Portal:Current events/2010 October 8

October 8, 2010 (Friday)

Armed conflicts and incidents

Four miners were killed and another was seriously injured after a colliery collapsed in Xinjiang. A pit owned by Xinjiang Shenhua Tiandian Mining in Hutubi County in Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture caved in. (Global Times)
Several militants are killed in Khyber Agency when security forces targeted militant hideouts with gunship helicopters. (Tafreehmela) (Dawn)
At least 16 people, including the governor of Kunduz Province, Mohammad Omar, are killed in a bombing. (Al Jazeera) (Voice of America)
German officials say that Islamic militants whose disclosures have triggered a Europe-wide terror alert, have links to the perpetrators of the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001. (AP via Google News)
A Taiwanese ship initially believed to have been hijacked off the coast of Madagascar is later found safe. (BBC) (Focus Taiwan News Channel) (Xinhua)
Israeli–Palestinian conflict:
- Two Hamas militants are killed, several others are injured and more are detained in an overnight Israeli military raid on Hebron in the Palestinian territories. A Hamas-affiliated group, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, threatens revenge attacks. (Al Jazeera) (Haaretz) (The Jerusalem Post)
- Two Palestinian boys stoning an Israeli car in Shiloach are hurt when the driver of the car, the director of the Ir David Foundation, crashes into them while trying to escape the crowd of youths stoning his car. One of them is hospitalized. (The Jerusalem Post) (Al Jazeera)

Arts and culture

Business and economy

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) concluded its 37th session of its assembly on Friday at its headquarters in Montreal, making progresses on aviation emissions. (Xinhua) (China Daily)
The United States economy shed 95,000 more jobs than expected in September. (Al Jazeera)
The Government of Japan approves a $60 billion economic stimulus package. (BBC)
The United Arab Emirates announces that it will not implement a proposed ban on all BlackBerry services due to go into effect from next year. (CNN)
Premier Wen Jiabao of the People's Republic of China denies reports that China is using its control over minerals crucial to high technology (called "rare-earth") as a bargaining chip, especially in a dispute with Japan over Japan's arrest of a Chinese fishing-boat captain (AP)

Disasters

Ajka alumina plant accident in Hungary:
- 2 more corpses are discovered, bringing the death toll to 7, as Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orbán plays down the disaster on the Danube. (BBC)
- Greenpeace say samples taken in Kolontár indicate "surprisingly high" levels of toxic substances, including arsenic, chrome and mercury. (Al Jazeera)
- MAL Hungarian Aluminium Production and Trade Company, the company responsible for the Ajka alumina plant accident in Hungary, offers $150,000 for local authorities to help deal with the disaster while not admitting fault. (Al Jazeera) (Sky News)
Maltese chemical tanker YM Uranus is reported to be sinking following a collision with the Panamanian cargo ship Hanjin Rizhao off the coast of Brittany, France. (Sky News) (Vesseltracker)
One person died and 42 others remain hospitalized in the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Garze. Over 100 people, mostly tourists and hotel staff, were affected. (Global Times)

International relations

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao holds talks with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara. (China Daily)
2010 Nobel Peace Prize:
- Imprisoned Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo is announced as the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. China blocks internet coverage of the award. (Al Jazeera) (The New York Times) (CNN) (The Hindu) (RIA Novosti)
- Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu remarks in a press release that the Nobel Peace Prize has been "desecrated" and this event could damage ties between the countries. (Xinhua)
TVNZ Breakfast race row: New Zealand issues an apology to India's External Affairs ministry over the "gratuitous and insulting" behaviour of its now suspended broadcaster Paul Henry, who works for the government-owned corporation television network TVNZ. (Bloomberg)
Arab League leaders meeting in Libya announce their support for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's decision to stop peace talks with Israel over Israel's recently expired moratorium on construction in the West Bank. (The Jerusalem Post)

Law and crime

The International Criminal Court orders the resumption of the war crimes trial of Congolese militia leader Thomas Lubanga, who is on trial for using children under the age of 15 to fight for his militia during the civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo. (Al Jazeera) (AFP via Google News) (CNN)
Pakistani army Chief of Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani orders an investigation into a video showing the firing squad execution of 6 blindfolded Pakistanis by men dressed in what appear to be Pakistani army uniforms. (Los Angeles Times)
The Supreme Court in Burma agrees to hear an appeal by Aung San Suu Kyi against her house arrest. (AP via Google News)
France's highest legal authority rules in favour of a ban on facial veils. (Al Jazeera)

Politics and elections

United States National Security Advisor General James L. Jones announces his resignation effective in two weeks; his deputy Thomas E. Donilon is expected to replace him. (MSNBC) (Al Jazeera)
A senior North Korean official, Yang Hyong Sop, confirms that Kim Jong-un will succeed his father Kim Jong-il in an interview with the Associated Press. (AP via Google News)
The Australian Murray-Darling Basin Authority issues a report calling for water consumption in the 19 catchments of the Murray–Darling basin to be cut by up to half. (ABC News Online)

Science