Portal:Current events/2011 July 14

July 14, 2011 (Thursday)

Armed conflict and attacks

2011 Syrian uprising: Several deaths are reported as a security crackdown continues against anti-government protests in Syria. (Al Jazeera)
War in Afghanistan (2001–2021):
- A suicide bombing at a mosque in Kandahar, Afghanistan, kills four people and injures 11 including the head of the provincial religious council while they were praying for Ahmed Wali Karzai. (Reuters via The Guardian)
At least six Yemeni militants are killed following an air strike on a police station in the Abyan Governorate that the militants had overrun. (Al Jazeera)
Kurdish–Turkish conflict:
- Kurdistan Workers Party fighters ambush the Turkish Army in Diyarbakır Province, resulting in the death of 13 soldiers and five militants. (Reuters)
Libyan Civil War:
- Mikhail Margelov, the President of Russia's special envoy on the Libyan uprising, claims that Muammar Gaddafi has a "suicidal plan" to destroy Tripoli if the rebels seem likely to capture it. (Al Jazeera)
The Israeli Air Force bombs the Gaza Strip after Hamas militants launch a missile attack on Israel. (Al Jazeeera)

Arts and culture

The poet Liao Yiwu tells the BBC of how he fled China via Vietnam and other countries and arrived in Germany after his struggles with Chinese authorities who have spent decades suppressing his work and imprisoning him. (BBC)
A rare manuscript of an unfinished Jane Austen novel has sold for £993,250 (US$1.6m) in London. The work, The Watsons, was sold at Sotheby's for three times its estimated price. (BBC)

Business and economy

Singapore's economy falls by 7.8% due to declines in manufacturing output and the services sector. (Market Watch)
Borders Group, the once-major bookstore chain now in chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States, says that its arrangement with stalking horse bidder Najafi Companies has collapsed, and it will seek a modification of bid procedures. (Reuters)

International relations

Chairman of Ireland's governing Fine Gael parliamentary party Charles Flanagan calls for Papal Nuncio Giuseppe Leanza to be expelled from the country after the publication of a report into the sexual abuse of children by priests in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cloyne, while Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore attacks the Vatican's interference in the scandal. (RTÉ)
Japan's foreign ministry plans to boycott Korean Air services for one month in response to a demonstration flight of a Korean Air Airbus A380 over the disputed Liancourt Rocks, beginning on Monday. (MarketWatch)
India and Bangladesh commence a joint census to resolve claims over disputed border areas. (BBC)
The General Assembly of the United Nations votes to admit South Sudan as a member of the United Nations. (CNN)

Law and crime

U.S. security manufacturer Armor Holdings pays a $16 million fine to settle bribery charges relating to the payment of a United Nations official. (BBC)
BBC reporter Urunboy Usmonov is released on bail in Tajikistan but still faces trial. (BBC) (The Guardian) (The Daily Telegraph) (Reuters)
News of the World phone hacking scandal:
- News Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch, his son James, and News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks all agree to appear before British MPs next week to answer questions on the News of the World phone hacking affair. (BBC)
- Neil Wallis, former deputy editor of the News of the World under Andy Coulson, is arrested and questioned by police investigating the scandal. (The Guardian)
- The FBI is investigating reports that News Corporation sought to hack the phones of victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks. (BBC)
- In his first major interview on the phone-hacking crisis, Rupert Murdoch says his company has handled it "extremely well" and that News Corp will recover. (BBC)
U.S. district court judge Reggie Walton declares a mistrial in the perjury trial of former baseball star Roger Clemens after prosecutors present evidence that Walton had previously ruled inadmissible. Walton will hold a hearing on September 2 to determine whether to hold a new trial. (ESPN)
At least thirty-two Chilean police and 54 demonstrators are arrested in a demonstration demanding more funds for higher education. (Antara News)

Politics and elections

The Italian Senate approves an austerity budget aimed at preventing the need for a financial bailout for Italy. (BBC)
The Welsh Conservative Party chooses Andrew R. T. Davies as their leader in the Welsh Assembly. (BBC)
The President of the United States, Barack Obama, gives Congressional leader 24 to 36 hours to reach an agreement on debt reduction as credit agency Standard & Poor's places the US on a downgrade watch. (Reuters), (Washington Post), (NPR), (Marketwatch)
The Democratic Governor of Minnesota Mark Dayton and Republican legislative leaders reach a budget deal which will end a shutdown of the US state government within days. (Reuters)

Science

Neptune completes its first orbit of the Sun since its discovery in 1846. (ABC Online)
A lost rainbow toad thought to have become extinct after its last sighting in 1924 is rediscovered in Borneo by scientists from Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) and photographed for the first time. (BBC Nature)