Current Events for the Week of 12 April 2010
Current Events for Monday, 12 April 2010
- Pakistani security forces kill up to forty militants in Orakzai counter-offensive
- Provincial Afghan official: North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) International Security Assistance Force—Afghanistan (ISAF-A) soldiers killed four civilians on bus
- Iran to take main focus in Chinese President Hu Jintao, United States (U.S.) President Barack Obama meeting
- Kyrgyz interim government announces plan against ousted President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, he vows bloodshed if anyone attempts to capture him
- Thai Red Shirts walks the streets of Bangkok with empty coffins to commemorate the twenty-one dead from this weekend’s violence, Thai stock market down five percent, Thai government suggests early elections as way to diffuse situation
- Yemen trying to detain American-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, not getting U.S. military intelligence
- Polish President Lech Kaczynski, much of Polish political and military elite killed in plane crash on way to Russian village of Katyn for memorial service
- Viktor Orban declares sweeping victory in Hungarian elections, vows center-right Fidesz party will govern correctly
- British author, atheist campaigner Richard Dawkins to seek Roman Catholic Pope Benedict XVI’s arrest when he visits England later this year
- Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) Associate Justice John Paul Stevens announces end-of-term as retirement date, Republicans already warning U.S. President Obama over “non-mainstream” nominees
- U.S. officials try to soothe aching ties with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, calling him “reliable partner”
- U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates: watching Apache attack video “difficult,” but investigation was thorough
- Coalition of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki claims fraud in recent elections may have cost 750,000 votes
- U.S. Senate to begin debate on compromise bill on climate change
- U.S. Geological Survey (USGS): 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit off-coast of Solomon Islands, no immediate reports of casualties or damage
- Iranian Foreign Ministry to formally complain to United Nations (U.N.) over language by U.S. President Obama it views as a thinly-veiled nuclear threat
- Sudan begins first multi-party elections in more than a quarter-century amid confusion and lack of participation by main opposition parties
- Explosive device tossed at U.S. consulate in Nuevo Laredo, no casualties and only minor damage reported
- The Miami Herald: Cuban diplomat who worked in Mexico and husband safely defected to U.S.
- East African Seafarers’ Assistance Programme (EASAP): Turkish-flagged ship abandoned by Somali pirates, none of the twenty-five man crew hurt
- Four remaining missing West Virginia miners found dead
- Suspected drug hitmen hang two bodies from main bridge in Mexico City
- Iran claims to have evidence against three U.S. citizens caught in Iran, accused of espionage
- U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) probing brake failures in six million General Motors (GM) trucks
- Female suicide bomber kills one in restive Russian North Caucasus region
- Iran to unveil new, faster nuclear centrifuges
- Six dead in northern Italian train derailment
- Severe heatwave hits northern India, temperatures exceed 104° Farenheit (F)
- China rejects medical appeal for prominent human rights activist Hu Jia
- Operation underway to move thousands of still-homeless Haitians to new camps as rainy season approaches
- Leaders of sixteen Eurozone nations agree to emergency loan package of €30 billion for Greece
- Kyrgyz Interim President Roza Otunbayeva: Kyrgyzstan “will honor” deal with U.S. over base
- Three main British party leaders sign-on to online debate via Facebook, YouTube
- The Shroud of Turin begins first public showing in more than ten years
- China reports rare $7.2 billion monthly trade deficit for April
- Hewlett-Packard (HP) social computing lab researchers: Twitter can accurately predict box office success
- British newborn becomes first to undergo experimental xenon treatment to prevent brain damage after he was born without a pulse and not breathing
- British Election Commission, Facebook team-up to get Britons registered for upcoming elections
- Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney (R.) nips U.S. Representative Ron Paul (R., TX) in Southern Republican Leadership Conference’s 2012 straw poll by one vote
- Anti-abortion U.S. Representative Bart Stupak (D., MI) will not seek reelection
Current Events for Tuesday, 13 April 2010
- Kyrgyz interim government gives ousted President Bakiyev until end of day to surrender
- Polish government moves to fill key posts after crash
- Thai Election Commission recommends Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva’s political party be dissolved, he takes refuge in army barracks, Red Shirts threaten to march on those barracks
- World leaders meet in Washington, D.C. for U.S.-led nuclear summit
- U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF) playing key, new role in Pakistani anti-terror operations
- Greece charges six Revolutionary Struggle members with terrorism
- Group of Egyptians living in Kuwait deported for supporting former U.N. International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA) head Mohammed ElBaradei for Egyptian president, Egypt denies role
