Portal:Current events/2009 February 16
February 16, 2009 (Monday)
- Section 76 of the United Kingdom's Counter-Terrorism Act 2008—a law that criminalizes publishing information about the Armed Forces, the Security Service, the Secret Intelligence Service, or Government Communications Headquarters—is effected. (BBC)
- An Israeli lawyer convicted of defrauding Holocaust survivors is arrested for planning to flee the country. (Jerusalem Post)
- BitTorrent tracker The Pirate Bay's trial begins in Stockholm, Sweden. (BBC)
- Late 2000s recession:
- Japan's gross domestic product contracted by 12.7 percent in the fourth fiscal quarter of 2008. (AP via New York Times)
- BMW cuts 850 jobs at its Mini factory in Cowley, Oxfordshire, England. (BBC)
- The United Kingdom's economy is expected to contract by 3.3 percent throughout 2009. (Bloomberg)
- The British Royal Navy's nuclear submarine HMS Vanguard and the French Navy's Le Triomphant collide in the Atlantic Ocean on February 3 or 4. (Sky News)
- Protesters and police clash in Guadeloupe as part of general strikes. (France 24)
- Pakistan will implement sharia in the war-torn Swat Valley if the Taliban guarantees a ceasefire. (BBC)