Portal:Current events/2011 July 12

July 12, 2011 (Tuesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

7 people are killed and 3 others are injured by a United States drone attack in Pakistan's South Waziristan region. (Dawn)
Miners clash with police in Chile. (Euronews)
Thousands of people flee Maiduguri in Borno State after recent deadly attacks there. (BBC)
United Nations special rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment Juan E. Méndez suggests the United States is violating UN rules by refusing unmonitored access to imprisoned United States Army private Bradley Manning, the young serviceman the Obama administration accuses of passing classified information on secret U.S. activities to the WikiLeaks whistleblower website. (BBC) (United Nations Human Rights Council)
It is reported that the U.S. government's Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) deployed a fake vaccine programme in Abbottabad ahead of its assassination of Osama bin Laden in an effort to obtain a DNA sample from his family. (BBC)
Arab Spring
- 2011 Egyptian revolution:
  - A large protest with as many as a million people participating is planned for the Egyptian capital Cairo over perceived lack of progress since the 2011 Egyptian revolution. (Gulf News)
  - An evening rally is held in Tahrir Square. (BBC)
  - Egypt's deputy prime minister Yehia El-Gamal resigns on the fifth day of the sit-in at Tahrir Square in Cairo. (Al Jazeera)
  - 3 former Egyptian ministers - former interior minister Habib el-Adly, former finance minister Youssef Boutros Ghali (in absentia) and former prime minister Ahmed Nazif - from the Mubarak regime are given jail sentences. (News 24)
  - Armed gunmen blow up an Egyptian natural gas pipeline to Israel and Jordan in the town of El-Arish in the Sinai Peninsula. (AP via MSNBC)
- 2011 Libyan civil war:
  - Muammar Gaddafi sends a delegation to Israel; they hand over digital material to Tsipi Livni.(The Jerusalem Post)
  - The National Assembly of France votes to approve continued participation in NATO operations in Libya. (AFP via France 24)
Suspected Abu Sayyaf gunmen abduct two United States citizens and a Filipino relative from an island village in Zamboanga City in the Philippines. (Philstar)
War in Afghanistan:
- President of France Nicolas Sarkozy visits Afghanistan to meet with the President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai and commander of the International Security Assistance Force David Petraeus before visiting French troops stationed in Surobi. (Reuters via Alertnet)
- Nicolas Sarkozy announces the withdrawal of 1000 troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2012. (Reuters)
- The Taliban claims responsibility for the death of Ahmad Wali Karzai, the brother of Hamid Karzai, and one of the most powerful people in Afghanistan. (Dawn) (BBC)

Arts and culture

A British ticket scoops the largest ever lottery prize in Europe, the £161,653,000 EuroMillions jackpot, by securing all five numbers and both Lucky Stars. (BBC)
American television producer Sherwood Schwartz, the creator of Gilligan's Island and The Brady Bunch, dies in Los Angeles, California. (Herald Sun)

Business and economics

Ireland's debt rating is reduced to "junk" status by Moody's. (RTÉ) (BBC)
Apple's chief patent lawyer is leaving the company, Reuters reports, amidst a slew of patent-related conflicts with Google, Samsung, Nokia, others. (Reuters)
Japanese officials announce their intention to send the country's whaling fleet back to Antarctica later in the year; the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) is also to return. (BBC)

Disasters

Evangelos Florakis Navy Base explosion: Thousands of people march on the Presidential Palace in Nicosia, Cyprus; police fire tear gas at the demonstrators who tie a banner to the palace gates stating "Christofias [their ruler] is a murderer and must go to jail". (BBC)
Four earthquakes ranging from 5 to 6.2 in magnitude hit the Philippines. (AFP via ABC News) (The Times of India)
Sinking of Bulgaria:
- Russian state television reports that at least 59 bodies have been recovered from the sinking of the cruise ship Bulgaria on the Volga River, with more than 200 people on board. (CNN)
- Russia observes a day of mourning after the disaster. (BBC)
The United States Coast Guard ends aerial searches for seven Americans still missing after a charter fishing boat sank in the Sea of Cortez off Mexico on July 3. (AP via MSNBC)

International relations

New Zealand refuses entry to Sri Lankan asylum seekers detained in Indonesia who claimed to be heading there. (SBS)

Law and crime

Julian Assange appears in London's High Court to begin his appeal against extradition to Sweden as his UK house arrest enters its 216th day. (ABC News) (The Guardian)
The Knesset approves a new boycott law which would allow Israeli courts to impose heavy sanctions on Israeli individuals or organizations whom would initiate or promote a boycott against Israeli companies and entities.(The Guardian)
Guatemalan police arrest two men in relation to the assassination of Argentine singer Facundo Cabral as fans across the continent mourn his shooting and a tribute concert is held in his memory. (BBC) (BBC) (BBC)
A three judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rules that Jared Lee Loughner, the suspect in the 2011 Tucson shooting, has the right to refuse antipsychotic medication while he appeals the treatment prescribed by prison mental health authorities. (Los Angeles Times)
U.S. actress Halle Berry is granted a restraining order against a convicted felon arrested on her Hollywood Hills property on Monday. (Los Angeles Times)
CNN reports that the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives has lost track of 1,400 guns involved in Operation Fast and Furious aimed at tracing the flow of weapons to Mexican drug cartels. (CNN)

Politics and elections

Voters in California's 36th congressional district go to the polls for a special election to replace former Rep. Jane Harman with Democrat Janice Hahn defeating Republican Craig Huey. (Politico) (AP via Houston Chronicle)
The UK Government states its intention to support a Labour Party motion in the House of Commons calling for the withdrawal of News Corporation's bid to take over BSkyB. (BBC)
The funeral of former U.S. First Lady Betty Ford, wife of Gerald Ford, occurs. (BBC)
In Northern Ireland, riots mark the culmination of the Belfast marching season. (Euronews)
U.S. Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul announces that he will not stand again for his Texas district in 2012. (The Wall Street Journal) (Christian Science Monitor)
The Governor of the U.S. state of Arizona calls a recall election for state Senate President Russell Pearce known for his immigration legislation. (AP via The Arizona Republic)

Science

NASA astronauts on board Atlantis complete the final spacewalk of the Space Shuttle era, recouping an ammonia pump on the International Space Station (ISS). (BBC)

Sports

Former Wales rugby union international Richard Parks becomes the first person ever to complete the Explorers Grand Slam — climbing all of the Seven Summits and reaching both the North and South Poles — in a single calendar year. (ESPN Scrum)