Decade2011

Fighting in southern Sudan: 55 dead. Aliou Mohammed Issa, the head of the Arab tribe Rezeigat told to AFP the head of the Arab tribe Rezeigat, established in Darfur, western Sudan. (France2)
An arbitration court in The Hague orders the British government to pay $650 million to Iran for an arms deal cancelled following the Iranian Revolution. (Ha'aretz) (Press TV) (ABC News)
The Spanish Navy captures eight suspected pirates off the Somalia coast. (Press TV) (The Washington Post)
55 people are killed and 85 injured after clashes between Arab nomads from the Darfur region of Sudan and the Southern Sudan army. (Al Jazeera) (BBC) (AFP)
An inquiry is launched as at least 80 schoolgirls in different Kunduz schools are poisoned this week; the Taliban, opposed to female education, denies any knowledge. (BBC) (Japan Today) (Reuters)
Zhou Qiang succeeds Zhang Chunxian as the provincial party secretary of Hunan Province in China. (China Daily)
At least five people are killed and 20 others are injured by a bomb blast at a cafe in the Ethiopian town of Adi Haro. (Al Jazeera)
Israeli police clash with Palestinian protesters objecting to an "extremely provocative" march by settlers in Silwan in East Jerusalem, calling for the removal of Palestinians who live in the area. (Al Jazeera)
Workers' Party leader in Guerrero Rey Hernandez is killed by being shot at least seven times outside his home. (The Times of India) (People's Daily Online)
Hungary's Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Union wins a historic two-thirds general election victory, according to second round results. (BBC) (CBC) (The Daily Telegraph)
Heinz Fischer wins the Austrian presidential election, 2010. (Al Jazeera) (CBC) (The Irish Times)
Nearly 100,000 people rally in Okinawa, Japan, demanding the removal of an American base from the island. (Kyoto) (Washington Post) (China Daily)
Thousands of people rally in Beirut to ask for the separation of religion and state in Lebanon. (Al Jazeera)
A huge fire destroys hundreds of homes and leaves thousands homeless in Quezon City, Philippines. (ABS-CBN News) (BBC)
Another huge fire breaks out at a leather factory south of Mumbai. (Press Trust of India) (Press TV) (The Times of India)
The Ladies in White are stopped from marching in Havana but stand silently instead. (BBC) (The Miami Herald)
Cuba's Speaker of the Parliament Ricardo Alarcón challenges the United States to lift its 48-year embargo on the island "even for a year" if it believes Cuba profits from the embargo, as Hillary Rodham Clinton has suggested. (euronews) (Press TV) (Channel News Asia)
Iranian Minister for Foreign Affairs Manouchehr Mottaki meets the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna and says Iran remains interested in a nuclear fuel swap drafted by the United Nations. (Al Jazeera) (Press TV) (Xinhua)
London Marathon:
- Tsegaye Kebede wins the men's marathon with a time of 2:05:19; Liliya Shobukhova wins the women's marathon with a time of 2:22:00. (USA Today)
- Several "novelty" world records are broken by some of the 36,000 people participating. (BBC)
- Princess Beatrice of York becomes the first royal to complete the London Marathon. (The Daily Telegraph)
Pope Benedict XVI and his upcoming visit to Britain:
- The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office apologises after The Sunday Telegraph obtains a "foolish" document calling for the upcoming September visit of Pope Benedict XVI to be marked by the launch of "Benedict-branded" condoms, the opening of an abortion clinic and the blessing of a same-sex marriage. (BBC) (The Guardian) (RTÉ)
- The Vatican downplays the incident and says it will continue to visit despite the diplomatic gaffe. (National Post)
South African President Jacob Zuma announces that he is HIV-negative in an effort to promote AIDS awareness. (BBC) (China Post) (France24) (News24)
Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan reveals he has cirrhosis of the liver. (BBC) (CBC) (The Straits Times) (The Times)
Professor Stephen Hawking warns humans about the dangers of contacting extraterrestrials. (BBC) (Fox News) (The Hindu) (Sky News) (The Sunday Times)
The Professional Footballers' Association votes Wayne Rooney as "player of the year". (BBC) (The Daily Telegraph)
The first passenger flight between Iraq and the United Kingdom in two decades touches down at London Gatwick Airport, nine days overdue because of volcanic ash problems. (BBC)

April 25, 2010 Wikinews articles

24 April 2010 (Saturday)

In separate events, 29 people are killed in a suicide attack on a prison van, six NATO oil tankers are torched, and the Pakistan Army attacked Taliban fighters. (Arab News)
Paraguay passes a bill, requested by President, Fernando Lugo, that suspends constitutional rights for 30 days in parts of the country after the Paraguayan People's Army (PPA) kills four people. (BBC)
A tornado in Mississippi kills at least 10 people. (USA Today)
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva of Thailand rejects protester demands to dissolve the Parliament within 30 days. (Sky News)
A strong earthquake measuring 6.1 strikes in the Maluku Islands north of Ambon Island. (Arab News)
al-Shabaab seizes three towns from Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a in central Galguduud, Somalia. (Al Jazeera)
Iraq holds funerals for those killed in yesterday's series of bombings in Baghdad. (Al Jazeera)
Russia's Proton-M rocket sends a United States SES-1 telecommunications satellite into space. (Xinhua)
An unmanned American aircraft kills seven militants in Pakistan. (Washington Post)
Child sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church:
- In Chile, Catholic Church leaders and President Sebastián Piñera meet for more than an hour to discuss the child sexual abuse scandal and agree to send a letter to all the country's parishes. (BBC)
- A retired priest says he was ignored when he spoke out about Belgium's longest-serving bishop having sexually abused a boy years before his admission and immediate resignation yesterday. (CBC)
Tens of thousands of people rally and lay flowers at a monument in Yerevan to the victims on the 95th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. (Al Jazeera)
Marchers march in a dozen Spanish cities, including thousands in Madrid, to support Judge Baltasar Garzón who has been told he may face a trial for launching an inquiry into the acts of General Francisco Franco. Falange arranges a smaller protest in Madrid in opposition to Garzón. (BBC) (CBC)
Former Nazi corporal and founder of Villa Baviera in Chile Paul Schäfer dies in prison at the age of 88. (BBC) (Deutsche Welle) (France24) (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Wang Lequan, Communist Party secretary since 1994, is replaced by Zhang Chunxian as the most powerful official in Xinjiang. (BBC) (Arab News) (The Hindu) (South China Morning Post)
Two German men held in Abia State are released six days after being seized on a swim. (BBC)
The Cheonan, which was destroyed in the Baengnyeong incident, is recovered. (Sky News)
Mumbai's Oberoi Hotel reopens 18 months after sustaining damage in the 2008 Mumbai attacks. (BBC)
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh injures his ankle in a carriage driving accident on the Queen's Windsor estate. (Arab News)

