Portal:Current events/2010 April 10

April 10, 2010 (Saturday)

2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154 crash:
- A Tu-154 from the 36th Special Aviation Regiment crashes while landing at military airport Severny in Smolensk Oblast, Russia; 96 persons onboard are reported dead. Pilot error is seen as a possible cause of the crash. (MSNBC) (Вести; Russian) (lenta.ru; Russian)
- The plane was flying from Warsaw to mark the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre. (CBC)
- The plane carried President of Poland Lech Kaczyński, his economist wife, army chief, central bank governor, MPs, leading historians, and many top Polish government officials to their deaths. (BBC) (The Hindu) (The New York Times)
- There are no survivors. (Passenger list via Reuters India) (CNN) (Los Angeles Times)
- Polish parliamentary speaker Bronisław Komorowski legally becomes Acting President of Poland. (Xinhua)
- Lech Wałęsa calls it "the second disaster after Katyn ... They wanted to cut off our head there, and here the flower of our nation has also perished". (The New York Times)
- Poland's Foreign Ministry spokesman Piotr Paszkowski says "Nothing like this has ever happened in Poland". (The Sydney Morning Herald)
- Prime Minister Donald Tusk declares it the "most tragic event in Poland's postwar history". (RTÉ) Tusk announces he is to fly to the crash site. (The Star Malaysia)
- Flags fly at half mast across Poland as Poles mourn their loss. (The Irish Times) (BBC)
- Leaders from around the world give their response to the tragedy. (Voice of America) (CNN) (The Jakarta Post)
- Russia and Lithuania prepare for an official day of mourning for the death of Poland's President Kaczyński and other persons on board. (RIAN; Russian) (Delfi)
Nineteen people die after violence breaks out between government forces and protesters in Thailand. (India Blooms News Service)
The Pakistani military kills 100 Taliban in the northwest of the country. (Al Jazeera) (Time)^{[permanent dead link‍]}
A blast injures at least 19 people outside a prison in Ilam. (Al Jazeera)
A spokesman for Pope Benedict XVI claims allegations that he deliberately delayed the punishment of a paedophile priest have been "taken out of context". (BBC) (RTÉ)
Thousands of people attend funeral events in Kyrgyzstan for people killed during recent events. (BBC) (Financial Times) (UPI) (CNEWS)
The death toll in Wangjialing coal mine's flood in Shanxi rises to 28 after the recovery of another corpse. (Shanghai Daily)
Thousands of people protest against public sector cuts in London. (BBC)
The Shroud of Turin is displayed in public for the first time in 10 years. (BBC) (Sky News) (Miami Herald)^{[permanent dead link‍]} (The Age)
Don't Push It, ridden by jockey Tony McCoy, wins the 2010 Grand National at Aintree on McCoy's 15th attempt. (BBC News) (The Daily Telegraph)