Wikipedia:ITN archives/2009/April

(Archive begins here and is to be continued from here forward).


 * Albania and Croatia join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
 * The Libyan government announces that a migrant boat has capsized in the Mediterranean Sea causing the presumed deaths of around 230 people.
 * Raúl Alfonsín, Argentina's first President to be democratically elected after the "Dirty War" military dictatorship, dies at the age of 82.
 * G-20 leaders meet at the summit in London, United Kingdom.
 * Thirteen people are killed and 26 others are severely wounded during a shooting incident in Binghamton, New York.
 * Najib Tun Razak replaces Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as Prime Minister of Malaysia after the ruling coalition suffered its worst election result ever.
 * The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development blacklists Costa Rica, Malaysia and the Philippines as non-cooperative tax havens.
 * North Korea launches Kwangmyŏngsŏng-2, allegedly an experimental communications satellite, via an Unha carrier rocket.
 * An ice bridge, connecting the Wilkins Ice Shelf to Charcot Island, breaks.
 * As Anders Fogh Rasmussen has been selected to be the next Secretary General of NATO, Lars Løkke Rasmussen succeeds him as Prime Minister of Denmark.
 * Ivan Gašparovič (pictured) is re-elected President of Slovakia, defeating Iveta Radičová.
 * Gjorge Ivanov, supported by the VMRO-DPMNE party, is elected the new president of the Republic of Macedonia.
 * An earthquake in L'Aquila, Italy, kills at least 50 people and leaves 50,000 homeless.
 * Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori is convicted of human rights abuses and sentenced to 25 years in prison.
 * Rioters in Chişinău, Moldova break into the parliament building and the presidential office during a protest against the results of the recent election.
 * American merchant sailors regain control of the MV Maersk Alabama after an attack by Somali pirates.
 * Fijian President, Ratu Josefa Iloilo, suspends the Constitution of Fiji after the country's Court of Appeal rules that the current government is illegal.
 * Abdelaziz Bouteflika wins his third term as President of Algeria.
 * Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva declares a state of emergency in Bangkok and surrounding areas after anti-government protests force the Fourth East Asia Summit to be cancelled.
 * Ángel Cabrera wins the 2009 Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia, USA, after a two-hole playoff.
 * A fire at a homeless hostel in Kamień Pomorski, Poland, kills at least 21 people and injures at least 20 others in the country's worst fire disaster since 1980.
 * The birth of Injaz, the world's first cloned camel, is announced in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
 * Four people associated with The Pirate Bay, a torrent tracking website, are found guilty of "promoting other people's infringements of copyright laws" and sentenced to one year in prison.
 * Naxalite rebels kill at least 17 people during the first phase of India's general election.
 * The discovery of an ecosystem of microorganisms in Blood Falls, Antarctica, that survives without oxygen and metabolizes sulfur and iron, is announced.
 * Researchers report the discovery of Mycocepurus smithii, the first ant species determined to consist exclusively of females that reproduces through cloning.
 * Ten countries boycott the Durban Review Conference being held by the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.
 * A number of delegates exit in protest during Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's (pictured) speech at the Durban Review Conference in Geneva, Switzerland.
 * The National Unity Party led by Derviş Eroğlu wins a plurality of seats in the Assembly of the Republic of Northern Cyprus.
 * The launch of the World Digital Library is announced by UNESCO and the United States Library of Congress.
 * The New York Times wins five Pulitzer Prizes, including for international reporting on "America’s deepening military and political challenges in Afghanistan and Pakistan."
 * Astronomers announce the discovery of Gliese 581 e (artist's impression pictured), the smallest exoplanet ever found, in the constellation of Libra.
 * Argentina submits a request to the United Nations for an extension of its continental shelf rights which conflicts with overseas territories of Chile and the United Kingdom.
 * A Chinese government study locates an extra 3850 km of the Great Wall of China.
 * Two suicide attacks in Baghdad and Baquba kill at least 76 people, including 46 Iranian pilgrims, and injure over 100 others in the deadliest terrorist incidents in Iraq this year.
 * The Maoist guerrilla group Shining Path makes a resurgence in Peru, with anti-government ambushes killing 14 soldiers in April 2009.
 * At least 29 people are hacked and stoned to death in clashes between Mungiki members and civilians in Karatina, Kenya.
 * The discovery of Puijila darwini, the oldest seal ancestor ever located, is announced.
 * A new strain of swine influenza infects over 1,000 people in Mexico and the southwestern United States, killing at least 68 of them.
 * The African National Congress, led by Jacob Zuma, loses its supermajority in South Africa's National Assembly.
 * The Social Democratic Alliance, led by Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, wins a plurality in elections to the Icelandic parliament.
 * The Social Democratic Party, led by Jaume Bartumeu, wins with a plurality of votes in elections to the General Council of Andorra.
 * The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of the Solomon Islands is officially opened.