January_2007

January 2007

January 2007 is the first month of that year. It began on a Monday and 31 days later, ended on a Wednesday.

International holidays

January 1 - New Year's Day
January 1 - Independence Day (Brunei) and (Haiti)
January 1 - Flag Day (Lithuania)
January 7 - Christmas (Orthodox)
January 8 - Seijin shiki (Japan)
January 14 - Old New Year (Orthodox)
January 14 - Makar Sankranti (India)
January 15 - Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (United States)

January 20 - Islamic New Year (Islam, est.)
January 20 - Remembrance of Muharram begins (Shi'a Islam, est.)
January 26 - Australia Day (Australia)
January 26 - Republic Day (India))
January 27 - Holocaust Memorial Day (United Kingdom)
January 28 - The King's Namesday (Sweden)
January 29 - Day of Ashura (Islam, est.)

Portal:Current events

January 1, 2007 (Monday)

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Raymond Van Barneveld beats Phil Taylor 7-6 in sets to win the 2007 PDC World Darts Championship and collects £100,000.
The Bulgarian political party Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria, which had only been founded on 2006-12-03 by Sofia mayor Boyko Borisov, instantly comes second in a public poll on party support, trailing only the Bulgarian Socialist Party. (Angus-Reid)
The Palestinian factional violence flares up again. (Ynet)
War in Somalia:
- The Islamic Courts Union collapses in the Battle of Jilib, and flees from its last major stronghold in Kismayo towards the Kenyan border. (MSNBC)
- The Transitional Federal Government of Somalia assumes control of Kismayo after the Islamic Courts Union retreats. (MSNBC)
- Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Gedi calls for a disarmament of the country's militias and businesses, and offers an amnesty to former members of the Islamic militias. (Shabelle)
Romania and Bulgaria join the European Union. (IHT) (BBC)
Slovenia adopts the euro, replacing the tolar and becoming the second enlargement to the eurozone. (IHT) (BBC)
CITIC, a state-owned investment enterprise of the Chinese government, buys Nations Energy Company, a Canadian petroleum extraction company, giving it a majority stake in KazMunayGas, the state-owned oil and gas company in Kazakhstan, for USD $1.91 billion. The deal is highly controversial because of the amount of control China now has over Kazakhstan's natural resources. Kazakh Oil Minister Baktykozha Izmukhambetov has criticized the deal since it was first considered in October 2006. (The Boston Herald)
The Armenian government detains citizen Vahan Aroyan for allegedly plotting a coup d'état against Armenian President Robert Kocharyan. The Association of Armenian Volunteers, a political opposition group, denounces Aroyan's detainment, saying the move is an attempt to silence dissidence. (RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty)
Adam Air Flight 574 disappears over Indonesia with 102 people on board. (Sky News)
In Switzerland civil unions for same-sex partners are possible.(Tagesanzeiger)
Irish becomes the 21st official language of the European Union

January 2, 2007 (Tuesday)

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Seven policemen charged in a deadly Danziger Bridge shooting in the chaotic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina turn themselves in at a New Orleans city jail. (MSNBC)
A report by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation reveals that twenty-six of their employees witnessed abuse at the Guantánamo Bay detainment camp in Cuba. (CNN)
Earlier reports of the discovery of the wreckage of Adam Air Flight 574 are proved false. (CNA) (Reuters)
Former US President Gerald Ford's state funeral takes place at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. His casket is later moved to his hometown Grand Rapids, Michigan for burial on Wednesday January 3, 2007. (Reuters) (CNN)
Sri Lankan Airforce bombs the fishing hamlet of Padahuthurai in what they call a rebel LTTE sea base results in the death of 14 civilians on January 2, 2007.

January 3, 2007 (Wednesday)

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Palestinian factional violence: Clashes between Hamas, Fatah result in abductions from both sides. Four Fatah loyalists and a female bystander are killed in gunbattles. (Ynetnews)
A prison guard is arrested in Baghdad under suspicion of secretly filming the execution of Saddam Hussein using a mobile phone and publishing the video on the Internet. (The Times)
The North Korean Korean Central News Agency reports that Foreign Minister Paek Nam-sun has died, without describing the cause of death. (BBC)
Fourteen-year-old Michael Perham becomes the youngest person to ever sail single-handedly across the Atlantic Ocean, when he completes a six-week voyage from Gibraltar by docking in Antigua. (The Times)
Former United States President Gerald Ford is buried in his hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan. (BBC)
A National Express coach overturns, killing two people, near Heathrow Airport, London on a slip road from the M4 to the M25 motorways. The driver is arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving. (BBC)

January 4, 2007 (Thursday)

