Portal:Current events

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Armed conflicts and attacks

• Operation Southern Spear, War on drugs
  • 2026 United States strikes in Venezuela
    • United States president Donald Trump orders airstrikes on Venezuela. Several explosions and low-flying aircraft are reported in Caracas and at least 40 people, including civilians and military personnel, are reportedly killed. A national state of emergency is declared following the strikes. (ABC News Australia) (The Times) (AP) (The New York Times) (CNN)
    • Footage shows United States Marine Corps Bell AH-1Z Vipers striking Fort Tiuna and Generalissimo Francisco de Miranda Air Base with Hellfire air-to-surface missiles during the operation. Fort Tiuna is later evacuated. (El Tiempo in Spanish) (The Aviationist)
    • Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife, first lady Cilia Flores, are captured by U.S. forces and flown out of the country. Venezuelan vice president Delcy Rodríguez confirms that both Maduro and his wife are missing. (CBS News) (BBC News)
    • U.S. attorney general Pam Bondi says Maduro has been indicted in New York on drug and weapons charges. The U.S. says that he is being held aboard the USS Iwo Jima and will be taken to New York. (BBC News) (AP)
• Russo-Ukrainian war
  • At least six people are killed and 42 others are injured in overnight Russian attacks on the Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Mykolaiv, and Sumy Oblasts of Ukraine. (The Kyiv Independent)
• War against the Islamic State
  • British and French aircraft carry out a joint strike on an underground facility alleged to be occupied by the Islamic State near Palmyra in central Syria. (The Guardian)
• North Korean missile tests
  • North Korea launches at least two ballistic missiles in the first launch of the year. Both missiles fell rougly ten minutes after being launched. (The Japan Times)

Law and crime

• 2025–2026 Iranian protests
  • Four more protesters are shot dead by security forces in Malekshahi County, Ilam province, Iran. (Hengaw) (Reuters)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

• Yemeni civil war
  • 2025 Southern Yemen offensive, Saudi-led intervention in the Yemeni civil war
    • The Saudi Arabia-led coalition in Yemen launches airstrikes in Hadhramaut Governorate, killing 20 Southern Transitional Council (STC) fighters and leaving more than 20 others injured. (AFP via Le Monde)
  • The STC announces a plan to hold an independence referendum for the State of South Arabia within two years. (Reuters)

Business and economy

• BYD Company, based in China, surpasses the United States-based Tesla, Inc., as the world's best-selling electric vehicle automaker after selling 2.26 million vehicles in 2025, overtaking Tesla's 1.64 million. (AP) (DW)

Disasters and accidents

• 2026 Guerrero earthquake
  • A M_w 6.5 earthquake strikes 14 km (8.7 mi) off the coast of San Marcos, Guerrero, Mexico, killing two people and injuring 12 others. (AFP via The New Zealand Herald) (Infobae in Spanish)
• Eleven people are killed and eleven others are injured after a bus and a truck collide head-on on a federal highway in Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. (Reuters) (G1)
• At least four people are trapped when a multi-story building collapses in Nairobi, Kenya. (AP)
• Dozens of people are missing and at least 102 others are rescued after a boat carrying over 200 migrants capsizes off the coast of North Bank Division in the Gambia. (AP)
• A private MD 369FF helicopter crashes in Pinal County, Arizona, United States, killing all four people onboard. (NBC News) (AP)

Health and environment

• Climate change in the United Kingdom
  • The United Kingdom records its hottest and sunniest year in 2025 with an average temperature of 10.09 °C (50.16 °F), surpassing the 2022 record of 10.03 °C (50.05 °F) and becoming the second year since 1884 in which the annual mean exceeded 10 °C (50 °F). (Business Day)

Law and crime

• 2022–2025 Pakistan political unrest, Terrorism in Pakistan
  • The Pakistani anti-terrorism court sentences eight journalists and online commentators, including Wajahat Saeed Khan, Adil Raja, and Shaheen Sehbai, to life imprisonment in absentia for terrorism-related offences tied to digital content supporting former prime minister Imran Khan during the unrest. (Reuters)
• 2025–2026 Iranian protests
  • A protester is shot dead by security forces in Harsin, Kermanshah province, Iran. (Hengaw)
• Arrest of Yoon Suk Yeol
  • A South Korean court issues a new six-month detention warrant for former president Yoon Suk Yeol after indicting him on additional charges linked to his declaration of martial law in 2024, citing the risk of evidence tampering. (Reuters)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

