Portal:Current events/2016 January 11
January 11, 2016 (Monday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Iraqi Civil War (2014–2017)
- At least 51 people are reportedly killed in an attack on a shopping centre in Iraq's capital, Baghdad, and a car bombing outside an illegal casino in Miqdadiyah, east of Baghdad, with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claiming responsibility for both attacks. (BBC) (AAP via SBS) (Reuters)
- American-led intervention in Iraq (2014–2021)
- Occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge
- Armed militiamen, also known as the Citizens for Constitutional Freedom, who are occupying the USFWS administered Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Harney County, Oregon, tear down a part of a fence that they claim was erected by the federal government in order to allow privately owned cattle to graze on the adjacent public land. USFWS condemns the actions through a written statement which states that, "Removing fences, damaging any refuge property, or unauthorized use of equipment would be additional unlawful actions by the illegal occupiers. Any movement of cattle onto the refuge or other activities that are not specifically authorized by [the Fish and Wildlife Service] constitutes trespassing." (The Guardian) (The Oregonian)
Business and economy
- Arch Coal, the second largest coal-mining concern in the United States, files for chapter 11 protection because it has been hit hard by the collapsing market demand for that commodity. (Reuters)
Disasters and accidents
- The Metropolitan Fire Brigade in the Australian city of Melbourne warn residents about haze from a large industrial fire burning in the suburb of Broadmeadows. (Melbourne Age)
- 2015–16 Great Britain and Ireland floods
- Philip Dilley, chairman of the UK's Environment Agency resigns after receiving heavy criticism for not returning from a family holiday in Barbados during the recent heavy floods in Northern England and Scotland. (Belfast Telegraph)
Law and crime
- New Year's Eve sexual assaults in Germany
- Thousands of protesters in Leipzig demonstrate against a record refugee influx they blame for mass sexual violence at New Year's Eve events in Cologne and other German cities. Many chanted 'We are the people', 'Resistance!' and 'Deport them!'. The rally was organized by a local chapter of PEGIDA (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident). Six Pakistani men and one Syrian man were also attacked by so-called vigilantes in Cologne, following calls on social media for "revenge" in the wake of the New Year's Eve assaults. (Daily Mail)
Sport
- In association football, Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona and Argentina wins the 2015 FIFA Ballon d'Or, for his fifth time. Barça manager Luis Enrique is named FIFA World Coach of the Year for Men's Football. Carli Lloyd of the Houston Dash and the USA is named FIFA Women's World Player of the Year, and USA coach Jill Ellis is named FIFA World Coach of the Year for Women's Football. (AP via Sportsfan)
- In Australian football, 34 current and former players with the Essendon Football Club are banned from playing in the Australian Football League during the 2016 AFL season after the Court of Arbitration for Sport finds that they took the banned substance thymosin-beta 4. (AAP and The Australian)
- 2016 College Football Playoff National Championship
- In American football, the Alabama Crimson Tide defeat the Clemson Tigers 45-40 to win the College Football Playoff National Championship. (NCAA)