November 3, 2011 (Thursday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- 2011 Syrian uprising:
- At least 20 people and 13 soldiers are killed in ongoing fighting in the city of Homs. (Reuters)
- President of Syria Bashar al-Assad agrees with the Arab League to end the crackdown on the uprising in Syria, releasing political prisoners and allowing international news agencies back into Syria. (CNN)
Business and economy
- The Port of Oakland in the US state of California reopens after a second police crackdown on Occupy Oakland. (USA Today)
- Advanced Micro Devices announces that it will be cutting 1,400 jobs or 12 per cent of its work force. (AP via News OK)
Disasters
- An Egyptian ferry carrying 1200 people catches fire in the Red Sea between the Jordanian port of Aqaba and Nuweiba. (BBC)
International relations
- Eurozone debt crisis:
- The 2011 G-20 summit gets underway in the French city of Cannes, with discussions expected to focus on the continuing Eurozone debt crisis. (BBC News)
- The Prime Minister of Greece George Papandreou holds an emergency Cabinet meeting, during which the cancellation of the Greek economy referendum is announced following negotiations with opposition lawmakers. (AP via Washington Post) (Financial Times)
- Antonis Samaras, the leader of the main Greek Opposition party New Democracy, leads his party out of the Hellenic Parliament during a no-confidence debate. (CTV)
Law and crime
- Police fire tear gas at Occupy Oakland protesters after they blocked the Port of Oakland. (CNN)
- The City of London Corporation offers Occupy London demonstrators a deal to halt legal action which would allow them to stay at St Paul's Cathedral until 2012 providing they then dismantle their camp. (BBC)
- Three members of the Pakistan national cricket team (Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir) together with agent Mazhar Majeed are given jail sentences for their roles in a spot-fixing scandal. (New York Times)
Science
- The U.S. Department of Energy publishes 2010 greenhouse gases levels, showing they are higher than the worst-case scenario outlined by IPCC climate experts just four years ago. (AP via CBS News)(AP via USA Today)(The Atlantic)(AccuWeather)