Portal:Current events/2011 March 10

March 10, 2011 (Thursday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

2011 Libyan civil war:
- France recognizes the National Transitional Council as the sole legitimate representative of the Libyan people. (France 24)
- A British and a Brazilian journalist are reported missing. (Buenos Aires Herald) (The Guardian)
- Pro-Gaddafi forces claim that they have taken control of Ra's Lanuf with dozens of people killed. (Al-Jazeera), (BBC), (The Guardian)
- The United States suspends relations with the Libyan embassy in Washington D.C.. (AP via Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Philippine Army forces attack Abu Sayyaf fighters in a mangrove in Sacol Island in Zamboanga City. (AP via Monterey County Herald)^{[permanent dead link]}
At least three army recruits are killed in a riot at a military training camp in Kissidougou, southern Guinea. (BBC) (People's Daily)
A clash between rebels and Sudanese troops in Darfur kills 17 people. (Reuters)
NATO forces in Afghanistan kill the cousin of President Hamid Karzai in an overnight raid. (BBC)
An oil pipeline in the Ninawa Governorate in northern Iraq is bombed preventing the flow of thousands of barrels of oil. (CNN)
Saudi police open fire on protesters in Qatif. (AP via The Washington Post)
The disputed government of Côte d'Ivoire imposes a ban on United Nations flights from flying over or landing in the country. (BBC)

Business and economy

China posts a trade deficit for the first time since March 2010, amid slowing exports. (BBC) (Shanghai Daily)
The Bank of Korea increases the main interest rate in South Korea by a quarter percentage point to 3% due to concerns over inflation. (Yonhap) (Market Watch via Fox Business News)
Moody's downgrades Spain's credit rating to Aa2 due to the cost of restructuring the Spanish banking system. (Financial Times)

Disasters

Flood waters cut off access to towns in North Queensland. (AP via Yahoo! News)
At least 25 people are killed and 250 injured following a 5.4 magnitude earthquake in Yingjiang County, Yunnan province, China, near the Burma border. (Xinhua) (China Daily) (AFP via Yahoo! News)

International relations

A senior diplomat in charge of relations with Japan at the United States State Department is replaced for allegedly making disparaging remarks about the people of Okinawa. (AP via Washington Post)
Hillary Clinton, the United States Secretary of State, announces plans to visit Egypt and Tunisia this week. (Reuters)

Law and crime

More than 30 people in and around the US city of Baltimore, Maryland, are arrested on drugs charges, including actress Felicia Pearson from television series The Wire. (The Washington Post)
A Federal grand jury indicts eleven members of a firearms trafficking ring based in Columbus, New Mexico including the mayor and police chief. (Las Cruces Sun News)
In the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, a Liberal Democrat member disclosed, with the protection of parliamentary privilege, the fact that the former chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland has obtained an injunction banning the publication of information about him, even the simple identification of this individual, Fred Goodwin, as a banker. (Telegraph)

Politics

The Zimbabwean Energy Minister and member of the Movement for Democratic Change, Elton Mangoma, is arrested for unknown reasons. (BBC) (Zim Online)
Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh announces plans to move towards a parliamentary democracy, following weeks of demonstrations. (BBC) (Yemen News Agency)
The 14th Dalai Lama announces plans to retire as the head of the Tibetan exile movement within days. (CNN) (The Guardian) (Times of India)
2011 Wisconsin protests in US
- The Wisconsin State Capitol is placed on lockdown to prevent protesters gaining access. (CNN)
- The Wisconsin State Assembly votes to remove almost all collective bargaining from state employees. (AP via Courier Post Online)^{[permanent dead link]}
- Peter W. Barca, the leader of the Democrats in the Wisconsin State Assembly, takes legal action to have the decision overturned. (The Capital Times)
U.S. Representative Gabby Giffords announces plans to attend the launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavour, piloted by her husband Mark Kelly, three months after she was shot in the 2011 Tucson shootings. (New York Post)
The United States House of Representatives votes to end the Federal Housing Administration Refinance Program by 256 to 171. (Washington Post)
The Prime Minister of Madagascar Albert Camille Vital resigns together with his Government as a part of a peace process proposed by the Southern African Development Community to end a two year political crisis. (Reuters)
The Cuban Roman Catholic Church claims that the Government of Cuba plans to release 10 dissidents including Óscar Elías Biscet. (AP viaSan Francisco Chronicle)