Portal:Current events/February 2010

See also: February 2010 in sports

2010

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February 2010 was the second month of that common year. The month, which began on a Monday, ended on a Sunday after 28 days.

Portal:Current events

This is an archived version of Wikipedia's Current events Portal from February 2010.

February 1, 2010 (2010-02-01) (Monday) US President Barack Obama will propose a $3.8 trillion budget for fiscal 2011 that foresees the deficit hitting a record $1.6 trillion in the current fiscal year but falling to about $700 billion by 2013. (WSJ) US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton presses China to back Iran sanctions for its nuclear program. (WSJ) United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrives in Cyprus to begin talks aimed at reuniting the country. (The Hindu) (Deutsche Welle) (UN News Centre) Nigerian militant group the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta denies it attacked oil pipelines in the south of the country, after Shell closes three oil flow stations. (Al Jazeera) (BBC) Envoys of the Dalai Lama return from Beijing after the ninth round of negotiations. (Times of India) (Xinhua) (RIA Novosti) A female suicide bomber kills 41 people and injures a further 106 in an attack in the Iraqi capital Baghdad. (Al Jazeera) (The Daily Telegraph) Nine people are killed in a bus rampage in Tianjin, northern China. (BBC) (China Daily) (Taiwan News) 52nd Grammy Awards: Pop singer Beyoncé Knowles wins the most awards at the 52nd Grammy Awards, winning six of her ten nominations including Song of the Year for "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", and becoming the first woman to win six awards in the same night. (BBC) (The Times of India) (Chicago Tribune) Rock band AC/DC win their first ever Grammy Award. (The Daily Telegraph) Seven performers, including Michael Jackson, Bobby Darin and Loretta Lynn, are awarded Lifetime Achievement Awards. (All About Jazz) Chinese state media voices its disapproval after the Obama administration unveils its first arms package for Taiwan, a move that prompted China to threaten sanctions on the firms involved. (Reuters) (BBC) Anti-government protests take place in cities across Russia, with 100 protesters detained at rallies in Moscow and Saint Petersburg. (BBC) (The Moscow Times) (Sify) February 2, 2010 (2010-02-02) (Tuesday) Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of espionage, while the latter detains one Russian and expels four others. (BBC) (RIA Novosti) (Kyiv Post) A hearing whether to repeal the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy is held in the United States allowing the possibility of openly gay people to become active-duty members of the United States armed forces. (BBC) The World Food Programme announces the number of hungry people in Sudan has quadrupled since August 2009 to 4.3 million. (AFP) (Emirates News Agency) (Taiwan News) China says that relations will be undermined if U.S. President Barack Obama meets the Dalai Lama. (BBC) (China Daily) (CBC) Continental Airlines and five men go on trial for their alleged role in the crash of Air France Flight 4590, a Concorde flight, that killed 113 people in 2000. (Reuters) The Lancet medical journal issues a full retraction of a paper that caused a 12-year international controversy over alleged links between the MMR vaccine and autism. (BBC) (Reuters) Finance Minister of Germany Wolfgang Schaeuble says that the German government will buy stolen information on Swiss bank accounts, offered in a CD that contained 1,500 names in exchange for 2.5 million euros, to pursue tax evasion. (Bloomberg) Nominations for the 82nd Academy Awards are announced. Avatar and The Hurt Locker lead the way with nine nominations each, and are both among ten nominees for Best Picture, the first time more than five films have been up for consideration since 1943. (CNN) Paul Volcker testifies before the Banking Committee of the United States Senate about the so-called "Volcker rule," an administration proposal to separate banks from hedge funds and have them close down their risk-taking prop desks. (L.A. Times) February 3, 2010 (2010-02-03) (Wednesday) L'Homme Qui Marche I by Alberto Giacometti, a bronze sculpture sells in London for £65,001,250, a new world record auction price. (BBC) (The Daily Telegraph) A major fireball is reported in the skies over Ireland, lighting up "the whole country". (RTÉ) (The Irish Times) Avatar becomes the highest grossing film in the U.S. and Canada while surpassing the 2 billion dollars mark in worldwide sales. (Reuters) (BoxOfficeMojo) Judges at the International Criminal Court rule that Sudan's president Omar al-Bashir could face charges of genocide over the War in Darfur. (The Guardian) (CNN) Pirates off the coast of Somalia seize a North Korean-flagged cargo ship south of Yemen. (AFP) (CNN) NASA and Cornell University have given up attempting to move the Spirit rover, currently stuck in sand near Home Plate, Gusev crater on the planet Mars, and are converting it into a stationary outpost. Its twin rover, Opportunity, remains mobile on Mars. (Space.com) Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim goes on trial in Kuala Lumpur, accused of sodomy. (Bernama) (BBC) (AFP) A man detonates a homemade bomb outside a shopping mall in Darwin, Australia, wounding 15 people. (Sydney Morning Herald) (The Australian) A bombing near a girls' school in Lower Dir, Pakistan kills seven, including three U.S. Marines, marking the first time U.S. soldiers are killed in that country. (CNN) (Al Jazeera) February 4, 2010 (2010-02-04) (Thursday) A curfew is imposed in Srinagar, Kashmir, after protests over the death of a 15-year-old boy during a demonstration. (AFP) (BBC) (KashmirWatch.com) North Korea relaxes restrictions on the free market after a revaluation in 2009 led to unrest and worsened food shortages. (AFP) (BBC) (The Times) Switzerland agrees to accept two Chinese Muslim Uyghurs from the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. (Swissinfo) Yahoo! sells HotJobs to Monster.com for US$225million. (PA) Debt-ridden emirate of Dubai of the United Arab Emirates, confirms the discovery of a new oilfield. (Gulf News) (Kyiv Post) Sumo grand champion Asashoryu announces his retirement, following allegations he attacked a man outside a Tokyo nightclub. (BBC) February 5, 2010 (2010-02-05) (Friday) At least 22 people are killed and more than 50 are injured in two separate bombings in Karachi. (The Hindu) (BBC) (euronews) (The Guardian) At least 40 people are killed and more than 140 are wounded in at least two explosions in Karbala during the final day of Arba'een. (Al Jazeera) (The Guardian) (The New York Times) A private helicopter crashes in the Dominican Republic, killing two. The helicopter was returning from relief work for the 2010 Haiti earthquake. (AP) Civil servants in Zimbabwe go on strike, demanding a wage increase. (Zimbabwe Times) (Business Day) (Press TV) Cyclone Oli hits Tahiti and other islands of French Polynesia, killing at least one man. (AP) (BBC) The last native of India's Andaman Islands fluent in the Aka-Bo language dies, rendering the language extinct. (Daily Mail) Danish special forces storm a ship captured by armed Somali pirates and free the 25 crew on board. (Miami Herald) The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Sinn Féin agree to devolution from Westminster from 12 April 2010 after two weeks of discussions, the longest ever during the Northern Ireland peace process. (RTÉ) (BBC) Five Russian soldiers are killed and six injured in clashes with militants in Chechnya. (RIA Novosti) (Press TV) (News24) Four British politicians will face criminal prosecution over their expense claims in the ongoing expenses scandal. (BBC) (Washington Post) New images of the dwarf planet Pluto reveal rapid changes on its surface. (BBC) (National