Portal:Current events/2012 May 26

• War in Afghanistan:
  • CNN estimates that the death toll of NATO forces reaches 3,000. (The Telegraph)
  • The Parliament of Afghanistan approves a strategic pact with the United States which should see US troops present in Afghanistan until 2014. (Reuters)
• Two rebel groups in northern Mali, Ansar Dine and the National Movement for the Liberation of the Azawad join forces to form an independent Islamic state in the territory they occupy. (Miami Herald)
• There are widespread reports of at least 92 people being killed in the village of Houla in Syria Homs Governorate. (Agencies via The Canberra Times)

• Swedish pop music singer Loreen wins the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 with her song Euphoria. (Reuters via ABC Online)

• At least six people are dead and another six missing after a landslide at an illegal gold mine in the Bogor district in Indonesia's West Java area. (AAP via News Limited)

• China releases an annual report on human rights, criticizing the United States' human rights record, citing the arrest of Occupy Wall Street protesters and Internet restrictions. (CNN)

• A gunman in the town of Hyvinkää near the Finnish capital Helsinki kills 2 people and injures 7 in a shooting before being arrested. (AP via ABC News America) (AP via Google News)
• The brother of Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng is reported as missing, and is then found a day later. (Reuters)
• The Vatican confirms that the butler to Pope Benedict XVI has been arrested for allegedly leaking confidential documents. (AP via Washington Post)
• The "Miami cannibal attack" on the MacArthur Causeway in Miami, Florida.

• Voters in Lesotho go to the polls for a general election with a close result expected. (Reuters)
• In Singapore, the Hougang by-election conclude with almost 22,000 voters casting ballots. Png Eng Huat of the Workers' Party emerged as the winner with 62.08% of the valid votes cast. This was the first Singaporean by-election after over 19 years. (Channel NewsAsia)