Portal:Current events/2011 August 9

August 9, 2011 (Tuesday)

Arts and culture

Business and economy

August 2011 stock markets fall
- The Australian Commonwealth and Westpac banks cut fixed home loan rates. (News Limited) (Sydney Morning Herald) (Market Watch) (Reuters)
- South Korea's financial authorities promise to take action to stabilise markets as stocks on the Korea Exchange continue to fall. (Yonhap)
- The Australian and New Zealand dollars continue to fall as investors seek security with the Aussie dollar falling below parity. (Bloomberg)
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average on the New York Stock Exchange as world stock markets recover after recent falls. (Wall Street Journal)
The U.S. Federal Reserve announces it will keep interest rates at "exceptionally low levels" at least through mid 2013, though it makes no commitment for further quantitative easing. (Reuters)

Disasters

Tropical Storm Mufia
- At least four people are dead and two missing after former Typhoon Muifa hits South Korea - 600 homes had earlier been destroyed in the People's Republic of China. (Chosun Ilbo) (AFP via Google News)
- At least ten people are reported to have died in North Korea. (CNN)

Law and crime

English riots:
- Rioting continues in London with lawlessness spreading to other English cities such as Liverpool, Manchester, Bristol and Birmingham. (BBC), (The Australian)
- The Prime Minister David Cameron returns to Britain to chair an emergency meeting on the crisis and later recalls Parliament on Thursday. (BBC) (BBC)
- Police arrest 334 people and charge 69 after last night's riots. (Al-Jazeera)
- The Football Association calls off a friendly match between the England and Netherlands national teams. (The Guardian)
- The far-right English Defense League says it will send its members onto the streets to quell riots. (AP via Houston Chronicle)
Warren Jeffs, former leader of the FLDS Church and formerly on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, is sentenced to life in prison plus 20 years for a conviction on child sexual assault charges. (CNN)

Politics and elections

Voters in some parts of the US state of Wisconsin go to the polls for recall elections for six Republican Party State Senators with Republicans retaining four of the six seats and their majority in the chamber. (The New York Times), (Bloomberg)
Penny Wong, the first openly gay member of the Australian Cabinet, announces that her partner will be having a baby. (Adelaide Advertiser)