Portal:Current events/January 2019
January 2019 was the first month of that common year. The month, which began on a Tuesday, ended on a Thursday after 31 days.
This is an archived version of Wikipedia's Current events Portal from January 2019.
January 1, 2019 (Tuesday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- War in Afghanistan
- The Taliban kills 27 members of the Afghan National Security Forces in a series of coordinated attacks in northern Afghanistan after refusing to discuss peace in the region with government officials. (The New York Times)
- War in North-West Pakistan
- Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan gunmen attack a security base in the Loralai area of Pakistan, resulting in the deaths of four security guards and four terrorists, including a suicide bomber. Two guards were also injured in the attack. (Channel NewsAsia)
Disasters and accidents
- At least nine people are killed and 34 others are missing after a landslide strikes a village in Sukabumi, West Java, in Indonesia. (Sunday Times)
Law and crime
- 2019 Tokyo car attack
- A car plows into New Year's celebrators in Tokyo, Japan, injuring eight. A ninth person was assaulted by the driver after he got out of the vehicle. Police believe the incident to be intentional. (Global News) (Channel NewsAsia)
- Bottrop and Essen car attack
- Five people are injured after a man intentionally drives a car into multiple crowds of people in the cities of Bottrop and Essen, Germany. Police say the incident appears to be a xenophobic, far-right attack. (The Independent)
- Armed men believed to be traditional hunters have killed at least 37 people in an attack on a village in central Mali. (BBC News)
- A Thai man kills six members of his family before killing himself in a drunken shooting spree. (RT) (BNO News)
- Same-sex marriage becomes legal in Austria. (ABC News)
- Intersex rights in Germany
- A law recognising a third gender that can be administered for intersex people takes effect in Germany. (BBC News)
Politics and elections
- Jair Bolsonaro is inaugurated as the 38th president of Brazil, succeeding Michel Temer. (BBC News)
- 2018 Democratic Republic of the Congo general election
- U.S. and EU diplomats urge the Congolese government to restore internet connection to the country after it was shut down the previous day amid fears of election fraud. (The Guardian)
- U.S. President Donald Trump requests a bipartisan meeting with lawmakers to discuss the wall as a partial government shutdown enters its second week. (MPR News)
Science and technology
- 2019 in spaceflight
- New Horizons makes a flyby of Kuiper belt object 2014 MU69, nicknamed Ultima Thule, at 05:33 UTC, becoming the farthest object in the Solar System visited by a spacecraft. It is a contact binary. (The New York Times)
January 2, 2019 (Wednesday)
Business and economy
- China–United States trade war (2018–present)
- American electronics maker Apple warns that iPhone sales are slowing significantly and the product is in weak demand, blaming trade tensions with China. The company says that it has lowered its expected fiscal earnings for the first quarter as a result, citing disappointing holiday sales figures, and that it could lose $9 billion due to the decline. (The Verge)
Disasters and accidents
- Great Belt Bridge rail accident
- An express train crashes into an object dropped from a cargo train on the Great Belt Bridge between Funen and Zealand in Denmark, killing at least eight people and leaving several injured. (BBC News)
- Four skiers—three Finnish men and a Swedish woman—are killed in an avalanche near the Blåbærfjellet mountain in Troms, Norway. (Yle)
Politics and elections
- United States federal government shutdown of 2018–2019
- On the last day of the 115th United States Congress, Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, and others meet with President Donald Trump at the White House to discuss implementing a new budget agreement that may include funding for a new Mexico–United States barrier that could end the current federal government shutdown. (CNBC)
- President Trump and congressional leaders fail to resolve their political differences over federal funding for the border barrier, with Pelosi stating that the president will receive "nothing for the wall" from her party. (Politico) (The Hill)
- Indigenous territories of Brazil
- President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro issues a decree to place the responsibility for "identification, delimitation, demarcation and registration of lands traditionally occupied by indigenous people" on the Ministry of Agriculture, instead of the indigenous peoples affairs agency, FUNAI. The management of public forests also goes to the agriculture ministry. The move is seen as a big win for the industrial agribusiness lobby. (Reuters)
January 3, 2019 (Thursday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Syrian Civil War
- The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Syrian state media say that a U.S.-led coalition aerial attack killed 11 civilians in Deir ez-Zor Governorate. (EFE via La Vanguardia) (SANA)
