Portal:Current events/2011 June 27

June 27, 2011 (Monday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Arab Spring:
- 2011 Syrian uprising:
  - Dozens of dissidents, some of whom were previously imprisoned by the regime, attend a conference in Damascus. It is the first such conference. (BBC)
  - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad announces that his government will invite opposition figures to talks to be held in July to set the framework for a national dialogue that he has promised, and that constitutional changes would be on the agenda. (The Jerusalem Post)
- 2011 Libyan civil war:
  - The International Criminal Court at The Hague issues an arrest warrant for Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, and two of his relatives, his son Saif al-Islam Gaddafi and intelligence chief Abdullah Senussi for alleged "crimes against humanity". (AFP via France 24) (CBS News) (CNN)
- Bahraini uprising:
  - The trial of 47 medical personnel, accused of working against the government during large protests in Bahrain earlier this year resumes and is immediately adjourned; human rights groups say Bahrain is targeting medical professionals for treating protesters. (CNN)
War in Afghanistan:
- Seven civilians, including children, are killed by two separate roadside mines in Afghanistan's eastern Ghazni Province; an 8-year-old girl was killed when militants gave her a remote-controlled explosive in a bag and told her to give it to police officers in Oruzgan Province. (CNN)
- Afghanistan says the Pakistani military is behind recent deadly rocket attacks in Kunar Province that killed at least 20 civilians; Pakistan says it is not responsible. (CNN)
Conflicts in Pakistan:
- The Pakistani Taliban said two of the three suicide bombers who killed 10 police officers Saturday in northwestern Pakistan were a married couple; 15 policemen were taken hostage by other miltants before security forces killed six of them. (CNN)
- A suspected U.S. drone attack in the South Waziristan, Pakistan, bordering on Afghanistan, kills six militants. (CNN)
One person is killed during an attack on a train in Sudan. (BBC)
Iran announces plans to conduct a military exercise and test the Sajjil long-range missile, which is reportedly capable of striking Israel or southeastern Europe. (The Jerusalem Post)

Arts and culture

Overseas artists are "poorly treated" by the UK's "absurd visa bureaucracy" according to a letter signed by dozens of prominent artists, including David Hare, Tom Stoppard, Salman Rushdie, Hanif Kureishi, Philip Pullman, Antonia Fraser, Michael Morpurgo and Sarah Waters. The letter suggests Abbas Kiarostami and Grigory Sokolov have already been "dissuaded from future visits". (BBC) (The Guardian) (The Daily Telegraph) (The Economic Times)
The University of York purchases a tonne of material relating to Alan Ayckbourn for £240,000 and plans to make it available to the general public and online. (The Guardian)
Old people are using Facebook in the United Kingdom more and more according to Nielsen. (BBC)

Business and economy

Greek economic crisis:
- The Parliament of Greece begins debate on unpopular austerity measures designed to avert the threat of bankruptcy through a 78-billion-euro rescue package. (Reuters via Yahoo News) (Bloomberg)
- The governor of the central bank of Greece, George Provopoulos, criticizes the government's latest austerity measures, saying it does not emphasize cutting expenditure sufficiently. (CNN)
The Los Angeles Dodgers file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. (ESPN.com)
A leak is detected in a PTT Public Company Limited pipeline in the Gulf of Thailand; the leak will cut natural gas supplies in Thailand and affect power generation. (Bangkok Post)^{[permanent dead link‍]}
The Premier of China Wen Jiabao signals that the People's Republic of China will have trouble meeting its inflation target of 4 per cent in 2011. (Reuters)

