Portal:Current events/2011 January 14
January 14, 2011 (Friday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- 2010–2011 Tunisian protests:
- Thousands of people protest across the country demanding the resignation of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. (BBC)
- President of Tunisia Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fires his government and imposes a state of emergency on the country. (Al Jazeera)
- Prime Minister of Tunisia Mohamed Ghannouchi becomes interim President of Tunisia as Zine El Abidine Ben Ali leaves the country. (France 24) (The Guardian) (Voice of America)
- Lawyers suggest Mohammed Ghannouchi's taking on of presidential powers goes against the Constitution of Tunisia. (Al Jazeera)
- International media commentators hail events as the "end of an era" and "truly remarkable". (Al Jazeera) (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
- A perceived lack of television coverage of the Tunisian protests by western media is criticized. (OpEd News)
- Mexican Drug War:
- At least 10 people arrested in clashes between police and protesters in Yemen. (Xinhua)
- Somali pirates capture six crew from Denmark and the Philippines leaving the ship intact. They are thought to be held on a captured Taiwanese fishing boat. (BBC) (Taiwan News)
- Israeli riot police and Palestinian youths clash in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Silwan. (Al Jazeera)
- 2011 Tucson shooting:
- American politician Sarah Palin uses the term "blood libel" to describe those who criticized her for the use of inflammatory rhetoric, leading to an uproar. (The Independent) (Daily Mail) (The Sydney Morning Herald)
- 9 year old Christina-Taylor Green, the youngest victim killed in the shooting, is buried. (BBC)
- The death toll due to the political crisis in the Ivory Coast reaches 247 since the November 28th election.(Reuters)
Arts and culture
- The Taliban abandons its opposition to female education in Afghanistan due to a "cultural change". (BBC)
- Israel increases access to the Little Western Wall for worshippers: it is an important Jewish site located in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City. (AFP via Google News) (The Independent)
- Blues musician Etta James is diagnosed with dementia and is undergoing treatment for leukaemia. (BBC)
- American actress Zsa Zsa Gabor has her leg amputated. (AP via Google News)(BBC)
Business and economy
- Thousands of people march through the cities of Amman, Ma'an, Karak, Salt and Irbidin and other parts of Jordan, objecting to the government's inability to stop poverty and increased living costs. Prime Minister Samir Rifai, described as a "coward", is asked to resign. (Al Jazeera) (Press TV) (AFP via Google News) (Reuters Africa)
- British-based global oil and gas company BP signs a deal with Russian oil firm Rosneft to exploit potentially huge deposits of oil and gas in Russia's Arctic shelf. (BBC)
- Amnesty International criticises the British government for spending nearly £1 billion on 30 Watchkeeper WK450 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) which Israel's military allegedly "field-tested on Palestinians" during the Gaza War. (Sky News)
Disasters and accidents
- More than 100 pilgrims are killed in an evening stampede at Sabarimala. (The Daily Telegraph) (Times of India)
- January 2011 Rio de Janeiro floods and mudslides:
- The disaster is declared Brazil's worst ever as the death toll exceeds 500, with additional people missing and more fatalities expected. (AFP via Yahoo! News) (Al Jazeera) (Vancouver Sun)[permanent dead link]
- Rescue work is carried out to attempt to locate survivors in remote areas of south-eastern Brazil. (BBC)
- The death toll reaches 537. (Al Jazeera) (Xinhua)
- Australian floods:
- Heavy rains hamper rescue efforts in Sri Lanka following flooding and mudslides that have killed at least 27 people. (AFP)
- New Caledonia and its Loyalty Islands are simultaneously struck by a 7.0 earthquake and Tropical Cyclone Vania. (eTN)
International relations
- Israel's Press Office apologises for what The Jerusalem Post dubbed "Bra-Gate" - the security screening of several international journalists forced to remove their underwear and denial of entry to Al Jazeera producer Najwan Simri Diab after she refused to remove her bra. Najwan Simri Diab says she did not wish for an apology, only to be assured that it won't happen again. (Sify) (The Jerusalem Post) (Ynetnews) (Al Jazeera)
- Veteran Irish Labour Party TD Michael D. Higgins demands that the British government explain why one of Britain's undercover policemen was operating on Republic of Ireland territory on May Day 2004, as the European Union expanded to the east. Higgins compares it to illegal activities carried out by British state agents in the same country during the 1970s. (The Guardian)
- A closed-door briefing occurs at New York City's United Nations building. Behind it around 150 non-American diplomats object to the American government about a decision by the country's banks to end services for diplomatic missions, with some diplomats suggesting the UN budget could be affected. (BBC)
- Guyana formally recognizes Palestine as an independent state as part of its "long-standing and unwavering solidarity with, and commitment to, the just and legitimate aspirations of the people of Palestine for the exercise of their right to self-determination and to achieve a homeland of their own, independent, free, prosperous and at peace", a foreign ministry statement says. (Al Jazeera)
- South Africa's chief rabbi Warren Goldstein criticises a controversial petition launched by three Jewish Capetonians calling for Archbishop Emeritus and Nobel Peace laureate Desmond Tutu to be axed as patron of two Holocaust centers. (IOL)
- The Obama administration in the United States eases travel and other restrictions on Cuba. (ABC News)
Law and crime
- The United States Treasury Department says "no" to calls by enraged American politicians to have Julian Assange and the WikiLeaks website added to its economic blacklist or sanctions list like so-called "terrorist groups". The Treasury Department cites a lack of "evidence at this time". (CBS News)
- A military court in Rwanda sentences four former top officials who were allies of President Paul Kagame to long prison sentences in absentia. (BBC)
- Prime Minister of Italy Silvio Berlusconi is summoned to a prostitution investigation to deal with allegations of "improperly assisting" 17-year-old nightclub dancer he had at one of his private parties. (Al Jazeera) (The Guardian)
- A court in America sentences Abdel Nur of Guyana to 15 years imprisonment after charging him with participation in a plot to blow up fuel tanks at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City. (BBC)
- 2 British footballers are questioned in relation to allegations resulting from a sex assault at a party. (BBC)
Politics and elections
- Michael Ogio is elected Governor-General of Papua New Guinea by parliament, defeating Sir Pato Kakaraya, by a 65 to 23 vote margin. (Radio Australia)
- The Parliament of Kazakhstan unanimously approves a referendum extending President Nursultan Nazarbayev's rule until 2020. (RIA Novosti) (AP)
- Nigeria's ruling People's Democratic Party nominates incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan as its candidate for April presidential elections. (AFP) (Africa News)
- Prime Minister of Japan Naoto Kan reshuffles his Cabinet. (CNN) (AP via Yahoo! News)
- In the UK, Labour wins the Oldham East and Saddleworth by-election with a majority of more than 3,500. (BBC)
- Reince Priebus of Wisconsin is elected as the chairman of the United States Republican National Committee. (MSNBC)
- At a university seminar in New Delhi, India's home secretary G. K. Pillai announces unexpected plans to reduce security forces in Kashmir by 25 percent so that "people don't get harassed by the over-presence of security forces". (Al Jazeera)
Science
- New guidelines published in the BMJ (British Medical Journal) call on mothers to begin weaning their babies off breast milk before six months, contradicting World Health Organization advice from 2001. (The Guardian)