Portal:Current events/2011 February 12

February 12, 2011 (2011-02-12) (Saturday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• 2010–2011 Algerian protests:
  • Thousands of people, inspired by the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, take to the streets of Algiers to protest against their own regime and to call for the removal of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. (Al Jazeera) (BBC) (France24) (Herald Sun)
  • Algerian police and security forces attempt to prevent the people from participating in the illegal march for democracy and change in Algiers. (Xinhua)
  • The Algerian government shuts down the internet as tear gas and plastic bullets are deployed and journalists, especially those seen with cameras, targeted by state-sponsored thugs. (The Daily Telegraph)
  • Thousands of riot police crack down on those protesting against the ruling Bouteflika regime. Protesters chant "Bouteflika out!" (The Guardian) (Gulf Times) (The New York Times) (euronews) (The Daily Telegraph)
  • The opposition says approximately 5,000 people took part in today's attempt to bring down the Bouteflika regime. (Xinhua)
  • International response to the 2010–2011 Algerian protests:
    • A demonstration occurs from the streets of Montreal in Canada to the front of the Algerian consulate as people, including many Tunisians and Egyptians, join international calls for Abdelaziz Bouteflika's resignation. (AFP via Google News) (Montreal Gazette)
    • A peaceful protest occurs at the initiative of the National Coordination for Change and Democracy in Algeria in Paris against Algerian police brutality, forced disappearances and the state of emergency that the regime has imposed upon the country. (CNN)
• 2011 Yemeni protests:
  • Thousands of anti-government protesters gather in Sana'a calling for the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has ruled the country since 1978. (Al Jazeera) (AFP via Google News)
  • Anti-government protesters march towards Sana'a University, chanting slogans such as "Get out, Get out Ali" and "The people want the regime to fall." (Times LIVE) (Press TV)
  • Demonstrators also attempt to celebrate yesterday's resignation of President of Egypt Hosni Mubarak, brought down by an 18-day popular revolution, but police clamp down on the celebrations. (BBC)
  • Yemeni police use clubs to beat those protesting against the Saleh regime, leaving Yemen's ally, the United States, in a "delicate position". (Taipei Times) (Radio New Zealand)
  • The United States lifts its ban on freight flights from the country after finding Yemen to have sufficiently developed its airport security measures and that there would be "no problems with resuming cargo flights from Yemen anymore". (Yemen Post)
  • Yemen's government offers its "respect" for the choice of the Egyptian people to protest and force the resignation of Hosni Mubarak. (Reuters)
• Mehbooba Mufti, People's Democratic Party (PDP) president, criticises the Jammu and Kashmir government for "dismissing the Kashmiri youth who led the summer unrest" as drug addicts and people from the Lashkar-e-Taiba, saying the situation is akin to Egypt and announcing protest demonstrations for 14 February. (The Hindu)
• An attack on police headquarters in Kandahar, Afghanistan, kills 16 officers and 3 civilians, and injures 53 others.(The New York Times) (Al Jazeera)
• The Government of Italy declares a humanitarian emergency after thousands of Tunisian immigrants land on the small island of Lampedusa. (Al-Jazeera)
• At least 33 people die following a suicide bombing near the Iraqi city of Samarra. (AFP via Yahoo News)
• Turkey releases its inquiry into the Gaza flotilla raid, finding Israel violated international law and used "excessive, indiscriminate and disproportionate force" during the attack. (AP via Google)

Arts and culture

• The extent of looting of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo during the 2011 Egyptian protests is worse than previously announced. (New York Times)
• Julie Andrews, Roy Haynes, Juilliard String Quartet, the Kingston Trio, Dolly Parton, The Ramones and George Beverly Shea win Grammy Lifetime Achievement Awards. (Reuters)

Disasters

• At least eleven people are killed during an election rally for the President of Nigeria Goodluck Jonathan in Port Harcourt. (Reuters)
• A fire destroys 20 homes on the Yakama Indian Reservation in the US state of Washington. (Yakima Herald)

Law and crime

• Myanmar arrests the Australian owner and editor of the Myanmar Times newspaper, detained under immigration laws. (BBC) (Bangkok Post)
• A Pakistani court issues an arrest warrant for former President Pervez Musharraf, alleging his involvement in the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. (Associated Press) (Al Jazeera)
• Tammy Marquardt's 1995 conviction for the murder of her 2-year-old epileptic son is quashed by the Ontario Court of Appeal, remedying a miscarriage of justice in Canada. (CBC) (Toronto Star)

Politics and elections

• The Chinese railway minister Liu Zhijun is placed under investigation for "serious disciplinary violations". (Xinhua) (BBC) (The Times of India)
• Saeb Erekat, chief negotiator for the Palestine Liberation Organization, resigns after the Palestine Papers were found to have been leaked from his office. (Aljazeera)

Sports

• In mixed martial arts, Sergei Kharitonov and Antônio Silva advance to the semi-finals of the Strikeforce World Grand Prix Heavyweight Tournament by defeating Andrei Arlovski and Fedor Emelianenko, respectively, at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Silva in East Rutherford, New Jersey, US. (Sherdog)
• An investigation is launched after two horses are believed to have been electrocuted by underground cabling in the paddock at Newbury Racecourse in Berkshire, England. (BBC Sport)

Television

• ABC Kids Premiere of Shake It Up

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February 2011

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