UAE | General
Timeline: August 2007
Timeline: August 2007
- Gulf News Report
- Published: 17:34 December 31, 2007
THE NATION
6 His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and Tunisian President Zine Al Abidine Bin Ali inaugurate the $14 billion Mediterranean Gate project.
17 A massive fire breaks out in Sharjah's Port Khalid, damaging an oil storage facility and two berths.
27 A massive fire breaks out at a chemical storage facility at DP World's Jebel Ali station.
31 The UAE issues a new law to tighten the control of military equipment and strategic dual-use items.
THE REGION
1 Sudan accepts the UN resolution approving a joint African Union-UN peacekeeping force in Darfur.
5 General Michel Aoun, Christian opposition leader, claims victory in the Lebanese elections, but Amin Gemayel refuses to concede defeat.
13 Bahraini authorities announce new measures that will grant entry visas and two-year renewable residence permits to retired foreigners who have worked for at least 15 years.
14 A suicide bomber detonates his truck bomb on Canal Bridge, killing at least 10 people and cutting the Baghdad-Mosul highway link.
15 Four suicide truck bombs rip through the ancient Yazidi sector in northern Iraq, killing more than 200 people.
16 The US seals a 10-year deal to provide Israel with $30 billion in defence grants to strengthen a regional bulwark against Iran.
- Death toll from 4 suicide truck bomb attacks in Iraq rises to 400, the deadliest attack since the fall of Saddam Hussain four years ago.
18 International police organisation Interpol issues a wanted notice for Raghad Hussain, Saddam Hussain's eldest daughter, on suspicion of terrorism.
19 Gunmen take 30 people hostages on Sistan-Baluchistan road in Iran after burning vehicles and shooting passengers.
- Gaza's main power plant is forced to shut down causing a massive blackout.
21 Haleh Esfandiari, a US-Iranian academic who was detained on security charges since May, is released.
23 Sudan expels European and Canadian diplomats for interfering in Sudanese affairs.
24 Kuwait's first female cabinet member Maasouma Al Mubarak tenders her resignation following a hospital fire that killed two patients and hurt 19 others.
28 Oman becomes the first country in the Middle East to adopt e-admissions for students seeking higher education courses.
29 US forces frees a group of Iranians, including two diplomats who were seized at Baghdad hotel.
30 Egyptian Wael Abbas wins the first blogger award for his Misr digital blog. He was awarded the 2007 Knight International Journalism Award.
31 A Fatah protest against Hamas rule turns violent when Hamas men disperse the crowd, injuring 20 people.
THE WORLD
2 A dozen cars and trucks fall into the river after a massive part of a major bridge in Minneapolis collapses during rush hour.
2 Russian explorers dive deep below the North Pole in a submersible and plant the national flag on the seabed.
3 US Marine Sgt Lawrence G. Hutchins III is sentenced by a military jury in California, to 15 years in prison for the April 2006 killing in the Iraqi town of Hamdania.
4 Heavy monsoon rains which caused rivers to overflow in northern India kill more than 250 people.
- The new Turkish parliament, dominated by the Islamic-oriented party of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is sworn in.
- US Private First Class Jesse Spielman is sentenced to 110 years in jail for raping and killing a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and murdering her family in Iraq.
5 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe apologises to survivors of the 1945 US atomic bombing of Hiroshima for former defence minister Fumio Ryuma's remarks.
6 Archaeologists find an eight-million-year-old forest of cypresses, well preserved and not fossilised in Bukkabrany, northeastern Hungary.
9 Ukrainian man Leonid Stadnyk is named the world's tallest living person by Guinness World Records with a height of 2.57 metres (8 feet 5 inches).
11 Zhang Shuhong, Hong Kong businessman and the boss of Lida Toy Company involved in a Mattel toys recall hangs himself in his factory workshop.
- The famous Big Ben clock falls silent for a month of maintenance in London.
13 Karl Rove, dubbed "Bush's brain" and the architect of Bush's two election victories, announces his resignation.
- Sixty of 250 passengers are injured when a bomb derails an express train between Moscow and St Petersburg.
15 Angela Kelly, a postal worker, wins Britain's biggest lottery, scooping £35 million with a single ticket.
- Highest rainfall ever recorded in parts of North Korea causes floods destroying one-tenth of the country's farmland.
16 A 7.9-magnitutude quake rattles Peru killing at least 387 people and injuring thousands as government declares a state of emergency.
17 Lord Deedes, regarded as a national institution and the longest serving Daily Telegraph journalist, dies at the age of 94.
- The presidents of Russia, China and four other central Asian states attend unprecedented joint military exercises at a training ground in Chelyabinsk.
