Portal:Current events/2011 March 19

March 19, 2011 (Saturday)

Armed conflict and attacks

2011 Libyan civil war:
- The Libyan opposition stronghold of Benghazi is bombed by pro-Gaddafi forces despite the declaration of a no-fly zone by the United Nations. (AFP via Channel News Asia)
- The President of the United States Barack Obama warns Muammar Gaddafi of "consequences" if attacks on civilians continue. (AFP via News Limited)
- Forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi enter Benghazi. (Reuters) (Al Jazeera) (Tunis Afrique Press News Agency)^{[permanent dead link]}
- The French Air Force starts flying missions over Libya as top officials from Europe, the United States and the Arab world vow to take action. (BBC), (MSNBC) (AP via the Houston Chronicle)
- The United States Navy fires Tomahawk cruise missiles at Gaddafi's air defenses as Operation Odyssey Dawn gets underway. (Fox News) (Reuters)
- Colonel Gaddafi condemns the attacks as "barbaric, unjustified crusaders' aggression." (News Limited)
Tens of thousands of people from Côte d'Ivoire flee to Liberia due to ongoing violence in the country. (Al Jazeera)
Arab Spring
- Syrian security forces fire tear gas at a funeral for two men killed in an earlier protest in the southern city of Daraa. (AFP via Google News)
- Protests continue in Yemen after the shooting of anti-government demonstrators yesterday, and two ruling party members resign. (Reuters)
- Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika promises political reform, as security forces prevent protests in the capital Algiers. (Al Jazeera)
Israeli–Palestinian conflict:
- More than 50 mortar rounds are fired from the Gaza Strip at an area in the Western Negev, Israel, injuring two Israeli civilians in response to Israeli airstrikes earlier in the week, which was itself a response to a previous Palestinian mortar attack from Gaza. Israel counterresponds with artillery and airstrikes killing two Palestinian militants. (Ynetnews) (Haaretz)
- Police in the Gaza Strip break up a student rally calling for unity between Fatah and Hamas and raid offices of foreign media covering the event. (UPI)
- The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu office reportedly calls for the United States to thwart Palestinian attempts to create a unity government; however, Hamas opposes Abbas' visit to Gaza claiming he is using the visit as a "ploy," and demands the release of Hamas prisoners held by the Palestinian Authority in West Bank (Ma'an News Agency)(The Jerusalem Post)

Arts and culture

The polar bear Knut dies at the Berlin Zoo. (MSNBC)

Disasters

A fire at a refugee camp in Tripura, northeastern India, kills at least 14 people. (The Times of India) (UPI)
600 people are evacuated in Indonesia from the area near Mount Karangetang as it began erupting. (Sify India)
Construction of temporary housing begins in the Japanese town of Rikuzentakata severely damaged in the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. (Kyodo)
Fukushima I nuclear accidents:
- The problems at the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant are upgraded to Level 5 on the International Nuclear Events Scale, the same as the Three Mile Island accident. (CNN)
- Milk and spinach found near the plant exceed Japanese government radiation levels as does water in the Fukushima Prefecture. (AP via MSNBC) (AP via Dayton Daily News)^{[permanent dead link]}
- Japan resumes efforts to cool the reactors. (Xinhua)
The U.S. Coast Guard begins investigating a reported oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. (Wall Street Journal)

International relations

Carlos Pascual resigns as United States Ambassador to Mexico due in part to tensions with the President of Mexico Felipe Calderón. (U.S. State Department) (Reuters)
Edinburgh University students vote in favour of boycotting Israeli goods and services, citing Israeli treatment of Palestinians.(International Middle East Media Center)
Robert Cooper, special adviser to Baroness Catherine Ashton (High Representative of the European Union for political, foreign affairs and security), meets with Bahraini Interior Minister Lt. Gen. Sheikh Rashid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa (Saudi News Today) to discuss the security situation of the Country and measures taken towards resolution under the light of the recent protests.

Politics

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and nine cabinet ministers survive a no-confidence vote brought about by the opposition. (Thai News Agency) (Al Jazeera)
A constitutional referendum takes place in Egypt. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
Egyptian presidential hopeful Mohamed ElBaradei is pelted with rocks, bottles and cans in Cairo. (Washington Post)
The 14th Dalai Lama's submitted resignation as Head of State of the Central Tibetan Administration is denied by the Tibetan Parliament-in-exile. (Hindustan Times)
Rap star Wyclef Jean is shot in the hand while campaigning in the Haitian election. (AP via ABC News America)
Anti-Iraq War demonstrators are arrested outside the White House in Washington DC including Daniel Ellsberg, the man who leaked the Pentagon Papers. (Associated Press)
Peruvian President Alan García swears in Rosario Fernández as Prime Minister, after the sudden resignation of José Antonio Chang. (Andina) (BBC)

Science

The moon reaches its closest point to the Earth since March 1993, and will appear 30% brighter and 14% larger than at its furthest point. (NASA) (The Press-Enterprise)

Sports

Maria Riesch of Germany and Ivica Kostelić of Croatia win the 2011 Alpine Skiing World Cup overall in men's and women's disciplines. (AP via Yahoo! News), (Reuters via Canada.com)^{[permanent dead link]}
England wins the 2011 Six Nations Championship in rugby union. (Reuters via ABC Online)
Jon Jones, at age 23, becomes the youngest champion in the history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship by defeating Mauricio "Shogun" Rua in a Light Heavyweight Championship bout at UFC 128: Shogun vs. Jones in Newark, New Jersey, US. (Sherdog)
Vitali Klitschko defeats Odlanier Solís via a controversial first-round technical knockout to retain the WBC Heavyweight Championship in Cologne, Germany. (Boxrec)