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Jul 1 President Obama announces full diplomatic ties with Cuba, that the US and Cuba have agreed to open embassies in each other's capital cities.
Jul 1 A temperature of 36.7 (98 degrees Fahrenheit) is recorded at Heathrow airport in London; the hottest temperature in the UK in twelve years and the hottest July day on record.
Jul 2 A woman dies of measles at the University of Washington Medical Center, the first measles death in the United States since 2003.
Jul 5 In a referendum, Greeks vote against the austerity and other reforms demanded their government's creditors. The question of Greece leaving the Euro is in the air. Greece could address its debt if it had its own currency, by devaluation. It is said that big money in Greece doesn't want to leave the Euro or a loss in value of their cash.
Jul 7 In the Washington Times today, Joseph Curl asks, whether Repubiican presidential candidate Donald Trump is a Democratic plant? He writes of one unnamed Republican Party official complaining about Trump offending Hispanics. Someone sends in a comment:, "The American middle class is just looking for ANYONE with the spine it takes to battle the apparent Cultural Marxism of the media, and the NWO [New World Order?] corruption of the Democrats and corporations.
Jul 7 Shares on China's stock exchange have lost a third of their value in less than a month. Trading for more than 90 percent of 2,774 shares listed on the exchange are suspended or halted.
Jul 7 The Philippines ask an international tribunal at The Hague to declare China's claims to virtually all the South China Sea invalid.
Jul 9 China has begun rounding up civil-rights lawyers and their support staff for interrogation.
Jul 9 Thailand sends back to China more than 100 Uighur refugees and receives harsh criticism from the UN refugee agency and human rights groups over concerns that they face persecution by the Chinese government.
Jul 10 The Confederate battle flag – a powerful symbol of slavery and the Old South that has roiled emotions in South Carolina for decades – was removed from the Statehouse grounds Friday in a brief ceremony observed by thousands kept at a distance behind metal barriers. President Obama tweeted, describing it as "a signal of good will and healing, and a meaningful step towards a better future."The issue is said to have come to a head following the killing of nine black worshipers at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston on June 17 by a young white supremacist
Jul 10 Florida's Senator Marco Rubio, a top contender for the Republican nomination for president, says that he wins the presidency he would "absolutely" reverse steps President Obama has taken to far to normalize relations with Cuba. "In fact, I think they're in violation of the law," he said during his campaign swing through Iowa.
Jul 12 In China it is announced that Xi Xiaoming, vice-president of the Supreme People's Court, has been swept up by the country's anti-graft dragnet.
Jul 14 After months of debate, Iran and a coalition of countries including the United States reach an agreement on Iran's nuclear program. They agree that the UN Security Council's sanctions against Iran will be lifted in exchange for the reduction of Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium by about 98 percent for the next 15 years. President Obama's National Security Advisor, Susan Rice, says that when implements the agreement will cut off all of Iran's potential pathways to a nuclear weapon in a fully verifiable fashion. She says the deal is not about terrorism or Iran's destabilizing activities in the region, "all of which we remain deeply concerned about."
Jul 15 In China, many of around 120 detained in a roundup of lawyer and their staff have been released, but 31 are still missing or believed to be in custody.
Jul 16 In Tennessee,A 24-year-old naturalized US citizen with an engineering degree, Youef Absulazeea, who has been described as a normal nice guy, opens fire on two military installations, killing five service members, wounding another and killing a police office before he is shot to death. His act has been described as revenge for the mistreatment of friends.
Jul 16 Japan's lower house of parliament approves legislation that allows a Japan's military to participate in foreign conflicts in a limited capacity. The vote was accompanied by angry demonstrations outside parliament. China's foreign ministry spokesperson says, "We solemnly urge the Japanese side to draw hard lessons from history, stick to the path of peaceful development, respect the major security concerns of its Asian neighbors, and refrain from jeopardizing China's sovereignty and security interests or crippling regional peace and stability."
Jul 19 Today in Columbia, South Carolina, Klansmen carrying Confederate battle flags gathered to protest the removal of the flag from the statehouse on the 10th, as they said they would. They shouted racial slurs at a Black Unity Rally behind a police barrier.
Jul 20 Ann Coulter describes as just a flip remark Trump saying he doesn't like military men who become war heroes by being taken captive (like John McCain). She describes as "midgets" his rival candidates who are criticizing him for the remark. Coulter describes Trump's main issue as immigration.
Jul 21 Governor John Kasich of Ohio announces his run for president. He asks for prayers and support and says, "The sun is rising, and the sun is going to rise to the zenith in America again, I promise you."
Jul 21 In Burundi a presidential election is held. President Pierre Nkurunziza was running for a third term despite his ineligible to run again. The opposition is boycotting the election. Nkurunziza wins re-election.
Jul 23 A gunman opens fire at a movie theater in Lafayette, Louisiana, killing two people and injuring nine others before committing suicide.
Jul 24 Turkey's jets strike against IS positions in Syria and move against IS militants inside Turkey, this following IS explosions that killed 32 in Suruc, inside Turkey. Turkish jets also struck against Kurds in northern Iraq, for the first time since 2013. The Kurdish PKK is described as having mass support across Kurdish regions in Turkey and Syria. In Turkey, a People's Democracy Party, seen as close to the PKK, won 13% of the vote in Turkey general election in June. Turkey's government and the PKK have been holding to a cease-fire since 2013, and the PKK now accuses the government of abandoning the peace process. Today it is reported that Turkish police have arrested 297 in raids against alleged supporters of several militant groups, including IS.
Jul 25 A court in northeast China sentenced five people to prison for spreading the teachings of Quannengshen, a banned religious group that's been linked to a killing of a woman in a McDonald's restaurant last year.
Jul 30 Zimbabwe is requesting the extradition of the Minnesota dentist. James Palmer, who shot and killed Cecil the lion. Zimbabwe wants to charge him with poaching. Palmer complains that he relied on his local guides to ensure that he was doing everything legally.
Copyright © 2015 by Frank E. Smitha. All rights reserved.