February 6, 2013 (Wednesday)
Business and economy
- Liquidation of Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC):
- Plans to liquidate IBRC, formerly Anglo and regarded as "the world's worst bank", are abruptly announced and get underway in dramatic circumstances. (The Guardian) (RTÉ News) (Irish Central) (BBC)
- Legislators are placed on standby for an emergency late-night debate. (Examiner)
- Emergency legislation is discussed in both houses of the Oireachtas, the Dáil and then the Seanad. (Examiner)
- President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins, who left for a three-day visit to Italy in the morning, returns home again in the evening as the full extent of developments become known. (The Irish Times)
- John Malone's Liberty Global acquires Virgin Media for $23 billion. (Reuters)
- The United States Postal Service announces that it will no longer deliver first-class mail on Saturdays as of 5 August 2013. (CNN)
- Authorities in the United States and United Kingdom fine The Royal Bank of Scotland more than $612 million for its role in manipulating the London Interbank Offered Rate or Libor. (AAP via News Limited)
- The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission hosts a roundtable in which experts and the representatives of affected industries discuss the consequences that decimalisation has had on the market for equity in the U.S., especially regarding small caps. (Themis Trading)
Disasters and accidents
- 2013 Solomon Islands earthquake:
- A tsunami warning is issued for a wide range of islands in the South Pacific after a magnitude 8.0 earthquake occurs off the coast of the Solomon Islands. (AFP via News Limited) (Pacific Tsunami Warning Center) (The Guardian)
- There are reports of significant damage to villages in the Solomon Islands west and south of the town of Lata. (The Australian)
- At least five people have been reported dead in the Solomons' Santa Cruz Islands. (Radio New Zealand News)
Law and crime
- In United States, two children and one woman are killed in a Denver apartment shooting. (The Denver Post)
- Chokri Belaid, the general secretary of the Patriotic Democratic Party, is shot dead outside his house in Tunis, leading to reported clashes between the police and hundreds of protesters. The Prime Minister of Tunisia Hamadi Jebali claims that a new government will be formed within one day. (The New York Times)
Politics and elections
- U.S. President Barack Obama nominates CEO of REI Sally Jewell to be the next Secretary of the Interior. (CNN)
Sport
- 2013 Africa Cup of Nations:
- In the first semifinal, Nigeria defeats Mali with a 4–1 score, and progress to the final. (Al Jazeera) (Reuters via The Guardian)
- The second semifinal between Burkina Faso and Ghana goes to extra-time, with Burkina Faso denied a potentially winning goal by Tunisian referee Slim Jedidi. The referee also ejects Jonathan Pitroipa, when replays show he was fouled. Burkina Faso wins, 1–1 (penalties: 3–2), and advances to the final. (Goal.com) (Al Jazeera) (BBC)