wikinews

2026 January 18

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Syrian conflict
  • SDF–Syrian transitional government clashes
    • 2026 northeastern Syria offensive
      • Tribal forces allied with the Syrian Army take control of the Mashlab neighbourhood in Raqqa from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). (Al Jazeera)
      • Syrian government forces seize control of the Al-Omar field in Deir ez-Zor Governorate, the largest oil field in Syria, following the withdrawal of SDF forces. (BBC News)
  • The Syrian government announces a ceasefire with the Syrian Democratic Forces. (AP) (BBC News)
• Communal conflicts in Nigeria
  • Boko Haram insurgency
    • The Nigerian Air Force launches airstrikes against Boko Haram in Borno State, Nigeria, reportedly killing at least 40 militants. (Reuters)
  • Kidnapping in Nigeria
    • Gunmen abduct about 163 Christians after storming two churches in Kaduna State, Nigeria. (AFP via Insider Paper)
• Russo-Ukrainian war
  • Dnipro strikes, Kharkiv strikes, Khmelnytskyi strikes, Odesa strikes, Zaporizhzhia strikes
    • At least two people are killed and dozens are injured in Russian drone strikes across Ukraine, including in Dnipro, Kharkiv, Khmelnytskyi, Odesa, Sumy, and Zaporizhzhia. (DW)
• Colombian conflict
  • Clashes between two factions of the FARC dissidents in El Retorno, Guaviare Department, Colombia, leave at least 27 insurgents dead. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

• 2026 Adamuz train derailments
  • At least 39 people are killed and 245 more are injured after two high speed trains derailed in Adamuz, province of Córdoba, Spain. (The Telegraph)
• 2026 Binaliw landslide
  • Search and rescue operations in the collapsed landfill in Cebu City, Philippines, conclude after retrieving the last victim, bringing the total number of deaths to 36. (GMA News)
• 2026 Indonesia Air Transport ATR 42 crash
  • Search and rescue finds the wreckage of an Indonesia Air Transport ATR 42-512 aircraft that crashed in Maros Regency, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. The crew recovers one body of the eleven passengers from a ravine. (AP)
• Five people are killed and over 80 others are injured after a bus overturned due to brake failure in Latehar district, India. (Devdiscourse)
• Four people are killed, 84 others are injured, and six are reported missing in an explosion at a steel factory in Baotou, Inner Mongolia, China. Chinese police detain those in charge of the factory the following day. (AP) (CTV News)

Law and crime

• Crime in Guatemala
  • Guatemalan president Bernardo Arévalo declares a 30-day nationwide state of emergency after gangs killed eight police officers and took dozens of prison staff hostage, while security forces have retaken three prisons and freed the captives. (AFP via The Korea Herald)
• Libyan authorities say they have freed more than 200 migrants from an underground prison in Kufra held by a human trafficker in inhumane conditions. The freed migrants were mostly Sub-Saharan Africans, mainly from Somalia ⁠and Eritrea. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

• 2026 Portuguese presidential election
  • Portuguese citizens vote in the first round of the presidential election between 11 candidates to succeed incumbent Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who has reached his term limit. Socialist Party candidate António José Seguro and CHEGA leader André Ventura advance to the second round. (AP)

Sports

• 2025 Africa Cup of Nations
  • In association football, Senegal wins its second Africa Cup of Nations title after defeating hosts Morocco 1–0 after extra time in the 2025 final in Rabat. Sadio Mané is named the tournament’s best player. (Reuters)
• 2026 Australian Open
  • In tennis, Venus Williams becomes the oldest player to participate in the women’s singles draw of an Australian Open at the age of 45 years and 7 months, surpassing Kimiko Date’s record from 2015. (The Independent)

2026 January 17

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Syrian conflict
  • SDF–Syrian transitional government clashes
    • 2026 northeastern Syria offensive
      • Syrian government forces capture many towns in Aleppo Governorate, including Dayr Hafir and Maskanah, after Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) units withdraw from their positions. The Syrian Army also reportedly expelled the SDF from Al-Tabqah. (Al Jazeera)
• Iraqi conflict, Iraq–United States relations
  • The United States Armed Forces formally withdraws from Iraq’s Al-Asad Airbase, handing over full operational control of the airbase to the Iraqi Armed Forces for the first time since 2014. (Reuters)

