Portal:Current events/2010 March 22

Current events of March 22, 2010 (2010-03-22) (Monday)

• The Rio Tinto bribery trial opens in China. (BBC)
• Moments after the Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010 is passed, protesters outside the United States Capitol shout racial and sexual obscenities at John Lewis, a United States Congressman and civil rights icon who was once almost beaten to death in Alabama, and at openly gay Massachussetts House Representative Barney Frank. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
• Child sex abuse in the Catholic Church:
  • Polls in Germany, particularly Bavaria, indicate the church's credibility has decreased and government data indicates people are leaving the church. (The Wall Street Journal)
  • The Pope's letter to Irish Catholics is met with a negative response, with further calls for him to force controversial Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland Cardinal Seán Brady out if he maintains his refusal to resign. (The New York Times) (The Sunday Business Post) (The Independent)
  • The Pope is criticised again after failing to mention his apology to Irish Catholics during his weekly Vatican address. (The Daily Telegraph) (The Globe and Mail)
• Middle East:
  • Israeli warplanes bomb a smuggling tunnel east of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip in an early morning raid close to the Egyptian border in response to a Palestininian rocket attack which landed in an open area south of the city of Ashkelon, causing no damage or casualties. (Xinhua)
• Kirsty Sword-Gusmao, wife of East Timor's Prime Minister, backed by head of East Timor's child protection agency Carmen da Cruz, demands Australian woman Lala Noronha return to Dili 15 Timorese teenagers she has in Malaysia. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
• The United States House of Representatives passes the Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010. (CNN) (Sky News) (BBC)