Return to home2010 Jan 1,
About 15 New Hampshire gay couples braved the cold to exchange vows
outside the Statehouse in Concord, as the state joined Connecticut,
Iowa, Massachusetts and Vermont in allowing gay marriage.
(SFC, 1/1/10, p.A5)
2010 Jan 1, In the Rose Bowl at
Pasadena Terrelle Pryor passed for a career-high 266 yards and two
touchdowns, rushed for 72 more and threw a 17-yard scoring pass to
DeVier Posey with 7:02 to play, leading the No. 8 Buckeyes to a
26-17 victory over No. 7 Oregon.
2010 Jan 1, Damon Martin
(35) of Detroit was shot and killed in Hampton, Ga. Rap music
producer Demetrius Lee Stewart (28), aka Shawnty Redd, was arrested
for the murder.
2010 Jan 1, In Afghanistan 5
civilians were killed when their vehicle hit a bomb on a main road
in Bala Murghab district in the northern province of Badghis. At
least 4 security guards for a road construction crew were killed
when their vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in the northern part
of Khost province.
2010 Jan 1, It was reported
that Australian researchers have cracked the genetic origin of the
deadly cancer that is threatening to wipe out Tasmanian devils,
raising hopes that the animal's future is safe.
2010 Jan 1, In southwestern
Bangladesh a speeding bus lost control and hit a tree before
crashing into a canal, killing 18 people and injuring dozens.
2010 Jan 1, In Brazil a
rain-loosened slab of hillside collapsed on 3 houses and an upscale
lodge after New Year celebrations at a resort on the island of Ilha
Grande near Rio de Janeiro, killing at least 26 people. On the
mainland, a torrent of reddish mud cascaded into the Carioca slum in
the nearby coastal city of Angra dos Reis, killing at least 18
people and reducing rickety shacks to rubble. 10 people died in Sao
Paulo state. 3 people died in Minas Gerais as heavy rains triggered
flooding and landslides. Nearly 80 other mudslides have been
reported throughout the region in recent days. Together with
flooding, they have killed at least 76 people.
(AP, 1/1/10)(AP, 1/2/10)(Reuters, 1/3/10)
2010 Jan 1, In Britain the VAT
returned to 17.5% after 13 months in which it was reduced to 15% to
help combat the economic downturn.
(Econ, 1/2/10, p.41)
2010 Jan 1, Chad's President
Idriss Deby Itno called on rebel forces in the troubled central
African nation to lay down their weapons, saying constant conflict
was hindering development.
2010 Jan 1, Chinese state media
said authorities have shut down a dairy in Shanghai and arrested
three of its executives after tests found some of its milk products
were tainted with the same industrial chemical at the center of a
milk safety scandal more than a year ago.
2010 Jan 1, A free-trade
agreement between China and the 10 members of the Association of
Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) came into effect. The 6 richest
members scrapped tariffs on 90% of goods. The 4 poorest (Vietnam,
Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar) will not need to cut tariffs to the same
level until 2015.
(SSFC, 1/3/10, p.A4)(Econ, 1/9/10, p.44)
2010 Jan 1, In Colombia a New
year’s Eve dessert, distributed to the homeless in Bogota’s El
Calvario neighborhood, contained ground glass and poison that caused
one death and sickened 44 others. Air and ground assaults on two
rebel camps killed 18 insurgents and captured 13, 112 miles south of
Bogota. An attack by guerrillas a few hours earlier killed a soldier
and a teenage girl at a boardinghouse 164 miles southwest of Bogota.
2010 Jan 1, A Congolese army
officer said the Democratic Republic of Congo forces are to mount a
new offensive against Rwandan Hutu rebels in the east of the country
with the backing of UN troops.
2010 Jan 1, In the Czech Rep.
liberalized drug laws went into effect. Those caught with small
amounts of drugs intended for personal use faced only a fine.
(Econ, 8/28/10, p.44)
2010 Jan 1, In Denmark Muhudiin
Mohamed Geele (29), a Somali man armed with an axe and suspected of
links with al Qaeda, broke into the home of Kurt Westergaard (74), a
Danish cartoonist, whose drawings of the Prophet Mohammad caused
global Muslim outrage. The attacker, who was shot and wounded by
police, was charged the next day with two counts of attempted
murder. On Feb 3, 2011, Geele was convicted of terrorism. The next
day he was sentenced to 9 years in prison to be followed by
(Reuters, 1/2/10)(AP, 2/3/11)(Reuters, 2/4/11)
2010 Jan 1, In Dubai a British
woman (23) told police she had been raped the previous evening by a
waiter at a 5-star hotel. Police arrested her after she revealed
during questioning that she had drunk alcohol and had sex with her
fiance, with whom she was on holiday.
(Econ, 1/16/10, p.48)
2010 Jan 1, In Germany a
technical problem left card holders unable to use cash machines. It
was caused by microchips in about a quarter of all cards in
circulation being unable to cope with the changeover to 2010. On Jan
8 retailers announced that the problem was mostly corrected.
2010 Jan 1, Thousands of Hong
Kong residents marched to the Chinese government's liaison office
demanding that Beijing grant full democracy to the semiautonomous
2010 Jan 1, In Iran a shootout
with drug smugglers in an eastern desert region left 11 policemen
2010 Jan 1, In Iraq a US
soldier died of injuries unrelated to combat.
2010 Jan 1, In Ireland a new
law against blasphemy went into effect. It was already a criminal
offense under the country’s 1937 constitution, but the language was
too murky to make prosecutions feasible.
(SFC, 1/4/10, p.A2)
2010 Jan 1, In Japan a robber
bored a hole through the wall of jewelry shop and walked off with
about 200 luxury watches worth 300 million yen ($3.2 million) in
Tokyo's upscale Ginza district. On Jan 7-8 three men and 3 women
were arrested in Hong Kong in connection with the jewelry heist.
Police suspect many of the watches were mailed from Japan to Hong
Kong, with some then sent to mainland China.
(AP, 1/2/10)(AP, 1/9/10)
2010 Jan 1, Malaysia’s Islamic
morality police arrested 52 unmarried couples for sexual misconduct
following raids in hotel rooms on New Year’s Day. The detained
couples were expected to be charged with khalwat (close proximity),
and faced a maximum penalty of 2 years in prison and a fine.
(SFC, 1/5/10, p.A4)
2010 Jan 1, In Mexico gunmen
killed Jesus Escalante, the chief police investigator in the
northern state of Sinaloa, hours after he started investigating the
kidnapping of Jose Luis Romero (40), a local radio journalist.
Mexico opened the New Year with 69 murders in one day, including 26
in the border city of Ciudad Juarez. Mexico’s drug related killings
for 2009 totaled over 6,500.
(AP, 1/2/10)(SFC, 1/12/10, p.A2)
2010 Jan 1, North Korea called
for an end of hostile relations with the United States in a New
Year's message and said it was committed to making the Korean
peninsula nuclear-free through negotiations.
2010 Jan 1, In northwest
Pakistan a suicide bomber set off an explosives-laden vehicle on a
field during a volleyball tournament in Lakki Marwat city, killing
101 people and wounding more than 70. A suspected US missile struck
a car carrying alleged militants in North Waziristan tribal region,
killing 3 men. Karachi, the country's largest city, came to a
virtual standstill after religious and political leaders called for
a general strike to protest a Dec 28 bombing that killed 44 people
and subsequent riots. A roadside bomb exploded near a car in the
Bajur tribal region, killing an anti-Taliban tribal elder and five
of his family members. A local Taliban commander and his four
companions were killed in an exchange of fire with troops in Kolachi
village, 25 km (16 miles) west of the northwestern town of Dera
(AP, 1/1/10)(AP, 1/2/10)(AFP, 1/3/10)
2010 Jan 1, In Peru a riot by
about 500 inmates erupted New Year’s Eve at a northern prison and
left two inmates dead. 6 guards were held hostage until negotiations
got the prisoners to end their protest.
2010 Jan 1, The Russian
government set a minimum price for vodka that more than doubles the
cost of the cheapest vodka on the market in an effort to fight
2010 Jan 1, Somali pirates
hijacked a British-flagged cargo ship, the Asian Glory, with 25 crew
including eight Bulgarians, 620 miles (1,000 km) east of Somalia. It
was transporting cars from Singapore to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. The
Singaporean-flagged Pramoni, a chemical tanker with a crew of 24,
was seized by pirates in the heavily defended Gulf of Aden. The ship
was carrying fertilizer from the US to India. The Pramoni was
released on Feb 26 after a ransom was delivered by parachute.
(AFP, 1/2/10)(AP, 1/2/10)(AP, 2/26/10)
2010 Jan 1, Spain took over the
presidency of the EU, with PM Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero promising
to work to end the continent's economic crisis.
2010 Jan 1, Ugandan troops
killed Bok Abudema, a leader of the Lord's Resistance Army,
effectively the number two of the brutal militia, in the Central
2010 Jan 2, In North Carolina,
the nation's leading tobacco producer, a ban on smoking in
restaurants and bars went into effect. This made it least the 29th
state to ban smoking in restaurants and 24th for bars.
2010 Jan 2, Afghanistan's
parliament dealt a stinging rebuke to President Hamid Karzai by
rejecting 17 out of 24 of his nominees for a new cabinet, including
a regionally powerful warlord and the country's only female
2010 Jan 2, In Australia Indian
accounting graduate Nitin Garg (21) was stabbed by unknown attackers
before collapsing in the Melbourne burger restaurant where he
worked. On June 17 a 15-year-old Australian boy was charged with the
stabbing murder. On June 18 the boy (16) was charged with accessory
to the killing. On April 20, 2011, the boy (16) pleaded guilty to
the murder and one count of attempted armed robbery. On Dec 22 the
boy was sentenced to up to 13 years in jail.
(AFP, 1/4/10)(AFP, 6/17/10)(AFP, 6/18/10)(AP,
2010 Jan 2, French police said
about 30 works of art, including paintings by Pablo Picasso and
Henri Rousseau, have been stolen from the home of a private
collector in southern La Cadiere-d'Azur, near Marseilles. The theft
comes days after a drawing by Impressionist Edgar Degas worth
euro800,000 ($1.15 million) was stolen from the Cantini Museum in
2010 Jan 2, In northern India 4
trains collided in two separate accidents caused by dense winter
fog, killing 10 people and injuring 47 others.
2010 Jan 2, Israeli warplanes
struck and destroyed two tunnels under Gaza's border with Israel.
The Israeli military says Gaza militants had planned to use the
tunnels to enter Israel and carry out attacks.
2010 Jan 2, In northern Mexico
a bus carrying farm workers and their families home plunged off a
cliff, killing 14 people and injuring 21. Hugo Hernandez (36) was
kidnapped in Sonora state and taken to neighboring Sinaloa state
where assailants skinned his face and stitched it onto a soccer
ball. His body was later left on the streets of Los Mochis in seven
(AP, 1/3/10)(AP, 1/8/10)
2010 Jan 2, Tens of thousands
of North Koreans rallied in the capital to support the communist
government's policies for the new year, including improved relations
with the US and South Korea and a higher standard of living.
2010 Jan 2, In Somalia
Al-Shabab attacked Dusamareb, 500km north of the capital Mogadishu,
and captured it from Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a, a traditional Sufi group,
for a short while before being forced out again. At least 50 people
died in the fighting.
(http://tinyurl.com/ycmkkye)(SFC, 1/5/10, p.A2)
2010 Jan 2, In southern Sudan
armed Nuer tribesmen killed at least 139 members of a rival tribe in
an attack in Tonj, one of the most remote parts of the oil-producing
2010 Jan 2, In Tajikistan a
magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck the Pamir Mountains. Some 783 people
were left homeless. 98 houses were completely destroyed and nearly
1,000 others damaged by the quake that hit several villages in the
(AP, 1/3/10)(AP, 1/5/10)
2010 Jan 2, Yemen security
officials said they deployed several hundred extra troops to two
mountainous eastern provinces that are al-Qaida's main strongholds
in the country and where the suspected would-be Christmas airplane
bomber may have visited.
2010 Jan 3, The US and Britain
closed their embassies in Yemen in the face of al-Qaida threats,
after both countries announced an increase in aid to the government
to fight the terror group linked to the failed attempt to bomb a US
airliner on Christmas.
2010 Jan 3, John Irwin (80),
former criminal turned writer and criminologist, died at his SF
home. Irwin was released from Soledad Prison in 1957 after serving 5
years for armed robbery. In 1967 He began teaching at SF Univ. and
founded Project Rebound, a program to help those coming out of
prison to go to college. His 6 books included “The Felon" (1970).
(SFC, 1/7/10, p.C3)
2010 Jan 3, Afghan President
Hamid Karzai ordered parliament to cancel its winter recess so
lawmakers can consider his new cabinet nominees. In southern
Afghanistan 4 US troops and a British soldier were killed in two
separate roadside bomb attacks.
2010 Jan 3, In southeastern
Australia more than 1,000 people were forced to evacuate their homes
in Coonamble, in central New South Wales, as the worst floodwaters
to hit the area in a decade threatened to swamp a remote farming
2010 Jan 3, National Bank of
Egypt (NBE) and Banque Misr, the country's first and second biggest
banks by assets, said they had agreed to accept real estate in
exchange for hundreds of millions of dollars in public sector debt.
2010 Jan 3, Eric Rohmer
(b.1920), French new Wave film director and critic, died in Paris.
His first feature film, “The Sign of Leo," was released in 1959.
(SFC, 1/15/10, p.C5)
2010 Jan 3, In northern India
police said more than 30 people have died in cold weather-related
incidents in the past 24 hours, including 10 people killed in train
accidents caused by dense fog.
2010 Jan 3, In Pakistan's
northwest tribal region a suspected US drone missile strike killed
at least 2 people. A roadside bomb struck a vehicle in the Hangu
district of North West Frontier Province, killing a former
irrigation minister and 3 others. Another roadside bomb struck a
vehicle carrying anti-Taliban elders in the Bajur tribal area,
killing 2 and critically wounding 4 others. The bullet-riddled
bodies of a man and a woman were found in the Mamund area of Bajur
with a note saying they were guilty of violating Islamic law.
2010 Jan 3, Serbian police
arrested Darko Jankovic, a war crimes suspect. He was wanted for the
killing of at least 19 civilians in eastern Bosnia and other
atrocities of the 1992-95 war.
2010 Jan 3, In Switzerland
avalanches killed at least four skiers and a rescue doctor. Two of
the avalanches occurred in Diemtig Valley, the first hitting a group
of skiers, the second the rescuers who came to their aid. A third
avalanche buried two skiers near Switzerland's borders with France
2010 Jan 3, In northwestern
Turkey a passenger train crashed head-on into another train, killing
one of the engine drivers and injuring 14 other people.
2010 Jan 4, James Cameron's
science-fiction epic "Avatar" had another stellar weekend with $68.3
million domestically, shooting past $1 billion worldwide, only the
fifth movie ever to hit that mark. Along with "Titanic," the others
are "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" at $1.13
billion, "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" at $1.06
billion and "The Dark Knight" at a fraction over $1 billion,
according to box-office tracker Hollywood.com.
2010 Jan 4, The US Census
Bureau kicked off its $300 million campaign to prod, coax and cajole
the nation's more than 300 million residents to fill out their
once-a-decade census forms.
2010 Jan 4, Solis Palma, a
Mexican migrant, was shot and killed after he reportedly attacked a
US Border Patrol agent in southern Arizona with rocks.
2010 Jan 4, Bobby DeLaughter
(55), a former Mississippi prosecutor and judge whose legal
conquests became the subject of books and a movie, reported to
federal prison for lying to the FBI in a judicial bribery
investigation. DeLaughter was sentenced to 18 months in November
after pleading guilty to lying about secret conversations he had
with a lawyer while presiding over a dispute between wealthy
attorneys over legal fees. As part of a plea deal, prosecutors
dropped conspiracy and mail fraud charges.
2010 Jan 4, In Nevada Las Vegas
Johnny Lee Wicks (66), disgruntled over cuts in his Social Security
benefits, opened fire in the lobby of the federal court house in Las
Vegas killing a court security officer and wounding a deputy. Police
officers returned fire and Wicks was killed as he fled across the
(SFC, 1/5/10, p.A6)
2010 Jan 4, Novartis, a Swiss
drug company, agreed to buy a controlling 52% stake in Alcon, an
American listed but Swiss-based eyecare company, from food giant
(Econ, 1/9/10, p.66)
2010 Jan 4, NASA scientists
reported that the new Kepler space telescope has discovered 5
fiery-hot planets in the depths of the Milky Way, each far larger
(SFC, 1/5/10, p.A5)
2010 Jan 4, Edward Nathan
(1919), longtime grantmaker for the Zellerbach Family Foundation,
died in Oakland, Ca.
(SFC, 1/15/10, p.C5)
2010 Jan 4, In Algeria an
Algerian employee of Canadian construction firm SNC-Lavalin was
kidnapped by insurgents southeast of Algiers. The engineer was freed
on Jan 7.
2010 Jan 4, A new report by
Canada's Alzheimer Society said Canadians are developing dementia at
such a rapid rate that dealing with the problem will cost a total of
more than C$870 billion ($835 billion) over the next 30 years unless
preventive measures are taken.
2010 Jan 4, In northern China
21 workers were killed by a gas leak at the Hebei Puyang Iron and
Steel Co. Company officials initially said 16 workers were poisoned
and seven died while nine were sent to a hospital. On Jan 7 senior
executives "confessed" that they had covered up the death toll.
2010 Jan 4, Dubai inaugurated
the world's tallest skyscraper, the Burj Khalifa, hoping to shift
international attention away from the Gulf emirate's deep financial
crisis and rekindle the optimism that fueled its turbocharged
growth. The name was secretly switched from Burj Dubai and unveiled
to the public as the Burj Khalifa, after the emir of Abu Dhabi and
UAE president Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The observation
deck was the only part of the tower that opened. It was closed in
February following an elevator malfunction that left visitors
trapped. The deck reopened on April 4. Work continued on the rest of
the building's interior.
(AP, 1/4/10)(AFP, 1/5/10)(AP, 1/6/10)(AP, 4/4/10)
2010 Jan 4, In Iran dozens of
Tehran University professors appealed to the supreme leader to halt
the ongoing violence against protesters, adding a new and respected
voice in support of the opposition.
2010 Jan 4, In Iraq 3 policemen
were killed and eight people were wounded by two explosions in the
northern oil-rich city of Kirkuk.
2010 Jan 4, Irish writer Colm
Toibin was named novelist of the year in Britain's lucrative Costa
Book Awards for his emigrant saga "Brooklyn."
2010 Jan 4, Israel approved
construction of four new apartment buildings in disputed east
Jerusalem, fueling tensions with the Palestinians at a time when the
US is laboring to get peace talks moving again.
2010 Jan 4, In Kenya US citizen
Sharon Brown (39) and her daughter Margaux (1) were trampled to
death when a lone elephant charged out of the brush just outside
Mount Kenya National Park.
2010 Jan 3, In Mexico Josefina
Reyes, a human rights activist, was been killed in the border city
of Ciudad Juarez.
2010 Jan 4, Myanmar's ruling
junta chief confirmed that the country's first general elections in
two decades will be held this year but gave no date for the
balloting, which is expected to exclude pro-democracy leader Aung
San Suu Kyi.
2010 Jan 4, Nigerian soldiers
shot 2 contract workers dead and injured 4 others at a Chevron plant
under construction. This led to a riot and left several buildings
destroyed and halted operations at the southern Escravos gas
2010 Jan 4, The Norwegian Chess
Federation said Magnus Carlsen (19) is the youngest person to hold
the title since ratings were introduced in 1971.
2010 Jan 4, Serbia filed a
lawsuit against Croatia at the International Court of Justice,
accusing it of genocide during the 1991-1995 Balkan war, which
killed or displaced thousands of people.
2010 Jan 4, A tsunami unleashed
by an earthquake plowed into the Solomon Islands with the crashing
waters devastating at least one village, leaving over a thousand
people homeless. The US Geological Survey recorded 8 earthquakes in
the region since late Jan 3. The magnitude 7.2 was centered 64 miles
(103 km) southeast of Gizo, and followed a 6.5 tremor less than two
hours earlier centered 54 miles (90 km) southeast of Gizo at a depth
of 6 miles (10 km).
(AP, 1/4/10)(AP, 1/5/10)
2010 Jan 4, In South Africa
Pres. Jacob Zuma formalized his marriage to a third wife in a
traditional ceremony in rural KwaZulu-Natal province.
2010 Jan 4, In South Korea
Seoul residents slogged through the heaviest snowfall in modern
Korean history after a winter storm dumped more than 11 inches (28
cm), forcing airports to cancel flights and paralyzing traffic in
the bustling capital.
2010 Jan 4, Yemeni security
forces killed two suspected al-Qaida militants in clashes outside
the capital Sanaa, as the US and British embassies extended their
closure for a second day because of threats of attack by the terror
group's offshoot here. France became the latest foreign mission to
close in Yemen as security around embassies and the airport was
(AP, 1/4/10)(AFP, 1/4/10)
2010 Jan 5, The Ninth US
Circuit Court of Appeals in SF overturned Washington state’s ban on
voting by convicted felons. The ruling could extend ballots to
prisoners in other states.
(SFC, 1/6/10, p.C3)
2010 Jan 5, US sports
broadcaster ESPN said it will show some World Cup soccer matches
live from South Africa in 3-D and Japan's Sony teamed up with
Discovery and IMAX to launch a 3-D TV network in the United States.
2010 Jan 5, Google introduced
its Nexus One smart phone.
(SFC, 1/6/10, p.D1)
2010 Jan 5, In California 3
biologists with the California Dept. of Fish and Game were killed
along with their helicopter pilot while they were surveying deer in
the foothills of Sierra national Forest after their vehicle clipped
a power line and crashed.
(SFC, 1/6/10, p.C2)
2010 Jan 5, In Illinois a small
Learjet cargo plane crashed into the Des Plains River in Glenview
killing two pilots onboard.
(SFC, 1/6/10, p.A4)
2010 Jan 5, Kentucky lottery
officials said Rob Anderson (39) and his wife were winners of the
$128.6 million Powerball jackpot, the largest in the state's
history. The central Kentucky autoworker held on to the $128 million
Powerball ticket he bought on Christmas Eve during some last-minute
shopping, after it was printed by mistake.
2010 Jan 5, In Utah deputy
sheriff Josie Greathouse Fox was killed following a traffic stop in
Delta. Police searched for suspect Roberto Miramontes Roman, who had
just sold drugs to a relative of the slain officer.
(SFC, 1/6/10, p.A4)
2010 Jan 5, Bolivian President
Evo Morales said he's inviting activists, scientists and government
officials from around the world to an alternative climate conference
following the failure of a summit in Copenhagen to produce binding
2010 Jan 5, In Bulgaria gunmen
shot dead Bobbie Tsankov, a popular radio show host and crime
journalist, and critically injured two other men in a busy part of
the capital, Sofia.
2010 Jan 5, A fire in a coal
mine in central China killed at least 25 workers. Search efforts
continued for at least three others trapped underground at the
Lisheng coal mine in Xiangtan city in Hunan province.
2010 Jan 5, Iceland’s Pres.
Olafur Ragnar Grimsson rejected a bill passed by parliament on Dec
30 on a state guarantee for €3.9 billion owed to British and Dutch
governments. This amount would cover compensation paid to savers in
those countries following the collapse of Landsbanki and its
internet-banking scheme, Icesave, one of three stricken Icelandic
banks nationalized in October 2008.
(Econ, 1/9/10, p.52)
2010 Jan 5, In India global car
manufacturers eyeing the explosive growth of the Indian market
unveiled new compact models at the Delhi auto show as they sought to
break the dominance of entrenched local producers.
2010 Jan 5, In Nairobi, Kenya,
public transit was paralyzed after minibus drivers went on a 3-day
strike following claims of extortion and corruption by police.
(SSFC, 1/10/10, p.A4)
2010 Jan 5, Sheik Abdullah
el-Faisal, a Jamaican-born radical Muslim cleric, was stuck in Kenya
despite attempts to deport him because other nations are refusing to
allow him to transit through their countries. He has called for
Americans, Hindus and Jews to be killed. The British government has
said he was a key influence on July 7 bomber Jermaine Lindsay.
2010 Jan 5, The UN food agency
said it is stopping aid distribution to about 1 million people in
southern Somalia because of attacks against staff and demands by
armed groups that aid organizations remove women from their teams.
2010 Jan 5, Taiwan’s parliament
voted to reinstate a ban on imports of US ground beef and offal amid
mad cow concerns, challenging a decision by Pres. Ma Ying-jeou to
allow some shipments.
(SFC, 1/6/10, p.A2)
2010 Jan 6, It was reported
that Santa Barbara-based Cybersitter has filed a $2.2 billion
lawsuit against China, accusing Beijing of stealing its technology
to bar Internet access to political and religious sites in China.
The suit alleges that the Chinese makers of Green Dam illegally
copied more than 3,000 lines of code from its filtering software,
and conspired with China's rulers and computer manufacturers to
distribute more than 56 million copies of the pirated software
2010 Jan 6, Gilbert Arenas, a
Washington DC Wizards basketball guard, was suspended indefinitely
without pay by NBA commissioner David Stern, for carrying guns into
the Wizards' locker room. With each game he misses, Arenas will lose
about $147,200 of the $16.2 million he will earn in the second
season of a six-year, $111 million contract. The punishment came on
his 28th birthday.
2010 Jan 6, Baltimore Mayor
Sheila Dixon (56) resigned as part of a deal with prosecutors
following allegations that she stole gift cards that had been
donated to the poor.
(SFC, 1/7/10, p.A4)
2010 Jan 6, George Leonard
(86), writer and pioneer in the human potential movement, died at
his home in Mill Valley, Ca. From 1953 to 1970 he worked as a writer
and editor for Look magazine. His best-selling books included
“Education and Ecstasy" (1968).
(http://beststudentviolins.com/education.html)(SFC, 1/7/10, p.A1)
2010 Jan 6, In Afghanistan an
explosion tore through a group of children gathered around foreign
soldiers visiting a US-funded road project, killing 4 kids and a
policeman and wounding scores, including at least 3 American troops
in eastern Nangarhar province. The blast occurred when a passing
police vehicle hit a mine. In a separate attack in the province, 4
Afghan policeman were killed when a remote-controlled bomb blew up
their vehicle in the Khagyani district. At least 15 people were
injured in an explosion at a market in eastern Khost city. Soldiers
found more than 5,300 pounds (2,400 kg) of processed opium, more
than 1,000 pounds (450 kilograms) of wet opium paste, about 50
pounds (20 kilograms) of heroin and multiple firearms with
ammunition in the Maywand district of Kandahar province.
(AP, 1/6/10)(AP, 1/8/10)
2010 Jan 6, In the waters off
Antarctica the trimaran Ady Gil, a Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
boat, had its bow sheared off and was taking on water after it was
struck by the Shonan Maru 2, a Japanese whaling ship. The trimaran’s
6 crew members were safely transferred to the bob Barker, another of
the Society's vessels. The Ady Gil was left to sink the next day
after a tow rope snapped and the Bob Barker resumed its pursuit of
the Japanese whalers.
(AP, 1/6/10)(SFC, 1/6/10, p.A2)(AP, 1/8/10)
2010 Jan 6, Argentine President
Cristina Fernandez ordered the military to declassify all "dirty
2010 Jan 6, In Britain
unusually heavy snowfall stranded hundreds of motorists, disrupted
trains and shut down schools and airports across the land as the
country suffered through its longest cold snap in nearly 30 years.
2010 Jan 6, In Chile
investigators accused Rev. Ricardo Munoz Quinteros (55), a Catholic
priest, and his girlfriend, Pamela Ampuero, of soliciting sex from
young girls, including one who later bore his child.
2010 Jan 6, Egyptian security
forces and Palestinians clashed at the Gaza border over the delay of
an international aid convoy, killing one Egyptian border guard and
wounding 15 Palestinians. 3 gunmen in a car sprayed automatic
gunfire into a crowd leaving a church in the town of Nag Hamadi,
about 40 miles from the ancient ruins of Luxor. The lead attacker
was identified as a Muslim. 6 male churchgoers and one security
guard were killed on the Coptic Christmas Eve. The 3 suspects in the
drive-by shooting gave themselves up to police on Jan 8 after being
surrounded by security forces. On Jan 16, 2011, a court convicted
and sentenced to death a Muslim man for his part in the drive-by
shooting. "I am a victim; I did not do it," screamed Mohammed Ahmed
Hassanein, whose trial lasted 11 months. He was convicted of first
degree murder and terror-related charges.
(AP, 1/6/10)(AP, 1/7/10)(AP, 1/8/10)
2010 Jan 6, In Honduras the
chief prosecutor asked the Supreme Court to issue arrest warrants
charging Honduras' military commanders with abuse of power for
sending President Manuel Zelaya out of the country in his June 28
2010 Jan 6, A conservative
Iranian Web site reported that a parliamentary probe has found Saeed
Mortazavi, a former Tehran prosecutor, responsible for the death by
torture of at least 3 anti-government protesters detained in the
turmoil following the disputed June elections.
2010 Jan 6, A diplomat at the
Iranian embassy in Norway told Norwegian television that he had
resigned in protest over a crackdown on demonstrators in Iran. The
government in Tehran denied the report. In mid-February the
Norwegian Immigration Directorate gave Mohammed Reza Heydari and his
family permission to remain in Norway as political refugees after
going through "all necessary information pertaining to the case."
(AP, 1/6/10)(AP, 2/18/10)
2010 Jan 6, Five Iraqis were
killed and eight injured after their minibus collided with a US
military vehicle that was traveling in the wrong lane 80 km south of
Baghdad. In northern Iraq a US army soldier died of injuries
unrelated to combat.
(AP, 1/6/10)(AP, 1/7/10)
2010 Jan 6, In Indian Kashmir
suspected Muslim militants opened fire in the main market area of
Srinagar, killing one police officer and sending residents running
for cover. A suicide bomber struck an army facility in the
Pakistan-controlled portion of Kashmir, killing four soldiers and
wounding 11 others in an area where such attacks are rare.
(AFP, 1/6/10)(AP, 1/6/10)
2010 Jan 6, Israel announced it
successfully tested a high-tech shield against future mortar and
rocket attacks from the Hamas-ruled territory. Once installed later
this year, the Iron Dome system could deprive Hamas of an important
means of threatening Israel.
2010 Jan 6, Madagascar security
forces used tear gas to disperse protesters in the capital near the
presidential palace. The demonstrators, who are aligned with three
of the country's previous presidents, went to present the country's
military-backed leader with a letter questioning whether or not coup
leader Andry Rajoelina still wants reconciliation.
2010 Jan 6, A Malaysian court
charged an air force sergeant and a businessman with stealing two
fighter jet engines. The engines, each worth 50 million ringgit ($14
million), were stolen while they were undergoing repairs and were
allegedly shipped toward Argentina before being offloaded to another
vessel bound for Uruguay.
2010 Jan 6, In Tijuana, Mexico,
three 16-year-old students, two boys and a girl, were killed.
At least one of the victims was a known drug dealer who frequently
missed classes and sometimes peddled narcotics at or near the
2010 Jan 6, In Morocco the
first Berber TV channel in the ancient but marginalized tongue of
Amazigh was launched after a decades-long struggle.
2010 Jan 6, In Northern Ireland
the major British Protestant paramilitary group, the Ulster Defense
Association, announced it has fully disarmed, finally meeting the
key requirement of the province's 1998 peace accord.
2010 Jan 6, In Pakistan 2
suspected US drone missile strikes killed 13 people in North
Waziristan, an area of the volatile northwest teeming with militants
suspected in a recent suicide attack that killed seven CIA employees
(AP, 1/6/10)(AFP, 1/7/10)
2010 Jan 6, Palestinian work
crews broke ground on Rawabi, what they hope will be the first
modern, planned Palestinian city, a step that officials say will
help build an independent state in spite of the current deadlock in
the peace process with Israel. The $500 million project hinges on
Israel's approval of a short stretch of road.
2010 Jan 6, In Ashgabat,
Turkmenistan, Iranian Pres. Ahmadinejad inaugurated a new gas
pipeline link to Iran from Turkmenistan, which he said would take
ties to a "new level."
2010 Jan 6, In Russia a suicide
bomber blew up an explosives-packed car at a police station in
Dagestan province, killing six officers and wounding at least 16
people on the outskirts of Makhachkala. Investigators determined
that the homemade bomb packed into the Niva, a small Russian-made
SUV, was equivalent to 80 to 100 km (175 to 220 pounds) of TNT.
2010 Jan 6, Yemeni security
forces captured Mohammed al-Hanq, a key Al-Qaeda leader, and two
other militants believed behind threats against Western interests in
Sanaa. The US embassy reopened after a 2-day closure due to terror
(AFP, 1/6/10)(SFC, 1/6/10, p.A2)
2010 Jan 6, Zimbabwe state
media reported that Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) has signed an eight
million dollar deal with Botswana to revive a shut-down thermal
power station and ease national blackouts.
2010 Jan 7, The so-called
Liberty Head nickel, a rare 1913 US coin once owned by an Egyptian
king and later featured in a famous US TV detective series, was sold
for more than $3.7 million (2.3 million pounds) in a public auction
2010 Jan 7, US scientists
released a paper saying that mountaintop coal mining is so
destructive that the government should stop issuing permits to do
it. Earlier in the week the EPA issued a new permit for the Hobet 45
mine in West Virginia.
(SFC, 1/8/10, p.A11)
2010 Jan 7, Intel CEO Paul
Otellini introduced a technology called Intel Wireless Display
(WiDi) that allows a user to beam the contents of a computer screen
to a TV.
(SFC, 1/9/10, p.D1)
2010 Jan 7, Oaksterdam Univ., a
pioneering college dedicated to the cannabis industry, held its
grand opening in Oakland, Ca.
2010 Jan 7, In St. Louis, Mo.,
three people were killed and four wounded after a man armed with an
assault rifle and a handgun opened fire at a manufacturing plant.
2010 Jan 7, In Afghanistan a
suicide bomber killed 8 civilians and a senior security commander in
Gardez, the capital of eastern Paktia province, hours after a
provincial governor survived a blast in nearby Khost province. A
roadside bombs in Uruzgan province killed 8 Afghan soldiers. Another
roadside bomb in the east killed a US service member.
(AFP, 1/7/10)(AP, 1/8/10)(SFC, 1/8/10, p.A4)
2010 Jan 7, In Algeria a
stand-off with police began in the industrial town of Rouiba after
the 5,000 employees of the state-owned National Company of
Industrial Vehicles (SNVI) started an indefinite strike action to
demand higher wages and better terms.
2010 Jan 7, In Argentina Martin
Redrado (b.1961), governor of the central bank, was dismissed by
Pres. Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. She signed a decree firing him
for refusing to use currency reserves to pay foreign debt.
2010 Jan 7, China executed 7
gang leaders in Hebei province for murder, gun sales, gambling and
other crimes in what state media called their province's worst gang
case since the founding of communist China 60 years ago. In eastern
China some 100 hired thugs beat farmers who had resisted eviction in
the city of Pizhou in Jiangsu province. One woman was killed and
another woman was severely injured. The next day up to 2,000 angry
villagers descended on government offices in Pizhou to protest the
issue and clashed with police over the forced evictions.
(AP, 1/7/10)(AFP, 1/12/10)
2010 Jan 7, In the Dominican
Republic 4 people, including two US citizens, went missing on a
fishing trip off the southern coast. Robert Wayne and Laura Ricart
left Boca Chica with Spaniard Javier Jorge and Dominican Plinio
Jacobo, aboard a 24-foot (7m) boat.
2010 Jan 7, Eurostar passengers
faced further disruption after one of its high-speed trains got
stuck for 2 hours in the Channel Tunnel again, weeks after a major
breakdown due to the cold.
2010 Jan 7, In Egypt thousands
clashed with police during a funeral procession for the seven people
killed in an attack on churchgoers leaving a midnight Mass for
2010 Jan 7, In Iran armed
pro-government demonstrators opened fire on the car of former
presidential candidate and opposition leader Mahdi Karroubi, as he
was leaving a building in Qazvin .
2010 Jan 7, In Iraq a series of
5 blasts killed at least 8 people in western Anbar province. In
Diyala province a bomb exploded near a police station, killing one
policeman and injuring ten other people near the Iranian border.
(AP, 1/7/10)(SFC, 1/8/10, p.A4)
2010 Jan 7, In
Indian-controlled Kashmir government forces ended a 20-hour
gunbattle with suspected rebels in Srinagar, shooting and
killing the two attackers who paralyzed the region's main city.
2010 Jan 7, Kenya attempted to
deport Sheik Abdullah el-Faisal, a Jamaican-born radical Muslim
cleric, to Gambia after several countries, including the United
States, denied him a transit visa. Kenya's immigration minister said
Gambian authorities have agreed to help el-Faisal find his way home
to Jamaica. Attempts to deport el-Faisal failed because he was
denied a transit visa when he arrived in Nigeria en route to Gambia,
which had agreed to host him. El-Faisal was flown back to Kenya on
(AP, 1/7/10)(AP, 1/11/10)
2010 Jan 7, In Mexico gunmen
attacked an army patrol in the western state of Michoacan with
assault rifles and grenades, touching off a gunbattle that killed a
soldier and four suspects.
2010 Jan 7, A Moroccan court
sentenced 14 members of a suspected terror cell to prison terms of
four to 15 years for planning attacks against tourist and government
targets. Prosecutors had alleged that the group known as Fath Al
Andalous (Conquest of Andalusia) was well advanced in planning
attacks on tourist sites in the southern city of Agadir and a
military barracks in Laayoune.
2010 Jan 7, Gaza militants
fired at least 10 mortar shells at Israel, causing no injuries or
damage. international activists delivered hundreds of tons of
medicine and humanitarian aid to Gaza. The convoy was led by
maverick British lawmaker George Galloway, who said the group "will
be back with more (aid) until this criminal siege imposed on the
people of Gaza, to punish them for how they voted in a free
election, is lifted."
2010 Jan 7, Nepal began
releasing hundreds of former child soldiers, who once fought for the
Maoist rebels, from the UN-monitored detention camps they have
called home for the past three years to begin new lives as
2010 Jan 7, Russian police in
Dagestan killed two suspected militants in a counterterrorism
operation launched in response to a suicide blast that took the
lives of six officers. One of the slain militants was named as
Ismail Ichakayev, a man reportedly wanted for masterminding several
bombings and other attacks on officials.
2010 Jan 7, Rwanda and France
pledged to improve ties after a lengthy freeze in diplomatic
relations triggered by a French judge issuing arrest warrants for
top aides to President Paul Kagame.
2010 Jan 7, Zimbabwe halted a
controversial sale of 300,000 carats of diamonds, but blamed
bureaucratic hold-ups rather than a scandal over rights abuses by
the military in the diamond fields.
2010 Jan 7, A top UN human
rights investigator said video footage purportedly showing troops
shooting blindfolded, naked Tamils in the final months of Sri
Lanka's civil war, appeared to be authentic. The video, reportedly
shot by a soldier with a mobile phone, revived calls for a war
crimes investigation and cast a shadow over the upcoming
2010 Jan 8, In NYC 2 men linked
to an alleged Al-Qaida associate were arrested after one of the men
caused a traffic accident while under surveillance. Zarein Ahmedzay
(24) and Adis Medunjanin (25), former classmates of Najibullah Zazi,
were first publicly linked to an investigation of a plot to attack
NYC with homemade bombs in September. Zazi was arrested in Denver on
Sep 19 after investigators found evidence of a planned attack in his
rented vehicle in NYC on Sep 10. On April 23 Ahmedzay pleaded guilty
to charges including conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction.
He said Al-Qaida leaders in Pakistan in 2008 had encouraged him and
Zazi to target structures in NYC.
(SFC, 1/9/10, p.A9)(SFC, 4/24/10, p.A7)
2010 Jan 8, Lashonda Booker, a
former Federal Emergency Management employee and her cousin, Peggy,
Hilton were charged with stealing over $721,000 in Hurricane Katrina
relief money. Booker had worked in FEMA’s Biloxi, Miss., office.
(SFC, 1/12/10, p.A4)(http://tinyurl.com/yer5crg)
2010 Jan 8, It was reported
that YMax Corp., the company behind the magicJack, the cheap
Internet phone gadget that's been heavily promoted on TV, has made a
new version of the device that allows free calls from cell phones in
the home, in a fashion that's sure to draw protest from cellular
2010 Jan 8, Art Clokey (88),
American animator, died in Los Osos, Ca. His bendable creation Gumby
became a pop culture phenomenon through decades of toys, revivals
and satires. Gumby grew out of a student project Clokey produced at
the University of Southern California in the early 1950s called
2010 Jan 8, In Afghanistan two
local intelligence guards were killed at a dog fight in the
provincial capital of Pul-e Alam in Logar province. A suspected
suicide bomber had entered the dog fight and opened fire. Other
intelligence officers killed the gunman, who never detonated his
2010 Jan 8, In Angola hooded
gunmen sprayed the Togo soccer team’s bus with gunfire as it
traveled through the restive northern Cabinda enclave. The bus
driver was killed and 7 others were injured. The attack was claimed
by the separatist Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda
(FLEC), which has been fighting for decades for the independence of
the oil-rich territory. The next day media officer Stanislas Ocloo
and assistant coach Amalete Abalo died from their wounds. Virgilio
Santos, an official with the African Nations Cup local organizing
committee COCAN, said teams had been told explicitly not to travel
to the tournament by road.
2010 Jan 8, Australia angrily
condemned an Indian newspaper cartoon likening its police to the Ku
Klux Klan over their investigations into the recent murder of a
young Indian man. 4 men reportedly poured an unidentified fluid on
Jaspreet Singh (29), a man of Indian descent, and set him alight in
a suburb of Melbourne, leaving him with 15% burns. Singh was later
charged with making a false report to police and criminal damage
with a view to gaining financial advantage over the incident,
allegedly to make an insurance claim.
(AFP, 1/8/10)(AFP, 1/9/10)(AFP, 2/2/10)
2010 Jan 8, Virgin Money, part
of Richard Branson's Virgin empire, took big strides towards
becoming a major retail bank able to compete in a battered sector
seeking to recover from the financial crisis.
2010 Jan 8, The beleaguered
Eurostar train service cancelled half of its trains between London
and Paris because of freezing temperatures.
2010 Jan 8, In Canada Wiebo
Ludvig (68), an anti-energy-industry activist was arrested in Grande
Prairie, Alberta, in connection with the investigation into a series
of pipeline bombings in northeastern British Columbia. Ludwig had
been convicted a decade ago of bombing oil and gas wells. The next
day Ludwig was released without charges.
(SFC, 1/9/10, p.A2)(Reuters, 1/10/10)
2010 Jan 8, Charles Massi (57)
a former minister and head of the rebel Convention of Patriots for
Justice and Peace (CPJP), died following the torture he was
subjected to. The Central African Ministry of Defense formally
denied killing Massi in a statement on 21 January and said that the
government did not know where he was.
2010 Jan 8, The China Passenger
Car Association reported that China overtook the US as the biggest
auto market in 2009 and automakers should see more strong growth
2010 Jan 8, In southeastern
China a fire in coal mine trapped and killed 12 workers in Xinyu
city, Jiangxi province.
2010 Jan 8, The EU said it will
pursue a new deal on global warming through the Group of 20, since
last month's UN climate conference of nearly 200 nations led to
unwieldy negotiations that didn't accomplish much.
2010 Jan 8, Officials said
Guinea's No. 2 leader, Gen. Sekouba Konate, is going to Senegal for
medical treatment for cirrhosis of the liver, heightening fears of a
power vacuum since the country's president is already hospitalized
in Morocco following an assassination attempt. Guinea's Health
Minister denied reports that the nation's No. 2 leader was heading
to Senegal to be hospitalized, rejecting rumors he was being
evacuated for a medical emergency.
2010 Jan 8, Israeli airstrikes
against targets in Gaza killed three men in a smuggling tunnel along
the Gaza-Egypt border.
2010 Jan 8, Israeli cooks
doubled the previous record for the world's biggest serving of
hummus, set in October by cooks in Lebanon. An adjudicator sent from
London by Guinness World Records, Jack Brockbank, confirmed that
Israeli chefs now held the record for hummus. He put the exact
amount of hummus in a giant satellite dish at 9,017 pounds (4,090
2010 Jan 8, In Italy at least
37 people were wounded in Rosarno, following clashes between the
migrants, police and local residents. The wounded included 5
migrants, 14 residents and 18 police officers.
2010 Jan 8, Government forces
in Indian Kashmir killed two suspected rebels in a gunbattle. The
fighting started after troops cordoned off a house in Khrew village
after receiving a tip that suspected militants were hiding there.
2010 Jan 8, In Malaysia 3
churches were attacked with firebombs, causing extensive damage to
one, as Muslims pledged to prevent Christians from using the word
"Allah," escalating religious tensions in the multiracial country.
On Aug 13 a Malaysian court sentenced two Muslim brothers to five
years in prison for torching a Christian church during the height of
(AP, 1/8/10)(AP, 8/13/10)
2010 Jan 8, In Mexico a major
regional newspaper in the northern city of Saltillo announced
it would stop covering drug violence altogether after the body of a
reporter was found outside a motel with a threatening message.
Valentin Valdes (28) had written about the Dec. 29 arrests at the
Marbella Motel of five alleged members of the Gulf drug cartel. He
also covered the arrests on Jan 6 of five others who barged into the
same hotel and stole the surveillance tapes. All 60 policemen in the
embattled town of Tancitaro were fired because they had failed to
stop a series of killings and other crimes. Michoacan state police
and soldiers planned to take over security duties in the town. In
Ciudad Juarez a man's body was found on a street with its hands and
head cut off. Another man's body, with its head cut off and eyes
gouged out, was found elsewhere in the city and two women's bodies
were found in a vacant lot. The body of a man whose legs had been
surgically amputated some time ago was also found on a dirt road on
the outskirts of Ciudad Juarez. A man riding a bicycle was shot to
death in the city. 5 people were killed in drive-by shootings and a
group of 3 men were shot to death at a fast-food restaurant near a
(AP, 1/8/10)(AP, 1/9/10)
2010 Jan 8, In Nigeria a
crude-oil pipeline operated by Chevron was attacked by unknown
gunmen in the Niger Delta region.
2010 Jan 8, In Pakistan a US
missile strike killed 4 militants in North Waziristan, as US Senator
John McCain, visiting Islamabad, defended the attacks which fuel
anti-American sentiment in the Muslim nation. 8 suspected insurgents
were killed when explosives intended for a bomb attack accidentally
blew up, destroying a militant safe house in Karachi.
(AFP, 1/8/10)(SFC, 1/9/10, p.A2)
2010 Jan 8, Portugal's
parliament passed a bill that would make the predominantly Catholic
nation the sixth in Europe to permit gay marriage.
2010 Jan 8, In Puerto Rico
officials said they have killed 800 monkeys blamed for scavenging
crops and damaging natural resources in southwest region. Most of
those killed were patas monkeys. About 200 rhesus monkeys were sent
to the Caribbean Primate Research Center at the University of Puerto
Rico and to other countries. The monkeys had escaped from research
labs in the 1960s and '70s.
2010 Jan 8, An avalanche in
Russia's southern Caucasus mountain range killed five climbers
including an instructor. The novice climbers, all from Moscow or St.
Petersburg had undergone an intensive, six-day training course in
the climbing base of Bezengi, in the province of Kabardino-Balkaria.
Four climbers in a party of nine survived the snow slide, which
struck as they were ascending the Gedan-tau peak.
2010 Jan 8, Steven Lin of
Hsinchu-based Heli-Ocean Technology, a Taiwanese company, said his
company had agreed to a request from a firm in China to procure
sensitive components with nuclear uses, then shipped them to Iran.
Such transactions violate UN sanctions imposed on the Middle Eastern
nation. Lin said he received an Internet order from a Chinese firm
in January or February 2008 to obtain an unspecified number of
pressure transducers, which convert pressure into analog electrical
2010 Jan 8, Venezuela’s Pres.
Chavez issued a presidential decree devaluing the currency by up to
(Econ, 1/16/10, p.39)
2010 Jan 8, Venezuela’s Pres.
Chavez issued a presidential decree devaluing the currency by up to
50%. Finance minister Ali Rodriguez admitted that this would boost
the inflation rate, 27% last year, by 3-5 percentage points.
(Econ, 1/16/10, p.39)
2010 Jan 9, California-based
eSolar Inc. said it will help build a series of solar thermal power
plants in China, as the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases
tries to decrease its heavy reliance on coal, imported gas and oil.
2010 Jan 9, A company called
TrueCompanion premiered the "lifelike" sex robot, Roxxxy on the
floor of the Adult Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas.
(http://tinyurl.com/yb7w8gr)(Econ, 4/2/11, p.65)
2010 Jan 9, Afghan President
Hamid Karzai presented a second slate of nominees to fill his
Cabinet after parliament rejected 70 percent of his first picks.
Afghan and NATO officials signed an agreement for NATO to hand over
control of the prison at Bagram airbase near Kabul to Afghan
authorities. A blast hit a convoy carrying a provincial council
member from Wardak province, killing a bodyguard and wounding five
others. Another explosion killed one policeman and wounded two in
Kandahar. In southern Helmand province an explosion outside Nawa
village killed a US Marine and Sunday Mirror journalist Rupert Hamer
(39), a veteran war correspondent. Hamer became the first British
journalist killed in the conflict. Photographer Philip Coburn (43)
was seriously wounded. Mahmoud Mahdi Zeidan, a Jordanian militant
who served as a bodyguard for al-Qaida's No. 3 leader, was killed in
a US drone attack near the Afghan-Pakistan border.
(AP, 1/9/10)(AFP, 1/9/10)(AP, 1/10/10)
2010 Jan 9, Algerian security
forces killed 10 Islamist rebels in an ambush in the region of
M'sila, 400 km (250 miles) east of Algiers. A "large quantity" of
weapons were seized during the operation. Islamists looted and
burned a Protestant church, suggesting they were inspired by a
recent spate of religious intolerance in the Arab and Muslim world.
(Reuters, 1/10/10)(AP, 1/11/10)
2010 Jan 9, British media
reported that Iris Robinson (60), the disgraced wife of Northern
Ireland's leader, will step down as a lawmaker within days as
pressure mounted on Peter Robinson and the province's shaky
coalition government. The reported move follows the revelation that
she had an adulterous relationship with a man nearly 40 years her
junior, and allegations that she solicited tens of thousands of
pounds (dollars) from businessmen to help the teenager launch a
cafe. She was 58 at the time, and the man was 19.
2010 Jan 9, In the Central
African Republic the wife of Charles Massi (57), head of the only
rebel group in the CAR still fighting the government, said that he
has been captured and is in a critical condition in jail. The former
prime minister lead the rebel Convention of Patriots for Justice and
Peace (CPJP). On Jan 16 Denise Massi and his party said in a
statement that Massi has been dead since Jan 8 after being subjected
(AFP, 1/9/10)(AFP, 1/16/10)
2010 Jan 9, In Dagestan a car
with three men inside exploded during a shootout with police in the
Kumtorkala district. The men were part of a local terrorist group
and were transporting explosives.
2010 Jan 9, In Egypt Muslims
and Christians set fire to each others' homes and shops near the
southern town of Nagaa Hamady, three days after a gunman killed six
Coptic Christians in a drive-by shooting there.
2010 Jan 9, Four suspected
members of the Basque separatist group ETA were arrested in Portugal
and France, one driving a van loaded with explosives near a police
barracks. two police officers stopped the van in Spain when their
suspicions were raised by its French license plates. The driver of
the van then pushed passed the police and proceeded to flee the
scene driving off in their patrol car which he stole. The police
alerted their Portuguese counterparts who rapidly arrested the man
and a woman, who had been following the van in a presumed getaway
vehicle with French plates.
2010 Jan 9, Germans faced the
cancellation of hundreds of flights as fresh snow blew in from the
south, and Britons shivered through the country's longest cold snap
in three decades as icy weather maintained its grip on Europe.
2010 Jan 9, In Iran about 30
"mourning mothers," with children who were killed or disappeared
during the post-election unrest, were arrested in a Tehran park and
taken to a detention center in the capital. The mothers had gather
in Tehran's Laleh park every Saturday.
2010 Jan 9, In Italy some 300
African migrants were bused out of Rosarno, a southern Italian town
rocked by two days of clashes between the migrants, police and local
residents. The rioting began after two men, one from Nigeria and the
other from Togo, were lightly wounded by a pellet gun attack on Jan
7. Migrants alleged they were earning illegally low wages, as little
as euro20 euros ($30), for a 12-hour day picking citrus fruit and
2010 Jan 9, Humam Khalil Abu
Mulal al-Balawi, the Jordanian doctor who killed 7 CIA employees in
a suicide attack in Afghanistan, said in video clips broadcast
posthumously today that all jihadists must attack US targets to
avenge the death of Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud.
Speaking in Arabic in the video shown on al-Jazeera, the Arabic
network, and Aaj, a Pakistani channel, al-Balawi noted that the
Pakistani Taliban had given shelter to "emigrants" — Muslim fighters
2010 Jan 9, In Malaysia a
fourth church was hit by firebombs, stoking concern among Christians
as a dispute rages over the use of the word "Allah" by non-Muslims.
2010 Jan 9, In Pakistan 2
missiles fired by a suspected unmanned US drone hit a house in Data
Khel, an area in North Waziristan that is a stronghold of the
Haqqani militant network. 2 people were killed and 3 wounded.
Intelligence officials later said the missile strike killed Jamal
Saeed Abdul Rahim. Pakistani officials called him an al-Qaida
member, but the FBI says he was a member of the Abu Nidal terrorist
group. According to an FBI Web site, Rahim is wanted for his alleged
role in the Sept. 5, 1986, hijacking of Pan American World Airways
Flight 73 during a stop in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi.
Some 20 passengers and crew, including two American citizens, were
killed during the attack.
(AP, 1/9/10)(AP, 1/15/10)
2010 Jan 9, In Sri Lanka more
than 700 former Tamil Tiger rebels were reunited with family members
after months in rehabilitation camps since the country's
decades-long civil war ended last year.
2010 Jan 9, Togo's national
soccer team, devastated by a shooting attack on its bus in Angola
that killed at least 3 and left 8 gravely injured, withdrew from the
African Cup of Nations.
2010 Jan 10, US Republicans
moved to draw attention to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s
racially tinged remarks about Barack Obama during the 2008
presidential race. Reid had acknowledged that he had described Obama
as “light skinned" and possessing no “Negro dialect" in a private
conversation with two reporters, Mark Halperin and John Heilemann,
authors of the new book “Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain
and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime" (2010).
(SFC, 1/11/10, p.A4)(SFC, 1/12/10, p.A12)
2010 Jan 10, Juliet Anderson
(71), adult film star born as Judith Carr, died at her home in
Berkeley, Ca. She had begun her career in 1978 and appeared in some
80 hardcore porn films. In 1984 she cast and directed Nina Hartley
in “Educating Nina."
(SSFC, 1/31/10, p.C12)
2010 Jan 10, Abu Dhabi Sheik
Issa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of the United Arab Emirates
ruling family being tried in connection with the videotaped beating
of an Afghan man, was cleared of all charges. The video showed the
prince beating the man with stick, pouring salt on his wounds and
driving over him in a car. The victim, identified as Afghani grain
dealer Mohammed Shapoor, survived the beatings.
(AP, 1/10/10)(Econ, 1/16/10, p.48)
2010 Jan 10, In Afghanistan a
roadside bomb killed three charity workers and wounded two others in
Uruzgan province. Bombs killed an American service member and two
Afghan road construction workers in separate attacks in Helmand
(AP, 1/10/10)(AP, 1/11/10)
2010 Jan 10, In Algeria a
collision between a bus and a truck killed 15 people and injured
another 15 on a major highway in the Ghardaia region in the Sahara
2010 Jan 10, New data showed
that China has overtaken Germany as the world's top exporter after
December exports jumped 17.7% for their first increase in 14 months.
2010 Jan 10, In southeast Congo
6 people, including 5 children, died in a tin mine collapse. 2
people were left missing.
2010 Jan 10, Croatia held a
presidential run-off vote pitting a left-wing professor against the
populist Zagreb mayor. Front-runner Ivo Josipovic vowed to crack
down on corruption and lead the recession-hit nation into the EU.
Law expert and classical music composer Josipovic (b.1957) won the
runoff presidential vote, beating popular Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandic.
(AFP, 1/10/10)(AP, 1/10/10)
2010 Jan 10, In Dagestan 2
militants were gunned down in the provincial capital, Makhachkala,
after police surrounded and stormed a house where a group of wanted
terrorists was hiding.
2010 Jan 10, Heavy snowfall
caused havoc in parts of Europe, causing hundreds of traffic
accidents, downing power lines in Poland, halting flights out of
southern France and trapping more than 160 people overnight on a
frozen highway in northeastern coastal Germany.
2010 Jan 10, Voters in French
Guiana overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to give local government
more autonomy while remaining a part of France. 70% voted "no," with
2010 Jan 10, Hong Kong police
arrested a man after two bottles of corrosive liquid were hurled
into a crowd in the city's Kowloon area. At least 30 people were
injured in the city's latest acid attack.
2010 Jan 10, In Iran a
parliamentary investigation was made public that found Saeed
Mortazavi, the former Tehran prosecutor, responsible for the deaths
of at least three anti-government protesters imprisoned in the
turmoil following Iran's disputed June elections. Iran freed a
Syrian journalist working for Dubai television who was detained
during anti-government protests two weeks ago.
(AP, 1/10/10)(Reuters, 1/10/10)
2010 Jan 10, Israel's
government approved a plan for the construction of two massive
fences along the long and porous southern border with Egypt. PM
Netanyahu said he wants to stem a growing flood of African asylum
seekers and to prevent Islamic militants from entering the country.
The project is expected to cost about $400 million.
2010 Jan 10, In Malaysia
firebombs were thrown at 3 more churches and another was splashed
with black paint, the latest in a series of assaults on Christian
houses of worship following a court decision allowing non-Muslims to
use "Allah" to refer to God.
2010 Jan 10, Voters in
Martinique overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to give local
government more autonomy while remaining a part of France. Election
officials said 80% of voters rejected the plan, with 55%
participation. An estimated 50,000 people were unemployed on
Martinique, home to some 400,000 inhabitants.
2010 Jan 10, In Pakistan four
bodies were found in Karachi, three of them headless, in a wave of
targeted attacks among rival political groups that some say is aimed
at destabilizing the country's ruling coalition. Pakistan's Interior
Ministry said that 41 people have died in targeted killings in
Karachi since the beginning of the year, including 10 MQM workers,
10 from a breakaway faction called Haqiqi, and 16 members of a
committee set up by the ruling party in Lyari to control violence in
2010 Jan 10, About 50,000
Philippine policemen began enforcing a 5-month ban on carrying guns
in public in hopes of avoiding bloodshed in the buildup to May
elections, arresting 18 violators at checkpoints across the country.
2010 Jan 10, In Somalia clashes
began between rival Islamic militias battling for control of in
Belet Weyne, a strategic western town. At least 14 people were
killed as the clashes continued into the next day.
2010 Jan 10, Venezuela’s
President Hugo Chavez says there's too much capitalism on Venezuelan
TV. So he's urging producers to start making films and TV shows that
stress socialist values.
2010 Jan 11, Fox News announced
that Sarah Palin, former Alaska governor and 2008 vice presidential
candidate, would become a regular commentator on its cable channel.
(SFC, 1/12/10, p.A4)
2010 Jan 11, Mark McGwire ended
more than a decade of denials and evasion admitting that steroids
and human growth hormone helped make him a home run king. His record
of 70 home runs in 1998 was surpassed by Barry Bonds' 73 homers in
2001, the year of McGwire's retirement and the apex of the Steroids
Era. McGwire said he first used steroids between the 1989 and 1990
seasons, after helping the Oakland Athletics to a World Series sweep
when he and Jose Canseco formed the Bash Brothers. He returned to
steroids after the 1993 season, when he missed all but 27 games with
a mysterious heel injury, after being told steroids might speed his
2010 Jan 11, In Afghanistan 6
NATO service members, including 3 Americans, were killed, making it
the deadliest day for the international force in more than two
months. The Americans died in a firefight with militants during an
"operational patrol" in southern Afghanistan. A French officer was
killed during a joint patrol with Afghan troops in Alasay, some 50
miles (80 km) northeast of Kabul. A French service member was killed
in the clash. A 6th NATO service member was killed by a roadside
bomb in the south. A new poll was released that said nearly 7 in 10
Afghans support the presence of US forces in their country, and 61%
favor the military buildup of 37,000 US and NATO reinforcements now
deploying. A missile fired from an unmanned aircraft killed three
insurgents farther south in the Nad Ali district of Helmand. A
member of the Afghan National Police was killed and two others were
wounded in a suicide at a police station in Uruzgan province. 13
insurgents were killed in the early hours when the Marines called in
a Hellfire missile strike from an unmanned Predator drone into Bar
(AP, 1/11/10)(AP, 1/12/10)(Reuters, 1/12/10)
2010 Jan 11, Algeria's foreign
ministry said it had summoned the US ambassador to "strongly
protest" the North African country's placing on a 14-nation terror
watch list drawn up by the Obama administration.
2010 Jan 11, Angola said it had
arrested two people suspected of taking part in an attack on a bus
carrying the Togo national soccer team to the African Nations Cup in
which two delegation members were killed.
2010 Jan 11, Riversdale, an
Australian mining firm, said the Mozambican government has given it
the green light to build a 800-million-dollar coal mine in the
country's northwest. Riversdale has predicted that the Benga project
will produce some of the lowest-cost coking coal in the world.
2010 Jan 11, In Britain former
Gurkha soldiers from Nepal lost a test case against Ministry of
Defence over pension rights at the High Court in London.
2010 Jan 11, Chile inaugurated
the Museum of Memory in Santiago to make sure the tens of thousands
of people who were imprisoned, killed or disappeared during Gen.
Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship are not forgotten.
(AP, 1/12/10)(Econ, 9/13/14, p.43)
2010 Jan 11, China's top
prosecutorial office said thousands of Chinese officials have fled
overseas with as much as $50 billion in their pockets in stolen
government funds during the country's economic boom over the past
three decades. Zhao Shiying, the secretary-general of the
Independent Chinese PEN Center, was taken into custody by
authorities from his home in southern Shenzhen. He was released on
(AP, 1/11/10)(AP, 1/25/10)
2010 Jan 11, China’s state
media reported that more than 24 million Chinese men of marrying age
could find themselves without spouses in 2020, citing a study that
blamed sex-specific abortions as a major factor. A study by the
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences warned the imbalance will dash
many young men's chance at marriage and lead to increased crime.
(AFP, 1/11/10)(AP, 1/12/10)
2010 Jan 11, China's military,
according to state media, successfully tested a ground-based system
for intercepting missiles in mid-flight.
