Portal:Current events/2011 February 14

Current events of February 14, 2011 (2011-02-14) (Monday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• At least seven people are killed in clashes between rival militant groups in Somalia. (AFP via Google News)
• Julian Assange's mother criticises leading figures in the U.S. government who called for her son's assassination on television, and expresses concerns that her son is being targeted by an American fatwā similar to the one brought against the writer Salman Rushdie in 1989. (Herald Sun)
• The FARC organisation in Colombia releases a fourth hostage in the past week. (BBC)
• 2011 Iranian protests:
  • Anti-regime protests are due to occur in Iran. (Al Jazeera)
  • Reports said that hundreds of protesters are in Azadi Square. (Bloomberg)
  • Tear gas is fired by police to disperse the opposition protesters. (BBC) (Jerusalem Post) (Al Jazeera)
  • A protestor dies in Tehran. (Reuters)
• 2011 Bahraini protests:
  • Anti-regime protests occur in Bahrain. (Al Jazeera)
  • Injuries and deaths occur. (Al Jazeera)
  • Al-Wefaq MPs step down in protest at violence against pro-democracy demonstrators.(Al Jazeera) (Gulf News)
• Other Arab Spring events:
  • New protests erupt in Egypt demanding a civilian leadership, an end to the emergency law and better pay. (CNN) (BBC)
  • Newly released cables show U.S. officials referring to the head of Egypt's military Mohamed Hussein Tantawi as "old and resistant to change". (The Guardian)
  • Protesters, including scholars and academics, in Gaza request that Egypt open the Rafah border. (Tehran Times) (Ma'an News Agency)
  • 2011 Yemeni protests: Street battles take place between protesters and police in the Yemeni capital Sana'a. (BBC) (Yemen Post) (Daily Nation Kenya) (Al Jazeera)
  • 2010–2011 Algerian protests: Youths clash with security forces in the northern Algerian town of Akbou. (BBC) (Malaysia Sun)
  • The Algerian government says it will the end the state of emergency, in place since 1992, "within a few days". (Times of India)
• A British Army soldier from 2nd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment is killed in an explosion in Afghanistan. (BBC)

Arts and culture

• Scientists blame chemicals for Vincent van Gogh's bright yellows turning brown. (BBC)

Business and economy

• The Central Bank of Egypt closes banks as a result of the 2011 Egyptian protests. (Voice of America)
• China records a trade surplus of $6.5 billion for January, less than expected. (CNBC)
• A court in the city of Lago Agrio, on behalf of 30,000 Ecuadorean people, orders United States oil company Chevron to pay more than $8 billion in environmental damages for dumping wastewater in the Amazon River twenty years ago. (Reuters) (Bloomberg) (BBC)
• General Motors announces that it will pay its United States hourly workers more than $4000 each as a share of profits. (Detroit Free Press)
• Eurozone finance ministers agree to set up a permanent bail-out fund of €500 billion - the European Stability Mechanism (ESM). This replaces the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF). (BBC)

Disasters

• Fourteen people die in a plane crash in Honduras including a deputy minister in the Government of Honduras Rodolfo Robelo and former finance minister Carlos Chahin. (BBC)

International relations

• The Federal Government of Australia is helping the United States investigate Australians involved with the WikiLeaks website according to Julian Assange, who requests that Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Attorney-General Robert McClelland reveal every detail of assistance to foreign governments. (ABC News and Current Affairs)
• Ireland's Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny travels to Germany to brief Angela Merkel on matters of economic concern. (RTÉ)
• The United Nations Security Council calls for a permanent ceasefire on the Thailand-Cambodia border near the Preah Vihear Temple. (Voice of America)

Law and crime

• 11 members of a family are found dead in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo after being kidnapped by Ugandan Islamist rebels. (Reuters) (Business Week)
• Supporters of 23-year-old Bradley Manning, including a member of the legal advocacy team, criticise the White House for its "thuggish behaviour" and "torture" in trying to break the soldier by pressuring him to implicate Julian Assange in the alleged theft of 250,000 documents the U.S. government wished to keep secret. (ABC News and Current Affairs)
• Abu Bakar Ba'asyir's trial resumes in Indonesia. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
• Hong Kong feng shui master Tony Chan loses his appeal to inherit the fortune of Nina Wang. (BBC)
• Mumtaz Qadri is charged with murdering the Governor of Punjab Salmaan Taseer in a Pakistan court. (BBC)

Politics and elections

• The Israeli Knesset passes the "Bishara Bill", a law allowing the House Committee to cut off the pensions of Knesset members evading investigation or trial, by a vote of 36 to 11. (Ynetnews)
• The Cabinet of the Palestinian Authority resigns today with the Prime Minister Salam Fayyad to choose a new ministry. (Reuters) (Al Jazeera), (BBC), (AP via Palm Beach Post)
• Mourad Medelci, the foreign minister of Algeria, announces that the 19-year-old state of emergency will end "within days". (Al_Jazeera)
• The President of the United States Barack Obama puts forward a budget for 2012 proposing heavy spending cuts but still predicting substantial budget deficits. (CNN)
• 10 Downing Street receives a new cat to boost the battle against mice seen on television scuttling past British prime minister David Cameron. (The Guardian)
• The United States House of Representatives votes to extend the Patriot Act for another nine months. (Fox News)

Science

• Monarch butterfly colonies in Mexico more than double in size after bad storms reduced their numbers a year ago. (Reuters)

Sport

• In soccer, Brazilian media reports that Brazil national football team star Ronaldo is to retire at the age of 34. (AFP via Yahoo Sports) (Al Jazeera)
• In golf, Tiger Woods is fined after being caught spitting on the course during the Dubai Desert Classic. (Al Jazeera)