Portal:Current events/2013 January 17

January 17, 2013 (Thursday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

In Aménas hostage crisis:
- An Algerian official reports that a group of hostages has escaped from the natural gas complex that was taken over by Islamist militants. It is reported as many as 20 escaped, including Americans. (BBC) (Los Angeles Times) (Fox News)
- The Algerian Army assaults the complex with helicopter gunships, reportedly killing 15 kidnappers and as many as 34 hostages. According to local sources, at least 7 hostages remain alive and in captivity. (Al Jazeera)
- Algerian news agency ANP reports that during the Algerian Army assault 600 hostages were freed. Terrorists claim that they killed 35 hostages during the battle and that 15 terrorists were killed. (USA Today)
Syrian civil war:
- 106 people are massacred in the Basatin al-Hasawiya district of Homs, Syria, including children. People were shot, stabbed, and burned to death by forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad known as the Shabiha. (Reuters) (BBC) (Al Jazeera) (The Guardian)
Northern Mali conflict (2012–present):
- The number of French forces in the country rises to 1,400, more than half of the planned 2,500 strong force, as its troops continue to fight insurgents in Konna and Diabaly. Chad prepares to send the first 200 troops of a 2000-strong force to assist in the military operations as part of a regional mission. The European Union votes to send 450 to 500 "non-combat" troops to Mali, half of them are trainers. (Al Jazeera)
- The first West African troops enter Mali. 100 soldiers from the Togolese military enter the country with Nigerian military due to enter shortly afterward. (Reuters)
Iraqi insurgency (post-U.S. withdrawal):
- Two car bombs explode in the city of Dujail, Iraq, leaving at least 7 dead and 25 wounded. (Xinhua)
- A bomb detonated on a bus carrying pilgrims in Iraq. In a separate incident a roadside bomb detonated and injures two pilgrims walking to Hussein ibn Ali. Another bomb detonated at a bus stop killing 7 people and wounding 28. Also a civilian vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb leaving 2 dead. In total 33 people were killed in one of the most violent days this month. (AP via USA Today)
Somali Civil War (2009–present):
- Militants belonging to Somali group al-Shabaab announce they have executed the French intelligence agent who was the target of the unsuccessful French rescue attempt on January 11. French officials believe the hostage was killed during the mission itself, and the group is using the incident to manipulate the media. (Al Jazeera)

Disasters and accidents

2013 Jakarta flood: A massive flood hits Jakarta, Indonesia, with the Indonesian Army deploying rubber boats in the financial district to rescue people trapped in this flood. Four people were killed and over 2,000 evacuated. (BBC) (Reuters) (AP via USA Today)
A fire in the undercarriage of a Gatwick Express train prompts the evacuation of London Victoria station in England. (BBC) (The Guardian)
Eight people, three of them children, are killed when a small plane crashed in the state of Chiapas, Mexico. (Latin American Herald Tribune)

Law and crime

Russian dissident Alexandre Dolmatov commits suicide in Rotterdam.(Wall Street Journal)

Politics and elections

Tens of thousands of Kurds pour into the streets of Diyarbakir, Turkey, for the funeral of Sakine Cansız, the co-founder of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, who was killed in Paris, France, on January 9. (Reuters)

Science and technology

Japan decides to build the world’s largest offshore wind farm near the site of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Fukushima Prefecture. (New Scientist) (EcoSeed)
The European Space Agency officially joins a project to build a Service Module based on their Automated Transfer Vehicle for NASA’s Orion, a spacecraft to carry astronauts into deep space. (NASA) (ESA) (RIA Novosti)

Sport

U.S. cyclist Lance Armstrong is stripped of his bronze medal from the 2000 Summer Olympics by the IOC because of his involvement in doping. (BBC) (AP via Los Angeles Times) (Olympic.org)
In association football, the Uruguay and Liverpool player Luis Suárez faces sanctions as a result of his latest diving controversy. (The Guardian)
In Serie A, two-point penalty for S.S.C. Napoli is annulled on appeal in the match-fixing scandal with Paolo Cannavaro and Gianluca Grava also cleared. (AFP via Yahoo!) (Goal.com) (ESPN)