Current Events for the Week of 23 January 2012

Current Events for Monday, 23 January 2012

Former U.S. House of Representatives (House) Speaker Newt Gingrich (R., GA) wins South Carolina primary

Gingrich, 40%
Romney, 28%
Santorum, 17%
Paul, 13%

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney (R.) tries to stem “Gingrich tide” in debate tonight
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (R.): Governor Romney will win Florida, Speaker Gingrich “embarassed” the Republican party (GOP)
Research In Motion Inc.’s (RIM) co-chief executive officers (CEO) Jim Balsillie, Mike Lazaridis step-down, bowing to investor pressure
Tornadoes strike Arkansas, unsettled weather pattern heads towards Southeast
U.S. Navy (USN) aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) enters Persian Gulf via Strait of Hormuz without incident
Speculation abounds U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke may make unprecedented announcement this week of explicit target for inflation
Chinese around the world mark beginning of the Year of the Water Dragon
U.S. unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV, “drone”) attack in northwestern Pakistan kills five militants
Two Kenyan presidential hopefuls, Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and ex-minister William Ruto, await International Criminal Court (ICC) ruling on charges over violence following 2007 elections
U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords (D., AZ) to resign congressional seat
E.U. ambassadors agree to Iranian oil embargo, delay start until 1 July 2012
Eurozone finance ministers to decide today on terms for Greek debt restructuring
U.S. National Association for Business Economics’ industry survey: despite stronger economics, companies unlikely to increase hiring in next six months
Former Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour claims pardons “misrepresented” by media
U.S. Department of State officials confirm Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh left Sana’a for Oman en route to U.S. for medical treatment
Yemeni parliament provides President Saleh with immunity from prosecution in deal to remove him from power
Former Pennsylvania State University (PSU, Penn State) head football coach Joe Paterno dies in hospital
Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney (R.) announces he will release the past two years tax returns this week
Costa Concordia captian, owners trade blame for accident, official deathtoll at 13
U.S. Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Marc Grossman: no decision reached on Taliban prisoner transfer
Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC) Vice-President Abdel Hafiz Ghoga steps-down amid protests
Islamists gun, bomb attacks in northern Nigerian city of Kano kill over 178
Arab League seeks to extend Syrian mission mandate, Syria rejects call by League for President Bashar al-Assad to quit
Syrian bomb blasts kill at least 14
U.S. Department of State considering closure of Damascus embassy
U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta: U.S. Navy (USN) will not cut carrier fleet to help trim defense budget
U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit dismisses case against newly created U.S. Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)
Egyptian election results in, Muslim Brotherhood takes most seats in parliament
Chief negotiators for Greece’s private creditors leave Athens without deal on debt swap plan
Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps step-back from previous threats concerning USN activity in Persian Gulf
U.S. Congress puts PROTECT IP Act (Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act, PIPA, S. 968), Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA, H.R. 3261) on indefinite hold
Scientists working on potentially more lethal, airborne version of Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 (avian influenza) halt research because of possible release
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clears orange juice from five more countries after detection of fungicide carbendazim in them, still mum on Brazil
Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) strikes-down Texas redistricting map
Six U.S. Marines killed in Afghan helicopter crash
U.S. home sales hit 11-month high in December
Croatians head to polls for E.U. membership, “yes” vote expected

Current Events for Tuesday, 24 January 2012

American Catholics descend on Washington, D.C., Supreme Court building to mark anniversary of Roe v. Wade (1973) decision on abortion rights
U.S. House Speaker John Boehner (R., OH) speaks to anti-abortion activists
Speaker Gingrich, Governor Romney trade jabs over integrity at NBC News GOP debate
Governor Romney’s 2010, 2011 tax returns show estimated $42.5 million in income over those two years, will pay roughly $6.2 million in taxes on that income
Aggressive Governor Romney changes focus on attack advertisements in Florida, now focusing on new GOP primary darling Speaker Gingrich
SCOTUS rules unanimously police cannot put global positioning satellite (GPS) device on suspect’s car to track his movements without warrant in U.S. v. Jones (2012)
Eurozone ministers reject private bondholders’ Greece offer
U.S. White House indicates U.S. President Barack Obama (D.) will tout domestic natural gas benefits in State of the Union address
U.N.’s International Labour Organization (ILO): world needs 600 million new jobs in the next decade
U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich pleads guilty to dereliction of duty in leading 2005 Haditha massacre of 24 Iraqi civilians
U.S. Department of Justice confirms former U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer John Kiriakou has been arrested, charged with illegally disclosing classified information, including identity of covert operative and details about capture of Abu Zubaydah
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice: despite partial change in member-nation make-up, U.N. Security Council (UNSECO) no more favorable to Palestinian U.N. membership bid than last year
Chinese Vice-President, likely next president Xi Jinping to visit White House in February
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS): 6.2-magnitude earthquake strikes off coast of Concepción, Chile
Russian election officials claim “problems” with liberal opposition leader Grigory Yavlinsky’s presidential election registration papers
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay criticizes U.S. inaction on closing Guantanamo Bay detention camp
Islamist militants launch suicide truck bomb attack on Ethiopian military base in central Somalia
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda to push for controversial tax reform to help tackle debt
Turkey reacts with anger over new French law making it illegal to deny “Armenian genocide” during World War I
Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) arrest to senior Palestinian members of parliament holding-up in East Jerusalem International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) compound since 2010
European Commission to propose new law giving social media users ultimate data, information deletion rights
U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R., KY) briefly detained by U.S. Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) agents at Nashville airport after refusing pat-down search
Washington state legislature likely to become seventh U.S. state to legalize same-sex marriage
U.S. National Hockey League’s (NHL) Boston Bruins’ goalie Tim Thomas conspicuously absent from White House ceremony praising team’s Stanley Cup win last season

