Portal:Current events/April 2011

April 2011 was the fourth month of that common year. The month, which began on a Friday, ended on a Saturday after 30 days.

Portal:Current events

This is an archived version of Wikipedia's Current events Portal from April 2011.

April 1, 2011 (Friday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Arab Spring:
- 2011 Libyan civil war:
  - An envoy of Muammar Gaddafi is reported to have been seen gossiping with officials on a visit to London, England. (BBC)
  - More people leave the inner circle of Gaddafi, including Ali Treki, his choice for the United Nations ambassador. (Al Jazeera)
  - Forces loyal to Gaddafi continues the attack on the city of Misrata. (Al Arabiya)
  - Forces loyal to Gaddafi capture the wife of former Minister of Foreign Affairs Moussa Koussa after a firefight. (The Daily Telegraph)
- 2011 Bahraini protests: Authorities release a prominent blogger, Mahmood Al-Yousif, but detain several others in a series of arrests. (Alert Net)
- 2011 Syrian protests:
  - Anti-regime protests break out in cities across the country after Friday prayers. (Alert Net) (BBC)
  - Several people die in the protests. (Al Jazeera)
- 2011 Yemeni protests: Thousands of pro and anti-government protesters demonstrate in the capital Sana'a, amid fears of a confrontation between the two sides. (Al Jazeera)
- 2011 Jordanian protests: Police attempt to separate pro and anti-government rallies held in the capital Amman. (CNN)
- 2011 Omani protests: Police shoot dead a protester in the city of Sohar during a large demonstration. (Reuters)
- 2011 Saudi Arabian protests: Demonstrations occur in the east of the country in support of anti-government rallies in Bahrain and calling for political freedoms in Saudi Arabia. (Reuters)
2010–2011 Ivorian crisis: Heavy fighting continues in Abidjan, the largest city in the Ivory Coast between forces loyal to current President of the Ivory Coast Laurent Gbagbo and internationally-recognised claimant Alassane Ouattara. (BBC)
The Turkish army kills seven PKK rebels who crossed the border from Syria. (Hindustan Times) (Today's Zaman)
At least twelve people have been killed at a protest against Koran burning in Mazar-i-Sharif with at least eight of them being United Nations personnel. (Fox News) (Reuters)
More than 1.5 million web sites around the world have been infected by the LizaMoon SQL injection attack spread by scareware since Tuesday. (USA Today) (Reuters)

Arts and culture

Knut's brain swelled significantly before his recent death. (BBC)
Penélope Cruz becomes the first Spanish actress to receive a star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Business and economics

Ireland's government agrees to bank bailout number five, valued at €24 billion, and does not force senior bondholders into burden-sharing. (The Irish Times)
It is revealed that chief executive of nationalised Anglo Irish Bank Mike Aynsley received €1 million, including a "housing allowance" for his second home in Australia, while the bank admits billions were squandered last year in the biggest corporate loss in the country's history. (Irish Independent)
Microsoft lodged an antitrust complaint against Google with the European Commission. (The Wall Street Journal)
Unemployment in the United States falls to 8.8 per cent on the back of 216,000 jobs being added. (MSNBC)
Nasdaq, in cooperation with Intercontinental Exchange, bids $11.3 billion for NYSE Euronext, the holding company that owns the New York Stock Exchange, in an attempt to interfere with a planned merger between NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Borse. (Reuters)

Disasters

10 people are swept away in an avalanche in the southwestern Swiss Alps; with three reported deaths. (IOL) (Swissinfo)
Japan Self-Defense Forces and the members of the United States Armed Forces search for people still missing after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. (Kyodo)
Radioactivity levels surge in Japan. (Los Angeles Times)
Efforts to refloat a stranded German-Danish consortium-owned steel vessel which flies the flag of Antigua and Barbuda get underway off the coast of Connemara in the west of Ireland. (Irish Independent)
A 6.2 magnitude earthquake hits the island of Crete. (AP via MSNBC)
A 6 foot hole appears at 36,000 feet aboard Southwest Airlines Flight 812, a Boeing 737 en route from Phoenix, Arizona to Sacramento, California; the plane lands safely in Yuma, Arizona. (Associated Press) (King5)

International relations

The South African Development Community demands an end to the political violence in Zimbabwe, amid tensions in the unity government. (IOL)

Law and crime

The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that the number of traffic deaths has fallen to 32,788 in 2010, the lowest level since 1949. (New York Times)
Former chief executive of nationalised Anglo Irish Bank David Drumm is questioned about the bank's debts and his declaration of bankruptcy in Massachusetts. Drumm bans the press from attending. (The Irish Times)
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague dismisses by 10-6 Georgia's accusation that Russia and separatist rebels engaged in ethnic cleansing in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. (BBC)
A female Chinese national exchange student to Sweden studying in Örebro is found murdered in daylight. (Stockholm News)

Politics and elections

French Polynesian President Gaston Tong Sang is ousted in a vote of no confidence led by opposition leader Oscar Temaru. Temaru once again becomes President of French Polynesia for the fifth time. (RNZI)
Senator Steve Fielding launches his campaign to outlaw lies on April 1 in his battle against those who engage in the "ever-growing annual tradition of playing practical jokes on less intelligent Australians". (The Sydney Morning Herald)
Mohammad-Ali Najafi is elected leader of Iranian Executives of Construction Party to replace with Gholamhossein Karbaschi. (Kalame)
Government of Kuwait led by Nasser Al-Sabah has resigned due to a stand-off with parliament, potentially allowing for early elections. (Al Jazeera)

Science

Scientists use a geoid model to illustrate the force of gravity on Earth from data from the Goce satellite. (BBC)

Sport

FIFA suspends Bosnia and Herzegovina from international football after its failure to drop a rotating presidential system between a Muslim, a Serb and a Croat, which is similar to the country's complex political system. (BBC Sport)

April 2, 2011 (Saturday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

At least 800 people are killed in a massacre in Duékoué, Côte d'Ivoire, during the Second Ivorian Civil War. (CBC News)
Libyan Civil War:
- Friendly fire from coalition forces reportedly kills 13 rebels in Libya. (MSNBC)
- Rebel forces in Misrata estimate that 28 people have died in fighting over the past three days. (Al Jazeera)
2011 Syrian protests:
- Security forces in Syria arrest dozens of people following pro-reform protests. (Al Jazeera)
2011 Yemeni protests:
- Anti-government protesters clash with riot police in Aden, southern Yemen. (AP via Google News)
Gaza War:
- Israel asks the United Nations to disavow the Goldstone Report after the report's author, Judge Richard Goldstone, says that he retracts the accusation that Israel intentionally targeted civilians during the 2008–2009 Gaza War. (BBC) (The New York Times) (Ynet) (The Washington Post)
- Goldstone continues to defend portions of the report, including those that accused Hamas of violations and demands that the Palestinians investigate their violations in Gaza, as Israel has investigated its actions, while Hamas has not held any investigations. (The Jerusalem Post)
Afghan National Army soldiers kill two insurgents including a would-be suicide bomber who attacked Camp Phoenix in Kabul. (BNO)
A bomb explodes in Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, killing one, hours after around 2,000 participants in a half marathon pass by. The incident evokes memories of the 1998 Omagh bombing, while taoiseach Enda Kenny (Republic of Ireland) accuses the perpetrators of "acting in defiance of the Irish people". (BBC) (The Guardian) (CBC News)

Disasters

Prime Minister of Japan Naoto Kan visits the areas of the country worst affected by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. (Reuters via WAMC)
Tepco confirms radioactive water has been (and still is) leaking into the sea from a crack at the malfunctioning Fukushima nuclear plant. (BBC)
A 5.9 magnitude earthquake hits northern Chile. (IOL)

