Portal:Current events/2010 June 4

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Gaza flotilla raid:
  • Anti-Israel protests take place outside the Israeli embassy in Dublin, Ireland, and outside the US embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (The Irish Times) (Malaysia Star)
  • Prime Minister of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan gives a televised speech in which he states that he does not view Hamas as a terrorist organization, but as "resistance fighters who are struggling to defend their land". Thousands of people rally at a memorial service in Istanbul for one of those killed in the raid. (BBC)
  • Another Irish ship, the 1,200-ton MV Rachel Corrie, is headed to Gaza, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that Israel will not allow it to dock in Gaza. (AP)
• The pro-government militia group of Ahlu Sunnah Waljama (ASW) in Somalia claims to have killed at least 91 Islamist fighters and wounded 170 others in Thursday's fierce clashes. (China.org)
• Cumbria shootings:
  • Prime Minister of the United Kingdom David Cameron visits Cumbria. (Sky News) (CBC)
  • The BBC issues an apology after receiving dozens of complaints over the content of its Radio 4 play Six Impossible Things, which featured the antics of a gunman. (BBC) (Digital Spy)
  • ITV postpones a third consecutive episode of its ongoing Coronation Street storyline, "Siege Week", due to the Cumbria shootings, while Sunday's omnibus is replaced by the film Pollyanna. (RTÉ) (Digital Spy)

Business and economy

• McDonald's recalls 12 million promotional glasses for the movie Shrek Forever After due to the presence of cadmium in the painted design. (AP via Washington Post)

Disasters

• 163 people die from lead poisoning in Zamfara State, Nigeria: confirmed cases being treated number 355. (BBC) (IOL) (News24.com) (Reuters)
• The death toll rises to 109 following a fire in the centre of Dhaka, Bangladesh. At least 50 injured victims struggle for life at the state-run Dhaka Medical College Hospital. (China Daily) (Rediff) (The Times of India)
• Seven Italian officials are investigated for manslaughter relating to the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake. (The Independent)

Law and crime

• Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon requests an independent investigation in into the death of human rights activist Floribert Chebeya in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and promises to help in any way he can. (BBC) (IOL) (People's Daily Online)
• BMJ finds scientists behind World Health Organization advice on stockpiling of pandemic flu drugs had financial ties with companies which stood to profit. (Aljazeera) (BBC)
• Joran van der Sloot, a suspect in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway in Aruba, is extradited from Chile to Peru to face charges in the killing of a Peruvian woman. (America Online)
• A Joint Base Lewis–McChord United States Army soldier is charged with three counts of premeditated murder in connection with the deaths of three Afghan civilians. (KIRO TV)
• French Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux is convicted of racism. (France24) (BBC) (The Daily Telegraph) (Financial Times)
• Belgian police arrest a man suspected of yesterday's fatal shooting of a magistrate and a clerk at a Brussels court. (BBC) (Al Jazeera) (The Sydney Morning Herald)
• Pope Benedict XVI says he is "deeply saddened" by yesterday's fatal stabbing of the Roman Catholic Apostolic Vicariate of Anatolia, Luigi Padovese, who was to meet him on the first ever visit to Cyprus by any Pope today. (BBC)

Politics and elections

• Iranian President Ahmadinejad warns Iran opposition ahead of election anniversary. (fcnn)
• An investigation by an anti-government Myanmar broadcaster finds evidence that it says shows the country's military regime has begun a programme to develop nuclear weapons. (AJE)
• Naoto Kan is elected as the new leader of the Democratic Party of Japan and subsequently as the new Prime Minister of Japan, where he currently awaits confirmation from Emperor Akihito. (The Australian)
• The Government of the United Kingdom releases hitherto undisclosed public spending details from the past two years (BBC)

Science

• North Korea unveils a "super drink" to multiply brain cells and stop skin ageing which it says attracted attention from China and Germany at a trade fair in Pyongyang. (BBC) (Reuters) (The Daily Telegraph)
• SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket is successfully launched on its maiden test flight. (BBC)