Portal:Current events/2009 August 11

August 11, 2009 (Tuesday)

President of Costa Rica, Óscar Arias Sánchez is diagnosed with Influenza AH1N1 but his condition is stable, according to official reports. (ANSA) (AP) (MercoPress)
A court ruling in Pretoria bars President Jacob Zuma from appointing a successor to axed prosecutions chief Vusi Pikoli. (IOL)
UNASUR leaders express fresh concerns over Colombian plans to grant United States troops access to its military bases but cannot agree on a declaration to formally condemn the proposals. Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez warns that "the winds of war are beginning to blow" across the region. (MercoPress)
Former Cuban President Fidel Castro calls Colombia "disloyal", saying the pending military deal with the United States could be used to attack other Latin American countries. (MercoPress) (Granma)
A court in Burma finds Aung San Suu Kyi guilty of violating the terms of her detention, and sentences her to a further 18 months house arrest. (BBC) (The Straits Times) (The Bangkok Post)^{[permanent dead link‍]} (Al Jazeera)
Rescue operations continue in southern China and Taiwan in the aftermath of Typhoon Morakot. (The Times) (Taiwan News)
Two strong earthquakes hit Asia; a 7.6 magnitude quake off the Indian Andaman Islands and a 6.5 magnitude quake in the Tokyo area of Japan, killing one and injuring dozens. (Press Association) (Associated Press) (BBC)
A German court sentences former Nazi army commander Josef Scheungraber to life in prison for his role in the murder of 10 Italians in Tuscany in 1944. (RTÉ) (BBC) (IOL)^{[permanent dead link‍]} (The Sydney Morning Herald)
Thousands of people worship a baby born with four arms and four legs in Ramechhap, Nepal, revering him as the reincarnation of Ganesh. (The Guardian)
Kuwait foils an al Qaeda-linked plan to bomb a United States army camp and other "important facilities" in the country. (The Irish Times) (Reuters) (BBC)
Nine corpses are recovered from a Handlová coal mine following a fire and explosion in Slovakia. (Irish Independent) The government meets in emergency session and declares a day of mourning. (TSAR)
Argentina's Cabinet Chief Aníbal Fernández comments on the suspension of the debt-ridden Primera División by saying that football transmission should be free because it is not only a national passion but an industry that generates many jobs and activity. (MercoPress)
Two members of the Russian humanitarian organisation Let's Save the Generation are found dead in Grozny, Chechnya. (Al Jazeera) (RIA Novosti) (Press TV)
Police in Pakistan register a criminal case with former President Pervez Musharraf over the latter's decision to detain judges in 2007. (AFP) (Indian Express) (The Nation)
The NASA Spitzer Space Telescope finds evidence of a high-speed collision between two burgeoning planets orbiting a young star. (BBC)
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev delays sending a new ambassador to Ukraine after criticising its "anti-Russian" stance. (AFP) (Xinhua) (ITAR-TASS)
A pilot flying from England to Ireland is airlifted to safety after his two-man aircraft crashes into the Irish Sea near Tuskar Rock. (RTÉ) (The Irish Times)
Swedish Princess Madeleine announces her engagement to lawyer and longterm boyfriend Jonas Bergström, becoming the second royal in Sweden to announce her engagment after Crown Princess Victoria. (Aftonbladet)
A Russian woman is arrested after throwing a teacup at the Mona Lisa portrait in the Louvre, Paris. (Irish Independent) (CNN)
A passenger plane carrying 13 people, including nine Australians, en route to Kokoda, site of a hiking trail and famous World War II battle, is reported missing over Papua New Guinea. (BBC) (RTÉ)
Nepenthes attenboroughii, a new species of giant carnivorous plant, is discovered in the highlands of the central Philippines. (BBC)
Two Kenyans, two French, a Bulgarian and a Belgian held captive since November 2008 are freed by their Somali kidnappers. (IOL)