Portal:Current events/2011 May 21

May 21, 2011 (Saturday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Dawn, Pakistan's largest English-language newspaper, begins publication of thousands of U.S. diplomatic cables it has obtained in a deal with WikiLeaks and Julian Assange. The cables show that the Pakistani military asked the United States to increase its drone attacks against insurgents on Pakistani territory, a request Pakistani authorities have not admitted in public. (Al Jazeera)
Arab Spring:
- 2011–2012 Syrian uprising:
  - Several people are killed and dozens of others are injured in Homs as Syrian security forces attack the funeral of protesters killed in yesterday's protest events during the country's uprising against the regime. (Al Jazeera)
  - The Syrian regime attacks women protesters, shooting them dead during all-women marches and arresting the female relatives of male protesters. (The Guardian)
- 2011 Libyan civil war:
  - The cities of Yafran and al-Qalaa in the Nafusa Mountains are in critical condition following ongoing attacks by Muammar Gaddafi's forces, with heavy artillery shelling continuing, water supplies shut off, and no food or medical supplies coming into the towns for weeks. (CNN)
  - A bus carrying foreign journalists is attacked by a pro-Muammar Gaddafi crowd; soldiers fire into the air to disperse the crowd. (Reuters)
- 2011 Yemeni uprising: The opposition sign a deal that will allow President Ali Abdullah Saleh out of power within a month. (Reuters) (Al Jazeera)
- 2011 Egyptian revolution:
  - Scuffles in court (as families reportedly yell "Butcher! Butcher!") lead to the postponement of the trial of Hosni Mubarak's former interior minister Habib el-Adly and six others after "three or four minutes". Habib el-Adly is accused of massacring people who demonstrated against the Mubarak regime, prior to its downfall as a result of a popular revolution in February 2011. (Al Jazeera)
  - Egyptian border guards shoot and injure an Eritrean woman as she attempts to cross into Israel. (Journal of Turkish Weekly)
Other anti-government protests:
- 2011–2012 Spanish protests: Thousands of people defy a government ban on gatherings to protest across the country against the Spanish government's economic policies. (BBC)
- 2011 Georgian protests:
  - More than 10,000 Georgians protest against the regime of Mikheil Saakashvili. Protests are led by Nino Burjanadze, ex-parliamentary speaker and leader of the Democratic Movement-United Georgia party. (Reuters)(Civil.ge)
  - Police clash with protesters in Batumi. (Civil.ge)
  - Hackers attack the website of the Georgian opposition TV station Maestro. (Interfax)
At least 15 people are killed near the town of Landi Kotal in Pakistan after a bomb destroys an Afghanistan-bound oil tanker. (AFP via WA Today)
At least 3 people are killed in a suicide attack at the Charsad Bestar Hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
A bomb explodes in a bank in the city centre of Derry, Northern Ireland; no damage is done. (BBC)
Sudanese invasion of Abyei:
- Southern Sudan says forces from Sudan have attacked the disputed Abyei border region. (Reuters)
- Abyei is reported to have been taken under the control of soldiers from the North, with the United Nations confirming events. (BBC)
- The United Nations Security Council cancels a visit to the Sudan’s Abyei region. (Voice of America)
Police clashed with protesters in Valparaíso, Chile over the government's proposed hydro-electric dam project and education and labour policies which, student leaders say, are going "in the opposite way from those the population were demanding". The demonstration coincides with Sebastián Piñera's state of the nation address. (BBC)

Arts and culture

Harold Camping's May 21, 2011 end times prediction:
- Hundreds of Hmong people are reportedly forced into hiding in north-west Vietnam, after security forces disperse thousands awaiting the supposed Second Coming of Christ. (Straits Times)
- According to American Christian radio broadcaster Harold Camping, May 21 is the date of the Rapture for all Christians around the world, happening at 6:00pm in their respective time zones. (The New York Times) (New York magazine)
- The date passed without incident around the world, while protesters gather outside Harold Camping's Family Radio Network headquarters to celebrate the failed rapture claim. (The New York Times)

Business and economy

Britain formally backs French politician Christine Lagarde to become the next managing director of the International Monetary Fund, following the resignation of Dominique Strauss-Kahn over his alleged rape of a hotel chambermaid in New York City. (BBC)

Disasters

At least 42 people are killed and over 50 injured in dust storms and thunderstorms in Uttar Pradesh, northern India, adding to the three-day toll of over eighty dead. (Xinhua) (Times of India) (Rediff)
24 people are buried alive following a landslide at an orphanage in Malaysia, and 16 people are killed. (Bernama) (Reuters) (Al Jazeera), (AP via MSNBC)
Iceland's most active volcano, Grímsvötn, erupts, triggering 50 small earthquakes. (Ice News) (AP via MSNBC)
A tornado in the US town of Reading, Kansas kills at least one person and destroys 20 homes. (CNN), (KSN)^{[permanent dead link]}

International relations

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il reportedly visits Changchun in Northern China. (AFP via Google News) (Yonhap)
The World Food Programme cuts aid rations to Somalia, amid a shortfall in donations. (UPI)
The Premier of China, Wen Jiabao, and the President of South Korea, Lee Myung-bak, visit areas of northern Japan devastated by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, ahead of a trilateral summit tomorrow. (AP via MSNBC)

Law and crime

Hundreds of Twitter users post the name of an English Premier League footballer who won a superinjunction to stop details of his affair going public, in protest at the player's attempts to sue the social networking site. (BBC)

Politics and elections

Alassane Ouattara is inaugurated as President of the Ivory Coast. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
Polls close in the Seychelles after a three day three day presidential election with the incumbent President James Michel winning 55 per cent of the vote. (AP via Google News) (Reuters)
U.S. businessman Herman Cain announces that he will be seeking the Republican Party nomination in the 2012 U.S. presidential election. (KETV) (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
The Minnesota House of Representatives votes to put a constitutional referendum on marriage before voters in the US state of Minnesota. (Minnesota Star-Tribune)

Sport

In rugby union, Leinster defeat Northampton Saints after a surprise comeback in the 2011 Heineken Cup Final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. (The Guardian) (The Irish Times) (The Independent) (BBC Sport)
Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid scores a record 40th goal in La Liga. (ESPN Soccernet)