Saturday 12 June 2010

Holidays:

• Blessed Ternan, bishop, confessor [ GTZ: Scotland]
• Blessed John of Sahagun, hermit, confessor
• Roman Empire ? sixth day of the Vestalia in honor of Vesta
• Philippines ? Araw ng Kalayaan (Independence Day) 1898
• Russian Federation ? Russia Day (Independence Day) 1990

• United Kingdom ? Trooping the Colour (Military celebration of the monarch's official birthday held in London on the second Saturday of June)
• Brazil ? Dia dos Namorados (Lover's Day; similar to St. Valentine's)
• World Day Against Child Labor
• Saints Basilides, Quirinus, Nabor and Nazarius (and Celsus), martyrs
• Saint Pharaildis, virgin [GTZ: Artois]
• Blessed Eskill, bishop, martyr [ GTZ: Scandinavia]
• Saint Ursinus, bishop of Bourges, confessor (Translation day) [GTZ: Rouen]
• Saint Leo III died 816
• Saint Odulf of Oirschot died 865
• Blessed Guido (died 1250)
• Saints Nabor and Nazarius, martyrs [GTZ: St. Avold]
• Blessed Onuphrius, monk
• Saint Rufus, bishop, martyr [WTS (Bruges)]
• Saint Cunera [HCC]

Famous Birthdays:

Facts:

• The death toll from the Arkansas floods reaches 18. (AP via Google News)
• The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) says the government of Ethiopia killed 71 civilians in a military operation last month. (Reuters Africa)
• 2010 Kyrgyzstan crisis:
• Roza Otunbayeva, Kyrgyzstan's interim president, asks Russia to send troops to quell ethnic violence in the southern city of Osh. (Sky News)
• Russia declines to send troops. (Xinhua)

• Kyrgyzstan's interim government gives shoot-to-kill powers to security forces. (''Arab News'')
• Iran:
• The first anniversary since the disputed presidential election, which retained Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, passes relatively quietly after the opposition cancels rallies in the face of arrests and threats by the authorities. (Aljazeera)
• Iranian opposition leader, Mir Hossein Mousavi, calls off plans to take to the streets on anniversary of 2009 elections, citing fears of violence, but vows to continue the struggle. (''Jerusalem Post'')
• Clashes erupt in Tehran as some protesters come out to demonstrate and dozens are detained as security forces disperse them. (''Los Angeles Times'')
• Iranian Nobel Prize laureate, Shirin Ebadi approves of the United Nations Security Council sanctions against Iran's nuclear program, as Iran marks the first anniversary of its disputed presidential poll. (AFP)
• Thousands of Palestinians cross the Rafah Border Crossing into the Gaza Strip following its opening by Egypt, but Egypt prevents hundreds of activists from entering and Hamas continues to refuse Red Cross visits for captured Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit. (Sify News)
• Poland detains a wanted man it says is the Israeli Mossad spy who used a German passport in the assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, while Germany seeks his extradition. (Reuters Canada)
• Al Jazeera Sports, which has exclusive broadcasting rights for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in the Middle East and North Africa, says its Nilesat and Arabsat signals are being sabotaged in an ampquotact of piracyampquot, as criticism mounts across the affected regions and on the internet. (''The National'')
• The Government of Cuba releases imprisoned paraplegic dissident Ariel Sigler on humanitarian grounds and transfers six others to more convenient jails. (BBC)
• New Zealand's police find at least thirteen girls aged 12-16 who work as ampquotactive prostitutesampquot in the ampquotyoung red light areaampquot in Auckland's CBD. (''The New Zealand Herald'')
• A school teacher who stabbed 16 young pupils and a teacher in a knife rampage in south China in April is sentenced to death. (''Shanghai Daily'')
• The European Union promises €500 million towards the 2010/11 budget of Kenya, the largest economy in East Africa. (Reuters Africa)
• Chinese Buddhist monks and archaeologists revealed what they believe to be a part of the skull of Siddartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism, in east China's Jiangsu Province. (Xinhua)
• UK Prime Minister David Cameron and U.S. President Barack Obama discuss America's oil spill problem over a telephone call. (Reuters Africa)