May 24 2010 - May 31 2010

24 May 2010 (2010-05-24) (Monday) edit history watch

Trinidad and Tobago holds a general election, resulting in the victory of the United National Congress, and Kamla Persad-Bissessar becoming its first female Prime Minister. (CaribbeanWorldNews), (Xinhua) The death toll as a result of severe flooding in Poland reaches 15 as Interior Minister Jerzy Miller says "The situation is worse than expected". (Deutsche Welle) (The Irish Times) (Press TV) (RTÉ) Hamas announces that it will boycott Palestinian municipal elections, saying said that the elections were being held under the supervision of Prime Minister Salam Fayyad’s “unconstitutional government” and would lack fairness and credibility. (The Jerusalem Post) Israel: President of Israel Shimon Peres denies a claims that there was an alleged nuclear pact between Israel and South Africa. (BBC)(The Jerusalem Post) Australia expels an Israeli diplomat after a probe reveals Israel was behind the forging of four Australian passports linked to the assassination of a Hamas operative in Dubai. (BBC) Operation Herrick: Colonel Bob Seddon resigns as principal ammunition technical officer of the Royal Logistic Corps citing concerns about "the pressures on his team operating in Afghanistan". (Sky News) (The Daily Telegraph) (The Hindu) (Hindustan Times) The widow of an army bomb disposal expert killed there in October admits her husband was under relentless pressure and his elite unit "badly overstretched". (Reuters) Sinking of the ROKS Cheonan: South Korea cuts off trade with North Korea and announces that North Korean ships will no longer be allowed to use South Korean waters. The government demands an apology over the sinking. (BBC) The South Korean military announces that it will resume the suspended practice of psychological warfare against North Korean guards on the Demilitarized zone, and that it would hold anti-submarine military exercises with the United States. (Yonhap) (Al Jazeera) South Korea announces that it will refer North Korea to the United Nations Security Council. (BBC) South Korea and the United States pressure China to allow UN action against North Korea. (The Guardian) Two police officers are killed and six others are wounded by gunmen during unrest in Jamaica's capital, Kingston. (BBC) (Sky News) The first China-Europe High-Level Political Party Forum convenes in Beijing. (Global Times) The second round of the U.S.–China Strategic and Economic Dialogue begins in Beijing, China. (CNN) (Xinhua) The assassination of Bashar al-Ageidi from the election-winning Iraqiya bloc of Ayad Allawi takes place outside his house in Mosul. (BBC) Partial results show Western-backed leader Meles Zenawi's party is going to win the national Ethiopian election, although there are allegations it was rigged. (BBC) (The Times) (The Daily Telegraph) A panel of judges rules that Kenya's Islamic courts favour Islam and that this is unconstitutional as Kenya is a secular country. (BBC) Niger proposes reforms that would see only those with a university degree be allowed to run in presidential elections and parliamentary candidates be under the age of seventy and have some form of secondary education. Opposition groups say this discriminates against the 80 per cent of the population that is illiterate. (BBC) President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is met with protests during a speech in Khorramshahr. (BBC) (Reuters) (Voice of America) The International Monetary Fund says "far-reaching" reforms are vital for Spain's economy. (BBC) Plane Stupid protesters break into Manchester Airport and lock arms around an aircraft. Flights are suspended. (Sky News) At least three people die and four others are critically injured in a school bus crash in Keswick, Cumbria in the Lake District of North West England in the United Kingdom. (Sky News) The people of Huddersfield in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees of West Yorkshire in England are ordered to remain indoors and several schools are shut down after a huge fire engulfs a chemical plant in the area. (Sky News) The UK's General Medical Council bans Dr. Andrew Wakefield, who was the first to publish research suggesting a connection between the MMR vaccine and autism, from practicing in the country, finding him guilty of "serious professional misconduct." (AP) (BBC) (The Washington Post) (Wall Street Journal) Peter Harvey, the UK teacher who attacked a pupil with a dumbbell while shouting "die, die, die", is sentenced to community order as his trial ends in Nottingham. The judge calls him as a "thoroughly decent man". (The Daily Telegraph) (The Guardian) (The Irish Times) (RTÉ) (The Times) Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) leader and South Down MP Margaret Ritchie resigns from the Northern Ireland Executive. Alex Attwood is the new Minister for Social Development. (RTÉ) Sarah, Duchess of York receives support from businessman Simon Cowell and an award for her work with the disadvantaged children of the U.S. city of Los Angeles despite being caught in a newspaper sting in Britain. (Sky News) Iran's largest water supply project is inaugurated in Khorramshahr. (Bernama) (Press TV) (Tehran Times) Paul Gray, bassist and founding member of heavy metal group Slipknot, is found dead at the age of 38 by a hotel employee in his room in Iowa, United States. (The Guardian) (Xinhua) (TIME) (ABC News)