2010 Jan 11, In Cyprus Andy
Hadjicostis (41), the director of the Dias publishing group, was
fatally shot outside his home in central Nicosia, in an attack that
bore the hallmarks of a contract killing. The gunman fled on a
motorcycle driven by an accomplice. 3 men were soon arrested and
held pending formal charges. On Feb 5 Cyprus police formally pressed
murder charges against TV host Elena Skordelli, her brother
Anastasios Krasopoullis and Andreas Grigoriou in the suspected Jan
11 contract killing of Andy Hadjicostis (41), the island's most
(AP, 1/12/10)(AP, 1/15/10)(AP, 2/5/10)
2010 Jan 11, In Ecuador Quito
Mayor Augusto Barrera said his government will impose new driving
restrictions to keep 80,000 private cars off the capital’s congested
streets during rush hour.
2010 Jan 11, Indian PM Manmohan
Singh laid out ambitious plans to make his country a global leader
in solar power as he launched a government initiative to boost use
of the technology. Andy Pag (35) was detained in the western state
of Rajasthan for having an unlicensed satellite phone. He (Andrea
Pagnacco) was ordered held for 14 days while police investigate
whether he is a threat to national security. The London-based
environmental campaigner was traveling around the world in a
biofuel-driven bus. In March ordered to pay a fine for illegally
using a satellite phone and became free to leave India 69 days after
(AFP, 1/11/10)(AP, 1/17/10)(AP, 3/21/10)
2010 Jan 11, In Iraq a bomb
attached to a pickup truck in an Iraqi Shiite lawmaker's convoy
wounded five people, including three of his bodyguards, when it
exploded in Baghdad.
2010 Jan 11, Israel's
parliament adopted legislation that bans the state from paying for
the funeral of any citizen who commits terror attacks against the
2010 Jan 11, Dutch brewer
Heineken said it will buy the beer-making operations of Mexico’s
Femsa, the maker of Dos Equis and Sol beers, in an all-share deal
valued at $5.5 billion, excluding debt.
(SFC, 1/12/10, p.D3)
2010 Jan 11, Northern Ireland's
speaker of the regional assembly said Protestant leader Peter
Robinson will temporarily step down for 6 weeks in the wake of a
scandal over his wife's affair with a 19-year-old man. He will be
replaced by his Protestant colleague Arlene Foster.
2010 Jan 11, North Korea called
for talks on a treaty to formally end the Korean War, saying it
wants better ties with the United States and an end to sanctions
before pushing ahead with nuclear disarmament.
2010 Jan 11, Pakistani police
in Karachi arrested a couple on charges of stabbing their
3-month-old baby to death. A witch doctor had advised them to kill
the girl after telling them it would make them rich.
2010 Jan 11, Sudanese President
Omar Hassan al-Bashir retired as commander-in-chief of the army, in
what sources said was a procedural move before the first multi-party
elections in 24 years.
2010 Jan 12, The US National
Safety Council said 28% of all traffic accidents are caused when
people talk on cell phones or send text messages while driving.
(SFC, 1/13/10, p.A11)
2010 Jan 12, In California a
state commission voted unanimously to approve the most stringent,
environmentally friendly building code standards of any state in the
nation. The new code, dubbed Calgreen, will take effect next
(SFC, 1/13/10, p.A1)
2010 Jan 12, In Georgia a
disgruntled ex-employee stormed a Penske Truck Rental facility in
Kennesaw killing 2 people and critically wounding 3 others.
(SFC, 1/13/10, p.A11)
2010 Jan 12, Officials shut
down a North Carolina port and urged people to leave the area after
nine containers with highly explosive materials were accidentally
punctured by a fork lift operator. The chemical involved is
pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETV), a powerful explosive.
(AP, 1/12/10)(SFC, 1/13/10, p.A6)
2010 Jan 12, Google's announced
that it was considering a withdrawal from China, after what it said
were attacks from China on human rights activists using its Gmail
service and on dozens of companies.
2010 Jan 12, Texas-based Apache
Corp. said it made its sixth oil and gas discovery in the Faghur
Basin play in Egypt's far Western Desert near the Libyan border.
2010 Jan 12, Kenn Allan Davis
(78), newspaper illustrator and mystery novel writer, died at his
home in Placer County, Ca. His 8 detective novels featured Carver
Bascombe, an African American private eye. The first in the series
was titled “The Dark Side" (1976), co-written with John Stanley.
(SFC, 1/19/10, p.C3)
2010 Jan 12, In Afghanistan
protesters claiming that international troops destroyed copies of
the Quran clashed with Afghan and foreign security forces, leaving
six people dead in Helmand province's Garmsir district. Coalition
troops saw a group of insurgents near a safe house preparing
ammunition as well as insurgent mortar teams moving equipment and
launched one missile in the Naw Zad area of Helmand province,
killing the 13 militants. A French army captain died of wounds
suffered a day before during an insurgent ambush in the Alasay
valley east of Kabul.
2010 Jan 12, China took new
steps to control bank lending, ordering institutions to set aside
more reserves in a move to avert a surge in credit that Beijing
worries might fuel inflation or asset price bubbles.
2010 Jan 12, The European Court
of Human Rights condemned British anti-terror legislation allowing
people to be searched by police without reasonable suspicion of
2010 Jan 12, Guinea's wounded
junta leader, Capt. Moussa "Dadis" Camara, arrived in Burkina Faso
from Morocco to recuperate after last month's assassination attempt.
One of his top opponents said the surprise move could help him avoid
2010 Jan 12, A powerful 7.0
earthquake hit Haiti and crushed thousands of structures, from
schools and shacks to the National Palace. Thousands of people were
believed dead and untold numbers were trapped. An estimated 3
million people were in need of emergency aid. The quake left over
200,000 people dead. Some 4,500 prison inmates escaped during the
earthquake. By April they were terrorizing neighborhoods and
fighting turf battles. The UN later estimated 222,570 people were
killed and 300,572 injured. In 2011 a report commissioned by USAID
contended that between 46,000 and 85,000 people were killed by the
quake, far below the Haitian government's death toll of 316,000.
(AP, 1/13/10)(SFC, 3/11/10, p.A2)(SFC, 4/8/10,
p.A2)(Econ, 3/19/11, p.46)(AFP, 6/1/11)
2010 Jan 12, The Indonesian
government, which has promised to stamp out corruption, was
embarrassed by revelations that rich and powerful prisoners are
living in luxury behind bars.
2010 Jan 12, In Iran Masoud Ali
Mohammadi (50), a nuclear physics professor who publicly backed
Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi in the disputed June
presidential election, was killed when a bomb-rigged motorcycle blew
up outside his home in Tehran. The government blamed the rare
assassination on an armed Iranian opposition group that it said
operated under the direction of Israel and the US. In 2011 Majid
Jamali Fashi, charged with the killing of Mohammadi, went on trial.
Fashi was also accused of cooperating with Mossad. On Aug 28 Fashi
was sentenced to death.
(AP, 1/12/10)(AP, 8/23/11)(AP, 8/28/11)
2010 Jan 12, Iraqi security
forces locked down large swathes of Baghdad, seized hundreds of
pounds of explosives and arrested 25 men suspected of plotting
terror attacks possibly timed to coincide with the run-up to
parliamentary elections in March.
2010 Jan 12, Israeli police
broke up the harem of Goel Ratzon (60), who was suspected of
enslaving a cult-like harem of at least 17 women and 37 children.
Ratzon, who's lived this way for two decades, denied any wrongdoing.
He maintained the harem with 17 women in a state of near-total
obedience in apartments in the Tel Aviv area. On Feb 14 he was
charged in a Tel Aviv court with enslavement, rape, incest and other
(AP, 1/14/10)(AP, 2/8/10)(AP, 2/14/10)
2010 Jan 12, In Mexico druglord
Teodoro Garcia Simental, known as "El Teo," was seized by federal
troops when they stormed a seaside vacation home near the southern
tip of the Baja California peninsula. He was accused of ordering
massacres, beheadings and the dissolving of bodies in caustic soda.
2010 Jan 12, Nigerian lawmakers
voted to send a delegation to Saudi Arabia to discuss "issues of
national importance" with ailing President Umaru Yar'Adua as
protests mounted for him to stand down. Gunmen seized 3 Britons and
a Colombian, shooting dead their police escort in the first major
kidnapping for six months in southern Niger Delta. Gunmen soon
demanded a ransom of 300 million naira (1.98 million dollars, 1.38
million euros) for the release of three Britons and the Colombian.
On Jan 18 gunmen freed the 3 British expatriate workers and their
(AFP, 1/12/10)(AFP, 1/15/10)(AFP, 1/18/10)
2010 Jan 12, In Papua New
Guinea 38 people were killed and 18 others hospitalized after two
speeding buses crashed head-on while trying to drive around
2010 Jan 12, A web site linked
to leading Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza reported that Poland's tax
office has levied a fine of 2.3 million zlotys ($820,000) on an
unemployed woman for failing to pay tax on income worth at least
13.7 million zlotys she said she had earned as a prostitute.
2010 Jan 12, Saudi Arabia said
that 82 Saudi soldiers been killed and 21 are missing since November
when it joined the fighting in battling rebels along the
2010 Jan 12, In Sri Lanka
Gunmen opened fire on a bus carrying supporters of the main
opposition presidential candidate, killing one political activist.
2010 Jan 12, Novartis, a Swiss
drug company, announced its decision to spend $24 million to secure
exclusive licenses and options on drug delivery technologies
developed by Proteus Biomedical, a California start-up.
(Econ, 1/16/10, p.62)
2010 Jan 12, Switzerland's
highest court ruled that $4.6 million seized from bank accounts
linked to Haiti's former dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier
can be handed over to his family. The decision was not published
until Feb 3. Many in Haiti considered that money to be stolen from
public funds. Duvalier was ousted in 1986.
2010 Jan 12, Yemeni military
forces killed 20 rebels in a door-to-door sweep of the main northern
city Saada and arrested 20 more in an operation dubbed "Strike on
the Head." Yemeni security forces killed Abdullah Mihzar, a
suspected militant, who was on a government list of wanted al-Qaida
figures. 4 others were arrested in a raid on a house in the remote
mountainous province of Shabwa.
(AP, 1/12/10)(AP, 1/13/10)
2010 Jan 13, US hearings began
by the 10-member Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission to investigate
at least 22 potential causes of the financial crisis.
2010 Jan 13, Wall Street
executives said they underestimated the severity of the 2008
financial crisis and apologized for risky behavior and poor
decisions. They also defended their bonus and compensation practices
to a skeptical commission investigating what caused the collapse.
2010 Jan 13, In the SF Bay Area
aspiring bass player Dewey Tucker (24) of Vallejo, Ca., was shot a
killed on I-80 near Crockett. A year later 4 suspected gang members
from Santa Rosa were arrested for his murder. They included Raul
Vega (19), the suspected shooter, Christopher Mancinas (29), Hector
Barragan (28) and Javier Lopez (20).
(SFC, 1/13/11, p.C3)
2010 Jan 13, Prosecutors in New
York City said that, after a series of hung juries, they would not
seek a 5th retrial against John “Junior" Gotti on charges that he
ordered several murders.
(SSFC, 1/17/10, p.A14)
2010 Jan 13, In Florida a 3-day
state-coordinated hunt began to track down invasive pythons. It was
feared that the African rock python would begin breeding with the
Burmese python, which has already gained a foothold in the
Everglades, and produce a new “super snake."
(SFC, 1/15/10, p.A8)
2010 Jan 13, In Seattle,
Washington Tohru Shigemura (71), a Japanese psychiatrist traveling
the world as a big game hunter, was charged in connection with
smuggling black bear gall bladders. He had pretended to be a US
citizen to buy guns, which he used to kill 6 black bears in and
around the Quinault Indian Reservation.
(SFC, 1/14/10, p.A4)
2010 Jan 13, R&B singer
Teddy Pendergrass (b.1950) died of colon cancer. He was one of the
most electric and successful figures in music until a 1982 car crash
left him in a wheelchair.
2010 Jan 13, Edgar Vos (78),
"the emperor of Dutch fashion," died of a heart attack while on
vacation in Florida. Vos built a chain of 15 stores across the
Netherlands, where he sold designer clothes cut to bring out the
best from all figures and tailored to most budgets.
2010 Jan 13, In Afghanistan 2
US soldiers, a French trooper and 5 Afghans were killed in bomb
blasts. The United Nations reported that 2,412 Afghan civilians
killed in 2009, the highest toll since the US-led invasion in late
2001. Four would-be suicide bombers were killed in a premature
explosion near the city of Kandahar.
(AFP, 1/13/10)(AP, 1/14/10)
2010 Jan 13, The head of
Algeria's national oil corporation Sonatrach was suspended from his
job and ordered to appear before investigators probing corruption.
Mohamed Meziane was replaced in his job by vice-president Abdelhafid
2010 Jan 13, Heavy snow hit
central London as a fresh whiteout covered much of the country,
forcing airports to close as businesses counted the cost of the
worst winter in decades.
2010 Jan 13, Britain’s
Huddersfield University launched an investigation after its students
allegedly started an Internet craze for a Hitler drinking game. The
original page on the social networking site had nearly 12,000
members but has now been shut down, although another similar page
has since been set up.
2010 Jan 13, Major Inuit
organizations said Canada's Inuit people have filed a lawsuit
against the European Union in a bid to overturn an EU ban on imports
of seal products. The EU ban was imposed in July after decades of
protests from animal activists, who said the annual seal hunt was
cruel and inhumane. The ban will go into effect in time for the 2010
2010 Jan 13, Amnesty Int’l.
said the Czech Republic is defying a European court by continuing to
place thousands of healthy Gypsy children in schools for the
(SFC, 1/14/10, p.A2)
2010 Jan 13, Ethiopia’s biggest
hydroelectric dam was opened by PM Meles Zenawi and Italian Foreign
Minister Franco Frattini. The Gilegel Gibe II dam was financed by
2010 Jan 13, In France a
Chinese student (26) stabbed to death a 49-year-old secretary and
wounded three teachers in an attack at a university in the southern
town of Perpignan.
2010 Jan 13, In Indonesia
hundreds people pelted each other with stones outside parliament as
lawmakers grilled Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati over a
controversial bank bailout. Some 400 anti-graft protesters from
rival groups set upon each other in the latest sign of mounting
anger over pervasive corruption.
2010 Jan 13, Iraqi police
arrested Khalid al-Khonfisi, a man wanted for his alleged
involvement with al-Qaida in Iraq. He was captured in a police raid
of his hideout near Jurf al-Sakhar, about 43 miles south of Baghdad.
A water truck loaded with explosives was detonated in a suicide
attack in Saqlawiya, Anbar province, killing 7 people.
(AP, 1/14/10)(SFC, 1/14/10, p.A2)
2010 Jan 13, Japanese
prosecutors raided the fund-raising office of ruling party kingpin
Ichiro Ozawa over a widening money scandal, dealing a fresh blow to
the troubled government.
2010 Jan 13, In Lebanon a bomb
apparently meant for a Hezbollah figure went off in the village of
Kfar Fila, a southern stronghold of the militant group, wounding his
daughter and two other students waiting for their school bus.
2010 Jan 13, In Mexico hundreds
of troops in combat gear fanned out in Ciudad Juarez, where 2,650
people died in narco violence last. Public Security Minister Genaro
Garcia Luna said 2,000 federal police reinforcements would arrive
over the next few days.
2010 Jan 13, A Nigerian high
court ruled that Vice President Goodluck Jonathan can take executive
powers in the absence of ailing President Umaru Yar'Adua, in
hospital in Saudi Arabia since November.
2010 Jan 13, North Korea said
it will begin to allow in more American tourists after years of
heavy restrictions on visits to the isolate country. North Korea's
military warned that it would retaliate against South Korea if Seoul
doesn't stop activists from launching propaganda leaflets across
their divided border.
2010 Jan 13, In eastern
Pakistan a passenger train hit a school bus at an ungated railroad
crossing in amid dense fog, killing at least 8 children and the bus
2010 Jan 13, In Somalia 7
children were among ten people killed in shelling by Somali
government forces in Mogadishu as troops backed by African Union
peacekeepers fired mortars into districts held by Islamist
2010 Jan 13, Sudanese forces
clashed with rebels in a key area of the troubled western region of
2010 Jan 13, Venezuela’s
President Hugo Chavez indefinitely suspended rolling blackouts in
Caracas, just a day after they began, and sacked his electricity
minister saying he was responsible for mistakes in the way the
rationing plan was applied.
2010 Jan 13, Zimbabwe civil
servants, who earn only 150 US dollars a month, rejected the
government's "paltry" offer to raise salaries by a maximum of 14%.
2010 Jan 13, A Zimbabwe state
daily reported that the nation’s power utility has been ordered to
stop electricity exports to Namibia until it can meet its own
2010 Jan 14, Pres. Obama
proposed that as many as 50 financial firms with assets greater than
$50 billion each be hit by a levy to help recoup taxpayer bailout
money and trim the federal budget deficit. The “Financial Crisis
Responsibility Fee" was proposed to cover taxpayer losses of $117
billion on the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).
(AP, 1/14/10)(SFC, 1/15/10, p.D1)(Econ, 1/16/10,
2010 Jan 14, US union leaders
bowed to White House demands for a new tax on high-cost medical
insurance plans. The tentative agreement included significant
concessions by the Obama administration.
(SFC, 1/15/10, p.A6)
2010 Jan 14, The Doomsday
Clock, set up in 1947, was set back 1 minute for the first time in
its 63-year history. In moving the clock from 5 minutes before
midnight to 6 minutes before midnight, scientists expressed optimism
for humanity's future. The actual clock is housed at the Bulletin of
Atomic Sciences (BAS) office in Chicago, Ill.
2010 Jan 14, Los Angeles-based
Gipson Hoffman & Pancione, the law firm representing a Santa
Barbara company that sued China for allegedly pirating its Internet
content filtering software, said its attorneys on Jan 11 started
received emails containing Trojans, which can allow outside access
to the target's computer.
2010 Jan 14, In Florida Chad
Reed (33), a Dixie County sheriff’s deputy, died in a shootout with
a man suspected of killing his sister and another woman near
Brooksville. John Kalisz (55) was wounded in the shootout.
2010 Jan 14, In Massachusetts
Phoebe Prince (15), an Irish immigrant, hanged herself following
extensive bullying at South Hadley High School. 9 teenagers later
faced charges including statutory rape by 2 boys and criminal
harassment by 9 girls.
(SFC, 3/30/10, p.A10)
2010 Jan 14, In Afghanistan a
suicide bomber apparently planning to attack a meeting of NATO and
tribal officials blew himself up in a busy market district in
Dihrawud, Uruzgan province, killing at least 20 people, making it
the deadliest attack against civilians in more than three months.
Another suicide bomber targeted a police patrol in the southern town
of Musa Qala, killing an Afghan national police officer and wounding
2010 Jan 14, Austrian
scientists stopped a 2-week old avalanche experiment that involved
burying pigs in snow and monitoring their deaths, following vehement
protests by animal rights activists.
(SFC, 1/15/10, p.A2)
2010 Jan 14, Hundreds of
Bulgarians protested against planned legal amendments allowing mass
monitoring of emails, electronic messages and phone calls to fight
crime and corruption.
2010 Jan 14, Colombia
extradited William Suarez (42), a suspect in the nation's most
notorious pyramid scheme, to face trial in the United States. Suarez
was the principal partner of his brother-in-law David Murcia,
creator of the company DMG, which offered investors interest rates
far above what banks offer, but was actually a pyramid scheme that
bilked Colombians out of millions of dollars.
2010 Jan 14, In Haiti planes
carrying teams from China, France and Spain landed at
Port-au-Prince's airport with searchers and tons of food, medicine
and other supplies, with more promised from around the globe. Tens
of thousands were feared dead in the Jan 12 earthquake and the
international Red Cross estimated 3 million people, a third of the 9
million population, may need emergency relief.
(AP, 1/14/10)(Econ, 1/16/10, p.38)
2010 Jan 14, In India hundreds
of thousands of Hindus bathed in waters considered sacred across
large parts of India to mark the start of a religious festival. In
West Bengal state six women were among seven people killed in a
stampede as thousands bathed at the confluence of Ganges river and
the Bay of Bengal.
2010 Jan 14, Iraq's electoral
commission barred 500 candidates from running in March's
parliamentary election, including a prominent Sunni lawmaker, in a
decision that is sure to deepen Iraq's sectarian divides. A Baghdad
court sentenced 11 Iraqis to death by hanging after convicting them
of carrying out the first of a series of audacious attacks on Aug
19, 2009, targeting government buildings in the heart of the city.
2010 Jan 14, In Jordan there
was an attack on a convoy of Israeli diplomats heading home for the
weekend. It was the first roadside bombing in Jordan and exposed a
security gap for Israeli diplomats. On Jan 31 a Jordanian security
official said authorities have arrested dozens of Muslim militants
in connection with the failed bomb attack.
2010 Jan 14, Mongolia's Pres.
Elbegdorj Tsakhia announced a moratorium on the death penalty, a
move that rights groups welcomed as a step toward changing Mongolian
law to ban executions permanently.
2010 Jan 14, Key southern
African leaders gathered in the Mozambican capital Maputo for a
special summit on the political crises in Zimbabwe and Madagascar.
Leaders called for a return to dialogue in the ongoing political
crisis in Madagascar. A medical aid group said Zimbabweans crossing
illegally into neighboring South Africa after holidays at home are
being raped and robbed by gangs on both sides of the border.
(AFP, 1/14/10)(AP, 1/14/10)
2010 Jan 14, In Pakistan at
least four missiles from unmanned drones pounded a militant training
camp in the morning along the remote and mountainous border area
between Taliban strongholds North and South Waziristan. The US drone
missile strike targeted Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud,
but the militia denied reports that he was among the15 killed. Abdul
Basit Usman, a Filipino militant wanted by the US, was believed to
have been killed in an American drone strike close to the Afghan
border. Another 11 militants were also killed in the strike on a
(AFP, 1/14/10)(AP, 1/21/10)
2010 Jan 14, In Panama former
Pres. Ernesto Perez Balladares (194-1999) was put under house arrest
while authorities investigate accusations that he laundered money.
(AP, 1/15/10)(SFC, 1/15/10, p.A2)
2010 Jan 14, A Russian Su-27
fighter jet disappeared while on a training mission in the country's
far east. Late-night traffic on one of Moscow’s roads slowed as a
couple's explicit escapades appeared across the 9-by-6-meter (yard)
display. A hacker attack was likely to blame. City police said they
have yet to receive any complaints and have not opened an
(AP, 1/14/10)(AP, 1/15/10)
2010 Jan 15, The US State
Department said it will soon give China a formal diplomatic message
expressing its concern about cyber attacks that prompted Google Inc
to threaten to pull out of China.
2010 Jan 15, Johnson &
Johnson issued a massive recall of over-the-counter drugs including
Tylenol, Motrin and St. Joseph's aspirin because of a moldy smell
that has made people sick.
2010 Jan 15, In Arizona an
oversight board voted to close 13 state parks in response to budget
cuts. Since July the Legislature has cut 61% of the state parks
(SFC, 1/16/10, p.A4)
2010 Jan 15, In southern
Afghanistan a roadside bomb struck a family traveling home after
visiting a shrine, killing five people, including four children.
Kabul police investigated a rocket attack in the Shar-e-Naw
district, home to embassies, businesses and residences in Kabul.
2010 Jan 15, In Afghanistan Pfc
Andrew Holmes from 5 Joint Base Lewis-McChord killed an unarmed
teenage villager from 15 feet away after fellow soldier Cpl. Morlock
tossed a grenade at him. In 2011 Holmes pleaded guilty and was
sentenced to 7 years in prison. Prosecutors said soldiers from Joint
Base Lewis-McChord killed three civilians for sport during patrols
in January, February and May. Army Staff Sgt. Calvin Gibbs killed a
second victim with Spc. Michael Wagnon, and tossed an AK-47 at the
man's feet to make him appear to have been an enemy fighter. In May,
Gibbs threw a grenade at the victim as he ordered them to shoot. In
2011 Gibbs (26) was sentenced to 10 years in prison. During his
court-martial Gibbs acknowledged cutting fingers off corpses to keep
as war trophies.
p.A4)(SFC, 11/11/11, p.A18)
2010 Jan 15, A Brussels court
sentenced Mark Frroku and three other Albanians in absentia to
10-year prison terms related to the March, 1999, murder of
Aleksander Kurti. Prosecutors believed that Kurti's murder was the
result of clashes between gangs involved in prostitution.
2010 Jan 15, Opposition parties
in the Central African Republic announced that they were quitting
the electoral process and demanded the resignation of the head of
the Independent Electoral Commission. The walkout involved 15 of the
30 members of the commission, which was set up in August to organize
and supervise elections at dates yet to be announced.
2010 Jan 15, Chinese police in
Beijing shut down what would have been the country’s first-ever gay
pageant an hour before it was set to begin, highlighting the
enduring sensitivity surrounding homosexuality and the struggle by
gays to find mainstream acceptance.
2010 Jan 15, Guinean military
rulers decided to keep wounded junta chief Captain Moussa Dadis
Camara convalescing abroad, leaving his deputy and an opposition
leader to restore civilian rule.
2010 Jan 15, In Haiti the UN
and other aid organizations struggled to get food and water to
stricken millions. Fears spread of unrest among the people in their
fourth day of desperation. France urged Haiti’s creditors to cancel
the nation’s debt.
(AP, 1/15/10)(SFC, 1/16/10, p.A2)
2010 Jan 15, In Hong Kong
protesters against a national high-speed rail network scuffled with
police as they tried but failed to storm the legislature. Another
500 staged a sit-in in front of the Hong Kong leader's mansion,
shutting down traffic. The $55 billion Hong Kong dollar ($7.1
billion) project to link Hong Kong to a national high-speed rail
network has run into a growing protest movement.
2010 Jan 15, In India suspected
Maoist rebels blew up a police jeep in eastern Jharkhand state
killing six officers and their civilian driver.
2010 Jan 15, Iran's police
chief warned opposition supporters not to use cell phones and e-mail
messages to organize protest rallies against the government, saying
those who do so will be prosecuted and punished.
2010 Jan 15, In Kenya at least
7 people were killed during a demonstration in Nairobi by Muslim
youth protesting the arrest of a radical Jamaican-born Muslim cleric
whose teachings influenced one of the 2005 London transport system
(AP, 1/15/10)(SFC, 1/16/10, p.A2)
2010 Jan 15, Malaysian student
Mohamad Tasyrif Tajudin (25) was charged after allegedly posting
comments on Facebook about throwing a gasoline bomb amid a recent
spate of attacks on churches, most of which were hit by Molotov
Cocktails. He was charged under Malaysia’s Communications and
Multimedia Act for improper use of the Internet, which carries a
penalty of up to a year in jail and a fine if found guilty.
2010 Jan 15, Manuel Acosta
(42), the lead investigator in the Dec 31 slaying in Mexico of
Roberto Salcedo, a Southern California school board member, was shot
several times in the chest and torso, but survived in critical
condition. He succumbed to his wounds on Jan 26.
2010 Jan 15, A UN official said
North Korea is meting out harsher punishment to citizens who try to
flee the country, a sign that overall human rights conditions remain
dire in the communist state.
2010 Jan 15, In Pakistan a US
drone missile attack killed five militants in the tribal belt on the
Afghan border, destroying their compound.
2010 Jan 15, Russian lawmakers
ended years of resistance and ratified an international agreement
intended to strengthen and speed up the work of the European Court
of Human Rights. The measure still needed to be approved by the
upper house and signed by Pres. Medvedev, but both steps were
expected to occur soon.
2010 Jan 15, Venezuela’s
President Hugo Chavez announced a 25% increase in the minimum wage
to try to blunt the effects of soaring inflation, and playing down
criticism of his government's handling of an energy crisis and other
2010 Jan 15, A Yemeni airstrike
killed six al-Qaida operatives, including a key leader, in a desert
village bordering Saudi Arabia. Officials said four of those killed
were on Yemen's list of most-wanted al-Qaida figures, including
Qassim al-Raimi, who had been accused of plotting to assassinate the
US ambassador in 2004. Al-Raimi escaped from a Yemeni prison in 2006
with 21 other militants.
2010 Jan 16, President Barack
Obama declared one of the largest relief efforts in US history to
help Haiti four days after an earthquake killed up to 200,000 people
and devastated the Caribbean nation's capital.
2010 Jan 16, A small boat
packed with illegal immigrants overturned off the San Diego coast at
Torrey Pines State Park. 2 people died and 5 were injured. 16
people, all Mexican citizens, were accounted for. On Jan 28 two men
were indicted on charges of illegal smuggling.
(SSFC, 1/17/10, p.A14)(SFC, 1/18/10, p.A6)(SFC,
2010 Jan 16, Afghanistan's
parliament rejected more than half of President Hamid Karzai's
second list of Cabinet nominees, including two of three women,
dealing him a fresh political blow as his government struggles to
face the growing Taliban threat. The Taliban kidnapped two Chinese
engineers and four Afghans accompanying them in the north of the
(AP, 1/16/10)(AFP, 1/17/10)
2010 Jan 16, A small part of
Antarctica turned green as the ice-covered continent's biggest wind
farm, which can generate enough electricity to power 500 homes, was
formally switched on in a joint New Zealand-US project on
Antarctica's Ross Sea coast.
2010 Jan 16, Egypt's largest
opposition movement, the Muslim Brotherhood announced its new
leader, Mohammed Badie (66), a member of the group's conservative
faction. He was chosen by the movement's 30-member international
council and becomes the group's eighth supreme leader since its
foundation in 1928.
2010 Jan 16, In Iraq gunmen in
a speeding car opened fire on a police checkpoint in the western
neighborhood of Baiyaa, killing two policemen.
2010 Jan 16, In Israel the
Yediot Ahronot daily reported that Lillian Peretz, who worked as the
Netanyahu family housekeeper in their beachside home in the town of
Caesaria for six years, has filed a lawsuit accusing Sara Netanyahu,
the Israeli prime minister's 3rd wife, of abusing her in the first
scandal to hit Benjamin Netanyahu's year-old administration. Peretz
claims Sara Netanyahu verbally abused her and forced her to change
clothes and shower several times a day to keep a "sterile"
environment. It also alleges she was paid less than minimum wage and
forced to work on the Jewish Sabbath even though she is an observant
(AP, 1/17/10)(Econ, 1/23/10, p.45)
2010 Jan 16, Mexican
authorities seized over 3 1/2 tons of pseudoephedrine, a chemical
used in the illicit manufacture of methamphetamine, found hidden in
a shipment of fire extinguishers at the Pacific coast seaport of
2010 Jan 16, Pakistan,
Afghanistan and Iran said they had agreed to work together more
closely to combat extremism, illegal weapons trading and drug
2010 Jan 16, In the Pakistani
section of Kashmir a suicide bomber attacked an army vehicle,
wounding two soldiers.
2010 Jan 16, In the Philippines
a fire raced through a slum near the main port Manila, leaving 4,000
people homeless and killing a 5-year-old girl.
2010 Jan 16, Senegal offered
free land to Haitians wishing to "return to their origins" following
this week's devastating earthquake, which has destroyed the capital
and buried thousands of people beneath rubble.
2010 Jan 16, Sudanese warplanes
and artillery pounded insurgents in the troubled western region of
2010 Jan 16, Venezuelan
authorities said they have captured Salomon Camacho Mora (65), a
prominent Colombian drug trafficker wanted by the United States.
Venezuelan intelligence and counter-drug agents captured Mora during
the past week in the city of Valencia.
2010 Jan 17, In Hoover,
Alabama, a fire at a Days Inn motel killed 4 college students from
Mississippi Univ. for Women in Columbus, Miss.
(SFC, 1/18/10, p.A6)
2010 Jan 17, Arizona made $735
million by selling more than a dozen state buildings, including the
2010 Jan 17, In Texas 5 people
were gunned down in a small home in Bellville. A man (20) who lived
with them was arrested after trying to break into a nearby house.
(SFC, 1/19/10, p.A6)
2010 Jan 17, Glen Bell Jr.
(86), founder of the Taco Bell fast food chain (1962), died at his
home in Rancho Santa Fe, Ca.
(SFC, 1/19/10, p.C4)
2010 Jan 17, Erich Segal
(b.1937), former Yale professor and author of “Love Story" (1970),
died at his home in London.
(SFC, 1/20/10, p.C7)
2010 Jan 17, In Burkina Faso
Capt. Moussa "Dadis" Camara, Guinea's exiled leader, appealed for
tolerance and reconciliation after he agreed to resign and remain in
exile following a tumultuous one-year rule that culminated in a
December assassination attempt.
2010 Jan 17, Chile held
presidential elections. Sebastian Pinera won the election by a
52-48%margin over former President Eduardo Frei. His election
victory ended two decades of uninterrupted rule by a center-left
coalition, and returned to power the same political parties that
provided civic support for Augusto Pinochet's brutal 1973-1990
(AP, 1/17/10)(AP, 1/18/10)
2010 Jan 17, In China text
messaging services restarted with some restrictions for cell phone
users in far western China, more than six months after deadly ethnic
rioting prompted the government to shut them down.
2010 Jan 17, UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon flew to Haiti to support earthquake
relief efforts and to visit his staff's devastated headquarters in
what the agency is calling the most challenging disaster it has ever
2010 Jan 17, In India Jyoti
Basu (95), communist leader of West Bengal’s opposition and the
state’s chief minister for 23 years, died.
(Econ, 1/23/10, p.82)
2010 Jan 17, In Iran lawyer
Hooshang Pour-Babai said senior reformist and former MP Mohsen Safai
Farahani (61), detained since June 20, has been sentenced to six
years in jail. He was accused of "acting against national security,
propaganda against the system, insulting officials and spreading
2010 Jan 17, In Iraq Saddam
Hussein's notorious cousin "Chemical Ali" was convicted and
sentenced to death by hanging for ordering the gassing of Kurds in
1988, killing more than 5,000 in an air raid thought to be the worst
single attack of its kind on civilians.
2010 Jan 17, Israel's Defence
Minister Ehud Barak began a one-day visit to Turkey. Israel and
Turkey said they had smoothed over differences following a
diplomatic spat and were working to develop relations and further
(AFP, 1/17/10)(AP, 1/17/10)
2010 Jan 17, In Mexico a
severed human head and a flower were found in front of the tomb of
deceased Mexican drug lord Arturo Beltran Leyva. Police found the
bodies of five men scattered around the Michoacan state capital of
Morelia, each bearing a handwritten note suggesting they were killed
(AP, 1/18/10)(AP, 1/17/10)
2010 Jan 17, In Nigeria clashes
took place in the central city of Jos as tensions reignited between
Muslims and Christian gangs, a year after similar fighting killed
hundreds of its residents. Angry Muslim youths set a Catholic church
filled with worshippers ablaze, starting a riot that killed at least
27 people and wounded more than 300 others.
(Reuters, 1/17/10)(AP, 1/18/10)
2010 Jan 17, At least one
suspected US drone fired on a house in Pakistan's volatile tribal
region, killing 20 people in the 11th such attack since militants in
the area orchestrated a deadly suicide bombing against the CIA in
Afghanistan. The house targeted was being used by Usman Jan, the
head of the al-Qaida-linked Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. Five
Uzbeks were killed in the strike. The other 15 people killed were
Pakistani Taliban. Two anti-Taliban tribal elders were killed in
separate attacks in the Bajur tribal.
2010 Jan 17, Ukrainians voted
in presidential elections. Voters in the first round gave opposition
leader Viktor Yanukovich, the 2004 Orange Revolution's chief target,
a big lead over his rival, Orange heroine and PM Yulia Tymoshenko.
Analysts said Yanukovich's 35.4% to 25% lead over Tymoshenko, with
97.7% of votes counted, is misleading, because she is likely to pick
up most of the votes of 16 also-rans in a Feb 7 runoff. Almost 67%
of eligible voters cast ballots.
(Reuters, 1/17/10)(AP, 1/18/10)
2010 Jan 18, US officials said
on some 390 tons of ground beef produced by a California meat
packer, some of it nearly two years ago, is being recalled for fear
of potentially deadly E. coli bacterium tainting.
2010 Jan 18, It was reported
that Alaska corporations and a multinational firm are planning to
build the first fiber optic cable between Asia and Europe through
the Arctic. The project estimated at $1 billion, involved laying
10,000 miles of undersea fiber optic cable from Tokyo, along the
Alaska coast, through the Northwest Passage, past Greenland to
(SFC, 1/18/10, p.D3)
2010 Jan 18, Robert B. Parker
(77), crime novelist and author of the popular Spencer novels, died
in Cambridge, Mass. Parker reinvigorated the detective novel genre
with “The Godwulf Manuscript" (1973).
(SSFC, 1/24/10, p.F6)(SFC, 5/14/10, p.F6)
2010 Jan 18, Afghan Taliban
militants wearing explosives vests launched a brazen assault on the
heart of Kabul, as suicide bombings and gunbattles near the
presidential palace and other government buildings paralyzed the
capital for hours. The 12 people killed included 7 attackers, 2 of
whom detonated suicide bombs.
(AP, 1/18/10)(SFC, 1/19/10, p.A2)
2010 Jan 18, Kate McGarrigle
(63), Canadian folk singer, died of cancer at her home in Montreal.
She performed with her sister Anna as the McGarrigle Sisters. Their
songs included “Heart Like a Wheel."
(SFC, 1/20/10, p.C7)
2010 Jan 18, It was reported
that China was tightening smoking regulations by enforcing a ban on
smoking in any indoor public space in seven provincial capitals.
2010 Jan 18, In China rescue
workers evacuated thousands of rural residents from parts of the
northwest after extreme cold and blizzard conditions killed four
people and left half a million snowed under. Storms in far western
Xinjiang flattened or damaged about 100,000 homes and more than
15,000 head of livestock were killed by the cold front that set in
the previous night.
2010 Jan 18, EU finance
ministers began 2 days of talks with worries over Greece's swelling
debt expected to dominate the session, as the euro fell to a ten-day
low against the dollar.
2010 Jan 18, The European Union
said some 200,000 people may have been killed in the magnitude-7.0
quake, quoting Haitian officials who also said about 70,000 bodies
have been recovered so far.
2010 Jan 18, In Egypt and
Israel heavy rains and flash floods left seven people dead,
including a British tourist who was killed when a sailboat capsized
on the Nile River.
2010 Jan 18, The OSCE, Europe's
main security and human rights watchdog, said that Turkey was
blocking some 3,700 Internet sites for "arbitrary and political
reasons" and urged reforms to show its commitment to freedom of
2010 Jan 18, In Iran gunmen
fatally shot Vali Hajgholizadeh, a court prosecutor, outside his
home in the town of Khoy, near the Turkish border. An Iranian
official said Kurdish rebels may have been involved in the
assassination. Opposition groups flooded the Web with calls for a
huge show of force on the Feb 11 commemoration of the Islamic
(AP, 1/19/10)(SFC, 1/19/10, p.A3)
2010 Jan 18, In Iraq gunmen
broke into the office of an Iraqi humanitarian organization in
Baghdad and killed five employees.
2010 Jan 18, Israel's Cabinet
convened for the first time in Berlin, the former heart of the Nazi
regime, for a special joint session with the German government
highlighting the two nations' strong bond six decades after the
2010 Jan 18, Israeli police
arrested 9 people at a radical Jewish settlement in connection with
the Dec 11, 2009, torching of a West Bank mosque and other attacks
on Palestinian property.
2010 Jan 18, A group of 30
Mauritanian Muslim leaders issued a religious edict banning female
genital mutilation in the West African country. The leaders also
agreed to preach against the practice at their mosques.
2010 Jan 18, Pakistani troops
killed 10 Taliban militants and arrested five others in a clash in
the northwestern tribal belt near the Afghan border. Militants
attacked anti-Taliban militiamen in the Bazai section of Mohmand
tribal area near the Afghan border, killing one and wounding
another. Authorities also found the bullet-riddled body of another
anti-Taliban militiaman in a nearby area, two days after he was
(AFP, 1/18/10)(AP, 1/18/10)
2010 Jan 18, A Spanish Foreign
Ministry official said the country will take in two inmates from the
US prison at Guantanamo Bay.
2010 Jan 18, In southern Sudan
clashes began in the troubled southern state of Jonglei leaving 9
2010 Jan 18, Swiss Reinsurance
Co. said it transferred part of its US life insurance business to
American investor Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. for 1.3
billion Swiss francs ($1.27 billion) to free up capital and invest
it more profitably.
2010 Jan 18, Mehmet Ali Agca
(52), the Turk who shot Pope John Paul II in 1981, was released from
prison after more than 29 years behind bars. Doctors at military
hospital concluded that he was unfit for compulsory military service
because of "severe anti-social personality disorder as Agca
proclaimed that he was a messenger of God and that the world will
end in this century.
2010 Jan 18, Ukrainian PM Yulia
Tymoshenko rushed to the east of the country after an explosion in a
hospital killed seven people.
2010 Jan 19, The US Justice
Dept. arrested 22 executives and employees at suppliers to the
military and law enforcement agencies on the eve of their industry’s
annual trade show following a 2½ year undercover sting operation
aimed at schemes to bribe a foreign official.
(SFC, 1/20/10, p.A4)
2010 Jan 19, In Massachusetts
Democrat Martha Coakley lost to Republican State Sen. Scott Brown
(50) in a special election slowing down President Barack Obama's
agenda and loosening the Democratic grip on the US Senate.
(AP, 1/19/10)(AP, 1/20/10)
2010 Jan 19, In New Jersey
Republican Chris Christie was sworn in as the state’s 55th governor.
The state was plagued by the nation’s highest taxes and a deficit
that could hit $10 billion by July as well as unemployment near 10%.
(SFC, 1/20/10, p.A4)
2010 Jan 19, In Virginia a
gunmen killed 8 people before firing on law enforcement officers and
hitting a police helicopter. Suspect Christopher Speight (39), a
former security guard, surrendered the next morning in a wooded area
of Appomattox County. On Feb 15, 2013, Speight was sentenced to 5
(SFC, 1/20/10, p.A4)(SFC, 1/21/10, p.A6)(SFC,
2010 Jan 19, Nina Nilssen (29),
a graduate student at San Francisco State Univ., was stabed to death
during a port call in Antigua. On Jan 29 Suspect Tishara Daniel (24)
was arrested and confessed to fatal stabbing of Nina Nilssen.
(SFC, 1/25/10, p.A1)(AP, 1/31/10)
2010 Jan 19, A UN report said
corruption in Afghanistan is so entrenched that Afghans had to pay
bribes worth nearly a quarter of the country's GDP last year. 13
Uighers and two Turks were killed by a missile fired by a US
unmanned aircraft near the Pakistan border.
(AP, 1/19/10)(AP, 1/23/10)
2010 Jan 19, An Angolan human
rights lawyer said that police are rounding up peaceful activists
and accusing them of responsibility in a deadly attack on the Togo
national soccer team's bus as it headed to the African Cup of
2010 Jan 19, The British
government said it will ban drinking contests in bars and force pub
owners to offer patrons tap water in a bid to help tackle the
country’s boozy culture.
2010 Jan 19, British chocolate
bar maker Cadbury melted into the arms of US giant Kraft in a
multi-billion-dollar deal to create a world leader in food and
confectionery that sparked fears of job losses.
2010 Jan 19, China’s Foreign
Ministry said Google Inc will not be treated as an exception to
China's demand foreign companies obey its laws, a week after the
world's largest search engine warned it could pull out of China.
Google said it had postponed the launch of two mobile handsets in
China, in the latest fallout from its threat last week to withdraw
from the Asian giant over cyberattacks and censorship.
(Reuters, 1/19/10)(AFP, 1/19/10)
2010 Jan 19, A former Chinese
Supreme Court judge was sentenced to life in prison following his
conviction for embezzlement and receiving more than half a million
dollars in bribes. Huang Songyou, the court's former vice president,
is the first judicial official of his stature to be tried and
convicted on such charges.
2010 Jan 19, The World Wildlife
Fund warned that the wild tiger faced extinction in China after
having been decimated by poaching and the destruction of its natural
2010 Jan 19, In Cuba Mariela
Castro, the daughter of pres. Raul Castro and head of the Center for
Sex Education, said Cuba has begun performing state-sponsored
sex-change operations. The government had lifted a longtime ban on
the procedure in 2007.
(SFC, 1/20/10, p.A2)
2010 Jan 19, A Guinean
government spokesman said leaders have appointed Jean-Marie Dore, an
opposition veteran, as prime minister, a key step to prepare the
West African nation to transition from military rule to democratic
elections later this year.
2010 Jan 19, Troops in Haiti
struggled to control looters in Port-au-Prince a week after the
devastating earthquake, as rescuers continued to pull women and
babies from the rubble and kept alive hope of finding more
survivors. A riot in a prison in Les Cayes began when some of the
400-plus prisoners tried to escape a week after the Jan 12
earthquake, because they were terrified of aftershocks in the
overcrowded prison. Police were later accused of then rushing into
the building and opening fire killing at least 10 prisoners. In 2011
13 officers faced trial for murder, attempted murder and other
crimes. On Jan 19, 2012, eight police officers were convicted for
their role in the prison riot.
2010 Jan 19, The head of an
Iraqi national reconciliation committee said he hopes to place all
the estimated 96,000 members of the Sons of Iraq movement in
government jobs by the middle of the year. The government said it
has found jobs for nearly 50,000 Sunni fighters who played a key
role in US efforts to fight insurgents.
2010 Jan 19, Japan Airlines
filed for one of the country's largest bankruptcies ever, entering a
restructuring that will shrink Asia's top carrier and its presence
around the world.
2010 Jan 19, In Mexico "El Teo"
Teodoro Garcia Simental, an alleged drug kingpin blamed for much of
Tijuana's gang violence, was ordered to face trial. The military
said it caught three purported members of his gang about to dissolve
a body in chemicals. State police found the bodies of four young men
in an abandoned car near a hotel in Guerrero's capital,
Chilpancingo. A police report said the men appeared to have been
asphyxiated by plastic tape covering their faces.
(AP, 1/20/10)(AP, 1/20/10)
2010 Jan 19, Mexico’s
telecommunications mogul Carlos Slim pledged $65 million for genetic
research on cancer, type 2 diabetes and kidney disease.
2010 Jan 19, In Nigeria
religious violence between Christians and Muslims erupted again in
central Nigeria. Gregory Anyating, Plateau state's police
commissioner, declared a 24-hour curfew as the number of dead
reached close to 150 in 3 days of violence.
2010 Jan 19, North and South
Korea discussed development of their joint industrial complex,
despite Pyongyang's recent threats it might break off all dialogue
with its neighbor and could even stage an attack.
2010 Jan 19, In Pakistan a
suspected US drone attacked a compound in the Deegan area of North
Waziristan, killing four people as part of an unprecedented wave of
strikes since a deadly attack against the CIA across the border in
2010 Jan 19, A Saudi court
sentenced a teenage girl (13) to a 90-lash flogging and two months
in prison as punishment for assaulting a teacher. The assault
happened after the girl was caught with a camera phone at school.
2010 Jan 19, The Slovak Foreign
Ministry said the country has agreed to take in three inmates from
the US prison at Guantanamo Bay in an effort to help President
Barack Obama to close it down.
2010 Jan 19, Sudan's Pres.
Bashir said he would support the country's oil-producing south if it
chose independence in a looming referendum, in his closest
acknowledgement of the possibility of separation. A Sudanese court
sentenced another two Darfur rebels to death for a deadly 2008
attack, raising to 105 the number of Justice and Equality Movement
fighters ordered hanged for the raid.
(AP, 1/19/10)(AFP, 1/20/10)
2010 Jan 19, Swiss bank Credit
Suisse said that it would reduce bonuses paid to its top executives
in London by about 30% in response to a tax announced last month by
2010 Jan 20, The United States
extradited to Bosnia Nedjo Ikonic (45), a former Serb policeman. He
was suspected of taking part in genocide against Muslims in
Srebrenica in 1995, Europe's worst massacre since WWII.
2010 Jan 20, The US Consumer
Product Safety Commission said about 1.5 million Graco strollers
sold at Wal-Mart, Target and other major retailers are being
recalled after some children's fingertips were amputated by hinges
on the products. The strollers were made in China by Graco and sold
at AAFES, Burlington Coat Factory, Babies R Us, Toys R Us, Kmart,
Fred Meyer, Meijer, Navy Exchange, Sears, Target, Wal-Mart and other
retailers nationwide from October 2004 to December 2009.
2010 Jan 20, US researchers
reported that shaving 3 grams off the daily salt intake of Americans
could prevent up to 66,000 strokes, 99,000 heart attacks and 92,000
deaths in the United States, while saving $24 billion in health
costs per year.
2010 Jan 20, The Afghan
government and its international partners agreed to significantly
increase the country's security forces and outlined plans to lure
Taliban militants from the fight and combat corruption in a bid to
turn the tide of the war. A NATO raid in the Qara Bagh district
targeted a Taliban commander and killed 4 suspected insurgents,
including a 15-year-old boy shot while allegedly reaching for a
soldier's gun. Villagers insisted the dead were civilians.
(AP, 1/20/10)(AP, 1/22/10)
2010 Jan 20, In Belgium the
world's largest brewer, Anheuser-Busch InBev SA, shut down
production in its home country, in an escalation of a standoff over
job cuts with its Belgian workers which is causing beer shortages in
2010 Jan 20, A top regulator
said China will slow its massive lending spree and step up
monitoring of banks as it tries to prevent speculative bubbles in
real estate and other assets while keeping the country's economic
recovery on track.
2010 Jan 20, The Dominican
government announced a deal with Honduras' president-elect to give
ousted leader Manuel Zelaya safe passage to this Caribbean nation.
2010 Jan 20, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh
(b.1960), one of the founders of Hamas' military wing, was poisoned
and electrocuted overnight in his hotel room in Dubai. Al-Mabhouh
was involved in the kidnapping and killing of two Israeli soldiers
in 1989. On Jan 29 Hamas accused Israeli agents of assassinating the
veteran operative. In 2013 it was reported that Ben Zygier took part
in the killing by a Mossad hit-team of Hamas operative Mahmoud
(AP, 1/29/10)(Reuters, 2/14/13)
2010 Jan 20, Three more
Egyptians died in flooding in the southern Sinai Desert, bringing
the toll for three days of unseasonably heavy rains to 10.
2010 Jan 20, A French court
ruled that a Russian Orthodox cathedral built on the French Riviera
nearly a century ago under Czar Nicholas II now belongs to Moscow.
The ruling was a defeat for an association founded by Russians who
fled the Bolshevik Revolution that has been fighting to maintain its
control over the Saint Nicholas Cathedral in Nice, and its
archbishop is accusing the Russian government of a land grab as part
of a national pride campaign.
2010 Jan 20, In Greece dozens
of prostitutes, most using headscarves or hoods to hide their faces,
demonstrated in central Athens, demanding working licenses for
brothels across Greece.
2010 Jan 20, A 6.1 aftershock
struck Haiti, shaking more rubble from damaged buildings and sending
screaming people running into the streets eight days after the
country's capital was devastated by an apocalyptic quake.
2010 Jan 20, In Iraq an
audacious robbery attempt in Baghdad left 3 dead and 6 wounded. The
suspects escaped. A roadside bomb struck a patrol in Kirkuk killing
a police lieutenant. A US soldier died of injuries from a vehicle
accident that was not related to combat.
(AP, 1/20/10)(AP, 1/21/10)
2010 Jan 20, Israel deported
Jared Malsin, the American editor of a Palestinian news agency, back
to NYC after he was questioned about his “anti-Israeli" views.
Malsin was the chief English editor of the Maan News Agency based in
(SFC, 1/21/10, p.A2)
2010 Jan 20, In Jerusalem,
Israel, burglars broke into the Ashdod Museum where hundreds of
artifacts recovered from the black-market were on show and snatched
several valuable items, including a silver ring belonging to
Alexander the Great and gold earrings.
2010 Jan 20, Malaysian police
announced the arrest of eight Muslim men who allegedly attacked a
Christian church with a firebomb, the first suspects in a spate of
assaults on churches after a court ruled that non-Muslims could use
the word "Allah" to refer to God.
2010 Jan 20, Mexican
authorities found seven corpses in two abandoned cars between the
resort communities of Acapulco and Zihuatanejo along with written
messages referring to drug cartels. 24 inmates were killed and
several others injured during a prison brawl at a penitentiary in
northern Durango city. 4 days of rain unleashed heavy flooding in
parts of the border city of Tijuana, killing a 5-year-old girl and
leaving at least 10 other people missing.
(AP, 1/20/10)(AP, 1/20/10)(AP, 1/22/10)
2010 Jan 20, In Jos, Nigeria,
charred bodies with scorched hands reaching skyward lay in the
streets and a mosque with blackened minarets smoldered after several
days of fighting between Christians and Muslims killed more than 200
2010 Jan 20, Pakistan’s
government reached an agreement to hand back responsibility for
maintaining order in South Waziristan to tribal leaders, following a
3-month military offensive.
(SFC, 1/21/10, p.A2)
2010 Jan 20, In Siberia
Konstantin Popov (47), a reporter for Tomskaya Nedelya weekly, died
after nearly two weeks in a coma. He had been taken in police
custody to sober up. Police officer Alexei Mitayev (26) shot him in
the genitals after beating him up. On Feb 11, 2011, Mitayev was
convicted of beating and shooting Popov and was sentenced to 12
years in prison.
2010 Jan 20, South Korea’s
health ministry said in a statement that switches will be flicked at
7.30 pm every third Wednesday in the month to "help staff get
dedicated to childbirth and upbringing." Low birthrate was a
pressing issue in this fast-ageing society.
2010 Jan 20, In Turkey the
independent Taraf newspaper exposed an alleged military plan,
codenamed “Sledgehammer," which sought to create chaos and panic to
justify a military takeover of the government.
(Econ, 2/13/10, p.56)(http://tinyurl.com/yhwj9sb)
2010 Jan 20, In Venezuela’s
Pres. Chavez opened the new 1.8 km. Metro Cable in Caracas.
2010 Jan 20, Vietnam convicted
4 democracy activists of trying to overthrow the communist
government and sentenced them to up to 16 years in prison for
promoting multiparty democracy. Le cong Dinh (41), a lawyer, was
sentenced for 5 years and activist Nguyen Tien Trung (26) was
sentenced to 7 years. In May a court upheld the 16-year sentence
against Internet entrepreneur Tran Huynh Duy Thuc and the 5-year
sentence against U.S.-trained human rights attorney Le Cong Dinh. It
reduced the sentence of businessman Le Thang Long.
(AP, 1/20/10)(Econ, 1/30/10, p.52)(AP, 5/11/10)
2010 Jan 20, Yemeni airstrikes
targeted Ayed al-Shabwani, one of the country's most wanted al-Qaida
figures, for the second time in a week.
2010 Jan 21, The US Supreme
Court in the case of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
threw out a 63-year-old law designed to restrain the influence of
big business and unions on elections, ruling 5-4 that corporations
may spend as freely as they like to support or oppose candidates for
president and Congress. The decision drastically altered who gives
and gets hundreds of millions of dollars in elections. Super PACs,
political action committees went on to reshape the 2012 presidential
10/9/10, p.50)(Econ, 2/25/12, p.35)
2010 Jan 21, In North Carolina
John Edwards, former Democratic presidential candidate, admitted
that he fathered a child during an affair before his 2nd White House
bid, dropping long-standing denials just ahead of a book by a former
(SFC, 1/23/10, p.A6)
2010 Jan 21, Conan O'Brien told
NBC good riddance in a $45 million deal for his exit from "The
Tonight Show," allowing Jay Leno to return to the late-night program
he hosted for 17 years.
2010 Jan 21, Air America Radio,
a radio network that was launched in 2004 as a liberal alternative
to Rush Limbaugh and other conservative commentators, shut down
abruptly due to financial woes.
2010 Jan 21, General Motor
Co.'s Opel unit will cut 8,300 jobs across Europe, including 4,000
in Germany, and close a plant in Antwerp, Belgium, cutting over
2010 Jan 21, Silversea Cruises
christened its newest ship, the Silver Spirit. It was built to
accommodate 540 guests and became the largest and most luxurious of
the company’s ships.
(Econ, 2/13/10, p.67)
2010 Jan 21, Toyota said it is
recalling 2.3 million vehicles in the US to fix accelerator pedals
with mechanical problems that could cause them to become stuck. The
announcement comes just months after it recalled 4.2 million
vehicles due to gas pedals that could become trapped under floor
mats, causing sudden acceleration.
2010 Jan 21, New York State
police found the body of Dean Pierson (59) in his Copake barn. They
said the upstate dairy farmer had shot and killed 51 of his milk
cows in his barn before turning the rifle on himself.
2010 Jan 21, Angola's
parliament approved a new constitution under which the president
would no longer be directly elected by the people, but would be
chosen by the parliament. In effect the leader of the largest party
in parliament automatically becomes president. The charter must now
be approved by the Constitutional Court, a step seen as a formality.
Critics said giving parliament the power to name the president will
only further entrench President Eduardo Dos Santos, who has been in
power since 1979.
(AP, 1/22/10)(Economist, 9/1/12, p.52)
2010 Jan 21, China declared it
is over the global crisis and signaled a shift in focus to
controlling inflation, sparking concern it could hamper growth and
the country's contribution to a worldwide rebound.
2010 Jan 21, Finland’s Nokia
Corp. said it will offer free navigation services globally for users
of its smart phones, in a drive to counter a similar move by Google
2010 Jan 21, In Kenya radical
Muslim cleric Sheik Abdullah el-Faisal was flown out of the country
enroute to Jamaica. El-Faisal once served four years in a British
jail for inciting murder and stirring racial hatred by urging
followers to kill Americans, Hindus and Jews.
2010 Jan 21, In Malaysia
vandals tried to burn down two Muslim prayer rooms, following a
string of arson attacks on churches amid a dispute over the use of
the word "Allah" by Christians.
2010 Jan 21, A Dutch airlift
brought 106 children from quake-ravaged Haiti to new lives in the
Netherlands and Luxembourg, as anxious families waited to hug
children they had been in the process of adopting for months.
2010 Jan 21, New Zealand said
that biblical citations inscribed on US-manufactured weapon sights
used by its troops in Afghanistan will be removed because they are
inappropriate and could stoke religious tensions. The inscriptions
on products from defense contractor Trijicon of Wixom, Michigan,
came to light this week in the US where Army officials said on Jan
19 they would investigate whether the gun sights, also used by US
troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, violate US procurement laws.
Trijicon said biblical references were first put on the sites nearly
30 years ago by the company founder, Glyn Bindon, who was killed in
a plane crash in 2003.
2010 Jan 21, In Nigeria
religious leaders in Jos prepared for mass burials after four days
of Christian-Muslim clashes left nearly 300 dead.
2010 Jan 21, The Pakistani army
said during a visit by US Defense Secretary Robert Gates that it
can't launch any new offensives against militants for six months to
a year to give it time to stabilize existing gains.
2010 Jan 21, In southern Sudan
clashes continued for a 4th day in the troubled southern state of
Jonglei leaving 15 more people dead.
2010 Jan 21, Sweden's Royal
Academy of Sciences awarded Austria-born American scientist Walter
Munk (92) the 2010 Crafoord Prize in Geosciences for his research on
ocean circulation. The Crafoord award has been given annually since
1982 for scientific research in areas not covered by the Nobel
2010 Jan 21, In Turkey a July,
2009, constitutional amendment paving the way for military officers
to be tried in civilian courts was struck down by the constitutional
(Econ, 2/13/10, p.57)(http://tinyurl.com/ybprno6)
2010 Jan 21, Officials said
Yemen will stop issuing visas to foreign visitors upon arrival to
try to prevent Islamic militants from sneaking in to meet and train
with an al-Qaida offshoot that has established a stronghold in the
fractured and impoverished country.
2010 Jan 22, James Mitchell
(b.1920), theater, film and TV actor, died. For nearly three decades
he played gruff patriarch Palmer Cortland on the ABC soap opera "All
My Children." His film credits include "The Band Wagon" (1953) with
Fred Astaire, "Deep in My Heart" (1954) and "Oklahoma" (1955).
2010 Jan 22, Jean Simmons (80),
British-born film actress, died in Santa Monica, Ca.
(SSFC, 1/24/10, p.C5)
2010 Jan 22, Afghanistan banned
the use of ammonium nitrate fertilizer, which was also used to make
bombs, giving farmers and other holders a month to turn in their
supplies. 4 Afghan soldiers were killed and one wounded when the
convoy of the governor of Wardak province near Kabul was struck by a
bomb. 7 Afghan civilians were killed and one wounded in the north
when they tried to dig out a bomb left over from the Soviet
(AP, 1/22/10)(AFP, 1/23/10)
2010 Jan 22, Belgian scientists
said nearly 80 percent of the 300,000 conflict-related deaths in
Darfur were due to diseases like diarrhea, not violence.
2010 Jan 22, The British
government raised its terror threat assessment from substantial to
severe, suggesting an attack was "highly likely", ahead of
international meetings on Yemen and Afghanistan in London next week.
2010 Jan 22, In Britain two
brothers, ages 10 & 11, from the Yorkshire village of Edlington
were convicted of torturing and sexually abusing two younger boys in
an ordeal that one of them close to death.
(Econ, 2/6/10, p.61)
2010 Jan 22, Sir Percy Cradock
(86), the British diplomat who negotiated the terms for returning
Hong Kong to Chinese rule, died. He was ambassador to Beijing in
1983 when Britain opened negotiations on the hand-over of Hong Kong.
Britain gained an agreement on the principle of "one nation, two
systems" which preserved some of Hong Kong's democratic and economic
(AP, 1/29/10)(Econ, 2/13/10, p.87)
2010 Jan 22, Beijing issued a
stinging response to US criticism that it is jamming the free flow
of words and ideas on the Internet, accusing the United States of
damaging relations between the two countries by hoisting its
"information imperialism" on China. An attorney for a US free speech
group said US trade officials have asked for more information as
they consider whether to pursue a possible World Trade Organization
case against Chinese Internet barriers.
(AP, 1/22/10)(Reuters, 1/22/10)
2010 Jan 22, Some 124 refugees,
who said they are Kurds and Tunisians, landed on the southern shore
of Corsica after a lengthy journey at sea.
2010 Jan 22, In East Timor
police launched a full-scale anti-ninja operation and later extended
it for six months with support from the armed forces.
2010 Jan 22, Aid officials said
Haitians are fleeing their quake-ravaged capital by the hundreds of
thousands, as their government promised to help nearly a
half-million more move from squalid camps on curbsides and vacant
lots into safer, cleaner tent cities.
2010 Jan 22, In Indonesia
incessant rain caused floods in two remote villages in eastern
Indonesia leaving eight people dead and 13 others missing.
