Portal:Current events/2012 August 16

August 16, 2012 (Thursday)

Armed conflict and attacks

Syrian Civil War:
- The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation suspends Syria's membership in the group. (The Jakarta Post)
- The United Nations Security Council ends its observer mission in Syria. (Al Jazeera)
- A diplomat claims that Maher Assad lost a leg in the Damascus bombing on 18 July 2012. (Reuters via The Telegraph)
- An UN official estimates that 1 million people are uprooted by the conflict. 2.5 million people need urgent humanitarian aid, up from 1 million in March.(Evening Standard)
Stand-off between Ecuador and Britain over Julian Assange:
- British police mass near the Ecuadorean embassy where WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange resides, after Britain threatens to use force to extract him. (Reuters) (AFP/AP/PA via The Sydney Morning Herald) (The New York Times)
- At least five supporters of Julian Assange are forcibly led away by uniformed officers. Some protesters use loudspeakers to criticize the actions of British authorities in threatening to breach the embassy's diplomatic immunity. (AAP via The Sydney Morning Herald)
- Ecuador grants political asylum to Assange. (The Guardian) (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
War on Terror:
- Afghanistan: ISAF announces 11 people have been killed in a Black Hawk helicopter crash in southern Afghanistan, including seven U.S. soldiers and four members of the Afghan National Army. Taliban insurgents claim they downed it. (Reuters)
- Pakistan: Gunmen attack the Pakistan Air Force Minhas base in Punjab with five soldiers and nine attackers reported dead. (Reuters)
- Iraq: At least 113 people are killed and almost 200 wounded in a series of attacks across Baghdad and five other provinces. The authorities believe al-Qaeda to be responsible. The deadliest explosion strikes an amusement park in the east of the capital, claiming 34 lives and injuring 54, most of them women and children. (New York Times) (CNN)
Ten people are injured following clashes between anti-government protesters and police in Gabon. (IOL)
South African police open fire on striking workers at a mine after violent clashes, leaving at least 12 dead. (SABC) (Al Jazeera)

Environment and health

Nuclear regulators from nine countries hold an emergency meeting in Brussels after unusual fissures were detected in the basic steel material of the Doel 3 pressurized water reactor vessel. This vessel type was built by now-defunct Rotterdam Drydocks with Krupp steel in 22 operating reactors worldwide, among which 10 in the US. Two 1 GW Belgian reactors will remain shut down at least until October. (Belgian Federal Agency for Nuclear Control) (HLN, in Dutch)
After an outbreak of the mosquito-borne West Nile virus kills at least 17 people, the mayor of Dallas Mike Rawlings declares a state of emergency in the city. This paves the way for aerial spraying of synthetic pyrethroid insecticides from tonight on. Many residents express their concerns over safety and effectiveness; they suggest other preventive methods of mosquito control. Officials said the measures could cost as much as $1.2 million. (Al Jazeera) (Los Angeles Times) (Dallas News)

International relations

Japan is to deport 14 pro-China activists who landed on the disputed Senkaku Islands. (Channel News Asia)
The U.S. State Department calls the UN Secretary-General's decision to attend the 120-member Non-Aligned Movement summit "strange" and "not a good signal". (DPB)

Law and crime

Two Louisiana sheriff's deputies are killed and two others wounded in a shooting outside the Bayou Steel Plant, in LaPlace, Louisiana, Louisiana State Police report. Two suspects are in custody and one remains on the loose. (CNN)

Politics and elections

Gay rights activists hack the website of the Ugandan prime minister over the government's stance towards homosexuality. (BBC)