Current events of 25 May 2010 (2010-05-25) (Tuesday) edit history watch

The death toll from the fighting in Kingston, Jamaica's capital, jumps to 27. (BBC) May 2010 Central European floods: Warsaw residents prepare to flee floodwaters as the Vistula river overflows. (The Guardian) (The Hindu) Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announces 2 billion złoty from budget reserves to be given to those affected. (Reuters) (Voice of America) Polish Minister of the Interior, Jerzy Miller, says beavers caused the floods; local authorities up hunting quotas for the animals. (The Daily Telegraph) A Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations plane with humanitarian aid for Poland begins its flight to Warsaw. (RIA Novosti) The Oder's water levels rise in eastern Germany as flood warnings are issued in Ratzdorf and Eisenhüttenstadt. (Sky News) An international operation against a major drug trafficking gang deals "a major blow" as 26 people are arrested in Ireland, Spain and the United Kingdom, including a capo di tutti capi. (RTÉ) (The Irish Times) (BBC) (France24) (The Sydney Morning Herald) Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva launches TV Brasil Internacional, an international television station currently broadcasting to African nations. (BBC) (France24) (MercoPress) Increased tensions over the sinking of the South Korean warship ROKS Cheonan (PCC-772): South Korea begins broadcasting propaganda over its border with North Korea. North Korea severs all ties and communications with the South and expels Southern workers from a jointly-run factory above the border. (Yonhap) (BBC) A court in Thailand issues an arrest warrant for former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on charges of terrorism, following a report by the Thai Department of Special Investigations, which concluded that he had financed Red Shirt protesters and had helped them smuggle in weapons and fighters from Cambodia, during the 2010 political crisis. (Al Jazeera) At least 17 people die after a tourist bus crashes in Antalya. (RIA Novosti) (BBC) (CBS News) (Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review) (Today's Zaman) A white teacher in Dahlonega, Georgia is suspended after permitting non-black students to bring bed sheets and cone-shaped party hats to school to dress in the traditional costume of right-wing white supremacist nationalist organisation Ku Klux Klan for a film project. She refuses to apologise after the issue is raised by African-American students when one of them was asked to take part in a re-enactment of a lynching. (BBC) (Pretoria News) (The Daily Telegraph) Iran releases film director Jafar Panahi after more than two months in custody, including a hunger strike, following an international campaign led by the actress Juliette Binoche. (BBC) (The Daily Telegraph) (The Guardian) The Malaysian tanker MT Bunga Kelana 3 and a bulk carrier collide in the Singapore Strait, resulting in an estimated 2,000 tonnes of oil spilled. (Reuters) (The Times) (Straits Times) The Supreme Court of Pakistan dismisses a government appeal to detain Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, a Muslim cleric suspected by India to have masterminded the 2008 Mumbai attacks. (Reuters) (AP) Italy's cabinet approves an austerity budget to cut its deficit by €24 billion in 2011 and 2012. (BBC) (Reuters) (The Miami Herald) Sicilians react with outrage to an advert for a clothing shop in Palermo featuring Adolf Hitler dressed in pink and a heart instead of a swastika. (BBC) Russia's new Cyrillic alphabet Internet domain (.рф) launches on 476 sites. (RIA Novosti) A study indicates that the Pac-Man game Google put on its home page Friday led to the loss of almost five million man-hours (or 550 years) of work time. (BBC) (CBC News) (Daily Mail) Bono is released from hospital in Munich following his spinal surgery as U2 confirm the postponement of the North America leg of the U2 360° Tour and cancel their headlining slot at the Glastonbury Festival 2010. (The Irish Times) (CNN) (The Sydney Morning Herald) Swedish model Charlotte Lindström is released from Long Bay Prison in Sydney after serving a three year sentence for plotting to kill two people; she served the time in total isolation because of death threats towards her. (Herald Sun) South African opera star Siphiwo Ntshebe, chosen by Nelson Mandela to sing "Hope" at the opening ceremony of the 2010 FIFA World Cup next month, dies suddenly aged 34 after contracting meningitis. (IOL) (BBC) (CBC) (The Daily Telegraph) (The Guardian) Ivor Powell, the world's oldest football coach and "one of the great footballers of his generation" retires at the age of 93. (BBC)