2010 Jan 22, In northern Iraq
Saad Uwayid Obeid Mijbil al-Shammari, also known as Abu Khalaf, a
key al-Qaida in Iraq leader was killed during a joint Iraqi-US raid
in Mosul. Intelligence officials said he was responsible for
bringing hundreds of suicide bombers across the border from Syria.
2010 Jan 22, Police in Mexico
City rescued 150 ferrets from armed robbers after a high speed
chase. 14 boxes of ferrets imported from the US were taken by force
by 3 robbers from a truck after it left the Mexico City airport. Two
suspects were under arrest and another escaped.
2010 Jan 22, New Zealand’s
commerce minister, Simon Power, said New Zealand is reviewing its
liberal system of company registration after investigators found a
shell company based here leased an airplane that smuggled arms from
North Korea. A New Zealand shell company, SP Trading Ltd., leased an
airplane seized last month in Thailand carrying an illegal arms
shipment from North Korea.
2010 Jan 22, Pakistani gunship
helicopters pounded a suspected militant hideout in a northwestern
tribal area known for sheltering Taliban and Al-Qaeda fighters.
2010 Jan 22, In Russia a court
sanctioned on fraud charges the arrest of Alexei Dymovsky, a police
officer who has complained on YouTube of abuse and corruption in the
country's law enforcement system. In November Dymovsky posted 3
videos on YouTube in which he said he was promised a promotion in
return for jailing an innocent person. He also accused his superiors
of forcing officers to fake reports on unsolved crimes. Dymovsky was
fired and founded a rights defense group.
2010 Jan 22, In Rwanda the
latest feature film on the 1994 Rwanda genocide premiered in Kigali.
Belgian director Philippe Van Leeuw shot "Le jour ou Dieu est parti
en voyage" (The Day God Stayed Away) over two months -- June to
August 2008 -- partly in Kigali, partly in the southwestern province
of Cyangugu. It shows in excruciating detail what day-to-day life
must have been like for those who survived beyond the first days of
2010 Jan 22, In Serbia Irinej
Gavrilovic, a moderate who recently called for better ties with the
Roman Catholics, was chosen as the new head of the influential
Serbian Orthodox Church.
2010 Jan 22, Singapore rejected
allegations by a US-based human rights group that it is a
"politically repressive state."
2010 Jan 22, In South Africa
the national parks authority said poachers have killed 14 rhinos
this year. The parks authority announced military patrols in Kruger
National Park, where 7 of the rhinos were killed. The other 7 were
killed in the North West province.
2010 Jan 22, In Sri Lanka a key
opposition activist was targeted at home by a bomb attack blamed on
the ruling party as violence escalated ahead of next week's
2010 Jan 22, A Swiss court
ruled that Switzerland cannot hand over files on 26 suspected tax
cheats to US authorities because their failure to declare assets
does not constitute fraud under Swiss law.
(SFC, 1/23/10, p.A2)
2010 Jan 22, Turkish police
launched a nationwide crackdown on suspected militants linked to the
al-Qaida terror network, rounding up 120 people in simultaneous
2010 Jan 22, In Vietnam 19 rare
Asiatic moon bears, found at an illegal Taiwanese-owned operation in
southern Vietnam, reached a new home at Tam Dao National Park,
joining 29 bears already at the rescue center. Ultrasound tests had
found evidence of thickened gall bladders, a telltale sign of gall
bladder milking. Some may need to have the organ removed because of
2010 Jan 22, Yemen rebel
leader, Abdel-Malek al-Hawthi, appeared in a video posted on the
group's Web site to disprove Yemeni government claims that he was
killed in an attack last month. Al-Hawthi was shown sitting on a
chair and speaking into a microphone.
2010 Jan 23, President Barack
Obama said he can't imagine "anything more devastating to the public
interest" than the Supreme Court's decision to ease limits on
campaign spending by corporations and labor unions.
2010 Jan 23, Abby Sunderland
(16) of Thousand Oaks, Ca., sailed into the Pacific aboard a 4-foot
craft called wild Eyes in an effort to become the youngest person to
sail solo around the world. On April 24 Sunderland wrote on her blog
that it would be "foolish and irresponsible" to keep going after
losing use of her boat's main autopilot.
(SFC, 1/25/10, p.A5)(AP, 4/25/10)
2010 Jan 23, In Texas an
800-foot oil tanker and towing vessel collided spilling oil in the
southeast port of Port Arthur. The spill, estimated at 462,000
gallons, was contained to a 2-mile area along the Sabine Neches
(AP, 1/24/10)(SSFC, 1/24/10, p.A10)(SFC, 1/26/10,
2010 Jan 23, Afghanistan’s
Pres. Karzai unveiled an ambitious Western-funded plan to offer
money and jobs to tempt Taliban fighters to lay down their arms.
Militants in the south killed two US soldiers and kidnapped a police
chief in a series of attacks. Insurgents killed 3 Afghan women in
the eastern province of Paktika. 12 militants were killed in
2010 Jan 23, Brazil extradited
Manuel Juan Cordero Piacentini, a retired Uruguayan military
officer, to Argentina to face charges of human rights abuses
allegedly committed more than 30 years ago. Under "Operation
Condor," the military dictatorships that ruled much of South America
in the 1970s and 1980s secretly cooperated in the torture and
disappearances of each others' citizens.
2010 Jan 23, The British
Department for Business Innovation and Skills halted the export of
the ADE651 after a Jan 22 BBC Newsnight investigation challenged the
claims of the company, ATSC. The broadcaster took the key aspects of
the device to a laboratory, which concluded that a component
intended to detect explosives contained technology used to prevent
theft in stores. The government banned its export to Iraq and
Afghanistan because of the risk that it could hurt British and
2010 Jan 23, Haiti's government
declared the search and rescue phase for survivors of the earthquake
over, saying there is little hope of finding more people alive 11
days after much of the capital was reduced to rubble.
2010 Jan 23, The US Marine
Corps wrapped up nearly seven years in Iraq, handing over duties to
the Army and signaling the beginning of an accelerated withdrawal of
American troops as the US turns its focus away from the waning Iraqi
war to a growing one in Afghanistan. Iraqi-American contractor Issa
T. Salomi (60) went missing in Baghdad. Shiite militants executed
the kidnapping after luring him into central Baghdad with promises
of visiting distant relatives. In a video that later surfaced, his
abductors from the League of the Righteous, demanded the release of
militants and the prosecution of Blackwater security contractors
accused of killing 17 Iraqis in 2007 in Baghdad. Salomi was freed on
March 25 in exchange for 4 militants.
(AP, 1/23/10)(AP, 2/6/10)(SFC, 8/13/10, p.A3)
2010 Jan 23, In southern Mexico
about 150 migrants were pulled off a train by unidentified
assailants in the state of Oaxaca. On Jan 26 a Salvadoran
official filed a complaint with Mexican officials saying 3 men
were slain and 4 women were raped in the attack.
2010 Jan 23, In New Zealand 48
pilot whales stranded at Port Levy on South Island, but scores of
volunteers joined Department of Conservation workers to refloat them
off the shallow, muddy inlet. By the next day rescuers managed to
coax 33 back out into deep waters, but another 15 of the pod died.
2010 Jan 23, In central Nigeria
a village headman said at least 150 bodies were recovered from wells
following deadly Muslim-Christian clashes, taking the unofficial
death toll past 400.
2010 Jan 23, In Pakistan a
suicide bomber killed at least four people including two children in
northwestern Gomal. Militants destroyed a NATO tanker outside
Peshawar. Gunmen on a motorbike shot dead two soldiers and wounded
two others in Khuzdar town, 350km (217 miles) south of Quetta, the
capital of southwestern Baluchistan. Militants ambushed Pakistani
security forces at checkpoints in the Orkazai and Kurram regions
close to the Afghan border, sparking gunbattles that left 22
insurgents and two troops dead.
(AFP, 1/23/10)(AP, 1/23/10)(SSFC, 1/24/10, p.A8)
2010 Jan 23, Russian PM
Vladimir Putin declared that peace has returned to North Caucasus,
the center of a growing Islamist insurgency, and called for the
region's economy to be rebuilt. He also ordered officials in the
North Caucasus to ensure what he called the "normal work" of human
rights groups operating in the volatile region.
(Reuters, 1/23/10)(AP, 1/23/10)
2010 Jan 23, Saudi Arabia’s
assistant defense minister said Saudi forces have recovered the
bodies of 20 soldiers who had been reported missing in fierce
battles with Yemeni rebels on the border, raising the Saudi death
toll in the conflict to 133.
2010 Jan 23, In Sudan a
military spokesman said at least 24 people have been killed in
clashes in the troubled southern Sudanese state of Jonglei in recent
2010 Jan 23, In Venezuela tens
of thousands opposed to President Hugo Chavez took to the streets,
blaming him for rolling blackouts, water rationing, widespread crime
and other problems they say are making daily life increasingly
difficult. This day marked the 1958 uprising that ousted Venezuela’s
last military dictator. The Chavez regime told cable TV operators to
stop carrying RCTV, a pro-opposition channel.
(AP, 1/24/10)(Econ, 1/30/10, p.44)
2010 Jan 24, The US sent 3
detainees held at the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to
Slovakia, the latest transfers as the Obama administration tries to
close the facility.
2010 Jan 24, Wal-Mart Stores of
Bentonville, Ark., said it will cut some 11,200 jobs at Sam’s Club
warehouses as it turns the task of in-store product demonstrations
to an outside marketing company, Shopper Events.
(SFC, 1/25/10, p.A5)
2010 Jan 24, Daniel Kerrigan
(70), the father of figure skater Nancy Kerrigan, died after a
disturbance at the family's Massachusetts home. Brother Mark
Kerrigan (45) was charged with assaulting the 70-year-old father.
2010 Jan 24, Pernell Roberts
(b.1928), TV actor, died at his home in Malibu, Ca. He played the
eldest Cartwright son (1959-1965) in the “Bonanza" TV series.
After Bonanza he played the lead in the “Trapper John M.D." TV
(SFC, 1/26/10, p.C5)
2010 Jan 24, Osama bin Laden
claimed responsibility for the failed attempt to bomb a
Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas in a new audio message
threatening more attacks on the US.
2010 Jan 24, An Afghan official
said authorities have arrested the ringleader of a group that staged
a brazen attack in Kabul and now believe the assault was coordinated
by al-Qaida. 3 US service members were killed in two bombings in the
south. An explosion in the southern of Helmand killed a British
soldier. A rocket attack struck the Kandahar Air Field, injuring
four Bulgarians and at least two Romanians.
(AP, 1/24/10)(AP, 1/25/10)
2010 Jan 24, Cambodian and Thai
troops exchanged fire near a disputed border temple, the latest in a
string of gun battles between the countries since last year.
2010 Jan 24, Haiti’s
communications minister said the confirmed death toll from the Jan
12 earthquake has topped 150,000 in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan
area alone, with many more thousands dead around the country or
still buried under the rubble.
2010 Jan 24, In India
environment ministers from Brazil, South Africa, India and China
said that talks in New Delhi had further cemented their alliance
following the Copenhagen climate change summit. The group, known by
the acronym BASIC, pledged to strengthen its unified stance but
would seek consensus with developed countries.
2010 Jan 24, In Indonesia
gunmen attacked a convoy near the world's largest gold mine in
Papua, wounding at least seven people including a foreigner.
2010 Jan 24, In Iran a
Russian-made Iranian Taban Air plane carrying 157 passengers and 13
crew caught fire upon landing at northeastern Mashhad airport
injuring at least 46 people.
2010 Jan 24, Israel's PM
Netanyahu declared that his country would retain parts of the West
Bank forever, a statement that infuriated Palestinians and could
complicate the year-old peace mission of visiting US envoy George
2010 Jan 24, Japanese voters in
Nago city on Okinawa island elected a mayor who opposes plans for a
controversial new US air base, complicating a row with Washington
over relocating troops.
2010 Jan 24, In northern Mexico
a shootout between troops and suspected drug traffickers killed two
soldiers and four gunmen in Nuevo Leon state. In Veracruz state the
mutilated body of Nayeli Reyes, a federal court official, was
discovered in the same residential neighborhood of Boca del Rio,
Vera Cruz state, where she was abducted.
2010 Jan 24, In Nigeria the
head of the Roman Catholic Church in Jos condemned clashes between
Christians and Muslims there which are said to have claimed more
than 450 lives. Reverend Peter Imasuen, the Anglican bishop of Benin
City, was kidnapped in southern state of Edo shortly after saying
(AFP, 1/24/10)(AFP, 1/25/10)
2010 Jan 24, North Korea
threatened South Korea with war after Seoul warned it would launch a
pre-emptive strike if the North was preparing a nuclear attack, the
latest salvo in a battle of rhetoric despite signs of improved
cooperation across the militarized frontier.
2010 Jan 24, Pakistan
intelligence officials and a local resident said a suspected US
drone had crashed in North Waziristan near the Afghan border. The
bodies of 7 men, accused by Taliban militants of spying for the US,
were found shot dead in the northwest tribal belt. A paramilitary
soldier was killed when Taliban militants fired a rocket at a convoy
near Malik Deenkhel village in Khyber.
2010 Jan 24, In Peru some 3,900
tourists were cut off in villages near Machu Picchu in the Andes
mountains, when mudslides blocked the railway to the city of Cuzco,
which is the only way in or out of the area. Torrential rain, due to
El Nino, in the Cusco area left at least 26 people dead and
destroyed the homes and livelihood of some 20,000.
(AP, 1/27/10)(Econ, 2/13/10, p.42)
2010 Jan 24, In Sri Lanka
dissident cartoonist Prageeth Eknaligoda did not return home. His
disappearance triggered international condemnation of the island's
rights record. The cartoonist was never seen again.
2010 Jan 24, In Venezuela a
cable television channel critical of President Hugo Chavez was
yanked from the airwaves for defying new regulations requiring it to
televise the socialist leader's speeches.
2010 Jan 25, In New York 2
Canadian men who pleaded guilty to conspiring to buy anti-aircraft
missiles and other equipment for the Tamil Tigers rebel group in Sri
Lanka were sentenced to 25 years in a US prison. Thiruthanikan
Thanigasalam (41) and Sahilal Sabaratnam (30) were among four men
arrested in Long Island, New York, in 2006 in an FBI sting operation
as they tried to buy surface-to-air missiles, missile launchers and
hundreds of AK-47 assault rifles to be used against Sri Lankan
2010 Jan 25, In NYC Alfonso
Portillo (b.1951), the former president of Guatemala (2000-2004),
was charged with using foreign banks to launder millions of dollars
plundered from charity and government coffers. He was charged with
embezzling $15.7 million. Portillo’s whereabouts were unknown.
(SFC, 1/26/10, p.A4)(Econ, 6/19/10, p.42)
2010 Jan 25, In Pennsylvania
Andrea Curry-Demus (40) was found to be mentally ill but guilty of
2nd degree murder and kidnapping for luring a pregnant teenager to
her apartment, cutting out the baby and killing the mother. The
infant, now 18 months old, was living with relatives.
(SFC, 1/26/10, p.A4)
2010 Jan 25, Electric vehicle
network firm Better Place announced it has signed an agreement with
an HSBC-led investor consortium for new equity financing of $350m
(£217m), valuing the firm at $1.25bn. Better Place, led by former
software entrepreneur Shai Agassi, hoped to be the leading
infrastructure provider for the world’s growing fleet of electric
(Econ, 2/6/10, p.71)(http://tinyurl.com/ycsyrdj)
2010 Jan 25, In Afghanistan a
Norwegian soldier died when his vehicle hit a roadside bomb in
Faryab province in the north.
2010 Jan 25, The British and
Irish governments launched a mission to save Northern Ireland's
unraveling administration, a Catholic-Protestant coalition that the
territory's 1998 peace accord intended would promote a lasting new
era of nonviolent compromise.
2010 Jan 25, New York-based
Human Rights Watch called on the Cambodian government to shut down
its drug detention centers alleging abuses such as torture and rape,
as well as the lockup of children and the mentally ill.
2010 Jan 25, China sharply
rebuked the United States, denying involvement in any Internet
attacks and defending its online restrictions as lawful after
Washington urged Beijing to investigate an attack against Google.
2010 Jan 25, In China the
Intermediate People's Court in Urumqi sentenced four more people to
death for involvement in rioting last year in the restive
far-western region of Xinjiang, the country's worst ethnic violence
in decades. Another person was sentenced to death with a two-year
reprieve, a penalty usually commuted to life in prison, while eight
others were given sentences of up to life imprisonment.
2010 Jan 25, Official media
reported that China is hoping to close thousands of local government
lobbying offices in Beijing to cut down on waste and corruption.
2010 Jan 25, Cyprus police said
they have busted a smuggling ring in Cyprus and recovered dozens of
ancient artifacts it planned to sell for euro11 million (15.5
million), including a miniature gold coffin, silver coins and
terra-cotta urns. Ten Cypriots were arrested during the raids over
the weekend, and authorities were searching for another five
suspects, including a Syrian man.
2010 Jan 25, An Ethiopian
Airlines plane carrying 90 people caught fire and crashed into the
sea minutes after taking off from Beirut. At least 34 bodies were
recovered, but no survivors were found by nightfall. In 2012 a
Lebanese report put the blame on pilot error and inexperience.
Ethiopian Airlines immediately rejected the Lebanese findings saying
the crash was likely caused by sabotage or a lightning strike.
(AP, 1/25/10)(AFP, 1/17/12)
2010 Jan 25, The National Bank
of Hungary cut its main interest rate by a quarter percentage point
to 6 percent, its lowest since September 2005.
2010 Jan 25, In Iraq suicide
bombers struck near three hotels popular with Western journalists
and businessmen just as Iraq announced the execution of Saddam
Hussein's notorious cousin known as "Chemical Ali." At least 41
people were killed and more than 104 injured. The explosions came
hours after an Iraqi security official defended the ADE651, made by
the British company ATSC, a bomb-detecting device that Britain
banned for export to Iraq because of questions about whether it
works, saying it would be a "big mistake" to withdraw it from
(AP, 1/25/10)(Econ, 1/30/10, p.57)
2010 Jan 25, Sara Netanyahu
sued the Maariv daily for libel and defamation of character,
claiming it is "maliciously trying to humiliate" her. A story on Jan
22 stated that Mrs. Netanyahu fired a 70-year-old gardener at the
prime minister's official residence. The gardener had lost a son in
one of Israel's wars.
2010 Jan 25, The UN said that
extreme winter weather in 19 of 21 provinces in Mongolia has killed
over 1 million in livestock impacting the country’s food supply and
(SFC, 1/26/10, p.A2)
2010 Jan 25, A Nigerian state
police commissioner said sectarian violence between Christians and
Muslims in Jos left 326 people dead last week. Police in central
Plateau state have arrested 303 suspects from last week's
inter-religious violence. In southwestern Ogun State gunmen shot
dead Chief Dipo Dina, a prominent opposition politician, amid rising
tensions ahead of general elections next year.
(AP, 1/25/10)(AFP, 1/26/10)
2010 Jan 25, North Korea
detained an American man for illegally entering the country from
China, the 2nd arrest of a US citizen it has reported in the past
few weeks. On Jan 30, a news report said the American man has sought
asylum and wants to join the North Korean military. On April 7,
2010, state media said Aijalon Mahli Gomes (30) of Boston has been
sentenced to eight years of hard labor and ordered to pay a $700,000
fine for crossing into the communist country illegally.
(AP, 1/28/10)(AP, 1/30/10)
2010 Jan 25, A Saudi foreign
ministry spokesman said Saudi Arabia has donated $50 million in
relief to Haiti to cope with the devastating earthquake that hit the
country nearly two weeks ago, making it the largest donation from
the Middle East to date.
2010 Jan 25, In Somalia a
mortar shell smashed into an African Union peacekeeping mission base
in Mogadishu, killing several people, including a soldier.
2010 Jan 25, South Korea's
president offered to help energy-hungry India build more nuclear
plants as the two Asian powerhouses set a goal of doubling bilateral
trade by 2014.
2010 Jan 25, Sweden’s Ericsson,
the world leader in phone network equipment, announced an extra
1,500 job cuts under restructuring which bit deeply into 4th-quarter
2010 Jan 25, In Venezuela
police and supporters of President Hugo Chavez clashed with students
in cities across the country during protests over the government
forcing an opposition channel off cable TV. One youth was reported
killed and 16 people suffered injuries. A government official said
that Pres. Chavez has accepted the resignation of Ramon Carrizalez,
who also served as defense minister. Carrizalez’s wife, the
environment minister, also resigned.
(AP, 1/25/10)(Econ, 1/30/10, p.46)
2010 Jan 25, It was reported
that Abdel-Malek al-Hawthi, the leader of Yemen's Shiite rebels, has
declared the war with Saudi Arabia over and that he will pull his
fighters out of Saudi territory. At least 133 Saudis soldiers have
died in the months of fierce fighting in the rugged border region.
2010 Jan 26, The US Justice
Department said an Uzbek detainee held at the US military prison at
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba has been sent to Switzerland.
2010 Jan 26, Oregon voters
approved Measures 66 and 67, passed by their legislature last year,
endorsing higher taxes on businesses and the rich amid the current
(SFC, 1/28/10, p.A8)(Econ, 1/30/10, p.36)
2010 Jan 26, Toyota Motor Corp.
announced it would halt sales of some of its top-selling models to
fix gas pedals that could stick and cause unintended acceleration.
Last week, Toyota issued a recall for the same eight models
affecting 2.3 million vehicles. Toyota said it is also suspending
production at six North American car-assembly plants beginning the
week of Feb. 1. It gave no date on when production could restart.
2010 Jan 26, General Motors
agreed to sell Saab, its Swedish subsidiary, to Spyker Cars, a Dutch
maker of sports cars, for $74 million in cash and preference shares
worth $326 million.
(Econ, 1/30/10, p.76)
2010 Jan 26, In Afghanistan
gunmen killed 4 policemen overnight in Helmand province. Hours later
a suicide car bomber targeted a US base in Kabul, wounding six
Afghans and 8 Americans. In eastern Kunar province a NATO airstrike
killed several suspected insurgents who were maneuvering into
fighting position in an area previously used to stage attacks on
(AP, 1/26/10)(SFC, 1/27/10, p.A2)
2010 Jan 26, Leftists in Brazil
for a week of protests against capitalism denounced corporate greed
on the second day of the World Social Forum, saying that big
companies humbled by the global meltdown must be prevented from
controlling natural resources and harming the environment.
2010 Jan 26, The prime
ministers of Britain and Ireland held a second day of talks with
political parties in Northern Ireland as they struggled to keep the
fractious Catholic-Protestant government there from collapsing.
2010 Jan 26, British actress
Joanna Lumley was named "Oldie of the Year" by the monthly Oldie
magazine for campaigning for the rights of retired Nepalese Gurkha
soldiers wanting to settle in Britain.
2010 Jan 26, Guatemalan police
captured ex-President Alfonso Portillo at a beach preparing to flee
the country by boat, a day after US authorities charged him with
laundering money stolen from foreign donations to buy children's
2010 Jan 26, In Guinea Jean
Marie Dore, one of the fiercest critics of Guinea's military junta,
became prime minister. The crucial step toward democracy came amid
worries the country's wounded coup leader is trying to influence the
political process from exile.
2010 Jan 26, In Honduras a
Supreme Court judge found six generals innocent of abuse of power
charges for ordering soldiers to escort Zelaya out of the country at
gunpoint. Hours later, Congress voted to approve amnesty for both
the military and Zelaya, who had been charged with abuse of power
2010 Jan 26, In Hong Kong 5
pro-democracy lawmakers resigned their seats, vowing to turn the
resulting elections into a populist campaign for universal suffrage
in defiance of warnings from China.
2010 Jan 26, Iran's supreme
leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused the US of trying to use the
Internet as a tool to confront the Islamic Republic, declaring that
such a policy only showed Washington's frustration. The US Senate
voted in July to adopt the Victims of Iranian Censorship Act which
authorizes up to $50 million for expanding Farsi language
broadcasts, supporting Iranian Internet and countering government
efforts to block it.
2010 Jan 26, In Iraq a suicide
car bomber struck a police crime lab in central Baghdad, killing at
least 22 people and injuring dozens a day after suicide attacks hit
several hotels favored by Western journalists. Baghdad officials put
the death toll at 17.
(AP, 1/26/10)(SFC, 1/27/10, p.A2)
2010 Jan 26, In Kenya US
Ambassador Michael Ranneberger said the US has suspended a five-year
plan to fund Kenya's education programs following allegations that
more than $1 million in funds went missing at the Education
Ministry. Britain announced in December it was suspending its
funding of the program.
2010 Jan 26, In Myanmar the
Palaung Women's Organization reported that opium cultivation in Shan
State has tripled in certain areas over the past three years. The
Palaung are an ethnic minority in the northern state.
2010 Jan 26, NATO and Russia
formally resumed military ties in the latest sign of improving
relations between the Cold War rivals as they move to boost
cooperation in the fight against insurgents in Afghanistan.
2010 Jan 26, A Nigerian naval
helicopter crashed in the Niger Delta, likely killing the four
2010 Jan 26, In Peru an
Argentine identified as Lucia Ramallo (23) and a Peruvian guide,
Washington Huaraya, were in their tents when a slope near Machu
Picchu gave way and crushed them. The deaths raised to five the
number of people killed by rain-triggered floods and landslides in
the area. Government and private helicopters flew out 475 tourists
as US authorities sent four helicopters to bolster rescue efforts.
2010 Jan 26, Sri Lankans voted
between two Sinhalese war heroes, the president and his former army
chief, in an election that could be decided by minority Tamils, who
suffered most from the government offensive to end the civil
conflict. President Mahinda Rajapaksa won a resounding re-election
(AP, 1/26/10)(AP, 1/27/10)
2010 Jan 26, The ruling party
of St. Kitts and Nevis seized a fourth consecutive term in early
elections. PM Denzil Douglas' Labor Party claimed six of eight
parliamentary seats allotted to St. Kitts.
2010 Jan 26, Sudan's former PM
Sadiq al-Mahdi vowed to put an end to "totalitarianism" and resolve
the conflict in Darfur by taking power at elections in April.
2010 Jan 26, In Venezuela
thousands of university students again protested against Pres.
Chavez, accusing the socialist leader of forcing an
opposition-allied TV channel off cable and satellite as a means of
silencing his critics.
2010 Jan 26, A Yemeni court
sentenced 7 suspected Al-Qaeda members between five and ten years in
jail after convicting them of plotting to attack foreign interests
2010 Jan 27, President Barack
Obama, facing a divided Congress and a dissatisfied nation,
unveiled a jobs-heavy agenda in his State of the Union address.
Obama fought to recharge his embattled presidency with a State of
the Union vow to get jobless millions back to work and stand on the
side of Americans angry at Wall Street greed and Washington
(AP, 1/27/10)(AP, 1/28/10)
2010 Jan 27, The Albuquerque
Journal reported in a copyright story that Ishmael "Mike" Salinas
admitted to bulk cash smuggling and failing to make a required
report on currency brought into the US from Baghdad. The former
employee of a New Mexico construction company with contracts in Iraq
pleaded guilty to illegally bringing in more than $800,000.
2010 Jan 27, In NYC an armed
robber killed jewelry store worker Henry Menahem (71) and made off
with nearly $1 million in jewels.
(SFC, 1/29/10, p.A6)
2010 Jan 27, Claude Irwin Jr.
(62) of Spokane, a fugitive lawyer accused of stealing millions of
dollars in an Idaho real estate development, was been captured in
Los Angeles after living for years in Mexico. In 1998 he vanished
and left his Powderhorn Ridge Ranch development near Harrison,
Idaho, owing at least $3 million.
2010 Jan 27, Apple Inc CEO
Steve Jobs took the wraps off a sleek tablet that it called the
iPad, pitching the new gadget at $499, a surprisingly low price, to
bridge the gap between smartphones and laptops. It will go on sale
in late March for $499-829.
(Reuters, 1/28/10)(Econ, 1/30/10, p.11)
2010 Jan 27, J.D. Salinger
(b.1919), author of “Cather in the Rye" (1951), died at his home in
Cornish, New Hampshire. In 2013 David Shields and Shane Salerno
authored “Salinger," a biography.
(SFC, 1/29/10, p.A1)(SSFC, 9/8/13, p.F1)
2010 Jan 27, Howard Zinn
(b.1922), Massachusetts-based historian, teacher and activist, died
of a heart attack in Santa Monica, Ca. His work included “A People’s
History of the United States" (1980).
(SFC, 1/28/10, p.A8)
2010 Jan 27, In northern
Afghanistan a joint NATO-Afghan air and ground assault killed 11
suspected Taliban militants, including two senior commanders.
Leaders of the Shinwari, one of the largest Pushtun tribes, agreed
to support the Afghan government and battle insurgents. American
commanders in exchange agreed to channel $1 million in development
projects directly to the tribal leaders, bypassing the Afghan
(AP, 1/27/10)(SFC, 1/28/10, p.A4)
2010 Jan 27, In western Algeria
the Oran criminal court sentenced eight people to jail terms for
drug trafficking. Six of the convicted men were sentenced to 20
years, a seventh to life and the eighth, who was on the run, was
also sentenced to life, after the seizure in 2008 of two tons of
cannabis resin at Bechar in the southwest.
2010 Jan 27, Bangladesh
executed 5 former soldiers for killing independence leader Sheikh
Mujibur Rahman in a 1975 military coup.
(SFC, 1/28/10, p.A2)
2010 Jan 27, In Belgium a
five-story apartment building collapsed in Liege after an apparent
gas explosion. At least 11 people were killed. An additional 21
people were injured, two of them seriously.
(AP, 1/27/10)(AP, 1/29/10)
2010 Jan 27, Brazil's first
working-class president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (64), got a
hero's welcome at the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, wowing
10,000 leftists with a vow to reproach the planet's business titans
for causing the global meltdown when he meets with them this week at
the Davos Swiss ski resort. Lula fell ill at the air force base in
Recife where he was supposed to board a flight to Switzerland and
his trip to Davos was canceled.
(AP, 1/27/10)(AP, 1/28/10)
2010 Jan 27, The prime
ministers of Britain and Ireland presented a compromise plan to keep
Northern Ireland's fractious politicians from breaking up their
Catholic-Protestant government, but neither side accepted the deal.
2010 Jan 27, In Britain world
powers gathered in London for talks on how to tackle Al-Qaeda
militants operating out of Yemen. The conference was called to help
world powers chart a roadmap out of Afghanistan amid rising US and
NATO casualties and falling public support.
(AFP, 1/27/10)(AP, 1/28/10)
2010 Jan 27, A Cambodian court
convicted and sentenced in absentia Sam Rainsy, the nation's main
opposition leader, to two years in jail on charges of uprooting
border markings. Rainsy, who is in France, said by telephone that
the court had made a "most unjust" ruling, saying the border markers
he had uprooted in protest were illegally placed.
2010 Jan 27, France's main
Jewish organization, CRIF, says at least 18 tombstones at the
Cronenbourg cemetery in Strasbourg were found marked with swastikas
and 13 of them were overturned. The desecration came as Jews marked
the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz death camp.
2010 Jan 27, In Haiti teenager
Darlene Etienne (17) was rescued from a collapsed home near St.
Gerard University, 15 days after a great earthquake killed an
estimated 200,000 people, It was the first such recovery since Jan
23, when French rescuers extricated a man from the ruins of a hotel
2010 Jan 27, In Honduras
President-elect Porfirio Lobo, a conservative rancher, was sworn in
as the new president, ending months of turmoil and the quest by
ousted leader Manuel Zelaya to be restored to power. Lobo provided
safe passage to Zelaya, who left his refuge at the Brazilian Embassy
and flew to exile in the Dominican Rep.
(AP, 1/27/10)(SFC, 1/28/10, p.A3)
2010 Jan 27, In Indonesia Eko
Budi Wardoyo (32), a suspected Islamist militant, was arrested in
East Java province. He was allegedly involved in the 2005 bombing of
a market that killed 22 people and the murder of a Christian priest
2010 Jan 27, It was reported
that Italian fashion house Armani has stopped selling online a
T-shirt bearing a logo similar to Indonesia's national symbol,
Garuda Pancasila, after some bloggers protested and other people
called for the label to be sued.
2010 Jan 27, Mexican
authorities found a man's head and a threatening message referring
to the La Familia drug cartel in the town square of Quiroga,
Michoacan state. A headless body was found 60 miles (100km) away.
2010 Jan 27, NATO's top officer
said that Russia had agreed to boost cooperation with the alliance
in Afghanistan, including opening more transit routes for supplies
to international troops and helping service Soviet-built helicopters
used by the security forces. NATO said it had finalized an agreement
with Kazakhstan to open the last leg on an overland route to
Afghanistan from Europe via Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan,
offering an alternative to the one through Pakistan.
(AP, 1/27/10)(AP, 1/28/10)
2010 Jan 27, In Nigeria Shehu
Sani, president of the Civil Rights Congress in Nigeria, said
chilling text messages urged both Christians and Muslims to commit
violence during rioting that left more than 300 people dead. He said
his group has collected about 150 text messages that were sent
before and during the violence in Jos.
2010 Jan 27, North Korea fired
more than 80 shells into the sea near its disputed maritime border
with South Korea, sparking an artillery exchange which fuelled
tensions on the peninsula.
2010 Jan 27, In northwestern
Pakistan a bomb planted near a house in Upper Dir exploded after
children playing nearby tried to open it, killing three of them. 13
police and civilian explosives experts were wounded when a homemade
bomb they were trying to defuse in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir
2010 Jan 27, Panama's national
police force killed three guerrillas from a Colombian rebel group in
a confrontation along the sparsely populated frontier between the
two countries. Two others were captured while and one escaped.
2010 Jan 27, A top Saudi
defense official said Saudi forces have driven Yemeni rebels out of
the border region between the two countries, suggesting that the
three month conflict along the mountainous frontier may be winding
2010 Jan 27, Ahmed Mohamed
Mohamoud (8), a Somali boy, died just days after undergoing
reconstructive surgery in Kenya. He had been horribly disfigured
months ago by a stray bullet in Mogadishu. Ahmed personified the
civilian toll in the brutal conflict in Somalia and drew offers of
aid from around the world.
2010 Jan 27, In Sri Lanka the
election commission declared Pres. Rajapaksa the winner with 57.8%
of the vote to Sarath Fonseka's 40%. Rajapaksa beat back a challenge
from his former army chief, who rejected the official results and
said he feared arrest as troops surrounded his hotel. Dayanada
Dissanayake, the distraught election commissioner, said the state
media violated guidelines he had crafted, government institutions
behaved in a way that embarrassed him, and he pleaded to be allowed
to resign his post.
2010 Jan 27, In Thailand 13
tiger range states attended the first Ministerial Conference on
Tiger Conservation. The aim of the 3-day meeting was to convince
countries to pledge to spend more on tiger conservation and set
targets for boosting their numbers. The meeting was being organized
by Thailand and the Global Tiger Initiative, a coalition formed in
2008 by the World Bank, the Smithsonian Institute and nearly 40
conservation groups. It aimed to double tiger numbers by 2022. The
13 countries attending were Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China,
India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand
2010 Jan 27, In Zimbabwe a
lawyer said the Supreme Court has ordered the central bank to
safeguard millions of dollars' worth of diamonds from a mine where
the military is accused of killings and forced labor. State media
said a Zimbabwe high court has rejected a southern African court's
ruling that blocked the government's move to resettle blacks on more
than 70 white-owned farms.
2010 Jan 28, A US government
audit found that a $46 million American aid program aimed at
strengthening the government in Pakistan's tribal regions and
blunting the appeal of al-Qaida and the Taliban has achieved little
since it began two years ago.
2010 Jan 28, The US formally
pledged to the UN that it would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by
17% (from what they were in 2005) by 2020. Meeting the target
depended on getting a climate bill through Congress.
(Econ, 2/6/10, p.38)
2010 Jan 28, In Arizona police
Lt. Eric Shuhandler (42) was shot in the face as he walked back
toward a pickup after finding the passenger had an arrest warrant.
Shuhandler, the father of two girls, was rushed to a hospital, where
he died shortly before midnight. A high-speed, 50-mile chase ended
near the small mountain mining community of Superior when the
suspects jumped out and opened fire on police before falling to the
ground in a hail of bullets. The suspects were identified as
Christopher A. Redondo (35) of Globe, and Daimen Irizarry (30) of
Gilbert. Both were expected to survive.
2010 Jan 28, In Louisiana Mose
Jefferson, the brother of former US Representative William
Jefferson, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for bribing a former
New Orleans school board president for her support in awarding
contracts to a computer-based teaching system, which he sold.
(SFC, 1/29/10, p.A6)
2010 Jan 28, Ford Motor Co.
said it has halted production of some full-sized commercial vehicles
in China because they contain gas pedals built by the same company
behind the accelerators in Toyota Motor Corp.'s recent recall. Ford
spokesman Said Deep said the diesel version of its Transit Classic
built by a Chinese joint venture contains accelerators built by CTS
Corp., based in Elkhart, Ind. The vehicles began production in
December and only about 1,600 have been produced.
2010 Jan 28, In Oakland, Ca.,
Dhar Mann (25) opened iGrow, a one-stop shop for medical marijuana
in a 15,000-square-foot warehouse near the Oakland Airport.
(SFC, 1/28/10, p.C1)
2010 Jan 28, US researchers
reported the development of a prototype vaccine that protects
monkeys and mice against the emerging chikungunya virus. The
mosquito-borne virus first appeared on Reunion Island in 2005 and
has spread to more than 18 countries.
(SFC, 1/29/10, p.A13)
2010 Jan 28, The Afghan
government invited the Taliban to a peace council of elders, the
strongest signal yet that Kabul and its Western allies are looking
for a way out of the eight-year war in Afghanistan. US soldiers shot
and killed an Afghan cleric as he drove with his young son near an
American base on the eastern edge of Kabul, underscoring the dangers
facing civilians despite NATO efforts to minimize casualties. A
homemade bomb killed a US soldier in southern Afghanistan.
(Reuters, 1/28/10)(AFP, 1/28/10)(AP, 1/28/10)
2010 Jan 28, In Britain world
powers agreed on a timetable for the handover of security duties in
Afghan provinces starting in late 2010. The 70 nations said Pres.
Karzai had promised to crack down on corruption and said a summit in
Kabul later this year would offer specific plans to bolster his
faltering government. The Afghan Taliban dismissed the London
conference as a propaganda ploy and said the London summit will fail
to produce results.
(AP, 1/28/10)(AFP, 1/28/10)
2010 Jan 28, Denmark's
government said that face-covering Muslim veils don't belong in
Danish society but no ban is needed because their use can be limited
under existing rules.
2010 Jan 28, France's
ex-premier Dominique de Villepin was acquitted of charges of
plotting to smear Nicolas Sarkozy and sabotage his presidential bid
in a verdict seen as bolstering his chance at a comeback.
2010 Jan 28, Honduras' new
administration began its term saying the nation is bankrupt and will
likely need international financial assistance to recover from
months of diplomatic isolation over its June coup.
2010 Jan 28, Iran executed two
men, Mohammad Reza Ali Zamani and Arash Rahmani Pour, accused of
involvement in an armed anti-government group. The public prosecutor
announced that new death sentences have been issued against
opposition activists involved in protests over June's disputed
(AP, 1/28/10)(AFP, 3/8/10)
2010 Jan 28, In southern Iraq
an American soldier died of injuries unrelated to combat.
2010 Jan 28, Toyota Motor Corp
extended its safety recall of millions of its most popular cars to
Europe and China in a further blow to the reputation of the world's
largest auto maker.
2010 Jan 28, Libyan Justice
Minister Mustafa Abdeljalil said he wants to resign because of
"hindrances" and his inability to secure freedom for hundreds of
prisoners who have been found innocent.
2010 Jan 28, In southern
Pakistan militants staged a rare attack against trucks carrying
supplies for NATO troops in neighboring Afghanistan, wounding three
people in the latest violence to plague the country's largest city.
A bomb attached to a bicycle exploded, killing three people and
wounding a dozen others in an area of Baluchistan province.
2010 Jan 28, In the southern
Philippines a decades-old military plane crashed into a residential
area, killing a two-star air force general and eight other people.
2010 Jan 28, Spanish police
arrested two suspected members of Basque separatist group ETA in
northern Spain and discovered a hidden cache containing explosives
and bomb-making equipment.
2010 Jan 28, In Spain
prosecutors say charges have been filed against Mohamed Benbrahim, a
Muslim imam, for threatening a woman in Cunit, Catalonia, who
refused to wear an Islamic headscarf.
2010 Jan 28, In Venezuela
police fired tear gas to chase off thousands of students
demonstrating in the capital, a fifth day of protests against
President Hugo Chavez for pressuring cable and satellite TV
providers to drop an opposition channel.
2010 Jan 29, President Barack
Obama engaged in a rare face-to-face showdown with Republican
critics and testily accused them of trying to block his policies
while urging them to "join with me" in creating jobs.
2010 Jan 29, A US storm that
toppled power lines, closed major highways and buried parts of the
southern Plains in heavy ice and snow began moving into the South,
leaving tens of thousands of people in the dark. Nearly 142,000
homes and businesses in Oklahoma were without power.
2010 Jan 29, According to a
newly released audiotape Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden called for
the world to boycott American goods and the US dollar, blaming the
United States and other industrialized countries for global warming.
2010 Jan 29, Afghan troops
backed by NATO attack helicopters battled Taliban fighters wearing
suicide vests who launched an assault in the heart of a Lashkar Gah
in southern Helmand province. 6 militants were killed in the
assault. In Ghazni province 2 Afghans were killed after failing to
stop their vehicle when ordered. An Afghan interpreter working for
the US military shot dead two American soldiers in Wardak province.
Iranian guards opened fire and killed 5 laborers as they crossed
into Iran from the southwestern province of Nimroz.
(AP, 1/29/10)(AFP, 1/30/10)(SFC, 1/30/10,
2010 Jan 29, In Brazil leftists
who converged to protest what they view as uncontrolled capitalism
ended the World Social Forum with vows to take advantage of the
financial crisis to promote a global socialist agenda.
2010 Jan 29, Former British PM
Tony Blair said there had been no "covert" deal with then US
president George W. Bush to invade Iraq in 2003, and robustly
defended his decision to take Britain to war.
2010 Jan 29, In China envoys of
exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader the Dalai Lama arrived in Beijing for
weekend talks amid subtle shifts in China's approach to its restive,
riot-scarred western regions of Tibet and Xinjiang.
2010 Jan 29, An Ethiopian judge
sentenced a journalist to prison in connection with a January 2008
column that criticized PM Meles Zenawi's statements about religious
affairs in Ethiopia. The journalist was later identified as Ezedin
Mohamed, editor of Al-Quds, a Muslim-orientated newspaper.
2010 Jan 29, In Haiti US
soldiers halted a violent confrontation between looters and a
private security guard who shot and killed one man inside an
appliance store and appeared poised to shoot others.
2010 Jan 29, In the
Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir suspected Muslim rebels
ambushed army soldiers, killing two troops.
2010 Jan 29, Honda Motor Co.
said it would recall a total 646,000 units of the Fit/Jazz and City
models globally, including 140,000 in the United States. The recall
was to fix a defective master switch, which could cause water to
enter the power window switch and in some cases cause a fire.
2010 Jan 29, The office of
Lithuanian Pres. Dalia Grybauskaite said in a statement that she
would sign a decree to appoint Audronius Ažubalis as foreign
minister. The tough-talking Grybauskaite forced the resignation of
the last foreign minister Vygaudas Ušackas.
2010 Jan 29, Mexican
authorities found the decapitated bodies of six men in Acahuato,
Michoacan state. A group of at least a dozen armed men attacked a
federal police convoy, opening fire on the vehicles from a highway
overpass near the city of Maravatio, also in Michoacan, killing 5
officers and wounding 7. Four severely beaten men were seen walking
along a busy street in the Michoacan town of Zamora carrying
messages signed by La Familia. In Ciudad Juarez a group of
rifle-bearing attackers opened fire on a family in a truck, killing
a man, a woman and injuring a 5-month-old baby. A woman was later
killed inside an ice cream parlor, a chase through the Galeana
neighborhood left two dead, and a man was killed and a pregnant
woman was injured in a spray of bullets in another part of town. Six
more people were killed later in the day in four different
locations, and when dawn broke the two decapitated bodies were
found. Journalist Ochoa Martinez, director of El Sol de la Costa,
was shot in the face as he left a food stand in the town of Ayutla.
His small newspaper covered mostly local politics and community
issues southeast of Acapulco.
(AP, 1/29/10)(AP, 1/31/10)(AP, 2/2/10)
2010 Jan 29, In Mexico a Texas
man and his girlfriend were sentenced to nine years in prison for
recruiting Mexican women to give birth in the US and sell their
babies to couples there. Amado Torres, of Harlingen, Texas, and
Maria Isabel Hernandez, of Mexico, had allegedly paid women up to
$3,000 for their newborns.
2010 Jan 29, In New Zealand
police seized weapons used by two men to slaughter more than 30 dogs
owned by a neighbor in what animal welfare authorities said could be
the country's worst animal cruelty case.
2010 Jan 29, A Nigerian court
rejected a demand by top lawyers that a caretaker head of state be
appointed until ailing President Umaru Yar’Adua returns from
hospital treatment in Saudi Arabia.
2010 Jan 29, Pakistani security
forces killed 24 suspected militants in air strikes and clashes in
the northwest. One paramilitary soldier was also killed and three
wounded in a clash in the town of Chinar in the district of Bajaur.
2010 Jan 29, Russia test-flew a
long-awaited new fighter aircraft, determined to challenge the
United States for technical superiority in the skies and impress
2010 Jan 29, Somali insurgents
sparked the heaviest day of fighting in the capital in months,
launching simultaneous attacks on government forces and AU
peacekeepers killing at least 19 people including women and
(AP, 1/29/10)(SFC, 1/30/10, p.A2)
2010 Jan 29, In Sri Lanka
police raided the office of defeated presidential candidate Sarath
Fonseka and arrested 15 of its workers as monitors and rights groups
criticized the Sri Lankan election that returned President Mahinda
Rajapakse to power.
2010 Jan 29, At Davos,
Switzerland, Microsoft co-founder and his wife said The Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation will donate $10 billion over the next
decade to research new vaccines and bring them to the world's
2010 Jan 29, In Thailand a
dozen Asian nations and Russia vowed to double the number of wild
tigers by 2022, crack down on poaching that has devastated the big
cats and prohibit the building of roads and bridges that could harm
their habitats. The 13 countries included Bangladesh, Bhutan,
Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal,
Russia, Thailand and Vietnam.
2010 Jan 29, A Vietnamese court
handed a four-year jail term to writer Pham Thanh Nghien (32) for
anti-state "propaganda," the latest in a string of jailings of
democracy activists by the communist state.
2010 Jan 30, In Las Vegas
Caressa Cameron (22) of Virginia became the nation's newest Miss
America, emerging from a field of 53 contestants picked for their
beauty, compassion and interview savvy. Cameron, the first black
Miss America since Ericka Dunlap in 2005, said she wants to get a
master's degree and eventually become a news anchor.
2010 Jan 30, In NYC a fire
housing Guatemalan immigrants killed at least 5 people in Brooklyn.
Arson was suspected.
(SSFC, 1/31/10, p.A16)
2010 Jan 30, A joint US-Afghan
force clashed with Afghan troops manning a snow-covered outpost and
called in an airstrike, killing four Afghan soldiers. Both sides
called the clash a case of mistaken identity.
2010 Jan 30, China suspended
military exchanges with the United States and threatened sanctions
against American defense companies, just hours after Washington
announced $6.4 billion in planned arms sales to Taiwan.
2010 Jan 30, The European Union
said Italy is to stop fishing for bluefin tuna, the lucrative but
over-exploited species beloved of Japanese sushi fans, for 12
2010 Jan 30, In Haiti about 20
armed men blockaded a street and attacked UN a convoy carrying food
from the airport. Ten American Baptists were detained for
trying to take 33 children across the border into the Dominican
Republic without documentation.
(AP, 2/2/10)(AP, 2/5/10)
2010 Jan 30, Ashes of Indian
independence hero Mahatma Gandhi, kept for decades by a family
friend after his assassination, were scattered off South Africa's
2010 Jan 30, Thousands of
Iranians gathered at dusk against a snowy mountain backdrop to light
giant bonfires in an ancient mid-winter festival. Sadeh was the
national festival of ancient Persia when Zoroastrianism was the
dominant religion, before the conquest of Islam in the 7th century.
2010 Jan 30, In Iraq a suicide
bomber detonated an explosives belt at a restaurant popular with
security forces in Samarra, a city that was once a flash point for
sectarian slaughter, killing at least two people.
2010 Jan 30, In Italy hundreds
of judges walked out of nationwide ceremonies held to mark the start
of the judicial year in protest at "destructive legislation"
introduced by PM Silvio Berlusconi.
2010 Jan 30, In Japan thousands
of protesters from across Japan marched in central Tokyo to protest
the US military presence on Okinawa, while a Cabinet minister said
she would fight to move a Marine base Washington considers crucial
out of the country.
2010 Jan 30, In the Marshall
Islands the government considered invoking special powers of
quarantine as an outbreak of drug-resistant tuberculosis has been
declared a public health emergency.
2010 Jan 30, In Mexico armed
men stormed a party, killing 15 high school and college students in
Ciudad Juarez in what witnesses thought was an attack prompted by
false information. Ten people were found dead at the scene and six
died at hospitals. An official later said gunmen were directed to
the neighborhood by a resident who said members of a rival gang were
planning a party.
(AP, 2/2/10)(AP, 2/4/10)
2010 Jan 30, Nigeria's main
rebel group called off a truce in the oil-rich Niger Delta,
threatening an "all-out onslaught" and adding to the country’s
political and economic woes. A leak was observed on the Anglo-Dutch
Trans-Ramos pipeline. The leak was stopped and an investigation
confirmed the leak was due to a sabotage. Anglo-Dutch oil group
Shell shut down some oil production following the sabotage.
(AFP, 1/30/10)(AFP, 2/1/10)
2010 Jan 30, In Pakistan a
suicide bomber killed 16 people at a police checkpoint in the
northwest Bajur tribal area. 3 suspected US missiles hit a compound
and a bunker in the Mohammad Khel area of North Waziristan. 2
missiles hit the compound being used by the militants, killing 7 of
them. The third killed two more insurgents in a bunker.
2010 Jan 30, Russian PM
Vladimir Putin was quoted as saying that Libya has signed an arms
deal with Russia worth 1.3 billion euros ($1.8 billion).
2010 Jan 30, Russia opened its
first new casino, under a plan to limit legalized gambling to 4
comparatively remote areas, since it closed all casinos a half year
earlier. Along with the opening in Azov city, the new law limits
legalized gambling to the Kaliningrad enclave on the Baltic Sea, the
Altai region of Siberia, and the Primorski region of the Far East.
(SSFC, 1/31/10, p.A6)
2010 Jan 30, In Sri Lanka
police shut down the offices of an opposition newspaper, as
international rights groups accused the authorities of a vendetta
against critical media. The chief editor was arrested. A court
lifted a ban on the paper on Feb 1. On Feb 16 the chief editor of
the pro-opposition Lanka newspaper, Chandana Sirimalwatte, was
ordered to be released from police custody because there was no
evidence against him.
(AFP, 1/30/10)(AFP, 2/16/10)
2010 Jan 30, In Davos,
Switzerland, government regulators from the US and Europe laid out
their financial reform plans before a skeptical banking industry,
asking financiers for input but adamant that change was coming with
or without their support.
2010 Jan 30, In Yemen militant
Saleh al-Shaoush was arrested as he prepared to carry out a suicide
bombing in the southeastern port of Mukalla. He had been stopped on
his motorbike and found to be wearing an explosives belt and
carrying two bombs. His trial began in October.
2010 Jan 31, Beyonce, pop's
reigning diva, earned six Grammys, more than any woman on a single
night of the 52-year-old awards show.
2010 Jan 31, Afghanistan's
Pres. Karzai appealed to Taliban fighters to lay down their weapons
and accept Afghan laws as the government and its international
allies push a program to entice militants away from the insurgency.
Karzai also said that Afghanistan, one of the world's poorest
countries, is sitting on mineral and petroleum reserves worth an
estimated one trillion dollars.
(AP, 1/31/10)(AFP, 1/31/10)
2010 Jan 31, In Argentina Tomas
Eloy Martinez (75), author and journalist famed for his writings
about former President Juan Domingo Peron and his glamorous wife
2010 Jan 31, An Egyptian
security official said 25 Egyptians were arrested on suspicion of
planning a bombing attack against Jewish pilgrims in the country and
belonging to a militant Islamist group. The suspects, rounded up
over the past few weeks in the Nile Delta governorate of Daqahlia,
were found in possession of explosives and rudimentary rocket
2010 Jan 31, In Ethiopia UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon attended the AU's annual summit in
Addis Ababa and again failed to pledge peacekeepers for Somalia. Ban
Ki-Moon criticized power-grabs in Africa in a speech to the
continent's leaders as Libya's Moamer Kadhafi reluctantly handed
over the presidency of the African Union to Malawian President Bingu
wa Mutharika. The AU agreed to consider a Senegalese proposal to
resettle Haiti's earthquake homeless and possibly create a state for
them in Africa.
(Reuters, 1/31/10)(AFP, 1/31/10)(Reuters,
2010 Jan 31, Ten American
Baptists were being held in the Haitian capital after trying take 33
children out of Haiti at a time of growing fears over possible child
trafficking. Doctors skirted a bureaucratic logjam to save the life
of two critically ill child victims of Haiti's earthquake, flying
them to US hospitals on a private jet to avoid a military suspension
of medical evacuation flights.
2010 Jan 31, In the
Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir Wamiq Farooq (14), a Muslim
boy, died after being struck by a shell fired by police to quell a
demonstration by separatists in Srinagar.
(AFP, 2/2/10)(AP, 2/13/10)
2010 Jan 31, Mexican President
Felipe Calderon arrived in Japan for a three-day visit, as the
countries mark 400 years of official ties.
2010 Jan 31, A Jordanian
security official said more than 40 alleged Islamist extremists have
been arrested in Jordan since a Jordanian blew himself up in
Afghanistan in December, killing seven CIA agents.
2010 Jan 31, A Libyan appeal
court overturned a jail term slapped on Swiss businessman Rashid
Hamdani on a charge of overstaying his visa, easing a Tripoli-Bern
2010 Jan 31, In New Zealand
Xiao Zhen killed Auckland taxi driver Hiren Mohini (39) and then
fled to China. Zhen was arrested in Shanghai and tried for murder in
2011. Xiao (24) expressed remorse over the killing, which he said
was in self-defense when an argument escalated after he refused to
pay Mohini adequate cab fare. On Aug 17 Xiao Zhen was sentenced to
15 years in prison.
2010 Jan 31, In northwest
Pakistan fighter jets and helicopters pounded a district where a
suicide bomber in Khar killed 17 people a day earlier. A roadside
bomb exploded in the town of Safi, killing two security personnel
who were riding in a water tanker. Militants blew up a
government-run girls' primary school on the outskirts of the
northwestern garrison town of Bannu. State television reported that
TTP chief Hakimullah Mehsud was dead, reviving rumors that he was
killed in a US missile strike in mid-January. But the Taliban denied
the report and the army only said it was investigating.
2010 Jan 31, In Russia several
hundred demonstrators shouting "Shame!" gathered in a central Moscow
square, defying a ban imposed by authorities. Moscow police detained
dozens of people at an anti-Kremlin protest, including several
prominent opposition leaders. A separate demonstration was held by
dozens of residents of the Rechnik settlement to protest the
demolition of their homes ordered by Mayor Yury Luzhkov.
(AP, 1/31/10)(Econ, 2/6/10, p.57)
2010 Jan 31, In Somalia heavy
mortar fire between African Union peacekeepers and Islamist
insurgents killed at least 12 civilians and left scores wounded in
2010 Jan 31, Switzerland's
justice minister warned in an interview that top bank UBS could
collapse if sensitive talks with the US over a high-profile tax
fraud investigation fall through.
2010 Jan 31, In Davos,
Switzerland, the world's foremost gathering of business and
government leaders wrapped up a five-day meeting with widespread
agreement that a fragile recovery is under way but no consensus on
what's going to spur job growth and prevent another global economic
2010 Jan 31, Yemen said it
would stop its war on Shiite northern rebels only if they agree to a
six-point truce offer, including a pledge not to attack Saudi
Arabia, as fighting raged on 3 fronts.
2010 Jan, Angola at this time
produced about 1.9 million barrels of oil per day. Its reserves were
estimated at 13 billion barrels.
(Econ, 1/30/10, p.55)
2010 Jan, In Cuba a cold spell
left 26 patients dead at the Havana Psychiatric Hospital. On Jan 31,
2011, over a dozen employees and officials at the hospital were
convicted of negligence and sentenced from 5 to 15 years in prison.
(SFC, 2/1/11, p.A2)
2010 Jan, It was reported that
German researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and
Forming Technology in Chemnitz have found a way to use
electromagnetic pulses (EMPs) to punch holes into steel.
(Econ, 1/16/10, p.80)
2010 Jan, Five Iranian exiles
issued a Manifesto from abroad calling for the resignation of Pres.
Ahmadinejad, fresh elections and the lifting of restrictions on
(http://garysick.tumblr.com/)(Econ, 1/9/10, p.26)
2010 Jan, A North Korean firing
squad publicly executed a factory worker for sneaking news out of
the reclusive communist country via his illicit mobile phone.
2010 Jan, Palestine’s Pres.
Abbas appointed Leila Ghanem (35) as governor of Ramallah, the
first woman to become a Palestinian governor. Ramallah is most
important of the West Bank's 10 Palestinian administrative
2010 Jan, Scientists at
Russia’s Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions announced internally
that they had succeeded in detecting the decay of a new element with
Z=117 using the reactions.
2010 Jan, Russian authorities
confiscated the computers of Baikal Environmental Wave in Irkutsk in
an alleged search for pirated software. The group was protesting a
decision by PM Putin to reopen a paper factory that had long
polluted nearby Lake Baikal. Similar raids in recent years have
taken place against dozens of outspoken advocacy groups.
(SSFC, 9/12/10, p.A10)
2010 Jan, In Sudan an attack
targeted a convoy travelling from Khartoum to Nyala in South Darfur.
JEM rebels killed the convoy commander and 53 soldiers and stole
fuel trucks and food supplies. In 2011 a Sudanese court sentenced
seven members of a Darfur rebel group to death by hanging for
ambushing the convoy.
2010 Feb 1, President Barack
Obama unveiled a multitrillion-dollar spending plan, pledging an
intensified effort to combat high unemployment and asking Congress
to quickly approve new job-creation efforts that would boost the
deficit to a record-breaking $1.56 trillion. Obama also made his
first YouTube interview and spent about 40 minutes answering about a
dozen of over 11,000 questions submitted by YouTube users following
his State of the Union address. This included $708 billion
requested by the Pentagon for 2011.
(AP, 2/1/10)(SFC, 2/2/10,
p.A9)(http://tinyurl.com/ycfdtxv)(Econ, 2/6/10, p.34)
2010 Feb 1, NASA’s
back-to-the-moon program, Constellation, fell victim to budget cuts.
(Econ, 2/6/10, p.86)
2010 Feb 1, FBI agents arrested
Mohammed Wali Zad, the father of terrorism suspect Najibullah Zazi,
at his suburban Denver home. A new indictment accused him of
conspiring with others to destroy or hide evidence in a foiled NYC
(SFC, 2/2/10, p.A4)
2010 Feb 1, US Customs and
Border Protection officers seized nearly a ton of marijuana hidden
in a banana shipment at a cargo facility near the US-Mexico border.
Officers opened boxes in a truck and found 235 packages of pot worth
an estimated $1.1 million.
2010 Feb 1, Brazil’s Cosan, a
producer of ethanol, unveiled a joint venture with Royal Dutch Shell
to pool their retail operations.
(Econ, 2/6/10, p.73)
2010 Feb 1, China launched a
10-day emergency crackdown on tainted milk products after several
were found creeping back onto the market despite a massive scandal
that sickened hundreds of thousands of children in 2008.
2010 Feb 1, It was reported
that Cuba has declared a two-month amnesty for citizens to register
unlicensed guns. Starting Feb. 12, Cubans will have the "exceptional
and one-time only" chance to register their guns with police, and
will be allowed to keep them provided they are over 18 and have
passed the proper tests administered at police stations.
2010 Feb 1, Egypt’s Parliament
amended an antiquities law to bring in stiffer punishments for the
theft and smuggling of relics while granting patent rights to the
country's antiquities council.
2010 Feb 1, Many schools in
Haiti's outlying provinces reopened for the first time since an
earthquake devastated the nation, though it may take a month or more
to open classrooms in the quake-crushed capital.
2010 Feb 1, In Iraq a female
suicide bomber mingling among Shiite pilgrims in northern Baghdad
detonated an explosives belt, killing at least 54 people on the
outskirts of the Shiite neighborhood of Shaab.
2010 Feb 1, In Israel two
barrels, each containing 22 pounds (10kg) of explosives, washed up
on Israel's shores late in the day. No one was hurt. Palestinian
militants in the Gaza Strip said the failed attempt to send floating
bombs toward Israeli beaches was meant to avenge the mysterious
death of a Hamas commander in Dubai.
2010 Feb 1, Seven American and
European scientists were named winners of Israel's prestigious
$100,000 Wolf Prize. Its prize in medicine went to Axel Ullrich of
Germany for groundbreaking cancer research that has led to
development of new drugs. Sir David Baulcombe of Cambridge
University was awarded for agriculture research in defending plants
against viruses. The physics prize was shared by US professor John
F. Clauser, Alain Aspect of France and Anton Zeilinger of Austria
for their work in quantum physics. The mathematics prize was shared
by two US-based professors: Shing-Tung Yau for geometric analysis,
and Dennis Sullivan for contributions to algebraic topology and
conformal dynamics. The Wolf Foundation was founded by the late
German-born Dr. Ricardo Wolf, an inventor, philanthropist and former
Cuban ambassador to Israel.
2010 Feb 1, Lithuanian PM
Andrius Kubilius visited Silicon Valley, San Francisco. He and his
delegation met with managers at Oracle Corp., Cisco Systems and
Hewlett-Packard. He also met with one of the most powerful groups in
the IT sector, i.e. members of major Venture Capital Association
Accel Partners and other IT investors. The participants of the
meeting included Ilja Laurs, founder and CEO of GetJar, the only
Lithuanian capital company with the head office in the Silicon
2010 Feb 1, In Mexico armed men
burst into a bar Ciudad Juarez around dawn and killed four men and a
woman. Gunmen killed 10 people and wounded 15 in a bar in Torreon, a
city in the northern state of Coahuila. A shootout that began in a
shopping center and spilled onto a highway in Torreon caused the
death of 7 suspected Zetas gunmen and one federal police officer
while freeing two kidnap victims. The La Familia gang, strung up
about a dozen banners in the western state of Michoacan urging the
public at large and other gangs to form a common "resistance" front
against the Zetas.
