Portal:Current events/2010 October 26

October 26, 2010 (Tuesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

A curfew is imposed on two villages in southeastern Nigeria's Cross River State following communal violence which killed 30 people. (BBC) (Vanguard Nigeria)
10 killed, 13 wounded in Iraq gold market robbery in a market in Kirkuk, 250 km north of Baghdad. (Xinhua) (CRI)
Nigeria's State Security Service intercepts an arms shipment in Lagos amid high security following bomb attacks in Abuja earlier this month. (Reuters) (Nigerian Tribune) (IOL)

Arts, culture

The Emperor of Exmoor, a red deer believed to be Britain's largest wild animal, is shot and killed. (The Guardian)
Crisis talks between the New Zealand Government and Warner Bros. to prevent The Hobbit film project from moving its production to another country have ended inconclusively. (BBC)

Business and economy

The Shanghai–Hangzhou High-Speed Railway, with a top speed of 355 km/h begins operation. (Xinhua) (Jakarta Post) (CNR) (Global Times)
The water level of the Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest water control and utilization project, reaches its designed full capacity mark. (Xinhua) (People's Daily) (China Daily) (CNN)
The Japanese Cabinet approves an extra budget containing an emergency economic stimulus package to help shore up the economy. (AAP via NineMSN)
Independent Print Limited launches i, the UK's first national daily newspaper in a quarter of a century. (BBC) (The Guardian)
BMW is recalling 150,000 vehicles in the U.S. due to potential fuel pump failure.(Reuters)
Economy of the United Kingdom
- The UK economy grew by 0.8% in the third quarter, higher than expectations, but lower than second quarter's growth rate of 1.2%. (BBC)
- Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne hails the results as proof that the economy is going through a steady recovery, but opposition Labour Party leader Ed Miliband asserts that the recent spending review and budget cuts will harm economic performance. (BBC)

Disasters and accidents

All 3 dead in US small plane crash in southwest Washington state, about 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Morton. (Shanghai Daily)
Sumatra earthquake, tsunami and Merapi volcanic eruption:
- After receiving orders from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who is now on his visit program to China and Vietnam, Indonesian Public Welfare Minister Agung Laksono declares an emergency response. (Xinhua)
- The death toll from the tsunami rises to 23. (AP) (Xinhua)
- 160 people are missing from a village on the Indonesian village of Betu Monga on Sumatra hit by a local tsunami after a 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck south of the Mentawai Islands. The earthquake leaves at least one person dead and damages 150 houses. (Reuters) (Today's Zaman)
- At least nine Australian surfers go missing after the tsunami struck including Alex McTaggart, a former member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly but are later found. (Herald Sun)(News Limited) (News Limited)
- At least 12 people are dead following the eruption of Mount Merapi in Central Java. Thousands of people are evacuating the area. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
A cholera outbreak kills 559 in Cameroon. (Xinhua) (India Vision)
18 people die in Brazil after contracting hospital "superbug" bacteria Klebsiella pneumoniae; which produces the enzyme carbapenemase (KPC), which renders most modern antibiotics ineffective. (BBC)
The death toll from Cyclone Giri making landfall in Burma rises to 27 with 15 people missing; aid agencies dispute the military government's figures. (Al Jazeera)
The World Health Organization announces a mass polio vaccination campaign across Africa, the same day an outbreak of the disease in Uganda is declared. (CP) (VOA) (WHO)
Approximately 1 in 5 vertebrate species are threatened with extinction according to scientist taking part in the Nagoya talks.(Reuters)

International relations

The Emir of Qatar begins a state visit to the United Kingdom by meeting Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Palace. (BBC)
Ecuador throws its support behind Peru in their demands for the return of over 40,000 Machu Picchu artifacts taken by US explorer Hiram Bingham III, and now in Yale's possession. (Reuters)
The United States has fallen to a new low of 22nd place in Transparency International's rating of the least corrupt nations, noting various financial scandals and a lack of regulation leading to power being bought. (Reuters)
Hungarian-born multibillionaire George Soros donates $1 million to the Drug Policy Alliance to fund California's Proposition 19 in the upcoming November 2, 2010 elections that would legalize marijuana in the state if passed. (Sfgate.com)

Law and crime

Former Foreign Minister of Iraq Tariq Aziz is sentenced to death for persecuting members of the Islamic Dawa Party during Saddam Hussein's regime. (AP)
GlaxoSmithKline pleads guilty to intentionally manufacturing and distributing adulterated drugs, including Paxil, and will pay $750 million for committing the felony. (Reuters)(Boston Globe)
A U.S. court disables Limewire's file-sharing service due to copyright infringement.(Reuters)

Politics and elections

Egypt arrests up to 70 members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood opposition group as it begins campaigning for the parliamentary election in November. (Reuters) (Al Jazeera)
The Tibet Military Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) holds the first air-ground live ammunition drill in Tibet. (People's Daily)

Science

Iran starts loading fuel into the Bushehr Nuclear Plant, its first nuclear power plant. (BBC) (CNN)