Law and crime

India charges former telecom minister Andimuthu Raja, several executives and three firms in a telecoms scandal. (The Times of India) (Reuters)
The North Korean government cracks down on IT gadgets such as computers and phones amid fears that news about the Arab Spring could influence its citizens. (The Straits Times)
Almost half of China's dairies are to close after failing to obtain new licenses following a safety audit. (BBC) (Xinhua)
Gunmen attack a bar in Ciudad Juárez in northern Mexico, killing five people. (AP via The Ledger)

Politics

A parliamentary election is to take place in Nigeria, but is postponed to 4 April as voting materials did not arrive on time. (Pana Press) (AFP via Google News) (CNN)
Thousands of people attend pro- and anti-carbon tax (part of a phase-in of an emissions trading program) rallies in Sydney, Australia. (AAP via Sydney Morning Herald)(ABC News online)
The Prime Minister of Spain José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero announces that he will not be seeking a third term in the next election. (Al Jazeera)
Police make 12 arrests following protest marches by the English Defence League and opposing groups in Blackburn, Lancashire. (BBC)

Sport

The India cricket team wins the 2011 Cricket World Cup, defeating Sri Lanka by six wickets. (Daily Mail)
Manager José Mourinho loses his first home game since 23 February 2002. (Marca)

April 3, 2011 (Sunday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

2011 Bahraini protests:
- Authorities ban the publication of the main opposition paper Al Wasat. (Times Live South Africa) (Al Jazeera) (Malaysia Star)
2011 Libyan civil war:
- Forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi continue to shell the western city of Misrata. (Al Jazeera)
2011 Syrian protests:
- Syria tightens security to crack down on anti-government protests. (FoxNews)
- President Bashar al-Assad appoints Adel Safar as Prime Minister to form a new government. (newser)
- The United States Government offers free flights out of Syria to its employees. (Reuters)
2011 Yemeni protests:
- Anti-government opposition coalition unveils plan to end month-long unrest. (Haaretz)
At least 40 people are dead and 100 injured following a Taliban suicide bomb on a Sufi Muslim shrine in Pakistan. (The Scotsman)

Arts and culture

The People's Republic of China detains Ai Weiwei, a leading artist and dissident, as part of a crackdown on dissenting views. (Wall Street Journal)
Taylor Swift wins the Entertainer of the Year award at the Academy of Country Music Awards 2010 with Miranda Lambert winning four awards including Female Vocalist of the year. (AP)

Disasters

The bodies of two dead workers are found at the afflicted Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant in Japan. (New York Times)
The efforts to plug the leaks at the Fukushima I plant appear not to be working. (New York Times)
The official death toll from the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami passes 12,000 with over 15,000 people missing. (National Police Agency of Japan)
The wreckage of Air France Flight 447, which crashed in June 2009, killing 228 people, is found in the Atlantic Ocean. (BBC), (AP via MSNBC)

Politics

A presidential election takes place in Kazakhstan, with President Nursultan Nazarbayev winning 95% of the vote. (BBC) (RIA Novosti)
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev orders Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to remove his deputies on the boards of state companies by 1 July. (Reuters) (RIA Novosti), (BBC)
Guido Westerwelle, the Foreign Minister of Germany, resigns as leader of the Free Democrats following recent poor electoral performances. (Financial Times)

Environment

Among the rising concerns about the water quality in Hanoi's Hoàn Kiếm Lake, its giant sacred turtle is captured for study and (possibly) medical treatment. Time magazine; Reuters

April 4, 2011 (Monday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

2010–2011 Ivorian crisis:
- United Nations and French military helicopters fire on a pro-Laurent Gbagbo military camp. (Reuters), (AP)
At least 5 people are killed during a bomb explosion at a bus station in Jandool in Lower Dir, Pakistan. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
Police baton and tear gas people protesting on a highway in Dhaka, arresting dozens. (BBC)
2011 Yemeni protests:
- Yemeni police fire live rounds and teargas at protesters in the city of Taiz killing one person and injuring over 400. (Reuters) (BBC)
- Police injure hundreds of people in Hudaida by firing tear gas and live rounds at them as they approach one of the presidential palaces. (BBC)
2011 Syrian protests:
- Syrian president Assad appoints a new governor for Daraa as he struggles to please the people demonstrating in unprecedented protests against his regime. (Al Jazeera)
2011 Libyan civil war:
- A humanitarian ship from Turkey rescues more than 250 injured people from Misrata and safely delivers them to the rebel stronghold of Benghazi. (BBC)
- Libya's acting foreign minister is sent to Athens by Muammar Gaddafi, while Scottish officials travel to London to question his defected predecessor Moussa Koussa on the Lockerbie bombing. (The Independent)
- Kuwait becomes the second Arab country to recognise the opposition National Transitional Council in Benghazi, after Qatar. (AGI)
- Italy recognizes Libyan rebel government (Christian Science Monitor)
2011 Jordanian protests:
- Police arrest a man with a fake explosive belt attempting to enter the headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood in Amman. (Al Arabiya)
Israeli–Palestinian conflict:
- Israeli war planes roam at low attitudes across the skies of Gaza. (WAFA)
- Israeli actor and peace activist Juliano Mer-Khamis is gunned down in the West Bank by masked militants. (J Post), (BBC)
- Dirar Abu Seesi, a Palestinian engineer from Gaza, is indicted at Beersheba's District Court, accused of developing missiles and upgrading rockets for attacks on Israel; he claims that the Mossad kidnapped him. (The Jerusalem Post) (BBC)(Ynetnews)
War on Terror:
- 5 people, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, are to be put on trial by the United States military at the U.S.-operated Guantanamo Bay detention camp, it is announced. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
Greek fighter jets escort a British civilian airliner as it makes an emergency landing in Athens after a bomb threat; no one is hurt. (BBC)

Arts and culture

Disappearance of Ai Weiwei:
- Concern grows as Ai Weiwei, who has criticised his country's human rights record, fails to reappear more than 24 hours after his disappearance by guards at Beijing Airport. Police issue no comment, though they have since raided his studio. (BBC) (Al Jazeera) (Radio Television Hong Kong)
- The French and German foreign ministries call on China to release Ai Weiwei from prison, while Amnesty International is also critical of his detention. (BBC)
A three-panel Zhang Xiaogang oil painting sells for a record HK$79 million. (BBC) (The Hindu)
Prince Albert II of Monaco's Rhodesian-born fiancée Charlene Wittstock converts to Roman Catholicism. (The Straits Times)

Business and economy

The Bank of Japan releases its Quarterly Tankan survey of business sentiment confirming that the recent 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami has had a negative effect on business confidence. (Kyodo News)
It is reported that China has succeeded in genetically modifying cows to produce "human" milk. (IBN Live)

Disasters

Indonesian earthquake and tsunami:
- A 6.7 magnitude earthquake strikes off the coast of Java in Indonesia. (AFP via Sydney Morning Herald)
- A tsunami alert is issued after the earthquake in Indonesia. (Xinhua)
A magnitude 5.4 earthquake strikes western Nepal near the Indian border, and is felt in Delhi. (Times of India) (NDTV)
At least 10 people are killed and at least 16 others are injured as a United Nations plane breaks in two and ignites at Kinshasa Airport in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. (BBC) (Indian Express)
The M11 motorway is closed after a nine car pile up in Essex, England. (BBC)
A two-year-old dog is reunited with her owner in tsunami-ravished Japan. (BBC)
U.S. tornado outbreak:
- A possible tornado hits an automotive plant in Hopkinsville, Kentucky near Nashville, injuring seven people. (LEX18)
- Storms kill eight people in Northern Georgia, one in Mississippi and another in Tennessee. (Reuters) (11 Alive)^{[permanent dead link]}
- Two tornadoes pass through Nashville, Tennessee. (The Tennessean) (Huffington Post)
- Some damage is reported in Louisiana, near New Orleans. (WDSU)
- A record number of American storm reports in a 24-hour period is set, likely in part due to increased reporting. (The Weather Space)
A United Nations Bombardier CRJ200 crashes at Bombardier CRJ200 in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo killing 32 of 33 people on board. (BBC)
Severe thunderstorms kill 13 people in Bangladesh. (San Francisco Chronicle) (AccuWeather)

