August 6, 2012 (Monday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Clashes take place between protesters and Islamists in Gao, Mali, over a planned amputation of a robber and beating of a journalist covering the demonstration. (Reuters)
- 2012 Rakhine State riots: Renewed fighting between Buddhist Rakhine and Muslim Rohingya in western Burma kills three people. (Dawn)
- Mexican Drug War: Alleged members of Los Zetas, a drug cartel originally set up by former soldiers of the Mexican Army, attack several media outlets in Monterrey for publishing on a rumored split between the two principal Zetas bosses. (InSight Crime)
- Arab Spring:
- Syrian civil war
- A bomb explodes at the headquarters of Syrian state television in Damascus. (AP via Google News)
- Syrian Prime Minister Riad Hijab and his family defect to Jordan to join the opposition. State-run media claims he was fired, but the Free Syrian Army states this was only after he arrived in Jordan. (BBC)
- Syrian rebels state that three Iranians abducted on 4 August 2012 are killed during an air attack in Damascus province by government forces, and threaten to kill the others in their custody unless the army stops its attack. (Reuters)
- Tunisian revolution:
- Anti-government protesters and police clash in the capital Tunis over alleged corruption and nepotism within the government. (Al Jazeera)
- Bahraini uprising:
- The chief prosecutor charges 15 police officers with torturing doctors who were arrested during protests. (Now Lebanon)
- Syrian civil war
- North Caucasus insurgency:
- An attack on an army base in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, kills six people. (France 24)[permanent dead link]
Arts and culture
- Australian art critic, historian and documentary maker Robert Hughes dies in New York City. (AAP via Business Day)
Disasters
- New Zealand's Mount Tongariro erupts for the first time in a century, spreading volcanic ash across the central North Island and affecting airports. (New Zealand Herald) (Stuff.co.nz)
- A fire at the Chevron Richmond Refinery in Richmond, California spreads thick black smoke over Contra Costa County, prompting warnings from officials to shelter in place. (Mercury News)
International relations
- Sri Lanka arrests 37 Chinese fisherman for illegally fishing in Sri Lankan waters. (Hong Kong Standard)
Law and crime
- Police in Oak Creek, Wisconsin investigate a shooting incident at a Sikh temple which left seven people dead, including the gunman. (BBC)
Politics and elections
- Britain's Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg announces that plans to reform the House of Lords will be abandoned after his party's coalition partners, the Conservatives, failed to support the proposals. The Lib Dems will also not support Conservative plans to reduce the number of MPs in the House of Commons. (BBC)
- British Conservative MP Louise Mensch announces she will leave the House of Commons, triggering a by-election in her constituency. (BBC)
Science
- NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover lands safely on the surface of Mars. (Reuters)
Sport
- 2012 Summer Olympics:
- Nicholas Delpopolo, an American Judo fighter, is expelled from competition after testing positive for marijuana. (The Huffington Post)