August 9, 2012 (Thursday)
Armed conflict and attacks
- Syrian civil war:
- The Syrian Army claims success in its major ground offensive against the opposition-held neighborhoods of Aleppo. (Reuters)
- Tehran, Iran, hosts a foreign ministers' conference on Syria, but the attendees remain unknown. Russia is to be represented by its ambassador to Iran. (Reuters) (The Voice of Russia)[permanent dead link]
- A White House government official says the United States may consider a no-fly zone over the rebel-held territory in Syria. (Reuters)
- Retired Major-General Vladimir Kuzheyev, a Russian military adviser to the Syrian government, rejects the rebel claims of his death in clashes outside Damascus. (The Moscow Times)
- Mexican Drug War:
- Fourteen bodies are abandoned inside a van on a major avenue in the Mexican state of San Luis Potosí. It is the fifth time this year drug traffickers leave 14 bodies as a message to their rivals, signaling that the number may be some sort of code. (Chicago Tribune)[permanent dead link]
- North Caucasus insurgency:
- At least 5 police officers and 3 militants are killed in clash in the Botlikhsky District in Russia's North Caucasus Republic of Dagestan. (RIA)
- A gunman in Afghan military uniform kills three U.S. soldiers in the southwestern Afghan province of Helmand. (BBC)
Business and economy
- Barclays appoints Sir David Walker as its new chairman following the Libor scandal. (BBC)
Disasters
- The death toll from floods in the Philippines over the past ten days rises to 70. (CNN)
- Hurricane Ernesto makes landfall in the Mexican state of Veracruz causing at least three deaths. (Reuters via Yahoo! News)
Law and crime
- The trial of Gu Kailai, wife of former Communist powerbroker Bo Xilai, for the alleged murder of British businessman Neil Haywood begins in the Chinese city of Hefei. (ABC News Australia)
- The female Mexican drug lord Sandra Ávila Beltrán is extradited to the United States from Mexico. (The New York Times)
- Two journalists are arrested for posing for photographs holding teddy bears in a pro-democracy stunt in Belarus. (Reuters)
Sport
- 2012 Summer Olympics:
- Ireland's Katie Taylor wins gold by defeating Russia's Sofya Ochigava in the women's boxing event at ExCeL London. (BBC) (RTÉ)
- Great Britain's Nicola Adams becomes the first female boxer to win an Olympic gold medal after defeating China's Ren Cancan in the flyweight final. (BBC Sport)
- Great Britain's Jade Jones wins Britain's first ever taekwondo Olympic gold medal after defeating China's Yuzhuo Hou. BBC Sport taekwondo commentator Nick Mullins says, "If there has been a finer moment in taekwondo in this country, then we have never seen it." (The Leader)
- Kenya's David Rudisha becomes the first athlete to set a new world track record at London 2012 as he claims the 800m gold at the Olympic Stadium. (BBC Sport)
- Jamaica's Usain Bolt becomes the first person to win the 100m and 200m events in back-to-back Summer Olympics. (Los Angeles Times)