International relations

The Gulf Co-operation Council denounces Iranian "interference" in its internal affairs. (Al Arabiya)
The Indonesian government appeals after Saudi Arabia acquits a woman accused of torturing her Indonesian maid. (Jakarta Post)
Prince Albert II of Monaco and his fiancée Charlene Wittstock arrive in Ireland for a state visit, 50 years after the visit of Prince Rainier and Hollywood actress Princess Grace. They are to dine at a state banquet hosted by President Mary McAleese and her husband at Áras an Uachtaráin. (RTÉ) (The Irish Times) (Irish Independent)
South Korea approves additional humanitarian aid worth 176 million won to North Korea. (Xinhua)
The Japanese Foreign Ministry issues a statement that 19 foreign nationals died in the earthquake and tsunami, with dozens more still missing, mostly from China and South Korea. (UPI)

Law and crime

North Korea executes former railways minister Kim Yong Sam in connection with the Ryongchon disaster in 2004. (Straits Times)
Three more human remains are found in the Gilgo area of Long Island New York bringing the total number of bodies to eight with a serial killer believed to be responsible. (Newsday)
Three people die in a shootout between Mexican security forces and gunmen in the resort of Acapulco. (BBC)

Politics and elections

Former First Lady of Austria Edith Klestil dies of cancer aged 78. (Austrian Independent)
A court in Vietnam jails prominent government critic Cù Huy Hà Vũ for seven years for spreading "anti-state propaganda". (BBC) (VOV News Vietnam)
Than Shwe, the former head of Burma's State Peace and Development Council, retires as the head of the Myanmar military. (AFP via Channel News Asia)
Controversial Irish senator Ivor Callely, who last year was embroiled in an expenses scandal, is fined €60 by a court for breaching the law. (TV3) (The Irish Times) (RTÉ)
Barack Obama is to run for a second term as President of the United States next year, his campaign announces. (Xinhua) (Al Jazeera) (BBC), (CNN)
Musician Michel "Sweet Micky" Martelly wins the Haitian general election, 2010–2011. (AP via Yahoo! News)
As part of the British government's package of welfare reforms, from today the one-and-a-half million people in the United Kingdom who claim incapacity benefit will begin to receive letters asking them to attend a work capability assessment. The tests are part of government plans to reduce the number of long-term claimants and will take until 2014 to complete. (BBC)

Sports

The candidates for FIFA's presidential election on 1 June are confirmed, with Qatari multi-millionaire Mohammed Bin Hammam to be Sepp Blatter's only challenger. (BBC Sport) (Sky Sports)
Carlos Queiroz signs a contract to coach Iran national football team through to the end of the 2014 World Cup. (AFP)
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announces its induction class of 2011, which will be formally inducted in August. The class includes Dennis Rodman, Chris Mullin, Tex Winter, Herb Magee, Tara VanDerveer, Artis Gilmore, Arvydas Sabonis, Teresa Edwards, Reece "Goose" Tatum and Tom "Satch" Sanders. (ESPN)
The Connecticut Huskies win the 2011 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament in the US defeating the Butler Bulldogs 53–41. (WRAL)

April 5, 2011 (Tuesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

2010–2011 Ivorian crisis:
- Forces loyal to Alassane Ouattara claim to have captured Laurent Gbagbo's Presidential Palace in Abidjan. (BBC)
- Alcide Djédjé, the Foreign Minister claims that Gbagbo's forces have laid down their arms and he is negotiating with Ouattara over the terms of surrender. (CNN)
1,000 students protest at Kabul University as protests continue in Afghanistan over the burning of a Qur'an "found guilty" by pastor Terry Jones' church in the U.S. state of Florida. (CNN)
2011 Syrian protests:
- Amid ongoing protests, Syria opposition says Assad wants talks (Haaretz)

Arts and culture

The whereabouts of Chinese artist Ai Weiwei remain undetermined 48 hours after his disappearance as the U.S., France, Germany, Britain and Amnesty International ask that he be released immediately. (Al Jazeera)
A public civil partnership between a same-sex couple takes place in Dublin, the first time this has happened in Ireland. (The Irish Times)
Sathya Sai Baba is reported to be in a critical condition as thousands of followers gather outside the hospital. (BBC) (The Times of India) (AFP via The Asian Age) (news.com.au)
Bee Gees singer Robin Gibb cancels performances in Brazil due to abdominal pains. (BBC)

Business and economy

Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus loses his final appeal in the Supreme Court of Bangladesh against his dismissal from his own Grameen micro-finance bank; the bank thought him too old for the job. (BBC)
Rebels against the Gaddafi regime in Libya have begun to export oil. (BBC)
The United States Federal Trade Commission considers taking antitrust action against Google. (Bloomberg)
Wayne Swan, the Treasurer of Australia, advises that he is inclined to reject a proposed merger of the Australian Stock Exchange and the Singapore Stock Exchange. (AFP via Sydney Morning Herald)
Texas Instruments announces plans to buy long-time rival National Semiconductor, in a transaction that would consolidate the market for analog chips. (The Guardian)
Cuba and its partners announce plans to drill for oil in Cuban waters in the Gulf of Mexico. (AP via Boston Globe)

Disasters

Fukushima I nuclear accidents
- Japan sets a maximum level of radiation for fish after a catch from Ibaraki prefecture is found with a high level of radioactive iodine from the nuclear accidents. (AP)
- Japan defends dumping of water with low level radiation from the accidents in the Pacific Ocean following criticism from South Korea and Russia. (Kyodo)
For over 50 days, the Libyan city of Misrata has been shelled by artillery, tanks, and snipers, and for over 20 days has had its water intentionally shut off by Muammar Gaddafi's forces. As supplies run short, hundreds of thousands are at risk of death. (Euronews)
At least nine people die in the southern United States in heavy storms. (AP via Yahoo! News)

International relations

Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, Prime Minister of the United Nations-backed Transitional Federal Government of Somalia, calls on UN agencies basing themselves in Kenya for safety reasons to move to Mogadishu within three months, citing the presence of UN agencies in "more dangerous" cities such as Kabul and Baghdad. (BBC) (Mareeg)

Law and crime

Police investigating the murder of Sian O'Callaghan have identified human remains found at a second site as those of Swindon woman Becky Godden-Edwards, who had been missing for eight years. (BBC)

Politics

Amid growing concern and criticism of its planned reforms to the NHS in England, the UK government says it is willing to make major changes to the policy. (BBC)
The Idaho House of Representatives passes a bill banning abortion once a fetus is more than 20 weeks old. (AP via Idaho Statesman)^{[permanent dead link]}
More than a million voters go to the polls in the US state of Wisconsin for an election for a position on the Wisconsin Supreme Court with challenger Joanne Kloppenburg holding a narrow lead over incumbent David Prosser, Jr.. (Reuters)
Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz is appointed as the Chairwoman of the US Democratic National Committee. (Boston Globe)

Science

The World Meteorological Organisation reports that the ozone layer is damaged to its worst extent ever in the Arctic. (The Independent)

