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Somalian aid supply threatened Soon after a UN report highlighted the food crisis facing Somalia, a ship carrying food aid to Somalia has been hijacked off the coast of the country. The UN World Food Programme cannot continue shipments until it is released because of safety concerns. Sunnis fighting al-Qa'eda insurgents in Western Iraq The local Sunni leaders in Husaybeh are fighting the followers of a Jordanian born terrorist, Abu Musab Zarqawi, who uses the town as a point to smuggle jihadists into the country. Afghanistan's President condemns U.S. killing of 17 civilians The U.S. bombing attack which killed 17 civilians has been condemned by the government of Afghanistan; "The president is extremely saddened and disturbed," said President Hamid Karzai's chief of staff Jawed Ludin. "There is no way ... the killing of civilians can be justified. ... It's the terrorists we are fighting. It's not our people who should suffer.".

Wikipedia Current Events
The International Olympic Committee meets for the final day before they announce which of the five short-listed bids for the 2012 Summer Olympics has been successful. The announcement is set for 11:46 UTC on Wednesday. The Al Jazeera Network states it will be expanding into the United States by March of 2006. In Germany, Sven Jaschan, suspected creator of Sasser worm, goes on trial.

Wikipedia Current Events
Scientists uncover evidence that humans lived in the Americas 45,000 years ago, 30,000 years earlier than previously thought. Elections in Albania: Vote tallying in the 2005 Albanian general election continues. Voter turnout was over 50% and results are expected later in the day. International observers, including OSCE, have expressed reservations about the voting process. Three people have been killed during the election. In Indonesia, an earthquake ranking from 6.0-6.7 on the Richter scale hits Sumatra. No reports on any damage have yet been released. In India, militants attack and try to storm a makeshift temple of Ram in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh; most of them die in a firefight with the security forces. There are differing reports about the number of attackers and how many were killed. The temple site is a source of dispute between Muslims and Hindus. In Brazil, secretary general Silvio Pereira of the ruling Worker's Party resigns for the duration of the parliamentary inquiry into vote-buying. In Iraq, gunmen attack envoys from Pakistan and Bahrain. The attacks come three days after Egypt's top envoy was ambushed in the street and injured. The attempted kidnappings are meant to discourage other nations from having ties with Iraq. The government of Indonesia announced the extension of its immunization campaign against Polio. The second round in this campaign was originally scheduled to end yesterday.

Washington, D.C. handgun ban under assault

D.C. handgun possession exemptions are granted to police, guards, retired police and to residents who owned them prior to 1976 when the ban took effect.

A 30-year ban on loaded shotguns, rifles and handguns in homes and businesses is set for repeal in Washington DC, where one of the strictest gun possession laws in the nation is in existence. The House of Representatives voted 259-161 on June 30 to allow an amendment by Mark Souder, R-Ind. to become attached to the federal district’s appropriations bill that later passed 405-18.

“My amendment gives D.C. citizens the same rights at work as they have at home.” said Souder, a native of Indiana when not working on capital hill.

A Senate bill titled “District of Columbia Personal Protection Act” was introduced in May by George Allen, R-Va. and Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Tx. Senator Allen, who according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch has presidential aspirations in the 2008 election, said of the bill’s introduction that it would, “give the law abiding citizens of the capital their constitutional right to protect themselves again.” It currently has 32 Senate co-sponsors, and is expected to climb to 50 when debate on the bill begins.

Passage of the Senate bill would overturn the city law that has support from the mayor, city council, police chief many of its citizens. The law requires trigger locks on all firearms or they must be kept disassembled. Handguns are banned outright.

District residents are witnessing the federal legislation process that many view as trampling upon their more permanent residency rights. Locally elected leaders are able under the Home Rule Act to make their own laws, but local District of Columbia representatives have no vote in either the House or Senate, rendering them helpless in that political arena.

D.C.'s mayor Anthony Williams said, "It's discouraging when members of Congress who don't represent our city try to shove their laws down our throats."

A similar act to repeal the gun ban passed the House in 2004, but it was not taken up by the Senate.

Aid ship sailing to Somalia hijacked; aid supply threatened

Soon after a UN report highlighted the food crisis facing Somalia, a ship carrying food aid to Somalia has been hijacked off the coast of the country and its ten crew members abducted. The pirates are demanding a ransom of half a million dollars for the return of the ship.

Neither the UN World Food Programme (WFP) nor the ship's owners are willing to pay the ransom. Last year, pirates killed 30 sailors.

The WFP hopes the ship will be released soon but cannot continue shipments until then because of safety concerns. If the ship is released soon, there will be no interruption in aid supply.

The WFP believe the crew is still on board the ship and that the crew are "fine". They hope the ship will be returned to them shortly.

The WFP supplies about 3,000 tons of food for about 275,000 Somalis per month, and the country currently has about two weeks of stocks left.

