Portal:Current events/2011 April 5

April 5, 2011 (Tuesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

2010–2011 Ivorian crisis:
- Forces loyal to Alassane Ouattara claim to have captured Laurent Gbagbo's Presidential Palace in Abidjan. (BBC)
- Alcide Djédjé, the Foreign Minister claims that Gbagbo's forces have laid down their arms and he is negotiating with Ouattara over the terms of surrender. (CNN)
1,000 students protest at Kabul University as protests continue in Afghanistan over the burning of a Qur'an "found guilty" by pastor Terry Jones' church in the U.S. state of Florida. (CNN)
2011 Syrian protests:
- Amid ongoing protests, Syria opposition says Assad wants talks (Haaretz)

Arts and culture

The whereabouts of Chinese artist Ai Weiwei remain undetermined 48 hours after his disappearance as the U.S., France, Germany, Britain and Amnesty International ask that he be released immediately. (Al Jazeera)
A public civil partnership between a same-sex couple takes place in Dublin, the first time this has happened in Ireland. (The Irish Times)
Sathya Sai Baba is reported to be in a critical condition as thousands of followers gather outside the hospital. (BBC) (The Times of India) (AFP via The Asian Age) (news.com.au)
Bee Gees singer Robin Gibb cancels performances in Brazil due to abdominal pains. (BBC)

Business and economy

Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus loses his final appeal in the Supreme Court of Bangladesh against his dismissal from his own Grameen micro-finance bank; the bank thought him too old for the job. (BBC)
Rebels against the Gaddafi regime in Libya have begun to export oil. (BBC)
The United States Federal Trade Commission considers taking antitrust action against Google. (Bloomberg)
Wayne Swan, the Treasurer of Australia, advises that he is inclined to reject a proposed merger of the Australian Stock Exchange and the Singapore Stock Exchange. (AFP via Sydney Morning Herald)
Texas Instruments announces plans to buy long-time rival National Semiconductor, in a transaction that would consolidate the market for analog chips. (The Guardian)
Cuba and its partners announce plans to drill for oil in Cuban waters in the Gulf of Mexico. (AP via Boston Globe)

Disasters

Fukushima I nuclear accidents
- Japan sets a maximum level of radiation for fish after a catch from Ibaraki prefecture is found with a high level of radioactive iodine from the nuclear accidents. (AP)
- Japan defends dumping of water with low level radiation from the accidents in the Pacific Ocean following criticism from South Korea and Russia. (Kyodo)
For over 50 days, the Libyan city of Misrata has been shelled by artillery, tanks, and snipers, and for over 20 days has had its water intentionally shut off by Muammar Gaddafi's forces. As supplies run short, hundreds of thousands are at risk of death. (Euronews)
At least nine people die in the southern United States in heavy storms. (AP via Yahoo! News)

International relations

Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, Prime Minister of the United Nations-backed Transitional Federal Government of Somalia, calls on UN agencies basing themselves in Kenya for safety reasons to move to Mogadishu within three months, citing the presence of UN agencies in "more dangerous" cities such as Kabul and Baghdad. (BBC) (Mareeg)

Law and crime

Police investigating the murder of Sian O'Callaghan have identified human remains found at a second site as those of Swindon woman Becky Godden-Edwards, who had been missing for eight years. (BBC)

Politics

Amid growing concern and criticism of its planned reforms to the NHS in England, the UK government says it is willing to make major changes to the policy. (BBC)
The Idaho House of Representatives passes a bill banning abortion once a fetus is more than 20 weeks old. (AP via Idaho Statesman)^{[permanent dead link]}
More than a million voters go to the polls in the US state of Wisconsin for an election for a position on the Wisconsin Supreme Court with challenger Joanne Kloppenburg holding a narrow lead over incumbent David Prosser, Jr.. (Reuters)
Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz is appointed as the Chairwoman of the US Democratic National Committee. (Boston Globe)

Science

Sport

In cricket, Kumar Sangakkara quits as captain of Sri Lanka's one-day and Twenty20 sides so that "a new leader can be properly groomed for the 2015 World Cup". (BBC Sport)