Portal:Current events/2012 November 5

November 5, 2012 (Monday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Syrian civil war:
- Heavy fighting is reported in the Palestinian neighborhoods of southern Damascus between rebels and government forces. (The New York Times)
- A suicide car bomber detonates a bomb in the Hama province of Syria killing 50 Syrian military personnel. This attack is the largest attack on Bashar al-Assad's forces in the civil war so far. (Reuters)
Five bombs go off in the neighborhoods of Gudaibiya and Adliya in Manama, Bahrain, killing two foreign workers and injuring another. (BBC)

Disasters and accidents

Widespread flooding in Nigeria since July is reported to have killed 363 people and displaced 2.1 million people. (Reuters)

International relations

The biennial naval training exercise Keen Sword between the United States Navy and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force commences off the shore off Okinawa amid tension with China. (BBC)
Asian and European leaders meet at the Ninth Asia–Europe Meeting in Vientiane, Laos to discuss issues including the current financial crisis. 51 foreign leaders are expected to attend including premier of China Wen Jiabao and President of Laos Choummaly Sayasone. (Xinhua)

Law and crime

British Prime Minister David Cameron orders a fresh investigation into allegations of sexual abuse involving a senior Conservative politician from the Thatcher era. The allegations concern sexual abuse at children's homes in Wales during the 1970s and 1980s. (BBC)
A judge in Australia rules that Standard & Poor's misled investors in its rating of two pre-crisis issues of structured debt. (Bloomberg)

Politics and elections

Thousands of people protest against alleged fraud in the recent parliamentary elections in Ukraine. (Al Jazeera)