May 6, 2011 (Friday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- 2011 Yemeni protests: Protests continue in Yemen. (Al Jazeera)
- 2011 Syrian uprising:
- 27 people are killed in a "day of defiance" against the regime in Syria on Friday, including 15 protesters, and 5 security forces in Homs. (BBC) (The Jerusalem Post)
- Syrian security forces kill 15 protesters in Homs when they fired on a crowd of demonstrators to disperse them. (The Australian)
- Riad Seif, a Syrian opposition figure and former member of parliament, is arrested in Damascus. (CNN)
- Tunisian Revolution: Riot police break up an anti-government demonstration calling for a "new revolution" in the capital Tunis. (AFP via Google News)
- Pakistan
- The inquest into the 7 July 2005 London bombings concludes with the ruling that the victims had been unlawfully killed. (BBC) (CNN)
- Vietnam closes off an ethnic Hmong area that was the scene of rare protests demanding autonomy and religious freedom. (BBC) (AFP via Google News)
- Death of Osama bin Laden
- The President of the United States Barack Obama thanks service personnel in the operation against Osama bin Laden at Fort Campbell and awards them a Presidential Unit Citation. (MSNBC), (AP via AL.com) (CNN)
- Al-Qaeda issues a statement confirming bin Laden's death and threatens revenge. (Reuters) (The Australian) (CNN)
- The Taliban in Afghanistan advises that it will reinvigorate its efforts in fighting NATO. (CNN)
Arts and culture
- British musician Sir Paul McCartney gets engaged to American businesswoman Nancy Shevell. (AP via KOMO News)
- Two Montana residents sue American author Greg Mortenson and his Central Asia Institute for alleged fabrications in his book Three Cups of Tea. (AP via CBS News)
Business and economy
- CNET reports that a group of computer hackers is planning another cyberattack against Sony over its handling of the PlayStation Network outage. (CNET)
Disasters
- Spring 2011 Mississippi River Floods
- The United States Coast Guard closes a section of the Mississippi River near Caruthersville, Missouri due to heavy flooding. (CNN)
- The President of the United States Barack Obama declares a state of emergency for Louisiana due to concerns about floods. (WDSU)
- Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan orders the closing of the ageing Hamaoka nuclear power plant in a densely populated area southwest of Tokyo because it is located close to a tectonic fault line. (The Australian) (CNN)
- Russia launches an urgent rescue mission after the nuclear-powered icebreaker Taymyr in its fleet develops a nuclear leak in the frozen seas of the Arctic and was forced to abandon its mission. (The Australian)
- Rescuers recover a seventh body from inside a coal mine near Sabinas, Mexico, more than three days after an explosion there; seven remaining miners trapped inside are presumed dead. (CNN)
- Spanish maritime rescue services look for 22 would-be immigrants missing after their boat capsized south of Spain. (BNO)
International relations
- Samoa announces that it will switch time zones. (RNZI)
- Burma formally applies to take over the rotating chairmanship of ASEAN in 2014. (Bangkok Post)
- The People's Republic of China, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan hold an antiterrorism drill in Xinjiang. (People's Daily)
Law and crime
- A court in Russia sentences ultranationalist Nikita Tikhonov to life imprisonment for the murder of human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasia Baburova in 2009. (RIA Novosti)
- Former US baseball player Lenny Dykstra is indicted on 13 counts of bankruptcy fraud. (NBC Sports)
- Japanese police launch an investigation after four people die of food poisoning after eating raw meat at a Yakiniku restaurant chain in Ishikawa Prefecture. (Japan Today)
Politics and elections
- Mass protests against rising inflation continue in the Maldives. (Hindustan Times)
- Police in Azerbaijan break up a demonstration against a ban on female students wearing the hijab. (Interfax)
- Iranian politics:
- A political row between Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei intensifies, with Ahmadinejad said to contemplating resignation. (Al Jazeera)
- Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issues an ultimatum to the President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to accept his intervention in a cabinet appointment or resign. (The Guardian)
- The counting of votes in UK local elections continues with the Labour Party making gains and the Liberal Democrats losing seats. (BBC), (The Guardian)
- Scottish Election
- The Scottish National Party wins an absolute majority in the Scottish elections with a referendum on independence likely. (STV), (BBC)
- Scottish Labour Party leader Iain Gray announces his resignation after his party loses key seats in constituencies across Scotland. (BBC)
- The counting of votes in the Welsh elections continue with the Labour Party to retain control possibly with an absolute majority. (BBC)
- Counting starts in the Northern Ireland election. (BBC)
- Voters reject proposals to introduce the alternative voting system in the UK. (BBC)
- Labour candidate Jon Ashworth wins the Leicester South by-election. (BBC)
- Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva seeks King Bhumibol Adulyadej's endorsement to dissolve the lower house of parliament and calls for a national election. (The Australian)
Sport
- Craig Whyte, the Scottish businessman, completes his takeover of Glasgow Rangers, succeeding Sir David Murray, who was owner of the club for 23 years. (BBC Sport)