• Médecins Sans Frontières accuses the Democratic Republic of the Congo of not doing enough to prevent war rape after 33 women are raped in Fizi, South Kivu, on New Year's Day. (CNN)
• 2010–2011 Ivorian crisis:
  • At least 14 people in Duékoué, Ivory Coast are killed in clashes between opposing sides in the Presidential election crisis. (ABC News) (BBC)
  • Ivory Coast's President-elect Alassane Ouattara expresses confidence that military action by other West African nations will remove President Laurent Gbagbo, who refuses to leave office after his defeat in recent presidential elections. (CNN)
• Egyptian police increases security around Coptic churches on the eve of Coptic Christmas, following a bombing in Alexandria on New Year's Day that killed 23 people and sparked protests and riots across the country. (BBC)(AFP)(CNN)
• An abducted Hungarian civilian, who worked for the UN-African Union peacekeeping mission in Sudan's Darfur region, is released. (All Africa) (AFP) (Radio Dabanga)
• Israeli troops kill two Palestinians as they attempted to cross a border fence from the Gaza Strip. (Reuters)(Ynet)
• The U.S. plans to send another 1,400 marines to Afghanistan, where approximately 100,000 U.S. troops are already engaged in the War in Afghanistan. (Reuters)
• A U.S. soldier receives 90 days hard labour and must testify in the FOB Ramrod kill team case for keeping war souvenir photos, beating a platoon member and smoking hashish while involved with the FOB Ramrod kill team during the War in Afghanistan. (Reuters)

• A French market regulator approves a takeover defense adopted by the Hermès family, who own the manufacturer of Birkin and Kelly handbags. This improves the odds that Hermès will preserve its independence in the face of a bid by LVMH. (Reuters)

• 22 people are killed after a bus falls into a gorge in Uttarakhand, northern India. (NDTV) (Straits Times)

• The United States protests strongly to Vietnam after a U.S. diplomat is attacked and injured by Vietnamese police when he went to visit a detained religious dissident.(RFA)
• South Korea dismisses an offer of unconditional talks by North Korea, saying the offer was part of a propaganda campaign. (Reuters)
• A U.S. plan to force gun dealers in states which border Mexico to report cases where individuals bought multiple high-powered rifles in under 5 days, is stalled due to opposition from gun lobbies. Approximately 90% of crime guns seized in Mexico originate in the U.S., and over 30,000 people have died in Mexico due to drug cartel violence since 2006. (Reuters)

• A French court orders the transfer of Rwandan Hutu leader, Callixte Mbarushimana, arrested in France for his involvement in the Rwandan Genocide, to the International Criminal Court in The Hague. (UPI)(AllAfrica)
• Indonesia's National Human Rights Commission submits a report to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on its investigations into reports of torture of Papuans by soldiers, and urges him to take action against human rights violations by security forces in the eastern Papua region. (AFP)
• Moroccan authorities arrest 27 people in an Al Qaeda-linked cell in Western Sahara for planning car bombings and suicide attacks on security forces, and bank robberies to finance their activities.(The New York Times) (NPR)
• Chinese authorities implement new controls on the content of text messages sent to mobile phones according to service providers, including references to democracy, human rights, and corruption.(RFA)
• Aaron Swartz is arrested by MIT police on state breaking-and-entering charges, after systematically downloading academic journal articles from JSTOR. (Archive.org)

• Observers prepare to use geostationary satellites to prevent harassment in the run-up to the referendum on independence for South Sudan, by monitoring for voter intimidation, damage to property and other violence. (Financial Mail)
• Prime Minister of Pakistan Yousaf Raza Gillani cancels recent fuel price increases in an apparent concession to the opposition in an attempt to save his government from collapse after losing its majority in parliament. (Reuters) (Bloomberg) (Houston Chronicle)
• Laurence Mackenzie resigns as chief executive of Northern Ireland Water in response to the organisation's handling of the recent water shortage in Northern Ireland. (BBC)

• Asian Football Confederation Executive Committee elections in Doha, Qatar:
  • Mohamed bin Hammam announce that Australia will host the 2015 AFC Asian Cup; this will be the first time Australia has hosted the competition. (the-AFC)
  • Ali bin Al Hussein of Jordan is elected as a Vice President of FIFA. (the-AFC)
  • Ganesh Thapa of Nepal is elected as Vice President of the AFC. (the-AFC)