Business and economy
- Corporate acquisitions and mergers
- Pharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb proposes the takeover of cancer drug company Celgene for US$95 billion, including debt, the biggest biopharma deal ever. (Reuters)
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average drops 660 points following a warning from Apple on weak demand and trade relations between the United States and China. (TheStreet)
Disasters and accidents
- 2018 Magnitogorsk building collapse
- The death toll of an explosion caused by a gas leak that devastated a block of flats in Magnitogorsk, Russia, rises to 39. Rescuers end their search efforts at the collapse site as there are no more missing people. (The Moscow Times)
- European migrant crisis
- The mayor of Naples offers to berth a NGO-operated ship with 32 migrants who were rescued on 22 December in the Mediterranean Sea, off the coast of Libya. (Reuters)
- The Dutch Coast Guard says 270 containers fell off MSC Zoe in heavy seas near the German island of Borkum and floated towards the Netherlands. Treasure hunters revel on the West Frisian islands of Terschelling and Vlieland. Three containers containing hazardous materials are still missing and ships are warned for floating containers. (Reuters via NDTV) (World Maritime News)
- Seven people are killed after a crash and diesel fuel spill sparked a massive fire on Interstate 75 in Gainesville, Florida, United States. (AOL News)
- 14th Street Tunnel shutdown
- New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announces that a complete shutdown of the 14th Street Tunnel in New York City, proposed to allow for subway repairs caused by damage from Hurricane Sandy, has been halted. Cuomo says that engineers will use a new technology from Europe to make critical repairs to the tunnel without having to close it entirely. The complete shutdown would have closed the tunnel, which is used by nearly 225,000 people each weekday, for an expected 15 months. (The New York Times)
International relations
- Somalia expels Nicholas Haysom, the most senior United Nations diplomat in the country, after accusing him of "acting like the country's ruler". (BBC News)
- Afghan President Ashraf Ghani demands clarification after U.S. President Donald Trump said yesterday that the Soviet Union was "right to be there", referring to the 1979–1989 Soviet–Afghan War. (The Washington Post)
- Mexico-United States barrier
- The Department of Homeland Security requests more American troops be deployed to the Mexico-United States border in order to add 160 miles of concertina wire alongside existing border fencing. (Jerusalem Post)
Law and crime
- China executes serial killer Gao Chengyong, who murdered eleven girls and women between 1988 and 2002. (BBC News)
- The Prosecutor General of Russia Yury Chaika says that France today extradited Alexei Viktorovich Kuznetsov, a former Finance Minister of the Moscow Region who is accused of fraud and embezzlement amounting to 14 billion Russian rubles (US$200 million). (TASS)
- A man shoots three children to death and wounds a woman in Texas City, Texas, United States. The suspect has not been apprehended. (USA Today)
Politics and elections
- Iran's health minister Hassan Ghazizadeh Hashemi resigns in protest against a medical budget. His resignation was accepted by President Hassan Rouhani. (PressTV)
- United States federal government shutdown of 2018–2019
- The newly sworn U.S. House of Representatives passes a major spending bill to fund most shuttered departments and agencies through September 30 and a stop-gap measure to restart the Department of Homeland Security. The proposals will now move on to the Senate which has indicated they will not take up any spending bills that aren't supported by President Trump. (The New York Times)
Science and technology
- Chinese Lunar Exploration Program
- China National Space Administration's robotic lander Chang'e 4 successfully lands at the Von Kármán lunar crater on the far side of the Moon. (BBC News)
Sports
- Oman–United Arab Emirates relations
- Saoud al-Mohannadi, vice president of the Asian Football Confederation, is banned from traveling to the United Arab Emirates from Oman. (The New York Times)
- In women's college basketball, Baylor defeats top-ranked Connecticut 68–57, handing the Huskies their first regular-season loss since November 2014 and ending their NCAA-record regular-season winning streak at 126 games. (AP via ESPN)
January 4, 2019 (Friday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- The United States Central Command announces that a U.S. airstrike in Ma'rib Governorate, Yemen, has killed Jamal Ahmad Mohammad Al Badawi, who is believed to have masterminded the 2000 USS Cole bombing that killed 17 American sailors. (The Independent)
- The Arakan Army attacks four police posts in Rakhine State, Myanmar, killing 13 policemen and injuring 9 others. (Reuters)
Disasters and accidents
- Koszalin escape room fire
- Five 15-year-old girls are killed in a fire at an escape room in Koszalin, Poland. (TVN24)
