Portal:Current events/2011 March 28

March 28, 2011 (Monday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Arab Spring:
- 2011 Syrian protests
  - Syria forces open fire on protesters in Daraa, witness says although other reports claim that they were firing shots in the air. (Haaretz) (Reuters)
  - Syria's VP says Assad will announce important decisions that will 'please the people' in the next two days. (Haaretz)
  - A Syrian government official says the state of emergency law is to be lifted. (CNN)
  - Two Reuters journalists arrested on Saturday in Damascus are released. (Reuters)
- 2011 Libyan civil war
  - Opposition forces in the 2011 Libyan civil war attack Muammar Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte with disputed claims that they have captured it. (Al Jazeera) (Jerusalem Post)
  - Lieutenant-General Charles Bouchard of the Canadian Forces Air Command is named to lead enforcement of the Libya no fly zone. (Globe and Mail) (National Post) (Defense News)
  - The President of the United States Barack Obama gives a televised address on progress in the Libyan campaign. (Washington Post), (Sydney Morning Herald)
- 2011 Yemeni protests
  - An explosion at a weapons factory taken over by Islamist militants in southern Yemen kills at least 121 people. (BBC) (Philippine Star)^{[permanent dead link]}
- 2011 Bahraini protests
  - Bahrain rejects a mediation offer by Kuwait to resolve the country's political crisis. (Al Jazeera) (Reuters)
  - Al Wefaq, the leading Shi'ite opposition party, claims that 250 people have been detained and 47 held in detention since the declaration of martial law. (Reuters)
- 2011 Moroccan protests
  - Teachers plan to stage a nationwide strike demanding better benefits. (Reuters)
2010-2011 Ivorian crisis:
- Rebel forces loyal to presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara seize the town of Duékoué in western Côte d'Ivoire from government forces. (Xinhua)
A car bomb attack on a construction company in Afghanistan's Paktika Province kills at least 13 people and injures another fifty. (The Australian)
Seventeen militants and three Russian security force members die in fighting in Ingushetia while two suspects in the Domodedovo International Airport bombing are arrested. (Al-Jazeera)

Arts and culture

A 2,500-year-old preserved human brain dating from the Iron Age is found in Heslington in the English city of York. (Live Science via Fox News)

Business and economy

Qatar recognizes Libyan rebels as the representative of the Libyan people, after a deal to market crude oil. (EuroNews) (WorldNews.com) (Qatar News Agency)
Volkswagen recalls 71000 2011 model Jetta sedans due to a wiring problem. (Detroit News)^{[permanent dead link]}

Disasters

Fukushima I nuclear accidents
- Radioactive seawater from the accidents travels further from the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant. (AP via Yahoo! News)
- Plutonium is found at five locations around the power plant. (Voice of America)

International relations

The International Atomic Energy Agency calls a summit in Vienna to tackle concerns about nuclear safety following the Fukushima crisis. (Reuters)
More than 500 Ethiopian and Somalian migrants arrive in Malta from Libya. (Reuters)

Law and crime

The appeal of former Khmer Rouge prison chief Kaing Guek Eav begins. (Phnom Penh Post)^{[permanent dead link]} (Straits Times)
The trial of Prime Minister of Italy Silvio Berlusconi on corruption charges commences. (BBC)
A court in southern Vietnam sentences a zoo owner to three years imprisonment for selling the carcasses of dead tigers. (Straits Times) (Malaysia Star)

Politics

Egypt is to hold parliamentary elections in September 2011. (Reuters)
Barry O'Farrell is sworn as the Premier of the Australian state of New South Wales following Saturday's state election. (News Limited)
The Governor of the US state of Michigan Rick Snyder signs legislation lowering the period that jobless workers can claim state unemployment benefits from 26 weeks to 20 weeks. (AP via Yahoo! News)

Sport

The captain of the Australia national rugby league team Darren Lockyer announces his retirement as at the end of the 2011 NRL season. (Melbourne Herald-Sun) (Brisbane Times)
The opening date of the Nippon Professional Baseball season is deferred due to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. (Los Angeles Times via Seattle Times)
French urban climber Alain Robert scales the worlds tallest building, Burj Khalifa in Dubai. (BBC)(Time)