Portal:Current events/2011 May 27
May 27, 2011 (Friday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- 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. (Dailymail) (CNN)
- 2011 Yemeni protests:
- 2011 Syrian protests:
- More towns witness large anti-government demonstrations; three people are reportedly killed by security forces. (Al Jazeera)
- Syrian security forces allegedly detain a young boy, torture him, and then shoot him to death. (Egyptian Chronicles)
- David Cameron, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, confirms that his government will be sending AgustaWestland Apache attack helicopters to Libya to assist the 2011 Libyan civil war. (Sky News)
- A camp in Tunisia for people fleeing the conflict in Libya is destroyed after clashes among refugees and local residents. (BBC)
- Six Italian peacekeepers are injured in an attack on their UNIFIL vehicle in Lebanon. (Al Arabiya)
Arts and culture
- British Labour Party leader Ed Miliband marries his long term partner Justine Thornton in a low-key ceremony at Langar Hall in Nottinghamshire. (The Guardian)
Business and economy
Disaster
- A wildfire causes the evacuation of hundreds of homes in Lake Isabella, California. (Bakersfield Californian)
Law and crime
- Bhutan's opposition leader Tshering Tobgay condemns the country's anti-smoking law as "utter madness" as three more people are jailed for possessing cigarettes. (AFP via Google News)
- Bernardo De Bernardinis of Italy's Civil Protection Department and six other seismologists are charged with manslaughter for failing to predict the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake that struck the country. (CBS News)
- A Serbian court rules that former Bosnian Serb military leader Ratko Mladić is fit to stand a genocide trial at The Hague. (Reuters)
- Tom Horne, the Arizona Attorney General takes the United States Department of Justice to court over the states medical marijuana laws. (AP via MSNBC)
Politics
- 37th G8 summit:
- The G8 leaders agree to give US$20 billion in support of Tunisian and Egyptian reforms after the Arab Spring. (MSNBC)
- The leaders, including Russia, call for Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to step down. (Reuters) (RIA Novosti)
- Chinese activist Zhao Lianhai is back home after being detained for campaigning for victims of the 2008 Chinese milk scandal. (Straits Times)
Science
- More than 270 people are hospitalised after an E. coli outbreak in Germany, thought to have originated from Spanish cucumbers. (AFP via Google News)
- A second woman dies of a mystery virus, reported to be similar to pneumonia, in South Korea. (Joongang Daily) (Antara News)
- Space Shuttle Endeavour crewmembers Mike Fincke and Greg Chamitoff undertake what is expected to be the last spacewalk ever conducted by a Space Shuttle crew. (Space via MSNBC)
Sport
- The Boston Bruins defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning 1-0 in the Eastern Conference of National Hockey League to progress to the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals against the Vancouver Canucks. (Boston Globe)