Portal:Current events/2010 May 16

Current events of May 16, 2010 (2010-05-16) (Sunday)

• A recount of votes in the March 7 Iraqi election found no change in seat allocation for any of the blocs in the most populous province, Baghdad, in a set-back for Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who claimed there was election fraud and won a court appeal for the recount after his coalition came in second by two seats. (CNN)
• Israel prevents Noam Chomsky from delivering a lecture at Birzeit University in the West Bank as "the government did not like the kinds of things I say", the first time the academic has been refused entry by Israel. (Al Jazeera) (BBC) (The Guardian) (The Hindu) (The Independent)
• At least 11 people are killed after rebels from the Al-Shabab militant group attack the Somali parliament as it meets for the first time this year. (BBC) (Al Jazeera) (Daily Nation)
• Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan flies to Tehran to join talks also attended by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva aimed at convincing Iran of the advantages of sending its nuclear material abroad for processing to ease fears from the West that Iran wants to build a bomb. (BBC)
• One person is killed and 28 injured in two grenade attacks in the Rwandan capital Kigali. (AFP)
• Voters in the Dominican Republic go to the polls in a parliamentary election. (AFP) (AP)
• Scientists are finding enormous oil plumes in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico, including one as large as 10 miles long, 3 miles wide and 300 feet thick in spots as fresh evidence that the leak from the broken undersea well could be substantially worse than estimates that the United States government and BP have given. (USA Today) (The New York Times) (The Times)
• A by-election takes place in Hong Kong triggered by activists calling for universal suffrage in the territory. (Straits Times) (Reuters India) (Radio Television Hong Kong)
• Maoist guerillas kill six villagers in an alleged revenge attack in Chhattisgarh, India. (Hindustan Times) (IOL) (AFP)
• United States President Barack Obama is to ask the US Congress for an extra $200m in military aid to help Israel get a short-range rocket defence system called Iron Dome in place against mortar and rocket attacks from Gaza or Southern Lebanon. (BBC)
• Thailand's Prime Minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva, warns of escalating violence, and is considering a curfew after clashes with protesters kill 25 over the last 3 days (The Jerusalem Post) (The Australian) (Chicago Tribune)
• An earthquake of 5.8 magnitude is felt on Puerto Rico. (Reuters) (AP)
• Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva flies from Moscow, where he met Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, to Tehran for a meeting with Iranian officials there on the nuclear issue. (BBC)
• The Republic of Korea Navy fires shots at a patrol boat from North Korea during a skirmish. (Yonhap) (BBC)
• Airspace in Ireland is closed down again due to the Icelandic volcanic eruptions. (BBC)
• Canadian fighter jets escort a Cathay Pacific airliner to land at Vancouver International Airport during a bomb alert and the passengers are removed. (BBC) (CBC)
• French lecturer Clotilde Reiss, charged with spying in Iran after last June's disputed election, is released and returns to Paris. (The Times) (Al Jazeera) (BBC)
• David Triesman, Baron Triesman resigns as chairman of The Football Association as well as England's 2018 FIFA World Cup bid after his "entrapment" by the The Mail on Sunday in which he suggested Spain could drop its bid if Russia bribed referees at the 2010 FIFA World Cup next month. (BBC) (The Mail on Sunday) (The Scotsman)
• Ronnie James Dio dies at 7:45am, as Wendy Dio declares [1](http://www.ronniejamesdio.com/)