Portal:Current events/2014 January 28

January 28, 2014 (Tuesday)

Disasters and accidents

Bird flu in China:
- Sales of live poultry are banned in eastern China after 19 people die from the strain this year. (News Limited)
- Hong Kong orders the destruction of 20,000 chickens after the H7N9 bird flu strain is found in chickens imported from mainland China. (BBC News)
Several states in the Southeastern United States prepare for several inches of snow and ice. (NBC News)
All tourism activities at Hoàng Liên National Park and to the Fansipan mountain in Vietnam's Lào Cai Province have been suspended until the end of March to reduce the risk of forest fires caused by cold weather and a lack of rain. (Balita)

Politics and elections

Former anti-apartheid activist Mamphela Ramphele and her 27-year-old party Agang South Africa joins the main opposition party, Democratic Alliance, as Ramphele becomes DA's presidential candidate for the 2014 general election and thus the main challenger to incumbent President Jacob Zuma. (BBC News)
Former Australian Army General Peter Cosgrove is named as the next Governor-General of Australia. (AAP via Courier-Mail)
2013–14 Thai political crisis:
- Thai protesters surround the venue of a cabinet meeting in Bangkok. (Reuters via Thomson Reuters Foundation)
Euromaidan:
- Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov submits his resignation to President Viktor Yanukovich "for the sake of a peaceful settlement of the conflict." (CBC)
- Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich accepts the resignation of Prime Minister Nikolay Azarov and his cabinet; the cabinet will continue to work until a new government is formed. (BBC News)
- Parliament repeals anti-protest laws which had led to protests. (NBC News) (New York Times)

Science and technology

DNA analysis reveals that the Plague of Justinian responsible for killing up to half the population of Europe in the 6th century CE was caused by a variant of Yersinia pestis, the same bacterium believed to have caused the Black Death. (Health Canal)