A state of emergency is declared inFiji as nearly 7000 people are displaced and two people have been killed duringfloods with conditions set to worsen with heavy storms expected following Tropical Depression 17F.(AAP viaHerald Sun)(AFP viaPerth Now)
The three widows and two daughters ofOsama bin Laden are convicted of illegally living inPakistan and sentenced to 45 days in jail and fined$114 each.(BBC)
A ban on the display oftobacco products by retailers comes into force inEngland. Lawmakers hope it will lead to a reduction in the number of young people taking upsmoking.(BBC)
The 158thBoat Race between Oxford and Cambridge is stopped mid-race due to a swimmer in the water. After a clash of oars at the restart, Cambridge won easily.(BBC)(Yahoo)
At least 40 people are reported killed acrossSyria ahead of the Tuesday deadline forSyrian armed forces to withdraw from cities, as part of a peace plan brokered by U.N.-Arab League special envoyKofi Annan.(CNN)
U.S. police arrest two men suspected in carrying out ashooting attack inTulsa,Oklahoma, that happened the day before, leaving three people dead and two injured. The shootings are being investigated as ahate crime.(CNN)
Charges are dropped against Larisa Litvinova in the case of lawyerSergei Magnitsky, whose controversial death in a Russian jail led to claims of torture and neglect.(BBC)
DisabledChinese land rights lawyerNi Yulan and her husband are sentenced by a Beijing court a year after they were detained for fraud and "provoking trouble".(Jakarta Post)
Theattorneys forGeorge Zimmerman, the main person of interest in the shooting of Trayvon Martin, say that they quit representing Zimmerman due to them losing contact with him.(CNN)
Anearthquake occurs off the coast ofAceh inIndonesia with a preliminary magnitude of 8.6 and atsunami warning issued. There are five indirect fatalities.(NineMSN)
ThePhilippines sends another ship to join the current ship it has involved in a confrontation with twoChinese surveillance ships on theSouth China Sea, although both sides claim to be committed to a peaceful solution.(BBC)(Wall Street Journal)
Protesters clash with riot police in the city ofChongqing in southwestern China during a protest over economic grievances from the redistricting ofWansheng District.(AP via Yahoo!)
A draftUnited NationsSecurity Council resolution outlines plans to send observers toSyria to monitor compliance with a new peace plan, as several people are reportedly shot dead after Friday prayers.(BBC)
Spain seeks to deterArgentina's nationalization ofYPF, an Argentine oil company majority-owned by Spain'sRepsol, warning that such a nationalization would make Argentina a "pariah".(New York Times)
Following a meeting withpro-democracy leaderAung San Suu Kyi inRangoon, Cameron calls for economic sanctions against Burma to be suspended in recognition of the changes taking place there.(BBC)
Across Europe, hundreds of activists are prevented by authorities from boarding flights bound forTel Aviv as part of theWelcome to Palestine campaign. Hundreds of Israeli police officers are deployed at Israel's main airport to arrest any activists who manage to fly in.(Al Jazeera)(The Times of Israel)
At least 55 people are reported killed, including 26 in the city ofIdlib, as violence increases again despite the arrival of U.N. observers to monitor a cease-fire.(CNN)
Military leaders and a group of political parties inGuinea-Bissau announce the formation of a Transitional National Council afterthe recent coup; theacting president and prime minister remain in detention.(CNN)
A six-year-old boy is killed and two other children are wounded after a militant throws a hand grenade into aco-educational school nearPeshawar, northwestPakistan.(CNN)
The U.S. military's top officerMartin Dempsey speaks of being "embarrassed" and tells aPentagon news conference "we let the boss down" in relation to allegations thatUnited States Secret Service agents habitually associated with prostitutes inColombia. Pentagon spokesmanGeorge E. Little tells reporters that the number of military staff involved could be more than the five originally reported.(BBC)
An Israeli soldier hits a foreign pro-Palestinian activist, believed to be aDanish national, with his gun after protesters attack and injure the soldier; the Danish ambassador to Israel demands an explanation from Israel.(Al Jazeera)(Los Angeles Times)(Toronto Star)(Ynet)
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 areJo Shapcott (Great Britain) and Nobel laureatesSeamus Heaney (Ireland) andWole Soyinka (Nigeria).(BBC)(The Guardian)
TheSt Cuthbert Gospel, the oldest intact European book, is to stay on UK territory due to the £9 million raised for purchase by theBritish Library.(BBC)
