Portal:Current events/2011 May 8

May 8, 2011 (Sunday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

2011 Syrian protests:
- Syrian forces enter the cities of Homs and Tafas, where anti-government demonstrations were taking place. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa orders an end to the emergency law imposed after anti-government protests. (Al Jazeera)
Fourteen people are killed in fighting at the Iraqi Ministry of Interior including six members of the police. (AP via Fox News)
2011 Egyptian revolution:
- The Prime Minister of Egypt Essam Sharaf to discuss fatal clashes between Muslims and Christians in the Imbaba district of Cairo. (BBC)
- The Egyptian Army will try the 190 people arrested in the unrest in a military court. (Reuters)
Witnesses claim that there have been two large explosions in the Pakistan town of Abbottabad. (AP via MSNBC)
2011 Libyan civil war
- Alleged Libyan rape victim Iman al-Obeidi flees to Tunisia fearing reprisals from the regime of Muammar Gaddafi. (CNN)
- Libyan rebels fight a heavy battle with Gaddafi's forces near Misrata Airport. (Reuters)

Business

There is a near riot in the Beijing Apple Store as the Apple iPad 2 goes on sale in the People's Republic of China. (AFP via Straits Times)
Peter Beale, Nick Stephenson, John Edwards and John Towers - the so-called "Phoenix Four" who ran MG Rover following its collapse - have agreed to be disqualified from serving as company directors for between 3 and 6 years. The deal was made with the UK's Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, following a "lengthy and complex investigation" into the affair. (BBC)

Disasters

2011 Mississippi River floods
- Flooding along the Mississippi and tributaries has worsened, exceeding record levels since a three day tornado outbreak over a week ago, with ten dead, more than a thousand homes ordered evacuated in Memphis, Tennessee, more than 2,000 in Mississippi state, and about 13% of US refinery output disrupted. (Bloomberg), (Toronto Sun)
- The flood is expected to peak at 48 feet on Tuesday just below the record of 48 feet 7 set in 1927 with the Mississippi River three miles road at Memphis, Tennessee. (Commercial Appeal)
Radiation levels in the number 1 reactor building fall at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant following the installation of ventilation. (Times of India)
A ship carrying 300 African migrants headed for Malta runs aground near Lampedusa in Italy with many on board having to be rescued from the sea. (Al Jazeera)
An international search and rescue mission is launched in Kiribati after six teenagers on an outrigger canoe go missing in the Pacific Ocean. (BNO)

International relations

Hun Sen, the Prime Minister of Cambodia and Abhisit Vejjajiva, the Prime Minister of Thailand, meet during an ASEAN summit meeting in Jakarta to try to resolve an ongoing territorial dispute, but fail. (AP via MSNBC)
The Pakistan Army places its forces on high alert following last Sunday's raid on Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad. (Times of India)

Politics and elections

Voters in Albania go to the polls for local elections. (AFP via Google News)
Four people are killed in land protests in northern India. (Economic Times of India) (AP via Straits Times)
In a BBC interview British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg promises that the Liberal Democrats will be "a moderating influence" on the Conservatives and will block planned reforms of the National Health Service unless changes are made to them. (BBC)
Thousands of people march in Mexico City to protest the 38,000 people that have died in drug-related violence since the beginning of the Mexican Drug War in 2006. (Reuters)
The President of the United States Barack Obama claims that "there had to be some sort of support network for bin Laden inside of Pakistan" on 60 Minutes. (CBS News)

Sport