Portal:Current events

Sports

• 2025 WTA Tour
  • 2025 Australian Open
    • In tennis, Madison Keys wins her first major title after defeating the two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka, 6–3, 2–6, 7–5, to win the women's singles title at the Australian Open. (CNN)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Colombian conflict
  • Catatumbo campaign
    • 2025 Catatumbo attacks
      • The Colombian National Army and National Police begin offensive operations across eleven municipios of the Catatumbo region. (El Tiempo)
• War against the Islamic State
  • Somali Civil War
    • Islamic State insurgency in Puntland
      • At least thirteen Islamic State militants are allegedly killed in heavy fighting as Puntland forces claim they successfully took over the towns of Turmasaale and Janno-Jiifta in the Bari region, Puntland, Somalia. (The Somali Digest) (Idil News)
• Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • Attacks in Russia during the Russian invasion of Ukraine
    • A Ukrainian drone strike targets an oil refinery in Ryazan Oblast, Russia, in one of the largest Ukrainian drone attacks inside Russia of the conflict to date. The Russian military says it shot down at least 121 drones over 13 regions overnight. (BBC News)
  • Kyiv strikes
    • A Russian drone strikes a ten-storey apartment building in Fastiv, Kyiv Oblast, killing at least three people. (Euronews)
  • Mobilization in Ukraine
    • Ukraine finalizes military reforms aimed at recruiting 18- to 25-year-olds to the armed forces, penalizing draft dodgers, and lowering the minimum compulsory military service age to 25 from 27. (The Kyiv Independent)
  • The Ukrainian Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War announces that, with assistance from the International Committee of the Red Cross, the bodies of 757 Ukrainian soldiers have been returned to Ukraine. (The Kyiv Independent)
• Israel–Hamas war
  • Hamas confirms that an Israeli airstrike last summer killed Rawhi Mushtaha, according to Israel "head of the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip", along with Sameh al-Siraj, who held the security portfolio in Hamas's political bureau, and Sami Odeh, the head of Hamas's "general security mechanism". (Al Sharq AlAwsat)

Business and economy

• Canadian economic crisis
  • The Canadian Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship department announces a limit of 437,000 study permits for 2025, a 10% reduction from 2024, as part of efforts to address pressures on housing, healthcare, and other public services caused by the country's rapid population growth. (Reuters)
• Saudi Arabia–United States relations
  • Saudi Arabia announces that it will invest US$600 billion in the United States economy. (Al Arabiya)
• Spirit Airlines announces a ban on passengers who wear "lewd" clothing or have "offensive" tattoos. (The Hill)

Disasters and accidents

• 2024–25 European windstorm season
  • Storm Éowyn
    • A wind gust provisionally measured at 183 km/h (114 mph) was recorded in Connemara in County Galway, Ireland, which would surpass the country's record of 182 km/h set in 1945. A mean wind speed of 135 km/h (84 mph) was also measured, which would surpass Ireland's sustained wind record also set in 1945. (The Irish Times)
    • A man is killed in County Donegal, Ireland, after high winds cause a tree to fall on his car. (BBC News)
• Environmental issues in Somalia
  • At least 140 dolphins are found stranded on the shores of Mareero Beach near Bosaso, Puntland, Somalia, with 60 confirmed dead and 30 returned to the sea. (Idil News) (Reuters) (Horn Observer)

International relations

• Mexico–United States border crisis
  • Mass deportation of illegal immigrants in the second presidency of Donald Trump
    • Mexico denies a request from the United States to allow a military aircraft deporting migrants from the U.S. to land in Mexico. (Reuters)
• The U.S. State Department freezes nearly all foreign aid except military aid to Israel and Egypt, as well as emergency food programs. (Global News)

Law and crime

• The Cabinet of Hun Manet approves a bill that strengthens penalties for Cambodian genocide denial, proposing prison terms of one to five years and fines of US$2,500 to $125,000. (AP)

Politics and elections

• 2025 Slovak protests
  • Over 60,000 people demonstrate across Slovakia in protest of Prime Minister Robert Fico's anti-Ukrainian, pro-Russian, and Eurosceptic policies. (AP)
• 2024–2025 Serbian anti-corruption protests
  • Mass protests and a general strike are held across Serbia, in an escalation of months of anti-government protests. (France24)
• Second cabinet of Donald Trump
  • Pete Hegseth is confirmed as U.S. Secretary of Defense in a 51–50 vote after Vice President JD Vance casts the tie-breaking vote, making him the first Vice President to cast a tiebreaker vote on a Cabinet nominee since Mike Pence did so in 2017 to confirm then-Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. (NBC News)

