The European Central Bank raises interest rates for the first time in five years, from 2.0% to 2.25%. This will affect the cost of money in the twelve Eurozone countries. (BBC)
Ray Hanna, who died on this day in Switzerland, was an air-display pilot, regarded by many as the best of the best, and was well known for flying Spitfire Mk IX MH-434. He was with the Red Arrows from 1965 to 1971, and in that time was their longest serving - and some say their most influential - leader. He and his son, Mark Hanna, started the Old Flying Machine Company The Red Arrows paid tribute to him with a flypast at his funeral.
Scientists in Gabon and the Republic of Congo discover that three species of fruit bat serve as animal reservoirs for the Ebolavirus. The virus probably first spread from animal to human in 1976 by local hunters eating the bats. (Nature)(LA Times)
The "Thermopolis" specimen, recently donated to the Wyoming Dinosaur Center in Thermopolis, Wyoming and described in the Science article "A well-preserved Archaeopteryx specimen with theropod features", shows that the Archaeopteryx lacked a reversed toe—a universal feature of birds—limiting its ability to perch in trees and implying a terrestrial lifestyle. This has been interpreted as evidence of theropod ancestry. The specimen also has a hyperextendible second toe. "Until now, the feature was thought to belong only to the species' close relatives, the deinonychosaurs."
Pakistan's information minister claims Pakistani forces have killed al-Qaeda operational commander Abu Hamza Rabia in fighting along the Afghanistan border. (BBC)
Hong Kong people marched today to oppose the political reform set out by Chief ExecutiveDonald Tsang in favour of a timetable on the full implementation of universal suffrage in the territory. Organisers claimed 250,000 attended the march, while police put the figure at 63,000. (AP via Yahoo!News) (Link dead as of 22:46, 14 January 2007 (UTC)), (NYTimes) (registration required), (Xinhua)
Hamas leader Khaled Mashal declares at a rally in Damascus, Syria that its informal ceasefire with Israel, which expires at the end of the year, will not be renewed. (BBC)
Korean Air, both national and international has been shut down due to the strike going on in Korea. The national airplane circulation has been stopped already and the Korean Airline planes that were in a foreign country are returning to Korea.
At an inquest into the death of UN worker Iain Hook, Paul Wolstenholme, a United Nations worker in Jenin claims that moments after Iain Hook was shot by a mysterious sniper rifle-shot to the pelvis, an Israeli sniper rifle laser was pointed at his head. He also supplied documentary evidence which stated that the Israeli army had delayed an ambulance which was sent to take the wounded Mr Hook to hospital. (BBC)
Gebran Tueni, a prominent Lebaneseanti-Syrian member of parliament and managing editor of the leading liberal An-Nahar newspaper, has been killed in a car bomb attack in Beirut. He had spent months in Paris because of security concerns, reportedly only returning to Lebanon on Sunday. Another An-Nahar journalist, the anti-Syrian writer Samir Kassir, was killed in a car bomb in June. (BBC)
The U.S. ambassador issues a statement saying that the total number of abused prisoners found so far in jails run by the Shiite-led Interior Ministry is about 121. (AP)
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: A Palestinian stone thrower is shot in the head and killed by Israeli troops raiding the West Bank city of Nablus. At least ten other Palestinians were injured by the IDF troops while two Israeli soldiers were injured by a bomb during the raid. (BBC)
U.S. PresidentGeorge W. Bush says that the decision to invade Iraq in 2003 was the result of faulty intelligence, and accepts responsibility for that decision. He maintains that his decision was still justified. (BBC)
A colleague of South Korean biomedical researcher Hwang Woo-Suk says that Hwang admitted that he faked nine of eleven stem cell colonies used in what had been hailed as a medical breakthrough in the journal Science. (BBC)
Thousands of IraqiShia protest against Al Jazeera after a guest on a talk show on the network suggested that the Ayatollah Ali Sistani, Shia Islam's most senior cleric, should stay out of politics. (BBC)
The United States Senate rejects the extension of the PATRIOT Act. Critics had said it infringed on civil liberties and made the government too powerful. (AP).
At least 39 people, 33 of whom were patients, die after a fire breaks out in a hospital in the city of Liaoyuan, near Changchun in China's Jilin Province. The cause of the fire is unknown. (BBC)
Intellectual property dispute: a US federal judge upholds Pfizer's two main patents for Lipitor, which had been challenged by Ranbaxy Laboratories. The decision is the latest defeat for Ranbaxy, an Indian generic drugmaker, which has also lost in a UK court. (MSNBC)
Air Nauru's only passenger jet is seized by creditors in Melbourne, leaving the island nations of Nauru and Kiribati without air transport to the rest of the world. (ABC)
Early returns in the Iraqi legislative election, December 2005 indicate that religious parties have done quite well, winning up 80 percent of the vote. Election officials are investigating more than 1,000 complaints about irregularities, 20 of them considered serious. Final results will not be released until early January.
