Portal:Current events/2012 February 19

• Mexican Drug War:
  • At least 44 people are killed in a prison brawl in Apodaca, Nuevo León. The brawl is believed to have been started after the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas, two rival Mexican drug cartels, clashed inside the prison. (BBC)
• 2011–2012 Syrian uprising:
  • One of Syria's leading businessmen says sanctions against the country are crippling the economy and that the government is "disintegrating". (BBC)
  • Egypt recalls its ambassador to the country. (RIA Novosti) (BBC)
  • Security is increased in the capital Damascus in an attempt to prevent further protests in the capital. (Buenos Aires Herald)
  • Anti-government rebels kill two legal officials and an aide in Idlib Governorate. (UPI)
• 2012 Senegalese protests:
  • Police fire tear gas in a fifth day of anti-government protests in the capital Dakar. (Africasia)
  • Protesters set up barricades in three blocks of central Dakar. (The Guardian)
• Five people are injured in a bomb explosion near a church in Suleja, Nigeria. (Al-Ahram)
• A suicide bomber kills at least 19 officers and cadets and injures 26 outside an Iraqi police academy in northeastern Baghdad. (Trust.org)
• Rebels from Chad rob 40 people – including a local government official – in attacks in the Central African Republic. (IOL)

• Paolo and Vittorio Taviani's Caesar Must Die wins the Golden Bear at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival. (BBC)
• China detains a Tibetan writer in Sichuan amid recent anti-government protests in the region. (The Times of India)
• Australians commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Bombing of Darwin by Japan during World War II. (Sydney Morning Herald)
• ESPN admits two other instances in which it referred to the American basketball player Jeremy Lin by the racial slur "chink". It comes after yesterday's controversial "Chink in the Armor" headline which ESPN defended as only having appeared to mobile browsers for 35 minutes. (Newsday) (RTE)
• Whitney Houston is buried at Fairview Cemetery in Westfield, New Jersey, USA. (BBC)
• A record 2.2 million people attend the Bola Preta street party during the Rio de Janeiro carnival. (BBC)
• News International confirms plans to publish the first edition of the Sun on Sunday next weekend. (BBC)

• Iran ceases oil exports to France and the United Kingdom, in a retaliatory move against European Union sanctions. (Al Jazeera)
• India's Kingfisher Airlines cancels 16 flights from Mumbai and stops operations in Kolkata over the next four days. (NDTV)

• At least 17 people are seriously injured after two gas explosions at a nightclub in the city of Sighetu Marmației, Romania. (Reuters) (Yahoo! News)
• At least three people have died and eight are believed missing in the Stevens Pass Ski Area in the US state of Washington. (BBC)
• One person is killed and more than 20 injured after a coach bringing a group of British schoolchildren home from a skiing trip in Italy crashes near Châlons-en-Champagne in northern France. (BBC)

• North Korea threatens "merciless" attacks against South Korea over its planned live-fire drills near the disputed Northern Limit Line. (The Independent)
• Iranian warships dock at the Syrian port of Tartous, according to Iranian state media. (Al Jazeera)
• Xi Jinping's visit to Ireland:
  • Xi Jinping travels from the scenic city of Shannon to the capital Dublin as his visit continues. (China Daily)
  • New pacts promoting trade, investment and education between China and Ireland are signed in Dublin. (BBC) (Financial Times)
  • Taoiseach Enda Kenny is invited to China, which would be his first visit there. (RTÉ)

• Burmese dissident monk U Gambira, released last month from prison, is to face trial on charges breaking into and squatting in monasteries. (Straits Times)
• A fight amongst inmates leads to a prison riot in the Mexican city of Apodaca, Nuevo León, with 44 people dead. (AP via Herald-Sun)

• Egyptian election officials fail to confirm the date of the first presidential election since Hosni Mubarak was ousted from power in last year's revolution. (BBC)
• Hundreds of cars circle in the Russian capital Moscow in a demonstration demanding free elections. (AP)
• President of France Nicolas Sarkozy has the first big rally of his re-election campaign in Marseille. (BBC)
• The Premier of the Australian state of Queensland visits the Governor Penelope Wensley to have writs issued for a state election on March 24. (Brisbane Times)