Business and economy

• EU–Mercosur Association Agreement
  • The European Union and Mercosur formally sign the free trade agreement between the two blocs after 25 years of negotiations. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

• 2026 Binaliw landslide
  • The death toll from the landslide in the Binaliw landfill in Cebu City, Philippines, rises to 35. Search operations are ongoing for the last victim. (ABS-CBN News)
• 2026 Biobío wildfires
  • At least 16 people are killed, more than 50,000 are evacuated and a state of emergency is declared due to wildfires in Ñuble Region and Biobío Region, Chile. (France 24) (BBC News)
• 2026 Indonesia Air Transport ATR 42 crash
  • An Indonesia Air Transport ATR 42-512 aircraft operated by the marine affairs ministry carrying eleven people loses contact in Maros Regency, South Sulawesi, while flying to Makassar and crashes. A search and rescue effort is underway. (Detikcom in Indonesian) (ANTARA)
• 2026 Gul Plaza Shopping Mall fire
  • At least six people are killed, 22 others are injured and 50 are reported missing in a massive fire at a multi-story shopping mall in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. (Dawn) (AP)
• At least 24 people are killed and 45 others are injured in two separate road crashes in Pakistan when a truck plunges into a canal in Sargodha, Punjab, and a passenger bus overturns on a highway in Balochistan. (AP)
• Eight skiers are killed and another is seriously injured in separate avalanches on the Alps in Austria. (AFP via The Straits Times)

Health and environment

• The High Seas Treaty enters into force in 60 United Nations member states. (Reuters)

International relations

• Greenland crisis
  • Hands off Greenland protests
    • Thousands of demonstrators attend rallies in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Nuuk, Greenland, to protest the proposed takeover by U.S. president Donald Trump. (BBC News)

Law and crime

• FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives
  • American fugitive Alejandro Castillo is arrested in Pachuca, Hidalgo, Mexico. (WCNC)
• Coordinated riots erupt in three prisons in Guatemala, where inmates hold at least 46 officers and staff hostage as security forces secure the perimeters and the interior minister refuses to negotiate. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

• 2026 Beninese parliamentary election
  • Provisional results in Benin reveal that the Progressive Union Renewal won 60 out of 109 seats in the National Assembly, followed by the Republican Bloc with 49 seats. Both parties in the National Assembly are part of a coalition supportive of President Patrice Talon. (Benin Web TV)
• 2026 Ugandan general election
  • Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni is re-elected to a seventh term with 71.65% of the vote, while opposition leader Bobi Wine comes second with 24.72% of the vote. (France 24)

2026 January 16

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Insurgency in Balochistan
  • Twelve Balochistan Liberation Army gunmen are killed by the Pakistani army in an attempted hostage-taking at a police station in Kharan District, Balochistan Province, Pakistan. (AP)

Business and economy

• Canada–China relations
  • Canada and China reach a trade agreement that reduces Canadian tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles and Chinese tariffs on Canadian canola seeds, following a high-level summit in Beijing. (CNN)
• Taiwan–United States relations, Tariffs in the second Trump administration
  • Taiwan and the United States reach a trade agreement that would reduce U.S. tariffs on Taiwanese goods from 20% to 15% in return for promised Taiwanese investment in U.S. businesses. (AFP via France 24)

Disasters and accidents

• At least 100 people are killed and thousands of homes are destroyed across Mozambique, South Africa, and Zimbabwe, amidst severe torrential rain and flooding. (AP)

International relations

• Iran–New Zealand relations
  • New Zealand temporarily closes its embassy in Tehran, evacuates its diplomats to Ankara, Turkey, and warns its citizens to leave Iran, citing the deteriorating security situation and internet blackout. (AFP via Al Arabiya)

