July 4, 2014 (Friday)
Arts and culture
- On the final day of meetings of the Catholic Council of Cardinals, the group sets sights on the Pontifical Councils for the laity and the family, mentioning the potential inclusion of laity in those councils' tasks. This round of meetings, held July 1-4, was the fifth meeting of the council of cardinals. The next three sessions will take place Sep. 15-17, Dec. 9-11, and Feb. 9-11. (Catholic News Agency)
Disasters and accidents
- An 11-story building under construction collapses in the Indian city of Chennai, crushing to death 61 people, most of them workers on site. (CNN) (BBC News)
Law and crime
- Australian entertainer Rolf Harris is sentenced to 5 years and 9 months at Southwark Crown Court in London, United Kingdom, convicted on 12 charges of indecently assaulting female minors between 1968 and 1986. Harris will be eligible for release on licence after half of the sentence in 2017. (BBC News)
- A Kindergarten teacher is stabbed and killed in front of students at the Edouard Herriot school in Albi in southern France. The suspect was the mother of a new student who suffered from psychiatric problems. (New York Post)
- A 20-year-old man is arrested and charged with murder and attempted murder in connection with a June 28 shooting that occurred at Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S., which killed one person and wounded eight others. (Yahoo! News)
Politics and elections
- Aminata Touré is dismissed as Prime Minister of Senegal by the country's parliament following her failure to win a seat from Dakar in the 2014 local elections. (Deutsche Welle)
- The National Congress of Bolivia backs a new law on child labour, allowing 10-year-olds into the workforce under special conditions. (Al Jazeera)
- The United Nations announces in a policy statement that it will begin recognizing staff members' legal same-sex unions (UN Globe)