In the wake of the American defeat of Osama bin Laden, the United States Department of State issues a global travel alert to all U.S. citizens, warning of the "enhanced potential for anti-American violence". (Inquirer)
Syrian forces arrest a prominent human rights lawyer, Abdallah Khalil, in the city of Raqqa after he criticised the authorities' reaction to anti-government protests. (The Jerusalem Post)
The United Nations is withdrawing all its international staff from Tripoli after "angry" crowds protest outside US, UK and Italian embassies against NATO airstrikes. (BBC)
Ali Abdullah Saleh refuses to sign a Gulf Arab states-brokered agreement intended to resolve the situation, and the deal has collapsed. The opposition in Yemen promises to escalate the protests. (BBC)
A crowd of hundreds of people attack a Christian seminary, a church and houses of local Christians in Gujranwala, Pakistan, after finding out that two Christians who had been accused of blasphemy have been released from protective custody by the police. (The Express Tribune)
British head teachers vote 99.6 per cent in favour of staging a ballot on a strike over pension cuts in what would be a first national strike by the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT). (BBC)
Police investigate a blogger Teacher Wang for fraud after he predicts a magnitude-14 earthquake and 170m (560ft) high tsunami is to strike Taiwan on 11 May, toppling the Taipei 101 skyscraper and Presidential Office building. The prediction is removed from the internet. (BBC)
International relations
Israel withholds 300 million NIS ($89 million) in tax and customs revenue collected on behalf of the Palestinians to the Palestinian Authority after Fatah and Hamas agree a unity deal intended to lead to a transitional government and fresh elections. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expresses his disregard for the agreement. (Al Jazeera)(The Jerusalem Post)
It is reported that the United States has denied the United Nations access to imprisoned serviceman Bradley Manning whom the U.S. accuses of disclosing government information to the general public. (GLW)
Most international leaders respond positively to the news. (Sky News)
US political leaders across the political spectrum welcome the announcement that Osama bin Laden had been killed, congratulating American troops, the intelligence community and the White House for putting an end to the hunt for the mastermind of the September 11 attacks. (USA Today)
British Prime MinisterDavid Cameron says bin Laden's death will "bring great relief to people across the world" and that it is a time to remember all those murdered by Osama bin Laden, and all those who lost loved ones.(Sky News)
Hundreds of dissidents have been arrested across Syria, including in the town of Daraa and a Damascus suburb, after dozens were killed in weekend protests, activists say. (The Australian)
The UN Security Council fails to agree a statement to condemn the killing of Syrian protesters, as Russia and China block a statement proposed by Britain, France, Germany and Portugal that would have condemned the violence, which has led to hundreds of dead, and backed calls for an independent investigation. (Herald Sun)
The Iranian foreign minister Ali Akbar Salehi, speaking at a news conference in Doha, demands that Syria's government investigates last Friday's disppearance of journalist Dorothy Parvaz. (Al Jazeera)
A massive search operation continues amid severe weather conditions for the helicopter of Arunachal Pradesh's chief minister Dorjee Khandu which disappeared while carrying him and four other people. (BBC)
As part of one of the four cases currently against him, Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi appears in court on charges of corruption and attacks his prosecutors again. (BBC)
In Guatemala the country's electoral supreme court calls for general elections to be held on September 11 to elect President and Vice President, Mayors of the 333 municipal corporations, members for a new Congress and members for the Central American Parliament (PARLACEN). A second round of voting for President and Vice-President will be held on November 6 if needed.[1]
US officials deliberate releasing “gruesome” photographs of the corpse of Osama bin Laden, to dispel doubt by Islamic militants that U.S. forces really killed him. (Reuters)
Pakistani officials criticize the US raid that killed Osama bin Laden, saying that the United States had made “an unauthorized unilateral action” that would be not be tolerated in the future. (The New York Times)
US officials caution that bin Laden’s death does not remove the threat of terrorist attacks and say that the battle against al-Qaida and other terrorist groups will continue. (VOA News)
US officials describe remarks by leader of militant Islamic group Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, condemning the killing of bin Laden as "outrageous", while UK Foreign Secretary William Hague criticizes Hamas for mourning bin Laden's death. (VOA News)(AFP)(JTA)
Thousands of people are at risk of death from thirst and starvation in Yafran due to Muammar Gaddafi's forces besieging the city, shutting off water and blocking food supplies. (Libya TV)
More than 1,000 people have been detained across Syria since Saturday in security crackdowns in to keep people off the streets and aimed at suppressing the uprising against President al-Assad, according to human rights activists. (RTT)(AP)