April 24, 2010 Wikinews articles

23 April 2010 (Friday)

80 people die after drinking illegal home-made banana gin (waragi) laced with methanol in Kabale, Uganda. (BBC) (News24) (TMC)
Dozens of people are killed and more than 100 others are wounded by a series of bomb explosions in Baghdad, mostly near Shia mosques around the time of Jumu'ah. (BBC) (The Guardian) (Reuters)
Seven people, including six police officers and a civilian, are killed and two other officers are injured in a shoot-out with suspected gang hitmen in Ciudad Juárez. (BBC) (CNN) (The New York Times)
Two supporters of defeated independent state candidate Angelina Teny are killed by police and four others are injured during post-election protests in Bentiu. (BBC) (Reuters)
In a major transfer of power in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China, Zhang Chunxian replaces Wang Lequan as the region's Party Committee Secretary; Wang has served in the post since 1994. (AP) (Xinhua)
Red Shirt leader Veera Musikapong agrees to end the protests in Bangkok if the government agrees to dissolve parliament and hold elections within 90 days. (The Guardian)
Greece activates the €45 billion aid package it was offered by Europe earlier in the month to combat the country's debt crisis. (Washington Post)
Algerian-born airline pilot Lotfi Raissi, falsely accused of being involved in the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001, wins his legal battle for compensation from the British government after "nine years of hell". (BBC) (The Guardian) (The Age) (The Scotsman)
A Spanish hospital claims to have performed the world's "first full-face transplant". (AP)
Response to child sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church:
- Bishop of Bruges since 1984 Roger Joseph Vangheluwe admits sexually abusing a boy and resigns with immediate effect. (BBC) (news.com.au) (Al Jazeera)
- A guest visit by Colombian Cardinal Darío Castrillón Hoyos to a prominent Catholic church in Washington, D.C. is canceled after the decision to invite the controversial Cardinal was criticized by survivors of child abuse. (The Irish Times)
The Boy Scouts of America are ordered to pay $18.5 million in damages following the sexual abuse of a 12-year-old boy. (The New York Times) (ABC News) (Miami Herald) (CNN)
Keflavík International Airport, Iceland's largest airport, is shut down due to volcanic ash. (news.com.au) (Reuters India) (IceNews) (Al Jazeera)
Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu resists calls from the United States to stop construction in occupied East Jerusalem; the United Nations claims Israel's blockade of Gaza prevents it from educating thousands of Palestinian children. (BBC) (MSNBC)
A car bomb explodes outside a police station in Newtownhamilton, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. (BBC) (CNN) (The Guardian) (People's Daily Online)
North Korea seizes five properties owned by South Korea in Kŭmgangsan. (BBC) (Deutsche Welle) (Al Jazeera)
President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad opens a trade fair in Bulawayo on his tour of Zimbabwe as the country's President Robert Mugabe back's Iran's "just cause" for developing nuclear energy. (BBC) (Reuters) (The Times of India) (Al Jazeera)
Police issue a French Muslim woman with a fine of €22 for wearing a burqa while driving in Nantes, causing controversy and threatening her husband's status. (BBC) (Expatica France) (news.com.au) (iAfrica)
A Frenchman and his Algerian driver are kidnapped by armed men in Niger. (BBC) (France24) (Arab News) (News24)
China requests that Tibetan monks leave Qinghai where an earthquake struck on 14 April. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
A total of 2.89 million new jobs were created in China's urban areas during the first three months this year, according to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS) (China.org)
Arizona governor Jan Brewer signs the the state's controversial immigrant detention bill into law. Supporters say it will take 'the handcuffs' off police; opponents say it will violate people's civil rights. (The Washington Post)
The 2009 ascent of Kangchenjunga by Korean climber Oh Eun-sun, aiming to be the first woman to climb the 14 highest peaks on Earth, is declared "disputed" by Himalayan climbing records arbiter, Elizabeth Hawle. (BBC)

April 23, 2010 Wikinews articles

22 April 2010 (Thursday)

2010 Explosion on Deepwater Horizon drilling rig:
- Transocean oil platform Deepwater Horizon sinks into the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana after an explosion two days earlier that injured 7, with 11 still missing. (Fox News)
- The wreck is estimated to be leaking 8,000 barrels of crude oil per day, and may leak up to 700,000 gallons of diesel fuel depending on how much burned in the explosion and ensuing fire. (CNN)
Israeli–Palestinian conflict:
- Ahmad Sabah, a Palestinian with a Gaza ID card, claims the new Israeli military order on deportations is behind his release to Gaza instead of the West Bank where he lived before his detainment in 2001. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
- Two rockets are fired into Jordanian territory: one explodes near Aqaba and damages a warehouse, the other falls into the Red Sea. (Al Jazeera) (BBC) (France24) (RTÉ)
Pope Benedict XVI and the child sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church:
- The Pope accepts the resignation of Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin James Moriarty. (RTÉ) (BBC) (Irish Independent) (New York Daily News) (The New Zealand Herald)
- Bishop of Augsburg Walter Mixa offers his resignation after admitting his abuse of children to "avert further damage to the Church and allow a new start". (Al Jazeera) (The Irish Times) (Times Online)
- A man who says he was abused by American paedophile priest Father Lawrence Murphy sues the Pope and the Vatican in a federal court in the United States. (BBC)
Pro-Daniel Ortega protesters in Nicaragua injure three opposition politicians while blockading parliament to prevent the overturning of a presidential decree. (Al Jazeera)
The Flemish Liberals and Democrats leave the Government of Belgium following a dispute over the dissolution of the electoral district Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde. (VRT)
Several grenades explode in Thailand's capital, Bangkok, killing at least one person and injuring at least 75 others. (Bangkok Post) (BBC News)
NATO foreign ministers agree to launch a Membership Action Plan (MAP) for Bosnia and Herzegovina. (BBC) (Reuters)
Acting President of Nigeria Goodluck Jonathan signs the country's 4.6 trillion naira budget for 2010 into law. (Reuters)
Minas Gerais, one of Brazil's biggest states, bans the sale of the Toyota Corolla over safety fears. (BBC)
Sri Lanka's former army chief Sarath Fonseka requests his freedom from "illegal detention" in his first speech in parliament. (Al Jazeera)
President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrives in Zimbabwe; Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai objects, labelling Mr Ahmadinejad a "war-monger, a trampler of human rights [and] an executioner". (BBC) (Reuters)
A Utrecht court acquits the Dutch arm of the Arab European League of hate crime charges relating to the publication of a cartoon questioning the Holocaust. The publication was intended to highlight double standards after MP Geert Wilders was not put on trial for distributing cartoons of Muhammad. (BBC)
Rwanda president Paul Kagame's rival Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza is released one day after her arrest on charges of terrorism and genocide denial but banned from leaving Kigali and ordered to report to authorities twice a month. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
Huang Guangyu, founder of GOME Electrical Appliances and formerly China's richest man, goes on trial for bribery in Beijing. (Al Jazeera)
A court in the Democratic Republic of the Congo overturns death sentences granted to Norwegians Joshua French and Tjostolv Moland. (BBC) (The Guardian) (The Independent) (News24) (Reuters Africa)
The Euro falls to near year-low levels amid concerns about Greece's debt crisis. (Bloomberg)
Indian police investigate potential attacks on shopping centres in New Delhi. (Al Jazeera)
President of the United States Barack Obama calls on Wall Street to join him in his efforts to reform the financial sector in a visit to Manhattan. (CNN)
The Melbourne Storm are stripped of their 2007 and 2009 National Rugby League titles after being found to have cheated the salary cap. (BBC)
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers honours The Killers for "their impact in shaping American music". (BBC) (Contact Music) (CBC)
An episode of the American television series South Park is censored after a threat of fatwā from a New York-based group over the depiction of Muhammad in a bear costume. (The Guardian) (CBS News) (BBC)
The St. Louis Rams select Sam Bradford with the first pick of the 2010 NFL Draft (Sporting News)

April 22, 2010 Wikinews articles

21 April 2010 (Wednesday)

Juan Antonio Samaranch, the 7th president of the International Olympic Committee (1980 - 2001), dies at the age of 89. (BBC) (CNN) (ESPN)
52 civilians are killed and 55 others are wounded in renewed tribal clashes in Sudan's South Darfur state. (Kazinform) (China Dialy) (China.org)
A Rovos Rail luxury tourist train derails near Pretoria, South Africa, killing at least two people – a pregnant woman and her baby whose birth occurred during the derailment – and injuring at least 25 others. (BBC) (Mail & Guardian) (News24)
Poland announces the date of its presidential election — June 20 — to elect plane crash victim Lech Kaczyński's successor. (Al Jazeera)
Pope Benedict XVI makes an explicit promise that the Roman Catholic Church will take action against child sexual abuse by priests. (BBC) (News24) (Reuters) (The Sydney Morning Herald)
GetEQUAL activists shout at President of the United States Barack Obama while he is speaking, expressing their annoyance over the slow progress of repealing the ban on open homosexuality in the country's armed forces. (The Daily Telegraph)
The Nigerian military exhumes seven fresh corpses from shallow graves near Jos in the latest round of apparent revenge killings. (BBC)
Bosnian police fired tear gas and water at war veterans in Sarajevo, during a protest against proposed state benefit cuts. (Al Jazeera)
The Asadho human rights group says the Democratic Republic of the Congo's army killed at least 11 civilians at the airport in Mbandaka this month. (BBC)
500 Greenpeace environmentalists protest against the awarding of a tender for the controversial Belo Monte hydroelectric project by dumping tonnes of manure at the National Electric Energy Agency's (Agência Nacional de Energia Elétrica, ANEEL) offices in Brasilia. (Al Jazeera)
More than a dozen suspects are indicted in the Philippines in connection with last year's Maguindanao massacre. (Taiwan News) (Al Jazeera)
South Korea claims it has uncovered a North Korean plot to assassinate the most senior official to defect from the North to the South, Hwang Jang-yop. (BBC) (Korea Times) (Al Jazeera)
Rwandan opposition leader Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza is arrested on charges such as collaboration with a terrorist organisation and genocide denial. (BBC)
Viktor Yanukovych and Dmitry Medvedev agree to extend the lease between Kiev and Moscow that allows Russia's Black Sea Fleet to be stationed in Ukraine in return for cheaper gas until 2042. (BBC) (The Daily Telegraph) (The Guardian)
2010 Yushu earthquake: China holds a national day of mourning for the victims. Public entertainment activities are cancelled, all Chinese flags around the world flew at half-staff. (AP via Google News)
Nicolas Sarkozy speaks out against the niqāb, telling a cabinet meeting it "hurts the dignity of women and is not acceptable in French society", as his government moves to outlaw the garment. (Al Jazeera)
The U.S. Obama administration charges that Sudan’s recent election was plagued by "serious irregularities" and says the United States is committed to ensuring that a 2011 Sudanese referendum on southern independence would be conducted fairly. (The New York Times)
Algeria, Mali, Mauritania and Niger launch a joint command centre in Tamanrasset to counter al-Qaeda, according to the Algerian defence ministry. (Al Jazeera)
The British government announces that British airports will reopen and passenger flights will resume, but officials caution that it will take time for flight schedules to return to normal after the six-day shutdown caused by volcanic ash from the 2010 eruptions of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano. (USA Today) (Chicago Tribune)
Police in Himachal Pradesh arrest Paramhamsa Nityananda, a Hindu holy man who faces charges of obscenity after he fondles two women in bed on television. (BBC) (iAfrica) (Indian Express) (The Sydney Morning Herald)
Syria becomes the first Arab state to implement a ban on smoking in public places. (BBC) (The Miami Herald)
U.S. pop singer Kelly Clarkson is criticised by anti-smoking groups in Indonesia and the United States for promoting cigarettes at an upcoming concert in Jakarta. (BBC)
Five men accused of conspiring to extort £4.25 million for the safe return of Madonna of the Yarnwinder, an oil painting by Leonardo da Vinci, are cleared. (BBC) (The Times)
Cirque du Soleil announces it will stage a live tour featuring the works of Michael Jackson. (BBC) (Financial Times) (The Guardian) (Los Angeles Times) (Xinhua)
The man who attacked Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher on stage at the 2008 Virgin Festival in Toronto is put under house arrest for 12 months. (BBC) (Billboard) (CBC) (Digital Spy) (The Globe and Mail) (Toronto Star)

