Portal:Current events/2010 August 9

August 9, 2010 (Monday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu testifies before Israel's Turkel Commission investigating the country's role in May's Gaza flotilla raid, chaired by Israeli judge Jacob Turkel. The testimony is scheduled to last five hours, with some of it closed to the media and public. (The Jerusalem Post) (The Sydney Morning Herald) (The Daily Telegraph) (Aljazeera) (BBC)
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah gives a press conference in which he states he has evidence that implicates Israel in the 2005 assassination of then Prime Minister of Lebanon Rafic Hariri, who was killed along with 22 others. (Aljazeera) (BBC) (Haaretz) (Reuters)
Commemoration of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki:
- Japan marks the 65th anniversary of the 1945 atomic bombing of Nagasaki. The United States, which perpetrated the attack, upsets survivors by not sending an ambassador due to "scheduling reasons" this time, though France and the UK send representatives for the first time. (China Daily) (Yomiuri Shimbun) (BBC)
- Mayor of Nagasaki Tomihisa Taue calls for the international elimination of nuclear weapons before representatives of a record 32 countries. (Japan Times)
The Turkish government promotes two new generals. (BBC)
Iraqi traffic police are allegedly given AK-47 assault rifles for their use in Baghdad. (BBC) (IOL) (Reuters via Arab News)
South Korea claims that North Korea has fired more than 100 rounds of artillery into the Sea of Japan near the border highlighting the increase of tensions on the Korean Peninsula. (Los Angeles Times) (China Daily)
The International Assistance Mission suspends medical expeditions in Afghanistan following loss of personnel in the 2010 Badakhshan massacre. (The New York Times)

Arts and culture

Actress Patricia Neal, the wife of author Roald Dahl, dies. (BBC)

Business and economy

Honda recalls more than 384,000 vehicles due to ignition difficulties. (BBC) (Japan Today) (The Age) (The Times of India) (Los Angeles Times)
Mexicana de Aviación cancels flights to and from Europe and the Americas as it goes bankrupt. (BBC) (Mexicana de Aviación)
Luxembourg's Skype files for an initial public offering in the United States. (BBC) (The Guardian) (Sky News)

Disasters

The United Nations describes the ongoing 2010 Pakistan floods as the worst natural disaster in years - worse than the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, the 2005 Kashmir earthquake and the 2010 Haiti earthquake - as the number of people affected reaches an estimated 15 million and the waters and landslides continue to swamp the country. (Aljazeera)
The death toll in China following the recent mudslide rises to 337. 1,148 people are now missing. (BBC) (AFP via France24) (AP via The Times of India) (Reuters India)
33 miners are still trapped without any contact underground after days of rescue efforts at a collapsed mine near Copiapó in the Atacama Desert. (BBC) (Reuters India) (Aljazeera)
Mumbai oil spill:
- An oil spill becomes more serious three days after two ships, MSC Chitra and MV Khalijia-111 collided off Mumbai, India. (The Times of India) (Aljazeera)
- Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh orders an investigation. (BBC)
At least 10 people die and dozens disappear after a passenger boat sinks off the coast of Indonesia. (BBC) (France24) (The News International) (The Age)

International relations

President of Venezuela Hugo Chávez announces that he has agreed to meet President of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos tomorrow for talks to end strained relations between the two countries. (Aljazeera)
The World Trade Organization orders Australia to change restrictions on New Zealand apple imports imposed due to the fear of fire blight. (AFP via ABC Online)

Law and crime

Journalists in South Africa launch a campaign to oppose possible legislation which may limit freedom of the press. (BBC)
Israeli police examine office computers and issue a warrant to Channel 2 calling on it to surrender a military document they want. (The Jerusalem Post)
A man from Israel is released after being detained as a suspected spy in Libya in return for the safe delivery to Gaza of 20 prefabricated houses, whose ship was forced to divert to Egypt in July. (BBC) (The Sydney Morning Herald)
An anonymous transsexual is involved in a landmark case in Hong Kong to win the right to marry her boyfriend. (BBC)
Recently resigned Zambian Defence Minister George Mpombo, a critic of President Rupiah Banda, is imprisoned for 60 days due to a bounced cheque. (BBC)
More than 200 Mexican police suspend and hold their own commander at gunpoint in a Ciudad Juárez hotel over allegations of drugs-related corruption. (BBC)
Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir is arrested - along with his wife, the driver of the car he was in and another woman - by Indonesian police in Ciamis, West Java. (BBC) (The Sydney Morning Herald) (Reuters Africa) (Herald Sun)
American politician Maxine Waters is formally charged with three counts of breaking ethics rules. (BBC)
Former President of Mexico Vicente Fox calls for the legalisation of drugs in Mexico. (BBC)
Actress Mia Farrow gives evidence in the trial of former President of Liberia Charles Taylor before the United Nations Special Court for Sierra Leone. (The Daily Telegraph) (BBC) (The Independent)
Bangladesh bans beatings. (BBC)
Sudan outlaws BBC Arabic in Khartoum and three other cities. (BBC) (Reuters) (News24)

Politics and elections

Voters in Rwanda go to the polls for the presidential election. (Aljazeera) (BBC) (Voice of America)
Vice-President of Colombia Angelino Garzón gets sick two days into his term. (BBC) (AFP via France24) (Reuters)
Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands Derek Sikua retains his seat in his North East Guadalcanal constituency as vote tallying continues in the general election. (Solomon Times)
Guinea's presidential run-off is scheduled for 19 September. (BBC)