Portal:Current events/2010 August 4

August 4, 2010 (Wednesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

About 70 Indian police personnel are reported missing in Chhattisgarh forests amid a major engagement with Maoist guerrillas; they are later found. No casualties have been reported. (The Times of India) (BBC) (Aljazeera)
Lebanon arrests a man it suspects has spied for Israel. (Aljazeera)
Israeli shellfire kills a Palestinian militant and wounds 1 other in Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip as the search gets underway for further casualties. (Reuters)
Corpses belonging to 59 migrants are located in a desert in the U.S. state of Arizona. (BBC)
Police in Karachi arrest suspects in its investigation into a recent assassination, as the death toll in riots reaches 63. (BBC)
At least 6 people are killed and around 50 others are injured in twin car bombings in Kut. (BBC)
A suicide attack kills 4 people, a paramilitary commander Sifwat Ghuyur and three bodyguards, in Peshawar. (Aljazeera) (Reuters via ABC Online) (BBC)
Adaisseh incident:
- The United Nations Peacekeeping Forces assert that Israeli soldiers were attacked in Israeli territory while performing routine maintenance, leading to yesterday's deadly clash. (Boston Herald)^{[permanent dead link]}
- The United Nations Security Council agrees that Israel and Lebanon must show "utmost restraint" following the clash. (BBC)
- Hezbollah's second in command Naim Qassem warns that the organisation will "retaliate" against Israel if there are further incidents. (AFP via Google News)
- The Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu warns both Hamas and Lebanon about further attacks on Israelis. (Jerusalem Post)
- A Lebanese government official confirms that Israel was not in violation of international law. (ANSAmed)
- Israeli troops uproot the very trees that caused the dispute. (Brisbane Times)
Officials say more than 28,000 people have died in Mexican drug violence since December 2006, thousands more than previously thought. (BBC)
India expresses deep regret that its police had to kill at least 28 people this week in Kashmir, with its Home Affairs Minister requesting that protesters stop. (BBC)
New Zealand experiences its first combat fatality in Afghanistan; he was also the country's first military death in fighting anywhere for a decade. (BBC) (The New Zealand Herald) (The Washington Post)
A man found dead in forest near Trongsa is thought to have been killed by a tiger, possibly Bhutan's first such death in 15 years. (BBC)
A controlled explosion is carried out on a device discovered beneath the car of a serving soldier, believed to be an army major, in Bangor, County Down in Northern Ireland. (The Guardian)

Arts, culture and entertainment

A vault containing non-words - those rejected by the Oxford English Dictionary - is uncovered. (The Daily Telegraph)
Sharers of the Radiohead album In Rainbows, once offered by the band for nothing, are sent cease-and-desist letters by the RIAA and IFPI. (The Guardian)
Musician Wyclef Jean confirms he is to announce plans to stand for the presidency in Haiti. (BBC)

Disasters

2010 Pakistan floods:
- Nearly 1 million people are estimated to have been left homeless during the ongoing severe floods in Pakistan. (The Guardian)
- Thousands of people flee their homes in Punjab due to flood fears. (Aljazeera)
- Rain falls, causing more damage. (BBC)
- The United Nations World Food Programme warns that parts of northwest Pakistan are facing urgent food shortages. (Sky News)
- The Disasters Emergency Committee launches its appeal for donations. (BBC)
Summer 2010 Russian wildfires:
- President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev interrupts his summer holiday to return and fire several top military officials after wildfires destroy a naval base outside Moscow. (BBC) (Aljazeera)
- At a meeting of the national Security Council Medvedev states: "By no means you may allow anarchy [...] You must not let the situation go out of local authorities' control". (Xinhua)
The confirmed death toll from flooding in China rises above 1,000. (Associated Press)
Eurotunnel has "apologised profusely" after train passengers brought to Calais, France, through the Channel Tunnel are locked into their carriages upon arrival and immediately returned to Kent, England. (The Guardian)
Three barns collapse at the largest egg farm in the U.S. state of Ohio in Croton, with at least one worker dead. (AP via Houston Chronicle)
Admiral Thad Allen, the man in charge of the US Government's efforts to clear up the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, has given clearance for BP to pour cement into its Gulf of Mexico oil well. (Reuters)

International relations

The Pacific Islands Forum discusses Fiji in Vanuatu. (BBC) (The Sydney Morning Herald)

Law and crime

Theresa Riggi stabs her three children to death and attempts suicide.
Vaughn R. Walker, the Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, rules in Perry v. Schwarzenegger that California Proposition 8 banning same-sex marriage in California is unconstitutional. (Los Angeles Times) (Reuters via New York Times) (CNN) (BBC)
A journalist with The Sunday Times is arrested in South Africa.^{[clarification needed]} (News24) (The Sowetan) (Times LIVE) (iAfrica)
A man with a knife embarks on a fatal slashing rampage in a kindergarten in Zibo, Shandong. (The Sydney Morning Herald) (BBC)
The prison sentence of Sabbar Kashur, a married Arab man convicted by Israel of "rape by deception" after telling the accuser that he's Jewish and single, is delayed as he attempts an appeal. (The Guardian) (Haaretz)
Canadian Abdullah Khadr, charged with terrorism by the United States and jailed in Canada since 2005, is released from prison after a Canadian judge declines an extradition attempt by the United States. (Aljazeera)
Mohamed Mostafaei, an Iranian lawyer who defended convicted adulterer Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, is reported to be in Turkey, seeking asylum. (BBC) (France24)^{[permanent dead link]}
A decision by Malacca to allow under-age marriage is criticised by groups of women. (BBC) (Reuters) (The Sydney Morning Herald)

Politics and elections

President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's trip to Hamedan:
- Ahmadinejad announces in Hamedan that Iran is ready to start talks this month about a possible nuclear fuel swap. (Xinhua)
- Ahmadinejad denies rumors that he survived an assassination attempt while in Hamedan, and claims that a customary firecracker was set off to greet him. (Xinhua) (The Guardian) (BBC) (AFP via News Limited) (Press TV)
Fidel Castro is expected to address the Cuban national assembly on Saturday for the first time in four years; his speech is anticipated to talk of a possible nuclear war involving the United States, Israel and Iran. (The Daily Telegraph) (BBC) (The Star)
Kenyans head to the polls to decide the fate of a potential new constitution. (Aljazeera) (BBC) (Reuters) (CNN)
Prime Minister of Italy Silvio Berlusconi survives a no-confidence vote. (BBC) (The Guardian) (Aljazeera) (France24) (The Irish Times)
Dokka Umarov denies he has quit as head of Chechnya's armed separatist group. (Aljazeera)
Cabinet formation in the Netherlands: Ivo Opstelten, the chairman of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy, is appointed the new informateur, tasked with finalizing the formation of a right-wing minority coalition cabinet. (NOS)
U.S. Rep. Don Young R-Alaska claims that he has been cleared in a United States Department of Justice corruption probe. (AP via Google News)

Sport

10,000 people arrive in Cologne for the opening ceremony of the 2010 Gay Games. (The Guardian)
Surrey defeat Glamorgan by 39 runs on the Duckworth–Lewis method to achieve a world record for the highest score in 40-over cricket in the CB 40 at The Oval. (BBC Sport) (The Daily Telegraph) (Sky Sports)
Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees becomes the seventh player in the history of Major League Baseball to hit 600 home runs. (The New York Times)