Portal:Current events/2009 July 27

Current events of July 27, 2009 (2009-07-27) (Monday)

• President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo delivers her last State of the Nation Address and denies plans to extend her term which end in June 2010 as plans to convene a constituent assembly to amend the constitution erupts. (BBC) (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
• A line of wildfires in the Mediterranean region, which has killed eight people, spreads to Croatia. (RTÉ) (The Times)
• At least 150 people are killed as clashes continue between radical Islamists in northern Nigeria after two days of unrest. (BBC) (Associated Press) (Africasia)
• Canada challenges the seal ban of the European Union at the World Trade Organization. (BBC) (CBC) (Reuters)
• The United States and China begin the first U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue. (AFP) (Xinhua) (Reuters)
• Former Liberian leader Charles Taylor denies cannibalism at his war trial in The Hague. (BBC) (The Times)
• A rural community in the Eastern Cape in South Africa lays claim to the entire town of Mthatha in one of the biggest land restitution cases since the end of apartheid. (Sky News)
• Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church begins a visit to Ukraine. (BBC)
• French President Nicolas Sarkozy leaves hospital after tests due to his fainting fits. (BBC) (RTÉ) (The Times)
• German health minister Ulla Schmidt is criticised when her official car is stolen during the burglarization of her driver's hotel room in Alicante, Spain. (BBC) (Deutsche Welle)
• A Saudi man facing flogging or imprisonment for speaking of his illegal sexual conquests on television apologises for his actions. (BBC)
• A break-in at Christ Church Cathedral in Waterford, Ireland, damages the building and the Thomas Elliott organ, dating from 1817. (The Irish Times) (RTÉ) (Sunday Tribune)
• Researchers outline bokodes, a proposed replacement for the black and white stripes of the traditional barcode. (BBC)
• A British-led military offensive, Operation Panther's Claw, succeeds in clearing the Taliban from parts of southern Helmand Province in Afghanistan. (CNN)
• Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha's alliance wins enough seats to form a government, though it fell one seat short of a majority. (BBC)
• The Video Game Pokemon Diamond was released in Europe. Surpassing the initial release date by 302 days. (September 28, 2006)