Portal:Current events/2012 February 22

February 22, 2012 (Wednesday)

Armed conflict and attacks

Afghanistan Quran protests:
- Hundreds of Afghans hold violent protests against the alleged burning of Qurans at the Bagram Airbase north of Kabul. (Reuters)
- The United States Embassy in Kabul goes into lockdown as a result of the protests. (Reuters)
2011–2012 Syrian uprising:
- Two Western journalists are killed in the Syrian city of Homs, American Marie Colvin working for the Sunday Times and French photographer Remi Ochlik. (Reuters)
- Activists report that at least 92 people have been killed across Syria after security force shelling intensified in the rebel-held Baba Amr district in the city of Homs. (Al Arabiya)
Explosions are reported in the northern Nigerian city of Kano. (AFP via Google News)
Somalian Civil War:
- Operation Linda Nchi: The al-Shabaab militant base of Baidoa is captured by Ethiopian and Somali forces. (BBC)
- The United Nations Security Council votes to increase the size of the African Union peacekeeping force to 18,000. (The Guardian)

Disasters

Thousands of people in the New Zealand city of Christchurch commemorate the first anniversary of the earthquake that killed 185 people last year. (TV New Zealand)
A train crash in Buenos Aires, Argentina, kills at least 50 people and injures hundreds. (BBC)
Seven US Marines die in a helicopter crash on the border of the states of California and Arizona. (CNN)

International relations

Azerbaijan's National Security Ministry says it has uncovered a terrorist plot aimed at Jewish targets organized by a non-state group linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guard and Lebanon's Hezbollah. (RIA Novosti)
The International Atomic Energy Agency states that Iran has denied inspectors access to the Parchin military site where it believes that suspicious nuclear activities may be taking place. (Al Jazeera)

Law and crime

Indonesian police storm Kerobokan Prison on the island of Bali to end a riot with two prisoners injured. (AAP via News Limited) (Reuters)
In Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S., former University of Virginia men's lacrosse player George Huguely is found guilty of second-degree murder in the 2010 death of former UVA women's lacrosse player Yeardley Love. The jury recommends a 26-year prison sentence, with formal sentencing scheduled for April. (ABC News)

Politics

Yoaz Hendel, the top spokesman for Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu, resigns following a disagreement over handling an issue involving another aide. (AP via Washington Post)
Kevin Rudd resigns as Foreign Minister of Australia after alleged "attacks on credibility" by supporters of Prime Minister Julia Gillard. (Herald-Sun)