Portal:Current events/2011 July 4

• Arab Spring:
  • 2011 Moroccan protests: Democracy campaigners dismiss as "unbelievable" government figures showing that 98 per cent of voters backed Morocco's constitutional referendum amid allegations of multiple voting, with people marching through Rabat, Casablanca and Tangier chanting "The interior minister is a liar". (BBC)
  • 2011 Syrian uprising: Government troops arrive in Hama in buses to raid houses and arrest civilians following the mass popular anti-government protests there on Friday. Tanks laying siege to the city move north to other villages. (BBC)
  • 2011 Yemeni uprising: Thousands of people rally against authority in Sana'a, marching towards the residence of Vice-President Abd al-Rab Mansur al-Hadi since Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has ruled the country for 33 years, remains in Saudi Arabia receiving treatment for his wounds. (BBC)
  • 2011 Libyan civil war: NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen defends the group's presence in Libya during a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council in Sochi, claiming that its mission is in "strict conformity" with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973. (BBC)
  • 2011 Egyptian revolution: Clashes break out at a courthouse as 7 police officers, suspected of killing protesters in Suez during the popular revolution that ousted Hosni Mubarak from power, are released on bail by a judge in Cairo. (BBC) (The Times of India) (AP via The Washington Post)
  • Tunisian revolution: Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who fled to Saudi Arabia as his regime was ousted from power in a popular revolution, is convicted in absentia on charges of possessing illegal drugs and weapons and sentenced to 15 years in jail at a court in Tunis. (BBC) (AP via New York Times)
• Saboteurs bomb an Egyptian pipeline at Nagah in the Sinai Peninsula delivering gas to Israel and Jordan. (AFP via Jakarta Post) (Al Jazeera)
• A corporal in the Republic of Korea Marine Corps goes on a killing spree while on duty at a guard post on South Korea's Ganghwa Island, killing 3 people and injuring 2 others. (Yonhap News) (BBC)
• Freedom Flotilla II: The Greek Coast Guard pursues with water cannons then boards the ship carrying activists from Belgium, Canada, Italy, Switzerland and Turkey after an unsuccessful attempt to leave Crete harbour. (Al Jazeera)
• Australian Army soldier, Sergeant Todd Langley, is killed in fighting in Afghanistan, bringing Australian casualties in the war to 28. (The Daily Telegraph)

• Religious conservatives in Pakistan condemn as "cultural terrorism" the recent support shown for LGBT rights in Islamabad. (BBC)
• J. K. Rowling leaves her agent Christopher Little after 15 years. (The Guardian)

• Sony Corp. says that it will fully restore all the PlayStation Network videogame services in Japan, which will complete worldwide restoration of those services, disrupted in April. (Reuters)

• At least 2 people are killed and 4 others are declared missing after a landslide in a village in western Nepal. (AP via The Washington Post)
• Several African countries experience their worst drought in 60 years, with millions of people affected. (BBC)

• Israel announces that it will transfer the bodies of 84 Palestinian militants to the Palestinian Authority, apparently as a diplomatic gesture to the Palestinians ahead of Ramadan. (Ynetnews)
• A statue of former President of the United States Ronald Reagan is unveiled at a ceremony outside the American embassy in Grosvenor Square, Central London, opposite a statue of Dwight D. Eisenhower. Those invited include Margaret Thatcher and Condoleezza Rice, while a piece of the Berlin Wall also features. (BBC)

• Trial of Ratko Mladić in The Hague:
  • Former Bosnian Serb Colonel General Ratko Mladić is scheduled to enter a plea on charges of genocide in the Srebrenica massacre during the Bosnian war at a United Nations war crimes court. (Reuters via France 24)
  • Ratko Mladić is removed from his hearing after he is ruled to have spoken out of turn while asking that he have his own lawyer instead of one appointed by the court, then quarrelling with the judge to be allowed speak. (BBC)
• Sir Hugh Orde, President of the UK's Association of Chief Police Officers, announces that key policing services are being left "unfunded" as a result of cuts. (BBC)
• At his trial Japanese man Tatsuya Ichihashi admits to killing British teacher Lindsay Ann Hawker whose body was found in a bathtub in 2007. (BBC)
• Lawyers for French novelist Tristane Banon say that she will file a criminal complaint accusing former International Monetary Fund head Dominique Strauss-Kahn of attempted rape. (MSNBC)

• Thai general election:
  • Abhisit Vejjajiva, the outgoing Prime Minister of Thailand, resigns as the leader of the Democrat Party following a heavy defeat in yesterday's general election. (Bangkok Post)
  • The presumptive Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra announces a five party coalition led by her Puea Thai Party which will have a membership of 60 per cent of the Thai parliament. (Reuters)
• At least 88 lawmakers in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh resign en masse in support of the creation of a new state called Telangana. (BBC) (The Times of India) (The Hindu)
• Karim Wade, son of Senegalese president Abdoulaye Wade, issues a strong denial of speculation that his father plans to pass on power to him as if he were a monarch. (BBC)
• President of the United States Barack Obama is falsely declared dead by the Twitter account of the U.S. broadcaster Fox News in a series of messages stating, "@BarackObama has just passed. The President is dead" and "BREAKING NEWS: @BarackObama assassinated, 2 gunshot wounds have proved too much". Hackers are blamed though the messages remain online several hours later. (BBC) (AP via The Sydney Morning Herald) (CNN)
• Return of Hugo Chávez:
  • President Hugo Chávez returns to Venezuela after undergoing surgery for cancer in Cuba. (BBC)
  • Thousands of people turn out to cheer on Hugo Chávez upon his return to Caracas; he vows to win back his health and describes the support of his people as "the best medicine for whatever illness". (BBC)
• The UK government will introduce emergency legislation designed to reverse a controversial judgement on police bail for debate in the House of Commons on Thursday. (BBC)

• Experts declare that drugs used during in vitro fertilisation for older women may increase the risk of Down syndrome for their baby. (BBC)

• In tennis, Novak Djokovic returns home to Serbia and is welcomed by tens of thousands of people in Belgrade, one day after winning Wimbledon by defeating Rafael Nadal. (BBC News)
• In American football, retired National Football League players take legal action against current players and team owners in efforts to preserve current pension entitlements. (New York Times)