau President Kumba Yala (61) died. He had ruled the West African
nation from 2000 to 2003.
2014 Apr 3, In Iraq fighting
between government troops and al-Qaida-inspired militants killed 40
gunmen and an army officer near Baghdad, as attacks continued
elsewhere in the country ahead of elections this month.
2014 Apr 3, Italian police
arrested Nicola Cosentino, a former member of Silvio Berlusconi's
government, accusing him of colluding with the mafia to quash
competition against his family's petrol distribution business near
Naples. Twelve others were also arrested on suspicion of extortion
and unfair competitive practices.
2014 Apr 3, Liberia said it was
dealing with its first suspected Ebola case thought to be
unconnected to the epidemic raging in Guinea and to have originated
separately within its borders. The fruit bat, thought to be the host
of the highly contagious Ebola virus, is a delicacy in the region
straddling Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, and experts suspect
huntsmen may be the source of the outbreak.
2014 Apr 3, Nigerian troops
reportedly killed 32 Fulani tribesmen in the Keana local government
area central Nasarawa state. Defense officials denied the charge.
2014 Apr 3, Nigeria’s Nollywood
was reported to knock out some 2,000 titles a year, making it the
third-largest earner in the movie world, after Bollywood and
Hollywood. The $250-million industry employed more than a million
2014 Apr 3, Pakistan freed at
least 16 Taliban prisoners with the approval of PM Nawaz Sharif, in
a move designed to invigorate a shaky peace process with the
2014 Apr 3, Russia’s gas giant
Gazprom urged Ukraine to pay its debt, and announced a 70 percent
rise in the charge for future supplies.
2014 Apr 3, In the Solomon
Islands the Mataniko River in the capital, Honiara, burst its banks
and flooded low-lying settlements alongside the river. The flash
floods killed 14 people and left thousands more homeless.
2014 Apr 3, In Syria mortar
fire killed at least six children in a suburb of Damascus. 22
opposition fighters were killed in the army's bombardment of Mleiha
east of Damascus.
(AP, 4/3/14)(AFP, 4/4/14)
2014 Apr 3, The number of
Syrian refugees who have fled to Lebanon officially topped 1
2014 Apr 3, Turkey's telecoms
authority lifted a two-week-old ban on Twitter, after the
constitutional court ruled the block breached freedom of expression.
2014 Apr 3, Ugandan police in
Kampala raided the offices of a US-funded project known to offer
AIDS services to homosexuals, in what appeared to be the first
public action by police to enforce a new law that strengthened
criminal penalties against gay sex.
2014 Apr 3, Ukraine authorities
said that they have detained several members of an elite riot police
unit on suspicion of shooting protesters during bloody
anti-government clashes in February that left more than 100 dead.
The interim government has said former Pres. Yanukovych ordered
snipers to be deployed, a charge Yanukovych has denied.
2014 Apr 4, Pres. Obama met
with Tunisia’s PM Mehdi Jomaa in Washington DC for talks on security
and financial aid. On returning home Jomaa said the US has extended
$500 million in new loan guarantees to Tunisia and lifted a State
Department warning about traveling there.
(SFC, 4/4/14, p.A4)(AP, 4/6/14)
2014 Apr 4, US Attorney General
Eric Holder promised Congress a thorough investigation into whether
high-frequency trading violates laws against insider trading. The
practice drew extensive coverage with the recent publication of
“Flash Boys" by Michael Lewis.
(SFC, 4/5/14, p.D1)
2014 Apr 4, In eastern
Afghanistan Anja Niedringhaus (48), a veteran Associated Press
photographer, was shot dead and reporter Kathy Gannon (60) was
wounded while they were sitting in the back of a car when an Afghan
policeman opened fire on them near Khost. The policeman, identified
as a unit commander named Naqibullah, surrendered to colleagues
after the shooting. On Jul 22 Naqibullah was convicted and sentenced
to death. That decision was overturned by an appeals court and in
2015 Naqibullah was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
(Reuters, 4/4/14)(AP, 4/8/14)(AP, 7/24/14)(AP,
2014 Apr 4, Afghan residents in
Nangarhar province said local Taliban militants have been offering
voters 500 Pakistani rupees - the equivalent of just over $5 - to
opt out of the April 5 election.
2014 Apr 4, In Belgium
protesters, called by trade unions from across Europe, clashed with
police in Brussels at a demonstration against high unemployment,
throwing stones and smashing windows as they marched from the city
center to the European Union district.
2014 Apr 4, British police
re-arrested Domenico Rancadore in London after they received a new
arrest warrant request from Italy. The warrant alleges that the
65-year-old has an "outstanding sentence of seven years of
imprisonment to serve for participation in Mafia association" from
1987 to 1995 in Sicily.
2014 Apr 4, China’s energy
administration said it will close 1,725 small-scale mines with a
total capacity of 117.48 million tons in 2014 as part of its program
to phase out low-quality coal production.
2014 Apr 4, Ecuador's
Tungurahua volcano spewed a 6-mile (10-km) column of ash after a
powerful, five-minute explosion that shot pyroclastic material onto
its northern and northwestern flanks.
2014 Apr 4, European Union
foreign ministers gathered in Athens for two days of an informal
meeting where attention focused on the crisis in Ukraine and the
civil war in Syria.
2014 Apr 4, Guyana said it has
closed a government office in Bartica that regulated the sale of
gold after discovering that millions of dollars in gold had been
replaced with silver. Several employees were detained.
(SSFC, 4/6/14, p.A2)
2014 Apr 4, In central
Indonesia a passenger train hit mounds of mud triggered by a
landslide and derailed, killing at least 3 people.
2014 Apr 4, In Iraq separate
attacks targeting the military and a marketplace in Baghdad killed 6
people, including members of the security forces.
2014 Apr 4, Israeli military
aircraft struck militant targets in the Gaza Strip hours after
Palestinians there fired rockets at Israel.
2014 Apr 4, In Italy Curtis
Bill Pepper (96), a long-time foreign correspondent for Newsweek and
author of eight books, in Todi, Umbria.
2014 Apr 4, Mali, Liberia and
Sierra Leone geared up to tackle killer haemorrhagic fevers
including Ebola, which has claimed 86 lives in Guinea. Mali claimed
3 suspect cases; Liberia claimed 14; Sierra Leone claimed several
2014 Apr 4, The Secretary
General of the International Road Transport Union said Russia is
inflicting $2.2 billion of annual costs on cross-border trade by
enforcing illegal customs charges and inspections on trucks.
2014 Apr 4, South Korean
rescuers recovered the bodies of two North Korean sailors, pulled
three survivors and were searching for 11 others missing after their
cargo ship sank off South Korea's coast. The Mongolian-flagged ship
was carrying 16 North Korean crew members when it sent a distress
signal in international waters about 130 km (80 miles) south of the
southern port city of Yeosu.
2014 Apr 4, In Syria regime
tanks and warplanes pounded besieged Mleiha east of Damascus,
pressing a campaign to take control of the opposition-held town.
Fighting resumed in Latakia where more than 300 fighters on both
sides have been killed in the past two weeks.
2014 Apr 4, Syria completed the
delivery of a consignment of chemical weapons materials for export
and destruction overseas.
(SFC, 4/5/14, p.A2)
2014 Apr 4, A Turkish court
ruled that a blanket ban of social-media website YouTube violated
human rights and ordered most of the restrictions be lifted, citing
a top court ruling this week that scrapped a similar ban on
microblogging site Twitter. But the court soon reversed the YouTube
decision, saying the block would remain in place until the audio
recordings allegedly showing top-level security talks on Syria are
(Reuters, 4/4/14)(AFP, 4/5/14)
2014 Apr 4, Ukraine's
Western-backed leaders scrambled to find new sources of energy after
Russia hiked its gas price by 81 percent in response to the
overthrow of Kiev's pro-Kremlin regime.
(AFP, 4/4/14)(AFP, 4/5/14)
2014 Apr 4, In Ukraine
journalist Vasily Sergiyenko, a member of nationalist Svoboda party,
was abducted in his home city of Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi. The body of
the reporter was later found in a forest with stab wounds and signs
of beatings to his head and knees.
2014 Apr 5, Atlanta’s Roman
Catholic Archbishop Wilton Gregory, in an effort to appease angry
parishioners, said that he will sell a $2.2 million mansion just
three months after he moved in.
2014 Apr 5, Peter Matthiessen
(b.1927), a co-founder of the Paris Review (1953) and two-time
winner of the National Book Award, died at a hospital on Long
Island. His books included “The Snow Leopard" (1978) and “Shadow
(SSFC, 4/6/14, p.A18)
2014 Apr 5, Afghans voted
nationwide, defying a threat of violence by the Taliban to cast
ballots in what promises to be the nation's first democratic
transfer of power. Around 60 percent of eligible voters cast their
ballots. Rocket attacks and gunbattles forced authorities to close
some 211 polling centers, raising the total number that weren't
opened because of security concerns to 959. 6,212 polling centers
(AP, 4/5/14)(Reuters, 4/6/14)
2014 Apr 5, In Brazil more than
2,000 soldiers stormed into the Mare slum complex of Rio de Janeiro
with armored personnel carriers and helicopters in a bid to improve
security two months before the start of the World Cup.
2014 Apr 5, In northern
Cameroon two Italian priests and a Canadian nun working as
missionaries were abducted before dawn in their residences by two
armed groups. On June 1 the Vatican and Italy’s foreign ministry
said Gianantonio Allegri, Giampaolo Marta and Gilberte Bussier have
(AP, 4/5/14)(AP, 6/1/14)
2014 Apr 5, Chinese state media
reported that kindergarten headmaster Shi Haixia and a man were
sentenced to death in a poisoning case that left two girls dead.
Haixia was upset that a rival school had better enrollments and
injected rat poison into a bottle of yogurt. She then asked her
accomplice to place it on the road in late April 2013, with a
notebook and a pencil in a plastic bag on the way to the other
kindergarten in Pingshan County, Hebei province.
(AP, 4/5/14)(AFP, 4/6/14)
2014 Apr 5, In China workers in
Guangdong province walked out of factories owned by Yue Yuen, a
Taiwanese maker of branded shoes. The walkout grew to involve tens
of thousands of workers.
(Econ, 4/26/14, p.41)
2014 Apr 5, In Egypt at least
23 people were killed in overnight clashes between rival families in
the southern city of Aswan.
2014 Apr 5, The European Union
said it plans to set up an international court in Kosovo to deal
with alleged crimes committed by ethnic-Albanian guerrillas during
the war with Serbia.
2014 Apr 5, In France Anne
Hidalgo (54), the first female mayor of Paris, took office, hailing
a "great advance for all women" and saying she feels the weight of
responsibility in her new job.
2014 Apr 5, In Iraq an
explosion at a booby-trapped house near Fallujah, ensuing clashes
with militants and roadside bombings killed 21 soldiers.
(SSFC, 4/6/14, p.A2)
2014 Apr 5, In Mali former
planning minister Moussa Mara (39) was promoted to the premiership
after Mali's first post-war PM Oumar Tatam Ly (50) quit just six
months into office. Ly had reportedly become frustrated over being
unable to enact reforms in the administration.
2014 Apr 5, In northern Nigeria
gunmen believed to be Fulani herdsmen stormed a meeting in Yar
Galadima, Zamfara state. The clashes between suspected Fulani cattle
rustlers mounted on motorbikes and local youth vigilantes left 72
(AFP, 4/6/14)(Reuters, 4/7/14)
2014 Apr 5, In Nigeria Umar
Sani (35) hosted a small wedding celebration at his home in the
small Kano village of Unguwar Yansoro. Wasila Tasi'u was 13 when she
married Umar Sani. Prosecutors later claimed that Tasi'u prepared
food and laced it with rat poison before serving it to her guests.
Four people, including Sani, died within hours of eating the meal.
On June 9, 2015, a judge ordered Wasila Tasi'u to be released from
(AFP, 5/20/15)(AP, 6/10/15)
2014 Apr 5, Panama’s President
Ricardo Martinelli inaugurated Central America's first subway
system, the most-emblematic project of a five-year term marked by
fast economic growth and more than a hint of hubris.
2014 Apr 5, South Sudanese
President Salva Kiir arrived in Khartoum to meet Sudanese President
2014 Apr 5, In Spain British
millionaire Andrew Bush (48) was shot and killed in his home on
Spain's Costa del Sol. In 2016 his former girlfriend, Slovakian
model Maria Kukucova (26), was found guilty of the murder.
2014 Apr 5, In Syria mortar
shells continued to hit Damascus and the central city of Homs amid
heavy fighting. A rocket hit Homs and struck a market in the western
neighborhood of Inshaat, killing six people.
2014 Apr 5, Thousands of Thai
pro-government "Red Shirts" massed in a show of support for PM
Yingluck Shinawatra, warning that they would resist attempts to oust
her through the courts.
2014 Apr 5, Ukraine rejected
Russia's latest gas price hike and threatened to take its
energy-rich neighbor to arbitration court over a dispute that could
imperil deliveries to western Europe.
2014 Apr 5, Ukraine’s security
service said it has detained a 15-strong armed gang planning to
seize power in Luhansk province. Weapons seized included 300 machine
guns, an anti-tank grenade launcher and a large number of grenades.
(SSFC, 4/6/14, p.A5)
2014 Apr 5, UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon traveled to Central African Republic
for the first time since the country erupted into sectarian
bloodshed four months ago. Ban has urged council members to act
quickly on his recommendation for a 12,000-member peacekeeping
2014 Apr 6, Mickey Rooney
(b.1920), American stage and screen star, died in southern
(SFC, 4/7/14, p.A6)
2014 Apr 6, In Afghanistan a
roadside bomb killed two Afghan election workers and one policeman
and destroyed dozens of ballot papers in Kunduz province.
2014 Apr 6, The Australian navy
ship Ocean Shield picked up two separate signals late last night and
early today in seas far off the west Australian coast. Confirmation
that the signals belong to Malaysia’s Flight 370's black boxes could
2014 Apr 6, Officials in the
Bahamas said the charred corpses of 3 men and one women were found
under burning tires on the uninhabited Anguilla Cay. Investigators
said the people may have been Haitian migrants.
(SFC, 4/7/14, p.A2)
2014 Apr 6, In London three
women from the United Arab Emirates were in hospital after being
savagely attacked in their room at the four-star Cumberland Hotel by
a man wielding a hammer. On April 8 officers arrested three men aged
56, 34 and 32 on suspicion of attempted murder following raids at
addresses in north London. A woman (31) was also arrested on
suspicion of handling stolen goods.
(AFP, 4/7/14)(AP, 4/9/14)
2014 Apr 6, In Chile a fire
tore through a nursing home in Paillaco killing 9 residents and
(SFC, 4/7/14, p.A2)
2014 Apr 6, Costa Rica held
presidential elections. Historian and former diplomat Luis Guillermo
Solis (55) faced no opposition in the run-off election.
2014 Apr 6, In southern Egypt
clashes between an Arab clan and a Nubian family resumed in Aswan,
killing 2 people and wounding four. The bloody feud began after a
fight last week between school students drew in adults.
2014 Apr 6, Hungary held
elections. PM Viktor Orban's Fidesz party won the parliamentary
elections by a wide margin, with a left-wing coalition and the
far-right Jobbik party in second place. An official projection gave
Orban's Fidesz party 133 of 199 parliament seats, guaranteeing it
will form the next government.
(AP, 4/6/14)(Reuters, 4/7/14)(SSFC, 5/11/14,
2014 Apr 6, In Iraq gunmen near
Baghdad kidnapped and later shot to death 6 men, the deadliest of a
series of attacks that killed at least 15 people across the country.
(AP, 4/6/14)(SFC, 4/7/14, p.A2)
2014 Apr 6, Israeli warplanes
attacked several sites in the Gaza Strip, hours after a rocket from
the Palestinian enclave hit the Jewish state.
2014 Apr 6, Jordanian officials
said bloody riots have erupted at the largest camp for Syrian
refugees, leaving at least one refugee dead by gunshot and 31 people
2014 Apr 6, A key Libyan
militia in the east agreed to hand back control of four oil
terminals it captured and shut down last summer in its demand for a
share in oil revenues.
2014 Apr 6, In Morocco
thousands of workers, teachers and civil servants marched through
downtown Casablanca to protest austerity plans put in place by the
government to control runaway spending.
2014 Apr 6, In Syria at least
13 rebel fighters were killed in a vehicle explosion in Homs. At
least 5 people including three children were reported killed in the
Damascus suburb of Douma during shelling by government forces. 2
people were killed and eight wounded when mortar fire hit the
grounds of the Damascus Opera House. Several rebels were killed
while they were rigging a car with explosives in Homs.
(Reuters, 4/6/14)(AP, 4/6/14)(AP, 4/7/14)
2014 Apr 6, In southern
Thailand suspected Muslim insurgents launched a wave of attacks in
Yala that killed one person and wounded 24 others.
2014 Apr 6, In Ukraine about 50
pro-Russian protesters broke through police lines and stormed inside
the main administration building in the eastern city of Donetsk.
Pro-Russian activists seized government buildings in at least three
(AFP, 4/6/14)(AP, 4/7/14)
2014 Apr 7, The US approved a
bill barring Iranian diplomat Hamid Abutalebi from entering the
country. Officials objected to his selection as Iran’s new UN
ambassador because of his alleged participation in a Muslim student
group that held 52 Americans hostage in the 1979 seizure of the US
Embassy in Tehran.
2014 Apr 7, Marc Benioff,
founder of Salesforce.com, and his wife Lynne announced a 2nd $100
million donation to the UCSF and Children’s Hospital of Oakland,
which formed an alliance in January for research and medical care.
(SFC, 4/8/14, p.A1)
2014 Apr 7, Researchers at
Codenomicon, a security outfit, revealed the Heartbleed bug, a
software flaw that made up to two-thirds of the world’s websites
vulnerable to hackers.
(Econ, 4/12/14, p.65)
2014 Apr 7, In Washington state
the death toll from the March 22 mudslide rose to 33 with 12 people
still missing. As of April 17 all 39 recovered victims were
identified and 4 remained missing.
(SFC, 4/8/14, p.A6)(SFC, 4/18/14, p.A7)
2014 Apr 7, Preliminary tallies
from Afghanistan's presidential election showed former foreign
minister Abdullah Abdullah leading in parts of Kabul but, with
ballot counting likely to last weeks. Preliminary results were not
due until April 24.
2014 Apr 7, In southern
Afghanistan a roadside bomb killed at least 15 people traveling in
vehicles that had been diverted from a main road after an earlier
attack in Kandahar province.
2014 Apr 7, Peaches Geldof
(25), the daughter of Irish musician and Band Aid founder Bob Geldof
and TV presenter Paula Yates, was pronounced dead by paramedics at
her home in Wrotham, southeast of London. On July 23 a coroner ruled
that she was a heroin addict and died of a drug overdose.
(AP, 4/8/14)(AFP, 7/23/14)
2014 Apr 7, Quebec voters gave
a resounding no to the prospect of holding a third referendum on
independence from Canada, handing the main separatist party in the
French-speaking province one of its worst electoral defeats ever.
Liberals got 41.5 percent of the vote and took 70 seats in the
125-member National Assembly.
2014 Apr 7, In China the
Xiahaizi mine in Yunnan province suddenly filled with water
following an explosion, leaving 22 miners trapped. The death toll
rose to 20 with the recovery of another 14 bodies nearly two weeks
after the accident.
2014 Apr 7, Ecuador issued a
letter ordering the US Embassy's military group, about 20 Defense
Department employees, to leave the country by month's end, in a
further indication of strained relations.
2014 Apr 7, An Egyptian court
sentenced four men to up to eight years in prison for practicing
2014 Apr 7, German authorities
said reclusive collector Cornelius Gurlitt, who hoarded hundreds of
valuable artworks at his Munich home, has agreed to cooperate in
efforts to determine which pieces were seized by the Nazis.
2014 Apr 7, India began to hold
the world's biggest election. Hindu nationalist opposition candidate
Narendra Modi held a strong lead but was likely to fall short of a
2014 Apr 7, India's Sun
Pharmaceutical Industries said it is buying troubled generic
drugmaker Ranbaxy Laboratories from Japan’s Daiichi Sankyo in deal
valuing it a $3.2 billion. In 2008 Sankyo paid $4.6 billion for
(AP, 4/7/14)(Econ, 4/12/14, p.67)
2014 Apr 7, Film censors in
Indonesia and Malaysia banned the biblical epic "Noah," saying that
the portrayal of the ark-building prophet by Russell Crowe was
against Islamic laws. Depictions of any prophet are shunned in Islam
to avoid worship of a person rather than God.
2014 Apr 7, In Iraq a suicide
car bomb attack on a police checkpoint near Samarra killed 5 people,
including 3 policemen.
2014 Apr 7, Japan and Australia
clinched a basic trade deal to cut import tariffs. US and Japanese
officials stepped up efforts to reach a parallel agreement that
would re-energize stalled talks on a broader regional pact.
2014 Apr 7, Kuwait agreed to
supply Egypt with 85,000 barrels of oil daily and 1.5 million tons
of fuel for three years as part of a newly agreed commercial deal.
The supplies would be valued at market prices and delivered by the
end of 2016.
2014 Apr 7, Latvia said it is
joining Lithuania in banning Russian state TV broadcasts because it
found that several programs about the Ukraine crisis were
tendentious and not in the Baltic nation's security interests. A
three-month suspension of RTR Rossiya broadcasts will begin April 8.
2014 Apr 7, In Lebanon at least
8 people were killed in fighting between Palestinian factions at the
Mieh Mieh refugee camp near Sidon.
2014 Apr 7, In Libya residents
of the Benghazi observed a general strike to protest against
militant violence, as youths blocked streets of the capital in a
show of support.
2014 Apr 7, Morocco police in a
crackdown on violent crime began arresting so-called “Tchermil" (a
slang Moroccan term for marinated meat) hooligans. By April 25
police arrested 83 men in Casablanca alone and dramatically reduced
(SFC, 5/3/14, p.A4)
2014 Apr 7, A UN human rights
envoy said severe shortages of food, water and medical care for
Rohingya Muslims in western Myanmar are part of a long history of
persecution against the religious minority that could amount to
"crimes against humanity," an allegation denied by the government.
2014 Apr 7, Pakistani security
forces killed 30 separatist militants in an offensive in
Baluchistan, in one of the biggest clashes in months in the gas-rich
2014 Apr 7, A judge in Puerto
Rico ordered a diocese to provide state prosecutors with all
confidential documents related to an ongoing sexual abuse probe. The
Diocese of Arecibo has defrocked six priests accused of sex abuse,
and prosecutors are investigating at least 11 other priests facing
2014 Apr 7, In Rwanda Cassien
Ntamuhanga, head of a Christian radio station, disappeared in Kigali
without a trace after a ceremony commemorating the 1994 genocide.
2014 Apr 7, In Somalia two men
working for the United Nations were shot dead at Galkayo airport.
Former British police officer Simon Davis (57) and his French
colleague, researcher Clement Gorrissen (28), were working on links
between money transfer systems and piracy.
(Reuters, 4/7/14)(AFP, 4/9/14)
2014 Apr 7, Police in South
Africa arrested Makhele Lehlohonolo Joseph Scott (27), a fugitive
from neighboring Lesotho. He had escaped from a prison where he was
awaiting trial after allegedly confessing to cannibalism and two
murders in 2012.
2014 Apr 7, Spain said it has
dismantled a group it accused of plotting to send industrial
equipment to Iran that could be used for weapon manufacture in
violation of international sanctions. Four suspects were arrested.
2014 Apr 7, Sri Lanka's foreign
minister says that his country will not cooperate with the United
Nations human rights chief when she begins an investigation into
alleged war crimes from the island nation's civil war.
2014 Apr 7, Swiss-based Holcim
and its French counterpart, Lafarge, two of the world's largest
suppliers of building materials, announced plans for a merger of
2014 Apr 7, In Syria the
strategic area of Rankus in Qalamun went under heavy regime shelling
and continuous air raids, ahead of a plan to storm it.
2014 Apr 7, In Syria a masked
gunman assassinated Jesuit Father Francis Van Der Lugt (75), a
well-known, elderly Dutch priest, shooting him in the head in the
garden of a monastery where he lived in Homs.
2014 Apr 7, In Ukraine
pro-Russian separatists who seized a provincial administration
building in the eastern city of Donetsk proclaimed the region
2014 Apr 7, Ukraine's ecology
and natural resources minister estimated on that Kiev had lost
natural resources and related assets worth 127 billion hryvnias
($10.8 bln) when Russia annexed the Crimea region.
2014 Apr 8, A US jury ordered
Japanese drugmaker Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. and its US counterpart,
Eli Lilly and Co., to pay $9 billion in punitive damages over Actos,
a diabetes medicine linked to cancer. The drug companies said they
will "vigorously challenge" the decision.
2014 Apr 8, In Central African
Republic at least 30 people were killed in fighting between mainly
Christian militia and predominantly Muslim rebels in the central
town of Dekoa. Most of the dead were civilians, killed by Muslims
who fired into a crowd of people they mistook for Christian
(AFP, 4/9/14)(AP, 4/10/14)
2014 Apr 8, The defense chiefs
of China and the US faced off over Beijing's escalating territorial
disputes in the region, with US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel
telling his Chinese counterparts they do not have the right to
unilaterally establish an air defense zone over disputed islands
with no consultation.
2014 Apr 8, A Shanghai
collector paid a record $36 million for a rare Ming Dynasty cup
that's touted as the "holy grail" of China's art world.
2014 Apr 8, China and Brazil
signed a corn-import deal.
(Econ, 4/12/14, p.27)
2014 Apr 8, Intel announced
plans to close its operations in Costa Rica. Hours later Bank of
America said it would lay off 1,400 workers in Costa Rica part of a
global restructuring program.
(Econ, 4/19/14, p.33)
2014 Apr 8, In Cuba Alan Gross
(64), arrested in 2009, said he had begun a fast the previous week
to protest his incarceration. The former contractor for the US
Agency for Int’l. Development, was serving a 15-year sentence for
crimes against the state after he was caught setting up illegal
Internet access for the country's small Jewish community.
(AP, 4/9/14)(SFC, 4/9/14, p.A2)
2014 Apr 8, The European
Union's highest court overthrew a rule that required telecoms
companies to store the communications data of EU citizens for up to
two years, on the grounds that it infringed on basic rights.
2014 Apr 8, In France Manuel
Valls used his first speech to parliament as prime minister to
announce corporation tax cuts and outline public spending savings.
2014 Apr 8, The German
government signed off on a draft law that will allow young Germans
of foreign origin to have dual citizenship, a move that relaxes some
of Europe's strictest nationality laws and will benefit the large
2014 Apr 8, Chancellor Angela
Merkel's cabinet approved a reform of Germany's renewable energy law
designed to curb a rise in the cost of electricity.
2014 Apr 8, WHO officials said
more than 100 people have died in an outbreak of Ebola in West
Africa, with as many as 175 people infected. This included 151
suspected and confirmed cases of the disease in guinea, where 98
people have died, and 10 deaths in Liberia.
2014 Apr 8, Indian government
forces engaged suspected rebels in a fierce gunbattle overnight that
left two rebels dead along with an Indian soldier and two police
officers in Kashmir.
2014 Apr 8, Iraq's electoral
commission said that there will be no balloting on April 30 in parts
of the Sunni-dominated Anbar province engulfed in clashes between
security forces and al-Qaida-inspired militants. Attacks left 15
people dead. Security forces said they killed 25 militants near
Baghdad amid worries insurgents are encroaching on the capital weeks
ahead of elections.
(AP, 4/8/14)(AFP, 4/8/14)
2014 Apr 8, President Michael
Higgins became the first Irish head of state to make a state visit
to Britain, crowning a big improvement in historically fraught
relations between Dublin and its former colonial master.
2014 Apr 8, A Kenyan official
said at least 3,000 people have been arrested during four days of
security operations following a wave of terror attacks. Most of
those arrested were scrutinized by security agencies and released,
but 447 were being held in custody under anti-terrorism laws.
2014 Apr 8, Libya's parliament
charged interim PM Abdullah al-Than with forming a new cabinet after
the weak central government had earlier requested wider powers.
2014 Apr 8, A Norwegian court
authorized the extradition of Eugene Nkuranyabahizi (41), a man
suspected of being involved in the Rwandan genocide two decades ago.
2014 Apr 8, In southwestern
Pakistan bomb ripped through a railway car parked at a station in
Sibi, Baluchistan province, killing at least 16 people and sending
flames and smoke billowing into the air. The separatist United
Baluch Liberation Army said the attack was in retaliation for a
military operation a day earlier against the group's activists in
(AP, 4/8/14)(SFC, 4/9/14, p.A2)
2014 Apr 8, Saudi Arabia’s
Shura Council recommended that a longstanding ban on sports in
girls' state schools, relaxed in private schools last year, be ended
2014 Apr 8, The Organization of
Islamic Cooperation said that 14 non-governmental organizations have
pledged $300,000 dollars to establish a new office at its
headquarters in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, that seeks to improve
international coordination to assist Muslims affected by natural
disasters and wars around the world.
2014 Apr 8, Spanish lawmakers
overwhelmingly shot down Catalonia's bid for an independence
2014 Apr 8, Sudan expelled the
country chief of a UN agency and accused her of interfering in
domestic affairs. Pamela DeLargy, an American, had headed the UN
Population Fund (UNFPA) office in Sudan.
2014 Apr 8, Syrian state media
said Iran has sent 30,000 tons of food supplies to help President
Bashar Assad's government deal with shortages amid civil war.
2014 Apr 8, Ukrainian
authorities reasserted control over an administration building in
Kharkiv, the country's second-largest city, evicting pro-Russian
protesters and detaining dozens. In Donetsk the makings of an
improvised self-appointed government began taking shape as
demonstrators dug in for their third day at the 11-story regional
administration headquarters. In Luhansk pro-Russia groups remained
in control of the local branch of the security services, which they
seized over the weekend.
2014 Apr 8, In southeastern
Yemen suspected militants killed 5 soldiers guarding a checkpoint. A
leader of a Shi'ite Muslim party was wounded in a drive-by shooting
in the capital Sanaa in which two guards died.
2014 Apr 9, It was reported
that a virus, never before seen in the US, has killed millions of
baby pigs since porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) first showed up in
(SFC, 4/9/14, p.A5)
2014 Apr 9, Stuart Parkin (58)
won the Finnish 1 million-euro ($1.3 million) Millennium Technology
Prize for discoveries leading to a thousand-fold increase in digital
data storage on magnetic disks. The British-American physicist
directed the IBM-Stanford spintronic science center in California.
2014 Apr 9, An Alabama
prosecutor said Jose Manuel Martinez (51), arrested a year ago in
Arizona, has confessed to carrying out up to 40 slayings since 1980
as an enforcer for a drug cartel. Martinez was charged a day earlier
with murdering 9 people in Central California.
(SFC, 4/10/14, p.A9)
2014 Apr 9, In Florida the
driver of an SUV caused a car to crash into a day care center
killing a girl (4) and injuring 14 others. Robert Alex Corchado (28)
surrendered to police the next day.
(SFC, 4/11/14, p.A6)
2014 Apr 9, In Pennsylvania
Alex Hribal (16) stabbed and slashed 21 fellow students and a
security guard at the Franklin Regional High School in Murrysville.
(SFC, 4/10/14, p.A7)
2014 Apr 9, In Texas Ramiro
Hernandez-Llanas (44) was executed for the 1997 slaying of Glen Lich
(49) a former Baylor Univ. history professor.
(SFC, 4/10/14, p.A6)
2014 Apr 9, In Vienna, Austria,
Iran and six major powers discussed all important issues on curbing
Tehran's nuclear program and planned to begin a new round of
negotiations in Vienna on May 13.
2014 Apr 9, Belgian authorities
destroyed over 1,500 kilos (3,300 pounds) of ivory that had been
seized by customs over the past three decades to serve as a warning
to international smugglers who kill elephants daily for their tusks.
2014 Apr 9, British Culture
Secretary Maria Miller, who was in charge of legislation on press
regulation and gay marriage, resigned after an embarrassing row over
her parliamentary expense account.
2014 Apr 9, In Colombia
Alejandro Correa (22) died after an unidentified person threw acid
over 90% of his body. More than 900 such attacks have been
documented in Colombia since 2004.
(SSFC, 4/13/14, p.A4)
2014 Apr 9, Egypt state news
said security forces have arrested a man who worked for Qatar's Al
Jazeera television network and accused him of inciting and taking
part in violence. Abdel Rahman Shaheen was described as a Muslim
2014 Apr 9, The EU published
new rules on green energy designed to replace subsidies with
market-based schemes. The rules take effect from July 1 this year
and from 2017 all member states will have to hold tenders to support
new green power facilities following a pilot phase from 2015-16.
2014 Apr 9, A French court
blocked the extradition of exiled Kazakh oligarch Mukhtar Ablyazov,
an opposition figure wanted on embezzlement charges. Russia alleges
Ablyazov embezzled $5 billion (3.6 billion euros). Ukraine accuses
him of pilfering another $400 million.
2014 Apr 9, German prosecutors
released more than 1,000 artworks found at the Munich apartment of
reclusive collector Cornelius Gurlitt, days after he agreed to
cooperate with authorities in determining which pieces were seized
by the Nazis. At least 458 works owned by the collector that are
being checked for a Nazi-era past remained in government hands.
2014 Apr 9, Greece announced it
was returning to international bond markets for the first time in
four years. Thousands of striking Greeks marched to parliament on to
protest against job cuts and austerity measures imposed by the
country's foreign creditors.
(AP, 4/9/14)(Reuters, 4/9/14)
2014 Apr 9, Indonesia held
parliamentary elections. 190 million citizens were eligible to vote.
Exit polls gave the opposition PDI-P 19% of the vote.
(Reuters, 4/9/14)(Econ, 4/5/14, p.33)
2014 Apr 9, Iran and Azerbaijan
signed deals to build a hydroelectric plant and boost environmental
and athletic cooperation as Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev
2014 Apr 9, In Iraq car bombs
hit several mostly Shiite neighborhoods of Baghdad and Numaniyah
south of the capital, killing at least 34 people and wounding
(AP, 4/9/14)(SFC, 4/10/14, p.A4)
2014 Apr 9, Japan-based Toyota
Motor Corp. said it is recalling 6.39 million vehicles globally for
a variety of problems spanning nearly 30 models in Japan, the US,
Europe and other places.
2014 Apr 9, Kenya expelled over
80 Somalis as security forces maintained a major crackdown on
suspected Islamists that has seen thousands rounded up in the
(AFP, 4/9/14)(SFC, 4/10/14, p.A2)
2014 Apr 9, Kuwait said three
of its citizens have been kidnapped in Syria and it has asked Turkey
for help in trying to secure their release. Kidnappers asked for a
ransom of 1 million euros ($1.38 million).
2014 Apr 9, Libya’s army
announced it has taken control of Al-Hariga and Zueitina ports under
a deal to end a crippling nine-month blockade by rebels seeking
autonomy in the country's east.
2014 Apr 9, In Libya air force
officer Abdel-Hamid al-Fetori died when a bomb attached to his car
exploded, seriously injuring his wife and toddler. In response
protesters took to the streets of Benghazi, burning tires and
chanting anti-militia slogans.
2014 Apr 9, Malaysia awarded a
manufacturing license to a $618 million venture that will assemble
fuel-efficient SUVs for China's Great Wall Motor Co. Privately owned
Go Automobile Manufacturing will invest 2 billion ringgit ($618
million) over the next four years to expand its manufacturing plant
in northern Kedah state.
2014 Apr 9, The Dutch
government scrapped a trade mission to Russia that was intended to
forge closer ties between the two countries' energy sectors, blaming
developments in eastern Ukraine.
2014 Apr 9, In North Korea Kim
Jong-Un was "re-elected" as leader. The new parliament also elected
members of the powerful National Defence Commission (NDC),
appointing Kim's close confidante Choi Ryong-Hae as one of three
vice chairmen of the top military decision-making body.
2014 Apr 9, In Pakistan a bomb
tore through a bustling fruit and vegetable market in Islamabad,
killing at least 22 people. The attack came as the government tried
to negotiate an end to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan's (TTP)
seven-year campaign of violence.
2014 Apr 9, Pakistan's Election
Commission awarded a parliamentary seat to the leader of a banned
sectarian group that activists blame for the deaths of hundreds of
people. Ahmed Ludhianvi will represent the city of Jhang, in Punjab
2014 Apr 9, Radu Mazare, the
mayor of Romania's Black Sea port city of Constanta, was charged
with taking a bribe of 175,000 euros ($241,400) in 2011 in return
for awarding a company the tender to build 900 low-cost apartments
for socially deprived residents. Businessman Avraham Morgenstern was
also charged in the 10 million euro project.
2014 Apr 9, Saudi health
authorities said that 11 people in the western city of Jiddah have
contracted the Middle East respiratory syndrome, resulting in two
recent deaths, bringing to at least 66 the number of people who have
died of MERS in the kingdom.
2014 Apr 9, Two Saudi border
guards were killed by unidentified gunmen who fired shots from
2014 Apr 9, In Syria forces
loyal to President Bashar al-Assad recaptured the rebel-held border
town of Rankous. Two car bombs in Homs killed at least 25 people.
(Reuters, 4/9/14)(SFC, 4/10/14, p.A4)
2014 Apr 9, Thai police
arrested Englishman Michael Alan France (53), whom French police
accuse of masterminding a gang that sought to smuggle cocaine and
heroin through France into England six years ago.
2014 Apr 9, Ukrainian
authorities warned that they are prepared to use force to clear
several government buildings seized by pro-Russian separatists in
the east of the country. 56 hostages were allowed to leave the
Luhansk security services building overnight.
2014 Apr 10, Kathleen Sebelius
(65), US Health and Human Services Secretary, resigned. The next day
Pres. Obama nominated Sylvia Mathews Burwell, director of the Office
of Budget and Management, to succeed her.
(SFC, 4/11/14, p.A6)
2014 Apr 10, The US Justice
Dept. said institutional reform, centered on training and tools for
officers, is needed for officers in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to curb
patterns of excessive force.
(SFC, 4/11/14, p.A8)
2014 Apr 10, In northern
California 10 people were killed and dozens injured when a FedEx
semitrailer crossed a median and collided with a chartered college
tour bus on I-5 near Orland, Glenn County. On May 22, 2015, the CHP
released a report saying FedEx driver Tim Evans (32) was at fault
for the crash.
(SFC, 4/11/14, p.A9)(SFC, 4/12/14, p.A9)(SFC,
2014 Apr 10, US wildlife
agencies in Michigan and Wisconsin said they have confirmed
diagnoses of white-nose syndrome in tested bats. The fungal disease
has killed millions on North American bats since 2006 and has now
been detected in half of the US.
(SFC, 4/11/14, p.A6)
2014 Apr 10, In Fremont,
Nebraska, a city ordinance took effect requiring renters to purchase
a $5 permit from the city and swear that they have permission to
live in the US legally. In May the US Supreme Court decided not to
review the ordinance adopted in 2010.
(SFC, 5/8/14, p.A8)
2014 Apr 10, In Utah Iron
County workers accompanied by a US Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
staffer set up the first in a series of metal corrals designed to
trap and hold the horses on private land abutting the federal range
until they can be moved to BLM facilities for adoption. Cattle
ranchers blamed the protected wild horses for destroying vegetation
crucial to ranchers who pay to graze their cattle on the land.
2014 Apr 10, In Argentina a
nationwide strike shut down air, train and bus traffic, losing
businesses, ports and emptying classrooms.
(SFC, 4/11/14, p.A2)
2014 Apr 10, Richard Hoggart
(95), a distinguished cultural historian and a significant witness
in the 1960 court case that ended British censorship of "Lady
Chatterley's Lover," died.
2014 Apr 10, British author Sue
Townsend (68) died. Her books about awkward teenage diarist Adrian
Mole sold tens of millions of copies worldwide.
2014 Apr 10, Jim Flaherty
(b.1949), former Canadian finance minister, died just week after
leaving the cabinet of PM Stephen Harper.
2014 Apr 10, China unveiled a
plan to give foreign investors greater access to its stock market by
allowing investors in Shanghai and Hong Kong to trade shares on each
2014 Apr 10, In China 8 school
children died in a bus crash on the island province of Hainan on
their way to a school outing. The driver was later arrested for
allegedly causing the casualties.
(Reuters, 4/10/14)(AP, 4/25/14)
2014 Apr 10, Two groups in
Ethiopia said that they will hold an anti-gay demonstration later
this month, a move that puts Ethiopia in line to become the next
African country to increase the public demonization of gays.
2014 Apr 10, Europol, the EU
police organization, said law enforcement authorities have arrested
70 people at airports around the world in a meticulously coordinated
crackdown targeting criminals using fake or stolen credit cards to
buy airline tickets.
2014 Apr 10, A French judicial
source said billionaire industrialist and senator Serge Dassault
(89) has been charged with vote buying in Corbeil-Essonnes, where he
was mayor from 1995 to 2009.
2014 Apr 10, Greek officials
hailed the country's return to the int’l. debt market after four
years as an overwhelming success, with investors snapping up the
5-year bond in a sale that was eight times oversubscribed. A car
bomb attack on a branch of the country's central bank in Athens
damaged several buildings but caused no injury. The anarchist
Revolutionary Struggle group later claimed responsibility.
(AP, 4/10/14)(AP, 4/25/14)
2014 Apr 10, IMF Managing
Director Christine Lagarde said the global economy is finally
turning the corner after a deep recession but the recovery remains
2014 Apr 10, Israel’s Defense
Ministry announced the launch of the Ofek 10, a spy satellite, to
keep tabs on Iran and hostile militant groups in the region.
(SFC, 4/11/14, p.A2)
2014 Apr 10, An Israeli
official said Israel would stop the tax money transfers in
retaliation for the Palestinians pushing to sign up for more
recognition from international agencies and treaties. Israel
collects about $100 million a month in taxes for the Palestinians.
2014 Apr 10, Israeli police
said they have arrested five people suspected of demolishing a
military base on April 8 in the northern extremist West Bank
settlement of Yitzhar.
2014 Apr 10, Kuwait imposed a
news blackout on an investigation into reports of a recording that
implicates unnamed people in an alleged plot to overthrow the Gulf
state's ruling system.
2014 Apr 10, Libya's National
Oil Co (NOC) lifted a force majeure on a crude export terminal
recovered from rebel hands, opening the way for renewed exports.
2014 Apr 10, The Dutch
government announced that relatives of three men killed during the
1995 Srebrenica massacre will each receive 20,000 euros ($28,000) in
compensation. Seven months earlier the Dutch Supreme Court ruled
that the Netherlands was liable in the deaths of the three Bosnian
Muslims because Dutch troops serving in a UN peacekeeping force
should not have turned the men over to Bosnian Serb forces.
2014 Apr 10, Nigeria police
said child bride Wasila Tasi'u (13), forced into marriage last week,
killed the groom, Umaru Sani (35), and three of his friends with a
poisoned meal on April 5 at the wedding party in the village of
Unguwar Yansoro village. On May 20, 2015, prosecutors withdrew
murder charges against the girl.
(AP, 4/10/14)(AFP, 5/20/15)
2014 Apr 10, North Korea
detained an American it identified as Matthew Miller (24) for
alleged improper behavior. The man reportedly entered the country
with a tourist visa, but tore it up and shouted that he wanted to
(SFC, 4/26/14, p.A2)(AP, 9/14/14)
2014 Apr 10, In northwest
Pakistan gunmen opened fire on a truck carrying gasoline for NATO
forces based in Afghanistan, killing a driver and wounding another.
2014 Apr 10, Some 450 US and
Romanian troops and technical staff kicked off joint military
exercises in northwestern Romania, flying US F-16 fighter jets
alongside Romanian ones.
2014 Apr 10, President Vladimir
Putin warned European leaders Russia would cut natural gas supplies
to Ukraine if it did not pay its bills and said this could lead to a
reduction of onward deliveries to Europe.
2014 Apr 10, In northeastern
Syria fierce infighting between rival Islamic rebel groups along the
border with Iraq killed at least 24 fighters.
2014 Apr 10, Taiwan students
ended their unprecedented, 24-day occupation of the Parliament late
today after receiving assurances that a Chinese trade pact they see
as imperiling the island's autonomy would undergo legislative
2014 Apr 10, Turkey’s
government said a charity at which PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan's son
sits on the board received more than $100 million of aid over a
four-year period. The government sought parliamentary approval to
boost the powers of the secret service, a move seen by PM Erdogan's
critics as a bid to tighten his grip on the apparatus of state as he
wages a bitter power struggle.
(AFP, 4/10/14)(Reuters, 4/10/14)
2014 Apr 10, In Ukraine
protesters inside the Luhansk security building, a former KGB
headquarters, said they would only lay down their weapons if Kiev
agreed to hold a referendum on the future of the region.
2014 Apr 10, The UN Security
Council unanimously approved a nearly 12,000-strong UN peacekeeping
force for Central African Republic.
2014 Apr 10, Pope Francis said
"enough" to human trafficking, denouncing it as a crime against
humanity as police leaders and religious groups from around the
world pledged to work together to combat it.
2014 Apr 11, The United States
imposed sanctions on a Crimea-based gas company, Chernomorneftegaz,
effectively putting it off limits to Russia's state-controlled
Gazprom. The move, along with penalties on six Crimean separatists
and a former Ukrainian official, is the third round of US sanctions
since the Ukraine crisis erupted.
2014 Apr 11, G-20 financial
officials met in Washington DC and pledged to keep working on
economic reforms that could increase growth by 2 percent over the
next five years. The G-20 also endorsed the $14 billion to $18
billion loan package that the IMF has developed to help Ukraine
avoid a financial collapse.
2014 Apr 11, In Afghanistan a
suicide bomber killed a pro-government tribal elder and wounded
three civilians in Paktiya province.
2014 Apr 11, Australian PM Tony
Abbott said search and rescue officials are confident they know the
approximate position of the black box recorders from Malaysia
Airlines Flight MH370, missing since March 8.
2014 Apr 11, Police in the
Bahamas said they have discovered 75,000 marijuana plants with an
estimated value of $7.5 million in a rural area on eastern Grand
2014 Apr 11, In Brazil
squatters in Rio de Janeiro clashed with police after a Brazilian
court ordered that 5,000 people be evicted from abandoned buildings
of a telecommunications company.
2014 Apr 11, Britain's
crisis-hit Co-operative Bank posted a vast annual loss and axed
bonuses for former executives who had left prior to its
2014 Apr 11, Patrick Seale
(83), a veteran journalist and author on Middle Eastern affairs as
well as one of the world's leading historians on Syria, died in
London after a battle with cancer. His books included the
authoritative biography of the late Syrian President Hafez Assad,
"Assad of Syria: The Struggle for the Middle East" (1988).
2014 Apr 11, A Cambodian court
sentenced 13 men to prison terms ranging from five to nine years for
plotting to overthrow the government in a case that was criticized
by a human rights group as a political setup. The men were members
of a self-styled Khmer National Liberation Front calling for PM Hun
Sen's removal, primarily through Internet postings.
2014 Apr 11, In China residents
of the western city of Lanzhou rushed to buy bottled water after
authorities said the city's drinking water contained levels of
benzene, a cancer-inducing chemical, standing at 20 times above
national safety levels. The local environmental bureau blamed a
crude oil leak from a pipeline owned by a unit of China National
Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) for the water contamination.
(Reuters, 4/11/14)(Reuters, 4/13/14)
2014 Apr 11, Crimean lawmakers
adopted a new constitution, taking another step to cement the
region's absorption into Russia despite strong objections from the
Muslim Tatar minority.
2014 Apr 11, Egyptian soldiers
ambushed and killed Nour Hamdeen, a leader of Ansar Beit al-Maqdis,
an al-Qaida inspired group, as part of the government's ongoing
campaign against terror groups in the Sinai Peninsula. Separately
police were reported to have killed 2 gunmen who tried to set fire
to a Nile Delta police station.
(AP, 4/11/14)(SFC, 4/12/14, p.A2)
2014 Apr 11, In Israel Ron
Pundak (59), a longtime peace activist and architect of the 1993
Oslo agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, died at home of
2014 Apr 11, Kenya's defense
ministry said its troops have freed two Kenyans kidnapped near its
northern border by Somalia's Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab rebels in 2011.
Officials identified the two as James Kiarie Gichuhi, a driver with
CARE International, and Daniel Njuguna Wanyoike, said to be working
with a logistics firm that may have been delivering medicines to the
2014 Apr 11, Kenya's Ministry
of Environment and Natural Resources said the central government
will oversee the running of the country's wildlife authority for the
next three months in a bid to stop poaching of the country's
elephants and rhinos.
2014 Apr 11, Lebanon launched a
fourth round of polio immunization, trying to prevent the disease
spreading from neighboring Syria along with the tide of refugees
fleeing the three-year conflict.
2014 Apr 11, Madagascar named
Kolo Christopher Laurent Roger as its new prime minister, part of a
process aimed at ending years of political crisis on the Indian
2014 Apr 11, In Namibia 4
people including a three-year-old boy died after a military
helicopter crashed in the north-east. 6 people survived.
2014 Apr 11, In Nigeria
suspected Boko Haram Islamists killed 19 people, including 6 college
teachers, over the last 24 hours in three separate attacks in the
troubled northeastern Borno state.
2014 Apr 11, Pakistani
officials said clashes this week between competing Taliban factions
killed as many as 43 fighters. Both Shehryar Mehsud and Khan Sayed
Sajna sought to gain control of the Mehsud faction of
(SFC, 4/12/14, p.A2)
2014 Apr 11, In the Philippines
running gunbattles erupted early today on Basilan Island leaving 2
soldiers and 5 Abu Sayyaf militants dead. 28 soldiers were also
wounded following their assault on a group of Abu Sayyaf fighters
led by Puruji Indama. At least 18 Muslim rebels died in the fighting
near Tipo-tipo town on Basilan. Four of the dead were MILF members,
while the others were Abu Sayyaf militants.
(AP, 4/12/14)(Reuters, 4/15/14)
2014 Apr 11, The Philippines
and the United States reached agreement on a new security accord
allowing American military forces to share local bases for maritime
and humanitarian operations.
2014 Apr 11, Puerto Rico's
Supreme Court ruled that a law to change a teachers' retirement
system is unconstitutional, dealing a blow to the US territory's
governor as he tries to revive a sluggish economy.
2014 Apr 11, Sri Lanka's
military killed 3 ethnic Tamil separatist militants, the first
combat since government troops crushed the rebels in a 2009
2014 Apr 11, The Swiss
government said the Palestinians can join the Geneva Conventions
governing the rules of war and military occupations, twenty-five
years after they made their first bid for membership.
2014 Apr 11, Switzerland said
it will hand over to Tunisia $40 million (29 million euros) stashed
in Swiss bank accounts by the family of ousted dictator Zine El
Abidine Ben Ali. Investigations into the origin of $28.5 million
2014 Apr 11, Syria's Al-Qaeda
affiliate and its allies repulsed an assault by jihadist rivals
(ISIL) on Abu Kamal, a town on the Iraqi border, in fighting that
killed 86 people. People choking from poisoning were hospitalized
after air raids with barrel bombs on the town of Kafr Zita. State
television the next day reported that Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra
Front had released chlorine gas in an attack on the town that left
at least two people dead.
(AFP, 4/11/14)(AFP, 4/12/14)(SSFC, 4/13/14, p.A3)
2014 Apr 11, Thai security
forces shot dead 7 suspected drug smugglers and seized hundreds of
thousands of methamphetamine pills after a firefight in the Golden
Triangle border region.
2014 Apr 11, Turkey's
constitutional court dealt another blow to PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan
by annulling sections of a controversial law tightening the
government's control over the judiciary.
2014 Apr 11, Turkey condemned a
US Senate committee resolution branding the massacre of Armenians by
Ottoman forces during World War One as genocide and warned Congress
against taking steps that would harm Turkish-American ties.
2014 Apr 11, Ukraine's PM
Arseniy Yatsenyuk told leaders in the country's restive east that he
is committed to allowing regions to have more powers, but left it
unclear how his ideas differ from the demands of protesters now
occupying government buildings or Russia's advocacy of
2014 Apr 11, Nuclear technology
firm Westinghouse said it has reached a deal with Ukraine to deliver
fuel for its 15 reactors through 2020, a move that helps the country
reduce its reliance on Russia for energy supplies as it squabbles
with Moscow over unpaid gas bills.
2014 Apr 11, The United Arab
Emirates announced that one of six Filipino paramedics in Abu Dhabi,
who have been infected by the MERS coronavirus, has died from the
respiratory disease. The WHO said that it had been told of 212
laboratory-confirmed cases of MERS infection worldwide, of which 88
have proved fatal.
2014 Apr 12, The 188-nation IMF
concluded weekend meeting in Washington, DC, with pledges to work
for faster growth to alleviate unemployment.
(SSFC, 4/13/14, p.A6)
2014 Apr 12, US officials ended
a stand-off with hundreds of armed protesters in the Nevada desert,
calling off the government's roundup of cattle it said were
illegally grazing on federal land and giving about 300 animals back
to the rancher who owned them.
2014 Apr 12, In Algeria a man
was killed in the southern town of Ghardaia, the second fatality in
less than 24 hours of ethnic violence between Berbers and Arabs in
the region. Ghardaia has been the scene of violence since December
when fighting erupted between Berbers and Arabs, known as Chaambas.
2014 Apr 12, In Chile a fire
began raging in the port city of Valparaiso. At least 15 people were
killed and 2,900 homes destroyed. Thousands were evacuated,
including more than 200 female inmates at a prison.
(AP, 4/13/14)(SFC, 4/16/14, p.A4)
2014 Apr 12, In China’s
Xinjiang region Abdubasit Ablimit (17) was shot after he reportedly
tried twice to seize weapons from police at a checkpoint in Aksu
prefecture. He died of his wounds the next day. Another account that
circulated after said Ablimit was killed after running a red light
in an apparent attempt to avoid paying a fine.
2014 Apr 12, France's foreign
minister arrived in Cuba for a brief but historic visit, the first
by such a high-ranking French official in 30 years and a sign of the
quickening pace of improving ties between the European Union and
2014 Apr 12, In India suspected
Maoist rebels set off two bombs in the eastern state of
Chhattisgarh, killing 14 people, most of them paramilitary soldiers
and officials charged with holding elections in the region.
(Reuters, 4/12/14)(SSFC, 4/13/14, p.A6)
2014 Apr 12, Iran rejected a US
decision to deny a visa for its newly appointed ambassador to the
United Nations, pledging to take up the case directly with the world
body in a dispute that has reopened old wounds dating to the 1979
2014 Apr 12, Kuwait's
opposition called for broad democratic reforms including a
Western-style party system to limit the powers of the emirate's
2014 Apr 12, Police in Lebanon
arrested Marcello Dell’Utri, the man who created Forze Italia! in
the 1990s. He had disappeared in the face of a 7-year sentence for
aiding and abetting mobsters.
(Econ, 4/19/14, p.47)
2014 Apr 12, In Myanmar a
passenger bus collided with a car and burst into flames along a
highway, killing 12 passengers and injuring five others.
2014 Apr 12, In Pakistan gunmen
seized some 100 tribesmen on the border of Orakzai and Khyber tribal
regions. The militants, following negotiations with tribal elders,
soon released over 90 tribesmen but still held seven influential
2014 Apr 12, In the Philippines
marines patrolling a wooded area in Sulu province's mountainous
Patikul town stumbled on about 30 militants. An ensuing 30-minute
clash killed one militant and wounded an unknown number of other
2014 Apr 12, A Russian Su-24
tactical bomber flew over the USS Donald Cook in the Black Sea. An
electronic device disabled all radars, control circuits, systems,
information transmission, etc. on board the US destroyer. The
unarmed Russian aircraft repeated a simulated missile attack 12
times before flying away.
2014 Apr 12, In Saudi Arabia
the death of a foreign man (45) due to MERS brought the nationwide
toll in the world's most-affected country to 68.
2014 Apr 12, In southern
Tajikistan 6 children were killed and at least seven people left
missing and presumed dead as a result of a mudslide.
2014 Apr 12, Turkey's PM
Erdogan said he will "go after" Twitter, accusing the site of
tax-evasion, after it was used to spread damaging leaks implicating
his inner circle in corruption scandals.
2014 Apr 12, In Ukraine armed
pro-Russian militants raised the Russian flag in the eastern city of
Slaviansk, deepening a stand-off with Moscow which, Kiev warned, was
dragging Europe closer to a "gas war" that could disrupt supplies
across the continent. Igor Girkin, a former Russian military
officer, sneaked across the border into the Donbas region and with a
few dozen men seized the small town of Sloviansk. His army never
exceeded 600 men.
(Reuters, 4/12/14)(Econ 5/27/17, p.45)
2014 Apr 12, In Yemen suspected
al-Qaida militants ambushed special forces troops, killing two
soldiers and wounding five others. Two suspected al-Qaida militants
on a motorcycle shot a security man in Sanaa, killing him instantly
and taking his weapon before fleeing the scene.
2014 Apr 13, In Washington DC a
G20 official said reforms to the International Monetary Fund have
hit a deadlock despite a declaration from global financial chiefs
that they would move forward without the United States if it fails
to ratify the changes by year-end.
2014 Apr 13, In Kansas 3 people
were killed after Frazier Glenn Miller (73) of Aurora, Mo., opened
fire outside at two Jewish sites in Overland Park. On Aug 31, 2015
Miller, a former leader of the defunct North Carolina-based White
Patriot Party, was convicted of murder and other charges. On Sep 8,
2015, a jury recommended the death penalty.
(SFC, 4/14/14, p.A8)(SFC, 9/1/15, p.A5)(SFC,
2014 Apr 13, In Utah Megan
Huntsman (39) was arrested after police reported tiny bodies stuffed
into separate cardboard boxes in the garage of her former home in
Pleasant Grove. She had 7 babies between 1996 and 2006. Estranged
husband Darren West discovered the bodies a day earlier while
cleaning out the garage. On April 28 she was charged with 6 counts
of 1st degree murder. On April 20, 2015, Huntsman was sentenced to
at least 30 years in prison.
(SFC, 4/14/14, p.A8)(SFC, 4/15/14, p.A6)(SFC,
2014 Apr 13, An Afghan official
said 1,892 complaints of fraud in this month's presidential election
are being investigated but the number is lower than that of the last
election. A Taliban ambush killed three members of a local militia
that rose up against insurgent control in Andar district in the
eastern province of Ghazni.
(AP, 4/13/14)(AP, 4/14/14)
2014 Apr 13, In Algeria six
armed militants were killed in operations in the center and far east
of the country.
2014 Apr 13, Wilson Kipsang
(32) of Kenya captured his second London Marathon title by breaking
the course record by 11 seconds in 2 hours, 4 minutes, 29 seconds.
Kenya's Edna Kiplagat saw off compatriot Florence Kiplagat to win
the women's London Marathon.
2014 Apr 13, Chinese state
media reported that authorities have seized more than 10,000 illegal
guns in the southwestern province of Guizhou, marking its largest
haul of illegal firearms. Fifteen people suspected of being part of
a criminal gang involved in the manufacturing and trafficking of
firearms were arrested.
2014 Apr 13, Chinese
conglomerate Sanpower said it has agreed to buy a majority stake in
British department store House of Fraser in a deal worth £480
million (578 million euros, $800 million).
2014 Apr 13, Egypt’s state news
agency reported the arrest of Wael Ahmed Abdel Fattah, a veteran of
the Syrian civil war, on suspicion of planning terrorist acts inside
2014 Apr 13, German media
citing official sources said the government will not approve a
reported deal to sell up to 800 Leopard-2 battle tanks to Saudi
2014 Apr 13, Guinea-Bissau held
watershed elections for a president and parliament aimed at ushering
in a new era of stability in a country plagued by drugs and upended
by a military coup.
