Portal:Current events

Worldwide current events | Sports events | Activities and initiatives

Topics in the news

Facebook, Inc. raises US$16 billion with its initial public offering, the third largest in U.S. history.
Using terahertz radiation, researchers from the Tokyo Institute of Technology (Suzukakedai campus pictured) set a new record for wireless data transmission speed.
A new legislative election is scheduled in Greece, after the party leaders failed to form a coalition government following the May election.
Mexican writer Carlos Fuentes, who influenced the Latin American Boom, dies at the age of 83.
Eighteen hundred Palestinian prisoners end a hunger strike after Israel agrees to improve their conditions.

Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events...

May 18, 2012 (Friday)

edit

history

watch

Armed conflicts and attacks

Three roadside bombs explode at an outdoor pet market in Baghdad, Iraq, killing five people. (CNN)

Arts and culture

German baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau dies at the age of 86. (BBC)

Business and economy

The social network Facebook holds an initial public offering and closes at $38.23 a share. (CNBC) (Los Angeles Times)
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, NASDAQ, and S&P 500 close at their worst levels of 2012. (CNBC)

International relations

The Group of Eight meets in the United States at Camp David with the Greek debt crisis and associated Eurozone problems on the agenda. (The Washington Post)

Politics

Sybrand van Haersma Buma is elected as the new party leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and becomes the lijsttrekker (top candidate) for the Dutch general election of 2012. (DutchNews)

Sport

The Olympic Flame arrives in the United Kingdom on board a flight from Athens, ready for the torch relay ahead of the London 2012 games. (BBC)

May 18, 2012 Wikinews articles

May 17, 2012 (Thursday)

edit

history

watch

Armed conflicts and attacks

Clashes between military troops and inmates at a prison in Caracas, Venezuela continue. (El Universal)

Arts and culture

Pop singer Donna Summer dies of lung cancer at the age of 63. (Newsday) (CNN)

International relations

Unidentified North Koreans seize three Chinese boats with 29 crew and demand payment for their release. (BBC)
Daniel B. Shapiro, United States ambassador to Israel, says that the United States "is ready" to attack Iran to prevent the development of nuclear weapons within Iran. (CBS News)

Law and crime

The trial of former Bosnian Serb Army Colonel General Ratko Mladić is deferred indefinitely due to errors by prosecutors in disclosing evidence to the defence. (AP via Yahoo! News)

Politics

The leader of the Syrian National Council, Burhan Ghalioun, offers to resign after being accused of monopolizing power. (Al Jazeera)
A group of Chinese Communist Party veterans call for the removal of security chief Zhou Yongkang. (Al Jazeera)
The U.S. Senate confirmed two of the President's nominees to the Federal Reserve, bringing board membership up to the statutory complement of seven. This is the first time all seven seats have been filled in six years. (Reuters)

May 17, 2012 Wikinews articles

May 16, 2012 (Wednesday)

edit

history

watch

Armed conflict and attacks

Cambodian police and soldiers clash with villagers after attempting to evict them from their land, where a Russian plantation project is to be headquartered. A teenage girl has reportedly been killed. (AP via The Jakarta Post)

Disasters

The black box from a Russian passenger jet that crashed in the Indonesian province of West Java on May 9 is recovered by Indonesian authorities. (CNN)

Law and crime

The trial of former Bosnian Serb Army Colonel General Ratko Mladić starts in the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, Netherlands. (CNN)
Police in the Australian state of Queensland remove an Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Musgrave Park in the state capital Brisbane. (ABC Online)

Politics and elections

Greek politics:
- Greece is to hold a second round of elections on June 17, after final talks by the major political parties to form a coalition government were unsuccessful. (BBC)
- Former judge Panagiotis Pikrammenos is appointed to lead a caretaker government in the meantime. (AP via Huffington Post)
Jean-Marc Ayrault is sworn in as the Prime Minister of France. (AP via The San-Francisco Chronicle)

Art and culture

Parachuting Rat, an artwork by Banksy, in Melbourne, estimated to be worth AU$50,000, has been accidentally destroyed by building work. (ABC News Australia)
China Central Television Headquarters in Beijing is completed, a decade after its design by OMA. ((The Guardian) (Huffington Post))

