Portal:Current events/2012 April 19

April 19, 2012 (Thursday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Arab Spring:
- Syrian uprising: United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says Syria has failed in its obligation to pull its troops out of urban areas, according to a peace plan. (BBC)
- Bahraini uprising:
  - Bahraini security forces fire stun grenades at demonstrators as protests against Sunday's Formula 1 Grand Prix continue. (BBC)
  - Members of the Force India team due to be involved in the race are involved in a firebomb scare. (Al Jazeera)
At least 33 people are killed and dozens more are injured in bombings in Baghdad, Kirkuk and Samarra in Iraq's worst violence in weeks. (Al Jazeera)

Arts and culture

Ma Jian, author of the banned novel Beijing Coma, daubs red paint over his face at the London Book Fair and calls Chinese publishers "the mouthpiece of the Chinese communist party." (The Guardian)
Two papers on Alan Turing's theory of code-breaking are released to the UK's National Archives after 70 years. (BBC)
Irish comedian Dylan Moran becomes the first professional English-speaking comedian ever to perform in Russia. The routine references Russia's new law banning "homosexual propaganda" and jailed oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky. (BBC)
Men At Work flautist Greg Ham is found dead at his Melbourne home. (The Sydney Morning Herald) (BBC)
The Band singer and drummer Levon Helm dies of throat cancer at the age of 71. (The New York Times)

Disasters

A UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter reportedly crashed in Afghanistan, killing all four on board. (CNN)

International relations

An agent at the centre of the U.S. prostitution scandal in Colombia denied one of his escorts $770 from an agreed fee of $800, according to The New York Times, thus prompting the row that revealed the scandal to the public. (BBC)
India test launches its long-range Agni-V intercontinental ballistic missile. (Times of India)
South Korea deploys new cruise missiles capable of destroying targets such as missile and nuclear bases anywhere in North Korea. (AFP via Google)

Law and crime

Anders Behring Breivik, the perpetrator of the 2011 Norway attacks, says he planned to behead former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland and post the footage on the internet. (The Guardian)

Science

A report commissioned by the Irish Department of Health finds significant increase in narcolepsy among individuals given the GlaxoSmithKline developed swine flu vaccine Pandemrix compared to those who did not receive the vaccine. (The Irish Times) (Irish Examiner) (RTE)

Sport

In golf, 13-year-old Chinese Guan Tian-lang becomes the youngest player to compete on the PGA European Tour when he bogeys at the Volvo China Open. (BBC)
In cycling, Italian Riccardo Riccò is given a 12-year ban, effectively ending his career. (BBC) (IOL)
In tennis, world number one Novak Djokovic defeats Alexandr Dolgopolov at the 2012 Monte-Carlo Masters in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, hours after his grandfather, who provided refuge for the Djokovic family in his Belgrade apartment during the 1999 NATO bombing raids, dies. (BBC)
In association football, thousands of people converge on the city of Bergamo for the funeral of Piermario Morosini who collapsed and died on the field of play last Saturday. (BBC)