Sport

In cricket, Kumar Sangakkara quits as captain of Sri Lanka's one-day and Twenty20 sides so that "a new leader can be properly groomed for the 2015 World Cup". (BBC Sport)

April 6, 2011 (Wednesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

2011 Yemeni protests: six people are killed and hundreds injured in Yemen violence. (CNN)
2011 Libyan civil war:
- NATO pledges to protect the besieged town of Misrata amid criticism from rebel fighters. (Al Jazeera)
2011 Syrian protests:
- Syria reverses a ban on teachers wearing veils and closes the country's only casino ahead of anti-regime protests. (The Guardian)
2010–2011 Ivorian crisis:
- Forces loyal to internationally-recognised Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara storm the bunker of Laurent Gbagbo in a "final assault". (France 24)
- Negotiations to end the political deadlock fail. (Al Jazeera)
- The International Criminal Court could investigate crimes against humanity committed in the country. (Kenya Broadcasting Corporation)

Arts and culture

Civil partnerships for same-sex couples come into effect on the Isle of Man. (BBC)
Conservative U.S. broadcaster Glenn Beck announces that he will no longer be presenting his program from later in the year. (The Wrap)

Business and economy

The New Zealand Press Association closes down after over 130 years in operation with 42 job losses. (3 News)
José Sócrates, the caretaker Prime Minister of Portugal asks the European Union for financial assistance. (BBC)

Disasters

Workers at the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant manage to plug radiation leaks. (AP)
At least 200 African migrants are missing after a boat capsizes off Italy. 20 bodies recovered. (BBC), (New York Times)
A United States Navy F/A-18 crashes near Naval Air Station Lemoore in California. (CBS 47)^{[permanent dead link]}

International relations

Ecuador expels the United States ambassador over Wikileaks diplomatic cables alleging corruption within the Ecuadorian police force. (BBC)

Law and crime

The trial of Prime Minister of Italy Silvio Berlusconi for having sex with an underage prostitute begins. (Reuters)
A tape recording is released of police in the Republic of Ireland allegedly threatening to rape two female protesters, one of whom is from North America, after arresting them, causing an outcry among women's groups and anti-rape organizations. (Irish Examiner) (The Belfast Telegraph) (The Guardian) (The Irish Times) (TV3)
Jeff Skilling, former CEO of Enron, loses his appeal against his conviction for fraud in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. (Wall Street Journal)
More than forty bodies are found in a mass grave in Mexico's Tamaulipas state. (AP via Star Tribune)
The United States Senate defeated a measure that would have banned the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act (United States). The new regulations which began being applied early this year affect air polluters such as power plants and oil refineries, attempts to address climate change mitigation. (Reuters) (New York Times)Washington Times (Bloomberg)

Politics

The Chinese state-run Global Times newspaper dismisses international criticism over the arrest of artist Ai Weiwei. (Angola Press) (Straits Times) (Global Times)

Sport

Basketball star LeBron James buys a minority interest in Premier League team Liverpool Football Club. (Wall Street Journal)

April 7, 2011 (Thursday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

A Mexican Drug War-related march inspired by the killing of seven people, one of whom was the son of prominent poet and journalist Javier Sicilia, occur in more than 20 Mexican cities, with marchers chanting "No more blood!". (BBC)(LA Times)
1.5 million people participate in nationwide street demonstrations against the policies of President of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos, with police using tear gas on protesters. (BBC)
Bahrain:
- Médecins Sans Frontières releases a report accusing Bahrain's military of deliberately targeting doctors and hospitals, "paralyzing" them, and turning them into "places to be feared". (Al Jazeera)
Libya:
- NATO kills at least 13 Libyan rebels and injures many more in an air raid near Ajdabiya after rebels reportedly fired on NATO planes, though there is speculation that the air-strike may have come from Gaddafi's fighter jets evading the no fly zone. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
- The United States considers putting troops on the ground. (CBS)
Syria:
- The Assad regime grants nationality to thousands of Kurds in al-Hasaka in a bid to appease protesters. (Al Jazeera)
Israeli–Palestinian conflict:
- Hamas militants fire an anti-tank missile at an Israeli school bus, critically injuring a teenage boy and the driver, and then fire 45 mortars and 3 rockets at towns in southern Israel; the Israeli army launches a counterattack in Gaza, killing five people and injuring a number of others (Ynet) (The Jerusalem Post)(Al Jazeera)(CNN)
- The Iron Dome mobile air defense system successfully intercepted a Grad rocket launched from the Gaza Strip at the Israeli city Ashkelon, marking the first time in history a short-range rocket was ever intercepted.(Haaretz)
- The United States and Britain condemn the attack in southern Israel after Hamas claims responsibility for firing an anti-tank missile at a school bus. (AFP) (The Jerusalem Post)
- Following a day of missile attacks on southern Israeli communities, Hamas declares a deal for militant groups in Gaza to ceasefire, a truce it says is intended to halt an escalation of Israeli "aggression". (BBC) (Ynet)
A man bursts into a school with a gun and kills 12 people in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, before he commits suicide. (Folha de S.Paulo) (Al Jazeera)
An Iranian asylum seeker self-immolates to death in central Amsterdam. (BBC)
25 people are killed in a bomb assault in the Nigerian town Suleja. (THEWILL)

Arts and culture

China's foreign ministry confirms police are investigating artist and government critic Ai Weiwei, who disappeared over the weekend, for suspected economic crimes amid reports that he has been force-fed milk powder while on hunger strike in prison in reference to his campaigns against the 2008 Chinese milk scandal. (BBC) (AFP via Jakarta Globe) (Al Jazeera)
Politicians in Montreal call for French rock star Bertrand Cantat to be denied entry after Théâtre du Nouveau Monde hires him for some plays by Sophocles. (BBC)

Business and economy

Eurozone interest rates are raised to 1.25 per cent from the record low of 1 per cent by the European Central Bank (ECB) amid concerns this could cause problems for countries such as Portugal and the Republic of Ireland. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
The Australian dollar reaches a 28-year high against the United States dollar due to strong employment figures for March. (The Australian)
General Electric Co. announces that it is investing $600 million to construct a facility for the manufacture of thin-film solar panels, and says it hopes and expects to drive the price of solar energy down. (Reuters)

Disasters

Officials give no hope for the missing migrants of yesterday's fatal boat disaster off Lampedusa in the Mediterranean Sea. (BBC)
A 7.1 magnitude earthquake strikes off the coast of northern Honshu resulting in two deaths and 100 injuries. (USGS), (Sydney Morning Herald)
A 6.5 magnitude earthquake strikes in the Mexican state of Veracruz. (USGS)
Injections of nitrogen into one of the reactors at Japan's stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant begins in an effort to stop further hydrogen blasts. (BBC)
Blackouts hit most Venezuelan states including the capital Caracas. (Reuters via MSNBC)

International relations

A British government diplomat calls the United States Department of State to draw "attention to our concerns over Bradley Manning", the Welsh-born U.S. serviceman imprisoned by the U.S. military in solitary confinement and forced to sleep naked, conditions condemned by Amnesty International, the American Civil Liberties Union and British MPs among others. (AFP via Google News)
UK prime minister David Cameron admits to students in Pakistan that Britain and its empire is to blame for many of the world's problems. (The Daily Telegraph)