2014 Apr 13, In Hong Kong Wong
Kar Wai's much lauded kung fu epic "The Grandmaster" won a record
dozen honors at the Hong Kong Film Awards.
2014 Apr 13, Iran state news
said the government has complained to the UN about the United States
refusing to grant a visa to Hamid Abutaleb, its newly appointed UN
ambassador over his role in the 1979 hostage crisis.
2014 Apr 13, In northern Iraq
bombings targeting security forces killed at least 16 people.
2014 Apr 13, In Israel Ibrahim
Hamed, a former Hamas military leader serving multiple life
sentences, declared an open-ended hunger strike in protest at his
2014 Apr 13, Japan’s
Agricultural Ministry said two chickens have tested positive for
avian influenza at a farm where more than 1,000 chickens have died,
marking the country's first case of bird flu in three years.
2014 Apr 13, In Kashmir
suspected rebels attacked a pro-India politician's house with a hail
of bullets killing two police guards.
2014 Apr 13, Libya's PM
Abdullah al-Thani stepped down, saying he and his family had been
the victims of a "traitorous" armed attack the previous day. Thani
said he would stay on in a caretaker capacity until a new prime
minister is appointed.
2014 Apr 13, Macedonians voted
for a new president in a poll seen as a test for the ruling party
ahead of general elections later this month in the EU candidate
2014 Apr 13, A Malaysian man
(54), who went on a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, became the first
death in Asia from Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS).
2014 Apr 13, In the Netherlands
Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya won the Rotterdam Marathon, but failed in
his bid to break the course record on a windy day in the port city.
2014 Apr 13, The streets of
North Korea's capital filled with runners from all over the world
for the annual Pyongyang marathon, which was open to foreign
amateurs this year for the first time.
2014 Apr 13, In Moscow more
than 10,000 people rallied to denounce Russian state TV news
coverage particularly of the crisis in Ukraine.
(SFC, 4/14/14, p.A2)
2014 Apr 13, A powerful
earthquake with a magnitude of 7.5 struck off the Solomon Islands,
hours after a 7.6 tremor. No casualties or damages were reported.
2014 Apr 13, Glencore, based in
Switzerland, said it has signed an agreement to sell its entire
interest in the Peruvian Las Bambas copper mine to a consortium led
by MMG Ltd., a mining company controlled by state-owned China
Minmetals Nonferrous Metals Co. Ltd.
2014 Apr 13, In Syria shelling
and firefights between government forces and rebels in Aleppo killed
at least 29 people over the last 24 hours. Activists from the
"Syrian Revolution in Kfar Zeita" posted video footage and pictures
of an unexploded canister with the chemical symbol for chlorine,
Cl2, on its side which they said was found in Kfar Zeita village.
Rebels and the government have blamed each other for the alleged
poison gas attacks on April 11-12.
(AP, 4/13/14)(Reuters, 4/14/14)
2014 Apr 13, Ukrainian special
forces exchanged gunfire with a pro-Russia militia in the eastern
city of Slovyansk, with at least one security officer killed and
five others wounded. Separatist protesters seized control of the
mayor's office in the town of Mariupol.
(AP, 4/13/14)(Reuters, 4/13/14)
2014 Apr 13, The United Arab
Emirates finance minister said that officials are finalizing a new
law to boost entrepreneurship with broad incentives, part of a wider
push to create jobs for a burgeoning young population. Pres. Sheikh
Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan signed into law a measure to promote
(AP, 4/13/14)(Econ, 4/19/14, p.61)
2014 Apr 14, California police
said two parolees killed at least four women while wearing GPS
trackers in 2012 and 2013. Franc Cano (27) and Steven Dean Gordon
(45) were charged with four counts of rape and four counts of
murder. On Dec 21, 2016, jurors recommended that Gordon should be
given the death penalty. Cano was being tried separately.
(SFC, 4/15/14, p.A8)(SFC, 12/22/16, p.D8)
2014 Apr 14, Google bought
Titan Aerospace, a maker of solar powered drones, for an undisclosed
sum. It planned to use the drones to help deliver wireless internet
access to remote parts of the world.
(Econ, 4/19/14, p.58)
2014 Apr 14, Algerian nomads
began voting for the April 17 presidential election at 167 mobile
polling stations in the country's vast desert interior.
2014 Apr 14, Australian search
crews sent a robotic submarine deep into the Indian Ocean for the
first time to begin scouring the seabed for the missing Malaysian
Flight MH370 after no signals from its black boxes were detected for
2014 Apr 14, The EU threatened
Russia with more sanctions over its actions in eastern Ukraine.
2014 Apr 14, French police
demanded that male students and staff at a high school in western
France — 527 people in total — give DNA samples as they searched for
the assailant who raped a teenage girl in La Rochelle. Investigators
had exhausted all other leads in the Sept. 30 rape of the girl in a
dark bathroom at the school.
2014 Apr 14, Iran said it could
be a "reliable, secure and long-term" supplier of gas to Europe.
2014 Apr 14, In Kashmir a
nearly 20-hour gunbattle in Indian-controlled Kashmir ended after
government troops killed two suspected rebels in Srinagar.
2014 Apr 14, The Mexican
government said vigilante groups in the western state of Michoacan
will have to register their guns with the army by May 10. The
"self-defense" groups will have the choice of joining rural defense
corps set up under the army.
2014 Apr 14, In Nigeria a
massive explosion ripped through a bus station during the morning
rush hour in Abuja, killing at least 72 people and wounding 164 in a
bombing that marked the bloodiest terrorist attack ever in the
capital. Boko Haram Islamists kidnapped more than 100 girls from a
secondary school in northeastern Borno state.
(AP, 4/14/14)(AP, 4/15/14)(SFC, 4/15/14,
2014 Apr 14, Pakistani police
re-arrested a convicted cannibal after finding a young boy's head in
his home. Mohammad Arif (35) and his brother Mohammad Farman (30)
from the small town of Darya Khan, served two years in jail for
cannibalism and were released last year.
2014 Apr 14, A Palestinian
woman died after reportedly inhaling tear gas used by Israeli troops
at Ayda refugee camp near the West Bank city of Bethlehem, but the
military denied any involvement. An Israeli man was killed and his
wife and son wounded as they drove through the West Bank en route to
a Passover meal.
(AFP, 4/15/14)(AP, 4/15/14)
2014 Apr 14, Romanian poet and
translator Nina Cassian (89) died in NYC. She had obtained political
asylum in the US after the Communist-era secret police found her
critical poems scribbled in a friend's diary.
(AP, 4/16/14)(Econ, 5/17/14, p.86)
2014 Apr 13, Ernesto Laclau
(b.1935), Argentine post-Marxist political philosopher, died in
2014 Apr 14, Sudan's official
SUNA news agency reported that President Omar al-Bashir has issued a
decree banning political parties from holding meetings without
permission from the authorities.
2014 Apr 14, Syrian troops
retook the ancient Christian town of Maalula from rebels. More than
30 mortars fired from rebel areas landed on the loyalist Damascus
suburb of Jaramana, killing 5 people.
(AFP, 4/14/14)(Econ, 4/19/14, p.42)
2014 Apr 14, Ukraine's acting
President Oleksandr Turchynov said the Kiev leadership was "not
against" a referendum being held on the type of state Ukraine should
be and added he was sure it would confirm the wish of the majority
for a united, independent country.
2014 Apr 14, Ukraine's acting
President Oleksandr Turchynov called for the deployment of UN
peacekeeping troops in the east of the country, where pro-Russian
insurgents have occupied buildings in nearly 10 cities. During the
storming of a police station in Horlivka earlier today, one man
identified himself as a lieutenant colonel of the Russian army.
About 100 pro-Russian protesters armed with bats and rocks stormed a
police station in the eastern town of Gorlivka, smashing its windows
and grabbing metal shields from police. Pro-Russian militants seized
two of Ukrainian soldiers "hostage" in the separatist eastern region
(AP, 4/14/14)(AFP, 4/14/14)(AFP, 4/16/14)
2014 Apr 14, Vietnam said it
has granted early release to two high-profile dissidents, bringing
the number of democracy activists freed this month to three in what
the government called a "policy of leniency." Vi Duc Hoi and Nguyen
Tien Trung were released over the weekend with 1½ years and nine
months remaining of their sentences respectively.
2014 Apr 14, In Yemen suspected
smugglers shot dead a Saudi Arabian border guard and wounded another
in the early hours today, in what would be the second such incident
in five days. Saudi troops seized 14 guns left behind by the
smugglers at the site of the clash.
(Reuters, 4/14/14)(AFP, 4/15/14)
2014 Apr 15, In Afghanistan
gunmen abducted Ahmad Shah Wahid, the Afghan deputy public works
minister in Kabul. Maryam Koofi, a female Afghan lawmaker, was
wounded in a shooting that her sister called a political attack. The
government the next day described it as resulting from an
undetermined personal dispute with a police officer.
(AP, 4/15/14)(AP, 4/16/14)
2014 Apr 15, In Afghanistan a
NATO air strike killed a woman and two children in Khost province.
(SFC, 4/16/14, p.A2)
2014 Apr 15, Imperial Tobacco
announced the closure of factories in Britain and France with the
loss of 900 jobs, citing declining sales, tougher anti-smoking
measures and the growth of contraband sales.
2014 Apr 15, In Canada 5 people
died in a stabbing rampage at a house party held to mark the end of
university classes in Calgary. Matthew Douglas de Grood (22), the
son of a police officer and a recent graduate of the University of
Calgary, picked up a large knife shortly after arriving at the party
and stabbed the victims one by one shortly after 1 a.m.
(AFP, 4/15/14)(AP, 4/16/14)
2014 Apr 15, In southern China
thousands of workers at a giant Yue Yuen Industrial shoe factory
shrugged off an offer for improved social benefits, prolonging one
of the largest strikes in China in recent years amid signs of
increased labor activism as the economy slows.
2014 Apr 15, In CongoDRC three
gunmen ambushed and seriously wounded Emmanuel de Merode, chief
warden of Virunga National Park.
2014 Apr 15, Dubai ruler Sheik
Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad
Javad Zarif discussed bilateral relations and regional developments.
Zarif also met the Gulf federation's foreign minister, Sheik
Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in Abu Dhabi.
2014 Apr 15, An Egyptian court
banned members of the Muslim Brotherhood, a movement listed as a
"terrorist group", from running in upcoming elections.
2014 Apr 15, In western
Ethiopia gunmen ambushed a bus carrying dozens of people near the
Sudanese border, killing 9 and wounding six.
2014 Apr 15, The EU's
Parliament completed the biggest overhaul of the bloc's financial
system since the introduction of the euro currency, passing laws to
minimize the risk and cost posed by failing banks.
2014 Apr 15, German utility
company RWE said it has started sending natural gas to Ukraine, a
move that could support the country if Russia acts on its threat to
cut off supplies because of a massive debt for past deliveries.
2014 Apr 15, Greek coast guard
officials shot dead a man believed to be a migrant smuggler as they
tried to intercept him on his speedboat heading towards neighboring
2014 Apr 15, India's top court
issued a landmark verdict recognizing transgender rights as human
rights, saying people can identify themselves as a third gender on
2014 Apr 15, In Iraq shelling
in Fallujah killed 5 people and wounded 16. Mortar rounds and twin
suicide bombings in Anbar provincial capital Ramadi, farther west,
left one dead and eight wounded. The justice ministry said Abu
Ghraib prison, made infamous by Saddam Hussein's regime and US
forces, has been closed due to security concerns following a mass
breakout last year.
2014 Apr 15, An Italian court
ordered former PM Silvio Berlusconi (77) to serve a tax fraud
sentence by doing community service and set travel restrictions that
will limit his ability to campaign for next month's European
2014 Apr 15, Hundreds of
pro-whaling Japanese officials, lawmakers and lobby group members
vowed to continue whale hunts despite a world court ruling that
ordered the country to halt its Antarctic whaling program.
2014 Apr 15, Jordan's
ambassador to Libya was kidnapped in Tripoli by masked gunmen who
attacked his car and shot his driver. Fawaz al-Itan was released on
May 13. In exchange his government sent back to Tripoli Libyan
Islamist militant Mohammed Dersi, who had been serving a life
sentence for a bombing plot.
(Reuters, 4/15/14)(Reuters, 5/13/14)
2014 Apr 15, In Nigeria Boko
Haram Islamists kidnapped 129 girls from the Chibok Government Girls
Secondary School in northeastern Borno state. 20 soon escaped, but
109 remained missing. A military spokesman the next day said all but
8 of the girls were freed, but the school principal said the girls
were still missing. The number of kidnapped girls was later raised
to over 270.
(AFP, 4/15/14)(AP, 4/17/14)(SFC, 4/18/14,
p.A5)(SFC, 5/15/14, p.A5)
2014 Apr 15, South Korean
police charged a man for the murder of his 2-year-old son after he
confessed to suffocating the child so he could leave the house to go
back to playing games at an Internet cafe.
2014 Apr 15, In South Sudan
rebel fighters captured Bentiu, the capital of oil-rich Unity state.
They issued an ultimatum to oil companies to shut down production
and evacuate workers. UN peacekeepers rescued 10 oil workers from
the violence, but not before five were wounded. Over the next 24
hours hundreds of people sheltering inside a mosque and a Catholic
church in Bentiu were killed or wounded.
(AP, 4/15/14)(AP, 4/21/14)(SFC, 4/23/14, p.A4)
2014 Apr 15, Syria's army
launched a major ground assault on the central city of Homs, with
troops entering rebel-held districts under government siege for
nearly two years. Two mortar rounds landed near schools in
predominantly Christian districts Damascus, killing one child and
wounding 41 other people.
(AFP, 4/15/14)(AP, 4/15/14)
2014 Apr 15, Ukraine government
forces repelled an attack by some 30 gunmen at the Kramatorsk
airport south of Slovyansk.
(SFC, 4/16/14, p.A2)
2014 Apr 15, The UN Security
Council met privately to view projected slides of bodies from the
civil war in which more than 150,000 have died. Ten of the photos
were publicly released in January in a study known as the "Caesar
Report," which was funded by the government of Qatar.
2014 Apr 15, In Yemen suspected
al-Qaida militants assassinated Hussein Dayan, the deputy governor
of southern al-Bayda province.
2014 Apr 16, Aaron Kushner,
head of Freedom Communications Inc., launched the Los Angeles
Register, an expansion of his Orange County Register.
2014 Apr 16, A Kentucky jury
convicted James Schook (66), a former Catholic priest, of three
counts of sodomy in a case stemming from the 1970s.
2014 Apr 16, US District Judge
Daniel Hovland overturned a North Dakota law banning abortions when
a fetal heartbeat can be detected, as early as six weeks into
pregnancy, and before many women know they’re pregnant. On May 14
the state filed an appeal on the ruling.
(SFC, 4/17/14, p.A5)(SFC, 5/15/14, p.A7)
2014 Apr 16, A US federal judge
said Ohio officials must immediately recognized the same-sex
marriages of four couples who sued over the state’s gay marriage
(SFC, 4/17/14, p.A5)
2014 Apr 16, In Texas Jose
Villegas (39) was executed for fatally stabbing his ex-girlfriend,
her young son and her mother 13 years earlier in Corpus Christi.
(SFC, 4/17/14, p.A5)
2014 Apr 16, The ultra-deep
Angolan offshore oil project called Kaombo generated the third huge
contract in three days when French group Total picked two firms to
carry out underwater engineering worth $3.5 billion.
2014 Apr 16, In Afghanistan a
group of policemen were kidnapped while travelling in civilian
clothes. The Taliban soon claimed to have killed at least 4 of them
in Wardak province.
(SFC, 4/17/14, p.A2)(SFC, 4/18/14, p.A2)
2014 Apr 16, British food bank
operator Trussell Trust reported that the number of people in
Britain using food banks has nearly tripled to more than 900,000
over the past 12 months.
2014 Apr 16, An Egyptian court
sentenced 119 supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood of former
president Mohamed Mursi to three years each in prison in connection
with protests last October 6 against his overthrow. Hazem Salah
Abu-Ismail, an ultraconservative Islamist and ally of ousted
President Morsi, was convicted of forging official documents to
conceal that his mother was a US citizen, receiving a seven-year
(Reuters, 4/16/14)(AP, 4/16/14)
2014 Apr 16, Jacques Servier
(92), the founder of France's second-largest pharmaceutical group,
died. He and his lab were ensnared in a scandal in which the
diabetes drug Mediator was alleged to be responsible for the deaths
of hundreds of people.
2014 Apr 16, In southern India
6 people were burned to death and another 12 seriously injured early
today when a bus caught fire in Karanataka state.
2014 Apr 16, In Iraq two
suicide bombers rammed their explosives-laden cars into security
checkpoints leading to the military operation command in the city of
Ramadi, killing 5 soldiers and 3 police officers.
2014 Apr 16, Japanese small-car
maker Suzuki Motor Corp said it will introduce an affordable,
simplified gas-electric hybrid technology in its cars, joining
rivals in the race for fuel efficiency.
2014 Apr 16, Mt. Gox said the
Tokyo District Court decided the company, which was a trading
platform and storehouse for the bitcoin virtual currency, would not
be able to resurrect itself under a business rehabilitation process
filed for in February.
2014 Apr 16, Jordanian
warplanes hit and destroyed several vehicles trying to cross the
border from Syria. The targets appeared to have been Syrian rebels
with machine guns mounted on civilian vehicles who were seeking
refugee from fighting with government forces.
2014 Apr 16, In northeastern
Nigeria suspected Islamic militants struck for a fourth time in
three days, killing 18 people in Wala, Gwoza district.
2014 Apr 16, Dozens of
Palestinians were wounded in clashes with Israeli police that
erupted when Jerusalem's flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound was
opened to Jewish visitors.
2014 Apr 16, In the Philippines
at least 5 people including a 2-year-old boy were killed and 15
others were injured when a passenger bus rammed a stalled truck
along the highway in eastern Camarines Sur province.
2014 Apr 16, Slovak police said
they have arrested two men after they allegedly produced counterfeit
Czech and Swiss banknotes of "exceptionally" high quality and spent
at least 1.2 million koruna ($60,000) of the fake cash in shopping
malls over the past three years.
2014 Apr 16, South Africa's
central bank fined four of the country's biggest commercial banks
for weak controls against money laundering and financing for
2014 Apr 16, In South Korea
some 274 people were missing after the sinking of the Sewol
passenger ferry in the Yellow Sea. It carried 475 passengers and
crew, mostly high school students from Danwon High School in Ansan,
on an overnight trip to Jeju island. Only 174 were rescued. On July
18 the confirmed death toll was 294 with 10 still missing. A body
recovered on Oct 28 raised the toll to 295.
(AP, 4/16/14)(AP, 4/17/14)(SSFC, 4/20/14,
p.A4)(Econ, 4/19/14, p.37)(AFP, 7/18/14)(AP, 10/28/14)
2014 Apr 16, Syrian military
airstrikes killed at least four people in Zabadani, a rebel-held
town along the Lebanese border.
2014 Apr 16, In Ukraine a
column of 6 armored vehicles flying Russian flags drove into
Slovyansk, a city controlled by pro-Russian insurgents. Ukraine's
defense ministry said pro-Russia separatists had seized the six
armored personnel carriers from Ukrainian armed forces with the help
of Russian agents. Ukraine's security service said it had
intercepted communications showing that Russian commanders in the
separatist east had issued pro-Kremlin militants with
(AP, 4/16/14)(Reuters, 4/16/14)(AP, 4/16/14)
2014 Apr 16, The United Nations
and aid groups launched an appeal for $274 million to help people
who have fled the Central African Republic because of the sectarian
2014 Apr 17, US-based Michaels
Stores said that about 2.6 million credit cards used at its namesake
stores may have been affected in a security breach. Its subsidiary
Aaron Bros. was also attacked with some 400,000 cards potentially
(SFC, 4/19/14, p.D2)
2014 Apr 17, John C. Houbolt,
an engineer whose contributions to the US space program were vital
to NASA's successful moon landing in 1969, died in Maine. His
efforts in the early 1960s are largely credited with convincing NASA
to focus on the launch of a module carrying a crew from lunar orbit,
rather than a rocket from earth or a spacecraft while orbiting the
2014 Apr 17, In Afghanistan
three Taliban insurgents escaped from a northern prison using
weapons smuggled into the facility in a jailbreak that killed 3
police guards in Faryab province.
2014 Apr 17, Afghan officials
said a leading Taliban peace negotiator has been placed under house
arrest in the UAE, dealing a blow to President Hamid Karzai's
efforts to jump-start a nascent Afghan peace process before leaving
office. Agha Jan Mutassim, a finance minister during Taliban rule
from 1996 to 2001, had been missing for over a week.
2014 Apr 17, Algeria held
presidential elections. Preliminary results indicated that President
Bouteflika with 15 years in power won a 4th term.
(Reuters, 4/17/14)(SFC, 4/19/14, p.A2)
2014 Apr 17, Debbie Vincent
(52), a former soldier who underwent a sex change, was jailed for
six years for her part in a Europe-wide campaign of intimidation
targeting a leading animal testing company. The British animal
rights activist was found guilty last month for her part in a
conspiracy to blackmail British-based Huntingdon Life Sciences
2014 Apr 17, Burundi’s ruling
CNDD-FDD party voted to create a reconciliation commission.
Opposition parties boycotted the vote saying it will shield the
ruling party from accountability for past crimes.
2014 Apr 17, A strike at the
Chinese factories Yu Yuen Industrial, the world's biggest athletic
shoe maker, snowballed to about 30,000 workers in Dongguan, making
it one of the largest-ever work stoppages at a private business in
2014 Apr 17, China introduced
its first armed police patrols in Xi'an. Shanghai and Qingdao police
began to carry 9 mm pistols on Apr 20.
2014 Apr 17, China’s
environment ministry said a nationwide soil survey has shown that as
much as 16.1 percent of China's soil and 19.4% of farmland was
contaminated by organic and inorganic chemical pollutants. This was
nearly one-fifth of China’s farmland.
(Reuters, 4/17/14)(SFC, 4/19/14, p.A4)(Econ
2014 Apr 17, Gabriel Garcia
Marquez (b.1927), Colombian author, died in Mexico City. His
beguiling stories of love and longing brought Latin America to life
for millions of readers and put magical realism on the literary map.
His "One Hundred Years of Solitude," a dream-like, dynastic epic
helped him win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982.
2014 Apr 17, In northern Iraq
militants launched a brazen attack on a military base outside Mosul,
killing at least 10 soldiers and wounding 12. In Baghdad a car bomb
exploded on a busy commercial street in the Karrada neighborhood,
killing at least 9 people and wounding 22 others.
2014 Apr 17, In Ivory Coast
editors of five newspapers, whose publications have been temporarily
suspended, denouncing the measure. Most of the newspapers were
suspended for mocking President Ouattara or referring to him as a
dictator. One was targeted for discussing the safety of bush meat,
which the government banned in the wake of an Ebola outbreak.
2014 Apr 17, In Libya a
Tunisian diplomat was kidnapped in Tripoli. He was the 2nd to be
kidnapped since last month. Both men were released on June 30.
(Reuters, 4/17/14)(AP, 6/30/14)
2014 Apr 17, An oil tanker
sailing from Singapore to Cambodia was boarded by 16 pirates about
26 nautical miles off Aur island on the east coast of the Malaysia
peninsula. The pirates damaged the ship's communication equipment,
transferred part of the fuel cargo into a smaller unknown tanker and
stole the ship and crews' belongings before fleeing.
2014 Apr 17, In Mali French
Special Forces backed by helicopters freed five humanitarian aid
workers who had gone missing on Feb 8.
(SFC, 4/18/14, p.A2)
2014 Apr 17, In Pakistan two
local employees working for the UN Children's Fund UNICEF went
missing in Karachi.
2014 Apr 17, Puerto Rican salsa
legend Cheo Feliciano (78) died in a car accident early today,
prompting the governor of the US territory to declare three days of
2014 Apr 17, A Senegal official
said Karim Wade, the son of former Pres. Abdoulaye Wade, will be
tried for illicit enrichment following an investigation into how he
amassed his multi-million dollar fortune.
2014 Apr 17, In South Korea
Kang Min-gyu (52), the vice-principal of a South Korean high school
who accompanied hundreds of pupils on a ferry that capsized a day
earlier, committed suicide.
2014 Apr 17, In South Sudan
gunmen attacked civilians sheltering inside a UN peacekeeping base
in the war-ravaged town of Bor. At least 58 people were killed and
more than 100 others wounded in the attack.
(AFP, 4/17/14)(AFP, 4/18/14)
2014 Apr 17, Thai authorities
charged two journalists with defaming Thailand's navy in an online
news report about the trafficking of refugees from Myanmar, amid
concerns about press freedom in the country.
2014 Apr 17, In southern
Thailand suspected insurgent Muktar Ali-mama (31) and his 6-year-old
son were shot dead. They were attacked at a rubber plantation in
Bannang Sata district, Yala province.
2014 Apr 17, In Ukraine 3
pro-Russian protesters were killed and 13 injured during an
attempted raid overnight on a National Guard base in the Black Sea
port of Mariupol. High-level talks aimed at calming soaring tensions
over the crisis in Ukraine went into overtime with top diplomats
from the United States, European Union, Russia and Ukraine
attempting to forge a common position on how to de-escalate the
situation. Ukrainian town councilor Volodymyr Rybak and a second man
disappeared. He was seen being bundled into a car by masked men in
camouflage. His body was found on April 29 near Slaviansk.
(AP, 4/17/14)(Reuters, 4/23/14)
2014 Apr 17, The World Health
Organization said the death toll from an Ebola outbreak in Guinea
has risen to 122, a sharp increase from a previous figure of 108.
2014 Apr 18, President Barack
Obama signed into law a bill designed to bar Iran's pick for UN
ambassador from US soil over his links to the 1979 American embassy
hostage siege. But Obama also issued a statement saying that he
would only regard the legislation as guidance, warning it could
infringe upon his executive powers as president.
2014 Apr 18, The US federal
government said farms stricken with a deadly pig virus must report
outbreaks as part of a new program to help monitor and possibly
control the disease. Porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED), believed to
have come from China, has killed millions of pigs in 27 states since
it began showing up in the US last May.
(SFC, 4/19/14, p.A6)
2014 Apr 18, A Chinese court
sentenced four anti-corruption protestors to between two and
three-and-a-half years in jail over their role in small-scale
demonstrations, furthering a crackdown on rights activists. The four
were associated with the New Citizens Movement, a loose network
whose members held peaceful protests in Beijing last year.
2014 Apr 18, An Egyptian police
officer was killed when a bomb targeting a traffic police kiosk in
2014 Apr 18, Off eastern
Indonesia a boat loaded with people in a Good Friday procession
capsized in high waves, leaving dozens of people missing and at
least 7 dead.
2014 Apr 18, In Iraq a bomb
planted on a street full of shoppers in Baghdad killed 3 people and
2014 Apr 18, An avalanche swept
down a slope of Mount Everest killing 13 Nepali mountaineering
guides at the beginning of the main climbing season. Three people
(Reuters, 4/18/14)(AP, 4/19/14)
2014 Apr 18, In Northern
Ireland gunmen escorted Tommy Crossan (43), a senior Irish
Republican Army hard-liner, to a fuel depot and shot him in the head
and body at close range. Residents said a Catholic priest was called
to give him the last rites. Police soon arrested a man for
questioning about the killing.
2014 Apr 18, In the Philippines
a Danish man joined eight Filipinos in re-enacting the death of
Jesus Christ by being nailed to crosses in a bloody annual Easter
spectacle before some 40 thousand onlookers.
2014 Apr 18, In South Africa a
rhino was found killed in the Dinokeng Game Reserve with a single
bullet from a high-powered rifle. Poachers cut off its horns in the
first such incident since the reserve officially opened in 2011.
About 300 have been killed so far this year in South Africa.
2014 Apr 18, South Korean
prosecutors sought arrest warrants for the captain, and two crew
members of the ferry that capsized two days before with hundreds of
children on board. Lee Joon-Seok and most of his 28 crew managed to
escape the ferry.
2014 Apr 18, Spanish art dealer
Jose Carlos Bergantinos Diaz, who is wanted for fraud in the United
States, was arrested at a luxury hotel in Seville. His partner,
Glafira Rosales, was arraigned in New York in August, accused of
peddling counterfeit art for 15 years as undiscovered works by
2014 Apr 18, In Sudan the
Darfur Justice and Equality Movement attacked the Kunar oil field,
operated by the Sudanese Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company in
the West Kordofan State, abducting three engineers, two of them
Chinese and one Sudanese. On May 2 Xinhua media service said the two
Chinese engineers have been released.
2014 Apr 18, In Syria a bomb
went off in front of a mosque on the edge of Akrama and killed 14
people. Hundreds of rebel fighters and civilians remain trapped in
the ancient quarter of Homs, surrounded by government forces and
pro-Assad militia. In Aleppo at least 10 people were killed in
shelling and aerial bombardment of rebel-held areas.
(Reuters, 4/18/14)(AFP, 4/19/14)(SFC, 4/19/14,
2014 Apr 18, In eastern Ukraine
pro-Russian insurgents who have occupied government buildings in
more than 10 cities said they will not leave them until the
country's interim government resigns.
2014 Apr 18, In Vietnam a
Chinese man who was being repatriated from Vietnam along with 15
other migrants seized a gun from a border guard, triggering a
gunfight and standoff in which five Chinese and two Vietnamese
2014 Apr 19, In Algeria 11
soldiers were killed and a dozen wounded in an ambush in the restive
Kabylie region east of Algiers. On May 1 al-Qaeda in the Islamic
Maghreb (AQIM) claimed responsibility.
(AFP, 4/20/14)(AFP, 4/21/14)(AFP, 5/1/14)
2014 Apr 19, In Bahrain an
apparent car bombing killed two people and wounded one in Mughsha, a
village west of Manama.
2014 Apr 19, In Brazil angry
residents of a city near Rio de Janeiro torched four buses to
protest the death of a man killed a day earlier by a bullet on his
way to a Good Friday church service. They said Anderson Santos Silva
(21) died while trying to protect his mother and 9-year-old sister
from bullets from a gunfight involving police.
2014 Apr 19, Tobias Bowen (47),
charged with raping a child in March 2010 when he lived in New
York’s Syracuse suburb of Liverpool, was arrested in London after
getting off a plane. He had fled to his native Liberia, where he was
administrator of a government hospital.
2014 Apr 19, A Chinese maritime
court in Shanghai seized a ship owned by Japanese shipping firm
Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, a move that Japan warned could have an adverse
impact on its businesses in China. The court said the company had
failed to pay compensation stemming from a WWII contractual
obligation. On April 24 China said Japan's Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd
has paid about $29 million for the release of the ship.
(Reuters, 4/21/14)(Reuters, 4/24/14)
2014 Apr 19, In Iraq two bombs
planted on a street full of shoppers in the Dora neighborhood of
Baghdad killed 4 people and wounded eight.
2014 Apr 19, In northern Mexico
a Hawker 800 jet crashed in Coahuila state killing all 8 people on
board. On the northwestern fringe of Mexico City a three-way car
collision in Naucalpan killed at least 8 people and injured 12
2014 Apr 19, Nigerian officials
said another 14 schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram Islamists in the
northeast have escaped, leaving 85 missing.
2014 Apr 19, In Pakistan Hamid
Mir, a famous host on the private TV broadcaster Geo, suffered three
gunshot wounds to the stomach and the upper legs in an attack near
Karachi's airport. His brother alleged the attack was planned by the
Inter-services Intelligence directorate (ISI). Mir survived the
(AP, 4/19/14)(Econ, 4/26/14, p.40)
2014 Apr 19, An earthquake with
a magnitude 7.8 was recorded off Papua New Guinea.
2014 Apr 19, In Peru a
nationwide ban on illegal mining took effect. Some 40,000 illegal
gold miners had until today to legalize their status in the
southeast in the face of a ban on illegal mining that has ravaged
rain forests and contaminated rivers.
(SSFC, 4/20/14, p.A6)
2014 Apr 19, In South Korea
Captain Lee Joon-seok (68) and two crew members of the Sewol ferry
that capsized on April 16 were arrested. The confirmed death toll
rose to 32 with some 270 people still missing.
2014 Apr 19, In South Africa
robbers broke into a provincial parks office in Nelspruit and used a
machine tool called a grinder to break into a safe holding several
dozen rhino horns worth a fortune on the illegal market in parts of
Asia. On June 9 police said two men have been arrested in connection
with the theft, worth about $5.2 million.
(AP, 4/22/14)(Reuters, 6/9/14)
2014 Apr 19, In central Syria
two rebel car bombs targeted Homs and Salamiya, two areas controlled
by government forces, killing at least ten people as opposition
forces fought fiercely to hold onto territory.
2014 Apr 19, In Yemen an
American drone strike killed 15 Al-Qaeda suspects and 3 civilians in
central Baida province, a stronghold of the extremist group.
2014 Apr 20, In Colorado tens
of thousands gathered to celebrate the first legal 4:20, the April
20 pot holiday, at Denver’s Civic Center Park.
(SFC, 4/21/14, p.A8)
2014 Apr 20, Herb Wong, a
leading West Coast jazz expert and educator, died at his home in
Menlo Park, Ca. He started his own radio show on KJAZ in 1959 and
continued until 1996.
(SFC, 4/26/14, p.C3)
2014 Apr 20, In Afghanistan new
partial results in the presidential election released today showed
candidate Abdullah Abdullah as the front-runner, though a runoff
election looked likely.
2014 Apr 20, Prizefighter Rubin
"Hurricane" Carter (b.1937) died at his home in Toronto. He was
convicted in 1967 and again in 1976 for three 1966 murders committed
at a tavern in Paterson, New Jersey. He was freed in 1985 when his
convictions were thrown out after years of appeals The convictions
became an international symbol of racial injustice and inspired a
Bob Dylan song and a Hollywood film.
2014 Apr 20, An Egyptian court
sentenced people to more than three years in prison for violent
protests in February in support of deposed Islamist president
Mohamed Morsi. Gunmen killed a police captain and a conscript in a
firefight on a desert road outside Cairo.
(AFP, 4/20/14)(AP, 4/20/14)
2014 Apr 20, In India 2 victims
were found dead aboard the Chinese-built carrier Tuo Fu 3 anchored
near Haldia city in the Bay of Bengal. They had reportedly collapsed
immediately after entering the cargo hold filled with coal and
accumulated methane gas.
2014 Apr 20, In Iraq a series
of attacks, including a coordinated assault on a private Shiite
college in Baghdad, killed at least 15 people and wounded nearly 50
2014 Apr 20, Israeli police
arrested 16 Palestinians at one of Jerusalem's most revered and
politically sensitive holy sites as they dispersed protesters
opposed to any Jewish attempts to pray there.
2014 Apr 20, Myanmar reported
that fighting between government troops and ethnic Kachin rebels has
left 22 people dead this month.
(SFC, 4/21/14, p.A2)
2014 Apr 20, In southern
Pakistan a passenger bus rammed into a disabled flatbed trailer
parked on the side of a highway near Pannu Aqil, killing at least 42
people, including 17 women and children.
(AP, 4/20/14)(SFC, 4/21/14, p.A2)
2014 Apr 20, Saudi Arabia's
health ministry said three more patients who contracted a
potentially fatal Middle East virus related to SARS have died amid a
recent increase in infections.
2014 Apr 20, In Syria dozens of
people were killed in air strikes on Aleppo, including at least 29
people in a single neighborhood. Former German rapper Denis Mamadou
Cuspert, aka Deso Dogg, was among 16 killed in a suicide attack by
Al-Nusra Front in an eastern province. In Syria he had joined ISIL
and taken on the name Abu Talha al-Almani.
(Reuters, 4/21/14)(AFP, 4/22/14)
2014 Apr 20, Ukraine and Russia
traded blame for a shootout at a checkpoint manned by pro-Russia
insurgents in Slovyansk that left three people dead in a mysterious
(AP, 4/20/14)(Econ, 4/26/14, p.50)
2014 Apr 20, Pope Francis, in
his Easter address "Urbi et Orbi" (Latin for 'to the city and to the
world') denounced the "immense wastefulness" in the world while many
go hungry and called for an end to conflicts in Syria, Ukraine and
2014 Apr 20, In Venezuela fresh
clashes erupted in Caracas, with hooded anti-government protesters
hurling rocks and Molotov cocktails at riot police who returned fire
with rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannon.
2014 Apr 20, A drone strike in
south Yemen killed at least 30 suspected Al-Qaeda militants.
2014 Apr 21, In Massachusetts
more than 32,000 hit the streets in the first Boston Marathon since
last year’s deadly bombing.
(SFC, 4/22/14, p.A6)
2014 Apr 21, In Afghanistan
Esmatullah, a prominent campaign worker in the presidential
election, was shot dead outside his home in Logar province. He had
worked as an election observer for presidential candidate Abdul Rab
2014 Apr 21, In
India-controlled Kashmir suspected rebels gunned down two village
elders and one victim's son in attacks that police said were aimed
at scaring off voters in the country's general election.
2014 Apr 21, In Iraq suicide
bombings and other attacks across the country killed at least 19
people and wounded 36.
2014 Apr 21, Japanese PM Shinzo
Abe sent a religious offering to a Tokyo shrine that honors the
dead, including executed war criminals — long a source of tension
with Japan's neighbors China and South Korea.
2014 Apr 21, Seven rockets
fired from the Gaza Strip landed in southern Israel during the
Jewish Passover holiday, drawing retaliatory air strikes from the
2014 Apr 21, In Myanmar Win Tin
(84), one of the founders of Myanmar's pro-democracy opposition and
its longest-serving political prisoner (1989-2008), died. He strove
for decades to bring freedom to a nation under military
2014 Apr 21, In Nigeria parents
of kidnapped girls told the governor of Borno state that officials
would not listen to them when they drew up their list of names of
missing children and that the total reached 234.
2014 Apr 21, In the Philippines
Gonzaga town Mayor Carlito Pentecostes Jr. and his bodyguards died
following an attack by at least 15 suspected communist rebels
disguised as police. A firefight ensued but the gunmen escaped in a
commandeered police car. The attackers scattered leaflets denouncing
mining in northern Cagayan province.
2014 Apr 21, Romanian
authorities said 3 people have died and 250 were evacuated after
heavy rain and flooding hit over the weekend. Worst affected were
three southern counties that lie along the River Vedea.
2014 Apr 21, Russian President
Vladimir Putin signed a decree to rehabilitate Crimea's Tatars and
other minorities who suffered under Soviet dictator Josef Stalin,
courting a group that largely opposed Moscow's annexation of the
region from Ukraine.
2014 Apr 21, Saudi media
reported that a court has sentenced to death five people over deadly
2003 attacks that marked the start of a wave of Al-Qaeda violence.
2014 Apr 21, Saudi Arabia
announced 17 new cases of MERS, bring the total number of Saudi
infections to 261, of whom 81 have died. King Abdullah fired health
minister Abdullah al-Rabiah.
(SFC, 4/22/14, p.A2)(Reuters, 4/22/14)
2014 Apr 21, In Somalia Isaq
Mohamed Rino, a legislator in parliament, was killed after a bomb
planted under his car exploded in Mogadishu.
2014 Apr 21, In Sri Lanka Naomi
Coleman, a British tourist, was detained at Colombo's airport after
she arrived from India when authorities spotted the tattoo of Buddha
seated on a lotus flower. She was sent before a magistrate, who
ordered her deportation.
2014 Apr 21, Syria’s parliament
speaker announced that presidential elections will be held on June
3. Five people were reported killed when two mortar shells struck
2014 Apr 21, Turkey's energy
minister said an oil pipeline carrying crude from Iraq's Kirkuk oil
fields to Turkey's Mediterranean port of Ceyhan is unusable because
of persistent militant attacks.
2014 Apr 21, In southern Yemen
3 militants, one of whom may have been a senior commander, were
killed in a drone strike. Fares al-Suwaydi, who worked in security
at Sanaa airport, was shot dead in front of the terminal by gunmen
on a motorbike. An intelligence officer died of wounds he sustained
in an attack that killed a colleague earlier today.
(AFP, 4/21/14)(AP, 4/22/14)
2014 Apr 22, Pres. Obama took
an aerial tour of Oso, Wa., where at least 41 people were killed in
a mudslide on March 22. Afterwards he spoke at the Oso Fire Dept.
(SFC, 4/22/14, p.A7)
2014 Apr 22, US Naval officials
and two dozen Asia-Pacific nations adopted the code For Unplanned
Encounters, an agreement aimed at improving communication at sea to
reduce the possibility of conflict amid rising friction between an
increasingly assertive China and its neighbors. The agreement was
approved unanimously at the Western Pacific Naval Symposium in the
eastern Chinese port city of Qingdao.
(AP, 4/22/14)(SFC, 4/23/14, p.A2)
2014 Apr 22, The FBI asked the
public’s help to identify at least 90 potential victims of William
James Vahey (64), a suspected child predator. Vahey had worked at 10
American and other int’l. schools abroad for over four decades. He
committed suicide last month in Minnesota.
(SFC, 4/23/14, p.A7)
2014 Apr 22, The US Supreme
Court heard oral arguments in a case involving Aereo, a US internet
streaming service that picks up signals of free-to-air TV channels
for its subscribers.
(Econ, 4/26/14, p.65)
2014 Apr 22, Tesla Motors Inc.
delivered its first eight electric sedans to customers in China. CEO
Elon Musk said the company will build a nationwide network of
charging stations and service centers as fast as it can.
2014 Apr 22, In southern
Afghanistan 5 police officers were killed in a Taliban attack on a
checkpoint in Ghorak district.
2014 Apr 22, Brazil's Congress
passed a bill guaranteeing Internet privacy and enshrining access to
the Web on the eve of a major conference in Sao Paulo on the future
of Internet governance that's expected to draw representatives from
some 80 countries.
2014 Apr 22, In Brazil violence
flared in Rio de Janeiro’s tourist Copacabana Beach area after
dancer Douglas Rafael da Silva Pereira (25) was found shot dead,
heightening fears about security in a city that will host seven
World Cup games including the July 13 final.
2014 Apr 22, London
Metropolitan Police arrested Tania Clarence (42), a graphic designer
from South Africa, after the bodies of a four-year-old girl and two
three-year-old boys were found at her home. The three children had
"life-limiting" genetic disorders.
2014 Apr 22, In Brunei the
penalty for homosexuality was increased to death by stoning as part
of a new broader imposition of Islamic Shariah law which also
imposed death for rape, adultery and extramarital relations.
(SSFC, 5/18/14, p.A17)
2014 Apr 22, In CongoDRC some
50 people were killed when a train derailed in the southeast.
(AFP, 4/23/14)(SFC, 4/24/14, p.A2)
2014 Apr 22, In Iraq militants
wearing military uniforms carried out an overnight attack against a
balloting center in Daqouq village outside Kirkuk and killed 10
2014 Apr 22, Nearly 150
Japanese lawmakers paid homage at the Yasukuni shrine which honors
the nation's war dead, raising the stakes in an already tense region
on the eve of US President Barack Obama's visit.
2014 Apr 22, Armed pirates
raided an oil tanker off the coast of Malaysia and took three crew
members with them.
2014 Apr 22, Nepalese guides on
Mount Everest said they had decided to abandon this year's climbing
season, to honor 16 colleagues killed in an avalanche last week. The
decision threw the plans of hundreds of foreign mountaineers into
2014 Apr 22, In Pakistan 9
people, including policemen, were killed and dozens wounded in two
separate bomb and gun attacks in the volatile northwest.
2014 Apr 22, In the Philippines
about 80 activists protested at the Chinese consulate in Manila,
demanding that China stop intruding into Philippine territory in the
South China Sea. Philippine marine officer Mike Pelotera said he and
his men saw Filipino fishermen being "bullied" away from the Second
Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea at least eight times from
December to March.
2014 Apr 22, Russia’s top
opposition leader Alexei Navalny was found guilty of slandering a
lawmaker and ordered to pay a hefty fine. He was found guilty of
calling municipal lawmaker Alexei Lisovenko "a lawmaker-drug addict"
and ordered to pay 300,000 rubles ($8,300, 6,000 euros).
2014 Apr 22, In Somalia two
gunmen belonging to an Islamic extremist group shot and killed
legislator Abdiaziz Isaq Mursal as he stepped out of his home in
2014 Apr 22, In South Korea the
confirmed death toll from the April 16 disaster off the southern
coast reached 113 with about 190 people were still missing.
2014 Apr 22, Swiss
pharmaceutical firm Novartis AG launched a major overhaul of its
business, unveiling a series of multibillion-dollar deals with
Britain's GlaxoSmithKline PLC and the U.S.'s Eli Lilly & Co.
2014 Apr 22, Turkey’s PM Recep
Tayyip Erdogan said number of Syrian refugees in Turkey has reached
"almost one million," while pledging to keep accepting those fleeing
2014 Apr 22, Uganda’s military
said African troops have captured a junior commander with the Lord's
Resistance Army and rescued 10 people, mostly children, abducted by
the rebels. The rebel lieutenant known as Charles Okell was seized
after a firefight in Central African Republic.
2014 Apr 22, Ukrainian PM
Arseny Yatseniuk said that Russian special forces were operating in
the east to undermine a presidential election due on May 25 and he
called on Moscow to pull them out. Acting President Oleksandr
Turchynov ordered the resumption of military operations in the east,
where pro-Russia protesters and masked gunmen have seized government
buildings and set up checkpoints on the roads.
(Reuters, 4/22/14)(AP, 4/24/14)
2014 Apr 22, In Ukraine US Vice
President Joe Biden delivered an aid package and demanded Russia
back off. He also warned Kiev it must tackle the "cancer of
2014 Apr 22, In Ukraine Simon
Ostrovsky, a US journalist for Vice News, disappeared. He had been
covering the crisis in Ukraine for weeks and was reporting about
groups of masked gunmen seizing government buildings in one eastern
Ukrainian city after another. Pro-Russian gunmen in eastern Ukraine
admitted the next day that they are holding Ostrovsky.
2014 Apr 22, In Yemen Colonel
Abdul Razak al-Jabali was shot dead becoming the fourth officer to
be killed in suspected militant attacks in Sanaa in two days. A
state security court sentenced Sami Dayan, an Al-Qaeda militant, to
15 years in prison after convicting him of taking part in plotting
to kill an army commander in south Yemen in 2012, in a suicide
2014 Apr 23, President Barack
Obama opened a four-country Asia tour in Japan aimed at reassuring
allies in the region that the US remains a committed economic,
military and political partner that can serve as a counterweight to
China's growing influence.
2014 Apr 23, Georgia Gov.
Nathan Deal signed legislation that will allow people to carry guns
in bars, churches and government buildings under certain conditions
as of July 1.
(SFC, 4/24/14, p.A8)
2014 Apr 23, A Kansas judge
granted a request to formally change the name of Bradley Edward
Manning, the soldier convicted of leaking classified documents to
WikiLeaks, to Chelsea Elizabeth Manning as he served a 35-year
(SFC, 4/24/14, p.A6)
2014 Apr 23, Colombia’s Pres.
Juan Manuel said he would heed a court order to reinstate ousted
Bogota Mayor Gustavo Petro. The mayor had been removed from office
in March for alleged administrative missteps.
(SFC, 4/24/14, p.A2)
2014 Apr 23, An Egyptian
policeman and a militant were killed when security forces raided a
hideout used by radical Islamists near Alexandria. Brig. Gen. Ahmed
Zaki was killed near Cairo when a bomb blew up his car. Ajnad Misr
(Egypt’s Soldiers), an Islamist militant group, soon claimed
responsibility for the attack on Zaki
(Reuters, 4/23/14)(SFC, 4/25/14, p.A2)
2014 Apr 23, Hong Kong scrapped
travel sanctions against the Philippines after Manila issued an
apology and offered greater compensation for the deaths of eight
tourists during a 2010 hostage-taking and siege.
2014 Apr 23, Kosovo's
parliament approved an EU-backed special court to try ethnic
Albanian ex-guerrillas accused of harvesting organs from Serbs
captured in the 1998-99 Kosovo war.
2014 Apr 23, The Gaza-based
Islamist group Hamas and President Mahmoud Abbas's Palestine
Liberation Organization (PLO) agreed to implement a unity pact.
Hamas had freed 10 Fatah prisoners ahead of the meeting as a
(AP, 4/22/14)(Reuters, 4/23/14)
2014 Apr 23, In the Philippines
police armed with truncheons, shields and a fire hose clashed with
more than 100 left-wing activists who rallied at the US Embassy in
Manila to oppose a visit by President Obama and an expected security
pact that would increase the American military presence.
2014 Apr 23, Saudi Arabia
announced 11 new cases of MERS, including a 13-year-old child.
Acting health minister Adel Fakieh vowed to keep the public better
informed on the coronavirus.
2014 Apr 23, South Korea said
the death toll from the April 16 disaster off the southern coast
reached 156 with about 150 people were still missing.
2014 Apr 23, South Sudan media
reported that President Salva Kiir has sacked his army chief,
replacing him with a loyalist from his own ethnic group as the
country's four-month conflict shows signs of being increasingly
fought along tribal lines. Kiir also replaced his head of
intelligence. South Sudanese rebel forces battling President Kiir
captured the town of Renk, close to the border with Sudan and began
advancing on the Paloich oil fields.
(Reuters, 4/24/14)(AFP, 4/24/14)
2014 Apr 23, In Thailand Kamol
Duangphasuk, a pro-government activist who opposed a law punishing
critics of the monarchy, was fatally shot by gunmen on a motorcycle
2014 Apr 23, Turkish PM Tayyip
Erdogan offered what the government said were unprecedented
condolences on Wednesday to the grandchildren of Armenians killed in
World War One by Ottoman soldiers on the eve of the 99th anniversary
of the deeply contested deaths.
2014 Apr 23, The WHO said 147
people have died from the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, including
136 in Guinea and 11 in Liberia.
(SFC, 4/24/14, p.A2)
2014 Apr 24, US postal workers
in cities large and small rallied against a US Postal service pilot
program to open counters in Staples stores.
(SFC, 4/25/14, p.A6)
2014 Apr 24, A US court filing
indicated that four major Silicon Valley companies (Adobe, Apple,
Google and Intel) have settled a suit over charges that they
conspired not to hire one another’s workers.
(SFC, 4/25/14, p.C5)
2014 Apr 24, In Afghanistan 3
Americans were killed when a security guard opened fire at the Kabul
Cure Hospital funded by a US Christian charity. They killed included
Dr. Jerry Umanos, health clinic administrator Jon Gabel and his
visiting father, Gary. The attacker was captured.
(Reuters, 4/24/14)(AP, 4/26/14)
2014 Apr 24, Bolivia's army,
navy and air force announced the expulsion of 702 enlisted men for
sedition, rebellion and attacking the "honor of the Armed Forces."
An unprecedented military protest began April 21 with 500 soldiers
but expanded to about 1,000 today. Soldiers vowed to keep up
protests to demand the option of rising to the rank of officer.
2014 Apr 24, In Brazil Paulo
Malhaes, a former army colonel who acknowledged he tortured and
killed political prisoners during Brazil's 1964-1985 military
regime, was suffocated to death by three men who broke into his
house and stole two computers and some of the antique guns he
2014 Apr 24, The British
government said Cornish people have been given the same status as
Scots, Welsh and Irish — the U.K.'s other Celtic peoples — under EU
law protecting national minorities.
2014 Apr 24, China passed
amendments to the country's environmental protection law that will
impose tougher penalties on polluters in the most sweeping revisions
to the law in 25 years.
2014 Apr 24, Four French police
officers were held in custody on suspicion of raping a 34-year-old
Canadian woman at their Paris headquarters. The alleged rape took
place overnight April 22-23 at the headquarters of the Paris police
2014 Apr 24, In India Mumbai
voters were among the 180 million people who were registered to vote
in the sixth phase of the mammoth general election, but many were
unable to cast ballots when their names were not found on the
2014 Apr 24, In Iraq a car bomb
exploded at a police checkpoint south of Baghdad, killing 8 people.
2014 Apr 24, Japanese Economy
Minister Akira Amari said that the US and Japan made progress in
trade talks but did not reach a final deal.
2014 Apr 24, In Kashmir Indian
forces used tear gas and wooden batons to disperse scores of
demonstrators who shouted anti-India slogans and threw rocks to
protest against voting in national elections in the disputed region.
Voter turnout was low.
2014 Apr 24, The Marshall
Islands filed suit against the US and eight other nuclear-armed
nations with an unprecedented lawsuit demanding that they meet their
obligations toward disarmament and accusing them of "flagrant
violations" of international law. The Marshall Islands claims the
nine countries are modernizing their nuclear arsenals instead of
2014 Apr 24, In southern
Pakistan a bombing killed Shafiq Tanoli, a police officer known for
his anti-militant campaigns, and 3 other people in Karachi.
Pakistani warplanes carried out airstrikes against insurgents in the
Khyber tribal region, killing 37 suspected militants.
(AP, 4/24/14)(SFC, 4/25/14, p.A2)
2014 Apr 24, Saudi Arabia's
health ministry said two more patients who became infected with a
Middle East virus related to SARS have died, and that 13 others have
contracted the MERS virus. The deaths bring to 83 the number of
people who have died in the kingdom since contracting the virus in
2014 Apr 24, Syrian government
airstrikes targeted a vegetable market in a rebel-held town in the
northern Aleppo province, killing at least 18 people and wounding
scores of others according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory
for Human Rights. Another activists group, the Syria-based Local
Coordination Committees also reported the airstrikes on Atareb,
saying that 24 people were killed.
2014 Apr 24, A Togo-flagged
cargo ship sank off the southern island of Crete. Four crew members
were rescued by a merchant vessel, but three remained missing.
2014 Apr 24, Ukrainian
government troops moved against pro-Russia forces in the east of the
country and killed at least two of them in clashes at checkpoints
manned by the insurgents. Russian President Vladimir Putin decried
what he described as a "punitive operation."
2014 Apr 24, A UN panel that
settles claims for damages resulting from Iraq's 1990 invasion of
Kuwait paid out another $990 million. The Geneva-based commission
was established by the UN Security Council in 1991 and is funded by
a 5 percent tax on the export of Iraqi oil. It makes payments every
2014 Apr 24, In Yemen two
officers of the US Embassy in Sanaa shot and killed a pair of armed
civilians during an attempted abduction of the Americans at a
business. Within days of the shooting both Americans left Yemen with
the approval of the Yemeni government.
2014 Apr 25, President Barack
Obama wrapped up a state visit to Japan during which he assured
America's ally that Washington would come to its defense, but failed
to clinch a trade deal key to both his "pivot" to Asia and PM Shinzo
Abe's economic reforms.
2014 Apr 25, President Barack
Obama and South Korean President Park Geun-hye warned Pyongyang that
it could face tougher sanctions if it follows through with threats
to launch a fourth nuclear test.
2014 Apr 25, Three US
protesters, arrested in 2012 for plotting Molotov cocktails in a
2012 Nato summit in Chicago were sentenced from 5-8 years in prison
on arson and mob-action charges. They had been acquitted of
terrorism and received credit for two years in jail.
(SFC, 4/26/14, p.A6)
2014 Apr 25, California's
Governor Jerry Brown said the state drought is so severe that the
government will roll back some environmental protections and loosen
the rules on transferring water to farmers.
2014 Apr 25, Dr. John Jay
Osborn (96), inventor of one of the first heart-lung machines
(1956), died in Belvedere, Ca. The machine made open heart surgery
(SFC, 5/1/14, p.D6)
2014 Apr 25, In Milford,
Connecticut, Maren Sanchez (16) died of stab wounds to her torso and
neck on the day of her junior prom at Jonathan Law High School.
Chris Plakson (16) was arrested and charged with homicide. In 2016
Plakson was sentenced to 25 years in prison. In 2017 the mother of
Sanchez offered to settle a suit against the city of Milford
and its school district for $23 million.
(SFC, 4/28/14, p.A6)(SFC, 9/15/17 p.A5)
2014 Apr 25, Oregon dropped its
problem-plagued online health exchange and decided to switch to the
federal website for private policies.
(SFC, 4/26/14, p.A6)
2014 Apr 25, Multiple tornadoes
hit eastern North Carolina damaging over 200 homes.
(SSFC, 4/27/14, p.A13)
2014 Apr 25, Cambodia's highest
court ruled that a prominent Russian property developer wanted in
his homeland for allegedly embezzling millions of dollars cannot be
extradited. Sergei Polonsky expressed satisfaction with the ruling
and said he will spend up to $100 million developing an island he
purchased off Cambodia's southern coast. Polonsky was charged in
Russia in June last year with embezzling more than 5.7 billion
rubles ($175 million) from 80 property investors.
2014 Apr 25, China’s Sina.com
temporarily closed its literature site after being accused of
hosting pornography, and authorities confirmed they were revoking
two crucial licenses, ensnaring one of China's top web portals in an
intensifying online crackdown.
2014 Apr 25, In CongoDRC at
least 23 people were killed when a stampede broke out in Kikwit,
Bandundu province during a tribute for singer King Kester Emeneya
(57), who died in Paris in February.
2014 Apr 25, A top El Salvador
official said Mara street gangs are arming themselves with
high-powered rifles and some gang members have tried to join the
army to get military training.
2014 Apr 25, Finland-based
Nokia said it has completed the 5.44 billion-euro ($7.5 billion)
sale of its troubled cellphone and services division to Microsoft
2014 Apr 25, German-Jewish
writer Stefanie Zweig (81), best known for her autobiographical
novel "Nowhere in Africa" (1995), died. The book retold the story of
her family's time in Kenya. A movie adaptation won an Oscar for Best
Foreign Language Film in 2003.
2014 Apr 25, Iran announced
petrol price hikes as high as 75 percent to take immediate effect,
in a long-awaited attempt to regulate energy prices in the country's
flatlining, sanctions-hit economy.
2014 Apr 25, In Iraq a multiple
bombing killed at least 33 people at a campaign rally for a militant
Shiite group in Baghdad. ISIL claimed responsibility for the attack
on the rally, which drew about 10,000 backers of Asaib Ahl al-Haq.
Several hours later a senior Sunni politician in the mostly Shiite
southern city of Basra was shot dead in what appeared to be a
2014 Apr 25, Police in Jamaica
arrested 20 people suspected of involvement in a multimillion-dollar
2014 Apr 25, In Pakistan a
powerful bomb exploded in an upscale residential area of Karachi,
killing at least 4 people and wounding 25.
2014 Apr 25, Puerto Rico police
said they have seized 209 pounds (95 kg) of cocaine found on an
abandoned boat near the popular tourist island of Culebra.
2014 Apr 25, Russia’s Central
Bank said it has increased its one-week auction rate by 0.5
percentage points to 7.5 percent in an effort to stem inflation as
the country begins to feel the impact of its policies in Ukraine.
Standard & Poor's credit agency cut Russia's credit rating for
the first time in more than five years, citing the flight of capital
and the risk to investment in Russia since the Ukraine crisis blew
up late last year.
2014 Apr 25, Saudi Arabia's
Health Ministry said that five more people in the kingdom have died
from MERS. The ministry says 92 people have died and 313 have
contracted the virus in Saudi since September 2012.
2014 Apr 25, South Sudan
released four top leaders accused of rebellion and treason, dropping
charges for attempting to overthrow the government in a move aimed
at ending a four-month-old civil war.
