Portal:Current events

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Israeli invasion of Lebanon
  • 2024 Israel–Lebanon ceasefire agreement
    • Two people are killed and ten others are injured during Israeli airstrikes in the Beqaa Valley, Lebanon. (Al Jazeera)
• Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • Odesa strikes
    • Russian forces launch ballistic missiles at the centre of Odesa and its port, severely damaging numerous civilian buildings, including the historic Bristol Hotel. At least two people are reportedly injured. (Reuters)

Business and economy

• 2025 Balkan retail boycotts
  • Following boycotts in Croatia on January 24, and in conjunction with a follow-up boycott in the country, residents of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, and North Macedonia start a boycott of retail stores in response to rising prices. (Intellinews)
• Multinational telecoms company BT Group announces that it will layoff 55,000 employees across its global workforce citing a significant drop in revenue in 2024 and "challenges in international markets". (Business Plus)

Disasters and accidents

• 2025 Philadelphia Learjet crash
  • A Learjet 55 air ambulance crashes in Northeast Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, after departing from Northeast Philadelphia Airport, killing all six people onboard and damaging multiple homes and businesses. (WPVI-TV)

International relations

• 2025 Philippine espionage case, Territorial disputes in the South China Sea
  • Philippine President Bongbong Marcos states that he is careful of possible surveillance of the country's air and naval bases as well as the movement of vessels supplying Philippine garrisons in the South China Sea following a series of arrests of suspected Chinese spies in the Philippines. (CNA)

Law and crime

• Five people are killed and two more injured in Aghjabadi, Azerbaijan, after a child discovered a grenade and brought it home. (Xinhua)
• Myanmar's ruling military junta extends the country's state of emergency for another six months. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

• 2025 Greek presidential election
  • The Hellenic Parliament fails to elect the new President of Greece in the second round, calling for a third round of voting on February 6. (Greek City Times)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Kivu conflict
  • M23 offensive
    • 2025 Goma offensive
      • Rwandan-backed M23 rebels say they will march on the DRC capital Kinshasa and install a new government as Congolese president Félix Tshisekedi calls for a mobilization of young males to reclaim lost territory. Congolese Defence Minister Guy Kabombo Muadiamvita says there will be no peace talks with the rebels. (AP)
      • After establishing a new administration in Goma, Congo River Alliance leader Corneille Nangaa confirms his forces now plan on overthrowing president Félix Tshisekedi. He also says services in the city will return to normal soon as the United Nations warns of a humanitarian crisis. (BBC News)
    • M23 forces advance into South Kivu, capturing several towns and villages, including Kalungu in Kalehe Territory. (MSN)
• Somali Civil War
  • Puntland–Somaliland dispute
    • Spillover of Las Anod conflict
      • SSC Khaatumo has claimed victory over Somaliland forces after heavy fighting erupted and undisclosed casualties early Thursday in the Shangeed area, located between Qoorlugud and Buuhoodle of Cayn region. Somalia. (Hiiraan Online)
• Gaza war
  • 2025 Gaza war ceasefire, Gaza war hostage crisis
    • Hamas free eight hostages, three Israelis and five Thai nationals. (The Times of Israel)
    • Israel says it will delay the release of Palestinian prisoners until the safety of future releases can be guaranteed in protest of the chaotic scenes at the handover of several hostages in Khan Yunis, Gaza, earlier today. (The Times of Israel)
  • Hamas confirms that Israel killed Mohammed Deif along with Marwan Issa, Raed Thabet, Rafa Salama, Ayman Nofal and Ghazi Abu Tamaa. (Al Arabiya)
• 2023 Quran burnings in Sweden, Islam and blasphemy
  • Murder of Salwan Momika
    • Islam critic and Quran burner Salwan Momika is assassinated at his apartment in Södertälje, Sweden. (BBC News)
• Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • Attacks on civilians in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
    • A Russian drone strikes a multi-storey apartment building in Sumy, Ukraine, killing nine people and injuring 13 others. (Reuters)
• Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
  • A shootout between the Pakistan Army and Pakistani Taliban in North Waziristan District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, leaves two soldiers and six militants dead. (AP)
• French military withdrawal from West Africa
  • The French Armed Forces returns their last military base in Chad to the Chad National Army, bringing an end to French military presence in the country. (AP)