- Website ProPublica.com wins Pulitzer Prize, first for a completely online newspaper
- Official Icelandic investigation blames former Prime Minister Geir Haarde, former central bank chief David Oddsson for economic woes
- Yemen put four Shi’a rebels on-trial for spying for Iran
- The New York Times: U.S. regulators failed to properly handle Washington Mutual as it began to fail
- Poll delays force some Sudanese to call for voting extension
- Three suicide bombers attack main intelligence building in Kandahar, Pakistan
- Social networking site Twitter to allow limited advertising on site
- Palestinian militant killed in clash with Israeli Defense Forces (IDF)
- Microsoft debuts Kin, Kin2, its first social networking mobile phones
- Nigerian General Ibrahim Babangida announces plans to run in 2011 presidential election
- Google has begun using site load speed in search results
- Ukraine to get rid of enriched uranium stockpile within the next two years
Current Events for Wednesday, 14 April 2010
- Mexican emergency authorities: cargo jet crashes in northern Mexican city of Monterrey, five dead
- U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake visits Kyrgyz interim government, ousted President Bakiyev agrees to step-down if the interim government will pledge to protect his safety, Interim President Roza Otunbayeva says President Bakiyev “must stand trial”
- Thai Red Shirt protesters prepare “final battleground” to oust Prime Minister Vejjajiva
- U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama makes surprise visit to Haiti, tells nation the world “stands with you”
- Intel sales trounce expectations, reinforced hopes of accelerated technology sector recovery
- Magnitude 6.9 earthquake shakes Tibet Plateau, kills more than 300
- Some prominent Republican senators, most notably U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R., TN), express openness to climate bill
- U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., KY), U.S. President Obama spar over financial regulation bill
- Campaign headquarters of Republican contender in New York state's gubernatorial race Carl Paladino receives bomb threat from self-avowed “black militant group”
- U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates fires-back at Wikileaks for posting 2007 video of operation against insurgents
- Pakistani villagers claim Pakistani jets struck civilian targets in latest anti-Taliban offensive in western part of that nation, killed seventy-three
- Sudanese politicians: poor logistics, voting errors keep election turnout below ten percent
- Indonesian transportation official: Air Indonesia passenger plane “broke-up” on landing, several hurt
- China hedges towards backing new, stronger economic sanctions on Iran but wants any action to “aid diplomacy”
- Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh rules-out direct-talks with Pakistan until it acts against Mumbai attackers
- Cochrane Systematic Review: a single aspirin may cut migraine symptom pain for over half of those who take it
- U.S. President Obama to attend funeral of Polish President Lech Kaczynski
- Gay rights groups criticize senior Vatican official Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone for trying to link homosexuality and pedophilia
- British army defuses car bomb outside police station in County Armagh, Northern Ireland
- Israel urges all nationals to leave Sinai Peninsula after intelligence service identifies “highly credible threat”
- Toyota suspends sales of Lexus GX 460 after Consumer Reports labels it “unsafe”
- U.S. trade deficit grew in February
- Smartphone maker Palm looking for buyer after sales remain stagnant against Apple’s iPhone
- Most Somali radio stations stop playing music on order from insurgents who believe music violates Sharia, Islamic law
- South Korea announces gaming “curfew” to limit minor’s access to online games during the night
- Conan O’Brien signs-on to host new show on TBS
- Columbia University Medical Center researchers: so-called Mediterranean diet may cut dementia risk
- Software developers unhappy after Apple restricts how programs are written for iPhone, iPod, iPad
- Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic faces accusers at his war crime trial at the Hague
- Eight International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent (ICRC) aid workers kidnapped by eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) rebels
- At least nine killed in southern Philippines after raid by Abu Sayyaf Islamist militants
- U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (D., PA) lashes-out at Republican for holding-up confirmation votes on U.S. President Obama’s judicial nominees
- Nebraska passes anti-abortion law based on study claiming fetuses can “feel pain” at twenty weeks
Current Events for Thursday, 15 April 2010
- Pro-Hamas website reports Gaza authority has executed two Palestinians for collaboration with Israel
- U.S. military begins opium destruction payments in area surrounding Marjah
- Sudanese National Congress Party claims southern army soldiers have killed nine of its officials
- Most of the air traffic for northern Europe halted due to volcanic ash from Icelandic eruption
- Polish government eyeing 20 June for elections, as some Poles react angrily to choice of Wawel Cathedral in Krakow for president’s burial
- Ousted Kyrgyz President Bakiyev bodyguards shoot into air to disperse opponent protesters at rally
- China reports first-quarter 2010 growth at 11.9%, renewed calls for controls erupt
- Thai Red Shirts resupply, take two-day break
- Chinese Yushu earthquake deathtoll tops 617