19 Thais go to polls to vote on a new constitution proposed by the ruling junta, in the first electoral test for the generals.
21 Hurricane Dean, the strongest hurricane to hit the Atlantic region since 1988, crashes into the Mexican coast.
23 Indian actor Sanjay Dutt is released after spending 23 nights in prison after Supreme Court orders his temporary release citing a technicality.
24 Bollywood actor Salman Khan gets a five-year jail sentence for poaching an endangered species of gazelle in the western Indian state of Rajasthan in 1998.
27 US Attorney-General Alberto Gonzales announces his resignation in Washington.
- Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reshuffles his cabinet in an attempt to rescue his government beleaguered by scandal and a crushing election defeat.
28 Former Islamist Abdullah Gul is sworn is as president of Turkey, pleading loyalty to the secular system and calling for respecting religious freedom.
29 Pakistan's President General Pervez Musharraf agrees to resign as army chief and appears to be sharing a pact with former premier Benazir Bhutto.
- Former South African president Nelson Mandela is given a hero's welcome as his statue is unveiled opposite the Houses of Parliament in London.
31 Britain marks the 10th anniversary of Princess Diana's death.
BUSINESS
1 Nakheel appoints SMRT Engineering Pte Ltd to operate and maintain the 5.45-kilometre, Dh1.4 billion monorail on Palm Jumeirah Island.
- Dubai's Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) is launched.
- British Airways reveals the biggest fine in its history that could cost up to £350 million ($710 million) due to price-fixing.
2 Dubai Aerospace Enterprises (DAE) announces completion of acquisition of US-based Standard Aero and Landmark Aviation for Dh7 billion ($1.9 billion).
6 The Dubai Government announces the setting up of holding company Borse Dubai to build on the synergies between the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) and Dubai International Financial Exchange (DIFX).
9 Borse Dubai says it has bought a 4.9 per cent stake in Swedish exchange OMX.
15 Standard & Poor's, leading global index provider, announces the launch of three new Sharia-compliant indices covering pan-Arab region.
18 Borse Dubai launches a $3.98 billion all cash takeover offer for Nordic stock exchange operator OMX AB.
21 The Ras Al Khaimah Department of Economic Development approves the 'service agent' system in commercial licensing, which grant expatriates 100 per cent ownership.
- Dubai World will invest $5 billion (about Dh18 billion) in MGM Mirage to acquire a 9.5 per cent stake.
22 Syria and Iraq agree to repair and reopen an oil pipeline which has been shut since the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003.
SPORTS
1 Michael Phelps wins the 200-metre backstroke in record time at the US Open Swimming Championships.
5 McLaren's Lewis Hamilton wins the Hungarian Grand Prix, stretching his lead over Fernando Alonso to seven points.
- Maria Sharapova wins her first title of the year after beating Patty Schnyder in the San Diego Classic final.
- Tiger Woods wins the World Golf Championship in Ohio and becomes the first player in US PGA Tour history to claim two hat-tricks of wins in the same event.
10 Anil Kumble smashes his maiden Test century to put India on the road to a first series win in England for 21 years during the third Test against England at the Oval.
12 Tiger Woods defeats Woody Austin to secure his 13th major title at the 89th PGA Championship.
13 India completes a 1-0 series win against England in the third and final Test at the Oval.
19 David Beckham makes his first Major League Soccer debut for Los Angeles Galaxy playing before a record crowd of 66,237.
- Sevilla claim their fifth trophy after a 5-3 win over Real Madrid in the second leg match of the Spanish Super Cup in Madrid.
20 The UAE national youth team get off to a splendid start after trouncing Qatar 87-48 in their first match at Sharjah Club in the 11th GCC Basketball Tournament.
21 England beat India by a huge margin of 104 runs in the opening match of the seven-match One-Day series.
25 Luke Kibet of Kenya wins his nation's first gold in the marathon after 20 years in the 11th Athletics World Championship.
26 Dubai Cricket Council (DCC) rules out the 2007-08 season due to lack of grounds to host matches.
28 Sevilla midfielder Antonio Puerta dies from multiple organ failure caused by prolonged cardiac arrest after collapsing during a Primera Liga match.
30 Osama Al Shafar is elected President of the Asian Body Building Federation (ABBF) in Shanghai, China.
31 Liu Xiang of China wins the 110-metre hurdles final at the Athletics World Championship, China's first men's world athletics title.
ENTERTAINMENT
16 Fans across the world mark the 30th death anniversary of Elvis Presley. Thousands later gathered at the late icon's gravesite at his Graceland estate in Memphis, Tennessee. Elvis died at the age of 42 of heart failure and is listed as one of the top-earning dead celebrities.
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