Current events of 26 May 2010 (2010-05-26) (Wednesday) edit history watch

More than 80 students are sickened in a girl’s school in Kunduz, Afghanistan, in a poison gas attack suspected to have been carried out by Taliban assailants whose version of Islam is opposed to girls being educated.(USA Today) International Criminal Court judges tell the UN Security Council that the Sudanese government is protecting suspects wanted for war crimes in Darfur instead of arresting them to face trial. (The Globe and Mail) Jamaican police arrest more than 500 people after an unsuccessful attempt to arrest a suspected drug kingpin in Kingston, the capital, results in violence that leaves at least 44 people dead. (CNN) (BBC) Two of Ethiopia's main opposition leaders call for a rerun of Sunday's elections won by Western-backed Meles Zenawi. They say the elections were not free and fair and that two politicians were killed by security forces. (Al Jazeera) (BBC) (The Hindu) (Reuters) Brandenburg reaches level four on the disaster alert scale as water levels along the Oder and Neisse rivers continue to rise. (Deutsche Welle) Israel launches two night-time air strikes on the Gaza Strip in response to mortar attacks and the detonation of 200kg of explosives laden on a donkey-cart next to the border fence. (BBC) (The Jerusalem Post) Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemns Iran, saying his people were “hijacked, at the hands of the Iranians”; possibly referring to Hamas's refusal to reconcile with Fatah on Iran's command by announcing on that it would boycott the Palestinian municipal elections (The Jerusalem Post) Palestinian Authority security forces arrest scores of Hamas officials and supporters in the West Bank a day after Hamas announced that it would boycott the Palestinian municipal elections scheduled for July 17. (The Jerusalem Post) The chief rabbi of a West Bank settlement declares that women should be prohibited from standing in a local community election. (BBC) Nuclear program of Iran: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev disagree over Russia's support for United Nations sanctions concerning Iran's nuclear program, with some analysts describing it as the worst row between the countries for several years. (Reuters) Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva questions why American President Barack Obama ignored Iran's nuclear agreement with Brazil and Turkey and presented new sanctions to the United Nations Security Council, saying this is "not the attitude that someone who won the Nobel Peace Prize has" and describing himself as "disappointed". (Buenos Aires Herald) Lori Berenson is freed on parole after serving 15 years in a Peruvian prison for aiding the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement. (BBC) Iraq announces the disolution of state-owned Iraqi Airways over the next three years and the pursuit of private options to avoid asset claims made by Kuwait over their 1990-91 war. (Al Jazeera) The International Criminal Court reports Sudan to the United Nations Security Council for refusing to arrest former Minister Ahmed Haroun and militia leader Ali Muhammad Al Abd-Al-Rahman. (BBC) A Lusaka court convicts former Zambian Finance Minister Katele Kalumba of corruption and sentences him to five years with hard labour. Six other people, including former officials in the finance ministry, are also found guilty of corruption. (BBC) (IOL) 2 people are injured and several vehicles are destroyed during a blast in Kandahar. (Al Jazeera) Charles Djou is sworn into the United States House of Representatives, representing Hawaii's 1st congressional district. (Fox News) Space Shuttle Atlantis completes its final scheduled mission after landing at Kennedy Space Center, Florida. (Xinhua) (CNN) (BBC) Elton John makes his Moroccan debut at the Mawazine festival in Rabat ignoring calls for him to be banned by Islamists who feared he would offend public morals. (BBC) Virtual band Gorillaz are announced to replace U2 as headliners of the Glastonbury Festival 2010. (BBC) (CBC) (RTÉ) (Reuters) (The Times) The Alaotra Grebe, a grebe endemic to Madagascar, is declared extinct 25 years after its last reported sighting. (BBC)