Senior U.S. officials admit for the first time that the Secret Service prostitution scandal during the6th Summit of the Americas involved as many as 20 women, 11 American agents and some military personnel.(BBC)
Spanish foreign ministerJosé García-Margallo y Marfil attacks Argentina over its decision to nationaliseYPF, an Argentine oil company in which Spanish companyRepsol has a majority shareholding, a decision reported to be popular in Argentina.(BBC)
Thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators march throughTubli calling for the downfall of the regime and chanting against theFormula 1 Grand Prix, due to be held in Bahrain on Sunday.(Al Jazeera)
Police fire stun grenades at protesters in a separate rally outside a cultural exhibition inManama amid calls for the release of imprisonedAbdulhadi al-Khawaja, being kept alive byintravenous drip.(BBC)
Cuba claims U.S. PresidentBarack Obama was forced to use his "imperial veto" to stop the summit calling for an end to theU.S. embargo against it.(BBC)
North Korea rejects criticism from countries on theUnited Nations Security Council regarding its failed rocket launch, and breaks off an agreement that would see it halt testing of nuclear weapons in exchange for food aid.(AFP via Google)
Senior U.S. officials condemn graphic photos depicting their troops posing with the mangled corpses of suspected Afghan suicide bombers on at least two separate occasions months apart. TheLos Angeles Times defends its publication of the photos after being warned against the move by the U.S. military.(Al Jazeera)
Law and crime
China pledges an investigation into the death ofBritish businessman Neil Haywood, and the alleged role of former politicianBo Xilai and his wife.(BBC)
An agent at the centre of the U.S. prostitution scandal in Colombia denied one of his escorts $770 from an agreed fee of $800, according toThe New York Times, thus prompting the row that revealed the scandal to the public.(BBC)
Police fire sound bombs andtear gas at demonstrators and wound dozens of people withbuckshot as reporting restrictions are imposed by the Bahrainese regime.(Al Jazeera)
At least 18 deaths are reported byYemen's defence ministry as a result of an army offensive intent on recapturing the capital ofAbyan Governorate.(BBC)
Marcus Robinson, due to have been executed in 2007, is ordered off death row afterNorth Carolina Superior Court Judge Gregory Weeks rules his trial was tainted byracial bias, grounds for cancellation of a death sentence under the state'sRacial Justice Act. The judge used controversial statistical evidence of bias to grant the change of sentence.(BBC)
Demonstrators against the regime flood a main highway in a march stretching for miles as Bahrain's rulers struggle to contain opposition anger ahead of theFormula 1 Grand Prix.(The Daily Telegraph)
Police firetear gas at demonstrators outside the capitalManama ahead of the Grand Prix.(RTE)
Salah Abbas Habib is beaten to death by police supporting the Bahraini regime.(Al Jazeera)(BBC)
The regime stifles coverage of demonstrations against its rule by denying entry to journalists from news organisations including Sky, which holds the UK TV rights to air the controversial Formula 1 Grand Prix, as well asCNN,Reuters and theFinancial Times.(The Guardian)
The Bahraini regime presses ahead with its plans to use the Formula 1 Grand Prix as a symbol of national unity.(The Irish Times)
FIA presidentJean Todt dismisses concerns about the reputation of Formula 1 following week-long damaging headlines and calls for aboycott over its support of the regime.(Daily Mail)
Renewed protests against the regime break out overnight with police firingtear gas andstun grenades at civilians. Chants of "Down withHamad," calling for theKing of Bahrain to be ousted from power, are reported by witnesses.(RTE)
Despite calls for the2012 Bahrain Grand Prix to be cancelled following the death of a man, the race is staged, under armed guard.(BBC)
Turnout is reported to be low, thoughSalman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, heir apparent to the Bahraini throne, is seen smiling and shaking hands with other spectators at the finish.(Reuters)
It is revealed thatForce India tried to pull out of the race and return to Britain but, after the team's refusal to take to the circuit, there was a confrontation betweenBernie Ecclestone and the Force India team.(Daily Mirror)
The Sunday Telegraph's chief foreign correspondent Colin Freeman and his fixer and translator are arrested. Activist Ala'a Shehabi is arrested after reporting the arrest of Colin Freeman.The Guardian reports the arrest of Ala'a Shehabi.(The Guardian)