2014 Apr 25, Ukrainian special
forces launched a second phase of their operation in the east of the
country by mounting a full blockade of the rebel-held city of
Slaviansk A Ukrainian military helicopter exploded at a base near
the eastern town of Kramatorsk after being hit by a rocket-propelled
grenade. In Slovyansk pro-Russian activists detained an eight-member
team traveling under the auspices of the OSCE, accusing them of
being NATO spies.
(Reuters, 4/25/14)(AP, 4/25/14)(SSFC, 4/27/14,
2014 Apr 25, Venezuela's
President Nicolas Maduro said that 16 people have been arrested in a
new round of inspections to find alleged price gougers whom the
socialist government blames for the worst inflation rate in the
2014 Apr 26, President Barack
Obama began the first visit to Malaysia by an American president in
nearly half a century. Trade, defense and maritime security were
among the issues Obama and PM Najib were expected to discuss during
talks in the 2-day visit.
2014 Apr 26, Leaders of the G7
major economies agreed to impose more sanctions on Russia over the
crisis in Ukraine, where armed pro-Moscow separatists have detained
a group of international observers they accuse of being NATO spies.
2014 Apr 26, Preliminary
results in Afghanistan's presidential election showed former Foreign
Minister Abdullah Abdullah winning the most votes but not the
majority needed to avoid a runoff. Abdullah had 44.9 percent of the
vote and ex-Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai came in second
with 31.5 percent. The preliminary results were due to be finalized
on May 14 after investigations into fraud complaints.
2014 Apr 26, In southern
Afghanistan 5 NATO troops died in a British helicopter crash in
2014 Apr 26, In Austria an
explosion at a residential building in Vienna killed one person and
left another missing.
(SSFC, 4/27/14, p.A7)
2014 Apr 26, In Brazil about
2,000 people gathered in downtown Sao Paulo in a demonstration
demanding the legalization of the production and sale of marijuana
in Latin America's largest country.
2014 Apr 26, British teenager
Stephen Sutton (19) broke all records on the JustGiving fundraising
website by breaking the Â£2.5 million ($4.2 million, three million
euro) mark in donations to charity. He was diagnosed with bowel
cancer at 15, but despite surgery, the cancer spread, and doctors
concluded it was incurable.
2014 Apr 26, In northern
Central African Republic dozens of heavily armed Muslim rebels
opened fire in a hospital in Naga-Boguila, killing 22 people,
including three local health workers for Doctors Without Borders.
(Econ, 5/3/14, p.44)
2014 Apr 26, China’s Ministry
of Housing and Urban-Rural Development said it aims to start
building more than 7 million units of public housing this year,
signaling the latest government move to counter high property
2014 Apr 26, In China a
spokeswoman for a leading online video site, Youku, said it has
received notification not to show sitcom "The Big Bang Theory,"
political and legal drama "The Good Wife," crime drama "NCIS" and
legal drama "The Practice."
2014 Apr 26, In China labor
activists said most of the thousands of striking workers in Dongguan
have returned to work enabling Adidas to resume production. Some
10,000 remained on strike at the Taiwanese owned Yue Yuen Industrial
(SSFC, 4/27/14, p.A7)
2014 Apr 26, Cuba arrested 4
exiles from Miami accusing them of planning terrorist actions and
alleged their targets were military. They were later named as Jose
Ortega Amador, Obdulio Rodriguez Gonzalez, Raibel Pacheco Santos and
Felix Monzon Alvarez.
(AP, 5/7/14)(SFC, 5/8/14, p.A2)
2014 Apr 26, In Egypt hundreds
of activists demonstrated in Cairo against an anti-protest law, one
month before a presidential election which former army chief Abdel
Fattah al-Sisi is widely expected to win.
2014 Apr 26, In Egypt a
27-year-old civil engineer was diagnosed with MERS after returning
from Saudi Arabia.
2014 Apr 26, Iran hanged in
public 3 men convicted of killing prosecutor Mousa Nouri last Nov 6
in Sistan-Baluchestan province.
2014 Apr 26, Iraqi police found
9 bodies, some bullet-riddled, in several Sunni and Shiite districts
2014 Apr 26, In
Indian-controlled Kashmir a fierce gunbattle over the last 24 hours
left 3 suspected rebels and 2 Indian army soldiers dead.
2014 Apr 26, A Japanese whaling
fleet of four ships left port under tight security in the first hunt
since the UN's top court last month ordered Tokyo to stop killing
whales in the Antarctic.
2014 Apr 26, In central Nigeria
violence erupted when a militia from the Eggon tribe attacked the
Gwandara village of Egan following a dispute over farmland. At least
34 people were left dead with homes and barns torched.
2014 Apr 26, The Dutch donned
crazy orange-colored outfits and celebrated their first ever "King's
Day" — a national holiday held in honor of the newly installed
monarch, King Willem Alexander. King's Day replaced the traditional
"Queens' Day" festival held this time of year.
2014 Apr 26, Palestinian Pres.
Mahmoud Abbas signaled that he remains committed to troubled
US-backed peace talks, saying that any unity government agreed with
the militant group Hamas would recognize Israel.
2014 Apr 26, Two Saudi
nationals died from MERS, taking the death toll from the coronavirus
in the worst-hit country to 94.
2014 Apr 26, In Slovenia Zoran
Jankovic (61), mayor of the capital, Ljubljana, was chosen the
leader of Positive Slovenia party. The government faced likely
collapse after PM Alenka Bratusek (44), whose government saved the
small EU state from an international bailout, lost her party
leadership. Bratusek's three coalition partners in the four-party
center-left government have said they would step out of the cabinet
if Jankovic, under investigation for corruption, becomes the party
2014 Apr 26, South Sudan's
military spokesman said a "misunderstanding" between military troops
and a local community sparked clashes a day earlier that killed 5
Nuer trainees. Rebel Brig. Gen. Lul Ruai Koang charged that 220 Nuer
officers and trainees at Mapel Military Training Centre in Western
Bahr El Ghazal state were deliberately killed.
2014 Apr 26, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said at least 88 rebel and regime
forces have been killed in two days of clashes for control of
strategic sites in southern Daraa province.
2014 Apr 26, Turkish President
Abdullah Gul approved a controversial law expanding the powers of
the spy agency, a move critics say will tighten the graft-tainted
government's control over state institutions.
2014 Apr 26, In Venezuela
scores of opponents of Pres. Nicolas Maduro marched in Caracas,
vowing to remain on the streets in defiance of a high court ruling
limiting protests. The body of former intelligence chief Eliezer
Otaiza was dumped in a forested area on the edge of Caracas after
his vehicle was intercepted by a group of armed men. He was shot
(AP, 4/26/14)(AP, 4/30/14)
2014 Apr 27, President Barack
Obama said that comments reportedly made by Donald Sterling, the
owner of the LA Clippers pro basketball team, are "incredibly
offensive racist statements," before casting them as part of a
continuing legacy of slavery and segregation that Americans must
2014 Apr 27, President Barack
Obama pressed the Malaysian government to improve its human rights
record and appealed to Southeast Asia's teeming youth population to
stand up for the rights of minorities and the rule of law.
2014 Apr 27, US and Philippine
officials said the two countries have reached a 10-year agreement
that would allow a larger US military presence in the Philippines as
it grapples with increasingly tense territorial disputes with China.
2014 Apr 27, A broad tornado
killed at least 15 when it sliced through Arkansas at the start of
the US tornado season. Two more people were killed died in Iowa and
(Reuters, 4/28/14)(Reuters, 4/29/14)
2014 Apr 27, In Montana
exchange student Diren Dede of Hamburg was shot to death in
Missoula. Marks Kaarma said he found an intruder in his garage and
shot him twice. Kaarma was charged the next day with deliberate
homicide. Kaarma had reportedly baited and shot Dede following
previous burglaries by local teenagers. On Feb 12, 2015, Kaarma was
sentenced to seventy years in prison.
(SFC, 4/29/14, p.A5)(SFC, 12/5/14, p.A10)(SFC,
2014 Apr 27, Afghan officials
said recent torrential rains have caused flash floods in the north
that killed more than 100 people. Scores more were missing as
helicopters searched for stranded villagers.
(AFP, 4/25/14)(SFC, 4/28/14, p.A2)
2014 Apr 27, In Central African
Republic heavily armed African and French peacekeepers escorted some
of the last remaining Muslims out of Bangui, trucking more than
1,200 people who for months had been trapped in their neighborhood
by violent Christian militants.
(AP, 4/27/14)(AP, 4/28/14)
2014 Apr 27, Dominican Rep.
police arrested Nicola Pignatelli (43), an alleged high-ranking
member of the Italian mafia. He had fled Italy in 2011 to avoid a
(SFC, 4/29/14, p.A2)
2014 Apr 27, An Egyptian court
sentenced 42 supporters of deposed president Mohamed Morsi to prison
terms ranging from three to 15 years on violence-related charges.
2014 Apr 27, Iraqi army
helicopters attacked a jihadist convoy inside eastern Syria as it
tried to approach the border, killing 8 people.
2014 Apr 27, Polls opened for
Macedonia's double election, a presidential election runoff and snap
national elections. PM Nikola Gruevski's ruling center-right party
won its fourth consecutive general election victory, but looked
likely to fall just short of gaining an outright majority. The main
opposition Social Democrats refused to recognize the result.
(AP, 4/27/14)(AP, 4/28/14)
2014 Apr 27, In Pakistan a
roadside bomb killed three soldiers in an area bordering South and
North Waziristan near the Afghan border.
2014 Apr 27, The Palestine
Liberation Organisation's central council adopted a plan to pursue
attempts to join 60 United Nations bodies and international
2014 Apr 27, Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas called the Holocaust "the most heinous
crime" of modern history and expressed his sympathy for the victims,
a rare acknowledgment by an Arab leader of Jewish suffering during
the Nazi genocide.
2014 Apr 27, In the northern
Philippines a light plane crashed while on a cloud-seeding flight
over farmlands that have been scorched by the intense summer heat,
killing all four people on board.
2014 Apr 27, South Korea's PM
Chung Hong-won resigned over the government's handling of a ferry
sinking that has left more than 300 people dead or missing and led
to widespread shame, fury and finger-pointing. Officials have taken
into custody all 15 people involved in navigating the ferry Sewol,
which sank April 16.
2014 Apr 27, In Taiwan nearly
30,000 rallied in opposition to the proposed 4th Longmen nuclear
power plant near Taipei. PM Jiang Yi-huah backed down and agreed
mothball two plants, stop construction at a third and hold a
referendum prior to any operations.
(Econ, 5/3/14, p.36)
2014 Apr 27, In Ukraine
pro-Russian separatists seized control of the offices of regional
state television in the eastern city of Donetsk.
2014 Apr 27, Pope Francis
declared Popes John XXIII and John Paul II saints before some
800,000 people in an unprecedented ceremony made even more historic
by the presence of emeritus Pope Benedict XVI in St. Peter's Square.
2014 Apr 27, Thousands of
Yemenis rallied in the port city of Mukalla to demand statehood for
the formerly independent south 20 years after the crushing of a
2014 Apr 28, The US signed a
new 10-year military pact with the Philippines granting a larger
presence for US forces. Pres. Obama said it would bolster the
Southeast Asian country's maritime security, but was not aimed at
countering China's growing military might.
2014 Apr 28, The United States
levied new sanctions on seven Russian government officials, as well
as 17 companies with links to Vladimir Putin's close associates, as
the Obama administration seeks to pressure the Russian leader to
deescalate the crisis in Ukraine.
2014 Apr 28, Detroit reached a
5-year collective bargaining deal with some 3,500 of 10,000 city
workers as it grappled with an $18 billion debt.
(SFC, 4/29/14, p.A5)
2014 Apr 28, One of several
twisters to tear across Mississippi struck Tupelo, damaging hundreds
of homes and businesses, downing power lines and shredding trees. At
least one person was killed in Tupelo. The storm system later pushed
into parts of Alabama, where at least 2 people were killed at a
trailer park near Athens. 6 people were killed in Winston County,
Miss. At least 9 people were killed in the Louisville area of
(Reuters, 4/29/14)(SFC, 4/29/14, p.A6)(SFC,
2014 Apr 28, NY Congressman
Michael Grimm (44), a former Marine and FBI agent, was charged with
evading taxes by concealing more than $1 million in sales and wages
while running a Manhattan restaurant.
(SFC, 4/29/14, p.A6)
2014 Apr 28, Six environmental
advocates won this year's Goldman Prize. India's Ramesh Agrawal
received the prize for helping villagers fight a large coal mine in
Chhattisgarh state. American lawyer Helen Slottje received the award
for helping communities fight fracking in New York State. Peru's
Ruth Buendia was recognized for helping to prevent construction of
two large dams that would have displaced nearly 10,000 indigenous
people in the Peruvian Amazon. Russian zoologist Suren Gazaryan won
for defending protected areas around Sochi from illegal land
seizures for Olympic construction projects. South Africa's Desmond
D'Sa won for helping to close down one of the country's largest
toxic waste dumps. Indonesian biologist Rudi Putra won for helping
to shutter 26 illegal palm oil plantations that were causing
deforestation in northern Sumatra.
2014 Apr 28, In Afghanistan
about 300 Haqqani insurgents and foreign fighters came under
intensive fire when they tried to storm Afghan bases in Ziruk
district of Paktika province. Afghan troops backed by Western air
power killed at least 60 militants.
2014 Apr 28, Algeria’s Pres.
Abdelaziz Bouteflika (77) recited the oath of office from a
wheelchair and briefly thanked voters. In a speech handed out to
journalists, however, he promised to continue democratic reforms and
efforts at national reconciliation. He suffered from a stroke last
year and rarely appears in public.
2014 Apr 28, Azerbaijan police
detained Leyla Yunus, a prominent rights defender, as well as her
husband Arif Yunus.
(Econ, 8/22/15, p.44)
2014 Apr 28, Britain's Serious
Fraud Office said it had opened a criminal investigation into
possible money laundering associated with corruption in Ukraine and
had frozen $23 million of assets in the UK in relation to the case.
2014 Apr 28, British celebrity
publicist Max Clifford (71), one of the most influential figures in
Britain's entertainment world, was convicted of eight counts of
indecent assault on victims aged between 15 and 18 at the time of
offense in the 1970s and '80s. On May 2 he was sentenced to eight
years in prison for the string of indecent assaults on four women.
2014 Apr 28, In Britain Anne
Maguire (61), a popular Spanish teacher, was stabbed multiple times
in front of pupils at Corpus Christi Catholic College, Leeds, in
what is thought to be the first time a teacher has been fatally
stabbed in a British classroom. A male pupil (15) was arrested. On
Nov 3 Will Cornick (16) was sentenced to life in prison and ordered
to serve a minimum of 20 years.
(AFP, 4/29/14)(AFP, 11/3/14)
2014 Apr 28, Bulgarian
prosecutors charged two senior magistrates (Veselin Pengezov,
chairman of the Sofia appeals court, and Petar Petkov, head of the
military appeals court) with embezzling EU funds in a scandal that
has further dented public trust in the judiciary system of the EU's
poorest member state.
2014 Apr 28, In Central African
Republic 2 civilians were killed when gunmen ambushed a convoy of
Muslims fleeing violence in Bangui.
2014 Apr 28, In China a man
distressed by his divorce case intentionally rammed a car into
electric scooters and pedestrians near a school in the southeast,
killing 6 people, including 3 children. Police subdued Lin Jianxin
(37) with a water gun in Zhuangtou village, Fujian province.
2014 Apr 28, In China the
large, officially approved, Sanjiang Protestant Church was
demolished in Wenzhou. It had been built six years earlier at a cost
of $4.8 million, but officials said it had violated building codes.
(Econ, 5/3/14, p.40)
2014 Apr 28, It was reported
that small farmers in Colombia have launched a nationwide strike
less than a month before the presidential election. They accused the
government of failing to adhere to agreements reached after a
violent work stoppage last year.
2014 Apr 28, In Egypt judge
Said Yusuf (Youssef) sentenced to death 683 alleged supporters of
the country's ousted Islamist president, including the Muslim
Brotherhood's spiritual leader. The same judge also upheld the death
penalty for 37 of 529 defendants sentenced in a similar case in
March, though he commuted the rest of the sentences to life
imprisonment. In October Youseff was removed from his criminal court
to the civilian judiciary.
(AP, 4/28/14)(Econ, 5/3/14, p.45)(SFC, 10/2/14,
2014 Apr 28, An Egyptian court
banned “April 6," a pro-democracy movement that helped ignite the
uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak in 2011, tightening a
crackdown on dissent a month ahead of a presidential election the
former army chief is expected to win.
2014 Apr 28, The European Union
added 15 more officials to its Russian sanctions list to protests
Moscow's meddling in Ukraine.
2014 Apr 28, In Iraq 25 people
were killed in the Kurdish town of Khanaquin as suicide bombers
attacked police and soldiers casting their vote early for a national
election in two days' time. Over the last two days nearly 50 people
were killed in violence across the country.
(Reuters, 4/28/14)(SFC, 4/29/14, p.A2)
2014 Apr 28, Malaysian police
detained nine people during raids in and around the capital Kuala
Lumpur and the northern state of Kedah on suspicion of involvement
in terrorist acts or forming links with terrorists inside the
country and abroad. Two more were soon arrested in an operation to
break up Islamic terror groups posing as humanitarian organizations.
(Reuters, 4/28/14)(AFP, 5/2/14)
2014 Apr 28, Moldovans with
biometric passports — containing a chip with a photo and fingerprint
data — began traveling without visas across 26 European nations, the
so-called Schengen area. The European Parliament had approved
visa-free travel across most of Europe for Moldovan citizens in
2014 Apr 28, In Pakistan a
bombing killed 3 seminary students in the southern commercial hub of
2014 Apr 28, In Peru about
1,500 police and troops in a surprise raid dynamited $20 million
worth of heavy machinery as the government dialed up a crackdown on
illegal gold mining that has badly scarred the ecologically rich
southeastern jungle region of Madre de Dios.
2014 Apr 28, Police in Taiwan
fired water cannons to disperse hundreds of anti-nuclear protesters
refusing to give up their campaign despite a government pledge to
halt work on the island's fourth nuclear power plant.
2014 Apr 28, In Ukraine Hennady
Kernes, the mayor of Kharkiv, was shot in the back and fought to
stay alive following an operation. Kernes has insisted he does not
support the pro-Russia insurgents and backed a united Ukraine.
Pro-Russia insurgents seized more government buildings.
2014 Apr 29, Washington's
deadline for reaching a peace deal between Israel and Palestine
expired today with the sides bitterly divided.
2014 Apr 29, The US targeted
companies from China and Dubai for allegedly helping Iran evade
weapons and oil sanctions, a signal Washington will keep pressure on
Tehran over its nuclear program.
2014 Apr 29, US Attorney
General Eric Holder said the United States is determined to help
Ukraine find and recover billions of dollars of assets it says were
stolen by its former president and his aides. Holder spoke at the
start of a two-day international meeting in London, jointly
organized by Britain and the United States and attended by
representatives from 35 countries, which is aimed at helping
Ukraine's government recover money from President Viktor Yanukovich.
2014 Apr 29, A federal judge
struck down Wisconsin’s voter ID law declaring that it imposes an
unfair burden on poor and minority voters.
(SFC, 4/30/14, p.A6)
2014 Apr 29, Laws in Chicago
and NYC went into effect subjecting electronic cigarettes to the
same regulations as tobacco.
(SFC, 4/30/14, p.A6)
2014 Apr 29, NBA Commissioner
Adam Silver announced that Donald Sterling (80), the owner of the LA
Clippers, would be banned from the NBA for life and fined $2.5
million for his recent racist comments. Additional punishment
included barring Sterling from any NBA games or practices.
(SFC, 4/30/14, p.A1)
2014 Apr 29, In Georgia a FedEx
employee wearing ammunition draped across his chest opened fire at a
packaging sorting center outside Atlanta, wounding six people before
apparently committing suicide.
(SFC, 4/30/14, p.A6)
2014 Apr 29, Oklahoma halted a
double execution after Clayton Lockett (38) appeared to twitch and
gag after being declared unconscious. Vein failure was cited.
Locket, convicted of shooting a woman in 1999 and having buried her
alive, soon died of a heart attack. The execution of Charles Warner
(46) was stayed for 14 days. He had been convicted of the rape and
murder of an 11-month-old girl in 1997.
(SFC, 4/30/14, p.A9)
2014 Apr 29, US payment-card
firm Visa said it would suspend network services to Russian banks
SMP and InvestCapitalbank, which were sanctioned a day earlier by
the US, in order to comply with US law.
2014 Apr 29, In Bahrain female
activists Nafisa al-Asfoor and Rayhana al-Musawi were convicted,
along with three male accomplices in connection with what
authorities say was an attempt to bomb last year's Formula One race.
No explosives were detonated at the 2013 race.
2014 Apr 29, CongoDRC officials
said nearly 40,000 Congolese citizens have been deported over the
last two weeks from neighboring Republic of Congo because they did
not have immigration papers.
(SFC, 4/30/14, p.A2)
2014 Apr 29, An Egyptian court
sentenced 29 people, described as Islamist supporters of ousted
Pres. Morsi, to five years imprisonment on charges that included
(SFC, 4/30/14, p.A2)
2014 Apr 29, In Egypt Bassem
Sabry (31), one of the country’s most respected bloggers who
campaigned for civil rights and against repression, died. Security
officials said Sabry accidently fell from a balcony under unclear
2014 Apr 29, Ethiopian police
said they have arrested several people for "serious criminal
activities." Rights groups said they were journalists and “Zone 9"
bloggers detained in a sweeping crackdown against free speech. On
Oct 16, 2015, Four of the bloggers and journalists were acquitted of
terrorism after 18 months in jail. Journalist Befekadu Hailu, while
being acquitted of terrorism charges, remained in custody on charges
of inciting violence. Soleyana Gebremichael, in exile in the US, was
acquitted of all charges in absentia.
(AFP, 4/29/14)(AFP, 10/16/15)
2014 Apr 29, The EU released
the names of 15 new people it is targeting for sanctions because of
their roles in the Ukraine crisis.
2014 Apr 29, Indian police and
paramilitary officers said they have detained more than 600 Kashmiri
residents over the last five days in a crackdown on suspected
separatists ahead of voting in a general election.
2014 Apr 29, In Indonesia Rudi
Rubiandin, the former head of energy regulator SKKMigas, was
sentenced to seven years in prison for his role in a major graft
scandal that reached the top levels of the oil ministry.
2014 Apr 29, In Iraq a pair of
back-to-back bombs ripped through an outdoor market in al-Saadiyah,
140km northeast of Baghdad, killing at least 17 people and wounding
2014 Apr 29, In Mexico gunmen
in homemade armored vehicles engaged in a day of running gunbattles
that left 14 people dead in the border city of Reynosa, across the
border from McAllen, Texas.
2014 Apr 29, Moldova's PM Iurie
Leanca said neighboring Romania will export gas to his country this
year, reducing the former Soviet republic's dependence on Russia for
2014 Apr 29, A
Palestinian-built protest boat, Gaza's Ark, which was preparing to
run Israel's naval blockade of the territory, was badly damaged in
an explosion that organizers blamed on Israel.
2014 Apr 29, In the Philippines
Muslim militants launched a surprise attack to regain control of a
jungle training camp in a southern province. 25 Abu Sayyaf militants
were killed and 24 wounded. One Philippine marine had died and 19
2014 Apr 29, In Russia 10
people died after a fire broke out at a military warehouse in the
Siberian Baikal region.
2014 Apr 29, Turkey’s PM Tayyip
Erdogan said he would ask the United States to extradite Islamic
cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom he accuses of plotting to topple him
and undermine Turkey with concocted graft accusations and secret
wire taps. Gulen has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania
2014 Apr 29, In Syria two car
bombs exploded in a pro-government neighborhood, killing at least 40
people just hours after one of the deadliest mortar strikes in the
heart of Damascus killed at least 14. The Organization for the
Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said it will send a team to Syria to
investigate recent allegations about the use of chlorine gas in the
(AP, 4/29/14)(SFC, 4/30/14, p.A4)
2014 Apr 29, Thailand's state
anti-corruption body indicted 36 senators for alleged misconduct in
attempting to amend the constitution to make the Senate fully
elected, which a court ruled was unconstitutional last year.
2014 Apr 29, In Ukraine
demonstrators demanding more power for eastern regions stormed the
regional administration building in Luhansk, one of the largest
cities in the troubled east.
2014 Apr 29, The UAE convicted
American drummer James Kottak of insulting Islam and being under the
influence of alcohol while in transit at Dubai airport and sentenced
him to one month in jail.
(SFC, 4/30/14, p.A2)
2014 Apr 29, Yemeni troops,
backed by air force planes, launched a major offensive against al
Qaeda strongholds in the south of the country to try to eradicate
the Islamist militant group that had killed hundreds since 2011.
2014 Apr 30, The DJIA closed at
16580.84, an all time high. This was four points above the previous
high set last Dec 31.
(SFC, 5/1/14, p.C1)
2014 Apr 30, Researchers
reported the use of scaffolding-like material from pigs for use as
implants into a few young men with disabling leg injuries. They said
the treatment coaxed the men’s own stem cells to regrow new muscle.
(SFC, 5/1/14, p.A16)
2014 Apr 30, In Milwaukee
Dontre Hamilton (31), a mentally ill man, died after he was shot 14
times by police Officer Christopher Manney following a scuffle.
Manney was fired in October.
2014 Apr 30, In northern
Afghanistan a coal mine collapsed and killed at least 15 workers in
Samangan province. In the east a militant attack on a security post
in Khost province killed 4 policemen.
(AP, 4/30/14)(AP, 5/1/14)
2014 Apr 30, Toronto Mayor Rob
Ford said he will take an immediate leave of absence to seek help
for alcohol, as a report surfaced about a second video of the mayor
smoking what appears to be crack cocaine.
2014 Apr 30, In China an
explosion shook a railway station in the restive far-western region
of Xinjiang as President Xi Jinping wrapped up a four-day visit to
the area. Authorities the next day said that two religious
extremists carried out the terror attack by detonating explosives,
in an apparent suicide bombing that killed one other person and
wounded 79. It was later reported that 3 government officials were
knifed to death and their bodies dumped in a lake during the
(AP, 4/30/14)(AP, 5/1/14)(Reuters, 5/16/14)
2014 Apr 30, In Colombia an
illegal gold mine in Santander de Quilichao in southwestern Cauca
province collapsed just before midnight. 10 bodies were soon pulled
from the rubble and six were still believed to be buried.
2014 Apr 30, Cyprus said it has
raised 100 million euros ($137 million) through its first bond issue
since international lenders rescued the country from near-bankruptcy
a little over a year ago.
2014 Apr 30, The Council of
Europe said Hungary's prison system needs to reduce overcrowding,
stop discrimination against Roma prisoners and offer inmates work or
recreational activities so they don't spend 23 hours a day in their
2014 Apr 30, Iraqis voted in
their first national election since US forces withdrew in 2011, with
PM Nuri al-Maliki seeking a third term amid rising violence. Maliki
won the largest share of Iraqi parliamentary seats in the elections.
12 people were killed in Sunni parts of the country in
election-related violence. Two roadside bombs in a northern town
killed two women walking to a polling station to cast ballots.
(Reuters, 4/30/14)(AP, 4/30/14)(Reuters, 5/19/14)
2014 Apr 30, In Italy fashion
designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana were sentenced to one
year and six months each in jail, over charges of hiding hundreds of
millions of euros from tax authorities.
2014 Apr 30, Jordan opened a
new, sprawling tent city to accommodate tens of thousands more
Syrian refugees who are expected to flee their country's fighting in
the deadly war now in its fourth year.
2014 Apr 30, Mexican lawmakers
approved legislation that would allow soldiers accused of committing
crimes against non-military personnel to be tried in civilian
2014 Apr 30, In western Nepal a
bus collided head-on with a truck on a narrow mountain highway,
killing at least 18 people and injuring 19 others.
2014 Apr 30, In Nigeria a civil
society group reported that scores of girls and young women
kidnapped from a school are being forced to marry their Islamic
2014 Apr 30, In Northern
Ireland Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams (65) was taken into police
custody over his alleged role in the 1972 Irish Republican Army's
abduction, killing and secret burial of Jean McConvillle a Belfast
mother of 10. Adams was released on May 4.
(AP, 5/1/14)(SFC, 5/5/14, p.A4)
2014 Apr 30, Qatar opened its
vast new Hamad International Airport in Doha following years of
2014 Apr 30, Saudi Arabia
launched an experimental Internet site for Saudi citizens to
petition King Abdullah (90) directly and lodge complaints at the
initiative of the monarch himself.
2014 Apr 30, Switzerland said
it will grant workers from Croatia access to its labor market in a
bid to kickstart treaty negotiations with the EU that were frozen
after Swiss voters approved curbs on immigration.
2014 Apr 30, In Syria an air
raid on a rebel-held neighborhood of Aleppo hit a school, killing 20
people, 17 of them children.
(AFP, 4/30/14)(AP, 5/1/14)
2014 Apr 30, Thailand's
Election Commission and PM Yingluck Shinawatra agreed to hold a
general election in July, but anti-government protesters who
disrupted a vote in February said they still wanted to see electoral
reforms before a new poll.
2014 Apr 30, A Thai court
ordered former Deputy Interior Minister Pracha Maleenont and the
widow of former PM Samak Sundaravej to pay $36 million to the city
of Bangkok after corruption inflated the price it paid for fire
trucks and boats made abroad.
2014 Apr 30, In western
Thailand a six-wheeled truck crashed into a passenger truck on a
dangerous mountain road, killing 14 people.
2014 Apr 30, In Ukraine
insurgents wielding automatic weapons took control and hoisted an
insurgent flag on top of the city council building in the city of
Horlivka in the Donetsk region. They also took control of a police
station in the city. Acting Pres. Turchynov instructed the governors
to try to prevent the threat from overtaking more central and
2014 Apr 30, The UN's human
rights chief said over 9,000 children have been recruited as
soldiers in South Sudan's brutal four-month long civil war by both
government and rebel forces.
2014 Apr, A team at John
Hopkins reported the first completely synthetic yeast chromosome.
(Econ, 3/29/14, p.83)
2014 Apr, Flint, Michigan,
began to draw its water from the Flint River instead of Lake Huron
in an effort to save money. The corrosive river water began eating
the lining of the city’s water pipes exposing the lead beneath,
which leached into the drinkig water.
(Econ, 1/23/16, p.23)
2014 Apr, Angola ranked 179th
out of 189 in the World Bank’s latest “ease of doing business"
survey. Isabel dos Santos, the daughter of the president and
Africa’s first female billionaire, was seen by human rights groups
as an indictment of the government system.
(Econ, 4/12/14, p.42)
2014 Apr, Egypt said it has
dismissed 12,000 Muslim imams and licensed 17,000 more to make up
the shortfall. All were required to give the same sermons on
(Econ, 8/2/14, p.38)
2014 Apr, Germany’s Pres.
Joachim Gauck visited Turkey and criticized the erosion of civil
(Econ, 5/24/14, p.45)
2014 Apr, The Maldives
introduced new regulations for the implementation of the death
penalty by lethal injection.
2014 Apr, Myanmar banned
foreign sales of logs.
(Econ, 9/19/15, p.38)
2014 Apr, In Myanmar Zaw Pe, a
video reporter for the independent Democratic Voice of Burma media
group, and Win Myint Hlaing were convicted of trespassing and
obstructing a civil servant after filming inside an education
department office while investigating the selection process for a
Japanese scholarship program in 2012. Both were freed on July 4
after an appeals court reduced their sentences from one year to
2014 Apr, It was reported that
Myanmar’s Shan state produced over one billion pills of yaba, a form
of methamphetamine, a year.
(Econ, 4/12/14, p.29)
2014 Apr, Pakistan held an
auction of telecom spectrum required to roll out 3G and 4G services.
This followed eight years of delays and regulatory snarl-ups.
(Econ, 4/26/14, p.64)
2014 Apr, In South Korea
private first-class Yoon Seung-ju (21) died in a hazing incident. In
Sep military prosecutors charged four soldiers with homicide. On Oct
30 six soldiers were sentenced to up to 45 years in prison for
bullying and beating their subordinate.
(AP, 9/2/14)(AP, 10/30/14)
2014 Apr, Ethnic Karen leader
Por Cha Lee Rakcharoen, known as Billy, disappeared while working on
a lawsuit accusing officials of destroying homes in Kaeng Krachan
national park. In April 2019 divers found a burnt fragment of
Billy's skull stuffed in an oil drum in a reservoir inside the park,
giving relatives their first confirmation of his death. In Sept.
2019 the Department of Special Investigations, the Thai equivalent
of the FBI, ruled the case a murder and vowed to arrest those
2014 May 1, US Immigration and
Customs Enforcement officials said more than 600 suspected gang
members have been arrested over the last two months in 179 cities in
an operation dubbed Project Southbound.
(SFC, 5/2/14, p.A9)
2014 May 1, Alaska state
troopers Gabriel Rich and Sgt. Patrick Johnson were killed in
Tanana. Suspect Nathaniel Lee Kangas (19) was arrested.
(SFC, 5/3/14, p.A5)
2014 May 1, In the SF Bay Area
Martin Cobb 8) was killed while trying to rescue his older sister
(12) from a sexual assault along railroad tracks in Richmond. A
suspect (16) was soon arrested.
(SSFC, 5/4/14, p.A15)
2014 May 1, In California the
body of Sarah June Douglas (26) was found stabbed to death in her
Sacramento home. Former fire battalion chief Orville Fleming, who
shared the home with Douglas, eluded police for two weeks before he
was arrested. On July 31, 2015, Fleming (57) was sentenced to 16
years to life in prison.
(SFC, 5/17/14, p.A5)(SFC, 8/1/15, p.C3)
2014 May 1, In Florida an
apparent gas explosion killed two inmates and all but destroyed the
Escambia County Jail in Pensacola. More than 180 people were
(SFC, 5/2/14, p.A9)
2014 May 1, The Navajo Nation
and a group led by New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and actor Robert
Redford said they have agreed on a plan to manage thousands of wild
horses on the Navajo reservation and keep the animals from being
(SFC, 5/2/14, p.A7)
2014 May 1, In North Dakota
Andrew Sadek (20), a student at North Dakota State College, went
missing. His body was found on June 27 in the Red River, not far
from where he attended school. He had died of a gunshot wound and
had been a confidential informant for a drug task force.
2014 May 1, Avon Products Inc.
says it will pay $135 million in fines and other fees to settle a
long-standing US government probe into whether the cosmetics company
paid bribes in China and other countries to gain favors.
2014 May 1, In Afghanistan a
suicide car bomber killed at least 13 people at a check point in
(SFC, 5/2/14, p.A2)
2014 May 1, Brunei embraced a
form of Islamic Shariah criminal law that includes harsh penalties,
a move slammed by international rights group as a step backward for
2014 May 1, In Cambodia May Day
demonstrators denounced low wages and called for better treatment of
workers during rallies that turned violent.
2014 May 1, Royal Canadian
Mounted Police announced that they have identified some 1,000 cases
of murdered aboriginal women and girls over the last 30 years with
most cases between 1990 and 2013.
(SFC, 5/3/14, p.A4)
2014 May 1, In Central African
Republic gunmen killed about 15 people, including children, in an
attack on Markounda town near the Chad border.
2014 May 1, China deployed a $1
billion deep sea rig near the Paracel Islands and the flotilla of
escort ships, some armed, in a gradual campaign of asserting its
sovereignty in the South China Sea. After China stationed the oil
rig, Vietnam immediately dispatched marine police and fishery
protection vessels but they were harassed as they approached.
2014 May 1, Ethiopia
authorities said at least 11 students have been killed in violent
clashes with police. Violence erupted April 28 in a number of
university campuses across Oromia state as ethnic Oromo students
protested a plan by the government to expand the capital, Addis
Ababa, into parts of Oromia.
2014 May 1, The EU as of today
banned imports of Indian mangoes including the Alphonso, considered
the king of all the mango varieties grown in South Asia, because a
large number of shipments were contaminated with fruit flies. The
pests are considered a threat to crops grown in Europe.
2014 May 1, In India twin
blasts ripped through two coaches of a train just minutes after it
pulled into Chennai railway station, killing a 22-year-old woman and
injuring 14 other people.
2014 May 1, Israeli Economy
Minister Naftali Bennett said US computer chip giant Intel is to
invest close to $6 billion in upgrading its local production
2014 May 1, Israeli actor and
director Assi Dayan (68) died in his Tel Aviv home. Dayan acted in
50 films and TV shows and directed 16 movies and was known for both
his trailblazing films and troubled personal life.
2014 May 1, Mexican military
and police seized 44 tons of marijuana in Tijuana.
(SSFC, 5/4/14, p.A7)
2014 May 1, In Morocco some 700
African migrants charged Spain's barbed-wire border fences in the
North African enclave of Melilla, clashing with Spanish and Moroccan
border police. 140 of the migrants managed to enter Spanish
territory despite the efforts of the border police.
2014 May 1, Dutch police
stormed a Greenpeace ship and ended environmentalists' attempts to
block a Russian tanker carrying oil from the Arctic Ocean from
mooring at Rotterdam Port. 31 activists were detained.
2014 May 1, In Nigeria a car
bomb in Abuja killed at least 19 people with 66 wounded.
(SFC, 5/3/14, p.A2)
2014 May 1, Nigerian police
said the number of kidnapped schoolgirls missing has risen to 276,
up by more than 30 from a previous estimate. The actual number
abducted by Islamic extremists on April 14 was more than 300. The
number of girls and young women who have escaped also rose to 53.
2014 May 1, Russia staged a
huge May Day parade on Moscow's Red Square for the first time since
the Soviet era.
2014 May 1, The Syria-based
Local Coordination Committees said clashes overnight between Syrian
government forces and opposition fighters killed 14 rebels along a
strategic corridor between Damascus and the Lebanese border.
Government aircraft struck a market in a rebel-held district of
Aleppo killing at least 33 people.
(AP, 5/1/14)(SFC, 5/2/14, p.A2)
2014 May 1, Turkish police
fired tear gas, water cannon and rubber pellets to stop May Day
protesters, some armed with fire bombs, from defying PM Tayyip
Erdogan and reaching Istanbul's central Taksim square.
2014 May 1, Ukraine ordered the
expulsion of Russia's military attaché, saying it had caught him
"red-handed" a day earlier receiving classified information on the
country's cooperation with NATO. A crowd of some 300 pro-Russian
militants attacked the prosecutor's office in the eastern city of
(Reuters, 5/1/14)(AFP, 5/1/14)
2014 May 1, Yemeni military
officials said soldiers backed by tanks were pushing through
southern strongholds of suspected al-Qaida militants for a third
day, sparking clashes that killed at least six suspected militants.
2014 May 2, US Health officials
confirmed the first case of an American infected with MERS, a
mysterious virus that has sickened hundreds in the Middle East. The
man fell ill after flying to the US late last week from Saudi Arabia
where he was a health care worker.
2014 May 2, A California jury
awarded Apple $119 million, far less than it demanded, in a patent
battle with Samsung over alleged copying of smart phone features.
The jury made the victory even smaller by finding that Apple
illegally used one of Samsung's patents.
2014 May 2, SF Bay Area police
raided massage parlors in Hayward, Oakland, San Leandro and San
Lorenzo arresting 17 women and two men for allegedly operating
fronts of prostitution.
(SSFC, 5/4/14, p.C3)
2014 May 2, In Oakland, Ca.,
the “Hook-Up Truck" made its debut a few blocks off Telegraph at
26th St. after security guards at Art Murmur refused its entrance.
The brainchild of conceptual artist Spy Emerson provided a space for
couples to enjoy intimacy.
(SFC, 5/3/14, p.C1)
2014 May 2, Efrem Zimbalist Jr.
(b.1918), American TV star, died at his home in Solvang, Ca. He had
starred in “77 Sunset Strip (1958-1964) and “The F.B.I."
(SFC, 5/3/14, p.A7)
2014 May 2, In northeastern
Afghanistan numerous people were missing after a landslide buried a
village in Hobo Barik village, Badakshan province. The killed and
missing numbered from 255 to 2,700.
(AP, 5/2/14)(AP, 5/3/14)
2014 May 2, British judge
Constance Briscoe (56) was jailed for 16 months for a catalogue of
lies and deception in a case that last year brought down government
minister Chris Huhne.
2014 May 2, Cambodian security
forces clashed with demonstrators in Phnom Penh for a 2nd straight
day as the opposition canceled plans for a rally amid a ban on
demonstrations and a large-scale police presence.
2014 May 2, Colombia's
constitutional court ruled that applying a decision by the
International Court of Justice (ICJ) that granted Nicaragua a
disputed area of Caribbean waters could not take effect without a
treaty between the countries.
2014 May 2, In Egypt two
suicide bombings in South Sinai killed a soldier and wounded at
least seven people. Two Cairo bombings killed at least 5 people. In
Alexandria two people were shot dead when supporters of deposed
President Mohamed Mursi clashed with residents.
(Reuters, 5/2/14)(SFC, 5/3/14, p.A2)
2014 May 2, In Greece some
5,000 farmers' market vendors blocked traffic in central Athens and
continued giving away food as part of anti-government protests. The
vendors had closed their street markets indefinitely this week.
2014 May 2, In northeastern
India Bodo separatist rebels wearing black masks opened fire
overnight on Muslim villagers in western Assam in two attacks,
killing at least 11 people, mostly women and children. A 3rd attack
in Baksa left 19 people dead.
(AP, 5/2/14)(SSFC, 5/4/14, p.A12)
2014 May 2, In India politician
Kamruzzama Fauji died in hospital after suffering burns to 75
percent of his body when a member of a TV audience doused himself in
petrol and grabbed him in Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh state. The
attacker also died.
2014 May 2, Kenya wildlife
authorities caught two police officers with six pieces of ivory at a
road block while travelling from the central town of Meru to
2014 May 2, In Libya suspected
Islamic militants attacked the security headquarters in the eastern
city of Benghazi early, killing 9 soldiers and policemen and
2014 May 2, In northern Mali
Sidati Ag Baye was shot by two suspected al-Qaida-linked Islamic
extremists on a motorcycle in Kidal. Baye had foiled an attack by
Islamic extremists several months ago by alerting security forces to
a bomb left on a runway at Kidal’s airport.
2014 May 2, The World Bank said
it has approved a $12 billion loan for cash-strapped Pakistan that
will be disbursed over five years.
2014 May 2, Philippine
officials said police have arrested 58 suspected members of an
online extortion syndicate this week in Manila and three other
regions. They had reportedly duped hundreds of victims worldwide
into exposing themselves in front of webcams or engaging in lewd
chats. Some 100 more Filipino suspects were later linked to online
(SFC, 5/3/14, p.A2)(AP, 5/13/14)
2014 May 2, Puerto Rico's
governor filed legislation aimed at retaining young workers and
reversing an exodus of people moving to the US mainland amid
economic problems. The measure would allow for tax exemptions on the
first $40,000 earned by those ages 16 to 26.
2014 May 2, South Korea
suffered its second serious transport accident in just over two
weeks when a subway train in the capital, Seoul, crashed into a
train at a station, injuring 200 people although no one was killed.
2014 May 2, South Sudan's
President Salva Kiir agreed to fly to Ethiopia for talks and to
consider forming a transitional government to try and end four
months of fighting in the world's newest nation following talks with
US Sec. of State John Kerry.
2014 May 2, Syria's government
and rebels agreed to a ceasefire in Homs to allow hundreds of
fighters holed up in its old quarters to evacuate. Two car bombs
struck two small villages in the central province of Hama, killing
23 people, including 14 children.
(AP, 5/2/14)(AP, 5/3/14)
2014 May 2, Turkish media said
prosecutors have dismissed a case against 60 suspects, among them a
former minister's son and a construction tycoon, in the graft
scandal swirling around PM Tayyip Erdogan's inner circle.
2014 May 2, In Ukraine
pro-Russia forces shot down two government helicopters as the
country launched its first major offensive against an insurgency
that has seized government buildings in the east. Two crew members
were killed in the crashes, and pro-Russia militiaman was reported
killed. At least 48 people died in clashes between government
supporters and opponents in the Black Sea port of Odessa. Most died
when government opponents took refuge in a building that caught fire
after protesters threw firebombs inside.
(AP, 5/2/14)(AP, 5/3/14)(Econ, 5/9/15, p.50)
2014 May 2, Uruguay released
its rules for the legal marijuana market, detailing how the
government plans to get very involved in every aspect of the
business. The regulations will take effect May 6.
2014 May 2, Venezuela's
government said it has arrested 58 foreigners, including an
American, on suspicion of inciting violent street protests against
the government of President Nicolas Maduro.
2014 May 2, A Venezuelan
fishing boat found 11 Chinese sailors floating in a raft about 1,000
miles west of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. 2 soon died of their injuries.
(SFC, 5/5/14, p.A2)
2014 May 2, In the US Virgin
Islands Enrique Saldana, a former police captain, called 911 and
said he was at the beach with his wife when she collapsed and
stopped breathing. Jeanette Magras Saldana (43) had bruises all over
her body and that it appeared she had died hours before the
emergency call was made. Saldana previously was sentenced in
February 2011 to more than three years in prison after being
convicted of participating in an extortion conspiracy.
2014 May 2, Yemeni government
forces killed five al Qaeda militants and wounded dozens of others
in the south, in the fourth day of an offensive against Islamist
insurgents. Unidentified gunmen shot dead an army colonel in his car
in the southern port city of Aden.
(Reuters, 5/2/14)(Reuters, 5/3/14)
2014 May 3, In Arkansas a
gunman shot six people killing a man and a teenager in Jonesboro.
The gunman was later found dead of a gunshot wound in the driver’s
seat of a stopped car.
(SSFC, 5/4/14, p.A13)
2014 May 3, California Chrome
became the first California-bred horse to win the Kentucky Derby
since Decidedly in 1962. He will try to win his second consecutive
Triple Crown race when the 139th Preakness Stakes goes off on May
(SFC, 5/17/14, p.B9)
2014 May 3, Gary Becker
(b.1930), American economist, died in Chicago. He was awarded the
Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1992 and received the
United States Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2007. His books
included “The Economics of Discrimination."
2014 May 3, In northeastern
Afghanistan rescuers and hundreds of volunteers armed with shovels
and little more than their bare hands dug through earth and mud
looking for survivors in Hobo Barik village, Badakshan province.
2014 May 3, In southern China a
stone arch bridge under illegal construction, collapsed, killing 11
people and injuring several others in Liangkengkou village,
2014 May 3, An Egyptian court
sentenced 102 Islamists to 10 years in prison for rioting as
campaigning began for the country's upcoming May presidential
2014 May 3, In southwest Haiti
a bus crash killed 17 people and injured 17 near the coastal town of
2014 May 3, India deployed
troops to the state of Assam after 31 Muslims were gunned down in
three days of what police said were attacks by tribal militants who
resent the presence of immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh.
Police said they have arrested 22 people for helping separatist
rebels accused of killing Muslims in Assam state.
(Reuters, 5/3/14)(AP, 5/3/14)
2014 May 3, In central India a
blaze in a fireworks factory killed 15 people and seriously injured
another four near Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh state.
2014 May 3, In Iraq gunmen
killed 4 Sunni anti-al-Qaida militiamen in Tarmiyah.
2014 May 3, In Kenya 4 people
were killed when attackers threw an explosive device at passengers
at a bus station in Mombasa, and also targeted a luxury hotel in the
2014 May 3, In the Philippines
about 80 members of the New People's Army (NPA) "prevented" 39
miners, including four children, from leaving a mining site in
Compostela Valley to stop troops from advancing and capturing them.
Local officials persuaded the rebels to free most of the miners.
Around a dozen were still believed held at the site.
2014 May 3, In Somalia at least
six people were killed in Mogadishu, including a senior city council
official, when a remotely controlled bomb planted by al Shabaab
insurgents exploded on a busy street.
2014 May 3, South Korea’s
confirmed death toll from the April 16 ferry disaster reached 236
with 66 people were still missing.
2014 May 3, In Sudan hundreds
of exhausted illegal migrants reached the safety of a northern town,
after 10 died when human traffickers abandoned them in the desert.
Most appeared to be Ethiopian or Eritrean but there were some
Sudanese as well.
2014 May 3, In eastern Ukraine
pro-Russia insurgents released the seven OSCE military observers and
five Ukrainian assistants who had been seized on April 25. A team
member from Sweden was also seized but was released earlier. 10
people were reported killed in a confrontation with soldiers on the
outskirts of Slovyansk. A three-day mourning period was declared in
Odessa for those that died a day earlier.
2014 May 3, In Yemen two
soldiers were injured when a car bomb exploded in Mukalla, Hadramout
province. State news agency reported that one of those killed in an
early stage of the latest offensive was Abu Islam al-Shaishani, a
Chechnian fighter with a senior role in AQAP.
2014 May 4, Chinese Premier Li
Keqiang set off for a four-country tour of Africa (Ethiopia,
Nigeria, Angola and Kenya), acknowledging "growing pains" in
China-Africa relations amid labor conflicts and other problems
stemming from Chinese investment.
2014 May 4, A Chinese vessel
intentionally rammed two Vietnamese Sea Guard vessels in a part of
the disputed South China Sea where Beijing has deployed a giant oil
rig, sending tensions spiraling in the region.
2014 May 4, India’s police said
they have killed 3 suspected rebels and arrested eight forest guards
for alleged involvement in the killings of 31 Muslims in
northeastern Assam state.
2014 May 4, In western India a
passenger train derailed, killing at least 18 people and injuring
more than 100 as rescue workers raced to free those still trapped in
2014 May 4, In Iraq shelling in
Fallujah, held by anti-government fighters for over four months,
killed 11 people over the last 24 hours.
2014 May 4, In Kenya two buses
driving along a busy highway in Nairobi were struck by explosive
devices thrown at them.
2014 May 4, Israeli police
looking for evidence linked to a recent attack on a mosque were
mobbed overnight by around 100 demonstrators at the at Yitzhar West
2014 May 4, Libyan businessman
Ahmed Maiteeq (Miitig) was sworn in as the country’s new prime
minister after a chaotic vote in parliament.
2014 May 4, Nigerian President
Goodluck Jonathan ordered top security chiefs and officials to
secure the safe release of 223 schoolgirls abducted three weeks ago
by suspected Islamists.
2014 May 4, In northeastern
Nigeria suspected Boko Haram gunmen kidnapped eight girls from a
village late today near one of their strongholds. After leaving
Warabe the gunmen stormed the Wala village, five km. (three miles)
away, and abducted three more girls.
(Reuters, 5/6/14)(AFP, 5/7/14)
2014 May 4, Panamanians voted
in presidential elections. Conservative Juan Carlos Varela won the
election easily defeating Jose Domingo Arias, Pres. Martinelli's
hand-picked successor 39% to 32%.
(AP, 5/4/14)(AFP, 5/514)(SSFC, 7/6/14, p.A4)
2014 May 4, Saudi Arabia's
health ministry said one more patient who contracted the potentially
fatal Middle East virus related to SARS has died and that 14 new
cases have been detected. The new 14 cases raised the number of
those infected in Saudi Arabia to 411.
2014 May 4, In Saudi Arabia a
maid (23) from the Philippines was allegedly scalded with water
deliberately poured down her back. An investigation was launched
jointly by Riyadh police and the Philippines embassy after images of
burns allegedly suffered by the woman, who had arrived in the
kingdom in March, surfaced on social media and online.
2014 May 4, South Sudanese
government forces overran Nasir, a key rebel base and moved to
recapture Bentiu, the capital of the oil-producing Unity state, from
(AFP, 5/4/14)(AP, 5/514)
2014 May 4, The Britain-based
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said heavy fighting between
rival Islamic rebel groups in eastern Syria has killed 62 fighters
and forced tens of thousands to flee their homes over the last four
2014 May 4, In Ukraine
pro-Russian militants stormed a police station in Odessa and freed
30 fellow activists as the prime minister blamed police corruption
there for dozens of deaths in rioting on May 2.
2014 May 4, Yemen's military
says it has killed 37 suspected al-Qaida fighters overnight in the
town of Meyfaa in an ongoing offensive in Shabwa southern province.
2014 May 5, In Cameroon at
least one gendarme was killed during an attack by suspected Boko
Haram militants near the Nigerian border. Cameroon state television
reported that the army has freed 18 civilians seized in the
country's east last week by rebels from neighboring Central African
2014 May 5, In northwest
Central African Republic French peacekeepers killed several
militants during a three-hour battle after coming under attack from
some 40 heavily armed unidentified gunmen.
2014 May 5, China’s state media
said a court has convicted a man, identified by the surname Li, of
spying and sentenced him to 10 years in prison for leaking
classified military documents to a foreign spy, named Feige, who
also approached more than 50 other people around China.
2014 May 5, Beijing-based
Peking University announced plans for China's second international
program modeled after the Rhodes Scholarship.
2014 May 5, Eleven crew of the
Zhong Xing 2, a Chinese cargo ship, were missing as it sank
following a collision with the Marshall Islands-registered MOL
Motivator, a large container ship, in the waters off Hong Kong.
2014 May 5, A Paris court found
a South African artist guilty of sexual exhibitionism after a
performance in Paris that saw him dance with a rooster tied to his
penis. But the criminal court imposed no penalty on the artist
Steven Cohen (51), noting that no complaint had been filed against
him and that he had not engaged in sexual acts.
2014 May 5, A yacht and a
dinghy crammed with immigrants trying to enter Greece capsized in
the eastern Aegean Sea, leaving at least 22 dead, including 4
children, and potentially several more missing. 36 survivors were
identified as 23 Somalis, nine Syrians and three Eritreans.
2014 May 5, Honduras detained
Capt. Robert Mayne and five members of his crew aboard the Aqua
Quest were detained in Puerto Lempira. The men were reportedly
detained for firearms violations "on the false claim that a weapon
they were carrying was an AK-47." All six men were released on June
(AP, 5/30/14)(AP, 6/27/14)
2014 May 5, In Iran UN atomic
agency officials held talks in Tehran before visits to two uranium
sites, as the country acts to implement a series of steps aimed at
providing transparency on its nuclear research by a mid-May
2014 May 5, A magnitude 6.3
earthquake hit Myanmar and northern Thailand leaving at least one
(SFC, 5/6/14, p.A2)
2014 May 5, In Nigeria Islamic
militants attacked the northeastern border town of on Gamboru Ngala.
At least 50 bodies were recovered from the debris of burned shops as
the market reopened on May 7. Reports of 300 people killed were soon
reduced to 100.
(AP, 5/7/14)(AP, 5/8/14)(SFC, 5/8/14, p.A6)(SFC,
2014 May 5, Pakistani forces
killed at least 10 separatist militants in the volatile province of
Baluchistan. Militants attacked a NATO supply convoy en route to
Afghanistan, killing two drivers.
(Reuters, 5/514)(AP, 5/514)
2014 May 5, Pakistan detained
an American as he was about to board a flight for Islamabad. The man
had arrived in Karachi on May 1 and was detained when officials
found him carrying ammunition and three knives, as well as
electronic devices that were being examined. US authorities
identified the man as an FBI agent on an anti-corruption taskforce.
Agent Joel Cox was released on May 8. The case was dismissed on May
(AP, 5/7/14)(AP, 5/8/14)(SFC, 5/9/14, p.A2)(AP,
2014 May 5, Palestinian Pres.
Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal met in Qatar and
agreed to move forward with a reconciliation deal between their
(SFC, 5/6/14, p.A2)
2014 May 5, Russia’s Pres.
Putin signed a new law requiring popular bloggers and commentators
with more than 3,000 followers to register as media outlets.
(Econ, 5/10/14, p.49)
2014 May 5, Slovenian PM Alenka
Bratusek resigned after losing the leadership of her party 10 days
ago, paving the way for an early election.
2014 May 5, In South Korea
divers retrieved 12 more bodies from the Sewol ferry, raising the
death toll to 260 with 42 people still missing.
2014 May 5, South Sudan signed
a deal with rebels to consider a "month of tranquility" that would
start today to allow civilians caught up in a four-month conflict to
move to places of safety and plant crops. South Sudanese troops and
rebels battled in the key oil town of Bentiu as the government
pushed forward a major offensive.
(Reuters, 5/514)(AFP, 5/514)
2014 May 5, In Syria fierce
fighting in the northern province of Aleppo killed at least 21
rebels. The clashes continued through the day and left at least 30
soldiers dead or wounded. Rockets slammed into Aleppo's residential
neighborhood of Ashrafiyeh overnight, killing 9 people.
2014 May 5, In Syria a least 30
soldiers were killed by the explosion of a powerful bomb in a long
tunnel that scores of rebels spent weeks digging under a checkpoint
on the northeastern outskirts of Maaret al-Numan.
2014 May 5, Ukrainian troops
fought pitched gunbattles with a pro-Russia militia occupying
Slovyansk. About 800 pro-Russia forces in and around Slovyansk were
deploying large-caliber weapons and mortars. A military helicopter
was shot down near Slavyansk, but the pilots survived. 30 pro-Russia
insurgents and 4 government troops were killed during operations to
expunge anti-government forces around Slovyansk. The government sent
an elite national guard unit to re-establish control over the
southern port city of Odessa.
(AP, 5/514)(Reuters, 5/514)(AP, 5/6/14)
2014 May 5, Vietnam demanded
China stop oil drilling operations in a disputed patch of the South
China Sea, saying that Beijing's decision to deploy a deep sea rig
over the weekend was illegal.
2014 May 5, In Yemen
unidentified gunmen shot dead a French man driving in Sanaa. Two
others were wounded. Suspected al-Qaida militants killed security
officer Mohammed Qawza (Guawza) in a drive-by shooting in Sanaa.
(Reuters, 5/514)(AFP, 5/514)
2014 May 6, The Obama
administration released an updated report on how climate change
requires urgent action to counter impacts that touch every corner of
2014 May 6, Pablo Picasso’s
1932 oil painting “Portrait of Dora Maar" sold for $22.6 million at
a Christie’s auction in NYC.
(SFC, 5/9/14, p.A8)(http://tinyurl.com/mmhox85)
2014 May 6, The city council of
Beverly Hills passed a unanimous resolution calling for Brunei to
change its laws or divest its ownership of the iconic Beverly Hills
Hotel. It has been the target of a growing Hollywood boycott since
Brunei embraced its new penal code last week.
2014 May 6, Bill Dana, one of
the test pilots for NASA’s hypersonic X-15 rocket plane, died in
(SFC, 5/9/14, p.D4)
2014 May 6, In Afghanistan a
roadside bombing killed 3 policemen and wounded two in western Herat
province. Afghan police fired gunshots into the air to disperse
villagers who fought police and aid workers distributing emergency
supplies near the remote site of the May 2 deadly landslide. A
late-night roadside bombing in Herat province killed 9 people and
(AP, 5/6/14)(Reuters, 5/6/14)(AP, 5/7/14)
2014 May 6, Austrian Finance
Minister Michael Spindelegger said a group of 11 European Union
countries have agreed to introduce a financial transaction tax from
2014 May 6, Farley Mowat
(b.1921), Canadian author, died. His 40 books included “Never Cry
Wolf" (1963). His experience observing wolves in sub-Arctic Canada"
was adapted into a film of the same name in 1983.
(SFC, 5/9/14, p.D7)
2014 May 6, Chinese police shot
and wounded a suspect who attacked passengers at a busy railway
station in the southern city of Guangzhou, leaving six people
injured in the third high-profile assault on civilians at a train
station in a little more than two months.
2014 May 6, Croatian PM Zoran
Milanovic sacked finance minister Slavko Linic over a property deal
he said had hurt the state budget.
