Sunday 28 March 2010

Holidays:

• Saint Sixtus III
• Slovakia, Czech Republic - Teachers' Day.
• Saint Castor
• Saint Gontram (died 592)
• Saint Malchus

• Saint Priscus

Famous Birthdays:

Famous Deaths:

• June Havoc: Canadian-American actress singer and dancer (d. 2010).

Facts:

• The BBC reports it has found evidence of a massacre which occurred in Democratic Republic of Congo last December in which at least 321 people, including children, were killed. Human Rights Watch calls it ampquotone of the worst massacres carried out by the LRAampquot. (BBC)
• Catholic Church child sexual abuse scandal:
• At a Palm Sunday mass in Saint Peter's Square, Rome, Pope Benedict XVI tells tens of thousands of people about the recent ampquotpetty gossipampquot he has been subjected to, thought to mean the child sexual abuse within the Roman Catholic Church, though he fails to directly mention the scandal. (''National Post'')
• Controversial Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland Cardinal Seán Brady confirms the departure of one of his parish priests due to new information regarding ampquotchild safeguarding issuesampquot. (''The Irish Times'')
• Middle East:

• Israel announces its plan to seal off the West Bank from midnight tonight until midnight on 6 April during the Passover holiday. (''Ha'aretz'')
• Chief Justice of Palestine Sheikh Tayseer Rajab Al-Tamimi appeals for Palestinian citizens to protect Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem in response to posters showing the Jewish Temple plastered on Jerusalem bus routes. (''The Jerusalem Post'')
• Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu states that his ampquotpolicy of retaliation is forceful and decisiveampquot and alleges that ampquotHamas and the other terror organizations need to know that they are the ones that are responsible for their own actionsampquot. (Reuters Africa)
• Netanyahu condemns the anonymous remarks in the Israeli press that US President Barack Obama is a “tragedy” for Israel as unacceptable. (Ynetnews)
• President of Israel Shimon Peres says Netanyahu's administration is going too far with its building plans in East Jerusalem. (''Ha'aretz'')
• U.S. President Barack Obama, in his first visit to Afghanistan as commander in chief, meets with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and speaks to American troops deployed there. (''Washington Post'')
• One male is killed and two other people are injured in the Patissia area of the Greek capital Athens after a bomb explodes outside a public building. It is the first fatal bombing in Greece for many years. (Al Jazeera)
• At least 152 coal miners are trapped after a pit floods in Shanxi, while 109 others escape. (''China Daily'')
• 6 die and 33 are injured in five co-ordinated bombings targeting militia leader Sheikh Turki Hamad Mikhlif in Qaim, Iraq. (''The New York Times'')
• 2 journalists are shot dead, in the northeastern region of Olancho in Honduras. (The Associated Press)
• Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva meets with leaders of the National United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship on live television to help bring about an end to the political crisis in the country. (''The Daily Telegraph'')
• First step in Russian time zone reform comes into force. The number of time zones drops from 11 to 9, eliminating Samara Time and Kamchatka Time. (AP)
• America's Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) conducts raids in southeastern Michigan in an investigation involving members of Hutaree, a Christian-oriented militia group. (AP)