UK Foreign Secretary William Hague says that Britain is working with European allies to impose targeted sanctions on Syrian leaders, including asset freezes and travel bans, in response to the ongoing government suppression of pro-democracy protesters. (Los Angeles Times)(The Telegraph)
Syrian security forces arrest two people outside of the University of Damascus as student demonstrators rally for the release of political detainees and army convoys and tanks rolled into the capital city, setting up what eyewitnesses described as a base in the central square. (CNN)(Sky News)
Eye-witness reports say dozens are killed in clashes as thousands of people across Syria rallied to show support for residents of the southern border city of Daraa who have been living under siege since government forces attacked earlier this week. (CNN)
An aid ship is forced to cut short its mission to evacuate civilians from Libya after Muammar Gaddafi's forces shell the port of Misrata shortly after it docked; at least four people, including a woman and two children, were killed in the shelling. (The Telegraph)
Experts from Chile who helped rescue 33 miners trapped for more than three months in a mine last October go to assist rescue efforts in northern Mexico, where nine workers remained trapped in a mine after an explosion. (CNN)
Sarah Shourd, an American hiker released last year from an Iranian prison on $500,000 bail because of a medical condition said she will not return to Tehran to face espionage charges in a court hearing scheduled for next week; her fiancé, Shane Bauer, and their friend, Josh Fattal, are still being held in Evin Prison in Iran. (CNN)
Law and crime
The trial of two Rwandan rebel leaders charged in connection with their part in crimes against humanity and war crimes carried out by their militias in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2008 and 2009, begins in the Stuttgart high court, Germany. (CNN)
Syrian troops arrest 300 people in a raid on the Damascus suburb of Saqba and tanks and troops are also reported to have been sent to other to quell anti-government demonstrations in Homs and Hama.(BBC)(The Telegraph)
About 100 tanks and troop transports converge on the town of Al-Rastan, after anti-regime protesters toppled a statue of the late Syrian president Hafez al-Assad and pledged to press ahead with their "revolution" despite sweeping arrests by Bashar al-Assad's regime. (The Australian)
Syrian military forces begin withdrawing from the town of Daraa after a mission to "restore security and calm," according to Syrian state TV, after more than 500 people were killed during the clashes and thousands more detained. (CNN)
Vietnamese soldiers clash with thousands of HmongChristians in Dien Bien Province demanding religious freedom and autonomy in the northwest of the country, in the worst ethnic unrest in Vietnam in years. The US-based Center for Public Policy Analysis claims that at least 28 protesters were killed and hundreds more were missing, while 3,000 protesters remained at the site, according to officials. (BBC)(Straits Times)(Bangkok Post)[permanent dead link]
The Sudanese cabinet approves a bill to add two new states to Darfur's existing three, in what rebels have condemned as plan to strengthen the central government’s control over the region. (Reuters)(AFP)
Dutch man Vincent Tabak pleads guilty to the manslaughter of Joanna Yeates, but denies murdering her. However, the plea is rejected by prosecutors and he is committed for trial in October. (Sky News)(BBC)
27 people are killed in a "day of defiance" against the regime in Syria on Friday, including 15 protesters, and 5 security forces in Homs. (BBC)(The Jerusalem Post)
Syrian security forces kill 15 protesters in Homs when they fired on a crowd of demonstrators to disperse them. (The Australian)
Riad Seif, a Syrian opposition figure and former member of parliament, is arrested in Damascus. (CNN)
Rescuers recover a seventh body from inside a coal mine near Sabinas, Mexico, more than three days after an explosion there; seven remaining miners trapped inside are presumed dead. (CNN)
Spanish maritime rescue services look for 22 would-be immigrants missing after their boat capsized south of Spain. (BNO)
Singapore Cabinet members George Yeo and Lim Hwee Hua lose their seats, making them the highest ranking ministers to be unseated in a general election since 1963. (Channel NewsAsia)
Peter Beale, Nick Stephenson, John Edwards and John Towers - the so-called "Phoenix Four" who ran MG Rover following its collapse - have agreed to be disqualified from serving as company directors for between 3 and 6 years. The deal was made with the UK's Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, following a "lengthy and complex investigation" into the affair. (BBC)
Flooding along the Mississippi and tributaries has worsened, exceeding record levels since a three day tornado outbreak over a week ago, with ten dead, more than a thousand homes ordered evacuated in Memphis, Tennessee, more than 2,000 in Mississippi state, and about 13% of US refinery output disrupted. (Bloomberg), (Toronto Sun)
A ship carrying 300 African migrants headed for Malta runs aground near Lampedusa in Italy with many on board having to be rescued from the sea. (Al Jazeera)
