July 8, 2005 (Friday)
- Following general elections in May, Ethiopia releases the first round of official results for 307 of 527 parliamentary seats. The ruling EPRDF has won 139 seats, while opposition parties CUD and UEDF won 93 and 42, respectively. Smaller parties and independent candidates won the remaining 33 seats. CUD and UEDF announced plans to form a coalition government. (BBC News)
- Hurricane Dennis, the first hurricane of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, approaches Cuba. It is heading towards the Gulf Coast of the United States, with landfall expected on Sunday or Monday. (NOAA) (Wikinews)
- In the Bulacan province of the Philippines, medical authorities report the country's first case of avian influenza. (Channel News Asia) (Reuters AlertNet) (Science Daily)
- Also in the Philippines, resigned ministers, other politicians and businessmen call president Gloria Arroyo to resign as well and hand the reins of the country over to vice president Noli de Castro. (Channel News Asia) (ABS-CBN) (Reuters)
- Florida Governor Jeb Bush closes the inquiry into the case of Terri Schiavo, having been informed by prosecutors that there is no evidence of any crime leading to her 1990 collapse. (Reuters)
- File-swapping service iMesh confirms that it has entered into a licensing agreement with music giant Sony/BMG. The deal is widely considered a reaction to a recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court threatening liability for file swapping software providers.