Portal:Current events/2010 December 11

December 11, 2010 (Saturday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Leftist New People's Army rebels capture a village official and tribal chieftain during an attack on a militia outpost in Davao City, southern Philippines. (Xinhua)
Nazario Moreno González, the leader of the La Familia Michoacana drug cartel, is killed in a shootout with police in Michoacán, Mexico. (Reuters)
At least two car bombs explode in Stockholm, Sweden, killing at least one person and injuring two more. (BBC)

Business and economy

Inflation in China reaches a 28-month high, at 5.1%. (China Daily) (BBC)
Bolivia lowers its retirement age from 65 to 58 as other countries raise their retirement ages. (Al Jazeera)

Disasters and accidents

A house fire in Uttar Pradesh, northern India, kills five children. (Xinhua) (Sify India)
Due to recent floods in Venezuela, President Hugo Chávez announces the erection in his garden of a Bedouin tent given as a gift by Muammar al-Gaddafi from which he is to live and govern to make room for more homeless families in his presidential palace at Miraflores. 25 families made homeless by the disaster had already sought shelter there and Chávez has been personally supervising the provision of relief in the country. (BBC)
Eight fatal cases of A/H1N1 swine flu and two from seasonal flu are confirmed within six weeks in the United Kingdom. (AFP) (Daily Mail)

International relations

Delegates at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Cancún, Mexico, agree to a compromise on slowing climate change, though overall failing to reach a "deal that many activists and governments want." (BBC)
U.S. attorney-general Eric Holder tells a Muslim community group near San Francisco that FBI sting operations are "an essential law enforcement tool". (Al Jazeera)
U.S. envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke is hospitalised in a critically ill state in Washington, D.C., after gasping at a meeting with Hillary Clinton. (BBC) (The Hindu)
United States diplomatic cables leak:
- Newly released cables show the Vatican's refusal to co-operate with the Murphy Report child sexual abuse inquiry in Ireland which "offended many" of them when they were summoned to Ireland from Rome. (The Guardian) (The Irish Times) (Al Jazeera) (RTÉ)
- Newly released cables indicate the British ambassador to the Vatican was afraid after Pope Benedict XVI approved conversions to Catholicism of Anglicans who opposed the ordination of women priests. Francis Campbell thought it so inflammatory as to cause discrimination and violence against British Catholics. (The Guardian) (BBC)
- A large group of hacktivists plans to bring down British government websites if the extradition of WikiLeaks spokesperson Julian Assange to Sweden is carried out. (TODAYonline)

Law and crime

Hundreds of Spartak Moscow fans and Russian nationalists clash with riot police in central Moscow over the death of a football fan earlier this week. (BBC) (RIA Novosti)
Detention of Julian Assange:
- WikiLeaks spokesperson Julian Assange is moved to the segregation unit of London's Wandsworth Prison "for his own safety, presumably", says his lawyer. (AFP via The Age)
- A lawyer in Melbourne who formerly bossed Prime Minister Julia Gillard criticises her and Attorney-General Robert McClelland for their comments that the WikiLeaks website and arrested spokesperson Julian Assange have broken the law. Having known both as "good lawyers and decent people", Peter Gordon of Slater and Gordon says such comments are a reminder of "the seductive and compulsive draw of power". (The Sydney Morning Herald)
- Assange's lawyer says any espionage-related prosecution of the WikiLeaks website in the United States would be "unconstitutional and call into question First Amendment protections for all media organisations". (AFP via The Age)
- Protests calling for Assange's release occur across Spain. (BBC) (The New Zealand Herald)^{[permanent dead link‍]}
Mark Madoff, the 46-year-old son of convicted American fraudster Bernard Madoff is located hanging dead at an apartment in the New York City borough of Manhattan. (Sky News) (Al Jazeera)

Politics and elections

Thousands of people in eastern Russia protest against proposed changes to the country's time zones. (RIA Novosti) (CNN)
Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo is to seek talks with rival presidential candidate Alassane Ouattara to end the crisis in the country. The head of the Economic Community of West African States James Victor Gbeho rejects the idea of power-sharing talks. (Al Jazeera) (CNN)
The ruling Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement in Southern Sudan formally confirms that it will support secession from Sudan in a January 2011 independence referendum. (AFP) (Reuters)
Political parties in Kosovo cease campaigning ahead of the first parliamentary elections since independence from Serbia was declared in 2008. (Al Jazeera)
Scottish Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson resigns following severe criticism of his handling of the travel chaos caused in Scotland by recent extreme winter weather conditions. (BBC)

Sport

Authorities investigate what went wrong at a football game between Al-Wahdat and Al-Faisaly when 250 people received injuries. (Al Jazeera) (BBC)
In American football, Auburn University quarterback Cam Newton wins the Heisman Trophy, awarded to the best college football player of the year. (CNN)
A crowd of 113,411, the largest in ice hockey history, packs Michigan Stadium for a game between the University of Michigan and cross-state rival Michigan State University. (AP)
Finland wins the 2010 World Floorball Championship.