April 21, 2010 Wikinews articles

20 April 2010 (Tuesday)

Air travel disruption after the 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull:
- Another plume threatens to cause further disruptions. (Los Angeles Times)
- Half of all scheduled European flights are expected to go ahead, though airspace remains closed in many countries, including Ireland, Norway and Poland. Denmark accepts no landings. (BBC)
- Planes return to the air in France, Germany and Italy. (CNN) (ABC News)
- Ryanair cancels all of its flights between Ireland and the United Kingdom until 13:00 on Friday 23 April and all Northern European flights — Ireland, UK, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Belgium, The Netherlands, France, Germany, Poland, Baltic States and North Italy — until 13:00 on Thursday 22 April. (Irish Examiner)
- The Irish Aviation Authority closes Cork Airport and Dublin Airport until at least 22:00, opens Shannon Airport for limited services. (Irish Independent) (The Wall Street Journal)
- All United Kingdom airports reopen at 10:00pm BST, with the first planes landing at London Heathrow (BBC)
Iraq:
- Two inspection teams from Iraq's ministry of human rights enter a "secret prison" in Baghdad where "serious legal violations" are said to have occurred. (Al Jazeera)
- The United States and Iraq kill an al-Qaeda leader, Ahmed al-Obeidi, in Nineveh. (BBC) (CBC) (The News International)
Bishop of Augsburg Walter Mixa apologises and asks for forgiveness for his physical abuse of children in the 1970s and 1980s. (BBC)
82-year-old General Reynaldo Bignone, former military ruler of Argentina, is imprisoned for 25 years for abductions and tortures committed between 1978 and 1979. (BBC) (Houston Chronicle) (The Sydney Morning Herald)
A New York businessman, Abdul Tawala Ibn Ali Alishtari is sentenced to 10 years in prison for funneling money to a terrorism training camp in Afghanistan. (London Evening Standard)
Dozens of people gather in central Cairo in a rare protest against the use of force on pro-democracy demonstrations which "pose a threat to the national security". (Al Jazeera)
Omar al-Bashir's ruling party agrees to accept the results of the recent general election in Sudan. (Al Jazeera)
Palestinian officials say they will oppose new Israeli orders on deporting Palestinians from the West Bank. (BBC)
The Yushu earthquake death toll rises to 2,046. (Xinhua) (Al Jazeera)
Lorena Ochoa, the world's number one golfer for the past three years, announces her retirement from the sport at the age of 28. (Brisbane Times) (The Globe and Mail) (Latin American Herald Tribune) (The New York Times)
President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko announces the ousted President of Kyrgyzstan Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who is wanted by his successors in connection with the recent unrest, is in Minsk. (BBC) (VOA) (Al Jazeera)
The United Kingdom is accused of complicity in torture in Afghanistan as peace campaigner Maya Evans seeks a judicial review of the government's role in the extraordinary rendition of suspects. (The Independent)
Deputy Mayor of Kandahar Azizollah Yarmal, Afghanistan is shot dead while praying at a mosque. (BBC)
Repeat polls for Sri Lanka's April parliamentary election are held in Nawalapitiya and Trincomalee where ballots were annulled due to violence. (BBC) (People's Daily Online) (The Washington Post)
President of the United States Barack Obama speaks of the "unbreakable bonds" and "special relationship" between his country and Israel on the 62nd anniversary of Israel's birth. (Sky News) (The Jerusalem Post)
The United States Supreme Court, in ruling on United States v. Stevens, strikes down a law outlawing videos that depict animal cruelty. (Washington Post)
Two Canadian men are accused of committing an act of "flag desecration" in La Quinta, California, United States for allegedly replacing an American flag with a Canadian flag following Canada's ice hockey victory at the 2010 Winter Olympics. (CBC)
Two prisoners are killed and several others are injured during an attempted jail break in Kaduna, Nigeria. (BBC)
The Transocean-owned oil rig Deepwater Horizon explodes, injuring at least seven people and leaving over a dozen missing in the Gulf of Mexico. (MSNBC)
Two high-ranking officers are suspended from Rwanda's military and arrested; Maj-Gen Charles Muhire is accused of corruption and misuse of office, whilst Lt-Gen Karenzi Karake is accused of immoral conduct. (BBC)
An Indonesian court upholds a 1965 blasphemy law which permits punishment for people or organisations that "distort" the orthodoxies of six officially recognised religions — Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Catholicism, Protestantism and Confucianism — and is criticized as a blow to permitting religious freedom. (AFP) (New York Times) (Al Jazeera)
Speaking in Tehran, Iranian Islamic cleric Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi blames promiscuous women for causing earthquakes. (BBC) (news.com.au) (Fox News) (The Sydney Morning Herald)
The International Court of Justice in The Hague rules that Uruguay should have informed Argentina about its plans to build two paper mills on the banks of the River Uruguay, although it allows the one mill which was built to continue operating. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
Production of the 23rd James Bond film is put on indefinite hiatus due to uncertainty surrounding the future of MGM. (businessweek)
The shortlist for the Orange Prize for Fiction is announced. (BBC)
Karim Benzema and Hatem Ben Arfa are named as being involved in the France national football team's sex scandal. Franck Ribéry admits sexual relations with an underage prostitute. (The Guardian)
Former International Olympic Committee (IOC) president (1980 - 2001) and honorary life president Juan Antonio Samaranch is in a "very critical" condition in Quiron Hospital, Barcelona, after suffering a heart attack. (BBC) (CNN) (The Daily Telegraph) (Herald Sun) (RTÉ)

