Portal:Current events/2011 October 28

Current events of October 28, 2011 (2011-10-28) (Friday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• A man armed with hand grenades and an automatic weapon opens fire outside the United States embassy in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo resulting in two people being injured including the gunman. (AP via Google)

Arts and culture

• The Bolshoi Theater in Moscow reopens following a six-year, scandal-plagued renovation that has returned the cultural icon to its pre-revolution glory. (The Guardian)
• Iranian actress Marzieh Vafamehr is released from jail after her sentence for acting in the banned film My Tehran for Sale is reduced. (The Australian)
• Electronic Arts has reportedly shipped 10 million copies of Battlefield 3 since October 25, according to Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello. (GameSpot)
• The United States commemorates the 125th anniversary of the dedication of the Statue of Liberty in New York City. (Christian Science Monitor)

Business and economy

• South Korea manufacturer Samsung has passed Apple to become the largest maker of smartphones in the world. (Reuters)

International relations

• Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2011:
  • The heads of government of the Commonwealth of Nations meet in the Western Australian city of Perth. (ABC News Australia)
  • Protesters from the CHOGM Action Network and Occupy Perth gather at a protest in central Perth. (ABC News Australia)
  • Leaders of the 16 countries which have the British monarch as their head of state agree to change succession laws so that sons and daughters of the monarch have equal succession rights and can marry a Roman Catholic. (BBC) (The Telegraph)

Law and crime

• The trial of former Prime Minister of Croatia Ivo Sanader, which was due to begin in Zagreb, is postponed on health grounds. (BBC)
• Dutch engineer Vincent Tabak is convicted of the murder of British landscape artist Joanna Yeates and sentenced to life imprisonment. (BBC)
• Occupy London protests:
  • St Paul's Cathedral re-opens to visitors after closing a week ago because Occupy London protesters had set up camp in its churchyard. (BBC)
  • The City of London Corporation announces plans to launch legal action to evict the protesters from St Paul's. (BBC)
• 9 servicemen from the Thai army are arrested, being suspected of killing 13 Chinese sailors on Oct 5 in a section of the Mekong River bordering Thailand, Laos and Myanmar. (Xinhua)

Politics and elections

• Elections in Ireland
  • Michael D. Higgins wins the Irish presidential election (The telegraph), (RTÉ News) (BBC News)
  • Counting also begins in the Dublin West by-election, 2011 held yesterday to elect a replacement for dead Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála (TD) and former Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan, Jnr. (Newstalk) (98FM)
  • A full recount is ordered in the Dublin West by-election after only 18 votes separate Socialist Party candidate Ruth Coppinger from Fianna Fáil candidate David McGuinness. (The Journal)
• The Obama administration orders an independent review of Department of Energy "clean-energy" loans following the bankruptcy of Solyndra. (Associated Press via Google)

Science

• NASA launches its NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP) satellite to send back data on weather and climate conditions. (AFP via Google News)

Sport

• In basketball, the North American National Basketball Association cancels all games scheduled up until November 30, 2011 after failing to achieve a resolution of the 2011 NBA lockout with the National Basketball Players Association. (AP via NPR)
• The St. Louis Cardinals win the 2011 World Series. (Yahoo! Sports)