January 17, 2021 (Sunday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- War in Afghanistan
- 2021 Afghanistan attacks; Taliban insurgency
- Two judges, both female, are shot dead in an ambush while en-route to their offices at the Supreme Court in Kabul; their driver is wounded. Afghan officials claim the Taliban is responsible, however no one has claimed responsibility for the attack and a spokesman for the Taliban, Zabihullah Mujahid, says that the group was not responsible. (Al Jazeera)
- 2021 Afghanistan attacks; Taliban insurgency
- War in Darfur
- 2021 Darfur clashes
- Eighty-three people are killed during clashes between different ethnic groups in El Geneina, West Darfur, Sudan. They started after a row in which a man was stabbed to death. (BBC News)
- 2021 Darfur clashes
Disasters and accidents
- 2021 Sulawesi earthquake
- A Bell UH-1 Iroquois helicopter of the Philippine Air Force crashes in the Pantaron Mountain Range in Bukidnon, Philippines, killing all seven personnel onboard. (The New York Times)
- Six people have been killed by floods and landslides that affected nine subdistricts and 33 neighborhoods in Manado, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. (Antara News)
Health and environment
- COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
- COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia
- Indonesia reports a record 9,102 recoveries, bringing the total number of recoveries to 736,460. (detikHealth)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Lebanon
- Lebanon signs a deal to receive two million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. (Arab News)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Oman
- Oman announces the closure of all land borders for at least one week, beginning tomorrow at 6:00 p.m., as part of measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19. (Times of Oman)
- COVID-19 pandemic in the United Arab Emirates
- The United Arab Emirates reports a record 3,453 new confirmed cases in a single-day, bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 253,261. (The National)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia
- COVID-19 pandemic in Africa
- COVID-19 pandemic in Guinea
- Guinean President Alpha Condé receives the first dose of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine. (Africanews)
- COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa, 501.V2 variant
- South Africa delays the reopening of schools due to the rapid increase in cases of the 501.V2 variant. (AP)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Guinea
- COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
- COVID-19 pandemic in California
- American music producer Phil Spector, who was convicted for the 2003 murder of American actress Lana Clarkson, dies from COVID-19 at a hospital in Northern California. (Los Angeles Times)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Massachusetts, Variant of Concern 202012/01
- Massachusetts reports their first case of a more contagious variant of SARS-CoV-2 in a woman in her 20s from Boston who traveled to the United Kingdom and began experiencing symptoms the day after she returned. (WBZ-TV)
- COVID-19 pandemic in California
- COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil, COVID-19 vaccine
- The Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency (Anvisa) grants emergency use authorization requests for the vaccines developed by Sinovac and Oxford-AstraZeneca. (G1)
- Minutes after Anvisa's announcement, a nurse from São Paulo becomes the first person in Brazil to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. (Reuters)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Austria
- Austria extends their nationwide lockdown until February 7 in order to reduce the spread of COVID-19 amid fears about new SARS-CoV-2 variants. People will also be required to wear full protective masks beginning January 25. (DW)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
Law and crime
- Aftermath of the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol
- Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin, the founder of "Cowboys for Trump", is arrested for his involvement during the storming of the United States Capitol, in which he allegedly entered restricted area during the riot. He claimed to be planning to drive to Washington, D.C. with a rifle and revolver. (Reuters) (NBC News)
- Gracyn Courtright, a West Virginia student who is a senior at the University of Kentucky, is charged for entering the United States Capitol during the riot. (New York Post) (The Kentucky Kernel) (Heavy.com)
- Aftermath of the poisoning of Alexei Navalny
- Opposition politician and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny is arrested upon landing in Moscow, according to a statement from the prison service. The prominent Putin critic was arrested on charges of parole violations and terms of a suspended prison sentence and will be held in custody until a court makes a decision in his case. (Politico)
- Central American migrant caravans
- A caravan of at least 6,000 Honduran migrants bound for the United States prompts the deployment of Guatemalan police and military troops to the Guatemala–Honduras border, where security forces fire tear gas and assault migrants attempting to cross the border. Health officials report several casualties. (AFP via IBTimes)