May 16, 2012 Wikinews articles

Australian media focuses on Olympic prospects against US for women's basketball

May 15, 2012 (Tuesday)

edit

history

watch

Armed conflict and attacks

Syrian uprising (2011–present):
- At least 20 civilians are killed in the Syrian province of Idlib after security forces open fire on a funeral procession. (BBC)
At least 44 people are killed amid a Yemeni government offensive to retake Zinjibar and Jaar. Among the casualties are three soldiers and at least 11 civilians. (Trust.org via AP)
A targeted bombing in the Colombian capital Bogota injures former Interior Minister Fernando Londoño, and kills his driver and a police officer. (Trust.org via AP)

Arts and culture

Mexican author Carlos Fuentes, one of the leading authors of the Latin American literary boom, dies in Mexico aged 83. (BBC)

Business and economy

The combined economy of the 17 eurozone nations narrowly avoids a recession, largely due to relatively high economic growth in Germany. However, overall growth in the eurozone was zero in the first quarter of 2012. (The Daily Telegraph)
A customer of American multinational retail corporation Wal-Mart is bitten by a rattlesnake on the premises of the Clarkston, Washington store. (BBC)

Disasters

A man sets himself on fire outside the Oslo courthouse where mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik is on trial for the 2011 Norway attacks. (The Guardian)
Indian child actress Taruni Sachdev and her mother are revealed to be among the dead in yesterday's plane crash in northern Nepal, which killed 15 people. (BBC)

International relations

Thousands of Palestinians demonstrate on the 64th anniversary of the Nakba ("Catastrophe"), in remembrance of their exodus from the former Mandate of Palestine after Israel's declaration of independence in 1948; demonstrators and Israeli policemen are lightly injured in several clashes. (BBC) (Al Jazeera) (The Times of Israel)
A free trade agreement between the United States and Colombia takes effect. (BBC)

Law and crime

Rebekah Brooks, the former chief executive of News International, and her husband Charlie Brooks are charged with perverting the course of justice in relation to the alleged destruction of evidence associated with the News International phone hacking scandal. (The Daily Telegraph) (Al Jazeera) (The Guardian)
Majid Jamali Fashi, convicted of killing Iranian quantum field theorist and elementary-particle physicist Masoud Alimohammadi, is executed. (BBC) (Press TV)
A mother kills her four children and then herself in Port St. John, Florida. (CNN)

Politics and elections

François Hollande is sworn in as the 24th President of France. Hollande appoints Jean-Marc Ayrault as his Prime Minister. (BBC) (The Daily Telegraph)
Greece is forced to hold new general elections, after efforts by major political parties to form a coalition government end in failure. (The Guardian)

Science

The United States announces a national plan to develop an effective treatment for Alzheimer's disease by 2025. (BBC)
American scientists develop a device which uses genetically-engineered viruses to generate electricity. The invention could allow the development of ubiquitous piezoelectric micro-generators which gather energy from everyday vibrations such as closing doors. (BBC)

Sport

Botswana's senior football players end a training strike, despite not having received their bonus entitlements from this year's Africa Cup of Nations. (BBC)
Manchester City apologises to Manchester United following Carlos Tévez's open-top bus display of a placard with the words "RIP Fergie" on it. (The Guardian)

May 15, 2012 Wikinews articles

May 14, 2012 (Monday)

edit

history

watch

Armed conflict and attacks

Syrian uprising: At least 30 people die in a battle between Syrian government forces and rebel fighters in the town of Rastan. Reportedly, 23 of the dead are government soldiers. (Daily Telegraph)

Business and economy

An Air India pilots' strike enters its seventh day, with the airline cancelling 13 international flights. (NDTV) (BBC)

Disasters

An Agni Air flight carrying 21 people crashes while trying to land at Jomsom Airport in mountainous northern Nepal. 15 people are reported dead. ("The News") (Indian Express) (AP via Huffington Post)
A 6.2-magnitude earthquake strikes the Peruvian–Chilean border, causing power cuts but no serious immediate damage. No casualties have been reported. (AFP via Google)

International relations

The President of South Korea, Lee Myung-bak, commences the first official visit by a South Korean leader to Myanmar since 1983, when North Korean commandos attempted to assassinate the then-President, Chun Doo-hwan, in a bomb attack. (AP via Washington Post)
Over 1,500 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons end their mass hunger strike after reaching an agreement with Israeli authorities in an Egyptian-mediated deal. (BBC)(The Jerusalem Post)

Law and crime

News Corporation scandal:
- Tony Blair's former Director of Communications, Alastair Campbell, tells the Leveson Inquiry that there was no "express deal" between Blair and News Corporation CEO Rupert Murdoch in the run-up to the 1997 UK general election. (BBC)
- Entertainment manager Louis Walsh seeks access to documents which allegedly show that Murdoch's tabloid The Sun paid €700 to a man who made, in a high profile case, what turned out to be a false sexual assault accusation against Walsh. The senior counsel for Walsh tells Ireland's High Court: "The Sun directed the operation to take out Louis Walsh as a public person." (Irish Independent)

