January 23, 2009 (Friday)
- The number of unique Internet users reached one billion in December 2008. (CNET.com)
- New York Governor David Paterson appoints Kirsten Gillibrand to Hillary Clinton's vacated United States Senate seat. (New York Times)
- Japan launches the world's first greenhouse-gas-monitoring satellite, Ibuki, from the Tanegashima Space Center. (Reuters) (CNN)
- A school shooting in northern Norway leaves two people dead, including the gunman. (Sky News) (RTE News)
- Hamas accuses rival faction Fatah of spying for Israel during the recent conflict in the Gaza Strip. (CNN)
- National Congress and Tutsi leader Laurent Nkunda is arrested in Rwanda. (MSNBC)
- Two children and one adult are stabbed to death in an attack on a crèche in Belgium. (Sky News)
- The 30-man crew of Chinese cargo ship Zhenhua 4 receives US$10,000 each after repelling Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden. (Xinhua)
- The United Kingdom enters a recession. (Business Standard)