Portal:Current events/2011 May 26

• 2011 Libyan civil war:
  • Thousands of civilians are reportedly at risk of dying from starvation in the Libyan city of Yafran, as Muammar Gaddafi's forces have blockaded the city for over 7 weeks, and what food the people have left is quickly running out. (Dailymail)
  • NATO launches a fourth night of air strikes on Tripoli. (Al-Jazeera)
• 2011 Syrian protests:
  • Security forces reportedly fire on a night-time demonstration in the city of Deraa. (Reuters)
• 2011 Yemeni protests:
  • Large explosions are reported in the Yemeni capital of Sana'a in the midst of ongoing protests against President Ali Abdullah Saleh; opposition forces claim that the violence threatens to escalate into a civil war. (Reuters)
  • The United States Department of State warns Americans not to travel to Yemen, and recommends that US citizens already in the country leave due to "terrorist activities and civil unrest". (CNN)
• The General Directorate of Security reports an explosion in Istanbul, Turkey, most likely caused by a bomb, with a number of people injured. (AP via Google News), (Al-Jazeera)
• Salva Kiir Mayardit, the President of Southern Sudan, calls on the government of Sudan to withdraw its forces from the province of Abyei. (Reuters) (Al Jazeera)
• Authorities in Vietnam find a mass grave of North Vietnamese soldiers killed during the Vietnam War 40 years ago. (Straits Times)
• Rebels in the ethnically Somali Ogaden region of Ethiopia say they have seized a town from government troops and freed two United Nations workers. (Reuters)
• Two people are killed in an anti-government demonstration in the Georgian capital Tbilisi. (Financial Times)
• A series of bombings take place against two government buildings in the city of Fuzhou, Jiangxi, China; at least two people are killed. (AFP via Google News) (BBC)

• John Banville wins the 2011 Franz Kafka Prize. (The Guardian) (Irish Independent) (CBS News)

• The US Financial Industry Regulatory Authority reports that Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse have agreed to pay multi-million fines for subprime mortgage securities they sold in the lead up to the global financial crisis of 2008. (New York Times)

• A small plane carrying 10 people crashes into a suburban area of New Delhi, India, killing all on board. (Xinhua)
• Severe storms in the US city of Atlanta, Georgia, kill at least three people and leave 193,000 people without power. (Atlanta Georgia-Constitution)

• The United States announces the removal of a number of troops from Pakistan, following a request from the Pakistani government. (BBC)
• Leaders of the Group of Eight countries meet in Deauville, France, for the 37th G8 summit. (AFP via Google News)

• Rwandan genocide suspect Bernard Munyagishari is arrested, accused of murdering Tutsis and moderate Hutus in 1994. (BBC)
• War crimes fugitive, former Chief of Staff of the Army of the Republika Srpska and former Colonel General Ratko Mladić has been arrested in Serbia. (AP via Palm Beach Post), (SBS News), (The Telegraph)
• In Britain, the former leader of Essex County Council and Conservative peer Lord Hanningfield is found guilty of six counts of false accounting relating to his expenses. (BBC)

• The United States House of Representatives votes overwhelmingly against funding the involvement of ground troops in Libya. (AP via the Military Times)
• The United States Congress votes to approve a four year extension of powers in the USA PATRIOT Act and President of the United States Barack Obama signs it into law. (Los Angeles Times), (AP via Atlanta Journal Constitution)

• The Miami Heat wins the Eastern Conference in the North American National Basketball Association and will meet the Dallas Mavericks in the 2011 NBA Finals. (NBC Sports)