Gaza fires missiles at Tel Aviv
For the first time since the 1991 Gulf War, Tel Aviv was threatened by missiles. This incident resulted in no casualties after Palestinian militants fired on Israel’s commercial capital, according to the BBC.
In a previous strike, three Israelis were killed when rockets from Gaza made contact with Israeli soil. Fifteen Palestinian casualties have been reported within two days of Israeli attacks on Gaza.
More than 270 rockets have been launched from Gaza to Israel since Wednesday afternoon when an Israel strike killed Ahmed Jabari, military leader of Hamas.@@checked@@
Greek protesters assault German diplomat
No arrests or injuries were reported after Greek protesters threw water and coffee at Germany’s consul in response to civil service lay-offs and German decisions that many Greeks believe have caused the worst recession Europe has ever experienced since WWII.
The incident also occurred the day after a German deputy labor minister said that a study had indicated that 3,000 Greek employees do the same amount of local administration work that 1,000 German employees accomplish, according to Al Jazeera.@@http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Jazeera@@ This comment was not well received by Greek citizens.
Aside from Greece, hundreds of thousands of Europeans participated in protests in several major capitals on Wednesday, demanding that governments create more jobs and stop cutting benefits.
BP to pay largest criminal fine in U.S. history
BP has agreed to pay $4.5 billion — the largest criminal fine in U.S. history — in order to settle the charges against the company concerning the deadly oil rig explosion and spill in the Gulf of Mexico, according to The Guardian.
The company will also plead guilty to 11 felony counts of misconduct or neglect of ships’ officers. It will also plead guilty to single misdemeanor counts under the Clean Water Act and the Migratory Bird Act, as well as one felony count of obstruction of Congress.
China names new leaders
Xi Jinping@@http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-20322288@@ has been named the official leader of China for the next decade, according to the BBC. Xi is one of seven members (down from nine) of the new Politburo Standing Committee that was chosen by the new Party Central Committee.
The other members are Li Keqiang, Vice-Premier Zhang Dejiang, Shanghai party boss Yu Zhengsheng, propaganda chief Liu Yunshan, Vice-Premier Wang Qishan, and Tianjin party boss Zhang Gaoli. The majority of the group is considered politically conservative.
Online reactions to Xi’s speech were favorable, with netizens commending him on his more informal approach. Xi hopes to address corruption during his time in office.
Turkey backs new Syrian rebel group as legitimate leader of Syria
Turkey’s acknowledgment of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces as the true leaders of Syria is the latest of three significant endorsements that have occurred this week. Members of the Gulf Cooperation Council — including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait — recognized the group on Monday with France following suit on Tuesday.
According to The New York Times, aside from legitimacy, the group hopes to attract support in order to obtain more weapons with the hope of ending President Bashar al-Assad’s@@http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/a/bashar_al_assad/index.html@@ reign.
Since the peaceful protests of March 2011, there have been more than 39,000 deaths and 2.5 million displaced within Syria. Hundreds of thousands of Syrians have fled to surrounding countries, including Turkey, where there are currently 120,000 people in camps and 70,000 living in other parts of the country. @@checked all links@@