International relations
- Crisis in Venezuela
- The Lima Group announces that from January 10, 2019, the government of Nicolás Maduro will no longer be recognized by the governments which compose the multilateral body. (Al Jazeera)
- Operation Inherent Resolve, American-led intervention in the Syrian Civil War
- The United States Department of State announces that U.S. Special Representative for Syria Engagement James Jeffrey also assumes the position of Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, succeeding Brett McGurk. Separately, a State Department official says that there is no timeline for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria. (Reuters) (Politico)
- Cross-Strait relations
- Chinese Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping orders the country's armed forces to be ready for battle following President of the Republic of China (Taiwan) Tsai Ing-wen's call for international support to defend the self-ruled island’s democracy after rejecting of the one country, two systems principle. (Newsweek via msn.com) (South China Morning Post)
Law and crime
- A 51-year-old man is stabbed to death on a train in Guildford, Surrey, United Kingdom. (The Telegraph)
- Three people are killed and four others are injured in a mass shooting in a bowling alley in Torrance, California, United States. (CNN)
- United States Special Counsel investigation
- Chief United States District Judge Beryl Howell extends grand jury "17-1" for up to six months; the original 18-month authorization was set to expire Sunday. (CNBC)
- Sean Fitzgerald, 31, is shot dead by police officers during a raid on a house in Coventry, England, United Kingdom. Two 26-year-old men were arrested during the same raid, in connection with cannabis production. (The Guardian) (The Independent)
January 5, 2019 (Saturday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Syrian Civil War
- The Syrian Network for Human Rights reports that at least 223 documented massacres were perpetrated in 2018 by the parties to the conflict in Syria. (Syrian Network For Human Rights)
Arts and culture
- 2018 Moscow–Constantinople schism
- Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I signs the independence decree ('tomos') officially separating the Ukrainian Orthodox Church from the Russian Orthodox Church as autocephalous Church. (NPR)
Politics and elections
- Juan Guaidó is elected the President of the Venezuelan National Assembly. (Efecto Cocuyo)
- 2018 Democratic Republic of the Congo general election
- The Congolese election commission delays announcing the results of the recent election, claiming that only half the ballots have been counted. (BBC News)
January 6, 2019 (Sunday)
Arts and culture
- 2018 Moscow–Constantinople schism
- The chancellor of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) describes the granting of autocephaly on January 5 to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine as "a secular event." (Kyiv Post)
Disasters and accidents
- At least 30 people are killed after a gold mine collapses in north-eastern Afghanistan. (BBC News)
- The death toll from a storm that devastated the Philippines shortly after Christmas rises to 126. (News24)
Politics and elections
- Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King of Malaysia) Muhammad V of Kelantan unexpectedly resigns. (Belga via Het Laatste Nieuws) (The Star Online)
- Taliban officials say that they will not attend peace talks scheduled for next week in Saudi Arabia because they "cannot afford" to meet the Afghan government delegation at present. (Reuters)
- Supreme Court Justice Christian Zerpa of Venezuela defects to the United States and denounces the Government of Venezuela for rigging the election. (Reuters)
Science and technology
- Atira asteroid
- The Zwicky Transient Facility in California discovers a large Atira asteroid, 2019 AQ3, an asteroid with a diameter of 1.4 kilometres (0.87 miles) that stays closer to the Sun during its orbit than any other known asteroid, passing from inside the orbit of Mercury to just outside the orbit of Venus. (Minor Planet Center)
January 7, 2019 (Monday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- 2019 Gabonese coup d'état attempt
- The government of Gabon quashes a coup d'état by soldiers. The attempt took place while the country's president, Ali Bongo, was undergoing medical treatment in Morocco. (CBC)
- Terrorism in the United States
- A man who tried to attack an officer in Arizona who then was shot by the officer claimed it was a lone wolf attack for Islamic state. (AZCENTRAL)
Arts and culture
- Father Bernardo Buil, a friar from Aragon, celebrates the first Mass in the New World at La Isabela in Puerto Plata on January 6, 1494. To commemorate this 525-year event Pope Francis appoints Cardinal Gregorio Rosa Chávez of El Salvador as his representative for the anniversary Mass. Father Buil accompanied Christopher Columbus on his second voyage. (Fides)
Law and crime
- Aftermath of the 2016 Kalamazoo shootings