Geographic) (Xinhua) Uganda's deputy Foreign Minister Henry Okello Oryem says the country's anti-homosexuality Bill "will be changed". (BBC) North Korea announces it will release an American man who entered the country on December 25, 2009. (The Guardian) (Yonhap) (Korea Times) February 6, 2010 (2010-02-06) (Saturday) Jordan Queen's educational reform program lauded in Jordan. Rania Al Abdullah and Princess Hessa bint Salman were briefed on the Jordan River Foundation (JRF) by the organization's Director General Valentina Qussisiya. (zawya) The Eastern Route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, one of the world's largest water projects, has been delayed by about five years due to problems associated with water pollution, officials in east China's Shandong province. (China Daily) Wang Jiarui, head of the Communist Party of China's liaison office, arrives in North Korea on a "goodwill visit" at the invitation of the Workers' Party of Korea. (AFP) (Tehran Times) (The Straits Times) Charles McArther Emmanuel, son of President of Liberia Charles Taylor, is ordered to pay more than $22 million (£14 million) to five people tortured during the Second Liberian Civil War. (BBC) The Group of Seven nations agree to write off Haiti's debts following a conference in Iqaluit, Nunavut. (BBC) The Bank of Spain announces that Spain’s economy fell 3.6% in 2009, the most in decades. (Mercopress) (Reuters) (Business Spectator) Thousands protest in Togo against a decision by the Confederation of African Football to ban the country from the next two editions of the Africa Cup of Nations. (BBC) (Times of India) An Australian mining company signs a $70 billion deal to supply Chinese power stations with coal, in the country's biggest ever export contract. (BBC) (The Hindu) (Sydney Morning Herald) Mark Durkan, former Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, resigns as leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP). (The Belfast Telegraph) (The Irish Times) French aid worker, Laurent Maurice, kidnapped in Chad last November, is released after 89 days of captivity, described as "tired but appears to be in good health". (BBC) (CNN) (Philippine Daily Inquirer) (Reuters South Africa) (CTV News) (news.com.au) Afghan police admit they shot dead seven civilians, including two children, as they collected firewood in Spin Boldak, Kandahar, last Thursday. (Reuters) (Press TV) (France24) 23 Yemeni government soldiers are killed by the Houthis in two separate incidents: 15 are ambushed in Wadi al-Jabara, while the remaining 8 die in Sa'dah. (Press TV) The Taliban blow up a girls' school in Huwaid, Pakistan, killing no one. (AFP) February 7, 2010 (2010-02-07) (Sunday) Sir Richard Branson warns that oil crunch is coming within five years. (Current TV) (thisismoney) (Telegraph) (theenergycollective) New Orleans Saints beat the Indianapolis Colts 31-17 to win Super Bowl XLIV. (Sports Illustrated) Laura Chinchilla is elected President of Costa Rica, the first woman to take the office, following the 2010 general election. (Reuters)(Tico Times) (RTÉ) (Xinhua) First Gentleman and former President Néstor Kirchner of Argentina undergoes emergency surgery to remove a blockage in his carotid artery. (BBC) (The Washington Post) (Philippine Daily Inquirer) In Nigeria, the Governor of Anambra state, Peter Obi, is controversially re-elected. (BBC) (Reuters South Africa) The Kleen Energy Systems plant in Middletown, Connecticut, explodes, killing at least five people and injuring at least 14 others. (BBC News) (The New York Times) A Pakistani lawyers' group in Lahore threatens to "burn alive" anyone who prosecutes lawyer accused of murdering a 12-year-old servant girl. (Asia News) Social Development Minister Margaret Ritchie defeats Alasdair McDonnell in an election to become leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) following Mark Durkan's resignation yesterday. She is the first woman to take charge of the party in its history and the first female leader of a major party in Northern Ireland. (The Belfast Telegraph) (BBC) (RTÉ) Voters in Ukraine go to the polls in the second round of the country's presidential election. (Al Jazeera) (The Independent) Australian Senator John Faulkner and Doctor Wayne Mapp attend a ceremony in Gallipoli to commemorate dead ANZAC and Turkish soldiers, laying wreaths at several locations. (The Sydney Morning Herald) Huang Yizhong is jailed for 13 years in Jiangmen, Guangdong, for copying and spreading pornographic material through his website. (The Washington Post) Britain is to tighten the rules on immigrants entering the country on a student visa in a clampdown on a system which some security experts say has been exploited by Islamist militants. (Reuters) Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad orders his country's atomic agency to begin enriching uranium to a higher level. (The New York Times) (Press TV) Libya bans YouTube, independent news sites and opposition web sites in crackdown on controversial subjects, including human rights abuses by the Libyan government. (The Jerusalem Post) February 8, 2010 (2010-02-08) (Monday) Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir could still face charges of genocide in Darfur. (BBC) Dr. Conrad Murray is charged with involuntary manslaughter in pop singer Michael Jackson's death.(BBC) The sodomy trial of Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim is halted after his lawyers attempt to have the judge removed. (Bernama) (Al Jazeera) (UPI) Ukrainian opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych appears to win the 2010 presidential election, with 98% of the ballots counted. (Kyiv Post) (The New York Times) (The Hindu) At least 17 Indian soldiers are killed in an avalanche in Kashmir. (Indian Express) (BBC) Space Shuttle Endeavour launches successfully from Kennedy Space Center at 4:14 EST, marking the beginning of STS-130, a two-week mission to the International Space Station. (UPI) The World Health Organisation confirms that a cholera outbreak which has spread along the north coast of Papua New Guinea has hit more than 2,000 people, killing around 50 of them. (The Sydney Morning Herald) A colony of Galapagos Islands sea lions relocate 1,500 kilometres, the first time they have set up a colony outside the islands. (BBC) The Boeing 747-8 takes its maiden flight, lasting just under four hours. A series of avalanches at the Salang tunnel in Afghanistan is presumed to kill 64 people, with at least 400 injuries reported. (The New York Times) (Toronto Sun) Reform of the banking system was one of the key themes at this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos. European Parliament Vice-President Silvana Koch-Mehrin said "There was general disapproval of the disproportionate self-rewarding in the banking sector". (Gov Monitor) February 9, 2010 (2010-02-09) (Tuesday) Conrad Murray, Michael Jackson's doctor pleads not guilty in death of the star. (WSJ) (Washingtonpost) (FOX) The campaign period for the Philippine general election, 2010 begins. (BBC) The recently-elected President of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapaksa dissolves his country's parliament one day after the arrest of Sarath Fonseka. (BBC) The Italian Embassy in Iran is attacked by protesters unhappy with Italy's decision to scale back economic dealings and push for tighter sanctions and protests are also held outside French and Dutch embassies. (The Jerusalem Post) Andal Ampatuan Jr., former ally of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, and 196 other people are charged with murder in the Philippines, in connection with the Maguindanao massacre in November 2009. (ABS-CBN News) (AFP) China sentences Tan Zuoren, who investigated poor construction after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, to five years in prison for "inciting subversion of state power". (BBC) (The Washington Post) (Radio Television Hong