2014 May 6, An Egyptian court
banned leaders of the country's former ruling party under ousted
President Hosni Mubarak from running in any elections, a vague
ruling that could bar former officials of that regime from returning
to politics for the time being.
2014 May 6, In France Helene
Pastor, whose family built a real estate empire in Monaco with
wealth rivaling that of the royal family, was shot after visiting
her son in a hospital in Nice. Pastor and her chauffer died some
days later. The attackers fled. Police in June detained 23 people in
the case including the son-in-law and daughter of Pastor. In
2018 prosecutors called for the maximum life sentence for Wojciech
Janowski, Poland's former consul in Monaco, who was on trial for
ordering the murder of the billionaire heiress over an inheritance
dispute. Janowski is a former partner of Pastor's daughter, Sylvia.
(AP, 6/24/14)(AFP, 10/12/18)
2014 May 6, Germany's Bayer
said it has agreed to buy Merck & Co.'s non-prescription
medicine and consumer care business for $14.2 billion.
2014 May 6, Police in India
recovered 6 more bodies from a river in Assam state after the worst
ethnic violence in the remote northeast in two years, raising the
death toll to 39. Ten people remained missing.
2014 May 6, Israel marked its
66th Independence Day. In the north some 10,000 protesters, many
waving Palestinian flags, joined a rally to remember 530 villages
from which some 760,000 people fled or were expelled following the
creation of the Jewish state in 1948.
2014 May 6, Leaders of Kosovo's
main parties agreed to dissolve parliament this week and hold an
early election on June 8 after Serb minority lawmakers nixed a vote
on creating a national army by failing to show up.
2014 May 6, In eastern Malaysia
a Chinese fish farm manager in Sabah state was kidnapped by gunmen
and believed taken to the southern Philippines, where suspected
insurgents are holding another Chinese and a Filipino also seized
2014 May 6, The Philippines
seized a Chinese fishing boat and its 11 crewmen on charges of
catching endangered sea turtles in disputed South China Sea waters,
prompting China to demand their release and accuse Manila of being
provocative. On May 12 all nine men were charged with poaching over
500 endangered sea turtles.
(AP, 5/7/14)(SFC, 5/13/14, p.A3)
2014 May 6, In Puerto Rico 3
people including a boy (16) were killed in the central mountain town
2014 May 6, Saudi Arabia said
it had uncovered an al Qaeda militant group with links to "extremist
elements" in Syria and Yemen that had been plotting to assassinate
officials and attack government and foreign targets.
2014 May 6, In South Korea a
civilian diver involved in searches for dozens of missing people
from the April 16 Sewol ferry disaster died. Other divers picked up
efforts to retrieve more bodies from the sunken ship.
2014 May 6, In Syria a roadside
bombing overnight killed Ali al-Nuaimi of the Nusra Front and his
wife in Daraa province. The Nusra Front is al-Qaida's affiliate in
2014 May 6, In southern
Thailand two bombs exploded in Hat Yai city, popular to local and
foreign tourists, leaving nine people injured.
(SFC, 5/7/14, p.A2)
2014 May 6, Uruguay said
citizens will be allowed to buy enough marijuana to roll about 20
joints a week at a price well below the black market rate, as the
government detailed a new law legalizing the cannabis trade.
2014 May 6, The Vatican
released comprehensive statistics for the first time on how it has
disciplined priests accused of raping and molesting children. It
said 848 priests have been defrocked and an additional 2,572 given
lesser sanctions over the past decade.
(SFC, 5/7/14, p.A3)
2014 May 6, Yemeni troops
killed 2 suspected militants when they shelled overnight the house
of a local Al-Qaeda chief in Shabwa province. The army also seized
two Al-Qaeda strongholds in Abyan province, as it pressed an
eight-day-old offensive with support from tribal militias.
(AFP, 5/6/14)(SFC, 5/7/14, p.A2)
2014 May 6, In Yemen gunmen
launched two attacks on the export pipeline linking the eastern oil
fields to the Red Sea, sparking a fire and halting oil flow.
2014 May 7, US DEA agents made
150 arrests and served some 200 warrants in at least 25 states in a
crackdown on synthetic drug manufacturers, wholesalers and
(SFC, 5/8/14, p.A10)
2014 May 7, Colorado lawmakers
approved the world’s first financial system for the marijuana
(SFC, 5/8/14, p.A8)
2014 May 7, A million-dollar
home in Tampa, Florida, burned down leaving 4 people dead.
Investigators found that a man, his wife and two teenage children
were shot before the rented home, owned by former tennis pro James
Blake, burned down.
(SFC, 5/9/14, p.A8)
2014 May 7, A British court
ordered former Co-operative Bank boss Paul Flowers (63), a clergyman
the media has dubbed the Crystal Methodist, to pay a fine after he
admitted to possessing cocaine, methamphetamine and ketamine.
2014 May 7, An Indonesian
official said a woman who was gang-raped by men accusing her of
having extramarital sex may be caned publicly for violating Islamic
law. The widow (25) said she was raped by eight men on May 1 who
allegedly found her with a married man in her house. The men
reportedly beat the man, doused the two with sewage, and then turned
them over to Islamic police in conservative Aceh province.
2014 May 7, Iranian media said
UN inspectors have visited a uranium mine and reached agreement on
how to monitor a planned reactor, part of an effort to allay fears
about Tehran's nuclear program.
2014 May 7, Kenya police and
hospitals said at least 63 people have died this week and dozens
more are sick after consuming toxic alcohol.
2014 May 7, Kosovo deputies
voted 90-4 to dissolve Parliament, meaning elections must take place
within 45 days. The next day President Atifete Jahjaga set June 8
for the elections.
(AP, 5/7/14)(AP, 5/8/14)
2014 May 7, Nigerian police
offered a $300,000 reward for information leading to the rescue of
more than 200 schoolgirls abducted by Islamist rebels.
2014 May 7, In Nigeria the
World Economic Forum on Africa kicked off in Abuja.
2014 May 7, In southern
Pakistan, gunmen in Multan posing as clients shot dead Rashid
Rehman, a prominent human rights lawyer defending a professor
accused of blasphemy.
2014 May 7, The Hamas-run
government of Gaza Strip said it has relaxed a ban on Palestinian
newspapers published outside the enclave as a gesture of
reconciliation to rival group Fatah after their unity deal last
2014 May 7, Poland awarded a
prize for championing democracy and human rights to Mustafa
Dzhemilev, a leader of the Tatar community in Ukraine's Crimea
peninsula who says he was barred from the region after Russia
2014 May 7, Russia’s President
Vladimir Putin urged that a planned May 11 referendum on autonomy in
southeast Ukraine be postponed. In a meeting with Swiss president
Didier Burkhalter, Putin also called on Ukraine's military to halt
all operations against pro-Russia activists who have seized
government buildings and police stations across at least a dozen
towns in eastern Ukraine.
2014 May 7, A state-linked
Saudi newspaper said Saudi blogger Raif Badawi has been sentenced to
ten years in prison and 1000 lashes on charges related to
accusations that he insulted Islam on an online forum. He was also
ordered to pay a fine of about $266,000.
(SFC, 5/8/14, p.A2)
2014 May 7, Saudi health
authorities said four more people have died after contracting MERS,
a Middle East respiratory virus. Saudi Arabia has reported 449 cases
and 121 deaths from MERS.
2014 May 7, South Africans
voted in the first "Born Free" election, with polls suggesting the
allure of the ruling African National Congress as the conqueror of
apartheid will prevail even among those with no memory of
white-minority rule. The ANC won the 2014 national election with
62.15 percent of the votes.
(Reuters, 5/7/14)(AP, 5/10/14)
2014 May 7, South Korea’s coast
guard chief Kim Suk-kyoon said only 172 people survived the April 16
sinking of the ferry Sewol — not 174, as the government had been
saying since April 18.
2014 May 7, Switzerland’s
Kunstmuseum Bern said that it has been named as the unrestricted and
unfettered heir of German art collector Cornelius Gurlitt, who a day
(SFC, 5/8/14, p.A2)(AFP, 5/13/14)
2014 May 7, In Syria some 1200
rebels and civilians left their last remaining bastions in the heart
of Homs under a ceasefire deal with government forces.
2014 May 7, Thailand’s
Constitutional Court ordered PM Yingluck Shinawatra to step down
with nine members of her cabinet over her decision in 2011 to remove
the country’s head of national security in favor of a relative.
Minister of commerce and former CEO of broadcaster iTV,
Niwatthamrong Boonsongphaisan (66), will hold the fort until
elections tentatively slated for July 20.
(Reuters, 5/7/14)(Econ, 5/10/14, p.12)
2014 May 7, Tibet’s exiled
Dalai Lama began a three-day stay in Norway. Unlike on his previous
visits, no government officials will meet with him to avoid
2014 May 7, A Ugandan court
started hearing the case against two Ugandans accused of engaging in
gay sex, the first trial of homosexuals here since a severe law was
enacted in February.
2014 May 7, The UN continued to
urge Qatar to abolish the sponsorship system tying migrant workers
to employers raising concerns about exploitation of workers in
construction and domestic households. Several of 84 states speaking
in the session linked Qatar hosting the 2022 World Cup with the need
to reform its laws.
2014 May 8, Pablo Picasso’s
1932 oil painting “The Rescue" sold for $31.5 million at a Sotheby
auction in NYC.
(SFC, 5/9/14, p.A8)
2014 May 8, British police
officers across London will wear video cameras when responding to
emergency calls as part of a year-long pilot project launched today.
2014 May 8, Religious leaders
in Britain called for all meat to be labelled with details of how it
was slaughtered after it emerged halal and kosher meat in
supermarkets is often not marked as such.
2014 May 8, Colin Pillinger
(70), an ebullient British space scientist died. He captured the
popular imagination with his failed 2003 attempt to land a British
probe on Mars.
2014 May 8, Bulgarian
prosecutors charged Maria Divizieva, the prime minister's chief of
staff, with aiding in the embezzlement of EU funds, two weeks after
charges were pressed against two top magistrates in the same case.
2014 May 8, In Chile tens of
thousands of students protested for education reform in their first
march since Pres. Bachelet took power.
(SFC, 5/9/14, p.A2)
2014 May 8, China accused
Vietnam of intentionally colliding with its ships in the South China
Sea, but called for talks to end a bitter row sparked by Beijing's
parking of a giant oil rig in contested waters.
2014 May 8, Chinese police shot
dead an assailant who attacked a police vehicle with knives in the
far western region of Xinjiang.
2014 May 8, France said it will
deploy 3,000 soldiers to combat Islamist violence in the vast and
largely lawless Sahel region to pursue counter-terrorism in north
Mali, the north of Niger and in Chad.
2014 May 8, In Ghana at least 4
people were killed when a helicopter crashed while heading to an
offshore oil field operated by Lukoil. Three survivors were rescued
and one person remained missing.
2014 May 8, Honduras for the
first time extradited a suspected drug trafficker to the United
States. Carlos Arnoldo Lobo (40) was arrested March 27 and has been
indicted on US drug trafficking charges in Florida.
2014 May 8, In Hong Kong a
blockbuster corruption trial involving property tycoons Thomas and
Raymond Kwok got under way. They were among five defendants pleading
not guilty to bribery charges.
2014 May 8, India rejected the
findings of a World Health Organization (WHO) study that ranks New
Delhi as the world's worst city for air pollution.
2014 May 8, Indian scientists
reported the discovery of 14 new species of so-called dancing frogs
in the jungle mountains of southern India — just in time, they fear,
to watch them fade away.
2014 May 8, In Italy Claudio
Scajola, a former minister in several of Silvio Berlusconi's
center-right governments, was arrested in a luxury Rome hotel for
allegedly helping Amedeo Matacena, a prominent businessman convicted
of Mafia association, flee to Dubai last summer.
2014 May 8, In Italy seven
managers and ex-members of parliament were arrested over alleged
attempts to influence public tenders for Milan's Expo 2015, casting
a shadow over plans to stage an international showcase event and
help kick-start the economy.
2014 May 8, Lebanon recorded
its first case of the often-fatal Middle East respiratory virus
(MERS). The patient had recently returned from a visit to several
Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia.
2014 May 8, In Libya 3
policemen were killed instantly when the thieves opened fire on
officers who chased them during the theft of a car in Tripoli. Two
more policemen died later of their wounds. The armed group took one
2014 May 8, In Pakistan a
roadside bomb killed 9 paramilitary soldiers near Miran Shah in
2014 May 8, In southwestern
Spain 5 members of a youth football team aged between 12 and 15 were
killed when their bus collided with another vehicle. Police arrested
the driver of the second vehicle, a farm digger, after he tested
positive for drugs.
2014 May 8, Syrian rebels
detonated a huge bomb underneath an Aleppo hotel used by President
Bashar al-Assad's forces, destroying it The rebel Islamic Front
claimed responsibility said 50 soldiers were killed in the Carlton
2014 May 8, Thailand's
anti-graft agency indicted former PM Yingluck Shinawatra for
negligence, a ruling that came a day after a court threw her out of
office and could kill off any hopes she has of staging an electoral
2014 May 8, Tunisia’s President
Moncef Marzouk declared a state of emergency in Douz, a southern
desert town swept by days of clashes between rival tribes. An
overnight curfew would remain in force until May 22 because of the
2014 May 8, In eastern Ukraine
the pro-Russia insurgency decided to go ahead with a May 11
referendum on autonomy or even independence despite a call from
Russian President Vladimir Putin to postpone it.
2014 May 8, In Venezuela
hundreds of National Guard members and police broke up four camps
maintained by student protesters and arrested 243 people in an early
morning raid. Officials reported one officer killed in clashes
following the raids.
(AP, 5/8/14)(SFC, 5/9/14, p.A4)
2014 May 8, Yemeni armed forces
swept al-Qaida fighters out of a district in the country's south,
one of the main goals of the major offensive waged by the military
the past two weeks. Yemen’s US embassy was closed to the public
after a spate of attacks against foreigners and fears that Al-Qaeda
will seek revenge for a deadly offensive in the south.
(AP, 5/8/14)(AFP, 5/8/14)
2014 May 9, President Barack
Obama announced executive orders to increase the use of solar
panels, boost energy efficiency in federal buildings and train more
people to work in the renewable energy field.
2014 May 9, The US Treasury
Department said it has reached an information-sharing agreement with
Hong Kong under a new law meant to combat offshore tax dodging by
2014 May 9, A US judge struck
down Arkansas’s 2004 amendment defining marriage as between a man
and a woman as unconstitutional. On May 15 Judge Chris Piazza
extended his ruling to include all state laws preventing gay couples
from marrying. On May 16 the state Supreme Court granted a request
to suspend Piazza’s decisions.
(SFC, 5/10/14, p.A10)(SFC, 5/17/14, p.A5)
2014 May 9, In California a
judge issued a permanent injunction against two Los Angeles
merchants and fined them over $26 million after investigators found
over 10,000 counterfeit items at their now defunct T.J. Accessories
(SFC, 5/11/14, p.A16)
2014 May 9, Police in Davis,
Ca., arrested Rev. Hector Coria (45) for allegedly engaging in a
sexual relationship with a teenage girl.
(SFC, 5/12/14, p.A6)
2014 May 9, In Colorado a crude
oil train derailed spilling some 6,500 gallons of oil near LaSalle.
(SSFC, 5/11/14, p.A16)
2014 May 9, The Hybrid Remotely
Operated Vehicle Nereus, operated by the Massachusetts-based Woods
Hole Oceanographic Institution, was lost during its dive to the
Kermadec Trench off the coast of New Zealand. It was being operated
as part of the Hadal Ecosystems Studies (HADES) Program funded by
the US National Science Foundation.
2014 May 9, In Virginia a hot
air balloon carrying three people crashed and burned after it hit a
power line and burst into flames.
(SSFC, 5/11/14, p.A16)
2014 May 9, In western
Afghanistan More than 100 Taliban fighters staged a large-scale
attack on a remote police checkpoint, wounding 11 police officers in
2014 May 9, Bosnia reopened the
reconstructed National Library in Sarajevo. It had been destroyed by
Serb shelling in 1992.
(SFC, 5/10/14, p.A2)
2014 May 9, British experts
arrived in Abuja to help find at least 276 girls being held by
Islamic militants in northeastern Nigeria as an international effort
began taking hold.
2014 May 9, Cambodian
authorities intercepted 3 tons of illegal ivory that was stashed in
shipping containers, its largest such seizure.
2014 May 9, Central African
Republic rebel Col. Mahamat Deya said a gathering of Muslim fighters
has chosen Gen. Joseph Zindeko as the new leader of Seleka.
(SFC, 5/10/14, p.A2)
2014 May 9, Dominican Republic
authorities said that they have arrested a citizen of Pakistan and
six others accused of running a sophisticated migrant smuggling
2014 May 9, In Germany SLM
Solutions, a pioneer in making selective laser melting equipment,
i.e. 3D printers, used in factories, began trading on the Frankfurt
stock exchange. Here additive manufacturing was used to describe one
aspect of 3D printing.
(Econ, 5/3/14, p.56)
2014 May 9, In Iraq army
shelling killed 8 civilians and 3 gunmen in the militant-held city
2014 May 9, In Italy plumber
Riccardo Viti (55) confessed to the recent slaying of a prostitute
whose body was tied, crucifixion-style, to metal bars in the
countryside near Florence. His DNA was being compared to samples
from 10 other similar cases.
2014 May 9, Lebanon braced for
a summer drought, after a record dry winter exacerbated by a massive
influx of Syrian refugees and longstanding water management
2014 May 9, In Mexico 5 gunmen
and one soldier were killed in gunbattles in Reynosa, a city across
the border from McAllen, Texas. Galindo Mellado Cruz was one of the
5 gunmen who died in the shootout that also killed a Mexican
soldier. Cruz was one of the 30 ex-special forces soldiers who
created the Zetas gang to serve as enforcers for the Gulf Cartel
before splitting off in a bloody breakup with its former ally.
(AP, 5/9/14)(AP, 5/11/14)
2014 May 9, In New Zealand
Malaysian diplomat Mohammed Rizalman Bin Ismail followed a
21-year-old woman, later identified as Tania Billingsley (21) and
assaulted her. New Zealand charged the man with assault and attempt
to rape, but Malaysia claimed diplomatic immunity and he returned
home on May 22. On July 2 Malaysia's foreign ministry said that
Muhammad Rizalman would return to New Zealand "to assist in the
investigation for the charges".
(AP, 6/30/14)(AP, 7/1/14)(AFP, 7/2/14)(AP,
2014 May 9, In northeastern
Nigeria Islamic extremists blew up a bridge, killed an unknown
number of people and abducted the wife and two children of a retired
2014 May 9, In southern
Pakistan a magnitude 5 earthquake rattled several towns in before
dawn, killing one person and injuring 70.
2014 May 9, Taliban head
Maulana Fazlullah moved against Khan "Sajna" Said after weeks of
bloody infighting in the powerful Mehsud tribe that supplies the
bulk of the Pakistani Taliban fighters.
2014 May 9, Russia’s President
Putin watched as about 11,000 Russian troops proudly marched across
Red Square in celebration of Victory Day. He then flew to Crimea and
extolled its return to Russia before tens of thousands during his
first trip there since its annexation.
2014 May 9, Saudi Arabia's
health ministry said the death toll from MERS has risen by five to
126 fatalities since the mystery respiratory virus first appeared in
the kingdom in 2012.
2014 May 9, South African
police used rubber bullets and stun grenades to disperse
demonstrators who burned tires and barricaded roads in the Alexandra
township north of Johannesburg in post-election unrest.
2014 May 9, South Korean police
arrested Kim Han-sik, president of Chonghaejin Marine Co. Ltd. His
company owns the Sewol ferry that sank and left more than 300 people
dead or missing, and authorities worried he may destroy evidence.
2014 May 9, South Sudanese
President Salva Kiir arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to meet rebel
leader Riek Machar under growing international pressure for an end
to ethnic fighting that has raised fears of genocide. Kiir and
Machar, a former vice president, met, shook hands and prayed
together, and agreed to order a halt to fighting within 24 hours.
(Reuters, 5/9/14)(AFP, 5/10/14)
2014 May 9, Thai police fired
tear gas and water cannons to push back hundreds of protesters
trying to force their way into a government compound, the latest
indication that ousting the premier will not solve the country's
tense political crisis.
2014 May 9, In Ukraine at least
3 people were killed in a clash between government forces and rebels
in the eastern city of Mariupol. Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said
in a statement that 20 "terrorists" and one police officer were
killed in fighting that erupted when 60 gunmen tried to capture the
Mariupol police station.
2014 May 9, The UN Security
Council ordered sanctions against three Central African Republic
leaders, including former president Francois Bozize. The leader of
the anti-Balaka militia Levy Yakete and the Seleka militia's number
two Nourredine Adam were also targeted.
2014 May 9, In Yemen 4 soldiers
were killed and three wounded in an ambush by suspected al Qaeda
fighters in the central province of al-Bayda. Defense minister
Muhammad Nasir Ahmad and a number of senior security officials were
attacked by gunmen while travelling in their vehicles in Shabwa
province. No one was killed or injured. Suspected Al-Qaeda militants
attacked the presidential palace in Sanaa, killing 5 guards and
triggering a fierce gunfight.
(Reuters, 5/9/14)(AFP, 5/10/14)
2014 May 10, In northern
Arizona a small plane carrying French tourists crashed while landing
in windy conditions, killing one person and leaving another
2014 May 10, The City Council
of Hearne, Texas, voted unanimously to fire police officer Stephen
Stem for the May 6 shooting of Pearlie Golden (93), who was armed
with a handgun, during a confrontation at her home.
(SSFC, 5/11/14, p.A16)
2014 May 10 - 2014 May 11, In
Central African Republic at least 13 people were burned alive when
they were rounded up by armed men and barricaded inside a home that
was set alight.
2014 May 10, China’s state
media reported that President Xi Jinping has called for the
acceleration of land transfers to help modernize the country's
2014 May 10, Protesters in
eastern China clashed with police at a rally against plans to build
a huge waste incinerator in Yuhang that residents fear will be
harmful to their health and add to pollution. The Yuhang government
said that all work on the incinerator has stopped, and that it would
invite the public to participate in a decision whether to press
ahead with the scheme.
2014 May 10, In the Congo
Republic Udjani Mangbama, DR Congo militia boss, was among 11 people
killed in an area near Owando, 500 km north of Brazzaville.
2014 May 10, The finals of the
59th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest took place in
Copenhagen, Denmark. Austrian drag queen Conchita Wurst won the
2014 May 10, In Dubai 15
migrant workers were killed in a bus crash. At least nine of the
dead were from India and four were Bangladeshi.
2014 May 10, Egypt’s chief
prosecutor charged 200 suspected militants, all members of
al-Qaida-inspired Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, with carrying out the Dec
25, 2013, terrorist attacks that killed 15 civilians and of
conspiring with Hamas.
(SSFC, 5/11/14, p.A6)
2014 May 10, In northern India
a private bus plunged off a mountain road, killing 17 people and
injuring five others in Uttarakhand state.
2014 May 10, In Iraq a series
of bombings killed 14 people. Militants launched an audacious late
night attack on a military barracks in the village of Ayn al-Jahish
outside of Mosul and killed 20 troops, including some who had been
bound and shot at close range.
(AP, 5/10/14)(AP, 5/11/14)
2014 May 10, Mexico's
government planned to begin demobilizing a vigilante movement of
assault-rifle-wielding ranchers and farmers that formed in the
western state of Michoacan. The movement had succeeded in largely
expelling the Knights Templar cartel when state and local
2014 May 10, In Myanmar
Southeast Asian foreign ministers voiced "serious concerns" over
naval clashes between Vietnam and China as the ASEAN’s top official
urged Beijing to step up efforts to advance talks on maritime
2014 May 10, South Africa
deployed its armed forces overnight to quell post-election unrest in
a Johannesburg slum and police arrested 59 people as the ANC
government clamped down on disorder following its victory at the
polls. A vote count confirmed the ruling ANC as election winners.
(Reuters, 5/10/14)(SSFC, 5/11/14, p.A6)
2014 May 10, Thousands of
Syrians streamed into war-battered parts of Homs for the first time
in nearly two years, many making plans to move back just days after
rebels surrendered their strongholds to pro-government forces.
2014 May 10, Supporters of
Thailand's beleaguered government gathered on the outskirts of
Bangkok, saying they were determined to safeguard democracy as rival
anti-government protesters pressed their campaign in the city.
2014 May 10, In Ukraine at
least 7 people died in clashes in the port city of Mariupol on the
Sea of Azov.
2014 May 10, In northeastern
Zimbabwe farmer Malcolm and daughter Catherine Francis suffered head
injuries from possible axe blows in an assault on their farm in
2014 May 11, In Los Angeles
members of the Big Hazard Latino street gang firebombed the
apartments of some 23 Black families in the Ramona Gardens housing
project. No one was injured in the Mother's Day attack. In 2018
three men pleaded guilty for the roles in the attacks.
(SFC, 4/7/18, p.A7)
2014 May 11, A 2nd US case of
MERS was diagnosed in Florida in a man visiting from Saudi Arabia.
(SFC, 5/13/14, p.A10)
2014 May 11, In Afghanistan a
suicide car bomber attacked an Afghan army vehicle, killing 5
civilians and wounding 36 in Kandahar province. NATO said one of its
service members died as a result of a non-battle related injury in
the country's north.
2014 May 11, In eastern China
heavy rain caused a retaining wall to collapse at a recycling plant
in Qingdao city, killing 18 people.
2014 May 11, China signed a
deal with East African leaders to build a $3.8 billion rail link
between Kenya's Indian Ocean port of Mombasa and Nairobi, the first
stage of a line that will eventually link Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi
and South Sudan.
2014 May 11, In CongoDRC a
stampede at the Tata Raphael Stadium in Kinshasa killed at least 15
people and injured more than a dozen after police fired tear gas
canisters into the crowd after fighting broke out at the end of a
match between soccer teams, AS Vita Club and TP Mazembe.
(AP, 5/12/14)(AFP, 5/12/14)
2014 May 11, An Egyptian court
sentenced 36 students of the prestigious Al-Azhar university to four
years in prison each over violent protests backing ousted Pres.
Morsi. Suspected militants attacked an army convoy in the Sinai
Peninsula, killing one soldier and wounding another.
(AFP, 5/11/14)(AP, 5/11/14)
2014 May 11, In central India
leftist rebels detonated a land mine under a police vehicle and
killed 7 officers. The blast was followed by a gunbattle between
police and the insurgents in the Maharashtra district of Gadchiroli.
2014 May 11, In Iraq gunmen in
speeding car opened fire on members of the Sahwa militia in Adeim,
about 100 km north of Baghdad, killing seven. Outside of Mosul
gunmen attacked a joint checkpoint for Iraqi police and the Sahwa,
killing 3 police officers and one Sunni militiaman. Another Sahwa
member was killed along with his brother and son when gunmen stormed
his house in the town of Youssifiyah.
2014 May 11, Israeli PM
Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Tokyo for a summit with his Japanese
counterpart Shinzo Abe at which he is expected to raise the Iranian
nuclear talks and economic cooperation.
2014 May 11, In Jordan a man
died after being infected with the MERS virus.
2014 May 11, At least 40 people
died and 51 were rescued after a boat carrying migrants sank off
Libya's coast east of Tripoli.
2014 May 11, Polls opened in
Lithuania for the presidential election. Tough-talking incumbent
Dalia Grybauskaite was widely expected to be re-elected for a second
term. Grybauskaite got nearly 46 percent of the votes. She will face
Social Democratic politician Zigmantas Balcytis, who won 13.6
percent, in the runoff.
(AP, 5/11/14)(AP, 5/12/14)
2014 May 11, Moldovan
authorities said they have stopped Russia's deputy prime minister
from leaving the country with a petition calling on Moscow to
recognize the separatist Trans-Dniester region, but Dmitry Rogozi
claimed he had delivered most of the signatures supporting it.
2014 May 11, Myanmar hosted the
Southeast Asian summit (ASEAN) as Vietnam and the Philippines pushed
for stronger action to confront China's aggressive behavior in the
South China Sea.
2014 May 11, In Pakistan
Samiullah Khan Afrid, the lawyer for Dr. Shakil Afridi who helped
the US find Osama bin Laden, said he wouldn't represent him any
longer after facing threats from militants.
2014 May 11, In Pakistan a bomb
blast targeting refugees registering with the government killed 4
people in northwestern city of Peshawar.
2014 May 11, Saudi Arabia
reported that three new deaths from MERS had taken its death toll
from the disease to 142.
2014 May 11, South Sudan's army
and rebel forces blamed each other for violating a ceasefire hours
after it came into effect.
2014 May 11, Syrian activists
said ISIL, an al Qaeda splinter group, has wrested control of key
parts of the eastern province of Deir al-Zor from other rebel
groups, worsening infighting that has handicapped the insurgency
against President Bashar al-Assad.
2014 May 11, Residents in
eastern Ukraine formed long queues at polling stations to cast their
votes in hastily organized independence referendums, defying the
central government which called the ballots illegal and funded by
2014 May 11, In southern Yemen
a suicide bomber detonated his explosives-laden car outside a police
station in Mukalla, killing 11 police officers and wounding 15.
Security forces in Sanaa clashed with suspected al-Qaida gunmen not
far from the presidential palace, killing 3 militants.
2014 May 12, In Louisiana
Reginald Adams was freed from prison after spending 34 years in jail
for a murder he did not commit. Detectives knowingly gave false
testimony at his trial.
(Econ, 5/17/14, p.28)
2014 May 12, In Afghanistan the
Taliban unleashed a wave of attacks to mark the start of their
spring offensive, storming a government building in the east where
attackers killed 2 police guards and 5 civilians, and striking a
police checkpoint to the south and killing 9 policemen.
2014 May 12, Chad announced it
was shutting down its southern border with the strife-wracked
Central African Republic until the conflict in the poor, landlocked
nation is resolved.
2014 May 12, A European human
rights monitor urged Georgia to improve its justice system, promote
tolerance and avoid the selective prosecution of officials who
served former president Mikheil Saakashvili.
2014 May 12, The European Court
of Human Rights (ECHR) ordered Turkey to pay 90 million euros ($124
million) in damages for its 1974 invasion of Cyprus, the largest
such ruling in its history. Turkish officials the next day said that
the country will not pay the fine.
2014 May 12, Millions of Indian
voters wrapped up the country's mammoth national election, braving
the searing sun on the final day of polling in which Narendra Modi,
a Hindu nationalist opposition candidate, is seen as the
front-runner for prime minister.
(AP, 5/12/14)(Reuters, 5/12/14)
2014 May 12, Indonesia said it
has banned the popular video sharing site Vimeo, because it contains
nudity, which officials in the world's most populous Muslim country
consider to be pornographic material.
2014 May 12, Italian
authorities said a boat carrying hundreds of migrants has sunk south
off the Sicilian island of Lampedusa. At least 14 people were killed
with 206 rescued.
(Reuters, 5/12/14)(SFC, 5/13/14, p.A4)
2014 May 12, Nayef al-Ajmi,
Kuwait's justice and Islamic affairs minister, said the Gulf state's
ruler has accepted his resignation. In March US Treasury
Undersecretary David Cohen said al-Ajmi had called for jihad in
Syria and promoted the funding of terrorism.
2014 May 12, Lorenzo Zambrano,
the head of Mexico’s Cemex Corp., died unexpectedly in Madrid.
(Econ, 5/17/14, p.64)
2014 May 12, Boko Haram
released a new video claiming to show the missing Nigerian
schoolgirls, alleging they had converted to Islam and would not be
released until all militant prisoners were freed.
2014 May 12, In Pakistan Qari
Naseer (27) and two friends raped a college girl (20) in a moving
car. Naseer, a teacher at a Quranic school in Mansehra, and the two
friends were soon arrested. He was suspected of having filmed and
blackmailed other victims.
2014 May 12, Russia made it
clear that Moscow has no intention of immediately annexing two
regions in eastern Ukraine after a weekend referendum there showed
most voters allegedly backing sovereignty.
2014 May 12, In South Africa 2
Lonmin workers were killed as they reported for work at their
strike-hit platinum mine, threatening the firm's plans to end the
walkout this week.
2014 May 12, In Spain Isabel
Carrasco (b.1955), a local bigwig in the People’s Party of PM
Mariano Rajoy, was shot dead by the mother of a young woman who had
been let go from her government job.
2014 May 12, Syrian media said
rebels have agreed to free 1,500 families in Adra in exchange for
food and the release of jailed opponents of President Bashar
2014 May 12, In eastern Ukraine
insurgents in Luhansk said they wouldn't hold the scheduled May 25
2014 May 12, A confidential new
report by a UN panel of experts highlighted Iran's methods of
evading sanctions - from concealing titanium tubes inside steel
pipes to using its petrochemical industry as a cover to obtain items
for a heavy-water nuclear reactor.
2014 May 12, In southern Yemen
a suspected US drone strike killed six al-Qaida militants in Marib
2014 May 13, Pres. Obama met
with Uruguay’s Pres. Jose Mujica and lauded trade and commercial
ties between the two countries.
(SFC, 5/13/14, p.A2)
2014 May 13, A US federal judge
ruled that Idaho’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional.
(SFC, 5/14/14, p.A6)
2014 May 13, In New Jersey Ras
Baraka, the son of poet Amiri Baraka (aka LeRoi Jones), was elected
as mayor of Newark with 54% of the vote.
(Econ, 5/17/14, p.26)
2014 May 13, It was reported
that the cost of Brazil’s World cup stadium has nearly tripled to
$900 million in public funds, largely because of allegedly
(SSFC, 5/18/14, p.A20)
2014 May 13, In Brazil bus
drivers demanding higher pay began a 48-hour strike in Rio de
Janeiro, forcing hundreds of thousands of passengers to seek
alternative ways to get to work.
2014 May 13, Canada-based
BlackBerry launched a new lower-cost smartphone designed
specifically for Indonesia in an attempt to win back market share
that has plunged in recent years but remains higher than in many
2014 May 13, In Central African
Republic the body of French journalist Camille Lepage (26) was found
by a patrol of French peacekeeping troops in the Bouar region.
Lepage was with the anti-balaka militia as part of her efforts to
report on the conflict when they were attacked on May 12.
2014 May 13, Europe's highest
court said people should have some say over the results that pop up
when they conduct a Google search of their own name online. The
European Court of Justice (ECI) embraced the idea of a digital
“right to be forgotten."
(AP, 5/13/14)(Econ, 11/5/16, p.51)
2014 May 13, In Haiti American
missionary George Knoop (77), who came to Haiti in the wake of the
January 2010 earthquake, was stabbed to death in Port-au-Prince.
(AP, 5/16/14)(SSFC, 5/18/14, p.A4)
2014 May 13, In Hungary a
Budapest court found Bela Biszku (92), a former senior official in
the Hungarian Communist Party, guilty of war crimes during the
suppression of the 1956 anti-Soviet uprising. He was sentenced to 5
years and six months imprisonment.
2014 May 13, In Iraq militants
unleashed a wave of car bombings, killing at least 34 people and
sending thick, black smoke into the Baghdad skies in a show of force
meant to intimidate the majority Shiites as they marked what is
meant to be a joyous holiday for their sect.
2014 May 13, An Israeli court
sentenced former PM Ehud Olmert to six years in prison for his role
in a bribery scandal. He was charged for acts while he was mayor of
Jerusalem and national trade minister, years before he became prime
minister in 2006.
2014 May 13, The International
Criminal Court's prosecutor said the Libyan government must
surrender the son of slain dictator Moammar Gadhafi for trial on
charges of crimes against humanity despite its appeal of the
handover and legal proceedings in Libya.
2014 May 13, In Nigeria
vigilante villagers of Kalabalge, Borno state, after learning about
an impending attack by militants, ambushed two trucks with gunmen.
At least 10 militants were reported detained, and scores killed.
2014 May 13, In North Korea an
apartment building under construction in Pyongyang collapsed. The
23-story apartment building was presumed to have housed 92 families.
Word of the collapse was reported on May 18 by the North's official
Korean Central News Agency.
2014 May 13, US authorities in
Puerto Rico said they have arrested a Roman Catholic priest on
charges including sexual trafficking of minors in the first federal
case of its kind in the US territory. Israel Berrios (58), a priest
in the Diocese of Caguas, was arrested in the northern town of
2014 May 13, Saudi health
authorities reported another five deaths from MERS. The potentially
fatal Middle Eastern respiratory virus has sickened hundreds in the
kingdom. A total of 152 people have now died and 495 have been
confirmed to have contracted the virus in Saudi Arabia since it was
discovered in 2012.
2014 May 13, Serbia's new PM
Aleksandar Vucic pledged support for neighboring Bosnia's integrity,
making clear Belgrade would not encourage calls by Bosnian Serbs for
a Crimean-style secession of their half of the country.
2014 May 13, In Sweden Malik
Bendjelloul (36), the director of the acclaimed "Searching for Sugar
Man" documentary, committed suicide following bouts of depression.
2014 May 13, In western Turkey
at least 282 people were killed underground after an explosion and
fire at the Soma coal mine in Manisa province. The death toll soon
rose to 302, making it the worst industrial accident in Turkish
(AP, 5/13/14)(Reuters, 5/14/14)(Reuters,
5/17/14)(Econ, 11/29/14, p.49)
2014 May 13, Ukraine's PM
Arseny Yatseniuk and EU officials signed a deal for 1 billion euro
($1.37 billion) in EU aid for Kiev's beleaguered government as well
as for assistance to help build Ukrainian institutions.
2014 May 13, In Ukraine 7
soldiers were ambushed and killed by rebels armed with grenade
launchers outside the town of Kramatorsk. Ukrainian PM Arseny
Yatseniuk urged Russia not to use natural gas as a "weapon" against
his country, and accused Moscow of seizing tens of billions of
dollars' worth of its assets and energy resources in Crimea.
(AP, 5/13/14)(Reuters, 5/13/14)(Econ, 5/17/14,
2014 May 13, UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said Lakhdar Brahimi will resign as
the joint UN-Arab League envoy on Syria after a nearly two-year
effort that failed to bring peace to the war-ravaged country.
2014 May 13, In Vietnam several
thousand workers protested at Chinese-owned factories, vandalizing
some of them, as anger flared at Beijing's deployment of an oil rig
in waters claimed by Vietnam.
2014 May 13, Yemeni fighter
planes targeted a vehicle in the southern province of Shabwa,
killing 3 drivers and 5 suspected al Qaeda militants.
(Reuters, 5/13/14)(AP, 5/13/14)
2014 May 14, In Afghanistan a
bomb stuck onto an Afghan army vehicle in Kabul killed a soldier
while a woman died when a rocket slammed into a residential area in
Ghazni province. five militants wearing suicide vests attacked a
border police outpost in Kandahar province. The attack left 3 police
and all 5 militants dead.
(AP, 5/14/14)(SFC, 5/15/14, p.A2)
2014 May 14, Azerbaijan took
over as chairman of the Committee of Ministers, the Council of
Europe’s decision-making body which brings together the member
states' foreign ministers.
2014 May 14, Chinese police
said they have charged the former British boss of drugmaker
GlaxoSmithKline PLC's China business and other colleagues with
corruption, after a probe found the firm made billions of yuan from
elaborate schemes to bribe doctors and hospitals. Mark Reilly and
two Chinese executives, Zhang Guowei and Zhao Hongyan, were also
suspected of bribing officials in the industry and commerce
departments of Beijing and Shanghai.
2014 May 14, In northwestern
China a pipeline in a coal mine collapsed, killing 11 people in the
city of Yulin, Shaanxi province. 24 people came out alive and 2
2014 May 14, Egypt’s army said
fifteen tons of a material used to make explosives have been seized
in a town straddling the Suez Canal, one of the biggest such hauls
since the start of a campaign against Islamist militants in the
2014 May 14, In France the
Grace Kelly melodrama "Grace of Monaco" kicked off the 67th annual
Cannes Film Festival.
2014 May 14, Indonesia’s
anti-corruption agency identified the head of parliament's energy
committee and a company executive as suspects in an ongoing graft
scandal involving energy regulator SKKMigas.
2014 May 14, In Iraq attacks
targeting security forces killed 13 people across the country.
2014 May 14, Israeli military
forces began demolishing structures in an illegal West Bank settler
outpost, after attempts at a voluntary evacuation failed.
2014 May 14, In Lebanon
thousands of teachers, civil servants and children rallied outside
parliament in the biggest of a year of pay protests as the assembly
debated a much-delayed bill on public sector salaries.
2014 May 14, A Russian Soyuz
space capsule carrying three astronauts landed in Kazakhstan.
Russian Mikhail Tyurin, American Rick Mastracchio and Koichi Wakata
of Japan had spent 188 days in the ISS.
(SFC, 5/15/14, p.A5)
2014 May 14, South Korea-based
Samsung Electronics Co. apologized and promised compensation to chip
factory workers who suffered cancers linked to chemical exposure, a
rare win for families and activists seven years after the death of a
23-year-old employee from leukemia galvanized a movement to hold the
company to account.
2014 May 14, In Thailand 2
people were killed and 22 wounded after an attack on an opposition
PDRC protest camp.
(Econ, 5/17/14, p.40)
2014 May 14, The Ukrainian
government reluctantly agreed to launch talks on decentralizing
power as part of an OSCE backed peace plan, but did not invite its
main foes, the pro-Russia insurgents who have declared independence
in the east.
2014 May 14, United Arab
Emirates telecommunications firm Etisalat said it has completed a
deal to buy French entertainment company Vivendi's majority stake in
Morocco's Maroc Telecom.
\2014 May 14, Venezuelan
security forces arrested 105 people during a sweep of a busy Caracas
avenue as protests against the government heated up amid a widening
split within the opposition over whether to back possible US
2014 May 14, In Vietnam a
1,000-strong mob stormed the Taiwanese owned Formosa steel mill in
Ha Tinh province and hunted down Chinese workers, killing one,
attacking scores more and then setting the complex alight in
response to Beijing's deployment of an oil rig in the long-disputed
South China Sea. State-owned China Metallurgical Group later
reported that 4 of its workers were killed. Some 600 Chinese crossed
into Cambodia over the land border in southern Vietnam.
(AP, 5/15/14)(AP, 5/20/14)(SFC, 5/21/14, p.A2)
2014 May 14, In southern Yemen
at least 42 people were killed in clashes between soldiers and
al-Qaida militants after insurgents attacked two military posts in
Shabwa province where the government mounted an offensive two weeks
(Reuters, 5/14/14)(SFC, 5/15/14, p.A2)
2014 May 15, A US federal judge
upheld registration requirements that are part of gun laws in
(SFC, 5/16/14, p.A5)
2014 May 15, In California an
estimated 50,000 gallons of crude oil spilled over a half-mile area
due to a break in an above-ground pipeline in Atwater Village, Los
Angeles. The spill was soon downgraded to 10,000 gallons.
(Reuters, 5/15/14)(SFC, 5/16/14, p.A6)
2014 May 15, A federal judge in
Las Vegas imposed a 20-year sentence on David Camez (22) for his
role in what authorities say is an unprecedented criminal case
involving an international cybercrime syndicate with hundreds of
thousands of US victims. He was already is serving a seven-year term
in Arizona for similar crimes. He also was ordered to share in
restitution of nearly $51 million.
2014 May 15, In Afghanistan a
shootout between Afghan and Pakistani border guards killed one
Afghan policeman in a remote southern region where the border
between the two countries is poorly marked.
2014 May 15, An Azerbaijan
opposition journalist Parviz Gashimly was sentenced on to eight
years in prison in a case critics say highlights a government-led
crackdown on dissent in the oil-rich former Soviet republic. He was
arrested last September after police raided his apartment and
reported finding firearms.
2014 May 15, In central
Bangladesh the M.V. Miraz-4 ferry carrying more than 100 passengers
capsized in the River Meghna after being hit by a storm. Some 25
people swam to safety. 54 bodies were recovered over the next two
days. An unknown number remained missing.
(AP, 5/15/14)(AP, 5/16/14)(AP, 5/17/14)
2014 May 15, Former Belgian PM
Jean-Luc Dehaene (73) died. He helped set up the European Union
treaty and led his nation during the 1990s when it granted
increasing autonomy to its Dutch and French-speaking regions.
2014 May 15, In Brazil
protesters blocked two of Sao Paulo's main highways, burning tires,
waving banners and causing chaos during the morning commute in the
sprawling metropolitan area as officials braced for a wave of
anti-government demonstrations in several Brazilian cities, many of
them protesting the high spending on next month's World Cup.
2014 May 15, A Chinese court
sentenced Vincent Wu, a Chinese-American businessman, to 20 years in
prison on charges of heading a mob that kidnapped rivals and
operated illegal casinos, and rejected his claim that he was
tortured by police. About two dozen other defendants in the case
received sentences of between 19 months and 19 years
2014 May 15, China’s Caixin
business magazine reported that Wei Pengyuan, a senior official of
the National Energy Administration’s coal department, was under
arrest. So much cash ($16m) was found at his home in Beijing that
investigators brought in 16 machines from a bank to count it all.
(http://tinyurl.com/l8kd336)(Econ, 6/28/14, p.38)
2014 May 15, Prime ministers
from central European countries backed Polish plans for close energy
cooperation and agreed to draft joint crisis management plans for
the possibility of a cut in natural gas from Russia in the coming
2014 May 15, In Guatemala Jairo
Orellana Morales (40), a suspected local Zetas leader, was captured
in Zacapa province after a shootout with federal forces that killed
a police officer and two others. The US government last year imposed
financial sanctions against the alleged drug trafficker under the
2014 May 15, Hong Kong started
incinerating its nearly 30-ton stockpile of confiscated ivory to
show it's serious about cracking down on an illegal wildlife trade
that is devastating Africa's elephant population.
2014 May 15, In Iraq a spate of
bombings in Baghdad, killing at least 19 people.
(AP, 5/15/14)(AP, 5/16/14)
2014 May 15, Israeli troops
shot dead two Palestinian teens, Nadim Nuwara (17) and Muhammad Abu
Thahr (16), in a West Bank clash that erupted after Palestinians
marked their uprooting during the Mideast war over Israel's 1948
(AP, 5/15/14)(Reuters, 6/12/14)
2014 May 15, Heavily armed
fighters, believed to have come from Liberia, seized a border
village in western Ivory Coast. They crossed the Cavally
River, which forms the boundary between the two West African
neighbors, and attacked the village of Fetai.
2014 May 15, Russia ratcheted
up pressure on Ukraine, with President Vladimir Putin saying in a
letter released today that it only will deliver gas to its
struggling neighbor next month if it pays in advance.
2014 May 15, A woman and a
firefighter drowned in Serbia and hundreds of people in the Balkans
were evacuated from their homes as rain-swollen rivers flooded
roads, bridges and railways, closed schools and cut off power and
phone service in Bosnia, Serbia, Croatia and Romania.
2014 May 15, In Sudan Mariam
Ibrahim (26), a pregnant woman doctor who married a Christian man in
2011 and who was convicted earlier this week on charges of
"apostasy," was sentenced to death. The court in Khartoum also
ordered Ibrahim be given 100 lashes for committing "zena" — an
Arabic word for illegitimate sex. On May 27 Ibrahim gave birth to
her child in jail. On June 23 the Court of Cassation canceled her
sentence and ordered her release. On June 24 Khartoum airport
passport police arrested Meriam Ibrahim after she presented
emergency travel documents issued by the South Sudanese embassy and
carrying an American visa. She was freed again on June 26. On July
16 a suit by her father to establish her as his Muslim daughter was
(AP, 5/15/14)(AP, 5/18/14)(AP, 5/29/14)(AP,
6/23/14)(AP, 6/26/14)(Reuters, 7/17/14)
2014 May 15, In northern Syria
an explosion near a border crossing to Turkey killed at least 43
people and wounded many others. Shelling on a government-held
neighborhood in Aleppo killed 3 people.
(AP, 5/15/14)(AP, 5/16/14)(SFC, 5/16/14, p.A4)
2014 May 15, In northern
Thailand hundreds of armed men descended on a village and
overpowered residents blocking the road to a goldmine said by locals
to have caused environmental damage so that trucks could take ore
away in the Khao Luang district of Loei province. Residents of Khao
Luang have for years contested the mining operations of Tungkum Ltd,
a subsidiary of Tongkah Harbour Plc.
(SFC, 5/15/14, p.A2)(Reuters, 5/16/14)
2014 May 15, Ukraine’s acting
President Oleksandr Turchynov told lawmakers that government forces
attacked overnight an insurgent base in the city of Slovyansk and
another one in nearby Kramatorsk. Rinat Akhmetov's company,
Metinvest, agreed with steel plant directors, police and community
leaders to help improve security in Mariupol and get insurgents to
vacate the buildings they had seized. A representative of the
self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, which had declared
independence, was also a party to the deal.
(AP, 5/15/14)(AP, 5/16/14)
2014 May 16, US Federal safety
regulators slapped General Motors with a record $35 million fine for
taking more than a decade to disclose an ignition-switch defect in
millions of cars that has been linked to at least 13 deaths. On June
5 GM said it has forced out 15 employees for their role in the
(AP, 5/16/14)(SFC, 6/6/14, p.C1)
2014 May 16, California
firefighters were battling wind-whipped wildfires, as some 125,000
people fled their homes in the San Diego area and police arrested at
least two people on arson-related charges.
2014 May 16, Clyde Snow
(b.1928), American forensic anthropologist, died in Norman, Ok. His
work took him around the world to examine the slaughter of
2014 May 16, In Utah 4
undocumented immigrants from Mexico and El Salvador were killed when
a crowded van crashed on Interstate 70. Agents detained three of
four men who survived the crash and continued to search for a woman
who fled the scene.
2014 May 16, Four British
sailors went missing after their yacht, Cheeki Rafiki, capsized
about 1,000 miles off Cape Cod, Mass.
2014 May 16, In China the
leader of a baby trafficking ring that brought 23 boys and pregnant
women from Vietnam was sentenced to death. The court in the southern
region of Guangxi gave another 23 members of the group sentences
ranging from less than two years to life in prison.
2014 May 16, Colombia's
government and main rebel group (FARC) announced an agreement to
jointly combat illicit drugs in the South American country, which
was long the world's leading cocaine producer.
2014 May 16, Dominican Rep.
legislators unanimously approved a bill they say would allow
thousands of people of Haitian descent born in the Dominican
Republic the opportunity to obtain naturalized citizenship. Pres.
Danilo Medina singed the legislation on May 23. Some 200,000
(AP, 5/16/14)(Econ, 5/31/14, p.31)
2014 May 16, German authorities
said they have arrested a Mexican man (44) at the Frankfurt Airport
after finding his suitcase full of snakes, turtles and lizards,
including endangered species.
2014 May 16, Dozens of
Guatemalan war survivors and human rights activists protested
against a congressional resolution that denies there was any attempt
to commit genocide during the country's bloody 36-year civil war.
2014 May 16, India’s opposition
candidate Narendra Modi thundered to victory, with partial results
showing that the pro-business Hindu nationalist and his party
trounced the ruling Nehru-Gandhi dynasty in a seismic political
2014 May 16, In Iraq separate
attacks killed 5 members of an anti-militant Sunni militia. An
al-Qaida splinter group claimed responsibility for a spate of
Baghdad bombings that killed at least 19 people the day before.
2014 May 16, In Kenya at least
10 people were killed and 70 wounded in two explosions in Nairobi.
2014 May 16, In eastern Libya
fierce fighting broke out between army troops believed to be loyal
to rogue Gen. Khalifa Hifter (Haftar) and two influential militias
in the city of Benghazi. More than 70 people were killed and more
than 100 wounded.
(AP, 5/16/14)(Reuters, 5/18/14)
2014 May 16, Mexican
authorities arrested Leonor Nava Romero (45), the leader of a gang
responsible for trafficking drugs from the southwestern state of
Guerrero to the United States, in Tecpan de Galeana, Guerrero.
2014 May 16, Suspected Boko
Haram rebels from Nigeria attacked a Chinese work site near Waza in
northern Cameroon and at least 10 people were believed to have been
(Reuters, 5/17/14)(Econ, 7/26/14, p.43)
2014 May 16, Filipinos and
Vietnamese residents in Manila staged a joint protest against
China's incursions into South China Sea territories claimed by their
2014 May 16, Russia's Proton-M
booster rocket failed and broke apart during a test launch, just
months after a shake-up in the country's space agency that was meant
to boost its dented image.
2014 May 16, South Africa said
it has suffered its first elephant poaching incident in 10 years
this week at the country's largest game reserve.
2014 May 16, In Syria rebels
fired a rocket that struck a government-held neighborhood in the
northern city of Aleppo, killing 13 people.
2014 May 16, Turkish police
fired water cannon and tear gas to disperse a crowd of several
thousand protesters in the town of Soma, where 301 people died in
the country's worst ever mining disaster this week.
2014 May 16, UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned a cut in water supplies in
the northern Syrian city of Aleppo that he said has deprived at
least 2.5 million people of access to potable water. Rebels from the
al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front shut down main water pumping station in
Aleppo nearly two weeks ago to punish civilians living on the
government-controlled side of the divided metropolis.
2014 May 17, US health
officials reported what appears to be the first time that a
mysterious Middle East virus (MERS) has spread from one person to
another in the United States. An Illinois man probably picked up an
infection from an Indiana man who earlier this month became the
first US case of Middle East respiratory syndrome.
2014 May 17, Colorado Gov. John
Hickenlooper signed the first state law to allow terminally ill
patients to access experimental medications before federal approval.
(SSFC, 5/18/14, p.A7)
2014 May 17, In Maryland
3-year-old California Chrome won the 139th Preakness at Pimlico Race
Course making him eligible for the Triple Crown on June 7 at the
(SSFC, 5/18/14, p.B1)
2014 May 17, In Bosnia and
Serbia tens of thousands fled their homes, evacuated by boat or
helicopter as rising waters surged into villages and towns.
Authorities said the record flooding killed at least 20 people and
the death toll could rise further.
2014 May 17, In Brazil inmates
at a penitentiary in the northeastern city of Aracaju took four
prison officers hostage and refused to allow nearly 130 prisoners'
relatives to leave the grounds. The inmates demanded to be
transferred from the maximum-security prison to others. The hostages
were released the next day and relatives were allowed to leave after
authorities met demands that some prisoners be transferred.
(AP, 5/18/14)(SFC, 5/19/14, p.A2)
2014 May 17, China's public
security chief urged Vietnam to take tough measures to stem
anti-China violence and punish rioters following deadly attacks
there earlier this week.
2014 May 17, Cyprus' finance
minister said that international creditors have given a fourth
straight positive review to the country's financial rescue program
and are projecting that its economy will shrink this year slightly
less than earlier forecasts.
2014 May 17, France and five
African countries (Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria)
declared war on the Boko Haram extremist Islamic sect. West African
leaders met in Paris to improve cooperation in the fight against
Boko Haram and other militant groups.
(Reuters, 5/17/14)(SSFC, 5/18/14, p.A5)
2014 May 17, In Iraq a bombing
at an outdoor market in Tarmiyha, 50 km north of Baghdad, killed 5
2014 May 17, In Laos a plane
carrying senior Lao government officials crashed in the Pek district
of Xiangkhoung province, killing the defense minister and at least
four other people.
2014 May 17, In Mali gunfire
erupted between the army and Tuareg separatists (MNLA) in the
northern city of Kidal as PM Moussa Mara embarked on a trip there.
Rebels attacked the governor's office in Kidal, abducting 32 civil
servants. 8 soldiers and 28 insurgents were killed. PM Moussa Mara
responded by saying Mali is now at war with the armed Tuareg
(Reuters, 5/17/14)(Reuters, 5/18/14)(SFC,
5/19/14, p.A2)(AP, 5/22/14)
2014 May 17, In Morocco some
700 African migrants charged barbed wire fences in two waves at the
Spanish enclave of Melilla. Moroccan and Spanish border guards
repulsed the charges.
(SSFC, 5/18/14, p.A4)
2014 May 17, Sudanese
authorities in Khartoum arrested Sadiz al-Mahdi (78), a prominent
opposition leader, following remarks criticizing the government’s
security policies in Darfur.
(SSFC, 5/18/14, p.A4)
2014 May 17, In Syria Lt. Gen.
Hussein Ishaq, the head of air defenses, was killed in clashes near
Damascus as rebels attacked an air defense base near the town of
2014 May 17, Vietnam's PM
Nguyen Tan Dun ordered an end to all "illegal protests" in the
country after a week of violent demonstrations against China's
deployment of an oil rig in a disputed section of the South China
2014 May 17, In Ukraine a
second round of European-brokered talks aimed at resolving the
crisis. Lawmakers and officials from eastern Ukraine poured
criticism on the fledging central government for ignoring the
grievances of the regions, which have been overrun for pro-Russian
2014 May 17, Yemen’s military
said it has regained control of Azzan, Shabwa province. 7 militants
and 2 soldiers were killed in the offensive. A militant ambush in
Qarn al-Sawda left 5 militants and 2 soldiers dead.
(SSFC, 5/18/14, p.A4)
2014 May 18, Gordon Willis,
American cinematographer, died at his home in Massachusetts. His
many films included the Godfather series, “Manhattan," “Annie Hall",
“Klute" and “All the President’s Men."
(SFC, 5/27/14, p.C3)
2014 May 18, Bosnian officials
said over 300 landslides triggered by unprecedented rains have left
hundreds of people homeless. The floods and landslides unearthed
minefield warning signs from the 1992-95 war and, in many cases, the
unexploded booby traps themselves.
2014 May 18, In China Liu
Zhanbin, the chief executive of Sanjing Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.,
jumped to his death. He was under investigation on suspicion of
2014 May 18, In Colombia 32
children were killed when an overcrowded bus they were traveling in
caught fire in Fundacion.
2014 May 18, Egyptian courts in
Cairo and Kafr el-Sheikh convicted 170 suspected supporters of
toppled President Mohammed Morsi on charges over violent attacks
2014 May 18, Greeks began
voting in the first round of local elections that mark PM Antonis
Samaras's first big electoral test since coming to power two years
2014 May 18, Guinea-Bissau
voted in a presidential runoff vote intended to restore
constitutional order in a country known for coups and unrest. Voters
chose between Jose Mario Vaz, whose party won a parliamentary
majority in April's first round, against Nuno Gomes Nabiam, who is
known for having close ties to military leaders. Jose Mario Vaz was
elected as president.
(AP, 5/18/14)(AP, 3/10/19)
2014 May 18, In Iraq a series
of bombings mainly targeting markets and commercial streets killed
(AP, 5/18/14)(SFC, 5/19/14, p.A2)
2014 May 18, In Libya forces
loyal to rogue Libyan Gen. Khalifa Hifter attacked the parliament in
Tripoli, forcing lawmakers to flee an assault that targeted
Islamists there who protect the extremist militias now plaguing the
nation. Two people were reportedly killed and more than 50 wounded.
(AP, 5/18/14)(AP, 5/19/14)
2014 May 18, Peruvian
politician Carlos Bruce (57) announced he is gay, in an interview
this weekend with the newspaper El Comercio. This was a first in one
of Latin America's most conservative countries.
2014 May 18, In Serbia
soldiers, police and volunteers battled to protect power plants from
rising flood waters as the death toll from the region's worst
rainfall in more than a century reached 35.
2014 May 18, Syrian rebels
captured a village in the northwest, killing more than a dozen
government troops in heavy clashes and prompting the military to
carry out airstrikes to try to dislodge the fighters. The
Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 18
pro-government troops and two rebels were killed in the fighting.
The Observatory also said Islamic State fighters killed at least 19
rebels near the village of Raai in Aleppo province. Abdullah Qadour
al-Hamawi, a disabled 14-year-old, was reportedly killed by a
chlorine bomb in Kfar Zeita, Ha province.