Current events of 27 May 2010 (2010-05-27) (Thursday) edit history watch

The death toll in the recent violence in Jamaica jumps to 73, and 44 in west Kingston alone. (Al Jazeera) (Montreal Gazette) At least 7 people die and at least 40 others are injured after a bomb explodes before a performance in Stavropol. (CBC) (CNN) (Deutsche Welle) (RIA Novosti) The Gulf of Mexico oil spill is now the worst oil spill in U.S. history, surpassing the worst previous spill, the Exxon Valdez wreck on the Alaska coast in 1989, according to scientists' latest estimates. (Chicago Tribune) A US-born Yemenite cleric linked to Al-Qaeda, Anwar Al-Awlaki advocates the killing of US civilians in a new Al Qaeda video. (USA Today) Two campaigners for LGBT rights in Zimbabwe are freed after spending six days in custody on charges of possessing pornographic material and insulting President Robert Mugabe. (BBC) (IOL) (News24.com) North Korea says it will scrap an accord aimed at preventing accidental naval clashes with South Korea after being blamed for a torpedo attack that sank a South Korean warship. (CBC) France detains Rwandan doctor Eugene Rwamucyo, wanted by Interpol since 2006 and accused of involvement in the Rwandan Genocide. (BBC) Sudan: Many international leaders stay away from the inauguration of Omar al-Bashir, wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes in Darfur, as he is sworn in as President of Sudan but at least five African presidents attend the event along with two UN representatives. (BBC) (Reuters) The Sudanese government says it will no longer engage in peace talks with the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), promising to prosecute its leaders instead. (Al Jazeera) Israeli–Palestinian conflict: Israel summons the ambassadors of Cyprus, Greece, Ireland, Sweden and Turkey to protest the expedition as an unnecessary provocation after eight ships, including four cargo vessels and a Turkish passenger ferry carrying 600 people, including a Nobel peace laureate and former U.S. congresswoman, set sail for Gaza with 10,000 tons of humanitarian aid to break a three-year Israeli blockade on the territory. (RTÉ) (Associated Press) (Voice of America)(The Jerusalem Post) Organizers of the aid flotilla refuse an offer of support by the family of kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit if they would urge Hamas to allow the soldier to receive letters and food packages from his family and international organizations to visit him. (Ynetnews) (The Jerusalem Post) (Haaretz) Israel invites the convoy to unload its cargo at the port of Ashdod, where the cargo will be checked for weapons and then the humanitarian goods will be distributed by land to Gaza. (Haaretz) (The Jerusalem Post) The Israeli Army shows journalists a detention centre in Ashdod where those on board will locked up, saying Israelis would be arrested, Palestinians would be questioned by the Israeli secret service, and foreign nationals would be sent home. (Al Jazeera) Cyprus bans flotilla vessels from gathering in its territorial waters, a move described by Israel as "an ethical deed and a voice of reason". (Ynetnews) Two Palestinians are wounded in an Israeli air strike east of Gaza City in response to Palestinians firing mortar into Israel. (AFP) Pakistan: A Pakistani army major is the latest suspect to be arrested in connection with the failed Times Square car bombing attempt. (Telegraph) Pakistan restores access to the video sharing website YouTube, but 1,200 web pages remain blocked for hosting "blasphemous" content. (Al Jazeera) In its annual report, Amnesty International says human rights abuses and repression increased in Iran and China last year, the African Union refused to cooperate with the International Criminal Court after it indicted Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir for war crimes in Darfur, the United Nations’ Human Rights Council took little action while Sri Lanka’s army and Tamil militants both committed potential war crimes, and Israel and the militant group Hamas did not follow up on reports that accused both sides of human rights abuses during during the Gaza War. (Xinhua)(Businessweek)(MSNBC)(VOA) Licences are granted to four private daily newspapers as part of media reforms in Zimbabwe. (BBC) (CNN) Singapore closes beaches along 7.2 kilometers (4.5 miles) of its east coast as an oil spill from the damaged Malaysian tanker MT Bunga Kelana 3 continues to spread. (AP) (Reuters India) (BBC) Libya welcomes the return of some ancient relics stolen by British soldiers in the 1950s and now on display in Tripoli's Museum of Libya. (IOL) (BBC) (Daily Mail) (News24.com) Tens of thousands of workers strike in protest against government plans to raise the retirement age in France. (BBC) (Bangkok Post) (RTÉ) (The Washington Post) (Al Jazeera) Stanley Kingaipe and Charles Chookole, two ex-officers in Zambia's air force, are awarded 10 million kwacha in damages following claims they were tested and treated for HIV without their knowledge. (BBC) Spain's parliament approves by one vote a €15 billion austerity package to rein in the country's budget deficit. (BBC) (Al Jazeera) French Polynesia Vice President Edouard Fritch is arrested in a bribery probe. (RNZI) Peter James Bethune, a New Zealand anti-whaling campaigner, pleads guilty to four charges over his alleged attacks on the Japanese whaling vessel MV Shōnan Maru 2 in February. (ABC) (Radio New Zealand) (The Jakarta Post) The first launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is delayed to no earlier than June 2, 2010, due to delays in a Delta IV GPS satellite launch. (Space.com News) Ten acts, including former winner Niamh Kavanagh, progress to the final of Eurovision Song Contest 2010 in Bærum, Oslo. Sweden fails to qualify for the first time in its history. (The Irish Times) (BBC) Arcade Fire confirm the release of their third album, The Suburbs. (CBC) (The Guardian) (NME) (Reuters) Former child actor Gary Coleman is hospitalised in a critical condition in the United States. (CNN) (The Sydney Morning Herald)