Disasters and accidents

• 2025 Potomac River mid-air collision
  • The District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department says no survivors are expected after the midair collision between an American Airlines airliner and a military helicopter last night over Washington, D.C., United States, making it the deadliest aviation disaster in the U.S. since American Airlines Flight 587 in 2001. (CNN)

Health and environment

• Uganda confirms an outbreak of Ebola, with the first death, a nurse at Mulago National Specialised Hospital in Kampala, being confirmed yesterday. (Reuters)
• The United States Federal Drug Administration approves Vertex Pharmaceuticals' new Journavx drug, a non-opioid analgesic used to treat acute pain and potentially eliminate the risks of opioid addiction and overdose. (AP) (FDA)

Politics and elections

• Following weeks of unsuccessful negotiations, the Centre Party withdraws from the Norwegian government over disagreements over the implementation of three directives in the European Union's fourth energy package, with the Labour Party continuing as a single party minority government. (NRK)
• Thousands of people gather in Berlin, Germany, to protest against Chancellor-candidate Friedrich Merz and the Christian Democratic Union and Christian Social Union parties after they collaborated with the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party on a non-binding motion to restrict immigration. Members of the Bundestag debate on motions to ban the AfD, alleging that its beliefs and legal practices are unconstitutional. (DW) (Anadolu Ajansi)
• The Nicaraguan National Assembly votes unanimously to pass several constitutional reforms that grants the government influence over the media, extend the presidential term to 6 years, and makes President Daniel Ortega's wife Rosario Murillo co-President. (Al Jazeera)

Science and technology

• Apollo-type asteroid 2024 YR4 triggers global planetary defence procedures for the first time and rises to the top of the Palermo Technical Impact Hazard Scale after recent observations confirmed it has a 1-in-77 (1.3%) chance of impacting Earth on 22 December 2032. Follow up observations in 2028 will provide a more refined estimation of the likelihood of impact in 2032. (The Guardian)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Kivu conflict
  • M23 offensive
    • 2025 Goma offensive
      • M23 rebels solidify control of Goma and are confirmed to be holding captured Congolese troops and allied Wazalendo militiamen at the Stade de l'Unité. They also begin advancing on Bukavu, capital of the South Kivu Province, according to senior Congolese officials and a Rwandan diplomat. (Al Jazeera) (Reuters)
      • In an emergency address to the nation, Congolese president Félix Tshisekedi calls for calm and says "a vigorous and coordinated response against these terrorists and their sponsors is underway" by the armed forces, and also cancels participation in a regional summit with Rwandan president Paul Kagame. (Foreign Policy) (Le Monde)
    • Around 280 Romanian mercenaries fighting alongside the Congolese military in North Kivu surrender to the M23, according to the Rwandan military. They are now being transported to Kigali after being handed over to Rwandan authorities. (BBC News)
• War against the Islamic State
  • War in Somalia
    • Islamic State insurgency in Puntland
      • Puntland authorities deport around a thousand undocumented Ethiopians from the cities of Bosaso, Galkayo, Qardho, and the state’s capital, Garoowe, as part of an ongoing crackdown on foreigners without legal status, following the discovery of foreign fighters acting as Islamic State recruiters in the Cal Miskaad mountains of the Bari Region. (Hiiraan Online) (Idil News) (Horseed Media)
• Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • Battle of Chasiv Yar
    • Russian forces have captured the city of Chasiv Yar in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, after a year of intense fighting for control of the front line city. (The Moscow Times)
• Gaza war
  • 2025 Gaza war ceasefire
    • U.S. Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff visits the Gaza Strip and meets with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu to assure that the ceasefire remains intact. (NPR)

Business and economy

• Expansion of Heathrow Airport
  • UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves approves the construction of a third runway at Greater London's Heathrow Airport after decades of delays. (Sky News)

Disasters and accidents

• 2025 Val-Cenis avalanche accident
  • Five people, four from Norway and one from Switzerland, are killed in two separate avalanches while off-piste skiing in the French Alps. (BBC)
• 2025 Prayag Kumbh Mela
  • 2025 Prayag Maha Kumbh Mela crowd crush
    • At least 30 people are killed in a crowd crush at a Hindu festival in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, India. (BBC)
• 2025 Light Air Services Beechcraft 1900 crash
  • A Beechcraft 1900D carrying employees of an oil company crashes in Unity, South Sudan, killing 20 of the 21 people onboard, including one Indian and two Chinese nationals. (CNN) (Reuters)
• 2025 Potomac River mid-air collision
  • A PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ-700 operating as American Eagle Flight 5342 collides with a U.S. Army Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk over the Potomac River near Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., United States, killing at least 28 people between both aircraft and causing a shutdown of flights in and out of the airport. (WUSA-9) (NBC NEWS)
• A Venezuelan Ministry of Interior, Justice and Peace Cessna Citation II aircraft crashes shortly after takeoff from Generalissimo Francisco de Miranda Air Base in Caracas, Venezuela, killing all three people on board. (Caraota Digital)

