April 16, 2010 (Friday)
- Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull volcano:
- Travel chaos spreads across Europe as planes are grounded in the United Kingdom, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia as a result of the giant cloud of ash coming across from Iceland. (BBC) (Al Jazeera) (CNN)
- The UK's National Air Traffic Service (NATS) confirms flight restrictions will now remain in place until at least 07:00 tomorrow. (Sky News)
- Ireland opens its air space and transatlantic flights resume from Dublin Airport. A small section off the south coast remains closed. (RTÉ)
- Ryanair, Europe's largest low-cost carrier, cancels all flights to and from Ireland, Britain, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands, northern France, northern Germany, Poland and the Baltic states until 12:00 GMT on Monday: CEO Michael O'Leary calls the situation "unprecedented". (Reuters) (Barcelona Reporter) (Irish Independent)
- The BBC reports that share prices have fallen in many European airlines as a result of the grounding of many jets. (BBC)
- The World Health Organisation does not know what effects the ash could have on human beings, but they have advised Europeans to stay indoors, if possible. (BBC)
- Jens Stoltenberg, Prime Minister of Norway, is stuck in New York City due to the eruption. (New York Daily News) (CNN) (Los Angeles Times)
- 2010 Yushu earthquake:
- The death toll from the earthquake in China which occurred on Wednesday has risen to 1144, officials have announced. Another 417 people are reported to be unaccounted for. (BBC)
- Premier Wen Jiabao travels to the earthquake zone, having postponed a scheduled visit to Brunei, Indonesia and Myanmar. President Hu Jintao calls the Presidents of Chile and Venezuela to postpone trips to those countries. (CNN)
- Child sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church:
- Benedict prepares for a trip to Malta, his first trip abroad in 2010, where abuse survivors demand to meet him. (euronews) (Voice of America)
- The Government of Ireland announces a statutory fund of €110 million for former residents of institutions who were abused as children. (RTÉ) (Irish Independent) (The Irish Times)
- Israeli–Palestinian conflict:
- The dismembered corpse of a Palestinian fighter killed by Israeli gunfire in the Gaza Strip is recovered. (Al Jazeera) (The Washington Post)
- The Arab League expresses "great" concern over Israeli "aggression" in the Gaza Strip, stating that human rights are being breached. (Yemen News Agency - SABA)
- Two Palestinian vehicles in a West Bank village are torched by settlers protesting against Israel's temporary construction freeze in the West Bank. (Ha'aretz)
- President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad writes a letter to President of the United States Barack Obama urging cooperation between the two countries. (CNN) (One India) (The Washington Post)
- Victims of the recent severe storm in India angered by slow government response attack officials and raid an aid storage facility. (AFP)
- Gary Jackson, former president of the US private security firm, Blackwater Worldwide (Xe Services LLC), and four other former workers are indicted on federal weapons charges. (BBC)
- The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charges Goldman Sachs with defrauding investors. (The Wall Street Journal)
- Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is named as the key suspect in "one of the biggest corruption scandals in Israel's history". (Voice of America) (The Times) (Ha'aretz)
- The United Nations commission investigating the events and circumstances surrounding the assassination of Benazir Bhutto submits its report which states that the murder was "avoidable" and the inquiry was bungled. [http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/un-blames-musharraf-govt-for-bb-murder-640