Disasters and accidents

• Four people are killed and five more injured in a stampede at Cambodian businessman Sok Kong's home in Phnom Penh. Kong was giving away food and money amid Lunar New Year celebrations. (AP)

Law and crime

• 2024 Southport stabbing
  • A court in Liverpool, England, sentences the man who was found guilty of killing three children and injuring 10 others in a mass stabbing in Southport, Merseyside, to life imprisonment with a minimum of 52 years in prison. (DW)
• LGBTQ rights in Thailand
  • Thailand becomes the 38th country and the first in Southeast Asia to legalize same-sex marriage. (Reuters)
• The International Criminal Court prosecutor requests arrest warrants against Afghanistan's Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and Taliban chief justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani, accusing them of crimes against humanity. (Reuters)
• United States federal law enforcement and ICE agents arrest nearly 500 undocumented migrants with arrest warrants in sanctuary cities, including in New Jersey and New York. (CTV News)

Politics and elections

• Second presidency of Donald Trump
  • Executive actions by Donald Trump
    • Declassification of Records Concerning the Assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
      • U.S. President Donald Trump signs an executive order to declassify files related to the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. (Axios)
  • U.S. District Judge for Washington John C. Coughenour temporarily blocks President Trump's executive order attempting to end birthright citizenship, calling it "blatantly unconstitutional". (Reuters) (The New York Times)
  • The U.S. Department of State bans consular posts from flying any flags other than the U.S. flag as part of the Trump administration targeting several instances during the Biden administration when LGBTQ pride and Black Lives Matter flags were flown at embassies abroad. (The Guardian)
• 2024 Irish general election, Government of the 34th Dáil
  • Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael form a coalition government with the backing of several independent TDs. Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin is elected as Taoiseach, with Fine Gael leader Simon Harris as Tánaiste. (Politico)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Moro conflict
  • Militants from an offshoot branch of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front open fire against a United Nations livelihood project in Sumisip, Basilan, Philippines, killing two soldiers and wounding 12 others. (AP)
• Red Sea crisis
  • The Houthis report that 25 crew members of the Japanese-operated roll-on/roll-off ship Galaxy Leader, including many foreign nationals, are released to Oman, with the Houthis citing support for the 2025 Israel–Hamas war ceasefire as the reason for release. (BBC)

Business and economy

• Constitutional crisis in Somalia, Transport in Somalia
  • The Somali Airlines Operators Association, representing at least 20 airlines, suspends all flights beginning on January 22, 2025, in protest against increased government-imposed fees after disputes with the Ministry of Aviation and the Somali Civil Aviation Authority. (Shabelle Media) (Hiiraan Online)
• The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace of the United States issues a report alleging that aerospace manufacturer Boeing, long associated with the Seattle, Washington area, has been relocating much of its engineering work to non-unionized sites both in the US and abroad. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

• 2025 California wildfires
  • January 2025 Southern California wildfires
    • Hughes Fire
      • The Hughes Fire ignites and spreads to over 5,000 acres in less than four hours, triggering mandatory evacuation orders in settlements around Castaic Lake in Los Angeles County, California, United States. (Los Angeles Times) (KTLA)
• 2025 Jalgaon train accident
  • At least thirteen people are killed in a railway accident in Jalgaon, Maharashtra, India. The victims had initially fled from their train following an alleged fire alarm and were subsequently struck and killed by a passing train on the adjacent tracks. (BBC)
• January 20–22, 2025 Gulf Coast blizzard
  • The death toll of a historic winter storm event on the Gulf Coast of the United States rises to 9 people. 8 in (20 cm) of snowfall is measured at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport in Louisiana. The statewide snowfall record in Florida is broken as over 5.5 in (14 cm) falls in Molino. (CNN)

International relations

• Red Sea crisis, Yemeni civil war
  • U.S. President Donald Trump re-designates the Yemeni Houthi movement as a foreign terrorist organization. (The Hill)