Kong) February 10, 2010 (2010-02-10) (Wednesday) Hundreds of Somali citizens flee the capital Mogadishu as hundreds of insurgents enter the city ahead of a government announcement of an offensive against them. (BBC) (News24.com) Frank Bainimarama, leader of the 2006 Fijian coup d'état and current Prime Minister of Fiji, announces that he will retire in 2014. The report is denied by Fiji's Permanent Secretary for Information. (RNZI) The Court of Appeal of England and Wales rules that open air funeral pyres can be accommodated under the 1902 Cremation Act as amended. (BBC) A 3.8-magnitude earthquake strikes near Chicago, United States. No reports of major damage. (CNN) Officials in Haiti state that at least 230,000 people died in the 2010 Haiti earthquake, but that number may yet grow, approaching the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake as the deadliest natural disaster of the 21st century thus far. (BBC) Vice President Goodluck Jonathan is appointed acting President of Nigeria in place of Umaru Yar'Adua. (NEXT) (AllAfrica.com) (BBC) Nationwide strikes led by Communist and Socialist parties take place in Greece to protest the government's handing of the country's debt. Most of the country was brought to a standstill as factories, schools, airports and hospitals closed down or reduced capacity (BBC) (Deutsche Welle) (Al Jazeera) Prominent Uzbek photographer Umida Akhmedova is found guilty on charges of "slandering the nation" in her work, but is immediately pardoned under an amnesty. (BBC) (The Moscow Times) Afghan officials report that at least 150 bodies were pulled from vehicles buried by avalanches in the Salang Pass in the Hindu Kush mountains earlier this week. (UPI.com) February 11, 2010 (2010-02-11) (Thursday) A European Union summit takes place to discuss a possible bailout for Greece's economy. (Reuters) (The Guardian) The European Parliament rejects an agreement that would have granted the United States Terrorist Finance Tracking Program unlimited access to the SWIFT bank transactions database. (BBC News) Protests continue in Sri Lanka after the arrest of opposition candidate Sarath Fonseka. (AFP) (Bernama) British fashion designer Alexander McQueen is found dead at his home in London at the age of 40, on the eve of his mother's funeral, in an apparent suicide. (BBC News) (The Sydney Morning Herald) (The New York Times) (Irish Independent) (The New Zealand Herald) A court in Beijing upholds a sentence against Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo who was sentenced to 11 years imprisonment on charges of subversion. (Xinhua) (The Times) (Al Jazeera) Iran: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announces that Iran is now a nuclear state, following a successful 20% uranium enrichment. (New York Times) Reformists clash with police forces in Iran, during protests held at the 31st anniversary of the overthrow of shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. (New York Times) (Al Jazeera) Sergey Aleynikov, a former computer programmer for Goldman Sachs, is indicted for three counts by a U.S. federal court in Manhattan for theft of trade secrets, transportation of stolen property in interstate and foreign commerce, and unauthorized computer access. (Wall Street Journal) Former U.S. President Bill Clinton has two coronary stents implanted in his heart at the NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital in New York City, after chest pains. (New York Times) Haiti announces that the 10 American missionaries accused of attempted kidnapping will be released from custody. (Sky News) A large eruption occurs at the Soufrière Hills volcano in Montserrat after a partial lava dome collapse, sending ash to a height of 50,000 feet. (Montserrat Volcano Obeservatory) February 12, 2010 (2010-02-12) (Friday) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has repeatedly called on the DPRK to re-engage in the Six-Party Talks that also involve the Republic of Korea, Japan, China, Russia and the United States. (UN) Police in Mtwapa arrest five men accused of being homosexuals, two of whom had wedding rings and were attempting to marry in a first for Kenya. (BBC) (Daily Nation) Thousands of people flee Mogadishu after 24 people are killed and 40 people are wounded in two days. (BBC) (CBC) Russian security forces kill at least 20 people in Ingushetia. (BBC) (The Star) (The Scotsman) Togo appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport over their ban from the next two Africa Cup of Nations in the aftermath of the Togo national football team attack. (BBC) (CNN) (The Guardian) Mexican President Felipe Calderón's visit to a community centre in Ciudad Juárez where 13 teenagers and two adults were shot dead at a school party on 31 January is disrupted by murders, riot police and dozens of protesters. (BBC) (Latin American Herald Tribune) (Radio Netherlands Worldwide) A shooting at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, United States, leaves at least three persons dead. (CNN) 2010 Winter Olympics: The XXI Olympic Winter Games competitions begin in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (NBC Sports) Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili is killed after a crash at the Whistler Sliding Centre, during a training run for the 2010 Winter Olympics. (BBC) (The Times) (The Los Angeles Times) Nodar Kumaritashvili is remembered by the participants in the opening ceremony. (The Sydney Morning Herald) The United States successfully shoots down a launching ballistic missile using the Boeing YAL-1, a military Boeing 747-400F aircraft mounted with a chemical oxygen iodine laser weapon. (Reuters) Thailand deports the five-man crew detained in the country since December after transporting weapons from North Korea. (AFP) (Thai News Agency) Campaigning for Iraq's parliamentary election begins. (Xinhua) (AFP) (Press TV) Indonesia's former anti-corruption chief Antasari Azhar is sentenced to 18 years for the murder of a businessman. (Jakarta Post) (CNN) A ceasefire is declared between Houthi fighters and the Yemeni government in northern Yemen. (The Guardian) (Al Jazeera) (Press TV) Burma's leader General Than Shwe says the general elections will be held "soon". (Al Jazeera) (Press Trust of India) Chinese human rights activist Feng Zhenghu, stranded at Japan's Narita International Airport after being refused entry to China for three months, returns home. (Bangkok Post) (BBC) February 13, 2010 (2010-02-13) (Saturday) U Tin Oo, the Vice-Chairman of the National League for Democracy was released today in Yangon, the largest city in Myanmar, after the expiration of his term of house arrest. (UN) Cyclone Rene approaches Manu'a at full force winds of 150 kilometres an hour. (Radio New Zealand International) A suspected terrorist attack in the western Indian city of Pune kills 9 people and injures more than 45 others. BBC news (The Times of India) (The Hindu) (The Times) Burma releases vice-chairman of the National League for Democracy (NLD), Tin Oo at the age of 82, after he has spent more than a decade in prison or under house arrest. (BBC) The Côte d'Ivoire government is dissolved with President Laurent Gbagbo saying on state television that the peace process has broken down. (Al Jazeera) (The Sydney Morning Herald) (Reuters) 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver: The men's downhill skiing is postponed due to "slushy conditions", with the women's super-combined event having already been postponed. (BBC) (Sky Sports) The luge event goes ahead at the Whistler Sliding Centre a day after the death of Nodar Kumaritashvili. (BBC) (The Times) (ABC) Year of the Tiger: China prepares to celebrate New Year holidays with tens of millions of people travelling and fireworks anticipated. (The Daily Telegraph) Wen Jiabao delivers his New Year message in state newspapers. (Reuters) Clashes erupt in Dresden 65 years after the city was bombed at the end of