International relations

• Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger formally withdraw from the ECOWAS regional bloc. (BBC)

Law and crime

• First 100 days of the second Donald Trump presidency
  • U.S. President Donald Trump signs the Laken Riley Act into law, the first legislation of Trump's second term. (NBC News)
  • President Trump announces plans to transform the United States detention facility in Cuba's Guantánamo Bay into a holding center for undocumented immigrants, capable of hosting 30,000 people. (Al Jazeera)
• Police in Stuttgart, Germany, arrest 59 French fans of the Paris Saint-Germain football club for hooliganism before a match against German club VfB Stuttgart. (DW)
• Former U.S. Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey is sentenced to 11 years in prison, following his conviction on bribery and corruption charges. (BBC)

Politics and elections

• Second presidency of Donald Trump
  • 2025 United States federal government grant pause
    • The United States Office of Management and Budget rescinds a memo from Monday that would have paused federal financial assistance programs implicated by select executive orders of President Donald Trump, following a temporary block of the order on Tuesday by a federal judge. Following the rescission, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt states that the Trump administration will continue to pursue a freeze of federal funds. (BBC)
• Syrian civil war
  • Ahmed al-Sharaa is declared the president of Syria during the transition period, a month after Bashar al-Assad was ousted by rebel forces. (Reuters)

Sports

• 2025 in sumo
  • Mongolian sumōtori Hōshōryū Tomokatsu becomes the 74th yokozuna. (NHK)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Israeli invasion of Syria (2024–present)
  • Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announces that Israel Defense Forces will remain on the Syrian side of Mount Hermon indefinitely, apparently backtracking on repeated assurances from Israel that the move was temporary. (Times of Israel)(Middle East Eye)
• War against the Islamic State
  • War in Somalia
    • Islamic State insurgency in Puntland
      • Puntland authorities ban illegal foreign entries and direct telecom firms to deactivate SIM cards linked to undocumented individuals and Islamic State operatives, aiming to disrupt the group's financial networks amidst ongoing anti-IS offensives by Puntland forces. (VOA) (Garowe) (IOM)
      • Puntland's highest military court sentences two influencers to prison terms in absentia for promoting Islamic State propaganda and spreading disinformation intended at discrediting Puntland forces' ongoing operations. (Hiiraan Online) (Idil News)
      • At least four civilians are killed in an airstrike by an unknown combat drone in the Sihan area of Qandala district in Puntland's Bari region. (Garowe Online) (Hiiraan Online)
• Kivu conflict
  • M23 offensive
    • Battle of Goma
      • M23 rebels take full control of Goma International Airport, according to senior diplomatic and Congolese security officials. (Reuters)
      • Four more South African peacekeepers are killed after M23 forces launch a mortar attack on their position at Goma Airport, bringing the total number of foreign peacekeepers killed in recent clashes to 17. (Anadolu Ajansi)
      • Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe says Congolese president Félix Tshisekedi "will have to accept talks with M23 to end the situation once and for all". (The Hill)
    • 2025 Kinshasa riots
      • Mass rioting takes place in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, amid public outrage over the loss of Goma to Rwandan-backed rebels. Multiple embassies are stormed and attacked by anti-government protesters, including the embassies of France, Rwanda and Uganda. Widespread looting is also reported in the capital. (Reuters)
• Gaza war
  • Gaza humanitarian crisis
    • Israel announces it will cease all contact with the United Nations relief agency for Palestinians, UNRWA, after a ban on the organization's work on Israeli territory goes into effect on January 30. (DW)
• Insurgency in Balochistan
  • Two Pakistan Army soldiers and five insurgents are killed in a shootout in Killa Abdullah District, Balochistan, Pakistan. (AP)

Business and economy

• German economic crisis
  • Verdi, Germany's second-largest trade union, calls for a one-day labor strike for workers at logistics and courier company DHL, which also manages Deutsche Post. (DW)

