International Current Affairs - January 2011

International Current Affairs - January 2011

• Salman Taseer Killed in Islamabad
  Punjab Governor Salman Tasser was shot dead by one of his own body guards at the Khosar market in Islamabad. Taseer was a member of Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party(PPP) and was vocal on a various issues including Pakistans Blasphemy Law. The assassin was Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri, a member of Punjab Elite Force who shot the Governor with his weapon and surrendered to the security forces moments after shooting the governor dead. Interior Minister Rehman Malik told reporters that the killer admitted to killing the Governor over his statement when he called the Blasphemy Law as a "black law".

 

• Iranian plane crash kills 77
  The IranAir Boeing 727 was flying from Tehran with 106 passengers when it came down and crashed near the city of Orumiyeh. With 77 casualties at least 35 people have said to have been injured. According to official reports plane had taken off an hour later than scheduled, and came down because of bad weather conditions. This is the second major crash since 2009 when a plane caught fire mid are resulting 168 deaths. The country has been under international sanctions for years, preventing it from buying new aircrafts or spare parts from the West. Hence as a result the countries civil fleet of aircrafts are in poor condition due to their old age and lack of maintenance.
• 35 dead at Moscow Airport Blast.

A suicide bomber carrying a suitcase walked into Moscow's busy Domodedovo airport and set off a huge explosion Monday, killing at least 35 people and wounding 180. The air was engulfed in a cloud of smoke with body parts and shrapnel strewn all over the place. Hundreds of people were in the loosely guarded area at the time. The blast was the worst terrorist attack since two female suicide bombers from the troubled Dagestan region blew themselves up on Moscow's subway last March, killing 40 people.

 

• Whistleblower Elmer hands over bank data to Wikileaks
  Swiss whistle-blower and former banker Rudolf Elmer has given WikiLeaks information about bank accounts of more than 2,000 prominent individuals who have parked money offshore. Rudolf Elmer once worked in the office of Julius Baer in the Cayman Islands until he was fired by the bank in 2002. The Swiss whistleblower Rudolf Elmer handed over two CDs containing the data to the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, in London on 16/1/2011. However Julian Assange has said the information was unlikely to be published soon and may take a few weeks to process and confirm them.

 

• Brisbane Faces Worst Flood Since 1893

 

Brisbane faces its worst floods since 1893 as overflowing rivers have begun to engulf the city. Overnight, emergency workers went from door to door in Brisbane helping residents flee to higher ground, with hundreds relocating to evacuation centres. About 2500 businesses are said to be fully affected and another 2500 partially affected. Close to 3000 people are in evacuation centres across the state and 60 schools and almost 90 kindergartens and childcare centres have been severely damaged or are inaccessible. The death toll from the floods disaster has risen to 15 and the many parts of the city have been affected by massive power cuts.

 

• Massive Protests Rock Egypt

Egypt has been rocked by violent protests by demonstrators who have been demanding the ouster of the country's longtime autocratic president, Hosni Mubarak. Tens and thousandths of people have taken out to streets raising slogans with protests turning violent in many parts of the country. The tension increased today when Mohammed ElBaradei, a former top official at the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog agency and a high-profile Mubarak opponent was placed under house arrest when he returned to Cairo in his bid to provide a leader for the mass movement.