JANUARY 2009 WIKI NEWS

January 1

• Mathematician Martin Taylor awarded knighthood
  
• Mount Everest plane crash blamed on pilot error
  
• New Year fire kills at least 59, injures 212 more at Bangkok pub
  
• Wikinews Shorts: January 1, 2009
  

 

January 2

• Maria de Jesus, the world's oldest person, dies at age 115
  
• NASA issues survivability report on Columbia crash
  

 

January 3

• Ghanaians elect new President
  
• Wikinews Shorts: January 3, 2009
  
• Israel begins ground assault on Gaza Strip
  
• Criminal appeals denied for American Evangelists
  
• Mexican billionaire denies buying Honda Formula One team
  
• Philippines Senate and House of Representatives to probe 'P50-million drug bribe mess'
  
• Illinois Governor Blagojevich appoints Roland Burris for vacated U.S. Senate seat
  

 

January 4

• Belgian king swears in PM Van Rompuy, cabinet
  
• Sri Lanka Army captures Tamil Tiger's capital of Kilinochchi
  
• USC defeats Penn State in 95th Rose Bowl Game
  
• Bangkok nightclub owner to face charges over New Year's fire
  
• South Africa defeats Australia in second cricket test
  

 

January 5

• Helicopter crash kills eight, injures one in Louisiana
  
• Imperial College London geology students fined in China for "illegal map-making"
  
• Protester killed in West Bank; world reacts to Gaza conflict
  
• UN warns of humanitarian crisis in Gaza
  
• Female suicide bomber kills 40 Shi'ite pilgrims at Baghdad shrine
  

 

January 6

• Australian Jews condemn Israeli ground attack on Gaza
  

 

January 7

• CNN medical correspondent to be named US Surgeon General
  
• Australian Tax Office warns against tax return scam
  
• China targets Google, Baidu and Internet portals over porn
  
• Wikinews Shorts: January 7, 2009
  
• Ice, snow, and cold strike throughout Europe
  

 

January 8

• Washington flooded by rain and melting snow
  
• International experts probe deadly Ebola Reston virus outbreak in Philippine pigs
  
• Oldest ex-Major League Baseball player, Billy Werber dies at age 100
  
• Princess Beatrice's unlocked BMW stolen
  
• Ziff Davis sells 1UP to UGO Networks/Hearst, closes Electronic Gaming Monthly
  
• Matt Smith revealed as 11th incarnation of Doctor Who
  
• Rockets fired into Israel from Lebanon
  
• Palestinian president pleads with UN Security Council for help in Gaza
  

 

January 9

• Chemical firm LyondellBasell collapses
  
• Spider-Man to save Obama's Inauguration Day in upcoming Marvel comic
  
• Israeli rocket targets Press TV building in Gaza
  
• Florida wins BCS National Championship Game over Oklahoma
  
• United Nations suspends operations in Gaza after schools and trucks are hit by Israeli forces
  

 

January 10

• MV Sirius Star oil tanker released by pirates
  
• Major merger among American LGBT media outlets announced
  
• Magazine closures, cuts, for January 5-9, 2009
  
• Chinese version of Wikinews gets blocked in China
  
• Strongest earthquake in 150 years hits Costa Rica
  
• Mayor of Baltimore indicted on theft, perjury
  
• Illinois House impeaches Blagojevich
  
• Canadian trio claim South Pole record for trans-Antarctic trip
  

 

January 11

• Waves of arrests in Turkey on suspicion of involvement in 'Ergenekon' organization
  
• US salmonella outbreak linked to peanut butter, brand recalls product
  
• UN Security Council passes Gaza ceasefire resolution
  
• Too Grimm? Mother Goose cartoonist sued by Colombian coffee growers
  
• Cristiano Ronaldo crashes Ferrari at Manchester Airport
  

 

January 12

• Five Toronto teenagers charged with armed robbery
  
• Eight killed by flooding in Fiji
  
• Former Satyam CEO Raju, his brother and CFO arrested and detained in profit-fraud scandal
  
• Indonesia ferry sinks near Majene, more than 260 people missing
  

 

January 13

• Human Rights Watch: Israel used white phosphorus on densely populated areas in Gaza
  
• US financier Madoff to remain free on bail
  
• Israel bans two Arab political parties
  
• Heavy fighting continues in the Gaza Strip
  
• Wikinews Shorts: January 13, 2009
  

 

January 14

• British Columbia avalanche death toll rises
  
• Paris rail terminus temporarily shut down by unplanned strike
  
• Clinton confirmation hearing raises concerns about funding for husband's foundation
  

 