Politics and elections

A fourth successive attempt by major Greek political parties to form a coalition government ends in failure. Another attempt is scheduled for May 15; if a coalition cannot be agreed, emergency elections must be held in June. (BBC)
American Republican politician Ron Paul states he will be ending his active presidential campaign bid. However, he will still try to secure delegates before the Republican National Convention in August. (CNN)

Science

Scientists at California's Stanford University invent a working bionic eye powered only by focused light. Though currently a prototype, the device could eventually restore the sight of millions of people suffering from eye diseases such as macular degeneration and retinal pigmentosa. (BBC)

Sport

Tens of thousands of people line the streets of Manchester in celebration of Manchester City's victory in the Premier League season finale – the team's first Premier League win since 1968. (BBC)
Queens Park Rangers player Joey Barton is charged by the Football Association in relation to his behaviour during yesterday's game at Manchester City, in which he assaulted several opposing players. (BBC)
Málaga CF player Ruud van Nistelrooy announces his retirement from professional football. (BBC)

May 14, 2012 Wikinews articles

May 13, 2012 (Sunday)

edit

history

watch

Armed conflict and attacks

Mexican Drug War: 49 dismembered bodies are discovered by Mexican authorities on Mexican Federal Highway 40. The decapitated and mutilated bodies were dumped on a roadside near the northern city of Monterrey, presumably by members of the powerful Los Zetas drug cartel. (CNN) (BBC)
Several people are killed in clashes in the Lebanese city of Tripoli between supporters and opponents of the Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, in a violent spillover from the ongoing Syria uprising. (Al Jazeera)
Arsala Rahmani, a key peace negotiator for the Afghan government, is shot dead by assassins in Kabul, Afghanistan. (BBC)
Following American drone strikes against suspected militants in southern Yemen, at least 15 other militants are killed in a Yemeni Army offensive. (Al Jazeera)
The Ugandan army captures Caesar Achellam, a senior commander of the militant Lord's Resistance Army, in the Central African Republic. (BBC)

Disasters

Torrential rainfall and flooding in China's Hunan Province destroys a bridge and 3,500 homes, leading to the evacuation of 28,000 people in Pingjiang County. (Shanghai Daily) (Xinhua via Shanghai Daily)

Law and crime

Paul Watson, the founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, is arrested in Germany for allegedly violating Guatemalan territorial waters in 2002. (The Australian)

Politics

Voters in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia head to the polls for an election, with the Social Democratic Party of Germany winning the most votes, allowing it to continue in government with the support of the Greens. (Reuters via ABC Australia). (AP via Cleveland Plain-Dealer)
Chinese security tsar and Politburo Standing Committee member Zhou Yongkang reportedly transfers his security-related duties to Minister of Public Security Meng Jianzhu, following the Bo Xilai scandal. (Financial Times)
The President of Greece, Karolos Papoulias, fails to broker a coalition deal between Greece's major political parties. (RIA Novosti)

Science

Scientists claim that there is a visible link between the loss of biodiversity and the disappearance of endangered languages and cultures. (BBC)

Sport

Manchester City win the English Premier League for the first time, beating Manchester United on goal difference. (Reuters via Yahoo! Australia)
British international motorcycle speedway racer Lee Richardson dies in hospital in the Polish city of Wrocław following a crash in a racing event. (BBC)
After winning the Spanish Grand Prix with driver Pastor Maldonado, the British Formula One team Williams suffers a fire in its pit garage, leaving 31 people injured. (BBC)

May 13, 2012 Wikinews articles

May 12, 2012 (Saturday)

edit

history

watch

Armed conflict and attacks

Arab Spring:
- Syrian uprising: At least eight more people are killed in the ongoing violence in Syria, despite the presence of 145 United Nations ceasefire monitors. (Al Jazeera)
- The United States resumes shipping armaments to Bahrain, after a pause that coincided with the ongoing popular uprising against the Bahraini regime. (Al Jazeera)
The United States conducts two drone strikes in southeastern Yemen, killing 11 suspected Al-Qaeda militants. (Washington Post) (Huffington Post)
Nigerian police claim to have captured a senior commander of the radical Islamist militant group Boko Haram. (BBC)
Four NATO soldiers die in separate incidents in southern Afghanistan – two in a gun attack by insurgents, one in a roadside bombing, and one of non-combat injuries. (CNN)

