Portal:Current events/2010 August 11

August 11, 2010 (Wednesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

A grenade attack occurs during rush hour in Kigali, Rwanda, two days after the country's presidential election. (BBC)
A government-appointed commission in Sri Lanka investigating the country's civil war opens. (AP) (BBC) (Aljazeera)
Corpses of more than 50 people are unearthed in Perućac lake on the border between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia by investigators looking for people who were killed during the 1992-95 Bosnian War. (BBC)
8 Iraqi soldiers are killed and 4 others are wounded by an explosion at a house in Diyala. (Aljazeera) (BBC)

Arts and culture

Millions of Muslims begin the holy month of Ramadan in which they are required to fast between sunrise and sunset. (The Guardian)
Pope Benedict XVI refuses the resignations of Irish bishops Eamonn Walsh and Raymond Field, who resigned at Christmas over criticism in the Murphy Report into child sexual abuse. (BBC) (The Irish Times) (RTÉ) (The Guardian) (The Washington Post)
The Buggles, known for "Video Killed the Radio Star", the first song played on MTV, announce they are to reunite for a one-off first ever live performance. (BBC) (NME) (The Guardian)
An American museum launches an appeal designed to restore 5 dresses that actress Vivien Leigh wore in the film Gone with the Wind (1939) ahead of 2014's 75th anniversary. (BBC)
The internet parody video "Newport State of Mind", which had received hundreds of thousands of hits, is taken off YouTube due to a "copyright claim" by EMI Publishing. (BBC)

Business and economy

A preliminary investigation blames driver error for many Toyota accidents. (BBC) (The Guardian)
International stock markets slump in value in Asia, Europe and North America due to speculation brought about by comments from the Federal Reserve System of the United States. (BBC) (CBC News)
The Bank of England's governor Mervyn King admits the economy will not grow very much and inflation will stay higher for longer in the UK, describing as a "choppy recovery" being ahead over the next two years. (BBC)

Disasters

Fires are reported in Russia's nuclear-contaminated forests from the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, amid concerns about the spread of radiation. (Xinhua) (The Guardian) (Hindustan Times)
Heavy rains threaten rescue efforts after a deadly mudslide in Gansu, China, as the death toll reaches 1,117. (Xinhua) (BBC) (Aljazeera)
2010 Pakistan floods:
- Food prices quadruple in Pakistan as conditions worsen and at least 1.4 million acres of crops are wiped out in Punjab by Pakistan's worst floods. (Aljazeera) (BBC)
- The United Nations warns that there could be a second wave of deaths due to the devastation caused by the floods. (Mail & Guardian)
- Gordon Brown requests that the British public supply more money to be used to help those affected by the floods. (The Guardian)
- John Holmes, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator appeals for $460 million in funding to assist victims of the 2010 Pakistan floods. (Xinhua) (Voice of America)
National Transportation Safety Board investigators arrive at the scene of the 2010 Alaska plane crash near Aleknagik, Alaska. (CNN)

International relations

The Seychelles becomes the 112^th country to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. (UN)
Colombia-Venezuela relations:
- Venezuela and Colombia re-establish diplomatic relations after a meeting between recently inaugurated President of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos and Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez in Santa Marta, Colombia, mediated by UNASUR Secretary General Néstor Kirchner. (The New York Times) (Aljazeera) (Buenos Aires Herald)
- Colombian Foreign Minister María Ángela Holguín and Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolás Maduro are to meet in Caracas on 20 August. (Xinhua)
Investigation of the Gaza flotilla raid:
- Lieutenant-General of Israel Gabi Ashkenazi testifies before Israel's Turkel Commission investigating the country's role in May's Gaza flotilla raid, chaired by Israeli judge Jacob Turkel. He says force used was "proportionate and correct" and that soldiers "shot those who they needed to shoot". (The Guardian) (Aljazeera)
- Ashkenazi admits Israel did not have the intelligence to deal with the flotilla and threatens future flotillas with IDF snipers. (Xinhua) (Haaretz)
- The United Nations launches its own inquiry into May's Gaza flotilla raid, an inquiry "not designed to determine individual criminal responsibility". (Aljazeera)
The Palestine Liberation Organization's (PLO) executive committee announces that America's George J. Mitchell informed President of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas that the United States had given preliminary approval to the idea of the Quartet on the Middle East having peace talks with Israel. (Xinhua)
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signs a decree promising Brazil's co-operation with United Nations sanctions against Iran. (Aljazeera) (Xinhua)
Former Iranian presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi suggests that American and British sanctions on Iran increase the power of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government. (The Guardian)
Fidel Castro agrees with former U.S. intelligence agents who say Israel is planning for a sudden attack on Iran, but states that Israel won't start the war as it would be outnumbered. (Xinhua)
Russia announces that it has deployed S-300 anti-aircraft missiles in Abkhazia; the Georgian government expresses concern. (BBC) (Xinhua)
The United States threatens to sell an anti-ballistic missile to Kuwait to counter alleged "current and future threats". (BBC) (The Sydney Morning Herald) (France24)^{[permanent dead link‍]} (Reuters India)
Lebanese Defence Minister Elias Murr rejects military offers from the United States after $100 million due to Lebanon is blocked by the United States House of Representatives. (BBC)

Science

Australopithecus afarensis evidently used stone tools for consumption of animal tissues as early as 3.39 million years ago, a study published in Nature finds. (Nature) (BBC)

Law and crime

The jury is selected for Canadian Omar Khadr's war crimes trial at Guantanamo Bay. (The Globe and Mail)
Ibrahim al Qosi, a former cook and driver of Osama Bin Laden, is imprisoned for 14 years by a Guantánamo Bay military tribunal. (BBC)
Former Kyrgyz prime minister Igor Chudinov is arrested and charged with abuse of power during his 2007-2009 reign. (Xinhua)
The Women's Commission of West Bengal says there will be an inquiry into the case of a tribal woman who is reported to have been paraded naked around several villages and filmed in this act via a mobile phone. (BBC)
Michael Mara, a man dubbed the "Granddad Bandit" suspected of bank robbery in 13 US states is arrested in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (AP via Google News)

Politics and elections

Peruvian indigenous Amazon groups announce a plan to launch their own political party before next year's election; protecting the rainforest and indigenous rights are to be among its aims. (BBC)
Rwanda's incumbent President Paul Kagame wins the country's presidential election with 95% of the vote. (BBC) (AFP)
A judge orders President of Paraguay Fernando Lugo to undergo DNA profiling relating to the matter of a two-year-old male child. (BBC)
American Republican politician Bill McCollum proposes stricter immigration legislation for the U.S. state of Florida, similar to that in the U.S. state of Arizona. (BBC) (The Guardian)

Sport

President of FIFA Sepp Blatter says that FIFA is investigating reports that members of the North Korea national football team have been publicly humiliated and the coach Kim Jong-hun sentenced to hard labour following a poor performance in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. (Bloomberg) (BBC)
Wendy Chapman, the doctor at the centre of the Bloodgate rugby union scandal, is summoned to a disciplinary hearing on 23 August. (RTÉ Sport) (Sky Sports) (BBC Sport)