Portal:Current events/2011 January 25

January 25, 2011 (Tuesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

War in North-West Pakistan:
- At least 10 people are killed near a Shia Muslim procession in Lahore, while two other people are killed in an attack in Karachi. (Al Jazeera)(AP via Google News) (The Hindu)
At least three people are killed in a clash between the Sudanese army and rebels in Darfur. (Reuters)
Four people are killed and 18 injured after a bus bombing in the Philippine capital Manila. (Philippine Star)^{[permanent dead link]} (UPI)
Callixte Mbarushimana, the rebel leader accused of committing war crimes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is extradited from France to the International Criminal Court in The Hague. (BBC) (Radio Netherlands)
Somali pirates hijack a German cargo ship. (Reuters) (Bloomberg)
Gunmen open fire on a crowd at a soccer game in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, killing seven people.(CNN)
Insurgents kill nine civilians and injure two others in a bombing in southern Thailand. (CNN)

Arts and culture

The nominees for the 83rd Academy Awards are announced, with The King's Speech receiving twelve nominations. (San Francisco Chronicle) (Al Jazeera) (BBC)
The BBC World Service is to close five of its language services with the loss of 650 jobs. (BBC)
Jo Shapcott wins the 2010 Costa Book Awards for her book of poetry Of Mutability, the second consecutive year that poetry has won the prize. (The Irish Times)

Business and economy

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) abandons plans to ceate a new mark-to-market rule for the value of the loans that banks carry on their books. (Bloomberg)
The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, a panel appointed by the United States Congress to study the causes of the 2007-08 financial crisis, refers certain cases of potentially criminal action to the Justice Department. The names of the suspected individuals have not been disclosed. (Reuters)
Statistics indicate that Britain's economy contracted by 0.5% during the final quarter of 2010. (BBC)

International relations

Around 2,000 "yellow shirt" protesters in Thailand demonstrate over the government's handling of a border dispute with Cambodia. (BBC) (Thai News Agency)
U.S. envoy Jeffrey Feltman expresses his hope that the "example" of the ongoing Tunisian uprising can bring reform to other parts of region, despite U.S. backing for the deposed Zine El Abidine Ben Ali regime. (Al Jazeera)
The head of the African Union travels to Ivory Coast to visit Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane Ouattara who both claim to be the country's president. (AFP via Google News)
The United States describes the Israeli commission of inquiry into the May 2010 Gaza flotilla raid as "an independent report, credible and impartial and transparent", but says the “primary forum” for examining the event was the international committee operating under the auspices of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. (The Australian) (The Jerusalem Post)

Law and crime

A U.S. judge sentences Ahmed Ghailani, the first Guantanamo detainee to have a civilian trial in America, to life imprisonment for conspiracy to destroy government buildings. He was found "not guilty" of 285 other charges filed against him, including 200 counts of murder and dozens of other charges. (Al Jazeera) (BBC)
Former British Conservative Party peer Lord Taylor of Warwick is convicted of making £11,277 in false parliamentary expenses claims. (BBC)

Politics and elections

Albania's main opposition leader Edi Rama calls for more protests and calls on the international community to mediate in the country's political crisis. (Al Jazeera)
Sarath Fonseka, Sri Lanka's jailed former army chief, loses an appeal to retain his parliamentary seat. (Al Jazeera) (The Hindu)
2011 Egyptian protests:
- Tens of thousands of people protest against the government in Egypt on a "day of revolt". (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
- Three people are killed, two in Suez and one in Cairo. One of the dead is killed after inhaling tear gas. (Al Jazeera) (The Guardian) (BBC)
2010–2011 Tunisian protests:
- Thousands of protesters defy curfew and march in Tunis, camping outside the government's main office complex and demanding that the Prime Minister and the old guard that served under former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, step down. (IBN)
- French prosecutors begin an investigation into ousted Tunisian leader Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’s assets in France in the wake of a case filed against him for corruption during his 23-year rule in Tunisia. (AHN)
Political crisis in Lebanon:
- Supporters of Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri call for a day of protests following Hezbollah's support for Najib Mikati as Prime Minister a new coalition government to replace that of Hariri, and igniting the possibility of clashes in the latest development in the crisis over a United Nations-backed tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, Saad Hariri's father. (Los Angeles Times) (Al Jazeera)

Sports

Sky Sports sexism scandal:
- Reporter Andy Gray is dropped by Sky Sports over sexist comments made against female official Sian Massey in footage recorded Saturday. (The Daily Telegraph) (The Guardian)
- Minister for Sport Hugh Robertson and England football captain Rio Ferdinand criticise the "prehistoric pair" who described Massey as "fucking hopeless". (The Guardian)
- Massey is stood down from a football game taking place tonight as she "has unwittingly found herself in the middle of a story that has nothing to do with her competence as a match official". (The Daily Telegraph)
A court in Serbia sentences 14 soccer hooligans to up to 35 years imprisonment for the 2009 murder of a 28-year-old French fan in Belgrade. (BBC News)
Australia and Japan win their semi-final games in the AFC Asian Cup and go on to the final that will be held on 29 January. (Bloomberg)