Portal:Current events/2014 May 12

• A new video released by the Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram claims to show 100 girls they kidnapped last month as they seek a prisoner exchange. (BBC News)
• Mexican Drug War:
  • Galindo Mellado Cruz, one of the founding members of the Mexican drug cartel Los Zetas, and four other armed men are killed in a shootout with Mexican security forces after they raided Cruz's hideout in the city of Reynosa. (BBC News)
• Post-coup unrest in Egypt:
  • Egyptian security forces arrested an alleged member of the Free Syrian Army in Giza's Imbaba. They also seized a number of explosives they claimed would allegedly be used in terror attacks in the country before the upcoming presidential elections. (Al-Ahram)
• 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine:
  • Pro-Russian insurgents in Donetsk and Luhansk declare the cities independent states whilst on choosing to join Russia after controversial hastily-arranged referendums. (The Washington Post)
• Iraqi insurgency (post-U.S. withdrawal)
  • Forty-nine people have been killed and 69 wounded in a series of attacks across Iraq including attack by Iraqi security forces on insurgents in Anbar province. (Biharprabha News)

• A Facebook page called "My Stealthy Freedom", in which women across Iran are posting photos of themselves without the hijab, has garnered more than 130,000 likes, a week after it was created. (The Guardian) (BBC News)

• The European Central Bank has watered down standards for an ongoing review of Europe's banks, waiving deadlines and some data requests, according to a Reuters report based on "sources familiar with the process." (Reuters)
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 hits record highs. (Time)

• The European Court of Human Rights orders Turkey to pay $124 million in compensation for the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus, which established the internationally unrecognized state of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. (Washington Post)

• Spanish police arrest a mother and daughter for the suspected shooting of Isabel Carrasco, a León provincial council chief from the ruling Popular Party. (AAP via SBS Australia)

• Indian general election, 2014
  • The ninth and final phase of the election concludes in India, with an all time high voter turnout of 66.64%. Final results will be declared on May 16. (Times Of India)