[Archive 2009-01-13] Wikinews Shorts: January 13, 2009

Historical archive — originally published 2009-01-13. This report records what was known on that date. It is not current news; subsequent events may have changed the situation. Wikinews closed in May 2026.

Protests by an opposition organization 'Different Politics' (Cita Politika) drew ten thousand people in Riga, Latvia today. After the official protest demonstration was over, around a thousand people roamed the old city center protesting and taunting police. There were reports of many broken windows and a liquor store was demolished and robbed before the police could arrive in sufficient force to stop looting. Around 19:00 several hundred protesters tried to forcefully enter the Latvian Parliament building, but were stopped by riot police arriving at the scene. After more than a half an hour of police being pelted by bricks and bottles, tear gas and brute force was used to take control of the area. For the following hour pockets of violence were squashed over the whole of Old Riga. Rioters dispersed when police reinforcements arrived.

Around a hundred people were arrested, two police vehicles were destroyed, thirty people have been treated for wounds and a large number of windows are broken.

President-elect of the United States Barack Obama will order the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp as soon as the first week of his Presidency. This is according to two sources close to the Obama transition team who spoke to Associated Press.

Pericles Panagopoulos, the president of Greek ferry operator Attica Group, which runs Superfast Ferries, was abducted near his home in Athens on Monday by three men armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles, as he was being driven to work in a coastal suburb. No injuries have been reported in the incident, which is being investigated by counter-terrorism police.

Microsoft announced on Monday that it will allow users to continue to download the beta version of its Windows 7 computer operating system until January 24.

The beta release was originally scheduled to begin on January 9, but delayed until the day after. Due to heavy demand Microsoft eliminated the limitation of 2.5 million downloads.

In last night's global award ceremony for soccer, Cristiano Ronaldo became the men's FIFA World Player of the Year 2008. He bested Argentinian Lionel Messi and Spaniard Fernando Torres who took second and third places.

Ronaldo is the second Portuguese player to win the award. The award was first given in 1991, and in 2001 Luis Figo became the first player from Portugal to win it.

Ronaldo plays for English Premiership club Manchester United. Brazilian player Marta Vieira da Silva won the Women's World Player of the Year Award for the third year in a row.

Six days after refusing to seat troubled Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich's choice to replace President-elect Barack Obama, Democrats in the United States Senate reversed their decision Monday, and will now allow Roland Burris to join them.

Source and licence

Text adapted from Wikinews Shorts: January 13, 2009 by Wikinews contributors under CC BY 2.5. Paragraphs have been selected and abridged, and formatting adjusted. Contributor history.