Portal:Current events/2011 September 19

September 19, 2011 (Monday)

Armed conflict and attacks

Terrorism in Pakistan:
- A bomb explodes outside the home of a senior police officer in Karachi, Pakistan, killing at least eight people. (AP via NineMSN) (AFP via Dawn)
- At least five people are killed and 21 injured after a bomb explodes in Peshawar. (Daily Times)
Syrian activists and residents claim that the Syrian military have shot dead eight people, including six civilians, north of the city of Homs. (Reuters)

Arts and culture

Business and economy

Standard & Poor’s lowers Italy's credit rating from A+ to A, due to concerns about its high level of debt and the stability of its government. (Bloomberg) (Reuters via Sydney Morning Herald)
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission files a lawsuit alleging that unnamed persons engaged in illegal insider trading in the two days before French company Technip announced its plan to buy U.S. company Global Industries. (Reuters)

Disasters

The United Nations launches an appeal for US$357 million (€307 million) of international aid for victims of the 2011 Sindh floods in Pakistan. (Radio Free Europe)
At least 27 people are dead and dozens missing after heavy rains in the People's Republic of China. (AFP via Google News)
Rescue efforts continue for the victims of the 2011 Sikkim earthquake, which has claimed at least 67 lives in India, Nepal and Tibet. (ABC News)
An earthquake of approximately 5.8 magnitude, two lesser related quakes, and an accompanying series of landslides kill at least three people in a municipality 32 miles south of Guatemala City, Guatemala. (Huffington Post)
A fire at a prison in Baghdad, Iraq kills 8 and injures a further 31. (Washington Post)

Law and crime

Authorities in Iran arrest 19 people allegedly involved in a $2.6 billion bank fraud. (AP via The Republic)
The former Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, gives his first public interview about allegations of sexual assault made against him in May 2011, to French TV channel TF1. (CNN)
Seven people are arrested in the United Kingdom city of Birmingham in relation to alleged involvement in an Islamic terrorist group. (The Independent)

Politics and elections

George Cadle Price, the first Prime Minister of Belize, dies at 92 following emergency surgery. (Go Jamaica)
Sinn Féin nominate John O'Dowd to replace Martin McGuinness on a temporary basis as deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland. (BBC)
The President of the United States, Barack Obama, outlines a plan to cut US deficits by $3 trillion over 10 years, with half of the reductions coming from tax increases. (The Guardian)
Sayonara Genpatsu protest of 60,000 of anti-nuclear power in Japan.

Sport