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Buffalo American terrorist James Charles Kopp has appealed his sentence to federal court. Jury selection is underway. (WKBW)
Josefa Iloilo is restored as President of Fiji by Commodore Frank Bainimarama, leader of the December 2006 coup d'état. (AP)
A Russian Soyuz 2 rocket body re-enters the atmosphere as "space junk", breaking up and disintegrating over Denver, Colorado, and is seen throughout the Rocky Mountains of the United States. The rocket was used to launch the French CoRoT astronomy satellite on December 27, 2006. None of the "space junk" fragments are confirmed to have struck Earth. (KMGH) (KDVR)
Quadrantids meteor shower of 2007: An irregular metallic object, the size of a golf ball and the weight of a can of soup, severely damages a house in Freehold Township, New Jersey. No one is injured. (Fox News)
Nancy Pelosi is elected speaker of the United States House of Representatives, and becomes the first woman to hold that post. (CNN)
The New Way Forward in Iraq War leadership:
- U.S. National Intelligence Director John Negroponte resigns. United States President George W. Bush appoints him Deputy Secretary of State according to officials. (BBC)
- Bush replaces key military Leadership in Iraq: Navy Admiral William J. Fallon replaces General John Abizaid as CENTCOM commander and General David Petraeus replaces General George Casey as Commander of Multinational Force Iraq. scotsman.com
NASA announces Nature article, Cassini-Huygens found methane lakes on Titan, a moon of Saturn. (NASA) (Saturn Daily)
Keith Ellison, the first Muslim member of the United States Congress and the first African American elected to the House from Minnesota is sworn in using Thomas Jefferson's Qur'an. (AP via The Guardian), (Asian Tribune), (Al Jazeera), (CTV)

January 5, 2007 (Friday)

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A bus bomb near the Sri Lankan town of Nittambuwa kills 5 and injures at least 30. The Sri Lankan government declares the Tamil Tigers responsible, but the rebel group denies involvement. (BBC News) (UPI)
In the Canadian city of Vancouver, the roof of the world's largest air supported domed stadium, BC Place Stadium, is intentionally deflated due to a tear in a fabric panel. (Vancouver Sun)
Alexander Litvinenko poisoning: Traces of polonium-210 have been found in a second restaurant in London. The Health Protection Agency had been monitoring the establishment in connection with the Alexander Litvinenko assassination. (BBC News)
Team Canada wins its third straight gold medal at the IIHF world junior ice hockey championship with a 4-2 win over Russia on Friday in Leksand, Sweden. (CBC News)
A second victim of the National Express Coach crash, a male, is still not identified. Authorities have appealed to the public in the hopes of identifying the victim. (BBC News)
Four are injured in a coach crash in the French Alps. (BBC)
Hitachi breaks the 1 terabyte barrier in hard disk drive capacity. (PC World), (Bloomberg)
Josefa Iloilo appoints Commodore Frank Bainimarama, the leader of the December 2006 coup d'état, as Prime Minister of Fiji. (BBC)
United States President George W. Bush will nominate Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, to replace Alejandro Daniel Wolff as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. If Khalilzad is confirmed by the Senate, he will be the first Muslim to serve in the position, and he will continue to be the highest serving Muslim American official in the U.S. government. (USA Today)
Australia beats England by ten wickets in the final Ashes cricket test match. The 5-0 series whitewash is only the second in history, the previous being in the 1920-1921 series. It is the final test match for Australian team members Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Justin Langer. (The Australian)
Leading U.S. Democrats oppose Bush's plan of deploying more troops to Iraq, calling it "a strategy that you have already tried and that has already failed." (CNN) (Reuters)

January 6, 2007 (Saturday)

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An overnight storm knocked out power to thousands in the Vancouver and Victoria area. The storm also uprooted trees in Stanley Park, and filled BC Place with water after the roof tore open a day earlier. (MSN News) (CTV.ca)
The Sunday Times (UK) reports that Israel has drawn up plans to possibly destroy Iran's uranium enrichment facilities with tactical nuclear weapons in the event that U.S. intervention does not occur, and non-nuclear strikes are ruled out. Iran has responded saying that "anyone who attacks will regret their actions very quickly." Israel denies such plans were made.(Times)(The Jerusalem Post)(Haaretz)
A second bus bomb in Sri Lanka, this time near the tourist resort of Hikkaduwa has killed at least 15 and injured dozens more. The Sri Lankan government declared the Tamil Tigers responsible, but the rebel group is denying involvement. (BBC News) (Reuters) (The Asian Tribune)
At least 40 people have died in a bus crash in Comilla, Bangladesh. (BBC News) (The Telegraph)
Nine bound and gagged bodies are found in grave in Uruapan, Michoacan state, Mexico. Drug gangs are suspected. (BBC News)
The British Army raises its maximum recruitment age from 26 years to 33, but denies that this is a reaction to a failure to recruit sufficient young people. The normal term of engagement remains 22 years, meaning that some soldiers could still be serving to age 55. (BBC News)
Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com founder and billionaire has joined the "budget space race" with a test burn of the Blue Origin passenger rocket, the New Shepard. (The Guardian)

