Current Events for the Week of 26 October 2009
Current Events for Monday, 26 October 2009
- United States (U.S.) White House officials confidently claim quick healthcare bill passage, U.S. House of Representatives (House) Democrats still wary of enough votes
- U.S. President Barack Obama (D.) condemns killings of three workers in the U.S. consulate in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico
- U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) unveils the National Broadband Plan, calling for drastic increases in Internet speeds
- Georgian opposition accused government of being behind false news report claiming Russian Federation tanks had entered Tbilisi on their urging
- Pakistani fighter planes bombed Taliban positions in northwest Pakistan, kill sixteen militants
- French Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Bernard Kouchner: United Nations (U.N.) sanctions on Iran may take until June
- Kandahar, Afghanistan blast kills Pakistani construction worker, wounds six others
- Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao: U.S. to blame for poor relations
- Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) arrest Hamas leader Maher Audi in Ramallah, West Bank
- Mumbai police arrest two accused of plotting terror attacks in financial district
- More than 100,000 protesters descend on Bangkok, demand military-backed government call free and fair elections
- China delivers six training, light attack jets to Venezuela for anti-narcotics fight
- Afghanistan eases ban on news coverage of raids
- French navy turns-over twenty-two Somali pirates for trial in semi-autonomous Puntland
- The Financial Times: Google “99.9%” certain it is closing its Chinese search engine
- Suicide bomber kills eleven in Pakistan’s Swat Valley
- Special U.S. Court of Federal Claims: mercury-based preservative thimerosal alone cannot cause autism
- London Metropolitan Police holding suspected Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA, Basque Homeland and Freedom) member
- Colombians ready for legislative elections expected to be litmus test for May’s presidential poll
- U.S. returns 3,000-year-old Egyptian sarcophagus stolen more than 125-years ago
- Tens of thousands of Italian stage rally against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi
- Reversing previous decision, Afghan President Hamid Karzai agrees to let two foreign observers sit on election panel
- Nigerian plane taking part in disaster drill actually crashes in Port Harcourt
- Tenth Winter Paralympics open in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- China boosts military presence in Tibet as second anniversary of protests nears
- California prosecutors file suit against Toyota Motor Corporation
- European Union (E.U.) “close” to Greek bail-out deal
- Alaskan wolves suspected of killing jogger
- Chilean officials put cost of earthquake at $30 billion
- U.S. retail sales show surprise incline in February
- Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger briefly hospitalized in South Korea for stomach illness
Current Events for Tuesday, 16 March 2010
- Afghan officials: Afghan President Hamid Karzai, U.S. President Obama discussed possible talks with Taliban in Monday video conference
- U.S. Federal Reserve calms markets by indicating continued low interest rates
- Magnitude-6.7 aftershock strikes just off Concepción, Chile
- Eurozone finance ministers agree to rescue mechanism for Greece
- Pakistani police uncover massive explosive cache in Lahore
- Palestinians clash with Israeli police in East Jerusalem
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejects U.S. call to halt settlement building
- Gunfire exchanged between Indian security police, two armed attackers near Indian space agency headquarters in Bangalore
- South African President Jacob Zuma set for Zimbabwe visit aimed at calming row in coalition government
- Double Falsehood identified as Shakespearean by literary researchers in England
- U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to investigate three consulate deaths in Cuidad Juarez, Mexico
- University of Colorado researchers: humans leave behind tell-tale set of germs which could lead to bacterial fingerprinting
- Yemen carries-out series of strikes against Islamic militants
- American security forces hand-over $1.7 million detention center at Camp Haji to Iraqi police
- Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki pulling-ahead in poll
- The New York Times: U.S. Strategic Planner and Technology Integration Adviser Michael Furlong set-up unit of private contractors in Afghanistan, Pakistan to help track, kill militants
- U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urges world not to forget Haitian earthquake relief
- U.S. House Budget Committee took first step towards finalization of healthcare bill, vote expected by week’s end
- New financial regulatory bill would boost U.S. Federal Reserve powers
- He Pingping, the world’s shortest man, dies aged 22
- Burma, North Korea slam report issued by U.N. Human Rights Council
- Power Sufi Muslim group Ahlu Sunna Wal Jamaa joins Somali government in fight against al-Shabab
- U.S. industrial output rose, again, in February
- Private equity firm Apax sells Tommy Hilfiger brand to Calvin Klein owner Philips-Van Heusen in deal worth 2.2 billion euros (€), $3 billion
- Cyclone Tomas hits northern Fiji, evacuations at 5,000, state of emergency declared
- Two car-bombs hit Nigerian oil talks
- Fallujah suicide car-bomb kills sixteen
- China National Offshore Oil Corporation to pay $3.1 billion for 50% stake in Argentine oil and gas group Bridas Corporation
- Pakistani air strike kills nine
- Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva rejects “Red Shirts” calls for resignation, election deadline
- U.S. President Obama to push “huge” overhaul for No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB)
Current Events for Wednesday, 17 March 2010
- Al Aribiya: Dubai World to offer banks single proposal to fully repay $26 billion debt
- The World Bank tells China to tighten its economic policy, demand likely to go unheeded, U.S. raises pressure on yuan (¥)
- The World Bank raises prediction of Chinese economic growth in 2010 from 9% to 9.5%
- Thai Red Shirts spill own blood outside Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva’s home
- U.S. missile strike kills six in Pakistan
- U.S. Federal Reserve renews “extended period” of low interest rates
- Former Iraqi Prime Minister Allawi suddenly surges past incumbent Prime Minister al-Maliki in vote counting
- U.S. Attorney-General Eric Holder defends original decision to try 9/11 suspects in criminal trials
- U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) backs plan to speed-up American Internet
- Honda Motor Company to recall some 412,000 vehicles for break issues in U.S.
- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pledges “unshakeable bond” with Israel
- Protesters greet Mexican President Felipe de Jesús Calderón Hinojosa as he visits Cuidad Juarez
- U.S. Senate Finance Committee “likely” to approve new regulatory bill next week
- Commander, U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) U.S. Army General David Petraeus: U.S. may leave stronger-than-expected force structure in northern Iraq during draw-down
- Tiger Woods announces return to professional golf at U.S. Masters
- Afghanistan confirms blanket law pardoning all human rights abuses, war crimes prior to 2001
- U.S. Department of Commerce: weather to blame for low housing start numbers
- U.S. Geological Survey (USGS): 4.4-magnitude earthquake rattles Los Angeles
- China warns Google must still obey its laws even if it pulls-out of the nation’s date infrastructure
- Supporters of arrested Sri Lankan presidential candidate General Sarath Fonseka protest outside his military trial
- Parisian police officer shot dead during firefight with suspected Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA, Basque Homeland and Freedom) militants
- Japanese central bank increases stimulus measures aimed at forcing banks to lend more
- Haitian government lowers expected rebuilding cost to $11.5 billion
- Australia, New Zealand begin relief flights to cyclone-ravaged Fiji
- British Airways’ main union Unite to meet with American counterparts the Teamsters to discuss impending strike by cabin crew
- Chair of the Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics (LSE) Nicolas Stern, Baron Stern of Brentford: “arrogance” broke-down Copenhagen climate talks
- Pakistani Olympic Association postpones annual national games to be held in Peshawar due to security concerns
- Iranian security forces deployed ahead of Chaharshanbeh-Suri, held a few days before Norouz, the Persian New Year
- Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan “trusts Iranian nuclear aims”
- European Court of Human Rights rules Croatia disciminated against Roma (Gypsies) by putting them in separate education facilities
- Libyan leader General Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi: Nigeria should be split in two after recent religious violence between Christians, Muslims
- U.N. report: Russian Federation has failed to consider environmental impact of construction for 2014 Winter Olympics
- Suspected militants kill three in two separate attacks in Indian-administered Kashmir
- Facebook working to remove so-called “stalker apps”
- British House of Lords passes Digital Economy Bill, holding permanent punishments for illegal file-sharers
- Opponents of U.S. House healthcare bill eleven shy of 216 needed to derail passage
Current Events for Thursday, 18 March 2010
- Australia urges China to allow its diplomats full access to four Rio Tinto staff accused of corporate espionage
- Greece investigating possible International Monetary Fund (IMF) assistance
- U.S. Secretary of State Clinton in Moscow to push-forward arms treaty, to head to Middle East
- Toyota Motor Corporation informs U.S. regulators it is considering how to fix nearly 1.2 million Corollas, Matrices with risk of stalling because of electronic system flaws
- McAfee, Incorporated: new Facebook virus affects 400 million users
- U.S. President Obama picks-up important healthcare reform support from U.S. Representative Dennis Kucinich (D., OH), leaders for Catholic religious orders representing some 59,000 nuns
- U.S. unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV, “drone”) attack in Pakistan last week apparently killed top al-Qa`ida planner Hussein al-Yemeni
- New York State Governor David Patterson’s (D.) “house of cards” continues to fall apart, press secretary quits amid torrent of ethics violations accusations, investigations
- Package of highway funds, tax breaks passes U.S. Senate
- Cuban police violently break-up “Ladies in White” protest
- Commander, International Security Assistance Force—Afghanistan (ISAF-A), Commander, U.S. Forces in Afghanistan (USFOR-A), U.S. Army General Stanley McChrystal: Kandahar offensive “already underway”
- China urges Iran to accept nuclear fuel swap deal proposed by West, wary on sanctions
- Lawsuit accuses Assurant Health, formerly Fortis, of targeting human immunideficiency virus (HIV)-positive policy holders for cancelation
- South Korean Defense Minister Kim Tae-young: North Korea has increased its missile arsenal by 25% of the last two year, to approximately 1,000
- Pakistani court formally charges five American citizens with planning acts of terrorism
- European Union (E.U.) High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Baroness Catherine Ashton to visit Gaza Strip in rare high-level visit from Western diplomat
