Today in History

66CE        Jan 26, The 5th recorded perihelion passage of Halley’s Comet. (MC, 1/26/02)1397        Jan 26, Vytautas signed a treaty with the Knights of the Cross but Samogitia was not included. (LHC, 1/26/03)1500        Jan 26, Spanish explorer Vicente Yanez Pinzon reached the northeastern coast of Brazil during a voyage under his command. Pinzon had commanded the Nina during Christopher Columbus’s first expedition to the New World. (MC, 1/26/02)1531        Jan 26, Lisbon was hit by an earthquake and some about 30,000 died. (MC, 1/26/02)1564        Jan 26, A Lithuanian Army under Radvila the Brown defeated a Russian force 5 time larger and stopped its entry into Lithuania. (LHC, 1/26/03)1699        Jan 26, The Treaty of Karlowitz, Croatia, ended the war between Austria and the Turks. (HN, 1/26/99)(www.san.beck.org/1-10-Ottoman1300-1730.html)1700        Jan 26, A magnitude 9.0 earthquake shook Northern California, Oregon, Washington and British Colombia. It triggered tsunami that damages villages in Japan. (AP, 2/27/10)1715        Jan 26, Claude Helvétius, French philosopher, was born. He advanced the theory that sensation is the source of all intellectual activity. (HN, 1/26/99)1720        Jan 26, Guilio Alberoni was ordered out of Spain after his abortive attempt to restore his country’s empire. (HN, 1/26/99)1784        Jan 26, In a letter to his daughter, Benjamin Franklin expressed unhappiness over the eagle as the symbol of America. He wanted the turkey. (AP, 1/26/98)1786        Jan 26, Benjamin Robert Haydon, painter (Waiting for The Times, Wordsworth Ascending), was born in Plymouth. (MC, 1/26/02)1788        Jan 26, The 1st fleet of ships carrying 736 convicts from England landed at Sydney Cove, New South Wales, Australia. The first European settlers in Australia, led by Capt. Arthur Phillip, landed in present-day Sydney. The day is since known as Australia’s national day. In 2006 Thomas Keneally authored “The Commonwealth of Thieves: The Story of the Founding of Australia.” (AP, 1/26/98)(HN, 1/26/99)(WSJ, 9/19/00, p.A1)(Econ, 7/15/06, p.83)1790        Jan 26, Mozart’s opera “Cosi Fan Tutte” premiered in Vienna. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cos%C3%AC_fan_tutte)1795        Jan 26, Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach (62), composer, died. (MC, 1/26/02)1802        Jan 26, Congress passed an act calling for a library to be established within the U.S. Capitol. (AP, 1/26/98)1824        Jan 26, Edward Jenner, discoverer of vaccination, died. (MC, 1/26/02)1826        Jan 26, Julia Dent Grant, First Lady and wife of Ulysses Grant, was born. (HN, 1/26/99)1833        Jan 26, Gaetano Donizetti’s tragic opera “Lucrezia Borgia,” premiered in Milan. (WSJ, 7/27/98, p.A12) (MC, 1/26/02)1837        Jan, 26, Michigan became the 26th state of the US. (HFA, ’96, p.22) (AP, 1/26/98)1838        Jan 26, Tennessee became the 1st state to prohibit alcohol. (MC, 1/26/02)1841        Jan 26, Britain formally occupied Hong Kong, which the Chinese had ceded to the British. (AP, 1/26/98)1848        Jan 26, Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) of Massachusetts presented an essay at the Concord Lyceum that explained his motives for refusing to pay taxes. In 1849 it was published as “Resistance to Civil Government.” (ON, 10/09, p.12)1861        Jan 26, Louisiana became the 6th state to secede from the Union. (AP, 1/26/98) (www.csawardept.com/documents/secession/LA/)1863        Jan 26, President Lincoln named General Joseph Hooker to replace Burnside as commander of the Army of the Potomac. [see Jan 25] (HN, 1/26/99)1870        Jan 26, Virginia rejoined the Union. (AP, 1/26/98)1871        Jan 26, US income tax repealed. (MC, 1/26/02)1875        Jan 26, Electric dental drill was patented by George F. Green. (MC, 1/26/02) 1875        Jan 26, Pinkerton agents, hunting Jesse James, firebombed his mother’s house, killed his 13-year-old half-brother and seriously injured his mother. (AH, 2/05, p.16)1880        Jan 26, Douglas MacArthur (d.1964), U.S. general in World War I, was born. He was the youngest general in the U.S. Army in WW I. In World War II he was the commander of all U.S. Army forces in the South Pacific; in Korea he commanded all United Nations forces. William Manchester wrote his biography: “American Caesar: Douglas MacArthur.” (BS, 5/3/98, p.13E) (HN, 1/26/99)1885        Jan 26, In Sudan General “Chinese” Gordon (Charles George Gordon, 51), British gov-gen of Sudan, was killed on the palace steps in the garrison at Khartoum by the forces of Muhammad Ahmed, El Mahdi. In 1961 “General Gordon’s Khartoum Journal,” edited by Lord Elton, was published. (WSJ, 8/25/98, p.A14) (HN, 1/26/99) (MC, 1/26/02)(ON, 4/02, p.10)1886        Jan 26, Karl Benz patented the 1st automobile. [see Jan 29] (MC, 1/26/02)1891        Jan 26, Ilya G. Ehrenburg,  writer, propagandist (Fall of Paris, The Thaw), was born in Kiev,  Ukraine. (MC, 1/26/02) 1891        Jan 26, Nicholaus Otto, auto pioneer (internal combustion engine), died. (MC, 1/26/02)1893        Jan 26, Bessie Coleman, first black airplane pilot, was born. (HN, 1/26/99) 1893        Jan 26, Abner Doubleday (b.1819), credited with inventing baseball, died on his 74th birthday. (MC, 1/26/02)1905        Jan 26, Maria Augusta von Trapp (d.1987), Austrian singer, inspired “Sound of Music,” was born. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_von_Trapp) (SSFC, 10/14/07, p.B6)1907        Jan 26, US Congress passed the Tillman Act, which prohibited corporations from making direct campaign contributions to federal election candidates. It was named for Sen. Benjamin “Pitchfork Ben” Tillman, a democrat from South Carolina. (SFEC, 10/5/97, p.D9) (SFEC, 7/16/00, p.A8) (AP, 1/26/07)1911        Jan 26, The Richard Strauss opera “Der Rosenkavalier” premiered in Dresden, Germany. (AP, 1/26/98) 1911        Jan 26, Glenn Curtiss piloted the 1st successful hydroplane in San Diego. (MC, 1/26/02)1913        Jan 26, Jim Thorpe relinquished his 1912 Olympic medals for being a pro. (MC, 1/26/02)1915        Jan 26, President Woodrow Wilson signed the Rocky Mountain National Park Act. The 415 square miles park, northwest of Denver, was created following a decade of lobbying by photographer and naturalist Enos Mills. During its first year the park drew some 31,000 visitors. (http://home.nps.gov/romo/historyculture/upload/chapter2.pdf) (SFC, 7/19/97, p.A2) (SFC, 1/26/15, p.A5)1918        Jan 26, Nicolae Ceausescu, Romanian president (1967-90), was born. (MC, 1/26/02)1920        Jan 26, Jeanne Hebuterne (b.1898), the mistress of Amadeo Modigliani, killed herself 2 days following Modigliani’s death while carrying his child. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeanne_H%C3%A9buterne)1921        Jan 26, Akio Morita (d.1999), CEO of Sony Corp., was born in Kasugaya, Japan. (MC, 1/26/02)1924        Jan 26, Saad Zaghloul (1859-1927) began serving as PM of Egypt and continued to November 24, 1924. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saad_Zaghloul)1925        Jan 26, Paul Newman, actor (Hud, Hombre, Hustler), was born in Cleveland. (MC, 1/26/02)1907        Jan 26, John Millington Synge’s “The Playboy of the Western World” opened at the Abbey Theater in Dublin. Many Irish nationalists found it so offensive that they embarked on a semi-organized campaign to bring down the production. (SFC, 12/30/06, p.E1) (www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=10167)1928        Jan 26, Eartha Kitt, singer, actress (Catwoman-Batman), was born in SC. (MC, 1/26/02) 1928        Jan 26, Roger Vadim, director (And God Created Women, Barbarella), was born in France. (MC, 1/26/02)1929        Jan 26, Jules Feiffer, cartoonist (Passionella), author (Little Murders), was born in NYC. (MC, 1/26/02) 1929        Jan 26, San Francisco police took Frances Orlando (19) to the Bush Police Station because she was dressed in men’s clothing. (SFC, 1/23/04, p.E3)1932        Jan 26, William K. Wrigley, owner (Wrigley Gum, Chicago Cubs), died. (MC, 1/26/02)1934        Jan 26, Germany signed a 10-year non-aggression pact with Poland, breaking the French alliance system. (WUD, 1994, p.1682) (HN, 1/26/99)1935        Jan 26, Bob Uecker, catcher, actor, was born in Milwaukee, Wisc. (MC, 1/26/02)1939        Jan 26, Franco conquered Barcelona. (MC, 1/26/02)1940        Jan 26, The Museum of Modern Art in New York received works by Botticelli, Raphael and Michelangelo on loan from Italy. (HN, 1/26/99) 1940        Jan 26, Nazis forbade Polish Jews to travel on trains. (MC, 1/26/02)1942        Jan 26, The first American expeditionary force to go to Europe during World War II went ashore in Northern Ireland. (AP, 1/26/98) (HN, 1/26/99)1943        Jan 26, A US War Department Disposition Form was issued with “Subject: establishment of a War Department Fixed Radio Station in Africa.” It detailed operational objectives for what was to become the 4th Detachment of the Second Signal Service Battalion, Asmara, Eritrea. Over time the US paid Ethiopia more than $360m in military aid as rent for the eavesdropping installation at Kagnew. (www.kagnewstation.com/history/chapter4/index.html) (Econ, 1/22/05, p.80) 1943        Jan 26, The first OSS (Office of Strategic Services) agent parachuted behind Japanese lines in Burma. (HN, 1/26/99) 1943        Jan 26, Nikolai Vavilov (b.1887), Soviet botanist, died in prison. In 1929 he had traced the genealogy of the apple to Kazakhstan. (SSFC, 5/25/08, Books p.3) (www.michaelpollan.com/article.php?id=54)1944        Jan 26, Angela Davis, American revolutionary and black militant, was born. (HN, 1/26/99)1950        Jan 26, India officially proclaimed itself a republic as Rajendra Prasad took the oath of office as president. (AP, 1/26/98)1956        Jan 26, Buddy Holly had his 1st formal recording session. [see Jan 20] (MC, 1/26/02)1961        Jan 26, Wayne Gretzky, NHL great scorer (Oiler, King, Rangers), was born in Brantford, Ont. (MC, 1/26/02) 1961        Jan 26, “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” by Elvis Presley peaked at #1. (MC, 1/26/02) 1961        Jan 26, Janet G. Travell became the 1st woman personal physician to the US President (JFK). (MC, 1/26/02)1962        Jan 26, Bishop Burke of Buffalo Catholic dioceses declared Chubby Checker’s “Twist” is impure & banned it from all Catholic schools. (MC, 1/26/02) 1962        Jan 26, The United States launched Ranger 3 to land scientific instruments on the moon, but the probe missed its target by some 22,000 miles. (AP, 1/26/98) 1962        Jan 26, Charles “Lucky” Luciano (65), NYC Mafia gangster, died. (MC, 1/26/02)1964        Jan 26, Eighty-four people were arrested in a segregation protest in Atlanta. (HN, 1/26/99)1969        Jan 26, California was declared a disaster area after two days of flooding and mud slides. (HN, 1/26/99)1970        Jan 26, In Turkey the Islamic-oriented National Order Party was formed under the leadership of Necmettin Erbakan. (AP, 11/4/02) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Order_Party)1972        Jan 26, A DC-9 exploded over Serbska Kamenice, Czechoslovakia, and attendant Vesna Vulovic dropped 33,300 feet and survived following a 27-day coma and a 16-month recovery. The cause of the explosion has never been established, but was attributed by the Yugoslav and Czechoslovakian authorities to a bomb placed on the plane by a Croatian Terrorist group, known as the Ustasa. (SFEC, 3/14/99, Z1 p.10) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vesna_Vulovic)1978        Jan 26, In China Einstein’s theory of relativity was officially reinstated. (WUD, 1994, p.1691)1979        Jan 26, “Dukes of Hazzard” premiered on CBS and continued to 1985. Denver Pyle (d.1997 at 77) played Uncle Jesse. James Best (d.2015 at 88) played the inept Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane. (www.imdb.com/title/tt0078607/) (SFC,12/27/97, p.E2)(SFC, 4/10/15, p.D5) 1979        Jan 26, Nelson A. Rockefeller (70), former Vice President under Ford and 4-time governor of New York state, died in New York in the arms of Megan Marshack (25). (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_Rockefeller)(AP, 1/26/98) (Econ, 10/18/14, p.84)1980        Jan 26, Israel and Egypt established diplomatic relations, in accord with PM Begin’s agreement with Pres. Sadat on Jan 10 at Aswan. (http://tinyurl.com/2mk9zf)1986        Jan 26, In India a Sarbat Khalsa (general congregation of the Sikh people) was convened at the Akal Takht, the Sikh seat of temporal authority in Amritsar. The gathering passed a resolution favoring the creation of Khalistan. A militant Sikh separatist movement had emerged in the 1970s with the goal of carving out an independent Sikh state out of the Punjab called Khalistan. (Econ, 3/19/05, p.46)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khalistan)1988        Jan 26, The Andrew Lloyd Webber musical “Phantom of the Opera” opened