Law and crime

• 2026 Ugandan general election
  • 2026 Ugandan protests
    • Clashes between protesters opposed to president Yoweri Museveni and police leave at least seven people dead in Butambala, Uganda. (BBC News) (Reuters)
    • The opposition National Unity Platform says its leader and presidential candidate Bobi Wine has been placed under house arrest. A Ugandan military helicopter takes Wine to an unknown location after his house was stormed by security forces. (BBC News) (Sky News)
• Arrest of Yoon Suk Yeol
  • A high court in Seoul, South Korea, sentences former president Yoon Suk Yeol to five years in prison for obstructing justice and excluding cabinet members during his 2024 martial law declaration, while acquitting him of document forgery. (AFP via TRT World) (AP)
• Corruption in Malaysia
  • Malaysian prime minister Anwar Ibrahim temporarily freezes all military and police procurement until compliance rules are met following an anti-corruption probe, while ordering a review and restructuring of the procurement system. (Reuters)

2026 January 15

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Operation Southern Spear
  • United States oil blockade during Operation Southern Spear
    • The United States Coast Guard boards and seizes a Guyanese-flagged tanker in the Caribbean Sea that had been sanctioned by the U.S. government. (The Guardian)

Business and economy

• Frigidaire issues a recall for 330,000 mini-fridges for fire risks, after previously recalling 634,000 last year. (AP)

Disasters and accidents

• 2026 Utrecht explosions
  • At least four people are injured and several buildings collapse following an explosion in the Utrecht city centre in the Netherlands. Authorities suspect it to be a gas explosion. (NOS in Dutch) (AFP via Al Arabiya) (BBC News)
• At least 19 people are killed and hundreds are evacuated across South Africa in flooding caused by torrential rains in several provinces, including Limpopo and Mpumalanga. (AP)
• Two people are killed when a construction crane collapses onto the Rama II Road in Samut Sakhon, Thailand, while the Thai government moves to cancel contracts, blacklist the same contractor, and suspend about a dozen of its state projects following a separate crane accident the previous day. (BBC News) (Reuters)

International relations

• Greenland crisis, Denmark–France relations
  • French president Emmanuel Macron announces the deployment of additional military forces to Greenland after a Defense Council meeting. (France 24 in French)
• Japan–Philippines relations, Territorial disputes in the South China Sea
  • Japan and the Philippines sign a defense pact to mutually allow tax-free provision of ammunition, fuel, food, and other forms of aid. (AP)
• United Arab Emirates–Yemen relations
  • Faraj Al-Bahsani is dismissed from Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, becoming the last United Arab Emirates-backed member to leave the body. (The New Arab)

Politics and elections

• 2026 Ugandan general election
  • Ugandans vote to elect their president and 529 members of parliament. (AP)
• Singaporean prime minister Lawrence Wong rescinds Workers’ Party MP Pritam Singh’s position as the de jure Leader of the Opposition. (CNA)
• Yemeni prime minister Salem Saleh bin Braik resigns, and president Rashad al-Alimi appoints Shaea Muhssin to be the new prime minister. (Jerusalem Post)

Science and technology

• The members of NASA commercial Crew-11, who had been docked at the International Space Station (ISS) since August 2025, land on Earth one month early following the first-ever medical evacuation from the ISS. (Space) (NPR)

2026 January 14

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Anglophone Crisis
  • Fifteen people, including eight children, are killed by gunmen in a mass shooting in Ndu, Northwest Region, Cameroon. (AP)
• Armed conflict for control of the favelas
  • Brazilian police kill four Comando Vermelho gang members in a raid in Rio de Janeiro, and seize weapons, ammunition, drugs, camouflage clothing, and radios. A police helicopter is shot at and damaged, injuring one crew member. (AP)
• 2025–2026 Iranian protests, Kurdish separatism in Iran
  • Armed groups of Iraqi Kurdish fighters, possibly affiliated with the PKK, have allegedly infiltrated the Iranian border. According to reports, they engaged in clashes with IRGC led security forces. (Reuters) (Fox News)

Business and economy

• The price of gold reaches an all-time high of US$4,644.56 per ounce, surpassing December’s previous peak of $4,383.76. (Royal Mint)