Law and crime

Police sexual abuse scandal:
- Calls increase for an independent international investigation into the recently released tape recording of police in the Republic of Ireland discussing the rape of two female protesters, one of whom is from North America. One of the women discusses her experience in public after police leak the identities of the women. (Irish Examiner) (TV3)
- A second tape is released. (The Belfast Telegraph) (The Irish Times)
- Ireland's police chief is forced to issue an apology following the rape tape revelations. (UK Press Association) (The Irish Times) (RTÉ)
The case of a group of elderly Kenyans - 3 men and 1 woman in their 70s and 80s - reaches London's High Court, with the group seeking compensation and apology for their torture by British officers during the 1950s Mau Mau Uprising, including castration, sexual abuse, forced labour and beatings. (Al Jazeera)
The Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals dismisses an appeal from a man wanting to see the President of the United States Barack Obama's birth certificate. (Honolulu Star Advertiser)
Former British Labour Party minister Elliot Morley pleads guilty to dishonestly claiming more than £30,000 in parliamentary expenses. (BBC)

Politics and elections

Nicola Roxon, the Australian Minister for Health, announces plans to introduce legislation requiring tobacco products to be sold in plain packaging. (AAP via Sydney Morning Herald)
Seventeen people are arrested at a protest organised by the Service Employees International Union trying to storm the Governor of the US state of Washington's office in Olympia. (The Olympian)^{[permanent dead link]}

Sport

League football is to resume in Tunisia on 17 April for the first time since December when the Tunisian revolution, which toppled Zine El Abidine Ben Ali from decades-long rule, began. (BBC Sport)

April 8, 2011 (Friday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

At least 12 Palestinians, including 3 civilians, are killed by Israeli air strikes in Gaza in response to numerous mortar and rocket attacks. (BBC)
Prominent religious leader Maulvi Showkat Ahmed Shah is killed when explosives attached to a bicycle are detonated outside a mosque in Srinagar, Kashmir, thought to be the first attack of its kind in about two years. The capital's shops shut down and traffic is suspended. (BBC)
At least 25 people are killed and at least 320 others are wounded at Camp Ashraf. (Al Jazeera)
Arab Spring
- Today's Friday protests take place in Egypt, Iraq, Syria and Yemen among other places. (Al Jazeera)
- 2011 Syrian protests:
  - At least 27 people are killed at rally in Daraa during continuing protests against the al-Assad regime. (Al Jazeera) (BBC)
- 2011 Yemeni protests:
  - At least two people are killed and hundreds more are injured, including 30 critically, as security forces open fire on people in Ta'izz during protests against the Saleh regime. (Al Jazeera)
  - A newly released cable indicates the Saleh government encouraged Saudi Arabia to bomb a rival's headquarters by declaring it a rebel base. (The Guardian)
- 2011 Egyptian revolution:
  - Thousands of people gather in Tahrir Square in Cairo for a "Day of Trial and Cleansing", calling for ousted president Hosni Mubarak and his regime to be prosecuted. (Al Jazeera)
A crew member shoots two of his crew mates on board the nuclear submarine HMS Astute at Southampton in Hampshire, England, killing one and sending the other into a life-threatening condition; police dismiss any link to terrorism. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)

Business and economy

The European Union aims to complete Portugal's bailout of approximately €80 billion in exchange for cuts before a new government is elected in June, with the previous government having fallen at the loss of a parliamentary vote on imposing similar austerity measures. (BBC) (The Guardian) (The New York Times)
The United States Department of Justice defends its probing of WikiLeaks-related Twitter accounts and dismisses as "absurd" any privacy and freedom of speech concerns. (CNET)
Wayne Swan, the Treasurer of Australia, formally rejects an offer by the Singapore Exchange for the Australian Stock Exchange following advice from the Foreign Investment Review Board. (Bloomberg via Business Week)
Virtual economies in online games have become a billion dollar industry. (BBC)
The Rupert Murdoch-owned News International admits liability in several cases brought against The News of the World newspaper for alleged phone hacking, and issues an "unreserved apology". (BBC)
Amgen, a U.S. based biotech firm, acquires Bergamo, a privately held Brazilian medical supplier. (Reuters)

Disasters

The death toll from yesterday's aftershock from the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami rises to three and 140 wounded. (CNN)
Eight people are killed and 130 injured in a massive car pile-up caused by a sandstorm on the German autobahn A 19 near Rostock. The pile-up involves about 80 vehicles and causes at least 30 of them to catch fire, making it the worst accident in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. (BBC) (TheLocal)
Three children die after drinking suspected nitrite- (as opposed to 2008's melamine-) tainted milk in China; 35 others are hospitalized. (BBC) (China.org.cn)

Politics and elections

Nursultan Nazarbayev is sworn in as President of Kazakhstan for another five year term, in a vote criticized as flawed. (Al Jazeera)
Three officials from Kenya, including the deputy prime minister, go on trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC). (Al Jazeera)
Mike Campbell, a white farmer who took President of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe to court in 2007 over his programme of land seizures dies. (BBC)
The United States Congress reaches a deal on the 2011 United States federal budget an hour before the deadline to avoid a government shutdown. (BBC)

April 9, 2011 (Saturday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

2011 Libyan civil war:
- Fighting continues between government and rebels in Brega and Ajdabiya in Libya. (Al Jazeera)
2010-2011 Ivorian crisis/Second Ivorian Civil War:
- Forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo regain ground in Abidjan. (Reuters)
The Egyptian Army initiates a fatal crackdown in Tahrir Square, Cairo, on people protesting that ousted president Hosni Mubarak be prosecuted for corruption. (BBC)
Israeli–Palestinian conflict:
- Over 120 rockets are fired into southern Israel this weekend, wounding 5 people. The Iron Dome missile system intercepts 10 rockets. (Jerusalem Post)
- Israeli air strikes kill 12 in Gaza, according to doctors. (BBC)
- Israel promises to carry out more air strikes on the Gaza Strip in response to the recent mortar and rocket attacks. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
Basque conflict:
- Despite a ceasefire, ETA shoot a French policeman in Valliere, Limousin. Two more shooting incidents follow the first one. (Typically Spanish)

Arts and culture

U.S. movie director Sidney Lumet dies in Manhattan.(Reuters via TV New Zealand)

Disasters and accidents

A tornado hits in Iowa's Monona County in the midwestern United States. (Omaha World-Herald)

Law and crime

Australian police are condemned for their failure to treat the 2007 death of an Aboriginal boy found weighted with rocks in a waterhole as anything other than an accident in Borroloola, Northern Territory. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
A shooting spree in a shopping mall in Alphen aan den Rijn in the Netherlands leaves seven dead, including the perpetrator. (NOS)
Women's groups protest outside the Oireachtas after police are filmed discussing raping women after their arrest. (The Guardian)
The Police Service of Northern Ireland says that a "sophisticated and substantial" 500lb bomb left in a van under the main Belfast to Dublin road near Newry had the potential to cause huge loss of life and devastation, and may have been destined for a town centre. (BBC)
Australian army sex scandal:
- Australia's Chief of the Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, describes a broadcast of a young cadet engaging in sexual intercourse at the Australian Defence Force Academy as an "abhorrent" but "isolated" incident. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
- More army members speak out about other incidents of sexual abuse. (The Sydney Morning Herald)

Politics and elections

Ismael Omar Guelleh is re-elected as President of Djibouti. (Manilla Bulletin)
Icelanders vote in a referendum on a renegotiated compensation deal with Britain and the Netherlands over the collapsed Icesave bank. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
Nigerians vote in parliamentary elections. (BBC)
72-year-old Indian social activist Anna Hazare is to end a four-day hunger strike after the government agrees to his wishes for tougher anti-corruption laws which have gained widespread public support. (BBC)

