Portal:Current events/2010 April 14
April 14, 2010 (Wednesday)
- 2010 Yushu earthquake
- Chinese media say 589 people have died after a 6.9 magnitude earthquake hits China's Qinghai province. Reports suggest there were six quakes in total, and over ten thousand people were injured in the disaster.(China Daily) (BBC) (The Guardian)
- Rescue efforts are difficult due to the isolated location of the earthquake. (LA Times)
- At least 100 people are killed in India after a powerful storm demolished thousands of homes in West Bengal. (BBC News)
- Kyrgyzstan's interim leader Roza Otunbayeva says that President Kurmanbek Bakiyev must stand trial over riots last week. (Times of India) (Al Jazeera)
- Eruption in glacier volcano Eyjafjallajökull, Iceland, enters a new phase, causing local evacuations. (Morgungblaðið)
- Air traffic is closed over Northern Norway as ash cloud from the Eyjafjallajökull volcano drifts towards Europe. (Iceland Review)
- It is reported that U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday will unveil a "bold and daring" new space mission to send astronauts to Mars months after he controversially scrapped a project to return to the Moon. (The Telegraph)
- Neil Armstrong and other former astronauts release harsh criticism of the president's recent cuts to NASA.(Fox News)
- Controversy arises over the decision to bury Polish President Lech Kaczyński in Wawel Cathedral in Kraków—a place reserved for Poland's kings and heroes. Hundreds of people have taken to the streets in protest, and thousands have joined an internet campaign objecting to the plan. (BBC News)
- Tokelau outlaws whaling within its territorial waters. (RNZI)
- The Liberal Democrats send out a "four step" manifesto plan to "hardwire fairness into British society". Leader Nick Clegg says his policies, including raising the state pension and a tax cut for low and middle earners, combined "hope and credibility". (BBC News)
- The Vatican seeks to "clarify" remarks made by a senior cardinal, who linked homosexuality with paedophilia in the abuse scandal facing the Church. (BBC News)
- For the first time in decades, researchers report a significant drop worldwide in the number of women dying each year from pregnancy and childbirth, to about 342,900 in 2008 from 526,300 in 1980. (The New York Times)
- A cargo aircraft crashes on take-off from Monterrey International Airport, Monterrey, Mexico, killing five crew members and one person in a car on the ground. (Aviation Safety Network)
- Australia arrests the captain and chief officer of a Chinese ship that ran aground on the Great Barrier Reef, damaging three kilometres of coral reef and leaking tonnes of oil. (New Straits Times) (BBC) (Economic Times)
- Apple delays the international launch of its iPad computer for a month, blaming "surprisingly strong US demand" that has outstripped its ability to produce them. (The Guardian)