A Recap On World News occuring On Thursday, The 3rd Of January, 2013

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Iraqi insurgency (post-U.S. withdrawal):
  • A suicide bombing in Mussayab kills 27 Shiite pilgrims and injures 60 others. (Reuters)
• Mexican Drug War:
  • Mexican troops kill 12 alleged drug traffickers who opened fire at a checkpoint in La Estación, Zacatecas. (BBC)
• M23 rebellion:
  • The March 23 Movement in the Democratic Republic of Congo announces that peace talks will only commence if President Joseph Kabila's government signs a ceasefire. (Reuters)

Arts and culture

• Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, grants Russian citizenship to Gérard Depardieu who has renounced his French citizenship due to high taxes. (AFP via ABC News)
• Romanian film director, actor and politician Sergiu Nicolaescu dies at the age of 82 after complications from surgery which led to cardiac arrest.(AAP via News Limited)

Business and economy

• News channel Al Jazeera acquires Current TV from Al Gore and Joel Hyatt. (AP)
• Hormel is announced to be purchasing Skippy peanut butter from Unilever for $700 million. (MarketWatch)
• Starbucks plans to open a coffee shop in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, expanding its reach to 12 Asian nations. (The Globe and Mail)
• Subaru issues a recall for nearly 634,000 vehicles in the United States due to a lighting problem. (The Detroit News)

International relations

• The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom David Cameron say the future of the Falkland Islands is up to its inhabitants, not Argentina. His statement comes after the President of Argentina Cristina Fernández de Kirchner urged the prime minister to abide by a 1965 UN resolution to "negotiate a solution" to the dispute. (BBC)

Law and crime

• Police in India charge five men with the murder of a 23-year-old woman who was gang-raped on a bus in Delhi on December 16, 2012. (BBC)

Politics and elections

• United States Congress:
• The 113th United States Congress is sworn in, replacing the 112th Congress. (CNN)
• Republican Congressman John Boehner is re-elected Speaker of the House. (CNN)
Sports
• A friendly match between A.C. Milan and Italian lower divison Pro Patria is suspended after Kevin-Prince Boateng and several other A.C. Milan were the target of racists chants by Pro Patria crowd. (BBC Sport)
• In boxing, the personal doctor of Manny Pacquiao worries that he may have the initiation stages of Parkinson's disease. (Yahoo News)