Disasters

Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster:
- Tests conducted last month show radioactive cesium has been found in small quantities in residents in the towns of Iitate and Kawamata, Fukushima, located about 25 miles (40 kilometers) from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. (CNN)
- Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) begins the pumping of decontaminated water in an attempt to cool damaged reactors. (BBC)
- Nicolas Sarkozy of France plans to invest €1 billion in nuclear power despite the devastation caused by the ongoing Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan. (BBC)
2011 Pacific typhoon season:
- Tropical Storm Meari leaves at least nine people dead and three missing as it strikes the west coast of South Korea, with heavy rains and strong winds causing flooding and the suspension of sea traffic around the Korean Peninsula.(CNN)
- 17 people are killed by Tropical Storm Haima in northern Vietnam. (AP via Boston Globe)
1 person is killed and 17 others are injured in a gas station explosion in Urfa, Turkey. (Xinhua)
Las Conchas Wildfire
- The Los Alamos National Laboratory in the U.S. state of New Mexico is temporarily closed due to a wildfire burning nearby. (CNN)
- A state of emergency is declared in Los Alamos County with mandatory evacuations. (Los Alamos Monitor)^{[permanent dead link‍]}
Trains in England are cancelled due to extreme heat. (BBC)

International relations

The United States Government publishes the Trafficking In Persons report, naming those countries that are not meeting minimum standards against human trafficking and slavery, and which may be subject to US sanctions as a result. (CNN)
Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir, the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in the region of Darfur, unexpectedly delays his visit to China without official explanation, after he had already departed for an anti-terrorism conference hosted by Iran. (CNN)
Philip Morris International, the world's largest tobacco corporation, threatens to sue the Australian government in relation to its introduction of plain, brandless cigarette packing. (BBC)
Pakistan expels British military advisers following the United States Navy Seals raid that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden. (The Daily Telegraph) (CNN)
Gaza Flotilla II:
- Israel denies pressuring Greece to stop the ships participating in the flotilla from departing; Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu's inner cabinet instructs the Israel Defense Forces to stop it. (CNN) (Haaretz) (The Jerusalem Post)
- Israel agrees with Egypt's military council to permit flotilla ships to unload at el-Arish ahead of an overland transfer to Gaza. (Xinhua)

Law and crime

Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association: In a 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court of the United States strikes down a 2005 California law prohibiting minors' access to violent or offensive video games, citing them as protected speech under the First Amendment. (AP via Chicago Sun-Times)
A United Nations-backed tribunal in Cambodia holds its first hearings in the trial of four former senior Khmer Rouge officials, including former head of state Khieu Samphan and Pol Pot's deputy Nuon Chea. (BBC) (AFP via France 24)^{[permanent dead link‍]}
Chinese human rights activist Hu Jia is released after serving a 3 1/2-year sentence, for "inciting to subvert state power." (CNN)
Police clash with local residents who object to Italian government plans to build a European Union-funded rail link with France near their homes in the Italian Alps. The police intervention follows a peaceful candlelight nighttime prayer vigil featuring thousands of people. (BBC)
A jury convicts former Governor of the US state of Illinois Rod Blagojevich on seventeen charges of corruption. (Chicago Tribune)
Justin Cannon, a former Blackwater Worldwide (now called Xe Services LLC) employee, is sentenced to thirty months in jail for involuntary manslaughter of an Afghan civilian in a shooting in 2009. (Virginian Pilot)

Politics

Up to 750,000 teachers and civil servants in the United Kingdom are set to strike on Thursday after talks aimed at averting the action failed to broker an agreement. (BBC)
More than 30 activists are held in detention in Malaysia ahead of a mass rally in Kuala Lumpur asking for an end to fraud. The government declares the rally "illegal". (BBC)
Lawmakers in the US state of Texas pass a healthcare bill imposing further restrictions on abortion. (AP via The Houston Chronicle)
Rep Lynn Woolsey, a California Democrat, announces her retirement from the United States House of Representatives at the end of the 112th United States Congress. (Roll Call)

Science

Near-Earth Asteroid 2011 MD passed within 12,000 kilometres (7,500 miles) of the Earth's surface at about 13:00 EDT flying over the South Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Antarctica. (ABC Australia) (LiveScience.com)