Disasters and accidents

• Air Busan Flight 391
  • Seven people are injured when an Air Busan Airbus A321-200 aircraft catches fire before taking off from Gimhae International Airport in Busan, South Korea. All 169 people on board are evacuated from the aircraft. (Korea Herald)
• A United States Air Force F-35 pilot ejects during a crash at Eielson Air Force Base in Fairbanks, Alaska, United States. The aircraft is destroyed. (CBS News)

Law and crime

• 2025 Drents Museum heist
  • Following the heist of multiple Dacian artifacts last Saturday at the Drents Museum in Assen, Netherlands, Romanian Minister of Culture Lucian Romașcanu fires the director of the National History Museum of Romania in Bucharest. (NOS)
• Censorship in Pakistan
  • The Senate of Pakistan passes a bill to criminalize the spread of disinformation in Pakistan, with the possibility of up to 3 years imprisonment and fines of up to Rs. 2 million (US$7,121). (DW)
• Kyoto Animation arson attack
  • The Kyoto District Court finalizes the death sentence for Shinji Aoba, the perpetrator of the arson attack on a Kyoto Animation studio in 2019, after he withdraws his appeal to the court's ruling. (The Japan Times)
• Three people, including the perpetrator, are killed and two police officers are injured in a mass shooting at a Martin's Supermarket in Elkhart, Indiana, United States. (AP News)

Politics and elections

• 2024–2025 Serbian anti-corruption protests
  • Serbian prime minister Miloš Vučević resigns following protests prompted by the Novi Sad railway station canopy collapse. (BBC)
• 2025 Ontario general election
  • Ontario Premier Doug Ford announces that a new general election in the Canadian province of Ontario will be held on February 27, 2025. (Reuters)
• Second presidency of Donald Trump
  • United States federal judge Loren AliKhan temporarily blocks President Donald Trump's executive order to pause funding for federal assistance in the country. (DW) (AP)
  • The United States Office of Personnel Management offers a "deferred resignation" scheme to the 2 million federal government employees to announce their resignation by February 6, while stating that employees who resigned would still receive salary and benefits until September 30, 2025. (OPM)(OPM FAQ)(Reuters)(FNN)

Science and technology

• Doomsday Clock
  • The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists announces that the Doomsday Clock has been moved up to 89 seconds before midnight. (Reuters)
• 2025 in aviation
  • Boom Technology's XB-1 trijet supersonic demonstrator becomes the first privately-funded jet-powered plane to break the sound barrier at Mojave Air and Space Port. (Reuters)
• Google confirms that it will rename the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America on Google Maps for US users in line with the official position of the Trump administration. (The Guardian)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Colombian conflict
  • Catatumbo campaign
    • 2025 Catatumbo clashes
      • Local authorities of Teorama, Norte de Santander, Colombia, find the bodies of thirteen FARC combatants. (El Espectador)
• Kivu conflict, Democratic Republic of the Congo–Rwanda tensions
  • M23 offensive
    • Battle of Goma
      • M23 rebels claim to have captured the city of Goma in North Kivu Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The government says its troops still hold the Goma International Airport and other key locations, and that Rwandan army soldiers are present in Goma. Congolese and Rwandan forces exchange fire along the border. (Al Jazeera) (BBC) (DW)

Business and economy

• A global technology stocks selloff on the Nasdaq Stock Market, prompted by the release of the Chinese DeepSeek-R1 model, leads to record losses in the market capitalizations of AI and computer hardware companies. (Reuters)

International relations

• China–India relations
  • Following the meeting between Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing, China and India agree to resume direct air travel between the two countries after a five-year hiatus. (CNA).