at Broadway’s Majestic Theater. It ran for 4,000+ performances. (AP, 1/26/98) (www.broadway.com/gen/show.aspx?SI=1235) 1988        Jan 26, Australians celebrated the 200th anniversary of their country as a grand parade of tall ships sailed in Sydney Harbor, re-enacting the voyage of the first European settlers. (AP, 1/26/98)1989        Jan 26, L. Douglas Wilder, the lieutenant governor of Virginia, launched his successful campaign to become the first elected black governor of a U.S. state. (AP, 1/26/99)1990        Jan 26, Attorneys for Manuel Noriega challenged the jurisdiction of U.S. courts to try the deposed Panamanian leader on drug-trafficking charges, and said Noriega should be declared a prisoner of war. (AP, 1/26/00)1991        Jan 26, An estimated 200k to 300k people across the country demonstrated in support of, or in opposition to, Operation Desert Storm. (AP, 1/26/01) 1991        Jan 26, Four people were killed in a shooting spree at a Taco Bell restaurant in Irving, Texas. Jessy Carlos San Miguel was convicted and executed in Huntsville by lethal injection on Jan 29, 2000. (SFC, 6/30/00, p.A10) (http://murderpedia.org/male.S/s1/san-miguel-jessy.htm) 1991        Jan 26, Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev granted the KGB and Soviet Interior Ministry sweeping search-and-seizure powers to combat economic crime. (AP, 1/26/01)1992        Jan 26, The Washington Redskins won Super Bowl XXVI, defeating the Buffalo Bills 37-24. (AP, 1/26/02) 1992        Jan 26, On CBS’ “60 Minutes,” Democratic presidential candidate Bill Clinton, appearing with his wife, Hillary, acknowledged “causing pain in my marriage,” but said past problems were not relevant to the campaign. (AP, 1/26/02) 1992        Jan 26, In Cincinnati, Ohio, 5 children died in an apartment fire that was set by William Garner in an attempt to hide evidence of a burglary. Garner (37) was later convicted of murder and executed on July 13, 2010. (SFC, 7/14/10, p.A4) (http://tinyurl.com/2bq5puv) 1992        Jan 26, Jose Ferrer (b.1909), Puerto Rico born film actor, died in Coral Gables, Fla. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Ferrer)1993        Jan 26, U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali called on the Security Council to take “whatever measures are necessary” to compel Israel to readmit 400 deported Palestinians. (AP, 1/26/98) 1993        Jan 26, Former Czechoslovak President Vaclav Havel was elected president of the new Czech Republic. (AP, 1/26/98)1994        Jan 26, A scare occurred during a visit to Sydney, Australia, by Britain’s Prince Charles as a young man lunged at the prince, firing two blank shots from a starter’s pistol. (AP, 1/26/99) 1994        Jan 26, The Belarus Parliament ousted its reform-minded leader, Stanislav Shushkevich, in protest against his support for market economics. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislau_Shushkevich) 1994        Jan 26, Russian President Boris Yeltsin accepted the resignation of Finance Minister Boris Fyodorov, who warned of economic collapse and social unrest. (AP, 1/26/99)1995        Jan 26, A little more than three weeks after Republicans took control of Congress, the House endorsed a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution designed to eliminate chronic federal deficits. (AP, 1/26/00)1996        Jan 26, First lady Hillary Rodham Clinton testified before a grand jury connected to the Whitewater probe. (AP, 1/26/01) 1996        Jan 26, Hours before a midnight deadline, a confrontation-weary Congress voted to avert a third federal shutdown and finance dozens of agencies for seven more weeks. (AP, 1/26/01) 1996        Jan 26, Olympic wrestler Dave Schultz was fatally shot at the suburban Philadelphia estate of John E. du Pont; du Pont surrendered 48 hours later. Du Pont was later convicted of third-degree murder but mentally ill; he’s serving a 13- to 30-year sentence. (AP, 1/26/06) 1996        Jan 26, In Utah John Albert Taylor (b.~1960) was executed by firing squad. He had been sentenced to death for the 1988 rape and strangulation of 11-year-old Charla King and had then chosen the firing squad as the method of execution. (SFC, 4/24/10, p.A5) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Albert_Taylor) 1996        Jan 26, The Council of Europe voted to accept Russia. Russia became a member on Feb 28. (WSJ, 1/26/96, A-1) (www.coe.int/T/E/Com/About_Coe/Member_states/e_ru.asp#TopOfPage) 1996         Jan 26 Yeltsin appointed Vladimir Kadannikov to oversee national economic policy. Mr. Kadannikov was general-director of the debt-ridden Volzhsky Auto Works. (WSJ, 1/26/96, A-6)1997        Jan 26, The Green Bay Packers beat the New England Patriots 35-21 to win Super Bowl XXXI, their first Super Bowl in 29 years. (SFC, 1/27/97, p.C1) (AP, 1/26/98)1998        Jan 26, Pres. Clinton firmly denied having sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky: “I did not have sexual relations with that woman”¦I never told anybody to lie.” (SFC, 1/27/98, p.A1) (SFEC, 11/15/98, p.A3) 1998        Jan 26, Stung by a drop in profits, AT&T said it would cut at least 15,000 jobs, freeze executive salaries and shake up management to reduce costs. (AP, 1/26/99) 1998        Jan 26, Compaq Computer Corp. announced that it would buy Digital Equipment Corp. for $9.6 billion. (SFC, 1/27/98, p.A1) 1998        Jan 26, Intel introduced a 333 Mhz chip. It was code-named Deschutes and was expected to reach 450Mhz speed by the end of the year. (WSJ, 1/26/98, p.B5) 1998        Jan 26, In Chile Gen’l. Pinochet (82) backed away from scheduled retirement after the Christian Democratic Party filed suit to prevent him from becoming a senator for life. (SFEC, 2/1/98, p.A11) 1998        Jan 26, In Japan public prosecutors raided the Ministry of Finance and arrested 2 bank regulators, Koichi Miyagawa (53) and Toshimi Taniuchi (48), on bribery charges. (SFC, 1/27/98, p.A8) 1998        Jan 26, Shinichi Suzuki (99), pioneer of the 1950s Suzuki method for teaching music to young children, died in Japan. (SFC, 1/27/98, p.A20) (www.suzukiassociation.org/about/suzuki/) 1998        Jan 26, In Jordan the Supreme Court suspended an amendment to the press law, passed last May, and cleared the way for 12 newspapers to resume publishing. (SFC, 1/27/98, p.A10) 1998        Jan 26, In Northern Ireland the Ulster Democratic Party, the largest pro-British paramilitary group, withdrew from peace talks. (SFC, 1/27/98, p.A8)1999        Jan 26, Pope John Paul II arrived in St. Louis and began his seventh pilgrimage to the United States. He was greeted by Pres. Clinton at Lambert Int’l. Airport and called on the president to protect unborn children and end armed conflict abroad. He was later scheduled to bless the 33-foot steel statue of the Virgin Mary commissioned by Carl Demma and made by Charles Parks. (SFC, 1/26/99, p.A15) (SFC, 1/27/99, p.A1) (AP, 1/26/00) 1999        Jan 26, Some 700 US troops were ordered by NATO to be pulled from Bosnia in a 10% force reduction. (WSJ, 1/27/99, p.A1) 1999        Jan 26, In Germany Chancellor Schroeder abandoned an ambitious timetable for the planned shutdown of nuclear power plants. (SFC, 1/27/99, p.C10) 1999        Jan 26, In Honduras the legislature voted to end 41 years of military autonomy and to put the military under civilian control. (SFC, 1/27/99, p.C10) 1999        Jan 26, US jets again fired on air-defense sites in Iraq and Pres. Clinton approved more aggressive rules of engagement. (WSJ, 1/27/99, p.A1) 1999        Jan 26, In Jordan King Hussein left to the United States for urgent medical care at the Mayo clinic. His son Abdullah was sworn in to run the country in his absence. (SFC, 1/27/99, p.A7) (AP, 1/26/00) 1999        Jan 26, A Palestinian man was killed by an Israeli rubber bullet when he threw stones to protest the demolition of an Arab-owned home in East Jerusalem. (SFC, 1/27/99, p.C10)2000        Jan 26, The grandmothers of Elian Gonzalez hugged and kissed the six-year-old boy during a tense, 90-minute meeting in Miami Beach, Florida, that had been arranged by the U-S government. (AP, 1/26/01) 2000        Jan 26, Tennis great Don Budge, who in 1938 became the first Grand Slam winner, died in Scranton, Pennsylvania, at age 84. (AP, 1/26/01) 2000        Jan 26, The UN appointed Hans Blix of Sweden to be the new weapons inspector for Iraq. (SFC, 1/27/00, p.A12) 2000        Jan 26, In Thailand the legendary 24-year leader of the Karen National Union (KNU), was voted out of the chairmanship. Saw Ba Thin was elected as the new chairman of the Karen National Union (KNU). (SFC, 1/28/00, p.A14) (SFC, 2/22/00, p.A8) 2000        Jan 26, In China the State Bureau of Secrecy issued a 20-article circular that banned discussion of state secrets on the Internet, in e-mail, and in chat rooms or bulletin boards. Content and service providers were also required to undergo a “security certification” prior to operation. (SFC, 1/27/00, p.A1) 2000        Jan 26, The EU and Yugoslavia crafted a $24 million plan to clear Danube River bridge debris due to NATO bombing. (WSJ, 1/27/00, p.A1) 2000        Jan 26, In Serbia police killed 2 ethnic Albanian brothers on the southern border known as Eastern Kosovo. (SFEC, 3/5/00, p.A25) 2000        Jan 26, In Pakistan 6 of the Supreme Court’s 13 judges refused to take a new oath under the provisional military government. Of 102 judges, 89 took the oath. The oath protected the military from legal action. (SFC, 1/27/00, p.C16)2001        Jan 26, Pres. Bush renewed his pledge to build a missile defense system and to reduce the nuclear arsenal. (SFC, 1/27/01, p.A3) 2001        Jan 26, Scientists announced that they had decoded the genetic blueprint of rice. It was the 1st important plant to have its genome decoded. (SFC, 1/27/01, p.A7) 2001        Jan 26, Diane Whipple (33), Lacrosse coach, died after being mauled by 2 dogs in her San Francisco Pacific Heights apartment. The dogs, under the control of Marjorie Knoller, were later found to be owned by 2 Aryan Brotherhood prison gang members and kept by attorneys Robert Noel (59) and Marjorie Knoller (45). A few days later Noel and Knoller adopted Paul Schneider (38) in SF family court. Bane, one of the Presa Canario dogs, was destroyed following the attack on Whipple. Hera, the 2nd dog, was impounded. Knoller and Noel were indicted for murder and manslaughter on Mar 27. Hera was put to death Jan 30, 2001. Knoller was paroled Jan 1, 2004. In 2005 a state appeals court reinstated a murder conviction against Marjorie Knoller. Knoller was again jailed in 2008 after a judge reinstated her murder conviction. On Sep 22 Knoller was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison. (SSFC, 1/28/01, p.A1) (SFC, 1/30/01, p.A1) (SFC, 1/31/01, p.A1) (SFC, 2/1/01, p.A11) (SFC, 3/28/01, p.A1) (SFC, 1/31/02, p.A13) (SFC, 1/1/04, p.A19) (SFC, 5/6/05, p.B1) (SFC, 8/23/08, p.B1) (AP, 9/22/08) 2001        Jan 26, In Illinois a Salvation Army van collided with a truck and 10 people were killed on I 55 near Joliet. (SFC, 1/27/01, p.A3) 2001        Jan 26, Dr. Charles Merieux, virologist and founder of the Merieux Laboratory, died at age 94 in Lyon, France. He helped produce the Salk vaccine cultivated in minced monkey kidney tissue. He also produced a vaccine against a meningitis strain that killed 4,000 people in Brazil in 1974. (SFC, 1/27/01, p.A24) 2001        Jan 26, Joseph Kabila was sworn in as Congo’s president, following the assassination of his father, Laurent Kabila. (AP, 1/26/02) 2001        Jan 26, In Germany the lower house passed an overhaul of the national pension system. (SFC, 1/27/01, p.C16) 2001        Jan 26, A 7.9 (7.7) earthquake hit India and Pakistan as India prepared to celebrate Republic Day. It was an intraplate earthquake along a thrust fault 300 miles south of the boundary between the Indo-Australian and Eurasian Plates. Some 20,000-50,000 people were killed and over 14,000 injured across Gujarat state. 10 people were reported killed in Pakistan. The quake caused an underground river, either the Saraswati or Indus, to reappear that had disappeared in a 19th century quake. [see Jan 31] (SFC, 1/26/01, p.A16) (SFC, 1/27/01, p.A1) (WSJ, 1/29/01, p.A1) (SFC, 2/17/01, p.D8) (WSJ, 1/2/02, p.R12) 2001        Jan 26, Benjamin Hermansen (15), a black teenager, was stabbed to death in Holmlia near Oslo, Norway. 