Portal:Current events/2011 March 31

March 31, 2011 (Thursday)

Armed conflict and attacks

Arab Spring:
- 2011 Syrian protests:
  - Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, authorises a review of emergency laws and an inquiry into the deaths of protesters. (Al Jazeera)
- 2011 Libyan civil war:
  - Libyan Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa defects from the government and seeks refuge in the United Kingdom. (Haaretz)
  - Fierce fighting takes place around the town of Brega. (Al Jazeera)
  - U.S. President Obama is reported to have authorized covert support for Libyan rebels. (Haaretz)
2010–2011 Ivorian crisis:
- Disputed President Laurent Gbagbo's army chief Phillippe Mangou seeks refuge in the South African ambassador's home in Abidjan. (BBC)
- Forces loyal to Ivory Coast's internationally recognised President Alassane Ouattara seize further towns and move into the biggest city Abidjan. (Reuters), (CNN)

Arts and culture

James Franco appears on the Late Show with David Letterman, speaking publicly for the first time about his hosting performance on the 83rd Academy Awards. (BBC News)

Business and economy

Google agrees with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to have an independent privacy audit every couple of years as a result of problems with the Google Buzz social network. (BBC)
The U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, Timothy Geithner, says at a meeting in Nanjing, China that the "most important problem" in the world's monetary system is that some countries refuse to allow the free flow of the value of their currency. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

Nine people are killed after a train crashes into a minibus in Hanoi, Vietnam. (Vietnam Net) (Straits Times)
The death toll from flooding in Southern Thailand rises to thirteen. (Phuket Wan)
Thousands of people are evacuated in Perlis, northern Malaysia, due to flooding. (Bernama)
Radiation exceeding evacuation levels is found 40 kilometres from the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, outside the exclusion zone. (Herald Sun)

International relations

Defense chiefs from ASEAN countries agree on information sharing at a conference in Indonesia. (Jakarta Post)
The Gaddafi government in Libya asks former Nicaraguan foreign minister Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann to represent it in the United Nations. (AP via Yahoo News)

Law and crime

43 Afghan migrants on their way to Australia are detained by Indonesian authorities. (AFP via Google News)
Philippine authorities are to seek long jail terms for six Chinese poachers as part of a crackdown on foreigners stealing marine wildlife. (Sin Chew Jit Poh)
Moriarty Tribunal:
- Taoiseach Enda Kenny confirms that disgraced former minister Michael Lowry is to be censured by Dáil Éireann today without any discussion of the matter, following two days of debate on the tribunal's findings. (The Irish Times)
- Michael Lowry refuses to resign from Dáil Éireann. (The Irish Times)
Baidu deletes 2.8 million works from Baidu Wenku as part of a copyright dispute. (BBC)
Austrian police arrest a man suspected of robbing banks while wearing a Barack Obama mask in Fornach. (BBC)
A lynch mob in the Guatemalan village of La Democracia kills three men for allegedly stealing a truck full of coffee. (AP via Washington Post)
Keith Brown, the former manager and father of The 5 Browns classical music group is sentenced for ten years for sexual abuse of his daughters. (People)
Former British Labour MP Jim Devine is jailed for 16 months for fraudulently claiming £8,385 in expenses. (BBC)

Politics

China launches its largest crackdown on dissenters in years, according to activists, amid unrest in the Middle East. (AFP via Google News) (The Guardian)
The Governor of Ohio John Kasich signs a bill removing collective bargaining rights from Ohio government employees. (Toledo Blade)

Science

Sport