World - April 8, 2010

The World

THURSDAY

Vatican legal officials said Pope Benedict cannot be called to testify at any trial because he has immunity as a head of state. The Pope has been accused by victims’ lawyers of being ultimately responsible for an alleged cover-up of sexual abuse of children by priests.

Turkish commandos intercepted a pirate skiff in the Gulf of Aden, capturing nine pirates as part of an international anti-piracy mission.

Apa Sherpa, a Nepali sherpa, said he will soon begin the trek to the top of 29,035-foot Mount Everest to scatter the ashes of Sir Edmund Hillary. Hillary became the first European to reach the top of the world when he tackled Everest with Tenzig Norgay in 1953. His ashes have lain in a Nepali monastery since his death.

FRIDAY

An explosion at the Tesoro oil refinery in Anacortes killed five employees working on a unit that processes highly flammable liquid from the refining process.

Bailed-out insurer American International Group outlined the 2010 compensation for two executives after a clampdown on pay at firms that received funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program. CFO David Herzog will receive a cash salary of $495,000, an annual stock salary of $4,485,000 and long-term stock grants of $1,020,000. CEO Kirtian Moor will receive a cash salary of $700,000, an annual stock salary of $5 million and long-term restructured stock grants of $1.9 million.

Hitting more than 181 miles per hour in a Ferrari F430 at the Urfa airport in eastern Turkey, pop singer Metin Senturk became the world’s fastest solo blind driver. Following Senturk in a separate vehicle was Volkan Isik, who guided the blind man by radio.

WEEKEND

A 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck Baja California, Mexico, on Sunday, rocking buildings and panicking residents as far away as Tijuana and Los Angeles. People were reported trapped in elevators, retaining walls had collapsed in some places and electricity was out in several areas.

Three suicide bombers detonated car bombs within moments of each other in a coordinated attack near the Iranian, Egyptian and German embassies in central Baghdad on Sunday, killing as many as 41 people and wounding more than 200.

Senegal inaugurated its giant “African Renaissance” monument on Saturday. Larger than the Statue of Liberty, the $28 million monument features a man, woman and child emerging from a volcano.

MONDAY

Washington state schools superintendent Randy Dorn checks into jail to serve one day for drunk driving. Dorn was arrested last month on his way home from a crab feed and dance in Bonney Lake after he blew a 0.11 on a breathalyzer test.

A huge underground explosion blamed on methane gas killed 25 workers in Massey Energy Co.’s Big Branch mine south of Charleston, W. Va., in the worst U.S. mining disaster in more than two decades.

New first baseman Casey Kotchman stroked a two-run single in the top of the ninth inning to give the Seattle Mariners a 5-3 opening night win over the host Oakland Athletics.

TUESDAY

University of Kansas scientists confirm the finding of an entirely new species on the northern Philippines island of Luzon. The forest monitor lizard, a brightly-colored, fruit-eating cousin of the Komodo dragon grows to more than six feet in length but weighs only about 22 pounds. The lizard has gone undetected primarily because of its ability to hide from humans, its main predator.

The U.S. birth rate fell 2 percent in 2008, to about 4.2 million births, the National Center for Health Statistics reported. In 2008, 4,251,095 babies were born in the U.S.

Two women were arrested at a British airport for trying to smuggle a dead relative onto a flight bound for Germany. After putting sunglasses on the 91-year-old deceased man, the duo pushed him through Liverpool’s John Lennon airport on a wheelchair. Check-in staff became suspicious. Cause of death is unknown.

WEDNESDAY

Rains continued to pummel Rio de Janeiro as officials in Brazil’s second largest city scrambled to restore transit after massive landslides and floods that have killed 96 people.

Thailand officials declared martial law after red-shirted supporters of ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra stormed the grounds of parliament, calling for a dissolution of the nation’s current government.

Compiled by Gazette staff from a variety of sources