Portal:Current events/2011 August 24

August 24, 2011 (Wednesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

2011 Battle of Tripoli
- National Transitional Council Chairman Mustafa Abdul Jalil announces legislative and presidential elections within eight months, and promises that Muammar Gaddafi will be tried in Libya. (Ynetnews)
- Muammar Gaddafi vows to fight until "death or victory" despite the capture of his Bab al-Azizia compound in southern Tripoli. (The Telegraph)
- A former United Nations weapons inspector, Olli Heinonen, warns that a research centre near Tripoli has materials that could be used to make a nuclear dirty bomb. (Reuters via the New York Times)
Air strikes kill 30 Al-Qaeda linked militants near Zinjibar in Yemen's Abyan Governorate with eight army soldiers killed in fighting. (AP via Huffington Post)

Business and economy

Moody's credit rating agency downgrades Japan to Aa3 due to weak economic growth prospects and high levels of public debt. (Bloomberg)
Steve Jobs resigns as the CEO of Apple Inc. Tim Cook took over the CEO position for the company. (Wall Street Journal)

Disasters

Hurricane Irene
- Hurricane Irene strengthens to Category 3 status as it heads towards The Bahamas and Turks and Caicos and then the East Coast of the United States. (News Limited via The Herald Sun). (CNN)
- Thousands of people on Ocracoke Island off the U.S. state of North Carolina are told to evacuate ahead of the arrival of the hurricane later in the week. (AP via The Chronicle-Herald)^{[permanent dead link]}
A 7.0 magnitude earthquake hits near the Amazon region of Peru (MSNBC) (CNN)

International relations

North Korea indicates it is ready to bring about a self-imposed moratorium on its nuclear weapons program. (AP via USA Today)

Law and crime

Russian police arrest a former senior police officer Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov suspected of organising the murder of former Kremlin reporter Anna Politkovskaya in 2006. (AFP via Google News)

Sport

Science

A Progress resupply vehicle destined for the International Space Station experiences a catastrophic engine failure and fails to reach orbit impacting in the Altai Republic.