April 20, 2010 Wikinews articles

16 April 2010 (Friday)

Ni Box opens in Monaco on 25 April 2010. (Monaco)
Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull volcano:
- Travel chaos spreads across Europe as planes are grounded in the United Kingdom, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia as a result of the giant cloud of ash coming across from Iceland. (BBC) (Al Jazeera) (CNN)
- The UK's National Air Traffic Service (NATS) confirms flight restrictions will now remain in place until at least 07:00 tomorrow. (Sky News)
- Ireland opens its air space and transatlantic flights resume from Dublin Airport. A small section off the south coast remains closed. (RTÉ)
- Ryanair, Europe's largest low-cost carrier, cancels all flights to and from Ireland, Britain, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands, northern France, northern Germany, Poland and the Baltic states until 12:00 GMT on Monday: CEO Michael O'Leary calls the situation "unprecedented". (Reuters) (Barcelona Reporter) (Irish Independent)
- The BBC reports that share prices have fallen in many European airlines as a result of the grounding of many jets. (BBC)
- The World Health Organisation does not know what effects the ash could have on human beings, but they have advised Europeans to stay indoors, if possible. (BBC)
- Jens Stoltenberg, Prime Minister of Norway, is stuck in New York City due to the eruption. (New York Daily News) (CNN) (Los Angeles Times)
2010 Yushu earthquake:
- The death toll from the earthquake in China which occurred on Wednesday has risen to 1144, officials have announced. Another 417 people are reported to be unaccounted for. (BBC)
- Premier Wen Jiabao travels to the earthquake zone, having postponed a scheduled visit to Brunei, Indonesia and Myanmar. President Hu Jintao calls the Presidents of Chile and Venezuela to postpone trips to those countries. (CNN)
Child sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church:
- Benedict prepares for a trip to Malta, his first trip abroad in 2010, where abuse survivors demand to meet him. (euronews) (Voice of America)
- The Government of Ireland announces a statutory fund of €110 million for former residents of institutions who were abused as children. (RTÉ) (Irish Independent) (The Irish Times)
- A new poll suggests most Americans think Pope Benedict XVI has done a bad job of dealing with the sex problem. (CNN)
Israeli–Palestinian conflict:
- The dismembered corpse of a Palestinian fighter killed by Israeli gunfire in the Gaza Strip is recovered. (Al Jazeera) (The Washington Post)
- The Arab League expresses "great" concern over Israeli "aggression" in the Gaza Strip, stating that human rights are being breached. (Yemen News Agency - SABA)
- Two Palestinian vehicles in a West Bank village are torched by settlers protesting against Israel's temporary construction freeze in the West Bank. (Ha'aretz)
President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad writes a letter to President of the United States Barack Obama urging cooperation between the two countries. (CNN) (One India) (The Washington Post)
Victims of the recent severe storm in India angered by slow government response attack officials and raid an aid storage facility. (AFP)
Gary Jackson, former president of the US private security firm, Blackwater Worldwide (Xe Services LLC), and four other former workers are indicted on federal weapons charges. (BBC)
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charges Goldman Sachs with defrauding investors. (The Wall Street Journal)
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is named as the key suspect in "one of the biggest corruption scandals in Israel's history". (Voice of America) (The Times) (Ha'aretz)
The United Nations commission investigating the events and circumstances surrounding the assassination of Benazir Bhutto submits its report which states that the murder was "avoidable" and the inquiry was bungled. (Dawn) (BBC)
At least ten people die and another 35 are wounded in a suicide attack on a hospital in Quetta. (BBC) (The Times of India) (Al Jazeera) (Sky News)
The seven candidates running in Sunday's Northern Cyprus presidential election, 2010 take part in a live televised election debate on Turkish Cypriot TV. (Famagusta Gazette) (Hürriyet) (Today's Zaman)
UK general election countdown:
- Gordon Brown and David Cameron admitted that Nick Clegg, leader of the Liberal Democrats, put forward a very good case for his party at last night's election debate. (BBC)
- Public polls suggest that Clegg won the election debate. (The Guardian)
As a result of popular protests in the north and capital of the country President Kurmanbek Bakiyev officially resigns after he leaves Kyrgyzstan for Kazakhstan. (The Hindu)
Vote counting begins in Sudan after the five-day landmark multi-party election. (BBC)
Al-Qaeda reportedly free an Italian couple that they had been holding since December 2009. (BBC)
It is reported that Mohammad Khatami, an ex-president of Iran, has been barred from leaving the country. (BBC)
The 2010 BRIC summit opens in Brasília amidst growing cooperation and calls for a bigger role. (The Hindu)
Senior red-shirt leader Arisman Pongruangrong climbs down a rope to escape an arrest attempt by Thai security forces laying siege to Thaksin Shinawatra's SC Park Hotel in Bangkok. He urges protesters to leave Ratchaprasong "to avoid being used as human shields". (Al Jazeera) (BBC) (The Daily Telegraph) (The Times)
United States Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton calls again on Israel and the Palestinians to make a better effort to pursue peace. (BBC)
Lady Gaga breaks a YouTube most viewed record, becoming "Queen of YouTube" with more than one billion views. (NBC Philadelphia) (Digital Spy)

17 April 2010 (Saturday)

Tehran International Conference on Disarmament and Non-Proliferation, 2010:
- The "Nuclear Energy for All, Nuclear Weapons for No One" disarmament conference opens in response to President of the United States Barack Obama's conference in Washington, D.C. (Al Jazeera) (ABC News)
- China and Russia are represented, as are 60 countries, including several foreign ministers. (Malaysia Star)
- The United States is not invited to Tehran as was the case of Iran at the Washington, D.C. conference. (The Washington Post)
- President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad calls for the establishment of an independent body to oversee nuclear disarmament. (Al Jazeera)
- Iran proposes a five-point plan to "democratise the global security architecture". (The Hindu)
- Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of Iran, describes the United States as an "atomic criminal", saying that religion prohibits the use of nuclear weapons (haram) and calls for the US to be expelled from the international nuclear system. (The Daily Telegraph) (BBC) (The Sydney Morning Herald) (Myanmar News) (AFP) (The Times of India)
- France accuses Iran of shunning nuclear dialogue, while the EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton branded Iran the number one challenge today for world security. (AFP)
Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull:
- The volcanic ash cloud above Europe causes a third day of disruption to air travel, leaving millions of passengers stranded unable to reach their destinations. Officials warn that airspace could remain shut for several more days. (BBC)
- Irish airspace shuts down again, having reopened yesterday. (RTÉ) (The Irish Times) (Reuters) (The Wall Street Journal)
- Reports indicate that the disruption caused by the ash cloud is costing airlines up to £130m every day. (The Guardian)
- Health authorities warn people to stay inside if they smell a sulphurous smell, as it could pose a risk to people with breathing difficulties. (The Guardian)
- German Chancellor Angela Merkel is re-routed to Rome via Portugal on her return flight home from the United States, and is now stuck in Bolzano, Italy. (Reuters)
Child sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church:
- Former Vatican Cardinal Darío Castrillón Hoyos says his 2001 praise of a French bishop for hiding a paedophile priest was endorsed by Pope John Paul II. (RTÉ) (The Times of India) (Reuters)
- Benedict flies to Malta to commemorate the 1,950th anniversary of the shipwreck of Saint Paul on the island, his first overseas visit since the latest round of child sex abuse claims. (The Observer) (The New York Times)
- President of Malta George Abela mentions an abuse trial involving three Catholic clergy in his speech to mark Benedict's coming, saying "justice had both to be done and seen to be done". Benedict makes no direct reference. (BBC)
April 2010 Kohat bombings:
- Twin bombings on a centre for the displaced in the town of Kohat, Pakistan, kill at least 42 people and injues dozens of others. (TVNZ) (Xinhua) (Reuters) (The New Yorjk Times)
- The United Nations condemns the twin attacks. (Dawn)
Twin bombs injure eight people outside M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore ahead of an IPL-3 league game between the Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Mumbai Indians. A third device is located outside. (Indian Express) (BBC) (The Daily Telegraph)
Over 100,000 mourners attend a memorial service to honour the death of the Polish president Lech Kaczyński, and 95 others who were killed in a plane crash the previous week. (The Guardian)
Snowfall in central Tokyo matches a record set in April 1967. (The Japan Times) (MSN Malaysia)
Two oil tankers collide and burst into flames, killing at least five people and wounding several more, in southwest Nigeria. Three large freight trucks along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway also ignite. (AFP)
Internal e-mails reveal Porter Goss, a former head of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), agreed with a decision to destroy hundreds of tapes purportedly showing agents waterboarding two al-Qaeda suspects being held in Thailand in 2002 over fears that public release of the tapes would be "devastating". (Al Jazeera)
An earthquake strikes Adelaide, the capital of South Australia, and is felt 50 kilometres away. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
An investigation is launched after a plane crashes into a field and bursts into flames in Weyhill, Andover, Hampshire, United Kingdom, killing at least two people. (The Daily Telegraph) (RTÉ) (BBC) (Sky News) (The Guardian)
Toyota is to recall 600,000 Sienna minivans in the US over fears of corrosion. "In the worst case, the carrier cable may fail and the spare tyre could become separated from the vehicle" a statement from the company read. (BBC)
The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia buys 202 double decker buses from China's Zhengzhou Yutong Group for €35 million in the first cooperation between the two countries. (The Sydney Morning Herald)

