Portal:Current events/2010 September 18
September 18, 2010 (Saturday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Three protesters die in anti-India protests in Jammu and Kashmir with the death toll from protests rising to one hundred. (AFP via Yahoo! News)
- Demonstrations occur against Japan in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenyang and Chongqing on the anniversary of the Mukden Incident. (BBC) (Reuters)
- A dozen people are reported dead during clashes between Mauritanian troops and al-Qaeda militants in Mali's Sahara. (BBC) (IOL)
Arts and culture
- British pop star George Michael is transferred from Pentonville Prison to Highpoint Prison in Suffolk, England, to serve out the remaining weeks of his sentence for driving under the influence of cannabis. (UKPA via Google News)
- Chileans celebrate the 200th anniversary of Chilean Independence Day as do the 33 miners trapped underground in the 2010 Copiapó mining accident. (CNN)
Business and economy
- China slightly increased its holdings of United States treasury debt to US$846.7 billion, this July. (China Daily)
Disasters
- A large storm in New Zealand leaves 100,000 people without power and takes the roof off Stadium Southland in Invercargill on the South Island. (AFP via Yahoo! News)
- Taiwan prepares for the impact of Typhoon Fanapi. (Xinhua)
- At least 30 people are dead and 80 injured in a passenger truck crash in Zagyuri in northern Ghana. (Xinhua)
- Two airplanes crash at a retro air show near the city of Warngau in southern Germany. (RIA Novosti)
International relations
- The President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad meets with the President of Algeria Abdelaziz Bouteflika in Algiers to discuss trade agreements. (AFP via Google)
Law and crime
- Iranian human rights activist Shiva Nazar Ahari is convicted of gathering and plotting to commit crimes against the Iranian state, propaganda against the establishment and waging war against God. (Al Jazeera)
Politics and elections
- Afghan parliamentary election, 2010
- Voters in Afghanistan go to the polls braving threats from the Taliban with voter turnout calculated at 40 per cent. (AP via Business Week), (ABC News Online)
- Polls in the eastern province of Nuristan fail to open on time due to security concerns. (Al Jazeera)
- At least fourteen people die in violence after the polling places open. (AFP via Sydney Morning Herald), (ABC News Online)
- A rocket attack is launched at NATO headquarters in Kabul. Two Britons were killed. (AFP via Google News) (BBC)
- Attacks by Taliban militants, including rocket firing, have wounded 16 people, including children, in Kunduz province in Afghanistan on election day. Nine civilians sustained injuries in Taliban-linked activities in east Afghanistan's Nangarhar province. (Xinhua) (Xinhua)
- Voters in Slovakia go to the polls to vote on a referendum to reduce the size of the National Council of the Slovak Republic and cut political perks amongst other things. (AFP via Google News)
- Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the United Kingdom
- Pope Benedict XVI apologizes to the victims of sexual abuse within the Roman Catholic Church during his visit to Britain. (Voice of America)
- Thousands of people demonstrate in protest at the Pope's views on condom use, homosexuality, education, the ordination of women and the child abuse case. (BBC)
- A United Nations envoy arrives in Guinea to discuss the suspension of the presidential election. (AFP via Google News)
- Tens of thousands of Germans protest in Berlin against the plans of the German government to extend the life of the country's nuclear power plants by another ten years. (AFP via Google News)
- Bulgarian Romani protest outside the French embassy in Sofia about expulsions of Romani from France. (Xinhua)
Sports
- Frenchman Philippe Croizon becomes the first limbless man to swim the English Channel. (Press Association), (Radio Television Hong Kong), (AAP via Sydney Daily Telegraph)