(AP, 5/18/14)(Reuters, 5/20/14)
2014 May 18, Turkish police
detained 24 people, including mining company executives and
personnel, as an investigation into last week's mine disaster in
Soma got underway. The last of 301 victims were buried.
(Reuters, 5/18/14)(SSFC, 5/25/14, p.A6)
2014 May 18, Vietnam smothered
anti-China protests with a massive security clampdown after deadly
riots triggered by a territorial dispute with Beijing spooked
foreign investors and the country's leadership alike. Beijing said
it had evacuated 3,000 nationals from Vietnam and was sending the
first of five ships to pull out others wanting to leave.
2014 May 18, Yemeni troops
killed a local al Qaeda commander and four of his aides in clashes
in a southern province where the army has been waging an offensive
against the militant network. The militant, known by his nickname
al-Meqdad, was killed in Qarn al-Sawda, Shabwa province.
2014 May 19, The US indicted
five members of the Chinese military on charges they stole US
secrets through hacking to help state-run companies. Attorney
General Eric Holder said they hacked into six US nuclear power,
metals and solar products industries: Alcoa World Alumina,
Westinghouse Electric Co., Allegheny Technologies, U.S. Steel Corp.,
United Steelworkers Union, and SolarWorld.
(AFP, 5/19/14)(AP, 5/19/14)
2014 May 19, Swiss-based Credit
Suisse pleaded guilty to a criminal charge of having helped its
customers elude America’s tax authorities. The bank was fined $2.8
(Econ, 5/24/14, p.65)
2014 May 19, In Alaska the
human-caused Funny River wildfire began in the Kenai Peninsula. By
May 26 it grew to some 248 square miles. Mandatory evacuations were
(SFC, 5/27/14, p.A7)
2014 May 19, Actor Michael Jace
(51) shot and killed his wife, April Jace (40), at their home in the
Hyde Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. Jace had appeared on the FX
series “The Shield" as a police officer. On June 10, 2016, Jace was
sentenced to 40 years to life in prison.
(SFC, 5/21/14, p.A9)(SFC, 6/11/16, p.A6)
2014 May 19, In Florida an
indictment was unsealed charging North Miami Mayor Lucie Tondreau
(54) and others in an $8 million mortgage fraud scheme. Tondreau was
elected North Miami's first female Haitian-American mayor last June.
2014 May 19, A Manhattan jury
convicted Mustafa Kamel Mustafa (aka Abu Hamza al-Masri), a former
London-based Egyptian Islamic cleric, for providing material to
support terrorist organizations, for sending men to establish an
al-Qaida training camp in Bly, Oregon, and sending at least one man
to an al-Qaida training camp in Afghanistan. Al-Masri (56) was
extradited in 2012 from England where in the 1990s he led London’s
Finsbury Park Mosque.
(SFC, 5/20/14, p.A8)(SFC, 5/21/14, p.A2)
2014 May 19, A US federal judge
threw out Oregon’s same-sex marriage ban.
(SFC, 5/20/14, p.A8)
2014 May 19, AT&T Inc. said
it would buy DirecTV for $48.5 billion in cash and stock, or $95 per
share. The deal faced unique regulatory scrutiny from the FCC and
Department of Justice.
2014 May 19, Bosnia’s
government said more than a quarter of the country’s four million
people have been affected by the worst floods to hit the Balkans in
more than a century. Torrential rains have caused rivers to burst
their banks and triggered more than 2,000 landslides as the death
toll in Bosnia and Serbia rose to 38. Croatia reported 2 deaths. The
flooding left tons of drowned livestock.
(AP, 5/19/14)(AP, 5/20/14)(AP, 5/20/14)
2014 May 19, Chinese media said
the government of the industrial city of Tianjin will limit the
number of vehicles allowed on roads during heavy smog. Last month
Tianjin banned new steel and cement plants as part of a program to
reverse damage done to its environment.
2014 May 19, Hundreds of
Chinese workers left Vietnam on ships chartered by their government
after deadly unrest broke out last week amid a dispute over
sovereignty claims in the South China Sea.
2014 May 19, In Egypt gunmen in
a drive-by shooting killed 3 policemen and wounded nine during late
night rally by Islamist students in Cairo.
2014 May 19, European law
enforcement officials announced that police worldwide, acting on an
FBI tipoff, have arrested 97 people in 16 countries suspected of
developing, distributing or using malicious software called
BlackShades that allows criminals to gain surreptitious control of
personal computers. French detectives said they arrested more than
two dozen people during their May 13 raids.
2014 May 19, Germany lowered
the pension age for some workers from 65 to 63.
2014 May 19, Greece's main
opposition party Syriza declared a victory for its anti-austerity
message after its candidates fared strongly in big local election
races in Athens and the surrounding region.
2014 May 19, In Iraq election
results from April 30 were released by the Independent High
Electoral Commission and showed that PM al-Maliki's State of Law
gained 92 seats, winning the top spot in 10 of 18 provinces. He
would need to build support from a total of 165 seats to have a shot
at keeping the prime minister's post.
2014 May 19, In northeast Kenya
Somali militants killed 12 people including 3 police reservists in a
border ambush for which Al-Shabab claimed responsibility.
(SFC, 5/20/14, p.A2)
2014 May 19, Kuwait’s Cabinet
accepted the resignation of five lawmakers who resigned in protest
after the largely pro-government parliament refused to question PM
Sheik Jaber Mubarak Al Sabah over corruption allegations.
2014 May 19, Libya’s parliament
chief Nouri Abu Sahmein, an Islamist-leaning politician, ordered a
powerful umbrella group of mainly Islamist militias known as
"Libya's Central Shield" to mobilize to defend against forces under
rogue Gen. Khalifa Hifter. The umbrella group is dominated by a
militia from Libya's third largest city, Misrata. A Libyan air force
base in the eastern city of Tobruk said it has decided to join
forces of Gen. Khalifa Hifter.
(AP, 5/19/14)(Reuters, 5/19/14)
2014 May 19, In Myanmar
community activists freed two contractors working for a Chinese
company operating a copper mine in Monywa that is the subject of a
long-running land dispute. The two Chinese were abducted a day
earlier by a group calling itself the "Student Network of Mandalay."
2014 May 19, The Philippines
said it has reached an agreement over the weekend with Indonesia on
a sea border dispute after 20 years of negotiations, and hopes to
sign the pact soon.
2014 May 19, Russian President
Vladimir Putin ordered troops deployed near Ukraine to return to
their home bases and praised the launch of a dialogue between the
Ukrainian government and its opponents even as fighting continued in
the eastern parts of the country.
2014 May 19, Serbia braced for
a river surge that threatened to inundate the country’s main power
plant at Obrenovac and cause major power cuts in the crisis-stricken
2014 May 19, South Korean Pres.
Park Geun-hye formally apologized for the April 16 ferry disaster
that killed about 300 people, mostly school children, and said she
would dismantle the coast guard for failing in its duties.
2014 May 19, A Swiss court
ordered Dmitry Rybolovlev of Monaco to pay his ex-wife, Elena
Rybolovlev, 4,020,555,987.80 Swiss francs to settle their divorce
after a 6-year legal fight. The Russian billionaire had made his
fortune in potash mining. Forbes estimated his worth at $8.8
(SFC, 5/20/14, p.A2)
2014 May 19, In Syria 13 people
were killed after a missile smashed into a building late today in
the town of Marea. Most of the dead were children. Hours later a
missile fired at a building in the nearby town of Azaz killed
another 10 people.
2014 May 19, Uruguay said it
will exempt marijuana production and sales from taxes in a bid to
ensure prices remain low enough to undercut competition from black
market pot smuggled in from Paraguay.
2014 May 20, In Arizona the
human-caused Slide Fire began around Oak Creek Canyon between Sedona
and Flagstaff. By May 26 it covered 25 square miles.
(SFC, 5/23/14, p.A8)(SFC, 5/27/14, p.A6)
2014 May 20, Santa Ana, Ca.,
police arrested Isidro Garcia (41) of Bell Gardens for kidnapping a
girl (15) in 2004. He force her to marry him and have his child in a
hostage relationship for 10 years.
(SFC, 5/22/14, p.A14)
2014 May 20, A US federal judge
overturned Pennsylvania’s ban on same-sex marriage.
(SFC, 5/21/14, p.A8)
2014 May 20, In Bosnia nineteen
convicts escaped from prison late today while their guards manned
defenses against the worst floods to hit the Balkans in living
2014 May 20, In Brazil several
leading politicians were arrested as part of a large corruption and
money laundering probe in Cuiaba, a World Cup host city that has had
some of the worst delays and other problems as the soccer tournament
2014 May 20, A British man, for
the first time, was convicted of terrorism-related offenses after
going to Syria with the intention of joining the conflict there.
Kingston Crown Court convicted Mashudur Choudhury (31) of engaging
in conduct in preparation of terrorist acts.
2014 May 20, Prince Rupert
Loewenstein (80), former business manager of the Rolling Stones
(1968-2007), died in a London hospital after suffering from
Parkinson's disease. He was the prince who helped make the Rolling
Stones as rich as kings.
2014 May 20, China warned the
US was jeopardizing military ties by charging five Chinese officers
with cyberspying and tried to turn the tables on Washington by
calling it "the biggest attacker of China's cyberspace."
2014 May 20, China's Xinjiang
Supreme Court jailed 39 people in a special operation to curb the
spread of audio and video materials inciting terrorism. They were
convicted of crimes including organizing and leading terrorist
groups, inciting ethnic hatred, ethnic discrimination and the
illegal manufacturing of guns.
2014 May 20, EU regulators
charged banks JPMorgan, HSBC and Credit Agricole with colluding to
manipulate the price of financial products linked to interest rates.
2014 May 20, The European
Commission paid out a first loan tranche of 100 million euros ($137
million) to Ukraine, launching a 1.6 billion euro macro-financial
assistance loan program to prop up the beleaguered economy.
2014 May 20, Police in Iran
confirmed the arrest of six young people for posting a video online
of them dancing to Pharrell Williams' hit song "Happy," showing them
on state television as a public warning to youth in the Islamic
Republic. On Sep 17 the six were given suspended sentences of 91
lashes and six months in prison for obscene behavior.
(AP, 5/21/14)(Reuters, 9/18/14)
2014 May 20, Kenyan university
students threw rocks at police in Nairobi as authorities fired back
with tear gas in running battles that didn't end until police
cornered students in a campus building and fired dozens of rounds of
tear gas inside. Students demonstrated in at least four cities
across the country over a proposed increase in university fees.
2014 May 20, Kuwait set June 26
as the day for by-elections to replace five lawmakers who resigned
in protest after the largely pro-government parliament refused to
question PM Sheik Jaber Mubarak Al Sabah over corruption
2014 May 20, In Libya gunmen
killed a Chinese engineer after kidnapping him and two others from
their worksite. The two others were released.
2014 May 20, Macedonian police
said they have detained 18 people following overnight riots in
Skopje sparked by the fatal stabbing of a Macedonian teenager by an
Albanian bicycle thief. Police arrested a 19-year-old suspect for
2014 May 20, Malawi held
presidential elections. Soldiers deployed the commercial capital of
Blantyre after voters, angered by delays and mishaps at polling
stations in a hotly contested presidential election, torched voting
materials and blocked roads. Incumbent President Joyce Banda,
southern Africa's first female head of state, faced 11 challengers.
On May 30 the electoral commission said Mutharika, the brother of
former president Bingu wa Mutharika, took 36.4% of the votes cast
against Banda's 20.2%.
(Reuters, 5/20/14)(AFP, 5/31/14)
2014 May 20, Nigeria's
parliament approved a six-month extension to a state of emergency in
three northeast states hit by Islamist militant violence. Two bomb
blasts by Boko Haram in the city of Jos killed at least 118 people.
Most victims were women and children vendors. Hours later assaults
by Boko Haram in three villages killed 48 people.
(AFP, 5/20/14)(AP, 5/21/14)(SFC, 5/22/14, p.A3)
2014 May 20, In Norway
international donors pledged more than $600 million dollars in aid
to South Sudan at a conference in Oslo aimed at averting a famine
threatening millions of people.
2014 May 20, The Pakistani army
effectively declared it would override a crucial plank of the
government's strategy and take matters into its own hands. The army
said the time for talks with the troublesome Pakistani Taliban was
2014 May 20, In Russia a
collision between a cargo train and a passenger train near Moscow
killed at least 6 people and left up to 45 others injured.
2014 May 20, A Moscow court
convicted five men of involvement in the 2006 murder of journalist
Anna Politkovskaya. Four of the men were of Chechen origin.
(SFC, 5/21/14, p.A2)
2014 May 20, Thailand's
powerful military chief intervened for the first time in the
country's latest political crisis, declaring martial law and
dispatching gun-mounted jeeps into the heart of the capital with a
vow to resolve the deepening conflict as quickly as possible.
2014 May 20, UN diplomats said
Nigeria has formally asked the UN Security Council al Qaeda
sanctions committee to blacklist the Islamist militant group Boko
2014 May 20, The UN refugee
agency said at least 10,000 people have been driven from their homes
since the start of the Ukraine crisis, with Crimean Tatars the
2014 May 21, In California a
bus crashed west of Blythe near the Arizona border after it struck a
load of metal pipes that had just tumbled from a flatbed truck. 4
passengers were killed and at least 7 seriously injured.
(SFC, 5/22/14, p.A6)
2014 May 21, In Afghanistan
Taliban fighters launched overnight attacks in several provinces,
killing at least 10 policemen and 3 civilians. Villagers also found
the bodies of 8 slain policemen who were abducted by militants two
2014 May 21, In Albania
fourteen fired civil servants launched a hunger strike outside the
government headquarters in protest at what they say is a politically
motivated cull of workers. They won backing from the main opposition
Democratic Party, which accused the Socialist-led government of
firing 7,000 people from public-sector posts since coming to power
eight months ago.
2014 May 21, In Brazil civil
police in 14 states went on a 24-hour strike demanding higher pay. A
strike by Sao Paulo bus drivers demanding higher pay began losing
steam as it entered a second day.
2014 May 21, Brazil and a host
of governmental and private partners agreed to create a $215 million
fund to expand protected areas of the Amazon rain forest by more
than 34,000 square miles and to help pay for its management over the
next 25 years.
(SFC, 5/22/14, p.A2)
2014 May 21, China signed a
landmark deal to buy Russian natural gas worth about $400 billion,
giving a boost to diplomatically isolated President Vladimir Putin
and expanding Moscow's ties with Asia.
2014 May 21, China’s
state-owned Commercial Aircraft Corp. said it is ready to deliver
the country’s first homegrown regional airliner, the ARJ21-700, to
(SSFC, 5/25/14, p.D2)
2014 May 21, A Czech Rep. court
in Zin sentenced 10 men up to life in prison for being responsible
for a 2012 wave of methanol poisoning that killed dozens of people.
2014 May 21, In Egypt a
criminal court convicted former Pres. Hosni Mubarek of diverting
millions of dollars in public money for his personal use.
(SFC, 5/22/14, p.A2)
2014 May 21, An Egyptian court
sentenced 155 Muslim Brotherhood supporters to jail terms and gave
54 of them life sentences in a case related to violence in the Nile
Delta province of Mansour last August.
2014 May 21, In Italy Milan's
5,000 taxi drivers sought curbs on San Francisco-based Uber as
representatives met with the transport minister. Milan's taxis have
been idle for five days to protest Uber’s ride-hailing app.
2014 May 21, In Libya at least
2 people were killed when heavy fighting erupted near Tripoli. Heavy
fighting involving anti-aircraft batteries also broke out near an
army camp in Tajoura, an eastern suburb.
2014 May 21, Mali launched a
military offensive to retake control of a northern Tuareg separatist
stronghold. Witnesses reported intense fighting with machine gun and
heavy weapons fire in Kidal. At least 50 Malian soldiers were killed
and 30 wounded in a failed attempt to retake the Tuareg separatist
stronghold. Another 50 were taken prisoner and some 900 surrendered
their weapons and sought refuge at a UN post.
(Reuters, 5/21/14)(Reuters, 5/23/14)(Econ,
2014 May 21, Mexican
authorities said they have rescued 35 people who had been kidnapped
and held for ransom in Guerrero state. 4 suspected kidnappers were
(SFC, 5/22/14, p.A2)
2014 May 21, Pakistani
warplanes and helicopters pounded militant hideouts in Mir Ali,
North Waziristan, killing 60 fighters.
2014 May 21, In Pakistan
thousands of women, children and activists marched in Baluchistan in
a protest against a campaign by Tanzeemul Islam-ul-Furqan
(Organization of Islam for the Koran) to force schools to shut down
across the region.
2014 May 21, Russian President
Vladimir Putin said he ordered troops to pull out from the regions
near Ukraine to help create a positive environment ahead of the
nation's presidential vote. Putin spoke from Shanghai, China, where
he attended a security summit.
2014 May 21, South Korea
offered a $50,000 reward for information about Yoo Byung-eun (73), a
mysterious missing billionaire, who authorities say owns a ferry
that sank last April 16, leaving more than 300 people dead or
missing. Yoo faced allegations of tax evasion, embezzlement and
2014 May 21, In Taiwan a
university student (21) wielding a knife attacked riders aboard a
subway train in Taipei, killing 4 people and injuring at least 21
2014 May 21, In Tajikistan 2
people in the eastern city of Khorog were killed when police opened
fire on a crowd that tried to storm a police station to free a local
man, the brother of a former warlord, held there and then went on to
set fire to several government buildings.
2014 May 21, Thailand's army
chief assumed the role of mediator by summoning the country's key
political rivals for face-to-face talks one day after imposing
2014 May 21, Transparency
International said South Asia is the most corrupt region of the
world and governments must strengthen their anti-graft agencies to
prevent political interference and protect whistleblowers. The
watchdog group found serious problems with anti-corruption efforts
in Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
2014 May 21, Jaime Lusinchi
(89), former Venezuelan president (1984-1989), died in Caracas. He
had struggled to tame an economic crisis sparked by plunging oil
prices in the late 1980s and then saw his reputation tarnished by
allegations of corruption after leaving office.
2014 May 21, Vietnamese PM
Nguyen Tan Dung said Vietnam and the Philippines are determined to
oppose Chinese infringement of their territorial waters.
2014 May 22, US politicians,
federal officials and gay activists celebrated the first day issue
of a US Postal Service stamp in honor of Harvey Milk, on what would
have been his 84th birthday.
(SFC, 5/23/14, p.A1)
2014 May 22, Tennessee Rep.
Gov. Bill Haslam signed a bill into law allowing the state to
electrocute Death Row inmates in the event the state is unable to
obtain drugs used for lethal injections.
(SFC, 5/23/14, p.A6)
2014 May 22, In northeastern
Afghan Taliban fighters reportedly kidnapped 27 police officers
during an assault in Badakhshan province.
(SFC, 5/23/14, p.A2)
2014 May 22, Britain voted in
local and European elections. An opinion poll exposed a paradox: The
anti-EU UK Independence Party was forecast to win the vote yet
public opinion favored staying inside the EU.
2014 May 22, In Central African
Republic 3 civilians were killed in Bambari as hundreds of Muslims
armed with rifles and machetes clashed with French peacekeeping
troops trying to disarm members of the rebel Seleka coalition in the
2014 May 22, In China two
vehicles with explosives ploughed into an open market in Urumqi,
Xinjiang province, in the deadliest act of violence in the region in
years. At least 43 people were killed including 4 suicide bombers.
One suspect was captured.
(Reuters, 5/22/14)(Reuters, 5/23/14)(AP, 5/24/14)
2014 May 22, China and Russia
vetoed a draft UN Security Council resolution to refer Syria to the
International Criminal Court for war crimes committed by both sides
in its civil war.
2014 May 22, In Egypt about 150
activists held a protest in Alexandria to demand the release of
rights lawyer Mahienoun el-Masry. Police beat protesters with batons
and rifle butts and arrested 15 people to disperse a rally against a
two-year prison sentence for el-Masry. The army carried out an
operation that resulted in the killing of six "extremely dangerous
(AP, 5/22/14)(Reuters, 5/23/14)
2014 May 22, EU parliamentary
elections began in Britain and the Netherlands at the start of 4
days of balloting across the 28 members.
(SFC, 5/23/14, p.A5)
2014 May 22, In Indonesia Anne
Marie Drozdz (40), a British woman, was found dead in the cultural
tourism district of Ubud, Bali island, and that there were signs her
villa had been broken into. Police on May 24 arrested construction
worker Hambali (32) in Jakarta, where he fled following the robbery
and murder of Drodzd.
(AFP, 5/23/14)(AFP, 5/25/14)
2014 May 22, Italy’s
statistical body (Istat) said that from October it would include
drug trafficking, prostitution, and alcohol and tobacco smuggling in
its economic output numbers.
(Econ, 5/31/14, p.64)
2014 May 22, Lebanon banned all
political gatherings by Syrians on its territory, citing a wish to
preserve security two weeks ahead of a controversial Syrian
2014 May 22, In Mali Tuareg
separatists said they have seized control of several towns in the
north after routing government forces but they would respect calls
for a ceasefire.
2014 May 22, Nepal said it has
opened 104 more mountain peaks for climbers, including two named
after the conquerors of Mount Everest, hoping more foreign climbers
come to the Himalayan country.
2014 May 22, In Nigeria many
schools closed around the country to protest the abductions of
schoolgirls by Boko Haram, the government's failure to rescue them
and the killings of scores of teachers by the Islamic extremists.
Suspected Boko Haram gunmen rampaged through three villages in Borno
state, killing 28 people and burning houses to the ground.
(AP, 5/22/14)(AP, 5/24/14)
2014 May 22, North and South
Korean warships exchanged artillery fire in disputed waters off the
western coast, in the latest sign of rising animosity between the
bitter rivals in recent weeks.
2014 May 22, The Pan American
Health Organization reported more than 55,000 suspected and
confirmed cases of the chikungunya virus since December throughout
the Caribbean islands. The virus, spread rapidly by mosquitoes, was
first identified in Africa in 1953. It has also reached French
Guiana, the first confirmed transmission on the South American
2014 May 22, In Puerto Rico the
US FBI issued arrest warrants for 16 police officers on charges of
2014 May 22, In Sudan battles
between the Hamar and Maaliya tribes in the border region of West
Kordofan and East Darfur states. At least 28 people were killed over
the next 24 hours in the renewed fighting.
2014 May 22, Syrian troops
backed by airstrikes broke a yearlong rebel siege of a prison in
Aleppo, allowing Pres. Bashar Assad's forces to close in on a nearby
command center of a coalition of Islamist rebel groups. Rebels had
sought to free an estimated 4,000 inmates.
2014 May 22, In southern Syria
a mortar shell struck a large tent late today where supporters of
President Bashar Assad had gathered for election campaigning,
killing at least 39 people in Daraa and wounding scores.
(AP, 5/23/14)(SFC, 5/24/14, p.A4)
2014 May 22, Thailand's army
chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha seized control of the government in
a coup, two days after he declared martial law, saying the military
had to restore order and push through reforms after six months of
2014 May 22, In Turkey violence
erupted when police fired live ammunition as well as tear gas and
rubber bullets to disperse protesters who denounced the death of a
teenage boy who fell into a coma during anti-government unrest last
year. At least one person was killed by gunshot and another died of
wounds from a grenade explosion.
2014 May 22, In eastern Ukraine
pro-Russia insurgents attacked a military checkpoint just north of
Donetsk, killing 11 troops and wounding at least 33 others in the
deadliest raid yet in weeks of fighting. One insurgent was reported
killed. Separatist rebels seized four eastern coal mines and
demanded that its workers supply them with explosives.
(AP, 5/22/14)(AFP, 5/22/14)(Reuters,
5/23/14)(Econ, 5/24/14, p.46)
2014 May 22, The United Nations
children's agency defended a decision to pay nearly $90,000 a month
for its new office in Myanmar — a three-story house owned by the
family of Maj. Gen. Nyunt Tin, who was slapped with US sanctions
during the country's dictatorship.
2014 May 22, In southern Yemen
a shell smashed into a vehicle and killed 5 civilians during clashes
between the army and Al-Qaeda suspects near Al-Saeed, Shabwa
province. The army and al-Qaida blamed each other.
2014 May 23, The Standard &
Poor’s 500 index climbed to a record close above 1900 for the first
time rising .4% to 1900.53.
(SFC, 5/24/14, p.D1)
2014 May 23, In California
Elliot Rodger (22) stabbed 3 people to death in his apartment before
gunning down 3 more victims in a drive-by late today. He then took
his own life during the chaotic killing spree in downtown Isla
Vista, near the University of California Santa Barbara campus. He
posted his intentions on YouTube just a day before he took to the
streets in a black BMW armed with a semi-automatic hand gun.
(Reuters, 5/24/14)(Reuters, 5/25/14)
2014 May 23, In Colorado a
federal judge sentenced a former Ethiopian jail guard to 22 years in
prison for immigration crimes. Kefelgn Alemu Worku was convicted of
genocide in absentia in Ethiopia in 2000 and sentenced to death. He
reportedly had tortured and killed dozens of people during
government sponsored violence in the 1970s.
(SFC, 5/24/14, p.A11)
2014 May 23, In Afghanistan
gunmen armed with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades
attacked an Indian Consulate in Herat, though its diplomatic staff
escaped unharmed. Police and soldiers killed three assailants in a
gunbattle that saw the building catch fire.
2014 May 23, China warned Japan
to stay out of a growing dispute with its neighbors over the South
China Sea, as the Philippines implicitly accused Beijing of delaying
talks aimed at a solution.
2014 May 23, In China Liu Han,
a former mining tycoon, was sentenced to death for leading a crime
gang that killed rivals. Han had been chairman of the Sichuan
Hanlong Group, an energy conglomerate with stakes in Australian and
(AP, 5/23/14)(SFC, 5/24/14, p.A3)
2014 May 23, In China a tour
bus carrying 26 people fell into a section of the Jiulong River in
Fujian province killing at least 2 people. Five people remained
missing. 24 passengers were from Taiwan.
2014 May 23, Egyptian security
sources said Shadi al-Menei, an Islamist militant leader in the
Sinai Peninsula, has been shot dead along with 5 others by unknown
assailants. State news said a security officer was shot dead by
unidentified gunmen at a security checkpoint in the North Sinai town
of Rafah. In Fayoum, southwest of Cairo, one man was killed and
three others wounded at clashes between security forces and
supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood.
2014 May 23, Europe's main
human rights and democracy forum accused Azerbaijan of intimidating
and repressing its critics.
2014 May 23, A Haitian
government official said health authorities will distribute pain
medication to clinics around the country amid a surge in suspected
cases of a mosquito-borne virus that is new to the region. More than
5,500 suspected cases of the chikungunya virus have been reported in
Haiti, up from 1,500 cases a week earlier.
2014 May 23, An Indian court
ordered anti-corruption campaigner Arvind Kejriwal to remain behind
bars for another two weeks as he continued to refuse to pay bail in
a defamation case.
2014 May 23, Iraq took legal
action against Turkey after Ankara announced that oil from Iraq's
autonomous Kurdish region was being exported to international
2014 May 23, In Iraq violence
in Baghdad and in Nineveh killed 9 people as throngs of Shiite
pilgrims converged on Baghdad for annual commemoration rituals.
2014 May 23, In Libya at least
2 people were killed when missiles fired at a special forces army
base missed their target and struck family homes in the eastern city
2014 May 23, The African Union
said ethnic Tuareg separatist rebels have signed a cease-fire deal
after having pushed the Malian army out of Kidal.
2014 May 23, The Int’l.
Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague sentenced Germain Katanga, a
Congolese militia leader, to 12 years in prison for his role in a
2003 attack where more than 200 civilians were killed.
(SFC, 5/24/14, p.A3)
2014 May 23, In Pakistan dozens
of baton-wielding Sikhs pushed past the front gate and entered the
grounds of the parliament in Islamabad as they protested against
recent attacks on their houses of worship.
2014 May 23, In Russia’s North
Caucasus 4 militants and a member of Russia's security service were
killed during clashes in Karbadino-Balkaria.
2014 May 23, Syrian rebels and
government forces began a truce in an opposition-held area near the
central city of Homs. The truce in al-Waar, which lies across the
Orontes River from Homs, was meant to enable the warring sites to
negotiate an agreement that will allow the rebels to leave the area
without being attacked, or later arrested.
2014 May 23, In Thailand ousted
members of the former government turned themselves in to the
country's new military junta, as soldiers forcefully dispersed
hundreds of anti-coup activists who defied a ban on large-scale
gatherings to protest the army's seizure of power.
2014 May 23, A Tunisian soldier
was killed and five wounded in a landmine explosion near the
Algerian border where security forces have been hunting Islamist
2014 May 23, In Ukraine armed
pro-Russian separatists clashed with Ukrainian self-defense fighters
near the eastern city of Donetsk, two days before the presidential
election, and at least two people were killed.
2014 May 23, A United Nations
committee concluded that the Vatican has effective worldwide control
over bishops and priests who must comply with a UN anti-torture
treaty, a finding that could expose the Catholic Church to new
lawsuits by victims of clerical sex abuse.
2014 May 23, The UN said nearly
30 children fleeing the war-ravaged Central African Republic have
died in just a month from starvation, exhaustion and exposure after
crossing into Cameroon.
2014 May 23, In Vietnam a woman
(67) died after setting herself on fire in downtown Ho Chi Minh City
in protest against China's deployment of an oil rig in waters
claimed by Hanoi.
2014 May 23, The WTO ruled that
China's anti-dumping duties on imports of American-made cars and
sport-utility vehicles violate international trade rules.
2014 May 23, In northern Yemen
suicide bomber drove an explosives-laden car into a checkpoint
manned by Shi'ite Muslim fighters, killing at least three people in
2014 May 23, Zambia Ranger
Dexter Chilunda was killed while investigating reports of gunshots
in Liuwa Plain National Park. Two suspected poachers were arrested
on June 1.
2014 May 24, President Barack
Obama made a surprise trip to Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan.
2014 May 24, Afghan officials
said security forces have flushed out insurgents from Yamgan
district in Badakshan province, where 15 policemen were taken
hostage. 8 policemen were reported killed and seven others were
wounded. At least 7 civilians were also killed during operation.
2014 May 24, In Belgium 3
people were killed and one badly injured after a man walked into the
Jewish Museum in Brussels, pulled out a Kalashnikov shoulder rifle
and started shooting before walking away. Mehdi Nemmouche, a French
citizen, was later charged with terrorist murder for gunning down an
Israeli couple and two museum workers. On March 7, 2019, Nemmouche
was convicted of murdering four people.
(AFP, 5/24/14)(SFC, 5/26/14, p.A2)(SFC, 1/16/19,
p.A2)(SFC, 3/8/19, p.A2)
2014 May 24, In Djibouti a
suicide bombing at a restaurant filled with Western military
personnel killed three people and wounded at least 15. Two Somalis
were suspected of carrying out the attack.
2014 May 24, An Egyptian court
convicted 20 students from an Islamist university in Cairo on
charges of rioting during a protest last year in support of ousted
Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, sentencing most of them to five
years in prison.
2014 May 24, French forces in
Central African Republic fired mortars and exchanged sustained
gunfire with Muslim rebels who once controlled the country.
2014 May 24, A magnitude 6.9
earthquake struck northern Greece and western Turkey. Over 250
people were reported injured.
(SSFC, 5/25/14, p.A4)
2014 May 24, In Iran Mahafarid
Amir Khosravi (aka Amir Mansour Aria), a billionaire businessman at
the heart of a $2.6 billion state bank scam, was executed. His was
the largest fraud case since the country's 1979 Islamic Revolution.
A total of 39 defendants were convicted in the case. Four received
death sentences, two got life sentences and the rest received
sentences of up to 25 years in prison.
2014 May 24, Malawi President
Joyce Banda said she is cancelling elections citing fraud and
"rampant irregularities." The decision triggered protests and was
challenged by the national electoral authority and a political
rival. Banda, who had been standing for re-election, ordered a new
vote within 90 days but said she would no longer be a candidate to
guarantee a credible outcome. Shortly before her announcement, the
electoral commission released preliminary results showing opposition
Democratic Progressive Party candidate Peter Mutharika leading with
42 percent of the vote, followed by Banda with 23 percent. The head
of the electoral authority said she did not have the power to do
this and that vote counting was continuing.
2014 May 24, In Nigeria a car
bomb killed at least 3 people in Jos.
2014 May 24, President Vladimir
Putin said that Russia is ready for talks with Japan over disputed
Pacific Islands, but Japan may not be ready for negotiations. Japan
has imposed a set of measures against Russia for its annexation of
2014 May 24, Russian
authorities said 7 militants in the North Caucasus province of
Ingushetia died in a three-hour gun battle with Russian security
forces after which their hide-out was consumed by fire.
2014 May 24, In Somalia
al-Shabab militants stormed the parliament in Mogadishu. At least 7
people were killed including 6 attackers.
(Reuters, 5/24/14)(SSFC, 5/25/14, p.A4)
2014 May 24, Sudanese rebels
launched a major operation against an area in South Kordofan which a
controversial counter-insurgency unit showed off to journalists
after "liberating" it last week. The Daldako field commander of
Rapid Support-2 was killed in the rebel counter-attack.
2014 May 24, Thailand's coup
leaders said that they would keep former PM Yingluck Shinawatra,
Cabinet members and anti-government protest leaders detained for up
to a week to give them "time to think" and to keep the country calm.
9 bombs exploded in the restive south, killing 2 people and wounding
2014 May 24, In eastern Ukraine
Italian photojournalist Andrea Rocchelli (30) and Russian
interpreter Andrey Mironov were killed while covering fighting
between government forces and pro-Russia insurgents. They were
reportedly hit by government mortar fire as they were taking shelter
in a roadside ditch.
2014 May 24, Pope Francis
called for urgent steps to end Syria's three-year-old civil war as
he arrived in neighboring Jordan.
2014 May 24, Yemeni soldiers
killed 15 al-Qaida fighters in fierce fighting with militants who
launched a major attack overnight targeting army, security and
government buildings in Sayoun city, Hadramawt province. 12 soldiers
were killed in the fighting.
(AP, 5/24/14)(Reuters, 5/25/14)
2014 May 25, In western
Colorado three men went missing after a half-mile stretch of ridge,
saturated by rain, collapsed. The resulting mud slide in the Grand
Mesa stretched for three miles.
(SFC, 5/27/14, p.A12)
2014 May 25, In Afghanistan
Abdul Wadod Jaju, a police commander in Kandahar city, died of
wounds from a suicide bomber. Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi
claimed responsibility for the attack.
2014 May 25, Prominent Bahraini
Shiite activist Nabil Rajab issued an appeal for "serious dialogue"
in the Sunni-ruled kingdom following his release after serving a
two-year jail term.
2014 May 25, China’s state news
said at least 19 people have died and seven were reporting missing
in widespread flooding that's hit hundreds of thousands of people in
a swath of southern China.
2014 May 25, In northwestern
China two trucks collided, killing 10 people and injuring 32 in
Wujiaqu city, Xinjiang region.
2014 May 25, Colombia held
presidential elections. Former Finance Minister Oscar Ivan Zuluaga
finished first in the opening round with 29%, but failed to win the
majority of votes needed to avoid a runoff ballot in three weeks
against incumbent President Juan Manuel Santos.
(AP, 5/26/14)(Econ, 5/31/14, p.30)
2014 May 25, European elections
culminated today as the remainder of the EU's 28 countries went to
the polls. Official but still partial returns from the European
Parliament elections showed an unprecedented surge by Euroskeptics
and outright anti-EU politicians.
(Reuters, 5/25/14)(AP, 5/26/14)
2014 May 25, In France Marine
Le Pen’s populist National Front (FN) won 25% of the European
elections vote. The center-right opposition UMP came in 2nd with 21%
and the ruling Socialist won 14%.
(Econ, 5/31/14, p.45)
2014 May 25, In Germany Berlin
voters cast ballots on whether to develop or preserve as leisure
space a big part of the former Tempelhof airport, the hub of the
historic 1948-49 Berlin Airlift. Voters decided to keep it bare.
(AP, 5/25/14)(Econ, 5/31/14, p.44)
2014 May 25, In Greece the
election for 21 seats in the European Parliament was held together
with runoff voting for local government. The opposition Syriza won
just two races for regional governor, while New Democracy won seven
and four went to independents.
2014 May 25, An Iranian court
convicted the editor and a contributor of the banned Bahar Daily
newspaper over a series of charges, including lying about Islam and
spreading anti-regime propaganda.
2014 May 25, In Iraq a car bomb
exploded outside a liquor store in Kirkuk overnight, killing at
least 12 civilians.
2014 May 25, Libya’s embattled
parliament approved an Islamist-backed government headed by Ahmed
Maiteg despite a boycott by non-Islamists and the threats from Gen.
2014 May 25, Polls opened in
Lithuania for the second round of the presidential election, in
which incumbent Dalia Grybauskaite competed against the center-left
candidate Zigmantas Balcytis. Grybauskaite won the first consecutive
presidential term in the country's history.
(AP, 5/25/14)(AP, 5/26/14)
2014 May 25, The leader of
Nigeria's Muslims called for followers of the faith to unite against
Boko Haram extremists, pledging the government full support to
ensure their defeat. The Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Sa'ad Abubakar
III, also said the government should address issues of inequality
2014 May 25, Pakistan said it
was releasing 151 Indian fishermen who were detained on charges of
crossing illegally into its territorial waters.
2014 May 25, In Poland General
Wojciech Jaruzelski (90) died. The Communist leader for years had
helped the Kremlin suppress dissent behind the Iron Curtain before
finally allowing democratic rule.
(Reuters, 5/26/14)(Econ, 6/14/14, p.86)
2014 May 25, In southwestern
Pakistan gunmen stormed a tribal police post, killing six police
officers and wounding three in the Wadh area of Baluchistan
province's Khuzdar district.
2014 May 25, Syria's Al-Qaeda
branch (Al-Nusra Front) staged four suicide bomb attacks on army
positions, leaving dozens of casualties, in a bid to cut off Idlib
province from the coast. The Syrian air force also struck the area,
killing 2 rebels and wounding another 15. A car bomb struck a
pro-government neighborhood in Homs, killing at least 10 people. One
of the suicide bombers was later identified as Abu Hurayra
al-Amriki, a US citizen from Florida. A jihadist from the Maldives
was also among the four bombers.
(AFP, 5/25/14)(AP, 5/25/14)(SFC, 5/31/14,
2014 May 25, In Tunisia
security forces arrested 16 suspects, including three Tunisians who
had just crossed over from Libya and were believed to be part of the
banned, al-Qaida-linked Ansar al-Shariah organization.
2014 May 25, Ukraine held
presidential elections as separatists in Donetsk and Luhansk
regions, with 5.1 million voters, blocked the vote. Billionaire
candy-maker Petro Poroshenko led with about 54 percent in the field
of 21 candidates. A possible runoff was set for June 15.
(AP, 5/25/14)(AP, 5/26/14)
2014 May 25, Pope Francis
landed at Israel's international airport, kicking off the final leg
of his Holy Land pilgrimage. Pope Francis invited the Israeli and
Palestinian presidents to come to the Vatican to pray for peace.
(AP, 5/25/14)(Reuters, 5/25/14)
2014 May 25, Yemen's security
forces killed 5 al Qaeda members and captured four in a raid in Bayt
al-Othdri, in the Arhab region. Yemeni troops killed 5 Houthi
members in fighting outside the city of Omran in the northern
province of the same name.
2014 May 26, In Florida laurel
wilt disease, caused by a beetle the size of a rice grain, was
reported to be killing off swamp bay trees. It has been detected
across more than 500 square miles of the Everglades and has also
infected avocado and red bay trees in southern Miami-Dade County and
elsewhere in the southeast.
(SFC, 5/26/14, p.A9)(SFC, 7/26/14, p.A8)
2014 May 26, In Afghanistan a
suicide bomber blew himself up close to an army minibus in Kabul,
killing at least 2 people and injuring nine.
2014 May 26, Bulgaria's main
opposition party called for an early general election after winning
the most votes for seats in the European Parliament, contending the
country's Socialist-led coalition government lacks public support to
2014 May 26, China announced
that it has arrested more than 200 terror suspects over the past
month in the restive Xinjiang region, highlighting its commitment to
a security crackdown even as a bloody attack last week raised
questions about its effectiveness. Police foiled a terror plot by
detaining five suspects and seizing 1.8 tons of bomb-making
materials in the Hotan section of the Xinjiang region.
(AP, 5/26/14)(AP, 5/27/14)
2014 May 26, Some 40 Chinese
fishing boats surrounded a Vietnamese fishing boat before one of
them rammed it and it sank not far from where China has parked an
oil rig in the disputed South China Sea. Vietnamese fishing boats
operating nearby rescued the 10 fishermen on board.
2014 May 26, China’s government
said 37 people have died and six left missing in widespread flooding
that's hit hundreds of thousands of people in a swath of southern
2014 May 26, China's government
said it plans to take 6 million older, polluting vehicles off the
road this year in an effort to revive stalled progress toward
cleaning up smog-choked cities.
2014 May 26, Egyptians voted in
an election expected to install former army chief Abdel Fatah
al-Sisi as president, with supporters brushing aside concerns about
political freedom and hailing him as the strong leader the country
needs. Turnout on the first day was only 15%.
(AP, 5/26/14)(AP, 5/29/14)
2014 May 26, French President
Francois Hollande said his Socialist government won't resign and
will press forward with tax cuts and other reforms despite a record
victory for the far right in European parliament elections.
2014 May 26, In Ghana 6 people
were killed and three others injured when a mine collapsed in the
gold-rich Ashanti region.
2014 May 26, Greece's main
opposition party formally requested an early general election after
winning the vote for the European Parliament, arguing that the
country's conservative government now lacks the legitimacy to
implement reforms related to international bailouts.
2014 May 26, In India Hindu
nationalist Narendra Modi was sworn in as prime minister.
2014 May 26, In northern India
the Gorakhpur Express passenger train plowed into a parked freight
train, killing 26 people near Churaib station in Uttar Pradesh
(AP, 5/26/14)(Reuters, 5/27/14)
2014 May 26, In northern India
five men, including the father, a brother and a cousin of a man
accused in a May 11 rape, followed the victim's mother away from her
house and beat her relentlessly, demanding she drop the accusation.
Three men were arrested on May 29 and police searched for two others
in Etawah, Uttar Pradesh state. On Nov 27 India's top investigative
agency said that two teenage girls believed to have been raped and
hanged by attackers in a north Indian village actually committed
suicide because of shame over a relationship with a boyfriend.
(AP, 5/30/14)(AP, 11/27/14)
2014 May 26, Israel approved
plans for 50 new homes for Israelis in annexed east Jerusalem as
Pope Francis wrapped up a visit to the region.
2014 May 26, Italian police
arrested a former environment minister for allegedly embezzling 3.4
million euros ($4.6 million) from ministry funds earmarked for a
water resources project in Iraq. Corrado Clini, who served in the
government of ex-premier Mario Monti, was put under house arrest.
2014 May 26, Jordan ordered
Syria's ambassador to leave the country within 24 hours in a
humiliating public announcement made on state-run media, accusing
him of making "offensive" statements about the kingdom.
2014 May 26, Two Kenyan
soldiers were killed when militants from Somalia's Shebab rebels
ambushed a military convoy near Lamu on the Kenya-Somalia border.
2014 May 26, In Libya gunmen
shot dead Moftah Abu Zeid, chief editor of the Brnieq newspaper and
an outspoken critic of Islamists in Benghazi.
2014 May 26, Moroccan
authorities said three militants have been arrested for recruiting
fighters and funding groups linked to al-Qaida that are fighting
against the government in Syria.
2014 May 26, In northeastern
Nigeria a suspected Boko Haram attack on a military base and police
station left at least 33 people dead.
2014 May 26, South Korea and
China agreed recent nuclear activity by North Korea posed a serious
threat to the peace and stability of the region and Pyongyang must
not conduct a nuclear test, after a meeting of their top diplomats
2014 May 26, Syrian rebels made
advances in the northwest, seizing several army checkpoints as they
inched closer towards taking over two major bases. Fawzi Ayoub, a
senior Lebanese-Canadian commander in the Shi'ite Muslim militant
group Hezbollah, was killed while fighting alongside Syrian
government troops against rebels. Ayoub was on the FBI's "most
wanted" list for attempting to bomb Israel.
(AFP, 5/26/14)(Reuters, 5/27/14)
2014 May 26, In Thailand Gen.
Prayuth Chan-ocha secured the royal imprimatur for his coup four
(Econ, 5/31/14, p.32)
2014 May 26, A Tunisian court
decided to dissolve the League for the Protection of the Revolution
(LPR), a pro-Islamist group accused of inciting violence, as sought
by the powerful UGTT workers union.
2014 May 26, A Turkish court
ordered the arrests of four former Israeli military commanders being
tried in absentia over the killing of 9 people aboard a Turkish aid
ship that tried to break a Gaza blockade on May 31, 2010.
2014 May 26, Ukraine's new
president-elect Petro Poroshenko promised to negotiate an end to a
pro-Russia insurgency in the east, saying he was willing to begin
talks with Moscow. Government forces used fighter jets to stop
pro-Russia separatists from taking over the Donetsk airport. At
least 40 people, including 2 civilians, were killed in the fighting.
(AP, 5/26/14)(AP, 5/27/14)
2014 May 27, The US Supreme
Court struck down Florida’s IQ law on capital punishment saying the
IQ score cutoff was too rigid to decide which mentally disabled
individuals must be spared the death penalty.
(SFC, 5/28/14, p.A6)
2014 May 27, In southern
California the bodies of 2 men and 2 women were found at a suburban
home in Mission Viejo.
(SFC, 5/28/14, p.A6)
2014 May 27, Congressman Ralph
Hall (91) of Texas, the oldest ever member of the US House, lost his
Republican re-election bid to US Attorney John Ratliff (48).
(SFC, 5/28/14, p.A8)
2014 May 27, In Abkhazia
opposition protesters broke windows and doors to take control of the
presidential building in Sukhumi, while others held talks with
President Alexander Ankvab after several thousand gathered to vent
their anger at its government about alleged corruption and misrule.
2014 May 27, Angolan police
beat and detained 20 people protesting at Luanda’s Independence
Square against the killing of three activists over the last two
years by security forces.
2014 May 27, Belgium's King
Philippe appointed Flemish separatist leader Bart De Wever to lead
talks to form a government although his chances of getting
French-speaking parties to work with him look limited.
2014 May 27, A Chinese court
announced guilty verdicts for 55 people on charges of terrorism,
separatism and murder in a stadium filled with 7,000 people in Yili,
Xinjiang province. At least one convict received a death sentence
before the audience made up of local residents and officials.
2014 May 27, Egypt’s government
and media harangued voters to go to the polls in the second day of
the presidential election.
2014 May 27, Sheila B.
Keetharuth, the UN "special rapporteur" on human rights in Eritrea,
reported that torture, sexual violence and extra-judicial killings
"continue unabated" in the Horn of Africa country.
2014 May 27, New Indian PM
Narendra Modi met with Pakistan's PM Nawaz Sharif and asked that his
country "abide by its commitment" to prevent its territory from
being used in terrorism against India and speed up investigations
into the 2008 attack in Mumbai. Modi also met with the leaders of
Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Afghanistan, Mauritius, Bangladesh
and Maldives, a day after they attended his inauguration.
2014 May 27, In Iraq a suicide
bomber blew himself up inside a Shi'ite mosque in central Baghdad,
killing 17 people. Altogether a wave of attacks left 21 people dead.
(Reuters, 5/27/14)(AP, 5/28/14)
2014 May 27, Bus operators in
Kenya unveiled plans for a cashless fare system aimed at protecting
passengers from theft and police extortion which they say siphon a
third of their revenue away.
2014 May 27, In Malaysia Gareth
Huntley (34), a UK backpacker disappeared when he went on a trek to
a waterfall on Tioman Island. His body was found on June 4 close to
where he was living.
2014 May 26, Mexico's
state-owned Pemex oil company arrested four its employees for
stealing fuel from the company's pipelines.
2014 May 27, Norway’s security
service said three men with alleged links to al-Qaida have been
arrested for supporting or participating in a terror organization.
Two of the suspects have fought for ISIL in Syria.
(SFC, 5/28/14, p.A2)
2014 May 27, In Pakistan
Farzana Parveen (25), a three-months pregnant woman, was reportedly
beaten to death outside the Lahore High Court with bricks by members
of her own family for marrying the man of her choice. She had gone
to testify in defense of her husband Muhammad Iqbal (45), who was
accused by her relatives of kidnapping her and forcing her into the
marriage. Parveen's father Muhammad Azeem was detained while five
others, two brothers and three cousins, remained at large. Four more
suspects were arrested on May 29. On May 31 Farzana's elder sister
said it was Iqbal who had killed her. Iqbal has admitted that he had
killed his first wife in a dispute over Farzana in 2009. The two
brothers were arrested on June 4. Authorities also arrested a third
man for taking part in the assault who has claimed the woman Parveen
was married to him at the time she married against her family's
(AFP, 5/27/14)(AP, 5/28/14)(AP, 5/30/14)(AP,
2014 May 27, In northwestern
Pakistan a truck veered off a narrow road and fell into the Swat
River, killing 16 members of an extended family.
2014 May 27, Rival Palestinian
factions Fatah and Hamas agreed on the make-up of a national unity
government in the most significant step yet toward healing their
2014 May 27, Saudi media said a
court has sentenced to death Rida Rabih, son of Shiite cleric Jaafar
Rabih. The Shiite protester was convicted of opening fire on a
police patrol during unrest in the kingdom's east.
2014 May 27, In Sierra Leone a
woman died from the Ebola virus, the second person in the country to
succumb to the haemorrhagic fever.
2014 May 27, In Somalia a
Turkish man, Saadettin Dogan, was shot dead in Mogadishu when gunmen
attacked the car he was traveling in with a senior manager from
2014 May 27, In Syria
government barrel bombs in Aleppo killed 22 people in the eastern
districts of Hay Qataneh, Tariq al-Bab, Bustan al-Qasr, Bani Zeid,
Mghayer and Lairamoun.
2014 May 27, In Thailand armed
troops detained Education Minister Chaturon Chaisang who defiantly
emerged from hiding to condemn last week's military coup and urge a
return to civilian rule.
2014 May 27, Ukraine’s eastern
city of Donetsk was in turmoil a day after government forces used
fighter jets to stop pro-Russia separatists from taking over the
airport. Dozens were reported killed and the mayor went on
television to urge residents to stay indoors. Unidentified men
stormed Donetsk's main ice hockey arena and set it ablaze.
2014 May 27, In northern Yemen
Shiite rebels attacked army positions and killed 5 soldiers,
prompting renewed clashes between the two sides.
2014 May 28, A US Veteran’s
Affairs watchdog reported systemic problems at the Phoenix VA
Hospital with waiting time for care for a first appointment
(SFC, 5/29/14, p.A7)
2014 May 28, In a TV interview
by NBC News Eric Snowden, described by the NSA as an information
technology contractor, said he was a trained spy who had worked
under assumed names overseas for the CIA and the National Security
(SFC, 5/29/14, p.A6)
2014 May 28, Apple confirmed
that it is buying Beats Electronics, a headphone and streaming music
service, for $3 billion.
(SFC, 5/29/14, p.C1)
2014 May 28, Google said it
would build 100 prototype driverless cars devoid of pedals, steering
wheels or controls save an on/off switch.
(Econ, 5/31/14, p.59)
2014 May 28 Maya Angelou
(b.1928), American poet, writer and civil rights activist, died. Her
1969 memoir “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" was the first of her
(Econ, 6/7/14, p.98)
2014 May 28, In Afghanistan a
NATO soldier died in a helicopter crash in Kandahar province.
2014 May 28, In Central African
Republic gunmen sprayed bullets and hurled grenades at people
sheltering at the Our Lady of Fatima church in Bangui following a
battle between anti-balaka militia and residents of the nearby
Muslim neighborhood of PK5. At least 17 people were killed and 27
(Reuters, 5/29/14)(SFC, 5/29/14, p.A2)(Reuters,
2014 May 28, In eastern China
members of the "All-powerful spirit" religious cult beat a woman to
death at a McDonald's restaurant in Zhaoyuan. The attack was caught
on video and 6 members of the cult were soon arrested. Five members
of the Church of Almighty God, aka Eastern Lightning" went on trial
on Aug 21. In October two defendants were sentenced to death, a 3rd
to life in prison, and two other to seven and ten years in prison.
2014 May 28, Egyptian
authorities extended balloting for a third day as they scrambled to
rescue the country's presidential election from the embarrassment of
low voter turnout.
2014 May 28, France's highest
administrative court annulled the decree setting wind power feed-in
tariffs, marking the end of a complex legal procedure that has
stifled investment in the French onshore wind sector.
2014 May 28, French police
raided makeshift camps in the English Channel port of Calais,
clearing out ramshackle shelters that housed hundreds of illegal
migrants from Syria, Afghanistan and Africa.
2014 May 28, In India villagers
found the bodies of two girls (14&15), who had gone missing the
previous day, hanging from a tree near Katra village in Uttar
Pradesh state. A group of men had raped and killed the two cousins,
then hung their bodies from a mango tree. On May 30 two police
officers were arrested and two more fired in the case. By May 31
three suspects were in custody and two remained missing.
(AP, 5/29/14)(AP, 5/31/14)
2014 May 28, Iranian media said
the country has recorded its first two cases of the MERS virus.
(SFC, 5/29/14, p.A2)
2014 May 28, In Iraq a suicide
car bomber struck a police checkpoint in Baghdad, killing at least 6
people in the deadliest in a series of attacks that left 14 people
2014 May 28, Israeli soldiers
raided the offices of a Palestinian newspaper in the West Bank city
of Ramallah, ordering them to stop printing publications by the
Islamist movement Hamas.
2014 May 28, In Jordan a man
(69) died after being infected with the Middle East Respiratory
Syndrome (MERS) coronavirus. This brought to 6 the number of
fatalities in Jordan from MERS since it first emerged in 2012.
2014 May 28, Cardinal Bechara
Rai, head of Lebanon's largest group of Christians, the Maronite
Catholics, made two politically charged stops in his
precedent-setting pilgrimage to Israel.
2014 May 28, Libyan warplanes
bombed militia bases in Benghazi as part of a renegade former
general's campaign to purge the chaotic North African state of
2014 May 28, In Morocco more
than 1,000 would-be immigrants tried to forced their way over
razor-wire barriers into Spain's North African enclave of Melilla,
with about half succeeding. Around 2,000 have breached the 12-km.
barriers so far this year, up from just over 1,000 for the whole of
2014 May 28, A major faction of
the Pakistani Taliban announced it was splitting from the militant
outfit following bloody clashes with a rival group since March.
2014 May 28, In the Philippines
Abu Sayyaf militants, having received an unspecified amount of
ransom, freed businesswoman Sugar Diane Esperanza Buenviaje near the
Jolo airport in Sulu. Gunmen had seized Buenviaje, who owns a
construction supplies store on Mapun island in Tawi Tawi province,
near Sulu, in February and took her away in a motorboat.
2014 May 28, In the Philippines
6 members of the same family died after a fire struck a tent city
set up for survivors of Super Typhoon Haiyan.
2014 May 28, In Puerto Rico
dozens of employees with the Port Authority went on strike to
protest fiscal measures aimed at reducing government spending. The
protests come as Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla pushed to reduce
spending as the island entered its eighth year in recession and
battled a $73 billion public debt.
2014 May 28, In South Africa
constable Bonginkosi Makaula (33) spoke to his female partner at
Cape Town's international airport. He opened fire during an
altercation, injuring the woman and two employees in the airport
food court, and then shot and killed himself.
2014 May 28, In South Korea a
fire, believed set by a dementia patient (81), blazed through a ward
of Hyosarang Hospital for the elderly in Jangseong county and killed
22 people, mostly from smoke inhalation. On Nov 21 the dementia
patient (81) was convicted of arson and manslaughter and sentenced
to 20 years in prison.
(AP, 5/28/14)(AP, 11/21/14)
2014 May 28, In Spain 30 people
were arrested and 14 others hurt when police clashed with
stone-throwing youths in a third night of riots sparked by a squat
eviction in Barcelona.
2014 May 28, In Syria 21 people
died in a 2nd wave of barrel bomb strikes on the Mghayer district of
2014 May 28, Syrians abroad
voted early in an election that looks certain to give Pres. Bashar
al- Assad a 3rd seven-year term as president.
2014 May 28, Thailand's junta
appointed two retired generals with palace connections as advisers,
putting powerful establishment figures hostile towards former Prime
Minister Thaksin Shinawatra firmly in the ascendant in the country's
long-running power struggle. The junta also freed leaders of the
"Red Shirt" movement allied to the civilian government ousted in a
recent coup, after holding them without charge for nearly a week.
2014 May 28, In southeast
Turkey Kurdish guerrillas shot dead a state-sponsored militia member
in the southeastern province of Mardin.
2014 May 28, In Tunisia gunmen
attacked the Kasserine home of Interior Minister Lotfi Ben Jeddou
while his family was inside, killing 4 of the policeman standing
2014 May 28, In Ukraine
pro-Russian militants conceded that militants from Chechnya had
joined their rebellion.
(SFC, 5/29/14, p.A2)
2014 May 28, Yemeni officials
said police have killed Al-Qaeda suspects Abdulkhaliq Mohammed
al-Kabsi and Yehya Mohammed Sanhu. They were allegedly involved in a
series of hit-and-run attacks against security personnel in Sanaa.
2014 May 28, Zimbabwe's cabinet
ordered that a controversial equity law which forces foreign
companies to cede a majority shareholding to local investors be
2014 May 29, A US congressional
committee reported that “Operation Choke Point," an anti-fraud
campaign of the Justice Dept., has strangled legitimate businesses
that the government objects to for ideological reasons, such as
payday lenders or gun dealers.
(Econ, 6/7/14, p.80)
2014 May 29, In southern
billionaire Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, unveiled Dragon V2, a new
spacecraft designed to carry up to seven astronauts to the Int’l.
Space Station (ISS).
(SFC, 5/30/14, p.A4)
2014 May 29, In Maryland two
spellers were declared co-champions of the Scripps National Spelling
Bee. Indian-Americans Sriram Hathwar of New York and Ansun Sujoe of
Texas shared the title after a riveting final-round duel in which
they nearly exhausted the 25 designated championship words. They
become the fourth co-champions in the bee's 89-year history and the
first since 1962.
2014 May 29, In Afghanistan
roadside bombings across the country killed 4 people.
2014 May 29, Argentina said it
has reached a $9.7 billion deal with the Paris Club to resolve debts
unpaid since its economic crisis and default in 2001.
2014 May 29, Karlheinz Boehm
(86), an Austrian actor and human rights activist, died. In 1981 he
founded the Menschen fuer Menschen ("People for People") aid group
dedicated to helping people in Ethiopia.
2014 May 29, In Central African
Republic youths plundered a mosque in Bangui and barricaded streets
with burning tires in protest at an attack by Muslim gunmen on a
church a day earlier.
2014 May 29, China’s health
officials said they expect 2 million extra babies per year as a
result of loosening its “one child" birth limits.
(SFC, 5/30/14, p.A2)
2014 May 29, In Egypt with
nearly all votes counted, retired field marshal Abdel-Fattah
el-Sissi won a crushing victory over his sole opponent in the
country's presidential election with more than 92 percent of the
votes. The interim president said turnout reached 46 percent.
