Portal:Current events/2011 January 21

January 21, 2011 (Friday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

21 people are killed in a clash between the Sudanese army and two rebel factions in Darfur. (Reuters)
Three people are shot dead and dozens are injured by riot police clashing with at least 20,000 protesters gathered outside the prime minister's office in Tirana, Albania. Deputy prime minister Ilir Meta has resigned after becoming embroiled in a fraud scandal and protesters have called for the rest of the government to resign. (AP via France24) (BBC) (Radio New Zealand) (AFP via Google News) (CNN)
A Nigerian general says armies in West Africa are ready to oust Ivorian president Laurent Gbagbo by force. (Al Jazeera)
The South Korean navy directs an operation against Somali pirates who hijacked a South Korean ship, rescuing all 21 hostages, while eight pirates are killed and five are captured. (AP via Google news)

Arts and culture

A group of engineers from United Kingdom are teaming up with the Royal Air Force in this year in order to excavate a long-forgotten escape tunnel from the Second World War. (New Poland Express) (Yorkshire Post)
MSNBC terminates a contract with their highest-rated cable news host, Keith Olbermann. (The Guardian)

Business and economy

Bangladesh suspends six trading firms on the Dhaka Stock Exchange after an 8.5% fall on the index. (BBC)
Aer Lingus cabin crew, disputing working conditions, march on airline headquarters at Dublin Airport; Aer Lingus hires planes from other airlines and threatens to sack its workers. (RTÉ) (The Irish Times)
Bank of America reports a loss of $1.2 billion. (BBC)
Paul Volcker steps down as the head of U.S. President Barack Obama's advisory panel, the Economic Recovery Advisory Board. Volcker, a former chairman of the Federal Reserve, was the guiding force behind recent legislation pressing investment banks to spin off their proprietary trading and branded hedge funds. (Reuters)
Four banks, with total assets of $2.7 billion, are ordered closed in the U.S.; 157 American banks failed last year.(Reuters)

International relations

Five Thais including an MP are given suspended sentences after illegally entering Cambodia, in a case that has strained relations between the two countries. (Straits Times)
Israeli–Palestinian conflict:
- United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon criticises Israel's refusal to cease illegal settlement building on Palestinian land, telling a UN General Assembly gathering that he is "very concerned at the lack of progress towards peace" and that the recent demolition of East Jerusalem's historic Shepherd Hotel and evictions of Palestinian families had "heightened tensions." He later meets survivors of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. (AFP via Google News)
- Saudi Arabia tells a UN Security Council meeting that Israel's practices and illegal measures against the Palestinian people undermine international efforts for peace. (Arab News)
- French foreign minister Michèle Alliot-Marie is met by hostile Palestinian protesters throwing stones, eggs and shoes, including mothers of prisoners held in Israeli jails, on her arrival in Gaza. (BBC) (KUNA) (CNN)
Six world powers and Iran meet in Istanbul to talk about Iran's nuclear programme; Iran denies allegations it is developing nuclear weapons. (Al Jazeera)
Almost 99% of South Sudanese voted for independence from the north in a referendum according to official figures. (Reuters) (Africasia)
United Nations human rights chief Navi Pillay requests an investigation into possible involvement of officials in the abduction of around 40 Central American migrants, including women and children, from a cargo train in Oaxaca. (BBC)

Law and crime

South Korea sentences a pastor to five years imprisonment for an unauthorised trip to North Korea and praising its regime. (Joongang Daily) (UPI)
Authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo arrest an army officer over a mass rape of civilians in the east of the country on 1 January. (BBC) (United Nations)
Former Guatemalan president Alfonso Portillo goes on trial in Guatemala City over allegations he stole $15 million from the defence ministry. Former defence minister Eduardo Arevalo and former finance minister Manuel Maza are also on trial. (BBC)
Amnesty International announces that authorities are investigating alleged crimes against humanity committed during Jean-Claude Duvalier's 1971-86 rule over Haiti. Duvalier sneaks out of his upmarket hotel via a rear exit, avoiding journalists. (The Guardian)
An army court in India finds a senior officer guilty of involvement in an illegal land deal. (Times of India) (BBC)
A private note, due to remain secret despite calls for it to be published by the chairman of the Iraq Inquiry, shows former British prime minister Tony Blair privately assured former American president George W. Bush "you can count on us" before they jointly invaded Iraq prior to the Iraq War. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
Warner Music Group CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr. is found guilty of misleading investors, and fined $6.7 million. (The Seattle Times)

Politics and elections

Thousands of people in Tunisia take part in a demonstration calling on the interim government to step down. (Al Jazeera)
Thousands of people in Jordan stage a protests against the government's economic policies, calling on some members to step down. (Al Jazeera)
Situation in Ireland:
- Ireland's Labour Party announces it is to hold a motion of no confidence in the country's government on Tuesday following the events of this week. (The Irish Times)
- Taoiseach Brian Cowen and five of his remaining eight government ministers spend the day in County Armagh in Northern Ireland attending a meeting of the North/South Ministerial Council. (RTÉ) (BBC)
- Senior governing Fianna Fáil TDs, including former ministers Micheál Martin and Willie O'Dea and Minister of State Conor Lenihan renew their pressure on their party leader and Taoiseach, Brian Cowen, following his botched cabinet reshuffle attempt yesterday. (The Irish Times) (Evening Herald) (Press Association) (Reuters Canada)
- The Irish government publishes its Finance Bill legalising harsh austerity measures announced in the December 2010 budget as attempts to overthrow Taoiseach Brian Cowen continue from within his own party. (BBC)
- Brian Cowen declares that he is to continue as leader of party and country, against the wishes of some of his own colleagues, saying "that issue is over". He vows to establish his own front bench to fight the election. (Irish Examiner)
Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko is sworn in for a fourth time following the disputed presidential election. (Reuters) (RIA Novosti)
British prime minister David Cameron's communications chief Andy Coulson resigns after feeling pressure over coverage of the News of the World phone hacking scandal. (BBC)
Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma obtains Internet access at her home in Rangoon; it is believed she has never been online. (BBC)
United States Representative Gabby Giffords leaves hospital in Tucson, Arizona for rehabilitation in Houston, Texas less than two weeks after the 2011 Tucson shooting. (Washington Post)