Thousands of people march in Mexico City to protest the 38,000 people that have died in drug-related violence since the beginning of the Mexican Drug War in 2006. (Reuters)
Values in the United States housing market decline by 1.1% for March and 3% in the March quarter, the heaviest fall since late 2008, with values falling for 57 months in a row since the United States housing bubble burst in 2007. (Wall Street Journal)
Officials in the European Union acknowledge that Greece will need a second bailout program soon, and American ratings agency Standard & Poor's downgrades Greek bonds to junk status. (Reuters)
Disasters and accidents
At least 36 people are killed after several boats capsize during a storm on Lake Togo in southeastern Togo. (News24)(Reuters)
A Twitter user tries to unmask some celebrities who have obtained super-injunctions to prevent publication of details of their private lives. (BBC)(Twitter)
The Victorian iron gates of a children's home which inspired John Lennon to write the Beatles hit Strawberry Fields Forever have been removed by the property's owners and placed in storage. (BBC)
Flood levels at Memphis, Tennessee reach 47.87 feet (14.59 meters) the highest level since 1937' when it reached 48.7 feet (14.8 meters). (NASA Earth Observatory)
International relations
East Timor rejected Chinese plans to build a radar on its territory in 2007, due to fears it would be used for intelligence purposes, according to Wikileaks. (Straits Times)
British Prime MinisterDavid Cameron rejects suggestions that the government is considering allowing wealthy students to pay for extra university places after one of his ministers had earlier refused to rule the idea out. (BBC)
Four Zambian peacekeepers are shot and injured after their convoy comes under attack by suspected armed tribal groups in the disputed border area between Sudan and Southern Sudan. (Post Zambia)
Business and economy
Venezuela starts rationing electricity in the wake of nationwide blackouts earlier in the week. (BBC)
The Bank of England says it expects inflation to reach 5% this year, due to higher fuel bills that could rise by up to 15%, and revises down its growth projection for the UK economy. (BBC)
John Clark Wilson is arrested in Edinburgh, Scotland, during a high-profile Hearts v Celtic tie in the SPL; the 26-year-old Hearts fan invaded the pitch and attempted to attack Celtic manager Neil Lennon. He is charged with breach of the peace and assault. (BBC)
News sources report that a long-planned offering of a portion of the U.S. Treasury's equity interest in giant insurance company American International Group may be indefinitely postponed because the price of AIG stock has fallen to near the Treasury's break-even point. (Reuters)
Plans are cancelled to install prismatic glass on the bottom base of One World Trade Center due to technical problems.
Thousands of asylum seekers from Ethiopia and Somalia are stranded in camps in northern Mozambique after measures adopted by the government to restrict their movements. (IRIN)
The Bahraini government tortures doctors into confessions of "trying to overthrow the monarchy" by aiding wounded civilians who protested during the uprising. (Al Jazeera)
3 people are killed and 18 others are wounded as troops shoot at medics, witnesses and people protesting against the Saleh regime in Ibb, Ta'izz and Sana'a, though Saleh remains defiant. Qatar withdraws from mediation efforts, saying Saleh has been full of "indecision and delays". (BBC)
Authorities close off entire areas in cities across Syria, setting up roadblocks and checkpoints in an attempt to prevent protests after Friday prayers. (AP via Google News)
At least 3 people are killed in the centre of the city of Homs, with one being seen to be shot in the head after forces loyal to the regime fire into crowds of people. Gunfire erupts in the city of Daraa. (BBC)
A video shows 11 dead imams and 45 wounded Muslim holy men, 5 of whom are in a coma, alleged to have been caused by a NATO airstrike. Those attacked were said to have been at rest and sleeping while participating in a long peace march; Muslims and Christians unite in condemnation of the attack. (The Guardian)
Upon speculation that Gaddafi was injured in a NATO air-strike, Libyan State TV released an audio tape of what it claims to be Gaddafi giving a message saying that he was not hurt and is alive. (Al Jazeera)
Authorities extend for 15 more days the detention of Hosni Mubarak, whose regime was overthrown by a recent popular revolution. (BBC)
Suzanne Mubarak, the wife, is detained for 15 days on allegations of corruption and has a heart attack. (BBC)
Tens of thousands of people gather in Tahrir Square to display unity against sectarian tension and solidarity with the plight of the Palestinian people and the other popular uprisings against regimes in the region. Cheers erupt as Suzanne Mubarak is incarcerated. (The Guardian)
Catholic priest Father Mussie Zerai alleges that as many as 400 people, mainly Eritreans, are being held for ransom by human traffickers in the Sinai Desert, and that at least one has been killed after experiencing electric shock torture. (BBC)(UPI)
2011 Charsadda bombing. 80 people were killed when two suicide bombs exploded in the Frontier Constabulary training center in Charsadda District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.
