Portal:Current events/2011 April 26

• Arab Spring:
  • 2011 Syrian protests:
    • The Syrian human rights organisation Sawasiah claims that the Government of Syria has arrested 500 protesters since the crackdown began. (Reuters via Yahoo! News)
    • UK, French and Italian officials call for sanctions against Syria. (BBC)
    • Syria sends more troops into suburbs of Damascus and sends tanks into Deraa. (Reuters)
  • 2011 Libyan civil war: At least three people are killed by missiles at a port as Misrata is attacked by Muammar Gaddafi's forces. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
  • 2011 Mauritanian protests: Hundreds of people demonstrating during a "day of rage" against the regime of President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz are tear gassed by police, while others are arrested and opposition MPs deterred from joining the protests. (BBC)
  • 2011 Bahraini protests:
    • Hundreds of students gather outside the United Nations building in Tehran, Iran, to protest against government suppression of students in Bahrain. (Press TV)
    • Activists allege that medical workers have been arrested for treating anti-government protesters. (Al Jazeera)
  • 2011 Egyptian revolution: Former Interior Minister Habib el-Adly goes on trial charged with ordering the killing of unarmed protesters shot in the head and chest during the popular revolution against Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
• Guantanamo Bay files leak:
  • Newly released cables document an alleged al-Qaeda "assassin" working for the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) while suspected of bombing Christian churches and a hotel in Pakistan. (BBC) (PA via The Independent)
  • A study, carried out by a retired army brigadier general and a Physicians for Human Rights expert, finds United States Department of Defense physicians and psychologists concealed evidence of deliberate harm and torture at the prison camp; the Department of Defense does not respond. (AFP via Montreal Gazette)
  • The rector of Lyon's grand mosque expresses outrage over a leaked document which asserts that The Pentagon believes the mosque is used by Al Qaeda. (AFP via Google News)
  • An international poll finds that a majority of people believe that Julian Assange is not a criminal. (Reuters)

• U.S. television personality Katie Couric announces that she will no longer host the CBS Evening News at the end of June. (USA Today)
• BBC television personality Andrew Marr admits to having taken out a high court superinjunction after Private Eye launches a challenge, though Marr states he "did not come into journalism to go around gagging journalists". (The Guardian)
• The Russian capital Moscow is to allow its first gay pride rally in May. (AFP via Google News)

• Management and unions confirm another France Télécom worker has committed suicide. (BBC)
• French dairy group Groupe Lactalis launches a 3.4 billion euro bid for Italian dairy group Parmalat. (BBC)
• Greece's budget deficit for 2010 is 10.5% of gross domestic product, significantly higher than expected. (Wall Street Journal)

• Ukraine commemorates the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster. (AP via Houston Chronicle) (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
• President of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos calls for national unity after floods kill 91 people. (CNN)
• Thousands of residents in the US town of Poplar Bluff, Missouri, are evacuated as the Black River overflows its banks. (AP)
• Authorities in Ecuador evacuate nearby residents as the Tungurahua erupts. (CNN)

• In Kars, Turkey, near the Armenian border, a statue devoted to reconciliation with Armenia is demolished. (BBC)
• President of France Nicolas Sarkozy and Prime Minister of Italy Silvio Berlusconi meet to discuss what to do about migrants from North Africa who want to join relatives, with reports that the Schengen Agreement is to be amended so the two can deal with the issue. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
• Iranian first vice president Mohammad-Reza Rahimi meets with Japanese ambassador to Iran Kinichi Kumano, with Rahimi expressing sympathy in relation to the recent earthquake and tsunami and asking for stronger ties between the countries. (Press TV)
• Officials from China and the United States agree to engage in dialogue over their respective economies. (BBC)
• Jimmy Carter, Mary Robinson, Martti Ahtisaari and Gro Harlem Brundtland head to North Korea. (BBC) (RTÉ) (Al Jazeera)
• Israeli–Palestinian conflict:
  • Preparations for a 15-boat, 1,500-person flotilla bound for the Gaza Strip take place. (AP via Google News)
  • Ahmet Davutoğlu of Turkey warns Israel not to repeat its "flotilla mistake". (Ynetnews)
  • Foreign minister Uri Rosenthal writes a letter to the Dutch parliament, urging Dutch NGOs not to join the flotilla. (Radio Netherlands Worldwide)

• U.S. president Barack Obama is criticised by supporters of imprisoned Welsh-born U.S. serviceman Bradley Manning for interfering in any future trial after Obama is caught on camera accusing Manning of breaking the law. (AFP via Google News) (MSNBC)
• An Indian court orders Suresh Kalmadi, the chief organiser of the 2010 Commonwealth Games, to remain in custody while corruption charges against him are investigated. (Straits Times)

• Japanese anti-nuclear protests following the Fukushima I nuclear accidents: Hundreds of farmers protest against Japan's atomic crisis, outside the TEPCO head office in Tokyo. (AFP via Google News)
• Belgium reaches one year without a government. (BBC) (China Daily) (News24)
• Germany's plagiarism scandal widens, engulfing the European Parliament's vice president Silvana Koch-Mehrin accused of plagiarizing 25 per cent of her doctoral thesis; she refuses to comment. (The Independent)
• American politics:
  • Rep. Ron Paul announces that he will again be seeking the Republican nomination for President of the United States. (National Journal)
  • New Jersey's Secretary of State rejects former Olympic medallist Carl Lewis's bid to run for the state Senate due to eligibility requirements. (BBC)
• Voters in Nigeria go to the polls for state governor elections. (CNN)
• Counting begins in elections for the 24th Seanad in Ireland. (The Irish Times) (RTÉ) (Irish Independent)

• The deadline to buy tickets for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England is extended due to a last-minute computer crash. (The Telegraph)

• Sony's PlayStation Network remains offline after a worldwide security breach obtains millions of users' personal information. (PlayStation Blog)