Portal:Current events/2009 August 6

August 6, 2009 (Thursday)

64th anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings
- Japan calls for a nuclear-weapons-free world as it marks 64 years since Hiroshima was hit in the world's first atomic bomb attack. (RTÉ) (The Daily Telegraph)
- Up to 50,000 people, including officials and visitors from countries around the world, attend a memorial service in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park built directly below the point where the bomb exploded. (Al Jazeera) (Xinhua)
- Speaking at the ceremony, Mayor of Hiroshima Tadatoshi Akiba supports a call by United States President Barack Obama for the abolition of nuclear weapons. (The Guardian) (The Jerusalem Post)
- The Japanese Government agrees to set up a compensation fund for 300 survivors of the atomic bombings. (ABC)
- A poll finds 61% of Americans believe their country was correct to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. (Reuters India) (Brisbane Times)
Supporters of Iran's opposition leader, Mir-Hossein Mousavi, battle riot police as they hoot horns and take to the streets of Tehran shouting "Death to the dictator". (BBC)
An Indian court sentences to death three people for carrying out bombings that killed more than 50 people in Mumbai in 2003. (Al Jazeera) (BBC) (The New York Times)
Malagasy crisis talks resume between interim leader Andry Rajoelina, ousted president Marc Ravalomanana and former presidents Didier Ratsiraka and Albert Zafy in Maputo, Mozambique. (IOL)
New Zealand’s Prime Minister John Key says he believes Fiji’s self-appointed Prime Minister Commodore Frank Bainimarama has given up on the Pacific Islands Forum. (RNZI)
Argentina, Brazil and Bolivia express concerns whilst Peru supports a planned accord by Colombian President Álvaro Uribe to allow United States troops to use several bases. Venezuela announces trade measures against Colombia. (BBC)
Brazil returns 1.500 tonnes of syringes, condoms and dirty nappies which were sent from the United Kingdom. (MercoPress)
Micro-blogging website Twitter is knocked offline by a distributed denial-of-service attack targeted at a Georgian blogger. (RTÉ) (CNN) (BBC)
South African photographer Neil Hartmann, accused of documenting Namibia's annual seal cull, is detained without charge for nearly seven hours less than a month after the arrest of two journalists. (IOL)
A company manager claims that a 77-day occupation of a car plant by hundreds of laid-off workers in South Korea has come to an end. (BBC)
Japan's first jury trial for more than 60 years ends with a man in his 70s being sentenced to 15 years in prison for murder. (ABC News) (BBC) (The Guardian) (The Independent) (The New York Times)
Iran bans all pilgrimages to Saudi Arabia during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan in an attempt to contain the spread of swine flu. (BBC)
Hundreds of panic-stricken people queue at hospitals in Pune, India, to be tested for swine flu following the first death from the disease in that country. (BBC)
The Iraqi cabinet agrees a draft law to restrict smoking in public places and ban tobacco advertising. (BBC)
President Jacob Zuma names Sandile Ngcobo as Chief Justice of South Africa. (IOL) (Mail & Guardian)
Sonia Sotomayor is confirmed by the United States Senate as Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, replacing David Souter. (Reuters) (CNN)
At least nine people are killed and several inhale fumes after a fire at a retirement home in Melle, Belgium. (BBC)
The Presidents of Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, Joseph Kabila and Paul Kagame, pledge to boost economic and security ties after a rare meeting. (BBC)
Scientists say they have decoded the entire genetic structure of HIV-1—the main cause of AIDS in humans. (BBC)
News Corp. announces its intent to start charging online customers for news content across all its websites, including The Times, The Sun, The Wall Street Journal, New York Post and Herald Sun. (BBC) (The New Zealand Herald) (Reuters)
At least 34 people are feared dead after their bus plunges into the Indus River in Pakistan. (BBC)
The Slender-billed Vulture, one of the world's most endangered birds and said to be rarer than the Tiger, is twice successfully bred in Haryana and West Bengal. (BBC)