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Portal:Current events/2011 May 19

{{Current events|year=2011|month=05|day=19|content=

;Armed conflicts and attacks

  • Syria condemns the decision by the United States to impose sanctions on President Bashar al-Assad in response to ongoing anti-government protests. [http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/05/2011518164713908756.html (Al Jazeera)]
  • 2011 Libyan civil war:
  • Rebels in Libya launch a television channel to counter Muammar Gaddafi's state media. [http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFLDE74I1CX20110519?sp=true (Reuters)]
  • NATO claims to have sunk eight Libyan Navy warships in airstrikes on Tripoli's main port. [http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2011/05/19/pf-18169386.html (C News)]
  • Two Vietnamese sailors are shot and wounded in the disputed Spratly Islands. [https://web.archive.org/web/20110523110121/http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/SEAsia/Story/STIStory_670401.html (Straits Times)]
  • A double bombing in the city of Kirkuk in northern Iraq kills 27 people and injures dozens. [http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iraq-bombing-20110520,0,6719256.story (Los Angeles Times)]

;Arts and culture

  • Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier is banned by the Cannes Film Festival for remarks, made in jest, that he sympathizes with Adolf Hitler. Trier later apologises for his comments. [http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ga452JRxmj1dNY8Pan429Afh3sig?docId=df8f9cbde00e418d80ae5966386f77aa (AP)] [http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/may/19/cannes-film-festival-2011-lars-von-trier-banned (The Guardian)]
  • US journalist Katie Couric signs off as the host of the CBS Evening News. [http://au.eonline.com/uberblog/b242982_katie_couric_signs_off_from_cbs_evening.html (E! Online)]
  • A special edition of the BBC's political debate programme Question Time is recorded at Wormwood Scrubbs Prison in London. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/may/20/question-time-tv-ratings (The Guardian)]

;Business and finance

  • A civil service strike in Botswana closes many hospitals. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13453041 (BBC)]
  • Dominique Strauss-Kahn sexual assault charge:
  • Dominique Strauss-Kahn offers his resignation as head of the International Monetary Fund following the charges. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-13450783 (BBC)], [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/05/18/501364/main20064172.shtml (CBS News)]
  • 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. [https://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/19/us-strausskahn-arrest-idUSTRE74D29F20110519?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews (Reuters)], [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13450078 (BBC)], [http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/strauss-kahn-bail-hearing-20110519 (Fox New York)]
  • The Japanese economy officially goes into recession, in part due to the effects of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. [https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110519/ap_on_bi_ge/as_japan_economy_4 (AP via Yahoo! News)]
  • John Malone's Liberty Media makes a US$1 billion bid for bookseller Barnes & Noble. [https://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/19/barnesandnoble-idUSN199819220110519 (Reuters)]
  • The Eurasian Economic Community, led by Russia, offers Belarus a US$3 billion bailout package. [http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0a19e488-8242-11e0-961e-00144feabdc0.html?ftcamp=rss#axzz1MqXk69DD (Financial Times)]

;Disasters and accidents

  • 22 people are killed when Sol Líneas Aéreas Flight 5428 crashes in southern Argentina. [http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/americas/05/19/argentina.plane.crash/ (CNN)]
  • A magnitude 6.0 earthquake hits western Turkey, about 230 km south of Istanbul, killing at least two people and leaving many injured. [http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hcUBWu4RaTuNGjqixRwCe8nE283g (The Associated Press)]

;International relations

  • The United Nations World Food Programme calls for "urgent assistance" for the North Korean people due to a food crisis. [http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/1129855/1/.html (Channel News Asia)]
  • Barack Obama Middle East speech:
  • President Obama gives a speech in support of the Arab Spring during which he states that the solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict must include Israel reverting its borders back to the pre-1967 borders.[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13465104 (BBC)]
  • The Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu rejects the proposal. [http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/144338 (Israel National News)]
  • 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. [https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/23/technology/23cisco.html?ref=business (Reuters)]

;Law and crime

  • Police in China search for a man who threw eggs and a shoe at the creator of the "Great Firewall of China", Fang Binxing. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13455819 (BBC)] [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/8523806/Man-behind-Great-Firewall-of-China-pelted-with-eggs.html (The Telegraph)] [http://www.businessinsider.com/fang-binxing-2011-5 (Business Insider)]
  • The daughter of Uzbek President Islam Karimov sues a French website for calling her father a "dictator". [http://www.rferl.org/content/uzbek_presidents_daughter_sues_website_for_calling_dad_a_dictator/24179904.html (RFE/RL)]
  • Authorities in Egypt suspend the prison sentences of 120 protesters who participated in the 2011 Egyptian revolution. [http://edmonton.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20110519/egypt-military-suspends-protesters-sentences-110519/20110519/?hub=EdmontonHome (CTV)]
  • The former boss of the Royal Bank of Scotland, Sir Fred Goodwin, is named as allegedly having had an affair with a colleague after the High Court of England and Wales lifts an injunction. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-13453626 (BBC)]
  • The Supreme Court of British Columbia rules that anonymity for sperm donors and egg donors is unconstitutional in Canada. [http://www.globalnational.com/health/Anonymity+sperm+donors+unconstitutional+judge/4810996/story.html (Canadian Press via Global National)]

;Politics and elections

;Sport

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