Portal:Current events/2010 January 19

January 19, 2010 (Tuesday)

2010 Haiti earthquake:
- The United Nations Security Council increases the size of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti by 3,500. (UN News Centre)
- Scores of United States Navy troops land near the Haitian presidential palace, bringing food, water, and equipment. (BBC)
The assassination of Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh:
- In a hotel room in Dubai on the night in question, Al-Mabhouh—a co-founder of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas—was assassinated by a total of 33 perpetrators, most of whom had checked into the hotel using fraudulent names/IDs and left the country before the discovery of Al-Mabhouh's body. (GQ)
Cadbury acquisition:
- British confectionery maker Cadbury is to be purchased by American company Kraft Foods for £11.5 billion (850 pence per share). (BBC)
- Cadbury chairman Roger Carr says layoffs will be an "inevitability" following the acquisition. (BBC)
Iran rejects a deal offered by the International Atomic Energy Agency to exchange low-enriched uranium for nuclear fuel. (BBC)
Massachusetts voters elect Republican Scott Brown to fill the vacant United States Senate seat previously held by Ted Kennedy. (BBC) (CNN)
The United States Supreme Court reverses a decision by the Philadelphia Court of Appeals that had blocked the execution of former Black Panther Party member Mumia Abu-Jamal. (BBC)
The United States Supreme Court refuses to hear an appeal from the QSI Holdings decision on the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, limiting bankruptcy trustee avoidance actions against certain owners of (equity). The denial of certiorari lets that opinion stand. (Law360)
A United Nations survey reveals Afghans have paid about US$2.5 (or £1.5) billion in bribes in the last year. (BBC)
At least 149 people are killed in two days of violence between Christians and Muslims in the Nigerian city of Jos. (BBC)
Large quantities of oil still remain under beaches over 20 years after an Exxon Valdez oil spill in the Prince William Sound, Alaska. (Reuters) (BBC)
Japanese air carrier Japan Airlines files for bankruptcy protection. (BBC) (Asahi Shimbun)
Foreign journalists in China say their emails have been hacked, as Google pulls out of launching its Android mobile phones. (Times LIVE South Africa) (Washington Post)
Bulgarian European Commission nominee Rumiana Jeleva steps down as candidate and minister. (BBC)
Chinese senior judge Huang Songyou is sentenced to life in prison over corruption charges. (BBC) (Al Jazeera) (People's Daily)
The Guinean junta appoints opposition leader Jean-Marie Doré as the new prime minister. (BBC)
A powerful storm in California, United States, causes the evacuation of at least 200 homes in threat of mudslides, and knocks out power for 65,000 customers. One fatality is reported in Kern County. (CBS News)
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev approves the establishment of the North Caucasian Federal District (from Southern Federal District) and appoints Alexander Khloponin as the Vice-Premier and Presidential Representative to the new federal district. (ITAR-TASS)
The Number Resource Organisation warns the Internet is running out of IP addresses, with less than 10% of current-generation IPv4 addresses still available. (Daily Telegraph)