Law and crime

• Aftermath of the January 6 United States Capitol attack
  • Pardon of January 6 United States Capitol attack defendants
    • Daniel Ball, a rioter who took part in the riot at the United States Capitol, is arrested again despite being pardoned by Trump, making him the first rioter to get into additional legal trouble after the pardon. (The Hill)
• Antioch High School shooting
  • A student is killed and two others are wounded in a school shooting at Antioch High School in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. The perpetrator kills himself. (CNN)
• Illegal immigration in the United States, Murder of Laken Riley
  • The U.S. Congress passes the Laken Riley Act following a 263–156 vote in the House of Representatives, making it easier for immigration agents to detain and deport those without legal status who are charged with a variety of crimes ranging from theft to assault. It will head to President Donald Trump for his signature. (NPR)
• Hunt family murders
  • Kyle Clifford, the perpetrator of the Hunt family killings in Bushey, England, in 2024, pleads guilty to three counts of murder. (BBC News)
• Two people are killed, including a two-year-old boy, and three others are injured in a mass stabbing at a park in Aschaffenburg, Bavaria, Germany. The perpetrator is arrested. (Reuters)
• One person is killed and two others are injured in a mass stabbing at Nagano Station in Nagano, Japan. (AP)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Colombian conflict
  • Catatumbo campaign
    • 2025 Catatumbo attacks
      • Fourteen members of the 33rd Front of FARC dissidents, including one minor, surrender to personnel from the National Army of Colombia to avoid combat with the ELN. (Blu Radio)
      • The Office of the Inspector General of Colombia warns that about 46,000 schoolchildren have not been able to start the academic year due to the ongoing conflict in the region and asserted that about 35% of the affected displaced population are individuals under the age of 18. (El Espectador)
• Israeli incursions in the West Bank
  • 2025 Israeli raid on Jenin
    • Israeli forces launch a large-scale raid in the Jenin refugee camp, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, killing at least ten people and injuring more than 35 others. (Al Jazeera)
• Kivu conflict
  • M23 offensive
    • M23 rebels seize the town of Minova in Kalehe Territory, Democratic Republic of the Congo, cutting off a major supply route to the strategic city of Goma. (Reuters)
• Mexican drug war
  • Former regional prosecutor of Cuautitlán Elohim Díaz Jiménez and coffee businessman Cristian Muñoz are shot dead inside a restaurant in Metepec, State of Mexico, by gunmen disguised as food delivery workers. (El Universal)
• Syrian civil war
  • Six people are killed in Homs Governorate, Syria, as security forces conduct an operation against militias supporting ousted president Bashar al-Assad. (Al Arabiya)
• Four people are injured, one seriously, in a stabbing attack in Tel Aviv, Israel. The Shin Bet confirm that the attacker was a 28-year-old from Morocco, and had permanent residency in the United States. (BBC) (The Times of Israel) (Xinhua)

Business and economy

• Infrastructure policy of Donald Trump
  • The Stargate Project
    • U.S. President Donald Trump unveils a joint venture between OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank, called Stargate. With planned funding of up to $500 billion in the next four years, the project aims to build data centers and computing infrastructure across the United States to power AI development and create over 100,000 jobs. (The Guardian)
  • President Trump announces a pause in $300 billion of funding for green infrastructure previously allocated in the Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. (Financial Times)

Disasters and accidents

• 2025 California wildfires
  • January 2025 Southern California wildfires
    • Multiple brush fires spread by hurricane-force winds erupt in San Diego County, California, U.S., prompting evacuation orders. (USA Today)
• 2024–2025 floods in Southeast Asia and South Asia
  • Sixteen people are killed in floods and landslides in Central Java Province, Indonesia. (ABC)
• 2025 Kartalkaya hotel fire
  • At least 76 people are killed and another 51 injured in a fire at the Grand Kartal hotel in Kartalkaya, Bolu Province, Turkey. (Reuters)
• Seventeen people are killed and 23 more injured after a collision between a bus and a truck in Ponan-Ouinlo, Ivory Coast. (AP)
• Much of Canada and the contiguous United States are impacted by a cold wave, killing one person near Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Historic snowfall is expected in the US South, and historic blizzard and whiteout conditions are expected on the Gulf Coast. (CNN)
• One person is killed and another is injured in an explosion at the Port of Barcelona in Barcelona, Spain. (Reuters)
• Twenty Ethiopian migrants are killed when their boat capsizes off Yemen after departing from Djibouti, according to the International Organization for Migration. (Al Arabiya)

