Portal:Current events/2011 April 4

April 4, 2011 (Monday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

2010–2011 Ivorian crisis:
- United Nations and French military helicopters fire on a pro-Laurent Gbagbo military camp. (Reuters), (AP)
At least 5 people are killed during a bomb explosion at a bus station in Jandool in Lower Dir, Pakistan. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
Police baton and tear gas people protesting on a highway in Dhaka, arresting dozens. (BBC)
2011 Yemeni protests:
- Yemeni police fire live rounds and tear gas at protesters in the city of Taiz killing one person and injuring over 400. (Reuters) (BBC)
- Police injure hundreds of people in Hudaida by firing tear gas and live rounds at them as they approach one of the presidential palaces. (BBC)
2011 Syrian protests:
- Syrian president Assad appoints a new governor for Daraa as he struggles to please the people demonstrating in unprecedented protests against his regime. (Al Jazeera)
2011 Libyan civil war:
- A humanitarian ship from Turkey rescues more than 250 injured people from Misrata and safely delivers them to the rebel stronghold of Benghazi. (BBC)
- Libya's acting foreign minister is sent to Athens by Muammar Gaddafi, while Scottish officials travel to London to question his defected predecessor Moussa Koussa on the Lockerbie bombing. (The Independent)
- Kuwait becomes the second Arab country to recognise the opposition National Transitional Council in Benghazi, after Qatar. (AGI)
- Italy recognizes Libyan rebel government (Christian Science Monitor)
2011 Jordanian protests:
- Police arrest a man with a fake explosive belt attempting to enter the headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood in Amman. (Al Arabiya)
Israeli–Palestinian conflict:
- Israeli war planes roam at low attitudes across the skies of Gaza. (WAFA)
- Israeli actor and peace activist Juliano Mer-Khamis is gunned down in the West Bank by masked militants. (J Post), (BBC)
- Dirar Abu Seesi, a Palestinian engineer from Gaza, is indicted at Beersheba's District Court, accused of developing missiles and upgrading rockets for attacks on Israel; he claims that the Mossad kidnapped him. (The Jerusalem Post) (BBC)(Ynetnews)
War on Terror:
- 5 people, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, are to be put on trial by the United States military at the U.S.-operated Guantanamo Bay detention camp, it is announced. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
Greek fighter jets escort a British civilian airliner as it makes an emergency landing in Athens after a bomb threat; no one is hurt. (BBC)

Arts and culture

Disappearance of Ai Weiwei:
- Concern grows as Ai Weiwei, who has criticised his country's human rights record, fails to reappear more than 24 hours after his disappearance by guards at Beijing Airport. Police issue no comment, though they have since raided his studio. (BBC) (Al Jazeera) (Radio Television Hong Kong)
- The French and German foreign ministries call on China to release Ai Weiwei from prison, while Amnesty International is also critical of his detention. (BBC)
A three-panel Zhang Xiaogang oil painting sells for a record HK$79 million. (BBC) (The Hindu)
Prince Albert II of Monaco's Rhodesian-born fiancée Charlene Wittstock converts to Roman Catholicism. (The Straits Times)

Business and economy

The Bank of Japan releases its Quarterly Tankan survey of business sentiment confirming that the recent 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami has had a negative effect on business confidence. (Kyodo News)
It is reported that China has succeeded in genetically modifying cows to produce "human" milk. (IBN Live)