(AP, 2/2/10)(AP, 2/3/10)
2010 Feb 1, Polish scientists
said they have discovered 3 Neanderthal teeth, dating back
some 100,000 to 80,000 years, in the Stajnia Cave, north of the
2010 Feb 1, Officials from the
two Koreas met in North Korea to discuss their joint industrial
complex just days after an exchange of gunfire at sea emphasized the
constant security threat on the divided peninsula.
2010 Feb 1, Thailand and the
United States began their annual Cobra Gold military exercise, now
in its 29th year, with South Korea taking part for the first time.
Singapore, Japan and Indonesia will also participate in the
three-week training exercise, describes as the largest of its type
in the world.
2010 Feb 2, In Hayward, Ca., 2
men were killed outside the Manheim San Francisco Bay auto auction
business. On Feb 4 police arrested Karl George Sanft (34) for the
slaying of security guard Angelito Erasquin (63) and truck driver
Jim Wightman (56). On June 24 Sanft, who pleaded not guilty by
reason of insanity, was convicted of two counts of first degree
murder. On June 30 a judge ruled that Sanft was legally sane.
(SFC, 2/5/10, p.C2)(SFC, 6/25/15, p.D3)(SFC,
2010 Feb 2, In Afghanistan
gunmen on a motorcycle killed two associates of Pres. Karzai’s
2010 Feb 2, Australian
researchers said they had discovered a gene associated with
long-sightedness, a development they said could lead to drug
treatments that will replace glasses.
2010 Feb 2, A remote Bosnian
village, home to highly conservative Wahhabi Muslims, was raided by
hundreds of police who said they were searching for an unspecified
2010 Feb 1, Brazil’s government
approved the 11 billion dollar Belo Monte project on the Xingu river
that will flood 500 square km (193 square miles) and supply 11% of
Brazil's electricity. Detractors said the dam in northern Para state
will trigger droughts along a 100 km (60 mile) stretch of the Xingu,
displace thousands of indigenous people, attract an army of
job-seekers, and accelerate the deforestation and destruction of the
2010 Feb 2, In Ethiopia African
leaders wrapped up their annual summit less divided and looking at
brighter economic prospects but still facing a raft of conflicts,
including Sudan's predicted break-up. An AU official said leaders of
the 53-member African Union want Madagascar's rival politicians to
stick to the agreements meant to help the Indian Ocean island out of
a prolonged crisis.
2010 Feb 2, Germany and
Switzerland headed for a fresh spat over banking secrecy after
Berlin decided to buy a disc said to hold details of some 1,500
suspected tax-dodgers with funds in Swiss accounts.
2010 Feb 2, Iran said it was
ready to send its uranium abroad for further enrichment as requested
by the UN.
2010 Feb 2, In Kashmir Indian
police and Muslim protesters clashed for the second day running over
the death of a Muslim boy killed by a police tear-gas shell.
2010 Feb 2, Latvia's government
said it will accept one inmate from the US prison at Guantanamo Bay.
2010 Feb 2, The key witness in
a Mafia trial in Sicily told a court that a close ally of PM Silvio
Berlusconi had direct links with the former "Boss of Bosses" of the
2010 Feb 2, In Pakistan 8
missiles fired from US drones killed at least 4 militants in
Dattakhel village, in North Waziristan. The death toll from the
night time drone attacks, the heaviest ever in terms of the number
of missiles fired, soon rose to 31.
(AFP, 2/2/10)(Reuters, 2/2/10)
2010 Feb 2, Saudi Arabia said
it will not get involved in peacemaking in Afghanistan unless the
Taliban stops providing shelter and severs all ties with Osama bin
Laden and Al-Qaeda. Afghan Pres. Karzai was in Saudi Arabia hoping
for an active Saudi role to persuade Taliban militants to switch
(SFC, 2/3/10, p.A4)
2010 Feb 2, UN and Sudanese
officials said almost half the population of south Sudan is facing
food shortages because of conflict and drought, a fourfold rise in
the numbers needing aid since last year.
2010 Feb 2, Venezuela deported
alleged major drug traffickers to the US and France. Suspected
Colombian drug kingpin Salomon Camacho Mora, French smuggling
suspect Jean Marie Bonnamy and alleged Colombian paramilitary member
Oscar Ospino were ferried to the nation's main airport for
2010 Feb 3, The US government
estimated that health care consumed a record 17.3% of all spending
in the US economy last year.
(SFC, 2/4/10, p.A6)
2010 Feb 3, In NYC Aafia
Siddiqui, a 37-year-old Pakistani-born mother and neuroscientist
trained at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was found guilty
of two counts of attempted murder, armed assault, using and carrying
a firearm and assault of US officers and employees and faces up to
60 years in prison. Siddiqui was arrested in July 2008 by US forces
in Ghazni, Afghanistan on accusation of being a suicide bomber and
alleged possession of "chemical and gel substances" for bomb making.
2010 Feb 3, In San Francisco
Timothy Syed Anderson (66), billed as a dermatologist, was charged
with 51 counts including practicing medicine without a license and
grand theft through deception. He had been implicated in fraud in
Sweden, before he left the country in 1996.
(SFC, 2/4/10, p.A1)
2010 Feb 3, In Vallejo, Ca.,
Amarjit Kaur (39), a widow raising 3 children, was found shot in the
chest and slumped behind the wheel of a Tony’s Ice Cream truck. Two
days later a boy (14) was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder
and robbery. On Feb 18 another boy, Peter Montenegro (15), was
charged as an adult in the shooting. Kaur was recovering from her
wound. In 2011 Montenegro was sentenced to 7 years to life for
attempted murder and 10 years for using a gun.
(SFC, 2/20/10, p.C2)(SFC, 11/24/11, p.C3)
2010 Feb 3, In Florida Stephen
Schafer (38) died following a shark attack off an Atlantic coast
beach about 100 miles north of Miami.
(SFC, 2/5/10, p.A9)
2010 Feb 3, Afghan and NATO
forces killed 32 suspected militants in southern Helmand province,
the focus an imminent anti-Taliban offensive. Three Afghan soldiers
were killed and four others wounded.
2010 Feb 3, New African Union
President Bingu wa Mutharika of Malawi said that food security,
transport infrastructure and energy will be his priorities.
2010 Feb 3, "L'homme qui marche
I" (Walking Man I), a 1961 life-size bronze statue of a man by Swiss
artist Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966), smashed the world record for
an art work at auction, selling in London for £65,001,250.
2010 Feb 3, China’s official
Xinhua News Agency reported that Lekang Dairy Company general
manager Zhang Wenxue and vice general managers Zhu Shuming and Tong
Tianhu have been charged with manufacturing and selling tainted milk
powder in the latest crackdown. Xinhua quoted Health Minister Chen
Zhu as saying "all melamine-tainted milk products will be found and
destroyed," as part of the current 10-day crackdown.
2010 Feb 3, The EU backed
Greece's “stability and development" plan to shrink a massive budget
gap as "achievable," but warned it would demand tougher cutbacks if
Athens does not stick to promised spending curbs and reforms.
(AP, 2/3/10)(Econ, 2/6/10, p.55)
2010 Feb 3, Iran announced it
has successfully launched a research rocket carrying a mouse, two
turtles and worms into space. The launch of the rocket Kavoshgar-3,
which means Explorer-3 in Farsi, was announced by Defense Minister
Gen. Ahmad Vahidi to mark the National Day of Space Technology.
2010 Feb 3, An Iraqi appeals
court struck down a ban imposed on hundreds of candidates for
suspected ties to Saddam Hussein's regime, allowing them to run in
next month's election. A bomb planted on a parked motorcycle ripped
through a crowd of Shiite pilgrims, killing at least 20 people and
wounding more than 100, as hundreds of thousands of pilgrims made
their way to an important annual Shiite religious observance. Hours
earlier, two separate roadside bombs targeting Shiite pilgrims
exploded in Baghdad, killing one and wounding seven others. A senior
security official said agents arrested 13 suspects believed involved
in making explosive belts for suicide attacks.
2010 Feb 3, Israel announced
that British and American architects were named winners of its
prestigious Wolf Prize. British architect David Chipperfield was
recognized for overseeing the reconstruction of Berlin's Neues
Museum in a building that had been abandoned since World War II.
American architect Peter Eisenman designed the Holocaust Memorial in
Berlin, inaugurated in 2005.
2010 Feb 3, The Lithuania’s
Ministry of Finance announced that Standard & Poor’s (S&P)
Ratings Services has revised its outlook on Lithuania by increasing
it from negative to stable.
2010 Feb 3, Mexico’s
Agriculture Dept. said private companies there have begun the first
legal plantings of genetically modified corn.
(SFC, 2/4/10, p.A2)
2010 Feb 3, At The Hague
appeals judges said the International Criminal Court was wrong when
it decided that Sudan's Pres. Omar al-Bashir can't be charged with
genocide in Darfur. The unprecedented ruling could lead al-Bashir's
indictment with humanity's worst crime.
2010 Feb 3, New Zealand police
warned that local teenager (19), who says she auctioned her
virginity online for $32,000 to raise tuition money, did not break
any laws but it might be risky for her to follow through on the
deal. Prostitution is legal in New Zealand under laws considered
more liberal than many countries. Prostitution among consenting
adults is allowed in brothels and on the streets, and offering
sexual services in print ads and online is also legal.
2010 Feb 3, In Pakistan a bomb
killed 3 US soldiers, 3 children and a Pakistani soldier. 45 people,
including 40 school girls, were wounded in the attack outside a
girls school near Swat Valley. The Taliban claimed responsibility
and threatened more attacks on Americans.
2010 Feb 2, Somali pirates
hijacked a North Korean cargo ship with an unknown number of crew on
board. The MV Rim, owned by White Sea Shipping of Libya, was seized
in the Gulf of Aden, outside the internationally recommended transit
corridor patrolled by the anti-piracy naval coalition. The crew of
one Romanian and 9 Syrians fought their way free on June 2 with the
help of Ahmed, a pirate cook, who had smuggled food to the crew and
(AP, 2/3/10)(SFC, 6/19/10, p.A3)
2010 Feb 3, South Africa's
polygamist Pres. Jacob Zuma confirmed that he recently fathered a
child with a woman who is not one of his three wives or fiancee, and
criticized those who said his actions undermined the country's
campaign against HIV/AIDS. The nation of about 50 million has an
estimated 5.7 million people infected with HIV, more than any other
2010 Feb 3, In Sri Lanka
thousands of opposition supporters took to the streets of the
capital to protest the results of the recent presidential election,
which they say was marred by fraud.
2010 Feb 3, The Swiss
government approved the resettlement of two Chinese inmates at
Guantanamo as part of its commitment to help President Barack
Obama's administration close the detention center.
2010 Feb 3, Ukraine's security
service said 5 Russian FSB agents were detained last month after
being caught trying to obtain confidential military information from
a Ukrainian citizen. The FSB said the Ukrainian citizen its agents
were working with had himself been apprehended in November while
allegedly spying on neighboring Moldova's Moscow-backed breakaway
2010 Feb 4, A US federal judge
declared a mistrial in the case of Gerardo Castillo Chavez, an
alleged drug cartel hit man, after a jury in the Texas-Mexico border
town of Laredo acquitted him on a gun charge and deadlocked on other
charges. Chavez, also known as "Cachetes" or "Cheeks" in Spanish,
was accused of being a member of the Mexican Gulf Cartel's hit
squads that killed and kidnapped people in Laredo in 2005 and 2006.
2010 Feb 4, In Denver Miguel
Angel Caro Quintero (46) was sentenced to 17 years in federal prison
for racketeering in Colorado and conspiracy to distribute marijuana
in Arizona. His Sonora cartel was tied to the 1985 torture and
killing of an undercover Drug Enforcement Administration agent,
Enrique "Kiki" Camarena Salazar.
2010 Feb 4, The New York
Attorney General’s filed civil charges against Bank of America and
former CEO Ken Lewis for misleading investors about Merrill Lynch
before it acquired the Wall Street firm in early 2009.
(SFC, 2/5/10, p.D4)
2010 Feb 4, The US “Tea Party
Nation," a decentralized grassroots movement, began its first
national convention in Nashville, Tenn. The event’s grand finale was
a tirade against Pres. Obama by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
(Econ, 2/13/10, p.31)
2010 Feb 4, Joseph McStay (40),
his wife, Summer (43), and their two children disappeared from their
San Diego County home. Their white, 1996 Isuzu Trooper was found
four days later in a strip mall in San Ysidro, about 70 miles from
their home. In 2013 The bodies of the family were found in a shallow
graves near Victorville.
2010 Feb 4, Australia said it
used an anti-weapons of mass destruction law to block three
shipments to Iran but calls for new sanctions against the Islamic
state opened up a new international divide.
2010 Feb 4, Britain's Treasury
said it will rush through new legislation after a court ruled the
way it freezes the bank accounts of suspected terrorists was
unlawful. Britain’s Supreme Court ruled last week that the
asset-freezing system was unlawful.
2010 Feb 4, In China two courts
in the southern province of Guangdong sentenced 25 people to death
for their roles in nine kidnapping cases.
2010 Feb 4, China told other
world powers that discussing broader sanctions against Iran was
counterproductive, striking a blow to a Western push to rein in
Tehran's nuclear program.
2010 Feb 4, A Chinese ministry
statement ordered schools to sever all ties and cooperation with
Oxfam saying school administrators must ban all campus volunteer
recruitment efforts run by the group's Hong Kong office. It accused
the Hong Kong branch of having a hidden political agenda. Oxfam has
operated in mainland China for 20 years and worked in cooperation
with the government's poverty alleviation department. Oxfam, a
confederation of 14 national organizations that works in about 100
countries, was founded in Britain in 1942.
2010 Feb 4, Dubai's government,
under pressure to repay billions of dollars in debt, said it has
discovered a new offshore oil field, the first such find by the
city-state in decades.
2010 Feb 4, The Irish Catholic
party Sinn Fein halted marathon negotiations to save Northern
Ireland's power-sharing government and said it's now up to the
Protestant side to accept a compromise deal.
2010 Feb 4, In Pakistan
protests erupted across the country after a US court convicted a
Pakistani scientist of trying to kill US servicemen in Afghanistan.
A jury in New York found Aafia Siddiqui (37), a mother and
neuroscientist trained, guilty on all charges.
2010 Feb 4, A South Korean news
report said the director of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's secret
moneymaking "Room 39" bureau has been fired. Analysts said the move
may be a way to get around international sanctions. Room 39 is
described as the lynchpin of the North's so-called "court economy"
centered on the dynastic Kim family. The department is believed to
finance his family and top party officials with business ventures,
some legitimate and some not, that include counterfeiting and
2010 Feb 4, A leading Russian
lawmaker said Russia and Western powers have moved closer to
agreement on the need for new sanctions against Iran over its
2010 Feb 4, Romania’s Pres.
Traian Basescu says the country's top defense body has approved a US
proposal to place anti-ballistic interceptors in Romania as part of
a revamped US missile shield. The measure passed the Supreme Defense
Council and must be approved by Parliament.
2010 Feb 4, Russia hailed a new
agreement with the United States intended to boost joint anti-drug
efforts, but urged the US and NATO to do more to stem a flow of
drugs from Afghanistan that has sickened millions of Russians.
2010 Feb 4, In Sudan 16 people
were killed in clashes between south Sudan troops and cattle herders
from the northern Messeria tribe in the southern Unity state.
2010 Feb 4, Turkey’s government
scrapped its controversial security and public order “Emsya")
protocol, which allowed the army to take charge in the provinces
when law and order breaks down.
(Econ, 2/13/10, p.56)
2010 Feb 4, Venezuelan police
used tear gas, plastic bullets and water cannons to scatter hundreds
of students protesting against the government, as Pres. Chavez's
supporters celebrated the 18th anniversary of his failed coup as an
2010 Feb 5, The US White House
increased its criticism of Republican Senators following reports
that Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama had placed a blanket hold on
more than 70 administration nominees in order to secure funding for
home-state projects. On Feb 9 Shelby’s office said he will stop
blocking Senate confirmation of some 70 nominees.
(SFC, 2/6/10, p.A6)(AP, 2/9/10)
2010 Feb 5, In Alabama a boy
(14) was shot by another student inside a middle school in Madison.
The victim died at a hospital.
(SFC, 2/6/10, p.A6)
2010 Feb 5, In Pennsylvania
about 18,000 people turned out before dawn for the 18th Wing Bowl,
an eating competition dubbed the world's biggest, and an annual
celebration of Philadelphia's raucous sports-crazed culture.
2010 Feb 5, In Afghanistan a
bomb planted on a motorcycle ripped through a crowd gathered to
watch a dog fight in southern Helmand province, killing three people
and wounding more than 30. Afghan border police mistook a group of
villagers gathering wood near the Pakistan border as insurgents and
opened fire, killing seven civilians. US forces detained Atahullah
Wahaab, deputy police chief in Kapisa province, for alleged
corruption and links to insurgents.
(AFP, 2/5/10)(AP, 2/6/10)(AFP, 2/7/10)
2010 Feb 5, New Zealand
explorers said 5 crates of whisky and brandy belonging to polar
explorer Ernest Shackleton have been recovered after being buried
for more than 100 years under the Antarctic ice. The excavation of
the whisky followed the discovery last month of two blocks of butter
in an Antarctic hut used by British explorer Robert Falcon Scott on
his doomed 1910-12 expedition.
2010 Feb 5, Defense giant BAE
Systems said it had agreed to pay fines of nearly 288 million pounds
settle charges brought by Britain's Serious Fraud Office and the US
Department of Justice. The fines, 258 million pounds to the DoJ and
30 million pounds to the SFO, related to investigations into BAE
deals with countries including Tanzania, the Czech Republic, Romania
and South Africa.
2010 Feb 5, Britain’s chief
prosecutor said 4 British lawmakers will face criminal charges and
the prospect of jail for alleged shady accounting practices during
Britain's 2009 expense claims scandal. A report issued a day earlier
into the expense scandal ordered 392 current and former British
legislators to repay a total of 1.12 million pounds ($1.7 million).
2010 Feb 5, British actor Ian
Carmichael (89) died at his home in northern England. He appeared in
a series of comedies for the Boulting Brothers including "Private's
Progress," "Brothers in Law," "Lucky Jim" and "I'm All Right Jack."
Later in his career he played the upper-class twit Bertie Wooster,
and Dorothy L. Sayers suave detective Lord Peter Wimsey, in
2010 Feb 5, Canada and the US
said they have reached a tentative deal with to end a dispute over
"Buy American" provisions in US legislation that had strained
2010 Feb 5, China said it will
slap heavy anti-dumping duties on US chicken parts, a move likely to
aggravate trade ties between two of the world's most important
economies at a time of strained political relations.
2010 Feb 5, Danish special
forces disrupted the takeover by Somali pirates of the cargo ship
Ariella in the Gulf of Aden. A frogmen unit scaled the sides of the
ship using grappling hooks, secured the bridge, released the crew
and then launched an hours-long search for a pirate the crew had
2010 Feb 5, In East Timor 20
members of dissident political group CPD-RDTL and underground
political organization Bua-Malus were arrested on suspicion of
involvement in "ninja" activities.
2010 Feb 5, Guatemalan police
say they have destroyed about 1,200 acres (500 hectares) of opium
poppies along the border with Mexico. The plants were valued at $950
2010 Feb 5, In Iraq twin car
bombs tore through a crowd of Shiite pilgrims packing a highway as
they walked to Karbala south of Baghdad for a major religious
observance, killing at least 40 people and wounding 154 others. A
roadside bomb struck a bus carrying pilgrims through Baghdad,
killing one and wounding 13.
2010 Feb 5, In Indian Kashmir
paramilitary soldiers charged at a group gathered in a playground in
Srinagar, and began firing as they fled, killing Zahid Farooq Shah
(17). The incident threatened to enflame protests that have rocked
the city following the death of another boy on Jan 31.
2010 Feb 5, Latvia sold a
deserted town built around a Soviet-era radar station to a Russian
investor who bid $3.1 million at an unusual auction. The town,
formerly known as Skrunda-1, housed about 5,000 people during the
Cold War but was abandoned over a decade ago.
2010 Feb 5, Mexican authorities
said they have found the decapitated bodies of six men in the
western state of Michoacan. In central Mexico a landslide killed at
least 11 people, adding to 18 deaths this week from severe and
unseasonable winter storms that closed schools and freeways and
flooded thousands of homes.
(AP, 2/5/10)(AP, 2/6/10)
2010 Feb 5, A breakthrough deal
to save Northern Ireland's Catholic-Protestant government gave a new
lease of life to an awkward partnership of former foes that still
must overcome many obstacles to survive. The deal commits the
Northern Ireland Assembly to elect a justice minister March 9 and
Britain to transfer control of more than 20 criminal justice and
law-enforcement agencies to Belfast on April 12.
2010 Feb 5, In Pakistan women
and children were among the 12 people killed when a suicide attacker
rammed a motorbike bomb into a bus carrying Shiites on one of
Karachi's busiest roads. A 2nd bomber then killed 13 people,
damaging ambulances and the entrance to the casualty department at
Jinnah Hospital, where the victims of the first attack were being
treated. Police defused a third bomb rigged inside a television and
left in the hospital car park. By the next day 8 more people had
died bringing the total death toll to 33.
(AFP, 2/5/10)(AP, 2/6/10)
2010 Feb 5, Portuguese police
seized a large amount of explosives at a home being used by Basque
separatist group ETA as a base to prepare attacks in neighboring
2010 Feb 5, Russian PM Vladimir
Putin criticized his party following an unusually large opposition
protest, saying it has fed the country with empty promises.
2010 Feb 5, A Vietnamese court
convicted Tran Khai Thanh Thuy (49), a journalist and democracy
activist, of assault and sentenced her to three-and-a-half years in
prison in a one-day trial that rights groups said was meant to
silence government critics.
2010 Feb 5, Zimbabwe's civil
servants launched an open-ended strike, demanding that their wages
be increased to at least 630 US dollars, from 150 dollars a month,
piling pressure on the strained unity government struggling to fix
the economy. Most of Zimbabwe's 230,000 civil servants appeared to
have heeded the strike call.
(AFP, 2/5/10)(AFP, 2/9/10)
2010 Feb 6, A blizzard battered
the US Mid-Atlantic region, with emergency crews struggling to keep
pace with the heavy, wet snow that has piled up on roadways, toppled
trees and left thousands without electricity. A record 2 1/2 feet or
more was predicted for Washington.
2010 Feb 6, Louisiana Lt. Gov.
Mitch Landrieu was elected mayor of New Orleans, the first white man
to hold the position since his father, Moon Landrieu, left office in
(SSFC, 2/7/10, p.A12)
2010 Feb 6, In Colorado 2 small
planes collided in flames over Boulder's outskirts and killed all
three people aboard, while a glider under tow by one aircraft cut
loose and flew through the fireball to safety.
2010 Feb 6, The anti-whaling
ship the Bob Barker and a Japanese harpoon boat collided in the icy
waters off Antarctica — the second major clash this year in the
increasingly aggressive confrontations between conservationists and
the whaling fleet.
2010 Feb 6, Australian miner
Resourcehouse said it has signed a 60-billion-US-dollar coal deal
with energy-hungry China, calling it the country's "biggest-ever
export contract." The company said it had negotiated a 20-year
agreement to supply China Power International Holding Limited with
30 million tons of coal a year from a proposed mine in central
Queensland. The initial report mistakenly identified the Chinese
company as China Power International Development (CPI).
(AFP, 2/6/10)(AFP, 2/9/10)
2010 Feb 6, Sir John Dankworth
(b.1927), British jazz artist, died in London. His film score
credits included “Darling" (1965), “Modesty Blaise" (1966) and the
theme of television’s “The Avengers" (1961-1969).
2010 Feb 6, G7 finance leaders
met for a 2nd day in Iqaluit’s legislative building of Canada's
Arctic territory of Nunavut. A senior official said Europe was
determined to solve its problems without the International Monetary
Fund. G7 countries told earthquake-ravaged Haiti that any debts it
owes them needn't be repaid and international lenders should do the
2010 Feb 6, China’s state media
said a man who operated a porn website has been sentenced to 13
years in jail and fined 100,000 yuan (15,000 dollars), amid an
ongoing campaign to crack down on online sexual content.
2010 Feb 6, Ethiopia’s official
news agency said US software giant Microsoft has launched Windows
Vista in Amharic, the first operating system in its national
language. 40 scholars from the Addis Ababa University had taken part
in the translation of the software for the country of over 80
2010 Feb 6, Interfax reported
that French Pres. Sarkozy has sanctioned the sale of a Mistral
amphibious assault ship to Russia.
(SSFC, 2/7/10, p.A6)
2010 Feb 6, The German news
magazine Der Spiegel reported that the number of sexual abuse cases
in Germany by Catholic clerics and laymen is much higher than was
previously thought. According to a poll by Spiegel more than 94
clerics and laymen have been suspected of sexual abuse since 1995.
Only 30 have been prosecuted, due to the statute of limitations.
2010 Feb 6, Iraqi leaders
pushed the country's highest court to issue a quick ruling on
hundreds of candidates who have been banned from running in March
elections, warning that parliament will settle the controversy if
the judges don't.
2010 Feb 6, Japanese naval
ships returned home at the close of an eight-year refueling mission
in support of US-led military operations in Afghanistan.
2010 Feb 6, A Libyan court
ordered Max Goeldi, one of two Swiss men entangled in a diplomatic
row, to pay an 800-dollar fine for illegal business activities.
Fellow businessman Rashid Hamdani was cleared last week of charges
of overstaying his visa.
2010 Feb 6, In Mexico gunmen
killed six people at a bar in Mazatlan, Sinaloa state. In Ciudad
Juarez authorities announced the arrest of In the border city of
Ciudad Juarez, authorities on Saturday announced the arrest of a
second suspect in last week's massacre of 15 people, many of them
teenagers with no known criminal ties, the second suspect in last
week's massacre of 15 people, many of them teenagers with no known
2010 Feb 6, Nigerians voted to
choose a governor for the politically turbulent state of Anambra in
a race expected to test the country's readiness to hold credible
presidential polls next year. The next day the Independent Electoral
Commission (INEC) declared Peter Obi of the opposition All
Progressives Grand Alliance victor despite glitches and fears the
vote would be rigged in favor of President Umaru Yar'Adua's party.
(AFP, 2/6/10)(AFP, 2/7/10)
2010 Feb 6, The Irish National
Liberation Army, a ruthless IRA splinter group responsible for some
of Northern Ireland's most notorious killings, said it has
surrendered its weapons just days before an Anglo-Irish disarmament
deadline is due to expire.
2010 Feb 6, North Korea
released Robert Park (28), who had strode illegally into the country
on Christmas Day, shouting "I brought God's love" and carrying a
2010 Feb 6, Pakistani security
forces seized Damadola, a key Taliban stronghold in the northwestern
Bajur area. The government had declared the area free of militants a
2010 Feb 6, In Rwanda Joseph
Ntawangundi, an aide to the leader of the Unified Democratic Party
(FDU), was arrested on a 2007 arrest warrant. He had been convicted
in absentia for genocide by one of the grassroots courts known as
gacaca in eastern Ngoma province. The FDU protested that
Ntawangundi, sentence to 19 years in prison, was not in the country
during the 1994 genocide that left some 800,000 dead. In March he
sentenced to 17 years in prison for genocide in a retrial by a local
(AFP, 2/8/10)(AFP, 3/25/10)
2010 Feb 6, In South Korea a
giant steel float that will be part of a "floating island" in Seoul
boasting off-shore entertainment facilities began a snails-paced
trip towards Han River. The three-meter high float, 85 meters long
and 49 meters wide, will be part of Viva, one of three artificial
islets to be built near the southern end of Banpo Bridge.
2010 Feb 6, Spanish matador
Jairo Miguel Sanchez Alonso (16) killed six bulls in one afternoon,
pulling off a feat normally attempted only by seasoned veterans and
winning trophies for his skill, ears from animals he had just slain.
2010 Feb 6, Venezuela’s
government announced that it will spend $15 billion over the next 5
years to increase electricity production.
(SSFC, 2/7/10, p.A6)
2010 Feb 7, The New Orleans
Saints capped off an outstanding season with an upset over the
Indianapolis Colts, 31-17, in Super Bowl XLIV. The Saints' victory
over Indianapolis was watched by more than 106 million people,
surpassing the 1983 finale of "M-A-S-H" to become the most-watched
program in US television history.
2010 Feb 7, In Daly City, Ca.,
a fight at the Little Caesars Pizza near King and Callan left Jessy
Wiley (21) of South San Francisco dead. In 2012 three suspected
Norteno gang members were convicted in relation to Wiley’s death.
(SFC, 3/27/12, p.A2)
2010 Feb 7, In Connecticut an
explosion during a test of natural gas lines at the Kleen Energy
Systems plant in Middletown killed at least 5 workers. The
620-megawatt plant was being built to produce energy primarily using
(SFC, 2/8/10, p.A6)
2010 Feb 7, In Afghanistan 2
two British soldiers were killed by an explosion in Sangin in
Helmand Province, taking the death toll in Afghanistan to 255 since
2001. This raised Britain's death toll to that of the Falklands war.
2010 Feb 7, In Canada Air Force
Col. Russell Williams (46) was arrested in Ottawa and charged with
first degree murder in the deaths of 2 women. He was also charged in
the sexual assaults of 2 other women. In late April Williams was
also charged with 82 counts of burglary. On Oct 18 Williams pleaded
guilty to more than 80 crimes over more than two years, including
murder, sexual assault and burglary.
(SFC, 2/9/10, p.A2)(SFC, 4/30/10, p.A2)(Reuters,
2010 Feb 7, Andre Kolingba
(73), former Central African Republic general and coup leader
(1981-1993), died in Paris.
2010 Feb 7, Costa Rica held
elections and elected its first woman president. Laura Chinchilla
(50), a mother and a social conservative, who opposed abortion and
gay marriage, won 47% of the vote after campaigning to continue free
market policies. She served as vice president under current Pres.
Oscar Arias. Otton Solis of the Citizens Action Party, got 25% of
the votes. He and the other main rival, Libertarian Otto Guevara,
quickly conceded defeat. Chinchilla’s National Liberation Party was
the largest in congress, but held only 24 of 57 seats.
(AP, 2/7/10)(AP, 2/8/10)(Econ, 2/13/10,
p.41)(Econ, 5/8/10, p.40)
2010 Feb 7, Newspapers said
Toyota will recall 300,000 Prius hybrid vehicles because of brake
flaws. Toyota said that it will soon announce plans to deal with
braking problems in its prized Prius hybrid amid reports it has
decided to issue a recall for the latest model in Japan, a possible
new embarrassment for the world's biggest automaker.
(AFP, 2/7/10)(AP, 2/7/10)
2010 Feb 7, India again
successfully test-fired a nuclear-capable missile that can hit
targets across much of Asia and the Middle East. It was the fourth
test of the Agni III missile.
2010 Feb 7, Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ordered his country's atomic agency to begin
enriching uranium to a higher level, a move that's likely to deepen
international suspicion over the country's intentions for its
2010 Feb 7, Iran's state media
said Tehran has arrested seven people linked to the US-funded Radio
Farda and accused some them of working for American spy agencies.
2010 Feb 7, A Libyan court
dropped a case against Rashid Hamdani, a Swiss businessman for
alleged illegal business activities, clearing the way for him to go
home after 19 months stuck in the country.
2010 Feb 7, Ukrainians voted
between two presidential candidates in a run-off between PM Yulia
Tymoshenko and opposition leader Viktor Yanukovich which could push
the country into a fresh bout of instability. Yanukovich ended with
48.95% to Tymoshenko's 45.47%, a lead of 3.48 percentage points or
some 888,000 votes.
(Reuters, 2/7/10)(AP, 2/10/10)
2010 Feb 8, The US federal
government was shuttered while the Mid-Atlantic region dug out from
as much as three feet of snow that left tens of thousands without
power and blocked trains, planes and cars, with another storm
2010 Feb 8, The Obama
administration said it will spend $78.5 million on efforts to
contain the Asian carp, which threatened to endanger the Great
Lakes’ $7 billion fishing industry.
(SFC, 2/9/10, p.A4)
2010 Feb 8, In California a
federal judge sentenced Dongfan Chung (74), a Chinese-born engineer,
to over 15 years in prison for economic espionage. During his career
at Boeing Co. and Rockwell Intl. He had hoarded sensitive
information about the space shuttle and a booster rocket and was
arrested on Feb 11, 2008, for allegedly passing classified
documents to China.
(SFC, 2/9/10, p.A4)
2010 Feb 8, At Cape Canaveral,
Florida, Endeavour and six astronauts rocketed into orbit on what's
likely the last nighttime launch for the shuttle program, hauling a
new room and observation deck for the International Space Station.
2010 Feb 8, Boeing Co.’s
250-foot 747-8 freighter, the biggest plane it has ever built,
successfully completed its first flight from Paine Field, in
(SFC, 2/9/10, p.A4)
2010 Feb 8, John Murtha
(b.1932), Pennsylvania’s Democratic representative, died in
Arlington, Va., following complications from gall bladder surgery.
He had won a special House election in 1974 to become the first
Vietnam veteran to serve in Congress.
(SFC, 2/9/10, p.A6)
2010 Feb 8, Al-Qaeda in the
Arabian Peninsula number two Said al-Shihri called for attacks
against US interests "everywhere," in an audio message released on
2010 Feb 8, Australia tightened
its migration rules in favor of English speakers and professionals,
saying the country has been attracting too many hairdressers and
cooks and too few doctors and engineers.
2010 Feb 8, In Australia ITV
Studios, producer of "I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here," was
fined 3,000 Australian dollars ($2,615) after pleading guilty of
animal cruelty after two reality show contestants skinned, cooked
and ate a rat during filming in Australia.
2010 Feb 8, Byzantium Novum was
founded as a micronation dedicated to the revival of Byzantine
civilization and culture.
2010 Feb 8, The China Daily
newspaper reported officials have recalled more than 170 tons of
milk powder tainted by the industrial chemical melamine and closed
two dairy companies in the northern region of Ningxia. The current
10–day emergency crackdown has made it increasingly clear that many
products discovered in the country's 2008 milk scandal were
repackaged for sale instead of destroyed.
2010 Feb 8, China's Ministry of
Industry and Information Technology issued new guidelines to local
authorities and lifted a ban imposed in December on individuals
acquiring .cn domain names. Individuals wanting to set up a website
will have to submit identity cards and photos of themselves, as well
as meet regulators, before their domain name can be registered.
2010 Feb 8, In southern China a
bus collided with a sport utility vehicle and plunged down a
mountain ravine, killing seven people and injuring 50.
2010 Feb 8, In Egypt Mahmoud
Ezzat, the new deputy leader of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood,
and two other top figures were among 16 people arrested by police in
a dawn sweep across the country targeting members of the nation's
most powerful opposition group. They were accused of trying to set
up training camps for staging attacks.
(AP, 2/8/10)(AP, 2/10/10)
2010 Feb 8, French engineering
giant Areva said that it will buy Ausra, a Mountain View, Ca.,
startup specializing in large-scale solar power.
(SFC, 2/9/10, p.D1)
2010 Feb 8, In Haiti the UN
warned that it will cut off shipments of free medicine beginning
immediately to any Haitian hospitals that it finds are charging
patients. Evans Monsigrace (28), a rice vendor, survived 27 days
trapped under the rubble of a flea market following the devastating
Jan 12 earthquake.
(AP, 2/8/10)(AP, 2/10/10)
2010 Feb 8, Iran moved
closer to being able to produce nuclear warheads with formal
notification that it will enrich uranium to higher levels, even
while insisting that the move was meant only to provide fuel for its
research reactor. The semiofficial ISNA agency said that former
deputy foreign minister Mohsen Aminzadeh was sentenced to six years
in prison by a Revolutionary court. The defense minister announced
that Iran has launched two production lines to build unmanned
aircraft with surveillance and attack capabilities.
2010 Feb 8, Iran said it will
cut ties with the British Museum because of the museum's failure to
lend Tehran the Cyrus Cylinder, an ancient Babylonian artifact
described as the world's earliest bill of rights.
2010 Feb 8, Israeli security
forces raided a Palestinian refugee camp in annexed east Jerusalem,
arresting 11 people in an operation police said was aimed at putting
"some order" in the area. Israel's Supreme Court ordered authorities
to release two foreign activists seized in a Palestinian-controlled
part of the West Bank. Ariadna Jove Marti of Spain and Bridgette
Chappell of Australia, had been in a pre-dawn raid on their
apartment in the heart of Ramallah.
2010 Feb 8, In Kashmir 17
Indian soldiers were killed in an avalanche that slammed into a
group of 70 combat troops at a high-altitude warfare training camp.
2010 Feb 8, Mexican federal
police arrested Raydel Lopez Uriarte and Manuel Garcia Simental,
suspected leaders of the cartel headed by Teodoro Garcia Simental,
who was captured in La Paz on Jan. 12. The drug cartel had
terrorized Tijuana for several years. The military announced that
soldiers had seized more than 12 tons of marijuana found beneath a
false floor of a tractor trailer. The drugs were found during a
routine search at a checkpoint near San Felipe, a town in the
central part of the Baja California peninsula. Federal police
arrested five Tijuana police officers along with six cartel members
who were holding two rival gangsters captive. The arrests were based
on information obtained following the capture of Uriarte and Manuel
Garcia Simental. Two of the officers, Francisco Ortega and Juan
Carlos Espinoza, had been recently lauded as part of a new breed of
honest cop. 3 marines died in a shootout that also killed three
suspected gang members in the border town of Reynosa.
(AP, 2/8/10)(AP, 2/10/10)(AP, 2/24/10)
2010 Feb 8, The Irish National
Liberation Army (INLA), a paramilitary group responsible for dozens
of murders during Northern Ireland's three decades of sectarian
violence, said that it had disarmed.
2010 Feb 8, Pakistani
authorities arrested 6 suspected Taliban militants with a suicide
vest and hand grenades allegedly on their way to kill Americans at
the five-star Pearl Continental hotel in Lahore. Police seized 26
hand grenades and five detonators from the militants, who were
traveling by car and motorcycle.
2010 Feb 8, In Sri Lanka
opposition politician Rauff Hakeem said former army chief and
defeated presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka has been detained on
2010 Feb 8, Sweden's
unemployment agency was found guilty of discrimination for expelling
a Muslim man from a job training program because he refused to shake
hands with a woman.
2010 Feb 8, International
monitors hailed Ukraine's presidential election as "professional,
transparent and honest," increasing pressure on PM Yulia Tymoshenko
to concede to opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych, who held a 2.7%
point lead with all but 1.7% of the ballots cast counted.
2010 Feb 8, Venezuela’s Pres.
Chavez declared a national emergency in the electricity sector as
the worst drought in 50 years dried up water supplies in
(SFC, 2/10/10, p.A3)
2010 Feb 8, A Yemen military
official said 10 soldiers have been killed, most of them by snipers,
and 18 wounded in a fresh outbreak of fighting with Shiite rebels in
2010 Feb 9, US Federal
government offices were closed for a second straight day and utility
workers struggled to restore power knocked out by a weekend
2010 Feb 9, California
lawmakers called for federal and state investigations into Anthem
Blue Cross regarding new rates hikes of as much as 39% for thousands
of policyholders statewide. On Feb 13 Anthem announced that it would
delay the increase for two months to allow state regulators to
conduct a review. On April 29 WellPoint, the parent of Anthem Blue
Cross, said it was withdrawing the proposed rate increase and
planned to file new rates.
(SFC, 2/10/10, p.A1)(SSFC, 2/14/10, p.A1)(SFC,
2010 Feb 9, Phil Harris (53),
the fishing boat captain whose adventures off the Alaska coast were
captured on the television show "Deadliest Catch", died in Anchorage
following a massive stroke on Jan 29.
2010 Feb 9, Walter Fredrick
Morrison (90), the man credited with inventing the Frisbee, died at
his home in Monroe, Utah. Morrison began manufacturing his flying
discs in 1948. He sold the production and manufacturing rights to
his "Pluto Platter" in 1957. The plastic flying disc was later
renamed the "Frisbee," with sales surpassing 200 million discs.
2010 Feb 9, In Afghanistan US
Army soldiers launched a preliminary operation in support of a
planned US-Afghan attack on Marjah, the largest Taliban-controlled
town in the south. Two NATO service members were killed in separate
attacks, including an American who died in a bombing in the south. A
French soldier was killed during a gunfight after insurgents
attacked an Afghan army convoy being escorted by French troops in
the eastern Kapisa province.
2010 Feb 9, In Afghanistan
massive avalanches roared down a northern mountain pass. The death
toll soon reached 171 and it was unclear how many more bodies might
be buried in the snow. Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak said
3,000 people had been trapped in vehicles along the mountain pass at
3,400 meters (11,000) feet.
(AP, 2/9/10)(Reuters, 2/10/10)(AP, 2/11/10)
2010 Feb 9, Chile’s
President-elect Sebastian Pinera named a Cabinet of technocrats to
run his government, calling more on political independents than
members of the Chilean conservative parties that made him their
2010 Feb 9, A Chinese court
sentenced activist Tan Zuoren (56), who investigated the deaths of
thousands of schoolchildren in the country's massive 2008
earthquake, to five years in jail for inciting subversion of state
power. In 2010 the Sichuan provincial high court upheld the
(AP, 2/9/10)(AP, 6/9/10)
2010 Feb 9, China said its
first national pollution census has mapped nearly 6 million sources
of industrial, residential and agricultural waste. The 2-year survey
results gave the government one year to shape the next 5-year
environmental protection plan.
(SFC, 2/10/10, p.A4)
2010 Feb 9, In Germany GM's
Opel unit asked European governments for billions of euros (dollars)
in aid even as it formally presented a restructuring plan that will
result in some 8,300 job cuts in Europe.
2010 Feb 9, In Guatemala Manuel
Pop Sun and Reyes Collin Gualip, two former sergeants who belonged
to a military squad specializing in counterinsurgency, were arrested
for their roles in the 1982 massacre of more than 200 people in the
village of Dos Erres in the country's northern Peten region. They
were among 17 soldiers in the army's elite Kaibil unit blamed for
2010 Feb 9, India halted the
release of the world's first genetically modified eggplant, saying
further study needed to be done to guarantee consumer safety before
it could be cultivated in the country.
2010 Feb 9, Indonesian police
said 8 people have died after drinking liquor laced with methanol on
the country's main island of Java. The victims had bought the drink
from the same stall on Feb 5.
2010 Feb 9, Iran began
enriching uranium to a higher level over the vociferous objections
of the US and its allies who fear the process could eventually be
used to give the Islamic republic nuclear weapons.
2010 Feb 9, Toyota officials
went to Japan's Transport Ministry to formally notify officials the
company is recalling the 2010 Prius gas-electric hybrid. The
automaker is also recalling two other hybrid models in Japan, the
Lexus HS250h sedan, sold in the US and Japan, and the Sai, which is
sold only in Japan. The total recall amounted to 437,000 Prius and
other hybrid vehicles worldwide to fix brake problems.
2010 Feb 9, Honda Motor Co.
added 378,000 US vehicles and 41,000 in Canada to its 15-month-old
global recall for faulty air bags in the latest quality problem to
hit a Japanese automaker. The next day 17,000 cars in Japan were
added to the list.
2010 Feb 9, Authorities in
Malaysia caned three Muslim women for having extramarital sex,
making them the first women in the country to receive such
punishment under Islamic law. Each woman reportedly received between
four and six strokes of a rattan cane.
2010 Feb 9, Nigeria's
Parliament empowered Vice President Goodluck Jonathan to take over
for ailing President Umaru Yar'Adua, whose absence has stoked
2010 Feb 9, In Pakistan a
suicide car-bomber killed 18 people in the Khyber region on the
Afghan border. A military helicopter gunship crashed in another part
of Khyber, where security forces are fighting militants, killing the
two crew. Militants later opened fire on an army rescue party,
killing a senior officer and wounding two men.
(Reuters, 2/10/10)(AFP, 2/11/10)
2010 Feb 9, The UN said in an
international appeal that aid groups in Pakistan need nearly $538
million over the next six months to help hundreds of thousands of
people displaced by army clashes against the Taliban.
2010 Feb 9, Philippine
prosecutors filed charges against Andal Ampatuan senior, the head of
a powerful clan, and 195 others in the biggest and deadliest murder
case since the country's WW II war crimes trials.
(AP, 2/9/10)(Econ, 2/20/10, p.40)
2010 Feb 9, In South Africa a
fire raged through the Hope in Christ Home orphanage at Newcastle in
the eastern province of KwaZulu-Natal. The blaze killed Sarah
Holland, the director and founder of the Hope of Christ Home in
KwaZulu-Natal province, along with two adults and eight children
between the ages of 4 and 15. Holland died a hero, rescuing nine
children as their rural home burned.
(AFP, 2/9/10)(AP, 2/10/10)
2010 Feb 9, Sri Lanka's
president dissolved the parliament, setting the stage for new
elections a day after authorities arrested the leader of the
opposition, a move analysts said was meant to prevent him from
contesting the vote. The opposition called for countrywide protests
after its defeated presidential candidate was arrested for allegedly
plotting to overthrow the government while serving as army
2010 Feb 9, In Sudan militias
raided a Darfur refugee camp, shooting dead two people and injuring
at least 10. The raid followed the murder of a militia member's
relative who appeared to be searching the camps in Kass, South
Darfur for the suspect.
2010 Feb 10, The US Treasury
Department said it was freezing the assets in US jurisdictions of
Revolutionary Guard Gen. Rostam Qasemi and four subsidiaries of a
previously penalized construction firm he runs because of their
alleged involvement in producing and spreading weapons of mass
2010 Feb 10, Snow, wind and
slush hounded eastern commuters as blizzard warnings from Baltimore
to New York City heralded the second major storm in a region already
largely blanketed by weekend snowfall. Snow was falling from
northern Virginia to Connecticut after crawling out of the Midwest,
where the storm canceled hundreds of flights and was blamed for
three traffic deaths in Michigan.
2010 Feb 10, Charlie Wilson
(b.1933), former Texas congressman (1973-1996), died. His
deal-making funneled millions of dollars in weapons to Afghanistan
to back rebels fighting the Soviet Army. He was also known as “Good
Time Charlie" for his reputation as a hard-drinking womanizer. In
2003 George Crile authored “Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary
Story of How the Wildest Man in Congress and a Rogue CIA Agent
Changed the History of Our Times." In 2007 the film “Charlie
Wilson's War" starred Tom Hanks as Charlie Wilson.
(SFC, 2/11/10, p.A8)(Econ, 2/20/10, p.84)
2010 Feb 10, Bolivia said it
has created a space agency to build and launch the country’s first
satellite. The government will initially invest $1 million in the
Bolivian Space Agency.
(SFC, 2/11/10, p.A2)
2010 Feb 10, In Brazil a TV
news helicopter pilot steered his crippled, out-of-control aircraft
away from a busy highway in Sao Paulo before crashing in a grassy
field during rush hour, losing his own life but avoiding greater
casualties. A cameraman onboard was seriously injured.
2010 Feb 10, A Brazilian health
official said 32 elderly people had died in the southeastern city of
Santos this week because of a heat wave that has pushed temperatures
to unseasonably high levels.
2010 Feb 10, China declared a
new food-safety campaign after contaminated milk products from an
earlier scandal showed up repackaged in several places around the
country, exposing weaknesses in the country's promise to stop such
problems from happening again.
2010 Feb 10, In Greece a strike
by civil servants shut schools and grounded flights across the
country, as unions challenged cutbacks aimed at ending a government
debt crisis that has shaken the entire European Union.
2010 Feb 10, Iran's top police
official says authorities have made a series of arrests of suspected
opposition activists before expected Feb 11 protest rallies.
2010 Feb 10, In Iraq an
American soldier died of injuries unrelated to combat.
2010 Feb 10, An Israeli TV
station said it has uncovered evidence that Palestinian Authority
officials have stolen millions of dollars in public funds.
2010 Feb 10, In Myanmar a court
sentenced Nyi Nyi Aung, a Burmese-born American, to 3 years of hard
labor for carrying a forged identity card, undeclared US currency
and for not renouncing his nationality after becoming a US citizen.
He was arrested last September when he returned to visit his mother,
an imprisoned democracy activist suffering from cancer.
(SFC, 2/11/10, p.A2)
2010 Feb 10, Nigerian Vice
President Goodluck Jonathan removed the powerful justice minister in
his first major step since assuming executive powers in the absence
of President Umaru Yar'Adua. Outgoing Justice Minister and Attorney
General Michael Aondoakaa had been among the group of ministers who
held out most strenuously against formally transferring power to
2010 Feb 10, Pakistan's top
civilian security official said Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud has
died. It was the government's first categorical confirmation of
Mehsud’s death, whose passing is likely to weaken, but not vanquish,
the al-Qaida-linked insurgent network he led. On April 29
intelligence officials reversed claims that Mehsud had died, handing
militants something of a propaganda victory.
(Reuters, 2/10/10)(AP, 4/29/10)
2010 Feb 10, In Somalia at
least 11 civilians were killed when African Union forces in
Mogadishu responded to an insurgent mortar attack on their base. At
least four security personnel and a civilian were killed when two
groups of security officers fought over where to collect their
(AFP, 2/10/10)(AP, 2/10/10)
2010 Feb 10, In Sri Lanka
opposition supporters protesting the arrest of their defeated
presidential candidate scuffled with government-backers on the
streets of Colombo before police fired tear gas and broke up the
2010 Feb 10, In Sudan Mohamed
Musa (23), a Darfuri student, was abducted in Khartoum and later
found dead. Fellow students later said they had seen his body, that
his hands were burned, his head and body beaten, cut and swollen and
his clothes soaked in blood.
2010 Feb 10, Ukrainian
opposition leader Viktor Yanukovich called on defeated rival Yulia
Tymoshenko to resign as prime minister, turning up the pressure even
as her camp contested the result of the Feb 7 presidential election.
2010 Feb 10, In Uruguay former
dictator Juan Maria Bordaberry, in office from 1971 to 1976, was
sentenced to 30 years in prison for violating the constitution when
he led a 1973 coup that began 12 years of dictatorship.
2010 Feb 10, Vietnam’s central
bank devalued its currency, the dong, by 3.4%. This followed a
devaluation of 5.4% last November.
(Econ, 3/6/10, p.59)
2010 Feb 10, Twelve Yemeni
soldiers and 24 Shiite rebels were killed in clashes despite the
announcement of an imminent accord to end six months of fighting.
2010 Feb 11, The US military
used a laser gun aboard a Boeing 747 jumbo jet to shoot down a
missile near Point Mugu, Ventura County, Ca. The airborne laser
program began in 1996 and has cost billion of dollars.
(SFC, 2/13/10, p.A6)
2010 Feb 11, A Taliban suicide
bomber wearing a border police uniform entered a US military base
near the Pakistani border and blew himself up injuring five
Americans. A joint Afghan-NATO force killed several insurgents
during a raid on a compound where troops discovered the bodies of
two men and two bound and gagged women. Family members accused US
soldiers of killing innocent civilians.
2010 Feb 11, In the Antarctic
Ocean Sea Shepherd protesters shot butyric acid, produced from
stinking rancid butter, at Japanese whalers to try to disrupt the
annual whale hunt. The activists maintained that butyric acid is
2010 Feb 11, In Australia a
shadowy group of cyber-activists succeeded in jamming key Australian
government websites for a second consecutive day and warned they
could shut down the sites for months in protest over controversial
plans to filter the Internet. Codenamed "Operation: Titstorm", the
hacking campaign involved hundreds of people from around the world
and used a technique called Distributed Denial of Service to jam web
2010 Feb 11, In Brazil gunfire
erupted in a Rio de Janeiro slum, killing at least seven suspected
drug traffickers and a policeman a day before the Carnival
celebrations kick off. Jose Roberto Arruda (57), the governor of
Brasilia, was detained after a witness in a corruption investigation
accused the governor of trying to bribe him.
(AP, 2/11/10)(Econ, 2/27/10, p.43)
2010 Feb 11, Volkswagen
announced it was recalling nearly 200,000 vehicles in Brazil because
of a problem with the rear wheels that could cause them to seize or
2010 Feb 11, British fashion
designer Alexander McQueen (40) was found dead at his London home.
McQueen received recognition from Queen Elizabeth II in 2003, when
she made him a Commander of the British Empire for his fashion
leadership. A Feb 17 coroner’s report gave the cause of the fashion
designer's death as asphyxiation and hanging.
(AP, 2/11/10)(AP, 2/17/10)
2010 Feb 11, Christopher Grady
(41) drove his car into the freezing into the River Avon in Evesham,
Worcestershire, England, while his daughter was in the passenger
seat. Gabrielle was trapped inside the submerged car for two hours
and died three days later in hospital. His then six-year-old son
Ryan Grady, survived after being rescued from the water by police.
On March 18, 2011, Christopher Grady was convicted of murdering his
2010 Feb 11, In Ecuador tens of
thousands of protesters crowded into downtown Guayaquil, answering a
call from the mayor of Ecuador's biggest city to demonstrate against
the national government. Mayor Jaime Nebot, a conservative, accused
President Rafael Correa of trying to build a system that Nebot
called a copy of Venezuela's leftist leader, Hugo Chavez.
2010 Feb 11, Indonesia's former
anti-graft chief, Antasari Azhar (56), was convicted of plotting the
murder of a businessman and sentenced to 18 years in prison, in a
case that has undermined the country's fight against corruption.
2010 Feb 11, Iran’s President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claimed that Iran has produced its first batch
of uranium enriched to a higher level, saying his country will not
be bullied by the West into curtailing its nuclear program a day
after the US imposed new sanctions. Hundreds of thousands of
government supporters massed in central Tehran to mark the
anniversary of the revolution that created Iran's Islamic republic,
while a heavy security force that fanned across the city moved
quickly to snuff out counter protests by the opposition.
2010 Feb 11, The Iraqi interior
minister said he had expelled 250 ex-employees of the American
security firm Blackwater, whose guards were charged with killing
unarmed civilians in Baghdad.
2010 Feb 11, Opponents of
Israel's contentious separation barrier in the West Bank scored a
long-awaited victory when the government began rerouting the
enclosure to eat up less of a Palestinian village that has become a
symbol of anti-wall protests and the site of frequent clashes. A
Palestinian militant was killed and two young girls wounded by
Israeli fire in the Gaza Strip in two separate incidents.
(AP, 2/11/10)(AFP, 2/11/10)
2010 Feb 11, Italy's Fiat SpA
and Russian automobile company Sollers announced a euro2.4 billion
($3.3 billion) joint venture to produce up to 500,000 vehicles per
year in Russia in a bid to become the country's second-largest car
2010 Feb 11, A Libyan appeal
court reduced the 16-month jail sentence of Max Goeldi, a Swiss
businessman, for overstaying his visa to four months.
2010 Feb 11, In Pakistan a
double bombing targeted police killing up to 15 people and wounding
25 others in the northwestern town of Bannu.
2010 Feb 11, The Philippines
launched a European-funded program to reduce the country's large
number of extralegal killings and disappearances of activists,
journalists and union workers. The EU has pledged euro3.9 million
($5.36 million) for the EU-Philippines Justice Support Program to
provide technical aid and training to bolster the country's criminal
2010 Feb 11, Russian government
forces killed 4 innocent civilians in the North Caucasus. 4 garlic
pickers died along with 18 suspected Islamic militants in a
three-day shootout in the mountainous forests that straddle the
North Caucasus provinces of Ingushetia and Chechnya.
2010 Feb 11, The Saudi
religious police launched a nationwide crackdown on stores selling
items that are red or in any other way allude to the banned
celebrations of Valentine's Day.
2010 Feb 11, In Spain Roberto
Florez Garcia (44), a former Spanish intelligence officer, was
convicted of trying to sell secrets to Russia and imprisoned for 12
years. Garcia worked at Spain's intelligence headquarters from 1991
to 2004, when he quit. He was arrested on the Canary island of
Tenerife in 2007 and went on trial in January.
2010 Feb 11, Sri Lankan police
swinging batons dispersed a crowd protesting the detention of the
defeated opposition presidential candidate, former army chief Sarath
Fonseka, who appealed to his supporters for calm.
2010 Feb 11, In Tanzania a UN
tribunal found former Rwandan Lt. Col. Tharcisse Muvunyi guilty of
exhorting a crowd to kill Tutsis and destroy their homes during the
1994 genocide that ripped through the Central African nation. He was
sentenced to 15 years in prison.
2010 Feb 11, Thai prosecutors
said they have dropped charges against the five-man crew of an
aircraft accused of smuggling weapons from North Korea, saying the
men, arrested on Dec 12, might be guilty but would be deported to
preserve good relations with their home countries. The decision was
made after the governments of Belarus and Kazakhstan contacted the
Thai Foreign Ministry and requested the crew's release so they can
be investigated at home.
2010 Feb 12, In Alabama Amy
Bishop (42), a biology professor at the University of Alabama in
Huntsville, gunned down three of her colleagues during a faculty
meeting in an apparent tenure dispute. On Sep 11, 2012, Bishop
pleaded guilty to killing her colleagues. On Sep 24 she was
sentenced to life in prison.
(AP, 2/13/10)(SFC, 9/12/12, p.A8)(AP, 9/24/12)
2010 Feb 12, In Oregon Jeffrey
Grahn (46), an off-duty sheriff’s sergeant, shot and killed his wife
and another woman before fatally shooting himself at a bar in
(SSFC, 2/14/10, p.A8)
2010 Feb 12, In Pennsylvania
Max Ray Vision, formerly Max Ray Butler, of San Francisco was
sentenced to 13 years in prison and ordered to pay $27.5 million to
the banks and credit card companies that he victimized. In 2009
Butler (36) had identified himself in court as “Max Vision," the
name he gave himself in the 1990s when he became a superstar in the
computer security community.
2010 Feb 12, Afghan and US
troops fought back small-scale attacks by Taliban fighters on the
northern outskirts of Marjah, as tribal elders pleaded for NATO to
finish its planned attack on the Taliban stronghold quickly and
carefully to protect civilians. Cars and trucks jammed the main road
out Marjah as hundreds of civilians defied militant orders and fled
the area ahead of the anticipated US-Afghan assault. A joint
international-Afghan patrol fired on two men mistakenly believed to
be insurgents in Gardez, south of Kabul. 3 women were "accidentally
killed as a result of the joint force firing at the men." NATO
confirmed its responsibility for the 5 deaths on April 4.
(AP, 2/12/10)(AP, 4/5/10)(SFC, 4/5/10, p.A2)
2010 Feb 12-2010 Feb 13, A
massive iceberg, about the size of Luxembourg, struck Antarctica,
dislodging another giant block of ice from the giant floating Mertz
Glacier and shaved off a new iceberg.
2010 Feb 12 In Azerbaijan
lawmakers revised the country’s media laws to forbid journalists
from filming, recording or photographing subjects without their
(SSFC, 2/14/10, p.A4)
2010 Feb 12, In Brazil the
World's Greatest Party opened, but the everything-goes atmosphere of
Carnival that has turned Rio de Janeiro into a giant oceanside den
of debauchery was under assault. Amid the law-and-order makeover, a
7-year-old girl prepared to samba before a crowd of thousands as a
Carnival drum corps queen.
2010 Feb 12, The XXI Olympic
Winter Games began in Vancouver, British Columbia, with the
Olympics' first-ever indoor opening ceremony. Georgian luger Nodar
Kumaritashvili died in a horrific crash on a training run, casting a
shadow as Vancouver opened the Winter Olympic Games with a daredevil
snowboarder, an aboriginal welcome, and Wayne Gretzky lighting the
(AP, 2/12/10)(Reuters, 2/13/10)(SFC, 2/22/10,
2010 Feb 12, China raised the
level of reserves banks must hold for the second time this year,
spooking financial markets on the eve of its New Year holiday by
showing it was intent to curb lending and inflation.
2010 Feb 12, In India thousands
of devout Hindus bathed in the waters of the Ganges river as part of
the Kumbh Mela, often described as the world's largest religious
gathering. The festival began on January 13 in Haridwar, a
temple-filled town at the foothills of the Himalayas where the
Ganges river enters the sprawling plains of northern India. The
festival ends April 28.
2010 Feb 12, In India Rouvanjit
Rawla (12), a pupil at the prestigious La Martiniere for Boys school
in the eastern city of Kolkata, hanged himself in his room after
being caned for bringing stink bombs into class. Illegal but often
tolerated, caning was rife in India's school system, but the suicide
of the pupil after a beating brought the practice out of the
2010 Feb 12, In Iraq a joint
raid by American and Iraqi security forces on suspected weapons
smugglers in the village of Ali al-Sharqi near the Iranian border
left at least five people dead. The troops were searching for
weapons allegedly smuggled across the border by suspected
Iranian-backed Kateb Hezbollah fighters.
(AP, 2/12/10)(AP, 2/13/10)
2010 Feb 12, Ivory Coast Pres.
Laurent Gbagbo declared that he is dissolving the government and
election commission. The move threw into doubt a political
reconciliation process that had former rebels serving in top
(SFC, 2/13/10, p.A2)
2010 Feb 12, Palestinian
officials rallied around Rafiq Husseini, the chief of staff to
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, after a video surfaced showing
him in the nude in an alleged attempt to trade his influence for
sex. Pres. Abbas fired Husseini on April 7.
(AP, 2/12/10)(AP, 4/7/10)
2010 Feb 12, The WHO said a
cholera outbreak on Papua New Guinea has killed at least 40 people
over the last several months.
(SFC, 2/13/10, p.A2)
2010 Feb 12, Russian officials
said that at least 14 suspected Islamic militants had been killed
and one police officer wounded in two days of fighting in the
southern province of Ingushetia.
2010 Feb 12, In Somalia at
least eight people, including a six-year-old, were killed as mortars
pounded Mogadishu during an attack on government soldiers by
al-Shabab fighters. Hundreds of residents fled Mogadishu.
2010 Feb 12, A senior Yemeni
official accused northern rebels of violating a cease-fire agreement
hours after it took effect, killing a soldier and wounding another
in an attack on a police station.
2010 Feb 13, In California,
South African Chris Bertish won the $50,000 first prize at the 7th
Mavericks Surf Contest north of Half Moon Bay. Earlier in the day a
series of waves crashed into some of the thousands of fans who had
flocked to a beach to try to see the action.
(SSFC, 2/14/10, p.A1)
2010 Feb 13, In Alaska an
avalanche near Seward buried Jim Bowles, head of Conoco Phillips
Alaska and Alan Gage, part of the company’s capital projects team.
