Portal:Current events/2011 March 6

March 6, 2011 (Sunday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Following rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip on southern Israel, Israeli air force planes bomb Hamas and Islamic Jihad targets in the Gaza Strip. (Ynet) (Xinhua) (Al Jazeera)
Fighting erupts in western Ivory Coast between rebels and forces loyal to incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo, with injured people crossing into Liberia. (Reuters)
At least 12 civilians are killed and at least 5 others are injured in eastern Afghanistan's Paktika Province. (BBC) (RIA Novosti)
Libyan Civil War:
- An uprising against the Muammar Gaddafi regime continues in Libya. (Al Jazeera) (The Guardian)
- Heavy gunfire is heard in the streets of Tripoli early Sunday morning. This is later claimed to be celebratory gunfire by supporters of Muammar Gaddafi following the capture of Ra's Lanuf although rebel forces deny these claims. (MSNBC) (Sky News) (AP via Forbes) (The Guardian)
- Fierce fighting continues in the First Battle of Zawiya. (The Daily Telegraph)
- Muammar Gaddafi calls on the United Nations or African Union to investigate the uprising. (Al Jazeera)
- The Algerian army is deployed to the border with Libya to monitor air traffic and weapons smuggling. (Xinhua)
- Six United Kingdom Special Air Service and two MI6 agents leave Libya on the HMS Cumberland following their capture by Gaddafi opponents on a mission to make contact. (The Guardian)
2011 Bahraini protests:
- Thousands of people demonstrate outside the Al-Qudaibiya Palace, where the government meets in Manama, calling for the prime minister to resign and voicing their discontent with the king. (Al Jazeera)
2011 Yemeni protests:
- Demonstrations against the Saleh regime in Yemen continue. (Al Jazeera)
Other protests:
- Chinese state media warn against protests inspired by Arab Spring. (Radio Television Hong Kong) (Times of India)
- More than 1,000 people protest in Hong Kong over the government's budget proposals. (Radio Television Hong Kong) (AFP via Google News)
India successfully conducts an interceptor missile test over the Bay of Bengal. (Indian Express) (The Straits Times)^{[permanent dead link‍]}
The Washington Post reports that the military forces imprisoned alleged whistleblower Bradley Manning to strip each night and sleep naked, having confiscated his boxers earlier this week following Manning's protest that restrictions imposed on him were "absurd". A spokesperson for the facility denies "any sort of humiliation or embarrassment" is intended. (The Washington Post)
United States Navy commandos from the destroyer USS Bulkeley capture four Somali pirates who boarded the Japanese oil tanker, the MV Guanabara. (AP via the Columbus Republic)
Hamid Karzai, the President of Afghanistan, warns General David Petraeus the head of United States and NATO forces in Afghanistan that civilian casualties in the Afghanistan war and rejects an apology for the mistaken killings of nine boys in a NATO air attack. (Fox News)

Arts and culture

The Brazilian Carnival has its peak main carnival processions in Rio de Janeiro. (Reuters)
A rare original King James Bible is found in a church in Wiltshire, England in the United Kingdom. (BBC)
English singer and musician Phil Collins announces his retirement due to health concerns. (People)

Disasters

A 6.2 magnitude earthquake shakes northern Chile and southern Peru. (Andina)
Nine people are killed and 12 injured in a fire in a bar in Taichung, Taiwan. (Focus Taiwan) (BBC)
Three people are killed and 28 others are hospitalised in a shipping incident on the Greek island of Crete. (Al Jazeera)
Seven people are missing after a mobile home park fire near Lake Granbury, Texas. (WFAA)

International relations

President of Chile Sebastián Piñera, makes his first official visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories. (The Jerusalem Post)(Press TV)
Ron Prosor is appointed Israel's ambassador to the United Nations. (Haaretz) (Ynetnews)
North Korea reportedly used jamming devices to block South Korean military communications as tensions between the Koreas continues to simmer. (Channel News Asia) (Yonhap)
The United States Department of State warns U.S. citizens of a high security threat level in Yemen due to what it describes as "terrorist activities and civil unrest". (U.S. State Department), (Voice of America)

Law and crime

Kenya arrests six Somali Islamist al-Shabaab fighters in the border town of Mandera. (Reuters)
Gunmen attacked patrons at a bar near the United States consulate in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico killing three people. (AP via Huffington Post)

Politics and elections

Egyptian Army General Mansour el-Essawy is named as the new Minister of Interior responsible for security replacing Mahmoud Wagdy. (Reuters via Yahoo! Canada) (Al Arabiya)
The Sultan of Oman Qaboos bin Said dismisses three senior ministers replacing them with Khaled bin Hilal bin Saud al-Busaidi, Sultan bin Mohammed al-Numani and Nasr bin Hamoud bin Ahmed al Kindi following concerns raised in the 2011 Omani protests. (Al-Jazeera)
The Fine Gael and Labour political parties agree to form a coalition. (The Irish Times) (The Guardian) (RTÉ) (BBC)
Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara resigns. (BBC) (Al Jazeera) (Japan Times)
UK PM David Cameron declares war on "enemies of enterprise" during a speech at a Tory conference in Cardiff, Wales. (The Guardian)