January 15

• US Airways jet makes emergency landing in river by New York City
  
• Main UN compound in Gaza shelled with 'white phosphorus'
  
• Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Day 20
  
• Canadian energy company offers reward for info on pipeline bombings
  

 

January 16

• US actor Patrick McGoohan dead at age 80
  
• Tighten 'noose' so Osama can't operate: Obama
  
• Burris sworn in as US Senator for Illinois
  

 

January 17

• Man arrested in Mississippi over Internet assassination threats against Barack Obama
  
• 22 million counterfeit cigarettes found in Wales
  
• Israeli shelling on UN school on the Gaza Strip kills six
  
• Cadillac unveils Obama's 'Beast', the 2009 Presidential State Car
  

 

January 18

• Obama's Inaugural Celebration "We are One" attracts 400,000
  
• Israel announces ceasefire in Gaza Strip; rocket fire into Israel continues
  
• Gunmen abduct 3 ICRC representatives in the Philippines
  
• US Airways jet recovered from Hudson River
  
• UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crashes at Texas A&M, kills one, injures four
  
• Queensland win W-League Grand Final
  

 

January 19

• Steelers, Cardinals win championship games to advance to Super Bowl XLIII
  
• Royal Bank of Scotland shares plummet
  
• Conficker computer worm infections soar
  
• Seven dead, one missing, two survive French helicopter crash off Gabon coast
  
• US Senators push for DTV delay
  

 

January 20

• US Senator Ted Kennedy collapses during inaugural luncheon
  
• Obama succeeds Bush as 44th president of the United States
  
• Irish millionaire found dead, suicide suspected
  
• Parajet Skycar expedition takes off from London to Timbuktu
  

 

January 21

• Portland, Oregon mayor admits to sexual relationship he previously denied
  
• ASEAN basketball league moves closer to reality
  
• Australian writer Harry Nicolaides jailed for three years for insulting Thai Royal Family
  
• Wikinews Shorts: January 21, 2009
  
• UN chief visits Gaza, demands investigation into attacks on UN facilities
  

 

January 22

• Explosion in Bay Area, California suburb damages cigarette store
  
• US Senate confirms Clinton as Secretary of State
  
• Caroline Kennedy drops bid for New York Senate seat
  
• Photo source for Barack Obama presidential campaign "HOPE" poster discovered
  

 

January 23

• Gillibrand named as Clinton's Senate replacement
  
• United Kingdom officially enters economic recession
  
• Strong earthquakes in Indian and Pacific Oceans
  
• Fatal stabbings kill three at Belgian day care center
  
• Israeli military confirms the use of white phosphorus bombs in the Gaza Strip
  
• Trial date scheduled for Austrian man who kept his daughter in a dungeon for 24 years
  
• Obama's choice for Treasury issues warning on China
  
• Internet group Anonymous hacks No Cussing Club's website, owner's e-mail account
  

 

January 24

• Details emerge on fatal stabbing at Belgian day care centre
  

 

[edit] January 25

• British newspaper makes House of Lords bribery claims
  
• Former Prime Minister of Senegal Mamadou Dia dies
  
• Thousands of jobs to go at Corus
  
• Thousands of pounds worth of damage caused to railway station and stonework in Bath, England
  
• Indian Premier Manmohan Singh undergoes heart bypass; Pranab Mukherjee takes charge
  
• Hurricane-force winds kill 15 people as storm hits Europe
  

 

January 26

• Death sentences in 2008 Chinese tainted milk scandal
  
• Bolivia's Evo Morales wins referendum on a new leftist constitution
  
• Republican leaders in US want more tax relief in economic stimulus
  
• Sumo: Asashoryu wins New Year Grand Tournament
  
• Confusion over British cannabis status
  
• BBC and Sky networks reject Gaza appeal
  

 

January 27

• SLM shareholders led by Martin Garbus sue Spider-Man creator Stan Lee and Marvel for $750m
  
• Belgium's Queen Fabiola seriously ill
  
• Anger and unrest continue over US raid in Laghman, Afghanistan
  
• Accident on set of British television program Heartbeat
  
• Sprinter Allan Davis wins the Tour Down Under
  
• Two British footwear chains enter administration
  
• Obama to Muslims: 'Americans are not your enemy'
  
• Widespread strike action may hit France
  
• Woman gives birth to octuplets
  
• Israeli foreign minister says another war with Hamas possible
  
• Fast food chain McDonald's set to open up 1000 more stores by end of year
  
• Tamil Tigers promise to fight back against Sri Lankan forces
  
• Search and rescue beacons soon to make the digital jump
  
• British Airways issues profits warning
  
• Iceland's coalition government falls in economic crisis
  

 

