Current events of 23 January 2009 (2009-01-23) (Friday) edit history watch

The number of unique Internet users reached one billion in December 2008. (CNET.com) New York Governor David Paterson appoints Kirsten Gillibrand to Hillary Clinton's vacated United States Senate seat. (New York Times) Japan launches the world's first greenhouse-gas-monitoring satellite, Ibuki, from the Tanegashima Space Center. (Reuters) (CNN) A school shooting in northern Norway leaves two people dead, including the gunman. (Sky News) (RTE News) Hamas accuses rival faction Fatah of spying for Israel during the recent conflict in the Gaza Strip. (CNN) National Congress and Tutsi leader Laurent Nkunda is arrested in Rwanda. (MSNBC) Two children and one adult are stabbed to death in an attack on a crèche in Belgium. (Sky News) The 30-man crew of Chinese cargo ship Zhenhua 4 receives US$10,000 each after repelling Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden. (Xinhua) The United Kingdom enters a recession. (Business Standard)