Portal:Current events/2008 June 23

June 23, 2008 (Monday)

Malaysia releases Buhary Syed Abu Tahir, a leading business associate of Pakistani nuclear scientist A. Q. Khan. (BBC News)
The 2008 meeting of the International Whaling Commission begins in Santiago, Chile. (BBC News)
Nawaz Sharif, former Prime Minister of Pakistan and leader of the Pakistan Muslim League (N), is found ineligible by a court to stand in upcoming by-elections. (BBC News)
In Serbia, the Milošević-founded Socialist Party is to join the coalition led by the pro-Western Democratic Party which came to power in 2007 elections. (BBC News)
China fires twelve officials for misconduct in the Sichuan earthquake relief effort. (BBC News)
The Supreme Court of the United States refuses to hear an appeal of eminent domain eviction notices in connection with the Atlantic Yards development in Brooklyn, New York City. (AP via Yahoo! News)
The Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit rules that Hozaifa Parhat, a Chinese Uyghur militant currently detained at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, cannot be ruled an "enemy combatant" because he never took up arms against the United States. (AP via Yahoo! News)
The European Union agrees to new sanctions against Iran including a freeze on the assets of Bank Melli, Iran's largest bank, over the refusal to curb its nuclear program. (Reuters via Sydney Morning Herald)
Zimbabwean Electoral Crisis:
- Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai seeks refuge in Dutch Embassy. (BBC News)
- The United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice questions the legitimacy of the upcoming presidential election and calls for relevant bodies such as the African Union and the United Nations Security Council to consider the issue. (Reuters)
- The United Nations Security Council condemns the Government of Zimbabwe for a "campaign of violence". (AP via Google News)^{[permanent dead link]}
The 2008 Wimbledon Championships begins in London. (TSN via Canada.com)
2008 Pacific typhoon season: Typhoon Fengshen in the Philippines
- An additional 28 survivors from the MV Princess of the Stars are found but there are still more than 800 missing from the vessel that sunk during Typhoon Fengshen. (Reuters)
An Australian air safety group claims that Yogyakarta International Airport was operating illegally with no valid license at the time Garuda Indonesia Flight 200 crashed, killing 21. They also accuse two other airports of similar violations and three official bodies of keeping it from public knowledge. (Crikey)