The world - July 1, 2010

THURSDAY

President Barack Obama installed General David Patraeus as the commander of the Afghanistan War. Obama removed General Stanley McChrystal from command earlier in the week for remarks he made in an article printed in Rolling Stone magazine.

On an 8-1 decision, the Supreme Court ordered released the names and addresses of the signers of a petition that would have outlawed gay marriage in Washington. Protect Marriage Washington had petitioned the court to block release of the names, arguing public disclosure could lead to threats, harassment or reprisal.

John Isner’s backhand passing shot gave him a 70-68 win in a fifth-set tiebreaker over Nicolas Mahut to end the longest match in Wimbledon history. The opening round match, played before 782 spectators on Court 18, ended at 6-4 3-6 6-7 7-6 70-68 after 11 hours and five minutes of play spread over three days.

FRIDAY

G-20 leaders from industrialized nations around the world gathered in Toronto to discuss how to sustain the global economy. Police arrested more than 600 black-clad students who were protesting the influence on globalization efforts exerted by multi-national corporations.

Federal bank regulators shuttered the doors on three small banks in New Mexico, Georgia and Florida. The failures are expected to cost the FDIC’s insurance fund $284.6 million. The FDIC said this week it expects bank failures to cost its insurance fund $60 billion from 2010 through 2014.

A measles outbreak in Malawi killed 82 people, mostly children, and infected more than 17,000 others.

In the dead of night, authorities removed a 6-meter-high bronze statue of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin from the central square of his hometown in Georgia.

WEEKEND

Hundreds watched the Mississippi coastline Sunday as large patches of thick oil from the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico washed ashore at Ocean Springs, about 10 miles east of Biloxi.

Thirty people were arrested in Yemen’s port of Aden, after a two-day hunt for suspected al Qaeda operatives behind an attack on an intelligence building.

U.S. dreams of soccer glory were crushed Saturday when the national team fell 2-1 to Ghana in a match to advance to the quarterfinals of the World Cup. Ghana became the third team from Africa to ever reach

the final eight in the tournament.

No damage was reported after a 6.9 magnitude quake struck near the Solomon Islands on Saturday.

MONDAY

In a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court extended gun rights to every state and city in the U.S. in a ruling that is expected to spur challenges to gun control measures and lead to judicial overturnings of existing laws.

U.S. authorities cracked the “Illegals,” a spy ring of 10 agents of the Russian Federation that carried out deep-cover work in the United States to recruit political sources and gather information for the Russian government.

Rodlfo Torre, a leading candidate for governor in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, was gunned down by suspected drug cartel hitmen. Torre was with four aides from the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party who were on their way to a campaign rally for Sunday’s election.

TUESDAY

Tropical storm Alex strengthened to become the first hurricane of the Atlantic season as it swirled across the Gulf of Mexico. Alex was expected to make landfall late Wednesday or early Thursday.

Larry King, CNN talk show host known for his colorful suspenders, turbulent personal life and softball interview questions, announced he will end his show this fall after 35 years.

Three X-rays of Marilyn Monroe’s chest and pelvis sold for $45,000 at auction in the Planet Hollywood resort in Vegas.

WEDNESDAY

Foreign forces repulsed a Taliban raid against the biggest airbase in eastern Afghanistan. A suicide car bomber blew up a gate at the base in Jalalabad, near the border with Pakistan, and insurgents launched an attack with rocket propelled grenades and small arms.

Nebraska officials issued an arrest warrant for Colton Harris-Moore, the Camano Island teen burglar known as the “Barefoot Bandit.” He was caught on surveillance video at a northeastern Nebraska airport earlier this month. He escaped from a Seattle halfway house in April 2008.

Egyptian archaeologists who have completed a three-year excavation on an unfinished ancient tunnel believe it was meant to connect the 3,300-year-old tomb of Pharaoh Seti I with a secret burial site.

South Korea’s parliament voted to legalize chemical castration as punishment for convicted child sex offenders after a series of violent assaults sparked outrage nationwide.

Compiled by Gazette staff from a variety of sources.