Portal:Current events/2010 May 31

May 31, 2010 (Monday)

6 died, 7 ill after eating poisonous plants in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (China Daily)
Shanghai Expo receives over 8 million visitors in first month. (Xinhuanet)
A mass grave containing between 20 and 25 bodies is found in an abandoned mine near Taxco, Guerrero, in Mexico. (BBC)
German President Horst Köhler resigns after being criticized for some remarks about German military deployments. Pundits and opposition politicians call it an "overreaction" on his part. (BBC) (Der Spiegel)
Colombia's former Minister of National Defence, Juan Manuel Santos, wins the first round of the country's presidential election, but without the majority needed to avoid a June run-off with rival Antanas Mockus (Aljazeera)
An undersea volcano erupts near Sarigan, Northern Mariana Islands, sending an eruption cloud 40,000 feet into the atmosphere, prompting Governor Benigno Fitial to declare a state of emergency. (Saipan Tribune) (The Wall Street Journal)
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, speaking at the launch of the 25th Africa-France summit in Nice, calls for Africa to be represented on the United Nations Security Council, and promises to back changes when France chairs the G8 and G-20 major economies groups in 2011. (Aljazeera) (BBC)
The Sudanese army clashes with rebel groups, among them the Justice and Equality Movement, in the Um Sauna area in western Darfur. (Businessweek)
In the International Atomic Energy Agency's report before the United Nations Security Council votes on sanctions against Iran, international nuclear inspectors state that Iran has now produced a stockpile of nuclear fuel that would be enough, with further enrichment, to make two nuclear weapons, and it appears to bolster the Obama administration’s case for a fourth round of economic sanctions against Iran. (The New York Times) (Washington Times)
Wildfires burn across Quebec, sending smoke as far away as Ottawa and Cape Cod. (Boston Herald) (CBC News)
Afghan authorities suspend two Christian foreign aid groups, Church World Service and Norwegian Church Aid, on suspicion of proselytizing in the strictly Islamic republic and said a follow-up investigation would include whether other groups were trying to convert Muslims. (USA Today)
Gaza flotilla clash:
- A number of Israeli warships follow the Gaza-bound international flotilla as it nears its destination and an aircraft flies overhead. (Al Jazeera) (The Press Association)
- Three Israeli navy missile boats leave the Haifa naval base in northern Israel in a planned attempt to intercept the Gaza-bound international flotilla. (The New York Times)
- Nearly all Israeli unions announce a boycott of organized workers' trips to Turkey due to the country's support for the flotilla, with one saying that "Turkey had been wiped off the workers unions' travel maps". (The Jerusalem Post)
- Israeli forces storm the Gaza-bound international flotilla, resulting in the deaths of at least 10 activists. (Jerusalem Post) (Ynetnews) (Brisbane Times) (BBC)
- 50 injuries are reported. (Ynetnews)
- According to Israel's Defense minister, Ehud Barak, IDF chief of staff and Navy commander, the organisers are to blame for deaths from the Israeli attacks upon the flotilla, with Barak saying that the soldiers tried to board the ship peacefully but were forced to open fire to protect themselves. (Jerusalem Post) (Ynet)
- Israeli Navy ships escort boats from the Gaza protest flotilla to the port of Ashdod, hours after the clash. (Jerusalem Post)
Pope Benedict XVI and child sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church:
- The Vatican announces details of the Apostolic Visitation, a special inquiry into sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in Ireland. (RTÉ) (BBC) (Reuters) (AP)
- Pope Benedict XVI accepts the resignation of Archbishop of Benin City in Nigeria, Richard Burke, following more allegations of child sexual abuse. (RTÉ) (The Irish Times) (The Press Association)
The 25th EU-Russia summit begins in Rostov-on-Don with talks on industrial and trade links, human rights and a visa-free regime. (EU Observer) (Voice of Russia) (The Hürriyet)^{[permanent dead link]}
Six Turkish soldiers are killed in a rocket attack on a navy base by suspected Kurdish rebels in the south of the country. (Al Jazeera) (BBC)
A court in Pakistan lifts a ban on Facebook imposed two weeks ago after an "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day" group appeared on the site. (Press Trust of India) (AP) (RTT News)