January 7, 2007 (Sunday)

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Newly appointed Archbishop Stanisław Wojciech Wielgus, of Warsaw resigns after Friday's allegations that he collaborated with the Polish communist government's secret police. He was due to be officially appointed by Pope Benedict XVI at 10:00 GMT, and announced his decision only one hour before. (Reuters) (BBC News)
At least 17 prisoners are killed in riots in a maximum security jail in Santa Ana, El Salvador, after convicted members of the Mara 18 gang fight with a security guard, leading to trouble throughout the jail. (BBC News)
War in Somalia:
- Somali gunmen open fire at Ethiopian troops stationed in Somalia's capital Mogadishu resulting in at least one death. (Reuters) (AP via ABC News)
- Fighting breaks out between Somali protesters and Ethiopian troops in the town of Beledweyne after an official is arrested for refusing to hand over a member of the ousted Islamic Courts Union. Three people are reportedly injured. (BBC)
The executions of two senior accomplices of former leader Saddam Hussein are expected to be carried out within this week according to Iraqi officials. (BBC)
2006–2007 Bangladeshi political crisis: A nationwide blockade led by the Awami League to force electoral reform before the 2007 parliamentary election continues for a third day, bringing capital Dhaka to a standstill, with schools shut and vehicles absent from the streets. (BBC)

January 8, 2007 (Monday)

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The United States Supreme Court declines to hear an appeal of Gilmore v. Gonzales, which was a challenge to travel papers and secret laws. (USAToday) (PapersPlease)
An unknown odor persists in Manhattan, New York and Jersey City, New Jersey throughout much of the day, resulting in the evacuation of several high-rise buildings and the temporary shutdown of PATH train service under the Hudson River. (CNN)
Russian oil supplies to Poland, Germany, and Ukraine are cut as the Russia-Belarus energy dispute escalates. (BBC)
It is reported that Chinese police killed 18 members of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement organization and arrested 17 others in a raid in the Pamir Plateau on 5 January. ETIM members shot and killed one officer and wounded another. Police found 22 grenades and enough explosive material to make 1,500 more. (Xinhua) (USA Today) (BBC)
War in Somalia:
- A U.S. AC-130 gunship attacks Al Qaeda operatives during the ongoing fighting in the Battle of Ras Kamboni (CNN)
- Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, Somalia's interim President, arrives in the capital, Mogadishu, his first visit since Mujahideen forces of the Islamic Courts Union fled advancing Ethiopian troops and interim government soldiers. (BBC)
Kazakh Prime Minister Daniyal Akhmetov unexpectedly resigns without explanation. Deputy Prime Minister Karim Masimov, Akhmetov's longtime rival, is expected to replace him. (Bloomberg) (BBC)
SPÖ and ÖVP agree on a coalition government after the October 2006 Austrian elections. Both parties will get an equal share of ministers with the SPÖ's Alfred Gusenbauer set to become Chancellor of Austria, and the ÖVP has had more success in implementing their demands in the coalition agreement. The government will be sworn in on 11 January. (Bloomberg) (BBC)
Indonesian naval ships discover large metal objects off the west coast of Sulawesi that could possibly be the wreckage of Adam Air Flight 574 missing a week ago. (BBC) (CNN)
The Principality of Sealand, a micronation off the English coast, is put up for sale. (The Times)
Mounir El Motassadeq is sentenced by a court in Hamburg, Germany to 15 years in jail for his role in the planning of the September 11, 2001 attacks. (BBC)
The discovery of the first example of a "triple quasar" is announced at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Seattle. (BBC)
Chicago Alderman Arenda Troutman is arrested by the FBI and charged with accepting a bribe from a federal informant as part of an undercover investigation. (Chicago Sun Times)
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame chooses Patti Smith, R.E.M., Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, the Ronettes, and Van Halen as 2007 inductees. (Reuters) (Billboard) (Detroit Free Press) (CBC)

January 9, 2007 (Tuesday)

