Portal:Current events/2011 January 28

January 28, 2011 (Friday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

2011 Egyptian protests:
- After the Egyptian government censorship of social media websites (such as Twitter, Facebook and Google), internet access and SMS networks are cut off in response to anti-government protests. The Guardian (about censoring) The Guardian (about cutting off internet) (Al Jazeera)
- Fresh protests take place across the country. (Al Jazeera) (The Guardian) (BBC) (The Daily Telegraph)
- Police target protesters in Cairo with tear gas and water cannon, while tear gas is used on protesters in Alexandria. (The Guardian)
- A protester is killed in Suez, while dozens of protesters are injured in Cairo. One protester happens to video-tape a man being shot by police. (Sky News) (AP)
- The Egyptian government announces a curfew for cities nationwide starting at 6 pm local time and running through to 7 am on Saturday. (Bikya Masr)
- Mubarak orders the army into the streets as buildings and police vehicles burn. (The Daily Telegraph)
- The army is reported to be out on the streets of Cairo; protesters call for the support of the army in their battle against the Mubarak regime. (Al Jazeera)
- Mohamed ElBaradei, is held among the protesters, while journalists are beaten and arrested, including one BBC journalist and four French reporters. (The Daily Telegraph)
- Reuters reports at least 870 injuries in Cairo alone during the day, according to medical sources. (Reuters) (Al-Masry Al-Youm)
- At least eight deaths are reported. (DAWN)
- EgyptAir suspends its departures from Cairo for 12 hours, beginning at 9 pm, as a government-imposed curfew on the people of Egypt comes into effect. (AP via Google News)
- NDP headquarters are set on fire in Cairo, with Al Jazeera footage showing the building ablaze. (iloubnan.info) (The Times of India) (USA Today) (Irish Examiner)
- The same fire threatens the nearby world-famous Egyptian Museum, with concerns expressed for the safety of its contents. A powerful explosion is heard in the area. There are reports that protesters are trying to protect the museum. (RIA Novosti) (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
- President Mubarak calls on the government to resign, but gives no indication that he will stand down. (CNN) (BBC),(Washington Post)
- International response to the 2011 Egyptian protests:
  - International politicians, including William Hague and Hillary Clinton, speak out in support of the aims of the protesters and ask the Mubarak regime to listen to the people. (BBC) (The Wall Street Journal)
  - Vice President of the United States Joe Biden attracts criticism for his refusal to refer to Mubarak as a "dictator", instead describing him as "an ally of ours in a number of things and he's been very responsible on, relative to geopolitical interests in the region: Middle East peace efforts, the actions Egypt has taken relative to normalizing the relationship with Israel". (The New York Times) (The Washington Post)
  - The protests leave Western governments which have supported the regime in an awkward position, both diplomatically and democratically. (Reuters)
  - The latest U.S. diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks indicate that police brutality in Egypt is "routine and pervasive" and the use of torture so widespread that the Egyptian government has stopped denying it exists. (The Guardian)
  - Further cables reveal the Obama administration wished to maintain its close political and military relationship with Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak and its belief that Mubarak would "inevitably win" yet another presidential election in 2011. (The Guardian)
  - Demonstrations occur worldwide, with people expressing solidarity with the people of Egypt in international cities such as Istanbul, Tunis, Doha and London. (Al Jazeera)
  - The government-imposed curfew on the people of Egypt causes European airlines, including British Airways, Lufthansa and Air France, to alter their schedules, with some cancellations and some passengers being redirected to different countries. (Reuters)
Thousands of people take to the streets of Jordan for the third consecutive Friday of protests over inflation, unemployment and rising prices, amid demands for the resignation of Prime Minister Samir Rifai. (Al Jazeera) (The Jerusalem Post) (The Financial Times)
Key ministers from the heavily criticised ousted government of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali are replaced but interim Tunisian prime minister Mohammed Ghannouchi refuses to back down in the face of public anger. (Al Jazeera)
Around 100,000 supporters of Albania's opposition Socialist Party pay silent tribute to three men shot dead at an anti-government protest a week ago. The Socialist supporters disperse calmly after a two-hour procession. (Reuters)
Police fire tear gas at anti-government protesters in Gabon two days after opposition leader André Mba Obame declares himself president. (Reuters)
At least four people, including Modu Fannami Gubio, a former opposition All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) candidate for governor in Borno, Nigeria, are shot dead in Maiduguri. (BBC)
During a clash between Palestinians and Israeli settlers in the West Bank, an Israeli settler shoots and kills an 18-year-old Palestinian. (Haaretz) (BBC) (CNN)
8 people are killed in a suicide attack at a Finest supermarket near the British embassy in the wealthy Wazir Akbar Khan suburb of Kabul. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)

