April 3, 2011 (Sunday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- 2011 Bahraini protests:
- Authorities ban the publication of the main opposition paper Al Wasat. (Times Live South Africa) (Al Jazeera) (Malaysia Star)
- 2011 Libyan civil war:
- Forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi continue to shell the western city of Misrata. (Al Jazeera)
- 2011 Syrian protests:
- Syria tightens security to crack down on anti-government protests. (FoxNews)
- President Bashar al-Assad appoints Adel Safar as Prime Minister to form a new government. (newser)
- The United States Government offers free flights out of Syria to its employees. (Reuters)
- 2011 Yemeni protests:
- Anti-government opposition coalition unveils plan to end month-long unrest. (Haaretz)
- At least 40 people are dead and 100 injured following a Taliban suicide bomb on a Sufi Muslim shrine in Pakistan. (The Scotsman)
Arts and culture
- The People's Republic of China detains Ai Weiwei, a leading artist and dissident, as part of a crackdown on dissenting views. (Wall Street Journal)
- Taylor Swift wins the Entertainer of the Year award at the Academy of Country Music Awards 2010 with Miranda Lambert winning four awards including Female Vocalist of the year. (AP)
Disasters
- The bodies of two dead workers are found at the afflicted Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant in Japan. (New York Times)
- The efforts to plug the leaks at the Fukushima I plant appear not to be working. (New York Times)
- The official death toll from the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami passes 12,000 with over 15,000 people missing. (National Police Agency of Japan)
- The wreckage of Air France Flight 447, which crashed in June 2009, killing 228 people, is found in the Atlantic Ocean. (BBC), (AP via MSNBC)
Politics
- A presidential election takes place in Kazakhstan, with President Nursultan Nazarbayev winning 95% of the vote. (BBC) (RIA Novosti)
- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev orders Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to remove his deputies on the boards of state companies by 1 July. (Reuters) (RIA Novosti), (BBC)
- Guido Westerwelle, the Foreign Minister of Germany, resigns as leader of the Free Democrats following recent poor electoral performances. (Financial Times)
Environment
- Among the rising concerns about the water quality in Hanoi's Hoàn Kiếm Lake, its giant sacred turtle is captured for study and (possibly) medical treatment. Time magazine; Reuters