Portal:Current events/2012 June 26
June 26, 2012 (Tuesday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Arab Spring:
- Bahraini uprising: The government of Bahrain announces it will pay US$2.6 million to the relatives of 17 people who died in the revolt against the government. (Reuters)
- Syrian uprising: Turkey officially requests backing from NATO allies after a Turkish fighter jet is shot down by Syrian air defenses. (Reuters)
- Mexican Drug War: Armed men beat up and abduct Marcelo Ávila López, a candidate for the municipal presidency of Apaxtla, Guerrero, and politician of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). (CNNMéxico)
- Thousands of Muslim Rohingya people flee Burma following religious clashes with Buddhists. (Al Jazeera)
- A bomb explodes outside the Tunisian consulate in Libya; no casualties are reported. (Reuters)
- A fire breaks out on the fifth floor of the Syndicate of Journalists building in downtown Cairo. (Egypt Independent)
- The top police chief of Sudan announces a violent crackdown on anti-government protests in the capital, Khartoum. (Philly.com)
Arts and culture
- Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Richard Russo boycotts e-books in a bid to encourage people to buy from their local bookstores. (BBC)
- The five members of the Spice Girls reunite to launch Viva Forever!, a new West End musical based on their hit songs. (BBC)
- The Stressful Life of Salman Rushdie and Implementation of his Verdict, an in-development video game designed to introduce the younger generations to The Satanic Verses controversy, is unveiled at a Tehran games expo. (The Guardian)
Education
- The University of Virginia reinstates President Teresa Sullivan after she was ousted without a formal vote earlier this month. (My Northwest)
Finance
- The city of Stockton, California's mediation with creditors fails, forcing the city to declare bankruptcy, making it the largest in the U.S. to do so. (Fox News)
Disasters
- Bhutan's four-century old Wangdue Phodrang Dzong, a ridge-top monastery, catches fire and is destroyed; however no relics were destroyed since the monastery was undergoing a renovation. (CNN)
- 2012 Atlantic hurricane season:
- Tropical Storm Debby nears the Gulf Coast of the Florida peninsula as flash floods cut off sections of Interstate 10 and Interstate 75 in the state. (USA Today)
- Some areas of the state receive up to 25 inches (640 mm) of rain. (Wall Street Journal)
- Rescue efforts restart at Algo Centre Mall, after the Premier of Ontario, Dalton McGuinty, orders them resumed. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper asks the Canadian Forces to ready for deployment, if they should be needed. (Toronto Star) (Washington Times)
- A boat carrying around 150 people capsizes 107 nautical miles north of Australia's Christmas Island. (Reuters)
Law and crime
- Imprisoned U.S. serviceman Bradley Manning wins his battle against the U.S. government to account for the steps his prosecutors have taken to disclose to his lawyers evidence that could be crucial in his defence. (The Guardian)
Politics and elections
- Yannis Stournaras is appointed as Greece's new finance minister. (Reuters)
- The vice president of Colombia, Angelino Garzón, awakes from an induced coma following his ischemic stroke. (Colombia Reports)
Science and technology
- Social network Facebook perturbs some of its users by making its @facebook.com email system the default contact shown on profiles without asking for permission. (BBC)
- Zynga unveils FarmVille 2. (BBC)
Sports
- Australian lawmakers unanimously back a motion supporting a moment of silence at the London Olympics in memory of the 11 Israeli athletes murdered at the Munich Olympics 40 years ago. (JTA)[permanent dead link]
- UEFA charges the Russia national football team and Spain national football team for racist comments made by fans. (Associated Press)
- Four more players - captain Steven Davis, Allan McGregor, Kyle Lafferty and Jamie Ness - object to their transfer to a "newco" Rangers. (BBC)
- Jockey Campbell Gillies dies the day before his 22nd birthday after an accident while on holiday in Corfu. (BBC)
- In ice hockey, the Washington Capitals name Adam Oates their new head coach, sources say. (ABC)
- In basketball, San Antonio Spurs point guard Tony Parker reveals that he nearly lost his left eye due to injuries suffered during an alleged June 14 altercation in a New York City nightclub between entertainers Chris Brown and Drake. (Yahoo! Sports)