World War II. (Al Jazeera) (CBC) (Press TV) (The Washington Post) (BBC) Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki demands eight senior officials to resign due to corruption scandals in the education ministry and a maize scandal. (BBC) NATO forces in Afghanistan launch Operation Moshtarak against the Taliban-controlled village of Marja in Helmand Province. (The New York Times) At least 10 people are electrocuted to death when a power cable collapses onto a bus in Port Harcourt. (BBC) Three people die and others are seriously injured after a Danish bus en route from Berlin to Munich hits a barrier and flips over on the Bundesautobahn 9 near Dessau, Saxony-Anhalt. The Autobahn is closed in both directions. (The Local) (IOL) (RTÉ) February 14, 2010 (2010-02-14) (Sunday) NATO admits it killed 12 civilians when two misfired rockets hit a house in Marjah, Helmand. President Hamid Karzai calls for an explanation. (BBC) (news.com.au) (Reuters) Viva Leroy Nash, the oldest death row inmate in the United States, dies of natural causes at the age of 94. (BBC) (The New Zealand Herald) (Taipei News) Thousands of people collect in Beirut on the fifth anniversary of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri in a bombing alongside 21 other people, with his son and current Prime Minister Saad Hariri addressing the crowd. (Al Jazeera) (BBC) (The Irish Times) (CBC) (The Independent) Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki undoes the suspensions for fraud of the agriculture and education ministers handed out by his Prime Minister. (BBC) BMW Oracle win the 33rd America's Cup becoming the first American team to win since 1992. (BBC) (TVNZ) saling.org/wordcup/news Rafiq Husseini, a top aide of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, is suspended following involvement in an alleged attempt to trade influence for sex. (MSNBC) (The Jerusalem Post)(The Guardian) Cyclone Rene heads for Tonga and Niue after brushing American Samoa. (The New Zealand Herald) (The Sydney Morning Herald) Nine Irish Roman Catholic bishops and Cardinal Seán Brady arrive in Rome to discuss the Murphy Report and Ryan Report into the Catholic sexual abuse scandal in Ireland with Pope Benedict XVI, the first such meetings there in eight years. (RTÉ) (Reuters) (Gulf Times) (The Irish Times) Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani condemns the bomb blast in Pune, India, one day earlier, saying Pakistan is against terrorism and that his country wants better relations with India. (The Hindu) Iran detains five more members of the Baháʼí minority, in addition to Baháʼí leaders jailed since 2008, for alleged involvement in protests against the regime. (The Jerusalem Post) The death toll from yesterday's double bus electrocution in Port Harcourt rises to as much as 40, with more than 30 injured. (THISDAY) (The Punch) (Press TV) (The New York Times) Viktor Yanukovych is officially named winner of the Ukraine presidential election. (RIA) (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) (AP) (AFP) 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver: Alexandre Bilodeau scores first place in the men's freestyle skiing moguls, winning Canada's first ever Olympic gold medal on home soil. (BBC) February 15, 2010 (2010-02-15) (Monday) An appreciation of the Chinese yuan will help US economic growth but it will not solve problems in its own economy, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief economist said Monday. (China Daily) The opposition Anguilla United Movement, led by former Chief Minister Hubert Hughes, wins a majority of seats in the 2010 general election, defeating the governing Anguilla United Front. (Anguilla News) Aid flights arrive on the island of Aitutaki, Cook Islands, where 90% of structures were damaged or destroyed by Cyclone Pat last week. (RNZI) Somalia's state minister for defence Yusuf Mohammed Siad survives an attempt on his life from a suicide bomber in Mogadishu. (BBC) A Naxalite attack on an army camp in West Bengal kills 24 Indian soldiers, with many more reported missing. (Hindustan Times) Kenya's Prime Minister Raila Odinga accuses the President Mwai Kibaki of "overstepping" his powers after the latter re-appointed two ministers sacked by Odinga over a corruption scandal. (Kenya Broadcasting Corporation) (BBC) (AP) The United Nations Special Envoy to Myanmar, Tomas Quintana, arrives in the country on the first day of a five day visit to assess the progress on human rights. (Al Jazeera) (Global Times) (BBC) Halle train collision: 20 people die in a train collision in Halle, Belgium. (BBC) (Flanders News) (WSJ) Pope Benedict XVI begins a two-day meeting with all 24 Irish Roman Catholic bishops to discuss child abuse in a "quite unprecedented" move. (Al Jazeera) (BBC) (RTÉ) Five men are imprisoned for up to 28 years, after being convicted over the 2005 Sydney terrorism plot. (BBC) (ninemsn) Cyclone Rene hammers Tonga with gusts of 160 kilometres an hour, isolating Tongans for several days. Widespread damage is reported in the capital, Nukuʻalofa, and contact is lost with the northern island of Vavaʻu. (TVNZ) (The New Zealand Herald) A joint NATO and Afghan military operation is succeeding in pushing Taliban fighters from their strongholds in Helmand province. (BBC) 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver: Dario Cologna secures Switzerland's first ever Olympic cross-country gold medal and Norway delivers its poorest ever cross-country Olympic performance in the men's 15km freestyle cross-country competition (AFP) (AP) February 16, 2010 (2010-02-16) (Tuesday) Assassination of a senior Hamas military commander in Dubai: Dubai police release the passport photographs of 11 “Europeans” suspected of the murder of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh. (BBC) It emerges those suspected used fake British and Irish passports with Dublin saying it did not issue passports under their names, there is no evidence of their names on official Irish records and the counterfeits contain passport numbers with incorrect combinations of letters and digits. (The Daily Telegraph) Pope Benedict XVI issues a statement after a two-day meeting with all Irish bishops in the Vatican, including labelling paedophilia a "heinous crime", but his nuncio refuses to appear before an inquiry in Dáil Éireann. (RTÉ) (The Guardian) (The Times) The Queen Mary 2 arrives at the Port of Shanghai, making her first port call in China since her maiden voyage in 2004. (Xinhuanet) Queen Rania of Jordan meets with CEOs of mobile operators from around the world in Barcelona on Monday to rally support for the 1GOAL global education campaign. (Jordantimes) Libya detains Irish nationals at its airport in Tripoli due to the escalation of a dispute between it and Switzerland which has led Libya to refuse anyone from the Schengen area, despite Ireland not being a member. (The Irish Times) EMI places its Abbey Road Studios in St John's Wood, London, up for sale in an attempt to ease the debt burden created by Terra Firma Capital Partners' leveraged buyout of the company. (Financial Times) February 17, 2010 (2010-02-17) (Wednesday) 500,000 residents of Mexico City have been vaccinated against the A/H1N1 flu. (Xinhuanet) Four people are charged in connection with the Santika Club fire in Thailand on December 31, 2008. (Bangkok Post) The body of fallen luger Nodar Kumaritashvili returns to his hometown of Bakuriani, Georgia, for burial. (BBC) (ESPN) Guam Governor Felix Perez Camacho issues an executive order changing the name of Guam to Guahan in government documents and signage and calls for unification with the Northern Mariana Islands. (Pacific Daily News) (Pacific Daily News) (Saipan Tribune) At least 22 people are killed in a bus crash in Northern India. (ABC) (BBC) It emerges that fake Irish passports used by suspects in the assassination of a senior Hamas military commander in Dubai had valid numbers with mismatched identities, with the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs embarking on an urgent mission to track the three genuine passport holders with these numbers. (RTÉ) (The Irish Times) Police in Kenya free five suspects held in connection with organising a gay wedding in a Mtwapa hotel. (BBC) Services from the UK, France, Germany and the Netherlands remain disrupted as investigations continue into the Halle train collision in Belgium.