January 28

• Australia celebrates Australia Day 2009
  
• First openly gay prime minister to be appointed in Iceland
  
• Scottish politician to face perjury trial
  
• Scottish budget rejected
  
• 93-year-old Michigan man freezes to death after electric company limits his power usage
  
• New Zealander discovers US military data on MP3 player
  
• British broadcaster Sir David Attenborough receives hate mail from creationists
  
• UK home shopping retailer Shop Direct group to cut 1,150 jobs
  
• New BBC Radio 2 boss announced
  
• British government launches car industry aid package
  
• GLAAD Media Awards nominees announced
  
• Encyclopædia Britannica fights back against Wikipedia, soon to let users edit contents
  
• BBC announces pay freeze and no bonuses for managers
  
• US novelist John Updike dies age 76
  
• Russian Orthodox Church elects first new patriarch of post-Soviet era
  

 

January 29

• Red Cross urges Sri Lanka to respect lives of Tamil civilians
  
• Zimbabwe submits to popular pressure: foreign currencies now legal tender
  
• Philippine fireworks factory explosion kills at least 8, injures 70 more
  
• Dairy cattle with names produce more milk, according to new study
  
• Heat wave, industrial action cripples Melbourne railways
  
• Strike threat at UK's Northern Rail
  
• Starbucks Coffee set to cut 6,700 staff, 300 stores to close
  
• Father throws 4-year-old daughter from bridge
  
• Bart Simpson used to promote Scientology
  
• Former Indian President R. Venkataraman dies age 98
  
• Iran's Ahmadinejad wants change in US policies, not 'tactics'
  
• Sir Paul Stephenson to head London's police
  
• Global economy could lose up to 51 million jobs this year, says UN agency
  

 

January 30

• Nebraska senators may not support stimulus plan
  
• Winners and losers on UK's East Coast rail line
  
• Proposition 8 donors to be named
  
• Zimbabwe opposition agrees to join government
  
• Lawmakers ask US Secretary of State for Gaza crisis help
  
• Failed suicide bomber imprisoned for life
  
• Illinois governor Blagojevich removed from office
  
• Mass industrial walkouts in UK
  
• Post-probe, problematic peanut paste products pulled
  
• Israel resumes attacks in Gaza, Rice asks for war crimes investigations
  
• Wikinews interviews Daylight Saving for South East Queensland Party about the upcoming Queensland State election
  
• Musician John Martyn dies at age 60
  
• North Korea cancels all military, political agreements with South Korea
  

 

January 31

• Sony net profit falls by 95%
  
• Discworld author films his battle with Alzheimer's
  
• Trial date set for fraud case against Church of Scientology in France
  
• Swiss canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden fights back after invasion of German naked hikers
  
• US Republicans elect first African-American chairman
  
• Jack Herrick, WikiHow founder interviewed by Wikinews
  
• Iraqi provincial elections relatively peaceful
  
• British Airways plans to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 50% by 2050
  
• Franco-Belgian bank Dexia to restructure, lose 900 jobs
  
• Holocaust denial bishop apologizes
  
• Brain chemical Serotonin behind locusts' swarming instinct
  

 

FEBRUARY 2009 WIKI NEWS

February 1

• National Guard mobilized in Kentucky ice storm aftermath
  
• 15 killed and 22 injured after fire in Chinese bar
  
• Israeli military launches airstrikes into Gaza Strip
  
• Derailments close Australian rail routes
  
• British PM condemns walkouts
  
• Tarja Turunen reveals working title for new album
  
• Cyprus detains weapon-laden ship
  
• DS4SEQ discusses daylight savings in Queensland with Wikinews
  
• New Icelandic government to take office today
  
• Fast track offer if Iceland applies to join EU
  

 

February 2

• Supercross: Stewart wins 4th consecutive Monster Energy event in San Francisco, California
  
• €8bn bank bailout in Ireland
  
• Nuclear sites close as more UK workers walkout
  
• Barclays Bank credit rating cut by Moody's
  
• Eurovision '82 winner Nicole talks about 'Ein bißchen Frieden', her success and the Contest today
  
• American swimmer Michael Phelps laments "bad judgment" in marijuana controversy
  
• Heavy snow fall disrupts UK transportation and communications
  
• Canadian National buys Chicago railroad
  

 

February 3

• Automobile sales in the United States down sharply
  
• GM, Chrysler offer buyouts and early retirement to workers
  
• Scandinavian Airlines System to cut 8,600 jobs
  
• Baby in California born with 12 functioning fingers and toes, in a rare case of polydactylism
  