International relations

• Afghanistan–United States relations
  • Two Americans held in Afghanistan are freed in exchange for a Taliban fighter in the United States. The deal is brokered by Qatar and finalized during the final hours of the outgoing Biden administration. (DW)

Law and crime

• U.S. President Donald Trump pardons Ross Ulbricht, the creator of the Silk Road. Ulbricht was serving a life sentence for charges including conspiracy to commit money laundering, hacking, and drug trafficking. (Axios)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Colombian conflict
  • Catatumbo campaign
    • 2025 Catatumbo attacks
      • Colombian president Gustavo Petro declares a state of emergency in response to rebel attacks in the Catatumbo region. (MSN)
      • The death toll from fighting in the Catatumbo region, Colombia, increases to more than 100 as the National Liberation Army (ELN) launches more attacks. The Colombian government vows "war" against the ELN with Colombian president Gustavo Petro saying that the group has "chosen the path of war, and a war they will have". (The Guardian)
      • More than 11,000 people flee to the city of Cúcuta as ELN rebels clash with the 33rd Front of the FARC dissidents. Authorities say more than 20,000 people have now been internally displaced due to recent fighting. (France 24)
• Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • Attacks in Russia during the Russian invasion of Ukraine
    • Ukrainian drones attack industrial facilities in Tatarstan, Russia, prompting the Russian Federal Air Transport Agency to temporarily suspend flights at Kazan International Airport in Kazan and Begishevo Airport in Nizhnekamsk. (ABC News)
• Israel–Hamas war
  • An IDF reservist is killed and four others are injured, including a senior officer in critical condition, after their MDT David light armored vehicle hits a roadside bomb during a patrol in Tammun in the West Bank. (Times of Israel)
  • The Palestinian Civil Defence (PCD) states that the remains of 137 people have been recovered from Rafah in the Gaza Strip since the start of the ceasefire. The PCD estimates that there are 10,000 bodies buried under rubble left to be recovered. (Al Jazeera)

Business and economy

• Kingdom Holding announces the resumption of construction on the 1,000 metres (3,300 ft)-tall Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia, which is expected to be the world's tallest building. (Al Arabiya)

Law and crime

• January 6 United States Capitol attack
  • Pardon of January 6 United States Capitol attack defendants
    • United States President Donald Trump formally pardons around 1,500 defendants who had been criminally charged with involvement in the January 6 United States Capitol attack. Fourteen convicted individuals have their sentences commuted to time served. (NBC News)
• 2024 Kolkata rape and murder
  • A court in Kolkata, India, sentences a 33-year-old police volunteer to life in prison for raping and murdering a medical trainee in August 2024. (DW)
• 2024 Southport stabbing
  • Axel Rudakubana pleads guilty to all 16 charges, including three charges of murder in relation to a mass stabbing in Southport, Merseyside, England, in July 2024. Rudakubana is expected to be sentenced on Thursday. (ITV News)
• Capital punishment in China
  • China executes the perpetrators of the 2024 Zhuhai car attack and the 2024 Wuxi stabbing attack. (Al Jazeera)
• China–Philippines relations
  • Philippine police arrest a student of the People's Liberation Army for allegedly attempting to spy on several military facilities, including U.S.-accessible bases under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement. (Reuters)
• Presidency of Joe Biden
  • Outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden issues pre-emptive pardons for his siblings, former Chief Medical Advisor Anthony Fauci, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley and members of the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack prior to President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration. Biden also commutes the sentence of Indigenous activist and convicted murderer Leonard Peltier. (BBC News) (HuffPost)
• Eight people are killed and seven others are injured in an arson attack at a nursing home in Barajevo, Belgrade, Serbia. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

