Portal:Current events/2012 September 20
September 20, 2012 (Thursday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Syrian civil war:
- The Local Coordination Committees of Syria report that the Syrian army has bombed a gas station in the town of Ain Issa in northern Syria, killing at least 30 people and wounding dozens more. (The Washington Post) (USA Today)
- Syrian opposition forces say that over 180 people were killed Thursday, including casualties from aerial bombings of residential neighborhoods in Aleppo and villages near Damascus. (CNN)
- A suicide bomber kills 14 people by detonating explosives at a cafe frequented by politicians and journalists in Mogadishu, Somalia. (The Independent) (The Montreal Gazette)
Arts and culture
- Following an investigation in the wake of the News International phone hacking scandal, British media regulator Ofcom concludes that BSkyB is a "fit and proper" company to hold a broadcasting licence. (BBC)
Business and economy
- Trade unions in India hold a strike over plans to open up supermarkets to international competition. (BBC)
- AU Optronics was fined $500 million for a global LCD screen price-fixing conspiracy. (AP via Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
Environment and health
- The US National Snow and Ice Data Center says the Arctic ice cap size on September 16 is at season's low, with a record low size ever since August 26. (NSIDC)(Washington Post)
- Data from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign shows the Antarctic ice sheet reached its seventh-largest extent on September 12, at 16.14 million km2. (Forbes)
International relations
- The US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns meets with government officials in Libya about last week's deadly attack at the US consulate in Benghazi. (VOA)
- Russia's Foreign Ministry bans the United States Agency for International Development from operating in the country, saying that it had meddled in recent elections. (The Los Angeles Times)
Law and crime
- Daniel "El Loco" Barrera, a Colombian crime boss accused of alliances with guerrilla groups and drug trafficking crimes, is captured in San Cristobal, Venezuela. (CNN)
Politics and elections
- The government of Bahrain pledges to adopt most of the recommendations in a United Nations report on the country's human rights situation. (Al Jazeera)
- Two candidates compete in the final elections to elect the Governor of Jakarta for the next five-year term. (New York Times) (The Jakarta Post)
- Several high ranking Georgian government officials resign after protests caused by revelations of inmate torture and rape. (Euronews) (BBC)
- President Karzai dismisses Mohammad Gulab Mangal and others in a reshuffle of the government in Afghanistan. (AFP via Google News)
- Tim Pawlenty resigns as the co-chairman of Mitt Romney's electoral campaign. He is to head the Financial Services Roundtable in Washington, D.C.. (Newsday)
Science
- A specialist in communication from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln says that the use of unmanned aerial vehicles in journalism will soon become widespread. (DPA via De Standaard)