Portal:Current events/2010 February 22

February 22, 2010 (Monday)

Colombian President Álvaro Uribe and Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez almost come to blows at the Rio Group summit in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, with Uribe taunting Chávez "Be a man! … you're a coward face-to-face! Stay and argue face-to-face!" and Chávez responding with a simple "Go to Hell!" The Summit also announces the creation of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States. (La Vanguardia) (Telegraph) (BBC)
An American pediatrician from Delaware state is indicted by video evidence on 471 felony counts in the alleged rape and sexual abuse of 103 children. (CNN) (ABC)
Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute:
- Desire Petroleum, a British-listed firm, begins drilling for oil at an offshore platform within the territory of the Falkland Islands, amid mounting criticism from Argentina and Venezuela. (BBC)
- Latin America's leaders back Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. (The Times) (The Daily Telegraph)
China throws a surprise 86th birthday party for President Robert Mugabe in its Zimbabwe embassy in Harare, the first time Mugabe visited a foreign embassy in the country since Zimbabwe won independence in 1980. (Reuters)
Foreign ministers from the European Union meet in Brussels and "strongly condemn" the use of forged passports from various European countries in the assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh. (RTÉ) (BBC)
Afghanistan's government condemns a NATO air strike on a convoy of vehicles in Uruzgan province, in the south of the country, which killed at least 27 civilians. (BBC)
Conference of the German Bishops chairman Archbishop Robert Zollitsch formally apologises to those who went through sexual abuse as children after fresh controversy surrounding the issue at the beginning of this year. (Deutsche Welle) (RTÉ) (Taiwan News)
Swiss businessman Max Goeldi, who hid in the Swiss embassy in Libya for 19 months during a diplomatic argument, is taken away in handcuffs and thrown into jail while his colleague Rachid Hamdani is deported. (BBC) (The Guardian) (Reuters)(The Daily Telegraph)
The European Union and Germany deny a report of a 20-25 billion euro (£22 billion) aid plan for Greece, and Athens pledge again to take new steps if needed to keep tough deficit-cutting plans on target. (Reuters)
A strike by thousands of pilots at Lufthansa, one of the world's largest airlines, is suspended with negotiations expected to resume. (BBC)
Odeon Cinemas in Ireland, Italy and the UK confirm their intention to boycott Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland in a dispute with Disney. (BBC) (Digital Spy) (news.com.au) (Sky News)