Disasters and accidents

• 2026 Crans-Montana bar fire
  • The Swiss cantons of Valais and Geneva ban fireworks in indoor venues in the aftermath of the fire at a Crans-Montana nightclub, which killed 40 people. (BBC)
• 2026 Sikhio train disaster
  • At least 32 people are killed and 66 others are injured when a construction crane falls onto a passing train in Sikhio district, Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand. (Sky News) (Reuters) (AP)

Health and environment

• The Copernicus Climate Change Service reports that 2025 ranks as the third-warmest year on record and completes the first three-year period with average global temperatures at least 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels. (AFP via ABS-CBN News)

International relations

• Armenia–Azerbaijan relations
  • Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
    • Azerbaijan releases four Armenian prisoners convicted of offenses linked to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as part of ongoing post-war normalization efforts. (Reuters)
• Greenland crisis
  • Denmark–France relations
    • French foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot announces that France will open a consulate in Greenland in February, signaling its rejection of attempts by the United States to acquire the territory through coercion. (AFP via Le Monde)
• Travel bans under the Trump administrations
  • The U.S. Trump administration announces that it will suspend the processing of immigrant visas for 75 countries. Tourist and business visas will not be affected. (AFP via Le Monde)

Law and crime

• Sexual deepfake and illegal content generation on X
  • The Garda Síochána of Ireland confirms that there are 200 active investigations into child sexual abuse material being generated by Grok. (RTÉ)
• Shootings by U.S. immigration agents in the second Trump administration, Operation Metro Surge
  • A person is shot and injured by a United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. (ABC News)

Politics and elections

• Singapore’s parliament votes to remove Workers’ Party leader Pritam Singh as Leader of the Opposition following his conviction for providing false testimony to a parliamentary committee in 2021. (Reuters)

2026 January 13

Armed conflicts and attacks

• 2025–2026 Iranian protests
  • 2026 Iran massacres
    • The U.S.-based non-governmental organization HRAI reports that at least 2,000 people have been killed during nationwide protests in Iran. Meanwhile, independent activist sources contend that the nationwide crackdown has resulted in at least 12,000 to 20,000 people killed. (CBS News) (AP)
• Insurgency in Chad
  • At least six people are killed, including three soldiers and three attackers, and 12 others are injured, including two other attackers, in clashes between a rebel group and the Chadian National Army in Korbol, Moyen-Chari, Chad. (Africanews)

Arts and culture

• Adelaide Writers’ Week boycott
  • Adelaide Writers’ Week in Adelaide, Australia, cancels its 2026 festival after director Louise Adler resigned and more than 180 writers withdrew in protest over the board’s decision to disinvite Palestinian Australian author Randa Abdel-Fattah. (Reuters)

Business and economy

• 2018–present Argentine monetary crisis
  • Argentina records a 31.5% annual inflation rate in December, the lowest end-year level since 2017, while monthly prices rise 2.8%, driven mainly by transport, housing, and fuel. (AFP via Barron’s)

Disasters and accidents

• At least 38 people are killed when a ferry strikes rocks and sinks on the Niger River in Diré, Tombouctou Region, Mali. (AP)
• At least 19 people are killed, four are seriously injured and over 30 others are missing following a landslide triggered by hours of heavy rain in Walikale Territory, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo. (AP) (Prensa Latina)

International relations

• Philippines–United Arab Emirates relations
  • The Philippines and the United Arab Emirates sign a free trade agreement. (The Star)

Law and crime

• Mexican drug war, Mexico–Venezuela relations
  • Mexican police arrest six alleged Tren de Aragua members operating in Mexico City on charges of drug trafficking, extortion, and human trafficking. (AP)

Politics and elections

• 2026 Ugandan general election, Human rights in Uganda
  • Uganda orders a nationwide internet shutdown two days before its general election, with the communications regulator directing service providers to suspend access to curb alleged misinformation and incitement. (AFP via Le Monde) (Al Jazeera)

Science and technology

• Censorship in Venezuela
  • Venezuelans regain access to the social network X after more than a year of blockage under de jure president Nicolás Maduro. (AFP via CP24)

