Portal:Current events/2007 June 18
June 18, 2007 (Monday)
- The Comcast Center officially becomes the tallest building in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania after a topping out ceremony.
- Nine firefighters are killed in a collapse at a furniture warehouse blaze in Charleston, South Carolina, the largest loss of firefighters in the United States in one incident since the collapse of the World Trade Center in 2001.
- The President of Turkey, Ahmet Necdet Sezer, vetoes a bill bringing forward a referendum of the direct election of the president. (BBC)
- Floods kill four people in north Texas. (Reuters) (AP via The New York Times)
- The European Union and United States restore foreign aid to the Palestinian Authority. (AP via Time)
- Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar issues an ultimatum to the Palestinian Army of Islam to free kidnapped BBC journalist Alan Johnston or face military action. (BBC)
- A global internet pedophilia ring with over 700 suspects worldwide is smashed by UK police; 31 children are rescued. (Sky)
- Two former Croatian generals, Mirko Norac and Rahim Ademi, go on trial in Zagreb, charged for alleged atrocities against Serb civilians in 1993. (AP via IHT)
- Rwanda and Burundi join the East African Community in a meeting in Kampala, Uganda. (BBC)
- Mongolian authorities confirm a helicopter crash that claimed 14 lives last Wednesday. (BBC)
- As many as 36 people are killed south of Baghdad in fighting between Shiite militiamen and British forces doing door-to-door searches. (AP via San Jose Mercury News)[permanent dead link]
- Parts of Melbourne, Australia are in lockdown after a gunman shoots three people in the CBD, sparking a massive manhunt throughout the city. (The Age) (ABC)
- New negotiations begin between Morocco and the Polisario. (Reuters), (Herald Sun via Reuters)