Portal:Current events/2012 January 16
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January 16, 2012 (Monday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Romanian protests: Demonstrations continue for the fifth consecutive day against president Traian Băsescu and the Emil Boc government in more than 60 cities across the country. (Realitatea TV)
Arts and culture
- John Burnside wins the T. S. Eliot Prize. (The Guardian)
- The King Center publishes online 200,000 personal papers belonging to Martin Luther King Jr. to mark his birthday. (BBC News)
- Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, the president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, emphasizes that the presence of Catholics on the internet is essential. Archbishop Celli made his comments at Mercy University in Fribourg during a meeting organized by the Swiss Bishops' Conference and the Swiss Press League. The event was held in commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the pastoral instruction on social communications, “Communio et Progressio.” (Catholic News Agency)
Business and economy
- European sovereign debt crisis:
- The Standard & Poors credit rating agency lowers its long-term credit rating on the European Financial Stability Facility, the eurozone's bailout fund to help indebted European countries with their finances, from AAA to AA+ following the downgrade of France and Austria, who are two of the fund's backers. (FT)
- The online shoe retailer Zappos reports that up to 24 million customer accounts may have been accessed by hackers, and has warned its customers to change their passwords. (The Guardian)
- Seán Quinn, Ireland's richest person as recently as 2008, is declared bankrupt at the High Court. (RTÉ News)
Politics
- Proinsias De Rossa announces his decision to resign as MEP for the Dublin constituency. (RTÉ News)
Technology
- The English Wikipedia will be shut down on Wednesday in protest against anti-piracy legislation proposed by the United States Congress. (Wikimedia Foundation)(The Guardian)