5 Neo-Nazi Bootboys were soon arrested. In 2002 Joe Erling Jahr (20) was sentenced to 16 years in prison and Ole Nicolai Kvisler (22) was sentenced to 15 years. Veronica Andreasen (18) received 3 years as an accomplice. (SFC, 1/30/01, p.A11) (SFC, 1/18/02, p.A6) 2001        Jan 26, In the Philippines Pres. Arroyo forced her Cabinet ministers to sign an 8-point “covenant” that included pledges to show “respect for others,” live a simple lifestyle and focus on the poor. (SFC, 1/27/01, p.A14) 2001        Jan 26, The 198-foot vessel Pamyat Merkuriya sank in the Black Sea and at least 14 people were killed. The ship was enroute to Yevpatoria, Ukraine, from Istanbul. (SFC, 1/30/01, p.A11) 2001        Jan 26, A UN panel criticized Saudi Arabia for discriminating against women, harassing minors and for punishments that included flogging and stoning. (SFC, 1/27/01, p.C16)2002        Jan 26, Jennifer Capriati produced the greatest comeback in a Grand Slam final to overcome Martina Hingis (news) and defend her Australian Open title, 4-6, 7-6 (7), 6-2. (AP, 1/26/03) 2002        Jan 26, In a preview of his State of the Union address, President Bush pledged in his Saturday radio address to “work to create jobs and renew the strength of our economy.” (AP, 1/26/03) 2002        Jan 26, Sec. of State Powell asked Pres. Bush to declare that the US is bound by the Geneva Conventions in the treatment of Afghan captives at Guantanamo Bay. (SSFC, 1/27/02, p.A) 2002        Jan 26, The Honduras Congress elected Justice Vilma Cecilia Morales as the 1st woman to head the Supreme Court. (SSFC, 1/27/02, p.A19) 2002        Jan 26, The Palestinian Authority again called for an end to all bombing and shooting attacks against Israel. Israeli troops shot and killed a Palestinian passing through an army checkpoint and militants were hit by an tank shell when they tried to lay an explosive near a border fence. (SSFC, 1/27/02, p.A18)2003        Jan 26, Tampa Bay won their first NFL championship over the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl 37. Rioting erupted on Oakland streets following the Raiders’ Super Bowl loss to the Tampa Bucs (48-21). (SFC, 1/27/03, p.A1) (AP, 1/26/04) 2003        Jan 26, Secretary of State Colin Powell, citing Iraq’s lack of cooperation with U.N. inspectors, said he’d lost faith in the inspectors’ ability to conduct a definitive search for banned weapons programs. (AP, 1/26/04) 2003        Jan 26, In Cameroon an overcrowded bus swerved into oncoming traffic on the nation’s main highway, sparking a five-car pileup that killed at least 70. (AP, 1/28/03) 2003        Jan 26, In England historian Hugh Trevor-Roper (b.1914) died. His books included “The Last Days of Hitler” (1947), “The Rise of Christian Europe” (1965), and “The European Witch Craze of the 16th and 17th Centuries.” His final work “The Invention of Scotland” was published posthumously in 2008. In 2010 Adam Sisman authored “Hugh Trevor-Roper: The Biography.” (SFC, 1/27/03, p.B4) (WSJ, 7/26/08, p.W8) (Econ, 7/24/10, p.81) 2003        Jan 26, Annamarie Schimmel (80), a professor emeritus of Islamic studies at Harvard University who also lectured in Germany and Turkey, publishing more than 100 books died in Bonn. (AP, 2/2/03) 2003        Jan 26, In Guatemala a security guard opened fire with a shotgun at thousands of people gathered for a political convention of the National Union of Hope party. Isaias Caal Ichich wounded 5 people. (AP, 1/27/03) 2003        Jan 26, In Ivory Coast loyalists, enraged by a peace deal with rebels, attacked the French Embassy and army base. (SFC, 1/27/03, p.A5) 2003        Jan 26, At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Bill Gates announced that his charitable foundation will spend $200 million for medical research in poor and undeveloped countries.  In partnership with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMFG) granted $200 million to the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH). (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Challenges_In_Global_Health) (SFC, 1/27/03, p.A3)2004        Jan 26, The White House retreated from its once-confident claims that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction; Democrats swiftly sought to turn the about-face into an election-year issue. (AP, 1/26/05) 2004        Jan 26, The US Congressional Budget Office said the deficits over the coming decade are expected to total $2.4 trillion, 1 trillion more than estimates made 6 months earlier. (SFC, 1/27/04, p.A1) 2004        Jan 26, Lionel Tate, the Florida teen who’d killed a 6-year-old playmate and became the youngest defendant in the nation to be locked away for life, was released after three years behind bars. (AP, 1/26/05) 2004        Jan 26, Cleveland City Hall began a domestic partner’s registry, the 1st in the nation created by voters. (SFC, 1/27/04, p.A3) 2004        Jan 26, A pair of winter storms blanketed much of the eastern half of the US and police blamed them for at least 34 highway deaths. (WSJ, 1/27/04, p.A1) 2004        Jan 26, President Hamid Karzai signed Afghanistan’s new constitution into law, putting into force a charter meant to reunite his war-shattered nation and help defeat a virulent Taliban insurgency. (AP, 1/26/04) 2004        Jan 26, China’s President Hu Jintao arrived in France, with European ministers considering Beijing’s request that they lift an arms embargo imposed after the killing of Tiananmen Square protesters in 1989. (AP, 1/26/04) 2004        Jan 26, Nearly 200 people were missing after a barge caught fire and sank in a river in northwestern Congo near Lukelela. At least 301 people survived. (AP, 2/1/04) 2004        Jan 26, In Egypt an 11-story building collapsed in Nasr City, a Cairo suburb, during a fire and at least 14 people, mostly firefighters and police responding to a blaze, were killed. (AP, 1/27/04) 2004        Jan 26, Pakistan joined the list of countries affected by the bird flu disease that has sparked mass chicken culls across the region. (AP, 1/26/04) 2004        Jan 26, Sudanese planes dropped bombs in western Sudan, sending hundreds of people fleeing across the border into Chad where aid workers scrambled to provide them food and shelter in the barren desert. (AP, 1/27/04) 2004        Jan 26, A 6-year-old Thai boy became Asia’s seventh confirmed bird flu fatality. (AP, 1/26/04)2005        Jan 26, Condoleezza Rice was sworn in as secretary of state, following her confirmation by the Senate. (AP, 1/26/06) 2005        Jan 26, In Glendale, Ca., a Metrolink commuter train struck a vehicle, derailed and sideswiped another train, killing 11 people and injuring about 180 others. Juan Manuel Alvarez (25) left his SUV on a railroad track after changing his mind about committing suicide. Alvarez was convicted in 2008 on 11 counts of murder and was sentenced to 11 consecutive life terms in prison. In 2009 Metrolink agreed to pay some $30 million to settle most of the lawsuits related to the derailment. (AP, 1/27/05) (SFC, 1/27/05, p.A1) (SFC, 8/21/08, p.A3) (SFC, 10/14/09, p.A6) 2005        Jan 26, In Ohio an employee at the Toledo North Assembly Jeep plant shot 3 co-workers, killing one, before taking his own life. (SFC, 1/27/05, p.A3) 2005        Jan 26, Afghan President Hamid Karzai started a two-day visit to Iran mainly focused on boosting economic relations and inaugurating a new cross-border highway. (AFP, 1/26/05) 2005        Jan 26, China’s central bank said a nationwide personal credit database will be available across the country by the end of the year. The database was launched in January, 2006, and included records of 340 million individuals. (WSJ, 1/27/05, p.A10) (WSJ, 1/17/06, p.A15) 2005        Jan 26, A US military transport helicopter crashed in bad weather in Iraq’s western desert, killing 31 people, all believed to be Marines. Insurgents killed five other American troops. (AP, 1/26/05) 2005        Jan 26, A suicide car bomber attacked an office of a major Kurdish party, killing or injuring at least 20 people. (AP, 1/26/05) 2005        Jan 26, Israel and the Palestinian Authority resumed diplomatic contacts after a two-week freeze, and Israel agreed to suspend targeted killings of Palestinian militants. (AP, 1/26/05) 2005        Jan 26, At his first public hearing prosecutors said Mohammed Bouyeri (26), the alleged killer of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh, ignored his victim’s pleas for mercy and calmly shot him at close range before slitting his throat. (AP, 1/26/05) 2005        Jan 26, A South Korean semiconductor maker said it had pioneered an innovation that will allow energy efficient light-emitting diodes to light homes (LED for AC). (AP, 1/26/05) 2005        Jan 26, The Sudanese air force bombed villagers in South Darfur, observers from the African Union reported, and an international aid organization said casualties were inflicted. The UN said renewed fighting in Sudan’s Darfur region may have killed up to 105 civilians and displaced more than 9,000 last week. (AP, 1/26/05) 2005        Jan 26, The World Economic Forum, the global business meeting that attracts world leaders and Hollywood stars, opened in Davos, Switzerland. A Chinese economist said that China has lost faith in the stability of the US dollar and would seek to broaden the exchange rate for the yuan to a more flexible basket of currencies. (AP, 1/26/05) (SFC, 1/27/05, p.C1) 2005        Jan 26, The 5th annual World Social Forum opened in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Activists from some 4,000 non-governmental organizations and 112 countries gathered under the theme “Another World Is Possible.” (SFC, 1/29/05, p.A6)2006        Jan 26, President Bush said that Hamas cannot be a partner for Middle East peacemaking without renouncing violence, and he reiterated that the United States will not deal with Palestinian leaders who do not recognize Israel’s right to exist. (AP, 1/26/06) 2006        Jan 26, The Arizona Supreme Court ordered first-term Republican Rep. David Burnell Smith to leave office at midnight for violating a state’s public campaign financing system during his 2004 primary race. (AP, 1/27/06) 2006        Jan 26, California legislators became the 1st in the US to designate secondhand tobacco smoke as a toxic air contaminant. (SFC, 1/27/06, p.B1) 2006        Jan 26, The US federal deficit was projected to widen to $360 billion in fiscal 2006. (WSJ, 1/27/06, p.A1) 2006        Jan 26, Confronted by Oprah Winfrey on her syndicated talk show, author James Frey acknowledged lies in his addiction memoir “A Million Little Pieces.” (AP, 1/26/07) 2006        Jan 26, In eastern Afghanistan a rocket killed two police officers during a battle with Taliban rebels in Paktika province. (AP, 1/26/06) 2006        Jan 26, Britain said it will send at least another 4,000 troops, four times its current deployment, to Afghanistan in coming months as a NATO mission expands into a dangerous region rife with Taliban and al-Qaida insurgents. (AP, 1/26/06) 2006        Jan 26, British port and ferries group P&O said it has accepted a takeover bid from Singapore’s PSA International worth 3.545 billion pounds (5.2 billion euros, 6.4 billion dollars). (AP, 1/26/06) 2006        Jan 26, Colombian authorities led dozens of simultaneous raids across five cities in collaboration with US officials and dismantled a false passport ring with links to al-Qaida and Hamas militants. (AP, 1/27/06) 2006        Jan 26, Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization said it has proposed resuming direct flights between Iran and the United States after more than 25 years, despite political hostilities between the two countries. (AP, 1/26/06) 2006        Jan 26, In Iraq the US military released five Iraqi women detainees, a move demanded by the kidnappers of an American reporter to spare her life, but an official said the release was coincidental. (AP, 1/26/06) 2006        Jan 26, Mexico said it will suspend its plan to distribute maps to migrants wanting to cross the US border illegally. An official said the decision was made because the maps would show anti-immigrant groups where migrants likely would gather. (AP, 1/26/06) 2006        Jan 26, Under request from Pakistan Interpol said it has issued international notices seeking the arrest of former PM Benazir Bhutto and her husband on corruption charges. Both were currently visiting the US. (AP, 1/26/06) 2006        Jan 26, In southwestern Pakistan suspected tribal militants blew up a stretch of railway track, severing train links with rest of country. (AP, 1/26/06) 2006        Jan 26, Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar said he was ready to maintain a cease-fire with Israel forged in February 2005 if Israel does likewise, but that the Islamic group will respond to attacks. Hamas supporters raised their flag over the Palestinian parliament and rushed into the building amid clashes with Fatah loyalists. (AP, 1/26/06) 2006        Jan 26, Russian military prosecutors and top officers pledged a thorough inquiry into one of the most brutal hazing incidents in the Russian military in years. Doctors said  the legs and genitals of Pvt. Andrei Sychev (18) were amputated after a New Year’s Eve incident at the Chelyabinsk Tank Academy. On Sep 26 a Chelyabinsk military court found Junior Sergeant Alexander Sivyakov guilty of abuse of power that led to severe bodily harm, and sentenced him to four years in prison. (AP, 1/26/06) (AP, 9/27/06) 2006        