Israeli man faces attempted murder charges for stabbing three gay pride marchers

The man charged with stabbing three participants at Jerusalem’s June 30 gay pride parade faces attempted murder charges.

Yishai Shlisel, an orthodox Jew said his deep religious conviction led to his actions. "I came to murder on behalf of God. We can’t have such abomination in the country," Shlisel said during a police interrogation, according to authorities.

The combination of police eye-witnesses, video evidence and his confession led to Shlisel being charged with three counts of attempted murder Tuesday in a Jerusalem district court. Prosecutors allege Shlisel purchased an 18-centimeter (seven inches) knife in preparation of going to the parade with the intent to kill homosexuals.

Medical authorities say the victims, two aged 18 and one aged 50, suffered light to moderate stab wounds.

Even before this knife attack, the 2005 Jerusalem gay pride parade already had an extensive legal record. Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski's previous decision to cancel the parade as inappropriate for his city was overturned in court. About 5,000 gay pride marchers and 1,000 protestors turned up for the Thursday night event.

Police temporarily halted the parade after a group of 100 orthodox Jews attempted to force their way through police barricades, chanting "Gay is shame!" One man, allegedly Shlisel, did break through and stabbed three marchers. Other religious protestors against the march, including Jews, Christians and Muslims were peaceful, according to authorities.

Sunnis fighting al-Qa'eda insurgents in Western Iraq

Sunnis have turned their weapons on al Qa'eda fighters in a town in western Iraq.

The local Sunni leaders in Husaybeh are fighting the followers of a Jordanian born terrorist, Abu Musab Zarqawi, who uses the town as a point to smuggle jihadists into the country.

Fighting first broke out in May, when a local tribal sheik was murdered on the orders of Zarqawi, and fighting broke out using small arms and mortars. The Shiek had invited US Marines to lunch as a sign of goodwill.

The foreigners have also enforced a strict Islamic code forbidding the wearing of Western clothing, and shops selling music and satellite dishes have been closed.

Anyone suspected of helping Coalition troops is kidnapped or killed - even those seen to be helping the Iraqi government, such as officials responsible for water and electricity supplies. As a result, local services have collapsed.

"We thought they were patriotic. Now we discovered that they are sick and crazy. They interfered in everything, even how we raise our children. They turned the city into hell, and we cannot live in it anymore," said Arkan Salim, 56, who fled the town with his wife and four children.

The US military in the town has not been targeted - in fact the insurgents have taken care to avoid firing mortar rounds too close to the US base, less they become involved in the fighting. Local tribes have secretly tipped off the US military so they can bomb the terrorists.

Iraqis said that the fighting is a sign of the fracturing in support foreign fighters in Iraq are experiencing. They have been losing public support amongst Sunni communities, the Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jafari said, after attempts to include Sunnis in the political process.

United Church of Christ endorses same-sex marriage, largest Christian denomination to do so

In a meeting on Monday in Atlanta, Georgia, the United Church of Christ overwhelmingly approved a resolution supporting same-sex marriage, therefore becoming the largest Christian denomination to do so. UCC has over 6,000 congregations and 1.3 million members.

In a press conference, Rev. John H. Thomas said, "On this July Fourth the General Synod of the United Church of Christ has acted courageously to declare freedom, affirming marriage equality, affirming the civil rights of same gender couples to have their relationships recognized as marriages by the state, and encouraging our local churches to celebrate and bless those marriages."

Thomas also acknowledged that the issue of marriage equality is "the source of great conflict" not only in society but also in the churches. The UCC, he said, "is no exception" and "there are clearly great differences among our own members over this."

The decision is non-binding but asks member churches to consider wedding policies "that do not discriminate against couples based on gender" and support laws granting equal marriage rights for gays and lesbians.

Some member churches have suggested they may leave the denomination but most members appeared to support the resolution noting some ministers already perform same-sex ceremonies.

UCC was criticized last year for creating a television commercial including a gay couple being excluded from a church. The 30-second ad was rejected by most TV networks.

Today in History
1609 - Bohemia was granted freedom of religion.

1785 - The dollar was unanimously chosen as the money unit for the United States. This was the first time a nation had adopted a decimal currency system.

1885 - Louis Pasteur successfully tested his vaccine against rabies on Joseph Meister.

1887 - David Kalakaua, monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaii, was forced at gunpoint, at the hands of Americans, to sign the Bayonet Constitution giving Americans more power in Hawaii while stripping Hawaiian citizens of their rights.

1957 - Althea Gibson won the Wimbledon championships, becoming the first black athlete to do so.

July 06 is Independence Day in Malawi (1964) and in Comoros (1975), Jan Hus Day in the Czech Republic

Quote of the Day

"I have not yet begun to fight!" ~ John Paul Jones

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