Portal:Current events/2012 October 21
Armed conflicts and attacks
- 2012 Beirut bombing: Lebanese security forces fire shots into the air and tear gas at crowds, as protesters attempt to breach government offices of prime minister Mikati in response to a car bomb that killed intelligence chief Wissam al-Hassan. (Jerusalem Post)
- Hundreds of protesters in Libya storm the grounds of the country's parliament building to protest the ongoing siege in Bani Walid. (Reuters)
- Police fire tear gas and stun grenades at an anti-government protest in Kuwait; protesters were demonstrating against changes to voting laws. (Al Jazeera)
- A firefight in Guinea-Bissau kills six people. (BBC)
- Syrian civil war: Car bombs explode in predominately Christian neighborhoods in Damascus and Aleppo, killing at least 13, as talks between the Assad and U.N. peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi continue. (Wall Street Journal)
Arts and culture
- Yash Chopra, one of India's most influential filmmakers, dies from dengue fever in Mumbai. (BBC)
Religion and diplomacy
- Pope Benedict XVI names seven new saints, including Kateri Tekakwitha, Marianne Cope, Pedro Calungsod, and Anna Schäffer. (AP)
Law and crime
- A mass shooting at a spa in Brookfield, Wisconsin, leaves four people dead, including the shooter. (BBC) (NBC)
- Sharmeka Moffitt, 20, a female from Winnsboro, Louisiana, sustains burns to over 60% of her body in what was initially believed to be a possible hate crime after she had claimed, through relatives, to have been set afire by three unknown at large male hoodie-wearing assailants in Winnsboro's Civitan Park. It turned out she is believed by police to have set herself on fire and to have written the slur on her car (she has since opened her eyes and blinked to communicate with relatives at Louisiana State University Hospital Shreveport, where she underwent surgery). [http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20121023/NEWS01/121023011/Winnsboro-attack-victim-remains-critical-condition?odyssey=tab