Jan 26, Saudi Arabia recalled its ambassador in Denmark to protest a published series of caricatures of the prophet Muhammad. Protests spread across the Muslim world for weeks, and dozens of people were killed. (AP, 1/26/07) 2006        Jan 26, Serbian police arrested Jovo Djogo, the former chief of security for Bosnian Serb wartime general Ratko Mladic, over suspicions he is helping the war crimes fugitive avoid justice. Djogo was a close aide to the Bosnian Serb political and military leadership from the start of the former Yugoslav republic’s 1992-1995 war. (AFP, 1/28/06) 2006        Jan 26, A South Korean court ordered Dow Chemical and Monsanto, US manufacturers of the defoliant Agent Orange, to pay $62.5 million in medical compensation to 20,000 Korean veterans of the Vietnam War and their families. (AP, 1/26/06) (WSJ, 1/27/06, p.A1) 2006        Jan 26, In Sri Lanka a rocket propelled grenade shot at rebel vehicles in the east of the island killed a rebel commander. Rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said government forces fired the grenade a day after a deal to end a three-year deadlock in talks. (AFP, 1/27/06)2007        Jan 26, The White House said President Bush had authorized US forces in Iraq to take whatever actions were necessary to counter Iranian agents deemed a threat to American troops or the public at large. Defense Secretary Robert Gates told a news conference that a congressional resolution opposing President Bush’s troop buildup in Iraq undercut US commanders and emboldened the enemy. (AP, 1/26/08) 2007        Jan 26, The United States issued a formal rule banning exports of luxury items to North Korea, including jet skis, I-pods, jewelry and fancy cars, in an effort to put pressure on the communist leadership in Pyongyang. (AP, 1/26/07) 2007        Jan 26, The Maine Legislature overwhelmingly passed a resolution objecting to the Real ID Act of 2005. The federal law sets a national standard for driver’s licenses and requires states to link their record-keeping systems to national databases. Within a week of Maine’s action, lawmakers in Georgia, Wyoming, Montana, New Mexico, Vermont and Washington state also balked at Real ID. Idaho approved a similar bill on March 8. (AP, 2/4/07) (Econ, 3/24/07, p.36) 2007        Jan 26, Intel said it will begin using a new material on its next generation of chips making them more energy efficient. IBM also announced changes in its chip-making processes. (SFC, 1/27/07, p.A1) 2007        Jan 26, It was reported that Dr. Robert Bohannon, a Durham, North Carolina, molecular scientist, has come up with a way to add caffeine to baked goods, without the bitter taste of caffeine. Each piece of pastry is the equivalent of about two cups of coffee. (AP, 1/26/07) 2007        Jan 26, Scientists reported that damage to one area of the brain was found to curb a smoker’s urge to smoke. (WSJ, 1/26/07, p.A1) 2007        Jan 26, A US Navy helicopter crashed during a training mission in the ocean about 50 miles off the southeastern coast of California. One sailor was reported dead and 3 missing. (SSFC, 1/28/07, p.A2) 2007        Jan 26, In Afghanistan an assailant gunned down lawmaker Maulavi Mohammed Islam Mohammadi. He was the Taliban’s governor of Bamiyan province and had overseen the destruction of two Buddha statues carved into a cliff under the former Taliban regime. In 2005 Mohammadi said: “It was foreigners like Chechens and Arabs with the Taliban who made the decision. They were crazy people. Even though I was governor, I had no power.” A suicide bomber blew himself up outside the offices of an aid group in the capital of Helmand province, Lashkar Gah. A policeman and two civilians were wounded. (AP, 1/26/07) 2007        Jan 26, The last Islamic militant group still fighting in the 16-year-old civil war against Algeria’s government said in an Internet statement posted that it had changed its name to highlight its allegiance to the Al-Qaeda network. The Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) said that it was changing its name to the Al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) on the orders of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. (AFP, 1/26/07) (Econ, 8/18/07, p.38) 2007        Jan 26, Argentina authorized officials to reveal state secrets if called to testify in human rights trials, a move intended to speed up prosecution of atrocities committed during the country’s 1976-1983 military dictatorship. (AP, 1/27/07) 2007        Jan 26, British and American television stations reported that British police have concluded that a former Russian spy was poisoned by a lethal dose of radioactive Polonium-210 added to his tea at a London hotel. (AP, 1/26/07) 2007        Jan 26, Andy Coulson resigned as editor of the News of the World over a phone hacking affair. Clive Goodman, the royal correspondent for the News of the World tabloid, was arrested along with private investigator Glenn Mulcaire for intercepting the voicemail messages of Britain’s royal family. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Coulson)(http://tinyurl.com/pwm6sur) 2007        Jan 26, Canada apologized to software engineer Maher Arar, who was deported to Syria by US agents after Canadian police mistakenly labeled him an Islamic extremist, and paid him C$10.5 million ($8.9 million) in compensation. (Reuters, 1/26/07) 2007        Jan 26, China’s state media said police in northern China have detained three men for the deaths of two women last year whose corpses were sold as “ghost brides” to accompany dead men in the afterlife. The ghost bride tradition, called “minghun” or afterlife marriage, is common in the Loess Plateau region of northern China. (AP, 1/26/07) 2007        Jan 26, In Germany Peter Hartz, Volkswagen human resources executive, was fined $750,000 and given a 2-year suspended sentence after he pleaded guilty to funding an account that provided special travel perks for employees. (www.wsws.org/articles/2007/jan2007/volk-j27.shtml) 2007        Jan 26, Inmates rioted at a prison on the outskirts of Guatemala City, leaving at least one person dead before 3,000 riot police and soldiers stormed the penitentiary. (AP, 1/26/07) 2007        Jan 26, In western India a four-story boarding school collapsed, killing at least 11 girls and injuring 14. The school in Tichakpura, a village in Gujarat, served tribespeople in the area. (AP, 1/27/07) 2007        Jan 26, An Iranian opposition group based in France claimed Iran has thousands of paid operatives working in neighboring Iraq. (AP, 1/26/07) 2007        Jan 26, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. John Murtha, both vocal war critics, were in the Iraqi capital at the head of a delegation of House members on a fact-finding mission. A bomb hidden in a box holding pigeons tore through a crowded pet and livestock market in Baghdad, killed 15 people and wounded dozens. 38 bullet-riddled bodies were found in Baghdad. A former member of Saddam Hussein’s ousted Baath Party and an interpreter who works for the US military were killed in two separate drive-by shootings in Kut. The body of a well-known Shiite boxer was found in central Baghdad near the dangerous street where he was kidnapped several days ago. A US Marine was killed in fighting in Anbar province. (AP, 1/26/07) (SFC, 1/27/07, p.A9) 2007        Jan 26, It was reported that scientists in Japan have developed a new technique for detecting explosives such as TNT in landmines or luggage using radio waves. The scientists created a device called superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID), which has a very sensitive magnetic field sensor that detects nitrogen, an element found in many explosives, including TNT. (Reuters, 1/26/07) 2007        Jan 26, In Kenya a regional director for the aid agency CARE was killed. (SSFC, 2/11/07, p.G2) 2007        Jan 26, Six federal police officers involved in President Felipe Calderon’s anti-drug operation were being investigated for extortion after they were videotaped taking money from a driver in the border city of Tijuana. (AP, 1/27/07) 2007        Jan 26, Jim Anderton, New Zealand’s agriculture minister, declared Feb. 15 “National Lamb Day.” (AP, 1/26/07) 2007        Jan 26, Officials at Davos, Switz., said Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil producer, now depends 100 percent on imports of petroleum products due to the closure of its three refineries and canalization of pipelines. (AFP, 1/27/07) 2007        Jan 26, William James Fulton, a Protestant extremist was convicted on 48 terror counts and sentenced to 28 years in prison, following the longest criminal trial in Northern Ireland’s history. The court found him guilty of killing a grandmother with a pipe bomb, wounding four police officers with a grenade, possessing firearms used for other killings, smuggling drugs and a host of other crimes. (AP, 1/26/07) 2007        Jan 26, A Pakistani security guard died when he blocked a suicide bomber outside the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad. At least seven other people were wounded. (AP, 1/26/07) (WSJ, 1/27/07, p.A1) 2007        Jan 26, Hamas gunmen stormed the home of a militant from the rival Fatah movement, sparking a deadly gunbattle and capping a day of factional violence across the Gaza Strip that killed 16 people, including a 2-year-old boy. (AP, 1/27/07) 2007        Jan 26, Martin Ngoga, Rwanda’s chief prosecutor, said Rwanda will release another 8,000 prisoners convicted or awaiting trial over the central African nation’s 1994 genocide, raising fears among survivors of a fresh round of bloodletting. (Reuters, 1/26/07) 2007        Jan 26, Singapore executed two Africans on drug trafficking charges despite pleas for clemency by Nigeria’s president. (AP, 1/26/07) 2007        Jan 26, In Somalia a spate of gunfire and mortar attacks in Mogadishu killed five people overnight and injured at least four others. (AP, 1/26/07) 2007        Jan 26, In South Africa historian David Rattray (48) was found shot dead at his home in the eastern Kwa-Zulu Natal province. On Feb 5 a court handed Sethe Nkwanyana (23) a 25-year prison term for armed robbery and the murder of Rattray. Nkwanyana said in court that Banozi Ndlovu shot Rattray. (AFP, 2/5/07) (Econ, 2/10/07, p.91) 2007        Jan 26, Darfur rebels said they would refuse peace talks and would fight African Union peacekeepers on the ground if Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir became chairman of the pan-African body. In southern Sudan gunmen killed an Indian peacekeeper and wounded 2 others. (Reuters, 1/26/07) (AP, 1/27/07) 2007        Jan 26, The Swedish government announced an agreement with suborbital space-tourism company Virgin Galactic that Swedish officials believe will lead to midsummer and mid-winter flights of Virgin’s SpaceshipTwo vehicle to observe the Aurora Borealis from Sweden. (www.space.com/news/070128_sweden_virgin.html) 2007        Jan 26, Suspected Muslim separatists ambushed police patrols and torched a school as PM Surayud Chulanont returned to southern Thailand for a third attempt at ending the bloody insurgency. (AP, 1/27/07) 2007        Jan 26, The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution condemning the denial of the Holocaust, with only Iran rejecting it as an attempt by the United States and Israel to exploit the atrocity for their political interests. (AP, 1/26/07) 2007        Jan 26, Officials said Jody Williams, the US anti-landmine campaigner and Nobel Peace Prize winner, will lead a team of United Nations investigators to probe killings, rapes, destruction of villages and mass flight in Darfur. (AP, 1/26/07)2008        Jan 26, Barack Obama routed Hillary Rodham Clinton in the racially charged South Carolina primary, regaining campaign momentum in the prelude to a Feb. 5 coast-to-coast competition for more than 1,600 Democratic National Convention delegates. Nearly complete returns showed Obama winning 55% of the vote, Clinton gaining 27%. Edwards had 18% and won only his home county of Oconee. The South Carolina Democratic Party broke its own turnout record in the presidential primary. (AP, 1/27/08) 2008        Jan 26, The film “Frozen River,” directed by Courtney Hunt, won first prize at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. “Trouble the Water” won as best US documentary film. “The Wackness” won the audience award. (SSFC, 1/27/08, p.A2) 2008        Jan 26, Miss Michigan Kirsten Haglund, a 19-year-old aspiring Broadway star, was crowned Miss America 2008 in a live show billed as the unveiling of the 87-year-old pageant’s new, hipper look. (AP, 1/27/08) 2008        Jan 26, It was reported that some 15,000 birds had died over the last month around Utah’s Great Salt Lake due to avian cholera, caused by the bacterium Pasteurella multocida. The disease was introduced into the wild during the 1940s from US domestic