Portal:Current events/2011 February 7

February 7, 2011 (Monday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Business and economy

AOL purchases online publisher The Huffington Post in a $315 million deal. (Huffington Post), (New York Times)
Iraq is poised to sign $12b gas deal with Shell Oil Company. (Tehran Times)
Continental Airlines announces that it plans to lay off 500 staff in Houston, Texas following its merger with United Airlines. (KHOU)

Disasters

Bushfires in Perth, Western Australia continue to burn out of control after having destroyed up to 40 homes. (Perth Now) (WA Today)

International relations

United States diplomatic cables leak:
- Newly released cables reveal Australia and the United States formed an alliance in February 2008 to share secret intelligence from spy satellite. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
- Newly released cables sent from the U.S. embassy in Cairo in 2008 refer to Egypt's Defence Minister, Field Marshal Mohamed Tantawi, as "Mubarak's poodle", though conclude that he "retains Mubarak's support, and could easily remain in place for years to come". (The Sydney Morning Herald)
- Luke Harding, The Guardian's Moscow correspondent is expelled from Russia as a result of the paper publishing cables about Russia becoming a "mafia state". (The Guardian)
Thirty-one North Koreans arrive in South Korea after crossing the Yellow Sea by boat. (Yonhap News)
Israel approves plans for two new buildings to be built in East Jerusalem, Palestine with the Palestinians currently living there to be evicted.(Press TV)

Law and crime

Julian Assange and the WikiLeaks website:
- The defence team for Julian Assange, facing allegations of sex crimes, prepares to argue that Assange cannot receive a fair trial in Sweden as such cases are heard in secret without any transparency. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
- 39-year-old Australian Julian Assange is reported by The Independent newspaper to be considering legal action for libel against The Guardian newspaper over claims in a book it published. Guardian News & Media, however, has not received any official notification of the action. (The Independent)
- Files regarding Sweden's sexual indecency charges against Julian Assange are leaked on the Internet. (The Daily Mail)

Science and technology

Using Google Maps, an archaeologist finds nearly 2,000 potential archaeological sites in Saudi Arabia. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
The Molecule of the Year 2010 is FOXM1 as announced by Isidro A. T. Savillo, President, ISMCBBPR. (Scientist Solutions)

Politics

Constitutional Democratic Rally, the former ruling party of Tunisia is officially dissolved. (Tabnak)
The official results of the Southern Sudanese Independence Referendum are released showing that almost 99% of voters chose to become independent. (The Guardian)
The government of Haiti issues a new passport to former President of Haiti Jean-Bertrand Aristide allowing him to end his exile in South Africa. (Sun-Sentinel)

Sport