Business and economy

Eurozone debt crisis:
- The European Commission states that the combined eurozone economy is likely to contract by 0.3% in 2012, as an ongoing debt crisis and high unemployment continue to wrack the 17 euro-using nations. (Sky News Australia)
- The Spanish "Indignants" protest movement celebrates its first anniversary, with at least 100,000 people gathering in Spanish cities to protest against the politicians and bankers widely blamed for the country's economic downturn. Similar protests take place in other world cities, including London, Lisbon, Frankfurt and Tel Aviv, as part of a global day of action. (BBC) (Reuters via Yahoo News) (Al Jazeera) (Wall Street Journal)
- Leading European Central Bank policymakers state that crisis-hit Greece may be able to abandon the euro without compromising the wider eurozone. (Reuters)

Disasters

Three Boston University students are killed and another five are injured in a minivan crash during a trip to New Zealand. (Boston Herald)

International relations

China denies that its military has been placed on a war footing amid an ongoing dispute with the Philippines over territorial claims in the South China Sea. (BBC)
Two Palestinians held in Israeli prisons are reportedly close to death, having refused to eat for 74 days. A further 1,600 prisoners have been on hunger strike since 17 April. Leaders of the strikers wait for a response from the Israeli Prison Service to calls for negotiation on issues such as the allowing of family visits for prisoners from Gaza and the ending of the use of extended solitary confinement. (Daily Telegraph) (Ha'aretz)
President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad calls Israel "nothing more than a mosquito" and downplays the idea of war between the two countries ahead of talks over Iran's nuclear program. (CNN)

Politics and elections

President of Venezuela Hugo Chávez returns home after successfully completing of a course of radiotherapy for cancer in Cuba. (BBC)
The President of Greece, Karolos Papoulias, begins efforts at forming a coalition government, after three failed attempts by major political parties to reach a coalition agreement. (BBC)
In the United States, prospective Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney condemns same-sex marriage as illegitimate. At the evangelical Christian Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, he describes marriage as exclusively "a relationship between one man and one woman." (BBC)

Science

The discovery of a missing piece of the Mayan calendar appears to render the 2012 phenomenon obsolete, by proving that the Maya did not believe 2012 to be the end of the world. (WBRC)

Sport

Fans clash in Istanbul, Turkey, as Galatasaray draw with Fenerbahçe S.K. to secure their 18th Turkish football title. (AFP via Google) (Al Jazeera)

May 12, 2012 Wikinews articles

More May 2012 events...

Time: 21:15 UTC \| Day: 18 May \| Purge

<<	May 2012					>>
S	M	T	W	T	F	S
		1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	30	31
More May 2012 events... edit box

About this page • Suggest a headline News about Wikipedia

Ongoing events
Political Arab Spring Post-Tunisian revolution Libyan factional fighting Egyptian revolution Bahraini uprising Syrian uprising Yemeni revolution Economic Global financial crisis European sovereign-debt crisis Greek economic crisis Irish financial crisis Scientific Expedition 31 Medical AIDS pandemic HIV/AIDS in Africa edit sidebar

Recent deaths
May 17: Herbert Breslin 17: Warda Al-Jazairia 17: Donna Summer 16: Chuck Brown 15: Carlos Fuentes 13: Donald "Duck" Dunn 13: Arsalan Rahmani 12: Harold Arthur Poling 11: Tony DeZuniga 10: Horst Faas 10: Joyce Redman 10: Carroll Shelby 9: Geoffrey Henry 9: Vidal Sassoon 8: Roman Totenberg 8: Maurice Sendak 7: Ferenc Bartha 6: Iraj Ghaderi 6: George Lindsey 6: Fahd Mohammed Ahmed al-Quso 4: Adam Yauch 3: Lloyd Brevett 3: Digby Wolfe 2: Junior Seau 1: Charles Pitts edit sidebar