Law and crime

• Interpol Terrorism Watch List
  • A joint INTERPOL and AFRIPOL operation including eight East African nations leads to the arrest of 37 people and the seizure of small and heavy weapons in Kenya, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia and Tanzania. (INTERPOL)

Politics and elections

• Second presidency of Donald Trump
  • Second cabinet of Donald Trump
    • The United States Senate votes to confirm Scott Bessent as U.S. Treasury Secretary, making him the highest rank LGBTQ official to run the U.S. Treasury and the highest-ranking LGBTQ person in the United States. (TIME)
  • United States Office of Management and Budget acting director Matthew Vaeth orders federal government agencies to temporarily pause all federal financial assistance programs, with the exception of Medicare and Social Security, that could be implicated by select executive orders from President Donald Trump. (Politico)
  • President Trump signs an executive order eliminating "gender radicalism in the military", targeting transgender personnel in the military, and another executive order that mandates a process to develop an American Iron Dome. (France 24)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Israeli invasion of Lebanon
  • 2024 Israel–Lebanon ceasefire agreement
    • January 2025 southern Lebanon attack
      • Israeli soldiers open fire against the Lebanese Army and civilians in two villages in southern Lebanon, killing 22 people and wounding at least 124 more. (Al Jazeera) (The Times of Israel)
    • The United States announces that the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon will be extended to February 18. (Axios)
• Kivu conflict
  • M23 offensive
    • Battle of Goma
      • March 23 Movement rebels begin their advance into the city of Goma. (Al Jazeera)
• Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • Velyka Novosilka offensive
    • The Russian Ministry of Defence claims that Russian forces have captured the village of Velyka Novosilka, Donetsk Oblast. (Mathrubhumi)
• Boko Haram insurgency
  • At least 27 Nigerian soldiers, including the commanding officer of the 149th Battalion, are killed and dozens of others wounded in a suicide bombing carried out by an Islamic State fighter in Malam-Fatori, Borno State, Nigeria. (Al Jazeera) (AFP via Inquirer)

Business and economy

• The Syrian newspaper Enab Baladi announces it will return to Syria after a decade in exile following the beginning of the Syrian civil war. (The New Arab)

International relations

• Colombia–United States relations, Mass deportation of immigrants in the second presidency of Donald Trump
  • Colombian President Gustavo Petro blocks two U.S. military aircrafts carrying deported Colombians as part of U.S. President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown from landing in his country. (The Guardian)
  • In response to President Gustavo Petro's refusal, U.S. President Donald Trump enacts a 25% tariff on all goods traded to the U.S. from Colombia, which will be raised to 50% in one week. Hours after Trump's announcement, President Petro orders the commerce ministry to raise tariffs on U.S. imports by 25%. (CNN)
  • The dispute is settled with an agreement to use the Colombian presidential plane to fly the deportees from the U.S. to Colombia. (AP) (The Hill)
• Belarus–United States relations
  • U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announces the release of American citizen Anastasia Nufer from a prison in Belarus. (RFE/RL)
• Democratic Republic of the Congo–Rwanda tensions
  • United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urges Rwanda to end its support for rebels in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and withdraw Rwandan soldiers from Congolese territory. (Al Jazeera)
  • Congolese Foreign Minister Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner calls Rwanda's military support for M23 rebels a "declaration of war". (DW)

Law and crime

• 2024 South Korean martial law crisis
  • South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is formally indicted on insurrection charges over his declaration of martial law in December 2024. (The Washington Post)
• Two people, including the perpetrator, are killed and six others are injured in a vehicle-ramming attack in Tampa, Florida, United States. (NPR)

Politics and elections

• 2025 Belarusian presidential election
  • A vote is held in Belarus for president, with President Alexander Lukashenko expected to extend his rule in an election that the Belarusian opposition, the United States, and the European Parliament have called a sham election. (Al Jazeera)
  • A protest in Warsaw, Poland, is organized by Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya after Lukashenko's rule was extended to a 7th term. (Balkan Insight)

Sports

• 2025 ATP Tour
  • 2025 Australian Open
    • In tennis, Jannik Sinner defeats Alexander Zverev 6–3, 7–6 (7–4), 6–3, in the men's singles final to win his second Australian Open title and his third Grand Slam overall. (The Guardian) (ATP News)
• 2025 IMSA SportsCar Championship
  • 2025 24 Hours of Daytona
    • In motor racing, the Porsche Penske Motorsport team wins the 63rd 24 Hours of Daytona endurance race with drivers Felipe Nasr, Nick Tandy, and Laurens Vanthoor. (The Daytona Beach News-Journal)
• 2024–25 NFL playoffs
  • In American football, the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs win their respective conference championship games to reach Super Bowl LIX, a rematch of two years prior. (Fox Sports)
• In association football, Chelsea F.C. Women sign American defender Naomi Girma from San Diego Wave for a world-record fee of US$1.1 million (£881,540), making her the most expensive woman player and the first million-dollar transfer in women's soccer. (CBS Sports)