Portal:Current events/2010 June 17

June 17, 2010 (Thursday)

The United States issues a travel warning for Toronto due to an upcoming G20 summit. (The Star)
Heavy rains claim 46 lives in Maharashtra, India. (Hindustan Times)
At least 46 people are killed, 50 others disappear and millions are affected following heavy five-day rains in China's southern regions. (The Hindu)
46 people die when heavy rains trigger landslides in western Myanmar, in Rakhine state in an area bordering Bangladesh. (CNN)
Dutch novelist Gerbrand Bakker wins the 2010 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award for his novel The Twin. (The Guardian) (Irish Independent) (The Irish Times)
16 people are killed and around 70 others are trapped after a blast at the San Fernando mine in Amagá, Antioquia, in Colombia. (BBC) (Reuters) (France24) (China Dialy)
3 people died after supports collapsed on them at a coal mine in east China's Anhui Province, a spokesman with the Anhui Huainan Mining Group in Bagongshan District of Huainan City. (People Dialy)
As many as 1,800 homes are estimated to have been destroyed on Biak Island, West Papua, Indonesia, as a result of the 7.0 magnitude 2010 Papua earthquake. (RNZI) (AsiaNews.it)
Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster:
- BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward testifies before the U.S. Congress, apologizing for the spill but avoiding answering most questions and stating that he was unaware of the risks at the Deepwater Horizon rig that exploded in April causing the oil spill. (The Australian) (CBS) (Miami Herald)^{[permanent dead link‍]}
- BP could be forced to file for bankruptcy protection in preparation for civil and criminal fines exceeding $US 40 billion. (The Australian)
2010 Kyrgyzstan crisis and 2010 South Kyrgyzstan riots:
- Around 2,000 people mass in Osh Airport.
- China flies 960 nationals home from Kyrgyzstan; evacuation continues. (Kabar)
- Kyrgyzstan unrest death toll rises to 192. 913 people were hospitalized. (24)(ITAR)
- Kyrgyz Central Election Commission accredits Kazakh CEC Chair and his assistant to observe constitutional referendum.
Israeli–Palestinian conflict:
- Israel's decision to ease the Gaza blockade is welcomed by the United Nations and the United States; Gaza's Hamas rulers say this is propaganda by Israel. (Aljazeera) (The Jerusalem Post) (Ynet) (CNN) (The Hindu)
- Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak warns Lebanon of the responsibility it holds if Israel has to involve itself in a "violent and dangerous confrontation" with a Gaza-bound international aid flotilla said to include dozens of Lebanese and several Europeans. (AFP)
FIFA World Cup:
- A British television commentator is sacked after tickets used in the alleged 2010 FIFA World Cup "beer miniskirts stunt" are traced to him. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
- Greece scores their first goal in FIFA World Cup history against Nigeria and beats them 2 to 1. (Fifa World Cup) (ABC Online) (Reuters Africa)
The Los Angeles Lakers win the 2010 NBA Finals defeating the Boston Celtics 83-79 in Game 7. (CBS News)
Turkish warplanes carry out a series of airstrikes against suspected Kurdish targets in Iraq and Turkish soldiers withdraw from Iraqi territory after sending troops in pursuit of Kurdish rebels in the latest fighting between Turkey and Kurdish rebels. (CNN)
The Times Square bombing attempt suspect is indicted on 10 terrorism and weapons charges in New York City. (AP via Dayton Daily News)
A four-year Canadian inquiry concludes that a "cascading series of errors" led to the bombing of Air India Flight 182 which crashed into the Atlantic Ocean south of Ireland on 23 June 1985, killing all 329 people on board. (BBC) (Aljazeera)
3 additional U.S. soldiers based in Washington state are facing murder charges in the deaths of 3 Afghan civilians. (CNN)
About 110,000 Haredi Jews protest in Jerusalem and Bnei Brak against an Israeli Supreme Court ruling to jail Slonimer parents in Immanuel, who follow their rebbe's order not to send their girls to school with girls of non-Ashkenazi descent. (JTA) (Haaretz) (YnetNews) (Aljazeera)(The Jerusalem Post)
African leaders meet in Chad to discuss the Great Green Wall tree belt from Senegal to Djibouti in the battle against the Sahara. (BBC)
European Union leaders approve sanctions in Brussels, including bans on investments and oil/gas technology transfers, against Iran, harsher than recent sanctions imposed by the United Nations. Russia calls these and sanctions by the United States "unacceptable". (BBC) (Reuters) (Aljazeera) (The News International)
Powerful Austrian publisher and household name Hans Dichand, who greatly influenced Austrian politics, dies aged 89. (The Hindu) (Business Week) (Austrian Independent)
Kenyan Assistant Roads Minister Wilfred Machage is suspended by President Mwai Kibaki after being charged, alongside two other MPs, with inciting hatred yesterday. (BBC) (Reuters Africa)
Rwanda releases from custody an American lawyer for health reasons. The lawyer is charged with genocide denial and threatening state security, the first outsider tried under the country's 2003 anti-genocide legislation. (Reuters Africa)
Hundreds of surveillance cameras, alleged to be part of a counter-terrorism operation in highly Muslim areas, are put into temporary disuse in parts of Birmingham, England, after protest by the local population. (The Guardian) (BBC)
European researchers conclude that the male menopause exists in 2% of middle-aged men who experience poor morning erection, low levels of sexual desire and erectile dysfunction. (BBC)
The historical chronology of ancient Egypt is verified using radiocarbon dating. (BBC)