Current events of 28 May 2010 (2010-05-28) (Friday) edit history watch

An international bicycle tour starts in the Northwestern United States. and ending at the 2010 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Cancun, Mexico. (350.org) Contributions from Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland allow the World Bank to cancel $36 million in Haiti's remaining debt following January's devastating earthquake. (Al Jazeera) (The New York Times) (Reuters) (CNN) At least three people die, at least four others are missing, a 15-day state of calamity is declared and the international airport is shut down due to the eruption of the Pacaya volcano in Guatemala. (CNN) Assailants attack two mosques in Lahore, Pakistan, killing at least 80 and injuring 50 more. (Al Jazeera) (Times of India) (Malaysia Star) At least 25 people are killed and 150 injured in India after a Mumbai train with 13 passenger coaches is derailed by an explosion on the tracks and collides with another train as it traveled through the Paschim Medinipur district, a rebel stronghold in eastern India. (Reuters) (USA Today) (The Hindu) (Times of India) (BBC) Hundreds of corpses buried in a mudslide which swept away three villages on the slopes of Mount Elgon near Bududa, Uganda, three months ago are yet to be recovered. (BBC) Israeli–Palestinian conflict: Five boats belonging to pro-Israel advocacy group StandWithUs leave Ashdod and Herzliya to demonstrate against the international flotilla by displaying “Free Gaza from Hamas” banners and wearing bloodstained T-shirts, representing Hamas’ attacks. (The Jerusalem Post) The Israeli Navy also sets off to confront the international flotilla carrying 10,000 tons of humanitarian aid as hundreds of people on board attempt to break the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip. (The Guardian) The meeting is considered an international "public relations battle" to be "waged on the high seas". (The Australian) (The Sydney Morning Herald) (The Hindu) (CNN) Israel's foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman denies the existence of a humanitarian crisis and says the flotilla is "an attempt at violent propaganda against Israel" and promises that "Israel will not allow a violation of its sovereignty at sea, in the air, or on land". (Ynetnews) Cypriot authorities prevent any activists from leaving the island to join the flotilla, while Turkey urges Israel to treat the convoy as humanitarian aid. (Reuters) Voters in the Czech Republic vote in legislative elections. (Al Jazeera) (BBC) (France24) (Reuters) Nepal heads towards another political crisis. (Al Jazeera) North Korea: A leaked United Nations report states that North Korea is exporting nuclear technology to Burma, Iran and Syria. (AP) (The Guardian) China says it will "not protect" whoever sank the ROKS Cheonan in March. (Al Jazeera) (Joongang Daily) (BBC) Peruvian AIDESEP indigenous leader Alberto Pizango, detained on Wednesday as he returned from almost a year in exile in Nicaragua and charged with objecting to oil digging in the rainforest, is released on bail. (BBC) President of South Africa Jacob Zuma, in a rare disagreement with another African state, issues a statement of condemnation following Malawi's sentencing of a same-sex couple to 14 years in jail. (IOL) The BBC intervenes and tensions escalate after the UK cabinet members' threat to boycott Question Time unless Alastair Campbell, former adviser to Tony Blair, is removed from the panel. (The Guardian) (RTÉ) (Sky News) (BBC) Foxconn increases the wages of the workers in its Shenzhen factory, where several employees have committed suicide, increases wages, by 20 per cent in an effort to boost morale. (BBC) Gulf of Mexico oil spill: BP and other agencies report progress in halting the flow of oil using a "top kill" operation. (Los Angeles Times) U.S. President Barack Obama fends off criticism that he has been too slow to respond. (Al Jazeera) (Reuters) (Chicago Tribune) Australia promises to begin legal action against Japan due to disagreeing with its annual whaling hunt in the Southern Ocean. (BBC) Indonesia announces a two-year moratorium on rainforest logging in return for up to $1bn in aid from Norway, which will help preserve forests. (Al Jazeera) (The New York Times) (ABC), (The Norway Post) (The Jakarta Post) Arnold Schwarzenegger and Steven Spielberg help unveil the rebuilt outdoor sets with imitation New York streets of Universal Studios in Los Angeles, United States. The sets were destroyed in a 2008 fire. (BBC) (CBC) After a personal intervention from Nicolas Sarkozy, France beats Turkey and Italy for the right to stage the UEFA Euro 2016 tournament. (CBC) (BBC) (RTÉ) (France24) Joe Biden, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama give the United States men's national soccer team a presidential send-off to South Africa from the White House ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. (China Daily) (IOL) (The News International)

