Portal:Current events/2010 August 23

Current events of August 23, 2010 (2010-08-23) (Monday)

Armed conflicts and incidents The Palestinian Authority has warned that it will pull out of peace talks if Israel renews the construction of settlements in the occupied West Bank. (BBC) Two members of NATO's International Security Assistance Force are killed by improvised explosive devices in Afghanistan. (AFP via Google News) At least 17 people, including a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan, Maulana Noor Mohammed Wazir, are killed in the bombing of a mosque in Pakistan's South Waziristan region. (Economic Times of India) Arts and culture The Anne Frank tree in Amsterdam is knocked down by a gust of heavy wind, breaking off about a meter above ground. (NOS) Jimena Navarrete, representing Mexico, wins Miss Universe 2010. (AP via News OK) Business and economics Australia's stock market and currency lose value because of the country's hung parliament. (BBC) Disasters Flooding in China and North Korea: More than 250,000 people are evacuated due to floods across China and North Korea. (Al Jazeera) (UK Press Association via Google News) 4 people die in floods in Dandong, China after flood waters cause the Yalu River to burst its banks. (AP via The Independent) It is expected to take 120 days (4 months) to free the 33 miners trapped underground near Copiapó in the Atacama Desert after it is confirmed that they are all currently alive. (The Guardian) The United Nations describes the humanitarian situation caused by the 2010 Pakistan floods as critical. (BBC) International relations Cambodia and Thailand resume diplomatic relations after former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra resigns his post as economic advisor to the Cambodian government. (Thai News Agency) (BBC) Law and crime 2 tonnes of elephant ivory and five rhino horns disguised as avocados destined for Malaysia are seized in Nairobi, Kenya. (Kenya Broadcasting Corporation) (Reuters) China considers removing the death penalty for several economic crimes. (BBC) (Xinhua) (AFP) 25 prisoners, including Islamic militants, escape from a prison in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. (BBC) (Bangkok Post) (ITAR-TASS) A dismissed police inspector hijacks a coach belonging to Hong Thai Travel and its 25 Hong Kong tourists in Manila, the capital of the Philippines in order to demand his reinstatement. He is later shot dead by the police. At least 7 hostages are killed and 2 others severely injured.(Al Jazeera) (CNN) (Philippine Inquirer) Judge Royce C. Lamberth of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia rules against a decision by President Barack Obama allowing the expansion of embryonic stem cell research claiming it breaks US law. (Bloomberg) Sport Golfer Tiger Woods and his ex-wife Elin Nordegren finalise their divorce. (CBS Sports)