- Jason Dalton, the suspect in six murders and two attempted murders during a rampage in Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States in February 2016, pleads guilty to all counts. (MLive), (WOOD-TV)
- United Kingdom football sexual abuse scandal
- Former youth football coach Michael "Kit" Carson is killed in a car crash on the day he was due to stand trial for multiple counts of sexually abusing minors. The trial subsequently ended without a verdict. (BBC News)
Politics and elections
- International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala
- The government of Guatemala denounces the UN-backed International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) and gives it 24 hours to leave the country. (BBC News)
- 2018–2019 Sudanese protests
- Sudanese Interior Minister Ahmed Bilal Osman announces that 816 protesters have been arrested amidst anti-government protests held across the country since December of last year. (Al Jazeera)
- Anti-corruption campaign under Xi Jinping
- Chen Gang, the former vice-mayor of Beijing, is detained for corruption. (South China Morning Post)
Sports
- 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season
- Clemson defeats Alabama 44–16 in the College Football Playoff National Championship. The Tigers win their second national championship in three seasons, and third overall. (AP via ESPN)
January 8, 2019 (Tuesday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Syrian Civil War
- The military police of Russia says that it has started patrolling the area surrounding Manbij. (TASS)
- The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces say that they captured five foreign nationals who fought for Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Two are reportedly from the United States, two from Pakistan and one from Ireland. (BBC News)
Business and economy
- A bankruptcy judge grants Sears Chairman Eddie Lampert another chance to buy Sears and save it from liquidation. (CNBC)
Disasters and accidents
- Mountain View train collision
- Two passenger trains collide in Pretoria, South Africa, killing at least four people and injuring at least 620 others. (ABC News)
- A Vietnam-registered oil tanker explodes off Hong Kong's southern coast, killing at least one person and leaving three others missing. (ABC News)
International relations
- China–North Korea relations
- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un arrives in Beijing for his fourth summit meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. (The Japan Times)
- Brazil formally withdraws from the UN's Global Compact for Migration pact; however, Brazil's Foreign Minister Ernesto Araújo says that the country will continue to accept Venezuelan refugees. (Reuters)
Law and crime
- A Polish woman, Elżbieta Piotrowska, is attacked with an axe and dies from her injuries in Ardee, County Louth, Ireland. A man known to her was later arrested. (RTÉ)
- An attack on a primary school in Beijing leaves 20 children injured, with three children receiving serious but non-life-threatening injuries. All injured children are receiving hospital treatment. The suspect was apprehended at the scene and an investigation has been launched. (AP News)
- German politician Frank Magnitz, a member of the AfD party, was beaten unconscious by three masked assailants in the city of Bremen on Monday. AfD party leader Alice Weidel calls the attack an "assassination attempt" and politicians from other German parties condemn the attack. (BBC News)
- Aftermath of the Humboldt Broncos bus crash
- Jaskirat Sidhu, the driver involved in a fatal crash involving the Humboldt Broncos, pleads guilty to 29 charges against him, including 16 counts of dangerous operation of motorized vehicle causing death and 13 counts of dangerous operation of motor vehicle causing bodily injury. (Sporting News) (CBC)
- List of UAV-related incidents
- Flights from London's Heathrow Airport are temporarily suspended after a report of a drone sighting in the area. (BBC News)
Politics and elections
- Politics of Malaysia
- Following Muhammad V of Kelantan's abdication as King of Malaysia on Sunday, the Keeper of the Rulers' Seal explains that the Conference of Rulers will elect a new King on 24 January, who will assume duties immediately after taking the oath of office on 31 January. (The Star/ANN via AsiaOne)
- Qatar diplomatic crisis
- Retired USMC General Anthony Zinni resigns as U.S. envoy for the Qatar diplomatic dispute because regional leaders couldn't agree on a "viable mediation effort" to resolve the stalemate. (CNN) (CBS News)
- United States federal government shutdown of 2018–2019
- U.S. President Donald Trump gives the first prime-time address of his tenure in office to talk about the partial government shutdown and its key issue, proposed increased funding for the Mexico–United States barrier. (The New York Times)
Science and technology
- Main-belt comets
- The asteroid 6478 Gault, 5 kilometres (3.1 miles) in diameter, is found to have been impacted by another large (>500 metres (>0.31 miles)) asteroid in late October 2018, the largest asteroid-to-asteroid collision in recorded history. (Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams)
