Portal:Current events/2011 March 8
March 8, 2011 (Tuesday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- 2011 Libyan civil war:
- Al Jazeera claims to have video that shows a Libyan Army officer being executed for refusing to fire on opposition positions west of the capital Tripoli. (Al Jazeera)
- Pro-Gaddafi forces launch an offensive on the rebel held town of Zawiya. (BBC)
- The President of the United States Barack Obama and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom David Cameron agree that the "common objective in Libya" is the end of violence and the departure of Colonel Gaddafi. (Reuters)
- 2010–2011 Ivorian crisis: Four people are shot dead in Abidjan after a march to protest the killing of seven female demonstrators last week. (BBC), (AP via The Guardian) (Times of India)
- National Army of Colombia troops free 22 of 23 local oil contractors working for Canada's Talisman Energy captured a day earlier by FARC rebels. (Reuters via Vancouver Sun) (Colombia Reports)
- One person is killed in clashes between Coptic Christians and Muslims in the Egyptian capital Cairo. (BBC)
- Police in Pakistan arrest a suspect over a car bombing in the eastern city of Faisalabad. (Al Jazeera)
- Israeli troops and settlers open fire upon Palestinians in the West Bank while they repaired orchards previously attacked by settlers, injuring 8 Palestinians. (Boston Globe)
Business and economy
- Oil companies and banks have stopped trading with Libya after the introduction of sanctions leading to a shutdown of exports and further pressure on oil prices. (Wall Street Journal)
Disasters
- Authorities in Redondo Beach, California, in the US city of Los Angeles investigate what caused the death of millions of fish at the King Harbor Marina. (Los Angeles Times)
- 7 children die in a farmhouse fire near Harrisburg, PA. (CNN)
International relations
- China reiterates its claim over the disputed Spratly Islands after Vietnam and the Philippines protest over Chinese naval activity in their waters. (Bangkok Post)[permanent dead link]
- Lt. General Hideyuki Yoshioka, responsible for air systems development at Japan's Ministry of Defense, estimates that it is on track to develop a stealth fighter within three years. (AP via Washington Post)
Law and crime
- Mata Tuatagaloa Keli is sworn in as Samoa's first female judge. (RNZI)
- Italian police seek to arrest 41 alleged members of the 'ndrangheta crime syndicate based in Calabria with suspects also sought in Germany, Canada and Australia. (AP via Forbes), (SBS)
- A St Louis police officer and two U.S. Marshals are shot, one fatally, while serving an arrest warrant in south St. Louis, Missouri. The gunman is killed.(KSDK), (St Louis Today)
- International Criminal Court judges order two Darfur rebels to stand trial for a deadly 2007 attack on peacekeepers. (Canadian Press via Google News)
- Syrian human rights activist and government critic Haitham al-Maleh is released from prison as part of an amnesty for those convicted of minor crimes and those aged over 70. (BBC)
- Mexico's youngest police chief, Marisol Valles García of the town of Práxedis G. Guerrero, Chihuahua, seeks asylum to the United States after receiving death threats. (BBC)
- Twenty-one Catholic priests in the US city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, are suspended after being named in an investigation in claims of widespread child molestation. (BBC)
Politics
- Darfur is to be divided into smaller states by Sudan, causing rebels in the region to protest. (Reuters)
- China's choice for the Panchen Lama, Gyaincain Norbu, says Tibetans have "never been freer", in an interview days before the third anniversary of deadly unrest. (AFP via Google News) (Xinhua)
- Former President of Iran Hashemi Rafsanjani loses his position as head of the Assembly of Experts, the body responsible for choosing the Supreme Leader of Iran, being replaced by Mohammad-Reza Mahdavi Kani. (AP via Yahoo! News)
- Opposition websites report that Iranian security forces have fired teargas at crowds in Tehran to disperse protestors. (Reuters)
- Voters in the U.S. city of Memphis, Tennessee, agree to hand over controls of Memphis City Schools to Shelby County. (WMC-TV)
Sport
- The Ohio State University suspends head coach Jim Tressel and fines him $250,000 for failing to advise the NCAA of breaches of its rules and conduct by some star Ohio State players. (Sports Illustrated)