Portal:Current events/2010 August 5

August 5, 2010 (Thursday)

Armed conflicts and incidents

South Korea begins a huge anti-submarine exercise in the Yellow Sea, near the disputed maritime border, in what it sees as a show of strength against North Korea and "to be fully prepared for combat"; North Korea disapproves of the exercise. (BBC) (The Jakarta Post) (Reuters) (The Sydney Morning Herald) (The Times of India)
33 Chilean miners are trapped 700 meters underground at the beginning of a 69 day odyssey in the Copiapó mining accident.
At least 25 or 32 Afghans, including civilians, are killed by NATO airstrikes in Nangarhar Province, many bombed by NATO planes while attending the funeral of a flood victim; relatives are displeased. (BBC) (France24) (The New York Times)
At least 17 more people are killed during a third day of violence in Karachi, with police given orders to shoot on sight as buildings burn. Current death toll: At least 80. (BBC)
Kyrgyzstan:
- Troops in Bishkek fire shots as protesters travel to support Urmat Baryktabasov, an opposition politician who arrived back in Kyrgyzstan from overseas. (BBC) (UPI)
- Tear gas is fired and 27 people, including Baryktabasov, are arrested. (France24) (China Daily)
At least six Afghan policemen are killed during a suicide attack in Kunduz, by the Tajikistan border. (BBC) (The Asian Age) (IOL)
Somali pirates seized a Syrian freighter flagged in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines carrying sugar with 24 crew (22 Syrian and 2 Egyptian) in the Gulf of Aden. (AFP)
Israel releases the MV Mavi Marmara, the aid ship which it impounded after killing nine activists during May's Gaza flotilla raid. (BBC) (Arab News) (Indian Express) (The Sydney Morning Herald)

Arts and culture

A Salvador Dalí exhibition in Atlanta, United States, is to feature items from Canada, Japan and Scotland. (BBC) (The Christian Science Monitor)
A piano which Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is thought to have played is discovered in Baden-Baden, Baden-Württemberg. (The Age)
A world-class example of a 17th-century ship's pass - dating from 1687 and signed by King James II and Samuel Pepys - is presented to the National Library of Ireland. (RTÉ)
Russian pianist, conductor and composer Mikhail Pletnev cancels some appearances while he deals with accusations that he raped a 14-year-old boy in Thailand. (BBC)

Business and economics

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sacks Ndi Okereke-Onyuike, the director-general of the Nigerian Stock Exchange and suspends its chairman, Aliko Dangote. (BBC)
Taiwan and Singapore agree to hold talks on a free trade deal. (Focus Taiwan News Channel) (Financial Times) (Xinhua) (BBC)
Pham Thanh Binh, the former boss of Vinashin, one of Vietnam's largest state-owned companies, is arrested on suspicion of nearly bankrupting the company. (BBC)

Disasters

The United Nations states more than four million people are now affected by the most severe flooding in Pakistan's history, while the death toll rises to at least 1,600. (Aljazeera) (BBC)
A Russian military garrison near Naro-Fominsk outside Moscow moves its artillery rockets to a safer location as the wildfires get nearer. (AP via Google News)
At least 20 people die after a bus falls into the Jhelum River in Pakistan controlled Kashmir. (Peoples Daily)
18 children die after their boat capsizes on the Tanzanian side of Lake Victoria. (News Limited)
BP is authorized to pump cement into the Deepwater Horizon oil spill site after a successful "static kill" procedure with drilling mud. (CNN)

International relations

The Pacific Islands Forum meets in Vanuatu and discusses the situation in Fiji. (AFP via Google News)
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem sends a letter to Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon in which he writes charges against three Israelis charged with spying for Syria are "baseless" and "fabricated". (Haaretz)
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom David Cameron commits another gaffe - with an erroneous statement that Iran possesses a nuclear weapon - just after apologising to an angered pensioner for his previous gaffe about the Battle of Britain. (BBC) (news.com.au) (The Guardian) (Sky News)

Law and crime

Model Naomi Campbell gives evidence that she received several "dirty looking stones" after meeting the former President of Liberia Charles Taylor in his trial at the United Nations Special Court for Sierra Leone. (The Guardian) (Aljazeera) (BBC)
A Polish appellate court upholds the decision of a lower court to extradite an alleged Mossad agent to Germany to face trial for forging a passport used in the slaying of Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai. (AP via Google News) (BBC) (Press TV) (Haaretz)
Israel charges three Arab men with spying for Syria; they deny the charges and one is alleged to be a human rights activist. (BBC)
A woman who is alleged to have been raped by two police officers appears on Egyptian television where she is interviewed about the experience. (BBC)
Supporters of California Proposition 8 banning same-sex marriage lodge an appeal against the decision of United States district court Vaughn R. Walker overturning it. (CNN)
The Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation upholds as constitutional a law allowing same-sex marriages in Mexico City. (BBC) (France24)
British police issue an apology after one of them shot a 14-year-old female bystander with a Taser, sending an electric shock through her body. (BBC)
Reported Japanese child abuse reaches its highest level since records were first taken a decade ago. (BBC) (The Age)
Brazilian police discover a Rio de Janeiro prison is being run by some of the inmates; a guard is arrested. (BBC)
The U.S. Government charges 14 people as participants in "a deadly pipeline" sending money and fighters from the United States to the Somalian insurgency group Al-Shabaab. (AP via Google News) (BBC)

Politics

Kenyan constitutional referendum, 2010:
- Preliminary results of the referendum on the new Constitution of Kenya show it has passed with 67 per cent of the vote following a peaceful election. (Aljazeera)
- Those campaigning against the new Constitution concede defeat. (BBC)
Rwanda:
- The Rwandan government denies in a statement that it has been responsible for the deaths of any political opponents. (BBC)
- Rwandan Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo says the country is "committed to free expression" but that it does not favour "hate media". (IOL)
Former Prime Minister of Australia Kevin Rudd joins Julia Gillard's election campaign while recovering from gallbladder surgery by attacking the opposition leader Tony Abbott. (BBC)
The Ivorian presidential election, 2010 is set for 31 October. (BBC)
Musician Wyclef Jean formally registers to stand for the presidency of Haiti. (BBC) (Aljazeera)
The United States Senate confirms the nomination of Elena Kagan as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. (CNN)

Science

Newly released files, which can be freely downloaded for the next month, show that the British government felt threatened by UFOs in the 1950s and that Winston Churchill and Dwight D. Eisenhower ordered the cover-up of one unexplained encounter. (BBC) (France24) (News24) (Reuters) (The Times of India)

Sports

Anil Khanna, treasurer of the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, resigns the position due to corrupt allegations. (BBC Sport)
Uruguay striker and 2010 FIFA World Cup player of the tournament Diego Forlán is a popular attraction among the inhabitants of Kolkata as he participates in a talent search. (BBC News)
In United States baseball, a group led by Nolan Ryan buys the Texas Rangers at a bankruptcy auction. (MSNBC)