poultry. (SFC, 1/26/08, p.B6) 2008        Jan 26, Viktor Schreckengost (b.1906), designer of numerous household products, died. He melded Bauhaus functionalism and American sensibility. (WSJ, 2/2/08, p.A12) 2008        Jan 26, In Afghanistan gunmen kidnapped Cyd Mizell (49), a burqa-clad American aid worker, and her driver, Abdul Hadi, while they were driving through a residential section of Kandahar. She worked for the aid agency Asian Rural Life Development Foundation. (AP, 1/26/08) (AP, 1/27/08) 2008        Jan 26, According to the Int’l. Crisis Group, a Brussels-based lobby, the CAR has dropped below the level even of a failed state. (Econ, 1/26/08, p.46) 2008        Jan 26, Egyptian riot police and armored vehicles restricted Gaza motorists to a small border area of Egypt, in the second attempt in two days to restore control over the chaotic frontier breached by Hamas militants. At least 36 Egyptian security personnel have been hospitalized, including some in critical condition, due to border incidents with Palestinians. (AP, 1/26/08) 2008        Jan 26, In Guyana gunmen stormed into Lusignan, a coastal village, and shot dead 11 people with 5 children among the dead. Police and government officials suspected a gang led by Rondell Rawlins, a former Guyanese soldier, is behind the violence. Rawlins has accused security forces of kidnapping his pregnant 18-year-old girlfriend days ago and police say he threatened to carry out attacks until she is found. (AP, 1/26/08) 2008        Jan 26, In Indonesia a small cargo plane disappeared and apparently crashed during a short flight over Borneo island, and all three people aboard were feared dead. (AP, 1/26/08) 2008        Jan 26, A security chief for Sunni tribesmen who rose up against al-Qaida in Iraq said the Jan 23 explosion in northern Iraq was spearheaded by foreign fighters under the sponsorship of Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, son of the Libyan leader. A former city official was stabbed to death along with his wife and daughter in their home in a predominantly Shiite neighborhood in Baghdad. An American soldier was killed by a bomb while on foot patrol in Baghdad. (AP, 1/26/08) (AP, 1/27/08) 2008        Jan 26, In Iraq a former city official was stabbed to death along with his wife and daughter in their home in a predominantly Shiite neighborhood in northeastern Baghdad. Elsewhere in the capital, an American soldiers was killed by a bomb while on foot patrol. (AP, 1/27/08) 2008        Jan 26, In northern Jordan a tour bus collided with a water tanker, killing at least 21 people with 33 Injured. (AP, 1/27/08) 2008        Jan 26, George Habash (81), former PLO leader, died in Jordan. His radical PLO faction gained notoriety after the simultaneous hijackings of four Western airliners in 1970 and the seizure of an Air France flight to Entebbe, Uganda. (AP, 1/26/08) 2008        Jan 26, In Kenya sporadic gunshots rang in Nakuru as those forced from their homes by postelection violence threatened revenge. Police took 16 charred bodies to a mortuary, where onlookers sobbed. (AP, 1/26/08) 2008        Jan 26, Malaysian police detained 53 activists in a crackdown on a planned opposition-led protest over inflation ahead of national elections expected within weeks. (AP, 1/26/08) 2008        Jan 26, Russian riot police fired warning shots into the air and beat demonstrators who tried to rally against alleged vote-rigging in the Muslim region of Ingushetia. (AP, 1/26/08) 2008        Jan 26, Sri Lankan air force jets bombed the Tamil Tiger rebels’ naval headquarters while the group’s sea wing leaders were holding a meeting there. (AP, 1/26/08) 2008        Jan 26, In western Thailand a bus packed with passengers heading to a funeral tumbled down a mountain, killing nine people and injuring 26 others. (AP, 1/26/08) 2008        Jan 26, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and allies Nicaragua, Bolivia and Cuba, members of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA), launched a regional development bank intended to strengthen their alliance and promote independence from US-backed lenders like the World Bank as Chavez hosted a summit with ALBA leaders. (AP, 1/26/08)2009        Jan 26, President Barack Obama said the nation can’t afford “distractions” or “delays” when it comes to the economic stimulus plan working its way through Congress. He also ordered the government to re-examine whether California and other states should be allowed to have tougher auto emission standards, a clean break from Bush administration policy. (AP, 1/26/09) 2009        Jan 26, The US Senate voted 60-34 to confirm Timothy Geithner (b.1961) as Treasury secretary. (WSJ, 1/27/09, p.A1) 2009        Jan 26, The US Supreme Court ruled unanimously that managers cannot retaliate against employees whop cooperate with discrimination probes. (WSJ, 1/27/09, p.A1) 2009        Jan 26, Fannie Mae estimated that it would need a capital infusion of 11-16 billion dollars from the US Treasury to cover losses related to home mortgage defaults. (WSJ, 1/27/09, p.A4) 2009        Jan 26, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich skipped the start of his impeachment trial preferring to make his case on national TV. (WSJ, 1/27/09, p.A3) 2009        Jan 26, Two Pennsylvania judges were charged with taking millions of dollars in kickbacks to send teenagers to two privately run youth detention centers. Prosecutors later said Luzerne County Judges Mark Ciavarella (58) and Michael Conahan (56) took $2.6 million in payoffs to put juvenile offenders in lockups run by PA Child Care LLC and a sister company, Western PA Child Care LLC. Conahan soon pleaded guilty to a single count of racketeering. The “kids for cash” trial against Ciavarella began in 2011. On Feb 18, 2011, Ciavarella was convicted of racketeering. On Aug 11, 2011, Ciavarella was sentenced to 28 years in prison. On Sep 23 Conahan was sentenced to 17.5 years in prison. On Nov 4, 2011, Robert Powell, the former owner of 2-for profit juvenile detention centers, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for his role in the scheme. In 2014 builder Robert Mericle was sentenced to a year in jail and fined $250k for his role in the kids for cash scandal. (AP, 2/11/09) (SFC, 2/7/11, p.A4) (SFC, 2/19/11, p.A6) (SFC, 8/12/11, p.A5) (SFC, 9/24/11, p.A4) (SFC, 11/5/11, p.A5) (SFC, 4/26/14, p.A6) 2009        Jan 26, Nicholas Cosmo, founder of Agape World Inc., was arrested for running a Ponzi scheme that bilked investors of an estimated $370 million. His Long Island, NY, firm promised profits of 48-80% a year. (WSJ, 1/28/09, p.A12)(www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1874283,00.html) 2009        Jan 26, Caterpillar Inc announced it would cut nearly 20,000 jobs and warned of a tough year ahead as a downturn that began in the United States metastasized into a full-blown global recession, gutting orders for earth-moving equipment. At least 1,500 of the lost jobs were in greater Peoria, Ill. (Reuters, 1/26/09) (Econ, 2/21/09, p.37) 2009        Jan 26, Halliburton said is has agreed to pay $559 million to the US to settle charges that one of its former units bribed Nigerian officials during the construction of a gas plant. (WSJ, 1/27/09, p.B3) 2009        Jan 26, Home Depot Inc. announced plans to eliminate 7,000 jobs while closing four dozen stores under its smaller home improvement brands as the recession continues to batter the nation’s housing market. Its shares climbed more than 5 percent in morning trading. (AP, 1/26/09) 2009        Jan 26, Pfizer Inc. said it is buying rival drug maker Wyeth in a $68 billion deal that will increase its revenue by 50%. At the same time Pfizer announced cost cuts that include slashing more than 8,000 jobs as it prepares for an expected revenue crash when its cholesterol drug Lipitor loses patent protection in November 2011. Pfizer also said it has agreed to pay $2.3 billion to settle a federal investigation into its alleged off-label marketing of the now withdrawn painkiller Bextra. (AP, 1/26/09) (WSJ, 1/27/09, p.B2) 2009        Jan 26, In Bellflower, California, Nadya Suleman (33) gave birth to eight babies, only the second time in history octuplets have survived more than a few hours. The woman already had six other children and never expected to have eight more when she took fertility treatment. Her mother later said the woman had conceived all 14 of her children through in vitro fertilization, is not married and has been obsessed with having children since she was a teenager. (AP, 1/27/09) (AP, 1/30/09) (AP, 1/31/09) (SFC, 1/31/09, p.A2) 2009        Jan 26, Argentina’s Pres. Cristina Fernandez declared an agricultural emergency in the nation’s breadbasket provinces, responding to a key demand by powerful farm organizations amid the worst drought in decades. (AP, 1/27/09) 2009        Jan 26, A Bahamas paramedic was charged in an alleged scheme to extort $25 million from John Travolta after his chronically ill son died of a seizure at the family’s vacation home. (AP, 1/27/09) 2009        Jan 26, China greeted the arrival of the Year of the Ox with fireworks and celebrations, bidding farewell to a tumultuous 2008 marked by a massive earthquake, the Olympics, and a global economic crisis. (AP, 1/26/09) 2009        Jan 26, China’s state media reported that an 18-year-old man has died from bird flu in southern China, the fifth human death from the virus in the country this year. (AP, 1/26/09) 2009        Jan 26, The armies of Congo and Rwanda, battling together against Rwandan Hutu militiamen in eastern Congo, clashed with fighters trying to retake a village and killed 4 of them. (AP, 1/27/09) 2009        Jan 26, It was reported that recent analysis of vials of treated wastewater taken from a plant in Patancheru, where about 90 Indian drug factories dump their residues, enough of a single, powerful antibiotic was being spewed into one stream each day to treat every person in a city of 90,000. (AP, 1/26/09) 2009        Jan 26, Iran’s state radio reported that several members of its border security forces were killed in an ambush near the Pakistani border. (AP, 1/26/09) 2009        Jan 26, In the Netherlands the first-ever trial of the International Criminal Court began at The Hague with Thomas Lubanga, a Congolese militia commander, denying he committed war crimes by recruiting hundreds of child soldiers to kill and rape. (AP, 1/26/09) 2009        Jan 26, European Union leaders said they were willing to take in prisoners being released from the US detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, but stressed that American authorities must show ex-inmates pose no security threat before they can be resettled. (AP, 1/26/09) 2009        Jan 26, The European Union decided to remove an Iranian opposition group from the EU’s terror list and lift the restrictions on its funds, a move likely to further damage relations strained over Tehran’s nuclear program. (AP, 1/26/09) 2009        Jan 26, European Union nations announced the addition of 27 Zimbabwean officials and 36 companies to the EU’s visa and assets freeze blacklist to pressure President Robert Mugabe to share power with Zimbabwe’s opposition. (AP, 1/26/09) (Econ, 1/31/09, p.52) 2009        Jan 26, Iceland’s coalition government collapsed, leaving the island nation in political turmoil amid a financial crisis that has pummeled its economy and required an international bailout to keep the country afloat. (AP, 1/26/09) 2009        Jan 26, In northern Iraq 2 US helicopters crashed in Tamim province, killing four American troops, in the deadliest single incident for US forces in more than four months. Enemy fire was later reported as the cause of the collision. (AP, 1/26/09) (WSJ, 2/28/09, p.A1) 2009        Jan 26, In Madagascar thousands of demonstrators demanding a new government in Madagascar took to the streets and set the country’s state TV complex on fire to protest the apparent shutdown of the opposition’s radio station. (AP, 1/26/09) 2009        Jan 26, Norway announced a 20 billion kroner ($2.89 billion) stimulus package to boost growth and employment. (WSJ, 1/27/09, p.A8) 2009        Jan 26, In northwest Pakistan a bomb rigged to a bicycle exploded on a major road in Dera Ismail Khan, killing at least five people and wounding 20 in the latest attack to rattle the volatile region. In the southwest gunmen shot dead the leader of a small Shiite political party in Quetta, triggering violent protests. Several hundred people torched vehicles and a bank. Elsewhere in the northwest a man whom militants accused of spying for America was found shot dead in Datta Khel village in North Waziristan. (AP, 1/26/09) 2009        Jan 26, Southern African leaders opened fresh talks in Pretoria to end Zimbabwe’s political crisis amid a new threat by President Robert Mugabe to form a government excluding his arch rival from power. (AFP, 1/26/09) 