Portal:Current events/2010 May 2
May 2, 2010 (Sunday)
- The death toll from the Mogadishu bombings on May 1 rising to at least 45; authorities say al Qaeda is likely to blame for the attack. (CNN) (VOA)
- The Pakistani military kills approximately 40 Taliban militants in a helicopter attack. (UPI)
- Approximately 70 Iraqi Christian students are wounded and one other Iraqi killed in bombing on the outskirts of Mosul, Iraq. (The New York Times)
- Notable Hollywood personalities, including Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Robert Redford and Francis Ford Coppola, sign a petition asking the Iranian government to release director Jafar Panahi, who was arrested alongside his wife, daughter and 15 other guests at his home on 1 March. (BBC)
- The European Union and the International Monetary Fund agree to a bailout package for Greece that will provide approximately €120 billion to end the sovereign debt crisis in that country. (Bloomberg)
- The United Nations investigates reports of a possible massacre of 100 people by Ugandan rebels in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
- After Iran’s selection to the Commission on the Status of Women, a United Nations panel on women’s rights, Canada cites “serious concerns” about Iran’s participation in the panel and Iran’s human-rights record. (The Vancouver Sun) (The Jerusalem Post)
- Hizbul Islam members enter Harardhere in Somalia, and meet no resistance; they promise to enter other towns in the region. (Al Jazeera)
- A large Maoist-led strike in Kathmandu shuts down the city in a bid to force Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal to resign. (The Guardian)
- Five people are killed and at least 12 others are injured in a stampede at an Intocable concert in Guadalupe, Nuevo León. (BBC)
- Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva says his government is preparing to take back Bangkok and end the seven-week-long protests. (VOA)
- A group of Asian finance ministers announce a new US$700 million bond fund to promote the issuance of local bonds because of the guarantee the new funds would provide potential investors. (The Wall Street Journal)
- Chris Solinsky becomes the first non-African runner to break the 27 minute mark in the 10,000 meters, improving the American record by 14 seconds. (The Flint Journal)
- The World number one snooker player John Higgins and his manager are reported by the News of the World to have been videoed accepting a £261,000 bribe in Ukraine to lose frames in four separate matches later this year; an investigation is launched and the player is immediately suspended on the final day of his reign as world champion ahead of the final of the 2010 World Snooker Championship. (BBC) (News of the World) (The Daily Telegraph)
- Roman Polanski speaks out about his possible extradition to the United States after several months of silence. (The New York Times)
- Japanese supercentenarian and oldest living person in the world Kama Chinen dies 8 days short of 115 and leaves French supercentenarian Eugénie Blanchard as the oldest living person.