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Portal:Current events/2011 October 20

{{Current events|year=2011|month=10|day=20|content=

;Armed conflicts and attacks

  • 2011 Libyan civil war:
  • Deposed Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi is killed in a crossfire between Gaddafi loyalists and rebel fighters in his hometown of Sirte, Libya. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15389550 (BBC)]
  • The pro-Gaddafi stronghold of Sirte is captured by National Transitional Council forces following a month-long siege. The fall of Sirte marks the effective consolidation of NTC control across Libya, following the capture of the Gaddafi holdout of Bani Walid on October 17. [http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE79J09O20111020 (Reuters Africa)]
  • Mutassim Gaddafi is killed in an extrajudicial killing. ([http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2051857/Gaddafi-dead-Dictators-son-Mutassim-pictured-moments-execution.html?ITO=google_news_rss_feed Daily Mail])
  • In the wake of recent terrorist attacks in southern Turkey, up to 10,000 soldiers of the Turkish Army advance into northern Iraq, pursuing Kurdish separatist PKK militants. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15390006 (BBC)]
  • Basque separatist terrorist organisation ETA declares an end to its 43-year campaign of political violence, which has killed over 800 people since 1968. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15393014 (BBC)]

;Business and economy

  • The government of Germany states that national GDP growth in 2012 will be significantly lower than initially predicted, due to the eurozone's ongoing economic crisis. [http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iIKDcYh_AoHiU2JQO91dfh9QKvTQ?docId=CNG.ed88dea43c5a08464441621d7db36576.391 (AFP)]
  • Japanese optical and imaging equipment company Olympus faces a possible credit downgrade and plunging share prices, due to a spreading scandal over the recent dismissal of its chief executive, Michael Woodford. [https://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/20/us-olympus-idUSTRE79I0SX20111020 (Reuters)]

;Disasters

;Law and crime

  • A man is killed and at least 74 people are injured in major riots in the Greek capital Athens on the second day of a nationwide general strike, as Greeks protest in their thousands against new austerity measures intended to alleviate the country's ongoing debt crisis. [https://web.archive.org/web/20111022210304/http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/dead-greek-riots-government-faces-dissent-14779536 (ABC)]
  • Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange: The leading commander of the military wing of Hamas, Ahmed Jabari, confirms in an interview with the Saudi Arabian newspaper Al-Hayat that the prisoners released in exchange for captured Israeli Gilad Shalit were collectively responsible for the deaths of 569 Israeli civilians. [http://www.haaretz.com/news/shalit-prisoner-swap/shalit-s-captors-he-wasn-t-tortured-he-received-medical-care-and-watched-tv-1.391072 (Haaretz)]

;Politics and elections

  • The Parliament of New Zealand is dissolved in preparation for a general election on November 26. [http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/88809/parliament-dissolved-for-election (Radio New Zealand)]
  • Britain's three main political parties order their MPs to vote against a Parliamentary motion calling for a referendum on the UK's membership of the European Union, due to be debated on Monday. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-15382019 (BBC)]
  • Amid major riots and a general strike, the Hellenic Parliament approves a highly controversial package of austerity measures aimed at resolving Greece's ongoing debt crisis. The austerity measures include higher taxes and cuts to public sector wages. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15396467 (BBC)]
  • The American Jobs Act fails to garner the necessary sixty votes in the United States Senate to proceed. [http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-10-21/piecemeal-plan-to-obama-jobs-bill-fails-first-senate-test.html (Business Week)]

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