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YouTube is unblocked in Brazil as a São Paulo state court revises its ruling for Daniela Cicarelli video clips. (Reuters)
North Korea and weapons of mass destruction:
- A top U.S. general says that he believes North Korea may conduct another nuclear test in the future. (AP via ABC News)
- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe calls for closer international co-operation against a nuclear North Korea. (BBC News)
Mohammad Tavakoli, an Iranian legislator, announces the arrest of an alleged spy and suspected member of the Mujahedin-e Khalq. Tavakoli said the man leaked information about Iran's nuclear program. (RFE/RL)
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev nominates Deputy Prime Minister Karim Masimov for Prime Minister. The Parliament will convene on 10 January to vote on the nomination. (UPI)
The ÖVP, the future minority partner in the grand coalition government that will be sworn in in Austria on 2007-01-11, announces its future ministers. (IHT)
The European Parliament undergoes mid-term changes in advance of its first 2007 session:
- Far right parliamentarians increase their influence within the European Parliament by founding a new transnational caucus. (EUObserver)
- Alsatian farmer Joseph Daul, an MEP from France's UMP party, is elected chairman of the largest caucus in the European Parliament, EPP–ED. He succeeds Hans-Gert Pöttering, widely anticipated to be elected President of the European Parliament next week. (EUX.TV)
Hindu holy men in India threaten to boycott the Ganges River Festival because of pollution. (AP via ABC News)
CIA Kidnap case: Hearings begin in Italy on whether to charge 25 CIA agents with kidnapping for the "extraordinary rendition" of Osama Nasr in 2003. The named agents have left the country. (Al Jazeera) (BBC News)
Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs unveils the iPhone and changes the company name to Apple Inc. at the annual Macworld Expo in San Francisco. (Bloomberg) (CNN) (Wired News) (InfoWorld)

January 10, 2007 (Wednesday)

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U.S. President George W. Bush announces, in a televised address, his strategy change in response to Iraq Study Group criticisms. This will involve a surge of 21,500 more troops to fight in the War in Iraq. (CNN)
The Tajik Parliament approves a Memorandum of Understanding between Tajikistan and Iran agreeing to begin a nuclear program with assistance from the Iranian government in building a power plant. Tajikistan is the second nation in Central Asia to pursue a nuclear program, the other being Kazakhstan. (IRNA)
Kazakhstan political shakeup of 2007: Karim Masimov is confirmed by the Parliament of Kazakhstan as Prime Minister. Massimov appoints his former superior and political rival Daniyal Akhmetov to Defense Minister and Economy Minister Aslan Musin to Deputy Prime Minister. (IHT)
Sudan adopts a new currency; the Sudanese pound replaces the Sudanese dinar. The change is part of reconciliation measures after the end of the Second Sudanese Civil War. (E Canada Now)
Mirsad Bektašević, a 19-year-old Swedish citizen of Bosnian descent, is convicted of terrorism-related charges by a court in Sarajevo and sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment. (Reuters) (The Local)
War in Somalia: Somali official says that a senior al-Qaeda suspect responsible for bombing U.S. embassies in East Africa eight years ago is possibly killed in a U.S. airstrike in the Battle of Ras Kamboni. (AP via ABC News) (CNN) (CBS)
Two Squirrel helicopters collide at RAF Ternhill in Shropshire, UK, killing one and injuring two others. (BBC News)
Iranian news agency reports a UFO has crashed in the Kerman province. (Fars News Agency)
India launches four satellites at a time with their PSLV-C7 rocket, including the SRE-1 test article, which will return to Earth in a test for a future Indian manned spaceflight program. (Reuters)
The European Commission announces proposals for the EU to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 20% by 2020 and 60% by 2050 in order to mitigate global warming. (BBC News)
Following the 2006 general election, Daniel Ortega becomes the new President of Nicaragua, replacing Enrique Bolaños. (CBS)
The Social Democratic Party of Austria, the future majority partner in the grand coalition government that will be sworn in in Austria on January 11, 2007, announces its future ministers. (Gulf Times)
Start of the 12th ASEAN Summit and 2nd East Asia Summit in Metro Cebu, Philippines. Meetings involve heads of the 10 member states and 6 dialogue partners with major discussions on relevance, diplomacy, security, economy and free trade and other important global issues. (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
A general strike starts in Guinea, with trade unions calling for pay rises, the return to jail of Mamadou Sylla and the resignation of President Lansana Conté. (BBC)

January 11, 2007 (Thursday)