• Allied Democratic Forces insurgency
  • At least 15 people are killed in coordinated attacks by the Allied Democratic Forces on three villages in Lubero, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo. (Reuters)
• Israeli–Palestinian conflict
  • A Palestinian is killed and another is injured when Israeli forces open fire on stone-throwers near Al-Lubban ash-Sharqiya, Nablus, West Bank. (Reuters)
• Russo-Ukrainian war
  • One person is killed and another is injured in Russian drone strikes on Dniprovskyi District, Kherson, Ukraine. (RBC-Ukraine)

Business and economy

• Enlargement of the eurozone
  • Bulgaria and the euro
    • Bulgaria adopts the euro, replacing the lev, becoming the 21st member of the eurozone. (AFP via The Sun)
• AI boom, Economy of South Korea
  • South Korea records its highest annual export value of more than US700ドル billion in 2025 after semiconductor shipments reach a record 173ドル.4 billion driven by demand for artificial intelligence. (AFP via France 24)
• Legality of cryptocurrency by country or territory
  • Turkmenistan legalizes the mining and exchange of cryptocurrency as digital assets, but maintains that digital currency cannot be used as legal tender. (AP)

Disasters and accidents

• 2026 Crans-Montana bar fire
  • Forty people are killed and 119 others are injured in an explosion and fire suspected to be caused by pyrotechnics at a bar in Crans-Montana, Valais, Switzerland. (BBC News) (The Guardian)
• At least 17 people are killed and 11 others are injured in flash floods caused by heavy rains and snowfall across Afghanistan. (AP)
• Seven people are killed, 96 others are rescued and at least 97 are reported missing when a boat carrying hundreds of migrants capsizes in The Gambia. (Reuters)
• The Vondelkerk in Amsterdam, Netherlands, catches fire, collapsing the tower and leaving only the exterior walls standing. (NOS in Dutch)

Law and crime

• 2025–2026 Iranian protests
  • Five civilians are killed in clashes with security forces across Azna, Lorestan, and Lordegan, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Iran, during demonstrations over rising living costs. (AFP via The Express Tribune) (AFP via The Times of Israel)
• The Venezuelan government releases 88 political prisoners who were detained and jailed during protests against the results of the presidential election last year. (DW)

Politics and elections

• Demographics of China, Family planning policies of China
  • China imposes a 13 percent value-added tax on birth control drugs and devices as part of efforts to address a continuing decline in national birth rates. (Reuters)
• Guy Parmelin is sworn in as President of Switzerland, succeeding Karin Keller-Sutter. (Swiss Info)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

• War on drugs
  • United States strikes on alleged drug traffickers during Operation Southern Spear
    • Five people are killed while others escape after the United States conducts airstrikes on three alleged drug boats at an undisclosed location. (BBC News)
• Russo-Ukrainian war
  • Russian authorities report at least 24 people are killed, including a child, and dozens of others are injured in a Ukrainian drone attack on a hotel and a restaurant in Khorly  [uk] in Russian-occupied Kherson Oblast, Ukraine. (The Moscow Times)
• 2025 Cambodian–Thai border crisis
  • Thailand releases 18 prisoners as part of a ceasefire agreement with Cambodia. (AP)
• Syrian conflict
  • An Islamic State suicide bomber blows himself up near a checkpoint in Aleppo, Syria, after attempting to reach an Orthodox church, killing one security force member and wounding two more. (Al Jazeera)

Arts and culture

• Saudi Vision 2030
  • The Six Flags Qiddiya City amusement park officially opens to the public in Saudi Arabia, with the Falcons Flight attraction breaking records as the world's tallest, fastest, and longest roller coaster. (Zawya) (Arab News)

Business and economy

• 2025–2026 Iranian protests
  • Iran appoints Abdolnaser Hemmati as the new leader of the Central Bank following protests over the Iranian rial's value depreciating and the previous governor's resignation. (AP)

International relations

• Serbia–United States relations, United States and the Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • The United States issues a temporary license allowing Serbia's majority-Russian-owned Naftna Industrija Srbije to resume refinery operations until January 23 despite sanctions linked to the Russo-Ukrainian war. (AFP via Barron's)
• United States–Venezuela relations, Operation Southern Spear
  • The United States imposes sanctions on four Venezuelan companies in the oil industry and four oil tankers. (AP)

