Unix Timestamp: 1169078400
Thursday, January 18. 2007, 12:00:00 AM UTC

Alleged racist treatment of Indian actress Shilpa Shetty on Celebrity Big Brother 2007 draws widespread attention. It has attracted a record 33,000 complaints, death threats and has resulted in cancellation of multi-million pound Big Brother sponsorships and participants' modelling contracts. Prime Minister Tony Blair's likely successor, Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown commented on the subject during his India visit and has been mentioned in the House of Commons. //news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6269953.stm?ls (BBC News)

Interstate 10 in Texas and Interstate 5 north of Los Angeles, California, remain closed due to snow and ice. //www.cnn.com/2007/WEATHER/01/18/winter.blast.ap/index.html (CNN)

Two people are killed in the Jumeirah Lake Towers fire in Dubai. //news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6274981.stm (BBC)

Al Arabiya reports that a fire at Kuwait's Shuaiba Port has stopped oil exports and refining in that country. //www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/NewsStory.aspx?cpath=20070118%5cACQDJON200701181225DOWJONESDJONLINE000916.htm (Dow Jones via NASDAQ)