Portal:Current events/2011 January 1

Current events of January 1, 2011 (2011-01-01) (Saturday)

Armed conflicts and attacks A bomb explodes outside a Coptic church in Alexandria, Egypt, killing at least 21 people and wounding 97 more; street disturbances between Christians and Muslims ensue. (BBC) (Al Jazeera) Business and economy Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius adopt the United States dollar as the sole legal currency, reducing the use of the Netherlands Antillean guilder to Curaçao and Sint Maarten. (Bloomberg) Estonia adopts the Euro, becoming the 17th Eurozone country. Disasters and accidents Four people are killed and around 40 injured after a passenger plane explodes in Surgut in eastern Russia. (RIA Novosti) (AP) Two people are killed after a hot air balloon crashes onto a bowling green in Midsomer Norton, Somerset, United Kingdom. (BBC) Over a thousand dead blackbirds and other fowl fall out of the sky in Arkansas after a violent tornado outbreak and hailstorm. (The Associated Press) (CNN) A deep earthquake measuring magnitude 7.0 hits near Santiago del Estero in northern Argentina. Only weak shaking is felt and no damage is reported. (The Associated Press) (Xinhua) (Press TV) International relations Canada's Foreign Minister, Lawrence Cannon, urges Iran to improve the country's human rights record and denounces Iran for imposing "draconian death sentences and unfair jail terms," while expressing particular concern for the fate of two Canadians of dual nationality imprisoned in Iran. (AFP) (Edmonton Journal) Hungary takes over the presidency of the European Union. (AFP) Law and crime Specialist prison guards and firefighters are sent into Ford Open Prison in West Sussex, United Kingdom, after 40 inmates started a riot. Part of the prison has been destroyed by fire. (BBC) Politics Dilma Rousseff is sworn in as Brazil's first female President. (Reuters) (Xinhua) The Bolivian government rescinds a government decree that significantly increased fuel prices after violent unrest. (Al Jazeera) Mass graves are discovered in Côte d'Ivoire amid other political violence as United Nations peacekeepers come under increased tension in the country when allies of Alassane Ouattara call for a forceful removal of Laurent Gbagbo. (Newstime Africa) (Sun Herald) (Taipei Times)