(BBC) The Supreme Administrative Court of Ukraine suspends the decision of the Electoral Commission to declare Viktor Yanukovych the winner of the Ukrainian presidential election until the court has decided on the complaints brought by the other candidate, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. (La Libre Belgique) The UK branch of publishing company Reader's Digest files for administration. (BBC) (Sky News) Walgreen Co. announces that it is buying Duane Reade Holdings Inc., operator of a chain of 257 drugstores in the New York City area, for about $1.08 billion including assumption of debt. (Marketwatch) Five southern Africans, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, have their genomes analysed by scientists and published in Nature, with Tutu excited to discover he is "related to the San people, the first people to inhabit Southern Africa". (BBC) Rwanda, the East African country that is embracing a transition to a Green economy, will be the global host of World Environment Day on 5 June 2010. (UNEP) February 18, 2010 (2010-02-18) (Thursday) United States President Barack Obama meets with the Dalai Lama amid opposition from China. (Times of India) (Al Jazeera) (Times Live South Africa) Irish Minister for Defence Willie O'Dea resigns after a controversy surrounding his remarks on a rival politician's relationship with brothels but denies claims by opposition party Fine Gael that he has committed perjury. Taoiseach Brian Cowen assigns himself temporary responsibility for the Department of Defence. (RTÉ) (The Irish Times) (BBC) The UK's Press Complaints Commission rejects a complaint by the husband of Stephen Gately about Jan Moir's Daily Mail article following his death but its head calls Moir's writing "extremely distasteful". (BBC) (RTÉ) Assassination of senior Hamas commander in Dubai: The British and Irish governments call in their Israeli ambassadors over the use of fake passports by the alleged killers of a Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh. (BBC) It emerges that two additional fake Irish passports with genuine issue numbers were used by the suspects, with efforts underway to locate the two genuine holders. (RTÉ) (The Irish Times) The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) rejects the appeal for the inclusion of the Togo national football team in the draw for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations which resulted from their ban due to the Togo national football team attack prior to the 2010 tournament in Angola. It also says that a new draw will be required if they rule in favor of Togo in upcoming proceedings. (BBC) (RTÉ) (The Irish Times) Asia's biggest railway station, the Guangzhou South Railway Station, came into use on the first day of Chinese spring festival transport rush of 2010. China's operational high-speed railways have exceeded 3,300 km. (Xinhua) (CCTV) (People's Daily) In Niger, a military junta named the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy carries out a coup d'état, suspending the constitution and detaining President Mamadou Tandja. (BBC) (Al Jazeera) (Business Day) Live Earth, organizer of The Dow Live Earth Run for Water, Cape Town race director announced The Parlotones concert at the Speir Wine Estate in Cape Town. (Live Earth) The top climate change official at the United Nations and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Yvo de Boer, announces his resignation. (The Times) (CBC) Humanitarian group Médecins Sans Frontières accuses Bangladesh of a "crackdown" on Muslim Rohingya refugees from Burma. (Médecins Sans Frontières) (Al Jazeera) (AFP) A small private plane is intentionally crashed into an office building in Austin, Texas. (FOX News) Former New York City police chief Bernard Kerik is jailed for four years on tax fraud. (BBC) (Boston Globe) (The Daily Telegraph) February 19, 2010 (2010-02-19) (Friday) Bill McKibben and 350.org reacted to President Barack Obama and Copenhagen Accord. (Huffington Post) Professional golfer Tiger Woods make a public apology over reports of having extramarital affairs. (BBC) (CBS News) International Atomic Energy Agency says Iran could be making nuclear warheads. (The Hindu) Anti-government protestors are killed by police fire in Gagnoa, Côte d'Ivoire. (Reuters South Africa) (The Washington Post) Element 112 is officially named Copernicium and assigned the symbol Cn on the 537th anniversary of the birthday of Nicolaus Copernicus. (RiaNovosti) (Der Spiegel) BBC and IUPAC The Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy that took power in a military coup in Niger yesterday lifts a curfew and reopens the country's borders. (African Press Agency) (BBC) French businessman Yazid Sabeg joins roster of UNESCO Goodwill Ambassadors. (UN) Romania is set to introduce a tax on fast food in March.(AP) (EurActiv) (The Scotsman) To persuade its volatile – and poor -- Niger Delta's oil region to reduce the conflict in the Niger Delta, Nigeria proposes handing over 10% stakes in its biggest energy industry to “host communities”. (China Dialogue News) Assassination of senior Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai: Hamas threatens Western nations and trades accusations with rival Palestinian faction Fatah over alleged involvement in the affair. (The Jerusalem Post) Dubai's police chief calls for the head of Mossad to be arrested if Israel's spy agency is found to have been behind the killing of a Hamas boss in the emirate. (BBC) Israel denies involvement in the assassination and claims that there is no evidence "that even remotely connects this incident to Israel" (The Jerusalem Post) Social networking site Facebook closes down spontaneous support groups for a pilot who crashed his plane in Austin, United States. (Wikinews) (Politico) (NY Daily News) Ex-IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei is set to return to Egypt hoping to run for the presidency in the 2011 election. (BBC News) (BBC News) (AFP) (Al Jazeera) Mary MacKillop is to become Australia's first saint, after being approved by the Holy See for canonization. (The Australian) Plans for a Rudyard Kipling museum in his Mumbai home are scrapped due to the uncertainty of his legacy. (BBC) February 20, 2010 (2010-02-20) (Saturday) Olympic luger Nodar Kumaritashvili is buried in Bakuriani, Georgia. (BBC) (CBC) (Sina) 2010 Nigerien coup d'état: The African Union (AU) suspends Niger following this week's coup d'état. (Al Jazeera) (Xinhua) (BBC) Thousands of people take part in a second day of celebrations in the capital. (BBC) President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai, addressing parliament with a photo of an 8-year-old girl who lost 12 relatives to ISAF rocket fire during Operation Moshtarak, urges foreign troops to do more to prevent civilian deaths. (Al Jazeera) 30 people are killed in an air strike by the Pakistan Army in South Waziristan. (Al Jazeera) The Justice and Equality Movement rebel group in Sudan's Darfur region signs a framework ceasefire agreement with the Sudanese government in N'Djamena. (BBC) Russian allies, including Venezuela and Turkey, file a dozen requests for Mi-28N Night Hunter attack helicopters from Russia. (Europe News Agency) Floods and mudslides on the island of Madeira leave at least 32 dead and 68 injured. (Jersey Evening Post) (BBC) (Al Jazeera) The death toll from a minaret collapse in Morocco rises to 41. (CNN) (Xinhua) The Chinese military and several schools deny involvement in cyber