January 20, 2014 (Monday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- War in North-West Pakistan
- A suicide bomber blows himself up near Pakistan's military headquarters in Rawalpindi killing at least 13 people. (AP via MyFoxAL)
- December 2013 Volgograd bombings
- An Islamist group claims responsibility for the bombings and threatens attacks on the 2014 Winter Olympic Games to be held in Sochi. (Reuters)
- Euromaidan
- Violence spreads in Kiev as protesters clash with police. (ABC News)
- The United Kingdom rejects its involvement in combat drone attacks by the United States in Pakistan. (BBC News)
- Syrian Civil War:
Business and economy
- More than 20 million South Koreans' credit cards are hacked. (BBC News)
- Trial begins in London over a claim by investment bank JPMorgan that the public transit provider of the city of Berlin owes it more than $204 million. (Reuters)
- World leaders are meeting in Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum. (ABC News)
- China's 2013 economy figures show the slowest rate of growth since 1999. However, the 7.8% growth figure was higher than the predicted number of 7.5%. (The Australian)
Disasters
- A 6.2 magnitude earthquake occurs on the lower North Island of New Zealand near the capital Wellington. (New Zealand Herald)
- Monsoon rains cause flooding in the Indonesian capital Jakarta causing the evacuation of more than 30,000 people. (Reuters via Trust)
- A small plane carrying medics makes a forced landing in a remote mountain area in Transylvania, Romania, and is found after a four and a half hour massive search. The accident leaves the pilot and a passenger dead with several others being injured. (News Daily) (Romania-Insider.com) (ABC News)
International relations
- The United States rejects the invitation of Iran by the United Nations in peace talks involving Syria. (The New York Times)
- Certain sanctions against Iran are lifted by the European Union and the United States through a nuclear deal. (The Washington Post)
- Global surveillance disclosures (2013–present)
- Mike Rogers accuses Edward Snowden of collaborating with Russia. (BBC News)
- Kenneth Bae, an American prisoner in North Korea, releases a message to the United States for help. (HuffPost)
Law and crime
- Hong Kong arrests an employer for abusing an Indonesian maid which resulted in protests by migrant workers from Indonesia and the Philippines in the Chinese territory. (Fox News)
- Revenge porn becomes illegal in Israel. (SBS Australia)
- Police in India are investigating the death of Sunanda Pushkar, wife of Shashi Tharoor, after she had accused her husband of committing adultery with Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar. (NBC)
- 30 people are to be executed in Vietnam for smuggling drugs. (BBC News)
Politics and elections
- The transitional National Assembly of the Central African Republic chooses Catherine Samba-Panza as the interim President, making her the country's first female head of state. (Reuters)
- Bridgegate scandal
- Kim Guadagno denies accusations that she withheld funds for the victims of Hurricane Sandy. (CBS News)
- President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe makes his first public appearance in several weeks. (Reuters)
Science and technology
- India launches the Agni-IV missile today. (The Hindu)
- The Rosetta begins to 'wake up' from hibernation on its mission to rendezvous and land a probe on Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. (BBC News)
- Dolphin hunting in the Japanese town of Taiji is criticized by US Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy after protests by environmental groups. (Japan Daily Press)
Sport
- Jérôme Champagne, a former French diplomat and advisor to multiple football federations, announces his candidacy to become FIFA President in 2015. (The Guardian)
- The Hong Kong Football Association is fined for not preventing an alleged racist incident against fans of the Philippine national football team in 2013. (Goal.com)