January 31, 2013 (Thursday)
Disasters and accidents
- 2013 Pretoria train collision: Two passenger trains packed with schoolchildren and rush-hour commuters] collide near Pretoria, South Africa, injuring up to 300 people in a crash. (BBC) (Reuters) (AFP via Google)
- 2013 Brisbane train crash: A train overshoots the end of the tracks and crashes into a railway station's ladies' bathroom in Brisbane, Australia, leaving 14 people injured. (ABC News Australia) (Brisbane Times) (The Australian)
- A brief lake effect snow squall on Interstate 75 in Detroit, Michigan, United States, leads to a 30-car accident that leaves 3 dead and 15 injured. (WXYZ)
- Torre Ejecutiva Pemex explosion: A blast at Torre Ejecutiva Pemex, the headquarters of Pemex in Mexico City, Mexico, kills 36 and injures 126 people. (BBC) (Reuters) (Euronews) (Milenio)
International relations
- South Korean media reports claim that North Korea has been placed under martial law with another nuclear test considered to be imminent. (The Telegraph)
- United Nations report says that Israeli settlements must be immediately withdrawn without preconditions, to comply with article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. (BBC) (Reuters)
Law and crime
- A teacher suffers scrapes and bruises and a 14-year-old boy is shot in the back of the neck and suffers a non-life-threatening wound at Luther Judson Price Middle School, a newer Atlanta Public Schools facility in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The boy is stable at a hospital and the suspected student was safely disarmed by a resource officer and arrested. (NBC News) (CBS News) (Fox News) (BBC)
- Armenian politician Paruyr Hayrikyan is shot in his right clavicle and taken to a hospital in Yerevan, Armenia, during his bid for the presidency. (Asbarez)
- A judge sentences Russell Wasendorf, a founder of Peregrine Financial Group, to 50 years in prison for stealing $215.5 million from investors over 20 years. (Reuters) (USA Today) (NASDAQ)
- Australian House of Representatives member Craig Thomson is arrested to face at least 149 charges of fraud in relation to his former position as National Secretary of the Health Services Union. (ABC News Australia)
- Icelandic teenager Blaer Bjarkardottir wins a legal fight to use the name given to her by her mother, which the Icelandic Naming Committee had argued was not a proper female given name. (BBC) (Sky News) (NBC News)
- Eight people are stabbed and wounded in an apartment building in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Huffington Post)
Media
- The New York Times claims that Chinese hackers have broken into their computers and stolen passwords of high-profile members and reporters over the past four months, around the same time the paper began an investigation involving wealth accumulation by relatives of Premier Wen Jiabao. (CNN) (The New York Times)
Politics and elections
- Isobel Redmond resigns as the Leader of the Opposition in the Australian state of South Australia. (AAP via News Limited)
- The Russian city of Volgograd passes a measure to refer to itself by its previous name, Stalingrad, on Victory Day and five key dates relating to the Battle of Stalingrad. (RIA Novosti)
- Serbia's Prime Minister Ivica Dačić, who was flashed by a mode] without underwear masquerading as a television interviewer, launches an investigation into how he became the target of the prank. (Daily Mail) (The Sun)
Science and technology
- A main belt asteroid discovered at Ukraine's Andrushivka Astronomical Observatory in August 2008 is named 274301 Wikipedia after the Wikipedia encyclopedia. (Minor Planet Center)
- NASA unveils the prototype of a lunar mining robot called the Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot (RASSOR). (The Verge) (The Atlantic) (Red Orbit)
Sport
- In association football, the draw for the 2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification is held in Nyon, Switzerland. (UEFA)
- Ryuji Sonoda will resign as head coach of Japan's national women's judo team after he was accused of physical abuse of 15 members of the team. (NHK)[permanent dead link] (The Asahi Shimbun)
- American snowmobiler Caleb Moore dies in Grand Junction, Colorado, United States, from complications of injuries suffered in a crash on January 24 during the Winter X Games in Aspen. He becomes the first X Games participant to die from injuries sustained during the event. (ESPN) (CNN) (ABC News)
- Former England national football team captain David Beckham joins French club Paris Saint-Germain after leaving the Los Angeles Galaxy. He will also donate his entire salary to charity. (BBC) (ESPN) (AP via US News)
- Brazilian midfielder Willian moves from Shakhtar Donetsk to Anzhi Makhachkala for a deal believed to be around €35 million. (Goal.com) (SB Nation)