Portal:Current events/2011 September 24

Current events of September 24, 2011 (2011-09-24) (Saturday)

Armed conflicts and attacks Arab Spring: 2011 Libyan civil war: In the pro-Muammar Gaddafi stronghold of Sirte, National Transitional Council forces are massing in a square about a kilometer (0.6 miles) from the city center, as they weather heavy fire from pro-Gaddafi snipers. (Reuters) International relations Turkey seizes a Syrian ship possibly carrying weapons to the Syrian Army, as the 2011 Syrian uprising continues. (Voice of America) Disasters Six people die in a house fire in the London suburb of Neasden. (The Telegraph) Law and crime A Spanish oil tanker hijacked off the coast of West Africa is freed, with no harm reportedly done to the crew, and no ransom paid to the pirates. (AP via Google News) Business Oswald Grübel, chief executive of Swiss bank UBS, resigns in the wake of a rogue trading scandal. (Sky News) Politics At the United Russia Congress, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin accepts President Dmitry Medvedev's proposal to run in the 2012 Russian presidential election. (BBC) (RIA Novosti) Herman Cain wins a Florida straw poll for the 2012 Republican presidential primaries. (CNN) Voters in Bahrain go to the polls for byelections caused by the resignation of Shiite members during the 2011 Bahraini uprising; many Shiite voters are expected to boycott the election. (Reuters) Voters in the United Arab Emirates go to the polls for parliamentary elections. (BBC) Science The decommissioned NASA Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite re-enters Earth's atmosphere without incident, after more than 20 years in orbit. (Washington Post)