August 11, 2012 (Saturday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Syrian civil war:
- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrives in Istanbul for talks on the Syrian civil war with Turkish leaders. (AAP via The Daily Telegraph)
- Gunmen detonate roadside bombs as they clash with police in central Damascus. (ABC)
- Britain plans to give 5-million-pounds worth of equipment to Syrian rebels trying to topple President Bashar al-Assad, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) says. (SBS)
- One of Syria’s state news agency (SANA) reporters is assassinated at his home in Damascus. (AP via Boston.com)
- Mexican drug war:
- A total of 12 decomposing bodies are found inside an abandoned vehicle in Zacatecas. (Global Post)
- At least five people are killed as suspected gang members go on rampage in drug-violence-ravaged western state of Michoacán. (Al Jazeera)
- An Afghan policeman kills ten of his colleagues at a checkpoint in southwestern Afghanistan. (AP via The Wall Street Journal)
- At least two people are killed and 18 others injured as protests held in Mumbai, India, against religious riots in Assam and Myanmar turn violent. (Al Jazeera)
Disasters
- Two earthquakes, the strongest a magnitude 6.4, strike near the northwestern Iranian cities of Tabriz and Ahar, killing at least 250 people and injuring up to 1,800 others. (BBC)
- At least 52 people are killed and 46 wounded in a bus crash in Himachal Pradesh state of India. (Hindustan Times)
- At least 13 people are killed and 15 injured as a result of a lightning strike at a mosque in a remote village in northeast Bangladesh. (Al Ahram)
Politics and elections
- Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican Party nominee for the United States presidency, names Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan as the Republican Party's vice presidential candidate in the presidential election in November. (BBC)
Sports
- 2012 Summer Olympics:
- In the association football final, Mexico defeats Brazil 2–1 and wins the gold medal. This victory marks the first medal in association football for Mexico. (The New York Times)
- Usain Bolt wins his third gold medal of the 2012 Olympics as he anchors Jamaica's sprint relay team to a world record. (BBC)