attacks on Google, following a New York Times report cited investigators linking Lanxiang Vocational School and Shanghai Jiaotong University to the attacks. (Press Trust of India) (China Daily) The Dutch cabinet Balkenende IV collapses after a dispute on extending the mandate of Task Force Uruzgan in Afghanistan. (Radio Netherlands Worldwide) (BBC) (Al Jazeera) Lunar Tet New Year holiday road accidents killed almost 300, injured 400 people in Vietnam. Most of the crashes involved alcohol. (Inquirer) (Vietnam News) Bal wins the Golden Bear at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival. (Deutsche Welle) (BBC) The Canadian three-masted ship SV Concordia capsizes in a storm off the coast of Brazil. The entire crew, 64 people, are rescued after spending 48 hours on life rafts in rough seas. (The Sydney Morning Herald) (The Vancouver Sun) (The Montreal Gazette) (The Times) February 21, 2010 (2010-02-21) (Sunday) Six Abu Sayyaf Islamic militants, including "most wanted" leader Albader Parad, die after coming into contact with troops at the foot of Mount Tucay in Maimbung, Sulu on Jolo in the Philippines. (Al Jazeera) (Reuters) (BBC) The venue for an AC/DC concert upsets WWF Austria environmentalists in Wels who fear it will "smash" endangered species. (The Sydney Morning Herald) Foreign direct investment (FDI) into China rose for the sixth consecutive month in January, up 7.79 percent year-on-year to $8.13 billion, Chinese Ministry of Commerce announced. (China Daily) King Mohammed of Morocco requests structural examinations of all the country's old mosques after a minaret collapse kills 41 people. (BBC) Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada dismisses Australia's threat to take the country to the International Court of Justice over Japan's whaling in the Antarctic. (BBC) Prime Minister of the Netherlands Jan Peter Balkenende says the country will begin pulling out of Afghanistan in August and be gone by the end of the year following the collapse of Balkenende-4 over the issue. (CBC) (The Press Association) Prime Minister Gordon Brown battles a book published in The Observer which makes claims of bullying, including grabbing a secretary, stabbing with a pen and shouting expletives as members of his own staff contact the National Bullying Helpline to express their "concerns". (The Daily Telegraph) (BBC) (Deutsche Welle) (CBC) February 22, 2010 (2010-02-22) (Monday) Colombian President Álvaro Uribe and Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez almost come to blows at the Rio Group summit in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, with Uribe taunting Chávez "Be a man! … you're a coward face-to-face! Stay and argue face-to-face!" and Chávez responding with a simple "Go to Hell!" The Summit also announces the creation of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States. (La Vanguardia) (Telegraph) (BBC) An American pediatrician from Delaware state is indicted by video evidence on 471 felony counts in the alleged rape and sexual abuse of 103 children. (CNN) (ABC) Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute: Desire Petroleum, a British-listed firm, begins drilling for oil at an offshore platform within the territory of the Falkland Islands, amid mounting criticism from Argentina and Venezuela. (BBC) Latin America's leaders back Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. (The Times) (The Daily Telegraph) China throws a surprise 86th birthday party for President Robert Mugabe in its Zimbabwe embassy in Harare, the first time Mugabe visited a foreign embassy in the country since Zimbabwe won independence in 1980. (Reuters) Foreign ministers from the European Union meet in Brussels and "strongly condemn" the use of forged passports from various European countries in the assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh. (RTÉ) (BBC) Afghanistan's government condemns a NATO air strike on a convoy of vehicles in Uruzgan province, in the south of the country, which killed at least 27 civilians. (BBC) Conference of the German Bishops chairman Archbishop Robert Zollitsch formally apologises to those who went through sexual abuse as children after fresh controversy surrounding the issue at the beginning of this year. (Deutsche Welle) (RTÉ) (Taiwan News) Swiss businessman Max Goeldi, who hid in the Swiss embassy in Libya for 19 months during a diplomatic argument, is taken away in handcuffs and thrown into jail while his colleague Rachid Hamdani is deported. (BBC) (The Guardian) (Reuters)(The Daily Telegraph) The European Union and Germany deny a report of a 20-25 billion euro (£22 billion) aid plan for Greece, and Athens pledge again to take new steps if needed to keep tough deficit-cutting plans on target. (Reuters) A strike by thousands of pilots at Lufthansa, one of the world's largest airlines, is suspended with negotiations expected to resume. (BBC) Odeon Cinemas in Ireland, Italy and the UK confirm their intention to boycott Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland in a dispute with Disney. (BBC) (Digital Spy) (news.com.au) (Sky News) February 23, 2010 (2010-02-23) (Tuesday) Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and the main Darfur rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement, sign a ceasefire deal. (CNN) (Xinhua) (BBC) Former Irish Green Party leader Trevor Sargent resigns as Minister of State for Food and Horticulture after admitting "an error of judgment" involving his contacts with the Garda Síochána. (RTÉ) (The Irish Times) Assassination of Hamas official in Dubai: Two more fake Irish passports are identified by the United Arab Emirates as being involved in the assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a senior Hamas official in Dubai, bringing the current total to seven. (The Irish Times) One of the first five passport holders used a vacant Dublin home address belonging to the brother of former Taoiseach Albert Reynolds. (The Irish Times) A United Nations report says mobile phones are used by around 4.6 billion in total or two-thirds of the world population, including more than half of people in the developing world. (Digital Trends) (Globe and Mail) China increases controls on the internet, requiring anyone who wishes to set up a website to produce identification and meet regulators. (BBC) (China Daily) Mauritania recalls its ambassador from Mali after the latter released four members of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. (BBC) (Reuters South Africa) Iranian authorities arrest the leader of the Jundallah, Abdolmalek Rigi, a Sunni militant organisation based in southeastern Iran. (Press TV) (CNN) At least five people are killed and dozens buried in a landslide near Bandung in West Java, Indonesia. (BBC) (Jakarta Post) (New Straits Times) A 250lb car bomb explodes outside a courthouse in Newry, Northern Ireland, the first such bomb to explode in the area since 2000. (BBC) Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen carries out a major cabinet reshuffling, bringing in female ministers in charge of Defence and Foreign Affairs, the first in Denmark's history. (Copenhagen Post) February 24, 2010 (2010-02-24) (Wednesday) The discovery of the sauropod genus Abydosaurus is announced. (ScienceDaily) (Irish Times) Toyota's President Akio Toyoda apologises to the United States Congress for safety problems that led to deaths and worldwide recalls of its vehicles. (BBC) (Channel News Asia) (New York Times) Prime Minister of the Ivory Coast Guillaume Soro announces the formation of a new government after 48 hours of negotiations, and opposition parties demand the reinstatement of the electoral commission. (Post Zambia) (Al Jazeera) Cuban President Raúl Castro "laments" the death of political prisoner Orlando Zapata, who was on a hunger strike for more than 80 days in protest of prison conditions in the country. (BBC) (Reuters) RasGas, a joint venture of Qatar Petroleum and