A Friday night booze cruise turned into a nightmare ordeal for partygoers on board the MV Bermudian on July 2 after fighting broke out sending two women to hospital with serious stab wounds. Gang fighting was involved and a firearm was also brandished, terrified witnesses said. Speaking from the Caribbean, Premier Alex Scott said he was shocked and appalled at the violence of "these ruthless thugs".

Former Works and Engineering and Housing Minister Ashfield Devent said the cure to the Island's dry spell was a "good hard rain".

On July 4, it was reported just over half, or 53 percent, of all students in the public school system graduated, while private school students achieved a 100 percent graduation rate.

The Motor Car Amendment Act 2005 was passed in the House of Assembly after a last-ditch effort by the Opposition to stall the passing of the GPS bill proved unsuccessful by three votes.

Trimingham's, the Island's oldest department store closed its door after 163 years of retail business on July 23 after marking down all remaining merchandise by 80 percent.

Police Commissioner Jonathan Smith, 46, announced on July 2, he would end his 27 year Police career in December to pursue a career in business after five years in the top post.

Government unveiled plans to make Dockyard the centre of cruise business while cutting back on ships in Hamilton and St. George's. It was announced the West End would get a second cruise pier for mega-ships while the other ports wouldl have waterfront enhancement and a task force was set up to manage the changes.

More teenagers in the US were choosing Bermuda shorts to wear during the summer, according to an article from a Florida newspaper. The Ledger quoted top designers as saying it was one the "more refreshing looks that came down the spring runways for both sexes". The shorts were popping up in many clothing outlets across the US, it said.

Bermudian status fraudster Robert Martyn was handed a six-month suspended prison sentence, suspended for 18 months.

Martyn, 43, of Harrington Sound Road, Smith's, was found guilty in May of conspiring to fraudulently obtain his father's Bermudian status, and by extension his own, in early 2000 by assisting in the submission of false documents to the Department of Immigration.

Emotional scenes almost beyond description erupted in the small Irish village of Waringstown on July 7, as Bermuda's cricketing warriors qualified for their first-ever World Cup. "A lot of us have wanted this all of our lives," wept skipper Clay Smith, who was again forced to watch from the sidelines as he nursed a hamstring injury. "All our lives we've worked for this one moment and it's just too emotional, unbelievable, totally unbelievable."

Bermuda-based firms said on July 7 staff in their London offices were accounted for and safe in the wake of a deadly terrorist attack hitting the city's public transportation system. A very relieved mother, Kitty Knudsen, was at the Airport, to welcome home her 14-year-old son Henrik who was travelling to an airport in London when news came through of the attacks on the London Underground.

On July 8, Environment Minister Neletha Butterfield refused permission to two developers to build a second dolphin park at Sinky Bay, Southampton, despite Deputy Premier Ewart Brown's public pledge of support for the plan.

Visitor arrivals were up 5.5 percent while air arrivals increased 3.9 percent in the second quarter, according to figures released by Minister of Tourism and Transport Ewart Brown on July 25.

There were 178,113 visitors to the Island between April and June compared to 168,875 during the same period a year ago.