2014 May 29, In western India a
woman was crushed to death after a conductor pushed her on a moving
train for boarding the wrong coach in Jalgaon, east of Mumbai. She
lost her balance, slipped into the gap between the coach and
platform and was run over by the train.
2014 May 29, Japan and North
Korea agreed to a deal in which Japan will relax sanctions in return
for a North Korean investigation of abductions in the 1970s and
(Econ, 6/7/14, p.43)
2014 May 29, The Norwegian
Academy of Science and Letters announced that nine scientists have
won the biennial Kavli awards for theories about the first moments
of the universe, discoveries about the brain and techniques to let
researchers see ever-tinier things.
2014 May 29, Norwegian police
removed Greenpeace activists from a platform operated by Statoil,
which they boarded two days ago in a protest against drilling in
2014 May 29, Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas asked PM Rami Hamdallah to head a new
national unity government which will bring together the feuding
Hamas and Fatah parties.
2014 May 29, FBI agents in
Puerto Rico arrested judge Manuel Acevedo Hernandez.
2014 May 29, Russian President
Vladimir Putin signed a deal creating an economic union with
ex-Soviet states Belarus and Kazakhstan.
2014 May 29, A Russian
spacecraft carrying a three-man crew docked successfully at the
International Space Station following a flawless launch.
2014 May 29, Saudi Arabia's
Health Ministry said 13 people have died over the last two weeks
from the Middle Eastern respiratory virus and that 186 people in
total have died from the MERS virus since it was discovered in 2012.
2014 May 29, In Spain police in
Barcelona arrested 23 people after a fourth night of clashes with
2014 May 29, In Syria the
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) kidnapped some 153
schoolchildren. They were on their way back to Ain al-Arab from
taking year-end school exams in the northern city of Aleppo.
2014 May 29, More than 1,000
Thai troops and police sealed off one of Bangkok's busiest
intersections to prevent a planned protest, as authorities said they
would no longer allow any demonstrations against last week's
2014 May 29, In Ukraine rebels
in the east shot down a government military helicopter amid heavy
fighting around Slovyansk in the Donetsk region, killing at least 12
soldiers including Gen. Serhiy Kulchytskiy. An insurgent leader
confirmed that his fighters were holding four missing observers and
their Ukrainian translator from the OSCE and promised they would be
(AP, 5/29/14)(AP, 5/30/14)
2014 May 30, Pres. Obama
accepted the resignation of Eric Shinseki (71) from his position as
Secretary of Veteran Affairs following ongoing issues of veteran
care at VA medical centers.
(SFC, 5/31/14, p.A5)
2014 May 30, In Kentucky James
Schook (66), a former priest dying of cancer, was sentenced to 15
years in prison for carrying on a years-long sexual relationship
with a teenage boy.
(SFC, 5/31/14, p.A4)
2014 May 30, Abkhazia
opposition leaders said they now held power, despite President
Alexander Ankvab's refusal to quit after protesters stormed his
2014 May 30, Britain’s Office
of National Statistics said prostitution and the import, manufacture
and consumption of illegal drugs will be counted when making the
quarterly calculations of the gross domestic product (GDP).
(SFC, 5/31/14, p.A3)
2014 May 30, The Central
African Republic's interim president Catherine Samba-Panza accused
armed groups of seeking to destabilize her government, as two people
were shot dead by Burundian peacekeepers in a second day of violent
protests in Bangui. Thousands marched through the center of Bangui
to demand the resignation of Catherine Samba-Panza and the
withdrawal of the Burundian contingent of the African Union
2014 May 30, Egypt's state
media reported that interim president Adly Mansour has revoked
amnesties for 52 people pardoned in 2012-13 by ousted president
Mohamed Mursi, including Islamists affiliated with the banned Muslim
2014 May 30, French police in
Marseille arrested Mehdi Nemmouche (29) over the May 24 killings at
a Belgian Jewish museum after he arrived on a bus from Amsterdam.
Nemmouche had spent about a year in Syria and claimed responsibility
for the shootings in a video.
2014 May 30, An Iranian an
opposition website, Kaleme, said an Iranian court last week
sentenced eight people to jail terms ranging from seven to 20 years
for crimes including anti-regime propaganda posted on Facebook.
2014 May 30, In Iran floods
killed 3 women in the northeast. Emergency workers rescued 600
people from a neighbouring region hit by a landslide in Golestan
2014 May 30, Jamaica's
government said it is launching a $5 million welfare-to-work program
that is expected to benefit some 2,000 people. The program will be
implemented in the next two years. The island of 2.9 million people
suffered a 16 percent unemployment rate with nearly 17 percent of
the population below the poverty line.
2014 May 30, Malawi police
clashed with protesters demanding a recount of the disputed
presidential elections. At least one protester was shot dead.
Democratic Progressive Party leader Peter Mutharika was declared the
winner of the disputed presidential election after defeating
President Joyce Banda, who came in third.
(AFP, 5/30/14)(Reuters, 5/30/14)(AFP, 5/30/14)
2014 May 30, In Mexico 19
people filed a criminal complaint alleging they were sexually abused
by a now-suspended Mexican priest, and allege his archdiocese
covered up the allegations for years. Mexico's Roman Catholic Church
announced May 27 that the Vatican had stripped Eduardo Cordova of
his clerical functions after investigations into allegations of the
sexual abuse of a 16-year-old in 2012.
2014 May 30, Pakistani police
chopped off the left hands of two men accused of theft after they
refused to confess to stealing electrical wire and mobile phones.
Ghulam Mustafa (38) and Liaquat Ali (42) later said they were
arrested eight days earlier after local people falsely accused them
of stealing and handed them over to the police who beat and tortured
2014 May 30, South Korean pop
star Psy and his irrepressible "Gangnam Style" became the first
YouTube video to surpass 2 billion views, crossing the mark around
shortly before midnight EDT.
2014 May 30, Spain's police
arrested six members of a group that allegedly recruited jihadist
militants to fight in Libya and Mali. The arrests took place in
north African enclave city of Melilla.
2014 May 30, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said some 2,000 people have been killed
since January in regime bombing of rebel-held areas of Aleppo city
and nearby towns and villages.
2014 May 30, Ukraine told
Russia a $786 million partial payment on a bill that Russia says
could exceed $5 billion by next week was on its way to Moscow. That
averted an immediate threat that Russia would stop supplying the
former Soviet republic with gas if it fails to make advance
2014 May 31, US Defense
Secretary Chuck Hagel warned an international security conference at
the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore that the US "will not look the
other way" when nations such as China try to restrict navigation or
ignore international rules and standards.
2014 May 31, Sgt. Bowe
Bergdahl, the only American prisoner of the Afghan war, was freed
after Pres. Obama agreed to release five high-level Afghan detainees
from the US prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The government of Qatar
served as the go-between in the negotiations and is taking custody
of the five Afghan detainees.
2014 May 31, San Francisco
police raided an apartment at 1831 Polk Street, the home of Ryan
Kelly Chamberlain II, and reportedly found explosives. The FBI
launched a nationwide manhunt for Chamberlain, a self-described
political junkie with a background in Bay Area public relations.
Chamberlain was arrested in SF on June 2. On June 3 the FBI said
bomb making materials were found in Chamberlain’s apartment. FBI
court filings later said Chamberlain was seeking illegal toxins on a
black market website.
(SFC, 6/2/14, p.A1)(SFC, 6/3/14, p.A1)(SFC,
6/4/14, p.E1)(SFC, 6/7/14, p.C1)
2014 May 31, In Colorado two
men died when their small plane crashed northeast of Denver near
Front Range Airport.
(SSFC, 6/1/14, p.A10)
2014 May 31, A former Georgia
National Guard fatally shot an off-duty police officer outside a
restaurant in Griffin. In 2017 Michael Bowman was convicted and
faced a possible death sentence for killing police officer Kevin
2014 May 31, In NY Mufid
Elfgeeh, a naturalized US citizen from Yemen, was arrested after
federal prosecutors said he bought two unregistered guns from an FBI
informant. Investigators said he plotted to kill returning US troops
for American actions overseas and Shiite Muslims over the civil war
in Syria. In July a fire destroyed his boarded-up restaurant in
Rochester. In 2003 his uncle Abad Elfgeeh was arrested in Brooklyn
on suspicions of deep involvement in a terrorism network in Yemen.
2014 May 31, Lewis Katz (72), a
co-owner of the Philadelphia Inquirer, was among 7 people killed in
the crash of his small plane in Bedford, Mass.
(AP, 6/1/14)(SFC, 6/3/14, p.A6)
2014 May 31, In Waukesha,
Wisconsin, Anissa Weier (12) and Morgan Geyser (12) stabbed their
friend Peyton Leutner (12) nineteen times in a park following a
slumber party in Waukesha to please “Slender Man," a demon-like
creature they learned about on creepypasta.wikia.com. On Aug 1 a
judge ruled that one of the girls is mentally incompetent and can’t
stand trial. On March 13 a judge ruled that both girls must stand
trial as adults. On Aug 21, 2017, Weier pleaded guilty. On Sep 15 a
jury determined that Weier was mentally ill at the time of the
attack. Geyser also planned to plead guilty and receive treatment
for mental illness.
(SFC, 6/3/14, p.A6)(SFC, 8/2/14, p.A4)(SFC,
3/22/17, p.A5)(SSFC, 9/17/17 p.A15)(SFC, 9/30/17, p.A6)
2014 May 31, Isaac Patch (101),
a CIA book-smuggler, civil rights campaigner and naturalist, died.
(Econ, 6/28/14, p.82)
2014 May 31, In eastern
Afghanistan a roadside bomb killed 14 civilians after a wedding
ceremony in the Giro district of Ghazni province.
2014 May 31, Australia said
that it has banned Thailand's coup leaders from visiting and
downgraded their military ties.
2014 May 31, Some flights
between Australia and southeast Asia and all domestic flights
operating out of Darwin airport in the country’s north were canceled
after the eruption a day earlier of Sangeang Api in Indonesia’s
south produced a large cloud of ash.
2014 May 31, The Queen musical
"We Will Rock You" closed in its London home after 12 straight
years. It had played to more than 6.5 million people at the Dominion
Theatre with over 4,600 performances.
2014 May 31, In Cambodia 7
people died from a lack of oxygen after climbing down a well in
Cambodia to retrieve about 75 cents.
2014 May 31, In Central African
Republic hundreds of Muslims marched in their last major enclave in
Bangui, protesting against a call by the president that they disarm
and demanding their safe evacuation from the city.
2014 May 31, Egypt's outgoing
interim President Adly Mansour issued a decree making dishonoring
the Egyptian flag or not standing for the national anthem a criminal
offense, punishable by sentences of up to one year in prison and a
fine of more than $4,000.
2014 May 31, In southwest Egypt
smugglers killed 6 army border guards, including an officer, in a
gunbattle in in the Wadi el-Gadid province.
2014 May 31, In eastern India
lightning struck farmers working in fields, killing at least 13
people in West Bengal state.
2014 May 31, Pakistani troops
killed 16 militants following a Taliban attack on army posts in the
Bajur tribal region. Afghan officials said the airstrike along the
border reportedly killed 5 civilians. The Taliban attacked several
military posts in northwestern Pakistan after crossing over from
(Reuters, 5/31/14)(AP, 5/31/14)(SSFC, 6/1/14,
2014 May 31, In northern Russia
a helicopter crashed into a lake and 16 of the 18 people on board
were missing. Two passengers, who floated to the surface still
strapped into their seats, were rescued by fishermen and
hospitalized for treatment of broken legs and other injuries. The
helicopter belonged to the fertilizer company Apatit.
2014 May 31, In Scotland the
Edinburgh tram system finally opened to the public -- four years
late, half the size and twice the cost originally planned.
2014 May 31, In Syria at least
20 government soldiers and militia were killed in a fresh attack by
Islamist rebels, who planted explosives in a tunnel under an army
position in Aleppo.
2014 May 31, Turkish police
shut Gezi Park, the Istanbul square at the center of mass
demonstrations in 2013, to prevent any efforts to mark the
anniversary of the biggest anti-government protests in decades.
2014 May 31, In Yemen suspected
al-Qaeda militants shot dead Colonel Nasser al-Issa, an intelligence
officer, in the southern province of Lahej.
2014 May 31, Sixty migrants
from Somalia and Ethiopia and two Yemeni crew members drowned in the
Red Sea in the worst such tragedy off the coast of Yemen this year.
2014 May, In California the
Cocos Fire scorched roughly 2,000 acres (800 hectares) and destroyed
some 40 structures north of San Diego. On March 24, 2015, a state
judge ruled that a teenage girl (14) sparked the wildfire.
2014 May, Scientists reported
that a zircon crystal discovered in Western Australia in 2010 has
been determined to be 4.374 billion years old, making it the oldest
rock ever discovered on Earth.
(SSFC, 1/4/15, p.C12)
2014 May, Albanian arrested an
Italian pilot for trying to pick up nearly half a ton of locally
grown cannabis from traffickers at a beach rendezvous where he
crash-landed. In 2016 Giorgio Riformato was sentenced to 15 years in
2014 May, Wiko, a 2-year-old
French company, introduced its smartphone in Britain. Prices in
France started at about €70 ($96).
(Econ, 4/5/14, p.57)
2014 May, Oman sentenced
Muhammad al-Khusaibi, a former commerce minister, to three years in
jail following a corruption trial.
(Econ, 12/6/14, p.60)
2014 May, Venezuela saw its
first cases of chikungunya, a disease that causes high fevers and
severe joint pain. It took authorities five months to declare it a
(Econ., 4/4/15, p.32)
2014 Jun 1, In NYC a man
fatally stabbed Prince Joshua Avitto (6) and wounded Mikayla Capers
(7) as they rode an elevator to a Brooklyn apartment to get ice
cream. A man fled leaving behind the knife. On June 5 police
charged Daniel St. Hubert, a recently released convict, with murder
and other crimes.
(SFC, 6/3/14, p.A6)(SFC, 6/7/14, p.A4)
2014 Jun 1, The crown prince of
Abu Dhabi and other international donors said they are committing a
combined $80 million to fund the conservation of lions, tigers and
other wild cats.
2014 Jun 1, Cameroon state
radio said security forces have killed some 40 Boko Haram militants
in clashes in the country's far north, shortly after the release of
two Italian priests and a Canadian nun suspected to have been held
by the Islamist group.
2014 Jun 1, Egypt's stock
market witnessed a sharp plunge that forced a temporary suspension
of trading after reports of a newly proposed government tax on
capital gains which experts said was hardly explained to investors.
2014 Jun 1, In El Salvador
Sanchez Ceren (69) was sworn in as president.
(SFC, 6/2/14, p.A4)
2014 Jun 1, Thousands of people
marched through downtown Hong Kong to remember the June 4, 1989,
bloody crackdown on the Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing, days
before the 25th anniversary of the tumultuous event.
2014 Jun 1, In India a
three-story building under construction collapsed in New Delhi,
killing at least 3 people and injuring 13.
2014 Jun 1, Iranian officials
attended a ceremony to mark the death of Gen. Abdollah Eskandari,
who was recently killed in Syria.
2014 Jun 1, Iran executed a
prisoner linked to the opposition group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq.
Gholamreza Khosravi was sentenced to death in 2010 for providing
photos of the country's military facilities as well as financial aid
to the MEK, and for helping to recruit for the group.
2014 Jun 1, In Iraq 40 people
were killed in nationwide unrest, including 22 who died as a result
of clashes and shelling in and around Fallujah.
2014 Jun 1, Kuwait's emir began
a visit to Iran, the first by a ruler of the US-allied Gulf Arab
state since the 1979 Islamic revolution, underscoring improving ties
between Tehran and its Arab neighbors.
2014 Jun 1, A Libyan air force
jet bombed positions held by Islamic militants in the eastern city
of Benghazi, apparently as part of a renegade general's ongoing
2014 Jun 1, In Nigeria a
bombing at a football match killed at least 40 people in Mubi,
2014 Jun 1, Spanish police
arrested six more people after a sixth night of clashes with youths
2014 Jun 1, Thailand's ruling
junta deployed thousands of security forces on the streets of
Bangkok to thwart another round of small-scale protests denouncing
last month's military coup. The military junta presented a list of
emergency measures such as price caps on fuel and loan guarantees
for small firms to kick-start an economy threatened by recession
after months of political turmoil.
(AP, 6/1/14)(Reuters, 6/2/14)
2014 Jun 2, The US Justice
Dept. announced charges against Evgeniy Bogachev, a Russian man
accused of masterminding a scheme whereby hackers implanted viruses
on hundreds of thousands of computers around the world, seized
customer bank information and stole more than $100 million. The FBI
issued a Most Wanted poster for his arrest.
(SFC, 6/3/14, p.D3)
2014 Jun 2, In San Francisco
some 700 of the city’s transit workers staged a sickout over a
proposed labor agreement. Only 200 of 600 scheduled buses and rail
cars were on duty.
(SFC, 6/3/14, p.A1)(SFC, 6/5/14, p.A1)(SFC,
2014 Jun 2, In Washington state
the Seattle City Council voted to raise the minimum wage to $15 an
hour, the highest municipal minimum in the country.
(SFC, 6/3/14, p.A12)
2014 Jun 2, In eastern
Afghanistan a motorcycle bomb targeted a minibus with workers from a
Turkish construction company, killing 3 Turkish engineers and
wounding a fourth in Nangarhar province. Four Taliban suicide
bombers attacked a government compound in Helmand province, killing
two police officers and a civilian. All 4 attackers died in the
assault. A NATO service member died in an attack in the country's
2014 Jun 2, In western
Afghanistan Rev. Alexis Prem Kumar (47), country director of the
Afghan Jesuit Refugee Service, was abducted by a group of men near
2014 Jun 2, Egypt’s Fayoum
Criminal Court sentenced 28 supporters of deposed Islamist President
Mohammed Morsi to life sentences in absentia, and 15 others to three
years in prison, over violence following the ouster of Morsi last
2014 Jun 2, In India
celebrations greeted the creation of the country's newest state of
Telangana, marking the formal division of the southern state of
Andhra Pradesh. Regional political leader K. Chandrasekhar Rao was
sworn in as Telangana's chief minister.
2014 Jun 2, In Pune, India,
Mohsin Sadiq Shaikh and a friend were returning home from a mosque
when a group of men surrounded the two men and beat Shaikh with iron
rods and hockey sticks. Shaikh (28) was killed. By the end of the
week seventeen members of a hard-line Hindu group were arrested in
2014 Jun 2, In Iran a massive
sandstorm and record winds plunged Tehran into darkness, damaging
buildings and knocking out power supplies. The freak weather left at
least 5 people dead.
(AFP, 6/2/14)(AFP, 6/3/14)
2014 Jun 2, Attacks across Iraq
killed at least 15 people.
2014 Jun 2, In Libya at least
20 people were killed and almost 70 wounded when the army and forces
of renegade Gen. Khalifa Haftar fought Islamist militants in
2014 Jun 2, President Mahmoud
Abbas swore in a Palestinian unity government, taking a major step
toward ending a crippling split with his Hamas rivals, but also
setting the stage for new friction with Israel and possibly with the
2014 Jun 2, Russia granted
Ukraine another week before it will start demanding prepayment for
gas, without which it has threatened to cut off supplies.
2014 Jun 2, Somali and African
Union troops began carrying out a major security swoop in Mogadishu,
arresting dozens of suspected Shebab militants believed to have
infiltrated the capital.
2014 Jun 2, Spain's King Juan
Carlos announced he will abdicate in favor of his son, Crown Prince
Felipe (46), making way for a "new generation." He had led Spain's
transition from dictatorship to democracy but faced royal scandals
amid the nation's near financial meltdown.
2014 Jun 2, In Syria 13 people
were killed overnight when government forces dropped four barrel
bombs from helicopters into rebel-held districts of Aleppo. A car
bomb killed at least 10 people in a Syrian government-held area of
the central province of Homs. Rebel rocket fire on
government-controlled areas of Aleppo killed 50 people over the
2014 Jun 2, The Swiss-made
Solar Impulse 2 airplane made a successful inaugural flight as its
makers prepare for what they hope will be the first round-the-world
2014 Jun 2, In eastern Ukraine
hundreds of armed insurgents attacked a border guards' camp in
Luhansk. At least 5 rebels were killed in the clash. There was
another rebel attack on a government checkpoint in Slovyansk.
2014 Jun 2, In northern Yemen
at least 120 people were killed in fighting between Shi'ite Muslim
Houthi rebels and government forces before a ceasefire was agreed.
2014 Jun 2, A Yemeni security
official and witnesses said the bodies of dozens of illegal
immigrants, mostly from Somalia and Ethiopia, have been found on
western beaches after their boat capsized in the Red Sea. The bodies
started turning up on May 30.
2014 Jun 3, Pres. Obama said
the United States is preparing to boost its military presence in
Europe and at a cost of up to $1 billion. The announcement in Poland
came at the start of a three-country swing through Europe steeped in
both historical significance and regional anxiety over the crisis in
2014 Jun 3, San Francisco
voters approved Proposition B requiring voter approval for any new
building on Port of San Francisco property to exceed existing height
(SFC, 6/4/14, p.A1)
2014 Jun 3, In San Francisco
half of the city’s 538 Muni transit workers called in sick on the
2nd day of public transit disruptions due to an impasse in contract
negotiations. Scheduled buses and rail cars on duty climbed to 300
out of 600.
(SFC, 6/4/14, p.A1)(SFC, 6/5/14, p.A1)(SFC,
2014 Jun 3, In San Jose, Ca.,
police found more than 12 pounds of marijuana in a storage locker
along with grow lights. The space was rented by police officer Son
Vu. On April 23 Vu (44) was arrested on charges of possession and
intent to sell.
(SFC, 4/25/15, p.C2)
2014 Jun 3, In North Carolina
Patrick Cannon, the mayor of Charlotte, pleaded guilty to one count
of honest services wire fraud as he admitted his guilt in accepting
thousands of dollars in cash and airline tickets. From undercover
federal agents posing as businessmen.
(SFC, 6/4/14, p.A6)
2014 Jun 3, Four Afghan police
officers were killed and one was wounded when their vehicle struck a
roadside bomb in Helmand province.
2014 Jun 3, British police
arrested Altaf Hussain (60), one of Pakistan's most well-known and
divisive politicians, on suspicion of money-laundering, sparking
fears of violence in his power base of Karachi where businesses
closed early and residents rushed home. Hussain, the leader of the
Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), has lived in self-imposed exile in
Britain since 1992. Hussain was released on bail on June 7.
(AP, 6/3/14)(AP, 6/7/14)
2014 Jun 3, China showed off
its first high-speed rail link to the restive region of Xinjiang,
promising that it could guarantee the security of an important
economic project despite a recent serious escalation in violence.
2014 Jun 3, In Egypt sexual
assaults on women took place during public celebrations of Pres.
El-Sisi’s victory. On Aug 7 a court sentenced two men to life in
prison and a 3rd to 20 years on charges that included kidnapping,
attempted rape, torture and attempted murder.
(SFC, 8/8/14, p.A2)
2014 Jun 3, The European Union
told Bulgaria to suspend preparatory work on the Russian gas
pipeline South Stream, which will bypass Ukraine to bring supplies
into the heart of Europe. The EU said that work on the line should
not proceed until the Bulgarian government gives clear answers on
antitrust concerns over ownership.
2014 Jun 3, Finnish police
officers found the bodies of 5 dead babies in packages in a basement
cupboard of an apartment building in the western city of Oulu after
they were alerted to the scene by emergency services. A woman (35)
was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter.
2014 Jun 3, India's minister
for rural development, Gopinath Munde (64), died after a road
collision in New Delhi. Newly elected PM Modi had entrusted to Munde
the crucial task of spearheading a battle on poverty in the
2014 Jun 3, In Indonesia a
building under construction collapsed on the island of Borneo,
killing two workers and burying at least 13 others in Samarinda, the
provincial capital of East Kalimantan.
2014 Jun 3, In Iraq government
shelling of Fallujah killed 18 people and wounded another 43.
2014 Jun 3, Israeli troops shot
dead Alaa Odeh (30), a Palestinian who the military said had opened
fire and wounded a soldier at a checkpoint in the occupied West
Bank. Odeh's family was quoted as saying in media reports that he
was at the checkpoint awaiting a delivery of phones.
2014 Jun 3, Libya’s newly
elected PM Ahmed Maiteg took office as the interim premier Abdullah
Al-Thinni vowed not to hand over power.
(SFC, 6/4/14, p.A2)
2014 Jun 3, Nigerian media said
ten generals and five other senior military officers have been found
guilty in courts-martial of providing arms and information to Boko
2014 Jun 3, In northeastern
Nigeria Boko Haram militants dressed as soldiers slaughtered at
least 200 civilians in three villages and the military failed to
intervene even though it was warned that an attack was imminent. The
killings occurred in Danjara, Agapalwa, and Antagara, Borno state.
2014 Jun 3, A Pakistani air
force fighter jet crashed in Karachi after a technical fault,
killing 2 pilots and a civilian on the ground.
2014 Jun 3, Qatar said it has
moved five Afghan Taliban prisoners freed in exchange for a US
soldier to a residential compound and will let them move freely in
2014 Jun 3, In Sierra Leone the
death toll from an Ebola outbreak rose to at least five victims. The
Ebola disease has had a 70 percent fatality rate during the first
crisis of its kind in West Africa.
2014 Jun 3, In Sri Lanka at
least 22 people were reported killed from two days of floods and
mudslides triggered by unusually heavy monsoon rains.
2014 Jun 3, In Syria tens of
thousands pledged renewed allegiance to President Bashar Assad as
they voted in a presidential election that excluded a vast swath of
the pre-war population and was decried by the opposition as a
charade. Assad won 88.7% of the vote.
(AP, 6/3/14)(SFC, 6/5/14, p.A7)
2014 Jun 3, Thailand's military
rulers said they are monitoring a new form of silent resistance to
the coup, a three-fingered salute borrowed from "The Hunger Games,"
and will arrest those in large groups who ignore warnings to lower
their arms. The junta lifted the military's curfew at three popular
beach resorts — Phuket, Koh Samui and Pattaya — to ease the impact
of the May 22 coup on tourists.
2014 Jun 3, In eastern Ukraine
fighting raged for the second straight day as the army rolled out an
offensive against pro-Russia separatists holding the city of
Slaviansk and claimed to have inflicted losses on the rebels. 2
government soldiers were killed and 42 injured in daylong fighting.
(Reuters, 6/3/14)(AP, 6/4/14)
2014 Jun 4, US President Barack
Obama endorsed Ukraine's president-elect Petro Poroshenko, offering
Kiev financial and security help and saying he was the right choice
to lead the country through its stand-off with Moscow. Obama spoke
in Warsaw ahead of a G7 meeting in Brussels.
(Reuters, 6/4/14)(AP, 6/4/14)
2014 Jun 4, San Francisco’s
transit system limped through a 3rd day of an operator sickout as
290 drivers called in sick. City officials moved to snuff out the
protest by filing legal charges against the operator’s union, which
denied responsibility. Scheduled buses and rail cars on duty climbed
to 440 out of 600.
(SFC, 6/5/14, p.A1)(SFC, 6/6/14, p.D7)
2014 Jun 4, NYC authorities
staged early morning raids and arrested dozens of people in a
crackdown on gang-related drugs and violence.
(SFC, 6/5/14, p.A10)
2014 Jun 4, In northern
Afghanistan a bomb placed in a thermos bottle detonated remotely at
a market killed 3 civilians in Maymana, Faryab province.
2014 Jun 4, In Canada 3 police
officers were killed late today and two more were taken to hospital
with non-life threatening injuries in Moncton New Brunswick. The
Royal Canadian Mounted Police mounted a massive hunt and soon
arrested suspect Justin Bourque (24) in Moncton.
(AP, 6/5/14)(Reuters, 6/6/14)
2014 Jun 4, China rejected an
arbitration tribunal's ruling giving it six months to respond to a
case filed by the Philippines over disputed waters, saying it has no
plans to take part.
2014 Jun 4, In Hong Kong
thousands gathered in a park to mark the 25th anniversary of the
crushing of the Tiananmen Square protesters in China.
(Econ, 7/6/14, p.49)
2014 Jun 4, The Liberia-flagged
MT Fair Artemis lost contact with its owners off Ghana's capital
Accra. The Greek tanker with 24 crew aboard was believed to have
2014 Jun 4, In Iraq
back-to-back car bombs rocked the ethnically mixed city of Kirkuk,
in the deadliest of a string of attacks across the country that left
17 people dead. Police in Mosul killed a man believed to be the 2nd
ranking leader of ISIS and captured a trove of data on the group.
(AP, 6/4/14)(Econ, 6/21/14, p.46)
2014 Jun 4, In Italy Venice
Mayor Giorgio Orsoni and more than 30 other people were arrested in
a sweeping corruption scandal in which politicians are accused of
financing election campaigns with some 25 million euros ($34
million) in bribes from the consortium building underwater barriers
to protect the lagoon city from flooding.
2014 Jun 4, In Libya gunmen
killed a Swiss national working for the International Committee for
the Red Cross when they intercepted his car in Sirte. Gunmen also
fired a grenade the office of PM Ahmed Maiteeq. A suicide bomber
exploded a Land Cruiser packed with explosives Gen. Khalifa Haftar's
base in Benghazi killing 4 men from his force.
2014 Jun 4, Lithuania welcomed
a preliminary decision by the European Union to accept the Baltic
country's application to adopt the joint currency.
2014 Jun 4, In Mali authorities
arrested army officer Lieutenant Mohamed Ouattara and a number of
associates suspected of plotting against President Ibrahim Boubacar
2014 Jun 4, Montenegro
authorities seized 250 kilograms of cocaine from South America in
one of the biggest-ever drug busts in nation.
2014 Jun 4, In Pakistan a
suicide bomber blew himself up near a vehicle carrying military
personnel, killing 2 officers, both lieutenant colonels, and 3
civilians near Islamabad.
2014 Jun 4, In Pakistan an
18-year-old woman "miraculously survived" after being shot and
thrown into a canal by her father for marrying against the family's
wishes in Hafizabad. The woman told police her two uncles looked on
as her father shot her in the face, put her in a burlap sack and
threw her into a canal.
2014 Jun 4, Slovakia joined
neighbor the Czech Republic in effectively ruling out hosting NATO
units, when PM Robert Fico said he could not imagine there would be
foreign soldiers on its territory.
2014 Jun 4, The UAE said the
MERS coronavirus has killed 10 people and infected 68 in the United
Arab Emirates since March 2013.
2014 Jun 4, Ukraine said that 6
militants were killed and 3 Ukrainian servicemen were injured in 10
hours of fighting overnight at the National Guard base in Luhansk.
Pro-Russian insurgents took over two government bases in battles
around Luhansk, seizing quantities of ammunition and explosives from
a border guards post and taking another installation after National
Guard forces ran out of ammunition.
2014 Jun 4, In Yemen a
ceasefire between Shi'ite Muslim rebels and government forces went
into effect, after fresh fighting and air strikes killed at least 20
people from both sides.
2014 Jun 5, In San Francisco
163 transit drivers called in sick reducing the 4th day sickout of
daily runs to 266 out of 1200. The average absentee rate ranged from
(SFC, 6/6/14, p.D7)
2014 Jun 5, Colorado Gov. John
Hickenlooper signed a bill regulating companies like Uber and Lyft
that use ride service apps, making Colorado the first state to
legitimize such Internet companies.
(SFC, 6/7/14, p.D3)
2014 Jun 5, Utah’s Wildlife
Board voted 3-2 to hold its first ever crow hunt this fall as
authorities try to contain the noise and mess from a population of
the big, black birds that officials say has tripled over the last 12
years. Crows are protected by the US Fish and Wildlife Service under
the 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty, but about 45 states allow them to be
2014 Jun 5, In Washington state
a lone gunmen, Aaron Ybarra (26) opened fire at the Otto Miller Hall
of Seattle Pacific Univ. Building monitor John Meis (22) and several
people jumped on him until police arrived. Wounded student Paul Lee
(19) died at Harborview Medical Center.
(SFC, 6/6/14, p.A7)(SFC, 6/7/14, p.A4)
2014 Jun 5, In Afghanistan a
police chief and 2 other officers were killed when a roadside bomb
exploded while they were on a demining mission in Ghazni province.
Two army officers were killed in a separate shooting attack in Herat
city. In the east a soldier from the US-led military coalition was
killed by enemy fire.
2014 Jun 5, Rakhat Aliyev, the
Kazakh president's former son-in-law, was detained in Austria while
under investigation for alleged crimes including murder and running
a crime network in Kazakhstan.
2014 Jun 5, A Bahraini court
convicted and sentenced four Shiites to life imprisonment over the
death of an Asian man in a Nov 5, 2012, bomb attack in Manama.
2014 Jun 5, Bosnia police
arrested three Bosnian Serb former soldiers on suspicion of war
crimes against Muslim Bosniaks following the discovery last year of
what is potentially the largest mass grave of Bosnia's 1992-95
2014 Jun 5, In Brussels,
Belgium, G7 nations gave their backing to a new global deal on
climate change in 2015 after promises from the United States at the
start of the week galvanized flagging momentum.
2014 Jun 5, In Brazil some
overland commuter train operators went on strike calling for better
wages in Sao Paulo, a week before the city hosts the World Cup
2014 Jun 5, Chinese state media
said authorities have sentenced 81 people on terror-related charges,
nine of them to death, and made 29 new arrests in a huge crackdown
in the far west following deadly attacks blamed on Muslim
2014 Jun 5, China offered $16
million in humanitarian assistance for refugees from the conflict in
Syria as part of Beijing's growing engagement with the Arab world.
2014 Jun 5, China freed Tibetan
filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen (40), who made a 2008 documentary about
Tibetan nomads expressing discontent over China's rule, after
serving six years for separatism. Wangchen was freed in the western
city of Xining, capital of Qinghai province.
2014 Jun 5, In CongoDRC at
least four people were killed when 301 inmates broke out of the main
prison in Bukavu.
2014 Jun 5, In Iraqi militants
launched an attack in Samarra, killing 7 members of the security
forces and taking control of some areas of the city. Several
attackers were killed as the army pushed back the assault. Fierce
clashes broke out in Mosul.
(AP, 6/5/14)(Econ, 6/21/14, p.46)
2014 Jun 5, Israel's housing
ministry said it was advancing plans for nearly 1,500 new settlement
housing units in the West Bank and east Jerusalem in response to the
formation of a Palestinian unity government backed by the Islamic
militant group Hamas.
2014 Jun 5, In Japan
billionaire Masayoshi Son's mobile phone company Softbank unveiled a
robot dubbed Pepper that can decipher emotions. It will go on sale
in Japan in February for 198,000 yen ($1,900). Overseas sales plans
are under consideration but undecided.
2014 Jun 5, Kenyan authorities
said they have seized 228 whole elephant tusks and 74 others in
pieces as they were being packed for export in the port city of
2014 Jun 5, Kenyan gunmen shot
and killed an Australian media executive Carey Eaton, a co-founder
of the online marketplace One Africa Media. This was the second such
attack on an Australian citizen in the past year in the crime-ridden
2014 Jun 5, In Libya a
prosecutor told the Supreme Constitutional Court that the election
of Ahmed Maiteeq as the new prime minister was conducted in
violation of the country's temporary constitution.
2014 Jun 5, Mozambique's
revived rebel movement Renamo called off a truce with government
forces, warning that armed attacks would spread from the main
north-south highway across the country. Local media reported at
least four deaths this week in as many attacks on vehicles
travelling along the EN1 highway between the Save River and the town
2014 Jun 5, A Niger minister
said the government has destroyed safe houses owned by human
trafficking networks for sheltering illegal migrants and forcibly
turned back anyone without a valid identity document in towns near
its northern border.
2014 Jun 5, In Nigeria
suspected Islamist Boko Haram militants kidnapped up to 30 women
from nomadic settlements in the northeast, close to where the group
abducted more than 200 schoolgirls. The kidnappers demanded cattle
in exchange for the women.
2014 Jun 5, Peruvian
prosecutors said two provincial governors, Klever Melendez of Cerro
de Pasco and Gerardo Vinas of Tumbes, have been arrested as part of
a crackdown on corruption. A third was sought in the crackdown.
(SFC, 6/6/14, p.A2)
2014 Jun 5, Peru's
counter-narcotics police said they have broken up a ring that
shipped cocaine from Lima's international airport to Mexico on
commercial flights by swapping out unsuspecting passengers' luggage
with identical suitcases.
2014 Jun 5, In South Korea a
victim from the April 16 sunken Sewol ferry was retrieved in waters
40 km (25 miles) from the capsized vessel, raising the death toll to
2014 Jun 5, Pope Francis ousted
the all-Italian board of the Vatican's financial watchdog agency and
installed a more international set of experts following clashes
between the board and the agency's director.
2014 Jun 5, A Yemeni army
spokesman said government forces have killed 500 suspected Al-Qaeda
militants in an all-out offensive against them in their southern
strongholds that began on April 29. Forty soldiers were killed and
another 100 wounded in the operation in Shabwa and Abyan provinces,
in which 39 militants were captured. Al-Qaida militants attacked an
army post in Shabwa province, killing 11 soldiers and one civilian.
2014 Jun 6, San Francisco’s
Glide Foundation announced that Andy Chua of Singapore bid
$2,166,766 to win a private lunch with Warren Buffet, head of
(SSFC, 6/8/14, p.A8)
2014 Jun 6, In Georgia Dennis
Marx, wielding an assault rifle and explosives, opened fire outside
a courthouse in Cumming. He wounded a deputy before he was killed in
(SFC, 6/7/14, p.A5)
2014 Jun 6, Karen DeCrow
(b.1937), former head of NOW (1974-1977), the National Organization
for Women, died at her home in Jamesville, NY.
(SFC, 6/9/14, p.C4)
2014 Jun 6, In North Dakota
seven couples filed a federal lawsuit challenging the state’s
constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, making it the last state in
the country to be sued by couples seeking the right to marry in
their home state.
(SFC, 6/7/14, p.A4)
2014 Jun 6, In Wisconsin gay
couples began getting married after a federal judge struck down the
state’s same-sex marriage ban.
(SFC, 6/7/14, p.A4)
2014 Jun 6, It was reported
that a glossy beetle, a shot hole borer smaller than a sesame seed,
is destroying elder, sycamore and live oak trees in southern
(SFC, 6/6/14, p.D6)
2014 Jun 6, The leading Afghan
presidential candidate, Abdullah Abdullah, narrowly escaped an
assassination attempt when two suicide bombers struck his convoy
after a campaign event in Kabul. 6 civilians were killed and 22
2014 Jun 6, In northern
Afghanistan at least 81 people were killed and many more left
missing in flash floods that fell in the Gozargah-e Noor district of
the northern Baghlan province.
(Reuters, 6/7/14)(AP, 6/8/14)
2014 Jun 6, Brazil's biggest
city confronted a second straight day of commuting chaos, as
striking subway workers and a protest over housing conditions
tangled the streets of Sao Paulo less than a week before it hosts
the opening match of the World Cup.
2014 Jun 6, British
telecommunications giant Vodafone admitted the existence of secret
wires that allow government agencies to listen in to conversations
on its networks. Vodafone said that in about six countries where it
operates, phone tapping is required by law, although it did not
identify the countries.
2014 Jun 6, Germany's foreign
intelligence agency officially lifted the lid on some of its
worst-kept secrets, acknowledging that half a dozen facilities
around the country are in fact spy stations — as anyone with
Internet access could already figure out.
2014 Jun 6, In India 17 police
officers were convicted of kidnapping and killing a 22-year-old
jobseeker in custody. Ranbir Singh had gone to the northern Indian
city of Dehradun looking for a job when he was arrested by police
for allegedly committing a robbery. He died in police custody in
2009. On June 9 the court sentenced all 17 police officers to life
(AP, 6/6/14)(AP, 6/9/14)
2014 Jun 6, In northern India
thousands of people stormed an electricity substation near the state
capital of Lucknow, ransacking offices and taking several workers
hostage for 18 hours until police intervened the next day. People
were enraged by power cuts during an extreme heat wave.
2014 Jun 6, In northern
Iraq a back-to-back car bomb attack targeting an ethnic minority in
Tahrawa and clashes in Mosul killed at least 20 people.
(AP, 6/6/14)(SFC, 6/7/14, p.A2)
2014 Jun 6, Israeli police
raided the east Jerusalem studios of Palestine TV and briefly
detained three staff for questioning. Police reportedly suspected
Palestine TV of broadcasting "incitements to violence."
2014 Jun 6, In Italy Sister
Cristina Scuccia (25) clinched the top prize with five songs in the
country’s musical competition “The Voice."
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCi_LgPgaQo)(SFC, 6/7/14, p.a2)
2014 Jun 6, In Kosovo a huge
explosion rocked the country’s main power plant in Pristina, causing
casualties and damaging nearby houses.
2014 Jun 6, Mexican prosecutors
said police have arrested a leading figure in the Knights Templar
drug cartel who they say is linked to more than a dozen deaths.
State prosecutors said Pedro Naranjo Garcia was "associated with the
murder of 15 people last year in Apatzingan."
2014 Jun 6, Nigeria’s military
searched trucks carrying newspapers after receiving intelligence
"indicating movement of materials with grave security implications
across the country using the channel of newsprint related
2014 Jun 6, North Korea said it
has detained an American tourist for committing an unspecified
crime, the third US citizen being held there. Jeffrey Edward Fowle
(56) of Ohio had arrived in North Korea on April 29.
(AP, 6/6/14)(AP, 6/7/14)
2014 Jun 6, Pakistan's media
regulatory agency suspended the operating license of Geo News, the
country's leading news channel, for 15 days after a spat between the
broadcaster and the country's powerful military. It also imposed a
10 million rupee fine — roughly $100,000. TV channel Geo News said
it is suing the powerful ISI spy agency for defamation over
accusations of being anti-state.
2014 Jun 6, Philippine
government prosecutors filed corruption charges against three
senators who allegedly received hundreds of millions of pesos
(millions of dollars) in kickbacks from funds allocated for projects
for the poor.
2014 Jun 6, In the Philippines
radio anchorman Nilo Baculo Sr. (67) was killed by gunmen on a
motorcycle in Oriental Mindoro's Calapan City. Baculo had filed a
petition in 2008 requesting court protection, saying he had
discovered a plot by elected officials at that time to kill him
after he had reported on their involvement in illegal drug deals.
2014 Jun 6, Romania's
second-richest businessman, Dan Adamescu, was arrested on charges
that he bribed judges to rule in his favor in court cases over
several insolvency cases involving his companies in Dec 2013.
2014 Jun 6, Russian President
Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's newly elected leader Petro Poroshenko
met in France at the sidelines of ceremonies to celebrate the 70th
anniversary of the D-Day landing in Normandy. They spoke of their
desire for a quick end to hostilities in southeastern Ukraine.
2014 Jun 6, Sudanese troops
captured a rebel position in South Kordofan.
2014 Jun 6, Thai police warned
online critics of the military junta that they will "come get you"
for posting political views that could incite divisiveness.
2014 Jun 7, Arizona officials
said the US government has asked them to rush medical supplies to a
makeshift holding center housing hundreds of migrant children who
were sent to the state after crossing into the US from Mexico alone.
Jimena Díaz, consul general of Guatemala in Phoenix, visited the
center a day earlier and said about 250 children are from Guatemala,
with the rest coming from El Salvador and Honduras.
2014 Jun 7, In New Jersey a
tractor-trailer plowed into a limousine carrying comedian Tracy
Morgan and several friends killing comedian James McNair (aka Jimmy
Mack). Walmart driver Kevin Roper was later said to be going 65 mph
in a 45 mph zone.
(SFC, 6/20/14, p.A6)(SFC, 6/21/14, p.A6)
2014 Jun 7, In Brazil the 3rd
day of a strike by subway workers snarling Sao Paulo threatened to
disrupt the World Cup with the kickoff in the city just five days
2014 Jun 7, In Cameroon
suspected Boko Haram militants from Nigeria attacked a town in the
far north but local security forces fought them off, killing at
least 2 gunmen.
2014 Jun 7, In Canada three
inmates escaped from the Orsainville Detention Center in Quebec City
with the help of a helicopter. All three were captured on June 22 at
a Montreal residence.
(AP, 6/7/14)(SFC, 6/23/14, p.A2)
2014 Jun 7, The Chinese
government said it will deploy eight inspection teams across the
country to investigate how regional governments are implementing 19
central policies and will hold accountable those found wanting.
2014 Jun 7, Colombia's leftist
FARC rebels declared a ceasefire for a three-week period covering a
tight presidential election race on June 15. FARC accused opposition
candidate Oscar Ivan Zuluaga of making inflammatory statements and
trying to foment more war.
2014 Jun 7, In eastern CongoDRC
armed men burst into a church overnight, killing up to 37 people
including women and children. The victims were ethnic Bafuliru and
were spending the night in the church in the South Kivu province
after a meeting. The attack was believed to be in revenge of cattle
(AP, 6/7/14)(Reuters, 6/7/14)
2014 Jun 7, A Cuban migrant
trafficking scheme left four people dead. In 2015 two men were
sentenced to life imprisonment and five people received prison
sentences ranging from eight to 25 years.
2014 Jun 7, An Egyptian court
sentenced 10 supporters of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood to death
in absentia, but postponed sentencing of its leader and other senior
members tried in the case. Those sentenced were convicted on charges
including inciting violence and blocking a major road north of Cairo
during protests after the army toppled Islamist President Mohamed
Mursi last July. A Cairo appeals court canceled a prison sentence
against a police officer convicted in connection with the deaths of
39 people last year during political violence.
2014 Jun 7, In Iraq fighting in
Mosul killed 21 police and 38 militants. In Anbar province ISIL
militants stormed Anbar University briefly taking students hostage
before withdrawing from the school amid gunfire. 3 policemen and a
guard were killed. A wave of car bombs exploded across Baghdad,
killing more than 60 people.
(AP, 6/7/14)(Reuters, 6/7/14)
2014 Jun 7, Moroccan police
raided a warehouse in Casablanca and seized 12 tons of hashish,
known locally as "chira." The raid followed the discovery a day
earlier of 16.7 tons of hashish hidden inside plastic rollers and
tubing in a 40 foot (12 meter) container at the port.
2014 Jun 7, Nigerian soldiers
continued for a 2nd day to confiscate copies from newspapers
including Leadership, ThisDay, Daily Trust, Sun, Pilot, Newswatch,
and The Mirror.
2014 Jun 7, In Spain thousands
of protesters took to the streets of Madrid to demand a referendum
to abolish Spain's monarchy, just days after King Juan Carlos
abdicated in favor of his son.
2014 Jun 7, In Turkey 2 people
were killed in southeast Diyarbakir province as Kurdish protesters,
demonstrating against the construction of new military outposts,
threw petrol bombs at security forces who then opened fire.
2014 Jun 7, In Ukraine newly
elected Petro Poroshenko was sworn in as president and called for
dialogue with the country’s east. He also took a firm line on
Russia's annexation of Crimea this spring, insisting that the Black
Sea peninsula "was, is and will be Ukrainian."
2014 Jun 7, The United Arab
Emirates announced a new law requiring compulsory military service
for adult males, formalizing a proposal outlined earlier in the year
to bolster the ranks of the US-allied Gulf federation's armed
2014 Jun 8, In Elmont, New
York, Tonalist edged Commissioner to win the Belmont Stakes.
California Chrome, winner of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, tied
for 4th place.
(SSFC, 6/8/14, p.A10)
2014 Jun 8, In eastern
Afghanistan three suicide bombers attacked a parking lot at a police
base, killing a guard and setting 25 trucks ablaze in Nangarhar
2014 Jun 8, Australian police
found human remains inside a large crocodile that is believed to
have snatched a man from a boat in a popular national park. Police
found the remains inside a 4.7-meter (15-foot, 5-inch) saltwater
crocodile that park rangers shot while searching for a 62-year-old
man who was attacked a day earlier in Kakadu National Park.
2014 Jun 8, In Brazil Anderson
Gomes Aleixo forced his wife to invite her friend to their house. He
then killed Francisco de Assis Coelho Neves with a knife and
dismembered the body in their bathroom. Aleixo had grown jealous
when he found out that his wife and a childhood friend were chatting
2014 Jun 8, US Sen. John M
McCain visited Sofia, Bulgaria, and warned PM Plamen Oresharski over
the danger of proceeding with the South Stream gas pipeline from
(Econ, 6/21/14, p.52)
2014 Jun 8, Cameroon's soccer
players refused to board a plane due to take them to Brazil for the
World Cup because of disputes over bonuses.
2014 Jun 8, In China a raid by
officers on small bathhouses and other businesses associated with
prostitution sparked clashes lasting hours in the southern city of
2014 Jun 8, China's foreign
minister visited India's new leaders in hopes of spurring stalled
trade and easing decades of tensions between the Asian nations.
2014 Jun 8, Egypt's former army
chief Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi was sworn in as president for a
2014 Jun 8, In India 20
students and a professor were swept away by waters released from a
dam while the group was bathing in a river in the mountainous
northern state of Himachal Pradesh. All were believed killed.
2014 Jun 8, In Iraq a suicide
bomber blew himself up at the headquarters of a Kurdish political
party in the ethnically mixed province of Diyala. Minutes later a
car bomb exploded as security arrived in Jalula. At least 19 people
were killed and 65 wounded. ISIL claimed responsibility.
(AP, 6/8/14)(SFC, 6/9/14, p.A2)
2014 Jun 8, Israeli and
Palestinian presidents met in an unprecedented prayer meeting with
Pope Francis at the Vatican. Francis hoped the gesture will
"re-create a desire, a possibility" of eventually relaunching the
Middle East's stalled peace process.
2014 Jun 8, Kosovo's citizens
voted in an early parliamentary election with former PM Hashim Thaci
bidding for a third term. The ruling party of ex-guerrilla leader
Hashim Thaci won 31% of the votes. The result did not give Thaci
enough seats to form his third successive government alone.
(AP, 6/8/14)(Reuters, 6/9/14)
2014 Jun 8, Niger said it will
repatriate its citizens living as illegal migrants in neighboring
Algeria, as the government steps up efforts to combat trafficking
2014 Jun 8, In Nigeria Lamido
Sanusi (52), a former central bank governor, was appointed as the
new emir of Kano, a key religious and traditional post for the
(SFC, 6/13/14, p.A3)
2014 Jun 8, The Pakistani
Taliban made a brazen five-hour assault on Jinna Int’l. Airport.
Gunmen disguised as police guards stormed the international terminal
in Karachi, set off explosions. 26 people were killed 18 people as
well as all of the 10 attackers.
(AP, 6/9/14)(AP, 6/10/14)
2014 Jun 8, Gaza's Health
Ministry said a Palestinian fisherman (51) died from wounds he
suffered after his boat was shot at by Israeli forces two weeks ago.
2014 Jun 8, Slovenia held a
referendum to decide whether sensitive personal information like
sexual or religious orientation in communist-era state security
files should be open to the public.
2014 Jun 8, In Spain suspected
ETA member Maria Jesus Elorza Zubizarreta was arrested as she
arrived on a flight from Venezuela. She had fled to France in 1984
and allegedly participated in bomb-making activities for the group
before moving to Venezuela.
2014 Jun 8, In Spain tens of
thousands of Basques held hands to form a 123-km chain stretching
across the northern Spanish region calling for the right to hold a
vote on independence.
2014 Jun 8, Sudanese
authorities arrested Ibrahim al-Sheikh, the head of the opposition
Congress Party, for reportedly participating in a political lecture
the previous evening.
2014 Jun 8, The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said a couple and their four children,
the youngest just six months old, were killed today in Syrian army
air raids in Aleppo province. ISIS crucified 3 young men in a town
near Aleppo for cooperating with rival rebels.
(AFP, 6/8/14)(Econ, 6/14/14, p.42)
2014 Jun 9, Pres. Obama
expanded a 2010 program to alleviate the burden of student loan debt
incurred after Oct 2007. Borrowers will pay no more than 10 percent
of their monthly income to settle student loan debt incurred anytime
in the past.
(SFC, 6/10/14, p.A6)
2014 Jun 9, Detroit officials
said General Motors, Ford and Chrysler are pledging $26 million to
help support retiree pensions while also keeping the city’s art
treasures off the auction block.
(SFC, 6/10/14, p.A6)
2014 Jun 9, In Nevada Jerad
(31) and Amanda Miller (22) ambushed police officers Alyn Beck (41)
and Igor Soldo eating lunch at a Las Vegas restaurant fatally
shooting them at point-blank range before fleeing to a nearby
Walmart where they killed a 3rd person and then themselves.
(SFC, 6/9/14, p.A6)(SFC, 6/10/14, p.A6)(SSFC,
2014 Jun 9, In Afghanistan
suicide bombers and gunmen stormed a court building in eastern
Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province. A NATO service
member died as a result of a non-battle injury in the east. 5
Americans troops and an Afghan were killed in an apparent coalition
airstrike in Zabul province. A military investigation report on Sep
4 said a series of avoidable miscommunications among air and ground
forces led to the mistaken bombing.
(AP, 6/9/14)(AP, 6/10/14)(AFP, 9/4/14)
2014 Jun 9, Brazilian police
and striking subway workers clashed early today in a central Sao
Paulo commuter station, with union officials threatening to maintain
the work stoppage through the World Cup opening match here this
week. Union members voted to temporarily suspend the strike they
began last week, but also decided they would take a new vote on Jun
11 to determine whether to resume the work stoppage June 12.
(AP, 6/9/14)(AP, 6/10/14)
2014 Jun 9, China denounced
Vietnam and the Philippines for getting together on the
Vietnamese-held island of Southwest Cay, a disputed island in the
South China Sea, to play soccer and volleyball, calling it "a clumsy
farce" and demanded both countries stop causing trouble.
2014 Jun 9, Cuban authorities
said eight people are under arrest in connection with a scandal
involving the illicit sale of university entrance exams, days after
thousands of high school students were forced to retake the test.
(SFC, 6/10/14, p.A2)
2014 Jun 9, Egyptian police
arrested seven men for sexually assaulting a 19-year-old student
during celebrations marking the inauguration of the country's new
president in Cairo's central Tahrir Square the day before.
2014 Jun 9, In Germany at least
6 people were killed in storms that swept North Rhine-Westphalia,
forcing Duesseldorf airport to shut down, felling trees and leaving
some roads impassable.
2014 Jun 9, In India two men on
a motorcycle shot dead Omveer Singh, a local politician of the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the ruling party of PM Narendra Modi
in Uttar Pradesh, the second such killing in a week.
2014 Jun 9, In northern India a
bus carrying 14 Russian tourists fell into the Bhagirathi River,
killing at least two people in Uttarakhand state.
2014 Jun 9, Iranian President
Hassan Rouhani met with Turkish officials, including PM Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, in the first official Iranian presidential visit to Turkey
2014 Jun 9, In Iraq at least 30
people were killed in a double bombing targeting the offices of PUK,
a Kurdish political party, in the northern town of Tuz Khurmato.
ISIL claimed responsibility.
2014 Jun 9, In Kuwait Al Watan
reported online that a judge ordered its print edition and that of
Alam Al Yawm newspaper to stop publishing for five days because they
had violated a prosecutor-ordered media blackout about a secret
probe into allegations of a coup plot to overthrow the Gulf
2014 Jun 9, Libya's top court
rejected the Islamist-led parliament's appointment of a new prime
minister in a contested vote, ending one power struggle as a
renegade general's offensive against Islamist militias in the east
2014 Jun 9, A rights group said
Myanmar security forces "systematically" torture civilians in
conflict-racked Kachin state on the third anniversary of renewed
fighting between government forces ethnic minority insurgents in the
2014 Jun 9, In Pakistan a
suspected Taliban suicide bomber rammed a truck into a military
checkpoint on the border with Afghanistan, killing 4 soldiers in
2014 Jun 9, A Russian court
sentenced two men to life in prison and three others to terms
ranging from 12 to 20 years for the 2006 killing of renowned
journalist Anna Politkovskaya. Despite the convictions, it remained
unclear who ordered the killing and Politkovskaya's family said it
will continue to push for the case to be fully solved.
2014 Jun 9, Sierra Leone's
Pres. Ernest Bai Koroma fired his powerful chief of staff, Richard
Conteh, over how he negotiated a mining agreement and his granting
of another company the right to log unlimited amounts of timber.
2014 Jun 9, In Spain a
Eurofighter jet crashed while landing at the Moron air base near
Seville. Media reported that the pilot had died in the crash.
2014 Jun 9, Syrian President
Bashar al-Assad announced a wide-ranging amnesty. He commuted some
death sentences to life imprisonment, reduced jail terms for many
offences and canceled some others altogether. Activists say rebel
infighting in Syria has killed 45 opposition fighters over the past
(Reuters, 6/9/14)(AP, 6/9/14)
2014 Jun 9, Miss Universe
Thailand renounced her title over remarks she made on social media
including one that "red shirt" activists, supporters of ousted prime
minister Yingluck Shinawatra, should all be executed.
2014 Jun 10, The Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA) said it has granted the first
permission for commercial drone flights over US land. The BP energy
corporation and drone maker AeroVironment of California have been
given permission to use a Puma drone to survey pipelines, roads and
equipment at Prudhoe Bay in Alaska. The first flight took place on
2014 Jun 10, A Los Angeles
Superior Court threw out California’s teacher tenure laws calling
(SFC, 6/11/14, p.A1)
2014 Jun 10, In Oregon Jared
Michael Padgett (15), armed with an assault rifle, a handgun and
several magazines of ammunition, shot and killed a student at
Reynolds High School in Troutdale. He carried the weapons hidden in
a guitar case and also injured a teacher before killing himself in a
restroom following an exchange of gunfire with officers.
(SFC, 6/11/14, p.A6)(SFC, 6/12/14, p.A14)
2014 Jun 10, In Central African
Republic two days of fighting between mainly Muslim ex-rebels and
the largely Christian "anti-balaka" militia left at least 22 people.
2014 Jun 10, China’s government
issued a “white paper" asserting that autonomy granted to Hong Kong
in 1997 was entirely dependent on China’s leaders.
(Econ, 7/5/14, p.37)
2014 Jun 10, In China convicted
criminal Zhang Zeqing, was shot and killed by police in Qianjiang,
Hubei province. He had taken 50 elementary school students and a
teacher hostage and had agreed to exchange them for the deputy mayor
of the surrounding town of Haokou, but was shot after he poured
gasoline over the official.
2014 Jun 10, The European
Commission delivered a formal warning to the Philippines and Papua
New Guinea over illegal fishing, a step that could lead to a ban on
exporting to the EU.
2014 Jun 10, Iraq's PM Nuri
al-Maliki has asked parliament to declare a state of emergency after
Sunni Islamist insurgents seized control of most of Mosul, the
country's second largest city. Militants from the Islamic State in
Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and their allies overran a military base
and freed hundreds of prisoners. The rampage by the militants sent
an estimated 500,000 people fleeing from the city. In Baquba two
bombs exploded near a funeral procession, killing 20 people. Human
Rights Watch later reported that some 600 male Shiite inmates from
Badoosh prison outside Mosul were forced to kneel along the edge of
a nearby ravine and shot with automatic weapons.
(Reuters, 6/10/14)(AFP, 6/10/14)(AP, 6/11/14)(AP,
2014 Jun 10, In Iraq ISIL
militants seized 48 Turks from the Turkish consulate in Mosul,
including the consul-general, three children and several members of
Turkey's special forces. ISIL, numbering some 7-10 thousand
fighters, was led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
(Reuters, 6/11/14)(SFC, 6/12/14, p.A8)(Econ,
2014 Jun 10, Ireland's
government said it is launching an investigation into mistreatment
and burial of babies who died between 1925-1962 in nun-operated
homes for unmarried mothers.
