Portal:Current events/2010 July 12

Current events of July 12, 2010 (2010-07-12) (Monday)

Deepwater Horizon oil spill

• A new cap on the destroyed oil well has been put in place, and will undergo more than 2 days of testing. (AP via MSNBC)

Armed conflicts and incidents

• A gunman opens fire at a fiber optics plant in Albuquerque, New Mexico, killing two and wounding four before committing suicide. (AP via Yahoo)
• At least eight people are injured after a tornado strikes the German island of Duene in the North Sea. (BBC)

Science and environment

• Files indicate that GlaxoSmithKline knew Rosiglitazone (Avandia) had high heart risks since 1999, and made efforts to cover up the findings. (The NY Times)
• The UK Ministry of Defence unveils Taranis, its new long-range unmanned plane intended to damage enemy territory. Tests are due to begin in 2011. (BBC) (CBS News) (The Scotsman) (The Sun)

Politics and elections

• An Israeli military probe into the naval raid on the Gaza-bound flotilla praises the naval commandos who killed eight Turks and one Turkish-American but criticises poor Israeli intelligence that did not have a sufficient backup plan for its troops in the event that the Flotilla's passengers reacted violently to the raid. (BBC) (The Guardian) (The Independent)
• The United States is pleased after Russia suggests Iran could build a nuclear weapon in future, an unusual admission from Moscow. (Reuters)
• French President Nicolas Sarkozy goes on national TV to dismiss allegations that he received illegal campaign donations from Liliane Bettencourt. (BBC News)
• The United Kingdom Secretary of State for Health Andrew Lansley outlines a radical proposal to reform the country's National Health Service, including the privatisation of hospitals. (BBC News)
• The EU agree to impose tougher sanctions against member countries that violate the Stability and Growth Pact. (Channel NewsAsia)

Law and crime

• The International Criminal Court charges Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir with three counts of genocide for his role in the Darfur conflict. (AP) (BBC) (Japan Today) (The Independent)
• Cuba releases 7 political prisoners and sends them into exile in Spain, the first in a wave of 52. (AP via Google News)
• Italian military police general Giampaolo Ganzer is sentenced to 14 years imprisonment and fined €65,000 for drug smuggling between 1991 and 1997. (BBC)

Arts and entertainment

• Switzerland rejects a request from the United States to extradite Franco–Polish film director Roman Polanski to face sentencing on charges of unlawful sex with a minor in 1977. (The Daily Telegraph)
• Two Russian men, Andrei Yerofeyev and Yuri Samodurov, are convicted of inciting hatred for setting up a Forbidden Art exhibition at the Sakharov Museum. (BBC) (The Independent)
• Singer Jon Bon Jovi opts to continue with Bon Jovi's world concert tour despite tearing his calf open at the end of a concert in New Jersey. (Reuters)

Sport

• Spain's victorious 2010 FIFA World Cup "campeones" return to Madrid where they are met by hundreds of thousands of people, the royal family and politicians. (BBC) (The Australian)