Portal:Current events/2011 July 11

• Protesters loyal to President Bashar al-Assad in the 2011 Syrian uprising break into the United States embassy in Damascus and try to break into the French embassy. (The Australian)
• Pakistan jails a doctor who helped the US Central Intelligence Agency confirm that Osama bin Laden was living in Abbottabad. (McClatchy)

• Sanofi announces positive results of the late-stage trial of Lemtrada, its new multiple sclerosis treatment. (Press Release)

• The death toll from a train crash in India's Uttar Pradesh state rises to 69. (Economic Times)
• Captured explosives from Iran stored in a Cyprus Navy base munitions dump catches fire, when a wildfire reached the military base, causing massive explosions. (Reuters) (The Telegraph) (Los Angeles Times)
  • The head of the Cyprus Navy, Andreas Ioannides and the Commander of the Evangelos Florakis Navy Base, Lambros Lambrou, are reportedly killed in the blast. (BBC News)
  • Cypriot National Guard chief of staff Petros Tsalikidis and Cypriot Defense Minister Costas Papacostas both resign from office. (BBC News)
  • Heavy damage is reported to the nearby Vassilikos power plant, which provides 60% of Cyprus' electricity. (BBC News)
• Heavy thunderstorms with 75 mph winds, in the US city of Chicago, Illinois, cut power and disrupt transport. (Chicago Tribune)

• The Israeli parliament passes a controversial law that will punish any Israeli individual or organisation boycotting West Bank settlements. (BBC)
• The Republic of Korea Air Force announces that it will conduct regular midair refuelling drills with the United States Air Force commencing later this year. (Yonhap News)
• Canada will boycott the United Nations Conference on Disarmament to protest against North Korea being named its chair. (CBC)

• News International privacy breaches
  • Ten members of the British royal family including the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall are believed to be among the victims of the News of the World phone hacking affair. (The Guardian)
  • News International publications including the News of the World and The Sunday Times are revealed to have improperly accessed private information of former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Gordon Brown. (The Guardian)
  • British Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt refers News Corporation's bid to take full control of BSkyB to the Competition Commission. (BBC)
• Twenty-three people allegedly linked to the Mexican Los Zetas Cartel are indicted in the US state of Colorado for allegedly trying to smuggle marijuana in the United States. (Reuters)

• Baseballer Robinson Canó of the New York Yankees wins the 2011 Major League Baseball Home Run Derby. (ESPN)