April 10, 2011 (Sunday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

United Nations and French forces open fire on the residence of the President of Côte d'Ivoire Laurent Gbagbo in response to recent attacks. (AP via Times Union)
2011 Syrian protests
- Eyewitnesses claim that Syrian security forces killed four protesters in the coastal city of Banias. (AP via Forbes)
- Eyewitnesses report that Daraa where dozens of protesters were shot on Friday is 80 per cent paralysed. (Al-Jazeera)
An African Union mission arrives in Libya to negotiate a settlement in the 2011 Libyan civil war between Muammar Gaddafi and his opponents. (BBC)

Arts and culture

U2's 360° Tour becomes the highest grossing music tour of all time following a show in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (NME via Bigpond Music)

Business and economics

The People's Republic of China records its first trade deficit in six years with rising commodity prices blamed. (AP via CBS Moneywatch)^{[permanent dead link]}

Disasters

Wildfires in the US state of Texas destroy more than 230,000 acres of land, including about 20 homes in the small town of Fort Davis. (Reuters)

Law and crime

Beijing police arrest at least a dozen members of a Christian house church for attempting to hold a church service in public after they are evicted from their usual place of worship. (AP via Star Tribune)
A British Royal Navy sailor is charged with murdering an officer and attempted murder of three crew members aboard a nuclear submarine HMS Astute on Friday night in Southampton. (AP via Yahoo News), (AFP via ABC News)

Politics and elections

Peruvians vote in presidential elections with the most likely result a runoff between Ollanta Humala and either Pedro Pablo Kuczynski or Keiko Fujimori. (BBC), (AP via Newsday), (New York Times), (BBC)
The governing Democratic Party of Japan loses 70 seats in local government elections due to concerns over handling of the Fukushima I nuclear accidents. (Reuters via Yahoo! News)

Sport

Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull Racing wins the 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix. (News Limited)
South African golfer Charl Schwartzel wins the United States 2011 Masters Tournament. (NineMSN), (CBS Sports)

April 11, 2011 (Monday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

2011 Syrian protests
- Students take part in a demonstration at Damascus University to express solidarity with protesters killed in the unrest. (Al Jazeera) (Al Bawaba)^{[permanent dead link]} (Press TV)
- Student killed after Syria forces attack protest in Damascus University. (Haaretz)
2011 Egyptian revolution:
- Demonstrators remain in Tahrir Square calling for the acceleration of reforms. (Reuters)
- The Prime Minister of Egypt Essam Sharaf apologises for violence against the protesters in Tahrir Square and calls for a judicial investigation. (Al-Jazeera)
2011 Minsk Metro bombing
- At least 11 people are killed and dozens are injured in a bomb explosion at Kastrychnitskaya metro station in Minsk. (RT) (Reuters via Yahoo News)^{[dead link]}
2010-2011 Ivorian crisis/Second Ivorian Civil War:
- Laurent Gbagbo is captured and arrested in Abidjan. Gbagbo has been reportedly taken to the headquarters of Alassane Ouattara. French reports claim he was captured by Ouattara supporters while contradictory reports suggest he was captured by French special forces. (Washington Post) (France 24) (AFP via Sydney Morning Herald)
2011 Libyan civil war: Libyan rebels reject an African Union peace plan because it does not include the removal of Gaddafi from Libya. (Reuters)
Fighting between rebels and government forces kill 27 people in the Central African Republic. (AFP via Google News)

Arts and culture

The French law banning the burqa and niqab comes into effect. (AFP via News Limited) (BBC)

Business and economy

Mexican businessman Carlos Slim is again the richest man in the world according to the Forbes list of billionaires. (BBC)
Intel announces (former codename "Oak Trail") Atom processor will be in devices beginning in May, especially designed for netbook and tablet devices. (Intel Release).
Highland Capital has brought an adversary proceeding within the U.S. bankruptcy court, New York, in regard to the Lyondell reorganization, against the securities unit of UBS AG for third-party inferenece with a contract between Highland and Lyondell. (BusinessWeek)

Disasters

Over 14,000 people are still missing in Japan, a month after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. (Kyodo News)
The President of the Tokyo Electric Power Co. visits the government offices of Fukushima Prefecture and the command centre for the Fukushima I nuclear accidents to apologise. (Kyodo) (CNN)
The government of Japan announces plans to evacuate more towns near the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant as the crisis continues. (CNN)
Japan is hit by a magnitude 6.6 aftershock one month after the main earthquake, knocking out power to Fukushima I for nearly an hour. (Washington Post)

International relations

India repatriates 39 Pakistani prisoners in a goodwill gesture. (Times of India) (Dawn)

Law and crime

Authorities in Tajikistan are to ban divorce by text message. (CP)
Egyptian blogger Maikel Nabil is sentenced to three years in prison by a military court for criticising the army. (BBC) (AP via Google News)
Farooque Ahmed is sentenced to 23 years in jail in the US for plotting attacks on the Washington Metro system. (Washington post)
Nepalese Energy Minister Gokarna Bista is stabbed in Katmandu. (AP via Silicon Valley Mercury)^{[permanent dead link]}

Politics

Uganda's opposition leader Kizza Besigye is arrested after calling for a protest against recent fuel price increases. (AFP via Google News) (BBC)
Stephen Smith, the Australian Minister for Defence, orders an investigation into the way women are treated at the Australian Defence Force Academy following recent sexual abuse allegations. (ABC News Australia)
The President of Yemen Ali Abdullah Saleh welcomes a proposal by the Gulf Cooperation Council that would see him stand aside for his Vice-President. (Reuters via Ynet)
British Prime Minister David Cameron is criticised by the University of Oxford for an "incorrect and highly misleading" claim that only one black student was enrolled there in 2009. During a question and answer session on the effect of higher tuition fees on poorer students, Cameron had called the figures "disgraceful". The University says that at least 26 black students started there that year. (BBC)
In a confidential letter to Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, the party's former leader of Liverpool City Council, Warren Bradley, urges Clegg to pull out of the coalition government before the Lib Dems "disappears into the annals of history". (BBC)
Former Governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney announces that he will be a candidate for the Republican Party nomination for President of the United States. (The Guardian)
Vincent C. Gray, the Mayor of Washington DC is arrested while protesting about a US budget deal. (CNN)^{[permanent dead link]}

Sports

American businessman Stan Kroenke acquires 62.89% of Premier League club Arsenal. (BBC)
Australian cricket player Shane Watson breaks the world record for number of sixes in a One Day International in the second match in the series against Bangladesh. (Super Sport)
The U.S. Attorney's office for San Diego announces that 10 individuals have been indicted on charges relating to an alleged point shaving scheme involving college basketball games. The accused include two former players and a former assistant coach for the University of San Diego men's team. (The San Diego Union-Tribune)

April 12, 2011 (Tuesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

2011 Libyan civil war: Muammar Gaddafi's forces attack the eastern front line and shell the city of Misrata. (MSNBC)

Arts and culture

Almost all of 169 Chinese Christians detained on Sunday, after they tried to hold an outdoor prayer session, are released; the unofficial Chinese church vows to hold more services. (MSN Malaysia News) (BBC)

Disasters

Fukushima I nuclear accidents
- The Government of Japan raises the crisis level of the accidents to level 7, the highest level on the international scale and equivalent to the Chernobyl disaster. (NHK), (Reuters)
- Workers at the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant fight a fire following another aftershock. (Reuters via Yahoo! News)
The state of emergency in New Zealand following the 2011 Canterbury earthquake is extended for another week. (TV New Zealand)

International relations

Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mulls withdrawing IDF forces from parts of the West Bank and handing over full security control to the Palestinian Authority to demonstrate an Israeli diplomatic initiative that would block a possible "diplomatic tsunami" that could follow international recognition of a Palestinian state. (Haaretz)
Pakistan seeks CIA reduction in the country by 25%-40% (BBC)