- The University of Hawaii reports that Lonely George, the last known member of the Achatinella apexfulva species of land snail in Oahu, Hawaii, died aged 14 on New Year's Day. Despite being listed as critically endangered the species is now considered extinct. (National Geographic)
January 9, 2019 (Wednesday)
Disasters and accidents
- Remnants of a Dassault Mirage 2000D fighter jet are found in Jura, France, after the aircraft with two pilots onboard disappeared from radar. (France Info)
Law and crime
- Diplomatic offices in Melbourne, Australia, are evacuated after suspicious packages were found. (Reuters)
- Former Israeli minister Gonen Segev pleads guilty to spying for Iran, in exchange for an 11-year prison sentence. (Reuters)
- German prosecutors say, based on CCTV images, that most of AfD politician Frank Magnitz's injuries yesterday may have been sustained as he hit the ground after having been elbowed once by three people and falling over. Magnitz says the attack may have been an attempted robbery. (Deutsche Welle)
Politics and elections
- Brexit negotiations
- After a vote by MPs in the House of Commons, the government is required to table an alternative Brexit plan within 3 days of the vote, if it fails to pass a majority on January 15. (BBC News)
- 2020 United States presidential election, 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries
- Joining several other Democrats in the race, Senator Kamala Harris of California announces her intention for running in the 2020 United States presidential election. (KCBS Radio)
Science and technology
- Havana syndrome
- Two biologists who analysed a sound recording obtained by the Associated Press in 2017, say that it closely matches the calling song of the Indies short-tailed cricket, a species not known to exist in Cuba. (NBC News)
- Scientists announce through the Nature journal, the discovery of 13 deep-space fast radio bursts (FRBs), named FRB 180814, by the CHIME radio telescope in British Columbia, Canada. (BBC News)
January 10, 2019 (Thursday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- War in Afghanistan
- 32 people were killed by the Taliban while the Taliban lost 25 of their members in shooting attacks across Afghanistan (RadioLiberty)
- Yemeni Civil War (2015–present)
- A Houthi drone strike on Al Anad Air Base in Lahij Governorate, Yemen, during a military parade, kills six soldiers and injures several senior officials. (BBC News)
- South Thailand insurgency
- Four civil defense volunteers were shot dead by suspected militants in a school in Pattani's Yarang District. Police suspect the attack could have been done by Barisan Revolusi Nasional. Two insurgents were later killed by the police. (The Thaiger)
Politics and elections
- 2018 Democratic Republic of the Congo general election
- After several delays, the Congolese election commission announces that Félix Tshisekedi is the winner of the December 30 presidential election. (France24)
- Popular candidate Martin Fayulu, who came in second, claims the election was rigged and says he will challenge the result. (AP)
- Crisis in Venezuela, Second inauguration of Nicolás Maduro
- Nicolás Maduro is sworn in for his second term as President of Venezuela amid widespread condemnation over his election as "illegitimate". (Reuters)
- Germany has announced its support for the Venezuelan National Assembly to take over Executive powers in Venezuela. (El Nacional)
- Several Latin American countries close their embassies in Venezuela in protest of Maduro's "illegitimate" election. (Al Jazeera)
- President of the National Assembly of Venezuela, Juan Guaidó, declares a State of Emergency as the country enters a "de facto dictatorship". (Asamblea Nacional)
Science and technology
- Russia confirms that a fireball seen over much of New Zealand on January 5 was its Kosmos 2430 missile early warning satellite, which was launched in 2007. (The Guardian)
January 11, 2019 (Friday)
Armed conflict and attacks
- Two Iraqis were killed and 25 others were injured in a car bomb blast outside a public market in the town of Al-Qaim. The Islamic State is presumed to be behind the attack. (TheDailyStar)
Disasters and accidents
- A bus crash in eastern Cuba leaves at least seven people dead, including four foreigners, and 33 others injured. (BBC News)
- An Ottawa, Canada municipal transit bus crashes into a station, killing three people and injuring 23 others. (CBC)
Law and crime
- Kidnapping of Jayme Closs
- Teenager Jayme Closs, who went missing in October 2018 in Wisconsin after the murder of her parents, is found alive. A suspect, Jake Thomas Patterson, age 21, has been arrested and charged with two counts of murder and one count of kidnapping. (CBS News), (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)
Politics and elections
- United States federal government shutdown of 2018–2019
- An estimated 800,000 federal government workers miss their first paycheck of the shutdown as it enters into its 21st day, which ties the record set by the shutdown of 1995 and 1996. (Associated Press via MSN)