Calls for afternoon protests at the destroyedPearl Roundabout, the original site of the uprising against the rulingAl Khalifa family, get underway as the race ends, while protests are also held outside theLondon offices ofFormula One chief,Bernie Ecclestone, with demonstrators chanting "down, down Bernie" and "shame on you Bernie".(Al Jazeera)
Anonymous, which last week took out the official website ofFormula One, posts partially redacted data concerning dozens of race ticket holders found on Formula One servers. The international group also posts a statement online saying it intends to carry out further action if imprisoned hunger strikerAbdulhadi al-Khawaja or his family are harmed, promising to "respond with fury and rage the likes of which have never been seen."(NPR)
U.S. and Afghan negotiators finalise an agreement concerning the continuing U.S. presence in Afghanistan after the U.S. withdraws its troops at the end of 2014.(BBC)
At least two people are killed and hundreds of others injured in clashes between police and protestors during a nationwide strike inBangladesh, which was triggered by the unexplained disappearance of opposition politicianIlyas Ali.(Al Jazeera)
Bahraini uprising: Bahrain's highest appeals court postpones for a week the final verdict in the case of imprisoned hunger strikerAbdulhadi al-Khawaja and 20 other democracy activists.(BBC)
Syrian uprising: Syrian regime forces kill at least 33 people with shells and gunfire in the city of Hama.(BBC)
The Egyptian government denies licenses to eight U.S. civil society groups, including theCarter Center.(BBC)
Arts and culture
A festival ofWilliam Shakespeare's 37 plays performed polyglotically, fromSwahili tosign language, begins as part of the World Shakespeare Festival on the anniversary of the Bard of Avon's birth.(BBC)
White House lawyers launch an internal investigation into the role its advance staff may have played in the U.S. Secret Service sex scandal in Colombia, though no evidence has been found to implicate anyone in the scandal.(BBC)
Former Icelandic prime ministerGeir Haarde is found not guilty of negligence over the island's2008 economic meltdown. He is to face no punishment and his legal expenses are to be paid.(BBC)
The sister ofMI6 officerGareth Williams, found dead in his flat, tells his inquest that he had been a "scrupulous risk-assessor" and only let "vetted" people into his home.(BBC)
The British broadcasting regulatorOfcom launches an investigation into the hacking of private email accounts by Sky News.(BBC)
The Ofcom announcement comes on the same day that the news channel's bossJohn Ryley appears before theLeveson Inquiry where he says the company broke the law by hacking emails.(BBC)
Officials inFlorida refuse to allow Bill Lee, the police chief who did not arrest George Zimmerman after he shot and killed unarmedblack teenagerTrayvon Martin, to resign. George Zimmerman, now facing a murder charge, is released on bail and taken to a secret location.(BBC)
Scientists record what they believe to be the first adult whiteorca in the wild off the coast ofKamchatka,Russia.(BBC)
Sport
The home and email addresses of the 38,000 entrants to theLondon Marathon are published on the website of the organisers.(BBC)
Rangers F.C. ownerCraig Whyte is banned for life from any involvement in Scottish football while a 12-monthtransfer embargo is imposed on the club.(BBC)
Syrian uprising: Three people are injured in a car bombing in centralDamascus, blamed by the regime-backed state television on an "armed terrorist group". The opposition say around sixty people were killed nationwide yesterday.(Al Jazeera)
Imprisoned U.S. servicemanBradley Manning's defence insist his case was mishandled by American prosecutors and must now be thrown out.(Al Jazeera)
Ireland'spolice watchdog rules that there are no grounds for any criminal case against any of five officers involved in the 31 March 2011 incident known as the “rape tape” controversy, resulting from the inadvertent video recording of a sergeant in a patrol car joking about the rape of two women.(Irish Examiner)(The Journal)
British police arrest five people in theEnglish town ofLuton on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism.(BBC)
A spokesman forNewt Gingrich announces he will remain in the primary until the convention, despite having been placed behind in opinion polling.(ABC News)
Seven people are killed inNigeria after a suicide bomber detonates a bomb in his car. The attacks took place inAbuja, at theThis Day newspaper offices.(CBS)
U.S. PresidentBarack Obama refuses to comment onChen Guangcheng, the blind Chinese dissident said to be at the U.S. embassy after fleeing house arrest.(BBC)
