TGIF, 16 July 2010
While you were sleeping
At least 21 people died in two suicide bomb explosions at a Shi’ite mosque in the Iranian city of Zahedan. Sunni group Jundallah claimed responsibility, saying the attack was in retaliation for Iran’s execution of its leader and had been carried out by his relatives. Reuters, Voice of America
Australian media are reporting that new prime minister Julia Gillard will on Saturday call a general election for 28 August, which will be just seven weeks after ousting Kevin Rudd. ABC, Sydney Morning Herald
Goldman Sachs announced it plans to pay $300 million in fines to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, and $250 million in compensation to investors who lost money, in order to make civil charges of fraud related to a mortgage securitisation product go away. The company continues to deny it did anything illegal in effectively hanging its clients out to dry. Bloomberg, LA Times
An American federal appeals court upheld the 97-year sentence of Charles Emmanuel, the son of former LIberian leader Charles Taylor, for torture committed in Liberia. The ruling is both a boost for the international Convention Against Torture, and validates the US law implementing it. AP
The spewing oil well in the Gulf of Mexico remained fully capped as testing of a new containment system continued, and everybody involved radiated optimism while cautiously refusing to call it a permanent solution. The major concern now is that the cap will cause oil to leak through the seabed, but no evidence of that was found in the hours immediately after the last valve was closed. Houston Chronicle, AP
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