The Ilamatepecvolcano erupts in a coffee-growing area 40 miles (60 km) west of San Salvador, El Salvador, spitting rock and ash into the air. The Salvadoran government evacuates hundreds of people in the region and there are no reported injuries. San Salvador's air quality - already the most polluted in Central America - is significantly worsened by the additional volcanic debris. (Yahoo! news)(Link dead as of 22:37, 14 January2007 (UTC))
The Indonesian government raises fuel prices by more than 100%, resulting in petrol prices of 4,500 rupiah (US$0.44) a litre (US$1.67 per gallon). (Reuters) (Link dead as of 22:37, 14 January2007 (UTC))
The astronomers who discovered Eris, referred to as "the tenth planet" by NASA and some media outlets, have announced that it has a moon, Dysnomia. (CNN)
Eleven embassies in the capital of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, receive suspicious packages containing threatening letters and an unidentified liquid, triggering security alerts. (Forbes)
The Malawi government says that 650,000 people in the country have died due to AIDS in the past two decades. There are now 850,000 orphaned children, 50% resulting from AIDS. (allAfrica)
One million French transportation workers and teachers hold a nationwide strike in opposition to the Prime MinisterDominique de Villepin's economic and labor policies, forcing the closure of schools and airports. (Reuters)
Four Ugandan civilians are killed in a rare afternoon ambush on a pickup truck in northeast Uganda by Lord's Resistance Army rebels. The insurgents are suspected of shooting the driver and two passengers and killing a fourth with an axe. (BBC News)
Gabon announces that the presidential elections are to be held on 27 November with security forces voting two days earlier, but opposition denounces the move as a ruse for ballot rigging. (allAfrica)
Zimbabwe is facing increasing threat of military revolt, as soldiers are increasingly dissatisfied by the government's failure to increase their salaries and by chronic food shortages at their barracks. (allAfrica)
Malalai Joya, a 27 year old women's rights worker, has won one of the first seats in Afghanistan's National Assembly, also called the Wolesa Jirga. (CNN)
British forces have detained 12 people, including three police officers, in connection with a series of deadly attacks on UK forces in southern Iraq. (BBC)
Uganda Human Rights Commission, in its 2004 report, states that at least 4,000 children who were among the tens of thousands abducted by the Lord's Resistance Army rebels cannot be traced. This estimate is much lower than the previous estimate of 20,000 kidnapped children released by the most recent Human Rights Watch report. The UHRC accuses the Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) of torturing the Acholi people of northern Uganda through brutal methods to extract information or to instill discipline in suspects. (allAfrica)
Three whiteNew Orleans police officers are arrested after a video surfaces showing the officers brutally beating unarmed 64-year old Robert Davis. The victim, who is black, has been charged with public intoxication, resisting arrest, battery on a police officer and public intimidation. (Reuters), (BBC), (Footage of incident from BBC)
Tropical Storm Vince, the 20th named storm of the season (making the current Atlantic hurricane season the 2nd most active since recording first took place) is gaining hurricane strength while heading towards Europe. It is unusual for such a storm to form so far east in the Atlantic Ocean, and more so gaining hurricane strength, since the waters are much cooler than in the Caribbean area. (National Hurricane Center)
Six armed Somalipirates hijack the MV Miltzow, a freighter that is carrying United Nations food aid. After its cargo of 850 tonnes of food aid was offloaded in the port of Merka, the ship was forced to sail down the coast to Barawa before being released two days later. (Reuters)
Syria's interior minister, Ghazi Kanaan, who was head of the country's military intelligence in neighboring Lebanon for nearly 20 years, has committed suicide. (CNN)
The United Nations is to evacuate some staff from Sudan's West Darfur state because of an increase in violence. U.N. officials said that the violence had hindered aid access to 650,000 refugees in the region. (Reuters)
Right to Information Act 2005, (Act No. 22/2005) law enacted by the Parliament of India giving citizens of India access to Government records, came into force in India. (RTIAct)
ABC investigative reporter Brian Ross reports that security at nuclear reactors on U.S. college campuses is easily compromised. (ABC)(BadgerHerald)
Shenzhou 6 could be brought back one day earlier than planned due to weather conditions at the landing area and the physical condition of the astronauts. The People's Republic of China's second human spaceflight was originally planned for the mission to last five days. (SpaceDaily)
Scores of suspected Chechenseparatist rebels attack the southern Russian city of Nalchik in a coordinated operation against Russian security forces, killing dozens of people. BBC 85 killed and map: (Washington Post)
Zimbabwean state-owned media announces that the Zimbabwean government briefly detained the United States ambassador, on Monday, October 10. The United States considers the matter closed following a formal apology. (Wash. Times)
2005 Kashmir earthquake: SOS Children have been appointed temporary custodian of unaccompanied children. SOS will run the family tracing database and look after children in their emergency centre in Islamabad and in other six villages in Kashmir. (SOS)
Futures industry regulators, brokerages, and futures exchanges in the United States engage in furious talks over how to avoid, or how to minimize the consequences of, the impending failure of Refco, a global commodities broker-dealer. (MSN Money)
Security concern over Google maps - India's President has warned that the Google map service could help terrorists by providing satellite photos of potential targets.
Former President of Ecuador, Lucio Gutiérrez Borbúa, deposed by the Ecuadorian military on April 20, 1995, after days of civil disturbances in Quito, returns voluntarily to Ecuador and is immediately locked in a maximum security prison cell in Quito, on charges of attempting to subvert national security, after having repeatedly stated to the international media that he continues to be the legitimate President of the Republic of Ecuador. (El Universo, Guayaquil) (article in Spanish).
The Iraqi people go to the polls to vote on whether to approve the proposed constitution, amidst heavy security. (AP)
Crown Princess Mary of Denmark gives birth to her first child, a 3.5 kg boy, at 0157 local time (2357 UTC Friday). The prince, likely to be named Christian, is second in line of succession to Europe's oldest crown. (Reuters)
The Brazilian government extends a state of emergency to cover the whole of Amazonas, the country's largest state, following a severe drought which has seen many rivers and lakes dry up. (BBC)
Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi visits the Yasukuni shrine which honors Japan's war dead including 14 Class A war criminals of World War II. This is Koizumi's fifth visit to Yasukuni since taking office in 2001. (CNN)
More than 4 million people vote in Italy for the primaries of the center left to elect the person that should represent the main antagonist to the current Prime MinisterSilvio Berlusconi. (La Repubblica)
2 Umrah pilgrims die as the ship they were returning in crashed into a cargo ship in the Suez Canal. Initial reports of 20 fatalities proved unfounded, though over 90 people were injured. (BBC)