Arts and culture

The German film agency FSK (Voluntary Self-Regulation of the Movie Industry) permits the showing of the reportedly anti-Israel and anti-Semitic Turkish film, Valley of the Wolves: Palestine, with an over 18 age restriction, saying it contains “propaganda tendencies” and “repetitive violence.” The film, based on events surrounding last May's Gaza flotilla raid, has opened in cinemas in Turkey and Austria. (The Canadian Press via Google News) (Hürriyet) (The Guardian) (Press TV)(The Jerusalem Post)
A 450-year-old Madonna and Child work sells for $16.9 million at Sotheby's in New York, a new auction record for Titian. (BBC)

Business and economy

Japan's national credit rating is dropped to AA- by Standard & Poor's. (BusinessWeek)
China introduces its first property tax in Shanghai and Chongqing. (AFP via Google News) (Global Times) (BBC)

Disasters

At least 17 people are killed and scores are injured during a fire on a ferry and a collision between two passenger trains on the island of Java in Indonesia. (BBC) (Al Jazeera) (AP via The Guardian) (AFP via The Asian Age) (News24) (Xinhua)
President of Brazil Dilma Rousseff, speaking at a joint press conference with Rio de Janeiro state governor Sérgio Cabral, vows to build 8,000 houses to be given free to people made homeless by the recent floods and landslides in Rio de Janeiro state. (BBC)
Hundreds of people attend an event at Kennedy Space Center in the U.S. state of Florida to mark the 25th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. (BBC)
At least 11 passengers of the Lautan Teduh ferry, which caught fire in the Sunda Strait, have been confirmed dead. The remains of nine of the passengers who died in the fire were taken to Krakatau Medika in Cilegon, while the other two were taken to Kalianda Hospital in Lampung. (The Jakarta Post)
Flooding in Jeddah since the 26th kills 11 people, leaves three missing and destroys over 10,000 buildings, leading to protests in the city over poor infrastructure. (AFP) (Montreal Gazette) (GMA News)

International relations

Murder of David Kato:
- The funeral is held in a village near Kampala for David Kato, a gay rights activist in Uganda. He was recently murdered after successfully suing Rolling Stone for naming him as gay on its front cover, and had been receiving death threats. A pastor causes controversy by preaching for homosexuals to repent but is swiftly taken away. (BBC) (CNN)
- OSISA and SALC condemn the murder of David Kato. (Zambian Watchdog)
- A lesbian from Uganda, whom the UK wishes to deport to Kampala, speaks of her concerns that she will be persecuted upon her arrival there. (BBC) (audio)
The Daily Telegraph reports that the American government secretly backed leading figures behind the unfolding Egyptian uprising. (The Vancouver Sun)
Turkey's foreign minister Ahmet Davutoğlu expresses concerns that Israel's report into its own commando operation resulting in the Gaza flotilla raid is "neither credible nor unbiased", he tells a news conference before departing for Montenegro. (Hürriyet)
Enda Kenny and Michael Noonan of Ireland's (opposition) Fine Gael party meet the President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso in Brussels. The pair are believed to be protesting against the terms of the country's recent financial bailout from the EU/IMF. (Irish Independent) (RTÉ) (The Wall Street Journal)

Law and crime

Chinese authorities offer no response to requests by jailed dissident and Nobel peace laureate Liu Xiaobo for family visits. (Radio Free Asia)
A U.S. official appears in court charged with the murder of two motorcyclists shot dead in Lahore, Pakistan. He may be executed if found guilty. (BBC)
Rwandan rebel leader Callixte Mbarushimana appears before war crimes judges in The Hague. He denies any involvement in the charges laid against him. (BBC)
Colombia asks Israel to extradite former Israeli army Lt. Col. Yair Klein, who was convicted by a Colombian court in absentia for training drug lords' assassins in the 1980s. (AP via Google News)(The Jerusalem Post)
Guillermo Fariñas, known for his hunger strike campaigns, is detained by authorities for the second time in as many days. He is being held in the Cuban city of Santa Clara. (BBC)

Politics and elections

Former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela is discharged from hospital following two days of tests. (IOL) (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
Taoiseach Brian Cowen promises to dissolve Dáil Éireann next Tuesday and to announce the date of the Irish general election, 2011. (RTÉ) (The Wall Street Journal)
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's eldest son Kim Jong-nam says his father opposed the hereditary transfer of power, but did so to ensure stability. (Yonhap) (AFP via Google News)
Burma's highest court upholds the dissolution of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)