Governor Antonio Fazio of Bank of Italy resigns, after having been officially put under investigation for insider trading, and following heavy pressure from both government and opposition. (BBC)
The former President of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, claims in court that American officials tortured him. Part of his testimony is censored and the US strongly denies the accusations. (BBC)
A mugger who attempted to escape pursuit on Sunday by entering Bloemfontein Zoo in South Africa is killed after jumping into the Bengal tigers area. He was found with bite marks all over his body, and all his clothes removed, but the tigers had not attempted to eat him, having been fed the previous afternoon. (BBC)(Mail & Guardian (SA))
2005 Kashmir earthquake. SOS Children's Villages field workers report a rapid deterioration in weather conditions and increase in weather-related death. 64 more children believed orphaned have been taken into emergency care this week. (SOS)
The U.S. Senate passes a six-month extension of the USA PATRIOT Act late Wednesday night by a voice vote. This clears the way for a final vote in the House. (AP via Yahoo! News) (Link dead as of 00:49, 15 January 2007 (UTC))
Connecticut. A former hedge fund manager, Scott Sacane, pleaded guilty to one count of violating the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 in connection with the manipulation of the prices of two biotechnology stocks between November 2002 and July 2003. (Stamford (CT) Advocate) (Link dead as of 00:49, 15 January 2007 (UTC))
Tony Blair makes a surprise visit to Basra in Iraq, to address 4,000 Britishsoldiers and discuss withdrawal. He states that "we can eventually draw down our own capability" once the Iraqi forces "build up their own strength". (BBC)
Different sources report that Chadian president Idriss Déby has said his country is in a state of either "war" or "belligerence" with Sudan following a recent rebel attack in which around 100 people were killed. (BBC)(Reuters)
Five children died in Guatemala City when a blaze started by fireworks swept through their house. A traditional holiday firecracker called a "silbador" shot into their small wooden house started the fire. The children were aged 2, 3, 6, 10 and 13. (Scotsman)
40 people killed in DR Congo in a clash between Ugandan rebels and UN-Congolese troops. The Ituri area has been the site of a joint action. (BBC)
Nazir Ahmad, a Pakistani laborer, admitted to, and was arrested for murdering his four daughters, aged 4, 8, 12, and 25, after his eldest daughter, Muqadas Bibi, married a man against his wishes. (Reuters)
A gas attack occurs at an outlet of the Maksidom chain on Moskovsky Prospect in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and leads to the hospitalization of numerous victims. (BBC)
The serial rape suspect accused of terrorizing two South Florida neighborhoods with attacks on victims ranging from elderly women to an 11-year-old girl was back in custody Tuesday, a week since his brazen jail escape, after a tipster recognized his face and called police. (AP via Yahoo! News) (Link dead as of 21:18, 14 January 2007 (UTC))
Jürgen Chrobog, Germany's former Deputy Foreign Minister, his wife and three children, are kidnapped in Yemen by tribesmen pressing for the release of jailed members of their tribe. (IHT)(Deutsche Welle)
Europe's "sat-nav" technology satellite, Giove-A, is launched as part of the Galileo positioning system with the goal of providing access to timing and location information independent of the United States' prevalent GPS system. (BBC)
Israeli jets bomb the PFLP-GC base in Naameh, Lebanon, a few miles outside Beirut, wounding two people, in retaliation for a rocket attack that hit Qiryat Shemona. Israeli warplanes then fly over southern Lebanon and the western Bekaa Valley in reconnaissance flights, drawing anti-aircraft fire from the Lebanese army. The PFLP-GC denies responsibility for the rockets that hit Kiryat Shmona. Major General Udi Adam has not ruled out targeting installations in Syria. (Reuters)
Israel Defense Forces forces launch Operation Blue Skies, firing artillery rounds against areas in the northern Gaza Strip and at the areas in proximity to the newly established ‘security strip’ - an area of the Gaza Strip that Israel has declared off limits to Palestinians which Israel claims is aimed at distancing Qassam rocket launchers from the border with Israel. (Ynetnews)
Drake Bell was injured in a car accident. A Mercedes plowed into his 1966 Mustang. Bell suffered a broken jaw and a fractured neck. Due to this, his hit television show "Drake and Josh" was post-poned until March.
