Portal:Current events/2013 June 5
June 5, 2013 (Wednesday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- 2013 protests in Turkey:
- Turkey's Ahmet Davutoğlu announces an investigation into police attacks on civilians with tear gas and water cannon in cities nationwide. (Al Jazeera)
- An image known as "The Lady in the Red Dress" showing a policeman in a gas mask hosing a woman with pepper spray becomes the defining image of Turkey's pro-democracy demonstrations thus far. (The Huffington Post) (The Guardian) (The National)
- Following Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's denunciation of Twitter as a "menace to society", police arrest 25 people on charges relating to the use of social media to speak ill of the government. (The Guardian)
- Kandahar massacre: U.S. staff sergeant Robert Bales avoids the death penalty by pleading guilty to the murder of 16 Afghan civilians, including 9 children. (Al Jazeera) (New York Times)
- After a long-running battle, Britain announces a compensation fund of £2,600 each for more than 5,000 survivors of the prison camps it operated across Kenya in the 1950s. (The Guardian)
- Syrian civil war:
- The Syrian Army regains control of the strategic town of Al-Qusayr, as rebels pull out. (Reuters) (BBC)
- In an official statement, the Iranian government congratulates the Syrian army and people for capturing Al-Qusayr. (The Guardian)
- Iraqi insurgency (post-U.S. withdrawal):
Arts and culture
- Actor Stephen Fry reveals that he nearly died after taking a cocktail of drugs and alcohol last year. (The Independent) (The Daily Telegraph)
- Novelist Turki al-Hamad, who was jailed in December for six months without trial over his calls for reform in Saudi Arabia, is released. (Al Jazeera)
- An 84-year-old woman from the U.S. state of Florida comes forward as the sole winner of the record-breaking $590 million Powerball lottery drawing in May. (Reuters)
- Bangladesh lifts a ban on YouTube that had been in effect since September 2012. (Tri-Valley Herald)
- Prince Philip is admitted to a London hospital for an exploratory operation. (CNN)
- Paris Jackson, Michael Jackson's daughter, tries to commit suicide by cutting her wrists and overdosing on pills. (MSN Music Wonderwall)
Business and economics
- The Australian dollar hits a 20-month low against the United States dollar. (Daily Telegraph)
- The United States International Trade Commission rules that Apple is infringing on a Samsung patent and bans the import of several popular Apple products. (Reuters)
- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says it underestimated the damage austerity would do to Greece. (The Guardian)
- Online retailer Amazon.com begins operations in India. (Economic Times)
Disasters and accidents
- At least 44 people are killed by lightning in the Indian state of Bihar during a severe storm. (Independent Online)
- 22nd and Market building collapse. A building collapse in Philadelphia in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania kills 6, wounds 13, and traps at least 10. (CNN) (Jacksonville.com)
- A fire in the Moscow Metro leads to large-scale evacuations and 47 injuries. (The Telegraph)
- The Chinese government pledges to upgrade workplace safety in the aftermath of the Jilin Baoyuanfeng Poultry Plant fire which killed 120 people. (Xinhua)
Health and environment
- A second case of Legionnaires' Disease in less than a week is confirmed in Australia, leading to fears of a possible outbreak of the rare disease. (Herald Sun)
Law and crime
- United States v. Bradley Manning:
- The judge disallows discussion of Bradley Manning's motives for leaking classified material to WikiLeaks at this time. (The Guardian)
- Brian Madrid, who trained Manning, testifies that he ordered him to undergo "corrective training" for an unauthorized use of the phrase "top secret". (The Guardian)
- The jailing for two years of former Met Police officer Paul Flattley, who sold information to News International daily tabloid The Sun about Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Paul Gascoigne and a 15-year-old girl who died of an overdose, is revealed for the first time today, "legal reasons" having prevented its disclosure until now. (The Guardian) (The Independent)
Politics and elections
- Nawaz Sharif is sworn in as the Prime Minister of Pakistan and calls for an end to U.S. drone attacks. (Al Jazeera) (BBC)
- As the ongoing Guantánamo Bay hunger strikes enters its 120th day, the United States House of Representatives votes to keep the prison camp open. (RT)
- Juan Ponce Enrile resigns as the President of the Senate of the Philippines; President pro tempore Jinggoy Estrada assumes the position of interim Senate President until assumption of the new Congress in July. (Rappler)
- Chen Xitong, who was mayor of Beijing during the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989, dies at age 82. (New York Times)
- Tom Donilon resigns his post as U.S. National Security Advisor and is replaced by Susan Rice. (Financial Times)
- An Egyptian court sentences 43 non-profit workers who advocated for democracy, many of them foreigners, to prison. (Washington Post)
Science and technology
- A newly discovered fossil species, Archicebus achilles, is described as the oldest known primate. (BBC)
Sport
- In tennis, Maria Sharapova beats Jelena Jankovic to advance to the semi-finals of the French Open; Serena Williams wins her match, setting up a showdown between her and Sharapova. (ESPN)
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