Current Events for the Week of 24 May 2010
Current Events for Monday, 24 May 2010
- Iranian government hands-over details of nuclear fuel swap deal it worked-out with Brazil, Turkey to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
- U.S. President Barack Obama (D.) directs U.S. military to coordinate more closely with South Korean forces to “ensure readiness” in-case of North agression
- U.S. Department of Defense (Pentagon): no special alerts for U.S. troops stationed in, near Korean Peninsula
- Pakistani Supreme Court to hear challenges to changes parliament made in April
- British Airways crews begin strike
- U.S. government slams BP Gulf of Mexico oil response, nationalization of disaster being discussed
- Jamaica declares state of emergency after shootings, firebombing hit Kingston; supporters of local drug lord blamed
- Syria defies international pressure, refuses to police militant group Hezbollah
- Russian Federation hands-over Afghan narcotics intelligence to U.S. Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy Gil Kerlikowske
- Iraqi election officials receive new poll appeals from Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s party
- Iranian Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi: there is no doubt three Americans are spies, U.S. should propose prisoner swap
- Yemeni-American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki calls for Muslims to kill U.S. soldiers
- South Korea to appeal to United Nations (U.N.) Security Council (UNSECO) over North Korea’s sinking of warship
- Indian air crash kills 158, highlights safety lapses
- Train derails in storm-hit eastern China, ten killed
- Special election in Hawai’ian congressional district yields surprise Republican win
- Bangkok stock exchange set to reopen today
- China, U.S. open trade talks
- Roman Catholic Church gets Cuban government to consider improving conditions of prisoners
- Afghan troops wounded in Taliban attack on southern base
- New York State Attorney-General Andrew Cuomo to run for governor
- Japan, U.S. agree on future of naval base in Okinawa
- U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner: global economy can handle European strains
- U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Washington Mutual come to agreement on $7 billion creditor repayment
- Al-Shabab militants fire mortars at Somali presidential palace
- Ethiopian polls close, first in five years, opposition alleges fraud
- Art thieves strike in Marseilles, just days after Paris attack
- World’s rarest stamp, the Swedish Treskilling Yellow, sells at Geneva auction for undisclosed amount
- Thirteen killed in Somaliland border clash
- U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates will urge U.S. President Obama to veto defense spending bill if unwanted projects remain
Current Events for Tuesday, 25 May 2010
- Crash investigators recover Air India Express black box
- Japan voices concern over European debt as euro (€), stocks fall
- U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk urges China to lower trade barriers
- U.S. Pentagon confirms U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) Commander, U.S. Army General David Petraeus gave order last year ramping-up covert operations throughout the Middle East, Horn of Africa
- Kingston violence continues as Jamaican police attempt to locate Christopher “Dudus” Coke, at least four killed
- South Korean news agency Yonhap: North Korean military told to stand at combat readiness
- U.S. declares “fishery disaster” for Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi
- Toyota temporarily suspends sales of certain Lexus LS sedans
- Thailand issues arrest warrant for ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on terrorism charges
- Some 3,500 Ghanaians flee ethnic violence, enter northern Togo
- Dutch begin first European trial of Somali pirates
- Oil tanker, bulk carrier collide off Singapore coast, oil spilling from vessel
- British Queen Elizabeth II to open parliament, expected to give coalition outline
- U.S. Pentagon: there are now more U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan than Iraq
- Partial results show Ethiopian President Meles Zenawi’s political party heading to major win in national elections
- Nigerien military junta suggests only those with university degrees should be allowed to run for president
- U.S. Navy announces joint military exercises with South Korea
- International Monetary Fund (IMF) issues warning over stability of Spanish economy
- Crowd in southwestern Iran heckles visiting President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over government handling of the economy
- Opposition parties in Trinidad and Tobago unseat Prime Minister Patrick Manning in snap elections
- University of New South Wales researchers create transistor using only seven atoms
- Two American tourists kidnapped in Yemen
- Israeli President Shimon Peres denies reports he was involved in plan to sell Apartheid South Africa nuclear warheads in 1975
- U.S. White House: deal reached on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
Current Events for Wednesday, 26 May 2010
- U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Geithner in Europe to pressure nations to do more in regards to financial crisis
- BP internal memorandum shows company knew of pressure issues “hours” before rig exploded
- BP readies “top kill” for Gulf well
- U.S. Congress looks into changing law capping BP liability in spill to $75 million
- Information surfaces oil rig inspectors took company gifts
- Iran may escape censure at nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) meeting
- North Korea threatens to severe all ties with South
- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton throws U.S. support fully behind South Korea, calls for international action
- U.S. President Obama to seek an additional $500 million for border security, to send up to 1,200 National Guardsmen to American-Mexican border
- Top-ranking Democrats and Republicans hint at dislike for U.S. President Obama’s possible choice for U.S. Director of National Intelligence (DNI), U.S. Undersecretary of State for Intelligence James Clapper
- Israeli jets launch night-time bombing raid on Gaza targets
- Germany demands Google turn-over data collected during street view fiasco
- Hundreds of Pakistani Taliban attack Afghan province of Nooristan
- European Union (E.U.) to press for international European bank tax
- Kingston violence continues, Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding vows to restore order
- Italy approves $29 billion austerity plan
- U.N. Security Council (UNSECO) votes to end Central African Republic (CAR), Chad peacekeeping forces
- Facebook to roll-out new security settings “soon”
- Two American tourists kidnapped in Yemen released
- International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent (ICRC) under-fire for policy of teaching Taliban battlefield first-aid measures
- Rhode Island legislature kills Arizona-like immigration bill
- New New York stadium awarded 2014 Super Bowl
Current Events for Thursday, 27 May 2010
- Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir readies for reinauguration under specter of International Criminial Court (ICC) arrest warrant on war crimes charges
- ICC reports Sudan to UNSECO for failing to act on two arrest warrants for war crimes
- Employee of iPhone maker FoxConn commits suicide, tenth this year
- The Financial Times: China considering dump of some European investments, international stock markets plummet, China denies report
- U.S. Senator Mark Begich (D., AK): U.S. President Obama to announce moratorium on off-shore oil drilling until 2011
- South Korean navy holds anti-submarine border exercises as tensions continue to rise with North
- BP Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles: it appears drilling mud is now flowing from well-head
- U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Carlos Pascual: U.S. National Guardsmen being sent to border to take “back seat” to civilian forces
- Facebook begins rolling-out new privacy settings
- Gunfire continues to ring in Kingston, more than fifty dead
- Lehman Brothers Holdings sues JP Morgan Chase to recover tens of billions of dollars in “lost value,” accuse them of contributing to firm’s failure
- Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono announces two-year ban on logging to help fight deforestation
- Severe heat wave hits India, average temperatures pegged at 104° Fahrenheit
- Bomb kills at least six, injures some forty outside theater in Stavropol, Russian Federation
- Choppy international trading yields interesting result: Apple now largest technology firm on planet, in value
- Poland hails installation of U.S. “Patriot” missile system, Russian Federation condemns
- Two main Ethiopian opposition groups call for rerun of Sunday elections, calling them not free and fair
- German bank destroyed in explosion, police believe bank robbers misjudged amount of explosives they needed
- U.S. Representative Joe Sestak (D., PA) continues to claim U.S. White House offered him a position to not run against U.S. Senator Arlen Specter (D., PA) in recent primary
Current Events for Friday, 28 May 2010
- Soothing words from China, U.S. bolster European markets
- Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) ministers warn agreement close to failure over Israeli nuclear technology
- Chinese summit with South Korea to test Chinese-North Korean ties
- U.S. President Obama visits Gulf of Mexico oil spill as U.S. official numbers place spill at largest in U.S. history
- Hurricane forecasters warn of busy season, could complicate Gulf clean-up
- U.S. Minerals Management Service Director Elizabeth Birnbaum resigns
- Maoists suspected of sabotage in Indian train derailment, at least sixty-five dead
- U.S. House of Representatives (House) votes 234-194 to approve amendment aimed at ending “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in U.S. military, U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee also backs amendment
- Spanish parliament backs austerity measures by 169-168 vote
- Obama administration unveils new national security doctrine, stresses diplomacy
- Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell purchases U.S. natural gas explorer East Resources for $4.7 billion
- British Airways strike to end, new one may begin
- Honda halts production at four Chinese plants due to strikes at parts factories
- Australia to sue Japan over whaling in International Court of Justice (ICJ)
- U.S. Pentagon: deal reached with Japanese government over moving Okinawa base
- Kingston deathtoll rises above seventy as Jamaican authorities have still not captured Coke
- Togolese opposition president of the Union of Forces for Change (UFC) Gilchrist Olympio announces power-sharing deal with government
- 7.2-magnitude earthquake hits off coast of Vanuatu in southern Pacific Ocean
- U.S. Department of Commerce releases revised economic numbers, U.S. economy grew less than first thought in quarter one of 2010
- Pakistan eases curbs on YouTube, to continue blocking videos offensive to Islam
- French authorities arrest Rwandan doctor wanted in-connection with 1994 genocide
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accepts U.S. President Obama invitation to talks
- Czechs set to hit polls in general election, results expected to yield coalition government