2009        Jan 26, Spain’s Prado Museum named Asensio Julia as the workshop assistant believed mostly likely to have painted “Colossus” (1808-1912), a work that was once attributed to Francisco de Goya y Lucientes. (AP, 1/26/09) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Colossus) 2009        Jan 26, A UN spokesman in Colombo said dozens of civilians have been killed in Sri Lanka’s embattled north during ongoing heavy fighting between government troops and Tamil rebels. At least 10 civilians were killed today inside an area declared as a “safety zone.” Over the weekend, dozens of people were killed or wounded. (AFP, 1/26/09) 2009        Jan 26, Sudanese warplanes bombed Darfur rebel positions near the key town of El-Fasher ahead of an expected ground offensive. (AFP, 1/26/09) 2009        Jan 26, The Economist magazine said this week’s edition has not been distributed in Thailand because of local objections to an article about the royal family, the second disruption in two months. (AP, 1/26/09) 2009        Jan 26, The Thai navy detained a boat filled with 78 illegal Rohingya migrants, many of whom had lacerations and burns they said were inflicted by Myanmar soldiers. (AP, 1/27/09)2010        Jan 26, The US Justice Department said an Uzbek detainee held at the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba has been sent to Switzerland. (Reuters, 1/26/10) 2010        Jan 26, Oregon voters approved Measures 66 and 67, passed by their legislature last year, endorsing higher taxes on businesses and the rich amid the current economic slump. (SFC, 1/28/10, p.A8) (Econ, 1/30/10, p.36) 2010        Jan 26, Toyota Motor Corp. announced it would halt sales of some of its top-selling models to fix gas pedals that could stick and cause unintended acceleration. Last week, Toyota issued a recall for the same eight models affecting 2.3 million vehicles. Toyota said it is also suspending production at six North American car-assembly plants beginning the week of Feb. 1. It gave no date on when production could restart. (AP, 1/27/10) 2010        Jan 26, General Motors agreed to sell Saab, its Swedish subsidiary, to Spyker Cars, a Dutch maker of sports cars, for $74 million in cash and preference shares worth $326 million. (Econ, 1/30/10, p.76) 2010        Jan 26, In Afghanistan gunmen killed 4 policemen overnight in Helmand province. Hours later a suicide car bomber targeted a US base in Kabul, wounding six Afghans and 8 Americans. In eastern Kunar province a NATO airstrike killed several suspected insurgents who were maneuvering into fighting position in an area previously used to stage attacks on int’l forces. (AP, 1/26/10) (SFC, 1/27/10, p.A2) 2010        Jan 26, Leftists in Brazil for a week of protests against capitalism denounced corporate greed on the second day of the World Social Forum, saying that big companies humbled by the global meltdown must be prevented from controlling natural resources and harming the environment. (AP, 1/26/10) 2010        Jan 26, The prime ministers of Britain and Ireland held a second day of talks with political parties in Northern Ireland as they struggled to keep the fractious Catholic-Protestant government there from collapsing. (AP, 1/26/10) 2010        Jan 26, British actress Joanna Lumley was named “Oldie of the Year” by the monthly Oldie magazine for campaigning for the rights of retired Nepalese Gurkha soldiers wanting to settle in Britain. (AP, 1/26/10) 2010        Jan 26, Guatemalan police captured ex-President Alfonso Portillo at a beach preparing to flee the country by boat, a day after US authorities charged him with laundering money stolen from foreign donations to buy children’s books. (AP, 1/26/10) 2010        Jan 26, In Guinea Jean Marie Dore, one of the fiercest critics of Guinea’s military junta, became prime minister. The crucial step toward democracy came amid worries the country’s wounded coup leader is trying to influence the political process from exile. (AP, 1/26/10) 2010        Jan 26, In Honduras a Supreme Court judge found six generals innocent of abuse of power charges for ordering soldiers to escort Zelaya out of the country at gunpoint. Hours later, Congress voted to approve amnesty for both the military and Zelaya, who had been charged with abuse of power and treason. (AP, 1/27/10) 2010        Jan 26, In Hong Kong 5 pro-democracy lawmakers resigned their seats, vowing to turn the resulting elections into a populist campaign for universal suffrage in defiance of warnings from China. (AFP, 1/26/10) 2010        Jan 26, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused the US of trying to use the Internet as a tool to confront the Islamic Republic, declaring that such a policy only showed Washington’s frustration. The US Senate voted in July to adopt the Victims of Iranian Censorship Act which authorizes up to $50 million for expanding Farsi language broadcasts, supporting Iranian Internet and countering government efforts to block it. (Reuters, 1/26/10) 2010        Jan 26, In Iraq a suicide car bomber struck a police crime lab in central Baghdad, killing at least 22 people and injuring dozens a day after suicide attacks hit several hotels favored by Western journalists. Baghdad officials put the death toll at 17. (AP, 1/26/10) (SFC, 1/27/10, p.A2) 2010        Jan 26, In Kenya US Ambassador Michael Ranneberger said the US has suspended a five-year plan to fund Kenya’s education programs following allegations that more than $1 million in funds went missing at the Education Ministry. Britain announced in December it was suspending its funding of the program. (AP, 1/26/10) 2010        Jan 26, In Myanmar the Palaung Women’s Organization reported that opium cultivation in Shan State has tripled in certain areas over the past three years. The Palaung are an ethnic minority in the northern state. (AP, 1/26/10) 2010        Jan 26, NATO and Russia formally resumed military ties in the latest sign of improving relations between the Cold War rivals as they move to boost cooperation in the fight against insurgents in Afghanistan. (AP, 1/26/10) 2010        Jan 26, A Nigerian naval helicopter crashed in the Niger Delta, likely killing the four people onboard. (AP, 1/26/10) 2010        Jan 26, In Peru an Argentine identified as Lucia Ramallo (23) and a Peruvian guide, Washington Huaraya, were in their tents when a slope near Machu Picchu gave way and crushed them. The deaths raised to five the number of people killed by rain-triggered floods and landslides in the area. Government and private helicopters flew out 475 tourists as US authorities sent four helicopters to bolster rescue efforts. (AP, 1/27/10) 2010        Jan 26, Sri Lankans voted between two Sinhalese war heroes, the president and his former army chief, in an election that could be decided by minority Tamils, who suffered most from the government offensive to end the civil conflict. President Mahinda Rajapaksa won a resounding re-election victory. (AP, 1/26/10) (AP, 1/27/10) 2010        Jan 26, The ruling party of St. Kitts and Nevis seized a fourth consecutive term in early elections. PM Denzil Douglas’ Labor Party claimed six of eight parliamentary seats allotted to St. Kitts. (AP, 1/26/10) 2010        Jan 26, Sudan’s former PM Sadiq al-Mahdi vowed to put an end to “totalitarianism” and resolve the conflict in Darfur by taking power at elections in April. (AFP, 1/26/10) 2010        Jan 26, In Venezuela thousands of university students again protested against Pres. Chavez, accusing the socialist leader of forcing an opposition-allied TV channel off cable and satellite as a means of silencing his critics. (AP, 1/26/10) 2010        Jan 26, A Yemeni court sentenced 7 suspected Al-Qaeda members between five and ten years in jail after convicting them of plotting to attack foreign interests and tourists. (AP, 1/26/10)2011        Jan 26, In Ohio police witnessed large quantities of marijuana being transferred from a South Columbus warehouse to a van, which they intercepted along with two smugglers, Hector Martinez (36) of Columbus and Luis Miranda (24) of Phoenix, Ariz. They were arrested and charged with possession of marijuana. About 2,055 pounds of marijuana were collected. (Reuters, 1/29/11) 2011        Jan 26, Nancy Davis (59) died in a South Texas hospital about 90 minutes after her husband drove the couple’s truck against traffic across the Pharr International Bridge. US missionary Sam Davis said gunmen in a pickup truck had shot her in the head about 70 miles south of the Mexican border city of Reynosa. (AP, 1/27/11) 2011        Jan 26, Nielsen, a firm that tracks what people watch on TV, made its debut on the New York Stock Exchange in a $1.6 billion IPO. (Econ, 1/29/11, p.72) 2011        Jan 26, Afghan President Hamid Karzai inaugurated parliament, ending weeks of political infighting, but took a dig at the West saying “foreign interference” had been a serious problem. (Reuters, 1/26/11) 2011        Jan 26, Algeria confirmed it bought almost a million tons of wheat and ordered an urgent speeding up of grain imports, a move seen heading off unrest over food prices as protests swept north Africa. (Reuters, 1/26/11) 2011        Jan 26, In Bolivia thousands of people took to the streets to chew coca leaf in support of the country’s bid to remove an international prohibition on the age-old practice. (AP, 1/26/11) 2011        Jan 26, In Brazil Joao Batista Groppo (64) was arrested after his wife of 40 years was found locked in a “filthy and dark” cellar. He had allegedly kept his wife locked in a cellar for 16 years. Groppo’s girlfriend Maria Furquim was also arrested as an accomplice. (AP, 1/27/11) 2011        Jan 26, The British government said it would water down controversial measures allowing it to hold terror suspects under virtual house arrest, after a widespread review of counter-terrorism laws. (AFP, 1/26/11) 2011        Jan 26, BBC world Service said that it would close 5 of its 32 language services, including its Russian language radio broadcasts, and reduce its work force by about a quarter, or up to 650 jobs. (SFC, 1/27/11, p.A2) (Econ, 1/29/11, p.55) 2011        Jan 26, Chinese oceanographers gathered for a 2-day meeting in Shanghai to discuss the South China Sea-Deep, a $22 million project funded over 8 years for the exploration of the South China Sea. (Econ, 2/12/11, p.90) 2011        Jan 26, In northern Colombia an explosion at coal mine killed at least five workers and trapped 16 more. (AP, 1/26/11) 2011        Jan 26, Thousands of Egyptians defied a ban on protests by returning to Egypt’s streets and calling for President Hosni Mubarak to leave office, and some scuffled with police. Police quickly moved in and used tear gas and beatings to disperse the demonstrators. The crackdown saw hundreds detained and left six people dead over two days. (AP, 1/26/11) (AFP, 1/26/11) 2011        Jan 26, The European Union’s top competition regulator blocked the merger between Greek airlines Olympic Air and Aegean Airlines SA, saying a combined carrier could monopolize Greek air travel. (AP, 1/26/11) 2011        Jan 26, Gabon’s government dissolved the country’s main opposition party, accusing members of high treason after their leader declared himself president of the oil-rich nation. (AP, 1/26/11) 2011        Jan 26, Germany’s development ministry said it will halt all payments to a $21.7 billion global health fund until it gets answers about corruption allegations. (AP, 1/26/11) 2011        Jan 26, Haiti’s ruling party announced that President Rene Preval’s chosen successor, Jude Celestin, is withdrawing from the disputed race for president under pressure from the US, the Organization of American States and local protests. (AP, 1/26/11) 2011        Jan 26, Iraq and Kuwait pledged to work toward resolving border disputes and debt issues as the two former enemies seek to repair relations damaged by Saddam Hussein’s 1990 invasion of the oil-rich emirate. (AP, 1/26/11) 2011        Jan 26, In Indian-controlled Kashmir thousands of police prevented a Hindu nationalist party and a separatist group from raising flags for their opposing causes in a central square to mark India’s Republic Day. (AP, 1/26/11) 2011        Jan 26, In the Ivory Coast forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo seized the Abidjan headquarters of the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO), several days after a Gbagbo ally was forced to resign amid accusations he was continuing to allow Gbagbo to take out money even after he was officially cut off. (AP, 1/27/11) 2011        Jan 26, Japan-based Toyota Motor Corp. said it was recalling a wide range of models, including the IS and GS Lexus luxury models in North America and the Avensis sedan and station wagon models in Europe for various defects that may cause fuel leakage. (AP, 1/26/11) 2011        Jan 26, Lebanon’s Western-backed coalition called on supporters to hold daily sit-ins in downtown Beirut to protest the growing power of the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah. (AP, 1/26/11) 2011        Jan 26, Mexican authorities discovered 219 migrants squeezed into a trailer truck in the southern state of Chiapas. Most of the migrants were from Central America but six were from Sri Lanka and four were Nepalese. 