Portal:Current events/2010 March 21

March 21, 2010 (Sunday)

French President Sarkozy's UMP party is heavily defeated in regional elections. (BBC)
Tens of thousands of people gather on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States to support President Barack Obama in his bid to overhaul the country's immigration laws. (CNN)
A new earthquake in Haiti kills two in Cap-Haïtien. (Ynet)
Middle East:
- Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon enters Gaza with the message "we (the United Nations) stand with you (Palestine)", criticises Israel's actions and speaks of his distress at the "unacceptable, unsustainable conditions" endured by Palestinians and the lack of reconstruction of damaged buildings. (BBC) (RTÉ) (The Times) (UN)
- A friendly football match to take place in the Faisal al-Husseini Stadium in al-Ram, near Jerusalem between the Egyptian Olympic football team and the Palestine national football team is postponed due to an issue with the Egyptian team obtaining Israeli visas. (The Observer)
- Muslims in Pakistan protest against the claimed "demolition" of their sacred sites by Israel. (The Palestine Telegraph)
- Four Palestinians, including two youths, are killed by Israeli forces in two separate incidents in Nablus; Israeli and Palestinian sources disagree on the circumstances of the shooting. (Reuters) (CNN) (Ha'aretz)
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refuses to bow to international pressure, saying "As far as we are concerned, building in Jerusalem is like building in Tel Aviv". (BBC)
- Mauritania formally severs diplomatic ties with Israel, saying the relationship has "completely and definitely" run its course over the Gaza situation. (Ha'aretz)
Afghanistan:
- At least ten people die and seven are injured in a suicide bomb attack in Geresh, Helmand Province. (BBC) (RTÉ) (The Hindu) (The Washington Post)
- A roadside bomb kills two others in Khost Province. (Reuters)
Child sex abuse in the Catholic Church:
- It is alleged that the Pope (then a German archbishop) ignored advice from a psychiatrist in 1979 stating Father Peter "Hulli" Hullermann was "untreatable" and "must never be allowed to work with children again". (The Sunday Times)
- The Pope is asked why he hasn't apologised to those affected by sex abuse in Australia after yesterday's publication of his 13-page apology to Irish Catholics. (ABC News)
- Musician and prominent abuse campaigner Sinéad O'Connor dismisses the Pope's letter as "a study in the art of lying". (Sunday Independent)
- The Pope's letter is read to Massgoers and Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland Cardinal Seán Brady is applauded following the revelation of his representation of the Church when two teenagers abused by Father Brendan Smyth were forced to sign an oath of silence. (The Irish Times)
- A man confronts Bishop of Kerry Dr Bill Murphy on the pulpit in the middle of the Gospel at St Mary's Cathedral, Killarney before the Pope's letter can be read and is seized by members of the congregation, while protesters walkout during Mass at St Mary's Pro-Cathedral in Dublin. (The Irish Times)
The corpses of two archbishops are stolen from a cemetery in Nicosia. (BBC) (Reuters) (Philippine Daily Inquirer) (ABC News)
Soham murderer Ian Huntley is hospitalised after his throat is slashed in his County Durham prison. (Sky News) (The Guardian) (The Daily Telegraph) (RTÉ) (Irish Independent)
A volcano erupts at Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland. (RUV, Iceland)^{[permanent dead link]} (BBC) (Herald Sun) (RTÉ)
South Africans mark the 50th anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre. (BBC) (The Washington Post) (The Guardian)
Plastiki, a boat constructed from 12,000 plastic bottles, sets sail on a three-month voyage from San Francisco through the Great Pacific Garbage Patch to Sydney. (BBC)
Pune and Kochi are announced as the two new franchises in the Indian Premier League, having spent the equivalent of US$700 million between them. (BBC) (The Guardian) (Press Trust of India) (The Hindu)