Portal:Current events/2012 June 6

June 6, 2012 (Wednesday)

Armed conflict and attacks

NATO planes launch an air strike on Afghanistan, allegedly killing civilians in the process. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
Arab Spring:
- Syrian uprising: Opposition activists on the ground in Syria report that a massacre has been committed in the small village of Qubair, Hama, by the government-hired Shabiha militia. Activists report 78 dead, mostly women and children. (BBC)
- Bahraini uprising: Bahraini authorities re-arrest Nabeel Rajab on suspicion of posting tweets seen as critical of the Bahraini regime. (BBC)
2012 Armenian-Azeri border clashes: a new clash kills an Armenian soldier. (panorama.am)
At least twenty people are killed near Kandahar Airport in southern Afghanistan by a motorcycle bomb. (Reuters)
Controversy is stoked after a video emerges of a U.S. religious minister outlining his plan to imprison the country's gay and lesbian population behind an electric fence until they die. (Al Jazeera)

Arts and culture

J. M. Coetzee and Nadine Gordimer are among those to criticise South Africa's "secrecy bill" which they say could fundamentally threaten free speech and investigative journalism. (The Guardian)
Ray Bradbury, author of The Martian Chronicles and Fahrenheit 451, dies at the age of 91 in his home in the Cheviot Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles. (The New York Times) (Al Jazeera) (The Guardian)
Broadway's Once wins four prizes at the Drama Desk Awards in New York. (BBC)
An MRI reveals that singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow has a growth on her brain. (BBC)
Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II:
- The Jubilee celebrations conclude with a lunch at Marlborough House on Pall Mall attended by Elizabeth II and Commonwealth leaders. (BBC)
- The BBC receives over 2,000 complaints from viewers about its Jubilee coverage. The broadcaster is also criticised by other media for its Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant coverage. (BBC)

Business and economy

A group of Irish people are thrown out of the European Central Bank in Frankfurt after attempting to hand a letter of protest to the bank's president Mario Draghi. (Cork Independent)

Disasters

Manchester Airport runs out of aviation fuel. (BBC)
Ireland is hit by another earthquake, this time off the coast of County Mayo. (RTE)

Law and crime

The defence of imprisoned U.S. serviceman Bradley Manning receives a boost with a ruling by the judge presiding over his trial at Fort Meade in Maryland ordering the Obama administration to hand over several documents the government had hoped would remain confidential. (The Guardian)
Hours after a bill to legalise settlement outposts is rejected, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders the construction of 300 new homes at the Jewish settlement of Beit El in the West Bank. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
Li Wangyang, a labour activist and Chinese dissident jailed after the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing, is found dead in a hospital ward in central China, with foul play suspected. (Reuters UK)

Politics and elections

Mexican president Felipe Calderón signs a law making Mexico only the second country in the world to introduce binding targets on climate change. (BBC)
Kwame R. Brown, the Chair of the Council of the District of Columbia responsible for the US capital Washington D.C., resigns after being charged with bank fraud. (AP via Chicago Sun-Times)

Science

The Solar Impulse, a solar plane, lands in Morocco, completing the world's first intercontinental flight powered by the Sun. (Associated Press)

Sport

Footballer Mahmoud al-Sarsak, who has been on hunger strike for 80 days while in prison without trial or charge, faces imminent danger of death according to human rights groups. (BBC)
Cardiff City Football Club announces it is to change to a red kit from its traditional blue, effective immediately. (Press Association via The Guardian)
Four-time world snooker champion Ronnie O'Sullivan announces his decision to take time off from the game. (BBC)