Disasters

Indonesian earthquake and tsunami:
- A 6.7 magnitude earthquake strikes off the coast of Java in Indonesia. (AFP via Sydney Morning Herald)
- A tsunami alert is issued after the earthquake in Indonesia. (Xinhua)
A magnitude 5.4 earthquake strikes western Nepal near the Indian border, and is felt in Delhi. (Times of India) (NDTV)
At least 10 people are killed and at least 16 others are injured as a United Nations plane breaks in two and ignites at Kinshasa Airport in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. (BBC) (Indian Express)
The M11 motorway is closed after a nine car pile up in Essex, England. (BBC)
A two-year-old dog is reunited with her owner in tsunami-ravished Japan. (BBC)
U.S. tornado outbreak:
- A possible tornado hits an automotive plant in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, near Nashville, injuring seven people. (LEX18)
- Storms kill eight people in Northern Georgia, one in Mississippi and another in Tennessee. (Reuters) (11 Alive)
- Two tornadoes pass through Nashville, Tennessee. (The Tennessean) (Huffington Post)
- Some damage is reported in Louisiana, near New Orleans. (WDSU)
- A record number of American storm reports in a 24-hour period is set, likely in part due to increased reporting. (The Weather Space)
A United Nations Bombardier CRJ200 crashes at Bombardier CRJ200 in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo killing 32 of 33 people on board. (BBC)
Severe thunderstorms kill 13 people in Bangladesh. (San Francisco Chronicle) (AccuWeather)

International relations

The Gulf Cooperation Council denounces Iranian "interference" in its internal affairs. (Al Arabiya)
The Indonesian government appeals after Saudi Arabia acquits a woman accused of torturing her Indonesian maid. (Jakarta Post)
Prince Albert II of Monaco and his fiancée Charlene Wittstock arrive in Ireland for a state visit, 50 years after the visit of Prince Rainier and Hollywood actress Princess Grace. They are to dine at a state banquet hosted by President Mary McAleese and her husband at Áras an Uachtaráin. (RTÉ) (The Irish Times) (Irish Independent)
South Korea approves additional humanitarian aid worth 176 million won to North Korea. (Xinhua)
The Japanese Foreign Ministry issues a statement that 19 foreign nationals died in the earthquake and tsunami, with dozens more still missing, mostly from China and South Korea. (UPI)

Law and crime

North Korea executes former railways minister Kim Yong Sam in connection with the Ryongchon disaster in 2004. (Straits Times)
Three more human remains are found in the Gilgo area of Long Island, New York, bringing the total number of bodies to eight with a serial killer believed to be responsible. (Newsday)
Three people die in a shootout between Mexican security forces and gunmen in the resort of Acapulco. (BBC)

Politics and elections

Former First Lady of Austria Edith Klestil dies of cancer aged 78. (Austrian Independent)
A court in Vietnam jails prominent government critic Cù Huy Hà Vũ for seven years for spreading "anti-state propaganda". (BBC) (VOV News Vietnam)
Than Shwe, the former head of Burma's State Peace and Development Council, retires as the head of the Myanmar military. (AFP via Channel News Asia)
Controversial Irish senator Ivor Callely, who last year was embroiled in an expenses scandal, is fined €60 by a court for breaching the law. (TV3) (The Irish Times) (RTÉ)
Barack Obama is to run for a second term as President of the United States next year, his campaign announces. (Xinhua) (Al Jazeera) (BBC), (CNN)
Musician Michel "Sweet Micky" Martelly wins the 2010–11 Haitian general election. (AP via Yahoo! News)
As part of the British government's package of welfare reforms, from today the one-and-a-half million people in the United Kingdom who claim incapacity benefit will begin to receive letters asking them to attend a work capability assessment. The tests are part of government plans to reduce the number of long-term claimants and will take until 2014 to complete. (BBC)

Sports

The candidates for FIFA's presidential election on 1 June are confirmed, with Qatari multi-millionaire Mohammed bin Hammam to be Sepp Blatter's only challenger. (BBC Sport) (Sky Sports)
Carlos Queiroz signs a contract to coach Iran national football team through to the end of the 2014 World Cup. (AFP)
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announces its induction class of 2011, which will be formally inducted in August. The class includes Dennis Rodman, Chris Mullin, Tex Winter, Herb Magee, Tara VanDerveer, Artis Gilmore, Arvydas Sabonis, Teresa Edwards, Reece "Goose" Tatum and Tom "Satch" Sanders. (ESPN)
The Connecticut Huskies win the 2011 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament in the US defeating the Butler Bulldogs 53–41. (WRAL)