- U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama plugs education on first solo trip while in Mexico
- U.N. Security Council (UNSECO) nations agree, in theory, to new economic sanctions on Iran, weeks of wrangling over text language to ensue
- U.S. Department of Defense (Pentagon) report: Iran would need “three to five years” for deliverable nuclear weapon
- World Cup 2010 tickets go on-sale in South Africa
- Rescuers look for survivors after powerful storms kill 130 in Bangladesh, India
- Toyota halts Lexus GX 460 sales globally
- Oxfam report: widespread use of gang-rape by armed rebels in DRC spreading to civilians
- U.S. Library of Congress to set-up digital archive of “tweets”
- New study by Australian Flinders University shows video games do not affect sleep patterns
- African Union (A.U.)-U.N.-led Darfur mission: four peacekeepers have been kidnapped by rebels
- U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke continues to cast shadows on U.S. economic recovery
- Violent clashes kill one, injure dozens at Indonesian Muslim cleric’s tomb in Jakarta
- NATO ISAF-A soldiers begin Korengal Valley withdraw
- Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer statue closed to visitations due to landslides
- Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) investigate vandal attack on West Bank mosque
- Daimler to sell-off 30% share in Iranian engine company
- Nigerian acting president Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan claims to not have spoken with nor seen President Umaru Yar’Adua in “five months”
- Court documents show former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich (D.) engaged in near-constant conspiracy after 2002 election
- U.S. President Obama to unveil “space vision”
Current Events for Friday, 16 April 2010
- Yemeni Shi’a rebels open-fire on military plane near Saada in most severe breach of truce recently
- Jiji news agency poll: 23.7% of Japanese support Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, government
- Ousted Kyrgyz President Bakiyev faxes hand-written resignation letter to Interim President Otunbayeva, leaves for Kazakhstan
- U.S. President Obama blames Massey Energy, mine owner, for West Virginia disaster
- Formal South Korean inquiry says “external explosion” likely sunk naval vessel last month, increases speculation of North Korean involvement
- Thousands of Red Shirts regroup after botched Thai police attempt to arrest three leaders of the movement, Thai government vows crack-down on the “terrorists”
- U.N. enquiry finds previous Pakistani government failed to protect former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, pressures Pakistani investigation to conclude
- Tibetans mourn dead as deathtoll hits 791
- Icelandic volcano eruption intensifies, almost 4-mile-high plume continues to disrupt northern European air traffic
- U.S. federal district court judge moves merged Toyota lawsuits forward
- Financial regulation bill moves forward in U.S. Senate despite significant Republican opposition
- U.S. Senate Committee of Commerce, Science, and Transportation report: health insurers changing accounting practices before healthcare reform bill goes into effect
- Pakistani Senate approves changes in presidential power
- Northern Cyprus, a territory recognized as an independent republic only by Turkey, holds presidential elections; hard-line, right-winger Dervis Eroglu expected to win election, call for independent Cypriot confederation, not unification
- Iran bars former President Mohammed Khatami from traveling abroad
- Syrian government: Israel may be preparing attack after it accused Damascus of supplying Hezbollah groups in Lebanon with long-range Scud missiles
- Hungarian Foreign Minister-designate Janos Martonyi: Hungary to seek new International Monetary Fund (IMF) deal
- Russian Federation shuts-down last weapons-grade plutonium reactor in Siberian outpost of Zheleznogorsk
- Sudan begins counting polls marred by boycotts
- Bomb inside Quetta, Pakistan hospital kills eight
- West Bengal, India police claim severed head, torso found in temple case of “human sacrifice”
- In first-ever televised head-of-party debate, polls suggest British Liberal Democrat candidate Nick Clegg won-over voters; Conservative David Cameron, Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown claim wins
- Euro (€) continues slide on Greek economic woes
- Voice recording from Polish flight that crashed, killing President Kaczynski and others shows the pilots knew they were about to crash
- Brazil, China sign several trade deals ahead of “BRIC” (Brazil, Russia, India, China) summit
- Google profits beat expectations, 37% higher in quarter-one 2010
- U.S. President Obama sets mid-2030’s for manned mission to Mars
- Islamist group al-Shabab orders teachers in Somalia to stop using bells to signal end of classes because they are “Christian”
- Gabonese main oil workers’ union begins strike, causing fuel shortages and testing newly-elected President Ali Ben Bongo
- Roman Catholic Pope Benedict XVI: Church must “do pennance” for abuse
- Three bombs explode in Yangon (Rangoon), killing at least nine
- U.S. Secretary of Defense Gates in Colombia for security talks
- U.S. President Obama directs U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to draft rule to prevent hospitals from denying visitation privileges to patients’ homosexual partners
- Arkansas man sentenced to ten-years in-prison for threat against U.S. President Obama, dozens of other black community leaders
- Tea Party organizers compile list of “heroes,” “targets”