- 2020 United States presidential election, 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries
- Joining several other Democrats in the race, Representative Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii announces her intention for running in the 2020 United States presidential election. (CNN)
- Crisis in Venezuela, 2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis
- Juan Guaidó holds an open cabildo, performed as a rally and national address, announcing his plans to take control of the Presidency of Venezuela, with the Organization of American States declaring their support for his assumption of office. (The Guardian)
- In an official National Assembly statement, Guaidó assumes office, to the extent that is possible, as acting President – invoking the Constitution of Venezuela. (Asamblea Nacional)
January 12, 2019 (Saturday)
Disasters and accidents
- 2019 Paris explosion
- A large explosion caused by a suspected gas leak destroys a bakery in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, France. Four people are killed, and 40 others are injured. (Sky News)
- At least 21 miners die after a roof collapses in a coal mine in Shenmu, China. (BBC News)
- At least 17 are killed and 12 others are injured in a fire at a drug rehabilitation clinic in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Officials said the blaze took hold after patients set mattresses on fire in a bid to escape the facility. (Sky News)
Politics and elections
- Aftermath of the 2019 Gabonese coup d'état attempt
- Gabon's president Ali Bongo Ondimba names Julien Nkoghe Bekale as the country's new prime minister after a failed coup that happened five days ago. (Reuters)
- United States federal government shutdown of 2018–2019
- On its 22nd day, the federal government shutdown becomes the longest in American history overtaking the record previously set in 1995–1996. (News Limited)
- 2020 United States presidential election, 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries
- Joining several other Democrats in the race, Julian Castro, who served as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 2014 to 2017, announces his intention to run in the 2020 United States presidential election. (CNN)
- 2018 Democratic Republic of the Congo general election
- The Congolese election commission announces that parties supporting outgoing president Joseph Kabila obtained the majority in the National Assembly. (Yahoo News)
- Politics of Taiwan
- Taiwanese premier William Lai announces his resignation and former premier Su Tseng-chang succeeds him. (Taipei Times)
- 2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis, Censorship of Wikipedia
- All editions of Wikipedia are blocked in Venezuela by state-owned CANTV amid an ongoing political crisis. (Netblocks)
January 13, 2019 (Sunday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
Arts and culture
- British newspaper The Guardian switches from polythene wrappers to compostable material made from potato starch based on customer feedback. The paper said this packaging, which is biodegradable but cannot be recycled, increases operating costs. (BBC News)
Business and economy
- Ten Mile Junction LRT station along the Bukit Panjang LRT line has been permanently closed which led to the cessation of Bukit Panjang LRT Service C which ran from this station and looping at Bukit Panjang town via Senja. This was the first ever operational MRT or LRT station to be permanently closed in Singapore's history of MRT and LRT. (Straits Times)
Disasters and accidents
- An avalanche near the Austrian Lech am Arlberg ski resort kills three skiers and leaves a fourth missing. (NBC News) (BBC News)
Law and crime
- A man stabs the Mayor of Gdańsk, Paweł Adamowicz, on stage at a Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity event in Gdańsk, Poland. (The Guardian)
- Italian far-left terrorist Cesare Battisti is extradited to Italy after his capture in Bolivia. Battisti was convicted of multiple murders nearly three decades ago. (ABC)
Politics and elections
- Macedonia naming dispute
- Alexis Tsipras, leader of SYRIZA in Greece, announces a vote of confidence in his government after Panos Kammenos, leader of the Independent Greeks (ANEL), announces that it will withdraw from the ruling coalition due to opposition to the Prespa agreement. (FT)
- 2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis
- The President of the National Assembly of Venezuela, Juan Guaidó, is briefly detained in Caracas after saying he was prepared to assume the country's presidency. (BBC News)
January 14, 2019 (Monday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
- A suicide bomber kills four people and injures over 100 others in a car bomb attack in Kabul, Afghanistan. (Al Jazeera)
Disasters and accidents
- 2019 Saha Airlines Boeing 707 crash
- A Boeing 707 cargo plane crashes into a building in Karaj, Iran, after overshooting the runway during its landing. Officials confirm that of 16 people on board, 15 are killed and one is injured. No casualties are reported on the ground. (BBC News)