Law and crime

Los Angeles County prosecuters lodge four felony charges against a man suspected of bombing a Chabad house in the US suburb of Santa Monica, California. (LA Fox)

Politics

Police in Swaziland arrest any person in a group ahead of planned pro-democracy protests in the country. (BBC) (News24 South Africa)
Former President of Egypt Hosni Mubarak is taken to hospital after suffering heart problems while being interrogated about alleged corruption and violence against protestors. (BBC), (AP via Fox News)
Former Governor of Minnesota Tim Pawlenty announces that he will be seeking the 2012 Republican nomination for President of the United States. (CNN)
Leaders of Canada's major political parties hold an English language debate for the Canadian federal election. (BBC)
The Senate of the US state of North Carolina pardons former Governor William Woods Holden who was impeached in 1871 because of his suspension of habeas corpus in the process of battling the Ku Klux Klan terror campaign. (Reuters via Yahoo! News)

Sport

Australian rugby league coach Wayne Bennett agrees to coach the Newcastle Knights in the National Rugby League in the next four seasons starting in 2012. (NRL)

April 13, 2011 (Wednesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

2011 Libyan civil war
- Forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi continue to attack the city of Misrata. (Al Arabiya)
The Malaysiakini Malaysian news website is attacked ahead of elections in Sarawak. (AFP via Channel News Asia)
The 2011 Syrian protests spread to Aleppo. (Gulf News)

Business and economy

Toyota closes several plants in Europe for part of April and May due to parts shortages caused by the power outages associated with the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. (AP via Forbes)
Royal Dutch Shell announces that it will close the Clyde oil refinery in Sydney, Australia, resulting in the loss of hundreds of jobs. (Sydney Morning Herald)
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management announces that it has launched a new environmental impact study of oil shale and tar sands development. (Denver Post)

Disasters

Japan's Sendai Airport partially reopens for the first time since the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. (Kyodo News)

International relations

The United States requests the release of one of its citizens detained in North Korea. (AFP via Google News)
Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- The government in the West Bank is largely ready to govern a Palestinian state, a United Nations report claims. (BBC) (Washington Post) (Al Jazeera)

Law and crime

Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara says former leader Laurent Gbagbo will face charges at the national and international level. (Al Jazeera)
Egyptian authorities detain former president Hosni Mubarak and his sons Alaa and Gamal for 15 days as part of an investigation related to possible charges of corruption and abuse of power. (Al-Arabiya) (BBC) (AFP via Yahoo! News)
English actor Brian Regan is charged with the murder of a bouncer in a pub in Liverpool. (BBC)
US baseball star Barry Bonds is convicted of obstruction of justice charges with a hung jury on other charges. (AP via Fox News)
Lee Bradley Brown, 39, a British tourist is allegedly beaten to death in the Bur Dubai police station in Dubai after being arrested for swearing. (Daily Mail)

Politics

Chinese authorities continue a crackdown on dissent, with some activists placed on labour camps according to rights groups. (Taipei Times) (Radio Television Hong Kong) (The Daily Telegraph)
Former US Senator Rick Santorum announces that he has formed a committee to explore a bid for the Republican Party nomination in the presidential election. (USA Today)
The Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the United States Senate releases a report on the financial crisis of 2008, focusing largely on the role played by Goldman Sachs in "creating and selling structured finance products" that had their customers betting in one direction while Goldman itself bet the other way. (Subcommittee Release)

April 14, 2011 (Thursday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye is shot and injured during a protest against rising food and oil prices in the capital Kampala; tear gas is also fired by police to disperse protesters. (BBC) (Capital FM Kenya)
A pro-Palestinian activist Vittorio Arrigoni is kidnapped in the Gaza Strip by an Islamic Salafite group with threats to execute him within hours. (BBC) (Israel National News), (Antara)
Barack Obama, the President of the United States, David Cameron, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Nicolas Sarkozy, the President of France publish an op-ed in the International Herald Tribune outlining their strategy on the 2011 Libyan civil war. (New York Times)
Shots are fired in the compound of the President of Burkina Faso Blaise Compaoré. (AFP via France24)

Arts and culture

Encyclopedia Dramatica shuts down and is replaced by "oh internet", provoking protests by 4chan members and former readers of the site. (Geekosystem)

Business and economy

Ford Australia announces plans to cut 240 jobs and cut production in its plants at Geelong and Broadmeadows due to falling demand for larger vehicles. (The Australian)

Disasters

Japanese police search for the bodies of victims of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami near the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant for the first time due to declining radiation levels. (AP)
Two people are killed, one missing and four people critically injured after a tornado hits Atoka County in the US state of Oklahoma. (KTUL), (AP via MSNBC)

International relations

North Korea confirms that it has detained a United States citizen Jun Young Su and is preparing to charge him with "committing a crime" against the country. (BBC)
Leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa attend a BRICS summit in Sanya in China's Hainan Province. (Xinhua)
NATO foreign ministers meet in Berlin, Germany, to discuss issues including Libya. (AP via Yahoo! News)

Law and crime

Réjean Hinse, a Quebec man wrongly convicted of a crime in the 1960s before being acquitted by the Supreme Court of Canada 30 years later receives a record $13.1 million in compensation. (CBC)
Chinese police hunt for a man believed to have killed ten people in Anshan City. (Xinhua via CRI)

Politics

Five months after his expulsion from the Shas party, Israeli rabbi Chaim Amsellem forms the Whole Nation party, and announces plans to run for the 19th Knesset on a secular-religious unity platform. (Ynetnews)
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad forms a new government with Adel Safar confirmed as new Prime Minister, and orders the release of protesters detained over past couple of weeks.(Al Jazeera)
British Business Secretary Vince Cable criticises Prime Minister David Cameron as "very unwise" for making a speech on immigration in which he spoke of reducing the number of immigrants into the UK from hundreds of thousands to tens of thousands. He said the comments "risked inflaming extremism", although Cameron dismissed these concerns. (BBC)

Sports

India and Pakistan resume sporting relations, frozen since the 2008 Mumbai attacks. (Al Jazeera)

April 15, 2011 (Friday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

2011 Libyan civil war: Human rights groups accuse pro-Gaddafi troops of using cluster bombs in Misrata. (Reuters)
2011 Syrian protests: Police use tear gas to disperse tens of thousands of protesters in the capital Damascus. (BBC)
2011 Jordanian protests: Islamists clash with monarchists in the town of Zarqa. (Al Jazeera)
2010-2011 Algerian protests: President Abdelaziz Bouteflika addresses the nation and pledges reforms amid weeks of protests. (Al Jazeera)
Hamas finds the dead body of kidnapped Italian activist Vittorio Arrigoni in Gaza City. (AP via Yahoo! News)
A bomb explodes in a mosque in the Indonesian city of Cirebon in West Java with at least one person dead and seventeen injured. (Jakarta Globe)
Blaise Compaore, President of Burkina Faso, who took power in a coup 24 years ago, reportedly flees a mutiny of his military bodyguards. (Al Jazeera)

Arts and culture

Australian artist Ben Quilty wins the Archibald Prize for his portrait of artist Margaret Olley. (The Canberra Times)^{[permanent dead link]} (AAP via ABC News)

Business and economy

The Chinese economy grew by 9.7 per cent in the first quarter of 2011 while inflation was 5.4%, the highest level in nearly three years. (Reuters)
Two South Korean internet search engines accuse Google of antitrust violations. (Bernama)
Credit rating agency Moody's downgrades Ireland's rating to Baa3, one step above junk bond status. (Dow Jones via Wall Street Journal)
Nasdaq, in pursuit of its bid for control of NYSE Euronext, would be willing to sell one key NYSE Euronext property, the American Stock Exchange, in order to resolve antitrust issues, according to an unnamed source cited by Reuters. (Reuters)