ExxonMobil, starts its seventh LNG train, ensuring Qatar's position as the world's biggest producer of liquefied natural gas. (Reuters) (Bloomberg) Oxfam Hong Kong suspends its student training programme in China after the Chinese government said the charity had "unfriendly intentions". (BBC) (Radio Television Hong Kong) (My Sin Chew) Sachin Tendulkar becomes the first cricketer in history to score a double century in One Day International cricket. (Rediff) The Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China rejects Tengzhong's bid to purchase Hummer from General Motors. (Reuters) (New York Times) The first Vincent van Gogh to be authenticated since 1995 goes on display at a Zwolle museum 26 years after the death of the museum founder who first identified it. (Reuters) (CBC News) (The Times) (The Daily Telegraph) SeaWorld Orlando trainer Dawn Brancheau dies during an attack by the world's largest killer whale in captivity, Tilikum. February 25, 2010 (2010-02-25) (Thursday) President Hugo Chávez vows to withdraw Venezuela from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights following its publication of a highly critical report on human rights in the country. (Guardian) Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi calls for jihad against Switzerland after a referendum last year supported a ban on minarets and other rows between the two nations. (The Times) (Daily Times of Pakistan) (Taiwan News) Defeated Sri Lanka presidential candidate General Sarath Fonseka is charged with additional counts in addition to treason in the aftermath of his failed election bid. (The Hindu) Turkey's prime minister and president hold talks with the head of the country's armed forces over an investigation into an alleged military coup. (Al Jazeera) (BBC) South Africa announces it has intercepted a ship carrying North Korean arms destined for central Africa, travelling by way of China, in violation of Security Council Resolution 1874. (Wall Street Journal) (Bangkok Post) Australia summons the Israeli ambassador to explain why three new suspects over the Dubai killing of a Hamas leader, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, used Australian passports. (BBC) Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin makes history as he leads a 10-member delegation to Gaza via Egypt, becoming the first EU Foreign Minister to visit since the 2009 Israeli assault after having previously been refused entry by Israel. He calls on Israel to end the blockade. (The Irish Times) (Arab News) (RTÉ) Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva tours Haiti to monitor the destruction caused by the recent earthquake and meets President René Préval. (Press TV) Viktor Yanukovych is sworn in as the 4th President of Ukraine. (Kyiv Post) (The Moscow Times) (BBC Europe) (CNN) A fire at the Garib & Garib Sweater Factory clothes factory in Gazipur, Bangladesh kills at least 18 people and injures more than 50 others. (BBC) The chief of Algeria's national police, Ali Tounsi, is fatally shot in his office in a retaliatory murder–suicide. (Press TV) (BBC) The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) jails Lieut-Col Eprem Setako, the Ministry of Defence's former head of legal affairs, for 25 years after finding him guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity. (BBC) The Congressional Black Caucus appeals to American President Barack Obama and Democratic congressional leaders for tougher efforts to reduce racial disparities in the U.S. health system, saying there are four critical areas not addressed by Obama's plan. (Politico) Filming on the set of Coronation Street is suspended as actors and fans gather at Salford Cathedral to celebrate the life of veteran actress Maggie Jones (Blanche Hunt). (BBC) Odeon dispute with Disney: The boycott of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland is reversed. (BBC) February 26, 2010 (2010-02-26) (Friday) Kim Yuna, Korean figure skater,won the gold medal with new world record in both short programme and free skate with the total of 228.56, which is another world record in the total score, becoming the first South Korean skater to medal in any discipline of figure skating at the Olympic Games. Kim's gold medal was South Korea's first medal at the Winter Olympics.(BBC) A girls' boarding school dormitory in KwaZulu-Natal is shut down due to widespread lesbian activity. (BBC) Wang Meng wins her third gold medal in the 1,000 meters short track at Vancouver to become China's first winter Olympian to win three gold medals at one Games and give China all the women's titles. (Shanghai Daily) (China Daily) Brazilian police investigate after a newborn baby dies while two doctors argue during the mother's labour in an Ivinhema hospital. (The Irish Times) The Organization of American States (OAS) Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) issued a 300-page report on democracy and human rights in Venezuela under Hugo Chávez. (The Washington Post) Turkish police launch a second wave of arrests of military officers tied to the alleged "Sledgehammer" coup plot. (CNN) Syrian President Bashar Assad hosts Hezbollah head Hassan Nasrallah and Iranian leader Ahmadinajad in Damascus where they condemn the United States and Israel (CNN), (The Jerusalem Post) At least 17 people killed as Taliban suicide bombers carry out a string of attacks in Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN), (The Hindu) A suspicious package is discovered at the Israeli Embassy in Dublin. (RTÉ) The cruise ship MS Costa Europa crashes into a dock in the Egyptian port of Sharm al-Sheikh, killing three people. (BBC) (CNN) At least 16 people are killed in a stampede at Djinguereber Mosque in Mali's northwestern city of Timbuktu. (Reuters South Africa) (BBC) (Al Jazeera) Burma's Supreme Court rejects an appeal by detained National League for Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi against an 18 month extension on her house arrest. (Times of India) (CBC) (MSN Philippines) The official North Korean news agency KCNA announces the country has detained four South Koreans for crossing the border into the country. (Yonhap) (KCNA) (Al Jazeera) Prince settles his court case with MCD Productions which had sued the musician after he cancelled a 2008 Croke Park concert at short notice. (RTÉ) (BBC) It is reported that an iceberg the size of Luxembourg has struck the Mertz Glacier, breaking it in half. (AP) Politiken apologises for its reprint of a cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad with a bomb-shaped turban in 2008 but is criticised by other Danish newspapers. (BBC) An experiment in Minnesota's Soudan Mine reports detection of weakly interacting massive particles, a form of cold dark matter, with masses of 7-11 billion electronvolts.(Nature News) (ArXiv) New York Democratic Governor David Paterson announces he will not run in the New York gubernatorial election of 2010.