Portal:Current events/2010 April 16

April 16, 2010 (Friday)

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)
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. [http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/un-blames-musharraf-govt-for-bb-murder-640