Portal:Current events/2014 January 13

Current events of January 13, 2014 (2014-01-13) (Monday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• An explosion at an illegal gambling hall in Kaili City, China, kills fourteen people and injures seven. Police believe it was intentional and are investigating it as a crime. (CNN) (ABC News)

• A man with a grenade attacks a school in Cotabato City, Mindanao, Philippines, injuring more than 24 people. (Al Jazeera)

Disasters

• A 6.5 magnitude earthquake occurs off the coast of Puerto Rico. (Reuters via CBC)
• 2013–14 South Pacific cyclone season:
  • Tonga restores contact with the Ha'apai islands after Cyclone Ian passed through during the weekend, killing one person and significantly damaging structures. (ABC News Australia)
• Heavy rain and landslides kill 20 people in the southeastern Philippines, mostly in the Mindanao provinces of Davao Oriental and Compostela Valley. Another 13 are missing. (Minneapolis Star Tribune)

Law and crime

• The Sandiganbayan rules the jewelry collection of Imelda Marcos, valued about $150,000 in 1986, property of the government of the Philippines and orders the Marcos family to forfeit it. (Inquirer)
• A court acquits two former Fullerton, California police officers of second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter and excessive use of force in the 2011 beating death of Kelly Thomas, a homeless man. Prosecutors plan to drop charges against a third officer. (CNN) (San Jose Mercury-News)
• A retired police officer shoots a man dead and minorly wounds his wife after an argument about the victim texting in a Tampa, Florida cinema. (Huffington Post)

Politics and elections

• 2013–14 Thai political crisis:
  • Protesters gather in Bangkok to shut down the city centre in an effort to bring down the government of Prime Minister of Thailand Yingluck Shinawatra. (BBC)

Sports

• Association football:
  • The international governing body of association football, FIFA allow the region of Kosovo's football team to play international exhibition games against full FIFA members (excluding former states of Yugoslavia). (FIFA)
  • Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal and Real Madrid is named the winner of the 2013 FIFA Ballon d'Or as the year's top male player. Nadine Angerer of Germany and the Brisbane Roar is named FIFA Women's World Player of the Year. (The Telegraph)

Science

• China conducts the test of a new hypersonic missile vehicle, dubbed the "WU-14", which has top speeds of Mach 8 to Mach 12. The weapon was launched on an ICBM. (Newsmax)