January 8, 2011 (Saturday)
Armed conflict and attacks
- Several people are killed in clashes with security forces in Southern Sudan, a day before the independence referendum. (Al Jazeera)
- Two French hostages kidnapped in Niger on Friday are killed during a rescue attempt by the Nigerien military. (France 24) (Al Jazeera)
- Israel responds to the shooting dead of a 65-year-old Palestinian civilian in his bed during a pre-dawn raid by ordering an investigation. Troops were attempting to re-arrest five Hamas members who had been released from prison the previous day when they made the fatal error. (Irish Independent)
- A shooting rampage takes place at a supermarket in Tucson in the U.S. state of Arizona. Twenty are shot, including U.S. Representative Gabby Giffords. Six others are confirmed dead, including District Court judge John Roll. (CNN) (Al Jazeera) (BBC)
Arts and culture
- Three academics at Istanbul Bilgi University are fired due to a controversial dissertation project submitted by a student. (BBC)
Business and economics
- 2010–2011 Tunisian protests: At least one person is killed and others are injured in the town of Tala during the latest protests against unemployment and poor living conditions. (Al Jazeera)
- Algerian protests against food prices and unemployment:
- Government taxes and duties on sugar and cooking oil in Algeria are lowered in response to three days of unrest over increases in unemployment and the cost of living. (Al Jazeera)
- Two people are killed and hundreds of others are injured during the protests. (Yemen News Agency) (BBC)
Disasters and accidents
- Freezing temperatures in northern India kill at least 22 people. (AP via Google News) (Sify India)
International relations
- North Korea renews its call for unconditional talks with South Korea. (Yonhap) (Al Jazeera)
- United States govt. attempts to access private information:
- It is revealed that the United States has subpoenaed Twitter for personal information regarding people connected to Wikileaks, including founder Julian Assange, suspected source of leaks Bradley Manning, and supporter Birgitta Jónsdóttir, a member of Iceland's Althing. (CNN) (BBC)
- Icelandic MP Birgitta Jónsdóttir describes attempts by America to access her private information as "completely unacceptable", demands to see the ambassador and begins legal action against the United States. (The Guardian)
- The WikiLeaks website requests that Google and Facebook make public any subpoenas they are given by the American government. (The Guardian)
- Iraqi Shia Muslim leader Muqtada al-Sadr urges a rejection of violence and peaceful resistance against the country's "occupiers" in his first public address since his return from exile. (Al Jazeera)
Law and crime
- Chinese prosecutors say more than 600 people were killed over a period of seven years in Yunnan due to official misconduct. (Zee News) (The Straits Times)