They were among a party of 12 snowmobilers.
(SFC, 2/15/10, p.A6)
2010 Feb 13, Thousands Afghan
soldiers and US Marines stormed the Taliban stronghold of Marjah by
air and ground, meeting only scattered resistance but facing a
daunting thicket of bombs and booby traps that slowed their advance.
NATO reported two troop casualties, an American and a Briton, on the
first day of the offensive, called "Moshtarak," or "Together."
(AP, 2/13/10)(AP, 2/14/10)
2010 Feb 13, In Canada on the
opening day of Olympic competition Vancouver police in riot gear
confronted more than 200 masked protesters who hurled newspaper
boxes through display windows of a popular department store selling
Olympic souvenirs. Guillame Joseph-Marc Beaulieu (27) led a group of
about 100 black-masked anarchists who spray-painted vehicles and
smashed storefront windows as they marched. On Feb 16 police
reported his arrest. Beaulieu, charged with mischief, had also led a
group that blocked a street and forced organizers to re-route a
relay transporting the Olympic flame to the opening ceremonies.
(AP, 2/13/10)(Reuters, 2/16/10)
2010 Feb 13, Chinese Premier
Wen Jiabao warned his people to keep a "sober mind" about the
challenges ahead in the new year as the country welcomed the arrival
of the Year of the Tiger with noisy celebrations. Feb 14 officially
marked the first day of the Lunar new Year.
2010 Feb 13, French transport
and utility group Veolia was given the green light to run passenger
trains in France in competition with national rail operator SNCF.
2010 Feb 13, In India a terror
attack took place at the German Bakery restaurant in the western
city of Pune. The death toll reached 17 people with some 60 others
injured. A group called Lashkar-e-Taiba al-Almi claimed
responsibility in response to India's "refusal" to discuss the
disputed region of Kashmir. A terror cell responsible for the attack
was broken up in 2011.
(AFP, 2/13/10)(AFP, 2/20/10)(AP, 11/30/11)
2010 Feb 13, Fourteen Indian
border guards were suspended for suspected involvement in the Feb 5
shooting death of Zahid Farooq Shah (17) in the Indian-ruled portion
2010 Feb 13, In Indonesia
contestants took part in the Social Cultural Transvestite Queen
beauty pageant in Banda Aceh, Aceh province. The transvestite beauty
pageant was held for the first time in the country's only province
that officially adopted Islamic sharia law.
2010 Feb 13, In Iraq about 10
rockets struck Camp Sparrowhawk near Amarah early in the morning,
injuring two Iraqi soldiers and damaging equipment.
2010 Feb 13, Italian police
said they have confiscated 500,000 tons of counterfeit goods
discovered in eight industrial hangars on the outskirts of Rome.
Once labeled with Italian brands, They would have brought in several
million euros for the counterfeiters. The goods were suspected of
being imported from China.
2010 Feb 13, In Italy an
Egyptian youth, Hamed Mahmoud Abdel Aziz Essayyed Abdou, was stabbed
to death in Milan in a killing blamed on Peruvian and Ecuadorian
youths. 36 Egyptians and one Ivorian national were detained
following a rampage by around 100 North Africans.
2010 Feb 13, Ivory Coast's
opposition declared it would no longer recognize Laurent Gbagbo as
president, a move likely to complicate his efforts to form a new
2010 Feb 13, In Mexico hundreds
of people marched against the drug gang violence besieging the
border city of Ciudad Juarez, gathering at a bridge where they
simulated the massacre of a group of teenagers last month. Police,
meanwhile, found the bullet-ridden bodies of five men, missing since
Feb 6., in a town in the southwestern corner of Chihuahua state. A
decapitated body was found dumped beside the highway leading into
2010 Feb 13, In Myanmar Tin Oo
(82), the deputy leader of the pro-democracy party, was released by
the military regime after almost seven years in detention and said
he hoped the party's leader Aung San Suu Kyi would also soon gain
2010 Feb 13, In Nigeria at
least 20 bus passengers were killed in Port Harcourt when a cable
fell onto the bus and electrocuted the people inside.
2010 Feb 14, This day marked a
new year according to the Chinese calendar, as it moved from the
reign of the Ox to the year of the Tiger. The Chinese calendar is
thought to have been formulated around 500 BC, though elements of it
date back at least to the Shang Dynasty at around 1,000 BC.
2010 Feb 14, Billionaire Larry
Ellison, head of Oracle Corp., and the crew of his trimaran USA-17
won the America’s Cup after winning a 2nd race against Swiss biotech
magnate Ernesto Bertarelli in the 39-mile course off Valencia,
(SFC, 2/15/10, p.A1)
2010 Feb 14, In Arizona a
helicopter crashed north of Phoenix killing 5 people onboard
including Thomas Stewart (64), the head of Services Group of
(SFC, 2/16/10, p.A6)
2010 Feb 14, An apartment fire
in Cicero, Ill., killed at least 7 people including 4 children. The
fire spread to nearby buildings and over 20 people were left
homeless. On March 4 landlord Lawrence Myers (60) and handyman
Marion Comier (47) were each charged with seven counts of
first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated arson.
2010 Feb 14, Doug Fieger (57),
leader of the power pop band The Knack, died in southern California.
He sang on the 1979 hit "My Sharona." Fieger, a Detroit-area native,
formed The Knack in Los Angeles in 1978.
2010 Feb 14, John
Thorbjarnarson (52), crocodile advocate, died. In 1988 he drew up an
action plan to save crocodiles. All 23 species were threatened or
(Econ, 3/20/10, p.95)
2010 Feb 14, Twelve Afghans,
including 6 children, died when two rockets fired at insurgents
missed their target and struck a house during the second day of
NATO's most ambitious effort yet to break the militants' grip on the
country's dangerous south. Thousands of NATO and Afghan troops
encountered pockets of resistance, as they moved deeper into Marjah,
a town of 80,000 people that is the linchpin of the militants'
logistical and opium-smuggling network in Helmand province. Afghan
officials said at least 27 insurgents have been killed in the
operation. In the south two British service members died, one from
small-arms fire and the other from a roadside bomb explosion.
(AP, 2/14/10)(AP, 2/15/10)
2010 Feb 14, British
documentary filmmaker Paul Martin (55) was detained at a Gaza
military tribunal where he was to testify on behalf of a local man
accused of collaborating with Israel. Hamas officials said that he
would detained for 15 days. Martin was released on March 11.
(AP, 2/15/10)(AP, 3/11/10)
2010 Feb 14, British author
Dick Francis (b.1920), a former jockey whose thrillers rode high in
best-selling lists for decades, died at his Caribbean home in Grand
Cayman. His first book was a 1957 autobiography titled “The sport of
Queens." His first novel, “Dead Cert," came out in 1962 and was
followed by 41 more.
2010 Feb 14, In Canada
Alexandre Bilodeau, skiing under huge pressure, finally won Canada's
first Olympic gold on Cypress Mountain when he snatched victory in a
thrilling finale to the men's freestyle moguls.
2010 Feb 14, Iraqi officials
said only one in five candidates accused of being loyalists to
Saddam Hussein's regime successfully fought an order banning them
from running in the national elections. Armed assailants in Mosul
killed Rayan Salem Elias, a Chaldean, outside his home.
(AP, 2/14/10)(AFP, 2/20/10)
2010 Feb 14, Kuwait's state
news agency said the Kuwaiti telecom group Zain has agreed to
offload its African assets to India's Bharti Airtel, in a deal
valued at $10.7 billion.
2010 Feb 14, In New Zealand
Department of Conservation workers found 9 whales dead on Stewart
Island's West Ruggedy Beach after they were alerted by a passer-by.
Wild seas and strong winds made it impossible to mount a rescue for
19 survivors. Conservation officials were forced to euthanize the
2010 Feb 14, In Singapore the
Resorts Worlds Centosa casino complex opened.
(Econ, 2/26/11, p.72)(http://tinyurl.com/4ep2owf)
2010 Feb 14, South Korea’s
Samsung, the world's second-biggest handset maker, unveiled its
first phone to use its own new operating system, called 'bada'.
2010 Feb 14, Ukraine's election
commission proclaimed pro-Russian Victor Yanukovych the official
winner of the presidential poll, even as his rival Yulia Tymoshenko
vowed to contest the results in court.
2010 Feb 14, Venezuelan
authorities said they have discovered 28 airplanes on the outskirts
of El Sombrero that were presumably being used by drug traffickers.
Federal police and National Guard troops took control of the hangar
and impounded the planes.
2010 Feb 14, A Yemeni military
helicopter crashed killing at least 10 troops in the north, as the
government sought to implement a ceasefire with Shiite rebels in the
2010 Feb 15, The US Federal
Housing Administration adopted home-valuation reforms, the Home
Valuation Code of Conduct" (HVCC) that were implemented last year by
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, despite complaints by real estate
agents, home buyers and sellers, mortgage brokers and appraisers.
(SSFC, 2/21/10, p.A1)(http://tinyurl.com/yesbts6)
2010 Feb 15, Astronauts
successfully attached a fancy new observation deck to the
International Space Station after a long, frustrating night spent
dealing with stuck bolts and wayward wiring.
2010 Feb 15, In New Jersey a
small plane crashed at Monmouth Executive airport killing 5 people
(SFC, 2/16/10, p.A6)
2010 Feb 15, Art Van Damme
(b.1920), jazz accordionist, died. From 1945 to 1960 he worked for
NBC, performing on The Dinah Shore Show, Tonight, The Dave Garroway
Show and other radio and TV shows with Garroway. He recorded 130
episodes of the 15-minute The Art Van Damme Show for NBC Radio.
2010 Feb 15, Jeanne M. Holm,
the first woman to rise to the rank of general in the US Air Force
and the first woman to become a two-star general in any US armed
service, died in Annapolis, Md.
(SFC, 3/3/10, p.C5)
2010 Feb 15, In Afghanistan
sniper teams attacked US Marines and Afghan troops across the
Taliban haven of Marjah, as several gun battles erupted on the third
day of a major offensive to seize the extremists' southern
2010 Feb 15, In Antarctic
waters Peter Bethune, a member of the US-based Sea Shepherd activist
group, jumped aboard the Shonan Maru 2 from a Jet Ski with the
stated goal of making a citizen's arrest of the ship's captain and
presenting him with a $3 million bill for the destruction of a
protest ship last month. The Japanese government said Bethune will
be charged with trespassing and assault and tried under Japanese
2010 Feb 15, In Belgium two
commuter trains collided head-on after one ran a stop light at rush
hour in a Brussels suburb, killing at least 18 people and injuring
2010 Feb 15, In Brazil Julia
Lira, Rio's 7-year-old Carnival drum corps queen, danced at the
front of the samba parade. She didn't like the cameras that homed in
on her, and reacted as any child might, by having a good cry.
2010 Feb 15, In London,
England, a 33-year-old man was arrested after the body of a Saudi
man (32) was discovered at the prestigious Landmark Hotel in the
Marylebone area. The suspect claimed to be a member of the Saudi
royal family. Prince Saud Bin Abdulaziz Bin Nasir Bin Abdulaziz Al
Saud was soon charged for the killing of Bandar Abdullah Abdulaziz.
On Oct 19 the prince was convicted of murder. Photographs of
Abdulaziz stored on a mobile phone had shown that there was a
"sexual element" to the abuse.
(AFP, 2/17/10)(AP, 2/19/10)(AP, 10/19/10)
2010 Feb 15, British Airways
said it would use low-carbon fuel to power part of its fleet from
2014 once Europe's first sustainable jet-fuel plant was built by US
biofuels specialist Solena Group. A plant to be built in London will
convert 500,000 tons of waste into 16 million gallons of green jet
2010 Feb 15, Canada PM Harper
began a 2-day visit to Haiti and said his country will build the
Haitian government a temporary base.
2010 Feb 15, A Montreal
financial adviser convicted of running a Ponzi scheme, like the one
that landed Bernard Madoff in jail for life, was sentenced to 11
years in prison. Bertram Earl Jones was accused of swindling
investors out of as much as C$50 million ($46.7 million).
2010 Feb 15, Congo’s Radio
Okapi, a UN-run station, said Rwandan Hutu rebels have killed at
least 27 people in eastern Congo already this month.
2010 Feb 15, Dubai police held
a stunning news conference and blamed the Jan 19 slaying of Mahmoud
al-Mabhouh on a team of 10 men and one woman carrying passports from
Britain, Ireland, France and Germany.
2010 Feb 15, In Spain, at the
Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Apple announced its new Windows
Phone 7 software. Nokia, the world's biggest maker of mobile
handsets, said it would merge its Linux Maemo software platform,
used in its flagship N900 phone, with Intel's Moblin, which is also
based on Linux open-sourced software, to create a new platform,
MeeGo. The software deal was set to boost Intel's chances of getting
its chips into the cellphones of the Finnish company, which controls
around 40% of the global phone market.
(Reuters, 2/15/10)(SFC, 2/16/10, p.D1)
2010 Feb 15, In eastern India
suspected armed Maoist rebels riding motorcycles killed at least 24
policemen in a daring gun and bomb attack on a security camp. Two
Maoist guerrillas were also killed in the raid in West Bengal
state's Midnapore district.
(AFP, 2/15/10)(AP, 2/16/10)
2010 Feb 15, In Iraq
greengrocer Fatukhi Munir was gunned down inside his Mosul shop in a
2010 Feb 15, Israel's PM
Netanyahu called for "crippling sanctions" against Iran over its
nuclear program after a meeting in Moscow with Russia's top
officials, whom he praised for showing "an understanding" over the
2010 Feb 15, Libya suspended
the issuing of entry visas to European citizens apart from British
nationals. Italy's foreign ministry confirmed the measure and said
it was in retaliation for Switzerland's recent decision to publish a
blacklist of 180 Libyans banned from entering the country.
2010 Feb 15, Myanmar sentenced
four activists to prison terms with hard labor as special UN envoy
Tomas Ojea Quintana arrived to assess progress on human rights in
the country. The four women were arrested last October after being
accused of offering Buddhist monks alms that included religious
2010 Feb 15, Yara, a Norwegian
fertilizer maker, agreed to pay $4.1 billion for Terra, an American
company. This would extend Yara’s lead as the world’s biggest maker
of nitrogen-based fertilizer.
(Econ, 2/20/10, p.62)
2010 Feb 15, In Pakistan a
suspected US drone fired a missile at a vehicle in the northwest,
killing three people in the second such strike in as many days.
2010 Feb 15, Spain said it is
willing to take in five inmates from the US prison in Guantanamo
Bay, not just the two it had announced last month.
2010 Feb 15, Cyclone Rene
battered Tonga with powerful winds, cutting phone links, ripping off
roofs and downing power lines in the South Pacific island nation.
2010 Feb 15, Yemeni Shiite
rebels handed over the first of five Saudi soldiers held captive
since their border war.
2010 Feb 16, New US Treasury
data said China's holdings of US Treasury bonds tumbled in December,
allowing Japan to take over as the top holder of American government
2010 Feb 16, Simon Property
Group Inc sought to pluck General Growth Properties out of
bankruptcy, offering to pay $7 billion to creditors and nearly $3
billion to shareholders in a deal that would combine the two largest
U.S. shopping mall owners.
2010 Feb 16, In New Jersey
Shamsid-Din Abdul-Raheem (21) threw his 3-month-old daughter off the
Garden State Parkway Driscoll Bridge after the mother filed a
restraining order against him. The body of the infant was found on
(SSFC, 4/25/10, p.A9)
2010 Feb 16, William Gordon
(b.1918), American astronomer, died. He designed the Arecibo radio
telescope, completed in 1963, in Puerto Rico.
(Econ, 2/27/10, p.87)
2010 Feb 16, Argentina’s Pres.
Cristina Fernandez issued a decree seeking to control all shipping
to and from the Falkland Islands, escalating her fight with Britain
over drilling for oil and gas in the South Atlantic.
(SFC, 2/17/10, p.A2)
2010 Feb 16, In Austria 14
countries and the European Commission adopted the Danube River Basin
Management Plan, a cleanup plan for the Danube River and its
tributaries. Participating countries included Austria, Bosnia,
Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Montenegro,
Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine.
2010 Feb 16, In Canada Maelle
Ricker thrilled a rowdy hometown crowd and easily won the women's
Olympic snowboard cross title, bagging the first gold for a Canadian
woman on home soil.
2010 Feb 16, Jorge Puello, who
surged into the spotlight by providing food, medicine and legal
assistance to the 10 Americans jailed in Haiti, acknowledged in a
phone interview from the Dominican Rep., that he is named in a 2003
federal indictment out of Vermont that accuses him of smuggling
illegal immigrants from Canada into the United States. He was
already being pursued by authorities in the Dominican Republic on an
Interpol warrant out of El Salvador, where police said he led a ring
that lured young women and girls into prostitution.
2010 Feb 16, Dubai police
appealed for an international manhunt after releasing names and
photos of an alleged 11-member European hit squad accused of
stalking and killing a Hamas commander on Jan 19 in a plot that
mixed cold precision with spy caper disguises such as fake beards
2010 Feb 16, Georgia's
breakaway Abkhazia region said it would allow sponsor Russia to
build a military base on its soil for land troops, strengthening the
region's dependence on Moscow and provoking ire from Tbilisi..
2010 Feb 16, Greek customs
officials and finance ministry employees walked off the job for a
3-day strike as protests grew against the government’s austerity
measures, which aimed at pulling the country out a debt crises.
(SFC, 2/17/10, p.A2)
2010 Feb 16, In Guinea a decree
said that Cmdr. Claude Pivi will stay on as minister in charge of
presidential security. Pivi is considered a rogue commander who is
accused of torturing civilians, including a group of students he
arrested outside a nightclub after discovering the side mirror on
his SUV was missing. Lt. Col. Moussa Tiegboro was appointed to a
special ministerial post within Gen. Sekouba Konate's office.
Tiegboro has been named in a UN investigation as one of the
principle actors behind a Sept. 28 massacre of at least 157 unarmed
2010 Feb 16, Iranian Pres.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, shrugging off international concerns,
announced the country was moving ahead to expand its nuclear
enrichment capacities by installing more advanced machinery at its
main enrichment facility.
2010 Feb 16, In Iraq Zia Toma
(21), an engineering student, was killed in Mosul, the third in as
many days, as community leaders warned of rising violence against
the minority ahead of Iraq's March 7 general election. The gunman
also wounded pharmacy student Ramsin Shmael (22), both Assyrian
(AFP, 2/16/10)(AFP, 2/20/10)
2010 Feb 16, Mexican
authorities found the decapitated bodies of five men in the town of
Escuinapa, Sinaloa state. 2 of the heads were missing their ears and
two more had a "Z" carved on their backs in an apparent reference to
the Zetas drug gang.
2010 Feb 16, Mozambique state
media reported that a mob attacked health workers in a town in the
northern town of Macoroja, killing one and injuring three others,
after accusing them of spreading cholera.
2010 Feb 16, Royal Dutch Shell
PLC said it was freezing executive pay and revamping bonus policy in
the wake of a shareholder rebellion at its annual meeting last year.
2010 Feb 16, Pakistani
intelligence officials said the Taliban's top military commander has
been arrested in a joint CIA-Pakistani operation. Mullah Abdul Ghani
Baradar, the group's No. 2 leader behind Afghan Taliban founder
Mullah Mohammad Omar and a close associate of Osama bin Laden, was
captured some days ago in Karachi.
(AP, 2/16/10)(Reuters, 2/17/10)
2010 Feb 16, In Sudan gunmen
attacked a police convoy outside Nyala in south Darfur, wounding
seven Pakistani police officers serving with the UN-AU force. 2
people were soon arrested in connection with an ambush.
2010 Feb 16, Thailand officials
said tests conducted by the government have found that British-made
bomb detectors it bought for a total of $21 million have an accuracy
rate of only 20 percent, but they will continue to be used.
2010 Feb 16, UN Sec. General
Ban Ki-moon announced that the int’l. convention banning cluster
bombs has received the 30 ratifications required and will enter into
force on August 1.
(SFC, 2/17/10, p.A2)
2010 Feb 17, Defense Secretary
Robert Gates announced that the Obama administration has decided to
give the war in Iraq a new name, "Operation New Dawn," effective
Sept 1, to reflect the reduced role US troops will play in securing
the country this year as troop levels fall.
2010 Feb 17, San Francisco
police along with state and federal agents arrested 28 suspected
gang members in a daylong operation to clear the “worst of the
worst" off the streets.
(SFC, 2/20/10, p.C4)
2010 Feb 17, In Palo Alto, Ca.,
a Cessna 310 crashed into a neighborhood after takeoff from the
fogged-in Palo Alto Airport, killing all 3 people aboard. 4 houses
were damaged, but no one on the ground was injured. Pilot Doug Bourn
(56), Brian Finn (42) and Andrew Ingram (31) worked for Tesla Motors
(SFC, 2/18/10, p.A1)(SFC, 2/19/10, p.A9)
2010 Feb 17, It was reported
that a mysterious illness was killing brown pelicans along the
northern California coast. Some 100 birds were in for treatment at
the Int’l. Bird Rescue Research Center in Cordelia. Some 300 others
found treatment at the center’s San Pedro branch. Biologists on Feb
22 said stormy weather had caused the disappearance of prey in
stirred up waters possible due to El Nino and recent big storms.
(SFC, 2/17/10, p.A1)(SFC, 2/23/10, p.C2)
2010 Feb 17, Military
commanders raised the Afghan flag in the bullet-ridden main market
of the Taliban's southern stronghold of Marjah as firefights
continued to break out elsewhere in the town between holed-up
militants and US and Afghan troops. Helmand Gov. Gulab Mangal said
about 40 insurgents have been killed since the offensive began Feb
13. Four NATO service members have been killed, and one Afghan
2010 Feb 17, In Brazil the
Unidos da Tijuca samba group was crowned champion of the Rio
Carnival parades for the first time in more than seven decades.
Viradouro, which chose a 7-year-old as a drums corps queen, placed
last out of 12 schools in the drum corps category, and scored even
lower in the float category.
2010 Feb 17, France's Pres.
Nicolas Sarkozy made the first visit ever by a French president to
Haiti, once his nation's richest colony. Sarkozy said France will
cancel Haiti’s 56 million in debt and pledged hundreds of millions
in aid for the catastrophic Jan 12 earthquake.
(AP, 2/17/10)(SFC, 2/18/10, p.A3)
2010 Feb 17, In Haiti 8
American missionaries were freed from jail and left for Miami,
nearly three weeks after being arrested trying to take 33 children
out of the earthquake-stricken country. Group leader Laura Silsby
and her former nanny Charisa Coulter remained in jail.
(AP, 2/17/10)(SFC, 2/19/10, p.A4)
2010 Feb 17, In Iraq the
bullet-riddled body of Assyrian Christian student Wissam George (20)
was recovered in Mosul after he went missing the same morning.
2010 Feb 17, In Myanmar Gaw
Thita, a Buddhist monk, was quietly sentenced to seven years in
prison violating immigration laws by taking a trip to Taiwan last
2010 Feb 17, Pakistan's
government was forced into an embarrassing U-turn, withdrawing the
recent appointments of top judges that sparked a showdown with the
Supreme Court and a fresh crisis in the country. Police in Karachi
arrested a suspected Taliban commander. He was identified as
Abdullah, also known as Abu Waqas, a commander from the Bajaur
region on the Afghan border. Unknown gunmen ambushed a vehicle
carrying militants in the Kurrum region on the border, killing six
Taliban and wounding two. A US drone fired a missile into the North
Waziristan region on the Afghan border, killing at least three
(AFP, 2/17/10)(Reuters, 2/17/10)
2010 Feb 17, A court in Sri
Lanka freed 14 men held on suspicion of plotting a coup with
opposition leader and ex-army chief Sarath Fonseka.
2010 Feb 18, President Barack
Obama met the Dalai Lama at the White House, brushing aside China's
warning that talks with the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader could
further damage strained Sino-US ties.
2010 Feb 18, Pres. Obama
created a bipartisan debt-reduction commission.
(SFC, 2/19/10, p.A6)
2010 Feb 18, The Obama
administration ratcheted up pressure on health insurers, saying some
planned double-digit rate hikes while making billions in profits and
paying executives multimillion-dollar salaries.
2010 Feb 18, An absent-minded
attendee at the Republican National Committee (RNC) confab in Boca
Grande, Florida, left a 72-page document from its 2010 strategizing
session in a hotel room. The memo tracks the fundraising
presentation that RNC Finance Director Rob Bickhart delivered to the
RNC's $2,500-a-head annual retreat and revealed a GOP plan to use
scare tactics to raise money. This became public on March 4.
2010 Feb 18, US researchers
unveiled a vehicle that earns money for its driver instead of
guzzling it up in gasoline and maintenance costs. The presentation
of the box-like, unassuming looking Scion was the researchers' way
of introducing the "vehicle-to-grid" (V2G) concept as it begins to
gain momentum in the United States and around the world.
2010 Feb 18, In Texas Joe Stack
(b.1956), a software engineer, committed suicide by slamming his
single-engine Piper PA-28 into an Austin office building that houses
the IRS. One person was missing and 13 were injured. Stack felt the
federal government, especially its tax code, had robbed him of his
savings and destroyed his career while allowing corrupt executives
to walk away with millions.
(AP, 2/19/10)(SFC, 2/19/10, p.A6)
2010 Feb 18, It was reported
that a new type of computer virus is known to have breached almost
75,000 computers in 2,500 organizations around the world. The virus,
known as "Kneber botnet," gathers login credentials to online
financial systems, social networking sites and email systems from
infested computers and reports the information back to hackers.
2010 Feb 18, Microsoft won
unconditional European Union approval for its planned search deal
with Yahoo Inc to challenge market leader Google.
2010 Feb 18, The Afghan
Interior Ministry said a NATO airstrike aimed at insurgents missed
its target, killing 7 policemen in northern Kunduz province. Another
Afghan official said Pakistan has captured two "shadow governors"
belonging to Afghanistan's Taliban movement. The Afghan governor for
Kunduz said Mullah Abdul Salam and Mullah Mir Mohammad, respectively
the shadow governors of the northern Afghan provinces of Kunduz and
Baghlan happened in Pakistan's Baluchistan province and were
captured about a week ago. 9 militants linked to al-Qaida were
nabbed overnight near Karachi. Six coalition troops were killed in
the assault on Marjah, making it the deadliest day since the
offensive began. The death toll so far is 11 NATO troops and one
(AP, 2/18/10)(AP, 2/19/10)
2010 Feb 18, London police
released Ray Gosling, a veteran British TV reporter, on bail after
he was arrested and questioned about claims he made on the air that
he killed his lover who was dying of AIDS.
2010 Feb 18, Speed skater
Christine Nesbitt of Canada mounted a gutsy charge to the finish
line to claim gold in the women's 1,000 meters at the Richmond
2010 Feb 18, Dubai police
directly accused Israel's Mossad spy agency of orchestrating the Jan
19 hit squad slaying of a Hamas commander as the number of suspects
rose to 18.
2010 Feb 18, In Germany
attorney Ursula Raue said 115 former students have come forward with
charges of sexual abuse at schools run by Germany's Jesuit order.
Victims had named 12 priests and several women among the attackers.
Most of the victims were former students of one of Germany's most
prestigious high schools, Berlin's private Catholic Canisius Kolleg.
2010 Feb 18, Haiti’s PM
Jean-Max Bellerive said the government will appropriate land to
build temporary camps for earthquake victims. The decision was
potentially explosive in a country where a small elite owns most of
the land in and around the capital.
2010 Feb 18, In India suspected
Maoist rebels raided a village in eastern Bihar state, and killed at
least 12 people in an apparent act of revenge after several
guerrillas were captured and turned over to police. The dead
included a family of 4 burned to death in Kasari.
(AP, 2/18/10)(SFC, 2/19/10, p.A2)
2010 Feb 18, In Iraq a suicide
car bomb exploded outside the gate of the main government compound
in Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, killing at least 13
people, including 4 police. At least 26 people were wounded.
2010 Feb 18, Vicente Zambada
Niebla (34), a man accused of being an influential,
second-generation member of the Sinaloa drug cartel, was extradited
from Mexico to the US on charges he helped move tons of cocaine from
Colombia to California, New York and Chicago.
2010 Feb 18, In Mozambique 7
people died in a riot in the district of Gurue sparked by false
rumors that health workers were spreading cholera.
2010 Feb 18, In Niger armed
soldiers stormed the presidential palace and witnesses said the
president's whereabouts were unknown after heavy gunfire. Pres.
Mamadou Tandja (72) was deposed in a military coup after he stayed
in office months beyond his legal mandate.
(AP, 2/18/10)(AP, 1/17/11)
2010 Feb 18, In Pakistan a bomb
blast at a mosque in the northwestern Khyber tribal region killed 29
people including some militants. Missiles fired from a US unmanned
drone aircraft killed Mohammad Haqqani, the brother of Afghan
Taliban commander Siraj Haqqani, along with 3 associates. Both
Haqqanis are sons of Jalaluddin Haqqani, a former US ally in the war
against the Soviets in the 1980s.
(AP, 2/18/10)(AP, 2/19/10)(Reuters, 2/19/10)(SFC,
2010 Feb 18, In northern
Pakistan up to 37 people were feared dead after an avalanche slammed
into a remote mountain village in Kohistan district.
2010 Feb 18, Philippine troops
arrested Jumadali Arad, a suspected Muslim militant accused in the
high-profile kidnappings of three Americans, two of whom were later
killed, and dozens of Filipinos nine years ago.
2010 Feb 18, Rwanda state radio
said a Seventh Day Adventist pastor, Peday Ntihanabayo, has been
sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in Rwanda's 1994
genocide by a grass-roots gacaca appeals court.
2010 Feb 18, Turkmenistan Pres.
Gurbanguli Berdymukhamedov said "If anyone wishes to propose
creating a new political party, we can register one this year, as
stipulated by the Constitution." The constitution, adopted in 1992,
allows for the formation of political parties.
2010 Feb 18, Zimbabwe state
newspapers reported that the Supreme Court has ordered two
government mining firms to stop operations on British-owned diamond
mining fields plagued by human rights abuses.
2010 Feb 18-2010 Mar 3, In the
northern Mexican border city of Reynosa 8 journalists were kidnapped
over a period of two weeks in a wave of abductions unprecedented in
the Western Hemisphere. Two were released alive and one was found
dead with signs of torture.
2010 Feb 19, Pres. Obama,
speaking in Nevada targeted Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan
and Nevada in a $1.5 billion “innovation fund" to assist homeowners
struggling against foreclosure.
(SFC, 2/20/10, p.A1)
2010 Feb 19, The US Federal
Reserve raised the rate banks pay for emergency loans by a quarter
point to 0.75% effective today.
(SFC, 2/19/10, p.D1)
2010 Feb 19, From Ponte Vedra
Beach, Fla. Golf star Tiger Woods faced the world and formally
apologized for his infidelity. Woods said part of his rehab would
include a return to his Buddhist faith.
2010 Feb 19, A newly released
study by a major US consulting firm found that premiums for Medicare
Advantage plans offering medical and prescription drug coverage
jumped 14.2 percent on average in 2010, after an increase of only
5.2 percent the previous year.
2010 Feb 19, In Afghanistan a
Western service member was killed in small arms fire as coalition
forces continued to drive the Taliban from Marjah.
(SFC, 2/20/10, p.A3)
2010 Feb 19, Two Muslim women
were stopped from boarding a flight at Manchester airport from
Britain to Pakistan for refusing to go through new body scanners,
citing religious and medical reasons.
2010 Feb 19, Lionel Jeffries
(b.1926), British actor and film director, died. He played Grandpa
Potts in the “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" (1968). He wrote and directed
the 1970 film “The Railway Children" adopted from the Edwardian
children’s book by E. Nesbit.
(SSFC, 2/21/10, p.C11)
2010 Feb 19, A Canadian sailing
ship, the three-masted SV Concordia, filled with high school and
college students sank off the coast of Brazil in strong winds, but
all 64 aboard were rescued. The students spent up to 16 hours on
life boats before they were rescued by three passing cargo ships.
2010 Feb 19, In the Central
African Republic rebels of Uganda’s Lord's Resistance Army
(LRA) kidnapped at least 40 people and wounded a soldier
during an attack in the southwest.
2010 Feb 19, The German Tax
Union said about 2,500 people in Germany have confessed to tax
evasion to avoid punishment amid a heated debate over whether
authorities should buy stolen data from Swiss bank accounts.
2010 Feb 19, Iraq rejected
calls to abolish or suspend capital punishment made during a review
by the UN's top human rights body. Iraq has also dismissed
suggestions that it should reduce the number of crimes for which the
death penalty can be imposed.
2010 Feb 19, In Ivory Coast
anti-government demonstrations spread to at least eight cities.
Police fired on demonstrators at a rally in Gagnoa, killing 5 people
and wounding a dozen others in the latest protest since the
president dissolved the government a week ago.
(AP, 2/19/10)(SFC, 2/20/10, p.A2)
2010 Feb 19, In Mexico one
officer was killed and two others wounded when they were ambushed in
Nogales, across the border from the Arizona city of the same name.
The officers were responding to an apparently false report of a
robbery at a beer store when gunmen opened fire on.
2010 Feb 19, In Morocco the
minaret of the 18th century Bab Berdieyinne mosque collapsed in the
city of Meknes, killing 41 people and injuring 76 others.
2010 Feb 19, In Niger a junta
that seized power in a coup named a platoon commander as its leader,
hours after soldiers announced on state TV that their group was in
charge of the uranium-rich country.
2010 Feb 19, Hamas claimed that
two ex-officers from the rival Fatah organization were involved in
the Jan 20 assassination of a Hamas operative in Dubai, and Fatah
shot back by insinuating Hamas members were the ones who
collaborated with the killers.
2010 Feb 19, In the Philippines
2 soldiers were killed and one wounded on southern Basilan Island
when they tripped the wire on a homemade bomb during an operation to
track down militants.
2010 Feb 19, In Russia's
Ingushetia region a series of bomb blasts killed at least two people
and wounded 33, including senior police officials.
2010 Feb 19, In Rwanda 3
grenade attacks in Kigali killed 1 person and injured 30. Another
person died overnight from injuries in the attack.
(AP, 2/20/10)(AFP, 2/22/10)
2010 Feb 19, Pope Benedict XVI
approved sainthood for Mother Mary MacKillop (1842-1909), making the
woman known for her work among the needy Australia's first saint.
Sainthood was also approved for Stanislaw Soltys, a 15th-century
Polish priest; Italian nuns Giulia Salzano and Battista Varano;
Spanish nun Candida Maria de Jesus Cipitria y Barriola and a
Canadian brother, Andre Bessette (d.1937). The formal canonization
will take place Oct. 17 in Rome.
2010 Feb 19, Some 1,000
Zimbabwe civil servants marched through the streets of the capital
Harare demanding hefty increases in their salaries.
2010 Feb 20, It was reported
that confidential US FDA reports have recommended the removal of
Avandia, a drug used to treat Type 2 diabetes, off the market. Also
know as rosiglitazone, it was linked to 304 deaths due to heart
attacks and heart failures during the 3rd quarter of 2009.
GlaxoSmithKline held that Avandia should continue to be an option.
(SFC, 2/20/10, p.A6)
2010 Feb 20, Alexander Haig
(b.1924), a former US Secretary of State and four-star general, died
of complications from an infection. He had served as a top adviser
to three presidents and had sought the Republican presidential
nomination for the 1988 elections.
2010 Feb 20, In Florida 3
teenage girls crossing a bridge in Melbourne were killed by a
freight train as they desperately tried to get out of its way. A
helpless friend on the other side could only watch.
2010 Feb 20, Loni Ding (78),
filmmaker, educator and activist, died in Oakland, Ca. Her work
included “Ancestors in the Americas," a 1996 PBS documentary. Over 3
decades she turned out more than 250 programs for broadcast, many of
which explored the experiences of Asians in the New World.
(SFC, 3/12/10, p.C6)
2010 Feb 20, In Afghanistan 2
NATO service members were killed, one by rocket or mortar fire in
the east and another in a bombing in the south. The fatalities was
not related to the Marjah area fighting.
2010 Feb 20, China said 35
people were killed in fires during the week-long new year holiday as
millions of people set off fireworks to usher in the Year of the
2010 Feb 20, German weekly Der
Spiegel reported that Germany's finance ministry has sketched out a
plan in which countries using the euro currency will provide aid
worth between 20 billion and 25 billion euros ($27-$33.7 billion)
2010 Feb 20, In India forestry
officer Uday Vir Singh bluffed his way past private militia guarding
the Belekeri port and proceeded to uncover a massive scam of illegal
shipments of iron ore to China that involved hundreds of officials
and politicians in Karnataka state.
(Econ, 3/15/14, p.23)
2010 Feb 20, Iraq's main Sunni
party said it is dropping out of next month's national elections,
seizing on U.S. concerns about Iran's influence in the political
process as proof that the vote will not be legitimate. Iraqi police
said they found Adnan al-Dahan (57), a Syrian Orthodox shopkeeper,
shot to death in Mosul, the fifth Christian killing in a week
thought to be related to March elections.
(AP, 2/20/10)(AFP, 2/20/10)
2010 Feb 20 - 2010, Feb 23, In
Iraq 8,080 computers, worth $1.8 million from US taxpayers, arrived
at the port of Umm Qasr destined for school children in Babil, but
failed to reached their destination. In August Iraqis auctioned
4,200 of the computers for $45,700. Whereabouts of the rest were
unknown. In Sep arrest warrants were issued for 10 customs officials
at Umm Qasr and investigations continued.
(SSFC, 9/26/10, p.A4)
2010 Feb 20, Israeli forces
wounded at least four Palestinians in a firefight in the southern
Gaza Strip and two more in the West Bank as they tried to cross into
Israel. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and
the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade issued a joint statement saying their
men had "attacked four Israeli army jeeps with rocket-propelled
grenades, and they responded with machine-gun fire from an assault
helicopter and tank fire."
2010 Feb 20, Mexican police
found the bound bodies of two men on a highway just outside the
Pacific coast resort of Acapulco. The body of a third man, missing
its head and limbs, was found in Ciudad Altamirano, an inland city
2010 Feb 20, The Dutch
coalition government collapsed over whether to extend the country's
military mission in Afghanistan, leaving the future of its 1,600
soldiers fighting there uncertain. An early election is now
2010 Feb 20, A Pakistani army
airstrike killed 30 militants in the Shawal mountains of the South
Waziristan tribal region bordering Afghanistan. Suicide attackers
struck two police stations in Mansehra district, killing a police
2010 Feb 20, On Portugal’s
Madeira Islands torrential flash floods and mudslides killed at
least 42 people in the capital city of Funchal. The number of people
missing soon rose to 29.
(AP, 2/21/10)(AP, 2/22/10)(AP, 2/23/10)(AP,
2010 Feb 20, Rwandan police
arrested 3 suspects in connection with three Feb 19 grenade attacks
in Kigali that left two people dead.
2010 Feb 20, Darfur's most
heavily armed rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement, said
that it had signed a framework agreement with the Sudanese
government in Chad that provides for a ceasefire. Sudanese President
Omar Hassan al-Bashir was due to sign the same agreement with JEM
leader Khalil Ibrahim in Qatar on Feb 23, watched by diplomats and
the presidents of Chad and Eritrea.
(AFP, 2/20/10)(Reuters, 2/23/10)
2010 Feb 20, Ukrainian PM Yulia
Tymoshenko dropped her legal challenge to her rival's presidential
election victory, saying she had lost faith in the country's courts.
2010 Feb 21, The US space
shuttle Endeavour returned to Florida following an assembly mission
to the Int’l. Space Station.
(SFC, 2/22/10, p.A6)
2010 Feb 21, Afghan and US
Marine units converged on a dangerous western quarter of the Taliban
stronghold of Marjah, with NATO forces facing "determined
resistance" as their assault on the southern town entered its second
week. One service member involved in the Marjah offensive was killed
in a roadside bombing. A NATO airstrike killed at least 27 Afghan
civilians in central Uruzgan province, in the third coalition strike
this month to kill noncombatants. A military report released on May
29 said inexperienced operators of a US drone aircraft ignored or
downplayed signs that Afghan civilians were in the convoy in Uruzgan
in which 23 civilians were killed and 12 others wounded.
(AP, 2/21/10)(AP, 2/22/10)(AP, 5/29/10)(SSFC,
2010 Feb 21, The British public
was introduced to what one political journalist has painted as the
dark face as the country's prime minister: A man so whose rages were
so damaging that the country's top bureaucrat had to intervene to
comfort his distressed staff. The description, carried in book "The
End of the Party," by The Observer journalist Andrew Rawnsley, was
vigorously contested by Brown and his lieutenants.
2010 Feb 21, Kathryn Bigelow's
Iraq war movie "The Hurt Locker" swept the board at the BAFTA awards
in London, winning the best film and director awards and leaving
ex-husband James Cameron almost empty-handed.
2010 Feb 21, In Canada US skier
Bode Miller snatched his first Olympic gold medal and US ice hockey
goalkeeper Ryan Miller stopped Canada in a heartbreaking loss for
the hockey-crazed host nation.
2010 Feb 21, Egyptian police
shot dead two African migrants as they attempted to enter Israel
illegally. A man threw a suitcase containing a makeshift bomb at
Cairo's main synagogue. There were no injuries or damage to the
synagogue. A man (49), with a record of Islamic extremism and drug
abuse, was detained on Feb 23.
(AFP, 2/21/10)(AP, 2/23/10)
2010 Feb 21, Haiti’s Pres. Rene
Preval said the death toll from his country's earthquake could reach
300,000 once all the bodies are recovered from wrecked buildings.
2010 Feb 21, Iranian state
television reported that intelligence agents have killed four
members of an armed Kurdish separatist group near the Kurdish town
of Sardasht. The report accused the four of killing three policemen
in a clash on Dec 26.
2010 Feb 21, Israeli PM
Benjamin Netanyahu told his Cabinet that the Cave of the Patriarchs
in Hebron and Rachel's Tomb near Bethlehem are additions to the list
of national heritage sites. Israel's air force introduced a fleet of
large unmanned planes that can fly as far as Iran. Air force
officials said the Heron TP drones can fly 20 consecutive hours, and
are primarily used for surveillance and carrying payloads. Israeli
shelling wounded five Palestinian day laborers along the northern
border of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
(AP, 2/21/10)(AFP, 2/21/10)
2010 Feb 21, Mexico’s federal
police captured Jose Vasquez Villagrana (40), described as a key
operator of the powerful Sinaloa cartel, in his home town of Santa
Ana. He served briefly in the US army before taking on the
trafficking of 2 tons of cocaine a month into the US. 14 deaths were
reported in Sinaloa state. In the worst incident, six people,
including two women and a minor, were found shot to death in a
cemetery in Juan Jose Rios. In the same town, two men were found
strangled in a house, one with the cable of an iron and another with
a wire hanger.
2010 Feb 21, In Pakistan a
suicide car bomber hit a military convoy killing nine people,
including children, in the Swat district, just months after the army
claimed to have quelled a Taliban uprising. The body of Jaspal Singh
one of three Sikhs abducted later January in Bara, Khyber district,
was found beheaded. Taliban militants had kidnapped and beheaded him
after relatives failed to pay a ransom, due Feb 20, for his release.
The Sikh community blamed the umbrella Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan
(TTP) for the beheading.
2010 Feb 21, In the Philippines
Albader Parad, a top commander of the Al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf,
was among six militants killed in fighting on Jolo island. Another
of those slain, Abdulhan Jumdail, was identified as the cousin of
Umbra Jumdail, one of the core leaders of the Abu Sayyaf.
2010 Feb 21, In southern Sudan
weekend fighting between armed clan members and soldiers killed at
least 30 people over the last 24 hours. After the attempt to seize
weapons, the armed Gok Dinka, a sub-clan of the Dinka, the south's
largest tribe, carried out a spate of attacks on an army base in
2010 Feb 22, Pres. Barack Obama
put forward a nearly $1 trillion, 10-year compromise that would
allow the government to deny or roll back egregious insurance
premium increases that infuriated consumers. Obama produced a health
care plan of his own. It used legislation already passed by the
Senate as its starting point, making changes designed to appeal to
(AP, 2/22/10)(AP, 2/23/10)
2010 Feb 22, A Delaware grand
jury returned an indictment on pediatrician Dr. Earl Bradley of
Lewes with 471 counts of sexual crimes against 103 children.
(SFC, 2/23/10, p.A6)
2010 Feb 22, In Afghanistan a
suicide bomber killed 15 people in Nangarhar province, including a
key tribal leader who played a major role in a failed attempt to
capture al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden at Tora Bora in 2001.
2010 Feb 22, Latin American and
Caribbean nations backed Argentina's claim of sovereignty to the
Falkland Islands in a growing dispute with Britain over plans to
drill for oil off the islands in the Atlantic. British exploration
company Desire Petroleum PLC said it started drilling for oil about
62 miles north of the disputed islands.
(AP, 2/23/10)(SFC, 2/23/10, p.A2)
2010 Feb 22, In eastern
CongoDRC 3 people were killed when Congolese soldiers attacked a UN
agency car and tried to loot it in South Kivu province. A
combination of military personnel from the US Special Operations
Command Africa, including US special forces and civilian specialists
under contract, were said to be conducting training a battalion of
Congolese soldiers in the city of Kisangani. The 8-month program for
the battalion, which can consist of about 1,000 soldiers, will cover
military basics but also will focus on human rights training. Human
rights groups have previously accused Congo's poorly trained and
irregularly paid army forces of attacking civilians.
(AP, 2/23/10)(AP, 3/1/10)
2010 Feb 22, French President
Nicolas Sarkozy met with Total Chairman Thierry Desmarest for talks
about a labor strike that has shuttered over half of France's oil
refining capacity. Workers at all six of Total SA's French
refineries and at six of its 31 fuel depots have been on strike for
five days over the uncertain future of a plant in Dunkirk, in
northern France. Workers at France's fourth-largest refinery,
British-owned chemicals company INEOS, met to vote on whether they
too would join the widening strike.
2010 Feb 22, German airline
Lufthansa went to court in a bid to halt a strike by some 4,000
pilots that disrupted more than one third of its flights. Later in
the day Lufthansa pilots agreed to suspend for two weeks a strike
that grounded about 900 flights, just as rival British Airways'
cabin crew voted to join the fray to protest harsh cost cuts.
(AP, 2/22/10)(Reuters, 2/22/10)
2010 Feb 22, In Indonesia a
villager was killed in crossfire and three suspected militants were
arrested when police raided a possible paramilitary training ground
for the Southeast Asian terror network Jemaah Islamiyah in Aceh
2010 Feb 22, Iran said it plans
to build two new uranium enrichment facilities deep inside mountains
to protect them from attack, a new challenge to Western powers
trying to curb Tehran's nuclear program for fear it is aimed at
2010 Feb 22, In Iraq assailants
killed 8 members of a Shiite family in a village outside Baghdad,
shooting some and beheading others, just one of a series of
pre-election shooting and car bombing attacks that swept the
country, killing at least 23 people.
(AP, 2/22/10)(SFC, 2/23/10, p.A3)
2010 Feb 22, In Ivory Coast at
least two protesters died during an opposition demonstration that
turned violent, deepening the crisis sparked by the president's
dissolution of the government earlier this month.
2010 Feb 22, In Libya Rashid
Hamdani, one of two Swiss businessmen held in Libya for 19 months
amid a diplomatic row between the two states, left for home as Max
Goeldi emerged from his country's embassy to serve 4 months in jail.
Goeldi was released on June 10 and prepared to fly home.
(AFP, 2/22/10)(AFP, 6/11/10)
2010 Feb 22, In Nigeria
Abdullahi Adamu, the former governor of Nasarawa state, was arrested
for allegedly embezzling $100 million of government money meant for
public projects. He was currently serving as secretary to the board
of trustees of the People's Democratic Party (PDP), Nigeria's ruling
2010 Feb 22, In Northern
Ireland a car bomb detonated in Newry, between Dublin and Belfast.
Irish Republican Army dissidents gave police officers just 17
minutes to evacuate the center of a border town before the blast.
The attack on the courthouse was the first of its kind in nearly a
2010 Feb 22, In Pakistan a
suicide bomber targeting security forces killed at least 8 people in
Mingora, the capital of the Swat Valley district.
(SFC, 2/23/10, p.A2)
2010 Feb 22, A crowd of
Palestinian youths in Hebron pelted Israeli soldiers with stones and
empty bottles, drawing tear gas and stun grenades in the most
serious violence to rock this volatile West Bank city in months.
2010 Feb 22, In Peru 2 buses
crashed head-on along a remote stretch of highway in the northeast,
killing at least 38 people and injuring 58.
2010 Feb 22, In Spain Hokman
Joma tried to hit Turkey’s PM Erdogan with a shoe as the Turkish
leader got into a car during a visit to the southern city of
Seville. Hokman shouted "Long live Kurdistan" in Spanish before
being arrested. In June the Syrian Kurd was sentenced to three years
in jail in Spain.
2010 Feb 22, Turkish police
detained more than 40 high-ranking military commanders for allegedly
plotting to overthrow the Islamic-rooted government. The detentions
followed the gathering of wiretap evidence and the discovery of
secret weapons caches, revelations that dealt a blow to the
2010 Feb 22, The United Arab
Emirates said it has picked former International Atomic Energy
Agency chief Hans Blix to head an advisory board for its nuclear
power program. Blix was director general of the IAEA, the UN's
nuclear watchdog, from 1981 to 1997. He led the UN search for
weapons of mass destruction in Iraq until June 2003.
2010 Feb 22, A UN report said
sales of household electrical gadgets will boom across the
developing world in the next decade, wreaking environmental havoc if
there are no new strategies to deal with the discarded TVs, cell
phones and computers.
2010 Feb 23, Intel CEO Paul
Otellini unveiled a broad initiative, the “Invest in America
Alliance," to create jobs and boost the nation’s competitiveness.
Intel and 24 venture capital firms planned to invest $3.5 billion in
US technology startups over the next 2 years.
(SFC, 2/24/10, p.D1)
2010 Feb 23, In Littleton,
Colorado, gunman Bruco Strongeagle Eastwood (32) wounded two
students at Deer Creek Middle School before math teacher David Benke
(57) subdued him.
(AP, 2/24/10)(SFC, 2/25/10, p.A9)
2010 Feb 23, It was reported
that Florida wildlife officials have created a special python
hunting season to stop the spread of the nonnative snakes throughout
the Everglades. A $26 permit allow hunters to kill the reptiles from
March 8 to April 17.
(SFC, 2/23/10, p.A6)
2010 Feb 23, In Afghan Gen.
Stanley McChrystal apologized for the Feb 21 strike in central
Uruzgan province that Afghan officials say killed at least 21
people. The Afghan Cabinet said 27 civilians were killed including 4
women and a child. The video was also posted on a NATO Web site. The
civilian deaths occurred as 15,000 NATO, US and Afghan soldiers were
in their 10th day of fighting insurgents in Marjah, Helmand
province. A Romanian soldier was killed and another was wounded in a
bombing in the south unrelated to the offensive. A morning explosion
in Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand, left eight people dead and
at least 16 others wounded. The death toll of US troops in the
Afghan war surpassed the grim milestone of 1,000.
(AP, 2/23/10)(SFC, 2/23/10, p.A3)
2010 Feb 23, PM Kevin Rudd said
Australia plans to fingerprint and face-scan visitors from about 10
high-risk countries in a bid to combat extremism, which is now a
"permanent" threat. He added that Australia will spend 69 million
dollars (62 million US) on new biometric facilities and will set up
a national control centre to coordinate efforts to fight extremism.
2010 Feb 23, In Bangladesh at
least 20 people were injured and dozens of houses torched in fresh
clashes between tribal groups and Bengali settlers in the
insurgency-hit southeastern hills.
2010 Feb 23, The Chinese
Communist Party issued a new code of ethics as the country's fight
against widespread corruption intensifies.
2010 Feb 23, In Cuba Orlando
Zapata Tamayo (42), an opposition political activist imprisoned
since 2003, died after a lengthy hunger strike. His 3 year prison
sentence for disrespecting authority had been lengthened to 25
years, in part because of his political activism while behind bars.
The next day Cuban President Raul Castro issued an unprecedented
statement of regret over the death of Tamayo.
(AP, 2/24/10)(AP, 2/24/10)
2010 Feb 23, Denmark's PM Lars
Loekke Rasmussen (45) announced a major government shake-up,
changing more than a dozen Cabinet posts including the ministers of
defense, justice and foreign affairs to build his own team 10 months
after taking office.
2010 Feb 23, Egyptian
newspapers reported that former UN atomic watchdog chief Mohammed
ElBaradei has said he is prepared to run for president of Egypt. He
said Mubarak, head of state since 1981, would not necessarily win a
free election and went on to criticize corruption and poverty in
Egypt. The constitution as it stands barred an ElBaradei candidacy.
It requires candidates to have been a leading member of a party for
at least one year and for the party to have existed for at least
2010 Feb 23, India responded
cautiously to an offer by a top Maoist guerrilla leader for a
cease-fire and talks with the government, with the home minister
saying he would wait for a formal proposal before considering the
2010 Feb 23, India's biggest
carmaker Maruti Suzuki India announced it has recalled 100,000 of
its best-selling A-Star hatchback cars due to a fuel leakage
2010 Feb 23, In Indonesia a
rain-triggered landslide at a tea plantation on the main island of
Java buried scores of workers. At least 46 people were killed or
(AP, 2/23/10)(AP, 2/24/10)
2010 Feb 23, Iran formally set
out its terms for giving up most of its cache of enriched uranium in
a confidential document, and the conditions fall short of what has
been demanded by the United States and other world powers.
2010 Feb 23, Iran said that its
security forces have captured Abdulmalik Rigi, leader of the
Jundallah group (Soldiers of God), an armed Sunni group whose
insurgency in the southeast has destabilized the border region with
Pakistan. State-run English-language Press TV said that Rigi was
captured on a flight from Dubai to Kyrgyzstan.
2010 Feb 23, In Iraq an
American soldier died in a vehicle related accident in Baghdad.
2010 Feb 23, In Italy an oil
spill began and spread south down the Lambro to Piacenza and Cremona
overnight, despite efforts to contain it. By the next day if reached
the Po River, with officials warning of an ecological disaster as
they scrambled to contain the sludge before it contaminated Italy's
longest and most important river. Milan regional officials said the
cause was certainly sabotage at a former refinery turned oil depot,
since the cisterns were opened and the oil allowed to flow unimpeded
into the Lambro River near Monza.
2010 Feb 23, Ivory Coast PM
Guillaume announced a new unity government. The opposition coalition
said it will participate in a new government, raising hope for an
end to nearly two weeks of deadly protests after the president
dissolved the previous one.
(AP, 2/23/10)(SFC, 2/24/10, p.A2)
2010 Feb 23, In Mexico Latin
America and Caribbean leaders, gathered at a summit in Playa de
Carmen, united to create a regional bloc excluding Canada and the
United States. The bloc's formation is expected to take years and
faces many challenges. The leaders agreed to meet again in Venezuela
2010 Feb 23, In Mexico gunmen
stormed the southern town of San Vicente Camalote and killed 13
people, including a rancher and his 3 sons. Gunmen attacked the
police headquarters in the town of Miguel Aleman. 6 officers were
missing and presumed to have been kidnapped. A series of clashes
along the northern border killed 6 gunmen and one soldier. 10
soldiers and a police officer were wounded. A small military
anti-drug patrol plane was reported missing in northern Mexico.
Wreckage of the plane with 3 dead occupants was reported found on
(AP, 2/24/10)(AP, 2/25/10)(AP, 2/26/10)(AP,
2010 Feb 23, In Myanmar a
Cameroon football player fled temporarily to the French embassy in
Yangon as he was being taken to court by police for allegedly
counterfeiting currency notes. He surrendered to police a short time
later could face life imprisonment.
2010 Feb 23, The New York Times
and Washington Post cited unnamed Pakistani security officials
saying Mullah Abdul Kabir, a member of the militia's ruling council,
was picked up several days ago in Nowshera district in Pakistan's
2010 Feb 23, A Polish court
said a government move to slash the pensions of communist leaders
who imposed martial law in 1981 was illegal. The Constitutional
Tribunal ruled the move violated the constitution. It said the
portion of the pensions earned during the crackdown itself could be
cut but the rest could not. The cut, which took effect Jan 1, was
part of a wider law intended to punish former officials and security
agents for supporting the communist regime.
2010 Feb 23, South African’s
National Energy Regulator said approved electricity rate increases
of about 25% would become effective April 1, and that the increases
would continue for each of the next three years.
2010 Feb 23, Darfur's most
powerful rebel group and the Sudanese government signed a truce in
Cairo after a year of internationally sponsored negotiations,
raising hopes the bloody seven-year conflict could draw to a close.
According to the framework agreement, JEM would take part in the
government's executive, judicial and legislative branches.
(Reuters, 2/23/10)(AP, 2/24/10)(SFC, 2/24/10,
2010 Feb 23, In Turkey
prosecutors interrogated 51 Turkish military commanders over alleged
plans to destabilize the country by blowing up mosques to trigger a
coup and topple the Islamic-rooted government.
2010 Feb 23, In Turkey 13
workers were killed after a methane gas explosion caused a coal mine
collapse near Dursunbey, in northwest Balikesir province.
(AP, 2/24/10)(SFC, 2/24/10, p.A2)
2010 Feb 24, The US got help
from Europe in its troubled drive to shut down Guantanamo Bay, as
Spain accepted a former inmate from the prison for terror suspects
and the tiny Balkan nation of Albania took in three more.
2010 Feb 24, Akio Toyoda, scion
of the beleaguered Toyota empire, apologized before a US House
committee investigating deadly flaws that sparked the recall of 8.5
2010 Feb 24, The US Securities
and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved fresh curbs on shorting
(Econ, 2/27/10, p.83)
2010 Feb 24, In Texas Osiel
Cardenas-Guillen, a drug kingpin who once headed the extensive
Matamoros-based Gulf cartel, one of Mexico's most notoriously
violent cartels, was sentenced to 25 years in prison and ordered to
forfeit $50 million, following a closed hearing in Houston.
Cardenas-Guillen was the first cartel leader to employ a
paramilitary group, former Mexican special forces soldiers who
called themselves the Zetas.
2010 Feb 24, In San Jose, Ca.,
stealth start-up Bloom Energy publicly unveiled an innovative fuel
cell that promises to deliver affordable, clean energy to even
remote corners of the world.
2010 Feb 24, In Orlando,
Florida, SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau was killed after Tilikum, a
12,000 pound killer whale, grabbed her hair and pulled her under
2010 Feb 24, Afghanistan's main
opposition criticized President Hamid Karzai's removal of foreign
observers from a UN-backed electoral watchdog as "autocratic" and
urged international pressure to ensure impartial elections. The
decree took effect on February 13 and Karzai now has the power to
choose the ECC's members after consulting with the chief justice and
heads of parliament's two chambers.
(AP, 2/24/10)(Econ, 2/27/10, p.48)
2010 Feb 24, Australia resumed
free-trade talks with China after a 14-month gap, sweeping aside a
brief plunge in ties to focus on a booming partnership tipped to
deliver decades of growth.
2010 Feb 24, Chilean President
Michelle Bachelet said a group of South American nations has
committed to providing $100 million in aid for earthquake-ravaged
2010 Feb 24, In Colombia Mario
Uribe (60), a former senator and second cousin to President Alvaro
Uribe, was arrested by authorities on charges of colluding with
far-right death squads. Mario Uribe was imprisoned for four months
in 2008 on charges of colluding with paramilitaries, but he was
released in August of the same year after Colombia's No. 2
prosecutor said there was insufficient evidence to hold him.
2010 Feb 24, Dubai police
linked at least 15 more suspects carrying foreign passports to the
Jan 19 hit squad slaying of a Hamas commander that the police chief
claimed was likely carried out by Israel's Mossad secret service.
2010 Feb 24, French oil giant
Total said it is to invest seven billion dollars (5.16 billion
euros) in Nigerian oil and gas exploration and production over the
next four to five years.
2010 Feb 24, Germany's top
Protestant cleric, Margot Kaessmann (51), resigned after she was
caught driving with a blood-alcohol level three times the legal
limit, an incident that she said had undermined her authority.
2010 Feb 24, Greek police fired
tear gas and clashed with demonstrators in Athens after some 50,000
people finished a peaceful march against cutbacks intended to fix
the country's debt crisis.
2010 Feb 24, Israel's Haaretz
daily said Mosab Hassan Yousef, son of one of Hamas' founders, was
one of the Shin Bet security service's most valuable sources. Dubbed
as "the Green Prince" by his handlers he served as a top informant
for Israel for more than a decade. Yousef's memoir, "Son of Hamas,"
was to be published next week in the US by Tyndale House Publishers.
2010 Feb 24, A Nobel official
said Israeli nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu has asked the
Nobel Peace Prize committee to disregard his nomination for the
2010 Feb 24, An Italian court
convicted three Google executives of privacy violations because they
did not act quickly enough to remove an online video that showed
sadistic teen bullies pummeling and mocking an autistic boy. Judge
Oscar Magi sentenced the three in absentia to a six-month suspended
sentence and absolved them of defamation charges. A fourth
defendant, charged only with defamation, was acquitted. In the US,
the Communications Decency Act of 1996 generally gives Internet
service providers immunity in cases like this, but no such
protections exist in Europe.
2010 Feb 24, Mexican police
found two severed arms in an icebox, along with a threatening
message. Guerrero state police said an anonymous tip led them to the
remains in the town of Ciudad Altamirano.
2010 Feb 24, Nigeria's ailing
Pres. Umaru Yar'Adua returned home after a three-month stay in a
Saudi Arabian hospital. An advisor said the leader needed time to
recuperate and so the vice president would remain in charge.
2010 Feb 24, In Northern
Ireland an unidentified man, believed to be between 35 and 40, was
found shot in the head with his wrists bound and wearing only his
underwear on the outskirts of Londonderry, near the border with
2010 Feb 24, In Pakistan
suspected US missiles killed at least 13 people in an al-Qaida and
Taliban stronghold in the Dargah Mandi area of North Waziristan
tribal region. Pakistani Taliban commander Mohammed Qari Zafar was
among those killed when 3 missiles hit a compound and vehicle in the
Dargah Mandi area. The bodies of two men alleged by militants to be
US spies were discovered in Mir Ali, North Waziristan.
(AP, 2/24/10)(SFC, 2/26/10, p.A2)
2010 Feb 24, Qatar signed a
defense pact with Iran.
2010 Feb 24, Thailand officials
seized two tons of elephant tusks from Africa hidden in pallets
labeled as mobile phone parts in the country's largest ivory
2010 Feb 24, A Turkish court
formally charged and jailed seven senior Turkish military officers
for allegedly plotting years ago to overthrow the country's
2010 Feb 24, Ukrainian PM Yulia
Tymoshenko challenged her opponents to oust her in a no-confidence
vote, aiming to show they don't have enough votes to do so.
