The World - July 15, 2010

THURSDAY

After an hour press conference, NBA star LeBron James announced he was leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers to join friends Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh on the Miami Heat. Cleveland fans reacted by burning James’ jersey in the streets. At the same time school districts across Ohio, struggling through a depressed economy, laid off teachers.

U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Tauro in Boston ruled in favor of gay couples’ rights in two separate challenges to the 1996 federal Defense of Marriage Act, arguing that the law interferes with the right of states to define marriage. Tauro ruled the act forces Massachusetts to discriminate against its own citizens.

Solar Impulse, a giant glider-like aircraft, completed the first night flight propelled only by solar energy. The glider flew 26 hours and 9 minutes on power it gleaned from the daytime sun.

FRIDAY

Russia and the United States conducted the biggest spy swap since the Cold War, trading agents on the Vienna airport. Two aircraft — one Russian, one American — parked side by side for about 90 minutes. Ten Russian agents and four Americans changed places under the cover of gangways on the tarmac.

U.N. peacekeepers released figures showing 221 people died in tribal fighting and religious violence in Sudan’s Darfur in June.

WEEKEND

On day 83 of the disaster, oil again spilled unchecked into the Gulf of Mexico, as BP removed the existing cap on its well to fit a new 40-ton containment on the sea floor a mile beneath the ocean. BP officials said a relief well is expected to finally stop the leak by early to mid-August.

Authorities in the Bahamas captured 19-year-old Colton Harris-Moore, the notorious Camano Island fugitive known as the “Barefoot Bandit.” Harris-Moore had been on the lam since escaping a Renton group home in April 2008, and is wanted for more than 70 property crimes across eight states and three countries. True to his moniker, Harris-Moore was photographed walking barefoot Sunday, his ankles tethered by shackles, while heavily armed police stood guard.

As predicted by Paul, the psychic octopus, Spain claimed the World Cup with a 1-0 win over the Netherlands. In addition to his finals prognostication, Paul correctly predicted all the results of all of Germany’s seven games in South Africa.

MONDAY

A Manhattan federal judge rejected Citigroup Inc’s bid to dismiss a class-action lawsuit by bondholders who said the bank misled them about its exposure to “toxic” mortgages. U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein said the bondholders could pursue allegations that the bank did not reveal the exposure in offering materials for 48 bond offerings from May 2006 to August 2008, in which it raised more than $71 billion.

Somali Islamists claimed responsibility for two bomb attacks in Uganda that killed 74 soccer fans watching the World Cup final on television. The explosions in the closing moments of Sunday’s match ripped through a crowded restaurant and a rugby club in the capital Kampala.

Switzerland refused to extradite film director Roman Polanski to California for sentencing on a 30-year-old sex crime and freed him from house arrest. Polanski, 76, who admitted to drugging and having sex with a 13-year-old girl in California in 1977, was released from electronic monitoring at his Swiss chalet in Gstaad.

TUESDAY

New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, one of the most colorful and controversial figures in U.S. sports, died at age 80. Known as “The Boss” for his tempestuous style, Steinbrenner was loved by Yankees fans, feared by his players and managers and hated by his rivals.

Venezuela handed over to U.S. officials Carlos “Beto” Renteria, one of the world’s most wanted alleged cocaine smugglers, after he was captured by soldiers. The United States had offered a $5 million reward for information leading to his capture. Renteria was the last free leader of Colombia’s top drug gang, the Norte del Valle cartel.

WEDNESDAY

Iranian nuclear scientist Shahram Amiri, who turned up in Washington saying he was abducted by U.S. agents, was returned to an official welcome in Iran after the United States dismissed his accusation. Iran has accused the CIA of kidnapping Amiri a year ago in Saudi Arabia.

A magnitude 6.5 earthquake hit near the coast of central Chile, but emergency officials said there were no reports of injuries or damage. The quake’s center was 61 miles north-northwest of Temuco, Chile, at a depth of 17.6 miles, the USGS said.

Four members of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force were killed in an improvised explosive device attack in southern Afghanistan.

Compiled by the Gazette from a variety of sources.