Portal:Current events/2012 August 4
< Portal:Current events
August 4, 2012 (Saturday)
Armed conflict and attacks
- Arab Spring:
- Syrian civil war:
- Clashes continue in Aleppo, with fighting near the city's television and radio station. (Al Jazeera)
- Renewed fighting erupts in the capital, Damascus. (MSN)
- Russia and China–two of the 12 countries that opposed a United Nations General Assembly resolution concerning Syria–criticise the resolution as one-sided. (Al Jazeera)
- Nearly 48 Iranian pilgrims are kidnapped from a bus in the vicinity of a shrine near Damascus. (BBC)
- 2011–2012 Saudi Arabian protests:
- A soldier and protester are killed in a demonstration in the eastern city of Qatif. (Al Jazeera)
- Bahraini uprising (2011–present):
- The daughter of activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja has her detention extended and is charged with "destroying government property". (The Huffington Post)
- Syrian civil war:
- A suicide bombing in the southern Yemeni province of Abyan kills at least 45 people. (BBC)
- Gunmen attack an oil barge off the Niger Delta in Nigeria, killing two navy sailors and kidnapping four foreigners. (BBC)
- Iran claims to have successfully test fired a Fateh-110 missile. (Reuters via Yahoo! News)
Disasters
- North Korea raises the death toll from recent floods to 169, with 400 missing. (IOL)
- Heavy rains in the Indian state of Uttarakhand causes the loss of at least six lives in floods and landslides. (The Times of India)
International relations
- Jailed Islamist cleric Abu Bakar Bashir threatens to wage war in Burma following alleged abuses by Buddhists against the country's Rohingya people by the Tatmadaw, in a letter to Burmese president Thein Sein. (Bangkok Post)
- Sudan confirms an oil agreement with neighbouring South Sudan. (Deutsche Welle)
Law and crime
- The defence lawyer for the Russian band Pussy Riot says the accused face long jail terms, and accuses the court of pressuring the defendants and witnesses. (Bangladesh News 24)
Politics
- The Parliament of Afghanistan votes to dismiss the Defence and Interior Ministers over continued cross-border shelling by Pakistan. (Reuters)
Sport
- 2012 Summer Olympics:
- In athletics, Oscar Pistorius of South Africa becomes the first amputee to compete at the Olympic Games in the 400 meters. (The Daily Telegraph)
- Britain wins six gold medals and a silver on Day Eight of the 2012 London Olympics, making it the greatest British success in one day at an Olympics since 1908. (BBC Sport)
- Erick Barrondo wins the first Olympic medal in Guatemala's history in the 20km racewalking competition. (Chicago Tribune)