Portal:Current events/2012 March 1

• Syria:
  • Syrian rebels leave the neighborhood of Bab Amr, Homs following a bloody 26 day bombardment. (Reuters via MSNBC) (Reuters)
  • The United Nations Security Council demands access to Syria for its humanitarian chief Valerie Amos. (BBC)
• Clashes break out and tear gas is fired by security forces in northern Azerbaijan after protesters torch the home of a local governor. (Daily Times of Pakistan)
• A bomb explodes on a Turkish police bus in Istanbul injuring three people. (AFP via Dawn)
• Two members of the NATO International Security Assistance Force are killed in southern Afghanistan, one of whom is believed to be a member of the Afghan Army. (AP via Google News)

• Unemployment in the Euro zone rises to 10.7 per cent, the highest level in its history. (Reuters)
• Brazil announces the continuation of a "currency war" with the European Union and the United States with the extension of a financial transaction tax on foreign borrowings. (Financial Times)

• Australian floods:
  • Heavy rains in the Australian state of New South Wales leads to evacuations or warnings in the towns of Cooma, Goulburn, Queanbeyan and near the town of Kiama. (The Australian) (ABC News Australia) (Daily Telegraph)
  • The Warragamba Dam, the primary water source for the city of Sydney, is expected to overflow within 24 hours causing nearby areas to flood as well as the Nepean River. (News Limited)
  • Hundreds of people in the northern part of the state of Victoria, with the town of Tallygaroopna the worst affected. (Stock and Land)
  • Heavy flooding is also reported in the region of the capital city Canberra with the Old Cotter River dam going under for the first time in a hundred years. (Sydney Morning Herald)
• The stricken liner Costa Allegra arrives at the Seychelles after losing power three days ago due to an engine room fire. (BBC)

• Vietnam claims that the People's Republic of China has assaulted Vietnamese fishermen in disputed waters in the South China Sea. (AP via CBS News)
• Americans working for non-government organisations who had been facing trial in Egypt are allowed to leave. (New York Times)
• European Union summit:
  • European Union leaders meet to discuss Europe's economic problems and to reappoint Herman Van Rompuy as the President of the European Council. (Reuters via the Sydney Morning Herald)
  • Serbia becomes a candidate for membership of the EU. (New York Times)

• The International Criminal Court issues an arrest warrant for the Sudanese defence minister Abdelrahim Mohamed Hussein. (Al Jazeera)
• Indian police arrest three alleged members of Lashkar-e-Taiba in Delhi who are claimed to have been planning a major terrorist attack. (NDTV)
• T.J. Lane, perpetrator of the 2012 Chardon High School shooting, is charged with three counts of aggravated murder. (CNN)
• Martin O'Malley, the Governor of the US state of Maryland, signs a law legalizing gay marriage in that state. (Los Angeles Times)

• New research concludes that the Earth's oceans may be growing more acidic at a faster rate than any time in the past 300 million years. (MSNBC)(Reuters)