Portal:Current events/2012 August 13

Current events of August 13, 2012 (2012-08-13) (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)