Portal:Current events/2007 August 15

August 15, 2007 (Wednesday)

Governments, companies, and non-profit organizations around the world have been editing Wikipedia to hide criticism and push a point of view. The previously anonymous edits can now be tracked to their source using the Wikipedia Scanner. (TIME) (Reddit) (BBC) (BBC)
Hurricane Flossie passes Hawaii causing some damage but not as much as feared. It has deteriorated to a tropical storm and should cause no further damage. (Hawaii Reporter)
A hurricane watch is issued for a portion of the Lesser Antilles including St. Lucia and Martinique due to the prospects of Tropical Storm Dean becoming a hurricane. (ABC News WLOS)
The Israeli Defence Force destroys a tunnel from the Gaza Strip towards Israel. (Jerusalem Post)
President of the United States George W. Bush, President of Mexico Felipe Calderón and the Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper to meet later this month under the North American Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) mechanism to discuss economic and security issues. (China View)
Jack McConnell resigns as the leader of the Scottish Labour Party with Wendy Alexander likely to be elected as his replacement as leader. (The Scotsman)
China will send officials to the United States to discuss food and product safety following a spate of product recalls in recent months. (Reuters)
The trial of the President of Zambia Frederick Chiluba for stealing public money resumes today. (Reuters via CNN)
A powerful earthquake measuring 7.9 on the Richter Scale rocks Peru 100 miles near Lima, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. A tsunami warning is issued for Peru, Ecuador, Chile and Colombia, following the earthquakes. At least 72 people are killed and another 680 injured. (Fox News) (USGS) (Reuters) (Reuters via Sydney Morning Herald)
Japan resumes economic and humanitarian aid to the Palestinian National Authority. (BBC)
Tropical Depression Five strengthens into Tropical Storm Erin, causing tropical storm warnings to be issued for parts of Texas and Tamaulipas. (Reuters).
Mexican authorities deport hundreds of illegal immigrants who got stuck on a closed GWI rail line in Chiapas. (BBC)
2007 South Asian floods: A landslide hits the Dharla village in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, killing at least five people. Another 55 are missing. (BBC)
Hundreds of Kenyan journalists protest in the streets of Nairobi against a law that would require them to disclose their sources. (BBC)
Australia's foreign minister, Alexander Downer, confirms Australia will sell uranium and nuclear technology to India. (BBC)
Richard Boucher, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, arrives in Pakistan to meet foreign minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri and President Pervez Musharraf. (BBC)
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Argentinian presidential candidate, presents Julio Cobos as her running mate. (BBC)
Ali Mohammed Ghedi, the interim Prime Minister of Somalia, says he plans to create a Green Zone in Mogadishu and criticizes the United Nations for giving "so much emphasis on Darfur and not to Somalia". (BBC)
ODM-Kenya, the main Kenyan opposition party, splits in two four months before the general elections. (BBC)
Charles Murigande, the foreign minister of Rwanda, criticizes the Democratic Republic of Congo for stopping military operations against the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda. (BBC)
War in Afghanistan:
- Three Germans are killed by a bomb attack near Kabul. (BBC)
- United States and Afghan forces start a new offensive in Tora Bora. (BBC)
On the 62nd anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his ministers do not visit the Yasukuni Shrine. (BBC)
Government sources reveal that the Russian administration of Boris Yeltsin sent unofficial signals to Finland at the end of 1991 about returning Karelia to Finland. (Kainuun Sanomat via NewsRoom Finland)^{[permanent dead link]}
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation invites Turkmenistan to its summit in Bishkek with a view to asking it to join. (RIA Novosti)
The death toll from the 2007 Qahtaniya bombings reaches 500 with 350 more people injured. (CNN) (BBC) (CNN)
Six Italians are found shot to death in the town of Duisburg, Germany. Police say they were connected to 'Ndrangheta. (Fox News) (BBC)
The Myanmar government doubles the price of petrol and increases the cost of compressed natural gas fivefold leaving some commuters stranded. (BBC)
The Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon orders a full evaluation of the needs of North Korea after severe floods hit the country. Up to 300,000 people may have been left homeless. (BBC) (Reuters)
60th anniversary of the Partition of India:
- India marks the 60th anniversary of its independence from British rule. (AFP via ABC News Australia)
- Five persons, including two policemen, are injured when suspected rebels threw grenades near an Independence Day venue in Assam.
- A strike led by separatists brings the Muslim areas of Jammu and Kashmir to a standstill. (AFP/Reuters via ABC News Australia)
Bangladesh marks the 32nd anniversary of the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, a pioneer of Bengali independence from Pakistan and their first President. (The New Nation)
The United States declares Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a "specially designated global terrorist," paving the way for increased financial pressure on Iran and its assets abroad. (The Washington Post)