Disasters
Japan's government approves a compensation plan to assist with the tens of billions of dollars for those affected by the malfunctions of the country's tsunami-crippled nuclear plant, fearing that Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) could go bankrupt without the money. (BBC)
8 decapitated corpses, including that of a deputy prison governor, are located by police in Durango, Northwest Mexico. (BBC)
A 62-year-old British woman is beheaded in a supermarket on the Spanish island of Tenerife in what officials say appears to be a random attack. An individual is arrested. (BBC)(The Guardian)
Muammar Gaddafi is among three Libyans facing arrest warrants from the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity including the killing of unarmed protesters, forced displacement, illegal detentions and airstrikes on civilians. (CNN)
Opponents of the Gaddafi regime seek recognition in Europe after the United States stopped short of granting the National Transitional Council full diplomatic recognition, but the White House said it was a "legitimate and credible interlocutor". (Al Jazeera)(VoA)(Tripoli Post)(BBC)
3 people are killed and others are injured as the regime shells Talkalakh, a city near the border with Lebanon; injured Syrians are taken to Lebanese hospitals with at least one man reported to have died. (BBC)(Al Jazeera)(CNN)
Syrian Army troops pull out of the cities of Banias and Deraa after operations to crack down on anti-government protests. (BBC)
At least six people were killed in demonstrations yesterday, as the government promises to hold national dialogue. (Journal of Turkish Weekly)
Suspected al-Qaeda militants kill six soldiers and injure five others in the town of Rada in Yemen while security forces in other cities injure three dozen anti-government protesters demanding the departure of PresidentAli Abdullah Saleh. (CNN)
Six people are killed and at least 19 injured in a blast on a passenger bus in the Punjab province, Pakistan. (CNN)
Musician Bob Dylan responds on his website to allegations he gave in to censorship during a recent series of concerts in China, including criticism from The New York Times over his failure to mention the plight of imprisoned artist and dissident Ai Weiwei. (BBC)
Pakistan's parliament adopts a resolution that demands an immediate stop to drone strikes and an end to raids by U.S. troops within Pakistan's borders and threatens to cut off access to a facility used by NATO forces to ferry troops into Afghanistan, as the rift between the US and Pakistan grows, following the killing of Osama bin Laden. (CNN)
A human rights group urges Iranian authorities not to put acid in the eyes of a man found guilty of blinding a woman who scorned him; a seni-official Iranian news agency reports that the punishment has been postponed. (CNN)
A supporter of imprisoned Welsh-born U.S. serviceman Bradley Manning sues the U.S. government after it confiscates his laptop without a warrant. (UPI)
Tenerife's randomly beheaded British woman is named by her family as 60-year-old Jennifer Mills-Westley. (BBC)(The Guardian)
Syrian forces shell villages near the Lebanese border, and heavy gunfire is heard in Talkalakh, with reports of 8 people having died, in the latest phase of a crackdown by Syrian forces on protesters demonstrating against the rule of PresidentBashar al-Assad. Lebanon tries to seal the border after hundreds flee from Syrian troops and a wounded Syrian woman dies of her injuries after entering Lebanon. (The Jerusalem Post)(CNN)
Women protesters are targeted as thousands of protesters take to the streets in cities across the country for a "Friday of Free Women" protest, in solidarity with those killed or imprisoned in the eight-week uprising. (The Australian)
A man who plunged to his death from a seventh-floor balcony in Brisbane, Australia was participating in the internet craze of "planking", Australian police have said. (BBC)
It is reported that Jennifer Mills-Westley, a British woman recently decapitated in a random attack in Tenerife, complained of harassment moments before being attacked in a supermarket. (BBC)(The Guardian)(CNN)
In Switzerland, the people of Zurich vote to reject a ban on assisted suicide in the country, and also reject the restricting of assisted suicide to Zurich residents only. British pro-euthanasia group Dignity in Dying hails the result as a "brave decision". (BBC)
Italy tests the popularity of its controversial prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, who is embroiled in several criminal trials and sex scandals; Berlusconi alleges the opposition does not "wash much". (BBC)