Current events of 29 May 2010 (2010-05-29) (Saturday) edit history watch

BP's effort fails to plug the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, which is the worst in U.S. history, and is fouling marshland and beaches, as estimates of how much oil is leaking grow more dire. (AP) (USA Today) Roy Halladay pitches the 20th perfect game in Major League Baseball history in the Philadelphia Phillies' 1–0 win over the Florida Marlins. (AP at Yahoo!) Tens of thousands of Portuguese rally in central Lisbon against the government's austerity measures in one of the biggest protests in recent years. (Al Jazeera) Thousands of people are evacuated as Attabad Lake in Pakistan's Hunza Valley begins to overflow. (Al Jazeera) Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, Japanese Prime Minster Yukio Hatoyama and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak meet in Jeju in a trilateral summit to discuss strengthening trade ties and the Cheonan incident. (Radio Australia) (Korea Times) Eurovision Song Contest 2010 at the Telenor Arena in Bærum, Oslo: An audience member storms the stage during Daniel Diges performance. The Spanish entry has to be performed again. (Herald Sun) (Digital Spy) With the song "Satellite", Germany's Lena wins the Eurovision Song Contest 2010, the first German victory since 1982. (ABC News) (RTÉ) (Reuters India) The United Kingdom, represented by Josh Dubovie, finish last. (The Press Association) (BBC) (The Daily Telegraph) Israel rejects call to take part in a conference aimed at achieving a nuclear-arms free Middle East, citing the document agreed to at the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty talks in which Israel was singled out, but which did not mention Iran, widely suspected of having a nuclear-weapons program, or declared nuclear states India and Pakistan, who have not signed the treaty.(The Jerusalem Post) (BBC) (Philippine Daily Inquirer) Israeli–Palestinian conflict: Gaza prepares a welcoming party to receive the flotilla of ships demonstrating against Israel's naval blockade, while the ships are delayed near Cyprus due to unsuccessful attempts to collect dozens of high-profile supporters from the island. (The Australian) (The Age) (Al Jazeera) (BBC) Six people are killed and twelve others are injured after a gas canister blasts in an underground tunnel in Rafah. (Xinhua) (AFP) Thousands of people flee the Pacaya volcano in Guatemala and the Tungurahua volcano in Ecuador following eruptions. (BBC) (CBC) Two gay pride demonstrations are held in Moscow despite an official ban. It is the first time the event was not broken up by police since the initial attempt in 2006. (AP) (Russia Today) (Reuters) President of Malawi Bingu wa Mutharika pardons a gay couple sentenced to 14 years in prison for "gross indecency and unnatural acts". (BBC) (CNN) (Hindustan Times) (Xinhua) More than 50,000 Greeks with diabetes are left with insulin after Novo Nordisk, the world's leading supplier of the drug, withdraws from Greece in a "brutal capitalist blackmail" after being asked to reduce the cost of its medicine by the Greek government. (BBC) (euronews) At least 14 people are wounded after dozens of handball fans belonging to rival teams PAOK Thessaloniki and AEK Athens attack each other with petrol bombs, knives, bricks and furniture, leading to a street battle in Lamia. Police deploy tear gas to bring the city under their control. (BBC) Another riot occurs in Austria as the Serbia national football team meet the New Zealand national football team ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. (The Times) (RTÉ) The leaders of Pakistan's Ahmadiyya religious minority ask the government to provide better protection for the group, as they bury those killed in yesterday's double mosque attack in Lahore. (Al Jazeera) Nepal's political leaders agree to extend the parliamentary term for another year following talks to avert a political crisis. (Al Jazeera) (The Rising Nepal) Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, winner of the 2010 parliamentary elections in Hungary, assumes office. (Reuters) Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva lifts a curfew in the capital Bangkok and 23 provinces in the aftermath of protests but a state of emergency would remain. (Bernama) (AP) (Bangkok Post) As part of the ongoing United Kingdom Parliamentary expenses scandal, Liberal Democrat MP David Laws resigns from his position as Chief Secretary to the Treasury after it is revealed he used expenses to cover rent for a non-marital partner, a practice banned in 2006. (BBC) (RTÉ) (Al Jazeera)

