Portal:Current events/2010 December 3
December 3, 2010 (Friday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Two Lebanese labourers are injured after the Israeli army detonates two of its espionage devices by remote control in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre. (AFP via Google News) (Daily Star - Lebanon)
- Attacks against WikiLeaks, Julian Assange and The Guardian website:
- As "massive" cyberwarfare against the WikiLeaks website continue, the website is forced to change its web address after EveryDNS kills its domain due to the disruption caused to its other customers by the attacks. United States authorities are accused of carrying out the cyber attacks against the website. (The Guardian) (BBC)
- Spokesperson Julian Assange calls for Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper's former chief of staff Tom Flanagan to be charged with "incitement to commit murder" after Flanagan urged Barack Obama to "put out a contract" and "assassinate" Assange. Assange speaks of the precautions he has to take against such threats of death, with American politician Mike Huckabee also calling for executions to be carried out. (Toronto Star) (Al Jazeera)
- Julian Assange gives a live question and answer session on the website of The Guardian newspaper. (The Guardian) (Al Jazeera)
- The Guardian's web servers are "crippled" as the session is going live. (The Wall Street Journal)
- The French Government places political pressure on its internet use governing body, warning of "consequences" for anyone assisting WikiLeaks in the country. OVH responds, saying "it's not up to politicians or OVH to decide the site's closure" and seeks legal advice from a judge. (The Guardian) (AFP via France24)
- A court in Lahore dismisses a petition seeking a ban on the WikiLeaks website, with the judge ruling such a ban to be "unmaintainable" and that "We must bear the truth, no matter how harmful it is". (DAWN)
- U.S. Congressman Ron Paul of Texas calls for WikiLeaks to receive similar protections to mainstream media, saying when "truth becomes treason, then we're in big trouble". (CBS News)
- President Barack Obama makes a surprise visit to United States armed forces based in Afghanistan. (Reuters)
Arts and culture
- Ai Weiwei is prevented from travelling to South Korea by Chinese authorities and is warned his trip could "threaten national security", with imprisoned Liu Xiaobo due to receive the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize next week. (BBC)
- Italy poises itself to return to the Eurovision Song Contest after 13 years. Eurovision Song Contest 2011 is scheduled for May in Düsseldorf. (BBC)
Business and economy
- Spain closes four airports saying there is a shortage of air traffic controllers who are concerned about their pay and working conditions. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
- The Spanish government holds an emergency cabinet meeting to discuss plans to raise the pension age and to sell off its stakes in the lottery and airports. (Al Jazeera)
- Nissan starts selling the Leaf, one of the first mass market electric cars. (AP via Yahoo! News)
Disasters
- 1984 Bhopal disaster: The Indian government launches a court case to more than double the compensation paid by U.S. chemical corporation Union Carbide on the anniversary of the leak from a Madhya Pradesh plant that killed thousands of people. (BBC)
- The United Nations warns that the Haitian cholera epidemic could get worse. (BBC)
- Up to 28 people die in northern and eastern Europe as a result of a cold spell with thousands stranded due to road and rail disruptions and airport closures. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
- At least 17 mainly Iranian people are killed in a collision of two buses on a highway near the holy site of Najaf, Iraq. (Al Jazeera)
- Heavy floods in the Balkans forces more than a thousand people to evacuate from their homes. (BBC)
- A Queensland man is missing presumed dead in floodwaters in Bajool while parts of central New South Wales are declared disaster zones after a week of heavy rains in eastern Australia. (ABC News Australia)
International relations
- United States diplomatic cables leak:
- Newly released cables reveal United States worries about Afghan President Hamid Karzai's character and corruption in Afghanistan, with one U.S. diplomat describing Karzai as "insecure" and a "paranoid and weak individual". (Al Jazeera)
- Newly released cables reveal U.S. spy planes flew over Lebanese airspace via a British air base in Cyprus in 2008. (Reuters)
- South Korea's defence minister-designate Kim Kwan-jin threatens North Korea with air strikes if the shelling of Yeonpyeong is repeated. The shelling was in response to South Korean naval exercises. (BBC)
Politics and elections
- The Supreme Court of Guinea confirms Alpha Condé as winner of November's presidential poll following a state of emergency and fraud allegations made by ex-president Cellou Dalein Diallo. (Al Jazeera)
- Incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo is ruled as the election winner in the Côte d'Ivoire after the constitutional court overturns provisional results which favoured opposition candidate, former prime minister Alassane Ouattara. (Al Jazeera)
- Politics in the United Kingdom:
- Former British Labour MP Phil Woolas loses his appeal to overturn an election court ruling that stripped him of his Parliamentary seat, thus triggering a by-election in his constituency. (BBC)
- Former Labour MP David Chaytor pleads guilty to three charges relating to expenses claims during his time in office. (BBC)
Science
- The Boeing X-37B, a United States Air Force unmanned spaceplane, lands autonomously at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, at 1:16am PST (0916 UTC) after 7 1/2 months in space. (AP via MyWay) (Space.com)
Sport
- There are mass celebrations on the streets of Doha, Qatar, following FIFA's announcement that the country of 1,696,563 people is to present the 2022 FIFA World Cup. (Al Jazeera)