Portal:Current events/2011 April 8

Current events of April 8, 2011 (2011-04-08) (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)