Portal:Current events/2010 June 15

June 15, 2010 (Tuesday)

Human rights in Iran:
- A leader of the Iranian opposition, Mir Hussein Moussavi, demands the prosecution of those he accuses of fraud in the disputed presidential election of 2009 and of human rights abuses against opposition demonstrators over the past year in Iran. (The New York Times)
- 56 nations rebuke Iran for its human rights record, expressing concern over the violent suppression of dissent, detention and executions without due process of law, severe discrimination against women and minorities including people of Baháʼí faith, and restrictions of expression and religion. (AP)
A US marine convicted in the Hamdania incident, one of the worst war crimes from the Iraq War, and sentenced to eleven years in prison in 2006 is released from prison after a military appeals court in Washington decides he did not receive a fair trial. The Navy is appealing that court's decision.(PA) (AP) (Aljazeera) (Gulf News) (The Washington Post)
Militants kill 12 police officers in a string of attacks and six civilians die in bombings in Afghanistan, and a U.S. soldier is killed in a gun battle in eastern Afghanistan in the latest fighting in the war in Afghanistan. (USA Today)
Heavy rain triggers landslides that leave at least 24 people dead in Sichuan province's Kangding county. In one incident, part of a mountain fell on a construction site in Sichuan province, crushing workers who were sleeping in tents. (news.com.pk) (China Dialy)
The trial begins of 33 alleged members of Ergenekon over alleged plans to topple the Turkish government, while groups hold small protests outside the courthouse in their favour. (Aljazeera) (BBC) (euronews)
Two trains collide in the northern Mexican state of Sinaloa resulting in the death of at least 13 people. (AP via USA Today)
Saville Inquiry:
- The Saville Inquiry into the events of Bloody Sunday (1972) in Northern Ireland is published, as a result of the longest-running public inquiry in British legal history. (Sky News) (The Independent)
- The report concludes that British paratroopers "lost control", fired the first shot without warning, shot fleeing civilians, and concocted lies to cover up their acts, while the civilians did not throw stones or petrol bombs as a previous inquiry had claimed. (BBC) (The Irish Times) (CNN) (The Wall Street Journal)
- Relatives of those shot by the British Army gather to hear the results and applaud the findings. (euronews)
- British Prime Minister David Cameron calls the events "unjustified and unjustifiable" in a statement in the House of Commons and issues an apology on behalf of the British government. (RTÉ) (Aljazeera) (The New York Times) (euronews)
North Korea threatens a military response if the United Nations Security Council questions or condemns it for the ROKS Cheonan sinking. North Korean UN Permanent Representative Sin Son Ho demands that a North Korean investigation team be allowed to travel to the site of the sinking. (Yahoo! News)
Islamist gunmen in Somalia shoot two people dead and detain 10 others who were watching a televised FIFA World Cup match; a member of one group later said watching the World Cup is anti-Islamic. (CNN)
The leaders of Ireland's two main political parties, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, come under fire. Irish Taoiseach Brian Cowen faces a motion of no confidence in Dáil Éireann, his second in just over a year. Leader of the Opposition, Enda Kenny, who sacked his deputy leader yesterday to prevent a potential coup, faces further revolt from his party as nine more members of his frontbench call on him to resign. (Reuters Africa) (RTÉ)
An American claiming to be hunting Osama bin Laden is arrested with a sword, a pistol and night-vision goggles in northwestern Pakistan.(Wall St. Journal) (Aljazeera)
2010 Kyrgyzstan crisis and 2010 South Kyrgyzstan riots:
- Death toll rises to 180 near Osh, Jalalabad city and the Suzak region. (TRT) (Xinhua)
- 100,000 Uzbek refugees seek safety at border. (Arabnews)
- Kyrgyzstan calls up army reservists. (Aljazeera)
- Whole neighbourhoods in Osh are destroyed and the army is accused of murder. (Aljazeera)
Israeli-Palestinian conflict:
- More than 23,000 people sign a Jewish Council for Public Affairs petition urging the US State Department to investigate passengers on the Mavi Marmara who are expected to visit New York on a speaking tour citing a 2006 report by the Danish Institute for International Studies, which documents a link between IHH and al-Qaida and “global jihad networks”. (Jerusalem Post)
- Israel's plans to hold an inquiry into its Gaza flotilla raid have been dismissed by Turkey and the Palestinians. (BBC)
- The Israeli Navy prepares to confront Iranian ships heading for Gaza, and says that it will act under the assumption that there are groups of provocateurs aboard any future ships trying to break the Israeli blockade. (Jerusalem Post)
- Ireland expels an Israeli diplomat as "a victim of the actions of the state they represent" after an investigation states that 8 forged Irish passports were used in the assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai. (RTÉ) (The Globe and Mail) (Aljazeera) (BBC) (euronews)