18 April 2010 (Sunday)

The Dow Live Earth Run for Water started on April 18th. The host cities are: Buenos Aires, Cape Town, Chicago, Hong Kong, Jimbaran, London, Los Angeles, Manchester, Melbourne, Mexico City, Milan, Minneapolis, New York, Lisboa, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Singapore City, Stockholm, Toronto and Washington, D.C.. (The Independent) (Live Earth)
The Tehran International Conference on Disarmament and Non-Proliferation, 2010 concludes.
- President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says Iran wants "peace, progress and security for all", asks "supporters and creators" of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict to "allow the regional nations and the Palestinians to settle things" themselves and calls on "alien troops" to leave the region. (Al Jazeera) (Xinhua)
- United States Secretary of Defense Robert Gates says in a secret memo to the White House that the United States would be unable to cope with a nuclear threat from Iran. (The Guardian) (CBS News) (Daily Star - Lebanon) (The Times)
Air travel disruption after the 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull:
- Thousands of European flights do not occur for a fourth straight day. (BBC)
- The volcano disrupts the state funeral of Lech Kaczyński, President of Poland, and his wife Maria, killed in a plane crash with 94 others near Smolensk. (BBC) (CBC) (RTÉ) (The Times)
- Dutch airline KLM announces it has carried out a test flight of 20 crew members and no passengers with "no problems" over closed down airspace. (CNN)
- British airspace extends it own closure to flights until at least 06:00 GMT on Monday. (Reuters)
- The Irish Aviation Authority extends its closure of Irish airspace until at least 13:00 GMT on Monday. (RTÉ)
- Israeli airlines estimate losses of millions of shekels in revenue. (Globes)
Benedict and child sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church:
- Pope Benedict XVI concludes his visit to Malta. Reports suggest he is trying to avoid discussing the recent child sex abuse scandal, on his first trip since the scandal broke. (BBC)
- However, he does meet with some of those who survived abuse and expresses "shame and sorrow" for their suffering. (The New York Times) (CNN) (The Daily Telegraph) (Al Jazeera)
Independence Day in Zimbabwe:
- Zimbabwe marks 30 years of independence from British-backed minority white rule. (Al Jazeera)
- Residents celebrate with all-night parties, though civil rights group Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) claim four of its members were denied bail after being accused of staging an illegal protest against power cuts and high electricity tariffs, an act they deny they did. (BBC) (Zimbabwe Telegraph)
- President of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe, in a speech at Harare's stadium, promises to continue his land seizure policy and transfer of control of foreign firms to locals as part of a black empowerment drive. (The Washington Post)
- Mugabe also asks that politically and racially driven violence in the country cease to be, the first time he has ever done this. (The Sydney Morning Herald) (Al Jazeera)
President of China Hu Jintao visits survivors in the earthquake zone as the death toll climbs to more than 1,700 people. (BBC)
The semi-finals of the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament are moved from Bangalore to Mumbai following the discovery of further explosive devices after yesterday's bombing. (Al Jazeera)
Seven people are killed and twenty others are injured in a suicide car bomb attack on a police station in Kohat, one day after twin bomb attacks kill more than 40 people and wound at least 60 others at a camp for the displaced in the city. All the dead are civilians. (BBC) (Al Jazeera) (CNN)
Nigerian gunmen take two German men, from Port Harcourt and Lagos, in Abia State. (BBC) (France24) (IOL) (ABC News)
Three Italian aid workers, Matteo Dell'Aria, Marco Garatti and Matteo Pagani, accused of being involved in a plot to to assassinate Governor of Helmand Gulab Mangal, are released after being found "not guilty". (Al Jazeera)
Increasing numbers of women from Saudi Arabia are running away from home, studies by the International Muslim Organization for Women and Family (IMOWF) in Jeddah say. (Arab News)
Bahrain gives Abdullah of Saudi Arabia the Ajrab sword of Imam Turki bin Abdullah kept by Bahrain for 140 years and confers on him the Sheikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifah Medal during a ceremony at Al-Sakhir Palace. (Arab News) (Bahrain News Agency) (Gulf Daily News)
King Oyo, Rukidi IV of Toro, one of Uganda's last remaining kings and the world's youngest monarch, reaches the age of 18 at the end of a four-day ceremony and takes full control of his kingdom. (CNN) (Xinhua)
Former President of the United States George Washington owes $300,000 for overdue library books he borrowed from New York Society Library five months into his presidency and which he failed to return. (The Guardian) (New York Daily News)
69-year-old Spanish tenor opera star Plácido Domingo returns to the stage at Milan's Teatro alla Scala weeks after colorectal cancer surgery. (BBC)
A recently unearthed track by The Rolling Stones is released as a limited edition 7" single for Record Store Day. The first song recorded by Blur's original line-up since guitarist Graham Coxon quit in 2002 is also released for the same purpose. (BBC)

19 April 2010 (Monday)

Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot of Kenya wins the 2010 Boston Marathon, setting a new course record. ESPN
Kyrgyzstan unrest:
- Several hundred people armed with sticks and stones clashed with ethnic Russians and Meskhetian Turk landowners in the village of Maevka, before moving toward the capital Bishkek and demanding talks with officials. Alertnet
- Jalal-Abad: Approximately 1,000 people gather in the southwestern town's main square, denouncing the interim government and chanting pro-Bakiev slogans. Rallies also take place in neighboring Osh and Batken provinces. RFE-RL
Middle East
- UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay calls for Saudi Arabia and Gulf states to lift restrictions on women and to improve the position of millions of foreign workers in the region. (AFP) (BBC) (Reuters India)
- Former United States presidential candidate and US Senator, John McCain, calls for sanctions against Iran designed to prevent the country from producing a nuclear weapon. (UPI) (The Washington Post)
- Derviş Eroğlu, head of a party opposed to reunification of Cyprus, wins leadership elections in the Turkish Cypriot north but pledges talks with Greek Cypriots. (Al Jazeera)
Iraq:
- Iraqi election officials order a manual recount of votes cast in Baghdad after complaints are raised. (BBC) (Financial Times) (Reuters)
- Prime Minister of Iraq Nouri al-Maliki and officials from the United States say two of the country's al-Qaeda leaders are killed. (BBC)
Israeli–Palestinian conflict:
- Hamas executions by firing squad of Palestinians accused of aiding Israel is condemned as murder by France, and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, urges Hamas to halt plans for further killings. (The National) (The New York Times)
- Israeli police raid the Tel Aviv apartment of Anat Kamm, a journalist who had been put under house arrest after leaking classified documents, claiming she was visited by a family member who had not been approved by the courts. (Ha'aretz)
- Israel's Defence Minister Ehud Barak says that Israel will allow a separate Palestinian state "whether you like it or not". (BBC) (CTV) (The News International)
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he will not accept demands that Israel stop building in East Jerusalem. (BBC)
Air travel disruption after the 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull:
- The International Air Transport Association (IATA) criticises European governments, questions their leadership and asks them to reevaluate their decision-making process in the wake of the disaster. (RTT News)
- Thousands of Kenyan farm workers are temporarily laid off as harvesting of flowers and vegetables is stopped due to flight disruptions; the Kenya Flower Council says 3,000 tonnes of flowers meant for export have been scrapped. (BBC) (Business Day) (Reuters Africa)
- Gordon Brown and COBRA deploy the Royal Navy to rescue stranded Britons around the world. (BBC) (The Guardian) (The Independent) (The Times)
A report by the Fédération Internationale de Luge de Course (FIL) concludes the track on which Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili died at the 2010 Winter Olympics was faster than it should have been. (BBC)
Aftershocks of the Yushu earthquake continue. Quake death toll rises to 1,944. (Xinhua) (People) (QNA) (CCTV)
Seven are killed and 30 are injured in a magnitude 5.3 earthquake in the mountains north of Kabul, Afghanistan. (The Washington Post)
Hundreds of Indonesian protesters in Jakarta demand the riot police be disbanded after three are killed and at least 156 wounded in bloody clashes between Indonesian National Police and demonstrators. (The Times)
North Korea denies it sank a South Korean naval patrol boat in disputed waters between the two Koreas. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
The Thai army moves into the Bangkok CBD to block the path of protesters. (BBC) (Japan Today) (Melbourne Age) (The Washington Post)
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd shows a two-hour presentation on his health reform plan at a Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting in Canberra. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
UN Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie appeals for safety in Somalia for thousands of Somalis trapped in the country’s capital of Mogadishu. (UN)
Franck Ribéry and other footballers from the French national football team are investigated by police in connection with an underage prostitution ring. (The Times) (AFP) (RTÉ) (Ennahar)
Drug trafficker Carl Williams of Melbourne gangland killings fame is murdered in prison. Yahoo

