Portal:Current events/2012 September 20

Current events of September 20, 2012 (2012-09-20) (Thursday)

Armed conflicts and attacks Syrian civil war: The Local Coordination Committees of Syria report that the Syrian army has bombed a gas station in the town of Ain Issa in northern Syria, killing at least 30 people and wounding dozens more. (The Washington Post) (USA Today) Syrian opposition forces say that over 180 people were killed Thursday, including casualties from aerial bombings of residential neighborhoods in Aleppo and villages near Damascus. (CNN) A suicide bomber kills 14 people by detonating explosives at a cafe frequented by politicians and journalists in Mogadishu, Somalia. (The Independent) (The Montreal Gazette) Arts and culture Following an investigation in the wake of the News International phone hacking scandal, British media regulator Ofcom concludes that BSkyB is a "fit and proper" company to hold a broadcasting licence. (BBC) Business and economy Trade unions in India hold a strike over plans to open up supermarkets to international competition. (BBC) AU Optronics was fined $500 million for a global LCD screen price-fixing conspiracy. (AP via Seattle Post-Intelligencer) Environment and health The US National Snow and Ice Data Center says the Arctic ice cap size on September 16 is at season's low, with a record low size ever since August 26. (NSIDC)(Washington Post) Data from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign shows the Antarctic ice sheet reached its seventh-largest extent on September 12, at 16.14 million km2. (Forbes) International relations The US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns meets with government officials in Libya about last week's deadly attack at the US consulate in Benghazi. (VOA) Russia's Foreign Ministry bans the United States Agency for International Development from operating in the country, saying that it had meddled in recent elections. (The Los Angeles Times) Law and crime Daniel "El Loco" Barrera, a Colombian crime boss accused of alliances with guerrilla groups and drug trafficking crimes, is captured in San Cristobal, Venezuela. (CNN) Politics and elections The government of Bahrain pledges to adopt most of the recommendations in a United Nations report on the country's human rights situation. (Al Jazeera) Two candidates compete in the final elections to elect the Governor of Jakarta for the next five-year term. (New York Times) (The Jakarta Post) Several high ranking Georgian government officials resign after protests caused by revelations of inmate torture and rape. (Euronews) (BBC) President Karzai dismisses Mohammad Gulab Mangal and others in a reshuffle of the government in Afghanistan. (AFP via Google News) Tim Pawlenty resigns as the co-chairman of Mitt Romney's electoral campaign. He is to head the Financial Services Roundtable in Washington, D.C.. (Newsday) Science A specialist in communication from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln says that the use of unmanned aerial vehicles in journalism will soon become widespread. (DPA via De Standaard)