The US state of Arizona proposes that a $50 fine should be in place for overweight Medicaid recipients who do not follow a strict health regime discussed with the recipient and their doctor.(BBC)
At least twelve people are killed and 80 injured during a protest in the Afghan city of Taloqan against the killing of four civilians in a NATO raid. (BBC)
Strauss-Kahn has another bail hearing in the US city of New York, after being charged with rape, and is given home detention and a million dollars bail. (Reuters), (BBC), (Fox New York)
Members of the Falun Gong spiritual movement in the China file a lawsuit in the United States against Cisco, maker of internet routing gear, alleging Cisco has helped China's government violate their human rights. (Reuters)
The TMX Group, parent corporation of the Toronto Stock Exchange, rejects an acquisition offer from a consortium of Canadian banks, opening the way to an expected deal with the London Stock Exchange. (Reuters)
Disasters
More than 850 people are injured after a train collision in Soweto, South Africa. (RTE)
A report by senior judges in England and Wales has concluded that the media should have the chance to contest applications for injunctions and "superinjunctions" before they are granted, and that these should only be issued in exceptional circumstances. (BBC)
A footballer who took out a superinjunction to stop the publication of details of an extra-marital affair, obtains a disclosure order against Twitter to learn the identities of people who have published confidential information on the website. (BBC)
Tens of thousands of people protest in Santiago, Chile about plans to build two dams on wild rivers in southern Patagonia with an minority of people turning violent. (AP via MSNBC)
Science
The Government of the People's Republic of China acknowledges that there are "urgent problems" associated with the country's Three Gorges Dam project, as it is linked to soil erosion, earthquakes, drought and social upheaval. (The Guardian)
Dawn, Pakistan's largest English-language newspaper, begins publication of thousands of U.S. diplomatic cables it has obtained in a deal with WikiLeaks and Julian Assange. The cables show that the Pakistani military asked the United States to increase its drone attacks against insurgents on Pakistani territory, a request Pakistani authorities have not admitted in public. (Al Jazeera)
Several people are killed and dozens of others are injured in Homs as Syrian security forces attack the funeral of protesters killed in yesterday's protest events during the country's uprising against the regime. (Al Jazeera)
The Syrian regime attacks women protesters, shooting them dead during all-women marches and arresting the female relatives of male protesters. (The Guardian)
The cities of Yafran and al-Qalaa in the Nafusa Mountains are in critical condition following ongoing attacks by Muammar Gaddafi's forces, with heavy artillery shelling continuing, water supplies shut off, and no food or medical supplies coming into the towns for weeks. (CNN)
A bus carrying foreign journalists is attacked by a pro-Muammar Gaddafi crowd; soldiers fire into the air to disperse the crowd. (Reuters)
Scuffles in court (as families reportedly yell "Butcher! Butcher!") lead to the postponement of the trial of Hosni Mubarak's former interior minister Habib el-Adly and six others after "three or four minutes". Habib el-Adly is accused of massacring people who demonstrated against the Mubarak regime, prior to its downfall as a result of a popular revolution in February 2011. (Al Jazeera)
2011–2012 Spanish protests: Thousands of people defy a government ban on gatherings to protest across the country against the Spanish government's economic policies. (BBC)
Police clashed with protesters in Valparaíso, Chile over the government's proposed hydro-electric dam project and education and labour policies which, student leaders say, are going "in the opposite way from those the population were demanding". The demonstration coincides with Sebastián Piñera's state of the nation address. (BBC)
The date passed without incident around the world, while protesters gather outside Harold Camping's Family Radio Network headquarters to celebrate the failed rapture claim. (The New York Times)
Hundreds of Twitter users post the name of an English Premier League footballer who won a superinjunction to stop details of his affair going public, in protest at the player's attempts to sue the social networking site. (BBC)