• Shoe thrown at Chinese PM during speech at Cambridge University in the UK
  
• Yahoo announces closure of Briefcase
  
• Man arrested in India after mid-air hijack threat on domestic flight
  

 

February 4

• Report: Man tries to hang himself on an American Airlines flight
  
• UK television presenter sacked after "golliwog" comment
  
• Regulator bans UK video-on-demand service
  
• Stanford physicists print smallest-ever letters 'SU' at subatomic level of 1.5 nanometres tall
  
• North Queensland Fury sign former Liverpool great Fowler
  
• Obama cabinet nominees withdraw over tax issues
  
• Australian teenager sentenced to three months in jail for graffiti
  

 

February 5

• UN demands return of aid seized by Hamas
  
• Queensland state Green party to run environmental lawyer in treasurer's electorate
  
• Bill Gates releases mosquitoes during conference for malaria awareness
  
• Ukranian ship MV Faina with cargo of tanks freed by pirates
  
• Six indicted over jet crash at New Jersey's Teterboro Airport
  
• US Supreme Court judge Ginsburg undergoes surgery for pancreatic cancer
  
• ITV Wales drops local news sign language
  
• Wikinews Shorts: February 5, 2009
  
• England's Football Association complains over missed goal
  
• Strike ends at UK oil refinery
  
• UK rail firm cuts 180 jobs
  
• MySpace removes 90,000 sex offenders
  

 

February 6

• Plane makes emergency water landing in Darwin Harbour
  
• Somali pirates agree to release Egyptian ship with fertiliser cargo and 28 crew
  
• US job cuts last month highest since 1974, unemployment rate rises
  
• US swimmer Phelps suspended over 'pot pipe'
  
• Denny's Super Bowl free 'Grand Slam Breakfast' brings 2 million diners
  
• Wikinews Shorts: February 6, 2009
  
• Zimbabwean parliament passes unity government bill
  
• British court 'threatened' by United States
  
• Obama expands Bush's faith-based initiatives
  

 

February 7

• Kyrgyzstan announces decision to close US base
  
• UN halts aid to Gaza after tons of food aid is seized
  
• 14 killed by bushfires in Australia
  
• Microsoft Flight Simulator series grounded after layoffs
  
• Southern Gaza hit by new Israeli air strikes
  

 

February 8

• One person dead, hundreds rescued from ice drift in Lake Erie in US
  
• Automobile manufacturer Toyota triples annual loss prediction
  

 

February 9

• US Court of Appeals reduces sentence for former Philippines officer in spy case
  
• No injuries, deaths after car-bomb explodes in Madrid, Spain
  
• Saudi most-wanted list includes former Guantanamo captives
  
• More than 160 dead in bushfires in Australia
  
• Airplane crash in Brazil kills 24
  

 

February 10

• Man in Florida, USA, arrested for using 911 to complain about fast food
  
• 'Tim Hortons' coffee shops to go 'Cold Stone'
  
• Subject of high-profile Italian euthanasia case dies
  

 

February 11

• EU warns France about auto rescue plan
  
• Mayor of Flint, Michigan resigns for health reasons
  
• American baseball star Rodriguez admits to using performance enhancing drugs
  
• US Senate passes stimulus package
  

 

February 12

• Fake impotence drugs linked to low blood sugar outbreak
  
• Pakistani nuclear scientist released from house arrest
  
• Many US TV stations preparing to make digital switch despite new legislation
  
• Canadian lawyer urges Prime Minister to repatriate Omar Khadr
  

 

February 13

• Judd Gregg withdraws as US Commerce Secretary nominee
  
• Japan, Australia draw in World Cup qualifier
  
• Fifty killed in commuter plane crash in Clarence Center, New York
  
• Russian and US satellites collide
  
• US lawmakers reach stimulus package deal
  

 

February 14

• Six killed in UK car crash
  
• Germany's GUN Records closes
  
• Australia's Queensland Roar through to A-League football preliminary final
  
• Virgin Atlantic jet fire investigation finds faulty wiring in A340 fleet
  
• British Airways jet makes rough landing at London City Airport
  
• Israel elects 18th Knesset
  
• Queensland Premier denies March 28 election
  
• 500 stranded melon-headed whales rescued in Philippine bay
  

 

February 15

• Burning debris from satellites spotted over several US cities
  
• "The Simpsons" announces change in title sequence and move to HD
  
• Australian football: Melbourne through to A-League Grand Final, Adelaide to play Queensland in preliminary final
  
