Portal:Current events/2011 January 24

January 24, 2011 (Monday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

New interviews are released containing statements from former Israeli soldiers who claim they were told to "cleanse the neighbourhoods, the buildings, the area" and that the offensive should be disproportionate, with tank operators being told to shell any car that comes near them during the War on Gaza. (Channel 4) (The Telegraph)
At least 35 people are killed and 130 injured after a suicide bombing at Domodedovo International Airport in the Russian capital Moscow. (Russia Today) (Reuters)
Rebels in the Philippines kill five policemen in the first attack since an agreement to restart peace talks. (Al Jazeera) (Philippine Star)^{[permanent dead link]}
Zimbabwean ministers condemn the invasion of tourist lodges by supporters of Robert Mugabe who say they were implementing government policy. (AFP) (BBC)
A series of bombings in Baghdad and Karbala kill at least 33 people less than a week after similar attacks claimed the lives of 133 others. (BBC) (CNN)
Twenty people are injured in China's Sichuan province following clashes with police over a proposed chemical plant, protesters and officials say. In a separate protest, riot police dispersed a group of parents who lost their children in the devastating 2008 earthquake after they tried to meet with the mayor of Deyang city to discuss compensation claims. (Radio Free Asia)

Arts and culture

Hamas bans the sale of two books that it says "contradict" Islam after receiving complaints from locals. (Associated Press)

Business and economy

The U.S. International Trade Commission rules against Kodak's contention that Apple's iPhone and Research in Motion's BlackBerry violate Kodak's intellectual property rights. (Bloomberg)
Internationally recognised President of Ivory Coast Alassane Ouattara calls for a halt to cocoa and coffee exports to cut off funding for incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo. (AFP)

Disasters

An Australian internal review finds that the fatal Christmas Island boat disaster was responded to appropriately. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
Chinese state media reports that Shandong province is facing its worst drought in a century. (Reuters)
Heavy snow and freezing rain fall in Southwestern China, causing roof collapses and damages to crops. (Straits Times) (The Standard)

International relations

The United Nations calls for the international community to increase support to Somalia as the country approaches the twentieth anniversary since the start of its civil war. (Xinhua)
Peru recognises Palestine "as a free and sovereign state". (The Jerusalem Post)(Reuters)(The Guardian)

Law and crime

NBC News reports that United States investigators have been unable to link Bradley Manning to Julian Assange, founder of the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks. (NBC News)
Iran hangs two members of the People's Mujahedin of Iran convicted of involvement in the post-election riots after the presidential election in June 2009 and of visiting a training base in Iraq, in the latest series of executions that has seen an unprecedented 64 people executed in 24 days. (The Washington Post) (AsiaNews) (Reuters) (Ynet)
South Korean media report that two North Koreans have been executed in front of 500 spectators for handling propaganda leaflets floated across the border from South Korea, apparently as part of a campaign by North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il to tighten ideological control as he grooms his youngest son as eventual successor. (RFA)
Egypt's general prosecutor bans media reporting of the investigation into a deadly New Year's Day church bombing, saying any revelations could hinder the work of investigators, a day after Egypt's government accused a Palestinian militant group, the Army of Islam, of carrying out the bombing with the help of a local accomplice. (Reuters Africa)
Three Indonesian soldiers captured on video torturing two men from West Papua are jailed; human rights groups criticize the sentences of 10 months in jail for "disobeying orders" handed out to the low-ranking soldiers, saying the military was reluctant to abide by human rights principles. (Reuters)(Al Jazeera) (Jakarta Post)
Jared L. Loughner pleads not guilty to orchestrating the 2011 Tucson shooting and the attempted murder of United States Democratic Representative Gabby Giffords. (New York Times) (ABC News)
One of the operatives on a boat caught in Israel's Gaza flotilla raid suggests Israel's report into the attack is a "PR exercise". (Irish Examiner)

Politics and elections

2010–2011 Tunisian protests:
- Tunisian officials negotiate the formation of a supervisory council to oversee the country's interim government, in an effort to appease protesters angry at the continued presence in the cabinet of holdovers linked to deposed President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’sregime. (VOA)
- Family members of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who was recently ousted in a popular uprising are reportedly in Canada; Tunisians expatriates express anger over the development and Canadian officials say Ben Ali and his family are not welcome and would act if illegally acquired assets were brought into the country. (CNN)
Hezbollah and its allies win support a majority in parliament to nominate their candidate, Najib Mikati, as Prime Minister of Lebanon, giving them the upper hand in attempts to form a government and sparking accusations of a pro-Iranian coup by loyalists of ousted Prime Minister Saad Hariri. (Reuters) (The Jerusalem Post) (Voice of America)
Yemen frees a female activist accused of inciting disorder after protests demanding her release. (Al Jazeera)
Opposition parties in Ireland are to hold crisis talks to bring down the Brian Cowen-led government after the Green Party pulled out of government yesterday; Fianna Fáil no longer has a leader and it no longer has a coalition partner. (BBC)
Lara Giddings is elected as the first female Premier of the Australian state of Tasmania. (ABC News Australia)
Indian opposition Bharatiya Janata Party seeks the President's intervention on being denied entry into Kashmir Valley for the flag hoisting programme in Srinagar on Republic Day (India). (Hindustan Times)

Science

An emerging outbreak of avian cholera kills thousands of eider ducks in Arctic regions of Canada. Scientists are studying the outbreak and its potential to spread to Greenland. (CBC) (Canada.com)

Sport

Sky Sports soccer commentators Richard Keys and Andy Gray apologise after making sexist comments about a woman during a live television broadcast. (The Sydney Morning Herald)