Current events of 30 May 2010 (2010-05-30) (Sunday) edit history watch

The death toll in yesterday's bus crash in Cameroon is said to have risen to at least 30 people and is expected to rise again. The bus broke into two pieces after rolling down a hill several times. (Al Jazeera) (news.com.au) (AFP) Flight recorders from Afriqiyah Airways Flight 771, which crashed in Libya on 12 May killing 103 people, suggest there was no technical failure. (BBC) (IOL) (Reuters) Prime Minister of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan bypasses Argentina on his South American tour, opting to travel straight to Chile after Buenos Aires officials call off an event honouring Mustafa Kemal Atatürk due to what Turkey considers "hostile" interference from Armenian pressure groups. (BBC) A second Danish pharmaceutical company, Leo Pharma, suspends sales of medical products in Greece over the government's decision to reduce the cost of medicine there. The government condemns these acts as "unfair". (BBC) It is discovered that a British businessman was among the 93 people killed in the twin mosque attack in Pakistan on Friday. (BBC) A roadside bomb kills seven police officers and injures one other in Darayim District, Badakhshan. (Al Jazeera) Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva lifts a curfew imposed in the wake of deadly anti-government protests but keeps emergency rule after two months of rallies by "Red Shirt" demonstrators paralyzed Bangkok and left almost 90 people dead. (The Australian) (CNN) China encourages North Korea and South Korea to avoid violent clashes in the aftermath of the sinking of a South Korean warship. (CNN) (China Daily) BP turns to a new strategy to stop the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, but it will take at least four to seven days before the containment device that could capture the leaking oil can be put into place. (The Australian) (VOA) (CNN) Two potential pirate attacks in the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Somalia are disrupted by the Seychelles Coast Guard and the Australian navy. (CNN) Bangladesh blocks access to Facebook after satirical images of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the country's leaders were uploaded. (BBC) (AFP) (Al Jazeera) Israeli–Palestinian conflict: The international flotilla of ships due to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza leaves Cyprus and sets sail for Gaza. (BBC) (Voice of America) (Jerusalem Post) (The Daily Telegraph) (Al Jazeera) Three Irish politicians - Chris Andrews, Mark Daly and Aengus Ó Snodaigh - are prevented by police helicopters and port security from leaving Cyprus to join the flotilla. (RTÉ) (BreakingNews.ie) Defence for Children International (DCI) says it has evidence that at least 100 Palestinian children have been abused by Israeli interrogators, with at least 14 being sexually abused. (Al Jazeera) Reports that Mahmoud Abbas, Fatah President and Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization, is to visit the Gaza Strip are denied. (Xinhua) Colombian presidential election: Colombians vote to replace Álvaro Uribe, who is standing down after two terms. (BBC) (Philippine Daily Inquirer) (Al Jazeera) Juan Manuel Santos wins the first round of the election but without a majority of the vote and a second round of voting will take place on 20 June with Antanas Mockus. (Colombia Reports) Jón Gnarr's Best Party (Besti flokkurinn) wins the elections in Reykjavik. (BBC) Legislative elections in the Czech Republic: The Social Democrats gain the most votes, but 10 percentage points less than 2006, losing 18 seats. (CNN) (AP) Centre-right parties win 118 seats, with two of them—TOP 09 and Public Affairs—standing in the election for the first time. A centre-right coalition, with Petr Nečas as new Prime Minister, is believed to be "almost certain". (BusinessWeek) Social Democrats leader Jiří Paroubek resigns as party leader following the result. (Reuters) The Communist Party, which was polling higher than 2006 before the election, fail to make any gains, remaining at 26 seats. In rugby sevens, Samoa wins the Cup final of the 2010 Edinburgh Sevens, defeating Australia 41–14. The result also gives Samoa Sevens overall victory in the 2009–10 IRB Sevens World Series. (International Rugby Board) (Samoa Observer)

