Monday August 08, 2005

Holidays

• Roman Catholicism - the feasts of at least ? saints: St. Dominic de Guzman, priest, (1170-1221).
• Sweden - Namesday of Queen Silvia, an Official Flag Day.
• Taiwan: Father's Day. (In Mandarin, Ba Ba means father and 8-8, or August 8).
• St. Hormisdas
• St. Smaragdus (and companions)
• St. Largus
• St. Cyriacus
• See more

Events

• Banco Central robbery at Fortaleza: In Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil, an estimated 156 million reais was discovered to be stolen over the weekend in one of the world's largest bank robberies. (Agencia Brasil), (BBC)
• Oil for food scandal: the UN-appointed panel released its third report. According to it, Benon Sevan took nearly $150,000 in cash bribes. A former UN procurement officer Alexander Yakovlev has pleaded guilty to accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from UN contractors. (BBC)
• Same sex marriage debate: The top legislative body of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is set to take key votes this week on ordaining gays and blessing same-sex unions. Conflicts over what the Bible says about homosexuality have been tearing at Protestant denominations for years. Cleveland Plain Dealer AP feed in Guardian UK
• Iran resumes its nuclear programme at its uranium facility near the city of Isfahan. (BBC) (Guardian)
• A suicide bombing kills 1 and injures 32 in Fuzhou, provincial capital of Southeastern China's Fujian Province. (Reuters)
• STS-114: The Shuttle Discovery was waved off by Mission Control in Houston for a landing at Kennedy Space Center due to bad weather. NASA has said they will land the Orbiter in 24 hours, with Six opportunities available — the first two at Kennedy Space Center and the second two at Edwards Air Force Base and the final two at the White Sands Missile Range (also known as the White Sounds Spaceport). (Reuters) (Space.com)
• In Indonesia, Garuda Indonesia airline pilot Pollycarpus Priyanto goes on trial for poisoning human rights activist Munir Said Thalib (Channel News Asia)
• Benon Sevan, head of the United Nations' oil-for-food program, resigns before the publication of a report that is expected to accuse him of corruption. He blames Kofi Annan for "sacrificing" him and denies all charges (BBC) (Reuters)
• Chile plans to limit migration to Easter Island (MercoPress) (BBC)
• See more

Famous Deaths

• Barbara Bel Geddes

  NYC, New York -- Actress (Vertigo, Miss...

• Ilse Werner

  Dutch-German actress and singer (d....

• Ahmed Deedat

  Islamic scholar (Born 1918).

• Monica Sjoo

  Swedish artist (Born 1938).

• Dean Rockwell

  American wrestling and football coach...

• See more

Top #5 songs in the USA

1. Mariah Carey - We Belong Together
2. Rihanna - Pon de Replay
3. The Pussycat Dolls - Don't Cha
4. Bow Wow - Let Me Hold You
5. Missy Elliott - Lose Control

Top #4 songs in the UK

1. James Blunt - You're Beautiful
2. Daniel Powter - Bad Day
3. 2Pac featuring Elton John - Ghetto Gospel
4. Kelly Clarkson - Since U Been Gone

Top #5 R&B songs

1. Mariah Carey - We Belong Together
2. Bow Wow Featuring Omarion - Let Me Hold You
3. Destiny's Child - Cater 2 U
4. Fantasia - Free Yourself
5. Lyfe Jennings - Must Be Nice

Top #5 Latin songs

1. Shakira Featuring Alejandro Sanz - La Tortura
2. Luis Fonsi - Nada Es Para Siempre
3. Daddy Yankee - Lo Que Paso, Paso
4. Juanes - La Camisa Negra
5. Baby Ranks, Daddy Yankee, Tonny Tun Tun, Wisin & Yandel & Hector - Mayor Que Yo

Bundesliga 2

• Erzgebirge Aue - Aachen : 2 - 1

Division 2

• Dijon - Clermont : 1 - 1

Championship

• Preston - Derby : 1 - 1

Stock Markets

• ExxonMobil XOM: opens at $58.65
• Apple AAPL: opens at $43.00
• Microsoft MSFT: opens at $27.80
• General Electric GE: opens at $33.85
• International Business Machines IBM: opens at $83.41

Exchange Rates

• 1 USD = 112.14 JPY
• 1 USD = 1.2145 CAD
• 1 USD = 1.2611 CHF
• 1 EUR = 138.48 JPY
• 1 EUR = 0.6917 GBP