33 were women and 9 were minors. They were deported the next day. (AP, 1/27/11) 2011        Jan 26, Environmental groups accused Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell of destroying lives and the environment in the Niger Delta, and urged Dutch MPs to intervene as the company defended its record. (AFP, 1/26/11) 2011        Jan 26, In northern Nigeria a fight over a game of billiards disintegrated into religious violence in Bauchi state, leaving at least four people dead among the smoldering ruins of churches and mosques in the town of Tafawa Balewa. Members of a radical Muslim sect killed a police officer guarding a voter registration site in Maiduguri. (AP, 1/27/11) 2011        Jan 26, Russia’s upper house of parliament unanimously ratified the New START nuclear arms pact with the United States. (AP, 1/26/11) 2011        Jan 26, Two Rwandan opposition parties said that they have formed a joint strategy to fight the “dictatorship, discrimination and marginalization” of Pres. Paul Kagame’s government. (AFP, 1/26/11) 2011        Jan 26, In South Korea an art exhibition by North Korean defector Song Byeok opened in Seoul. One work featured the head of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, smiling beneath his trademark sunglasses and wall of black hair, atop the body of Marilyn Monroe, pushing down her white dress in an updraft. (AP, 1/26/11) 2011        Jan 26, The World Economic Forum opened at Davos, Switzerland. Participants wrestled with the thorny questions surfaced by the explosion of online information and the WikiLeaks phenomenon in particular. (AP, 1/26/11) 2011        Jan 26, Tunisia said it has issued an international arrest warrant for ousted president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, as anti-government protesters clashed with riot police in the capital. (AFP, 1/26/11) 2011        Jan 26, In Uganda David Kato, a prominent gay rights activist whose picture was published by an anti-gay newspaper next to the words “Hang Them,” was bludgeoned to death. Police said that his sexual orientation had nothing to do with the killing and that one “robber” had been arrested. On Nov 10 Enoch Nsubuga (22) was sentenced to 30 years in jail for the brutal slaying. Nsubuga claimed that he had been reacting to unwanted demands for sex. (AP, 1/27/11) (Econ, 2/12/11, p.96) (AFP, 11/11/11) 2011        Jan 26, Venezuela’s top security official and Colombia’s defense minister signed an accord to strengthen cooperation in the fight against drug trafficking along the extensive border separating the South American neighbors. (AP, 1/26/11) 2011        Jan 26, In Vietnam Vi Duc Hoi (54), a communist official turned democracy campaigner, was jailed for 8 years. Activists saw the case as part of a wider crackdown on free speech. (AFP, 1/26/11)2012        Jan 26, The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published a new study showing an estimated 7% of American teens and adults carry the human papillomavirus in their mouths. (SFC, 1/27/12, p.A6) 2012        Jan 26, In Texas Rodrigo Hernandez (38) was executed for the abduction, rape and strangulation of Susan Verstegen (38) 18 years ago. (SFC, 1/27/12, p.A6) 2012        Jan 26, Actor Robert Hegyes (60), best known for playing Juan Epstein on “Welcome Back Kotter, died of a heart attack. After “Kotter,” Hegyes went on to co-star in “Cagney and Lacey” as Detective Manny Esposito. His other TV work included an episode of “The Love Boat,” “NewsRadio” and “CHiPS.” (AP, 1/27/12) 2012        Jan 26, In southern Afghanistan a suicide attacker detonated a car laden with powerful explosives, killing four Afghan civilians and wounding 31 other people. (AP, 1/26/12) 2012        Jan 26, Two Australian adventurers reached home and made Antarctic history by becoming the first team to travel unaided to the South Pole and back, surviving three months of “extreme hardship.” James Castrission (29) an accountant, and Justin Jones (28), a scientist, skied 2,270 km (1,400 miles) to complete the arduous trek. The pair reached had the Pole on December 31. (AFP, 1/26/12) 2012        Jan 26, Bahrain authorities say a detainee has died after being taken into custody a day earlier during clashes between security forces and Shiite-led protesters. (AP, 1/26/12) 2012        Jan 26, In Bolivia Santos Ramirez, a former close ally of President Evo Morales, was convicted of corruption for taking bribes while running the state-run YPFB oil company and sentenced to 12 years in prison. Argentine businessman Agustin Tomas Melano was convicted in absentia of paying the bribes. The scandal broke in January 2009 when Jorge O’Connor Darlach, Melano’s chief partner in the Bolivian-Argentine consortium, was shot in the face during an armed robbery of $450,000 in cash. (AP, 1/27/12) 2012        Jan 26, Ecuador’s health ministry said it will investigate and act forcefully against any clinics found to be trying to force homosexuals to change their sexual orientation. (SFC, 1/27/12, p.A2) 2012        Jan 26, It was reported that Egypt has banned the son of US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and a number of other Americans from leaving the country as tensions rise over moves by Egyptian authorities to restrict the work of international rights organizations. LaHood’s organizations was one of 10 raided last month by Egyptian authorities, who said they sought to determine if the groups were operating legally. (AP, 1/26/12) 2012        Jan 26, Fiji’s secretary of information said that severe flooding and landslides have killed 6 people and left hundreds homeless. (SFC, 1/26/12, p.A2) 2012        Jan 26, In southeast France Jean-Claude Mas (72), the former head of a French company at the center of a breast implant scandal affecting tens of thousands of women worldwide, was arrested along with his former deputy, Claude Couty. (AP, 1/26/12) 2012        Jan 26, A German court convicted a Roman Catholic priest (46) of some 250 counts of sexually abusing children over a several-year period and sentenced him to six years in prison. He was found guilty of abusing three boys aged 9 to 15 between 2004 and 2011. (AP, 1/26/12) 2012        Jan 26, Pres. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran is ready to revive talks with the world powers, as toughening sanctions aim at forcing Tehran to sharply scale back its nuclear program. A US-made F-14 Iranian fighter jet crashed in southern Iran. Both the pilot and the co-pilot were killed. (AP, 1/26/12) 2012        Jan 26, Iranian security forces killed six Pakistani traders taking goats into Iran. Gunmen in Syria kidnapped 11 Iranian pilgrims traveling by road from Turkey to Damascus. (AP, 1/26/12) (AP, 2/3/12) 2012        Jan 26, Iraq said it will take legal action to ensure justice for the families of 24 unarmed Iraqi civilians killed in a US raid in Haditha seven years ago. Insurgents bombed a house belonging to two policemen and their families in central Iraq early, killing 10 people inside. A motorcycle bomb missed a passing police patrol in Kirkuk, but killed two civilians and wounded five others. 7 people were killed in attacks on Baghdad’s s two mostly Sunni districts. (AP, 1/26/12) (AP, 1/27/12) 2012        Jan 26, Jordanian activist Odai Abu-Issa (18) was found guilty of “harming the king’s dignity” for burning a street poster of the monarch and has been sentenced to two years in prison. Abu-Issa torched King Abdullah II’s poster in front of a government office in southwestern Jordan two weeks ago. (AP, 1/26/12) 2012        Jan 26, Kenyan Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta resigned after the International Criminal Court ruled this week he should stand trial for his alleged role in 2007-8 post-election violence. Head of public service Francis Muthaura, one of the most influential men in President Mwai Kibaki’s circle, who also had the charges against him confirmed by The Hague-based court, resigned as well. Kenyatta, one of Africa’s wealthiest men, and Muthaura, often described as Kibaki’s right-hand man, faced five counts including orchestrating murder, rape, forcible transfer and persecution in the aftermath of the December 2007 polls. (AFP, 1/26/12) 2012        Jan 26, The medical aid group Doctors Without Borders said it has suspended its work in prisons in the Libyan city of Misrata because it said detainees are being tortured and denied urgent medical care. 30 representatives from clans of the powerful Werfelli tribe, which is spread across Libya but whose stronghold is Bani Walid, came together to discuss terms for the return of fighters of the May 28 Brigade who fled the town during the clashes. (AP, 1/26/12) (AFP, 1/27/12) 2012        Jan 26, In Mali Tuareg rebel fighters (NMLA) attacked a town in the far east of the country, the fourth town targeted since fighting began just over a week ago. (AP, 1/26/12) 2012        Jan 26, The Mexican army announced the arrest of Oscar Santoyo Rodriguez, alias “El Mosco, a suspect in the Feb 15, 2008, bombing attempt aimed at a municipal police official in Mexico City. He was captured in the southern state of Oaxaca last week. 9 people, including 8 men and a woman, were shot to death in the center of Monterrey. (AP, 1/26/12) 2012        Jan 26, In Mexico Miguel Nazar Haro (87), former head of the now-dissolved Federal Security Directorate (1978-1992), Mexico’s domestic spy agency, died. He was accused of being behind the disappearances of alleged leftist guerrillas in the 1970s. (AP, 1/27/12) 2012        Jan 26, In Nigeria a police source said some 200 people, mostly Chadian “mercenaries,” have been arrested following last week’s attacks in the northern main city of Kano. Gunmen killed 15 village traders returning from a market at night and set their bodies ablaze in northern Zamfara state. (AFP, 1/26/12) (AFP, 1/27/12) 2012        Jan 26, In Pakistan security forces killed at least 20 militants in the northwestern Kurram tribal region after coming under attack. (AP, 1/26/12) 2012        Jan 26, Pakistani government officials in Punjab said around 100 heart patients have died after taking faulty medicine made locally and dozens more are in a critical condition in hospitals in Lahore. (AFP, 1/26/12) 2012        Jan 26, Some 300 Palestinians in Tulkarem protested against price hikes and a recent income tax increase imposed by PM Salam Fayyad. (AP, 1/26/12) 2012        Jan 26, Papua New Guinea PM Peter O’Neill refused to step down despite a mutiny by soldiers who seized the military headquarters and demanded that he cede power to his ousted predecessor, former PM Michael Somare. (AP, 1/26/12) 2012        Jan 26, Russian PM Vladimir Putin said that government officials must crack down on migrant workers who break the nation’s laws by failing to register or get work permits, and on companies that profit by hiring them. (AP, 1/26/12) 2012        Jan 26, In Spain Andrew Robert Levene (41), an American man accused of killing a jewelry store owner in the US and stealing $300,000 (euro228,000) in diamonds before fleeing to Europe, was found hanged in his prison cell in the Modelo prison in Barcelona. Levene was charged with federal murder, robbery and firearm offenses in the Dec. 8 shooting of Yekutiel Zeevi, owner of YZ Manufacturers LLC store in Westport, Connecticut. (AP, 1/27/12) 2012        Jan 26, In Sudan the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM). A Darfur region rebel group, said it has chosen Gibril Ibrahim (56), a one-time university professor, to head the movement after his brother, the former leader, was killed last month. (AFP, 1/26/12) 2012        Jan 26, Syrian troops stormed a flashpoint suburb of Damascus, rounding people up in house-to-house raids and clashing with army defectors. Tens of thousands of backers of Pres. Assad poured into the streets of several cities in a show of support for his embattled regime. At least 200 people were reported detained in Douma. A joint army and police force was ambushed near the town of Khirbet Ghazaleh, killing four members of the security forces and wounding five more. A sniper shot dead a woman in the central city of Hama, while a stray bullet killed a 14-year-old boy in the southern province of Daraa. State-run news said an army colonel was shot dead by “an armed terrorist” in front of his home in the central city of Homs. Activists said 62 people were killed across the country including 54 in Homs and Hama. (AP, 1/26/12) (AFP, 1/27/12) (SFC, 1/27/12, p.A2) 2012        Jan 26, A Thailand wildlife official said a worrisome new practice of