Veteran British journalist Robert Fisk questions whether the sanctions will affect the Syrian government's crackdown on dissent, as such sanctions have failed to work before. (Al Jazeera)
Iceland's main airport remains closed following the worst eruption of the Grímsvötn volcano since 1873, with the ash cloud starting to spread towards Europe. (Reuters)
Airlines cancel flights to and from Scotland as the ash reaches northern Britain.(BBC)
Thousands of civilians are reportedly at risk of dying from starvation in the Libyan city of Yafran, as Muammar Gaddafi's forces have blockaded the city for over 7 weeks, and what food the people have left is quickly running out. (Dailymail)
Large explosions are reported in the Yemeni capital of Sana'a in the midst of ongoing protests against PresidentAli Abdullah Saleh; opposition forces claim that the violence threatens to escalate into a civil war. (Reuters)
The United States Department of State warns Americans not to travel to Yemen, and recommends that US citizens already in the country leave due to "terrorist activities and civil unrest". (CNN)
The cities of Yafran and al-Qalaa in the Nafusa Mountains are in critical condition following ongoing attacks by Muammar Gaddafi's forces, with heavy artillery shelling continuing, water supplies shut off, and no food or medical supplies coming into the towns for weeks. (Dailymail)(CNN)
The regime's forces attack the towns of Rastan and Talbisa, located north of Damascus, storming houses and using tanks and helicopters to cut the towns off from the outside world. (BBC)
Students and pro-democracy demonstrators are attacked by the government, killing at least two. (Al Jazeera)
3 Greenpeace activists successfully evade a Danish warship to scale an oil rig off the coast of Greenland, attempting to begin deepwater drilling in the arctic. (Irish Independent)
Thousands of anti-government demonstrators vote to continue a mass sit-in against economic cuts in Madrid, following last Friday's targeting of civilians in Barcelona by police with batons and rubber bullets. (BBC)(iAfrica)
A human rights advocate claims that Saudi Arabia has released Manal al-Sherif, detained for breaking the law against women drivers. (AP via Huffington Post)
More than 50 people are killed and hundreds of others are injured by the latest regime forces attacks on civilians in Ta'izz. (BBC)(CNN)
Italy temporarily closes its embassy and withdraws its staff, citing threats against Western embassies in the Yemeni capital, Sana'a. (The Jerusalem Post)
Residents of the town of Homs fight back against government troops with rifles and Rocket-propelled grenades for the first time, in a clash that kills at least four civilians. (The Jerusalem Post)
Tens of thousands of "los indignados", young and old, continue to camp against cuts in city center squares as Greeks gather and Parisians protest in solidarity with their Spanish counterparts. (Reuters via Montreal Gazette)
British officials confirm the government is working on cyber weapons, the first time it has been officially acknowledged that such a programme exists. (The Guardian)
Riot police in Cameroon arrest and disperse hundreds of farmers protesting in the capital Yaounde over poor road conditions and low state support for agriculture. (Reuters)
Seventy-five additional bodies have been recovered from the wreckage of an Air France plane that crashed off the coast of Brazil two years ago, killing all 228 people aboard, bringing the total recovered so far to 127. (CNN)
British authorities refuse asylum to 22-year-old Betty Tibikawa, homophobically attacked by three men in Uganda, despite deputy prime minister Nick Clegg's claim that his government would stop its policy of deporting people who are persecuted over their sexual orientation. The British government is currently detaining Ms. Tibikawa at a facility in Bedford. (The Guardian)
A Spanish court approves the extradition of former Guatemalan Interior Minister Carlos Vielmann to face murder charges in connection with a 2006 uprising at the Pavon prison in Guatemala where seven inmates were killed. (CNN)
The Dalai Lama formally relinquishes his political and administrative powers, following the exiled Tibetan parliament's amendment to its charter to relieve him of his political role; the Dalai Lama remains Tibetan Buddhists' spiritual figurehead. (CNN)
Former government minister Mary Hanafin is outed as one of those who briefed American embassy officials on sensitive government information. Hanafin says she was ordered to do so by U.S. AmbassadorDan Rooney. (Irish Independent)