(The New York Times) President Muammar Gaddafi of Libya declares a holy war on Switzerland. (The Washington Post) A 7.0 magnitude earthquake strikes off the southern coast of Japan's Ryukyu Island. (USA Today) February 27, 2010 (2010-02-27) (Saturday) 2010 Chile earthquake and Pacific Ocean tsunamis: An 8.8 magnitude earthquake hits near the city of Concepción, Chile. (BBC) A tsunami-warning is issued in a huge swath of the Pacific Ocean including Chile and Peru. (Pacific Tsunami Warning Center) The death toll is revealed to be more than 140 at this point. (Sky News) President Michelle Bachelet declares parts of her country as "catastrophe zones" as Pacific Ocean cities brace themselves for potential tsunamis and waves of over 2 metres strike Juan Fernández. (The Los Angeles Times) (China Daily) (BBC) New Zealand's Chatham Islands, French Polynesia, Hawaii and Ecuador's Galápagos Islands are among the other world areas struck by the resulting tsunami as the "biggest tsunami warning in history" gets underway. (The Daily Telegraph)(The Daily Telegraph) Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh arrives in Saudi Arabia on the first PM visit there since Indira Gandhi's in 1982. (The Times of India) (The Hindu) Egyptian prosecutors begin investigating yesterday's incident where an Italian cruise liner smashed into a dock at Sharm el-Sheikh during severe weather conditions, killing sailors from Brazil, Honduras and India and injuring several passengers. (Gulfnews) (ABC News) (Herald Sun) At least 2 die and 7 injuries are caused in a skirmish between two religious groups in Dera Ghazi Khan in Pakistan. (The News International) 19 are killed and dozens are injured by firecrackers during the Lantern Festival celebrations in Puning, Guangdong. (China Daily) (CNN) (The Times of Ina) A drought causes at least 10 billion yuan ($1.46 billion) in direct economic loss at Fanaga village of Luquan county, near Kunming, capital of Yunnan. (China Daily) Police in Turkey arrest at least 18 people in connection with an alleged coup plot. (CNN) Constitutional judges in Colombia reject a referendum to allow President Álvaro Uribe to stand for a third term in office. (Mir) (BBC) (Reuters) (Colombia Reports) 10 people die and at least 20 are injured after Islamic militant group Abu Sayyaf attacks a village in Maluso, Basilan early in the morning. (The Snydey Morning Herald) 3 people die and over 20 are injured after a suicide bomber targets a police station with his van in Karak, Pakistan. (The Sydney Morning Herald) Thousands of people protest in Visaginas about a four-fold rise in electricity prices after their local Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant was shut down. (euronews) Drinks firm Gatorade ends its endorsement deal with golfer Tiger Woods after his string of extra-marital affairs. (BBC) (The Times) February 28, 2010 (2010-02-28) (Sunday) 2010 Winter Olympics: International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge officially closes the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada. Canada finishes in first place in the medal table with a record 14 gold medals, while the United States wins a record total of 37 medals. (Xinhua) Hosts Canada defeat the United States 3-2 in overtime to win the men's hockey tournament. (The Daily Telegraph) Hundreds of people wearing pink wigs and pink clothing walk out of Catholic Mass in 's-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands in protest of a gay Dutch man being refused communion in a nearby town. (BBC) (UPI) 2010 Chile earthquake and Pacific Ocean tsunamis: At least 708 people are confirmed dead in Chile (CNN) Japan and numerous other countries evacuate coastal residents as a tsunami approaches. Some Japanese homes are flooded by the tsunami. (BBC) (Sky News) (The New Zealand Herald) Tajikistan votes in parliamentary elections. (Al Jazeera) A storm sweeps across Western Europe, killing at least 50 people and leaving a million homes without power. (BBC) (Deutsche Welle) (euronews) (The Sydney Morning Herald) 900 ships are stranded in south China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region amid falling water level caused by severe drought. The waterway traffic jam started on Wuzhou City section of Xijiang River. (China Daily) Two huge icebergs let loose off Antarctica's coast. The two icebergs are drifting together about 62 to 93 miles (100 to 150 kilometers) off eastern Antarctica, according to an Australian Antarctic Division glaciologist. (China Daily) 11 civilians die in a roadside bomb in Helmand Province. (Al Jazeera) (BBC) (RTÉ) (Reuters India) Three ETA militants, including one of its top leaders, Ibon Gogeascoechea, on the run since 1997, are detained in a French-Spanish raid in Cahan, Orne. (BBC) (The Guardian) (The Daily Telegraph) About eighty tons of dead fish are discovered and removed in a lagoon in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, likely due to localized ocean anoxia and algal blooms.(The Associated Press) (Latin American Herald Tribune) Egyptian authorities announce the discovery of a granite head from a statue of Tutankhamun's grandfather Amenhotep III, which was unearthed at a temple in Luxor. (BBC) (France24) (Herald Sun) (Reuters) (The Scotsman) (The Washington Post) (Xinhua)

February 2010 S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28  Ongoing events Economic Automotive industry crisis Financial crisis Greek Economic Crisis Worldwide recession Medical West African meningitis outbreak HIV/AIDS in Africa Political Canadian anti-prorogation protests Nigerian presidential power crisis Nigerien military overthrow Philippine presidential elections U.S. health care reform debate Scientific Expedition 22 Sports 2010 Winter Olympics Humanitarian 2010 Haiti earthquake 2010 Chile earthquake  Recent deaths February 25: David Soyer 25: Andrew Koenig 24: C. R. Johnson 23: Wyn Morris 23: Orlando Zapata 22: Fred Chaffart 22: Robin Davies 22: Bobby Smith 20: Alexander Haig 19: Jamie Gillis 19: Lionel Jeffries 18: John Babcock 18: Ariel Ramírez 14: Dick Francis 12: Nodar Kumaritashvili 11: Irina Arkhipova 11: Jabez Bryce 11: Alexander McQueen 10: K. N. Raj 10: Charlie Wilson  Ongoing conflicts Africa / Middle East Darfur conflict Fourth Chadian Civil War Iraq War Israeli–Palestinian conflict Maghreb insurgency Niger Delta conflict Shia insurgency in Yemen South Yemen insurgency Somali Civil War Turkey–PKK conflict War in Afghanistan Asia Balochistan conflict Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir Insurgency in the Philippines Ethnic conflict in Nagaland Naxalite–Maoist insurgency South Thailand insurgency War in North-West Pakistan Americas Colombian conflict Mexican drug war Internal conflict in Peru  Elections Recent: February 3: Greece, President 7: Costa Rica, General 7: Ukraine, President (2nd round) 15: Anguilla, General 27: Nauru, Constitutional referendum Ongoing: February 28: Tajikistan, Parliament Upcoming: March 4 March: Togo, President 6 March: Iceland, Debt repayment referendum 7 March: Iraq, Parliament and Status of Forces Agreement referendum 7 March: Switzerland, Referendum  Trials Recently concluded Burma]]: Aung San Suu Kyi Italy: Amanda Knox, Raffaele Sollecito Peru: Alberto Fujimori Republic of China]]: Chen Shui-bian Sweden: The Pirate Bay United Arab Emirates: Issa bin Zayed Al Nahyan United States: William J. Jefferson, Sheila Dixon Ongoing Cambodia: Khmer Rouge Tribunal China: Organized crime in Chongqing France: Church of Scientology, Air France Flight 4590 Germany: Heinrich Boere, John Demjanjuk Iraq]]: Supreme Criminal Tribunal Malaysia]]: Anwar Ibrahim Netherlands: Thomas Lubanga (ICC), Radovan Karadžić (ICTY), Geert Wilders Palau: Thomas Remengesau Jr. Russia: Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Platon Lebedev Sierra Leone: Charles Taylor (SCFSL) Singapore: Tak Boleh Tahan Thailand: Thaksin Shinawatra United States: Jena Six, Joseph Bruno, David Headley Upcoming Sudan: Lubna al-Hussein United States: Viktor Bout, Noshir Gowadia, Allen Stanford,  Holidays  and observances February 2010 Ongoing 15 – April 3: Great Lent (Eastern Christianity) 17 – April 3: Lent (Western Christianity) 27 evening – 28: Purim (Judaism) 28 – March 1: Holi (Hinduism) 28 evening – March 1: Shushan Purim (Judaism) Current 28: Navam Full Moon Poya (Buddhism) 28: Kalevala Day (Finland) 28: Peace Memorial Day (Republic of China) 28: Magha Puja (Cambodia, Thailand) March 2010 Upcoming 1: Hola Mohalla (Sikhism) 1: Self Injury Awareness Day 1: Independence Day (Bosnia and Herzegovina) 1: Baba Marta Day (Bulgaria) 1: Yap Day (Federated States of Micronesia) 1: Beer Day (Iceland) 1: Nuclear Victims Remembrance Day (Marshall Islands) 1: Admission Day (Nebraska) 1: Republic's Day (Neuchâtel) 1: Admission Day (Ohio) 1: Heroes' Day (Paraguay) 1: Mărțișor (Romania) 1: Independence Declaration Day (South Korea) 1: National Pig Day (United States) 1: Saint David's Day (Wales)