Portal:Current events/2007 January 15

January 15, 2007 (Monday)

The President of the United States George W. Bush declares a state of emergency in Oklahoma following the death of 11 people in a midwinter storm. Twenty-five people have died in the midwestern United States as a result of the storm. (AFP via ABC News Australia)
Colombian police arrest Eugenio Montoya, also known as Don Hugo, suspected of being a leader of the Norte del Valle syndicate, which is described by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as the "most powerful and violent drug-trafficking organization in Colombia". (AP via The Melbourne Age)
64th Golden Globe Awards: Babel wins the Golden Globe Award as best film drama of 2006. Dreamgirls wins the Golden Globe as best musical or comedy. (AP via San Francisco Chronicle)
The Syrian government may sign an agreement in which it will recognize Israel and end its support for Hezbollah and Hamas in return for Israeli withdrawal from most of the Golan Heights. (Ha'aretz)
Saddam Hussein's half-brother and former intelligence chief Barzan Ibrahim as well as the former chief judge of Iraq Awad Hamed al-Bandar are hanged before dawn. According to the video released by the Iraqi government, the head of Barzan Ibrahim was separated from the rest of his body. Although government officials call the beheading an accident, many Iraqi Sunnis still express umbrage toward the decapitation, accusing the Iraqi government of mutilating the body. (The Australian) (Reuters) (BBC) (CNN)
Iran's nuclear program: An Iranian official says that Iran is continuing its nuclear program despite being sanctioned by the United Nations. (BBC) (Reuters via ABC News)
Global spread of bird flu:
- A new cluster of bird flu infections involving at least two members of a family in Indonesia may indicate a change in the virus's ability to sicken people, researchers studying the disease said. (Bloomberg)
- Japanese authorities incinerates more than 10,000 chickens that have either died or culled at a southern Japanese poultry farm. (AP via ABC News)
- The virus is confirmed after 100 ducks died in the northern Phitsanulok province of Thailand. (BBC)
The trial of six men accused of the 21 July 2005 London bombings begins. (BBC)
Rafael Correa becomes President of Ecuador, replacing Alfredo Palacio. (The Kansas City Star)