Current Events for Wednesday, 25 January 2012

Political pundits: State of the Union address “echoes Teddy Roosevelt”
U.S. President Obama: “no bailouts, no handouts, no copouts,” “America is back”
U.S. Fair Trade Enforcement Unit (TEU) to go after unfair trade practices
GOP State of the Union rebuttal: end of big, “bossy” government is over, U.S. President Obama is “pro-poverty”
U.S. Senate Democrats planning to introduce bills to roll-back Bush-era tax cuts
Gingrich campaign releases second Freddie Mac contract showing $25,000 per month consulting fee
U.S. Senator Scott Brown (R., MA), opponent Elizabeth Warren sign pledge against third-party influences in U.S. Senate seat race
Citigroup Inc. mulls cuts in financial, securities sectors
International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing-Director Christine Lagarde: combining E.U.’s temporary European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF), permanent European Stability Mechanism (ESM) would help restore confidence in system
IMF: Europe poses global recession threat
U.S. Department of Defense to preview budget proposal this week implementing $487 billion in spending cuts
Japan marks first trade deficit in 30 years, raises debt doubts
Yahoo! Inc. chief executive officer (CEO) Scott Thompson: company needs to “do better”
Apple Inc. returns to form, blows Wall Street Q4 2011 expectations out of the water, posts $13.06 billion in profits for Q4
Iran: economic sanctions, E.U. oil embargo will fail because the Strait of Hormuz will be closed
French President Nicolas Sarközy admits election defeat “possible”
Standard & Poor’s (S&P) likely to downgrade Greek debt to “selective default”
Italian tax police at Fitch Ratings agency offices in Milan
Gulf Arab states withdraw observers from Syria after that nation rejects Arab League plan for President Assad to step-down, Arab League Secretariat Nabil el-Araby to request U.N. assistance
Japanese Trade Minister Yukio Edano admits no records were kept of top-level discussions during Fukushima disaster
Three week Suriname research expedition finds 46 new species
Two foreign aid workers kidnapped in Somalia three months ago freed in U.S. military raid
Chinese authorities confirm second clash with Tibetan protesters in Sichuan province
Google Inc. announces privacy policy changes
Los Angeles law requires pornographic film stars to wear condoms
World Economic Forum (WEF) underway in Davos, Switzerland
Deadly mudslides hit two remote villages in Papua New Guinea
British Prime Minister David Cameron to suggest changes to European Court of Human Rights
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé: France not planning to withdraw troops from Afghanistan by end of the year
Sony Corp. produces higher quality smartphone camera by including white pixels in sensors
India takes possession of Russian Akula II submarine on 10-year lease

Current Events for Thursday, 26 January 2012

Former Speaker Gingrich, former Governor Romney hone message for Hispanic Floridians, need to portray the GOP as not anti-immigrant
Four members of U.S. House—Committee on Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton (R., MI), Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chairman Cliff Stearns (R., FL), Subcommittee on Health Chairman Joseph Pitts (R., PA), Subcommittee on Health Vice-Chairman Michael Burgess (R., TX)—issue letter to U.S. White House demanding release of internal documents leaked to The New Yorker staff writer Ryan Lizza
U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner does not expect to stay-on if U.S. President Obama wins reelection
Arizona Governor Jan Brewer (R.), U.S. President Obama trade terse words
U.S. Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) hauled-in around $62 million in donations for 2011
Former Cuban President Fidel Castro: U.S. GOP race is “idiocy”
Nintendo Co. Ltd. posts first annual loss, cuts 3DS sales forecast
NEC Corp. announces plans to cut 10,000 jobs by September after missing sales target
U.S. Federal Reserve Board Report: U.S. economy outlook still grim, 2% inflation rate is the target, another stimulus package possible
Netflix Inc. shares surge 13% on new consumer interest
Key Greek debt talks set to resume
British Prime Minister Cameron: European leaders must “be bolder” to solve economic crises
Poly Implant Prothèse President Jean-Claude Mas arrested by French authorities as part of breast implant investigation
Fiji declares state of emergency over flooding, landslides
Group of Papua New Guinean soldiers claim coup over military, demand reinstatement of ousted Prime Minister Michael Somare
The Tampa Bay Times’s PolitiFact.com shows its partisan colors
U.N. expresses concern over Libyan militias
South Korean Central Bank report: growth slowed in Q4 2011 due to eurozone debt crisis
Thousands of Egyptian protesters remain in Tahrir Square
Bahraini police attacked by anti-government protesters
At least 70 killed by faulty heart medications in Lahore
Syrian Arab Red Crescent confirms Vice-President Abdulrazak Jbeiro killed in Syria
European Commission confirms overhaul of data protection laws, including large fines for firms that breach rules