• Japanese tanker MV Chemstar Venus freed by Somali pirates
  
• Woman with world's longest fingernails loses them in car crash
  
• Thousands flee after volcano begins to erupt in Colombia
  

 

February 16

• North Korea says it's preparing to launch space program, denies preparations to test missile
  
• US Congress passes $787 billion stimulus package
  
• US military says 'fireballs' spotted over Texas are not related to satellite collision
  
• Eurovision '73 winner Anne Marie David discusses her four-decade career and the Contest, past and present
  
• Japan's economy sees biggest decline since 1974
  
• Airplane that crashed near Buffalo, New York 'was on autopilot'
  

 

February 17

• Obama signs $787 billion stimulus package
  
• Large chimpanzee shot and killed by police in US after it attacks woman, officers
  
• General relativity effect confirmed: satellite experiment
  
• British writer Edward Upward dies at 105
  

 

February 18

• Helicopter ditches in the North Sea; all 18 on board rescued
  
• Buffalo, New York plane crash may have resulted from pilot error
  
• Colombian military spy plane crashes
  
• US automakers GM and Chrysler seek more government aid
  
• Two nuclear submarines collide in the Atlantic Ocean
  
• Venezuelan referendum ends presidential term limits
  
• 20,000 Californian state workers may lose their jobs
  
• NATO report on Afghanistan leaked
  
• Class action launched by Australian bushfire survivors against SP AusNet
  

 

February 19

• Wikinews Shorts: February 19, 2009
  
• Violence erupts in Guadeloupe after labor dispute
  
• Court rejects Polanski bid to have child sex charges dismissed
  

 

February 20

• Magnitude 5.4 earthquake shakes Pakistan
  
• European Court of Human Rights orders UK to compensate Islamist
  
• AIM activist, Leonard Peltier defender Robert Robideau dies
  
• Sheffield pub is CAMRA's Pub of the Year
  
• New South Wales, Queensland to have electorates redrawn: Australian Electoral Commission
  
• Israel seizes West Bank land
  
• Jury acquits three in Politkovskaya murder trial
  
• Dow Jones Industrial Average closes at lowest level in six years
  

 

February 21

• Slovak bus accident kills 12
  
• Church of Scientology blames Pearl Harbor, 9/11 on psychiatry
  
• LTTE strikes Sri Lanka capital
  
• UK firm gets ESA funding to ground test new jet engine for spaceplane
  
• Chinese cargo ship sinks after being shot by Russian navy
  
• Turbulence on Northwest Airlines flight injures 47
  

 

February 22

• Over a dozen injured, one killed in bomb blast in Egypt
  
• Endangered Luzon Buttonquail photographed alive by Philippines documentary
  
• California's violent video game ban law ruled unconstitutional by US Court of Appeals
  
• Number of cholera cases in Zimbabwe reaches 80,000
  
• Australian football: Adelaide United defeat Queensland Roar, through to A-League Grand Final
  
• Launch of space shuttle Discovery delayed indefinitely
  
• Adela Lupșe, outburst TV presenter, gives her side
  
• At least 73 dead after blast in Chinese coal mine
  
• Bulgarian chess grandmaster attempts to break chess record
  

 

February 23

• Guantanamo captive returned to the United Kingdom
  
• Brazil's Embraer plans to cut around 4,200 jobs
  
• New comet to be visible to naked eye for several days
  

 

February 24

• Rocket carrying NASA carbon dioxide satellite crashes into ocean
  
• AU peacekeepers killed in Somalia, Islamists vow more attacks
  
• US stock markets fall to lowest levels since 1997
  

 

February 25

• Airplane crashes at Schiphol Airport; 9 killed
  
• Japan's January exports fall by 46% from last year
  
• Fed chairman Bernanke says US recession 'may last into 2010'
  
• U.S. team unveils plans for F1 entry in 2010
  

 

February 26

• Baldwin, Seymour among attendees at Oscar viewing party held by Children Uniting Nations
  
• Engine failure may have been factor in Amsterdam plane crash
  
• Al-Shabaab and AU peacekeepers clash in Somalia
  
• Australian state of Queensland will go to the polls on March 21
  
• Hilda Solis begins new job as US Secretary of Labor
  

 

February 27

• Australian Sex Party to run independents in Queensland election
  
• Obama budget calls for record US deficit
  
• Wedding next year for Sweden's crown princess
  
• Former Serbian president Milutinovic acquitted of war crimes
  

 

February 28

• Bangladesh mutiny leaves scores of officers dead
  
• Fatal US Army helicopter collision in Iraq blamed on enemy fire
  
• ACLU commemorates anniversary of US Supreme Court decision on student free speech