2014 Jun 10, Israel's
parliament chose Reuven Rivlin (74), a veteran Likud politician and
supporter of the Jewish settlement movement, as the country's next
president, putting a man opposed to the creation of a Palestinian
state into the ceremonial but largely influential post.
2014 Jun 10, In Kenya gunmen
shot and killed moderate Muslim leader Sheik Mohamed Idris, the
chairman of the Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya (CIPK). He
was the fourth prominent Muslim to be shot dead in Mombasa in two
years. On April 15, 2016, Sudi Mohamed Sudi (44) was sentenced to
death for killing Idris, who had campaigned against radical
interpretations of Islam.
(AP, 6/10/14)(AP, 4/15/16)
2014 Jun 10, In Kuwait
opposition leader Musallam al-Barrack revealed documents of alleged
corruption to more than 6,000 protesters late today. His opposition
group had called for the anti-corruption rally, the first protest by
the opposition since April 2013.
2014 Jun 10, In Pakistan at
least three gunmen attacked a training facility for airport police
near the Karachi airport, forcing a temporary suspension of flights
and triggering a brief shootout with security forces. Pakistani
military airstrikes targeted the Tirah Valley in the country's
northwest. The military said it killed 25 suspected militants in
strikes on nine hideouts.
2014 Jun 10, Russia’s PM Dmitry
Medvedev gave the government's blessing to Aeroflot’s new low-cost
airline serving newly-annexed Crimea, as he inspected a Dobrolyot
(Good Flight) Boeing-737 ahead of its maiden flight from Moscow's
2014 Jun 10, In South Africa
Andrew Chimboza stabbed Mbuyiselo Manona (62) to death at the home
of Manona's lover in Cape Town's Gugulethu township. He then ate his
victim's heart with a knife and fork. On April 29, 2015, Chimboza
was sentenced to 18 years in prison.
2014 Jun 10, Ukraine Pres.
Petro Poroshenko ordered security officials to create a corridor for
safe passage for civilians in eastern regions to escape fighting. In
the east pro-Russian separatists attacked military checkpoints and
other strategic points overnight but they were beaten off with only
minor casualties on the Ukrainian side. 40 mercenaries were reported
killed near the airport of Kramatorsk.
(Reuters, 6/10/14)(SFC, 6/11/14, p.A4)
2014 Jun 10, Ukraine Deputy Tax
Minister Ihor Bilous, the country's new tax boss, said his
predecessor, Oleksandr Klymenko, was in on a massive fraud, helping
to organize a wide network of phantom firms in return for a cut of
the cash. The criminals, he said, operated with impunity. Klymenko,
who has fled the country, denied the charges.
2014 Jun 10, In Yemen tribesmen
attacked power lines in the eastern province of Marib, leading to
the blackouts in Sanaa and other areas.
2014 Jun 11, FBI director James
Comey said the agency has opened a criminal investigation into the
Dept. of Veteran Affairs.
(SFC, 6/12/14, p.A9)
2014 Jun 11, In Arizona Rev.
Kenneth Walker (28) was shot and killed during a burglary at the
Mother of Mercy Mission in Phoenix. Rev. Joseph Terra was injured.
On June 16 Gary Michael Moran (54), a homeless ex-convict, was
arrested on suspicion of murder.
(SFC, 6/13/14, p.A7)(SFC, 6/17/14, p.A12)
2014 Jun 11, A US federal grand
jury in Miami convicted Spanish drug kingpin Alvaro Lopez on
conspiracy and money laundering charges.
(SFC, 6/12/14, p.A9)
2014 Jun 11, Ruby Dee (b.1922),
acclaimed actress and civil rights advocate, died at her home in New
Rochelle, NY. She had become famous for her supporting role in the
stage play “A Raisin in the Sun" (1959). She also starred in the
film version (1961).
(SFC, 6/13/14, p.A16)
2014 Jun 11, London’s new
Trafficking and Kidnap Unit of its Metropolitan Police
arrested six people suspected of sex trafficking. The arrests were
part of an ongoing investigation of a Hungarian organized crime
2014 Jun 11, Taxi drivers
staged protests in London, Berlin, Barcelona, Madrid and Paris.
Cabbies and train workers walked off the job, leaving traffic
snarled, as they protested changes to the travel industry that they
say could endanger passengers and give untested upstarts an unfair
2014 Jun 11, In Cambodia the
Phnom Penh Municipal court sentenced Daniel Johnson (35) to one year
in prison for abusing five boys, aged 11 to 15, at the Hope
Transitions orphanage, where he served as director. Johnson was
sought in the US on child sex allegations.
2014 Jun 11, CongoDRC soldiers
exchanged fire with Rwandan troops who crossed the border and seized
a Congolese soldier.
2014 Jun 11, Foreign business
groups in Hong Kong joined the city's billionaire tycoons in
opposing a pro-democracy group's plans for an Occupy-style protest
while activists burned copies of a policy document asserting
Beijing's authority over the Asian financial center.
2014 Jun 11, An Egyptian court
convicted Alaa Abdel-Fattah, a prominent activist from the 2011
uprising, for demonstrating without permit and assaulting a
policeman, sentencing him to 15 years in prison.
2014 Jun 11, Hungary’s
parliament passed a new tax on advertising revenue which media said
would bankrupt them.
(Econ, 6/14/14, p.47)
2014 Jun 11, In India a woman
(45) was found dead and hung from a tree by her sari in Uttar
Pradesh state. Relatives said she was gang-raped and murdered.
(SFC, 6/13/14, p.A6)
2014 Jun 11, In Iraq car bomb
struck Shiite pilgrims heading to Karbala, killing four people and
wounding 10. Police said a car bomb blast killed three people and
wounded 12 in a town just south of Baghdad. Atheel al-Nujaifi, the
Ninevah provincial governor, said authorities are determined to
recapture the northern city of Mosul. Militants took control of
Tikrit and freed hundreds of prisoners, the 2nd provincial capital
to fall in two days.
(AP, 6/11/14)(AFP, 6/11/14)
2014 Jun 11, An Israeli
aircraft struck a target in the northern Gaza Strip, hours after
Palestinian militants fired a rocket into southern Israel. One
person was killed and three others wounded.
2014 Jun 11, Japanese and
Australian ministers meeting in Tokyo agreed to jointly develop
stealth submarine technology. They agreed to begin the research next
2014 Jun 11, Kuwait's PM Jaber
Al-Mubarak hit back at allegations of corruption, a day after
leading opposition figure Musallam al-Barrack revealed documents he
says prove billions of dollars in illicit transfers were made to
senior officials, including judges.
2014 Jun 11, In Libya a huge
explosion, likely caused by a suicide bomber, at an army checkpoint
in Barsis, 50 km (30 miles) east of Benghazi killed the attacker and
wounded six others.
2014 Jun 11, In northern Mali a
car bomb at a checkpoint killed 4 people including Chadian
peacekeepers and Malian soldiers at a UN camp in Aguelhoc.
(SFC, 6/12/14, p.A2)
2014 Jun 11, Mexico's Interior
Department said that a device containing cesium-137 was stolen from
a construction industry warehouse on the outskirts of Mexico City.
2014 Jun 11, Nigerian soldiers
in Adamawa state, at the heart of an Islamist revolt, shut down all
venues preparing to screen live World Cup matches, saying they
wanted to protect fans from militant attacks.
2014 Jun 11, In Pakistan a
suspected American drone fired two missiles at a militant hideout in
North Waziristan, killing 3 militants.
2014 Jun 11, Philippine
security forces captured Khair Mundos, a top Filipino commander of
the Abu Sayyaf extremist group. He was on a US list of most-wanted
terrorists and has acknowledged receiving al-Qaida funds to finance
bombings in the country.
2014 Jun 11, Russia offered to
restore the discounted prices it granted Ukraine under the ousted
pro-Russian president, but Ukraine demanded an even better deal and
called for arbitration to settle the dispute.
2014 Jun 11, The Sierra Leone
government announced a state of emergency in the Kailahun district
from the outbreak of the Ebola virus which has claimed 17 lives in
this West African nation, banning public gatherings and closing
schools. Local parliamentarian Momoh Moiwai said the death toll was
2014 Jun 11, UNICEF reported
that Somalia is suffering an outbreak of measles with 1,350
suspected cases reported in March and April.
(SFC, 6/12/14, p.A2)
2014 Jun 11, Thousands of South
Korean police and prosecutors raided a sprawling religious compound
for a 2nd time in their search for Yoo Byung-un, an elderly
businessman linked to the April 16 Sewol ferry disaster.
2014 Jun 11, Spanish lawmakers
approved the abdication of King Juan Carlos by a wide margin, paving
the way for his son Felipe to take the scandal-hit throne despite
2014 Jun 11, A delegation of
Thai military commanders travelled to China for talks on regional
security and joint training amid Western reproach of the army's
seizure of power in a coup last month.
2014 Jun 11, Authorities in the
US Virgin Islands said chikungunya, a nasty mosquito-borne virus
that has been spreading rapidly in the Caribbean, has made its way
to the 3-island territory.
2014 Jun 11, In Yemen hundreds
of protesters gathered outside the president's house in Sanaa to
call for the fall of the government, angry at a city-wide power cut
about to enter its third day and severe petrol shortages. President
Abbed Rabbo Mansour Hadi ordered a cabinet reshuffle to replace
ministers for oil, electricity and four other portfolios after
several days of power outages and fuel shortages. Government
warplanes conducted strikes against tribesmen suspected of
sabotaging power lines.
(Reuters, 6/11/14)(AP, 6/11/14)(AFP, 6/11/14)
2014 Jun 11 - 2014 Jun 14, In
Iraq militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant killed
between 160 and 190 men in two locations in Tikrit.
2014 Jun 12, US officials
pulled over 130 bales of marijuana, estimated at $2 million in
value, from the water 160 miles off the coast of San Diego after an
air crew spotted a two people on a 40-foot panga tossing the bales
before fleeing toward Mexico.
(SSFC, 6/15/14, p.A10)
2014 Jun 12, In California
Sherri Lynn Wilkins, a substance-abuse counselor, was sentenced to
55 years to life in prison for hitting pedestrian Phillip Moreno
(31) with her car and driving through a Los Angeles suburb with the
dying man on her windshield on Nov 24, 2012.
2014 Jun 12, In Brazil police
in Sao Paulo fired tear gas, stun grenades and rubber bullets to
break up an anti-World Cup protest on the morning the Brazilian
mega-city hosts the tournament's opening match.
2014 Jun 12, Brazil launched
the World Cup with an emotion-fuelled 3-1 victory over Croatia.
2014 Jun 12, In Brazil bus
drivers in northeastern city of Natal went on strike for higher
wages a day before the city’s first World Cup match between Mexico
2014 Jun 12, An Egyptian court
acquitted former Hosni Mubarak interior minister Habib al-Adly of
corruption in a retrial after he had been sentenced to 12 years in
2014 Jun 12, The European Union
said it will finance projects worth 50 million euros ($68 million)
in Moldova as the former Soviet republic prepares to sign an
association agreement with the 28-nation bloc amid protests from
2014 Jun 12, French trade
unions said they will extend for another day a strike that has
caused the worst disruption to the country's rail network in years,
following an inconclusive meeting with the transport minister.
2014 Jun 12, A Berlin court
ordered Germany to pay the heirs of Jewish owners of a department
store chain an additional 50 million euros ($68 million) in
compensation for Schocken family property seized by the Nazis.
2014 Jun 12, Greek authorities
seized a record 1.1 metric tons of heroin, worth more than 30
million euros ($40 million), near Athens and arrested 11 suspected
2014 Jun 12, In eastern India
six men allegedly chopped off a 19-year-old man's fingers before
pouring acid into his eyes following a minor dispute. The man was
attacked when residents objected to him repairing his motorcycle
which had broken down in front of their home in Vanbhaur village,
2014 Jun 12, In India the body
of a woman (19), last seen a day earlier, was found hanging from a
tree in Uttar Pradesh state. Relatives said she was raped and
murdered by two men who had been bothering her.
(SFC, 6/13/14, p.A6)
2014 Jun 12, The Int’l.
Criminal Court at The Hague ruled that Laurent Gbagbo, former
president of Ivory Coast, must stand trial on charges of crimes
against humanity committed as he clung to power after losing the
(SFC, 6/13/14, p.A2)
2014 Jun 12, Iraqi Kurdish
forces took control of the northern oil city of Kirkuk, after
government troops abandoned their posts in the face of a triumphant
Sunni Islamist rebel march towards Baghdad. Sunni militants from the
Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) overran Tikrit and
closed in on the biggest oil refinery in the country, making further
gains in their rapid military advance against the Shi'ite-led
government in Baghdad. The Islamic State killed at least 1,566 Iraqi
Air Force cadets in Tikrit in what came to be called Camp Speicher
massacre. A car bombing in a crowded market in the town of Safwan,
which sits on Iraq's southernmost border with Kuwait, killed 5
people. Militants executed 10 soldiers and policemen near the town
of Riyadh. A suicide bomber blew himself up in Sadr City, killing at
least 38 people. 18 people were killed when a car bomb exploded near
the northern Kadhimiya district, where there is a Shi'ite shrine.
Parliament failed to reach a quorum, preventing it from voting on a
request to announce a state of emergency to deal with a major
2014 Jun 12, In Iraq militants
driving in machine gun-mounted pickups entered the two newly
conquered towns in Diyala province late today — Jalula, 125 km (80
miles) northeast of Baghdad, and Sadiyah, 95 km (60 miles) north of
2014 Jun 12, Israeli teens Eyal
Yifrah (19), Gilad Shaar (16), and Naftali Fraenkel, a 16-year-old
with dual Israeli-American citizenship, disappeared in the West
Bank. Israel blamed Hamas, which has praised the kidnapping, but has
not taken responsibility for it.
2014 Jun 12, Jordan said it has
reached an agreement with Enefit, an Estonian firm, and its partners
on a $2.1 billion contract to build a 540 MW shale-fueled power
(Econ, 6/28/14, p.58)
2014 Jun 12, In Kashmir bomb
explosion killed an Indian army soldier and wounded three others
close to the cease-fire line between longtime rivals India and
2014 Jun 12, The Lithuanian
government said Russian gas giant Gazprom plans to sell its stake in
Lithuanian companies for some 417 million litas ($164 million).
2014 Jun 12, New Zealand raised
its benchmark interest rate for the third time this year to 3.25
2014 Jun 12, A court in
Karachi, Pakistan, ordered the government to remove former military
ruler Pervez Musharraf's name from a no-fly list in 15 days' time.
2014 Jun 12, In Pakistan a
suspected US missile strike killed at least 10 people in Ghulam Khan
town of North Waziristan.
2014 Jun 12, Portugal's
government said it is forgoing the final 2.6 billion-euro ($3.5
billion) instalment of its three-year bailout package because it
cannot meet creditors' deadlines for the latest promised austerity
measures, which have run into legal challenges.
2014 Jun 12, Rwandan and
Congolese troops traded heavy weapons fire in a second day of
skirmishes between two neighbors locked in a decades-long dispute.
2014 Jun 12, In South Africa
the world's biggest platinum producers said they had reached "in
principle undertakings" with union leaders which could end a
2014 Jun 12, Thousands of South
Korean police raided the compound of a splinter religious group for
the second day in a row as part of a manhunt for a fugitive
businessman wanted over April's ferry disaster.
2014 Jun 12, South Korean
police found the body of fugitive billionaire businessman Yoo
Byung-un (73) in an agricultural field in the southern South Korean
city of Suncheon. He was sought over April's ferry disaster that
left more than 300 people dead or missing. The discovery was not
made public until July 22 following DNA confirmation.
(AP, 7/22/14)(Reuters, 7/23/14)
2014 Jun 12, Swiss authorities
said they have arrested Swiss winemaker Dominique Giroud, a spy and
two others on charges of hacking the computers of at least two
2014 Jun 12, In Syria a car
bomb exploded in a pro-government neighborhood of Homs, killing at
least 7 people. A mortar shell hit a Damascus neighborhood and
killed one person. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights in
Britain said about 530 detainees have been released under an amnesty
program announced on June 9.
(AP, 6/12/14)(SFC, 6/13/14, p.A5)
2014 Jun 12, Tunisian police
killed two Islamist militants during clashes near the Algerian
border and seized weapons and bombs.
2014 Jun 12, Ukraine's Pres.
Petro Poroshenko signaled he would be ready to hold talks with
opponents in eastern Ukraine if pro-Russian separatists waging an
insurgency there agreed to lay down their weapons. Interior Minister
Arseny Avakov accused Russia of allowing three tanks and other
military vehicles to cross the border into east Ukraine to help
pro-Russian separatists there.
2014 Jun 13, Pres. Obama spoke
at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota promoting the
need to help reservations create jobs. Some 63% of able workers at
Standing Rock were unemployed. The 2.3 million-acre reservation was
home to some 850 residents.
(SFC, 6/14/14, p.A4)
2014 Jun 13, The IRS released
documents revealing that e-mails sent by IRS official Lois Lerner
from 2010-2011 had been lost when a computer crashed, and that the
backup tapes had been recycled. This was the period when some IRS
staff targeted groups with “Tea Party" or “patriot" in their names
for extra scrutiny ahead of the 2012 elections.
(Econ, 6/21/14, p.30)
2014 Jun 13, Priceline, a
global booking agency, announced that it is acquiring OpenTable, a
SF-based restaurant reservation service, for $2.6 billion.
(SFC, 6/14/14, p.D1)
2014 Jun 13, Dr. Richard
Rockefeller (65) of Falmouth, Maine, crashed in a single-engine
plane just after takeoff from Westchester County Airport outside
NYC. He was the great-grandson of John D. Rockefeller, the
co-founder of Standard Oil.
(SFC, 6/14/14, p.A4)
2014 Jun 13, A federal judge in
Madison, Wis., issued an order postponing her decision striking down
Wisconsin’s ban on same-sex marriage as unconstitutional, pending
the outcome of an expected appeal. More than 550 same-sex couples in
the state cited her June 6 decision in order to get married over the
past seven days.
2014 Jun 13, Gaston Browne
became the new prime minister of the two-island nation of Antigua
and Barbuda after his Labor Party won 14 of 17 seats in the
2014 Jun 13, Croatia's Supreme
Court confirmed a guilty verdict against former PM Ivo Sanader for
taking a bribe from Hungarian oil group MOL in exchange for allowing
it a dominant position in Croatian oil firm INA. The Zagreb County
Court originally sentenced Sanader to 10 years in prison in 2012.
The original verdict was modified to eight years and six months.
2014 Jun 13, In Egypt a
policeman in Cairo's Maadi district was shot and killed from atop a
nearby building while he broke up a pro-Brotherhood protest of about
50 people. Other small protests took place in the provinces of
Sharqiya and Daqahliyah as well as in Assiut, south of Cairo.
2014 Jun 13, In France a Roma
boy named Darius (16) was beaten into a coma in the town of
2014 Jun 13, Iraqi army
helicopters fired rockets on one of the largest mosques in the city
of Tikrit. A representative for Iraq's top Shiite cleric urged
Iraqis to defend their country. Iran's official IRNA news agency
reported that former members of Tehran's powerful Revolutionary
Guard have announced their readiness to fight in Iraq against
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
(Reuters, 6/13/14)(AP, 6/13/14)
2014 Jun 13, Israel's military
said its soldiers are searching the West Bank after three Israeli
teenagers were reported missing.
2014 Jun 13, Israeli men,
colorfully dressed drag queens and others partied through central
Tel Aviv as tens of thousands of people took part in the city's
annual gay pride parade, the largest event of its kind in the Middle
2014 Jun 13, In Italy Venice
mayor Giorgio Orsoni resigned under pressure, a day after being
freed from house arrest under a plea deal linked to a bribery
scandal involving the construction of underwater barriers to protect
the lagoon city from flooding.
2014 Jun 13, In Italy Marcello
Dell'Utri, a longtime ally of former PM Silvio Berlusconi, was
extradited to Italy under Interpol guard and transferred to a prison
in the northern city of Parma. Authorities said he had fled to
Lebanon to escape a prison sentence for Mafia association.
2014 Jun 13, Italian sailors
recovered 10 bodies of migrants after their rubber dinghy sank off
the Libyan coast. Thirty-nine migrants were rescued after the vessel
2014 Jun 13, Jordanian border
guards opened fire on four vehicles trying to enter illegally from
Syria after they ignored orders to stop. State-run news agency did
not say whether anyone was killed or wounded in the incident.
2014 Jun 13, In South Africa’s
Johannesburg-based African Parks group said that since mid-May at
least 68 elephants have been slaughtered by poachers over the last
two months using chain saws and helicopters in the 5,000 square km
(1,900 square mile) Garamba National Park in Congo.
2014 Jun 13, South Korea's
Pres. Park Geun-hye replaced seven Cabinet members in an apparent
bid to win back sagging public trust in her administration after
April's ferry disaster.
2014 Jun 13, The Spanish
government said it has approved legislation to sell 49 percent of
the national aviation authority AENA and also open up one of the
country's passenger rail routes to a private operator.
2014 Jun 13, Thailand's
military government fully lifted a curfew it imposed nationwide
after seizing power last month, saying there is no threat of
2014 Jun 13, Thailand deported
Moua Toua Ter, a former ethnic Hmong resistance leader, to Laos
after being held in Bangkok since March last year. He had been
sheltering in Thailand for eight years while seeking resettlement in
a third country.
2014 Jun 13, Ukraine's interior
minister said that government troops have reclaimed the southern
port of Mariupol, the second-largest city in the Donetsk region,
from pro-Russian separatists. Rebel leaders confirmed they have
2014 Jun 13, Ukraine said it
was ready to pay a compromise price for Russian natural gas for 18
months to avert the threat of Moscow cutting off supplies and allow
time to reach a long-term pricing agreement.
2014 Jun 13, In Yemen 4
soldiers and 5 suspected Al-Qaeda militants were killed in two
separate attacks in the south.
2014 Jun 14, Pres. Obama
intervened in a commuter rail strike in Philadelphia, granting Gov.
Tom Corbett’s request to create an emergency board to mediate a
(SSFC, 6/15/14, p.A10)
2014 Jun 14, In Texas two
people fled a car in Houston after running a red light and hitting
another car leaving 3 teenagers dead and 3 others injured.
(SSFC, 6/15/14, p.A10)
2014 Jun 14, Afghan insurgents
cut the index fingers off nearly a dozen voters in Herat province
and killed 11 other people, including four election workers, to
punish them for voting in the presidential runoff. A minibus hit an
improvised explosive device in the northern Samangan province,
killing 6 women, one child and 4 men in the provincial capital
Aybak. Kandahar province police raided a building that had been
occupied by the Taliban the day before, setting off clashes in which
police shot dead two would-be suicide bombers but were unable to
prevent another two from blowing themselves up, killing 3 policemen
and wounding another 2.
2014 Jun 14, In Bangladesh
arson attacks and clashes between local residents and Urdu-speaking
stateless people left 10 people dead in Dhaka.
2014 Jun 14, A Cambodian
official said Cambodian workers were leaving Thailand in growing
numbers, with the total who have returned to their homeland this
month topping 160,000. Rights groups say Thai authorities are
coercing the Cambodians to go home and abusing them.
(SSFC, 6/15/14, p.A6)(AP, 6/16/14)
2014 Jun 14, China’s corruption
watchdog said Su Rong, the vice-chairman of China's top
parliamentary advisory body, has been put under investigation for
serious "disciplinary violations," usually Chinese Communist Party
shorthand for graft.
2014 Jun 14, China began
building a school on tiny Yongxing island in the South China Sea to
serve the children of military personnel and others for the
settlement of Sansha, created in 2012. It is part of the Paracel
chain, which is also claimed by Vietnam.
2014 Jun 14, Egyptian security
forces confiscated copies of Wasla (Link), a human rights group's
newsletter, saying the publication threatened the government.
2014 Jun 14, In Haiti Jules
Lionel Anelus, a member of the Chamber of Deputies, lost control of
his car and slammed into a small passenger bus killing 11 people in
Saint Marc. Anelus was injured in the crash.
(SFC, 6/16/14, p.A2)
2014 Jun 14, Iraqi security
forces found the burned bodies of 12 policemen when they recaptured
Ishaqi, Salaheddin province, from militants. An Iraqi air strike hit
a convoy of Kurdish forces, which have moved into an area of eastern
Iraq during a militant offensive, killing six fighters.
(AFP, 6/14/14)(AFP, 6/15/14)
2014 Jun 14, In southwest
Pakistan a guard for Handery Masieh, a provincial Christian
lawmaker, shot and killed the legislator during a meeting in Quetta.
2014 Jun 14, The Philippines
said it filed a protest last week with Beijing for reclaiming land
on a disputed South China Sea reef, the fourth such complaint in
2014 Jun 14, Polish magazine
Wprost published a recording in which central bank head Marek Belka
told Interior Minister Bartlomiej Sienkiewicz last July that he
would help the government get out of financial trouble if it fired
the finance minister.
2014 Jun 14, In eastern Syria a
strong explosion struck a weapons market in Mayadeen near the border
with Iraq, killing at least 8 people and wounding many others. State
TV said 30 terrorists were killed in the blast.
2014 Jun 14, Turkey said it has
temporarily pulled its diplomatic staff out of the Libyan city of
Benghazi and urged its nationals to leave the east of the country
amid mounting security concerns.
2014 Jun 14, In Ukraine
pro-Russia separatists shot down a Ukrainian military transport
plane as it approached the airport at Luhansk, killing all 49 crew
and troops aboard in a bloody escalation of the conflict in the
country's restive east.
2014 Jun 14, In Tanzania a bomb
explosion killed one person and wounded at least seven in front of a
mosque near Zanzibar's capital Stone Town.
2014 Jun 14, In southern Yemen
a suspected US drone targeted a car carrying al-Qaida militants,
killing all five passengers.
2014 Jun 15, In Newark, New
Jersey, a fire in a single-family home killed 6 people.
(SFC, 6/16/14, p.A5)
2014 Jun 15, In Pennsylvania
Jeff Hooten (47), the pilot of a hot air balloon, fell from the
basket while trying to land near Philadelphia and died after
becoming trapped under it.
(SFC, 6/17/14, p.A7)
2014 Jun 15, The body of
Gilberto Francisco Ramos Juarez (15), a teenager from Guatemala, was
found in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas. He had likely died
from exposure as he made his way north.
(SSFC, 7/13/14, p.A7)
2014 Jun 15, US medical device
manufacturer Medtronic said it has agreed to buy Ireland-based
competitor Covidien for $42.9 billion in cash and stock.
2014 Jun 15, Colombian voters
went to the polls in a runoff between President Juan Manuel Santos
(62) and right wing rival Oscar Ivan Zuluaga (55). President Juan
Manuel Santos won re-election with almost 51% of the vote. Zuluaga
trailed with 45%.
(AP, 6/15/14)(Reuters, 6/16/14)
2014 Jun 15, Egyptian security
forces said they have seized the Zad chain of supermarkets owned by
Khairat el-Shater and the Seoudi chain of Abdulrahman el-Seoud, two
leading figures of the Muslim Brotherhood, as part of the
government's crackdown against the banned organization.
2014 Jun 15, Indian PM Narendra
Modi began his first visit abroad since taking office, arriving in
Bhutan to launch a drive to reassert Indian influence in the region.
2014 Jun 15, In India an angry
mob of workers wielding iron rods and stones beat the CEO of a West
Bengal jute factory to death in a dispute over increasing their
2014 Jun 15, An Iraqi spokesman
said security forces have killed 279 "terrorists" in the past 24
hours, as they pushed back against a major militant offensive. A
series of explosions in Baghdad killed at least 19 people and
injured over 40. Mortar rounds smashed into a central Iraq
recruitment center for civilians volunteering to fight a militant
offensive, killing 6 people. Sunni militants attacked Tal Afar.
Images posted by ISIL militants indicated some 170 Iraqi soldiers
killed following the June 12 capture of Tikrit. A claim of 1,700
killed was not confirmed.
(AFP, 6/15/14)(Reuters, 6/15/14)(AP,
6/16/14)(SFC, 6/16/14, p.A4)
2014 Jun 15, Israeli troops
arrested some 80 Palestinians, including dozens of members of Hamas,
in an overnight raid in the West Bank as PM Benjamin Netanyahu
accused the Islamic militant group of kidnapping three teenagers who
went missing nearly three days ago.
2014 Jun 15, In Kenya at least
50 people were killed after suspected al Shabaab gunmen in two
minibuses sped into Mpeketoni town on the coast, shooting soccer
fans watching a World Cup match in a television hall and targeting
two hotels, a police post and a bank.
(Reuters, 6/16/14)(AP, 6/17/14)
2014 Jun 15, In Kosovo
parliamentary candidate Elvis Pista, from the party of PM Hashim
Thaci, was shot dead one week after an inconclusive general election
in the tiny Balkan nation.
2014 Jun 15, In Libya renegade
Gen. Khalifa Haftar launched an offensive against Islamist militants
in the eastern city of Benghazi, prompting dozens of families to
flee the port in the latest bout of turmoil to hit the North African
oil-producing nation. A ground assault left 5 people dead.
(Reuters, 6/15/14)(SFC, 6/16/14, p.A2)
2014 Jun 15, In Libya American
commandoes seized Ahmed Abu Khattala. He and the Ansar al-Shariah
militant group were accused by the US of involvement in the 2012
attack on its consulate in Benghazi that left 4 Americans dead,
including Ambassador Chris Stevens.
(AP, 6/18/14)(SFC, 6/18/14, p.A3)
2014 Jun 15, NATO
Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said NATO is preparing
measures to help Ukraine defend itself in its stand-off with Russia,
and must adapt to the fact that Moscow now views it as an adversary.
2014 Jun 15, In Nigeria at
least 4 people were killed and houses torched in ethnic clashes
between rival groups in eastern Taraba state. Media reported that
more than 25 people were feared dead after the clash. At least 15
people were killed when suspected Boko Haram gunmen stormed a market
in the farming community of Daku, Borno state.
(Reuters, 6/16/14)(AFP, 6/16/14)
2014 Jun 15, Pakistan's army
launched Operation Zarb e-Azb (strike of the Prophet’s sword), a
"comprehensive operation" against militants holed up in the tribal
North Waziristan region. As many as 100 militants were reported
(Reuters, 6/15/14)(AP, 6/15/14)(Econ, 7/12/14,
2014 Jun 15, Slovakia
inaugurated Andrej Kiska (51) its 4th president since independence
in 1993. He vowed continued cooperation with the EU and NATO amid
concerns about security in neighboring Ukraine.
2014 Jun 15, In southwestern
Sri Lanka hard-line Buddhists hurled gasoline bombs and looted homes
and businesses in attacks in several Muslim towns, killing 3 Muslims
and seriously wounding more than 50 people. The attacks were led by
a mob from Bodu Bala Sena, or Buddhist Power Force, which rails
against the country's Muslim minority.
2014 Jun 15, Syrian government
forces retook Kasab, ousting rebels from the village on the Turkish
border in the coastal heartland of President Bashar al-Assad's
Alawite minority sect.
2014 Jun 15, Ukraine’s
President Petro Poroshenko declared a day of mourning and vowed to
punish those responsible after pro-Russia separatists shot down a
Ukrainian military transport plane a day earlier.
2014 Jun 15, In southern Yemen
a suspected Al-Qaeda gunman opened fire on a minibus carrying staff
members from a military hospital in Aden, killing 8 people.
2014 Jun 16, Pres. Obama
notified congress that up to 275 soldiers could be sent to Iraq to
protect the US Embassy and other American interests.
(AP, 6/17/14)(SFC, 6/17/14, p.A1)
2014 Jun 16, Secretary of State
John Kerry said the Obama administration is willing to talk with
Iran over deteriorating security conditions in Iraq.
2014 Jun 16, The US Supreme
Court has ruled that holders of defaulted Argentine bonds can force
the South American country to reveal where its assets are held
around the world. Pres. Cristina Fernandez refused to go along with
a US judge's ruling requiring a $1.5 billion repayment of defaulted
(AP, 6/16/14)(AP, 6/17/14)
2014 Jun 16, Pilger, Nebraska,
home to about 350 people, took a direct hit from one of an estimated
four tornadoes that the US National Weather Service tracked across
the northeast part of the state. The tornadoes left at least two
people dead. More than half of the town was destroyed.
(AP, 6/17/14)(SFC, 6/17/14, p.A12)
2014 Jun 16, Oklahoma Highway
Patrol Officer Jerrod Martin shot and killed Joshua Stand following
a call about a man walking in the street with a weapon. In 2017
Stands estate settled a civil rights lawsuit for $175,000. Court
records said Stand had a closed pocket knife and posed no immediate
threat to anyone.
2014 Jun 16, General Motors
said it is recalling 3.36 million cars because they might suddenly
switch off if their keys are carrying extra weight and the vehicles
experience a jarring event.
(SFC, 6/17/14, p.D6)
2014 Jun 16, In Afghanistan a
roadside bomb planted by the Afghan Taliban killed 5 civilians from
the same family in Kandahar province.
2014 Jun 16, In southern
Albania hundreds of police, backed by armored vehicles, stormed
Lazarat village after suspected marijuana growers allegedly fired
rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and machine guns at officers
during a drug raid.
2014 Jun 16, Bhutan promised it
will not allow its territory to be used against India, an early
success for Indian PM Narendra Modi's region-wide drive to shore up
diplomatic relations with neighbors in return for stronger economic
2014 Jun 16, In Brazil a
suspected Mexican drug trafficker wanted in the United States was
arrested in Rio de Janeiro as he tried to board a plane to watch
Mexico play in the World Cup soccer competition.
2014 Jun 16, Britain said it
would ban the Sunni Islamist insurgent group the Islamic State of
Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), whose stunning offensive in northern
Iraq in the past week has spurred fears of all-out sectarian warfare
in the Middle East.
2014 Jun 16, Britain's food
safety watchdog said you should not wash a chicken before cooking
it, because washing raw chicken spreads the campylobacter bacteria.
2014 Jun 16, Chinese Premier Li
Keqiang arrived in Britain on a 3-day visit that included a planned
meeting with Queen Elizabeth II and talks aimed at boosting fragile
2014 Jun 16, China executed 13
people for terrorism and violent crimes in the restive Xinjiang
2014 Jun 16, In Egypt clashes
between security forces and Islamist supporters of deposed President
Mohammed Morsi left one policeman dead in southern Cairo.
2014 Jun 16, In northern India
two crowded buses went out of control and fell off roads in separate
accidents in the Himalayan foothills, killing a total of 21 people.
2014 Jun 16, In Iraq Sunni
militants captured Tal Afar, a strategic city along the highway to
Syria. Interior Ministry spokesman, Brig. Gen. Saad Maan Ibrahim,
told a press conference that Iraqi security forces killed 56
"terrorists" and wounded 21 in operations just outside the capital
over the last 24 hours.
2014 Jun 16, Israeli armed
forces swept through half a dozen Palestinian towns and arrested
more Hamas officials, expanding a search for three teenagers into a
crackdown on the Islamist group accused of abducting them.
2014 Jun 16, In Kenya an attack
in Majembeni village left 10 people died. Majembeni is next to
Mpeketoni where four dozen people were slaughtered a day earlier.
2014 Jun 16, In Mali a jail
break in Bamako left at least two people dead as 22 prisoners
2014 Jun 16, Netherlands-based
Greenpeace said it has suffered a 3.8 million-euro ($5.2 million)
loss on an ill-timed bet in the currency market by a
well-intentioned — if reckless — employee in its finance department.
2014 Jun 16, Pakistani fighter
jets pounded North Waziristan and said 37 terrorists were killed. At
least six Pakistani soldiers were killed when a roadside bomb hit an
army convoy just north of Miranshah. Police said Omar Jillani, an
intelligence official and nephew of Pakistan's powerful chief
justice, was kidnapped in the eastern city of Multan by suspected
(Reuters, 6/16/14)(AP, 6/16/14)
2014 Jun 16, Russia cut gas
supplies to Ukraine as a payment deadline passed and negotiators
failed to reach a deal on gas prices and unpaid bills amid continued
fighting in eastern Ukraine. Gazprom announced that it is suing
Ukraine's state energy company Naftogaz in an international court
for the $4.5 billion. Naftogaz said it has also filed a suit against
Gazprom, seeking a "fair and market-based price" for gas, as well as
a repayment of $6 billion for what it said were overpayments for gas
2014 Jun 16, In Spain a Madrid
court sentenced ETA member Juan Ramon Carasatorre Aldaz (52) to 29
years for the killing of infantry brigadier Mariano de Juan
Santamaria, who was shot in the head on April 10, 1995, in the
northern city of San Sebastian.
2014 Jun 16, Spanish police
detained eight people in Madrid on suspicion of recruiting jihadi
militants for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL.
2014 Jun 16, Syrian military
helicopters dropped barrel bombs on a rebel-held neighborhood in
Aleppo, cleaving the fronts of apartment buildings and killing at
least 24 people. In the east a car bomb in the town of
al-Shamatiyeh, likely planted by ISIL, killed 7 people including a
judge from the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front and a commander of Ahrar
al-Sham, another hardline Islamist group.
(AP, 6/16/14)(Reuters, 6/17/14)
2014 Jun 16, In Tajikistan
Alexander Sodikov, a Tajik political science student in Canada
employed by Britain’s Univ. of Exeter, was detained by secret police
while conducting research in Gorno-Badakhshan.
(Econ, 6/28/14, p.36)
2014 Jun 16, Ukraine’s
President Petro Poroshenko called for a truce in east Ukraine, where
his government faces a rebellion by pro-Russian separatists, to
provide time to seek agreement on a peace plan.
2014 Jun 16, In Venezuela at
least 20 people were killed and 10 were wounded when a bus driving
toward Caracas crashed after the driver lost control.
2014 Jun 17, Georgia inmate
Marcus Wellons was executed by lethal injection for killing his
neighbor (15) in 1989.
(SFC, 6/18/14, p.A9)
2014 Jun 17, Missouri inmate
John Winfield was executed by lethal injection for killing two St.
Louis County women in 1996.
(SFC, 6/18/14, p.A9)
2014 Jun 17, US authorities in
Philadelphia arrested Johann Breyer (89) after a German warrant
charged him with 158 counts of complicity in the killing of Jews
while he was a guard at Auschwitz in 1944. Breyer died on July 22,
hours before a ruling on his extradition to Germany.
(SFC, 6/19/14, p.A9)(SFC, 7/24/14, p.A8)
2014 Jun 17, American Airlines
said that it will cut nearly 80 percent of its flights to Venezuela
in a dispute over revenue being held by the South American country.
2014 Jun 17, Anthony
Goldschmidt (b.1942), American designer of posters for top movies,
died in Los Angeles.
(SSFC, 7/6/14, p.C9)
2014 Jun 17, Austrian police
said a Romanian woman (40) was imprisoned, raped and repeatedly
beaten in a house in Styria for more than a month before escaping
when her attacker got drunk. Police arrested a Romanian man (49) in
connection with the imprisonment and attacks.
2014 Jun 17, In southern
Albania near-continuous gunfire rang out from the lawless village of
Lazarat as hundreds more police arrived to battle well-armed
marijuana growers who were trying to thwart a government crackdown.
2014 Jun 17, In England Nahid
Almanea (31), a Saudi student, died after she was stabbed 16 times
while walking on a public path in Colchester, northeast of London.
She was wearing a full-length Muslim robe and a headscarf and had
been studying English as part of an advanced degree program.
2014 Jun 17, Chinese premier Li
Keqiang began his visit to Britain with a meeting with Queen
Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle. He then traveled to central London
for a formal inspection of British soldiers and a meeting with PM
David Cameron at his office in Downing Street. Mr Li, who was
accompanied by a large business delegation, formally agreed during
the trip to commercial deals and investments worth £14bn ($24
billion) in areas such as energy and finance.
(AP, 6/17/14)(Econ, 7/19/14, p.11)
2014 Jun 17, In China an
accidental explosion killed 17 soldiers as they were stacking
ammunition in Hengyang, Hunan province.
(SFC, 6/19/14, p.A2)
2014 Jun 17, In England a
unanimous jury decision at Birmingham Crown Court found two
Singaporean businessmen and a footballer guilty of involvement in a
match-fixing conspiracy targeting English lower league games.
2014 Jun 17, Egypt released
Abdullah Elshamy (26), a jailed Al-Jazeera journalist, citing health
conditions. Elshamy had been on a hunger strike for over four months
to protest his prolonged detention without charges.
(SFC, 6/18/14, p.A2)
2014 Jun 17, French riot police
clashed with striking train workers, who hurled bottles and blocked
traffic in anger over a bill to reform the state-run railway system.
2014 Jun 17, Iran and six world
powers re-launched talks to rescue prospects for a deal on Tehran's
nuclear activity by a July deadline.
2014 Jun 17, In Iraq
pro-government Shiite militiamen killed nearly four dozen Sunni
detainees after insurgents tried to storm a jail and free them
northeast of Baghdad. 9 of the attackers were reported killed. The
Iraqi military, however, insisted the inmates were killed when the
attackers shelled the facility. In central Baghdad a sticky bomb
attached to a car went off, killing 3 passengers and wounding 11
2014 Jun 17, In Iraq gunmen
loyal to the rebel Free Syrian Army and Al-Qaeda's Syrian franchise
Al-Nusra Front took control of Al-Qaim, the Iraqi side of a border
crossing with Syria, after security forces withdrew. They had
already controlled the Syrian side of the crossing.
2014 Jun 17, Israel’s security
cabinet agreed to make more arrests, put up roadblocks and turn
Palestinian houses into military observation posts to increase
pressure on Hamas for the kidnapping of three youths after they left
their religious school in a Jewish settlement on June 12.
2014 Jun 17, Kenya's president
blamed political leaders inside Kenya for carrying out two nights of
deadly attacks that killed at least 60 people in coastal
communities, saying that despite claims of responsibility from
al-Shabab, the Islamic extremists were not behind it.
2014 Jun 17, A Liberian judge
sentenced 13 men to life in prison for "mercenary activity" in
neighboring Ivory Coast in 2011-2012.
2014 Jun 17, A Liberian a
health official said 7 people believed to have the Ebola virus have
died in recent days in the first deaths reported in Monrovia since
the outbreak began. 16 people were now believed to have died from
the virus in the West African country.
2014 Jun 17, In Nigeria at
least 14 people were killed and 26 wounded in a bomb blast as soccer
fans were viewing the Brazil-Mexico match in Damaturu, Yobe state. A
“terror kingpin" was reported captured among 486 suspects in a
convoy of 33 buses in Enugu state.
(AP, 6/18/14)(SFC, 6/19/14, p.A6)
2014 Jun 17, Pakistani police
clashed with followers of an anti-Taliban cleric critical of
Pakistan's government in the eastern city of Lahore. The violence
killed at least 7 people. Cleric Tahir-ul-Qadri is based in Canada
but has a network of mosques and religious centers across Pakistan.
(AP, 6/17/14)(SFC, 6/18/14, p.A2)
2014 Jun 17, The Pakistani
military said combat aircraft destroyed a bomb making factory in the
tribal region of North Waziristan and at least 25 militants were
killed in a wave of air strikes.
2014 Jun 17, The Syrian Islamic
Council, a group of Sunni clerics that back the mainstream rebels,
formally condemned ISIS as a stooge of Pres. Assad.
(Econ, 6/21/14, p.46)
2014 Jun 17, Ukraine received
500 million euros ($680 million) from the EU to help stabilize the
country and shore up its ailing economy.
2014 Jun 17, In Ukraine Russian
correspondent Igor Kornelyuk (37) died during surgery in a hospital
after being wounded by mortar fire while on assignment in Luhansk.
Sound engineer Viktor Denisov was also confirmed dead.
(AP, 6/17/14)(SFC, 6/18/14, p.A2)
2014 Jun 17, In central Ukraine
an explosion rocked the main pipeline carrying Russian natural gas
to the rest of Europe but a source at Russian gas producer Gazprom
said the blast has not disrupted the gas flow.
2014 Jun 18, A US military
judged arraigned Guantanamo prisoner Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi on five
war crime charges. He was captured in Turkey in October 2007.
(SFC, 6/19/14, p.A4)
2014 Jun 18, Florida executed
John Ruthell Henry (63) for the 1985 fatal stabbing of his wife and
(SFC, 6/19/14, p.A8)
2014 Jun 18, Amazon introduced
its new Fire smart phone with the ability to render images in 3-D.
It will be available July 25 in the US exclusively through AT&T.
Cost with no contract will be $650-$750.
(SFC, 6/19/14, p.C1)
2014 Jun 18, Afghan
presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah suspended relations with
the country’s election commission and called on it to halt vote
counting Wednesday in an escalation of fraud allegations threatening
to disrupt what was supposed to be the country's first peaceful
transfer of authority.
2014 Jun 18, Cuban health
authorities confirmed the country's first six cases of chikungunya
fever, a debilitating, mosquito-borne virus that is suspected of
afflicting tens of thousands across the Caribbean since its arrival
in the region last year.
2014 Jun 18, Cyprus raised 750
million euros ($1.017 million) from international markets with its
first public issue of bonds since last year's international bailout
saved it from bankruptcy.
2014 Jun 18, An Egyptian court
sentenced 12 supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi
to death on charges connected to the fatal shooting of a police
general last year.
2014 Jun 18, The Indian
government said 40 Indian construction workers have been seized near
Iraq's second-largest city, Mosul, which ISIL and allied Sunni
fighters captured last week. The Turkish Foreign Ministry said its
diplomats were investigating a Turkish media report that militants
grabbed 60 foreign construction workers, including some 15 Turks,
near the northern Iraqi oil city of Kirkuk.
2014 Jun 18, Indonesian
officials officially shut a massive prostitution complex in Surabaya
amid protests by sex workers, who said their livelihoods were being
destroyed. Tri Rismaharini, the first female mayor of Surabaya, had
pledged to close down all brothels in the city.
2014 Jun 18, An apparently
overloaded boat carrying Indonesian illegal migrants heading home
for Ramadan sank overnight in rough seas off western Malaysia. 27
people were missing and 9 were confirmed dead. Nine people were
missing after a boat carrying 27 Indonesian workers overturned off
Malaysia's west coast in a 2nd similar accident. By the weekend the
confirmed death toll from two boat accidents rose to 16 with dozens
of others still missing.
(AFP, 6/18/14)(AP, 6/19/14)(AFP, 6/22/14)
2014 Jun 18, Iraqi security
forces battled insurgents targeting the country's main oil refinery
and said it had regained partial control of Tal Afar, a city near
the Syrian border. Fighting shut the Baiji refinery.
(AP, 6/18/14)(Econ, 6/21/14, p.71)
2014 Jun 18, Iraq's autonomous
Kurdish region formed a new government after months of wrangling,
with premier Nechirvan Barzani using the occasion to call for
defending disputed northern territory.
2014 Jun 18, Israel tightened
its grip on the West Bank, arresting another 65 people, as
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas lashed out at those behind the
disappearance of three Israeli teenagers.
2014 Jun 18, Japan's parliament
passed a law which bans possession of child pornography, but
excludes sexually explicit depictions of children in comics,
animation and computer graphics.
2014 Jun 18, Mexico’s
government said Michoacan Gov. Fausto Vallejo (65) has left his post
for health reasons. Local media recently posted a purported picture
of his son in a meeting with Knights Templar cartel leader Servando
(SFC, 6/19/14, p.A2)
2014 Jun 18, The Moroccan
Association of Human Rights (AMDH) said the repression of peaceful
protests in in the country is growing.
2014 Jun 18, In Morocco some
400 sub-Saharan migrants stormed Spain's multiple-barbed-wire border
fences separating its North African enclave of Melilla from Morocco,
but failed in their bid to enter Europe.
2014 Jun 18, In Pakistan a
suspected US drone strike targeting a militant hideout near the
Afghan border killed four men. Residents of a Taliban-infested
region in the northwest, where the military launched a major
offensive, began to flee after authorities lifted a curfew there.
2014 Jun 18, Rwandan journalist
Agnes Uwimana Nkusi was released after four years in jail for
writing articles critical of President Paul Kagame.
2014 Jun 18, In Somalia a
doctor and a nurse were killed and seven others wounded when a car
bomb exploded at a hospital in Mogadishu.
(AFP, 6/18/14)(SFC, 6/19/14, p.A2)
2014 Jun 18, Syrian helicopter
gunships targeted refugees near the Jordanian border killing at
least 7 people.
(SFC, 6/19/14, p.A7)
2014 Jun 18, A Turkish court
convicted the only two surviving leaders of the country's 1980
military coup of crimes against the state and sentenced them to life
imprisonment. Kenan Evren (96), the military chief of staff who led
the takeover and went on to serve as president until 1989, and
Tahsin Sahinkaya (89), a former air force chief, had been on trial
(AP, 6/18/14)(Econ, 6/28/14, p.45)
2014 Jun 18, A criminal court
in Istanbul ordered the release of 230 military officers convicted
of plotting to topple PM Tayyip Erdogan, a day after the country's
top court ruled their trial was flawed. A retrial was ordered.
(Reuters, 6/19/14)(Econ, 6/28/14, p.45)
2014 Jun 18, Uganda's
government banned one of the country's main TV stations from
covering presidential events after it aired images which it said
showed Pres. Yoweri Museveni having a snooze in parliament.
2014 Jun 18, Ukrainian
President Petro Poroshenko set out proposals for a peace plan for
eastern Ukraine involving a unilateral ceasefire by government
forces. This followed a late-night telephone call with Russian
President Vladimir Putin.
2014 Jun 18, The World Health
Organization said an Ebola outbreak continues to spread in Guinea,
Liberia and Sierra Leone, and the death toll in the outbreak has
risen to more than 330.
2014 Jun 19, A California state
auditor blasted federal and state oversight of sterilization
surgeries for female prison inmates after finding more than a
quarter of 144 tubal ligations, performed from 2006 to 2013, were
done without lawful consent.
(SFC, 6/20/14, p.A1)
2014 Jun 19, Gerry Goffin
(b.1939), pop lyricist, died at his home in Los Angeles. During the
1960s he and his then wife Carole King wrote such songs “A Natural
Woman," “Take Good Care of My Baby," Up on the Roof," “The
Loco-Motion," and “Will You Love Me Tomorrow" (1960).
(SSFC, 6/22/14, p.C5)
2014 Jun 19, In eastern
Afghanistan four Taliban militants struck a NATO post in Nangarhar
province, destroying dozens of trucks and sparking a gun battle with
2014 Jun 19, Australia's
highest court ruled that it is unconstitutional for the federal
government to fund a program that provides chaplains to schools.
2014 Jun 19, In Bulgaria flash
floods killed at least 12 people including two children, with others
missing after torrential rains lashed the east of the country.
2014 Jun 19, China said it is
moving a second oil rig closer to Vietnam's coast, showing its
determination to press its territorial claims and continue searching
for resources in disputed waters despite a tense confrontation with
Vietnam over another oil rig to the south.
2014 Jun 19, In eastern China a
court sentenced to up to 6 ½ years in prison three activists who
were part of a nascent civil rights movement that has urged
government officials to publicly disclose their assets. A court in
southern Guangxi region sentenced to death He Shenguo, who killed
two government workers and injured four other people in an argument
related to the one-child policy.
2014 Jun 19, Chinese PM Li
Keqiang arrived on an official three-day visit to Greece, which the
Greek government hopes will lead to trade and investment deals that
will boost the recession-plagued economy.
2014 Jun 19, Chinese
authorities arrested 11 North Koreans who had fled their country and
will likely deport them back to the North where they could face
2014 Jun 19, Growing numbers of
French railway employees returned to work after lawmakers voted to
approve the broad outline of a railway reform that has triggered a
2014 Jun 19, An injured German
caver was hauled out of the country's deepest cavern by a
multinational rescue operation that involved more than 700 people.
Johann Westhauser (52), an experienced caver, had gone into the
Riesending cave system in the Alps with two companion on June 8 and
was injured during a rock fall.
2014 Jun 19, It was reported
that India is cracking down on foreign-funded charities after
receiving an internal report alleging they are costing the country
up to 3 percent of its GDP by rallying communities against polluting
2014 Jun 19, In Iraq Col. Ali
al-Qureishi told state-run Iraqiya television by telephone that the
Beiji oil facility remained under his control. He said his forces
had killed nearly 100 militants since June 17. The Beiji refinery
accounts for just over a quarter of the country's entire refining
2014 Jun 19, In Iraq the
bullet-riddled bodies of 4 handcuffed men, presumably Sunnis, were
discovered in the Shiite Baghdad district of Abu Dashir. A roadside
bomb hit a police patrol on a highway in the east of Baghdad,
killing 2 police officers and wounding two. A car bomb also exploded
inside a parking lot in Baghdad's southeastern Shiite neighborhood
of New Baghdad, killing 3 people and wounding seven.
2014 Jun 19, Israeli forces
traded gunfire with Palestinians in the fiercest street battles in
the occupied West Bank since a search began for three Israeli
teenagers missing for a week. 30 "terror suspects" were detained in
the West Bank, bringing to 280 the number of Palestinians taken into
custody over the past week.
2014 Jun 19, An Israeli court
sentenced former Jerusalem mayor Uri Lupolianski to six years in
prison for his part in a corruption scandal involving ex-premier
2014 Jun 19, Kenyan fighter
jets attacked two bases belonging to Islamist al Shabaab insurgents
in Somalia and killed at least 80 militants. Al Shabaab rebels
denied any of its fighters had been killed.
2014 Jun 19, In Pakistan
thousands of refugees poured out of North Waziristan, terrified by
both state troops and Taliban insurgents fighting for control of the
2014 Jun 19, Philippine
security forces battled Abu Sayyaf militants in the south in fierce
clashes that killed 6 troops and 10 rebels. A military investigation
concluded on July 10 that friendly fire and not Muslim extremists
killed six elite army soldiers during the clash.
(AP, 6/19/14)(AP, 7/10/14)
2014 Jun 19, In Spain divorced
former journalist, Letizia Ortiz, became Spain's first commoner
queen when her husband, Felipe VI (46), was sworn in as king.
2014 Jun 19, In Syria a car
bomb exploded near a school in the pro-government Nazha district of
Homs, killing 3 people and wounding nine.
2014 Jun 19, Ukrainian troops
and pro-Russian separatists were locked in fierce fighting in the
east after rebels rejected a call to lay down their arms in line
with a peace plan proposed by Pres. Petro Poroshenko.
2014 Jun 20, A US State
Department blacklist included Thailand and Malaysia for their
failure to meet minimum standards in fighting human trafficking.
2014 Jun 20, The US issued new
sanctions against seven Ukraine separatists accused of stoking
violence against their capital in Kiev.
2014 Jun 20, Former driver
Peter Malaszuk filed suit against imprisoned hedge-fund founder Raj
Rajaratnam in US District Court alleging that Rajaratnam gave him
names and contact information for the family members of inmates who
were to receive money. He says the cash was meant to secure special
treatment in prison for Rajaratnam, who is serving an 11-year
sentence for insider trading at a minimum-security facility in
2014 Jun 20, Afghanistan's
president Hamid Karzai said that he was in favor of the UN
intervening in the presidential election after one of the candidates
dropped out of the process over allegations of mass fraud. Guards in
a provincial governor's convoy traded gunfire with policemen at a
checkpoint, prompting clashes that left four of the guards dead and
four policemen wounded in Balkh province. A mortar shell slammed
into a home in Nangarhar province, killing one child and wounding
(Reuters, 6/20/14)(AP, 6/20/14)
2014 Jun 20, In southern
Afghanistan 3 US troops and a working dog were killed by a bomb
2014 Jun 20, Albanian police
declared victory over drug producers who for more than 15 years had
run the southern village of Lazarat as a personal fief, churning out
marijuana on an industrial scale untouched by the NATO member state.
Police said most of the ringleaders had escaped under cover of
2014 Jun 20, A British husband
and wife were convicted of murdering the woman's parents, burying
their bodies and collecting their pension checks for 15 years. A
jury at Nottingham Crown Court found Susan and Christopher Edwards
guilty of shooting William and Patricia Wycherly in May 1998.
2014 Jun 20, In China
assailants stabbed two police officers guarding a security
checkpoint in a village in Qaraqash county, Xinjiang, and set fire
to a room in which three other officers were sleeping, killing all
2014 Jun 20, In Egypt two
people were killed in Cairo in clashes during demonstrations by
supporters of ousted Islamist president Morsi.
2014 Jun 20, Estonian PM Taavi
Roivas urged NATO to establish a permanent presence in the Baltic
state in response to Russia's actions in Ukraine.
2014 Jun 20, European Union
finance ministers in Luxembourg agreed on a reform to close a
loophole that allowed companies to shift some of their profits
between different country divisions to avoid taxation.
2014 Jun 20, Tens of thousands
of Hong Kongers voted in an unofficial referendum on democratic
reform that has alarmed Beijing and sets the stage for a possible
showdown with the government, with mass protests aimed at shutting
down the Chinese capitalist enclave's financial district.
2014 Jun 20, Iran and six
powers made some progress on drafting the wording of a nuclear deal,
but key sections of the document were left blank. Iranian Foreign
Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said full agreement was possible at
the next round, in Vienna on July 2.
2014 Jun 20, Iran’s state TV
reported that a court in Kerman province has convicted two men on
charges of spying for Britain and Israel and sentenced them to 10
and five years in prison, respectively.
2014 Jun 20, In Iraq Grand
Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the spiritual leader of the Shiite
majority, called for a new, "effective" government, increasing
pressure on PM Maliki as an offensive by Sunni militants rages on.
2014 Jun 20, Iraqi Kurdistan
looked set to unload in Israel a first cargo of disputed crude oil
from its new pipeline after weeks of seeking an outlet as Iraq's
central government has threatened legal action against any buyer.
2014 Jun 20, Israeli soldiers
killed Mohammed Dudin (15), a Palestinian boy, in clashes during
West Bank raids. 3 other Palestinians were seriously wounded by army
gunfire during raids in four towns and refugee camps, as a search
for three Israeli teens feared abducted in the territory entered its
(Reuters, 6/20/14)(AP, 6/20/14)
2014 Jun 20, Kenya's Interior
Ministry said security forces have shot and killed five people
suspected of killing 60 residents in two nighttime attacks on a
coastal town this week.
2014 Jun 20, In eastern Lebanon
a suicide bomber detonated his vehicle near a police checkpoint,
killing one person amid rising fears of renewed violence in this
volatile country sparked by a stunning offensive by Sunni insurgents
in nearby Iraq.
2014 Jun 20, In the Philippines
Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr., popular politician and action movie star,
surrendered after an anti-graft court ordered his arrest on
large-scale corruption charges in a rare spectacle of the country's
political elite being made to answer for alleged crimes.
2014 Jun 20, Slovenia's former
PM Janez Jansa went to prison to begin a two-year sentence for
bribery in an arms deal with a Finnish company. In 2015 a retrial
was ordered by the Supreme Court after the Constitutional Court
overturned his conviction.
(AP, 6/23/14)(AP, 4/23/15)
2014 Jun 20, In Syria a
powerful truck bomb exploded in the government-held village of
Horrah, near Hama, killing at least 34 civilians and wounding more
than 50. Fighters of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)
captured key towns in eastern Syria adjoining territory the al Qaeda
splinter group has seized in Iraq.
(AP, 6/20/14)(Reuters, 6/20/14)
2014 Jun 20, In Syria the
bullet-riddled bodies of 3 officers of the Western and Arab-backed
rebel Free Syrian Army were found, two days after suspected Islamist
militants (ISIL) kidnapped them in the oil-rich eastern province of
2014 Jun 20, In Ukraine 7
government troops were killed in overnight fighting in the Donetsk
region, as clashes between government forces and pro-Russia rebels
flared ahead of the publication of a presidential peace plan that
includes a unilateral cease-fire.