Ongoing conflicts
Global War on Terror Terrorist incidents Operation Active Endeavour Operation Enduring Freedom War on Drugs Africa Maghreb insurgency OEF - Trans Sahara Casamance conflict Niger Delta conflict Nigerian Sharia conflict Sudan internal conflict South Sudan internal conflict South Sudan–Sudan border conflict 2012 East DR Congo conflict Lord's Resistance Army insurgency Somalia: Civil war War 2009- Piracy OEF - Horn of Africa Tuareg rebellion Europe North Caucasus insurgency Ingushetia civil war Dissident Irish Republican campaign Middle East Iraqi insurgency Arab–Israeli conflict Israeli–Palestinian conflict Israeli–Lebanese conflict Palestinian political violence and rocket attacks Yemen: Terrorism al-Qaeda crackdown South Yemen insurgency Shia insurgency Kurdistan: Turkey–PKK conflict Asia Afghanistan War Military operations Taliban insurgency Pakistan: Terrorism North-West War Balochistan conflict Drone attacks Sectarian violence India: Terrorism Jammu and Kashmir insurgency Naxalite-Maoist insurgency Northeast India insurgency Nagaland ethnic conflict Kashmir conflict Siachen conflict Korean maritime border incidents Southeast Asia: Laos insurgency South Thailand insurgency Cambodian–Thai border dispute Territorial disputes in the South China Sea Islamic insurgency in the Philippines Operation Enduring Freedom – Philippines Papua conflict Americas Colombian armed conflict (1964–present) edit sidebar

Elections
Recent: April 8: South Ossetia, President (2nd round) 11: South Korea, Parliament 16: East Timor, President (2nd round) 22: France, President (1st round) Recent: May 2: Hungary, President (indirect) 3: United Kingdom, Mayor of London 3: United Kingdom, Local Elections 3: United Kingdom, London Assembly 4: Iran, Parliament (2nd round) 6: Armenia, Parliament 6: France, President (2nd round) 6: Serbia, President (1st round) and Parliament 6: Greece, Parliament 7: Bahamas, General 7: Syria, Parliament 10: Algeria, Parliament Upcoming: May 20: Dominican Republic, President 20: Serbia, President (2nd round) 23–24: Egypt, President (1st round) 26: Lesotho, General 31: Ireland, Constitutional referendum edit sidebar

Trials
Recently concluded Cambodia: Kang Kek Iew France: Jacques Chirac, John Galliano Germany: John Demjanjuk, Heinrich Boere Iceland: Geir Haarde Indonesia: Abu Bakar Bashir Italy: Amanda Knox, Raffaele Sollecito Netherlands: Geert Wilders, Charles Taylor Peru: Joran van der Sloot Russia: Bhagavad Gita Ukraine: Yulia Tymoshenko United Kingdom: Levi Bellfield, Robert Black, Vincent Tabak, Ali Dizaei, Antoni Imiela, Brian Regan, Donna Air, Ched Evans, Clayton McDonald United States: Faisal Shahzad, Noshir Gowadia, Buju Banton, Barry Bonds, Raj Rajaratnam, Rod Blagojevich, Casey Anthony, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Conrad Murray, George Huguely, Allen Stanford, William Balfour Ongoing Cambodia: Khmer Rouge Tribunal Canada: Russell Williams, Michael Rafferty China: Organized crime in Chongqing Egypt: Hosni Mubarak, Alaa Mubarak, Gamal Mubarak France: Church of Scientology, Carlos the Jackal Iraq: Supreme Criminal Tribunal Malaysia: Anwar Ibrahim Netherlands: Thomas Lubanga (ICC), Radovan Karadžić (ICTY), Ratko Mladic (ICTY) Norway: Anders Behring Breivik Palau: Tommy Remengesau Philippines: Andal Ampatuan, Jr. Russia: Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Platon Lebedev Sierra Leone: Charles Taylor (SCFSL) Singapore: Tak Boleh Tahan South Africa: Chris Mahlangu Sudan: Lubna al-Hussein Thailand: Thaksin Shinawatra Tunisia: Zine El Abidine Ben Ali Turkey: Ergenekon network, Kenan Evren United States: Roger Clemens, Ahmed Ghailani, David Headley, Jared Lee Loughner, Charles P. White, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, Viktor Bout, John Edwards Upcoming Ivory Coast: Laurent Gbagbo United Kingdom: Justin Lee Collins United States: Nidal Malik Hasan, Javaris Crittenton, Bradley Manning, Jerry Sandusky, Robert Bales, George Zimmerman, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed edit sidebar

Events by month

2012: January; February; March; April; May; June; July; August; September; October; November; December

2011: January; February; March; April; May; June; July; August; September; October; November; December

Content listings

Lists

Indices

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply.
See Terms of Use for details.

Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.

Text was captured and processed by: Lars William Westad.

Ground Based Air Defence

Political

Economic

Scientific

Medical

May

Global

Africa

Europe

Middle East

Asia

Americas

Recent: April

Recent: May

Upcoming: May

Recently concluded

Ongoing

Upcoming