Portal:Current events/2016 January 27
January 27, 2016 (Wednesday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Boko Haram insurgency
- Suicide bombers blow themselves up in the northeast Nigerian town of Chibok, killing at least 13 and injuring at least 30 others. (AFP via Yahoo!) (Reuters)
- Cameroon closes most of its northern markets on the Nigerian border. (The News) (Voice of America)
Business and economy
- Shareholders of Royal Dutch Shell approve that company's acquisition of BG Group, a deal expected to close on February 15. (Reuters)
Disasters and accidents
- January 2016 United States blizzard
- The death toll from the blizzard that hit the Eastern United States rises to 50. (AP)
Health
- Zika virus outbreak
- Several Zika virus cases have been reported in Denmark, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and Switzerland. (RT)
International relations
- China–United States relations
- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi agree, on principle, that a strong United Nations Security Council resolution is needed regarding North Korea's nuclear test earlier this month. (Reuters) (CNN)
Law and crime
- Human rights in Iran
- Amnesty International reports that at least 160 young Iranians are currently awaiting execution and 73 others have been put to death between 2005 and 2015, which including sentencing girls as young as 9 and boys as young as 15 to death. (The Huffington Post)
Politics and elections
- Hilda Heine is elected President of the Marshall Islands by Parliament, becoming the country's first female president, as well as the first woman to serve as president of any Micronesian country. She succeeds outgoing President Casten Nemra, who lost a vote of no confidence on January 26. (Radio New Zealand International)
- November 2015 Paris attacks
- Christiane Taubira, differing with President François Hollande concerning pending terrorist/citizenship legislation, resigns as the Minister of Justice in France. (France 24)[permanent dead link] (CNN)
- Vietnam reelects conservative Nguyễn Phú Trọng as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam. Deputy Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc, a member of the Politburo, is expected to replace Nguyễn Tấn Dũng as prime minister. Dũng is not eligible for another term. (AP via ABC News) (Channel NewsAsia)
Science and technology
- Artificial intelligence
- A computer program called AlphaGo, powered by DeepMind, beats the European Go champion Fan Hui, 5-0. This is the first time artificial intelligence has defeated a professional player in this ancient Chinese abstract strategy board game. (BBC) (MIT Technology Review)
Sports
- Association of Tennis Professionals, Women's Tennis Association
- In tennis, the sport's governing bodies launch an independent inquiry into the anti-corruption unit following a report published by the BBC and BuzzFeed about allegations of failing to pursue allegations of match fixing. (ABC Australia)