Portal:Current events/2011 February 20

February 20, 2011 (Sunday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Arab Spring:
- 2011 Libyan civil war:
  - More than 200 people are killed and 900 other are injured as military troops attack protestors in Libya.(BBC) (CBC) (Al Jazeera)
  - Members of a Libyan Army unit defect and claim to have "liberated" Benghazi. (Sky News)
  - Shaikh Faraj al Zuway, the head of the Zuwayya tribe in eastern Libya threatens to cut off oil exports unless the Government of Libya stops the "suppression of protestors". (Reuters via London South East)(Reuters)
  - Al Jazeera reports that the protests have spread to the capital Tripoli. (Al Jazeera)
- 2011 Bahraini protests:
  - Anti-regime demonstrators continue their overnight occupation of Pearl Roundabout junction in Manama, chanting "Get out Hamad" in reference to the country's ruler, having reclaimed the junction after earlier being forced out by authorities. (Al Jazeera)
- 2011 Moroccan protests:
  - A coalition of Moroccan youth groups called “The February 20 Movement” calls for peaceful protests in cities throughout the country. (Al Arabiya)
  - Protests spread to the city of Rabat as thousands march on the central Hassan II Avenue calling for health and educational reform, economic opportunity and assistance against increased cost of living. (Al Jazeera)
  - Thousands of Moroccans demonstrate in Rabat demanding that King Mohammed VI give up some of his powers. (BBC) (Afrol News)
- 2011 Yemeni protests:
  - Nationwide anti-regime protests continue for the 11th consecutive day as one leader is arrested in Aden and thousands of people stage sit-ins in Ibb and Ta'izz calling for the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. (Al Jazeera)
Protests in other parts of the world:
- 2011 Chinese protests:
  - Police in China show up in force in several cities after a call for a "Jasmine Revolution", and disperse protesters in Beijing and Shanghai. (Sify India) (BBC)
- 2011 Iranian protests:
  - Iranians are invited to attend a protest rally in Tehran and other cities in commememoration of the two people killed while attempting to demonstrate for better freedoms last week. (Al Jazeera)
  - Mehdi Karroubi, the opposition leader under house arrest, calls for his trial to take place in public so that people can "get to know the truth". He posts the request on his website since he cannot leave his house to personally deliver it. (Al Jazeera)
NATO pledges to investigate itself amid reports of its recent killing of dozens of civilians in eastern Afghanistan. (BBC)
War in Pakistan:
- The Pakistan Army kills up to 15 insurgents in operations in the Mohmand Agency near the Afghan border. (Dawn)
War in Afghanistan:
- Sapper Jamie Larkham of the 1st Combat Engineer Regiment (Australia) and an Afghan interpreter die in overnight fighting. (The Australian)
- Fazlullah Wahidi, the Governor of Kunar Province, claims that air and missile strikes have killed 64 civilians in the Ghaziabad District over the past few days. (Reuters via Fox 4KC)
The death is announced of slain LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran's mother Vallipuram Parvathi. (The Hindu)

Arts and culture

British gay Muslims fight for equality and the right to be Islamically married. (BBC)

Disasters

10 children are killed by a fire during their afternoon nap at a home for disabled children in Haapsalu, Estonia. (CBS News) (BBC) (AP via The Guardian) (The Sydney Morning Herald)
A heavy snowfall in the U.S. state of Minnesota results in the cancellation of hundreds of flights from Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport. (Minneapolis Star-Tribune)

International relations

The Guardian reports that Raymond Davis, charged with murder in Pakistan after shooting dead two men in Lahore, worked for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). (The Guardian) (The Daily Telegraph)
German–Iranian relations:
- Following a visit by German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle to Iran, two German journalists charged with espionage are released and return to Germany having been imprisoned since October for interviewing the son and lawyer of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani.(CNN)(Canadian Press)(Ynet)(Reuters)
- State-owned Press TV reports that President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad used Westerwelle's visit to say that some countries having a veto on the UN Security council is an insult to other countries and to call for reforms to the world governance. (Press TV)
North Korea has been observed digging tunnels at a nuclear test site in Punggye-ri in North Hamgyong Province raising concerns about another test. (Yonhap)
New Yorker Magazine reports that the Obama administration has entered exploratory talks with the Taliban in Afghanistan. (New Yorker)
Intruders steal secret computer files from Indonesian envoys staying in South Korea. (Yonhap)
The Government of Tunisia asks Saudi Arabia to extradite former President of Tunisia Zine El Abidine Ben Ali who it accuses of "several serious crimes.". (AFP via Yahoo! News)

Law and crime

Fifty-three people are killed in a 72-hour period in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. (CNN)

Politics and elections

Italian politics's rising star Matteo Renzi, the Mayor of Florence, calls for the retirement of Silvio Berlusconi's generation, Berlusconi himself being "only six years younger than my granny". (The Observer)
Yoweri Museveni is re-elected President of Uganda for a fourth term; the opposition does not take the result well. (Al Jazeera), (CNN)
A coalition of anti-war groups, pacifists, religious organisations and digital activists urges people to boycott next month's UK's census due to the involvement of the U.S. arms manufacturer responsible for Trident. (The Observer)
Thousands of protesters continue to demonstrate in the U.S. state of Wisconsin over reform of unions and taxes. (Al Jazeera)(NECN)

Sport

Iran and Russia meet in the final of the Greco-Roman Wrestling World Championships in Belarus. (Press TV)
Carlos Noe Gomez, the vice-president of Guatemalan football club Deportivo Xinabaju, is reported to have been shot dead by two men. (BBC News)
Rookie NASCAR driver Trevor Bayne wins the Daytona 500. (AP via MSNBC)
The Western Conference defeats the Eastern Conference in the 2011 NBA All-Star Game 148-143 played in Los Angeles. (AP via The Salt Lake Tribune)