2010 Feb 24, Venezuela's
highest court annulled the election of an opposition mayor,
replacing him with a supporter of President Hugo Chavez until a new
vote is held. The Supreme Court threw out the 2008 election of Jorge
Barboza, mayor of the Sucre municipality in western Zulia state, on
grounds that he failed to pay $292 in local taxes. On March 4 the
court reinstated Barboza. The constitutional council said that last
week's ruling was unconstitutional because it violated Barboza's
(AP, 2/25/10)(AP, 3/4/10)
2010 Feb 25, President Barack
Obama and his Democratic allies argued for sweeping health care
overhaul in an extraordinary live-on-TV summit with Republicans who
want far more modest changes.
2010 Feb 25, In California Rick
Ray Liles (51) shot and killed deputy Joel Wahlenmaier (49) in
Minkler, Fresno County, during an investigation of arson blazes in
the village. Liles took his own life in the gunbattle at his mobile
(SFC, 2/27/10, p.A7)
2010 Feb 25, In California
Chelsea King (17) failed to return from a run at a San Diego park.
On Feb 28 John Albert Gardner III (30) of Lake Elsinore man was
arrested for investigation of murder and rape. King’s body was found
buried on March 2 in a shallow grave on the south shore of Lake
Hodges. On April 16, 2010, Gardner pleaded guilty to the murder of
King and Amber Dubois (14), who had vanished in February, 2009. On
May 15 Gardner was sentenced to life in prison for attacks on King
and Amber Dubois (14).
(AP, 3/3/10)(SFC, 4/17/10, p.A5)(SFC, 5/18/10,
2010 Feb 25, In Texas a copy of
the 1939 comic book, Detective Comics No. 27, in which Batman makes
his debut, sold at a Dallas auction for more than $1 million,
breaking a record set just three days earlier by a Superman comic. A
copy of the first comic book featuring Superman, a 1938 edition of
Action Comics No. 1, sold on Feb 22 for $1 million.
2010 Feb 25, The Afghan
government took official control of the southern Taliban stronghold
of Marjah, installing an administrator and raising the national flag
while US-led troops worked to root out final pockets of militants.
2010 Feb 25, In Algeria a
police official shot dead Colonel Ali Tounsi, the national police
chief, during a blazing row in his office in central Algiers.
2010 Feb 25, In Bangladesh a
fire started at the seven-storey Garib and Garib Sweater factory in
the industrial town of Gazipur. Witnesses said the exit gates on the
top floor were locked at the time. The fire started on the 2nd floor
of the factory, trapping scores of workers. Police say 14 women and
7 men were killed and around 40 people injured.
2010 Feb 25, Prosecutors in
England and Wales received fresh guidelines on assisted suicide that
reduce the likelihood of people facing criminal charges for helping
ailing loved ones to die.
2010 Feb 25, Rajib Karim, a
British Airways computer specialist, was arrested at his BA desk in
Newcastle. On Feb 28, 2011, he was convicted after a trial at
Woolwich crown Court in London of plotting with US-born extremist
cleric Anwar al-Awlaki to blow up an airplane. He pleaded guilty to
helping produce a terrorist group's video, fundraising and
volunteering for terror abroad, but insisted he never planned an
attack in Britain. On March 18, 2011, Karim was sentenced to 30
years in prison.
2010 Feb 25, In Canada Kim
Yu-Na (19) of South Korea, achieved her country's first Olympic
figure skating title with a resounding victory in the Pacific
2010 Feb 25, Canada's ice
hockey women celebrated a gold medal win by taking to the ice
afterwards drinking beer and smoking cigars.
2010 Feb 25, In Canada police
found the body actor Andrew Koenig (41) in a wooded area in
Vancouver. He had played Boner in the 1980’s TV sitcom “Growing
(SFC, 2/26/10, p.A13)
2010 Feb 25, In China the
People’s Daily reported that 62 workers had been poisoned in a
poorly ventilated factory in Suzhou run Wintek, a Taiwanese
manufacturer that makes products for firms including apple and
(Econ, 3/6/10, p.83)
2010 Feb 25, In China at least
29 people were injured and hundreds of buildings damaged in a
magnitude 5.4 earthquake in southwestern Yunnan province.
2010 Feb 25, In Egypt Ahmed
Mostafa (20), an engineering student, was detained and charged with
publishing false news and "tarnishing the military's image" after
blogging about a student forced to leave the military academy to
make room for a candidate from a wealthier family. A military
tribunal later agreed to suspend proceedings in return for an
2010 Feb 25, India and Pakistan
held their first official talks since the 2008 Mumbai siege, with
both sides saying they wanted to rebuild trust shattered in that
attack but acknowledging that the meeting was just a first step
toward a renewed peace process.
2010 Feb 25, In India a Hindu
newspaper said India's best-known painter M.F. Husain (94), who went
into exile after death threats from Hindu hardliners, has been
granted Qatari citizenship, sparking new soul-searching about his
persecution at home. Husain, known as the "Picasso of India," had
angered hardline Hindus by portraying Hindu deities in the nude or
in a sexually suggestive manner.
2010 Feb 25, In Iraq Saleh
al-Mutlaq, a top Sunni lawmaker who just last week pulled his party
out of the upcoming election, announced that his National Dialogue
Front would contest the crucial March 7 vote.
2010 Feb 25, Libyan leader
Moamer Kadhafi turned up the heat in his country's dispute with
Switzerland, calling for jihad over a recent Swiss ban on the
construction of minarets.
2010 Feb 25, In Mali at least
15 people died in a stampede in a Timbuktu mosque during services
celebrating the birth of the Prophet Muhammad.
2010 Feb 25, In Mexico 4
suspected cartel gunmen were killed outside the city of Matamoros
after they attacked an army patrol on a highway.
2010 Feb 25, Mozambique's
health minister, Leonardo Chavane, said 36 people have died this
year from a cholera outbreak in the northern and central parts of
the southern African country. he said the situation is worrying
because new cases are being reported daily and are complicated by
rumors that health staff are spreading cholera rather than fighting
2010 Feb 25, Pakistan’s
government confirmed the arrest of Afghan Taliban leader Maulavi
Abdul Kabir. The paramilitary Frontier Corps killed 25 militants
near the northwestern district of Darra Adam Khel during a joint
2-day operation with police.
(SFC, 2/26/10, p.A4)(AP, 2/27/10)
2010 Feb 25, In Russia the
Moscow City Court said in a statement that 12 mostly underage
neo-Nazis who called themselves "White Wolves" have been charged
with 11 murders and one assault since April 2007. Nine
ultranationalists were sentenced to up to 23 years in jail for 6
hate-motivated killings and one assault.
(AP, 2/25/10)(SFC, 2/26/10, p.A2)
2010 Feb 25, In Rwanda French
Pres. Nicolas Sarkozy visited with pres. Paul Kagame too cement
improved diplomatic relations following years of acrimony,
recriminations and diplomatic standoffs over events surrounding the
1994 genocide. He said France made serious errors of judgment over
the genocide, and those responsible for the killings should be found
and punished, including any who might be residing in France.
(Reuters, 2/25/10)(AP, 2/25/10)
2010 Feb 25, In Sudan the head
of the most heavily armed Darfur rebel group ordered the release of
50 Sudanese government personnel following the signing of a peace
deal. The move followed the government's release a day earlier of 57
fighters of the rebel Justice and Equality Movement, some 50 of whom
had been condemned to death for their part in an unprecedented
assault on Khartoum in 2008. A Darfur rebel group accused the
Sudanese army of attacking its positions a day earlier, the same day
that the president declared the Darfur war over. Aid workers said
100,000 people had fled the surge of fighting.
(AFP, 2/25/10)(Reuters, 2/25/10)
2010 Feb 25, Syria and Iran
defended their strong ties and dismissed US efforts to break up the
30-year-alliance, saying America should not dictate relationships in
the Middle East.
2010 Feb 25, In Arusha,
Tanzania, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR),
found lieutenant colonel Ephrem Setako (60) guilty of genocide,
crimes against humanity and murder. "The Chamber found that Setako
ordered the killings on 25 April 1994 of 30 to 40 Tutsis at Mukamira
military camp in Ruhengeri prefecture and around 10 other Tutsis
there on 11 May 1994."
2010 Feb 26, An unceasing
winter storm unleashed multiple dangers across the Northeast,
blasting the coast with hurricane-force winds that fanned a New
Hampshire hotel fire, flooding parts of Maine, dropping 2 feet of
snow on parts of New York, and cutting power to more than a million
homes and businesses.
2010 Feb 26, New York Gov.
David Paterson abandoned his campaign for a full term as state
(SFC, 2/27/10, p.A5)
2010 Feb 26, In Washington
state Jed Waits (30) shot and killed Jennifer Paulson (30), a
special education teacher as she walked into her Tacoma elementary
school classroom. Waits, who was apparently infatuated with Paulson,
was killed in a shootout with a deputy.
(SFC, 2/27/10, p.A5)
2010 Feb 26, In Afghanistan
insurgents struck in the heart of the Kabul with suicide attackers
and a car bomb, targeting hotels used by foreigners and killing at
least 17 people and wounding dozens. Pres. Karzai said were aimed at
Indians working in Kabul. The dead included 6 Indians, an Italian
diplomat, a French filmmaker and 3 police officers.
(AP, 2/26/10)(SFC, 2/27/10, p.A3)
2010 Feb 26, Australia warned
Japan that "diplomacy comes to an end this year" on whaling, after
presenting a bold plan to phase out the controversial hunts in the
2010 Feb 26, In Belize a
single-engine aircraft crashed. Michael and Jill Casey of Albany,
NY, and their two young children died in the accident on the island
of San Pedro along with former senator and bottling magnate Sir
Barry Bowen as the group headed to a fundraising event hosted by
Bowen. The Caseys taught at a school in northwestern Belize owned by
2010 Feb 26, London-listed
Petra Diamonds sold a 507-carat diamond for $35.3 million, breaking
a record as the highest price ever paid for a rough diamond.
2010 Feb 26, Canada won the
Olympic men's short track 5,000 meters relay with Charles Hamelin
picking up his second gold of the day.
2010 Feb 26, In Colombia a
Constitutional Court ruling blocked a referendum on whether Alvaro
Uribe should be allowed to seek a third consecutive term. The high
court ruled, in a 7-2 decision that is not subject to appeal, that a
law passed by Congress to set up the referendum was
2010 Feb 26, The Danish daily
Politiken newspaper apologized for offending Muslims by reprinting a
cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad with a bomb-shaped turban,
rekindling heated debate about the limits of freedom of speech.
2010 Feb 26, In Egypt a Costa
Europa luxury cruise liner carrying nearly 1,500 passengers slammed
into the pier as it docked Friday at the Red Sea resort of Sharm
el-Sheik in fierce winds, leaving three crew members dead. Bad
weather wreaked havoc across Egypt, pelting the capital with a freak
(AP, 2/26/10)(AFP, 2/26/10)
2010 Feb 26, In France a strike
by air traffic controllers disrupted flight for a 4th day and some
Air France pilots walked off the job to protest cost cutting
(SFC, 2/27/10, p.A2)
2010 Feb 26, German lawmakers
voted 429-111 with 46 abstentions to increase the maximum number of
German troops allowed to serve in Afghanistan to 5,350 from 4,500.
2010 Feb 26, The Jundallah
insurgency, which says it's fighting for equal rights for the Sunni
minority in southeast Iran, named al-Hajj Mohammed Dhahir Baluch as
its new leader. The statement described the capture of former leader
Abdulmalik Rigi's by Iranian forces on Feb 23, but said all the
tribes of Baluchistan had pledged allegiance to the new leader.
2010 Feb 26, Iraq reinstated
20,000 former army officers dismissed after the 2003 US-led invasion
for serving under the former dictator, a landmark gesture at
reconciliation ahead of the March 7 elections.
2010 Feb 26, In Italy telecoms
billionaire Silvio Scaglia spent the night in police custody after
flying in by private jet from the Caribbean to face charges in a
money-laundering probe. Scaglia, the founder of Italy's second
biggest telecoms company, Fastweb, was among 56 people for whom
arrest warrants were issued in a case where prosecutors allege more
than 2 billion euros (1.8 billion pound) was laundered via fake
international phone service purchases and sales from 2003-2006.
2010 Feb 26, In Liberia
religious clashes in the northern county of Lofa killed four people.
The violence erupted in the town of Vionjama after the body of a
child "with body parts extracted" was found near a mosque. Witnesses
said rioters had burned down the Catholic, Baptist and Episcopal
churches in the area.
2010 Feb 26, Mozambique state
media said 2 young men accused of having sex with a goat in central
Mozambique are facing criminal charges, and the goat's owner is
demanding they make traditional wedding arrangements.
2010 Feb 26, Health officials
in Puerto Rico declared an epidemic of dengue fever. Health
Secretary Lorenzo Gonzalez says 210 cases have been confirmed for
January, more than triple the number in the same month of 2007.
2010 Feb 26, Sierra Leone and
five other west African countries (Mauritania, Senegal,
Guinea-Bissau, Gambia and Guinea) signed onto an action plan in
Freetown for sustainable mangrove management.
2010 Feb 26, Somali pirates
hijacked the Sakoba, a Kenyan-flagged fishing vessel. It was
reported freed on July 20, 2010.
2010 Feb 26, In Sudan rebels
and UN officials said heavy fighting between government forces and a
rebel group in central Darfur led a French-aid group to suspend its
activities. A government offensive on the rebel Sudan Liberation
Army's (SLA) stronghold in Jebel Marrah began two weeks ago, but
fighting intensified in the last few days, with confirmed reports of
aerial bombardments in Deribat, a town of 50,000, and two other
2010 Feb 26, Thailand's highest
court ruled to seize 46 billion baht ($1.4 billion) from ousted PM
Thaksin Shinawatra's $2.29 billion in frozen assets, saying he had
abused his political power for personal gain.
2010 Feb 26, Turkey's PM
Erdogan vowed to put everyone who conspired against the country's
democracy on trial, as the number of military officers charged and
jailed for allegedly plotting a 2003 coup against his Islamic-based
government rose to 31.
2010 Feb 26, In Zimbabwe a
cabinet minister said Zimbabwe stands by a new law requiring major
foreign firms to sell 51 percent stakes to locals, but will allow
companies to choose their own partners. The law takes effect on
March 1, giving 45 days for companies valued at more than 500,000 US
dollars to sell 51 percent stakes to locals. The Indigenization and
Empowerment Bill was passed by parliament in 2007 and signed by
President Robert Mugabe in 2008, before the creation of a unity
government with long-time rival, PM Morgan Tsvangirai.
2010 Feb 27, President Barack
Obama signed a one-year extension of several provisions in the
nation's main counterterrorism law, the Patriot Act.
2010 Feb 27, In NYC a new
visitor center opened near the rediscovered cemetery from the 17th
and 18th centuries to celebrate the ethnic Africans who had toiled,
many unpaid, to help make New York the nation's commercial capital.
2010 Feb 27, Militant
anti-whalers declared an end to this season's pursuit of Japanese
harpoon ships in Antarctic waters, saying it was their most
successful and intensely fought campaign so far.
2010 Feb 27, In Australia
thousands of people in lavish costumes and various states of undress
danced and partied their way through Sydney's streets, in the annual
Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade.
2010 Feb 27, Canada bagged
another three gold medals on the penultimate day of the Winter
Olympics to ensure they will finish top of the medal standings,
triggering wild celebrations across the country.
2010 Feb 27, A magnitude 8.8
earthquake struck Chile, toppling homes, collapsing bridges and
plunging trucks into the fractured earth. Interior Minister Edmundo
Perez Yoma said it was the most powerful quake to hit the country in
a half-century. Authorities the next day put the death toll from the
earthquake at over 700. The death toll was later revised to 486 with
79 missing. Some 1.5 million Chileans were affected and 150,000
people were left homeless. A tsunami caused by the quake swept
across the Pacific and killed several people on a Chilean island. It
devastated coastal communities near the epicenter, but caused little
damage in other countries. Damages were later estimated at $30
billion. By the end of March Chilean officials confirmed 432 people
dead and 98 still missing in the earthquake and tsunami.
(AP, 2/27/10)(AP, 2/28/10)(SFC, 3/17/10,
p.A2)(AP, 3/19/10)(Econ, 3/20/10, p.43)(AP, 4/7/10)
2010 Feb 27, Egypt's parliament
voted by an overwhelming majority to regulate organ transplants in a
bid to curb illegal trafficking and tourism over the issue.
2010 Feb 27, Haitian officials
said eight people were killed and two missing after heavy rain
pounded the southwest and caused widespread flooding.
2010 Feb 27, Mexican
authorities said they have arrested a third suspect in the Jan 30
massacre of 15 people in the border city of Ciudad Juarez. Chihuahua
state prosecutors said he is a former police officer believed to
have worked as a hit man for the Juarez cartel.
2010 Feb 27, Mozambique's
former transport minister was sentenced to 20 years in prison for
stealing state funds, the highest-level corruption conviction ever
in the southern African country. Antonio Munguambe, transport and
communications minister from 2005 to 2008, was found guilty of
acting as an accomplice in the embezzlement of 1.7 million dollars
(1.25 million euros) from national airport company Airports of
2010 Feb 27, In northwest
Pakistan a suicide car bomber attacked a police station in Karak,
killing four people and wounding about two dozen. At least one
person died and several others were wounded when gunmen opened fire
on a procession in the northwestern town of Dera Ismail Khan.
2010 Feb 27, In the southern
Philippines Al-Qaeda-linked Muslim militants killed 11 people, hours
after two hostages they were holding walked free.
2010 Feb 27, In Thailand 4
banks were targeted with small explosives, but no one was hurt.
(SFC, 3/1/10, p.A2)
2010 Feb 28, The US White House
called for a "simple up-or-down" vote on health care legislation as
Speaker Nancy Pelosi appealed to House Democrats to get behind
President Barack Obama's chief domestic priority even it if
threatens their political careers.
2010 Feb 28, In Afghanistan a
roadside bomb planted by the Taliban killed 11 civilians in the
southern province of Helmand. A security worker was killed in main
Qalat town of Zabul province when his vehicle was hit by a similar
bomb. Elsewhere in Zabul five insurgents were killed during clashes
between Afghan security forces and militants.
2010 Feb 28, In Brazil workers
cleared some 80 tons of dead fish from Ipanema Beach in Rio de
Janeiro. Increased levels of harmful algae were suspected as the
cause of the fie-off.
(SFC, 3/1/10, p.A2)
2010 Feb 28, Canada beat the
USA in an extraordinary men's ice hockey final to capture a record
14th gold medal and end the Vancouver Winter Olympics on top of the
world. The victory at a single Winter Games surpassed the previous
mark of 13 jointly held by the Soviet Union (Innsbruck, 1976) and
Norway (Salt Lake City, 2002). The USA also set a record for the
most overall medals at a single Winter Olympics with 37, one more
than Germany in 2002.
2010 Feb 28, In the Central
African Republic Uganda's rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA)
kidnapped at least 23 people from the southeastern village of
Yalinga after pillaging the police station, the hospital and a
2010 Feb 28, In China a bus
veered off a sleet-covered road and plunged into a reservoir
in Zhengzhou city in central Henan province killing 19 people and
injuring 7 others.
2010 Feb 28, A UN-backed
military operation against Rwandan Hutu rebels in eastern Democratic
Republic of Congo was launched. The operation will involve 18
battalions from the Congolese FARDC army in a series of targeted
attacks throughout north and south Kivu provinces in Congo's
2010 Feb 28, Dubai police said
forensic tests show a Hamas operative, who was killed on Jan 19 in
his hotel room by an alleged Israeli hit squad, was drugged with a
fast-acting muscle relaxant and then suffocated with a pillow.
2010 Feb 28, The Egyptian
Supreme Council of Antiquities announced that archaeologists have
unearthed the massive head of one Egypt's most famous pharaohs who
ruled nearly 3,400 years ago. Amenhotep III, the grandfather of
Tutankhamun, ruled from 1387-1348 B.C. at the height of Egypt's New
Kingdom and presided over a vast empire stretching from Nubia in the
south to Syria in the north.
2010 Feb 28, A violent late
winter storm named Xynthia battered France, Spain, Portugal and
Germany with fierce rain and hurricane-strength winds. The storm
smashed sea walls and killed at least 62 people across western
(AP, 2/28/10)(AP, 3/1/10)(SFC, 3/2/10, p.A2)
2010 Feb 28, The leader of the
armed Basque group ETA was arrested in France, in another setback
for the separatists, who have seen five of their commanders taken
into custody in the last two years. Eta chief Ibon Gogeascoechea and
two other suspected separatists, Jose Ayestaran and Beinat
Aginagalde, were arrested in a joint French-Spanish police operation
in the village of Cahan, France.
(AP, 2/28/10)(Econ, 3/6/10, p.69)
2010 Feb 28, Guatemalan Pres.
Alvaro Colom announced that he has fired Interior Minister Raul
Velasquez for alleged corruption and replaced him with Carlos
Menocal, a former journalist. Local media said that Velasquez
authorized a $6.2 million contract with a private company to buy
fuel for police but that the company embezzled the money.
2010 Feb 28, In Israel 16
people including two Israeli policemen were wounded in clashes at
Jerusalem's flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound, after police entered
to arrest Palestinians who had hurled rocks at visitors they
believed were Jewish extremists.
2010 Feb 28, In Mexico Red
Cross volunteer Maria Rogers (20) was killed by a stray bullet when
gunmen went into a Red Cross hospital in Culiacan, Sinaloa state,
trying to finish off a man who had been shot minutes earlier. The
2010 Feb 28, In Myanmar Sai
Thein Win, a former major in the army, defected and brought papers
confirming Myanmar’s intent, if not yet capacity, to enrich uranium
and eventually build a bomb.
(Econ, 6/12/10, p.48)(http://tinyurl.com/35vxtvh)
2010 Feb 28, In Saudi Arabia
Indian PM Manmohan Singh pitched for investment in his economy and
closer petroleum sector cooperation with Saudi Arabia, the second
day of a visit to the Middle East oil giant.
2010 Feb 28, In Switzerland
operators restarted the Large Hadron Collider following a winter
shutdown for improvements.
(SFC, 3/1/10, p.A2)
2010 Feb 28, Tajikistan held
parliamentary elections. The Central Elections Commission said that
85% of the country's 3.5 million eligible voters had cast
ballots. The main government-backed party was set to coast to the
easiest of victories. President Emomali Rakhmon's two-decade grip on
power remained as strong as ever. An initial tally showed the
government-backed party with 71.7% and the main opposition Islamic
Revival Party with just 7.7%. Int’l. monitors from the OSCE said
that while the vote was peaceful, it was marred by ballot-box
stuffing and proxy voting.
(AP, 2/28/10)(AP, 3/1/10)
2010 Feb 28, Thousands of
Yemenis took to the streets of three provinces for a second
successive day to demand the independence of the country's south.
2010 Feb, In Afghanistan Mathew
Golsteyn, an American Green Beret, reportedly captured, shot and
buried a suspected IED bomb maker in the Marjah area of Helmand
province. He later went back out with two others to cremate the body
and dispose of the remains. In 2011 Golsteyn reported his actions to
the CIA a few months before he was awarded a Silver Star for other
actions. In 2014 the Silver Star was revoked and in 2015 he faced
possible dismissal for violation Geneva Conventions.
2010 Feb, In northeast Congo up
to 100 people were killed this month when the rebel Lord's
Resistance Army attacked a village. News of the massacre did not
become public until May 1 when UN humanitarian chief John Holmes
said he learned of the killings when he visited Niangara, the
nearest town which he reached by helicopter.
(AP, 5/2/10)(Reuters, 5/2/10)
2010 Feb, In Dagestan the
Makhachkala police chief died when his car was strafed with
automatic weapons. Two doctors were charged in the killing. On Nov
28, 2012, Nov. 28, Dr. Marat Gunashev had just put a patient under
anesthesia when law enforcement agents appeared in the operating
room and took him away, refusing to allow him to finish the
operation. Dr. Shamil Gasanov was preparing to operate in another
part of the hospital when a group of men came in and asked to talk
to him outside. Gasanov’s decapitated body was later returned to his
2010 Feb, In East Timor
construction workers uncovered human bones while digging the
foundation of a five-star hotel. Experts later said the 9
blindfolded and buried bodies were likely East Timorese freedom
fighters executed and put in a mass grave early in the Indonesian
2010 Feb, Hungarian lawmakers
made it a crime punishable by up to three years in prison to
publicly deny, call into question or minimize the Holocaust. In
June, the law was amended to refer instead to crimes against
humanity committed by the Nazi and communist regimes.
2010 Feb, In India four men
ambushed Dimple Patel (27) as she returned to her home in Ahmedabad
from college. She spent 10 months in a coma following the vicious
attack that left her severely disabled. In 2014 she identified her
alleged assailants in court. Her brother Dharmendra Patel said his
wife's relatives assaulted his sister to get back at him after a row
2010 Feb, Latvia’s unemployment
reached 22.8%, the highest in the EU.
(Econ, 2/27/10, p.59)
2010 Feb, In Uzbekistan the
health ministry ordered all medical facilities to “strengthen
control over the medical examination of women of childbearing age."
Rights groups later alleged that hundreds of Uzbek women have been
surgically sterilized without their knowledge or consent
(SSFC, 7/18/10, p.A6)
2010 Mar 1, The US Department
of Transportation furloughed nearly 2,000 employees without pay as
the government began to feel the impact of Republican Sen. Jim
Bunning's one-man blockage of legislation that would keep a host of
federal programs operating. Bunning's home state of Kentucky has no
projects affected by his action. Kentucky Republican Jim Bunning
relented March 2, freeing the Senate to approve stopgap legislation
extending for another month a host of programs, including highway
funding, health insurance subsidies for the unemployed and benefits
for the long-term jobless.
2010 Mar 1, General Motors Co.
said it is recalling 1.3 million Chevrolet and Pontiac compact cars
sold in the US, Canada and Mexico to fix power steering motors that
2010 Mar 1, In Detroit, Mi.,
Monica Botello (26) and her boyfriend Purcell Carson (26) were shot
to death in a slaying that was reported to a 911 dispatcher by
Botello’s daughter (9). On March 20 US marshals arrested Derrick
Smith (42) in Gardena, Ca., for the murders.
(SSFC, 3/21/10, p.A9)
2010 Mar 1, Afghanistan
announced a ban on news coverage of Taliban strikes, saying such
coverage only emboldened the Islamist militants. The move was
denounced by Afghan journalism and rights groups. Two blasts hours
apart killed at least six people in Kandahar. Four NATO service
members died in separate attacks, including a suicide car bomb that
targeted an international military convey as it crossed a bridge in
the Taliban-dominated south.
(AP, 3/1/10)(AFP, 3/1/10)
2010 Mar 1, In Australia about
5,200 naked people embraced each other on the steps of Sydney's
iconic Opera House for a photo shoot by Spencer Tunick.
2010 Mar 1, Daniel Houghton
(25), a former MI6 spy, was arrested after British intelligence
posed as the potential buyer of top secret files on intelligence
gathering techniques. Prosecutor Piers Arnold later said Houghton,
who is a dual Dutch and British national, is accused of copying top
secret files from the domestic agency MI5 to CD and DVDs while
working for the MI6 overseas intelligence service between September
2007 and May 2009. On Sep 3, 2010, Houghton was sentenced to one
year in prison. He was expected to walk free as he has already spent
184 days in custody.
(AP, 3/3/10)(AFP, 9/3/10)
2010 Mar 1, British insurer
Prudential PLC said it will buy the Asian unit of bailed out
American International Group Inc. in a deal worth $35.5 billion that
will allow AIG to pay back some of the money it owes US taxpayers.
2010 Mar 1, In China 11
newspapers took a rare stand against a Mao Zedong-era system blamed
for the wide gap between the country's rich and poor. Within hours
their jointly signed editorial had largely disappeared online. 11
newspapers published a joint editorial calling on the National
People’s Congress (NPC) to scrap the hukou system, which was
originally intended to stop rural migrants flowing into the cities.
(AP, 3/2/10)(Econ, 5/8/10, p.26)
2010 Mar 1, In China Toyota
President Akio Toyoda apologized in Beijing to Chinese customers for
the company's quality problems and emphasized the importance of the
fast-growing market to his company.
2010 Mar 1, Chinese rescuers
worked to save 31 coal miners trapped underground by a flood at the
Luotoushan, or Camel Head Mountain, coal mine in Wuhai city in
northern Inner Mongolia. One miner was reported killed. On May 2
state news agency Xinhua reported that emergency workers have
recovered 28 bodies from the mine in China's Inner Mongolia region
that flooded in early-March. 3 people were still missing.
(AP, 3/1/10)(AP, 3/2/10)(AFP, 5/2/10)
2010 Mar 1, The European Union
urged Greece to take extra austerity measures within days to tackle
a debt crisis that has shaken the euro zone and promised to help
Athens overcome the problem.
2010 Mar 1, France and Russia
pursued their burgeoning courtship with a formal state visit by
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to Paris, which is angling to sell
Moscow a massive warship and secure stakes in pipelines pumping
Russian gas to western Europe.
2010 Mar 1, Georgia and Russia
reopened their only direct border crossing, more than three years
after it was closed amid rising tension that erupted into war in
2010 Mar 1, In southern India
nearly 3000 Muslims protested a newspaper article they say was
critical of Islam, clashing with police and leaving at least two
people dead and dozens injured in Shimoga, Karnataka state.
2010 Mar 1, In Iran editor
Behrouz Behzadi of the Etemaad daily said his newspaper was banned
by the Press Supervisory Board. The order cited article six of the
press law without elaborating. That article allows newspapers to be
closed for offenses from security violations to insulting articles.
A weekly called Irandokht was also closed down. One of its editors
was arrested last month. Iranian media said six journalists and
opposition activists held for suspected involvement in the country's
postelection turmoil have been released on bail. Jafar Panahi (49),
an internationally acclaimed filmmaker, was taken into custody along
with another person who was in his company. Panahi was released on
bail on May 25. In December Panahi was sentenced to 6 years in
prison and barred from making films or participating in political
activities for two decades.
(AP, 3/1/10)(AP, 3/2/10)(AP, 5/25/10)(SFC,
2010 Mar 1, Niger coup chief
Maj. Salou Djibou signed a decree appointing 20 ministers. Five of
the posts went to women and five to officers.
2010 Mar 1, In Nigeria a
spokesman said police detained 17 officers over the weekend for
questioning after the Al-Jazeera news channel aired a video on Feb 9
showing uniformed men executing people in Boko Haram town where
religious rioting left 700 people dead last year. Gunmen attacked a
van carrying 21 people working for the network's SuperSport channels
after the crew filmed a soccer match in the Niger Delta. One of
three kidnapped sports journalists escaped his captors.
(AP, 3/1/10)(AP, 3/4/10)
2010 Mar 1, Pakistani militants
attacked a tanker carrying fuel to NATO and US forces in
Afghanistan. One insurgent was killed and the tanker was destroyed.
2010 Mar 1, A World Food
Program spokesman militants in Somalia are preventing food from
reaching more than 366,000 people who need it, following a statement
by Islamists that aid agencies were helping "apostates" in the
war-ravaged Horn of Africa nation.
2010 Mar 1, Somali pirates
hijacked a Saudi tanker in the Gulf of Aden. The Al Nisr Al Saudi
usually carried fuel oil but was empty when it was taken with 14
crew onboard. NATO said one of its destroyers sank a pirate
mothership off the Somali coast. Pirate crew members were
transferred to a smaller boat and allowed to return to the mainland.
(AP, 3/3/10)(SFC, 3/2/10, p.A2)(SFC, 3/4/10,
2010 Mar 1, Ukraine’s Pres.
Viktor Yanukovych visited Brussels saying "Our priorities will
include integration into the European Union, bringing up
constructive relations with the Russian Federation, and developing
friendly relations with strategic partners such as the United
2010 Mar 1, A Yemen government
raid left Ali Saleh al-Hadi, a southern activist, his wife and three
children dead during an ongoing crackdown on southern separatists.
2010 Mar 1, A UN source said
hundreds of civilians were feared to have died last week in a surge
of fighting between the Sudanese army and rebels in the turbulent
2010 Mar 1, A Russian human
rights group said the government of Uzbekistan has falsely accused
about 200 people of killing officials and plotting a coup in the
authoritarian Central Asian nation.
2010 Mar 1, In Uruguay Jose
Mujica (74) took the presidential oath of office.
(SFC, 3/2/10, p.A2)
2010 Mar 1, In Zimbabwe a new
law took effect, giving companies valued at more than 500,000 US
dollars 45 days to inform the government of the racial make-up of
their shareholders. The main labor body said the new law,
requiring locals to own 51 percent of major foreign firms, could
hurt the nation's economic recovery.
2010 Mar 2, The Washington DC
council voted to censure ex-mayor Marion Barry over a report
accusing him of helping award a $15,000 city contract to a woman
with whom he had a sexual relationship.
(SFC, 3/3/10, p.A6)
2010 Mar 2, In California Jerry
Brown, former 2-term Democrat state governor (1975-1983), announced
that he would run for a 3rd term as governor.
(SFC, 3/2/10, p.A1)
2010 Mar 2, In Darien, Ill.,
the bodies of 3 family members were found shot to death. Prosecutors
later said Johnny Borizov (28) had persuaded Jacob Nodarse (23) to
kill the mother of his son, Angela Kramer, her parents and a brother
over a custody dispute. Nodarse was arrested the next day in
(SFC, 3/8/10, p.A8)(http://tinyurl.com/yaejaep)
2010 Mar 2, In southeast New
Mexico two employees at a Navajo oil refinery were killed and two
others critically injured after a storage tank exploded into flames.
2010 Mar 2, In Rhode Island the
Central Falls Teachers’ Union pledged to support reforms. The school
board had voted last week to fire 93 teachers and staff from the
high school after the end of the school year. On May 16 the school
district announced that it had reached an agreement with the union
to return all staffers.
(SFC, 3/4/10, p.A8)(SFC, 5/17/10, p.A4)
2010 Mar 2, The Afghan
government denied that it had banned live media coverage of
insurgent attacks, saying it was developing guidelines, not
restrictions, to prevent live footage from aiding fighters at the
2010 Mar 2, In Australia Seth
Enslow, an American motorcycle stuntman twice, broke the world
record for the longest distance jumped on a Harley-Davidson
motorcycle, sailing through the air near Australia's Sydney Harbor
to shatter the previous 10-year-old record. Bubba Blackwell set the
previous record with a 157 foot (47.85 meters) jump in Las Vegas in
2010 Mar 2, In London, England,
Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, a former Pakistani lawmaker and the leader
of a global Muslim movement, issued a fatwa, or religious edict,
that he calls an absolute condemnation of terrorism. The 600-page
fatwa bans suicide bombing "without any excuses, any pretexts, or
exceptions." The religious scholar is the founder of
Minhaj-ul-Quran, a worldwide movement that promotes a nonpolitical,
2010 Mar 2, The BBC volunteered
to become smaller.
(Econ, 3/6/10, p.74)
2010 Mar 2, Egyptian newspapers
reported that former UN atomic chief Mohamed ElBaradei has called
for constitutional changes in his first statement since forming an
2010 Mar 2, French authorities
arrested Agathe Habyarimana, the widow of the former Rwandan
president killed in a plane crash, on a Rwandan warrant issued on
genocide-related charges. She was soon freed on bail. The crash is
widely considered the event that sparked the east African country's
1994 genocide. In 2004 France rejected her request for political
asylum, alleging she was at the heart of the regime responsible for
(AP, 3/2/10)(Econ, 3/6/10, p.65)
2010 Mar 2, Germany’s Federal
Constitutional Court overturned a law that let anti-terror
authorities retain data on telephone calls and e-mails, saying it
marked a “grave intrusion" into personal privacy rights.
(SFC, 3/3/10, p.A2)
2010 Mar 2, Guatemalan
authorities arrested Nelly Bonilla, the country’s anti-drug czar,
Police Chief Baltazar Gomez, and police officer Fernando Carrillo,
in a case involving stolen cocaine and slain police.
2010 Mar 2, In Ingushetia
Russian forces killed Alexander Tikhomirov, also known as Said
Buryatsky, in a gun battle near Nazran.
2010 Mar 2, In Iran the kaleme
opposition Web site reported that an appeals court has upheld the
death sentence for Mohammad Amin Valian (20), a student who took
part in an anti-government rally in December that left eight people
dead. Valian was found guilty of Moharebeh, a religious offense that
translates as defiance of God, a crime punishable by death under
2010 Mar 2, Mexico's interior
department said prosecutors have detained 10 Mexican immigration
agents and three airline workers at Cancun's international airport
on suspicion of trafficking Chinese migrants. Oscar Arriola, reputed
to have led a cartel that smuggled two tons of cocaine a month into
the US before authorities dismantled the ring around 2004, was
handed over to US officials and extradited to Colorado.
(AP, 3/2/10)(Reuters, 3/3/10)
2010 Mar 2, The Moroccan state
security service announced that police have dismantled a terrorist
network “of six people imbued with Takfirist ideology," that was
active in several towns in the northeast. Takfiris, a tiny minority
of Muslims in Morocco, believe that society and its leaders have
turned away from the narrow path of what they see as true Islam.
2010 Mar 2, In Nigeria planted
explosives in the Niger Delta damaged the Kokori oil flow station
operated by Royal Dutch Shell PLC, marking the latest attack in a
region supposedly brought under control by a government amnesty
2010 Mar 2, Ian Paisley (83),
the hard-line Northern Ireland evangelist who led Protestants into
power-sharing with Catholics, announced he will retire from the
British Parliament after a 40-year career.
2010 Mar 2, It was reported
that Spanish investigators, working with private computer-security
firms, have arrested the three alleged ringleaders of the so-called
Mariposa botnet, which appeared in December 2008 and grew into one
of the biggest weapons of cybercrime. The Mariposa botnet infected
almost 13 million computers across 190 countries. More arrests were
expected soon in other countries.
(AP, 3/2/10)(SSFC, 3/14/10, p.D1)
2010 Mar 2, South Sudan’s 17
rival political parties signed an election code of conduct,
committing themselves to ensure upcoming polls in April are free and
2010 Mar 2, Tajikistan's main
opposition party said it plans to sue the Central Asian nation's
elections board amid claims it abetted fraud in this weekend's
2010 Mar 2, In Ukraine PM Yulia
Tymoshenko's pro-Western "Orange" coalition dissolved, losing its
majority in parliament and paving the way for the new president to
consolidate his power.
2010 Mar 2, In Uganda overnight
landslides in the mountainous region of Bududa buried three villages
and killed at least 92 people with 250 still missing.
(AP, 3/2/10)(AP, 3/3/10)
2010 Mar 2, In Uzbekistan an
independent think-tank and a rights group claimed that authorities
have instructed health workers to surgically sterilize women as part
of a government campaign to reduce the birth rate.
2010 Mar 2, In southern Yemen a
three-story building collapsed when explosives stored in its
basement went off, killing at least eight people. Officials said the
basement was used by an arms dealer to store dynamite and other
2010 Mar 3, NYC Rep. Charles
Rangel (b.1930), announced he will temporarily step down as chairman
of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, saying he didn't
want his ethics controversy to jeopardize election prospects for
2010 Mar 3, Wyoming Gov. Dave
Freudenthal signed legislation adopting an official Wyoming state
code. Its “cowboy ethics" admonishments to residents included such
phrases as: “ to live courageously, take pride in work, and to keep
(SFC, 3/4/10, p.A8)
2010 Mar 3, Arab nations gave
the green light for Palestinians to enter indirect negotiations with
Israel for a preliminary four-month period, a decision likely to
break the months-long deadlock over resuming Mideast peace talks.
2010 Mar 3, A British judge
ordered former Bosnian Vice President Ejup Ganic held in custody
despite a request to release him while he challenges a Serbian
demand that he be extradited for alleged war crimes. Ganic was
arrested March 1 at Heathrow Airport after Serbia issued an arrest
warrant accusing him of war crimes in connection with the 1992
deaths of Serbian troops in Bosnia.
2010 Mar 3, Michael Foot
(b.1913), British left-wing politician, died. He led the Labour
party long before its media-friendly transformation under Tony
Blair. He became Labour leader from 1980 to 1983, advocating
left-wing policies like nuclear disarmament which led one colleague
to call his 1983 election manifesto "the longest suicide note in
2010 Mar 3, In Germany
Christoph Schmidt-Rose, mayor of Niederzimmern, told local radio
station MDR that people can buy a hole in the town for 50 euros (68
dollars). In return the authorities will repair it.
2010 Mar 3, Greece announced
painful new austerity measures worth euro4.8 billion ($6.5 billion)
to deal with a financial crisis that has hammered the euro and
unsettled financial markets.
2010 Mar 3, In Iraq a string of
three deadly suicide bombings killed 30 people in the former
insurgent stronghold of Baqouba, including a blast from a suicide
bomber who rode in an ambulance with the wounded before blowing
himself up at a hospital.
2010 Mar 3, Italian police
arrested seven people on suspicion of trafficking arms to Iran, two
Iranians they believe are secret agents and five Italians. Two more
Iranians were being sought. On April 29 Ali Damirchi-Lou and state
television reporter Hamid Masoumi-Nejad were released from jail and
placed under house arrest.
(AP, 3/3/10)(AFP, 4/30/10)
2010 Mar 3, In Laos senior
officials from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam met in Luang
Prabang to discuss the Mekong River. The Mekong River Commission in
a draft report said severe drought has dropped the river to its
lowest level in nearly 20 years, halting some cargo traffic and boat
tours on the waterway, the lifeblood for 65 million people in six
2010 Mar 3, A Mexican woman
charged that Rev. Marcial Maciel (1920-2008), the deceased,
scandal-tainted founder of the conservative order Legionaries of
Christ (1941), led a double life and fathered two children with her.
2010 Mar 3, Pakistan's
paramilitary forces said troops had killed 38 militants during a
week-long operation against the Taliban under the codename "Spring
Cleaning". In central Pakistan a local police chief and four
officers were arrested after a video allegedly showed one officer
publicly beating suspects with a fat leather strap as the other
officers held down the victims in the small town of Bhuwana in
(AFP, 3/3/10)(AP, 3/3/10)
2010 Mar 3, A Philippine
official said a wildlife officer is suspected of stealing more than
1,500 pounds (700 kilograms) of smuggled elephant tusks seized last
year, an embarrassing setback for the country's anti-poaching
efforts. The ivory worth $65,000 was part of a 8,800-pound
(4,000-kilogram) shipment of tusks that was impounded at Manila
airport in July and turned over for disposal to the Protected Areas
and Wildlife Bureau.
2010 Mar 3, Somali pirates
seized the Sakoba, a Kenyan-flagged fishing vessel.
2010 Mar 3, An American
diplomat based in South Korea fled to the Philippines after facing
charges that he swindled a local woman out of nearly $200,000 in the
southern city of Busan.
2010 Mar 3, Freak waves off the
coast of Spain smashed into the Louis Majesty, a Mediterranean
cruise ship, flooding cabins, breaking windows in a restaurant and
terrifying many travelers in an ordeal that claimed two lives.
2010 Mar 3, In western Sudan 11
people died in fighting between the Misseriya and Nuwayba tribes in
the Darfur region.
2010 Mar 3, The Ukrainian
parliament ousted the government of PM Yulia Tymoshenko in a
no-confidence vote, dealing a final blow to the leadership of the
pro-Western Orange Revolution and leaving her to lead the opposition
in parliament. The no-confidence resolution passed with 243 votes in
the 450-seat chamber.
2010 Mar 3, Zimbabwe's the
industry minister said the cabinet will review new local ownership
rules that have sparked concern among business leaders, saying the
law had been published "prematurely."
2010 Mar 4, A US congressional
panel voted to label as "genocide" the World War One-era massacre of
Armenians by Ottoman Turkish forces, prompting Turkey to recall its
ambassador from Washington.
2010 Mar 4, In California
thousands of protesters lashed out against budget cuts to the
state’s educational system in the “Day of Action to Defend Public
(SFC, 3/5/10, p.A1)
2010 Mar 4, In Virginia John
Patrick Bedell (36) of Hollister, Calif., was killed in a shootout
with Pentagon police. He died from head wounds received when the two
injured officers and another officer returned fire. Bedell had
driven cross-country and arrived at the Pentagon’s subway entrance
armed with two semiautomatic weapons. Bedell apparently left behind
Internet postings resentful of the government and airing suspicions
about the 9/11 attacks.
2010 Mar 4, In Australia
Gurshan Singh (3), who was visiting from Punjab in northern India,
disappeared from a suburban house in Melbourne. His body was found
about six hours later some 30 km (20 miles) away, not far from the
city's airport. On march 7 police alleged that Gursewak Dhillon
(23), a part-time taxi driver who had been sharing a house with the
boy and his family, was responsible for the boy’s death.
(AFP, 3/5/10)(AFP, 3/7/10)
2010 Mar 4, Bangladesh police
said Mahbub Sarwar (26), a Dhaka-based Facebook stocks tipster with
more than 10,000 followers, has been arrested on charges of
illegally manipulating Bangladesh's overheated stock exchange.
2010 Mar 4, Brazil’s National
Health Surveillance Agency, Anvisa, ordered all 1,987 passengers and
765 crew to remain aboard the "Vision of the Seas" anchored at
Buzios, while teams of doctors treat the 195 passengers suffering
vomiting and diarrhea and determine the cause of their illness.
2010 Mar 4, A collection of 300
films capturing the final days of the British Empire in India and
other parts of south Asia was released by the University of
Cambridge. The free archive footage is available at
www.s-asian.cam.ac.uk/films.html. The silent films, taken between
1911 and 1956, celebrate unique moments in history, from life after
the Quetta earthquake of 1935 to the partition of India and Pakistan
2010 Mar 4, Chile’s government
said it had identified 279 dead, dropping the confirmed official
death toll from 802. The Feb 27 magnitude-8.8 quake, one of the
strongest on record, and the tsunami that followed ravaged a 700-km
(435-mile) stretch of Chile's Pacific coast.
2010 Mar 4, US Secretary of
State Hillary Rodham Clinton, on the sidelines of a meeting of
regional officials in Costa Rica, said the Obama administration will
resume aid to Honduras that was suspended after a coup last year and
urged Latin American nations to recognize the new Honduran
2010 Mar 4, A German court
jailed four Islamic militants who dreamed of "mounting a second
September 11" for a thwarted plot to attack US soldiers and
civilians in Germany. The two German converts to Islam, Fritz
Gelowicz and Daniel Schneider, each received 12-year jail terms.
Adem Yilmaz, a Turkish citizen, got 11 years while Atilla Selek, a
German of Turkish origin, was given five years in prison for what
the court called a supporting role in the plot.
2010 Mar 4, Greece launched a
critical 10-year bond issue, a key test of its ability to raise
funds to pay off expiring debts, and dig out of a financial crisis
that has shaken the EU.
2010 Mar 4, In India a stampede
among thousands of poor villagers scrambling for free food and
clothes at a commemorative event killed 63 women and children at a
Hindu temple in Kunda, Uttar Pradesh state.
(AP, 3/4/10)(AP, 3/5/10)
2010 Mar 4, In Iraq a string of
blasts ripped through Baghdad targeting early voters and killing 17
people, raising tensions in an already nervous city as early ballots
are cast for the March 14 parliamentary elections.
2010 Mar 4, Liam Adams, the
brother of Sinn Fein party leader Gerry Adams, surrendered to Irish
authorities to face 23 charges of sexually abusing his daughter. He
fled to the Republic of Ireland to avoid a November 2008 Belfast
hearing over the charges of abusing his daughter Aine for eight
years when she was a child.
2010 Mar 4, Israel's Supreme
Court reprimanded Jerusalem police for not permitting groups to
protest the eviction of Palestinians from their homes in favor of
2010 Mar 4, The new Ivory Coast
government announced it is now made up of 16 ministers drawn from
President Laurent Gbagbo's FPI party and the former New Forces
rebels as well as 11 ministers representing opposition parties.
2010 Mar 4, Throngs of Mexico
City gay and lesbian couples registered for marriage licenses, the
day Latin America's first gay-marriage law took effect.
2010 Mar 4, In Pakistan robbers
kidnapped Sahil Saeed, a five-year-old British boy, in the town of
Jhelum, about 100 km (65 miles) south of Islamabad, demanding a
ransom of 100,000 pounds, prompting his mother to make a tearful
plea for the return of her boy. In the northwest an overnight
gunbattle left 30 insurgents and one soldier dead in the Chamarkand
area of the Mohmand tribal region. Sahil Saeed was released on March
16. Spanish police arrested 3 suspects in the kidnapping in
Tarragona province. They were suspected of having traveled to
another European city to collect ransom money.
(AFP, 3/4/10)(SFC, 3/5/10, p.A2)(AFP,
2010 Mar 4, Gaza's Islamic
militant Hamas government banned men from working in women's hair
salons. The announcement came amid a Hamas campaign to impose
Islamic customs on Gaza's 1.5 million people.
2010 Mar 4, In Rwanda 2 grenade
blasts wounded 16 people in the capital, in the second wave of
grenade attacks to hit Kigali in two weeks. On March 6 authorities
said Deo Mushayidi, a former member of the then rebel group Rwandan
Patriotic Front that ended the 1994 genocide, was arrested in
neighboring Burundi. The government has also accused two former
senior army officers now exiled in South Africa of being behind the
(AP, 3/5/10)(AFP, 3/6/10)
2010 Mar 4, Somali pirates hit
a Spanish fishing boat off the coast of Kenya with a
rocket-propelled grenade as private security on board returned fire
and fended off the would-be hijackers.
2010 Mar 4, A Syrian
archaeologist said more than 250 silver coins dating back to the
time of Alexander the Great have been unearthed. The coins were
discovered two weeks ago in a bronze box in northern Syria when a
local man was digging the foundations of his new home.
2010 Mar 4, In Taiwan a
powerful 6.4 earthquake and more than a dozen aftershocks jolted
southern Taiwan, injuring 96 people, toppling farm houses and
derailing a carriage on a high-speed train.
2010 Mar 4, Togo held
presidential elections. Jean-Pierre Fabre (57), a deputy in the
National Assembly and the top opposition candidate, said that this
time around the people will not let the ruling party steal the
election. Provisional results on March 6 indicated that Gnassingbe
won 1.2 million votes, representing 60.9% of the roughly 2 million
(AP, 3/4/10)(AP, 3/7/10)
2010 Mar 4, Yemen's Interior
Ministry said it has arrested 11 suspected al-Qaida militants during
a raid on one of their homes. The father of one of the suspects was
killed by police when he opened fire on police during the raid.
Sharif Mobley (26), one of the 11 suspects and a US citizen of
Somali descent, had worked for contractors at nuclear plants in New
Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland from 2002 to 2008, mostly hauling
materials and setting up scaffolding. In 2015 Mobley was sentenced
to 10 years in prison.
(AP, 3/4/10)(AP, 3/13/10)(Reuters, 12/16/15)
2010 Mar 5, In Alabama Larry
Langford (63), the former mayor of Birmingham, was sentenced to 15
years in prison for taking $241,000 in bribes.
(SFC, 3/6/10, p.A5)
2010 Mar 5, In Arizona 6 people
were killed when a passenger bus hit another vehicle and rolled over
on the interstate south of Phoenix.
2010 Mar 5, Edgar Wayburn
(103), former 5-term president of the Sierra Club, died in SF. In
1999 he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his years
of efforts in preserving wilderness.
(SFC, 3/8/10, p.A1)
2010 Mar 5, An Australian court
ruled that the once-popular painkiller Vioxx doubled the risk of
heart attack and was unfit for consumption, awarding a man leading a
class action suit against the drug's maker 287,000 Australian
dollars ($259,000) in compensation.
2010 Mar 5, It was reported
that the advocacy group Big Brother Watch found, through a series of
Freedom of Information requests, that many local governments, called
councils in Britain, are installing microchips in trash cans
distributed to households, but in most cases have not yet activated
them — in part because officials know the move would be unpopular.
Proponents called it a bid to push recycling. Microchips were first
fitted into some British trash bins eight years ago, and the debate
over whether the state has the right to weigh or otherwise analyze
residents' refuse has surfaced periodically since.
2010 Mar 5, Dutch anti-Islam
maverick Geert Wilders (46) took his cinematic assault on the Quran
to Britain's House of Lords, sparking heated debate inside the
building and angry protests outside. Wilders screened his 15-minute
film "Fitna" to about 60 people, including a half-dozen peers, in a
wood-paneled committee room in Parliament. The film associates the
Quran with terrorism, homophobia and repression of women.
2010 Mar 5, Canada’s Tim
Hortons Inc unveiled a fresh strategy to take on Starbucks and
Dunkin Donuts in the US market, saying it would open hundreds of new
American cafes that break the mold of Tim's iconic Canadian coffee
2010 Mar 5, In Chile 3 strong
aftershocks shook the center of the country, sending panicked
residents rushing out of their homes and leveling more buildings in
an area already hard hit by the Feb 6 monster earthquake.
2010 Mar 5, In Ethiopia 25
African states agreed to step up efforts to regulate mercenary
activity on the continent amid an explosion of private security
companies on the continent.
2010 Mar 5, Eight Fijian men
were sentenced to jail terms of three to seven years for their roles
in a 2007 plot to assassinate the armed forces chief Commodore Frank
Bainimarama, the island nation's prime minister, who seized power in
a bloodless coup in 2006.
2010 Mar 5, French President
Nicolas Sarkozy summoned bank leaders to his Elysee palace to order
them to boost lending to the economy and smaller companies.
2010 Mar 5, Germany and the
group of countries using the euro ruled out any immediate financial
aid for debt-ridden Greece at the start of a diplomatic tour by PM
2010 Mar 5, In Greece masked
youths attacked the leader of the country’s biggest union and stoned
police in Athens in an outbreak of violence over cutbacks proposed
by PM George Papandreou, who was abroad seeking European leaders'
support for his efforts to defuse the country's debt crisis.
2010 Mar 5, In Israel clashes
erupted between Muslim worshippers and Israeli riot police at a
sacred and disputed hilltop compound following a sermon on a recent
Israeli decision to include two West Bank shrines on a list of
national heritage sites.
2010 Mar 5, In Mexico heavily
armed gunmen ambushed a convoy of federal police on a highway near
the port city of Lazaro Cardenas, Michoacan state, killing two
officers and wounding three. Soldiers seized 28,000 pounds of
marijuana, seven vehicles and 18 high-powered weapons in Altar,
Sonora, 35 miles south of the Arizona border.
2010 Mar 5, In Pakistan a
suicide bomber targeted Shiite Muslims on two buses being escorted
by security forces through a northwestern border area rife with
sectarian and insurgent violence, killing 12 people. Pakistan army
helicopters destroyed a sprawling hideout of a key al-Qaida-linked
militant leader, Maulvi Faqir Mohammed, in the northwestern tribal
region of Bajur, killing 25 insurgents. Maulvi Faqir Mohammed and
fellow commander Qari Ziaur Rehman, top Taliban commanders close to
al-Qaida, were believed to have been killed in the army airstrike.
(AP, 3/5/10)(AP, 3/6/10)
2010 Mar 5, In Pakistan
Obaidullah Akhund, the Taliban's former defense minister arrested in
2007, allegedly died of heart disease in a Karachi prison. His
relatives were informed of his death in February, 2012.
2010 Mar 5, Swarms of Somali
pirates moved into the waters off East Africa, triggering four
shootouts with French and Spanish fishing vessels including a
skirmish with French military personnel that sunk a pirate skiff.
Somali pirates near Madagascar hijacked the Norwegian-owned ship
with 21 crew members. The UBT Ocean chemical tanker was carrying
(AP, 3/5/10)(AP, 3/6/10)
2010 Mar 5, In Spain the
regions of Madrid, Valencia and southern Murcia said they will keep
bullfighting legal and give the sport cultural heritage protection.
(SFC, 3/6/10, p.A2)
2010 Mar 5, Election officials
in Tajikistan declared the governing party the overwhelming winner
of parliamentary elections that international observers say were
marred by widespread fraud. The Central Election Commission said
that a definitive count of ballots cast in the Feb 28 contest showed
the People's Democratic Party winning 70.6% of the vote. It was now
set to take 54 of the 63 seats in the Central Asian nation's lower
chamber of parliament. The Islamic Revival Party came a distant
second with 8.2% of the vote.
2010 Mar 6, Sandra Bullock won
worst-actress for her romantic comedy flop "All About Steve" at the
Razzies, a spoof of the Oscars that mocks Hollywood's low-points of
2010 Mar 6, British PM Gordon
Brown made a surprise visit to troops in Afghanistan.
2010 Mar 6, An operation in
Germany to remove the gall bladder of Egyptian President Hosni
Mubarak was "successful" and he was in hospital convalescing.
2010 Mar 6, In Germany 4 men
brandishing handguns and machetes stormed into Berlin's Grand Hyatt
hotel during a million-euro poker tournament and made off with
hundreds of thousands of euros in cash. A man (21), who admitted to
taking part in the raid, turned himself into authorities on March 15
and identified 3 accomplices who remained on the run. Authorities
issued photos of the three: Ahmad el-Awayti (20), of undetermined
nationality; Jihad Chetwie, a 19-year-old German; and Mustafa
Ucarkus, a 20-year-old Turkish citizen. On March 21 police arrested
a 5th suspect, a Lebanese citizen (28), believed to be the organizer
of the attack.
(AFP, 3/7/10)(AP, 3/17/10)(AP, 3/22/10)
2010 Mar 6, Icelanders voted in
a referendum on a $5 billion deal to repay Anglo-Dutch loans. The
referendum resoundingly rejected a deal to pay Britain and The
Netherlands billions for losses in the Icesave bank collapse.
(Reuters, 3/6/10)(AFP, 3/7/10)
2010 Mar 6, In Indonesia a
group calling itself "al-Qaida in Aceh" claimed to be the target of
a police crackdown. Police have arrested 16 suspected militants in a
series of raids in the deeply conservative province of Aceh since
2010 Mar 6, In Iraq a car bomb
exploded near a bus for pilgrims in the Shiite city of Najaf,
killing at least three people, including two Iranians, on the eve of
key national elections.
2010 Mar 6, In northern Mexico
police in the city of San Nicolas de los Garza, a suburb of the
industrial hub of Monterrey, protested hours after three of their
colleagues were shot to death in an ambush and a fourth was wounded.
Federal police announced the arrest of three men accused of running
an extortion ring that targeted Ciudad Juarez businesses. The army
announced it had seized 2.6 metric tons of marijuana and detained
one suspect in a mountainous area of Chihuahua.
2010 Mar 6, In Pakistan Maulvi
Noor Mohammad, a Pakistani Taliban commander, was ambushed near the
main town of Miran Shah, North Waziristan, by relatives of a man he
recently tortured and killed.
2010 Mar 6, In the Philippines
guerrillas of the communist New People's Army (NPA) killed 11
government soldiers in a gun battle on Mindoro island.
2010 Mar 6, The Saudi Civil and
Political Rights Association said that Saudi security officers
stormed a book stall at the Riyadh Int’l. Book Fair last week and
confiscated all work by Abdellah Al-Hamid, a well-known reformer and
critic of the royal family.
(SSFC, 3/7/10, p.A6)
2010 Mar 6, In western Sudan 10
people were killed in renewed clashes between the Misseriya and
Nuwayba tribes in the Darfur region.
2010 Mar 6, In Tibet a truck
loaded with people heading to an ancient monastery in the Shannan
prefecture crashed killing 26 people.
(SSFC, 3/7/10, p.A6)
2010 Mar 7, In the US Academy
Awards the film “The Hurt Locker" triumphed with six prizes and made
Kathryn Bigelow the first woman ever to win the directing Oscar.
Sandra Bullock won as best actress for "The Blind Side"; Jeff
Bridges as best actor for "Crazy Heart"; Mo'Nique as supporting
actress for "Precious: Based on the Novel `Push' by Sapphire"; and
Christoph Waltz as supporting actor for "Inglourious Basterds." The
best documentary feature was won by “The Cove," an examination of a
bloody dolphin hunt filmed with hidden cameras in Taiji, Japan.
(AP, 3/8/10)(SSFC, 3/14/10, p.A4)
2010 Mar 7, Afghan President
Hamid Karzai made an unannounced visit to the southern town of
Marjah, promising angry elders that he will rebuild the former
Taliban stronghold after a big NATO operation. Scores of Islamist
militants defected and joined the Afghan government as infighting
among rebel groups left dozens dead including civilians. Regional
police spokesman Laal Mohammad Ahmadzai said 11 Hezb-i-Islami
commanders and 68 of their men in Baghlan province had defected to
the government. Over the weekend 3 men in Helmand and Laghman
provinces and 2 children in Kandahar were killed in a wave of bomb
blasts. 3 NATO service members were killed in attacks, one in the
south and two in the east. A roadside bomb blew up a car in the
southwestern province of Badghis killing 10 civilians. Another
civilian died in a separate bomb blast in the same region.
(Reuters, 3/7/10)(AFP, 3/7/10)(AP, 3/8/10)
2010 Mar 7, Sir Kenneth Dover
(89), a distinguished British historian of Greek culture, died. He
gained wider fame by admitting his wish to kill a fellow historian
Trevor Aston (d.1985). His books included commentaries on
Thucydides, Theocritus and Aristophanes; "Ancient Greek Literature"
(1980), "Greek and the Greeks" (1987), "The Greeks and Their Legacy"
(1989), "Greek Popular Morality in the Times of Plato and Aristotle"
(1994), "The Evolution of Greek Prose Style" (1997) and a popular
history, "The Greeks" (1981) written in conjunction with a
television series for the British Broadcasting Corp.
2010 Mar 7, Ethiopia
inaugurated a museum in Addis Ababa in memory of the victims of
former dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam's so-called Red Terror purge
which killed tens of thousands in 1977-78.
2010 Mar 7, In Germany police
said heavy snowfall over the weekend triggered a deadly avalanche
and caused thousands of accidents, leaving at least seven people
dead and dozens more injured.
2010 Mar 7, Iran announced that
it has started a new production line of highly accurate, short range
cruise missiles, which would add a new element to the country's
already imposing arsenal.
2010 Mar 7, Iraq held its 2nd
election since the 2003 ouster of Saddam Hussein. 62% of Iraqis
voted. Insurgents bombed a polling station and lobbed grenades at
voters, killing at least 37 people in 136 attacks aimed at
intimidating those taking part in an election that will determine
whether the country can overcome the sectarian divisions that have
plagued it since the 2003 US-led invasion. PM Nuri al-Maliki, the
Shiite who helped ease Iraq's sectarian strife, soon emerged as a
front-runner in a parliamentary election.
