Portal:Current events/2010 November 29

November 29, 2010 (Monday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Iranian nuclear scientist Majid Shahriari is killed and his wife injured, while another scientist is wounded during two attacks in Tehran. Iran says Western governments and Israel may have carried out the killing. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
Four Islamist militants are killed in a raid by security forces in Osh, Kyrgyzstan. (BBC) (24.kg News Agency)
Somali pirates hijack a Malaysian cargo vessel with 23 crew members 900 miles off the coast of Somalia. (Reuters)

Arts and culture

Pablo Picasso's electrician says he has 271 previously unknown works given to him as gifts by the artist. (BBC)

Business and economy

Irish financial crisis:
- Fine Gael speaks out against the high interest rate imposed by the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank and their insistence that the country pay €17 billion out of its own national pension fund. (The Guardian)
- Major European stock markets record falls while the Euro suffers its biggest drop in 2 months against the US dollar. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
- The Central Bank says Anglo Irish Bank's brand name is to "disappear" within weeks. (RTÉ)
Workers at the London Underground go on strike for 24 hours, causing widespread peak-hour disruption in the capital of the United Kingdom. (Guardian)

Disasters

Ash from Mount Bromo in Indonesia forces the closure of a nearby airport. (Bernama) (Times of India)

International relations

Diplomatic cable leaks by Wikileaks reveal that China regarded North Korea as a "spoilt child" and the view of Korean reunification under South Korean leadership is "gaining ground". (The Guardian)
Israel's "eased" blockade of the Gaza strip continues to cripple the Gazan economy. (BBC)
The 2010 United Nations Climate Change Conference begins in Cancun, involving 194 countries, amidst low expectations. (The Telegraph) (Reuters)

Law and crime

The Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya's David Kuria criticises Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga after he announces the imminent arrest of the country's homosexuals. (BBC)
A United States court sentences a Somali to 30 years in jail for piracy after an unsuccessful attack on a United States Navy flotilla. (BBC)
23 students and a teacher are released after being taken hostage for five hours by an armed 15-year-old student, who then shot and injured himself, at Marinette High School in the town of Marinette, Wisconsin, United States. (CNN) (BBC) (Reuters)

Politics and elections

12 of the 18 candidates in Haiti's presidential election call for a cancelled vote, describing it as fraudulent and favouring the ruling party, as the UN expresses "deep concern" and thousands of people march in Port-au-Prince . (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest opposition bloc, claims fraud in the parliamentary elections and says it has won no seats. (Al-Masry Al-Youm) (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
The Constitutional Court of Thailand dismisses a case brought against the ruling Democrat Party by the election commission, saying the commission did not follow legal procedures. (Thai News Agency) (Al Jazeera) (Xinhua)
John Brumby concedes defeat in the Victorian election; Ted Baillieu becomes the new Premier of the Australian state of Victoria. (The Herald Sun)
President of the United States Barack Obama calls for a wage freeze for two million United States government workers. (AP)
The Canadian federal by-elections fills two vacant House seats in ridings for Manitoba and one in Ontario, resulting in one Conservative gain, one Conservative hold and one Liberal gain. (CBC) (Global Winnipeg)

Sport

The BBC Panorama programme accuses Nicolás Léoz, Issa Hayatou and Ricardo Teixeira, three senior FIFA officials due to vote on the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup bids, of accepting bribes in the 1990s. (BBC News)