Current events of 31 May 2010 (2010-05-31) (Monday) edit history watch

6 died, 7 ill after eating poisonous plants in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (China Daily) Shanghai Expo receives over 8 million visitors in first month. (Xinhuanet) A mass grave containing between 20 and 25 bodies is found in an abandoned mine near Taxco, Guerrero, in Mexico. (BBC) German President Horst Köhler resigns after being criticized for some remarks about German military deployments. Pundits and opposition politicians call it an "overreaction" on his part. (BBC) (Der Spiegel) Colombia's former Minister of National Defence, Juan Manuel Santos, wins the first round of the country's presidential election, but without the majority needed to avoid a June run-off with rival Antanas Mockus (Aljazeera) An undersea volcano erupts near Sarigan, Northern Mariana Islands, sending an eruption cloud 40,000 feet into the atmosphere, prompting Governor Benigno Fitial to declare a state of emergency. (Saipan Tribune) (The Wall Street Journal) French President Nicolas Sarkozy, speaking at the launch of the 25th Africa-France summit in Nice, calls for Africa to be represented on the United Nations Security Council, and promises to back changes when France chairs the G8 and G-20 major economies groups in 2011. (Aljazeera) (BBC) The Sudanese army clashes with rebel groups, among them the Justice and Equality Movement, in the Um Sauna area in western Darfur. (Businessweek) In the International Atomic Energy Agency's report before the United Nations Security Council votes on sanctions against Iran, international nuclear inspectors state that Iran has now produced a stockpile of nuclear fuel that would be enough, with further enrichment, to make two nuclear weapons, and it appears to bolster the Obama administration’s case for a fourth round of economic sanctions against Iran. (The New York Times) (Washington Times) Wildfires burn across Quebec, sending smoke as far away as Ottawa and Cape Cod. (Boston Herald) (CBC News) Afghan authorities suspend two Christian foreign aid groups, Church World Service and Norwegian Church Aid, on suspicion of proselytizing in the strictly Islamic republic and said a follow-up investigation would include whether other groups were trying to convert Muslims. (USA Today) Gaza flotilla clash: A number of Israeli warships follow the Gaza-bound international flotilla as it nears its destination and an aircraft flies overhead. (Al Jazeera) (The Press Association) Three Israeli navy missile boats leave the Haifa naval base in northern Israel in a planned attempt to intercept the Gaza-bound international flotilla. (The New York Times) Nearly all Israeli unions announce a boycott of organized workers' trips to Turkey due to the country's support for the flotilla, with one saying that "Turkey had been wiped off the workers unions' travel maps". (The Jerusalem Post) Israeli forces storm the Gaza-bound international flotilla, resulting in the deaths of at least 10 activists. (Jerusalem Post) (Ynetnews) (Brisbane Times) (BBC) 50 injuries are reported. (Ynetnews) According to Israel's Defense minister, Ehud Barak, IDF chief of staff and Navy commander, the organisers are to blame for deaths from the Israeli attacks upon the flotilla, with Barak saying that the soldiers tried to board the ship peacefully but were forced to open fire to protect themselves. (Jerusalem Post) (Ynet) Israeli Navy ships escort boats from the Gaza protest flotilla to the port of Ashdod, hours after the clash. (Jerusalem Post) Pope Benedict XVI and child sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church: The Vatican announces details of the Apostolic Visitation, a special inquiry into sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in Ireland. (RTÉ) (BBC) (Reuters) (AP) Pope Benedict XVI accepts the resignation of Archbishop of Benin City in Nigeria, Richard Burke, following more allegations of child sexual abuse. (RTÉ) (The Irish Times) (The Press Association) The 25th EU-Russia summit begins in Rostov-on-Don with talks on industrial and trade links, human rights and a visa-free regime. (EU Observer) (Voice of Russia) (The Hürriyet) Six Turkish soldiers are killed in a rocket attack on a navy base by suspected Kurdish rebels in the south of the country. (Al Jazeera) (BBC) A court in Pakistan lifts a ban on Facebook imposed two weeks ago after an "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day" group appeared on the site. (Press Trust of India) (AP) (RTT News)