20 April 2010 (Tuesday)

Air travel disruption after the 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull:
- Another plume threatens to cause further disruptions. (Los Angeles Times)
- Half of all scheduled European flights are expected to go ahead, though airspace remains closed in many countries, including Ireland, Norway and Poland. Denmark accepts no landings. (BBC)
- Planes return to the air in France, Germany and Italy. (CNN) (ABC News)
- Ryanair cancels all of its flights between Ireland and the United Kingdom until 13:00 on Friday 23 April and all Northern European flights — Ireland, UK, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Belgium, The Netherlands, France, Germany, Poland, Baltic States and North Italy — until 13:00 on Thursday 22 April. (Irish Examiner)
- The Irish Aviation Authority closes Cork Airport and Dublin Airport until at least 22:00, opens Shannon Airport for limited services. (Irish Independent) (The Wall Street Journal)
- All United Kingdom airports reopen at 10:00pm BST, with the first planes landing at London Heathrow (BBC)
Iraq:
- Two inspection teams from Iraq's ministry of human rights enter a "secret prison" in Baghdad where "serious legal violations" are said to have occurred. (Al Jazeera)
- The United States and Iraq kill an al-Qaeda leader, Ahmed al-Obeidi, in Nineveh. (BBC) (CBC) (The News International)
Bishop of Augsburg Walter Mixa apologises and asks for forgiveness for his physical abuse of children in the 1970s and 1980s. (BBC)
82-year-old General Reynaldo Bignone, former military ruler of Argentina, is imprisoned for 25 years for abductions and tortures committed between 1978 and 1979. (BBC) (Houston Chronicle) (The Sydney Morning Herald)
A New York businessman, Abdul Tawala Ibn Ali Alishtari is sentenced to 10 years in prison for funneling money to a terrorism training camp in Afghanistan. (London Evening Standard)
Dozens of people gather in central Cairo in a rare protest against the use of force on pro-democracy demonstrations which "pose a threat to the national security". (Al Jazeera)
Omar al-Bashir's ruling party agrees to accept the results of the recent general election in Sudan. (Al Jazeera)
Palestinian officials say they will oppose new Israeli orders on deporting Palestinians from the West Bank. (BBC)
The Yushu earthquake death toll rises to 2,046. (Xinhua) (Al Jazeera)
Lorena Ochoa, the world's number one golfer for the past three years, announces her retirement from the sport at the age of 28. (Brisbane Times) (The Globe and Mail) (Latin American Herald Tribune) (The New York Times)
President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko announces the ousted President of Kyrgyzstan Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who is wanted by his successors in connection with the recent unrest, is in Minsk. (BBC) (VOA) (Al Jazeera)
The United Kingdom is accused of complicity in torture in Afghanistan as peace campaigner Maya Evans seeks a judicial review of the government's role in the extraordinary rendition of suspects. (The Independent)
Deputy Mayor of Kandahar Azizollah Yarmal, Afghanistan is shot dead while praying at a mosque. (BBC)
Repeat polls for Sri Lanka's April parliamentary election are held in Nawalapitiya and Trincomalee where ballots were annulled due to violence. (BBC) (People's Daily Online) (The Washington Post)
President of the United States Barack Obama speaks of the "unbreakable bonds" and "special relationship" between his country and Israel on the 62nd anniversary of Israel's birth. (Sky News) (The Jerusalem Post)
The United States Supreme Court, in ruling on United States v. Stevens, strikes down a law outlawing videos that depict animal cruelty. (Washington Post)
Two Canadian men are accused of committing an act of "flag desecration" in La Quinta, California, United States for allegedly replacing an American flag with a Canadian flag following Canada's ice hockey victory at the 2010 Winter Olympics. (CBC)
Two prisoners are killed and several others are injured during an attempted jail break in Kaduna, Nigeria. (BBC)
The Transocean-owned oil rig Deepwater Horizon explodes, injuring at least seven people and leaving over a dozen missing in the Gulf of Mexico. (MSNBC)
Two high-ranking officers are suspended from Rwanda's military and arrested; Maj-Gen Charles Muhire is accused of corruption and misuse of office, whilst Lt-Gen Karenzi Karake is accused of immoral conduct. (BBC)
An Indonesian court upholds a 1965 blasphemy law which permits punishment for people or organisations that "distort" the orthodoxies of six officially recognised religions — Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Catholicism, Protestantism and Confucianism — and is criticized as a blow to permitting religious freedom. (AFP) (New York Times) (Al Jazeera)
Speaking in Tehran, Iranian Islamic cleric Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi blames promiscuous women for causing earthquakes. (BBC) (news.com.au) (Fox News) (The Sydney Morning Herald)
The International Court of Justice in The Hague rules that Uruguay should have informed Argentina about its plans to build two paper mills on the banks of the River Uruguay, although it allows the one mill which was built to continue operating. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
Production of the 23rd James Bond film is put on indefinite hiatus due to uncertainty surrounding the future of MGM. (businessweek)
The shortlist for the Orange Prize for Fiction is announced. (BBC)
Karim Benzema and Hatem Ben Arfa are named as being involved in the France national football team's sex scandal. Franck Ribéry admits sexual relations with an underage prostitute. (The Guardian)
Former International Olympic Committee (IOC) president (1980 - 2001) and honorary life president Juan Antonio Samaranch is in a "very critical" condition in Quiron Hospital, Barcelona, after suffering a heart attack. (BBC) (CNN) (The Daily Telegraph) (Herald Sun) (RTÉ)

21 April 2010 (Wednesday)

Juan Antonio Samaranch, the 7th president of the International Olympic Committee (1980 - 2001), dies at the age of 89. (BBC) (CNN) (ESPN)
52 civilians are killed and 55 others are wounded in renewed tribal clashes in Sudan's South Darfur state. (Kazinform) (China Dialy) (China.org)
A Rovos Rail luxury tourist train derails near Pretoria, South Africa, killing at least two people – a pregnant woman and her baby whose birth occurred during the derailment – and injuring at least 25 others. (BBC) (Mail & Guardian) (News24)
Poland announces the date of its presidential election — June 20 — to elect plane crash victim Lech Kaczyński's successor. (Al Jazeera)
Pope Benedict XVI makes an explicit promise that the Roman Catholic Church will take action against child sexual abuse by priests. (BBC) (News24) (Reuters) (The Sydney Morning Herald)
GetEQUAL activists shout at President of the United States Barack Obama while he is speaking, expressing their annoyance over the slow progress of repealing the ban on open homosexuality in the country's armed forces. (The Daily Telegraph)
The Nigerian military exhumes seven fresh corpses from shallow graves near Jos in the latest round of apparent revenge killings. (BBC)
Bosnian police fired tear gas and water at war veterans in Sarajevo, during a protest against proposed state benefit cuts. (Al Jazeera)
The Asadho human rights group says the Democratic Republic of the Congo's army killed at least 11 civilians at the airport in Mbandaka this month. (BBC)
500 Greenpeace environmentalists protest against the awarding of a tender for the controversial Belo Monte hydroelectric project by dumping tonnes of manure at the National Electric Energy Agency's (Agência Nacional de Energia Elétrica, ANEEL) offices in Brasilia. (Al Jazeera)
More than a dozen suspects are indicted in the Philippines in connection with last year's Maguindanao massacre. (Taiwan News) (Al Jazeera)
South Korea claims it has uncovered a North Korean plot to assassinate the most senior official to defect from the North to the South, Hwang Jang-yop. (BBC) (Korea Times) (Al Jazeera)
Rwandan opposition leader Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza is arrested on charges such as collaboration with a terrorist organisation and genocide denial. (BBC)
Viktor Yanukovych and Dmitry Medvedev agree to extend the lease between Kiev and Moscow that allows Russia's Black Sea Fleet to be stationed in Ukraine in return for cheaper gas until 2042. (BBC) (The Daily Telegraph) (The Guardian)
2010 Yushu earthquake: China holds a national day of mourning for the victims. Public entertainment activities are cancelled, all Chinese flags around the world flew at half-staff. (AP via Google News)
Nicolas Sarkozy speaks out against the niqāb, telling a cabinet meeting it "hurts the dignity of women and is not acceptable in French society", as his government moves to outlaw the garment. (Al Jazeera)
The U.S. Obama administration charges that Sudan’s recent election was plagued by "serious irregularities" and says the United States is committed to ensuring that a 2011 Sudanese referendum on southern independence would be conducted fairly. (The New York Times)
Algeria, Mali, Mauritania and Niger launch a joint command centre in Tamanrasset to counter al-Qaeda, according to the Algerian defence ministry. (Al Jazeera)
The British government announces that British airports will reopen and passenger flights will resume, but officials caution that it will take time for flight schedules to return to normal after the six-day shutdown caused by volcanic ash from the 2010 eruptions of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano. (USA Today) (Chicago Tribune)
Police in Himachal Pradesh arrest Paramhamsa Nityananda, a Hindu holy man who faces charges of obscenity after he fondles two women in bed on television. (BBC) (iAfrica) (Indian Express) (The Sydney Morning Herald)
Syria becomes the first Arab state to implement a ban on smoking in public places. (BBC) (The Miami Herald)
U.S. pop singer Kelly Clarkson is criticised by anti-smoking groups in Indonesia and the United States for promoting cigarettes at an upcoming concert in Jakarta. (BBC)
Five men accused of conspiring to extort £4.25 million for the safe return of Madonna of the Yarnwinder, an oil painting by Leonardo da Vinci, are cleared. (BBC) (The Times)
Cirque du Soleil announces it will stage a live tour featuring the works of Michael Jackson. (BBC) (Financial Times) (The Guardian) (Los Angeles Times) (Xinhua)
The man who attacked Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher on stage at the 2008 Virgin Festival in Toronto is put under house arrest for 12 months. (BBC) (Billboard) (CBC) (Digital Spy) (The Globe and Mail) (Toronto Star)

