Portal:Current events/2011 May 13
May 13, 2011 (Friday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- 2011 Bahraini uprising:
- The Bahraini government tortures doctors into confessions of "trying to overthrow the monarchy" by aiding wounded civilians who protested during the uprising. (Al Jazeera)
- 2011 Yemeni uprising:
- 2011 Syrian uprising:
- Soldiers are reportedly ordered not to fire on protesters. (Buenos Aires Herald)
- Authorities close off entire areas in cities across Syria, setting up roadblocks and checkpoints in an attempt to prevent protests after Friday prayers. (AP via Google News)
- At least 3 people are killed in the centre of the city of Homs, with one being seen to be shot in the head after forces loyal to the regime fire into crowds of people. Gunfire erupts in the city of Daraa. (BBC)
- 2011 Libyan civil war:
- A video shows 11 dead imams and 45 wounded Muslim holy men, 5 of whom are in a coma, alleged to have been caused by a NATO airstrike. Those attacked were said to have been at rest and sleeping while participating in a long peace march; Muslims and Christians unite in condemnation of the attack. (The Guardian)
- Upon speculation that Gaddafi was injured in a NATO air-strike, Libyan State TV released an audio tape of what it claims to be Gaddafi giving a message saying that he was not hurt and is alive. (Al Jazeera)
- 2011 Egyptian revolution:
- Authorities extend for 15 more days the detention of Hosni Mubarak, whose regime was overthrown by a recent popular revolution. (BBC)
- Suzanne Mubarak, the wife, is detained for 15 days on allegations of corruption and has a heart attack. (BBC)
- Tens of thousands of people gather in Tahrir Square to display unity against sectarian tension and solidarity with the plight of the Palestinian people and the other popular uprisings against regimes in the region. Cheers erupt as Suzanne Mubarak is incarcerated. (The Guardian)
- Dozens of people are injured in a petrol bomb attack on a bank in Gansu, northwest China. (BBC) (Xinhua) (Times of India)
- Catholic priest Father Mussie Zerai alleges that as many as 400 people, mainly Eritreans, are being held for ransom by human traffickers in the Sinai Desert, and that at least one has been killed after experiencing electric shock torture. (BBC) (UPI)
- 2011 Charsadda bombing. 80 people were killed when two suicide bombs exploded in the Frontier Constabulary training center in Charsadda District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.
Disasters
- Japan's government approves a compensation plan to assist with the tens of billions of dollars for those affected by the malfunctions of the country's tsunami-crippled nuclear plant, fearing that Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) could go bankrupt without the money. (BBC)
- A funeral Mass occurs in Lorca, Murcia, following the fatal disaster of Wednesday. (BBC)
- Two TTC buses collide at Wilson Station in Toronto, injuring 14 people. (CBC) (Toronto Star) (Inside Toronto)
International relations
- US Envoy George J. Mitchell, representing United States interests in the Middle East, is to resign. (BBC)
Law and crime
- Vietnam unveils a five year plan to tackle widespread prostitution in the country. (AFP via Google News)
- 8 decapitated corpses, including that of a deputy prison governor, are located by police in Durango, Northwest Mexico. (BBC)
- A 62-year-old British woman is beheaded in a supermarket on the Spanish island of Tenerife in what officials say appears to be a random attack. An individual is arrested. (BBC) (The Guardian)
Politics and elections
- Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik, speaking after meeting Catherine Ashton in Banja Luka, says a referendum "for the time being is not necessary". The referendum would have been a challenge to both Ashton and the courts of Bosnia. (BBC)
- Plaid Cymru leader Ieuan Wyn Jones vows to stand down from the role in the first half of the Welsh assembly's five-year term following the party's poor results at the recent election. (BBC)
- FIFA President Sepp Blatter fears being plunged into "a black hole" if AFC President Mohammed Bin Hammam defeats him in next month's leadership election. (BBC)
Religion
- Pope Benedict XVI tells Roman Catholic bishops around the world they must obey Summorum Pontificum, a papal order allowing priests to say the old-style Tridentine Mass, regardless of their opinion on it. (Washington Post) (Reuters)
- Following a decision made at its Bishops' Spring Conference, the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales announces the reinstatement of the rule of abstaining from eating red meat on Fridays. The practice, last observed in 1984, will be reintroduced on 16 September to coincide with the first anniversary of the visit of Pope Benedict XVI. (The Telegraph)