2026 January 12

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Gaza war
  • Palestinian internal political violence
    • The Israeli-backed militant organization Counter-Terrorism Strike Force says it has assassinated Mahmoud Al-Astal, head of a Hamas-run police unit in Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip. (Reuters)
• Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
  • A roadside bomb targeting a police vehicle kills six officers near the Afghan border in northwestern Pakistan. (AP)
• Myanmar civil war, Bangladesh–Myanmar relations
  • Bangladesh detains 53 Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army members that crossed into Bangladesh amid fighting with the Arakan Army in Rakhine State, Myanmar. (AFP via The Straits Times)
• Sudanese civil war
  • A Rapid Support Forces missile strike kills ten civilians and wounds nine others in Singa, Sennar State, Sudan. (AA)

Business and economy

• Spanish property bubble
  • Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez issues a decree that tightens rent regulations by limiting short-term rentals and offering full tax refunds to landlords who renew contracts without rent increases, as the country faces a housing shortfall of about 500,000 homes and average rents that have doubled over the past decade. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

• One person is killed and 35 others are injured in a meteotsunami at several beaches in Argentina. (People)
• Authorities say a wild Asian elephant has killed 20 people since the start of the year in the Indian state of Jharkhand and remains on the loose. A search operation involving more than 100 park rangers is underway to locate the elephant. (BBC News)

Health and environment

• Climate change in Morocco
  • A seven-year drought ends in Morocco after a 95 percent increase in winter rainfall compared with 2025 was recorded. (Reuters)

International relations

• Somalia–United Arab Emirates relations
  • Constitutional crisis in Somalia
    • Somalia’s Council of Ministers terminates all agreements between the Federal Government of Somalia and the Government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), disallowing the UAE from operating in the ports of Berbera, Bosaso, and Kismayo for their support of Somaliland. The Somaliland, Puntland, and Jubaland governments subsequently dismiss the decision. (Middle East Eye) (Dawan Africa) (The New Arab)

Law and crime

• War on drugs
  • Swedish police seize three tonnes of cocaine found in a shipping container from South America at the Port of Helsingborg, making it the country’s single-largest seizure of the illegal drug. (Reuters)
  • Spanish police, in coordination with the UK National Crime Agency and the US DEA, seize 10 tonnes of cocaine hidden among a cargo of salt on a cargo ship off the Canary Islands. It is the country’s largest ever seizure of drugs at sea. Thirteen people on board the vessel are arrested. (The Guardian)
• Cambodia–South Korea relations, Scam centers in Cambodia
  • Cambodian and South Korean police arrest 26 suspects accused of impersonation scams and sexual exploitation that allegedly defrauded 165 South Korean victims of about ₩26.7 billion (US$18.25 million), with authorities set to extradite the suspects to South Korea. (Reuters)
• Corruption in Georgia
  • Former Georgian prime minister Irakli Garibashvili pleads guilty to large-scale money-laundering charges and receives a five-year prison sentence and a ₾1-million (US$371,829) fine after investigators seize about $6.5 million in cash during raids on his residence. (Reuters)
• Corruption in Poland, Hungary–Poland relations
  • Former Polish justice minister Zbigniew Ziobro receives political asylum in Hungary while Polish prosecutors investigate him on 26 counts related to alleged misuse of a crime victims fund and other abuses of office under the first Morawiecki cabinet. (The Guardian)
• Corsican conflict
  • Former National Liberation Front of Corsica leader Alain Orsoni is assassinated by a gunman at his mother’s funeral in Vero, Corse-du-Sud, Corsica, France. (Reuters)
• Venezuela releases more than 100 political prisoners who were detained due to acts associated with civil disobedience the constitutional order. (Al Jazeera)

Science and technology

• Criticism of Twitter
  • The United Kingdom’s Ofcom opens an investigation into X over complaints about the creation of deepfake sexualised images by its chatbot Grok. (RTÉ)
• Meta reports that it has shut down over 544,000 accounts of users under the age of 16 on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads in response to Australian social media age restrictions. (DW)

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