Law and crime

• 2025–2026 Iranian protests
  • A Basij officer is killed and 13 others are injured in clashes in Lordegan, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province, Iran, during demonstrations over rising living costs. (AP)
• 2025 deployment of federal forces in the United States
  • U.S. president Donald Trump announces the withdrawal of National Guard troops from Chicago, Los Angeles, and Portland after federal courts blocked or restricted the deployments. (AFP via France 24)
• Deportation in the second Trump administration
  • U.S. federal judge Trina Thompson of California blocks the Trump administration from ending temporary protected status for about 89,000 migrants from Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua, ruling that the terminations may be motivated by racial hostility. (Reuters)
• At least three informal miners are killed in a shooting in Pataz District, Department of La Libertad, Peru. Two people are arrested. (Reuters)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

• Gaza war
  • Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip, Gaza Strip famine, Gaza genocide
    • Israel announces the suspension of many international humanitarian organizations, including Doctors Without Borders, the International Rescue Committee, and divisions of Oxfam and Caritas, from operating in Gaza starting January 1 for allegedly failing to pass new rules to vet the organizations and cooperating with Hamas and other militant groups. (AP)
• Yemeni civil war
  • 2025 Southern Yemen offensive, Saudi-led intervention in the Yemeni civil war, Saudi Arabia–United Arab Emirates relations
    • The Royal Saudi Air Force strikes the port of Mukalla, Yemen, targeting a ship with weapons delivered from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to the Southern Transitional Council. (AP)
  • Yemen ends its defense pact with the UAE, with its leader Rashad al-Alimi ordering all Emirati forces to depart within 24 hours. He also declares a 90-day national state of emergency and a three-day blockade of the country's southern and eastern regions. The UAE later announces that its remaining forces in Yemen will leave the country. (Reuters) (Morocco World News)
• Somali Civil War
  • 2025 Shabelle offensive
    • 29 al-Shabaab militants are killed by the Somali Armed Forces in Jabad Godane, Middle Shabelle, Somalia. (Reuters)

Business and economy

• Economy of Hungary
  • Moody's downgrades the credit rating of the city of Budapest, Hungary, to Ba1 and places it on review for a further cut, citing weak liquidity, uncertainty over state transfers, rising solidarity tax obligations, and the partial suspension of European Union funds to Hungary. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

• 2025 Ollantaytambo District train collision
  • Two trains on a rail line between Cusco to Machu Picchu in Urubamba province, Peru, collide, killing a train driver and injuring 40 passengers. (Al Jazeera) (CBS News)
• Search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
  • The search for the wreckage of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 resumes in the southern Indian Ocean under a contingent fee agreement between the Malaysian government and Ocean Infinity, which has deployed autonomous underwater vehicles. (AFP via France 24)

Health and environment

• The South African Police Service confirms at least 41 young men were killed from circumcision procedures during traditional initiation activities over the past two months in South Africa. (MSN)

International relations

• Burkina Faso–United States relations, Mali–United States relations
  • Burkina Faso and Mali impose reciprocal travel bans on Americans after the United States added them to a list of countries subject to a full U.S. entry ban. (Reuters)

Law and crime

• Deportation in the second Trump administration
  • U.S. federal judge Angel Kelley of Massachusetts blocks the Trump administration's plan to end temporary protected status for South Sudanese nationals, issuing an administrative stay that prevents the expiration of deportation protections while a legal challenge proceeds. (Reuters)
• Turkey–Islamic State conflict
  • Turkish police detain 357 people nationwide suspected of being Islamic State members following clashes between the two sides yesterday. (DW)
• Western Syria clashes
  • Syrian authorities arrest 21 people in the Latakia Governorate and impose a curfew in the provincial capital following sectarian violence linked to unrest after a mosque bombing and protests in Alawite-majority areas. (AFP via Al Arabiya)

Politics and elections

• 2025 Guinean presidential election
  • Provisional results show that incumbent leader Mamady Doumbouya is elected president. (Reuters)
• 2026 Republic of the Congo presidential election
  • Congolese president Denis Sassou Nguesso announces his candidacy for re-election in the upcoming election. (AFP via France 24)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

• Turkey–Islamic State conflict
  • Three police officers and six Islamic State gunmen are killed in a shootout during a raid at a house in Elmalık, Yalova Province, Turkey. Eight other officers and a civilian are also wounded. (Al Jazeera)

Disasters and accidents

• Three people are killed and another is injured when an avalanche hits a ski resort on the Pyrenees in Panticosa, Aragon, Spain. (Daily Express)
• Two people are killed and British boxer Anthony Joshua is injured when a car crashes into a stationary truck on the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway in Ogun State, Nigeria. (BBC News) (TVC News)