2014 Jun 20, UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the Security Council to impose
an arms embargo on Syria, describing foreign powers and groups as
"irresponsible" for giving military support to the warring parties
in the three-year conflict.
2014 Jun 20, The United Nations
cultural agency listed the Palestinian village of Battir as a World
Heritage site in danger, raising hopes among residents that this
will protect their community against Israel's West Bank separation
2014 Jun 20, Yemeni officials
said at least 85 people have been killed over the last week in
clashes between Shiite rebels and Islamist tribesmen supported by
army units. 11 soldiers were among the dead.
(SFC, 6/21/14, p.A2)
2014 Jun 21, Hundreds of
Afghans protested in Kabul against alleged fraud in last week's
presidential runoff. The UN urged Afghan presidential candidate
Abdullah Abdullah to return to the electoral process after he
dropped out earlier this week, accusing the organizers and the
president of fraud. A suicide car bombing in Kabul aimed at a senior
government official killed one civilian and wounded three others.
(AP, 6/21/14)(Reuters, 6/21/14)
2014 Jun 21, Belarus released
Ales Bialiatski (51), the leader of the Vyasna rights group, nearly
three years into his prison sentence and 20 months ahead of
2014 Jun 21, In China police in
Kashgar prefecture in Xinjiang's southwest shot dead 13 assailants
who rammed a truck into a police office building and set off
explosives in an attack that also wounded three officers.
2014 Jun 21, An Egyptian court
confirmed death sentences against Mohamed Badie, the leader of the
Muslim Brotherhood, and 182 supporters, in a mass trial of Islamists
who ruled Egypt for a year but face a fierce crackdown under the new
president, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
2014 Jun 21, In Iraq thousands
of heavily-armed Shiite militiamen paraded through several cities as
Sunni militants seized Qaim and Rawah, two strategically located
towns in what appeared to be a new offensive in the western Anbar
2014 Jun 21, The Arbil Citadel
that dominates the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan was granted World
Heritage Site status.
2014 Jun 21, The Israeli
military arrested 10 Palestinians and said that some 1,350 sites in
the West Bank had been searched so far and more than 330
Palestinians detained in response to three missing teenagers.
2014 Jun 21, Mauritanians voted
to choose their next president, but with the major opposition
parties boycotting, incumbent Mohamed Ould Abdel Azi seemed certain
to hold on to power.
2014 Jun 21, In Nigeria
suspected Islamist militants stormed Koronginim village, Borno
state, killing several people and torching houses close to where
more than 200 schoolgirls were kidnapped two months ago.
2014 Jun 21, In Somalia a bomb
planted under the car seat of Yusuf Keynan, a journalist for
Mustaqbal radio, exploded and killed him.
2014 Jun 21, In South Africa 4
suspected illegal miners were found dead with gun shots wounds to
the head at a gold mine near Johannesburg.
2014 Jun 21, Albie Sachs (79),
the South African judge who rose to fame for his role in the
anti-apartheid struggle, was awarded the Tang Prize, touted as
Asia's version of the Nobels, for his contributions to human rights
and justice. Earlier this week, Norwegian ex-premier Gro Harlem
Brundtland was named as the first recipient of the prize for her
work as the "godmother" of sustainable development, while noted
Chinese American historian Yu Ying-shih was awarded for his
accomplishment in sinology. Immunologists James P. Allison of the
United States and Tasuku Honjo of Japan became joint recipients in
the biopharmaceutical sciences category for their contributions in
the fight against cancer. Named after China's Tang Dynasty (AD
618-907), the Asian prize was founded by Taiwanese billionaire
Samuel Yin in 2012 with a donation of Tw$3 billion.
2014 Jun 21, A South Korean
soldier was at large after killing 5 comrades and wounding another
five at the border with North Korea.
2014 Jun 21, In Syria Sunni
militants led by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant took
control of the Al-Qaim Iraq-Syria border crossing after Syrian
rebels withdrew overnight. A truce struck to end deadly fighting at
the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmuk. Syrian warplanes pounded
parts of Muhassan, Deir el-Zour province, a day after it was stormed
by ISIL militants
(AFP, 6/21/14)(AFP, 6/22/14)(SSFC, 6/22/14, p.A5)
2014 Jun 21, Ukraine reported
no large-scale fighting, the first full day of what is to be a
six-and-a-half-day stand-down by the Ukrainian military. Separatist
leaders have rejected the cease-fire and said they will not disarm.
The Ukrainian Border Guard Service reported overnight attacks on two
border posts in the Donetsk region, which left three troops injured,
hours after the cease-fire was announced.
2014 Jun 21, UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the humanitarian situation in
Syria is worsening and the number of people needing urgent help has
reached 10.8 million, almost half of Syria's population.
2014 Jun 21, Yemen's Defense
Ministry said suspected al-Qaida militants killed Brigadier-General
Abdullah al-Mehdar in front of his home in Sanaa. In the southeast
Al-Qaeda gunmen killed 2 people in Shehr, Hadramawt province,
because they believed they were practicing witchcraft and sorcery.
Some 17 policemen were wounded in an ambush by Shiite Huthi rebels
as fighting between government forces and the rebels neared Sanaa.
(AP, 6/21/14)(AFP, 6/22/14)
2014 Jun 21, In Zimbabwe Edmund
Kudzayi, editor of the Sunday Mail state-owned newspaper, appeared
in court on charges of subversion and undermining the authority of
President Robert Mugabe.
2014 Jun 22, The US Border
Patrol said it will fly nearly 300 Central American migrants from
south Texas to California for processing, as the government seeks to
ease the workload on agents at the nation's busiest corridor for
2014 Jun 22, Fouad Ajami
(b.1945), Lebanon-born academic and author on Middle East affairs,
died in Maine. His books included “The Arab Predicament: Arab
Political Thought and Practice Since 1967" (1981) and “The Dream
Palace of the Arabs: A Generation’s Odyssey" (1998).
2014 Jun 22, In Massachusetts
an Amtrak train struck a sports utility vehicle that was apparently
driving on train tracks. 3 people were killed in the SUV and the
train derailed with no injuries.
(SFC, 6/24/14, p.A6)
2014 Jun 22, The party of
Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah broadcast audio that
it said showed mass fraud had been committed in an election that
aims to transfer power democratically in the country for the first
2014 Jun 22, British newspaper
The Sunday Times reported that the 25 board members of FIFA, the
international governing body of association football, futsal and
beach soccer, now get a $200,000 stipend for their part-time duties.
FIFA declined to comment on claims that annual payments were doubled
for executive committee members after their bonuses were stopped
2014 Jun 22, Felix Dennis (67),
British hedonist and media magnate, died. His 20,000 hectare Forest
of Dennis included a garden of heroes with life-size statues of
(Econ, 7/5/14, p.78)
2014 Jun 22, In Cameroon an
anti-poaching Cessna 172, flown by American Bill Fitzpatrick (59),
disappeared as he approached Douala on a flight from Kano, Nigeria.
Villagers stumbled on his remains in April 2015.
2014 Jun 22, China’s Ministry
of Civil Affairs said five days of rainstorms in the south have left
26 people dead and another three missing and led to direct economic
losses of 4 billion yuan ($650 million).
2014 Jun 22, Tens of thousands
of Hong Kongers lined up to vote, joining hundreds of thousands of
others who cast electronic ballots in the first three days of an
unofficial referendum on democratic reform that Beijing has blasted
as a farce.
2014 Jun 22, Iraqi military
officials said Sunni militants have captured the Turabil crossing
with Jordan and the al-Walid crossing with Syria. Militants also
seized Rutba in Anbar province, the fourth town to fall in two days.
(AP, 6/22/14)(Econ, 6/28/14, p.40)
2014 Jun 22, Israeli tanks
fired at Syrian army positions following an attack from inside Syria
that killed Mohammed Qaraqara, a 13-year-old Israeli boy, on the
occupied Golan Heights.
2014 Jun 22, Israeli soldiers
in Nablus fired at stone-throwing Palestinians overnight, killing
Ahmad Famawi (26). In Ramallah, the Islamic Jihad militant group
said one of its members was killed by Israeli gunfire. Israeli
troops fatally shot Ahmed Saoud (27), a mentally ill Palestinian, as
he approached them in the Al-Ein refugee camp.
(Reuters, 6/22/14)(SFC, 6/23/14, p.A4)
2014 Jun 22, In Kosovo special
EU police backed by NATO fired tear gas and rubber bullets at ethnic
Albanian rioters burning police cars and lobbing rocks in the
ethnically-divided town of Mitrovica, in protest over the blockage
of the main bridge by ethnic Serbs.
2014 Jun 22, In northern
Nigeria suspected Islamist militants kidnapped as many as 91
villagers, most of them women and young girls, in Borno state. 63
girls and women managed to escape on July 4.
(Reuters, 6/24/14)(AP, 7/7/14)
2014 Jun 22, In Panama US
Master Sgt. Omar Velez-Pagan (37) ran his girlfriend Vanesa
Rodriguez (25) over with a truck and hid her body. On March 29,
2016, Velez-Pagan was sentenced in North Carolina to 30 years in
military prison by a jury of five military officers.
2014 Jun 22, South Korean
troops exchanged fire with a runaway soldier who was surrounded in a
forest after he killed five comrades near his North Korea border
outpost, and brought in his parents to persuade him to surrender.
2014 Jun 22, Spain’s police
said three people have been arrested on suspicion of illegally
scanning and then unlawfully publishing books on a large scale. More
than 1000 books and 10 computer hard drives full of texts were
(SFC, 6/23/14, p.A2)
2014 Jun 22, Syrian troops
backed by fighters from Lebanon's Hezbollah launched an assault to
oust rebels from the foothills of the Qalamun mountains north of the
2014 Jun 22, Thailand police
arrested eight people for demonstrating against the nation's
increasingly repressive military junta, including a man who was
dragged away by undercover officers for reading a copy of George
Orwell's "Nineteen Eighty-Four" outside one of Bangkok's most
luxurious shopping malls.
2014 Jun 22, Ukraine's Pres.
Petro Poroshenko agreed to dialogue with separatists not implicated
in "murder and torture" as he laid out a peace plan that Russian
President Vladimir Putin promised to back as fighting flared between
government and pro-Moscow separatist forces.
(AFP, 6/22/14)(Reuters, 6/22/14)
2014 Jun 23, The US Supreme
Court trimmed the Obama administration’s power to curb greenhouse
gases under a long-running air pollution program in a decision that
means most major facilities, including power plants and refineries,
will continue to be regulated.
2014 Jun 23, In Atlanta, Ga.,
the new $75 million National Center for Civil and Human Rights
(SFC, 6/24/14, p.A6)
2014 Jun 23, General Electric
was declared the winner for the energy business of Alstom, a French
engineering group. A day earlier the French government said it would
take a 20% stake in Alstom.
(Econ, 6/28/14, p.53)(http://tinyurl.com/n3hbmn7)
2014 Jun 23, Afghanistan's
chief electoral officer resigned in a bid to resolve a political
crisis over allegations of massive fraud in the runoff presidential
vote earlier this month. Preliminary results are due on July 2, then
final results on July 23. Karzai has set Aug. 2 as the date for the
new president to be inaugurated.
2014 Jun 23, A Bangladesh court
sentenced eight people, including a leader of a banned Islamist
group, to death for their roles in a bombing at a Bengali 2001 New
Year's celebration concert that left 10 people dead.
2014 Jun 23, In Central African
Republic Christian an anti-Balaka militia attacked the village of
Ardo-Djobi, killing 18 of the local Fulani tribal population. One
militiaman also died. An initial attack by mainly Christian militia
just outside Bambari led to waves of reprisals by Muslim youths.
About 10 anti-Balaka were killed.
(AP, 6/23/14)(Reuters, 6/24/14)
2014 Jun 23, Chinese
authorities said they broke up 32 terror groups and arrested more
than 380 suspects in the far west in the first month of a crackdown
aimed at demonstrating the Communist Party's resolve to maintain
order in the Xinjiang region. Many suspects received rapid trials
and stiff sentences, including death penalties. Security forces also
seized several hundred explosive devices.
2014 Jun 23, An Egyptian court
convicted three Al-Jazeera journalists, Australian Peter Greste,
Canadian-Egyptian Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian Baher Mohammed, and
sentenced them to seven years in prison each on terrorism-related
charges in a verdict that stunned their families and raised
2014 Jun 23, An Egyptian court
sentenced to life in prison 24 Islamists for killing a taxi driver
last December. He had put in his car a picture of Abdel Fattah
al-Sisi, the ex-army chief turned president.
(AFP, 6/23/14)(SSFC, 6/29/14, p.A4)
2014 Jun 23, The European Union
said it is suspending all official visits to and from Thailand and
shelving important agreements, to protest last month's military
coup. It is putting on hold the signing of an agreement to deepen
political and business ties with Thailand "until a democratically
elected government is in place."
2014 Jun 23, In Germany a
Learjet chartered by the German air force to take part in a training
exercise with two unarmed Eurofighter jets collided with one of the
military planes near the town of Elpe Two civilian pilots were
presumed dead. The fighter pilot landed safely.
2014 Jun 23, Israel's army said
it has detained another 37 Palestinians overnight as it searched for
three missing teenagers and extended a crackdown on the Hamas
Islamist group it accuses of kidnapping them.
2014 Jun 23, Israeli
authorities announced the arrest of an alleged Hamas operative for
involvement in the deadly shooting of an Israeli police officer in
the West Bank over the Passover holiday in April.
2014 Jun 23, In Kashmir a
protester was killed and four others were wounded when Indian
government forces fired at demonstrators protesting the killing of a
suspected rebel in an earlier gunbattle.
2014 Jun 23, The first-ever
United Nations Environmental Assembly opened in Kenya, as more than
150 high-level delegations began a weeklong examination of the
intersection between global economic progress and the environment.
2014 Jun 23, In Kenya 5 people
were killed in attacks in Witu, near Mpeketoni where some 60 people
were killed last week.
(SFC, 6/25/14, p.A2)
2014 Jun 23, In northern
Nigeria an explosion tore through Kano State School of Hygiene,
killing at least 8 people. It was not immediately clear if Islamist
militants were behind the blast.
(Reuters, 6/23/14)(Reuters, 6/24/14)
2014 Jun 23, Tahir-ul-Qadri
(63), a populist Canada-based cleric, returned to Pakistan to try to
start what he has called a "peaceful revolution" against the
government, as his supporters engaged in violent clashes with
2014 Jun 23, A Philippine
senator surrendered to police after a court ordered his arrest on
corruption charges. Jinggoy Estrada, the son of an ex-president, was
the second celebrity politician in days to end up in jail on charges
of plundering the poor Southeast Asian nation's coffers.
2014 Jun 23, South Africa's
AMCU union declared a five-month platinum strike "officially over"
as thousands of miners roared their approval when leader Joseph
Mathunjwa asked if they wanted to end the longest work stoppage in
the country's history. A South African labor court declared unlawful
a planned gold mining strike by the country's radical union AMCU,
which has staged a crippling work stoppage at platinum mines.
(Reuters, 6/23/14)(AFP, 6/23/14)
2014 Jun 23, In South Korea a
massive manhunt ended when a 22-year-old sergeant, surnamed Yim,
shot himself in the upper left chest as his father and brother
approached, pleading with him to surrender. Yim was hospitalized. He
had killed 5 comrades on June 21 near his North Korea border
outpost. On Feb 3, 2015, Yim was sentenced to death.
(AP, 6/23/14)(AP, 2/3/15)
2014 Jun 23, The Syrian
government said a series of Israeli airstrikes early today hit nine
military targets, killed 4 people and wounded nine others.
(AP, 6/23/14)(SFC, 6/23/14, p.A2)
2014 Jun 23, Syria handed over
the remaining 100 tons of toxic material it had declared to the
global chemical weapons watchdog. Western governments wanted the
mission to continue to investigate numerous ambiguities in Syria's
chemical weapons declaration and several alleged chlorine gas
attacks, which they also blame on Assad's forces.
2014 Jun 23, The United Arab
Emirates jailed seven men for belonging to an al Qaeda network and
aiding its affiliate in Syria. Six were jailed for seven years, one
was given life. They were arrested last year on suspicion of
planning attacks on the UAE.
2014 Jun 23, The World Health
Organization (WHO) said that the latest figures show 567 cases of
Ebola with 350 deaths in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The virus
has no cure and causes internal bleeding and organ failure,
spreading through contact with infected people.
2014 Jun 24, In Kansas City,
Mo., police officer Jacob Ramsey was making a warrant check when
Anthony Contreras ran from a house. Police said he feared he was
about to be shot and fired at Contreras, critically wounding him. On
April 17, 2015, a prosecutor dismissed charges Ramsey, who was
indicted in February by a grand jury for the non-fatal shooting.
2014 Jun 24, Britain became the
latest nation to formally outlaw the herbal stimulant khat, the
bushy leaf chewed by many Somalis, Yemenis, Kenyans and Ethiopians.
As of today khat is a "class C drug", making possession punishable
by up to two years in jail and supply and production punishable by
up to 14 years.
2014 Jun 24, Two powerful
British political insiders met starkly different fates as former
News of the World editor Andy Coulson was convicted of phone hacking
but fellow editor Rebekah Brooks was acquitted.
2014 Jun 24, Cameroon security
forces killed at least 10 suspected Boko Haram militants in three
clashes in the north of the country near its border with Nigeria.
2014 Jun 24, In China Wei
Jianghong, chairman of a state-owned copper smelter and a delegate
to the national legislature, jumped to his death in Anhui province.
The suicide was attributed to “excessive work pressure and mental
(Econ, 6/28/14, p.38)
2014 Jun 24, Egyptian President
Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said he will not interfere in court rulings,
rebuffing calls from the United States and other Western governments
that he pardon or commute the sentences of three Al-Jazeera
journalists handed heavy prison terms a day earlier. El-Sissi also
said he will donate half of his personal wealth and half of his
salary to help the country's crippling economy, the improvement of
which he said requires sacrifices from all Egyptians.
2014 Jun 24, An Egyptian court
convicted Kerolos Ghattas (30), an Egyptian Christian, to six years
imprisonment for blasphemy and contempt of religion. He was arrested
earlier this month for posting pictures deemed insulting to Islam on
his Facebook page.
2014 Jun 24, The EU set Albania
on the road to membership, granting the small Balkan state the
status of candidate to join in recognition of recent reforms, while
warning the government that progress was conditional on further
2014 Jun 24, In Finland former
European affairs minister Alexander Stubb took over as the head of
the conservative-led government after PM Jyrki Katainen resigned to
pursue a position in the European Commission.
2014 Jun 24, France's top
administrative court ordered an end to the treatment of a comatose
man — a decision blocked hours later by the European Court of Human
2014 Jun 24, The Paris Club of
creditor nations announced Israel's induction, bringing the club's
membership to 20 countries. It was created in 1956, and has worked
out loan deals for 90 countries.
2014 Jun 24, The Honduran
fishing boat "Miss Nushka" was lost about 83 km (50 miles) north of
the port of La Ceiba in heavy winds and waves. Divers later
recovered one body inside the boat. Seven fishermen were rescued
after floating for 10 hours before coming upon a small island. 7
2014 Jun 24, Indonesia became
the newest country to mandate graphic photo warnings on cigarette
packs, joining more than 40 other nations or territories that have
adopted similar regulations in recent years. Authorities said major
tobacco companies have largely ignored a deadline to put graphic
health warnings on all cigarette packs.
(AP, 6/24/14)(AP, 6/27/14)
2014 Jun 24, In Iran an attack
near its western border with Iraq killed 3 border guards.
2014 Jun 24, Iraqi air strikes
killed at least 32 people as security forces held off attacks on a
strategic town and an oil refinery. The UN said at least 1,075
people, the vast majority of them civilians, have been killed in
Iraq during June as a Sunni insurgency overtakes key areas of the
(AFP, 6/24/14)(AP, 6/24/14)
2014 Jun 24, Japanese PM Shinzo
Abe unveiled a fresh round of reforms, in the latest bid to cement a
fragile recovery, his second attempt to fire the "third arrow" of
his economic action plan.
2014 Jun 24, A Lebanese
security source said an overnight suicide blast in Beirut's southern
suburbs, Hezbollah's main bastion, killed a security officer who had
tried to stop the bomber.
2014 Jun 24, Mali security
forces arrested Mahamed Aly Ag Wadoussene, a fugitive at the heart
of a jail break in Bamako on June 16 in which at least two people
were killed and 22 prisoners escaped.
2014 Jun 24, Mexican officials
said Fernando Sanchez Arellano, head of the once-mighty
Tijuana-based Arellano Felix cartel, has been arrested.
2014 Jun 24, In Nigeria
extremists overran a military checkpoint in the northeast and killed
at least 21 soldiers.
2014 Jun 24, In Pakistan one
woman was killed and three crew members were wounded by gunmen
shooting at an Airbus 310 plane carrying 178 passengers from Saudi
Arabia as it landed in Peshawar.
2014 Jun 24, Nine Peruvian
commercial fisherman died after two trawlers collided and one boat
capsized 13 nautical miles off Pisco. Three of the Marisol II’s crew
(SFC, 6/25/14, p.A2)
2014 Jun 24, Russian President
Vladimir Putin asked parliament to cancel a resolution sanctioning
the use of military force in Ukraine.
2014 Jun 24, In South Africa
the world's three biggest platinum firms signed a wage deal with the
AMCU union, but said that fallout from a five-month strike made job
cuts and restructuring inevitable, setting the scene for more labor
turmoil in the sector.
2014 Jun 24, South African
police in Kloof seized heroin worth more than two billion rand ($190
million). Police arrested two Chinese nationals and one South
African in the biggest drugs bust in the country's history.
2014 Jun 24, Spain's Supreme
Court approved a $7-billion oil exploration project off the Canary
2014 Jun 24, Thailand’s former
Interior Minister Charupong Reuangsuwan, a member of the elected
government ousted by last month's coup, formed an opposition group
in exile, invoking historical symbols of resistance and revolution
while rejecting as illegitimate the new military regime.
2014 Jun 24, Ukrainian
President Petro Poroshenko said pro-Russian separatists in the east
had violated a ceasefire with overnight attacks that killed one
government soldier. Rebels downed a government helicopter.
(Reuters, 6/24/14)(AFP, 6/25/14)
2014 Jun 24, The UN and
Interpol released a report saying global environmental crime is
worth up to $213 billion a year and helps finance criminal and
terrorist groups threatening security and sustainable development
2014 Jun 25, The US Supreme
Court ruled in Riley v California that police must get a search
warrant before examining the contents of cell phones they seize from
people they arrest.
(SFC, 6/26/14, p.A10)(Econ, 6/28/14, p.25)
2014 Jun 25, US federal
investigators shut down myredbook.com, a SF Bay Area website that
catered to prostitutes and johns. Eric Omuro (53) of Mountain view
and Annmarie Lanoce (40) of Rocklin (Placer Ct.) were arrested after
being indicted a day earlier.
(SFC, 6/26/14, p.A10)
2014 Jun 25, A US federal
appeals court in Denver ruled that states must allow gay couples to
(SFC, 6/26/14, p.A6)
2014 Jun 25, Abu Dhabi-based
airline Etihad Airways said it had reached a deal in principle to
buy a 49 percent stake in struggling Italian carrier Alitalia. In
return Alitalia agreed to cut 20% of its work force.
(AP, 6/25/14)(Econ, 6/28/14, p.58)
2014 Jun 25, Afghan officials
said at least 13 policemen, 8 army soldiers and 100 Taliban fighters
have been killed in five days of fighting as Taliban militants to
wrest control of Sangin district in Helmand province. Helmand
province is a major route for the transit of opium and some
districts are controlled by drug dealers and the Taliban.
2014 Jun 25, Britain's Supreme
Court said an assisted-suicide ban is incompatible with human
rights, but it dismissed the appeal from two severely disabled men
who argued the law should be changed to allow doctors to legally
2014 Jun 25, Central African
Republic peacekeepers said nearly 50 people have been killed since
June 23 during violence in the Bambari region and nearby villages.
2014 Jun 25, China sent its
first ever ministerial-level official to Taiwan for four days of
(SFC, 6/26/14, p.A2)
2014 Jun 25, In Egypt eight
people were hurt in northern Cairo when homemade explosive devices
blew up at four metro stations and a courthouse.
2014 Jun 25, In Egypt education
authorities overturned a post-revolutionary reform that allowed for
deans and presidents of state universities to be elected.
(Econ, 6/28/14, p.41)
2014 Jun 25, A French doctor
was acquitted of poisoning charges after giving lethal injections to
seven terminally ill patients. Relatives of Dr. Nicolas
Bonnemaison's patients had testified in his favor.
2014 Jun 25, Greek authorities
said they have broken a massive lottery scam targeting Germans that
tricked about 360,000 people into paying to take part in
non-existent draws. Two German-born suspects were arrested a day
earlier in Athens.
2014 Jun 25, Iraq's Shiite PM
al-Maliki rejected calls to form an interim "national salvation
government" that critics say would allow the country's squabbling
sects to quickly present a unified front in the face of a growing
threat by Sunni militants. Sunni militants launched a dawn raid on a
key Iraqi oil refinery they have been trying to take for days, but
security forces fought them back. Militants attacked one of Iraq's
largest air bases and seized control of several small oilfields as
US military experts began arriving to set up an operations center to
help Iraqi security forces counter a mounting Sunni insurgency.
(AP, 6/25/14)(Reuters, 6/25/14)
2014 Jun 25, Israeli troops
searching for three teenagers it says were kidnapped a fortnight ago
by Hamas militants, arrested 17 Palestinians in the West Bank
overnight. The arrests included a Palestinian MP.
2014 Jun 25, In Israel dozens
of Palestinian prisoners ended their 63-day-long hunger strike after
reaching a deal with Israeli prison authorities.
2014 Jun 25, Kenyan police
arrested Lamu county Governor Issa Timamy in connection with gun
attacks in his area that killed about 65 people. Timamy denied
responsibility and was released on bail on June 30.
(Reuters, 6/26/14)(AP, 6/30/14)
2014 Jun 25, The Lebanese army
said a security operation in the country's north has resulted in the
arrest of a 'terrorist cell' plotting the assassination of a
high-ranking officer in the security forces.
2014 Jun 25, Libya held
elections for a new parliament. Turnout was only 630,000 out of 1.5m
registered to vote.
(AP, 6/25/14)(Econ, 6/28/14, p.42)
2014 Jun 25, In Libya Salwa
Bugaighis, a lawyer and rights activist, was assassinated in
Benghazi when gunmen stormed her house. She was among the most
outspoken voices against militiamen and Islamic extremists who have
run rampant in the country since Gadhafi's fall.
2014 Jun 25, Myanmar's state
media reported that parliament has reduced the prison terms for
violating a law that regulates public protests. The amended law also
appears to allow protests as long as permission is sought.
2014 Jun 25, In Nigeria an
explosion at a mall in Abuja left 22 people dead. Soldiers shot and
killed one suspect as he tried to escape, and police detained a
second suspect. The government said two explosions at a fuel depot
in Lagos, which left 2 people dead, were caused by gas canisters.
Boko Haram later claimed responsibility for both attacks.
(AP, 6/26/14)(AFP, 7/13/14)
2014 Jun 25, A rocket fired by
Palestinian militants toward Israel exploded in the northern Gaza
Strip, killing a 3-year-old Palestinian girl and wounding three
2014 Jun 25, Romania's
Parliament called on President Traian Basescu to resign, saying
suspicions that his brother took a bribe from the family of a
well-known convict have damaged the prestige of his office.
Basescu’s brother was arrested last week on charges that he took a
250,000 euros ($340,000) bribe from the son of convict imprisoned
for attempted murder to get his sentence reduced.
2014 Jun 25, On Russian
President Vladimir Putin's demand, the upper house of the Russian
parliament canceled a resolution allowing the use of military in
2014 Jun 25, In South Africa
tens of thousands of platinum miners returned to work after wage
deals ended the longest and most damaging strike in the country's
2014 Jun 25, In Spain a judge
in Madrid charged Princess Cristina with tax fraud and money
laundering in a case involving her husband and business associates
charged with embezzling millions in public funds earmarked for
(SFC, 6/26/14, p.A2)
2014 Jun 25, In Spain
award-winning author Ana Maria Matute (88), best known for her books
set during the Spanish Civil War, died.
2014 Jun 25, Syrian government
warplanes struck a series of targets in the northern city of Raqqa,
a stronghold of an al-Qaida splinter group, killing at least 12
people. Syrian aircraft also carried out a series of airstrikes in
the eastern, oil-rich province of Deir el-Zour near the border with
Iraq. The US and Iraqi military officials confirmed that Syrian
warplanes bombed militant’s positions in and near the border
crossing in Qaim.
(AP, 6/25/14)(SFC, 6/26/14, p.A2)
2014 Jun 25, In Ukraine rebels
and government forces traded fire in Slavyansk oblivious to the
week-long truce ordered by Ukraine's new president and backed by a
top leader of the pro-Russian separatists.
2014 Jun 25, In Yemen militants
assassinated Col. Khaled al-Khawlani, a senior intelligence officer,
in a drive-by shooting in Sanaa.
2014 Jun 26, The US Supreme
Court ruled that a Massachusetts law that requires protesters to
stay at least 35 feet away from abortion clinics and their patients
violates freedom of speech.
(SFC, 6/27/14, p.A1)
2014 Jun 26, US and Philippine
officials said the United States is disbanding an anti-terror
contingent of hundreds of elite American troops in the southern
Philippines where armed groups such as Abu Sayyaf have largely been
crippled. Special forces from the US Pacific Command, possibly in
smaller numbers, will remain after the deactivation of the Joint
Special Operations Task Force Philippines (JSOTF-P).
2014 Jun 26, Ikea’s US division
said it is raising the minimum wage for thousands of its retail
workers, pegging it to the cost of living in each location effective
on Jan 1 to an average $10.76 per hour, up from $9.17.
(SFC, 6/27/14, p.C2)
2014 Jun 26, In Florida a hit
and run crash in Tampa left 3 females victims dead. Police searched
for suspect Marquice Lamonz Anderson (27).
(SSFC, 6/29/14, p.A10)
2014 Jun 26, Former US Sen.
Howard H. Baker Jr. (b.1925) died. He had cut to the core of the
1973 Watergate hearings when he asked, "What did the president know
and when did he know it?"
(AP, 6/26/14)(SFC, 6/27/14, p.D4)
2014 Jun 26, In Wisconsin
Steven Zelich (52), a former police officer, was charged with two
counts of hiding a corpse. He was suspected of in the deaths of two
women whose bodies were stuffed into suitcases and discarded on a
(SFC, 6/27/14, p.A6)0
2014 Jun 26, Artan Santo (58),
the manager of Albania's fourth largest bank, Credins, was shot dead
as he entered his office in Tirana. Santo was well known in the
Balkan country for his acting role as a boy who overcame adversity
to climb a mountain in the 1970 Albanian film The Courageous.
2014 Jun 26, FIFA banned
Uruguay striker Luis Suarez from all football activities for four
months for biting an opponent at the World Cup in Brazil.
2014 Jun 26, Cambodia's PM Hun
Sen said at least 250,000 of his countrymen who were migrant workers
in Thailand returned home this month under circumstances that
initially violated their human rights. Both countries are now
seeking the migrants' return to Thailand, which has a shortage of
2014 Jun 26, Canada's Supreme
Court recognized native groups' rights over a large swathe of land
for the first time in western British Columbia province. The
landmark ruling in favor of the semi-nomadic Tsilhqot'in people --
numbering about 3,000 -- could have an impact on similar Native
American claims currently pending in court.
2014 Jun 26, Central African
Republic peacekeepers said nearly 70 people have been killed since
June 23 during violence in the Bambari region and nearby villages.
2014 Jun 26, The European Court
of Human Rights ruled that France had violated the rights of a child
born to a surrogate mother — and of two other children similarly
born — by refusing to recognize the parent-child relationship. It
ordered France to pay 5,000 euros in damages.
2014 Jun 26, In India a Bengal
tiger snatched Sushil Manzhi as he was crab fishing with his son and
daughter off a boat in a mangrove swamp in Sunderbans National Park,
West Bengal state.
(SFC, 6/28/14, p.A2)
2014 Jun 26, Armed US drones
began flying over Iraq.
(SFC, 6/27/14, p.A2)
2014 Jun 26, Iraq's vice
president called on parliament to convene on July 1, taking the
first step toward forming a new government to present a united front
against a rapidly advancing Sunni insurgency. Militants took a town
an hour from Baghdad that is home to four natural gas fields. Iraqi
forces launched an airborne assault on rebel-held Tikrit with
commandos flown into a stadium in helicopters, at least one of which
crashed after taking fire from insurgents.
(AP, 6/26/14)(Reuters, 6/26/14)
2014 Jun 26, Israel’s Shin Beit
security services released the names of two Hamas militants it
believes were involved in the kidnapping two weeks ago of three
Israeli teenagers. Suspects Marwan Qawasmeh and Amar Abu Aisha were
known to be missing since the day of the kidnapping.
(SSFC, 6/29/14, p.A4)
2014 Jun 26, A Jordanian court
acquitted radical Muslim cleric Abu Qatada, who was extradited from
Britain last year, of charges of conspiring to commit acts of
terrorism. Authorities continued to detain the preacher because of
separate charges related to a plot to attack tourists during
Jordan's New Year celebrations in 2000.
2014 Jun 26, Some 40,000 public
servants hired by Hamas went on strike in Gaza in a pay dispute that
could test the resilience of the new Palestinian government.
2014 Jun 26, A Slovak court in
Bratislava ruled that Czech Finance Minister Andrej Babis, a rising
star of the Czech politics, did not collaborate with the
communist-era secret police.
2014 Jun 26, In Somalia a
suicide bomber and gunmen killed 3 people, including 2 soldiers,
when they attacked the Amalow Hotel housing African Union and Somali
forces near in Bulo-Burte town.
2014 Jun 26, The South African
government said 11 young men have died so far this year in botched
circumcision rituals that have killed hundreds in past years.
2014 Jun 26, Syria's opposition
government sacked the military command of the rebel Free Syrian Army
over corruption allegations, as the White House asked lawmakers for
$500 million for moderate insurgents.
2014 Jun 26, Thai officials
said military authorities are setting up a network of panels to
closely monitor domestic and international media and crack down on
criticism of what the junta sees as its efforts to right the
2014 Jun 26, In Yemen at least
15 people were killed in a series of militant attacks in the eastern
city of Seiyun, Hadramawt province. These included a coordinated
attack on the Sayoun airport.
(Reuters, 6/26/14)(AP, 6/26/14)(SFC, 6/27/14,
2014 Jun 26, Ukrainian
separatist rebels agreed to take part in further peace talks on Jun
27 to end the conflict in the eastern regions.
2014 Jun 26, The UN said the
number of civilians seeking shelter in UN bases in South Sudan has
reached over 100,000 for the first time in more than six-months of
2014 Jun 27, The United States
announced its intention to join an international treaty banning land
mines, without setting a time frame while working through possible
complications on the Korean Peninsula.
2014 Jun 27, California’s
Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District approved $76
million to install steel cable nets beneath the edges of the GG
bridge to prevent suicides.
(SFC, 6/28/14, p.C1)
2014 Jun 27, In Colorado police
in Denver raided the Maryjane’s Social Club, one of dozens of
private pot smoking clubs operating in a legal gray area. Officers
handcuffed smokers, seized drug paraphernalia and ticketed the owner
for violating a state law banning indoor cigarette smoking.
(SFC, 7/4/14, p.A6)
2014 Jun 27, In Somerset,
Kentucky, Clinton Inabnitt (40) shot and killed lawyer Mark
Stanziano (57) after being turned down for help.
(SFC, 6/28/14, p.A5)
2014 Jun 27, In Mississippi
attorney and Tea Party official Mark Mayfield committed suicide
after facing charges for taking photos of US Sen. Thad Cochran’s
ailing wife inside a nursing home.
(SFC, 6/28/14, p.A5)
2014 Jun 27, Bobby Womack
(b.1944), soul songwriter and musician aka the Preacher, died. In
1964 he recorded “It’s All Over Now" with the Valentinos that
included four of his brothers. A version by the Rolling Stones
became that group’s first No. 1 hit single in Britain.
(SFC, 6/28/14, p.A7)
2014 Jun 27, Thousands of angry
protesters marched on the Afghan president's palace in support of
candidate Abdullah Abdullah's allegations that mass fraud had been
committed during the presidential election by organizers and state
2014 Jun 27, An Argentine judge
charged Vice President Amado Boudou with bribery and conducting
business incompatible with public office in the acquisition of the
company that prints the country's currency and of later benefiting
from government contracts.
2014 Jun 27, Bosnian Serbs
unveiled a monument in their part of Sarajevo to Gavrilo Princip,
the man who ignited the war by assassinating the Austro-Hungarian
crown prince on June 28, 1914.
2014 Jun 27, British
authorities ordered Eurotunnel to stop running its ferry service to
France on grounds of unfair competition.
2014 Jun 27, In Bulgaria
rattled depositors withdrew some $550 million from The First
Investment Bank (FIB) in a matter of hours. Authorities appealed for
calm and arrested several people suspected of instigating the
crises. Operations at the Corporate Commercial Bank (CCB) were
suspended on June 20 following a run that took 20% of deposits. Some
200,000 depositors and companies were left stranded without access
to their funds.
(Econ, 7/5/14, p.62)(Econ, 10/11/14, p.64)
2014 Jun 27, China’s state
media said a court has sentenced 25 members of Quannengshen, or the
Church of Almighty God, a banned religious, group to prison terms of
up to eight years, the largest in a series of prosecutions against a
group that China calls an illegal cult.
2014 Jun 27, Five Chinese
fishermen were missing after a trawler sank in waters to the north
of islands disputed with Japan in the East China Sea in what
appeared to be an accident.
2014 Jun 27, European Union
leaders nominated former Luxembourg PM Jean-Claude Juncker (59) to
become the 28-nation bloc's new chief executive. He was chosen by an
indirect system known as Spitzenkandidaten (lead candidate). Juncker
still needed to be confirmed by the European Parliament before
taking office on Nov 1.
(AP, 6/27/14)(SFC, 6/28/14, p.A2)(Econ, 6/28/14,
2014 Jun 27, European Union
leaders signed broad trade and economic deals with non-member
countries Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia.
2014 Jun 27, EU leaders set
June 30 as the deadline for the release of prisoners in east Ukraine
and for the terms of a lasting ceasefire, warning Moscow they were
ready to impose further sanctions.
2014 Jun 27, German travel
group TUI and its British subsidiary TUI Travel said that they had
agreed to a tie-up that will create the world's biggest tourism
2014 Jun 27, In Hong Kong more
than 800 lawyers protested over a requirement for judges to be
patriotic to China. In what was seen as a thinly veiled threat ahead
of a 10-day referendum, Beijing had released a policy document that
said, among other things, that Hong Kong's autonomy comes at the
discretion of the central government and included a requirement for
judges to be patriotic to China.
2014 Jun 27, In India 14 people
were killed and 20 injured in a blast and fire at a gas pipeline in
the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.
2014 Jun 27, Iraqi forces
fought for a second day to seize control of a strategically located
university in militant-held Tikrit ahead of a full-scale assault on
2014 Jun 27, Iraqi Kurdish
leader Massud Barzani said there was no going back on autonomous
Kurdish rule in oil city Kirkuk and other towns now defended against
Sunni militants by Kurdish fighters.
2014 Jun 27, An Israeli air
strike on a car in the Gaza Strip killed two Palestinians, hours
after a bomb exploded near troops manning Israel's security fence.
2014 Jun 27, In Israel Eritrean
and Sudanese migrants left the open Holot detention center, saying
Israel has not processed their claims for asylum. They camped out by
the border after Israel's army prevented them from crossing into
2014 Jun 27, Mexican
authorities detained Dr. Jose Mireles, one of the most well-known
leaders of vigilante groups that have been battling drug gangs in
Michoacan state, for carrying illegal guns. He was detained in
Lazaro Cardenas with 82 other people who also were allegedly
carrying illegal firearms, as they planned to travel to the state
capital of Morelia.
2014 Jun 27, Mexican
authorities in the northern state of San Luis Potosi arrested Roman
Catholic priest Guillermo Gil Torres on suspicion of sexually
abusing a minor, the second priest charged there in a week.
2014 Jun 27, In Nigeria police
acting on a tip-off defused a bomb consisting of 13 cylinders of
explosives next to the Jumat Praying Ground in Kano. Insurgents
killed 7 soldiers in the village of Goniri, Yobe state.
(Reuters, 6/28/14)(Reuters, 6/29/14)
2014 Jun 27, In Pakistan a
young couple were tied up and had their throats slit with scythes
after they married for love. Muafia Bibi (17) and Sajjad Ahmed (30)
had married on June 18 without the consent of their families in the
eastern Punjabi village of Satrah. 869 so-called "honor killings"
were reported in the media last year - several a day. But the true
figure is probably much higher since many cases are never reported.
(Reuters, 6/28/14)(AP, 6/29/14)
2014 Jun 27, A Panamanian judge
acquitted and ordered the immediate release of the last three of 35
North Koreans detained last year for trying to transport undeclared
Cuban weapons through the Panama Canal. The decision was based on
the fact that the incident "was of international character and
outside Panamanian jurisdiction."
2014 Jun 27, Paraguay officials
said floods caused by torrential rains have forced the evacuation of
some 200,000 people living near the Paraguay and Parana rivers.
(SFC, 6/28/14, p.A2)
2014 Jun 27, In Ukraine
pro-Russian separatist leaders and mediators for the Kiev government
met in the city of Donetsk in new consultations on ending the
fighting in Ukraine's Russian-speaking east. President Petro
Poroshenko told EU leaders he was extending a ceasefire in east
Ukraine for three days. Rebels in the southeast released four out of
eight OSCE observers, captured over a month ago.
2014 Jun 27, The United Arab
Emirates arrested two Qatar citizens, Hamad Ali al-Hamadi and Yousef
Abdelsamad al-Mulla, at the Ghweifat border crossing between Saudi
Arabia and the UAE. Both were described as "spies" by Emirati media.
2014 Jun 27, The UN Human
Rights Council agreed to set up a year-long inquiry into human
rights in Eritrea, similar to previous high-level investigations
into Syria, North Korea and Sri Lanka.
2014 Jun 27, The UN said some
110,000 people have fled to Russia from Ukraine since the start of
2014 while more than 54,000 have been displaced inside the
2014 Jun 27, The Vatican said
that Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski, a former ambassador to the
Dominican Rep., was found guilty for sexually abusing boys and
sentenced to laicization.
(SFC, 6/28/14, p.A4)
2014 Jun 27, In Venezuela a
power plant failure knocked out electricity across a big swath of
the country, darkening the lights at a nationally televised
presidential ceremony and forcing a suspension of subway and train
services around the country.
2014 Jun 27, In Yemen fierce
clashes pitted government troops against Huthi militants in Amran
2014 Jun 28, Chinese President
Xi Jinping feted neighbors India and Myanmar, dusting off the 60th
anniversary of a now rather obscure agreement signed in the early
days of the Cold War to pledge a rising China's commitment to peace.
2014 Jun 28, China's Xinhua
state news agency said more than 1,200 Chinese workers who were
trapped in the embattled northern Iraqi city of Samarra have been
evacuated to Baghdad.
2014 Jun 28, In Egypt two bombs
exploded at a small telephone exchange on Cairo's outskirts, killing
an 18-year-old woman.
2014 Jun 28, In India a
dilapidated building collapsed in New Delhi leaving 11 people dead.
An 11-story building under construction near Chennai collapsed,
killing at least 60 people as rescuers searched for dozens of others
feared trapped. Nearly 90 contract workers had been in the basement
collecting wages. Over the next days 27 people were rescued from the
(AP, 6/28/14)(AP, 6/29/14)(AP, 7/1/14)(SFC,
7/1/14, p.A5)(AP, 7/3/14)
2014 Jun 28, In western India a
blast triggered by a suspected gas leak in a ship being dismantled
killed five workers and injured another seven at the Alang
ship-breaking yard in Gujarat state.
2014 Jun 28, Indian authorities
rushed food and drinking water to thousands of people marooned by
monsoon rains and mudslides that left at least 11 dead in the remote
2014 Jun 28, Iraqi troops
backed by helicopter gunships launched an operation aimed at
dislodging Sunni militants from the northern city of Tikrit. The
military also carried out three airstrikes on the insurgent held
city of Mosul.
2014 Jun 28, In northeastern
Nigeria an explosion overnight in a brothel in the city of Bauchi
killed 11 people and wounded 28.
2014 Jun 28, In Pakistan Fayaz
Aslam (26) burned alive a young girl he wanted to marry after her
family refused his proposal. Aslam doused Sidra Shaukat (20) in
gasoline before setting her alight in a field in Punjab province.
The girl was taken to hospital where she died overnight. Aslam was
arrested for murder.
2014 Jun 28, Puerto Rico Gov.
Alejandro Garcia Padilla signed a law establishing a de facto
bankruptcy regime for state-owned enterprises.
(Econ, 7/5/14, p.26)
2014 Jun 28, In Singapore some
26,000 gay rights activists gathered for the annual Pink Dot rally
that came under unprecedented criticism from religious
conservatives, with one influential Christian pastor calling on the
government to ban the event.
2014 Jun 28, In Sudan North
Darfur state Gov. Osman Kbir announced the death of Ali Karbino, a
Darfur rebel leader, who experts said was responsible for some of
the deadliest attacks against Sudanese forces.
2014 Jun 28, In Syria a car
bomb exploded in a busy market in Douma, a rebel-held suburb of
Damascus, killing at least 2 people and wounding dozens as Muslims
went shopping a day before the start of their holy month of Ramadan.
Islamist rebels waged a counter-offensive in the border town of Albu
Kamal, challenging the grip of the Islamic State in Iraq and the
(AP, 6/28/14)(Reuters, 6/28/14)
2014 Jun 28, In Syria the ISIL
jihadist group publicly executed and crucified 9 men, eight of them
rebels fighting both President Bashar al-Assad's regime and the
jihadists in Deir Hafer, Aleppo province.
2014 Jun 28, In Taiwan Zhang
Zhijun, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Minister, canceled two events
after protesters threw paint on his motorcade.
(SSFC, 6/29/14, p.A6)
2014 Jun 28, In Ukraine
pro-Russian insurgents released the last four OSCE observers held
since their seizure in late May in Luhansk.
(SSFC, 6/29/14, p.A8)
2014 Jun 28, In Yemen fierce
clashes broke out between pro-government tribesmen and Shiite Huthi
rebels near Sanaa, as President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi vowed that
authorities will not tolerate any violence.
2014 Jun 29, US Marine Cpl.
Wassef Ali Hassoun (34) was flown from the Middle East to Norfolk,
Va., after turning himself in to US authorities. He was declared a
deserter in 2004 after disappearing in Iraq. On Feb 23, 2015,
Hassoun was sentenced to two years in prison for desertion.
(SFC, 6/30/14, p.A5)(SFC, 1/24/15, p.A5)
2014 Jun 29, San Francisco held
its 44th annual Gay Pride Parade.
(SFC, 6/30/14, p.A1)
2014 Jun 29, In Louisiana a
gunfight on Bourbon Street in New Orleans left one bystander dead
and nine people wounded. On Jan 15, 2016, Trung Lee (22) was found
guilty of manslaughter in the death of Brittany Thomas (21).
(SSFC, 1/17/16, p.A8)
2014 Jun 29, In Lancaster, New
Hampshire, the Porcupine Freedom Festival came to an end. It was
organized by the Free State project which aims to bring some 20,000
freedom-loving libertarians and anarchists to the state.
(Econ, 7/5/14, p.27)
2014 Jun 29, Australia seized
157 Sri Lankan Tamil asylum seekers near Christmas Island, an
Australian territory in the Indian Ocean.
2014 Jun 29, Bulgarian police
arrested five people for allegedly using text messages, e-mails and
phone calls "to spread false information that caused detriment to
commercial banks and destabilized the banking system."
2014 Jun 29, An Egyptian
appeals court upheld a blasphemy conviction against Abdel-Nour, a
Coptic Christian teacher, and sentenced her to six months in prison,
overturning an earlier ruling that only imposed a fine.
2014 Jun 29, In Hong Kong an
informal referendum aimed at bolstering support for greater
democracy wound down after drawing nearly 800,000 votes and the ire
of Beijing, which denounced it as a political farce.
2014 Jun 29, Police in southern
India detained five construction company officials as rescuers using
gas cutters and shovels searched for dozens of workers believed
buried in the rubble of a building that collapsed during monsoon
2014 Jun 29, Iraqi helicopter
gunships struck suspected insurgent positions in Tikrit as part of a
government offensive to retake the northern city from Sunni
militants led by the al-Qaida breakaway Islamic State of Iraq and
the Levant (ISIL). Insurgents retained control of most of Tikrit.
2014 Jun 29, The Islamic State
of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) proclaimed its leader Abu Bakr
al-Baghdadi to be caliph over territory it controls in Syria and
Iraq and demanded all Muslims around the world to pledge allegiance.
2014 Jun 29, Israel’s PM
Netanyahu called for the establishment of an independent Kurdistan.
(SFC, 6/30/14, p.A2)
2014 Jun 29, Israeli aircraft
attacked at least six militant targets in the Gaza Strip, hours
after rockets fired from the Palestinian territory set a factory in
Israel on fire.
2014 Jun 29, Italy's navy
rescued thousands of people trying to cross from North Africa over
the weekend. Off the coast of Sicily the corpses of 30 migrants were
found on a boat carrying nearly 600 migrants.
(Reuters, 6/30/14)(SFC, 7/1/14, p.A2)
2014 Jun 29, In Japan a man set
himself on fire at a busy intersection in Tokyo in an apparent
protest against PM Shinzo Abe's plans to ease limits of the
country's pacifist constitution. It was not immediately clear
whether the man survived.
2014 Jun 29, In Morocco around
500 migrants of sub-Saharan origin tried to storm Spain's
barbed-wire border fence separating its North African enclave of
Melilla from Morocco but all failed in their bid to enter Europe.
2014 Jun 29, In Nigeria
suspected Islamist militants sprayed gunfire on worshippers in four
churches in an attack on a village less than 5 km (3 miles) from
Chibok, the scene of a mass abduction of more than 200 school girls
in April. At least 30 people were reported killed.
(Reuters, 6/29/14)(AFP, 6/30/14)(AP, 7/1/14)
2014 Jun 29, Senegal voted in
municipal and provincial elections. This was seen as a key test for
President Macky Sall as he tries to shore up support for his party
two years after his own disputed victory.
2014 Jun 29, In Somalia
Islamist rebels shot dead 3 members of the security forces in
Mogadishu on the first day of Ramadan.
2014 Jun 29, Uganda forces in
Central African Republic (CAR) clashed for the first time with
fighters from Seleka, a mainly Muslim rebel force. 15 Seleka and
three UPDF soldiers were reported killed as clashes continued into
the next day.
2014 Jun 29, In eastern Ukraine
veteran cameraman Anatoly Klyan (68), who worked for Russia's
Channel One, was killed when a bus carrying journalists and
soldiers' mothers was hit by gunfire near Avdiivka, just north of
2014 Jun 30, Pres. Obama, in a
direct challenge to House Republicans, said he would act on his own
to stem the tide people crossing the southern US border illegally,
fix failures in the immigration system and speed the return of
thousands of smuggled children from Central America.
(SFC, 7/1/14, p.A1)
2014 Jun 30, The US Supreme
Court in Burwell v Hobby Lobby decided 5-4 that some employers with
religious objections do not have to pay for contraceptives for their
(Econ, 7/5/14, p.24)
2014 Jun 30, The US Supreme
Court in Harris v Quinn decided that home health care workers are
employed by the people they care for.
(Econ, 7/5/14, p.24)
2014 Jul 3, The DJIA topped
17,000 for the first time closing at 17,068.
(SFC, 7/4/14, p.C5)
2014 Jun 30, BNP Paribas,
France’s largest bank, pleaded guilty in a New York state court
admitting that it had transferred billions of dollars on behalf of
Sudan, Cuba and Iran, all blacklisted by the US. The bank agreed to
pay $8.9 billion to settle the charges.
(SFC, 7/1/14, p.D2)(Econ, 7/5/14, p.58)
2014 Jun 30, General Motors
added 8.2 million vehicles to its ballooning list of cars recalled
over faulty ignition switches.
(SFC, 7/1/14, p.D4)
2014 Jun 30, In southern
California Sinh Vinh Ngo Nguyen of Garden Grove was sentenced to 13
years in prison for using Facebook and other Internet communications
to connect with al-Qaida and plan to train its fighters in Pakistan.
(SFC, 7/1/14, p.A6)
2014 Jun 30, Paul Mazursky
(b.1930), American film director, writer, actor and producer, died
in Los Angeles. His films included “"Bob & Carol & Ted &
Alice" (1969), “Harry and Tonto" (1974), “An Unmarried Woman" (1978)
and “Enemies: A Love Story" (1989).
(SFC, 7/2/14, p.E4)
2014 Jun 30, Frank Robinson
(b.1926), LGBT advocate and novelist, died in San Francisco. “The
Glass Inferno," which he co-wrote with Thomas Scortia, was one of
two books adapted into the film “The Towering Inferno" (1974).
(SFC, 7/4/14, p.D1)
2014 Jun 30, Afghan forces
continued to battle the Taliban in southern Helmand province for a
second week seeking to reassert control over a strategic district
just weeks after the departure of US troops.
2014 Jun 30, Argentine
officials said flooding from torrential rains have forced the
evacuation of 3,000 people in the northeastern provinces of Misiones
(SFC, 7/1/14, p.A2)
2014 Jun 30, Australia’s
Catholic church said Bishop Max Davis has stepped down after being
accused of sexually abusing a teenage student decades ago. Davis
denied the charges.
(SFC, 7/1/14, p.A2)
2014 Jun 30, In Belgium a
24-hour strike disrupted train service and caused the cancellation
of high-speed Thalys services between Brussels and Paris, Amsterdam
and other European cities.
2014 Jun 30, In England Rolf
Harris (84) an Australian-born artist, TV presenter and performer of
songs like "Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport," was convicted at Southwark
Crown Court on all 12 counts of indecently assaulting girls and
young women from 1968-1986.
2014 Jun 30, Bulgaria sought to
stabilize its banks with rescue money after what the government
called a criminal plot to undermine them with rumors triggered runs
2014 Jun 30, Cameroon's
football federation said it will investigate allegations of
match-fixing by its team at the World Cup and the possible existence
of "seven bad apples" in the squad.
2014 Jun 30, In Canada Toronto
Mayor Rob Ford returned to work after a two-month stay in rehab and
vowed to stay clean.
(SFC, 7/1/14, p.A2)
2014 Jun 30, In China former
top Gen. Xu Caihou was expelled from the ruling Communist Party to
face bribery charges. Three other senior officials, including a
former deputy police minister, also were expelled from the party to
face corruption charges.
2014 Jun 30, China said it will
re-open its embassy in Mogadishu 23 years after evacuating its
diplomats as Somalia plunged into civil war.
2014 Jun 30, In China a leaking
oil pipeline caught fire in the northeastern port city of Dalian,
forcing the evacuation of nearly 20,000 residents.
2014 Jun 30, In Egypt 2 police
officers were killed while trying to defuse makeshift bombs planted
near Cairo's presidential palace close to the anniversary of the
army's overthrow of an elected Islamist president. The militant
group Ajnad Misr, or Soldiers of Egypt, claimed responsibility.
2014 Jun 30, France said the
leaders of Russia and Ukraine have agreed to work on the adoption of
a ceasefire in Ukraine as well as the establishment of effective
2014 Jun 30, Iraq lifted a
17-day social media ban imposed to disrupt the communications of
armed militants who have seized much of its west and north, although
about 20 news websites remain blocked.
2014 Jun 30, Israeli military
found the bodies of teenagers Eyal Yifrah (19), Gilad Shaar (16) and
Naftali Fraenkel (16), under a pile of rocks north of Hebron. They
were abducted on June 12 while hitchhiking home from the Jewish
seminaries, where they were studying near the West Bank city of
Hebron. Troops set off explosions in the family homes of the alleged
abductors in Hebron.
(AP, 7/1/14)(Reuters, 7/1/14)(SFC, 7/1/14, p.A2)
2014 Jun 30, Israel's interior
minister Gideon Saar (47) said he will no longer permit Tel Aviv
supermarkets to stay open on the Jewish Sabbath, drawing a chorus of
criticism from liberal Israelis who see the regulation as religious
coercion against secular society.
2014 Jun 30, Israeli
prosecutors indicted businessman Nochi Dankner for securities fraud.
Last December he lost his grip on IDB Holding Corp. after a court
approved a rescue plan that handed control to two rival
(Econ, 7/5/14, p.54)
2014 Jun 30, In Japan thousands
of people protested outside the PM Shinzo Abe's office in
anticipation his government will reinterpret the constitution to
allow Japan's military a larger international role.
2014 Jun 30, A Macedonian court
convicted six Muslim men of murdering five Christian fishermen in a
lake near the capital Skopje on Easter, 2012, in an alleged plot to
destabilize the country, and sentenced them to life imprisonment.
Two of the defendants were tried in absentia, because they are
serving jail terms in neighboring Kosovo over illegal weapons
charges. A seventh suspect was acquitted.
2014 Jun 30, In southern Mexico
22 suspected criminals were killed in a firefight with troops in the
San Pedro Limon community of Tlatlaya. On Sep 30 three soldiers were
charged with homicide. On Oct 21 the government said soldiers had
killed 12-15 suspects in the fight. A survivor later said most of
the victims had been killed after they surrendered. Four of the
arrested soldiers were released in October, 2015, for lack of
evidence. Three other were freed on May 13 for lack of evidence.
(AP, 9/25/14)(AP, 10/1/14)(SFC, 10/23/14,
p.A2)(Econ, 10/18/14, p.37)(AP, 12/31/14)(AFP, 5/15/16)
2014 Jun 30, Pakistan launched
a ground offensive against militant strongholds near the Afghan
border after evacuating nearly half a million people from the
2014 Jun 30, Palestinian
militants fired at least 14 rockets into southern Israel, damaging
two homes but causing no injuries.
2014 Jun 30, In Somalia 2
people were killed after a land mine exploded at a business center
in the northern outskirts of Mogadishu.
2014 Jun 30, In Syria a barrage
of mortar shells hit government-held areas of the northern city of
Idlib, killing 14 people and wounding at least 40. Heavy clashes
were reported between several Syrian rebel factions and ISIL
fighting for control of a border crossing with Iraq in eastern
2014 Jun 30, Thailand's
military government said it had begun an overhaul of the electoral
system following an announcement by junta leader General Prayuth
Chan-ocha that polls could take place by late 2015.
2014 Jun, Andargachew Tsigie,
the exiled secretary general of Ethiopia’s Ginbot 7 opposition
movement, was detained in transit through Yemen and flown to
(Econ, 8/9/14, p.42)
2014 Jun, Jamaica’s government
said it plans to decriminalize possession of small amounts of
(Econ, 6/28/14, p.14)
2014 Jun, In Peru clothing
businessmen in the Gamarra district of Lima held a conference to
publicize extortion that cost them an average of $3000 per month.
(Econ, 7/12/14, p.31)
2014 Jun, In Vietnam Nguyen Duc
Kien, a banking tycoon was jailed for 30 years for tax evasion and
(Econ, 11/15/14, p.79)