(AP, 3/7/10)(AFP, 3/8/10)(SFC, 3/9/10, p.A3)(SFC,
2010 Mar 7, Jamaica said plans
to open a music museum next year that officials say will feature
rare pieces from the island's music history, such as the sole album
that the late reggae star Bob Marley produced before he gained
2010 Mar 7, NATO said it is
suspending the training of Kosovo's security troops after a
military-style parade that broke the force's agreement to focus only
on civil emergencies. An armed honor guard had appeared at a parade
on March 5 marking the 12th anniversary of the killing of the leader
of the Kosovo Liberation Army.
2010 Mar 7, In Nigeria some 500
people, mainly women and children, were allegedly killed in
overnight attacks in the three villages of Dogo Nahawa, Ratsat and
Zot near the city of Jos. Residents and local rights activists
blamed the overnight attack on ethnic Fulani pastoralists. A
military spokesman said security forces have arrested 24 people last
week accused of stealing crude oil and illegally refining it.
Security forces soon detained 95 suspects in the violence.
(AFP, 3/7/10)(AP, 3/8/10)(AFP, 3/9/10)
2010 Mar 7, A skeptical
Palestinian leadership agreed to hold US-mediated peace talks with
Israel for four months, effectively ending a 14-month breakdown in
communications between the two sides.
2010 Mar 7, Philippine marines
killed at least seven al-Qaida-linked militants in a raid on a
coastal hide-out but failed to capture a Malaysian terror suspect
long wanted by Washington.
2010 Mar 7, In Thailand some
3,000 supporters of fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra
demonstrated a week ahead of a crucial mass anti-government protest.
2010 Mar 7, Togo's top
opposition party said they have proof that the ruling party
committed fraud to win the country's contentious presidential
election and that they will show their evidence in court.
2010 Mar 7, In Yemen Sharif
Mobley, an American al-Qaida prisoner receiving treatment in a
hospital, attacked guards killing one and wounding another, while
trying to escape. He was caught after a chase.
(AP, 3/7/10)(AP, 3/14/10)
2010 Mar 8, The resignation of
New York Rep. Eric Massa (50) took effect following an ethics
investigation. He had earlier cited health reasons but added that
Democratic House leadership forced him out due to his opposition
last November to the House version of the Health Care bill.
(SFC, 3/9/10, p.A4)
2010 Mar 8, In California GOP
State Sen. Roy Ashburn (55) announced that he was gay on a Kern
County radio station. 5 days earlier he was arrested in Sacramento
on suspicion of drunk driving.
(SFC, 3/10/10, p.A10)
2010 Mar 8, AIG agreed to sell
its Alico unit to NY-based MetLife for $15.5 billion.
(Econ, 3/13/10, p.79)
2010 Mar 8, Gerald Flamm (93),
former newspaper reporter, died at Stanford, Ca. His books included
“Good Life in Hard Times" (1977), a look at the Bay Area during the
Great Depression, and “Hometown San Francisco" (1994).
(SFC, 3/12/10, p.C6)
2010 Mar 8, In Alaska the body
of rural teacher Candice Berner (32) was found a mile outside of
Chignik Lake. Wolf tracks surrounded the body.
(SFC, 3/12/10, p.A8)
2010 Mar 8, In Australia Royal
Dutch Shell and PetroChina joined forces for a 2.96 billion US
dollar bid for Australia's Arrow Energy, hoping for a bigger slice
of the country's booming liquefied natural gas (LNG) sector.
2010 Mar 8, In Afghanistan a
pair of would-be suicide bombers armed with automatic rifles tried
to storm government buildings in Khost, but were killed in a
shoot-out with police.
2010 Mar 8, The EU said it
plans to create a European Monetary Fund to better coordinate the
economies of the 16 countries that use the euro and prevent
financial debacles such as the Greek debt crisis from undermining
the credibility of Europe's single currency.
2010 Mar 8, In Haiti US
missionary Charisa Coulter (24), held for more than a month on
kidnapping charges, was released from prison, while Laura Silsby
(40), the leader of her Baptist group, remained in custody.
2010 Mar 8, In Iraq 2 American
soldiers died in a vehicle accident.
2010 Mar 8, Israel said it has
given the green light for the building of 112 new homes in a Jewish
settlement in the occupied West Bank despite a partial moratorium on
2010 Mar 8, David Kimche, a
British-born Israeli spy-turned-diplomat, died in Israel. He played
a key role in the Iran-contra scandal that rocked President Ronald
2010 Mar 8, Myanmar announced
the enactment of long awaited laws that set the stage for the
country's first election in 20 years to be held sometime this year.
2010 Mar 8, Pakistani officials
said an American member of al-Qaida was picked up in a raid in the
southern city of Karachi, but reversed earlier assertions that the
detained man was the terror network's US-born spokesman. They
identified the suspect as Abu Yahya Majadin Adam. A suicide car
bomber struck a building where police interrogate high-value
suspects in the eastern city of Lahore, killing 13 people and
wounding 61 more including women taking children to school.
2010 Mar 8, Portugal announced
new austerity measures to avoid a debt crisis like the one engulfing
Greece, cutting welfare benefits and government hiring as well as
selling assets and raising taxes on the well-off.
2010 Mar 8, In South Africa
hip-hop artist Molemo Maarohanye, known as "Jub Jub," (Marshmallow)
was involved in a drag race that left 4 children dead. He and
another defendant, Themba Tshabalala, tested positive for cocaine
and morphine. On March 19 Maarohanye was freed on $ 1,300 bail, as
protesters chanted for their execution.
2010 Mar 8, In Togo security
forces blocked off three roads leading to the opposition party
headquarters, a day after the group had staged protests claiming
presidential elections last week were rigged to favor the son of the
country's longtime dictator.
2010 Mar 8, In Turkey a 5.9
magnitude, pre-dawn earthquake struck near the village of Basyurt in
the remote, sparsely populated area of eastern Elazig province. 51
people were killed as it knocked down stone and mud-brick houses and
minarets in at least six villages.
(AP, 3/8/10)(SFC, 3/9/10, p.A2)
2010 Mar 9, In Washington, DC,
same sex couple began to marry as the district became the 6th place
in the US to conduct same sex marriages.
(SFC, 3/10/10, p.A10)
2010 Mar 9, San Francisco
officials ordered the shutdown of all drug testing at the police
crime lab amid allegations that Deborah J. Madden (60), a former
technician, stole and used some of the cocaine she was supposed to
analyze. Madden had officially retired this month. On March 15,
2013, Madden pleaded guilty to misdemeanor cocaine possession.
(SFC, 3/10/10, p.A1)(SFC, 2/16/13, p.C1)
2010 Mar 9, Rodney Alcala (66),
an amateur photographer, was convicted in southern California of
killing a girl and 4 women between 1977 and 1979. The Santa Ana jury
recommended a death penalty. Photographic evidence from a Seattle
storage locker, rented before his arrest in 1979, linked him to at
least one woman listed for decades as missing. On march 30 Alcala
was sentenced to death.
(SFC, 3/11/10, p.A8)(SFC, 3/17/10, p.C3)(SFC,
2010 Mar 9, University of
Florida researcher Nam Dang and colleagues in Japan said that papaya
leaf extract and its tea have dramatic cancer-fighting properties
against a broad range of tumors, backing a belief held in a number
of folk traditions.
2010 Mar 9, An Ohio State Univ.
custodian, Nathaniel Brown (51), killed a supervisor and wounded
another and then killed himself. Brown had been told that he was
(SFC, 3/10/10, p.A4)
2010 Mar 9, In southern
Afghanistan a roadside bomb killed two Afghan border police and a
civilian riding in their vehicle. A Taliban operative wearing an
Afghan police uniform infiltrated NATO’s Chergotah base in Khost
province and detonated his explosive vest next to a group of
soldiers who were warming their hands beside a fire. 2 NATO service
members were killed.
(AP, 3/9/10)(AP, 3/10/10)
2010 Mar 9, China and India
gave a qualified approval to the nonbinding Copenhagen climate
accord brokered by Pres. Obama in the final hours of the December,
2009, climate summit.
(SFC, 3/10/10, p.A2)
2010 Mar 9, Indonesia’s
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono flew into Canberra with PM Kevin
Rudd and Governor-General Quentin Bryce waiting on the red carpet.
He was soon appointed an honorary companion of the Order of
Australia for his work after the 2002 Bali bombing. Yudhoyono will
become the first Indonesian leader to address a joint sitting of
Australia's parliament on March 10.
2010 Mar 9, In Indonesia 3
terror suspects were killed during raids near Jakarta. One of the
dead included Dulmatin, one of the masterminds of the 2002 Bali
bombings. Police soon confirmed his identity. An additional terror
suspect was arrested in Jakarta earlier in the day, bringing to 24
the number of suspects taken into custody on Java and Aceh since
Feb. 22 in a police crackdown on a suspected Jemaah Islamiyah cell.
(AP, 3/9/10)(AFP, 3/10/10)
2010 Mar 9, US Vice President
Joe Biden visited Israel and pledged Washington's full commitment to
Israel's security while throwing his weight behind a renewal of
Middle East peace talks after a 14-month hiatus. Biden assured
Israel of Washington's commitment to its security and preventing
Iran from producing nuclear weapons.
(AP, 3/9/10)(Reuters, 3/9/10)
2010 Mar 9, Israeli officials
said Israel wants to build a nuclear power plant, a move that could
bring new attention to the country's secretive nuclear activities.
2010 Mar 9, Japan confirmed for
the first time the existence of once-secret Cold War-era pacts with
the US that tacitly allowed nuclear-armed warships to enter Japanese
ports in violation of Tokyo's postwar principles.
2010 Mar 9, In Mexico Ramon
Pequeno, head of the anti-narcotics division of Mexico's federal
police, said that Texas-born Edgar Valdez Villarreal, nicknamed "La
Barbie," is battling Hector Beltran Leyva for control of the Beltran
2010 Mar 9, In Somalia fighting
between Islamist insurgents and Somali government forces killed five
people in Mogadishu. 4 masked gunmen also shot dead an Islamist
commander in the capital's Bakara market.
2010 Mar 9, In Switzerland a
senior Google executive welcomed a US decision to relax restrictions
on exporting Internet communications services to Iran, Sudan and
2010 Mar 9, Venezuela's
government seized control of two sugar mills and threatened to
expropriate them, accusing managers of hoarding a basic good and
violating the labor rights of employees. The government also raised
the price of sugar by 30% as mill owners struggled to turn a profit
due to price controls.
2010 Mar 10, Pres. Obama met
with Haiti’s Pres. Rene Preval and assured him that the US was
committed to Haiti’s recovery and reconstruction following the
devastating January 12 earthquake.
(SFC, 3/11/10, p.A2)
2010 Mar 10, The Kansas City,
Mo., school board narrowly approved a plan to close nearly half the
district’s schools in a desperate attempt to avoid a potential
bankruptcy. 29 schools were closed.
(SFC, 3/11/10, p.A6)(Econ, 3/30/13, p.33)
2010 Mar 10, Virginia’s general
assembly became the first state legislature to ban mandatory health
insurance. Idaho followed suit a week later. Some 35 other states
planned similar measures.
(Econ, 3/20/10, p.34)
2010 Mar 10, Corey Haim
(b.1971), a Canada-born 1980s teen heartthrob for his roles in the
vampire films "Lucas" (1986) and "The Lost Boys" (1987) died in Los
Angeles. His career was blighted by drug abuse.
2010 Mar 10, In Afghanistan a
rocket attack killed an Afghan soldier at a security post in Paktika
province. In southern Helmand province 3 men were killed by a bomb
blast in Marjah.
2010 Mar 10, In Algeria almost
200 striking doctors, dentists and pharmacists demonstrated near the
presidential palace to press their pay demands. The health
professionals have been on strike since the end of December.
2010 Mar 10, In London
self-exiled Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky won his libel case
against RTR, a Kremlin-owned broadcaster, that aired allegations he
masterminded the 2006 murder in London of former KGB renegade agent
Alexander Litvinenko. RTR, which did not take part in the hearings,
called the judgment illegal.
2010 Mar 10, Cambodia said it
will preserve 14 sites at the last bastion of the murderous Khmer
Rouge, including the home of their leader Pol Pot, as tourist
2010 Mar 10, A UN official said
90 Rwandan rebels have been killed in eastern Congo during a
two-week Congolese army operation conducted with the support of UN
2010 Mar 10, Top Egyptian
cleric Sheik Mohammed Sayed Tantawi (81), whose views often drew
criticism from religious conservatives and secular Muslims, died of
a heart attack during a visit to Saudi Arabia. Tantawi angered
radicals by supporting organ transplants, denouncing female
circumcision and ruling that women should be appointed to senior
judicial and administrative positions in government. At the same
time, he shocked many Muslims in 2004 by siding with France in its
steps to ban the hijab head covering from state schools.
2010 Mar 10, In Germany the
world's largest tourism fair, the ITB, kicked off in Berlin with the
global travel industry hoping for better times following a
2010 Mar 10, In Haiti
kidnappers freed two female European aid workers, one from the Czech
Republic and the other Belgium, snatched off the streets of the
capital and held for five days.
2010 Mar 10, Hungarian
President Laszlo Solyom signed a law making Holocaust denial
punishable by three years in prison.
2010 Mar 10, Iran hanged two
convicted drug traffickers in the Shiite shrine city of Qom. Another
man, convicted of drug trafficking, was hanged in the city of Ahvaz.
The latest hangings bring to at least 30 the number of people
executed in Iran so far this year, according to an AFP count based
on news reports.
(AFP, 3/11/10)(AFP, 3/12/10)
2010 Mar 10, Iraqi PM Nouri
al-Maliki underwent surgery. He was released from the hospital the
next day in good health. US troops opened fire on a car in western
Baghdad, killing Iraqi journalist Aseel al-Obeidi and her husband.
(AP, 3/11/10)(AP, 3/11/10)
2010 Mar 10, In Italy allies of
Premier Berlusconi pushed a controversial measure through parliament
that shields the premier from prosecution in 2 ongoing trials.
(SFC, 3/11/10, p.A2)
2010 Mar 10, National police in
Rome said 20 warrants have been issued so far in Palermo and six
arrests have been made in the United States. Police say the
crackdown targeted a Palermo-based Mafia crime family, and those
named in the warrants are suspected of being mobsters and running
extortion, money laundering and drug trafficking operations.
2010 Mar 10, Madagascar was hit
by Tropical Storm Hubert. Disaster officials soon reported at least
10 people dead.
2010 Mar 10, Carlos Slim,
Mexican telecom tycoon, jumped past Microsoft founder Bill Gates and
investor Warren Buffett when Forbes magazine released its 2010 list
of the world's wealthiest.
2010 Mar 10, The Moroccan
government expelled 20 foreign Christian missionaries after
religious authorities accused them of proselytism. The expelled
missionaries included couples from Britain and The Netherlands who
had adopted Moroccan children.
2010 Mar 10, In Nigeria some
5,000 activists staged a march in Abuja to demand the sacking of the
cabinet and a public appearance by ailing President Umaru Yar'Adua,
two weeks after he returned to the country. 2 people were killed
overnight by soldiers in Jos enforcing a curfew days after attacks
on three nearby Christian villages. Plateau state police
commissioner Ikechukwu Aduba gave a breakdown of the list of people
killed, saying the toll was 109. Aduba also revealed that 49 people
were to be charged over the killings, saying they had already
confessed to being on a revenge mission.
(AP, 3/10/10)(AFP, 3/10/10)
2010 Mar 10, In Pakistan
suspected Islamist militants stormed the World Vision office, a
US-based Christian aid agency, in Oghi village in Mansehra district
killing six Pakistani aid workers after singling them out and then
blowing up the building.
2010 Mar 10, US Vice President
Joe Biden met Palestinian leaders, telling them Israel's decision to
expand settlement activity in east Jerusalem is undermining the
peace efforts he is promoting.
2010 Mar 10, Qatar's PM Sheikh
Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani said Arab states will respond to Israel's
recent decision to expand an east Jerusalem settlement.
2010 Mar 10, Rwanda told Carina
Tertsakian, a Human Rights Watch researcher, that her work permit
had been revoked. On April 23, she was given 24 hours to leave the
2010 Mar 10, A UN Security
Council report said up to half the food aid in Somalia is being
diverted to corrupt contractors, radical Islamic militants and local
(SFC, 3/11/10, p.A2)
2010 Mar 10, At least three
Swedish newspapers published a cartoon depicting the Prophet
Muhammad with the body of a dog after an alleged plot to murder
Swedish artist Lars Vilks, who created it, was uncovered in Ireland.
Irish police said those arrested were two Algerians, two Libyans, a
Palestinian, a Croatian and an American woman married to one of the
Algerian suspects. They were not identified by name. On March 13
Irish police said they had released three of the arrested Muslims
and American Jamie Paulin-Ramirez (31) without charges.
(AP, 3/10/10)(AP, 3/13/10)
2010 Mar 11, US Republican
senators sent a letter to the head of the Boys & Girls Clubs of
America board of governors seeking detailed financial information
about executive compensation, travel and lobbying expenses, and how
the national charity awards grants to local clubs. The four senators
said they were concerned that the chief executive of a charity that
has been closing local clubs for lack of funding was compensated
nearly $1 million in 2008.
2010 Mar 11, A US
court-appointed examiner report investigating the failure of Lehman
Bros. was unsealed. It said Lehman executives had manipulated
balance sheets to temporarily remove $50 billion of troubled assets.
Lehman’s bankruptcy in September, 2008, helped spread fear
throughout the global financial system.
(SFC, 3/13/10, p.D1)
2010 Mar 11, In NYC lawyers
representing construction companies, and rescue and recovery workers
agreed to a settlement that could pay as much as $657.5 million to
responders sickened by dust from the destroyed World Trade Center.
On March 19 a federal judge rejected the ground zero settlement
saying it was insufficient and that too much of it would go to legal
fees. In June a $712 million settlement was reached.
(SFC, 3/12/10, p.A8)(SFC, 3/20/10, p.A5)(SFC,
2010 Mar 11, Afghan President
Hamid Karzai, during a visit to Pakistan, said Afghanistan does not
want a proxy war between Pakistan and India or anybody else fought
on its soil. Five Afghan civilians, four of them children, were
killed in an explosion in Kapisa province. A gunmen shot dead a
South African construction contractor and his Afghan colleague in a
separate attack in Khost province. One member of the NATO-led
International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was killed in an
explosion in the south of the country.
2010 Mar 11, Brazilian
television network SBT broadcast a tape of Luiz Marques Barbosa (83)
in bed with a 19-year-old that was widely distributed on the
Internet. The station said the video was secretly filmed in January
2009 and sent anonymously to the network. Barbosa was detained in
April out of fear he would flee the country.
2010 Mar 11, British bank HSBC
said information on 24,000 customers with Swiss accounts has
been stolen, potentially exposing large numbers of international
clients to prosecution by tax authorities in their home countries.
2010 Mar 11, In Chile Sebastian
Pinera began serving as president, succeeding Michele Bachelet, who
went off to New York to head the UN organization for women. She
resigned from the UN in 2013 and returned home to campaign.
(Econ, 4/6/13, p.46)
2010 Mar 11, In Greece clashes
between some 200 masked youths and riot police broke out as some
20,000 striking workers protested in central Athens against
government austerity measures.
(SFC, 3/12/10, p.A2)
2010 Mar 11, In Honduras David
Meza (51), a radio journalist whose career spanned three decades,
was ambushed and killed in La Ceiba as he arrived home in his car.
2010 Mar 11, Preliminary
election results released by Iraq's electoral commission showed PM
Nouri al-Maliki leading in Babil province by nearly 14,000 votes and
in Najaf by 7,000, two Shiite provinces in southern Iraq. Manaf
Abdul al-Rawi, alleged Baghdad leader of Al-Qaida in Iraq, was
arrested. He soon gave investigators information that eventually led
to the April 18 strike that killed Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and Abu
(AP, 3/11/10)(SFC, 4/23/10, p.A2)(AP, 5/1/10)
2010 Mar 11, In Kazakhstan a
dam at the Kyzyl-Agash reservoir in the eastern Almaty region
ruptured, pouring water into several nearby villages and affecting
3,000 residents. A 2nd dam was washed away in the nearby Karatalsky
district. Emergency officials said heavy rain and melting snow have
caused severe floods across a region of Kazakhstan neighboring
China, flooding villages and claiming at least 35 lives.
(AP, 3/12/10)(AFP, 3/12/10)(AP, 3/13/10)
2010 Mar 11, In Mexico 2
glowing brides in matching white gowns and four other same-sex
couples made history in Mexico City as they wed under Latin
America's first law that explicitly approves gay marriage.
2010 Mar 11, In Mexico gunmen
burst into a home in the border city of Ciudad Juarez and opened
fire, killing 5 young men and wounding 5 others, including a
10-year-old girl, during a wake being held for a young man shot to
death in his car earlier in the week. The death toll rose to 6 the
next day after a woman died of wounds suffered in the attack.
(AP, 3/12/10)(AP, 3/13/10)
2010 Mar 11, In Pakistan a
homemade bomb exploded on the outskirts of the northwestern city of
Peshawar, killing four people, including one child.
2010 Mar 11, In Somalia heavy
fighting between insurgents and pro-government troops has killed at
least 43 people over two days, as African Union peacekeepers used
tanks to help the beleaguered government beat back an insurgent
2010 Mar 11, Sweden's
parliament narrowly approved a resolution recognizing the 1915 mass
killing of Armenians in Turkey as genocide, prompting the Turkish
government to recall its ambassador in protest.
2010 Mar 11, Ukrainian
lawmakers formed a new majority coalition around President Viktor
Yanukovych. Before forming the new governing coalition, Yanukovych
signed a new law allowing individual deputies to break away from
their parliamentary factions, which allowed his coalition to
eventually control 235 of the chamber's 450 seats. Mykola Azarov,
who served as Yanukovych's campaign strategist in this year's
presidential elections, was chosen as premier.
2010 Mar 11, In Yemen 3
southern independence activists were killed and five wounded as
demonstrations in southern towns sparked clashes with police and
sympathy rallies in the north against the crackdown. Yemeni
authorities confiscated Al-Jazeera television broadcasting equipment
from the station's San'a offices after complaining of its coverage
of the country's restive southern region.
(AP, 3/11/10)(AP, 3/12/10)
2010 Mar 11, The Zimbabwe Red
Cross said at least 2.17 million Zimbabweans need food aid and the
figures are set to rise because of an expected poor harvest this
2010 Mar 12, The US
government’s “vaccine court" ruled in 3 separate cases that the
mercury-containing preservative thimerosol does not cause autism.
(SFC, 3/13/10, p.A6)
2010 Mar 12, San Francisco
mayor Gavin Newsom formally announced that he is in the race for the
office of California lieutenant governor.
(SFC, 3/13/10, p.A1)
2010 Mar 12, Austrian
government officials said they have identified at least two mass
graves of some 70 Nazi victims on property used by the army. The
victims were concentration camp inmates and others, all killed by
the SS to eliminate witnesses to Nazi atrocities shortly before
Soviet troops arrived.
2010 Mar 12, He Pingping
(b.1988) of China, the world's shortest man, died in Rome while
working on a TV show. He was 2 feet, 5.37 inches (74.6 cm) tall.
2010 Mar 12, In Egypt 23 Coptic
Christians were wounded when extremist Muslims attacked a church
community center in Marsa-Matruh. At least 27 people were arrested
in northern Egypt after fighting erupted between Muslims and
Christians over land.
(AP, 3/13/10)(Reuters, 3/13/10)
2010 Mar 12, Georgian church
leader Metropolitan Theodor said convicts would be able to build or
maintain monasteries after clerics and prosecutors struck a deal
allowing criminals convicted of minor crimes to serve their
sentences in the monasteries.
2010 Mar 12, In India a troupe
of 10,780 tribal villagers in northeast Mizoram state set a record
for the largest dance ensemble in the world with a carefully
choreographed routine to welcome in the summer.
2010 Mar 12, India signed 5
deals in New Delhi to purchase more than $7 billion in hardware and
expertise from Russia. The agreements included the construction of
at least 12 civilian nuclear reactors, an aircraft carrier and a
fleet of MiG-29 fighters.
(AFP, 3/12/10)(SFC, 3/13/10, p.A2)
2010 Mar 12, Indonesian police
killed two suspected Islamist militants in a firefight in remote
Aceh province during the latest in a series of raids made since an
extremist training camp was discovered there last month. Eight other
suspects were arrested.
2010 Mar 12, It was reported
that over 10% of the Buddha statues in Luang Prabang, Laos, had gone
missing. Authorities suspected theft rings had stolen some 120 for
(SFC, 3/12/10, p.A2)
2010 Mar 12, In Mexico gunmen
burst into a party and killed 8 youths and left another person
wounded in the Pacific coast township of Navolato, near the Sinaloa
state capital of Culiacan. Evaristo Pacheco, a journalist for the
regional weekly Vision Informativa, was shot to death after being
snatched from a nightclub in the Guerrero state capital,
(AP, 3/13/10)(AP, 3/15/10)
2010 Mar 12, A union
representing Dutch nurses launched a national campaign against
demands for sexual services by patients who claim it should be part
of their standard care.
2010 Mar 12, In Pakistan a pair
of suicide bombers targeting army vehicles detonated explosives
within seconds of each other, killing at least 43 people in Lahore
and wounding about 100. It was the fourth major attack in Pakistan
this week, indicating Islamist militants are stepping up violence
after a period of relative calm. The death toll rose to 57 after
more people died from their wounds.
(AP, 3/12/10)(AP, 3/13/10)(AP, 3/16/10)
2010 Mar 12, Serbian police
detained nine former paramilitary fighters suspected of killing
civilians and looting homes during the Kosovo war. The nine were
accused of killing 41 ethnic Albanian civilians in the village of
Cuska in May 1999.
2010 Mar 12, Frightened Somalis
stacked household goods on carts pulled by donkeys and fled the
heaviest fighting the capital has seen in almost a year, after
hundreds of heavily armed insurgents moved into an area this week
previously controlled by government soldiers. Over 50 people had
died in fighting over the last 3 days.
(AP, 3/12/10)(SFC, 3/13/10, p.A2)
2010 Mar 12, Sri Lanka's main
ethnic Tamil party dropped its demand for an independent state and
said it is ready to accept regional self-rule, following the defeat
of separatist Tamil Tiger rebels in a 25-year civil war.
2010 Mar 12, In Thailand tens
of thousands of supporters of deposed premier Thaksin Shinawatra
gathered near ministry buildings in Bangkok to rally against the
government, sporting their signature red shirts. Two months of
protests followed leaving 92 people dead.
(AFP, 3/13/10)(SSFC, 3/13/11, p.A4)(Econ, 6/4/11,
2010 Mar 13, A storm battered
parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Connecticut with
gusts of up to 70 mph.
2010 Mar 13, Afghanistan's
Pres. Karzai backed off from a much-criticized move to control the
previously independent monitoring body for upcoming parliamentary
elections, offering to allow two foreigners on the commission.
Afghanistan rowed back from a total ban on media broadcasts of
"disturbing" images from insurgent attacks or live pictures of
security operations. Police reported four explosions in
Kandahar. Multiple bomb attacks in Kandahar killed 35 people, but
failed to free insurgents from the city prison. The blasts included
two car bombs, six suicide attackers on motorbikes and bicycles, and
homemade bombs. The attackers targeted the city's prison, police
headquarters, a wedding hall next door and other areas on roads
leading to the prison.
(AP, 3/13/10)(Reuters, 3/13/10)(AP, 3/14/10)
2010 Mar 13, In Canada 2 people
were killed and 30 hurt by an avalanche near Revelstoke, British
Columbia, when the slide hit a snowmobile rally.
2010 Mar 13, Cyclone Tomas
began battering island groups off Fiji's northern coast, causing
flooding, pounding seas and one death. Officials said the storm
likely would only sideswipe the main islands of the South Pacific
nation. At least 2 people were killed by the storm.
(AP, 3/15/10)(AP, 3/19/10)
2010 Mar 13, In Georgia a hoax
television broadcast said Russia had invaded and the president had
been killed. It sparked wide anxiety in the country still
traumatized by the August 2008 war in which Russian troops advanced
deep into the country.
2010 Mar 13, In Honduras Nahum
Palacios (36), director of a TV station in Tocoa near the Caribbean
coast, was shot to death as he drove home and was intercepted by two
other vehicles. This was the third such slaying in two weeks.
2010 Mar 13, In India Abdul
Latif Rashid and Riyaz Ali were arrested late in the day in Mumbai's
Matunga suburb. Police said the two men were preparing to attack
several targets in the city, the country's financial and
entertainment hub. Police said the men had links with terror groups
in Pakistan and were acting on directions from handlers there.
2010 Mar 13, Iran’s Fars the
news agency said Iran has busted what it says was a US-funded cyber
network group linked to an exiled opposition movement that collected
data on its nuclear scientists. 30 members of the network with links
to the outlawed People's Mujahedeen and monarchists were said to
have been arrested.
2010 Mar 13, In Mexico a series
of shootings killed 24 people in a Pacific coast state plagued by
drug gang violence. Nearly half died in one shootout between
soldiers and armed men. Suspected drug gang hit men separately
ambushed two cars carrying families with ties to the US consulate in
Ciudad Juarez, killing an American couple and a Mexican man. Three
young children survived, although two suffered wounds. On March 26
suspect Ricardo Valles de la Rosa (45), a member of the Barrio
Azteca gang, was arrested for the US consulate linked killings. A
confession by de la Rosa suggested that El Paso jail officer Arthur
H. Redelfs was targeted in the Ciudad Juarez shootings that also
killed his wife, Lesley A. Enriquez, an employee of the US
consulate. The husband of another consulate worker was killed in the
other vehicle attacked. In April Mexico arrested a 2nd suspect, a
member of the Los Aztecas gang, who confessed to taking part in the
killing of a US consulate official. In September Jesus Ernesto
Chavez, was extradited to the US, for ordering the killing of Lesley
(AP, 3/14/10)(AP, 3/15/10)(AP, 3/29/10)(AP,
3/31/10)(AFP, 4/23/10)(SSFC, 9/5/10, p.A10)
2010 Mar 13, Mozambique's
health ministry spokesman said the country's cholera outbreak has
now killed 42 people in the northern and central parts of the
southern African country.
2010 Mar 13, In Myanmar ethnic
rebels in Nam Zam township, Shan State, killed 20 government
troops in an ambush aimed at deterring the military government from
launching an offensive against them ahead of elections this year.
2010 Mar 13, Several dozen
Palestinian women scuffled with Israeli troops on the outskirts of
Jerusalem amid rising religious and political tensions in the
2010 Mar 13, In Pakistan a
renewed wave of violence struck Saidu Sharif, the administrative
capital of the Swat Valley, when a suicide bomber on a motorized
rickshaw killed 13 people at a security checkpoint, raising fears
the nation is sliding back into a period of relentless bloodletting.
2010 Mar 13, In Qatar a two
week UN conference opened with a focus on the Atlantic bluefin tuna
and other marine life in the world's overfished oceans. The
175-nation Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species
(CITES) discussed new proposals on regulating the trade in number of
plant and animal species.
2010 Mar 13, In Somalia a fight
over land rights between two rival clans in northern Amara village
killed at least 15 people.
2010 Mar 13, The Swiss daily
Neue Zuercher Zeitung quoted Swiss Abbot Martin Werlen saying around
60 people over the last 15 years have reported being victims of
abuse by Catholic priests in Switzerland.
2010 Mar 13, Venezuela’s
President Hugo Chavez called for regulation of the Internet while
demanding authorities crack down on a critical news Web site that he
accused of spreading false information. A Venezuelan police official
said security forces have seized two tons of cocaine hidden in two
bulldozers at a port in the central state of Carabobo. The cocaine
was intended to be smuggled to the Netherlands.
2010 Mar 14, American rower
Katie Spotz (22) completed a solo journey across the Atlantic Ocean,
touching a pier in the coffee-brown waters of Guyana to claim a
record as the youngest person to accomplish the feat. The athlete
from Mentor, Ohio, set out from Dakar, Senegal, on Jan. 3 and
endured rough seas during the 2,817-mile (4,533-km) crossing.
2010 Mar 14, Peter Graves (83),
film and TV star, died. His calm and intelligent demeanor was a good
fit to the intrigue of "Mission Impossible" (1967-1973 and
1988-1990) as well as the satire of the "Airplane" films.
2010 Mar 14, In Afghanistan one
US Marine was killed in a road accident in Marjah. An unmanned
Predator drone aircraft crashed in southern Afghanistan.
2010 Mar 14, In Chile a power
failure at nightfall plunged nearly the entire Chilean population
into darkness, rattling a country already anxious after last month's
2010 Mar 14, In Colombia
candidates from parties allied with outgoing President Alvaro Uribe
dominated elections to replace a Congress tarnished by lawmakers'
links to far-right criminal bands. Voters made the Party of National
Integration (PIN), new party accused of ties to far-right criminal
bands, Colombia's fourth-strongest party. Former Foreign Minister
Noemi Sanin (60) defeated Colombian President Alvaro Uribe's
hand-picked successor for the Conservative Party's presidential
nomination in a close primary.
(AP, 3/15/10)(AP, 3/16/10)(AP, 3/19/10)
2010 Mar 14, Egypt's
Constitutional Court backed the right of women judges to sit on the
bench in the state's administrative courts, despite opposition from
conservatives. The ruling was not "decisive" and debates within the
administrative courts could still continue along the
conservative-liberal fault line.
2010 Mar 14, France voted in
regional polls. French voters scarred by economic crisis dealt
President Nicolas Sarkozy and his conservative leadership a stern
blow by strongly favoring leftist candidates in regional elections.
(AFP, 3/14/10)(AP, 3/15/10)
2010 Mar 14, In Iraq early
results released by the electoral commission showed the prime
minister's political coalition ahead in oil-rich Basra province,
strengthening his lead in the country's parliamentary elections.
2010 Mar 14, Israeli security
services overnight captured Maher Uda (47), a top Hamas commander,
in Ramallah. He had been on the run for more than a decade for his
implication in a series of suicide attacks in Israel which claimed
2010 Mar 14, In Kashmir 6
policemen were hurt when suspected separatist militants attacked
their patrol with a grenade in Indian Kashmir's main city of
2010 Mar 14, In Pakistan
helicopter gunships pounded Taliban hideouts in the northwestern
tribal district, killing at least 17 insurgents.
(AFP, 3/14/10)(SFC, 3/15/10, p.A2)
2010 Mar 14, Millions of
Russians voted in regional elections in a mid-term test of President
Dmitry Medvedev's pledge to loosen the Kremlin's grip on the
political system. The ruling United Russia party appeared headed for
an expected victory in regional elections, although many disgruntled
voters threw their support behind opposition candidates.
(Reuters, 3/14/10)(AP, 3/15/10)
2010 Mar 14, In Thailand as
many as 150,000 anti-government demonstrators vowed to march on
military barracks housing Thailand's top leaders as their icon,
deposed premier Thaksin Shinawatra, urged them from exile not to
(AFP, 3/14/10)(Econ, 4/10/10, p.45)
2010 Mar 14, Yemen launched a
preemptive strike was to forestall an imminent al-Qaida attack
against a strategic site. The leader of Al-Qaeda in Abyan, Jamil
Nasser Abdullah al-Ambari, Samir al-Sanaani and Ahmed Amzarba were
killed in the raid.
(AP, 3/15/10)(AFP, 3/16/10)
2010 Mar 15, Honda Motor Co.
notified the NHTSA it will recall 410,000 Odyssey minivans and
Element small trucks, from the 2007-2008 model years, due to braking
(SFC, 3/17/10, p.A9)
2010 Mar 15, In Afghanistan a
rocket attack on Bagram Air Field killed one person. Afghan
authorities in the eastern Paktika province prevented three would-be
suicide bombers from attacking a security post in Barmal district.
Six suspected Taliban also died after their vehicle hit a roadside
bomb in Shah Wali Kot district in Kandahar province. 3 civilians
were killed and 3 others were wounded when their vehicle hit a mine
while they were moving household goods in Ghazni province. Fire from
insurgents killed an Afghan child outside a NATO base in Kunar
2010 Mar 15, In Britain Louis
Wainwright (18) and Nicholas Smith (19), both from Scunthorpe, were
found dead at different addresses following a night out. They had
both taken the drug mephedrone, sold online as plant food and also
goes by the names meow meow, mcat and bubble. The deaths come a week
after a secondary school in Leicestershire reported that 180 pupils
had missed school after taking the drug, which can be bought for
less than £10 a gram.
2010 Mar 15, British and
Italian doctors carried out groundbreaking surgery to rebuild the
windpipe of a 10-year-old boy using stem cells developed within his
own body. Doctors at London's Great Ormond Street children's
hospital implanted the boy with a donor trachea, or windpipe, that
had been stripped of its cells and injected with his own.
2010 Mar 15, China’s state
media said at least 94 people living near a lead factory, most of
them children, have tested positive for lead poisoning, prompting
authorities to order the closure of the Zhongyi Alloy Co. in
Longchang county of Sichuan province's Neijiang city. Hundreds more
people waited for test results.
2010 Mar 15, Israel’s Haaretz
newspaper said Egyptian security officials have arrested Yotam
Feldman, an Israeli journalist, as he tried to sneak across the
porous Israeli-Egyptian border with African migrants. Feldman told
his investigators he was reporting on African migrants sneaking into
Israel from Egypt. Feldman returned home on March 22, saying he had
been beaten in captivity and that some of his materials had been
(AP, 3/15/10)(AP, 3/22/10)
2010 Mar 15, In Iraq the US
military turned over the Taji prison holding some 2,900 detainees to
Iraqi authorities. A suicide car bomber killed 8 people and wounded
28 others when his vehicle exploded in a busy street during the
morning rush hour in Fallujah. In northern Iraq an American soldier
died in a vehicle accident.
(AP, 3/15/10)(AFP, 3/15/10)(AP, 3/16/10)
2010 Mar 15, Irish police
charged two men from Algeria and Libya with minor offenses following
a weeklong investigation into Muslim extremists allegedly involved
in efforts to kill a Swedish artist. Ali Charafe Damache (49) of
Algeria was charged with sending a threatening text message. A
Libyan who used the false name Abdul-Salam Mansour Al-Jehani was
charged with immigration violations.
2010 Mar 15, Italian police
arrested the "postmen" of the Mafia's top boss, 19 close aides who
delivered the notes Matteo Messina Denaro writes to impart orders
from his hideout.
2010 Mar 15, Mexican marines
and Navy personnel announced they had launched a raid against an
operations base run by the Zeta drug gang near Monterrey. A convoy
of fleeing vehicles opened fire on a Marine helicopter following
them. The Marines chased them down, some on foot, and killed eight
suspects. Elsewhere in Chihuahua state, running gun battles in the
tourist town of Creel left seven people dead and two seriously
wounded. Farther south prosecutors reported the bodies of five men
were found on the side of a highway. In the Gulf Coast town of
Tierra Blanco some 90 city policemen were held for questioning about
the kidnapping of undocumented Central American migrants.
(AP, 3/16/10)(SFC, 3/17/10, p.A2)
2010 Mar 15, Militants in
Nigeria's oil-producing region detonated two car bombs near a
government building in Warri where officials were discussing an
amnesty deal, showing their resolve to resume attacks after an
agreement to bring peace and economic benefits to the area
unraveled. Nigeria's intelligence agency later accused Henry Okah,
an alleged ex-leader of militant group MEND, of having wired the
(AP, 3/15/10)(AFP, 11/11/10)
2010 Mar 15, Pakistani police
discovered a cache of bomb-making equipment and thousands of pounds
of explosives in an empty Lahore shop where authorities said a
string of attacks on the eastern city may have been plotted.
2010 Mar 15, At the CITES
conference in Qatar a top official with the UN wildlife agency said
the world has "failed miserably" at protecting tigers in the wild,
bringing an animal that is a symbol for many cultures and religions
to "the verge of extinction."
2010 Mar 15, Somalia's
transitional government (TFG) and a faction of the country's
moderate Ahlu Sunna Sufi sect signed a deal in Addis Ababa to
jointly fight extremist elements in Somalia.
2010 Mar 15, Thailand's PM
Abhisit Vejjajiva, backed by a formidable military force, rejected
an ultimatum to dissolve Parliament as tens of thousands of
red-shirted protesters vowed to splatter the seat of government with
their own blood if their demands weren't met.
2010 Mar 15, in Venezuela
representatives of a leftist party asserted their independence from
President Hugo Chavez, accepting a dissident politician into their
ranks while demanding increased tolerance from their socialist
2010 Mar 15, Yemen launched a
2nd day of strikes against al-Qaida hideouts. As many as 9 people
were killed in the raids including some civilians.
(AP, 3/15/10)(AFP, 3/16/10)
2010 Mar 16, DHS Secretary
Janet Napolitano said she is freezing funding for the SBInet
project, the virtual border fence along the US-Mexican border, due
to cost overruns and missed deadlines by Boeing Corp. The project
has cost $2.4 billion between 2005 and 2009.
2010 Mar 16, In Texas a tour
bus headed for Mexico crashed and killed 2 people.
2010 Mar 16, In southern
Afghanistan two NATO soldiers were killed by a crude bomb.
2010 Mar 16, Seven north
African states held talks in Algeria to plan a coordinated response
to Al-Qaeda following a dangerous rise in the terror threat in the
2010 Mar 16, Bolivian officials
said they have fired prison director Col. Gilmar Oblitas for
allowing imprisoned former Gen. Luis Garcia Meza (81) turn cells
into a luxury apartment.
(SFC, 3/17/10, p.A2)
2010 Mar 16, Brazilian police
and church officials said authorities were investigating three
priests accused of sexually abusing altar boys after a video
allegedly showing one case of abuse was broadcast on SBT television
a week earlier.
2010 Mar 16, A French policeman
(53) was killed outside Paris by a member of ETA, the Basque
separatist group. France's anti-terrorism police interrogated one
suspect and tried to track down at least one other assailant who
escaped. A police official said the suspected ETA commando unit was
allegedly trying to steal cars when it was surprised by police.
2010 Mar 16, In Haiti two
off-duty officers were shot to death near an open-air market in the
capital. Such shootings have increased since thousands of prisoners
escaped during the Jan. 12 earthquake.
2010 Mar 16, In Indian Kashmir
2 civilians and a policeman were killed and 8 other people wounded
when suspected militants attacked police patrols at two major
markets in Sopore and Srinagar.
2010 Mar 16, Iranian opposition
leader Mehdi Karoubi, defying government warnings, said the Islamic
republic was "plagued with despotism," in remarks published ahead of
a national celebration that could trigger more protests.
2010 Mar 16, Mexico's
government announced an austerity plan for trimming general spending
$3.2 billion (40.1 billion pesos) over the next three years so it
can provide more money for social and infrastructure programs. The
military and some security, educational and health services were
exempt from the measures.
2010 Mar 16, Pakistan and Iran
signed a $7.6 billion deal in Turkey paving the way for the
construction of a much-delayed pipeline pumping Iranian natural gas
to the energy-starved South Asian country.
2010 Mar 16, In Peru President
Alan Garcia fired Justice Minister Aurelio Pastor amid questions
over the pardoning of Jose Enrique Crousillat (77), a former media
executive convicted of taking payoffs to provide favorable coverage
for a previous government.
2010 Mar 16, At the CITES
meeting in Qatar a marine conservation group, Oceana, said surging
demand for shark fin soup among Asia's booming middle classes is
driving many species of these big fish to the brink of extinction.
2010 Mar 16, In northwest
Pakistan a US missile strike and clashes between extremist gunmen
and tribesmen killed at least 20 militants near the Afghan border.
2010 Mar 16, Hundreds of
Palestinians clashed with security forces in east Jerusalem as
tension boiled over in the city and a senior Hamas leader called for
a new "intifada," or uprising.
2010 Mar 16, Thai protesters
poured several jugs of their own blood at the front gate of the
government headquarters and outside the ruling party's offices in a
symbolic sacrifice to press their demands for new elections.
2010 Mar 17, US federal
authorities won a court order requiring officials in the US Virgin
Islands to repair sewage plants that have dumped raw waste at
beaches renowned for snorkeling and surfing.
2010 Mar 17, In California US
Border patrol agents seized 580 pounds of marijuana inside a
tractor-trailer near Blythe in Riverside County.
(SFC, 3/20/10, p.A5)
2010 Mar 17, McAfee Inc.
reported that hackers have flooded the Internet with virus-tainted
spam that targets Facebook's estimated 400 million users in an
effort to steal banking passwords and gather other sensitive
2010 Mar 17, Alex Chilton (59),
singer and guitarist, died in New Orleans. His song “The Letter"
(“Gimme a ticket for an airplane…") reached the top of the charts in
(SFC, 3/19/10, p.C5)
2010 Mar 17, In Abu Dhabi Hissa
Hilal, only her eyes visible through her black veil, delivered a
blistering poem against Muslim preachers "who sit in the position of
power" but are "frightening" people with their fatwas, or religious
edicts, and "preying like a wolf" on those seeking peace. She
presented her 15-verse poem on the live TV “The Million's Poet"
2010 Mar 17, In Afghanistan 2
suicide attackers dressed in burqas were shot dead as they attempted
to enter the compound of a US-linked aid organization in southern
Lashkar Gah. Up to 35 people died when a bus carrying passengers
taking home gas canisters collided with a truck on a treacherous
mountain pass in northern Afghanistan.
2010 Mar 17, The Congolese army
said more than 600 Rwandan Hutu rebels have been killed or captured
since January in an operation backed by the UN mission to the
2010 Mar 17, Uniformed Cuban
security agents prevented the mothers and wives of dissidents from
marching on the outskirts of Havana to demand release of their loved
ones, shoving them into a bus when they lay down in the street in
2010 Mar 17, A Guatemalan court
approved the extradition of former President Alfonso Portillo
(2000-2004) to the US to face money laundering charges. He is
charged in a New York federal court with embezzling $1.5 million in
foreign donations intended to buy school library books in Guatemala.
He allegedly endorsed checks drawn from a New York bank and
deposited them in a Miami account.
2010 Mar 17, Iran released
Mohsen Mirdamadi, the leader of the country's biggest reformist
party, the Islamic Iran Participation Front. He was temporarily
freed on $450,000 bail. Authorities also released filmmaker Mohammad
Rasoulof, journalist Ali Akbar Montajabi and female activist
Farzaneh Qassemi, all of whom were detained in recent weeks.
2010 Mar 17, Israel lifted its
tight restrictions on Palestinian access to Jerusalem's holiest
shrine and called off an extended West Bank closure after days of
clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces.
2010 Mar 17, In Kyrgyzstan
thousands of demonstrators rallied in the capital Bishkek to protest
recent sharp increases in heating and electricity tariffs and
alleged oppression of government opponents.
2010 Mar 17, The African Union
slapped sanctions on Madagascar's rulers for failing to implement
accords to end a long political crisis, as fresh violence erupted in
the island's capital.
2010 Mar 17, Nigeria's Acting
President Goodluck Jonathan dissolved the Cabinet, purging top
officials loyal to the nation's ill president in his first major act
since taking over the young democracy's highest office more than a
month ago. Suspected Muslim Fulani herdsmen disguised as soldiers
butchered and then burned around a dozen Christians, mostly women
and children, in the Riyom region of Plateau state, close to the
site of a recent sectarian massacre.
(AFP, 3/18/10)(AFP, 3/17/10)
2010 Mar 17, In northwest
Pakistan 2 US missile strikes killed at least 10 militants in North
Waziristan. Attackers armed with rockets and petrol bombs killed
five policemen in a pre-dawn ambush near the Khyber tribal district.
an Afghan was killed in an explosion while making a bomb on the
outskirts of Quetta. Militants fixed a bomb to the tail end of a
tanker with a magnet and the explosion burnt some 40,000 liters of
fuel it was carrying for NATO forces in Afghanistan. A Pakistani
court formally charged 5 young Americans of plotting terrorism in
the country, in a case that has raised alarm over the danger posed
by militants using the Internet.
(AFP, 3/17/10)(AP, 3/17/10)
2010 Mar 17, In Ramallah
Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva placed a wreath on the
tomb of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and sharply
criticized Israeli policies, leading Israeli officials to suggest he
was not being evenhanded. The visit came a day after Israel's
hawkish foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, said he boycotted
meetings with Silva because the Brazilian did not pay a similar
visit to the grave of Zionist founder Theodor Herzl.
2010 Mar 17, In southern Sudan
at least 13 people were killed in fighting between northern nomads
and the southern army.
2010 Mar 17, Ugandan security
forces fatally shot three people in the capital during clashes with
rioters angry after the tombs of five traditional kings were
destroyed overnight by fire. On March 30 man turned himself saying a
vision told him the tombs were Satanic.
(AP, 3/17/10)(AP, 3/31/10)
2010 Mar 17, In Zimbabwe South
African President Jacob Zuma began talks with Zimbabwe's political
leaders on his first trip as chief regional mediator to patch up
differences in the troubled coalition government.
2010 Mar 18, Pres. Obama signed
a $17.6 billion job-creation measure a day after it was passed by
(SFC, 3/18/10, p.A6)
2010 Mar 18, The final version
of the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act of 2009 (FATCA) became
law as part of the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE)
Act. FATCA was due to take effect July 1, 2014. In essence FATCA
turns foreign banks and other financial institutions into
enforcement arms of the IRS.
p.71)(Econ, 10/12/13, p.38)(Econ, 6/28/14, p.61)
2010 Mar 18, David Coleman
Headley (b.1960), Chicago-based Pakistani American, pleaded guilty
to 12 counts of terrorism for his role as a scout for the 2008
coordinated assault in Mumbai that left 173 people dead.
2010 Mar 18, US federal and
state agents swept across the El Paso area to round up and question
members of the Barrio Azteca gang, which is believed to be behind
the recent murder of US consular workers in neighboring Ciudad
Juarez. Seven people were arrested.
2010 Mar 18, Fess Parker,
former film and TV star, died at his home in Santa Ynez, Ca. He was
best know for his role as Davy Crocket on the Disneyland TV show. He
later played Daniel Boone in the 1964-1970 TV series “Daniel Boone."
(SFC, 3/19/10, p.C6)
2010 Mar 18, Astronauts from
the US and Russia landed safely in northern Kazakhstan's chilly
steppes after spending almost six months on the International Space
2010 Mar 18, Afghan President
Hamid Karzai boosted the power of an anti-corruption body that had
faced fierce accusations of being toothless and half-hearted in its
battle to wipe out official graft. US military officials said
operations to push the Taliban out of their Afghan stronghold of
Kandahar are under way and will steadily build in the months ahead.
2010 Mar 18, Michael Daly (49),
a former detective with Scotland Yard's drug squad, was sentenced to
22 years in prison for his role in a plot to smuggle hundreds of
millions of dollars worth of cocaine into Ireland. Daly's plan was
foiled when his boat ran out of fuel in rough seas and was
shipwrecked off the Irish coast on July 2, 2007. Daly his
co-conspirator Alan Wells, a former firefighter (57), have both
admitted conspiring to supply to the drug. Wells was sentenced to 15
2010 Mar 18, China’s state
media reported that parts of southern China are suffering from the
worst drought in decades, leaving millions of people with inadequate
water and huge areas of farmland too dry to plant.
2010 Mar 18, In the Dominican
Rep. Jorge Puello (32), a fugitive who once acted as the lawyer for
a group of US Baptist missionaries accused of kidnapping 33 Haitian
children, was arrested on human-trafficking charges at the request
of the United States.
2010 Mar 18, Israeli copycat
drugs giant Teva made a major stride into Europe with the
five-billion-dollar purchase of Ratiopharm, formerly owned by a
German billionaire who killed himself.
2010 Mar 18, In Mexico gunmen
in a convoy of six vehicles opened fire on a navy helicopter on a
reconnaissance patrol in Fresnillo, outside of Monterrey. Marines
aboard the chopper returned fire, killing one of the gunmen as
suspected gang members blocked roads in the city.
2010 Mar 18, A rocket fired by
Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip killed a Thai worker
inside Israel, in the first death from such an attack since Israel's
Gaza offensive last year. Israeli missiles hit smuggling tunnels and
a metal workshop in Gaza.
(AP, 3/18/10)(AP, 3/19/10)
2010 Mar 18, A Polish court
convicted three men of the theft of the notorious "Arbeit Macht
Frei" (Work Sets You Free) sign from the Auschwitz memorial site in
December. The men, two of whom are brothers, were given prison
sentences ranging from 18 months to 2 1/2 years.
2010 Mar 18, In Qatar the CITES
convention said consumer appetite for caviar is pushing sturgeon to
the brink of extinction. Fishing nations led by Japan rejected a US
backed proposal to ban export of the Atlantic bluefin tuna. A
proposal to ban the int’l. sale of polar bear skins also failed to
(SFC, 3/19/10, p.A2,5)
2010 Mar 18, Sudan's government
and a collection of Darfur rebel groups signed a cease-fire, opening
the way for political negotiations ahead of a full peace agreement.
Government representative Ghazi Salah Eddin Atabani and rebel leader
Al-Tijani Al-Sissi signed the truce in Doha, Qatar. Al-Sissi's
Liberation and Justice Movement is an umbrella organization that
includes several small Darfur rebel groups that recently united to
negotiate with the government.
2010 Mar 18, UN Secretary
General Ban Ki-moon signed a cooperation agreement with Nikolai
Bordyuzha, the head of the Collective Treaty Organization, a
Moscow-dominated alliance that includes Russia and six other former
2010 Mar 18, Zimbabwe's rival
leaders faced fresh pressure to mend their differences and push
toward new elections, as South African President Jacob Zuma led
talks on the fragile unity government.
2010 Mar 19, A panel of the US
Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Federal Reserve must
reveal documents identifying financial companies that received Fed
loans to survive the financial crisis.
(SFC, 3/20/10, p.D2)
2010 Mar 19, In Las Vegas a
fire at the private Gilcrease Nature Sanctuary killed over 250
exotic birds and a dog.
(SFC, 3/20/10, p.A5)
2010 Mar 19, Australia's
Hollywood A-listers, prime minister and top tycoons launched a new
campaign for Aboriginal jobs with a spectacular light show at
Sydney's iconic Opera House.
2010 Mar 19, In London
last-ditch talks aimed at preventing a strike by some 12,000 British
Airways (BA) cabin crew collapsed, leaving thousands of passengers
facing chaos within hours.
2010 Mar 19, Cambodia’s foreign
ministry said Cambodia has temporarily suspended marriages between
South Koreans and its citizens to curb human trafficking. The latest
ban came after the March 3 conviction of a Cambodian matchmaker who
arranged marriages between Korean men and 25 Cambodian brides.
2010 Mar 19, In Colombia
Clodomiro Castilla (50), a reporter and announcer at La Voz de
Monteria radio, was gunned down on his front porch. Castilla, a
father of four, had reported on far-right drug-funded militias known
as paramilitaries and their friendly ties to the area's business
2010 Mar 19, The US condemned
Ethiopia's blocking of Voice of America broadcasts, calling the
country's accusations of the US radio service "baseless and
2010 Mar 19, In Haiti one of
the heaviest rainfalls since the Jan. 12 earthquake swamped homeless
camps, sweeping screaming residents into eddies of water,
overflowing latrines and panicking thousands.
2010 Mar 19, In Iraq a roadside
bomb and a gun attack killed four people and wounded seven others in
2010 Mar 19, Japan said it will
boost its aid to quake-hit Haiti to 100 million dollars as the
country's foreign minister prepared to visit the impoverished
Caribbean nation this weekend.
2010 Mar 19, In Mexico a
shootout between soldiers and gunmen in the northern city of
Monterrey killed two bystanders, graduate students studying
engineering at Monterrey Tech University. Suspected gang members
also blocked roads in the city for the second day, in a bold attempt
to impede security patrols. The navy announced the capture of
Alberto "Bad Boy" Mendoza, suspected of being a chief cartel
operator linked to the Beltran Leyva gang and others in Monterrey.
(AP, 3/20/10)(AP, 3/22/10)
2010 Mar 19, It was reported
that February storms in Michoacan, Mexico, killed some 50-60% of the
wintering monarch butterfly population.
(SFC, 3/19/10, p.A10)
2010 Mar 19, A Nigerian armed
rebel group claimed to have blown up an oil facility in the restive
oil-producing Niger Delta region and threatened to step up attacks
in coming days.
2010 Mar 19, Palestinians in
east Jerusalem and the West Bank lobbed rocks at Israeli security
forces, set garbage bins and tires ablaze and torched an Israeli
flag in a new outbreak of violence over contested Jerusalem building
plans and unsubstantiated rumors about threats to the city's holiest
shrine. Israeli aircraft fired five missiles at Gaza's defunct
airport and nearby border tunnels, wounding at least 12 people.
2010 Mar 19, A Krakow court
ruled that allegations in the 2009 biography "Lech Walesa: The Idea
and History" by Pawel Zyzak that Walesa served as a communist
informant were slanderous. A 2000 special court already cleared
Walesa of collaboration allegations.
2010 Mar 19, Polish authorities
said a herd of some 300 bison in southeastern Poland is at risk from
tuberculosis after one recently died of the disease.
2010 Mar 19, In Russia the
international Quartet for the Middle East met in Moscow in a bid to
revive the peace process despite tensions after Israel's
announcement of new settler homes and a deadly rocket attack.
2010 Mar 19, In Somalia at
least three masked men armed with pistols shot Sheikh Daud Ali
Hasan, a senior commander of the insurgent group al-Shabab, several
times in the head and chest as he was coming out of a mosque in
2010 Mar 19, Spanish ministers
approved a wide-ranging 10-year reform plan designed to wean the
economy off its dependence on construction and create broader, more
sustainable growth as the country fights to climb out of recession.
2010 Mar 19, Thai
anti-government protesters announced plans to snarl up the capital
with a travelling rally in a bid to win support after rejecting a
conditional offer of talks by PM Abhisit Vejjajiva.
2010 Mar 19, Turkish
authorities indicted 33 people in an alleged secularist plot to
destabilize Turkey and overthrow the government. The suspects
included three retired or active-duty admirals and dozens of other
2010 Mar 19, Venezuelan
prosecutors charged a government opponent with conspiracy and other
crimes after he said on a television program that the country has
become a haven for drug trafficking.
2010 Mar 19, Yemen's Pres. Ali
Abdullah Saleh declared the country's six-year war with northern
rebels over, saying the Shiite militants are living up to a
cease-fire agreement signed last month.
2010 Mar 20, The Plastiki, a
boat with hull built of 12,500 plastic bottles, departed from
Sausalito, Ca. to Australia.
(SSFC, 3/21/10, DB p.46)
2010 Mar 20, An estimate of gay
men marrying heterosexual women in China was put at 90% as compared
to 15-20% in the US.
(Econ, 3/20/10, p.48)
2010 Mar 20, In Florida 3
people were killed when a single-engine plane collided with a
kit-built aircraft over Williston.
(SSFC, 3/21/10, p.A9)
2010 Mar 20, British Airways
canceled more than 1,000 flights after its cabin crew launched a
three-day strike, wreaking havoc on the plans of tens of thousands
of passengers just before the busy spring holiday season. .
2010 Mar 20 In Canada a 3rd
deadly avalanche in a week killed 2 French skiers in British
(SFC, 3/22/10, p.A2)
2010 Mar 20, China's capital
woke up to orange-tinted skies as the strongest sandstorm so far
this year hit the country's north, delaying some flights at
Beijing's airport and prompting a dust warning for Seoul.
2010 Mar 20, Croatia and
Slovenia hosted the 1st locally organized conference of the heads of
government of the former Yugoslavia.
(Econ, 4/3/10, p.54)
2010 Mar 20, In Iraq the latest
partial results showed PM al-Maliki's secular Shiite challenger,
former PM Ayad Allawi, pulling ahead again by a slim margin over the
prime minister's coalition in the overall tally. Al-Maliki called on
the election commission overseeing the counting to quickly respond
to requests from political blocs for a recount.
2010 Mar 20, UN chief Ban
Ki-moon, after getting a closer look at some of the Israeli enclaves
scattered across Palestinian-claimed territories, said Israeli
settlement building anywhere on occupied land is illegal and must be
2010 Mar 20, Nepal's former PM
Girija Prasad Koirala (86) died. He served five terms, led mass
protests that ended the king's authoritarian rule and was a key
figure in peace negotiations with communist rebels.
2010 Mar 20, Pakistani police
arrested three Taliban militants and seized a bomb-making factory in
the southern city of Karachi.
2010 Mar 20, In Russia
thousands of protesters rallied in several cities to protest the
government's economic policy and demand more political freedoms.
2010 Mar 20, Spanish surgeons
completed the world’s most extensive full-face transplant. It was
the 11th known face transplant in the world. The 24-hour operation
provided a young farmer (30) a new nose, jaw and teeth.
(SFC, 4/24/10, p.A3)(http://tinyurl.com/2fqgwfm)
2010 Mar 20, In Sudan 19
members of the Misseriya tribe and six from the rival Nuwayba tribe
were killed as fighting broke out. More than 20 people were wounded.
2010 Mar 20, In Togo thousands
of opposition demonstrators took to the streets in the West African
nation to protest presidential election results.
2010 Mar 21, President Barack
Obama announced that he will reaffirm a ban on using federal funds
to pay for abortions, which convinced some holdout Democrats to
support the healthcare overhaul but riled Republicans who said the
decision could be easily reversed. US House Democrats voted 219-212
late in the day to send legislation to Obama that would extend
coverage to 32 million uninsured Americans, reduce deficits and ban
insurance company practices such as denying coverage to people with
pre-existing medical conditions.
(Reuters, 3/22/10)(AP, 3/22/10)
2010 Mar 21, In Argentina 2
teenagers died, apparently after police tried to stop them for
riding a motorcycle without helmets. Hundreds of angry residents
torched the Baradero city hall to protest the death of the teenagers
in a police chase.
2010 Mar 21, Tropical Cyclone
Ului blew across the coast of northeastern Australia leaving some
60,000 homes without power.
2010 Mar 21, In southern
Afghanistan at least ten people picnicking by a stream to celebrate
the Afghan new year were killed in a suicide bomb attack. The blast
struck a bridge on the main highway between the capital Kabul and
Herat. In eastern Khost province a roadside bomb killed two
construction company guards when it hit their car. In Wardak
province an elderly man was shot and killed by a joint Afghan-int’l.
force that mistakenly believed he was a threat.
(AFP, 3/21/10)(SFC, 3/22/10, p.A2)
2010 Mar 21, British Airways
cabin crews walked off the job for a second day, upsetting travel
plans for scores of customers, but the airline said its contingency
plans were working well and more planes were taking off than
2010 Mar 21, In the eastern
Central African Republic Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army rebels
killed at least 10 civilians in the village of Agoumar, including a
woman burnt alive. One LRA rebel was killed by the villagers.