International relations

• Cross-strait relations
  • Justice Mission 2025
    • China conducts the largest live fire exercises to date around Taiwan, designating multiple sea and air zones for drills by naval and air units to rehearse a blockade and to signal opposition to recent United States arms sales to Taiwan. (Reuters)
• India–New Zealand relations
  • India and New Zealand reach a free trade agreement where India grants zero-duty access for its exports to New Zealand, and New Zealand receives phased concessions on most Indian tariff lines, while excluding dairy and selected agricultural products. (AP)

Law and crime

• Corruption in Malaysia
  • The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission raids multiple companies and freezes six bank accounts while investigating alleged bribery linked to army procurement contracts, as army chief Muhammad Hafizuddeain Jantan is placed on leave pending the inquiry. (Reuters)
• War crimes in the Syrian civil war
  • The Syrian transitional government orders the military to secure a mass grave at a former military base near Al-Dumayr, Rif Dimashq Governorate, and opens a criminal investigation into a covert operation that transferred thousands of bodies there from another site during the previous administration. (Reuters)
• Mexican drug war
  • Three people are killed and four others are injured, including one critically, in a livestreamed mass shooting when suspected Jalisco New Generation Cartel gunmen open fire on a Lamborghini in Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico. (BNO News)
• Russian president Vladimir Putin signs a law allowing the government to disregard criminal judgments issued by foreign or international courts that lack a treaty basis or a United Nations Security Council mandate. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

• 2025 Iranian protests
  • Protests erupt in Tehran, Iran, for a second day after the Iranian rial drops in value and inflation rates increase by 42.2%. The leader of the Central Bank of Iran Mohammad Reza Farzi  [fa] resigns in response. (AP)
• 2025 Iraqi parliamentary election
  • Haibat al-Halbousi of the Iraqi Progress Party is elected Speaker of the Council of Representatives following the recent parliamentary election. (Reuters)

Ongoing events

Elections and referendums

Sports

Recent deaths

January 0/0December

• 01: Nexhat Daci
• 30: Tatiana Schlossberg
• 30: Richard Smallwood
• 30: Isiah Whitlock Jr.
• 30: Khaleda Zia
• 28: Brigitte Bardot
• 27: Jeffrey R. Holland
• 25: Dado Banatao
• 25: John Robertson
• 24: Perry Bamonte
• 24: M Ravi
• 23: Katie Allen
• 23: Mohammed al-Haddad
• 22: Chris Rea
• 22: Fanil Sarvarov
• 21: Betty Reid Soskin
• 21: Vince Zampella
• 20: Sreenivasan
• 19: Cathy Cabral
• 19: Lorraine Cheshire
• 19: James Ransone
• 18: Greg Biffle
• 18: Rodrigo Borja Cevallos
• 18: Nandó dos Santos
• 18: Osman Hadi
• 18: Jim Hunt
• 17: Peter Arnett
• 16: Gil Gerard
• 15: Joe Ely
• 14: Anthony Geary
• 14: Rob Reiner
• 14: Michele Singer Reiner
• 14: Mike White
• 13: Carl Carlton
• 13: Abraham Quintanilla
• 13: Bobby Rousseau
• 13: Ra'ad Sa'ad
• 12: Peter Greene
• 11: Stanley Baxter
• 11: Joanna Trollope
• 10: Jeff Garcia
• 10: Sophie Kinsella
• 10: Jim Ward
• 09: Dixie Deans
• 09: Rod Paige
• 08: Iain Douglas-Hamilton
• 08: Gordon Goodwin
• 08: Raul Malo
• 08: Jubilant Sykes
• 08: John Noble Wilford
• 06: Tom Hicks
• 06: Martin Parr
• 05: Frank Gehry
• 04: Ted Egan
• 04: Roy Kramer
• 04: Yasser Abu Shabab
• 04: Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa
• 03: Steve Cropper
• 03: Charles Norman Shay
• 02: Michael Annett
• 01: Elden Campbell
• 01: Nicola Pietrangeli
• 01: Robin Smith
• 01: Valegro

Ongoing conflicts

• Mali War
• Chad Basin

• Burkina Faso
• Niger

• Israel–Hezbollah conflict
• Israeli invasion of Syria

• Red Sea crisis
• Syrian conflict

2026 events and developments by topic