Portal:Current events/2016 January 29

January 29, 2016 (Friday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Terrorism in Saudi Arabia
- At least 3 people are killed and 7 wounded in an attack on a Shia mosque in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province. (The News Hub)^{[permanent dead link‍]}
Iraqi Civil War (2014–2017)
- A pipeline used to generate around half the electricity in Iraqi Kurdistan is blown up, knocking out power across the region. (Reuters)

Business and economy

Mexico launches a wholesale telecoms network tender on this day. (Reuters via Yahoo! Finance)
The Bank of Japan adopts a negative interest rate policy to support the economy. (Bloomberg)
U.S. corporation Xerox announces it will split into two companies, separating its business process outsourcing line from its legacy business, document technology. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

2015–16 Australian region cyclone season
- Tropical Cyclone Stan gathers strength as it heads towards the Pilbara and Kimberley regions of Western Australia. (ABC News Australia)
2015–16 UK and Ireland windstorm season
- Storm Gertrude impacts the British Isles, with 90mph winds knocking out power lines and causing travel disruption. (The Telegraph)
An avalanche near McBride in the Canadian province of British Columbia kills five people. (CBC)

International relations

Japan–North Korea relations
- Japan places its military on alert over a possible North Korean ballistic-missile launch after detecting "increased activity" at a North Korean missile site. Japan's Minister of Defense, Gen Nakatani, has ordered Kongō-class destroyers stationed in the Sea of Japan, equipped with Aegis combat systems, to target any North Korean projectiles heading for Japan. (Reuters)

Law and crime

Human rights in China
- Human rights activists claim that three pro-democracy advocates have been sentenced to up to five years imprisonment on charges of attempting to overthrow the Communist Party government in Guangzhou. (AP via Star Tribune)^{[permanent dead link‍]}
Hillary Clinton email controversy
- The Government of the United States rules that 22 emails on Hillary Clinton's home server contained closely guarded information rated as "Top Secret". (AP)

Politics and elections

The Mexican Federal District is officially renamed to Mexico City (Ciudad de México), and becomes one of the 32 first-level administrative entities of Mexico. (The Guardian)

Science

Scientists from UCLA conclude that study of the geology of the Earth and Moon indicate that both consist of a mixture of rocks from the original Earth and a hypothesized planetary-mass object called Theia after a collision. (The Telegraph)