January 4, 2013 (Friday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Israeli–Palestinian conflict:
- Hundreds of thousands of people rally in Gaza in a show of unity between the governing Hamas, elected in 2006, and Fatah, in opposition since then. (BBC) (Al Jazeera) (The Guardian)
- Syrian civil war:
- Belfast City Hall flag protests:
- Police clash with demonstrators in Belfast over when the Union Flag is to be flown over their city hall. (BBC)
Business and economy
- Joblessness in the United States remains constant, with latest official figures showing a modest job creation total of 155,000. (Al Jazeera)
- Swiss bank Wegelin & Co., the nation's oldest, will cease to operate after pleading guilty to a US tax evasion case and being fined $57.8 million. (BBC)
Disasters and accidents
- At least seven children are killed in a fire at an orphanage in Henan, China. (BBC) (South China Morning Post) (The Irish Times)
- Three people are killed when a Beechcraft BE35 plane crashes into a home near Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. (CNN)
- Six Russian tourists are killed and two tourists are seriously injured after a snowmobile towing a sled veers off a ski slope, crashes into a barrier, and flies into a ditch on Italy's Mount Cermis. (BBC)
Law and crime
- A gunman kills eight people in a house-to-house rampage in Kawit, the Philippines. (CNN)
- The Nigerian police announces that Hyundai has paid a ransom of £118,000 ($190,000) to free 6 kidnapped workers in the Niger Delta region. (BBC)
- Former Nepalese Colonel Kumar Lama is charged with torture in the UK stemming from allegations of human rights abuses during the Nepalese Civil War. (BBC)
- U.S. media report that celebrity Naomi Campbell has been assaulted in Paris. Reports say two men on a motorcycle tried to make off with her handbag during the attack. (BBC)
- Pakistani schoolgirl blogger Malala Yousafzai, shot by the Taliban in October 2012, is discharged from hospital in the UK. (BBC)
Politics and elections
- Demonstrations against sexual violence after Delhi gang rape spread across Asia and are now happening in Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh. (The Guardian)
- Journalists in China call for the resignation of the propaganda chief in Guangdong province over "excessive censorship" amid the closure of a liberal website. (Financial Times)
- The Venezuelan government announces that president Hugo Chávez is being treated for a "respiratory deficiency" after complications from a severe lung infection. (Al Jazeera)
- The United States Congress officially declares President Barack Obama the winner of the 2012 presidential election. (CNN)
- The leaders of Sudan and South Sudan, Omar al-Bashir and Salva Kiir Mayardit, respectively, will meet in Addis Ababa to convene for talks regarding escalating tensions is response to Sudan's recent seizure of Abyei. (BBC)
- King of Spain Juan Carlos I gives a rare television interview to coincide with his 75th birthday. (BBC)
Religion
- The Church of England drops its prohibition on gay clergy in civil partnerships becoming bishops, so long as they promise to be celibate. (BBC) (The Guardian)