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2007 Chinese anti-satellite missile test: The Second Artillery Battalion of the People's Liberation Army of China tests a missile destroying one of its own satellites 535 miles above Earth. New York Times
Liberal MP Jean Lapierre resigns from the Canadian House of Commons. Justin Trudeau is likely to be the Liberals' candidate in the next election in the Outremont riding. (London Free Press)
2006–2007 Bangladeshi political crisis: Bangladesh President Iajuddin Ahmed steps down as interim leader just hours after declaring a state of emergency and a curfew in the country. (BBC)
Austria's new government is sworn in under Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer (SPÖ) and Vice-Chancellor Wilhelm Molterer (ÖVP). (The International Herald Tribune)
Kazakhstan political shakeup of 2007: Foreign Minister Kassym-Jomart Tokayev is appointed Chairman of the Senate of Kazakhstan. If aging President Nursultan Nazarbayev dies, according to the Constitution, Tokayev would become President. Some analysts say this is a sign that Tokayev, and not one of Nazarbayev's politically active daughters, is his desired successor. (News.com.au)
War in Somalia: A top U.S. official says that he believes the airstrike in Somalia on the previous day failed to kill the al-Qaeda suspects they targeted. (BBC)
In the ongoing Operation Mountain Fury, NATO forces kill as many as 150 Taliban militants in Afghanistan's Paktika province. (BBC)
The U.S. Defense Department reports that United States Department of Defense contractors, while traveling through Canada, have had Canadian coins with radio transmitters inside planted on them by unknown people. The transmitters could be used to track the locations of the contractors. (The Associated Press)
Pieces of wreckage and a body are recovered from the missing Adam Air flight 574. (The Daily Telegraph)

January 12, 2007 (Friday)

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China and Russia veto a United States drafted United Nations Security Council Resolution that would have urged the government of Myanmar to stop human rights abuses and the repression of political opposition. (Reuters AlertNet) (LA Times)
Terri Irwin, widow of naturalist and TV personality Steve Irwin, reports that all footage of his death from a stingray piercing his heart has been destroyed, and the events surrounding his death will not be shown in his final documentary, Ocean's Deadliest. (Access Hollywood)
The Chinese Foreign Ministry warns it has intelligence indicating East Turkestan Islamic Movement terrorists will launch an attack against China from Kyrgyzstan. Security personnel along the border between the two countries is increased. (RFE/RL)
United States armed forces raid the office of the Iranian Consulate General in Arbil, a city in Iraqi Kurdistan. (The New York Times)
Underground tunnel of the future Pinheiros Subway Station, in São Paulo collapses, opening a huge crater and making a large number of vehicles falling into.
Fakhruddin Ahmed becomes the new Chief Advisor in Bangladesh amid the current political crisis. (USA Today)
Terrorists fire an anti-tank missile at the Embassy of the United States in Athens. No one is injured or killed. (BBC) (CNN)
Somali government and Ethiopian forces capture the town of Ras Kamboni, and pursue fleeing Islamist forces. (AP)
An Argentinian judge issues an arrest warrant for former president Isabel Martínez de Perón, implicated in the disappearance of a human-rights activist in 1976. Perón has been living in Spain since 1981. (BBC)
Casino Royale and The Queen lead this year's BAFTA film award nominations. (BBC)
Raleb Majadele is appointed minister of science and technology, becoming the first Israeli Arab Muslim to serve as a cabinet minister in the government of Israel. (BBC)

January 13, 2007 (Saturday)

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War in Somalia: Martial law is declared in Somalia. (BBC)
The energy dispute between Russia and Belarus is resolved after about 10 hours of negotiations between Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov and his Belarusian counterpart, Sergey Sidorsky. (BBC)
A major earthquake measuring approximately 8.2 magnitude occurs in the north-western Pacific Ocean at 04:23:20 UTC. A tsunami is detected and a warning is issued for Russia, Japan, Marcus Island, Wake Island, Midway Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Marshall Islands, Taiwan, Yap, Pohnpei, and Chuuk. (US Geological Survey) (Pacific Tsunami Warning Center) (Japan Meteorological Agency)
10 former members of the Nazi SS are sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment for their role in the Marzabotto massacre, the worst massacre in Italy during World War II. (BBC)
20 people are killed in severe storms in Sangihe, Indonesia. (The Jakarta Post)

January 14, 2007 (Sunday)

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The Red Crystal is recognized as an official symbol of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. (BBC)
The Union for a Popular Movement nominates Nicolas Sarkozy as its candidate to become the next President of France in the 2007 French presidential election. (The International Herald Tribune)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas tells United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that he opposes the establishment of a provisional Palestinian state with temporary borders. (CNN)
War in Somalia: An African Union delegation is in Somalia's capital Mogadishu to discuss the deployment of international peacekeeping troops. (AP via ABC News) (BBC)

January 15, 2007 (Monday)

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The President of the United States George W. Bush decl