Portal:Current events/2012 April 17

April 17, 2012 (Tuesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

South Sudan–Sudan border conflict:
- Sudan continues to bombard a disputed border town seized by South Sudan and claims to have seized territory as clashes spread along the border between the two states. (The Independent) (ABC News)
- The Sudanese parliament declares South Sudan “an enemy” and calls for the overthrow of the government of South Sudan. (Times Live)
The Prime Minister of Australia, Julia Gillard, announces a withdrawal of Australian troops fighting the war in Afghanistan by the end of 2013. (BBC)
Palestinian inmates held in Israeli jails from Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the PFLP and the DFLP go on hunger strike on the Palestinian "Prisoners' Day". Thousands of people rally in towns and cities in both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in support of their action, waving Palestinian flags and displaying photos of imprisoned relatives. (Al Jazeera) (The Jerusalem Post)
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah announces that Hezbollah are willing to mediate between the Syrian government and the opposition, in his first interview with the West in six years, in the first episode of a new interview show The World Tomorrow, hosted by Julian Assange. (CNN) (BBC) (Sydney Morning Herald) (AFP via Google)

Arts and culture

It is announced that more than 20 writers are still needed for a week-long event to include a poet from every nation competing in the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics: among those attending are Jo Shapcott (Great Britain) and Nobel laureates Seamus Heaney (Ireland) and Wole Soyinka (Nigeria). (BBC) (The Guardian)
1996 Turner Prize winner Douglas Gordon becomes the first visual artist to have been nominated for a prize at the Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards. (BBC)
Adele Adkins, Kate Bush and PJ Harvey feature on the shortlist for best album at this year's Ivor Novello Awards - the first ever all-female shortlist. (BBC) (The Guardian)
The shortlist for the Orange Prize for Fiction is announced, featuring Ann Patchett and Anne Enright. (The Guardian)
The St Cuthbert Gospel, the oldest intact European book, is to stay on UK territory due to the £9 million raised for purchase by the British Library. (BBC)

Business and economy

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett admits he has prostate cancer. (BBC)
Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics both agree to settlement talks over pending smartphone related patent litigation. These talks have come about at the urging of U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh. (Reuters)

Disasters

Port Said Stadium disaster: A hearing of 73 men accused of involvement in the killing of 79 people is adjourned until May 5. (Al Jazeera)

International relations

Senior U.S. officials admit for the first time that the Secret Service prostitution scandal during the 6th Summit of the Americas involved as many as 20 women, 11 American agents and some military personnel. (BBC)
Spanish foreign minister José García-Margallo y Marfil attacks Argentina over its decision to nationalise YPF, an Argentine oil company in which Spanish company Repsol has a majority shareholding, a decision reported to be popular in Argentina. (BBC)
Guinea-Bissau is suspended from the African Union one week after a coup d'état. (Al Jazeera)
Mali appoints Cheick Modibo Diarra, Microsoft chairman for Africa and a former NASA astrophysicist, as its interim prime minister after a coup d'état. (Al Jazeera)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu receives a Palestinian delegation delivering a letter from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas detailing his demands for restarting peace talks after previous negotiations on a two-state solution stalled. (BBC) (The Jerusalem Post)
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah appears in his first interview with the West in six years, in the first episode of a new interview show The World Tomorrow, hosted by Julian Assange, and announces that Hezbollah are willing to mediate between the Syrian government and the opposition. (New York Daily News) (CNN) (BBC) (Sydney Morning Herald) (ABC) (AFP via Google)

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