Portal:Current events/2012 June 29

June 29, 2012 (Friday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Mexican drug war: A car bomb explodes outside the city hall in the Mexican border city of Nuevo Laredo, injuring 7 bystanders. This is the third car bomb in Nuevo Laredo this year, and much of the violence is blamed on the country's most powerful cartels: Los Zetas and the Sinaloa Cartel. (San Antonio Express-News)
Syrian uprising (2011–present):
- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad states that Syria will not accept a foreign solution to their problem. (Al Jazeera)
- Syrian helicopter gunships reportedly bombard a strategic town in northern Syria overnight and tanks move close to Aleppo. (MSNBC)
A man self-immolates in Birmingham city centre in a case reminiscent of Mohamed Bouazizi. (The Guardian)
The GPS system of a flying drone is "hacked" in Texas, USA. (BBC)
Sixteen Naxalite Maoist insurgents are killed by Central Reserve Police Force in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. (DNA)
Rampant sexual abuse is uncovered in the British police, with victims of crime among those targeted by sexual predators. (The Guardian)
Three bombs in the Iraqi city of Balad kill at least six people and injure 45. (Reuters)

Arts and culture

A controversial beauty pageant for survivors of The Holocaust is held for the first time in the Israeli city of Haifa. Critics describe it as "offensive" and "macabre." (BBC) (The Times of Israel)
The sunken Italian World War II flagship Roma is discovered off the coast of Sardinia. (Die Zeit)
Alternative rock band The Flaming Lips set a new Guinness World Record for performing the most live shows in different cities over 24 hours. (BBC)
People magazine reports that American actors Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes have announced they will be getting a divorce after five years of marriage. (Fox News) (BBC)
Pop star Adele is pregnant with her first child. (BBC)

Business and economics

Bob Diamond, the chief executive of Barclays bank, refuses to resign over the bank's role in manipulating interest rates. (BBC)
British tax payer funding to support Prince Charles rose by 11% during the past financial year, it is disclosed. (The Guardian)
Crisis in the European Union:
- European Union leaders agree to use a bailout fund to recapitalise struggling banks and to work on a plan for tighter budgetary and political union. (AP via USA Today)
- World stock markets soar over news of European Union members agreeing on a deal to help some struggling Eurozone members. (CNN)

Disasters

A fast-moving line of storms knocks out power to nearly four million people in the Mid-Atlantic states of the US and kills one person in Springfield, Virginia. (NBC Washington), (AP via WVEC)

International relations

The South American trade bloc Mercosur suspends Paraguay's membership following the impeachment of Fernando Lugo but will not impose sanctions. (AP via Business Week)
A petition objecting to the extradition of Richard O'Dwyer to the United States garners 160,000 signatures in less than five days. (The Guardian)
A representative for WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Julian Assange declines a Metropolitan Police order to surrender himself at a police station, instead electing to remain in Ecuador's London embassy until he is granted asylum. (BBC) (The Guardian)
South Korea abruptly postpones signing a military treaty with Japan after opposition parties in Seoul accuse the government of trying to rush it without proper discussion. (The New York Times)
Mohammed Morsi, the president-elect of Egypt, vows to free Omar Abdel-Rahman who was jailed for plotting the 1993 World Trade Center bombing in the United States. (AP via CBS News)
Uzbekistan quits the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization. (RIA)

Politics and elections

Science

The Chinese Shenzhou 9 space capsule lands safely with all three astronauts aboard. (AP via Washington Post)

Sports

Sweden's Moa Hjelmer wins the 400 metres final at the 2012 European Athletics Championships and breaks the national record on the distance. (Aftonbladet)
Oscar Pistorius misses the qualifying time required for him to become the first amputee sprinter to compete individually at an Olympics. (BBC)