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