Portal:Current events/2011 November 17

• 2011 Syrian uprising: Explosions and gunfire are reported in the Syrian capital Damascus. (CNN)
• The presidents of Kenya, Somalia and Uganda meet in Nairobi to discuss coordinated military operations against the al-Qaeda-linked Somali terrorist group Al-Shabaab. (CNN)

• Swedish divers find the wreckage of the warship Svärdet, sunk in 1676 during the Battle of Öland. (Discovery)

• The British Government sells the Northern Rock bank – which was nationalised in 2008 – to Virgin Money for £747m. (BBC)

• An Idaho man, Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez, is charged with the attempted assassination of U.S. President Barack Obama, after two bullets are found embedded in the exterior of the White House. The President and First Lady were not present at the time of the alleged attack. (New York Times)

• The Polynesian Leaders Group, an eight-member governmental cooperative regional grouping, is formally launched in Apia, Samoa. (Radio New Zealand International)
• Reports emerge that nearly 14,000 North Korean anti-chemical-weapon suits, believed destined for Syria, were seized by Greek authorities in November 2009. (Space Daily)

• The United States House of Representatives considers censoring the Internet for the first time with the Stop Online Piracy Act. (Washington Post)
• Daniel Ortega, the President of Nicaragua, is declared the winner of the recent Presidential election, but opponents protest the results. (CNN)

• China's unmanned Shenzhou 8 spacecraft successfully returns to Earth, landing in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region after docking twice with the Tiangong-1 orbital laboratory module. (Xinhua) (BBC)

• The ongoing NBA lockout continues, with NBA commissioner David Stern warning NBA team owners that the 2011–12 NBA season might be cancelled. (ESPN)