22 April 2010 (Thursday)

2010 Explosion on Deepwater Horizon drilling rig:
- Transocean oil platform Deepwater Horizon sinks into the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana after an explosion two days earlier that injured 7, with 11 still missing. (Fox News)
- The wreck is estimated to be leaking 8,000 barrels of crude oil per day, and may leak up to 700,000 gallons of diesel fuel depending on how much burned in the explosion and ensuing fire. (CNN)
Israeli–Palestinian conflict:
- Ahmad Sabah, a Palestinian with a Gaza ID card, claims the new Israeli military order on deportations is behind his release to Gaza instead of the West Bank where he lived before his detainment in 2001. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
- Two rockets are fired into Jordanian territory: one explodes near Aqaba and damages a warehouse, the other falls into the Red Sea. (Al Jazeera) (BBC) (France24) (RTÉ)
Pope Benedict XVI and the child sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church:
- The Pope accepts the resignation of Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin James Moriarty. (RTÉ) (BBC) (Irish Independent) (New York Daily News) (The New Zealand Herald)
- Bishop of Augsburg Walter Mixa offers his resignation after admitting his abuse of children to "avert further damage to the Church and allow a new start". (Al Jazeera) (The Irish Times) (Times Online)
- A man who says he was abused by American paedophile priest Father Lawrence Murphy sues the Pope and the Vatican in a federal court in the United States. (BBC)
Pro-Daniel Ortega protesters in Nicaragua injure three opposition politicians while blockading parliament to prevent the overturning of a presidential decree. (Al Jazeera)
The Flemish Liberals and Democrats leave the Government of Belgium following a dispute over the dissolution of the electoral district Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde. (VRT)
Several grenades explode in Thailand's capital, Bangkok, killing at least one person and injuring at least 75 others. (Bangkok Post) (BBC News)
NATO foreign ministers agree to launch a Membership Action Plan (MAP) for Bosnia and Herzegovina. (BBC) (Reuters)
Acting President of Nigeria Goodluck Jonathan signs the country's 4.6 trillion naira budget for 2010 into law. (Reuters)
Minas Gerais, one of Brazil's biggest states, bans the sale of the Toyota Corolla over safety fears. (BBC)
Sri Lanka's former army chief Sarath Fonseka requests his freedom from "illegal detention" in his first speech in parliament. (Al Jazeera)
President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrives in Zimbabwe; Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai objects, labelling Mr Ahmadinejad a "war-monger, a trampler of human rights [and] an executioner". (BBC) (Reuters)
A Utrecht court acquits the Dutch arm of the Arab European League of hate crime charges relating to the publication of a cartoon questioning the Holocaust. The publication was intended to highlight double standards after MP Geert Wilders was not put on trial for distributing cartoons of Muhammad. (BBC)
Rwanda president Paul Kagame's rival Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza is released one day after her arrest on charges of terrorism and genocide denial but banned from leaving Kigali and ordered to report to authorities twice a month. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
Huang Guangyu, founder of GOME Electrical Appliances and formerly China's richest man, goes on trial for bribery in Beijing. (Al Jazeera)
A court in the Democratic Republic of the Congo overturns death sentences granted to Norwegians Joshua French and Tjostolv Moland. (BBC) (The Guardian) (The Independent) (News24) (Reuters Africa)
The Euro falls to near year-low levels amid concerns about Greece's debt crisis. (Bloomberg)
Indian police investigate potential attacks on shopping centres in New Delhi. (Al Jazeera)
President of the United States Barack Obama calls on Wall Street to join him in his efforts to reform the financial sector in a visit to Manhattan. (CNN)
The Melbourne Storm are stripped of their 2007 and 2009 National Rugby League titles after being found to have cheated the salary cap. (BBC)
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers honours The Killers for "their impact in shaping American music". (BBC) (Contact Music) (CBC)
An episode of the American television series South Park is censored after a threat of fatwā from a New York-based group over the depiction of Muhammad in a bear costume. (The Guardian) (CBS News) (BBC)
The St. Louis Rams select Sam Bradford with the first pick of the 2010 NFL Draft (Sporting News)

23 April 2010 (Friday)

80 people die after drinking illegal home-made banana gin (waragi) laced with methanol in Kabale, Uganda (BBC) (News24) (TMC)
Dozens of people are killed and more than 100 others are wounded by a series of bomb explosions in Baghdad, mostly near Shia mosques around the time of Jumu'ah (BBC) (The Guardian) (Reuters)
Seven people, including six police officers and a civilian, are killed and two other officers are injured in a shoot-out with suspected gang hitmen in Ciudad Juárez. (BBC) (CNN) (The New York Times)
Two supporters of defeated independent state candidate Angelina Teny are killed by police and four others are injured during post-election protests in Bentiu. (BBC) (Reuters)
In a major transfer of power in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China, Zhang Chunxian replaces Wang Lequan as the region's Party Committee Secretary; Wang has served in the post since 1994. (AP) (Xinhua)
Red Shirt leader Veera Musikapong agrees to end the protests in Bangkok if the government agrees to dissolve parliament and hold elections within 90 days. (The Guardian)
Greece activates the €45 billion aid package it was offered by Europe earlier in the month to combat the country's debt crisis. (Washington Post)
Algerian-born airline pilot Lotfi Raissi, falsely accused of being involved in the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001, wins his legal battle for compensation from the British government after "nine years of hell". (BBC) (The Guardian) (The Age) (The Scotsman)
A Spanish hospital claims to have performed the world's "first full-face transplant". (AP)
Response to child sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church:
- Bishop of Bruges since 1984 Roger Joseph Vangheluwe admits sexually abusing a boy and resigns with immediate effect. (BBC) (news.com.au) (Al Jazeera)
- A guest visit by Colombian Cardinal Darío Castrillón Hoyos to a prominent Catholic church in Washington, D.C. is canceled after the decision to invite the controversial Cardinal was criticized by survivors of child abuse. (The Irish Times)
The Boy Scouts of America are ordered to pay $18.5 million in damages following the sexual abuse of a 12-year-old boy. (The New York Times) (ABC News) (Miami Herald) (CNN)
Keflavík International Airport, Iceland's largest airport, is shut down due to volcanic ash. (news.com.au) (Reuters India) (IceNews) (Al Jazeera)
Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu resists calls from the United States to stop construction in Jerusalem; the United Nations claims Israel's blockade of Gaza prevents it from educating thousands of Palestinian children. (BBC) (MSNBC)
A car bomb explodes outside a police station in Newtownhamilton, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. (BBC) (CNN) (The Guardian) (People's Daily Online)
North Korea seizes five properties owned by South Korea in Kŭmgangsan. (BBC) (Deutsche Welle) (Al Jazeera)
President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad opens a trade fair in Bulawayo on his tour of Zimbabwe as the country's President Robert Mugabe back's Iran's "just cause" for developing nuclear energy. (BBC) (Reuters) (The Times of India) (Al Jazeera)
Police issue a French Muslim woman with a fine of €22 for wearing a burqa while driving in Nantes, causing controversy and threatening her husband's status. (BBC) (Expatica France) (news.com.au) (iAfrica)
A Frenchman and his Algerian driver are kidnapped by armed men in Niger. (BBC) (France24) (Arab News) (News24)
China requests that Tibetan monks leave Qinghai where an earthquake struck on 14 April. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
A total of 2.89 million new jobs were created in China's urban areas during the first three months this year, according to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS) (China.org)
Arizona governor Jan Brewer signs the the state's controversial immigrant detention bill into law. Supporters say it will take 'the handcuffs' off police; opponents say it will violate people's civil rights. (The Washington Post)
The 2009 ascent of Kangchenjunga by Korean climber Oh Eun-sun, aiming to be the first woman to climb the 14 highest peaks on Earth, is declared "disputed" by Himalayan climbing records arbiter, Elizabeth Hawle. (BBC)

