Portal:Current events/2011 February 21

• Arab Spring:
  • 2011 Libyan Civil War:
    • The Libyan Air Force launches airstrikes on crowds of protesters. Two civilian helicopters carrying French nationals and two Libyan Mirage jets land in Malta. The Libyan pilots claim that they received orders to bomb protesters, and request political asylum. (Ynetnews) (NPR) (Los Angeles Times) (The Atlantic)(Times of Malta)
    • Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, a son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, warns in a nationally televised address that the protests could develop into a civil war. (AP via Houston Chronicle) (AFP via Google News)
    • UAE-based Al Arabiya and Qatar-based Al Jazeera reported earlier that Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, head of Libya, has left for Brazil or Venezuela. (Xinhua) (The Guardian)
    • Libya's representatives to the Arab League, China, India and other countries resign in protest at the violence. (Haaretz) (The Guardian)
    • Clashes and gunfire are reported in Tripoli for the first time. (Al Jazeera)
    • Yusuf al-Qaradawi, an influential Muslim cleric and the spiritual leader of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, issues a fatwa ordering the death of the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. (Africasia.com) (AFP)
    • Islamic leaders and clerics in Libya urge all Muslims to rebel against Gaddafi. (Reuters)
    • Hillary Clinton calls on Libyan authorities to "stop this unacceptable bloodshed". (Al Jazeera), (Reuters)
  • 2011 Yemeni protests:
    • MPs join protests in the capital Sana'a as President Ali Abdullah Saleh refuses to step down. (AFP via Google News)
  • 2011 Bahraini protests
    • The cancellation of the 2011 Bahrain Grand Prix is announced. (BBC)
• Situation in Somalia:
  • A car bomb attack in Somalia kills 13 people. (Press TV)
  • At least five people are killed and dozens injured in clashes between military forces from Somaliland and clan militias in the disputed Sool region. (AHN)
• An excavation begins at the Tokyo site of Unit 731, a covert Imperial Japanese Army biological and chemical warfare site that conducted human experimentation. (Japan Today)
• A suspected United States missile strike kills four militants in the South Waziristan region of Pakistan. (AP via Google News)

• English rock band Deep Purple will release a record single of the song "Hush" in support of UK Record Store Day which is the third Saturday in April. (AP via ROCKAAA)

• UK based oil giant BP agrees to pay Reliance Industries $7.2 billion for a stake in 23 oil and gas blocks in deep water off India. The two companies will also enter into a joint venture for marketing and sourcing natural gas. (Reuters)
• ConAgra lays off 234 workers from its Slim Jim manufacturing plant in Garner, North Carolina prior to the closure of the plant. (ABC Local), (News and Observer)

• The United States cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis declare snow emergencies. (AP via Minnesota Star-Tribune)
• Bird flu is discovered in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. (Times of India)
• Mount Bulusan on the island of Luzon in the Philippines erupts. (Huffington Post) (Philippine Inquirer)
• At least thirty people are killed in a stampede at a Mali stadium following a sermon by a leading Muslim imam. (AFP via Brisbane Times)

• Tunisia asks Saudi Arabia to extradite former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali who was ousted in January. (AFP via Google News)

• A court in the Democratic Republic of the Congo sentences an army colonel to 20 years imprisonment for crimes against humanity. (Al Jazeera)
• The Bombay High Court in India upholds the death sentence for convicted Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab for his involvement in the 2008 Mumbai attacks. (Times of India)

• China's top security official urges ways to "detect conflicts and problems early on" and improve "social management", after small protests took place inspired by events in the Middle East and North Africa. (BBC)
• A ruling party official says that Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir will not stand for re-election. (BBC)
• Prisoners in the U.S. state of Georgia, in particular inmates of United States Penitentiary, Atlanta, start protesting. (AP via SanFranciscoBay)
• Jurist Alex Chernov is appointed as the next Governor of the Australian state of Victoria. (Herald Sun)
• Three Venezuelan hunger strikers are hospitalised after calling for an international probe into alleged human rights abuses by the President of Venezuela Hugo Chávez. (AP via Star Tribune)

• The Bahrain Royal Family calls off the Bahrain Grand Prix, the opening round of the 2011 Formula One season, due to the ongoing 2011 Bahrain protests. (The Australian)
• In the North American National Basketball Association, Carmelo Anthony is traded from the Denver Nuggets to the New York Knicks as part of a multi-player deal. (NBC Sports), (ESPN), (Huffington Post)