Thais consuming elephant meat could threaten the national animal with extinction. Thailand’s elephant population was under 3,000 wild elephants, plus some 4,000 domesticated. (AP, 1/26/12) 2012        Jan 26, The Vatican defended its transfer of a top official to Washington after he exposed alleged corruption in the awarding of Holy See contracts. The previous evening the Italian investigative news program, “The Untouchables,” showed letters from Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano to Pope Benedict XVI begging not to be transferred after exposing corruption costing the Vatican millions of euros (dollars). (AP, 1/26/12) 2012        Jan 26, In Zimbabwe a public servants’ strike jerkily resumed after failed talks on doubling basic wages, as some teachers held classes while others left students on their own. (AFP, 1/26/12)2013        Jan 26, The film “Fruitvale” won top prize at the Sundance Film Festival. It depicted the last 24 hours in the life of Oscar Grant (22), a black man shot dead by police in San Francisco on New Year’s Day in 2009. The film was renamed “Fruitvale Station” for its public release. (Econ, 7/20/13, p.75) 2013        Jan 26, Louisiana police arrested Wilbert Thibodeaux (48). He was suspected of shooting a police officer and wounding 2 sheriff’s deputies after setting a deadly fire at a mobile home in St. Mary’s Parish. (SSFC, 1/27/13, p.A6) 2013        Jan 26, Pennsylvania police said Stephen Baker (62), a Franciscan brother, was found dead of a self-inflicted knife wound at the St. Bernardine monastery. Baker was named in recent settlements involving 11 men who alleged that he sexually abused them 3 decades ago in Ohio. More people soon came forward with abuse claims in Pennsylvania, where Baker had taught and coached. (SSFC, 1/27/13, p.A6)(SFC, 2/25/13, p.A4) 2013        Jan 26, In Afghanistan 10 policemen died when a suicide bomber driving a motorcycle blew himself up in northern Kunduz province. A remote-controlled bomb planted on a bicycle exploded, killing one police officer and one civilian in the eastern city of Ghazni. A police truck packed with officers and detainees struck a roadside bomb in Kandahar city, killing 10 of those aboard. It was one of four blasts that left at least 24 people dead across the country. (AP, 1/26/13) (AP, 1/27/13) 2013        Jan 26, In Bangladesh a fire at the Smart Export Garment Ltd. factory killed seven female workers. An investigation was ordered the next day under allegations that the emergency exit was locked. (AP, 1/27/13) (SFC, 1/28/13, p.A2) 2013        Jan 26, Ontario’s Liberals chose Kathleen Wynne (59), a former Cabinet minister, to become the province’s first female premier and first openly gay leader of a Canadian province. (Reuters, 1/26/13) 2013        Jan 26, In the Czech Rep. former left-leaning PM Milos Zeman (68) staged a big return to power by winning 54.8 percent of the vote in the country’s first directly elected presidential vote. The president has little executive power and the country is run by the government chosen and led by the prime minister. (AP, 1/26/13) 2013        Jan 26, In Egypt violence left 37 people dead in Port Said after a judge sentenced 21 people to death in connection with a Feb. 1 soccer melee that killed 74 fans of the Cairo-based Al-Ahly team. (AP, 1/26/13) (AP, 1/27/13) 2013        Jan 26, In Iraq  170 lawmakers voted in favor of a law limiting the terms on the prime minister and other top officials. Lawmakers from al-Maliki’s State of Law bloc boycotted the session. Gunmen killed two Iraqi soldiers and abducted three others in Fallujah as hundreds of mourners gathered for the funeral of protesters killed during a shooting by army troops a day earlier. (AP, 1/26/13) 2013        Jan 26, In Mali French forces took control of the airport and a key bridge in the radical Islamist stronghold of Gao under the cover of darkness early today, marking a significant inroad into the heart of territory held by the al-Qaida-linked extremists. (AP, 1/26/13) 2013        Jan 26, Mexico City authorities removed a much-disputed statue of Geidar Aliyev, the late leader of Azerbaijan. (SSFC, 1/27/13, p.A4) 2013        Jan 26, Myanmar government forces, after several days of fighting, took a hilltop stronghold of the Kachin rebels 5km from Laiza, the administrative headquarters of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA). (Econ, 2/2/13, p.30) 2013        Jan 26, In Pakistan two Islamic militant groups clashed over control of a prized valley in the northwest, killing at least 24 people and wounding dozens more in the Tirah valley of the  Khyber tribal region. Dozens of armed men attacked a post manned by pro-government tribal militia members in a remote area in southwestern Baluchistan, killing two tribesmen and abducting seven more. (AP, 1/26/13) 2013        Jan 26, In Russia a fire ripped through a new Moscow building’s underground parking lot, killing 10 Tajikistan migrant workers and injuring 13 others who had been working and living there. (AP, 1/26/13) 2013        Jan 26, Somalia’s education minister said 3 officials have been arrested for mismanaging a scholarship scheme that sends Somali students to Turkey. Somalia is ranked as the world’s most corrupt country by Transparency International. (AP, 1/26/13) 2013        Jan 26, In Switzerland 3 women from Ukrainian feminist activist group Femen, angry over sexism and male domination of the world economy, ripped off their shirts and tried to force their way into a gathering of corporate elites in Davos. (AP, 1/26/13) 2013        Jan 26, Syria’s Sana state news said government troops raided an opposition stronghold in Daraya, killing rebels and uncovering tunnels they used to move around and smuggle weapons. An air raid on the northern town of Al-Bab, which killed at least four people and wounded others. Activist groups reported heavy clashes in Homs and Qusair. (AP, 1/26/13)2014        Jan 26, Daft Punk’s infectiously catchy song “Get Lucky ” won the Grammy Awards’ record of the year. (AP, 1/26/14) 2014        Jan 26, The cost of a US first-class stamp rose 3 cents to 49 cents. (SFC, 1/27/14, p.A4) 2014        Jan 26, Randolph L. Braham (91), a Romanian-born American professor and prominent Holocaust survivor and scholar, said he was handing back a 2011 Hungarian state award in protest at the government’s “falsification of history.” (AFP, 1/26/14) 2014        Jan 26, In Ohio an apartment building fire killed two firefighters in Toledo. On Feb 3 building owner Ray Abou-Arab (61) was arraigned on charges of aggravated murder and arson. (SFC, 2/4/14, p.A4) 2014        Jan 26, The Royal Caribbean cruise line ended a 10-day trip in the Caribbean early after hundreds of passengers and crew members on the Explorer of the Seas were sickened with a gastrointestinal illness consistent with norovirus. Health officials boarded the ship at St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands. (AP, 1/27/14) (SFC, 1/27/14, p.A2) 2014        Jan 26, In Afghanistan a Taliban suicide bomber blew himself up near an Afghan military bus in Kabul, killing 2 officers and 2 civilians. (AFP, 1/26/14) 2014        Jan 26, In northern Australia a crocodile was suspected to have taken a boy (12) after attacking his friend as they swam in a water hole in at Mudginberri Billabong in World Heritage-listed Kakadu National Park. (AP, 1/26/14) 2014        Jan 26, A shark was shot and killed in Western Australian under a new strategy to protect swimmers. (Econ, 2/1/14, p.35) 2014        Jan 26, Bahraini police firing teargas and birdshot clashed with stone-throwing protesters in a village west of the capital after the funeral of Fadhel Abbas (20) who died in custody. Abbas was detained on Jan 8 on suspicion of smuggling weapons and explosives and died late on Jan 25. (Reuters, 1/26/14) 2014        Jan 26, Central African Republic new PM Andre Nzapayeke said he will meet with all fighting factions to bring an end to atrocities throughout the country, as gunfire rang out in Bangui. (AP, 1/26/14) (AFP, 1/26/14) 2014        Jan 26, A Chinese court sentenced Xu Zhiyong, one of the country’s most prominent rights advocates, to four years in prison. He had campaigned for the rights of children from rural areas to be educated in cities and for officials to disclose their assets. (Reuters, 1/26/14) 2014        Jan 26, Cuban activists said dozens of dissidents have been detained in a “wave of political repression” ahead of a major international summit in Havana. (AFP, 1/27/14) 2014        Jan 26, In Egypt gunmen killed 3 soldiers in an attack on a bus in the Sinai Peninsula. (Reuters, 1/26/14) 2014        Jan 26, In France some 17,000 people marched through central Paris to criticize President Francois Hollande. (AP, 1/26/14) 2014        Jan 26, Germany’s ARD TV quoted Edward Snowden saying the US NSA does not limit its espionage to issues of national security and he cited German engineering firm, Siemens as one target. (Reuters, 1/26/14) 2014        Jan 26, At least 21 people died after a boat carrying Indian tourists capsized off India’s Andaman Islands. The boat carried no life jackets. (Reuters, 1/26/14) (AFP, 1/27/14) 2014        Jan 26, In Iraq militants appeared to have captured 5-22 Iraqi soldiers near Fallujah. At least 13 people were killed elsewhere amid a nationwide surge in unrest. (AFP, 1/26/14) 2014        Jan 26, An Israeli court extended by two days the detention of two Palestinian men it suspects of planning to bomb the US Embassy in Tel Aviv under instructions from al-Qaida. (AP, 1/26/14) 2014        Jan 26, Israel said it will allow the entry of about 1,000 tons of cement and building materials to the Gaza Strip for storm damage restoration and other projects of UN agencies. (AFP, 1/26/14) 2014        Jan 26, Italian police and campaigners said 13 Moroccan migrants held in a reception center in Rome for more than two months have sewed their mouths shut in protest at the length of their detention. They sewed their mouths shut the previous evening, repeating a protest they staged at the end of last year. (Reuters, 1/26/14) 2014        Jan 26, Kenya officials said poachers have slaughtered a rhino in the capital’s Nairobi National Park, a brazen attack flouting tough new laws designed to stem a surge of such killings. (AFP, 1/26/14) 2014        Jan 26, In Nigeria suspected Islamic extremists used explosives to attack Kawuri village in the northeast, killing 52 people and razing more than 300 homes. Boko Haram gunmen fired on worshippers during a service at a Roman Catholic church in neighboring Adamawa state. At least 26 people were killed. (AP, 1/27/14) (AFP, 1/28/14) 2014        Jan 26, In northwest Pakistan a hand grenade killed six children who found it while playing in a field in Hangu. (AP, 1/26/14) 2014        Jan 26, In southern Somalia a US missile strike killed Ahmed Mohamed Amey, a chemicals expert also known as Isku Dhuuq. He was a senior al Shabaab commander who had masterminded suicide attacks by the al Qaeda-linked militant group. (Reuters, 1/27/14) 2014        Jan 26, South Sudan’s government and rebels traded accusations that each had breached a ceasefire deal by attacking the other, but insisted they were committed to ending weeks of brutal conflict. (AFP, 1/26/14) 2014        Jan 26, Syrians on opposite sides of their country’s civil war tried again to find common ground in Geneva. The UN mediator said the two sides have reached a deal to allow women and children to leave Homs, a city under government siege for more than a year. (AP, 1/26/14) 2014        Jan 26, In Thailand anti-government demonstrators swarmed dozens of polling stations to stop advance voting for next week’s general elections. One protest leader was shot dead. (AP, 1/26/14) (AFP, 1/26/14) 2014        Jan 26, Thailand police detained 531 men, women and children in a raid at a camp near the town of Sadao in the southern province of Songkhla, on a well-established route for human smugglers near the border with Malaysia. It was the first raid on illegal Rohingya smuggling camps since January 9, 2013. (Reuters, 1/27/14) 2014        Jan 26, Tunisian lawmakers voted on a new constitution, three years after its revolution, with the premier-designate to unveil his cabinet on a landmark day for the Arab Spring’s birthplace. (AFP, 1/26/14) 2014        Jan 25, Ukraine’s President Viktor Yanukovych offered the prime minister’s post to Arseniy Yatsenyuk, one of the opposition’s most prominent leaders. Police clashed with protesters who blockaded a building in central Kiev and the fate of the government was uncertain after embattled Pres. Viktor Yanukovich offered opposition leaders key posts. (Reuters, 1/26/14) (AP, 1/27/14) 2014        Jan 26, In eastern Yemen Lt. Colonel Ahmed Amir al-Mahthouthi, a senior officer in the investigative branch of state security, was shot outside his home in Hadramout. (Reuters, 1/26/14)