(Reuters, 3/22/10)(AFP, 3/30/10)
2010 Mar 21, China’s state
media reported that authorities in Xinjiang have restored access to
email services and 32 Internet sites that were blocked after ethnic
unrest broke out in the region in July.
2010 Mar 21, Cyprus police said
grave robbers stole the remains of 3 Cyprus Archbishops who led the
island's Greek Orthodox church in the late 19th and early 20th
centuries. Sofronios III and Kyrillos II led the Cypriot church
between 1865 and 1916 during Ottoman and British colonial rule.
Police arrested a Romanian man suspected of vandalizing the tombs.
2010 Mar 21, In Cairo, Egypt an
international donors conference raised $850 million in pledges for
projects intended to ensure the safe return of more than 2.7 million
people displaced during the war in Darfur. The one-day conference
was organized by the 57-nation Organization of The Islamic
Conference and included representatives from the US, European
nations, UN agencies and aid groups.
(AP, 3/21/10)(AP, 3/22/10)
2010 Mar 21 In France the
second-round regional poll left Pres. Sarkozy's right-wing UMP in
charge of only one of the mainland regions in the last ballot-box
test of his popularity before the 2012 presidential vote. The
Socialists won 54% of the vote.
(AFP, 3/22/10)(Econ, 3/27/10, p.18)
2010 Mar 21, Wolfgang Wagner
(b.1919), custodian of the Bayreuth Festival, died in Germany.
2010 Mar 21, A small earthquake
struck northern Haiti, collapsing an apartment building and killing
at least three people.
2010 Mar 21, In southern
Iceland a volcano erupted overnight, forcing some 600 hundred people
to evacuate the area and diverting flights after authorities
declared a local state of emergency.
(Reuters, 3/21/10)(AF, 3/22/10)
2010 Mar 21, India successfully
tested a new, more maneuverable version of its BrahMos supersonic
cruise missile that was jointly developed with Russia.
2010 Mar 21, In Indonesia a
rare Sumatran tiger dragged a man, identified as Darmilus (26), from
a hut in Seponjen village near the protected Berbak National Park,
and broke his neck as friends tried to rescue the victim.
2010 Mar 21, Iranian
authorities detained Hasan Lahouti, the grandson of former president
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, upon arrival from London. Rafsanjani, the
most powerful opposition supporter inside the country's clerical
leadership, has come under harsh criticism from hard-liners for his
support of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi. Lahouti was freed
the next day on a $73,000 bail.
(AP, 3/22/10)(AP, 3/23/10)
2010 Mar 21, In Jamaica Vivian
Blake (53), founder of a cocaine-smuggling gang blamed for about
1,400 slayings, died of illnesses at hospital a year after returning
to his native island following a prison term in the United States.
In 2003 Blake's son, Duane Blake, authored "The Shower Posse: The
Most Notorious Jamaican Crime Organization."
2010 Mar 21, In Mexico gunmen
targeting the police chief of a town outside Monterrey killed his
bodyguard and wounded three other people. Marquez Compean, a drug
suspect, and two others were arrested by Santa Catarina police
officers who were part of a convoy carrying Castillo on official
business. The next day Compean’s beaten body was found wrapped in a
blanket in the nearby city of San Nicolas de los Garza. Rodrigo
Medina, governor of the northern state of Nuevo Leon, announced that
he was firing 81 state police officers suspected of corruption. 5
men died in Acapulco after they pulled guns on each other during an
early morning fight that began as an argument at a wedding the
previous night. One man was killed in a following shootout between
gunmen riding in separate vehicles.
(AP, 3/22/10)(AP, 3/22/10)(AP, 3/24/10)
2010 Mar 21, Nigerian
authorities said police have arrested 164 people over a recent
massacre near the central city of Jos and plan to charge most with
offences ranging from terrorism to arson.
2010 Mar 21, In Pakistan the
bullet-riddled bodies of four tribesmen, killed by the Taliban for
allegedly spying for the United States, were found in a
semiautonomous tribal region near the Afghan border. They had been
kidnapped by the Taliban about 10 days earlier. A bomb exploded in
the southwestern province of Baluchistan killing at least three
people. Separately, helicopter gunships pounded Taliban hide-outs in
the Kurram and Upper Orakzai tribal regions, killing 28 militants.
Suspected US drones killed at least 4 people in a militant-dominated
tribal region near the Afghan border.
(AP, 3/21/10)(SFC, 3/22/10, p.A2)
2010 Mar 21, In Panama Cheryl
Lynn Hughes (50), an American, went missing in western Bocas del
Toro province. Police on July 20 found her body and the skeletal
remains of another person buried in the back patio of a hotel owned
by William Adolfo Cortez, of Texas.
2010 Mar 21, Conservationists
at the CITES meeting in Qatar said the Internet has emerged as one
of the greatest threats to rare species, fueling the illegal
wildlife trade and making it easier to buy everything from live baby
lions to wine made from tiger bones.
2010 Mar 21, In Spain the
Basque armed separatist movement ETA said it is ready to move
forward on the path of political change, but it stopped short of
renouncing violence as demanded by the Spanish government.
2010 Mar 21, Syrian police
opened fire at a group of Kurds celebrating the new year, killing at
least one person despite signs that tensions were easing between the
government and its restive Kurdish minority.
2010 Mar 21, Thailand was mired
in political deadlock as demonstrators used their own blood to
create a giant piece of protest art and rejected the government's
offer of talks designed to end their rally.
2010 Mar 21, Some of Yemen's
most influential Islamic leaders, including one the US says mentored
Osama bin Laden, declared supporters of a ban on child brides to be
apostates. A February 2009 law set the minimum age for marriage at
17, but it was repealed and sent back to parliament's constitutional
committee for review after some lawmakers called it un-Islamic. The
committee is expected to make a final decision on the legislation
2010 Mar 22, In Maryland Renee
Bowman (44) was sentenced to 2 consecutive life terms for killing
her two adopted daughters and storing their bodies in a freezer. She
had continued to collect subsidies paid to adoptive parents of
special needs children.
(SFC, 3/23/10, p.A7)
2010 Mar 22, Google announced
that its China search engine, google.cn, would automatically
redirect queries to its service in China's semiautonomous territory
of Hong Kong, where Google is not legally required to censor
2010 Mar 22, US scientist Rita
Colwell (76) won the $150,000 Stockholm Water Prize for her research
on the prevention of cholera and other waterborne diseases.
2010 Mar 22, The radio of
Spirit, NASA’s Mars rover, fell silent. In 2011 engineers gave up
trying to re-establish contact.
(SFC, 5/26/11, p.A10)
2010 Mar 22, Afghan President
Hamid Karzai met a senior delegation from the insurgent group
Hezb-i-Islami in Kabul, an unprecedented step toward peace that may
signal divisions within the insurgency. NATO reported two more
service members were killed in separate explosions in southern
2010 Mar 22, West African
farmers appealed for help as drought and famine menaced people and
livestock, with malnutrition already affecting nearly a third of the
population. Leaders of the nine countries in the Permanent
Interstate Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS)
planned to meet in N’Djamena on March 25.
2010 Mar 22, British Airways
cabin crew held a 3rd day of strike action, prolonging travel misery
for thousands. A business group warned the action threatens
Britain's global reputation.
2010 Mar 22, In China four
executives of Australia mining giant Rio Tinto pleaded guilty in
Shanghai to taking bribes.
(SFC, 3/23/10, p.D3)
2010 Mar 22, Sandstorms
whipping across China shrouded cities in an unhealthy cloud of sand
and grit, with winds carrying the pollution outside the mainland as
far as Hong Kong and Taiwan.
2010 Mar 22, Dubai Media
reported that authorities planned to step up enforcement of a 2003
law prohibiting restaurants from using booze in food preparation.
2010 Mar 22, Former US
Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton visited Haiti’s capital
to raise aid and investment in the country reeling from the Jan 12
(SFC, 3/23/10, p.A2)
2010 Mar 22, In Iraq 4 people
were killed, including two policemen, in shootings in Baghdad.
2010 Mar 22, Israeli forces
mistakenly shot and killed a fellow soldier while looking for three
Palestinians who crossed the border from the Gaza Strip.
2010 Mar 22, Japan deported
Abubakar Awudu Suraj, a Ghanaian who had lived illegally in Japan
for 22 years and was married to a Japanese citizen. Suraj was forced
onto a plane for Cairo and died shortly after his forced boarding.
(Econ, 5/15/10, p.48)
2010 Mar 22, In Mexico the
pre-dawn discovery of two bodies cut into pieces and shoved into two
black bags brought a tragic end to a search for two missing police
officers in southern Guerrero state. In the nearby resort of
Acapulco, police later found another two mutilated bodies and a
threatening message outside the house of the city's former deputy
traffic police chief.
2010 Mar 22, In Mexico Paulette
Gebara Farah (4), a disabled girl, was reported missing by her
parents. On March 30 Her body was found under the mattress of her
bed at her wealthy parents' apartment on the outskirts of Mexico
City. On May 21 federal investigators she had smothered accidentally
and was there the whole time police and family were hunting for her.
(AP, 4/1/10)(AP, 5/21/10)
2010 Mar 22, In Nigeria the
Magajin Gari Sharia court in the northern city of Kaduna ordered the
Civil Rights Congress (CRC), one of the country's leading rights
groups, to suspend its Twitter and Facebook online debates on Malam
Buba Bello Jangebe’s wrist amputation for theft, which was carried
out in 2000.
2010 Mar 22, In southwestern
Pakistan a roadside bomb exploded in Quetta, killing one person and
injuring three more in an attack that police blamed on ethnic
2010 Mar 22, In Venezuela
former Zulia state Gov. Oswaldo Alvarez Paz, an outspoken opponent
of President Hugo Chavez, said that police have taken him into
custody while he awaits trial on conspiracy charges for saying
Venezuela has become a haven for drug trafficking.
2010 Mar 23, President Barack
Obama signed a historic $938 billion health care overhaul that
guarantees coverage for 32 million uninsured Americans and will
touch nearly every citizen's life, presiding over the biggest shift
in US domestic policy since the 1960s and capping a divisive,
yearlong debate that could define the November elections. Florida
and 12 other states challenged it minutes later. Republican
legislators in more than 3 dozen states sought to challenge the bill
contending that it will infringe on state sovereignty and individual
freedoms. The bill included a 2.3% excise tax on medical devices set
to begin in 2013.
(AP, 3/23/10)(SFC, 3/24/10, p.A12)(SSFC, 3/28/10,
p.A10)(Econ, 3/31/12, p.37)
2010 Mar 23, Talks between US
President Barack Obama and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu failed to
produce signs they had ended a dispute which Netanyahu said could
block the Middle East peace process for a year.
2010 Mar 23, The US Federal
Reserve issued new rules to protect Americans from getting stung by
unexpected fees or restrictions on gift cards.
2010 Mar 23, In Texas 4 police
officers were captured on videotape beating burglary suspect Chad
Holley (16). The 4 officers were fired. In 2012 former officer
Andrew Blomberg was found not guilty of official oppression.
(SFC, 5/17/12, p.A8)(http://tinyurl.com/75oebn2)
2010 Mar 23, Internet giant
Google led high-profile criticism of Australia's controversial plan
to filter the Internet, saying it went too far and could set a
2010 Mar 23, Jim Marshall
(b.1936), legendary rock and roll photographer, died in a NYC hotel.
(SFC, 3/25/10, p.A1)
2010 Mar 23, In northeastern
Afghanistan the bodies of 30 people were recovered from the site of
avalanche in the remote Arghang Khzahkha district north of Faizabad.
The remains of five other people lost in the snow slide that
occurred two weeks ago have not yet been located.
2010 Mar 23, Austria’s
Graz-Seckau diocese said a priest has resigned after admitting he
abused a 17-year-old boy. The priest reportedly stepped down of his
own accord for the abuse that happened more than 20 years ago on a
vacation. 2 other priests have also been suspended as a
precautionary measure because one was convicted of committing a
homosexual act with a 17-year-old and the other was convicted of
exhibitionism in cases dating back about 15 and 20 years.
2010 Mar 23, Britain expelled
an Israeli diplomat to rebuke Israel for its alleged use of forged
British passports in the assassination of a Hamas operative in a
suspected Mossad hit.
2010 Mar 23, In eastern China a
former doctor, Zheng Minsheng (41), armed with a large knife
rampaged outside an elementary school, stabbing 8 young children to
death and wounding 5 others at the Nanping City Experimental
Elementary School in Fujian province. On April 8 the Intermediate
People's Court in Nanping city sentenced Minsheng to death.
(AP, 3/23/10)(AP, 4/8/10)
2010 Mar 23, Colombian forces
rescued 5 subcontractors of Occidental Petroleum, who were kidnapped
near the Venezuelan last week by suspected leftist guerrillas.
(SFC, 3/24/10, p.A2)
2010 Mar 23, Luxury goods
manufacturers said a ruling from the EU's highest court will stop
Google Inc. selling their brand names as advertising keywords to
unauthorized sellers or counterfeiters.
2010 Mar 23, In India at least
four people died and 18 others were injured when a fire engulfed a
landmark building in the heart of the eastern city of Kolkata.
2010 Mar 23, The Macro Centre
for Political Economics said in a report that spending on Jewish
settlements in the West Bank over the past 4 decades has totaled
around $17.4 billion. An Israeli air strike on the Gaza Strip
overnight injured four people.
(AP, 3/23/10)(AFP, 3/23/10)
2010 Mar 23, Kyrgyzstan's Pres.
Kurmanbek Bakiyev said that Western-style democracy has run its
course in the ex-Soviet Central Asian country, prompting fears of a
further decline in political freedoms.
2010 Mar 23, In Libya Seif
al-Islam Gadhafi said 34 members of the Libyan Islamic Fighting
Group, including its leader, were sent home after they affirmed they
had broken ties with the organization. The group is suspected of
having links to al-Qaida.
2010 Mar 23, Two Nigerian oil
workers were found dead in the oil-rich Niger Delta region after
being kidnapped on March 13.
2010 Mar 23, Pakistani
hardliners vowed to wage a holy war to liberate the disputed
Himalayan state of Kashmir from Indian control. A suspected US
missile struck a house in North Waziristan killing 3 people.
(AFP, 3/23/10)(SFC, 3/24/10, p.A4)
2010 Mar 23, At the CITES
convention in Qatar Asian nations blocked US-backed proposals to
protect the heavily fished hammerhead and oceanic whitetip sharks on
concerns that regulating the booming trade in fins could hurt poor
2010 Mar 23, Senegal's national
assembly adopted a bill declaring slavery and the slave trade crimes
against humanity, moving closer to becoming the first African nation
to pass such legislation.
2010 Mar 23, Somali pirates
hijacked the Malta-flagged MV Frigia, a Turkish ship with 21 crew on
board. A 2nd hijacking, of the refrigerated MV Talca, took place off
the coast of Oman. Private security guards shot and killed a Somali
pirate during an attack on a merchant ship off the coast of East
Africa in what is believed to be the first such killing by armed
contractors. The guards were onboard the MV Almezaan when a pirate
group approached it twice. During the 2nd approach on the
Panamanian-flagged cargo ship, which is United Arab Emirates owned,
there was an exchange of fire between the guards and the pirates.
The Spanish warship Navarra intercepted two skiffs and a larger
vessel believed to be a pirate mothership. Spanish forces arrested
the six remaining pirates, took custody of the pirate's body and
sunk the larger boat. The 6 pirates were soon released after the
captain of the MV Almezaan said he could not identify the men
detained by the Spanish navy as the group of pirates who attacked
him. The Talca was freed on May 11 along with its 25 crew members 3
days after a ransom was paid. The Frigia was freed on July 29, 2010.
(AP, 3/23/10)(AP, 3/24/10)(SFC, 3/24/10,
p.A2)(AP, 3/25/10)(AP, 5/11/10)(AP, 7/29/10)
2010 Mar 23, Yemeni security
courts sentenced two opposition leaders to prison for allegedly
working against national unity and calling for secession of the
country's south. Ahmed Bamualem, a leader in the southern movement
and former member of parliament who was detained in April, was
sentenced to 10 years in jail. Retired army Brig. Gen. Ali Mohammed
al-Saadi, also active in the movement, received a 15-month sentence.
2010 Mar 24, President Barack
Obama's administration named 54 alleged Mexican drug cartel
lieutenants and enforcers as drug kingpins under a law that allows
the US government to freeze their bank accounts and penalize their
2010 Mar 24, The US and Russia
reached a breakthrough agreement for a historic treaty to reduce
their nuclear arsenals. Prague announced it will host the signing of
a new US-Russian treaty to reduce long-range nuclear weapons. The
deal would replace the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.
(AP, 3/24/10)(SFC, 3/25/10, p.A10)
2010 Mar 24, More than 1
million baby slings made by Infantino were recalled in the US after
claims linking them to three infant deaths. Another 15,000 were
recalled in Canada.
2010 Mar 24, Robert Culp
(b.1930), TV actor, died after hitting his head during a fall near
his Hollywood home. Culp shot to fame thanks to his Kelly Robinson
role in “I Spy" (1965-1968). During the 1980s, Culp also logged 44
episodes as Bill Maxwell in “The Greatest American Hero."
2010 Mar 24, In southern
Afghanistan a bombing killed two NATO service members. A NATO
soldier was killed by small-arms attack in southern Afghanistan. Six
Taliban fighters were killed in Marjah, an area in the southern
province of Helmand captured last month by NATO, US and Afghan
troops during a massive operation. Two Afghan civilians died in the
crossfire of a gun battle between foreign troops and militants in
(AP, 3/24/10)(AFP, 3/25/10)
2010 Mar 24, Australia and
China signed a multibillion dollar natural gas deal, pushing ahead
with business as the trial of four employees of mining giant Rio
Tinto ended in Shanghai with a verdict still to be announced.
2010 Mar 24, Canada’s province
of Quebec passed legislation stipulating that Muslim women will need
to uncover their faces when dealing with Quebec government services.
(SFC, 3/25/10, p.A2)
2010 Mar 24, In China the
presidents of Afghanistan and China oversaw the signing of new
agreements aimed at strengthening the Afghan economy as a step
toward combating the Taliban and achieving political stability.
2010 Mar 24, In Colombia a car
bomb ripped open cars and storefronts in the administrative center
of the Pacific port of Buenaventura, left 9 people dead and 56
wounded. The FARC was suspected.
(AP, 3/25/10)(Econ, 4/10/10, p.38)
2010 Mar 24, Egyptian police
arrested 22 people suspected of involvement in smuggling goods into
the Gaza Strip as part of major crackdown.
2010 Mar 24, El Salvador
President Mauricio Funes publicly apologized on behalf of the state
for the 1980 assassination of Roman Catholic Archbishop Oscar
Arnulfo Romero. Funes said Romero was killed by right-wing death
squads "who unfortunately acted with the protection, collaboration
or participation of state agents."
2010 Mar 24, Dozens of French
sex workers proclaiming themselves proud to be prostitutes marched
to protest a lawmaker's proposal to legalize brothels in France,
arguing that such a law would deny them the freedom to work on their
2010 Mar 24, Iceland’s
parliament voted to ban striptease shows, making it an offense for
any business to profit from the nudity of its employees. The ban
takes effect on 1 July.
2010 Mar 24, Indonesian police
ordered the cancellation of a conference of Asian gay activists,
saying it could prompt violent protests by conservative Muslim
2010 Mar 24, In Iraq gunmen
riding in two cars shot dead five Iraqi soldiers at a checkpoint in
the suburbs of Baghdad. Iraqi forces arrested 17 suspects in the
2010 Mar 24, Japan’s government
passed a 92 trillion yen budget for the fiscal year beginning April
(Econ, 4/3/10, p.77)
2010 Mar 24, The Jerusalem
municipality said it has approved 20 new apartments for Jews in an
Arab neighborhood of east Jerusalem, in a move that could stir a new
diplomatic crisis with the United States just as Israel's leader is
in Washington on a fence-mending visit.
2010 Mar 24, In Libya some 200
former Islamist militants walked out the gate of at Tripoli's Abu
Salim prison, accompanied by relatives weeping with joy, after a
release brokered by a son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
2010 Mar 24, Mexican federal
police arrested Jose Antonio Medina (36), Mexico's "King of Heroin,"
a powerful drug trafficker allegedly responsible for running
thousands of pounds of heroin into Southern California each year.
Medina was accused of moving 440 pounds of heroin into California
(AP, 3/26/10)(SFC, 3/26/10, p.A4)
2010 Mar 24, Mozambican and
donor officials say they have resolved questions over corruption and
democracy that led to an aid freeze.
2010 Mar 24, Most of Nigeria
was shrouded in a thick dust storm, disrupting air travel and
threatening to trigger respiratory problems.
2010 Mar 24, Norway announced
that John Tate, an American professor at the University of Texas,
Austin, has won the 6 million kroner ($1 million) Abel Prize for
mathematics. The prize jury praised Tate as "a prime architect" of
number theory, a branch of mathematics that has played a key role in
the development of modern computers.
2010 Mar 24, In Norway 16 empty
cargo train cars careened downhill for 3 miles (5 km) on the
outskirts of Oslo before slamming into a port and killing three dock
workers. Faulty brakes were blamed for the accident.
2010 Mar 24, Pakistani security
forces backed by jets pounded militant hide-outs near the Afghan
border, killing 23 suspected Islamist insurgents.
2010 Mar 24, Fitch Ratings, a
leading credit rating agency, downgraded Portugal's debt amid
growing concerns about the government's ability to service its
borrowings, another piece of bad news for the eurozone as it
struggles to deal with a debt crisis.
2010 Mar 24, Saudi Arabia said
it has foiled several planned attacks on oil installations with the
arrests of 113 suspected al-Qaida militants in a months-long sweep.
2010 Mar 24, Switzerland said
it will lift a travel ban on senior Libyan officials to ease
tensions in a dispute that has drawn in much of Europe. The Swiss
government expressed hope that Libya would respond by ending visa
restrictions against citizens of Switzerland and 24 other nations in
Europe's passport-free zone.
2010 Mar 24, Pope Benedict XVI
accepted the resignation of Bishop John Magee, a former papal aide
who stands accused of endangering children by failing to follow the
Irish church's own rules on reporting suspected pedophile priests to
2010 Mar 24, The UN and
Interpol released a joint report saying gorillas in central Africa
are in danger from illegal logging, mining and from hunters who are
killing great apes for meat.
2010 Mar 24, A Zimbabwean
rights group that organized a photo exhibit documenting human rights
violations scrambled to re-hang its damaged displays just minutes
before the show was slated to begin. Police had confiscated the
photos a day earlier, but the show's organizers won a court ruling
ordering the photos' return to the independent downtown Gallery
Delta. The rights group abandoned the photo exhibit following fresh
attempts by police to shut it down.
2010 Mar 25, The US Dept. of
Defense announced stricter guidelines for discharging gay and
lesbian service members allowing only generals to approve
(SFC, 3/26/10, p.A6)
2010 Mar 25, Florida Int’l.
Univ. (FIU) running back Kendall Berry was stabbed late at night,
after the 22-year-old junior from Haines City, Fla., was involved in
an argument with another man outside the front doors of the school's
student recreation center in Miami.
2010 Mar 25, Maine Gov. John
Baldacci signed into law America’s first blanket “extended producer
responsibility" (EPR) framework law. It ordered manufacturers to
assume the cost of disposing their products following consumer use.
Maine’s EPR law for electronic waste went into effect in 2004.
(Econ, 4/3/10, p.67)(http://tinyurl.com/y5ew8vk)
2010 Mar 25, In western
Tennessee a medical helicopter crashed ion stormy weather killing
its crew of three.
(SFC, 3/26/10, p.A6)
2010 Mar 25, The top UN envoy
for Afghanistan, Staffan de Mistura, met with delegates from
Hezb-e-Islami, the country's second-biggest militant group, who are
in Kabul for talks on a possible peace deal. Hezb-e-Islami is headed
by warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who is black-listed as a terrorist
by the UN and the US.
2010 Mar 25, Al-Qaida leader
Osama bin Laden threatened in a new audio recording released to kill
any captured Americans if the US executes the self-professed
mastermind of the Sept.11 attacks or any other al-Qaida suspects.
2010 Mar 25, A top Australian
official said about 100 Australian police are being investigated for
circulating racist and pornographic e-mails via the internal police
e-mail system, and one officer involved in the scandal has committed
2010 Mar 25, Bangladesh set up
a war crimes tribunal for long-delayed trials of people accused of
murder, torture, rape and arson during its 1971 independence war.
2010 Mar 25, In Belarus some
2,000 opposition activists held a protest rally despite police
blocks that authorities explained were part of security measures
against an alleged bomb threat. March 25 has long been a traditional
day of opposition demonstration, marking what they call Freedom Day,
the anniversary of the 1918 declaration of the first, short-lived
independent Belarusian state.
2010 Mar 25, In London a
teenager (15) was stabbed in front of commuters during the evening
rush hour at Victoria station. Paramedics were unable to resuscitate
the boy. 20 detainees (14 to 17) and were being questioned in
connection with the incident.
2010 Mar 25, Chinese officials
said emergency wells were being drilled and cloud-seeding operations
carried out in southern China, where the worst drought in decades
has left millions of people without water and caused more than 1,000
schools to close.
2010 Mar 25, China agreed to
share water level data at 2 dams to ease pressure from nations
downstream, including Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.
(SFC, 4/6/10, p.A3)
2010 Mar 25, In Colombia a
package bomb killed a 12-year-old boy who may have been given it to
take to a police station after school in the coca-growing southwest.
2010 Mar 25, Dubai said it
would inject 9.5 billion dollars into Dubai World, which announced
it was asking creditors to wait for up to eight years to be repaid
2010 Mar 25, Leaders of the 16
eurozone countries agreed to a plan to rescue Greece if it finds
itself unable to borrow.
2010 Mar 25, Former French PM
Dominique de Villepin announced the creation of a new center-right
party set to challenge bitter rival President Nicolas Sarkozy in
elections in two years' time.
2010 Mar 25, In Ireland a judge
in Limerick ruled that the city’s 110 pubs can open on April 2
because the city is hosting a major Irish rugby match. This will be
the 1st time that pubs anywhere in Ireland will open on Good Friday.
(SFC, 3/26/10, p.A2)
2010 Mar 25, Kenyan police
arrested an American of Somali origin who was on a terror watch list
as he and two associates attempted to fly to Somalia. American
Suleman Essa, Canadian Ahmed Ali Hassan and Kenyan Muhammed Hussein
Hash were about to board a plane ferrying aid to Somalia when they
were arrested. All 4 were released the next day.
(AP, 3/25/10)(AP, 3/26/10)
2010 Mar 25, In Mexico police
were searching for two prison guards and 40 prisoners who
disappeared after a pre-dawn jailbreak in the Mexican city of
Matamoros across the border from Brownsville, Texas. Gunmen killed a
deputy police chief and his bodyguard in Nogales, Sonora state.
(AP, 3/25/10)(AP, 3/27/10)
2010 Mar 25, A Netherlands
court fined the owner of what was the biggest marijuana-selling
"coffee shop" in the country almost euro10 million ($13.34 million)
for violating liberal Dutch drug laws, in what is seen as a test for
authorities seeking to rein in the growth of such cafes.
2010 Mar 25, Pirates attacked a
Turkish cargo ship off the coast of Nigeria, injuring three crew
members. Eight to 10 pirates with automatic weapons boarded the Ozay
5. They robbed the crew of money and cellphones but fled after the
ship began making distress calls.
2010 Mar 25, It was reported
that deaths from starvation in North Korea’s South Pyongan province
was in the thousands since January and that the bodies of
malnourished elderly people were being found in the streets of
(SFC, 3/25/10, p.A4)
2010 Mar 25, Pakistani military
airstrikes killed 61 suspected militants in an area near the Afghan
border, including dozens at a seminary where Taliban commanders were
believed to be meeting. Pakistani police said they had arrested two
of the men who kidnapped a British boy (5) for 12 days this month,
and paraded the hooded and shackled suspects before the media.
Taliban fighters seized a security checkpoint in the Orakzai tribal
region close to the Afghan border, sparking clashes that killed five
soldiers and 32 insurgents in a region where the army is pressing an
(AP, 3/25/10)(AP, 3/26/10)
2010 Mar 25, In Qatar the CITES
UN wildlife meeting rejected efforts to regulate the trade in
overfished porbeagle sharks, reversing an earlier ruling at the
conference and leaving none of the proposed shark species with
protection. Asia nations managed to reopen the debate on the final
day of the conference and voted to kill the proposal.
2010 Mar 25, In Switzerland the
Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council (HRC) voted 20-17 for a text
that lists the “defamation of religion" as an infringement of
(Econ, 4/3/10, p.62)
2010 Mar 25, In Venezuela
Guillermo Zuloaga, owner of Globovision, was arrested, raising
concerns the government is pursuing a widening crackdown to silence
opponents. Globovision is the country’s only remaining TV channel
that takes a critical line against Pres. Chavez.
2010 Mar 26, Pres. Obama
concluded a new strategic arms reduction treaty in a call with
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
2010 Mar 26, The Obama
administration unveiled a revamped Home Affordable Mortgage Program
(Econ, 4/3/10, p.78)
2010 Mar 26, Hacker Albert
Gonzalez (28), who participated in a cybercrime ring that stole tens
of millions of credit and debit card numbers, was sentenced in US
District Court to 20 years in prison. Gonzalez was living in Miami
at the time of the crimes in the three cases, which occurred over
almost two years before he was arrested in May of 2008 and
subsequently indicted in New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts.
2010 Mar 26, In south-central
Kentucky at least 10 people were killed in a fiery crash between a
tractor-trailer and a van after the truck crossed over the median on
an interstate highway.
2010 Mar 26, The head of Abu
Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, went missing
after his glider crashed in Morocco. Ahmed bin Zayed Al Nahyan's
glider went down in a lake in Morocco. The pilot of the aircraft was
rescued in good condition. The body of al-Nahayan was found on March
(AP, 3/27/10)(AFP, 3/30/10)
2010 Mar 26, In eastern
Afghanistan a gunman attacked a group of German and Afghan aid
workers inspecting a high school under renovation. 2 people died and
a German employed by German humanitarian organization GTZ was among
10 people wounded when assailants opened fire on workers in Khost
(AP, 3/26/10)(AFP, 3/27/10)
2010 Mar 26-2010 Mar 27, In
China hundreds of citizens rampaged in the southern city of Kunming
enraged by rumors that a vendor had been killed by an officer of the
“City Administration and Law Enforcement Bureau," commonly known by
its Chinese abbreviation chengguan.
(Econ, 4/3/10, p.43)
2010 Mar 26, In Ecuador a
district court judge convicted Emilio Palacio, a newspaper editorial
writer for the newspaper El Universo, of insulting the head of the
government's National Financial Corp. and sentenced him to three
years in prison.
2010 Mar 26, Egyptian police
said they arrested 45 suspected smugglers over the past three days
in an intensified crackdown on the supply line to Gaza by way of
hundreds of cross-border tunnels. Among the suspects was a man
accused of trying to deliver $242,000 in Egyptian pounds and US
dollars to Hamas in Gaza.
2010 Mar 26, Iraq’s election
commission announced that former PM Ayad Allawi edged out chief
rival PM Nouri al-Maliki by two seats, 91-89, in the March 7 vote
for a 325-member parliament.
2010 Mar 26, In Finland Juha
Turunen, a corporate lawyer, was convicted of kidnapping heiress
Minna Nurminen (26) and holding her captive for two weeks in 2009
until her family paid a multimillion euro (dollar) ransom. He had
admitted during the trial that he had kidnapped Nurminen and held
her captive at an apartment in Turku, western Finland. She was
released unharmed and police recovered the ransom money.
2010 Mar 26, Germany and
Switzerland said they have reached a preliminary deal on an
agreement to exchange information on suspected tax cheats, an
important step toward defusing a long-festering irritant in their
2010 Mar 26, In Honduras radio
journalists Jose Bayardo (52) and Manuel de Jesus Juarez (55) were
riddled with bullets late in the day as they drove on a highway in
the rural province of Olancho. Three other journalists have been
killed in March in Honduras, which is wracked by political divisions
relating to a 2009 coup and common crime fueled by street gangs.
2010 Mar 26, Israel insisted it
would continue construction in contested east Jerusalem, taking an
uncompromising stance against US pressure following a tense visit by
PM Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington. Two Israeli soldiers and two
Palestinian militants were killed in a gunbattle in the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian medics said one civilian was killed and seven were
wounded in the fighting. Militants reported one wounded and one
missing. Israeli soldier withdrew the next day.
(AP, 3/26/10)(AP, 3/27/10)
2010 Mar 26, In northern Mexico
the decapitated body of Heriberto Cerda, the police chief in
Agualeguas, Nuevo Leon state, and the body of his brother were found
inside the chief's patrol truck. Late in the day gunmen opened fired
on a hotel in downtown Ciudad Juarez where federal agents stay,
killing one and wounding two.
2010 Mar 26, Mozambican police
said they have arrested 7 people suspected of trafficking women to
neighboring South Africa to work as prostitutes. The men were
arrested last week through a police sting operation. The women were
on sale for about $670 each.
2010 Mar 26, Asad Qureshi, a
British journalist, went missing while traveling to North Waziristan
with a retired army officer Sultan Amir Tarar (Col. Imam), and
Khalid Khawaja, a prominent Pakistani ex-spy. Khawaja was found
killed by the captors on April 30. On Sep 9 it was reported that
Qureshi and Col. Imam were released.
2010 Mar 26, A South Korean
naval ship sank leaving 46 marines missing near Baengnyeong Island.
An explosion at the rear of the Cheonan shut down its engine, wiped
out power and caused the ship to sink a little over three hours
later. 58 of the crew of 104 were rescued. A North Korean mine was
later suspected as the cause of the explosion. South Korea's defense
minister confirmed on May 10 that traces of an explosive chemical
substance used to make torpedoes were found in the wreckage of the
(AP, 3/27/10)(AP, 3/29/10)(AP, 5/10/10)
2010 Mar 26, Tens of thousands
of Syrians and Palestinians gathered in a Damascus square in a
government-orchestrated "march of anger" against Israeli settlements
in east Jerusalem.
2010 Mar 26, Togo's government
and the opposition coalition signed a temporary truce committing
both sides to peace, law and order following opposition protests
against presidential election results.
2010 Mar 26, Zimbabwe state
media reported that PM Morgan Tsvangirai has backed President Robert
Mugabe's stance against including gay rights in a new constitution.
President Robert Mugabe said he would only implement terms of an
agreement he signed in 2008 with rival Morgan Tsvangirai if the West
removed sanctions on his allies.
(AFP, 3/26/10)(Reuters, 3/26/10)
2010 Mar 27, Robert Krentz
(58), a prominent Arizona rancher near the Mexican border, was shot
while working at his remote cattle ranch on the Arizona-Mexico
border. His family's ranch sprawled over 35,000 acres. Investigators
tracked the footprints of the suspected gunman about 20 miles south
to the border with Mexico, prompting some authorities to blame
smugglers or illegal immigrants for the killing.
2010 Mar 27, Federal agents in
southern Michigan raided the home of David Stone, the suspected
leader of the Hutaree militia, a group of self-proclaimed Christian
warriors. Authorities recovered hand grenade instructions and
schematics, a container of potassium chlorate, and other items.
(SFC, 4/13/10, p.A5)
2010 Mar 27, In southern
Afghanistan an international service member was killed by a roadside
bomb. 6 civilians were killed in two separate roadside bomb
explosions, one in Sangin district and one in Nawa district.
(AP, 3/27/10)(AP, 3/28/10)
2010 Mar 27, In Australia
Sydney's iconic Opera House and Harbor Bridge went dark along with
millions of homes at the start of Earth Hour, a global switch-off
aimed at revitalizing efforts against climate change.
2010 Mar 27, British Airways
cabin crew launched a four-day strike, the second wave of action in
a week as part of a bitter, long-running dispute over pay and
2010 Mar 27, Pirates off the
coast of Cameroon’s Bakassi peninsula seized the MV Gull, a Ghanaian
ship, and kidnapped two sailors for ransom. Pirates took control of
the ship and kidnapped its captain and an officer on board once they
found nothing worth stealing. Pirates freed the two West African
sailors on March 31.
(AP, 3/30/10)(AFP, 3/31/10)
2010 Mar 27, In China a
recycling pool at a sewage treatment plant collapsed in northern
Shaanxi province and some 1,000 tons of oil sludge contaminated
farmland and the Luohe River, a tributary of the Yellow River.
2010 Mar 27, Iran used an
ancient new year celebration to reach out to Afghanistan,
Azerbaijan, Iraq, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Turkey at a summit
meeting that projected Iranian leadership in the strategic region
straddling the Middle East and Central Asia.
2010 Mar 27, In Turin, Italy,
Mao Asada (19) of Japan toppled Olympic champion Yu-Na Kim in a
triumphant season finale which saw her claim her second world title
at the world figure skating championships.
2010 Mar 27, A two-day Arab
League summit opened in Sirte, Libya. Amr Moussa, the head of the
Arab League, urged the 22-nation bloc to engage Iran directly over
concerns about its growing influence in the region and its disputed
2010 Mar 27, Libya lifted a
visa ban on citizens of 25 European countries after EU president
Spain said a Swiss-instigated visa blacklist against 188 Libyans in
those countries had been scrapped.
2010 Mar 27, In western Mexico
two police officers and two other men have been found shot to death
at a gas station in Michoacan state. In Guerrero state a man was
found tied up and fatally shot in a car in the resort of Acapulco.
The bodies of four men and a woman were found on a rural road in a
town not far from the violent border city of Ciudad Juarez. More
than 7,000 people gathered in the northern city of Monterrey to
protest a wave of violence that has affected the country's third
largest city in recent weeks.
2010 Mar 27, Pakistani air
strikes killed at least 11 militants in a new offensive against
foreign fighters in the restive northwest tribal belt bordering
Afghanistan. Suspected US missiles killed 4 people in the northwest.
(AFP, 3/27/10)(SSFC, 3/28/10, p.A6)
2010 Mar 27, Peruvian police
said five people have been killed by a mudslide set off by heavy
rains in a remote community of wildcat miners in the southeastern
2010 Mar 27, In Russia an
apartment block west of Moscow partially collapsed following a
suspected gas explosion, killing three people and possibly trapping
others under the rubble.
2010 Mar 27, In Russia former
Soviet world chess champion Vasily Smyslov (89) died of heart
failure. Smyslov beat Mikhail Botvinnik in 1957 to become the
seventh world champion, before losing in a re-match the following
year. His career in the top flight of world chess spanned some four
decades. He was beaten by Garry Kasparov in 1984 in the
Candidates Final match for the right to challenge Anatoly Karpov for
the world title, which Kasparov went on to capture.
2010 Mar 27, In Somalia 3
people were killed and four injured in clashes between government
soldiers and armed protesters opposing the demolition of their
houses near Mogadishu's main airport.
2010 Mar 27, Korea Life became
the first big South Korean life insurer to go public. Others were
expected to soon follow.
(Econ, 3/27/10, p.81)
2010 Mar 27, In Sudan Darfur
rebels allegedly shot down 2 Sudanese army helicopters in the latest
reports of fighting that have marred faltering peace talks between
Khartoum and other insurgents. Sudan's army said two of its
helicopters crashed after developing technical problems.
2010 Mar 27, Thai troops
retreated from security posts in the capital, bowing to demands from
80,000 jubilant red-shirted protesters who mounted a rally to demand
2010 Mar 27, In Yemen policemen
opened fire in Daleh on the funeral procession for a Southern
Movement member killed by police gunfire a week earlier, wounding 28
2010 Mar 27, Zimbabwe police
shut down an art exhibit exploring violence blamed on President
Robert Mugabe. Artist Owen Maseko had collected family photos of
missing people, images of mine shafts where bodies were believed
dumped and reports on an armed uprising after independence in 1980
in the western Matabeleland district that was crushed by troops
loyal to Mugabe. Thousands of civilians were massacred in the
2010 Mar 28, President Barack
Obama made a surprise visit to Afghanistan for a firsthand look at
the 8-year-old war he inherited and dramatically escalated. German
Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere held talks in Afghanistan on
stuttering progress in training the country's security forces.
Russia accused the US of conniving with Afghanistan's drug producers
by refusing to destroy opium crops, the second time in a week Moscow
has taken a swipe at the West over drug policy.
(AP, 3/28/10)(AFP, 3/28/10)(Reuters, 3/28/10)
2010 Mar 28, US federal agents
in Ohio arrested 2 members Hutaree, a Christian militia group
“preparing for end time battles to keep the testimony of Jesus
Christ alive." A 3rd person was arrested the next day in Indiana as
part of an investigation led by the FBI in Michigan.
(SFC, 3/29/10, p.A6)
2010 Mar 28, The Pritzker
Architecture Prize was awarded to Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa,
partners in Sanaa Ltd. of Tokyo. Their work included NYC’s New
Museum of Contemporary Art, completed in 2007.
(SFC, 3/29/10, p.A6)
2010 Mar 28, In Colorado
Kayleah Wilson (12) went missing as she walked to a b-day party in
Greeley. On May 19 police retrieved her decomposing body from an
irrigation ditch about a mile and a half from her home.
(SFC, 4/5/10, p.A4)(SFC, 5/21/10, p.A4)
2010 Mar 28, British Airways
cabin crew entered the second day of a four-day strike, bringing
further travel disruption with no end in sight for a dispute that
has become increasingly political.
2010 Mar 28, In Central Africa
LRA elements were chased by the Ugandan army, which killed at least
15 rebels in the village of Dembia. More than 40 people were
abducted from the three villages including in Bangassou, where about
400 people had taken refuge from the fighting.
2010 Mar 28, In northern China
at least 153 miners were trapped underground after water gushed into
the state-owned the Wangjialing coal mine. 115 Chinese miners were
pulled out alive on April 5 after being trapped for over a week in
the flooded mine. Some had eaten sawdust and strapped themselves to
the shafts' walls with their belts to avoid drowning while they
slept. As of April 11 the death toll stood at 33 with 5 miners still
(AP, 3/28/10)(AP, 3/29/10)(AP, 4/5/10)(AP,
2010 Mar 28, Zhejiang Geely
Holding Group signed a binding deal to buy Ford Motor Co.'s Volvo
Cars unit for $1.8 billion, representing a coup for the independent
Chinese automaker which is aiming to expand in Europe.
2010 Mar 28, Colombian rebels
handed over Pvt. Josue Calvo (23) to the International Red Cross in
their first release of a captive in more than a year. The insurgents
are promising to soon free a second soldier they've held for far
(AP, 3/28/10)(SFC, 3/29/10, p.A2)
2010 Mar 28, In Guyana Sangeeta
Persaud (15) died after neighbors and a local pastor tried to treat
her convulsions with an exorcism at a church.
2010 Mar 28, In Iraq several
bombs exploded near a house linked to a prominent Sunni figure who
ran in this month's parliamentary elections, killing five people and
wounding 26 others.
2010 Mar 28, Israel said it
will restrict access to its territory from the occupied West Bank
starting late today ahead of the week-long Jewish Passover holiday.
2010 Mar 28, In Italy voters
cast their ballots in regional elections. Premier Silvio Berlusconi
emerged as the victor in the elections widely depicted as a test of
his popularity. Only 64% bothered to vote.
(AP, 3/28/10)(AP, 3/30/10)(Econ, 4/3/10, p.53)
2010 Mar 28, In Libya Arab
leaders renewed their support for Mideast peace efforts, rejecting
pressure from Syria and Libya on the Palestinians to abandon talks
with Israel and resume armed resistance.
2010 Mar 28, In Mexico gunmen
in Durango state killed 10 young people riding in pickup truck when
they didn't stop at a gang's illegal roadblock. 3 gunmen died in a
clash with soldiers near a park crowded with families in the border
city of Nuevo Laredo. Tamaulipas state investigators said police
found the bodies of three men who had been shot to death in the town
of Miguel Aleman. In the Nuevo Leon city of Santa Catarina, three
men and two women were killed in a shootout with soldiers inside a
2010 Mar 28, Pakistani troops
repulsed a Taliban attack on an army base and bombed two militant
hide-outs close to the Afghan border, killing 22 insurgents in
Orakzai tribal region where the army is pressing an offensive.
(AP, 3/28/10)(SFC, 3/29/10, p.A2)
2010 Mar 28, In the Philippines
2 marines were wounded and several Abu Sayyaf fighters were believed
killed as troops pursued militants in an offensive on Jolo island
that ended today. At least one body of an Abu Sayyaf fighter, killed
in the 2-day assault, was dug up by troops.
(AP, 3/28/10)(SFC, 3/29/10, p.A2)
2010 Mar 28, Russia's Pres.
Medvedev thought the country had too much time on its hands, so on
Sunday he eliminated two of its 11 time zones.
2010 Mar 28, In Russia
thousands of angry people demonstrated in the northwestern city of
Arkhangelsk against the high cost of living and demanded that the
government of PM Vladimir Putin quits.
2010 Mar 28, In Switzerland an
armed gang of masked men raided the Grand Casino, packed with about
600 guests near Basel, and made off with hundreds of thousands of
2010 Mar 29, Officials said the
US and India have reached an agreement on reprocessing nuclear
material, clearing a major hurdle in putting into practice a
landmark atomic energy pact.
2010 Mar 29, The US Treasury
Department said it will begin selling the stake it owns in Citigroup
Inc., which could result in a profit to the government of more than
2010 Mar 29, US Federal
officials awarded Tennessee and Delaware $600 million in grants to
improve failing schools as part of Pres. Obama’s $4 billion fund for
education innovation and reform. Delaware won as much as $107
million. Tennessee could get $502 million.
(AP, 3/29/10)(SFC, 3/30/10, p.A9)
2010 Mar 29, In Afghanistan a
NATO helicopter crashed, injuring 14 people in Zabul province.
Elsewhere in the south a service member was killed in a bomb strike.
2010 Mar 29, In the Bahamas a
tornado touched down during a fierce thunderstorm and toppled a port
crane, killing three people and injuring at least four.
2010 Mar 29, In Canada a 2-day
G-8 meeting opened in the Quebec town of Gatineau. Canada said it
would press the Group of Eight leading industrialized nations to
tighten UN sanctions on Iran.
2010 Mar 29, In eastern China
local residents and firefighters recovered the bodies of 21 babies,
believed dumped by hospitals, which had washed ashore on the Guangfu
River near the city of Jining, Shandong province. Tags on the feet
of eight of the babies traced them back to a hospital in Jining.
2010 Mar 29, In Greece an
overnight pipe bomb explosion outside an Athens business management
institute killed an Afghan passer-by (15) and severely injured his
2010 Mar 29, A Guatemalan judge
sentenced a man to two years in prison for his role in the May 10,
2009, killing of lawyer Rodrigo Rosenberg, who accused the country's
president of his murder in a video made before his death. Cardona
was convicted of illicit association, the first verdict among eight
people on trial in the slaying of Rosenberg.
2010 Mar 29, An American doctor
living in Guatemala was convicted of sexually abusing four
10-year-old boys and sentenced to six years in prison. Dr. Joshua T.
Kotouc was arrested in 2008 with the four boys in bed.
2010 Mar 29, In Iraq the names
of candidates elected for the 325-member parliament were published
in newspapers. Several prominent politicians, long considered
untouchable in the political arena, failed to make it into
parliament following the country's March 7 elections. A pair of car
bombs in the holy city of Karbala killed at least four people and
wounded 22, with the second blast detonating near the provincial
2010 Mar 29, In Japan more than
2,000 people who suffer from a rare neurological disorder agreed to
accept a settlement proposal and abandon their lawsuits against the
Japanese government and the company they say made them sick by
dumping mercury. Minamata disease was first diagnosed in 1956 and
later was linked to the consumption of fish from southern Kyushu
island's Minamata Bay, where chemical company Chisso Corp. dumped
tons of mercury compounds.
2010 Mar 29, Myanmar's biggest
opposition party said it would not register for this year's
election, meaning Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's party will
have no role in the military-led political process.
2010 Mar 29, In Pakistan a
suicide bomber attacked a meeting of anti-Taliban volunteers in
northwestern Pakistan, killing one person and critically wounding
two others in Tank city.
2010 Mar 29, Hamas seized
$270,000 from a Gaza bank that had been frozen by the Palestinian
government in the West Bank, sparking new feuding between the Gaza
militants and their Western-backed rivals.
2010 Mar 29, A Philippine court
dismissed rebellion charges against a powerful clan leader and
dozens of his followers but they remain in custody for their alleged
role in the Nov 23, 2009, election-related massacre of 57 people.
Prosecutors had charged Andal Ampatuan Sr., his four sons and
followers with rebellion for allegedly plotting to stage an armed
uprising after the government began to crack down on them when they
were linked to the massacre.
2010 Mar 29, In Russia 2 female
suicide bombers blew themselves up in twin attacks on Moscow subway
stations jam-packed with rush-hour passengers, killing 39 people.
Officials blamed the carnage on rebels from the Caucasus region.
Five people remained in critical condition out of 71 hospitalized
after the blasts. The death toll soon rose to 40 as one of the
injured died in a hospital.
(AP, 3/29/10)(AP, 3/30/10)(AP, 4/2/10)
2010 Mar 29, Russia and the
International Atomic Energy Agency set up the world's first nuclear
fuel bank, signing into life a plan meant to bridge shortages caused
by snags in deliveries of low enriched uranium to power reactors.
2010 Mar 29, In Somalia
hundreds of women and children marched through the rubble-strewn
streets of Mogadishu to protest against al-Qaida-linked militants.
2010 Mar 29, Somali pirates
hijacked a cargo vessel, the Panama-flagged Iceberg I, off the coast
of Yemen. The 24-member crew came from Yemen, India, Ghana, Sudan,
Pakistan and the Philippines.
2010 Mar 30, Pres. Obama signed
into law the final changes to the sweeping medical plan approved by
lawmakers last week, along with reforms in college student loan
2010 Mar 30, A US federal court
ruled that the US patents held by Myriad Genetics on the BRCA genes
are unsustainable as a matter of law.
(Econ, 4/17/10, p.91)(http://tinyurl.com/y8camvj)
2010 Mar 30, San Francisco City
Attorney Dennis Herrera sued the escrow firm Rehab Financial Corp.
after learning the company had abruptly shuttered its Huntington
Beach office and drained accounts holding city funds. The suit
accused the company of misappropriating several million dollars from
SF and at least a dozen other California cities.
(SFC, 4/1/10, p.C2)
2010 Mar 30, A gunman sprayed
bullets from a moving vehicle into a crowd in southeastern
Washington, killing four and wounding at least five others, before
leading police on a chase into neighboring Maryland. Three people
were arrested in the drive-by shooting.
2010 Mar 30, Chevron said the
Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague has ruled in favor of
its claim against Ecuador related to past operations of its Texaco
unit. The tribunal ruled that Ecuador’s courts delayed rulings on a
contract dispute and awarded Chevron about $700 million as of Dec
22, 2006. A separate case over a $27 billion pollution claim
(SFC, 3/31/10, p.A2)
2010 Mar 30, Jaime Escalante
(b.1930), a Bolivia-born math teacher in East Los Angeles, died. The
1987 film "Stand and Deliver," starring Lou Diamond Phillips, was
based on the story of his success teaching math to inner-urban kids.
(SFC, 3/31/10, p.C6)
2010 Mar 30, In western
Afghanistan 5 civilians have been killed after their van hit a bomb
planted in the road outside Herat.
2010 Mar 30, Australian media
groups and sports bodies signed a code of conduct aimed at ending
years of disputes and boycotts over press coverage of major sporting
2010 Mar 30, Canada’s PM
Stephen Harper told US Sec. of State Hillary Clinton that its
military mission in Afghanistan will end in 2011.
(SFC, 3/31/10, p.A2)
2010 Mar 30, In Quebec, Canada,
the world's leading industrial nations (G8) called for stronger
action against Iran over its nuclear program and the United States
said it was confident China would agree on the need for sanctions.
2010 Mar 30, Google Inc said
its mobile services have been partially blocked in China for two
days, while searches on its Chinese-language site became erratic,
about a week after the company shut its mainland Chinese portal and
rerouted Web searches to a Hong Kong site.
2010 Mar 30, In Ecuador
journalist Emilio Palacio, facing a 3-year prison sentence for
defamation, accused President Rafael Correa of orchestrating his
prosecution as a warning that critics of the government will be
2010 Mar 30, Amnesty
International said Europe had its first year without executions in
2009. But the London-based organization said the spell was recently
broken by the execution of two men in Belarus.
2010 Mar 30, Britain's media
watchdog, the Press Complaints Commission, upheld a complaint
against a blog written by a journalist in what was its first-ever
move to censure a newspaper or magazine over comments by a blogger.
Former BBC journalist and commentator Rod Liddle was censured over a
blog in which he said that young Afro-Caribbean men carried out the
"overwhelming majority" of violent crime in London. The blog which
was published in December on the website of right-wing weekly
magazine The Spectator.
2010 Mar 30, In India
Paramhamsa Nityananda (32), a Hindu holy man with thousands of
followers across India, resigned as head of Dhyanapeetam (knowledge
center) after police began investigating his role in a sex scandal.
On April 21 Nityananda, who claims to have devotees in 33 countries,
and an aide Nithya Bhaktananda, were nabbed in the northern state of
Himachal Pradesh on charges including obscenity and hurting
(Reuters, 3/30/10)(AFP, 4/21/10)
2010 Mar 30, An Indian naval
spokesman said Somali pirates may be holding several dhows carrying
an estimated 100 Indian sailors they have seized over the past five
2010 Mar 30, Iran's state
television reported that its intelligence agents mounted a
"complicated" cross-border mission and freed an Iranian diplomat
kidnapped in 2008 by gunmen in northwestern Pakistan. Heshmatollah
Attarzadeh and his Pakistani bodyguard were driving over a narrow
bridge in Peshawar on Nov. 13, 2008 when two gunmen blocked their
way with a car and opened fire.
2010 Mar 30, Japan’s government
approved a plan to halt the privatization of Japan Post, the world’s
biggest bank, and increased the amount of deposits it can take from
a customer to 20 million yen. The government will retain a stake of
over one-third, giving it veto power.
(Econ, 4/3/10, p.77)
2010 Mar 30, In northern Mexico
dozens of gunmen mounted rare and apparently coordinated attacks
targeting two army garrisons, touching off firefights that killed 18
attackers in the border states of Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon.
2010 Mar 30, Russia's Pres.
Medvedev signed an order formally implementing UN Security
Council-approved sanctions against North Korea. The sanctions were
passed in June by the Security Council, which includes Russia.
2010 Mar 30, Serbia's
parliament approved a declaration condemning the 1995 Serb massacre
of 8,000 Muslims in Srebrenica, in a bid to distance the country
from past warmongering under the late strongman Slobodan Milosevic.
2010 Mar 30, The International
Crisis Group, a Brussels-based think-tank, said Sudanese President
Omar al-Beshir has long been working to ensure next month's
elections are rigged, making the eventual winner illegitimate.
2010 Mar 30, In Switzerland
scientists cheered the historic crash of two proton beams at the
CERN Large Hadron Collider.
(SFC, 3/31/10, p.A4)
2010 Mar 30, Vietnam and the
United States signed a pact described as a key foundation for
development of peaceful atomic power in the communist country.
2010 Mar 30, In Zimbabwe 13
legislators from both parties in the coalition government were not
allowed to enter the Chiadzwa diamond district. They spent 2 days
waiting for clearance.
2010 Mar 31, President Barack
Obama announced an expansive new policy that could put oil and
natural gas platforms in waters along the southern Atlantic
coastline, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and part of Alaska.
2010 Mar 31, The US federal
government and environmental groups reached an agreement that will
end the ghost fleet of retired ships in Suisun Bay, Ca.
(SFC, 4/1/10, p.A1)
2010 Mar 31, The CalNeva casino
on the north shore of Lake Tahoe closed due to declining gambling
(SFC, 4/1/10, p.C5)
2010 Mar 31, Flooding
across the US Northeast forced hundreds of residents from their
homes, knocked out sewage plants, and snarled traffic on major East
Coast routes as roads. Rhode Island endured the most severe damage
as the Pawtuxet reached 20.8 feet unleashing the worst flooding in
over 200 years.
(AP, 3/31/10)(Econ, 4/10/10, p.32)
2010 Mar 31, US Navy Lt. Steven
Zilberman's E-2C Hawkeye went down in the North Arabian Sea after it
"experienced mechanical malfunctions." Three other crew members
survived the crash without significant injuries.
2010 Mar 31, In southern
Afghanistan a bomb concealed on a bicycle killed 13 people, as the
Pentagon's top military officer said NATO forces hope to reverse the
Taliban's momentum in the south with an upcoming offensive in
2010 Mar 31, In Antigua a judge
ruled Wednesday that PM Baldwin Spencer and two other lawmakers were
improperly elected last year, a decision potentially threatening the
governing party's narrow hold on power in this Caribbean country.
Earlier this month, Spencer's government announced that the
International Monetary Fund agreed to lend the country $124 million
over three years.
2010 Mar 31, In Belgium a
parliamentary committee unanimously voted to ban the wearing of
face-covering veils in public, a major step in the legislative
process that could make Belgium the first European country to impose
such a religious prohibition.
2010 Mar 31, US envoy Stephen
Rapp said the US has pledged $5 million to Cambodia's Khmer Rouge
tribunal amid the troubled court's attempts to address corruption
2010 Mar 31, In central China a
gas explosion at a mine killed 12 workers and trapped 32 underground
at the privately owned Guomin Mining Co. coal pit in Yichuan County,
2010 Mar 31, In Dagestan 2
suicide bombers struck near the border with Chechnya, killing 12
2010 Mar 31, Nearly 50 donors
pledged $9.9 billion in reconstruction aid for Haiti at a UN donor
conference, but leaders and businessmen stressed private investment
would be the key to improving the lot of the hemisphere's poorest
2010 Mar 31, Six major world
powers agreed to begin putting together proposed new sanctions on
Iran over its suspect nuclear program after China dropped its
2010 Mar 31, In Iraq gunmen
fatally shot Mohammed Chillab, a health ministry official, at his
home in Baghdad in the latest slaying apparently targeting
government employees. A mobile phone shop owner was gunned down and
killed as he was closing his store for the night.
2010 Mar 31, In Kashmir 4
Indian soldiers and 10 separatist guerrillas were killed in clashes,
the highest number of people killed in firefights in 24 hours in
2010 Mar 31, In Mexico
authorities in the Gulf coast state of Tabasco announced that
Roberto Rivero Arana, the nephew of reputed Zetas gang leader
Heriberto Lazcano, was captured together with Daniel Perez, an
acting police chief of Ciudad del Carmen, accused of protecting the
Zetas. 4 severed human heads were found in Apatzingan, a town in the
western state of Michoacan. In Morelia, the Michoacan state capital,
police reported finding the bodies of 3 young men who had been shot
to death. Police in the border city of Nogales reported finding the
bullet-ridden bodies of 3 men, including a city transport official,
on a rural road along with three burned-out vehicles.
2010 Mar 31, Niger's police
director said police have arrested more than 600 people in an effort
to crackdown on recent crime and insecurity in the capital.
2010 Mar 31, Nigerian gunmen
kidnapped Chris Nnaji. a local employee of French oil group Total,
on his way to work in the country's oil hub of Port Harcourt.
2010 Mar 31, In Pakistan US
missiles and fighting in the mountains killed up to 36 militants and
six Pakistani soldiers as violence swept the northwest tribal belt
2010 Mar 31, In southern Russia
2 suicide bombers, including one impersonating a police officer,
killed 12 people in Dagestan. PM Vladimir Putin said the blasts may
have been organized by the same militants who attacked the Moscow
subway. Russian police broke up anti-Kremlin protests in Moscow and
St. Petersburg, detaining dozens of demonstrators who had defied
bans in holding the rallies.
2010 Mar 31, Scotland and
Northern Ireland were battered by snow, gale force winds and
torrential rain, leaving thousands of people without power and
causing havoc on roads.
2010 Mar 31, In Spain flight
attendant Adriana Ricardo said attendants owed up to nine months'
wages by a grounded Spanish airline have posed nude for a calendar
to draw attention to their plight. Air Comet, run by the embattled
chairman of Spain's main employers' association CEOE, Gerardo
Ferran, filed for administration in December after a British court
impounded nine of its aircraft at the request of German bank HSH
2010 Mar 31, Southern Sudan's
main political party withdrew its candidate from the country's
upcoming presidential election and said it will not contest
parliamentary and local polls in Darfur, a move that erodes the
credibility of Sudan's first multiparty election in decades.
2010 Mar 31, Swiss authorities
said they could not reopen a money-laundering case against the
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari as long as he enjoys legal
2010 Mar 31, Taiwan officials
lost contact with the 79-ton Jih-chun Tsai 68 fishing trawler and
the government feared the boat may have been hijacked by pirates off
the Somali coast. On May 10, 2011, Wu Lai-yu, captain of the
Jih-Chun Tsai 68, was killed by ammunition fired from a US ship. He
was buried at sea from his vessel, which was "unseaworthy after the
exchange of fire and was sunk.
(AP, 4/1/10)(AFP, 7/25/11)
2010 Mar 31, Google Inc. says
malicious software has been used to spy on Vietnamese computer users
opposed to a controversial bauxite mine in the Southeast Asian
country. Computer security firm McAfee said the perpetrators may be
linked to the communist government.
2010 Mar, US and Chilean
engineers extracted Chile's last batch of highly enriched uranium
(HEU), 18 kg (40 pounds), from reactors near Santiago and shipped it
to the US. It was then driven to the Savannah River Site in SC and
the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Ten., where much of
it would be converted to safer fuel and resold for nuclear power.
2010 Mar, The number of
Americans receiving food stamps topped 40 million this month as the
jobless rate hovered near a 26-year high.
(SFC, 6/3/10, p.A7)
2010 Mar, British Grenadier
Guardsman Daniel Crook stabbed Ghulam Nabi (10) while on a patrol in
the Nad-e Ali district of southern Helmand province. In 2011 Crook
was jailed for 18 months for bayoneting the boy. The boy's father
said that he had received $800 (600 euros) in compensation but no
2010 Mar, The Laotian
government arrested an Uighur family: Memet Eli Rozi, his wife
Gulbahar Sadiq, and their five children. They were later deported
back to China.
2010 Mar, In North Korea Pak
Nam Gi, the ruling Workers' Party finance and planning department
chief who spearheaded the November, 2009, currency reform, was
executed by a firing squad in Pyongyang.
2010 Mar, Iraq ranked 162nd in
the world in income per head. It was also reported to be the 4th
most corrupt country in the world and 153rd in the world for ease of
doing business. 25% of Iraqis had access to adequate and the same
percent received needed electricity, 22% of the people were
malnourished. Unemployment in rural areas was said to approach 80%.
Over the last 7 years the US has spent $800 billion on Iraq. [That
would be about $2600 per every US man, woman and child.]
(Econ, 3/6/10, p.32,34)