Portal:Current events/2011 May 14

May 14, 2011 (Saturday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

2011 Libyan civil war
:
- More than 400 people fleeing Libya and Tunisia arrive on the Italian island of Lampedusa in two boats, the latest in a stream of refugees fleeing the ongoing conflicts in North Africa. (CNN)
- Muammar Gaddafi is among three Libyans facing arrest warrants from the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity including the killing of unarmed protesters, forced displacement, illegal detentions and airstrikes on civilians. (CNN)
- Opponents of the Gaddafi regime seek recognition in Europe after the United States stopped short of granting the National Transitional Council full diplomatic recognition, but the White House said it was a "legitimate and credible interlocutor". (Al Jazeera)(VoA)(Tripoli Post)(BBC)
2011 Syrian protests
:
- 3 people are killed and others are injured as the regime shells Talkalakh, a city near the border with Lebanon; injured Syrians are taken to Lebanese hospitals with at least one man reported to have died. (BBC) (Al Jazeera) (CNN)
- Deraa after operations to crack down on anti-government protests. (BBC)
- At least six people were killed in demonstrations yesterday, as the government promises to hold national dialogue. (Journal of Turkish Weekly)
2011 Yemeni protests
:
- Pro-government republican guard forces attack a defected military unit near the capital
  Sana'a. Three soldiers are killed. (Xinhua)
- Gunmen open fire on protesters in the city of
  Ta'izz with 35 people being injured. (Reuters)

2011 Egyptian revolution:
- Two protesters are shot and 60 injured in clashes in
  Muslim sheikh on the Sinai Peninsula. (CNN) (Reuters)

Suspected al-Qaeda militants kill six soldiers and injure five others in the town of Rada in Yemen while security forces in other cities injure three dozen anti-government protesters demanding the departure of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. (CNN)
Six people are killed and at least 19 injured in a blast on a passenger bus in the Punjab province, Pakistan. (CNN)
Street preachers clash with gays and lesbians during a peaceful rally to mark
International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia in Adelaide, Australia. (ABC News)

There are clashes in east Jerusalem ahead of "Nakba Day" commemorations, with Palestinians being arrested by Israeli police. (Al Jazeera)
Turkey requests that Israel pass on the names and addresses of the soldiers who raided a Gaza-bound flotilla, killing nine Turks last May. (AFP via Google News)

Gunmen kill a United Nations driver in Ethiopia's Ogaden region. (Reuters via Yahoo! News)
An Indian Army soldier is killed in an exchange of fire with the Pakistan Army over the Kashmir border. (AFP via AsiaOne)

Arts and culture

Musician
China, including criticism from The New York Times over his failure to mention the plight of imprisoned artist and dissident Ai Weiwei. (BBC)

cosmetic surgery–though illegal–takes place in return for bribes. (AFP via Google News)

Disasters

Japanese earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis:
- A worker at the Fukushima power plant dies while working on crisis-fighting operations. (Mainichi Shimbun) (CNN)
- The confirmed death toll from the March 11 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami exceeds 15,000 with over 9,000 still missing and 115,500 evacuees still in shelters.(PanARMENIAN)
Flooding in North America:
- The
  New Orleans. (WWL-TV)
- In a controlled breach of the Assiniboine River southeast of Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, floodwaters are released over farmland to prevent twice the flooding elsewhere amidst ongoing floods. (CTV) (Canoe.ca)

International Relations

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), is arrested at John F. Kennedy International Airport in the U.S. city of New York for alleged sexual assault. (New York Post) (New York Daily News) (BBC)
The
imams and a third family member were arrested on charges of providing support to the Pakistani Taliban. (CNN)

A human rights group urges Iranian authorities not to put acid in the eyes of a man found guilty of blinding a woman who scorned him; a seni-official Iranian news agency reports that the punishment has been postponed. (CNN)
A supporter of imprisoned
Bradley Manning sues the U.S. government after it confiscates his laptop without a warrant. (UPI)

Tenerife's randomly beheaded British woman is named by her family as 60-year-old Jennifer Mills-Westley. (BBC) (The Guardian)

Politics and elections

Singapore's founding father Lee Kuan Yew resigns from the cabinet after 52 years. (BBC) (AP via Salon) (China Daily)
Former
Republican nomination for the 2012 United States presidential election. (The Washington Post)