24 April 2010 (Saturday)

In separate events, 29 people are killed in a suicide attack on a prison van, six NATO oil tankers are torched, and the Pakistan Army attacked Taliban fighters. (Arab News)
Paraguay passes a bill, requested by President, Fernando Lugo, that suspends constitutional rights for 30 days in parts of the country after the Paraguayan People's Army (PPA) kills four people. (BBC)
A tornado in Mississippi kills at least 10 people. (USA Today)
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva of Thailand rejects protester demands to dissolve the Parliament within 30 days. (Sky News)
A strong earthquake measuring 6.1 strikes in the Maluku Islands north of Ambon Island. (Arab News)
al-Shabaab seizes three towns from Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a in central Galguduud, Somalia. (Al Jazeera)
Iraq holds funerals for those killed in yesterday's series of bombings in Baghdad. (Al Jazeera)
Russia's Proton-M rocket sends a United States SES-1 telecommunications satellite into space. (Xinhua)
An unmanned American aircraft kills seven militants in Pakistan. (Washington Post)
Child sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church:
- In Chile, Catholic Church leaders and President Sebastián Piñera meet for more than an hour to discuss the child sexual abuse scandal and agree to send a letter to all the country's parishes. (BBC)
- A retired priest says he was ignored when he spoke out about Belgium's longest-serving bishop having sexually abused a boy years before his admission and immediate resignation yesterday. (CBC)
Tens of thousands of people rally and lay flowers at a monument in Yerevan to the victims on the 95th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. (Al Jazeera)
Marchers march in a dozen Spanish cities, including thousands in Madrid, to support Judge Baltasar Garzón who has been told he may face a trial for launching an inquiry into the acts of General Francisco Franco. Falange arranges a smaller protest in Madrid in opposition to Garzón. (BBC) (CBC)
Former Nazi corporal and founder of Villa Baviera in Chile Paul Schäfer dies in prison at the age of 88. (BBC) (Deutsche Welle) (France24) (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Wang Lequan, Communist Party secretary since 1994, is replaced by Zhang Chunxian as the most powerful official in Xinjiang. (BBC) (Arab News) (The Hindu) (South China Morning Post)
Two German men held in Abia State are released six days after being seized on a swim. (BBC)
The Cheonan, which was destroyed in the Baengnyeong incident, is recovered. (Sky News)
Mumbai's Oberoi Hotel reopens 18 months after sustaining damage in the 2008 Mumbai attacks. (BBC)
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh injures his ankle in a carriage driving accident on the Queen's Windsor estate. (Arab News)

25 April 2010 (Sunday)

The International Court of Arbitration in The Hague orders the British government to pay £400 million to Iran for an arms deal cancelled following the Iranian Revolution. (Ha'aretz) (Press TV) (ABC News)
55 people are killed and 85 injured after clashes between Arab nomads from the Darfur region of Sudan and the Southern Sudan army. (Al Jazeera) (BBC) (AFP)
An inquiry is launched as at least 80 schoolgirls in different Kunduz schools are poisoned this week; the Taliban, opposed to female education, denies any knowledge. (BBC) (Japan Today) (Reuters)
Zhou Qiang succeeds Zhang Chunxian as the provincial party secretary of Hunan Province in China. (China Daily)
At least five people are killed and 20 others are injured by a bomb blast at a cafe in the Ethiopian town of Adi Haro. (Al Jazeera)
Israeli police clash with Palestinian protesters objecting to an "extremely provocative" march by settlers in Silwan in East Jerusalem, calling for the removal of Palestinians who live in the area. (Al Jazeera)
Mexican Labour Party leader in Guerrero Rey Hernández dies after being shot at least seven times outside his home in Tlacoachistlahuaca. (The Times of India) (People's Daily Online)
Hungary's Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Union wins a historic two-thirds general election victory, according to second round results. (BBC) (CBC) (The Daily Telegraph)
Heinz Fischer wins the Austrian presidential election, 2010. (Al Jazeera) (CBC) (The Irish Times)
Nearly 100,000 people rally in Okinawa, Japan, demanding the removal of an American base from the island. (Kyoto) (Washington Post) (China Daily)
Thousands of people rally in Beirut to ask for the separation of religion and state in Lebanon. (Al Jazeera)
A huge fire destroys hundreds of homes and leaves thousands homeless in Quezon City, Philippines. (ABS-CBN News) (BBC)
The Spanish Navy captures eight suspected pirates off the Somalia coast. (Press TV) (The Washington Post)
The Ladies in White are stopped from marching in Havana but stand silently instead. (BBC) (The Miami Herald)
Cuba's Speaker of the Parliament Ricardo Alarcón challenges the United States to lift its 48-year embargo on the island if it believes Cuba benefits from the embargo, as Hillary Rodham Clinton suggested. (euronews) (Press TV) (Channel News Asia)
Iranian Minister for Foreign Affairs Manouchehr Mottaki meets the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna and says Iran remains interested in a nuclear fuel swap drafted by the United Nations. (Al Jazeera) (Press TV) (Xinhua)
London Marathon:
- Tsegaye Kebede wins the men's marathon with a time of 2:05:19; Liliya Shobukhova wins the women's marathon with a time of 2:22:00. (USA Today)
- Princess Beatrice of York becomes the first royal to complete the London Marathon. (The Daily Telegraph)
Chennai Super Kings defeat Mumbai Indians to win the third Indian Premier League tournament. CNN, Al Jazeera, Sydney Morning Herald
Pope Benedict XVI and his upcoming visit to Britain:
- The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office apologises after The Sunday Telegraph obtains a "foolish" document calling for the upcoming September visit of Pope Benedict XVI to be marked by the launch of "Benedict-branded" condoms, the opening of an abortion clinic and the blessing of a same-sex marriage. (BBC) (The Guardian) (RTÉ)
- The Vatican downplays the incident and says it will continue to visit despite the diplomatic gaffe. (National Post)
South African President Jacob Zuma announces that he is HIV-negative in an effort to promote AIDS awareness. (BBC) (China Post) (France24) (News24)
Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan reveals he has cirrhosis of the liver. (BBC) (CBC) (The Straits Times) (The Times)
Professor Stephen Hawking warns humans about the dangers of contacting extraterrestrials. (BBC) (Fox News) (The Hindu) (Sky News) (The Sunday Times)
The Professional Footballers' Association votes Wayne Rooney as "player of the year". (BBC) (The Daily Telegraph)
The first passenger flight between Iraq and the United Kingdom in two decades touches down at London Gatwick Airport, nine days overdue because of volcanic ash problems. (BBC)

26 April 2010 (Monday)

Belgium's King Albert accepts the resignation of Prime Minister Yves Leterme, ending his parliament's reign and leading to early elections in June 2010. (BBC)
2010 Thai political protests:
- Several grenade attacks occur at the homes of former Thai Prime Minister Banharn Silpa-archa and in Chiang Mai. (Bangkok Post)
- Red shirt protesters set up roadblocks to prevent police reinforcements from reaching the capital Bangkok. (BBC) (Thai News Agency)
- Yellow shirt protesters say they will take action against the red shirts if the authorities do not deal with the protests. (Al Jazeera)
Robotic submarines attempt to stop leaking oil in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion. (The Globe and Mail)
The British ambassador to Yemen, Timothy Torlot, survives an attempted suicide bombing. (Washington Post)
Former dictator of Panama, Manuel Noriega is extradited from the United States to France. (CNN)
Noma, located in Copenhagen, Denmark, is named as the "world's best restaurant" in Restaurant magazine's annual survey. (The Guardian)
A 6.5~6.9 earthquake strikes near Taitung, south east of Taiwan. (Focus Taiwan) (Xinhua)
By a 6-5 margin, a United States federal appeals court rules that a sex-discrimination lawsuit, the largest employment discrimination case in history, against Wal-Mart can continue. (NY Times)
A Hamas militant is killed in Hebron after a shootout with the Israeli Defense Forces. (Jerusalem Post) (Sydney Morning Herald) (BBC)
The United States Supreme Court agree to hear a case challenging laws that forbid the selling of violent video games to minors. (LA Times)
South Koreans pay tribute to the victims of the sinking of the ROKS Cheonan in March. (Yonhap) (Xinhua) (Al Jazeera)

27 April 2010 (Tuesday)