Portal:Current events/2015 January 14

January 14, 2015 (Wednesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

A bomb destroys a transmission tower in Pagalungan leaving much of the Philippine provinces of Maguindanao and North Cotabato without power. (Rappler)

Arts and culture

Charlie Hebdo publishes an edition as a counterpoint to the Charlie Hebdo shootings. (BBC)

Business and economy

Caesars Entertainment Corporation operating unit will file for bankruptcy on Thursday in Chicago. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

A collision between a train and a prison transport bus near Penwell, Texas leaves at least eight prisoners and two corrections officers dead. (BBC)
Floods devastate Mozambique and Malawi, with at least 73 deaths and over 70,000 homeless. (BBC)

International relations

The cabinet of Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe approves a record defence budget with a plan to buy surveillance aircraft and Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II fighter jets to improve security of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea claimed by both Japan and China. (AP)
Taiwan protests China’s new air routes near the median line of the Taiwan Strait and vows to step up surveillance of aviation activity. (Bloomberg) (Reuters)
On the second day of his papal visit to Sri Lanka, Pope Francis canonizes Saint Joseph Vaz at a beachfront park at the Indian Ocean, and later visits the northern portion of the island for a prayer service at the Sri Lankan Shrine of Our Lady of Madhu, which was a prominent area landmark damaged in the Sri Lankan Civil War. (Catholic News Service)^{[permanent dead link]}

Law and crime

The U.S. state of Georgia executes Vietnam War veteran Andrew Brannan for the 1998 murder of Laurens County sheriff's deputy Kyle Dinkheller. (Huffington Post)
Police charge Indianapolis Colts linebacker Josh McNary with a December 1, 2014 rape. (AP)

Politics and elections

President of Italy Giorgio Napolitano will announce his resignation today. (Bloomberg via Business Week)
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency rules that anti-Muslim advertisements placed on Muni buses must be permitted because of freedom of speech. (KNTV)
The U.S. Secret Service removes four of its highest-ranking leaders while a fifth one retires. The continuing restructuring and fallout stem from a string of public security lapses beginning with the misconduct at the 6th Summit of the Americas. The most recent stage of the restructuring began in October 2014 with the resignation of then-Director Julia Pierson. (The Washington Post via MSN)

Sports