• 2011 Syrian uprising:
  • Opposition activists claim that at least 38 people, including six children, have been killed by security forces across Syria: 16 in the city of Homs, 10 in Idlib, six in Hama, three in the suburbs of Damascus and three in Daraa. (CNN)

• Hinchingbrooke Hospital in the English county of Cambridgeshire becomes the first NHS hospital to be run by a private firm. Healthcare partnership Circle has been awarded a ten-year contract, and will take over administration of the hospital – which has heavy financial debts – in February 2012. (BBC)

• An inquest opens into the deaths of 7 people killed in last Friday's multiple vehicle pile-up on the M5 in the English county of Somerset. (BBC)

• Response to IAEA report on Iran's nuclear program:
  • The supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, condemns the incriminating International Atomic Energy Agency report about the Iranian nuclear program, and warns of harsh retaliation in response to a military attack against it. (The New York Times)
  • The United States says it will look at ways to impose additional pressure on Iran following the IAEA report on Iran's nuclear program and does not "rule anything out, or in". (The Jerusalem Post)

• The New Zealand Department of Labour files 25 criminal charges in relation to the Pike River Mine disaster, which killed 29 miners in November 2010. (AP via Google News)
• Israel's Supreme Court upholds a seven-year rape sentence against former President Moshe Katsav. (BBC) (The Jerusalem Post)
• James Murdoch, the chief executive of News International, makes his second appearance before the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee, as the News International phone hacking scandal continues. (BBC)
• British Home Secretary Theresa May bans the Islamic extremist group Muslims Against Crusades, which planned to repeat a poppy-burning demonstration held on Remembrance Day in 2010. (BBC)
• Venezuelan police investigate the kidnapping on Wednesday of Washington Nationals baseball catcher Wilson Ramos. (USA Today)
• Staff Sergeant Calvin Gibbs of the United States Army is convicted of murder in relation to the 2010 Maywand District killings in Afghanistan. (The News Tribune)

• Lucas Papademos is appointed interim prime minister of Greece's new unity government, and pledges to implement a European bailout package to help resolve the Greek government debt crisis. (BBC) (New York Times) (CNN)
• The President of Nauru, Marcus Stephen, resigns amid allegations of corruption, and is replaced by Freddie Pitcher. (ABC)
• A former Libyan envoy to the Arab League confirms that Musa al-Sadr, an Iranian-Lebanese scholar, was executed by Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 1978. (PressTV)
• In South Africa, controversial ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema is suspended from the country's ruling party for 5 years. (Cape Argus)
• 200,000 Canadian college and university students vote in favour of boycotting classes in Quebec. Thousands are expected to participate in a protest march against tuition fee increases in Montreal. (Canadian Press via The Globe and Mail)
• Incumbent Virginia State Senator Edd Houck concedes defeat in the state elections, giving the Republican Party control over the Virginia General Assembly. (The Republic)
• The incumbent President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, is declared the winner of the Liberian presidential election, gaining 90% of the vote following a boycott by opposition candidate Winston Tubman. (Huffington Post)

• England's Newcastle United F.C. rebrands its St James' Park stadium as the Sports Direct Arena in a bid to attract international sponsorship. (BBC)