Portal:Current events/2011 October 14

Current events of October 14, 2011 (2011-10-14) (Friday)

Armed conflicts and attacks U.S. President Barack Obama authorizes the deployment of up to 100 American soldiers to Uganda, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to assist in operations against the Lord's Resistance Army insurgency. (Wall Street Journal) A United States drone attack kills a further four militants in Waziristan near Pakistan's border with Afghanistan; it is the third such attack in 48 hours. (AFP via Google) Business and economy Apple Inc. releases its latest smartphone model, the iPhone 4S. (MSNBC) Thousands of Qantas passengers in Australia face further disruption and cancellation of flights as the airline's maintenance engineers go on strike. (SBS) Credit rating agency Standard & Poor's cuts Spain's credit rating to AA- with a negative outlook, as the European debt crisis deepens. (Bloomberg) Google announces that it plans to shut down its Google Buzz social network. (CNN) Microsoft completes its acquisition of Internet phone company Skype for US$8.5 billion. (The Register) Disasters A 6.7 magnitude earthquake occurs near the Papua New Guinean city of Lae. (ABC News Australia) A JH-7 jet fighter crashes at an air show in Pucheng County in China's Shaanxi Province, leaving one pilot injured and another still missing. (CNN) (Xinhua) The Prime Minister of Thailand, Yingluck Shinawatra, reassures residents that the capital, Bangkok, will largely escape from major flooding over the weekend. An estimated 289 people have been killed by flooding in Thailand since July 2011. (Reuters) Politics The Prime Minister of Italy, Silvio Berlusconi, survives his fifty-third no-confidence vote in the Parliament of Italy by 316 votes to 301. (New York Times) (International Business Times) The British Secretary of State for Defence, Liam Fox, resigns amid allegations over his working relationship with lobbyist Adam Werritty. (BBC) British Cabinet Office Minister Oliver Letwin apologises after he is photographed dumping Parliamentary papers – including confidential constituents' letters – into a public bin in London's St. James's Park. (BBC) Science A stromatolite colony is found at Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland. (BBC)