• Second presidency of Donald Trump
  • Second inauguration of Donald Trump
    • Donald Trump and JD Vance are inaugurated as the 47th president and 50th vice president of the United States in Washington, D.C., with Trump becoming the first president since Grover Cleveland to serve non-consecutive terms. (AP)
    • The inauguration is held indoors in the United States Capitol rotunda due to extreme cold temperatures, making it the first inauguration since 1985 to be held indoors. (Today.com)
    • During celebrations of the inauguration, businessman Elon Musk makes two gestures to a crowd at the Capital One Arena that some on social media liken to Nazi salutes. The gestures were made as Musk thanked the crowd, stating "My heart goes out to you." Musk denied any meaning behind the gestures. (BBC News) (The Independent) (AJ)
  • Executive orders in the second presidency of Donald Trump
    • On his first day of his second term, Trump signs his first executive orders on gender and immigration, and also signs an order ending usage of the CBP One app. (Boston Globe)
    • Trump signs the Putting America First In International Environmental Agreements executive order directing the U.S. to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. (AP)
    • Trump signs an executive order directing the U.S. to withdraw from the World Health Organization. (Reuters)
    • Trump signs executive orders calling for the renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the "Gulf of America" and for Denali to return to its former name "Mount McKinley". The rename would apply to all references from the federal government. (CBS News)
    • Trump declares illegal immigration a national emergency under the National Emergencies Act. (Reuters)
    • Trump officially creates the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by Elon Musk aimed at cutting spending of the U.S. government. DOGE is a temporary organization under the United States DOGE Service, not a federal executive department. Within minutes of the announcement, government employee unions, watchdog groups, and public interest organizations sued over this executive order. (Reuters)
    • Trump signs an executive order to delay enforcement of the law banning TikTok in the United States for 75 days. (CNN)
    • Trump revokes Biden's removal of Cuba from the state sponsors of terrorism list. (Reuters)
  • Protests against Donald Trump
    • Anti-Trump protests are held in cities across the United States, as well as in other countries, such as Mexico, Panama, and the United Kingdom. (The Guardian)
  • Second cabinet of Donald Trump
    • The United States Senate unanimously confirms Marco Rubio as Secretary of State, making him the first Cabinet official of Trump's second term to be confirmed by the Senate. Rubio also becomes the first Latino American to serve as Secretary of State. (The Hill)

Sports

• 2025 College Football Playoff National Championship
  • In American football, the Ohio State Buckeyes win their 9th college football championship, defeating the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. (Fox Sports)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Colombian conflict
  • Catatumbo campaign
    • 2025 Catatumbo attacks
      • The National Liberation Army (ELN) and FARC dissidents exchange heavy fire across the Catatumbo region, Colombia, killing at least 80 people and injuring hundreds of others, with an unknown number of people also reportedly being kidnapped, after the ELN accused the FARC dissidents of killing civilians in the area. Thousands of people have fled their homes due to the fighting. The Colombian Army says that it has rescued dozens of people, while the government calls on the ELN to cease their attacks immediately. (CBS News)
• Israel–Hamas war
  • Israel–Hamas war hostage crisis
    • The Gaza ceasefire agreement formally goes into effect, with the first hostages and prisoners freed as part of the deal. (CNN)
  • Israel announces that its troops have recovered the body of staff sergeant Oron Shaul, who was captured and killed by Hamas in 2014. (The Times of Israel)

Disasters and accidents

• The Washington Post reports that there is an "emerging consensus" among U.S. and European intelligence officials that maritime accidents, rather than Russian sabotage, was the cause of damage to Baltic seabed energy and communications lines. (Washington Post)
• 2025 California wildfires
  • January 2025 Southern California wildfires
    • Cal Fire reports that the Palisades Fire is more than 50% contained, while the Eaton Fire is more than 80% contained. (Forbes)

Law and crime

• 2024 South Korean martial law crisis
  • Arrest of Yoon Suk Yeol
    • Yoon Suk Yeol becomes the first sitting president of South Korea to be formally arrested, following his declaration of martial law in December. (Yonhap)
    • Following Yoon's arrest, pro-Yoon protesters raid the Seoul Western District Court, resulting in 41 injuries and property damage. (Yonhap)
• Capital punishment in Iran, Islam and blasphemy
  • An Iranian court sentences singer Amir Tataloo to death on appeal after Tataloo was convicted of insulting the prophet Muhammad. (Al Arabiya)

Politics and elections

• Israel–Hamas war
  • Three ministers of the Government of Israel belonging to the Otzma Yehudit party resign in protest of the approved Gaza ceasefire agreement. (The Times of Israel)

Science and technology

• Restrictions on TikTok in the United States
  • Social media platform TikTok temporarily suspends most of its services in the United States as the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act goes into effect. TikTok restores these services, but its app remains unavailable in U.S. markets on the App Store and Google Play. (People) (AP)