Disasters

The Tokyo Electric Power Company will pay a provisional 1 million yen to each household living within the exclusion zone near the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant. (Kyodo)
Two people in Oklahoma and seven in Arkansas are killed by a strong tornado outbreak. (CNN) (UPI) (NewsOK)(BBC)
Wildfires in Texas, United States destroy dozens of homes and kill a firefighter. (Dallas Morning News) (AP)

Law and crime

Former Australian water polo player Keli Lane is jailed for 18 years for murdering her baby daughter Tegan Lane in 1996. (AFP via Channel News Asia)
Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against Corruption arrests 11 Deutsche Bank staff, including two senior officials, for alleged involvement in a fraudulent trading case. (AFP via France24)
Croatian military leaders Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markač were convicted of war crimes (BBC)
The U.S. Attorney's office in Manhattan announces indictments in the case of United_States_v._Scheinberg, indicting the owners of the three largest online poker sites accepting U.S. players—PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Absolute Poker—on charges of bank fraud, gambling offenses, and money laundering. (ESPN)
Karl Rodney, the organiser of controversial trips to the Caribbean by United States House of Representatives member Charles Rangel, is charged with lying to investigators about them. (New York Post)
US actor Nicolas Cage is arrested in New Orleans for alleged domestic abuse battery, disturbing the peace and public drunkenness. (UPI)
A Chinese student from Beijing studying at York University in Toronto is found dead after a male stalker entered her room to use a cell phone while she was chatting online via webcam to a friend in China; she was found undressed and her computer is missing. (AFP) (Montreal Gazette) (Global Post)

Politics

The Australian Council of Trade Unions and Australian Workers' Union threatens to withdraw support for the Julia Gillard minority government's plans to introduce a carbon tax unless it can be guaranteed that no jobs will be lost. (Reuters)
At a fundraiser, Barack Obama is caught on an open mic confronting Paul Ryan's record of creating the debt which he is now claiming to be trying to fix, among numerous other things. (ABC)

Science

Researchers in Japan and Australia successfully teleport wave packets of light, the first transfer of quantum information from one point to another in a Schrödinger's cat experiment. (ABC News Australia)

Sport

US health officials report that 21 players on 13 National Basketball Association teams were sickened with the norovirus stomach virus last fall including Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic. (ESPN)

April 16, 2011 (Saturday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Burkina Faso unrest
- Hundreds of traders in Burkina Faso set fire to the ruling Congress for Democracy and Progress headquarters and ransack other government buildings, after mutinous soldiers looted their shops. (Reuters) (Al Jazeera)
- The capital Ouagadougou is placed under curfew. (BBC)
Second Ivorian Civil War: Ivorian Popular Front, the party of ousted Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo, calls upon its supporters to end the unrest in the country after his arrest. (AFP via Google News)
Arab Spring
- 2011 Syrian protests
  - President Bashar al-Assad announces that the 48-year-old state of emergency law will be lifted next week. (Al Jazeera)
  - Pro-democracy protests continue in Syria. (Syrian Arab News Agency) (The Guardian)
- 2011 Libyan civil war
  - Fighting intensifies in the western city of Misrata. (BBC)
  - Rebel forces advance towards the oil town of Brega. (Times of India)
- 2011 Iranian protests
  - One person is killed in a second day of clashes between protesters and security forces in Ahvaz, western Iran. (Al Arabiya)
- 2011 Jordanian protests
  - 70 Islamists are arrested after clashes with pro-monarchy groups in Zarqa and Rassifeh, Jordan. (Al Arabiya)
Philippine Army soldiers kill two Abu Sayyaf fighters in Al-Barka, Basilan. (AP via The Guardian)
The United Nations calls for an investigation after an Iraqi raid into an Iranian opposition Camp Ashraf which left 34 people dead. (AFP via Google News)
Insurgency in Laos: A human rights group accuses Laos and Vietnam of killing four Hmong Christians. (Straits Times)

Disasters

Tornadoes kill several people in the US states of North Carolina and South Carolina with storms killing at least 20 people in the southern United States over the past few days. (CBS News), (Reuters)

Law and crime

A United Nations expert panel finds "credible allegations" which, if proven, indicate that war crimes and crimes against humanity were committed both by the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE in the final stages of the Sri Lankan Civil War. (PTI/The Hindu) (AFP/France 24)
Mexican authorities announce the arrest of Los Zetas Cartel leader Martin Omar Estrada "El Kilo" Luna. (CNN)

Politics

A 50,000-strong anti-government demonstration calling for snap elections takes place in Belgrade, Serbia, with leader of the opposition Serbian Progressive Party Tomislav Nikolić announcing he is to begin a hunger strike until new elections. (Deutsche Welle)
Pro and anti-government rallies against corruption take place in Moscow, Russia. (RIA Novosti)
Cuban President Raúl Castro proposes term limits for public office. (CNN)
The ruling National Front coalition in Malaysia win an election in the country's largest state Sarawak. (Al Jazeera) (Bernama)
An Egyptian court orders the dissolution of the former ruling National Democratic Party of Hosni Mubarak. (Reuters)
A presidential election takes place in Nigeria. (iAfrica) (BBC)

April 17, 2011 (Sunday)

Armed conflict and attacks

At least four people are shot dead by security forces during anti-government protests in Syria. (CBC) (AFP via Channel News Asia)
2011 Libyan civil war
- Rebel forces in Libya regain the town of Ajdabiya. (Al Jazeera)
- Heavy fighting continues in Misrata with reports of seventeen people dying. (AP via Houston Chronicle)
NATO announces that eight soldiers from member countries died in fighting in Afghanistan. (AP via Atlanta Journal Constitution) (AP via Fox News)
Fourteen people claimed to be responsible for shooting 52 protestors in Sana’a in March are referred to the state prosecutor. (Al-Arabiya)

Business and economy

China raises its bank reserves requirements as an anti-inflation move, an increase of 50 basis points (half of a percent) effective April 21. (Financial Times)
Oman is to spend 1 billion rials in an attempt to prevent further anti-government protests. (IOL)

Disasters

The United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visits Japan to announce US assistance for the recovery effort following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. (BBC)
More than forty people die in the tornado outbreak of April 14–16, 2011, with North Carolina being the worst affected state. (CNN)

Zdroj:

Navigácia: Veda >

Analytika
Antropológia
Aplikované vedy
Bibliometria
Dejiny vedy
Encyklopédie
Filozofia vedy
Forenzné vedy
Humanitné vedy
Knižničná veda
Kryogenika
Kryptológia
Kulturológia
Literárna veda
Medzidisciplinárne oblasti
Metódy kvantitatívnej analýzy
Metavedy
Metodika

Metodológia vedy
Náboženstvo a veda
Náučná literatúra
Podvody vo vede
Popularizácia vedy
Potravinárstvo
Prírodné vedy
Pseudoveda
Scientometria
Spoločenské vedy
Teórie
Teatrológia
Technické vedy
Technika
Terminológia
Umenie
Výskum

Veda
Veda a technika podľa štátu
Veda a technika podľa kontinentu
Veda a technika podľa roka
Veda v kozme
Vedci
Vedecká literatúra
Vedecké databázy
Vedecké experimenty
Vedecké konferencie
Vedecké metódy
Vedecké ocenenia
Vedecké organizácie
Vedecké parky
Vedeckí spisovatelia
Vzdelávanie
Záhady

Príbuzné výrazy:

Text je dostupný za podmienok Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License 3.0 Unported; prípadne za ďalších podmienok.
Podrobnejšie informácie nájdete na stránke Podmienky použitia.