Portal:Current events/2011 March 25

March 25, 2011 (Friday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Arab Spring
- Libyan rebels arrest Omar Ahmed Sodani, the man believed responsible for the murder of WPC Yvonne Fletcher outside the Libyan embassy in London in 1984. (The Guardian)
- Supporters of the Jordanian government clash with anti-government protesters in Amman, resulting in 1 death and over 100 injuries. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
- Protests continue in cities across Syria demanding greater freedoms; gunfire is also heard in Deraa. (Al Jazeera) (BBC) (Angola Press)
- Pro-Syrian government demonstrators surround the Al-Jazeera offices in Damascus and threaten to burn it to the ground. (Al Jazeera)
- Rival demonstrations take place in Yemen; President Ali Abdullah Saleh offers to hand over power to a "safe pair of hands". (CNN) (AFP via Google News)
- Clashes between anti-government demonstrators and security forces erupt in Bahrain despite a government ban on gatherings. (Wall Street Journal)
2010–2011 Ivorian crisis
- Up to one million people flee Abidjan in southern Côte d'Ivoire amid violence. (UN) (IOL)
- West African leaders urge the United Nations to authorise force to remove incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo, who refuses to leave office, from power. (BBC World Service)
A bomb blast in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa injures two people. (Reuters)
A bomb in the city of Peshawar in Pakistan results in nineteen people being injured. (One Pakistan)

Arts and culture

Business and economy

More than 600 workers at a Chinese-owned mine in Zambia strike over pay. (Reuters)
The U.S. International Trade Commission has agreed to hear an appeal from Kodak to an initial unfavorable decision by an administrative judge on Kodak's claim that Research in Motion and Apple have infringed its patents, in connection with wireless devices equipped with digital cameras. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

More than 100 people are poisoned by lead from a battery plant built in a residential area in Zhejiang, China. (AP via Google News) (People's Daily)
Japan's National Police Agency states that the official death toll from the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami has passed 10,000 with 17,053 missing. (AP via Yahoo! News)
Japanese officials raise concerns that the core of unit 3 at the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant may be damaged. (New York Times)
The death toll from the 2011 Burma earthquake near the Thailand border reaches at least 75 with the potential for "many more casualties" as dozens of buildings are destroyed. (BBC) (Xinhua)

International relations

The Democratic Republic of the Congo recalls its ambassador to the Republic of Congo in connection with a raid on President Joseph Kabila's home in Kinshasa. (AFP via Google News)
The Government of Iran rejects a United Nations Human Rights Council investigation into alleged human rights abuses. (AFP via France24)^{[permanent dead link‍]}
European Council Summit (24-25 March 2011) (Invitation letter by President Van Rompuy to the European Council -PDF-), completion (Summit Conclusions -PDF-) focusing on 1) its economic policy under the pressure of the Portugal crisis (Reuters), 2) On the finalisation of the ESM (European Stability Mechanism) and the adoption of the Euro Plus Pact, 3) On the developments on its southern neighbourhood under the light of the 2011 Libyan civil war and the UN Security Council Resolution 1973 and 4) On possible assistance to Japan, and the necessary steps to review the safety of both European and neighbouring nuclear facilities.

Law and crime

Chinese human rights activist Liu Xianbin is sentenced to ten years in jail on charges of inciting subversion. (AP via The Statesman) (Straits Times)^{[permanent dead link‍]}
Delroy Grant, a 53-year-old London taxi driver who was found guilty on a total of 29 charges including indecent assault, burglary and rape committed against 10 elderly people between 1992 and 2009, is sentenced to life imprisonment at Woolwich Crown Court with a recommendation that he should serve at least 27 years in prison before parole can even be considered. (BBC)

Politics

Inmates at six prisons in Kyrgyzstan go on hunger strike over poor conditions. (CP) (ITAR-TASS)
Demonstrators in New Delhi, India, march to the Indian Parliament demanding the government end plans to build a large number of nuclear power plants. (Canadian Press) (Sify India)
The Tibetan government in-exile accepts the Dalai Lama's resignation from politics; the parliament is to seek the Tibetan community's opinion. (Times of India) (Angola Press) (Himalayan Times)
Zimbabwe's Minister of Public Works, Theresa Makone of the MDC, goes into hiding for fear of arrest. (BBC)
Yassin Noman, the head of Yemen's opposition coalition, rejects the offers by the President of Yemen Ali Abdullah Saleh to resign by the end of the year. (Al Jazeera)
The Northern Ireland Assembly dissolves ahead of May elections. (BBC)
The minority of the Conservative Party of Canada led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper is defeated in a no confidence motion in the House of Commons with an election to be held in early May. (Reuters) (CBC)

Sport

2011 Hong Kong Sevens, the highest number of participants event of the 2010–11 IRB Sevens World Series, has started at Hong Kong Stadium in Hong Kong and features 24 teams. (BBC)