Portal:Current events/2012 August 13
August 13, 2012 (Monday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Syrian civil war:
- Syrian forces kill at least 10 people at the entrance of Jdeidet Artouz district of Damascus according to opposition sources. (CNN)
- Opposition forces in eastern Syria report downing a fighter jet; the Syrian government denies this claim, stating that the plane crashed due to technical problems. (The Telegraph)
- Danny Al Baaj, Syria’s representative at the UN Human Rights Council, defects to Switzerland. (Arab News)
- WikiLeaks revelations and attack:
- WikiLeaks reveals data showing that the U.S. government has been secretly spying on the public using civilian security cameras with Trapwire. (Wired) (Daily Mail) (PC Mag)
- The Wikileaks website is targeted by a sustained online attack. (Sky News)
Arts and culture
- American publisher and editor Helen Gurley Brown, editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazine and a leader of 1960s sexual revolution dies at the age of 90 in New York City. (Reuters via ABC News Australia)
- Two new potential pyramid sites are discovered in Egypt. (Daily Mail)
- Outgoing BBC Director-General Mark Thompson is appointed CEO of The New York Times, taking up his role in November. (BBC)
Disasters
- Iran announces that the death toll from the 2012 Ahar-Varzaqan earthquakes is 306 with 3,037 injured. (AP via Sydney Morning Herald)
Law and crime
- Police involved shooting in College Station, Texas results in line of duty death of Constable Brian Bachmann; gunman, as well as one civilian are also killed
- The Vatican orders Pope Benedict XVI's former butler to stand trial for his alleged involvement in leaking allegations of corruption in the Holy See. (Reuters)
- Two Egyptian journalists, critics of President Mohammed Mursi, are to be put on trial for their alleged incitement to murder Mursi and lead sectarian discord. (BBC)
- Three people are found dead in a burning car in a parking lot in Maine, in the United States. (AP via ABC)
Politics and elections
- Thousands of Tunisians, mostly women, protest in Tunis against attempts by the Islamist-led government to reduce women's rights. (BBC)
Sports
- 2012 Summer Olympics:
- Nadzeya Ostapchuk of Belarus is stripped of her shot put gold medal after failing a doping test. (BBC Sport)
- Boxing gold medallist Katie Taylor arrives back in her hometown Bray, where thousands of people flock to the seafront to see her. (Irish Independent)