- Foreign union support grows for planned British Airways cabin personnel strike
- Thai Red Shirts pledge to remain in Bangkok “indefinitely”
- Guatemala agrees to extradict former President Alfonso Portillo to the U.S. on money-laundering charges
- Two suspected bank robbers, on wearing a leprechaun costume, die in shoot-out with Tennessee police
- Dubai jails two Indian citizens for three months over “sexy texts”
- The Vatican forms investigatory commission for Virgin Mary apparition in Medjugorje, Bosnia-Hercegovina
- University of California researchers successfully create largest quantum state ever, billions of times larger than before
- Cornell University stepping-up security around bridges near campus after three students fell, jumped to their deaths
- New temperate exoplanet some 1,500 light-years away from Earth shows similar characteristics
- Prices paid by U.S. farms, factories in February fell
- Acting Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan dissolves cabinet
- Turkish Prime Minister Erdoğan threatens to deport 100,000 Armenians in fresh row over his nation’s role in the killing of Armenians during World War I
- Time Warner Cable (TWC) apologizes for “serious error” after Playboy TV was aired for two hours on Kids On Demand, Kids Preschool On Demand in North Carolina
- International crude oil prices hedge above $80 per barrel as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) holds output steady
- German Chancellor Angela Merkel: Eurozone should have mechanism to exclude member if necessary
- Iran, Pakistan sign $7.6 billion natural gas pipeline deal
- Ukrainian marine archaeologists find HMS Prince, sunk during Crimean War
- At least ten killed in machete attack on Christians in Jos, Nigeria
- Tombs of traditional Ugandan Buganda kings gutted by fire, residents outraged
Current Events for Friday, 19 March 2010
- Makshift bomb damages right-wing political group’s Athens office, no one injured
- Cable networks closer to former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin (R.) reality show
- U.S. President Obama, under campaign promise to revamp immigration policy, backs legislation proposed by U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham (R., SC) and Charles Schumer (D., NY) featuring national identification card
- Twenty-seven-year veteran of CNN Christiane Amanpour to host This Week on ABC News
- U.S. Congressional Budget Office (CBO): healthcare reform bill will cut U.S. deficit over ten years
- U.S. State Secretary Clinton, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talk over settlement disagreement
- Democratic fundraiser Hassan Nemazee admits to defrauding three banks of $292.2 million
- After postponing twice, U.S. President Obama cancels Asia-Pacific trip for healthcare push
- “Jihad Jane” pleads not guilty to terrorism charges in Philadelphia federal courtroom
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) begins study on shale oil drilling
- U.S. Commerce Department analysis: data points to modest recovery, muted inflation
- American-born radical cleric based in Yemen Anwar al-Awlaki calls for “jihad” against the U.S.
- Rocket fired from Gaza Strip kills Thai worker, Israel vows definitive response
- Israeli pharmaceutical company Teva purchases rival German firm Ratiopharm for $4.9 billion
- Dutch anger flares over former North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic (SACLANT) U.S. Marine Corps General John Sheehan’ comments before U.S. Senate panel on allowing open homosexuals to serve in military
- Former U.N. Envoy to Afghanistan Kai Eide openly criticizes Pakistan’s arrests of Taliban leaders because they served as secret U.N. contacts
- Nigerian ambassador to Libya recalled after Libyan leader General Gaddafi’s comments on splitting country in-two
- Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse rules-out early pardon for former presidential rival General Fonseka
- E.U.-, U.S.-backed ban on blue fin tuna fishing fails in U.N.
- South African President Zuma survives no-confidence vote in parliament while on trip to Zimbabwe
- Facebook rejects calls for pedophile “panic button,” to develop current reporting system
- Polish court sentences three men for theft of Auschwitz’s Arbeit Macht Frei sign
- Sudan signs ceasefire with second Darfur rebel group
- Burma releases U.S. democracy advocate originally sentenced to three years in-prison
- Ethiopia admits “jamming” Voice of America radio signal, claiming it engaged in “destabilizing propaganda”
- Federal grand jury investigation into wrong-doing by U.S. Senator John Ensign (R., NV) issues subpoenas
- Idahoan Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter (R.) to sue U.S. federal government if healthcare bill passes, Idahoan legislature passes Idaho Health Care Freedom Act