Law and crime
- Paweł Adamowicz, the Mayor of Gdańsk, Poland, dies in hospital of stab wounds after an attack at a charity event the night before. (The Guardian)
- Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, a Canadian in China, is sentenced to death after a one-day retrial for attempting to smuggle over 222 kilograms (489.4 pounds) of methamphetamine through the country. Schellenberg's new sentence comes amid increasing tensions between Canada and China. (CNN) (Fox News)
Politics and elections
- Over 31,000 teachers, nurses, counselors and librarians in Los Angeles, who have been without a contract for more than a year, go on a strike to demand higher pay after negotiations for improved compensation and work conditions failed. (CBS News) (Al Jazeera)
January 15, 2019 (Tuesday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- 2019 Nairobi attack
- Multiple explosions and gunfire are reported after four armed men stormed the Dusit hotel in Nairobi, Kenya. The Somalia-based militant group Al-Shabaab claims responsibility. (BBC News)
Arts and culture
- 2019 Prayag Kumbh Mela
- The largest human gathering in the world, the Kumbh Mela festival, starts at Prayagraj (previously known as Allahabad), India. More than 120 million Hindu devotees, as well as tourists, are expected. (The Guardian)
International relations
- North Korea–United States relations
- South Korean media reports that North Korean officials are expected to visit the United States to discuss a second summit between the two countries at an unspecified date. (Reuters) (Al Jazeera)
Law and crime
- Laurent Gbagbo, former President of Ivory Coast, is acquitted of crimes against humanity charges by the International Criminal Court. (BBC News)
- U.S. District judge Jesse Furman issues a decision that invalidates the Trump administration's addition of a U.S. citizenship question to the 2020 census. This is the first ruling on this issue. There are four more lawsuits, filled by dozens of states, cities and other groups, yet to be heard. (NPR)
- Catalan regional police in Barcelona and Igualada arrest 17 suspected terrorists ready to launch a terrorist attack. (The Telegraph) (Europa Press)
Politics and elections
- Brexit negotiations, Meaningful vote
- British Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal is defeated in Parliament by 432 votes to 202, the worst defeat for a Prime Minister in modern British history. As a result, a vote of no confidence in her government will be held tomorrow. (Reuters) (BBC News)
- 2020 United States presidential election, 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries
- Democratic U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York announces she is running for president in 2020. (NPR)
Science and technology
- The correction of the North Magnetic Pole model, one year ahead of the regular five-year update, scheduled to be released this week is delayed until the end of January because of the U.S. federal government shutdown. The model is used in navigation and by the GPS systems in smartphones. The pole has been wandering, much faster than expected, away from the Canadian Arctic toward Siberia. (UPI) (M.I.T. Technology Review) (The Maritime Executive)
January 16, 2019 (Wednesday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Manbij bombing
- In Manbij, Syria, a suicide attack claimed by ISIL causes at least 19 casualties. Among them, two U.S. soldiers, a Pentagon Civilian, and a civilian contractor are reported dead and three other Service Members injured. (The Washington Post)
- 2019 Nairobi attack
- Dozens of people remain missing one day after a deadly attack on a popular hotel complex in Nairobi, according to the Kenya Red Cross Society. (NBC News)
- Gunmen attack two villages in the Ménaka region, Mali, near the border with Niger, killing at least 20 people. (NOVÝ CAS)
- Second Libyan Civil War
- Five people are killed and twenty are injured in clashes between rival militias in Tripoli, breaking several months of relative peace. (Middle East Eye)
- Terrorism in the United States
- A man from Georgia planned to attack the White House and even tried to trade his own car for weapons for the attack. (BBC News)
Law and crime
- At least 21 people are killed in a massacre by gunmen in police uniforms in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. (The Independent)
Politics and elections
- United States federal government shutdown
- About 42,000 active-duty Coast Guard members, who continue to work on essential operations, missed their scheduled paycheck Tuesday. This is the first time that United States Armed Forces servicemembers have not been paid during a shutdown or other lapse in government appropriation. (NBC News)
- President Donald Trump signs a bill which requires the government to compensate government employees after the shutdown is over for their work during the shutdown. (CNN)
- Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi suggests that President Trump's State of the Union address scheduled for January 29 be delayed or use a drastically modified format due to security concerns related to the ongoing government shutdown. (NPR)
- Brexit negotiations, Meaningful vote
- Theresa May's government survives a no confidence vote by a majority of 19. (BBC News)
- 2018 Andalusian regional election
- The Andalusian parliament elects Juan Manuel Moreno Bonilla as the next regional President with the votes of conservative party PP, liberal party Cs and far-right party Vox, ending a 36-year term, since the restoration of democracy, of social democratic PSOE government. (El Mundo)
- Macedonia naming dispute
- Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras survives a no-confidence vote after the Independent Greeks party quit the ruling coalition. (The New York Times)
January 17, 2019 (Thursday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- 2019 Bogotá car bombing
- A suicide car-bomb attack at the General Santander National Police Academy in Bogotá, Colombia, kills at least 20 people and injures more than 50 others. (The Guardian)
Disasters and accidents
- In France, a fire at the University Lyon 1 injures three people. Investigators say that it is a result of an accidental gas bottle explosion. (Euronews)
Law and crime
- Gunmen on motorbikes shoot Ghanaian investigative journalist Ahmed Hussein-Suale to death in Accra. Ahmed was a member of the Tiger Eye Private Investigations team that exposed high-level corruption in the Ghana Football Association. (Reuters)
Politics and elections
- United States federal government shutdown of 2018–2019
- U.S. President Donald Trump postpones House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's upcoming diplomatic trip to Europe, Afghanistan and Egypt after she urged the President to postpone his upcoming State of the Union Address over the ongoing government shutdown. (BBC News)
Science and technology
- Facebook removes alleged Russia-based accounts and pages as a part of a crackdown on misuse of its service. (The Wall Street Journal)
January 18, 2019 (Friday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Syrian Civil War
- A massive explosion targetting a Tahrir al-Sham base in Idlib kills 15 people and injures 20 others. A car bomb is reported to have been used in the attack. (AMN)
- Internal conflict in Myanmar
- Myanmar's military announces that it has killed 13 Arakan Army fighters in a series of eight armed clashes in Rakhine State, spanning from January 5 to 13. In the same press conference, a military spokesman states that the Arakan Army had been newly classified as a terrorist organization. (ABC News) (Reuters via VOA)
- Somali Civil War (2009–present)
- Al Shabaab claims they killed over 57 Ethiopian troops in an ambush in Somalia. Ethiopian troops rejects that claim. (SITE) (Toronto Star)
- South Thailand insurgency
- Colombian armed conflict
- Colombian President Iván Duque Márquez unilaterally blames the National Liberation Army for the 2019 Bogotá car bombing, and suspends ongoing peace talks with the group, requesting that the Cuban government arrest the ten guerrilla group members leading the negotiations in Havana. (El Tiempo) (The New York Times)
Disasters and accidents
- 2019 Tlahuelilpan pipeline explosion
- An illicitly tapped fuel pipeline explodes in Tlahuelilpan, Hidalgo, Mexico, killing 135 people and injuring 8 others. It is believed the explosion occurred after the line was ruptured by suspected fuel thieves. (La Jornada)
Law and crime
- Flint water crisis
- 15 officials are charged for involuntary manslaughter and other crimes related to the Flint water crisis, in which contaminated sparked an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease. (Newsweek) (Bloomberg)
Politics and elections
- 2018 Democratic Republic of the Congo general election
- The Congolese government rejects a request by the African Union to delay the announcement of the final result of the 30 December 2018 general election, which is being appealed in the country's Constitutional Court amidst accusations of election fraud. (Al Jazeera)
January 19, 2019 (Saturday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Dissident Irish Republican campaign
- A car bomb explodes outside a courthouse in Londonderry, Northern Ireland. The bomb exploded as the area was being evacuated, and there were no injuries. Investigations currently point responsibility for the attack towards the New IRA dissident organisation. (BBC News)
Arts and culture
- American singer R. Kelly is dropped by RCA Records following the release of Surviving R. Kelly, a Lifetime documentary detailing alleged sexual assaults committed by him. (Variety)
Disasters and accidents
- 2018–19 North American winter
- A state of emergency is declared in Pennsylvania and New Jersey as a large winter storm makes its way to the northeastern United States. Three people have already been killed due to it. (AccuWeather) (The Weather Channel)
- List of earthquakes in 2019
- A magnitude 6.7 earthquake hits Coquimbo, Chile. Light damage is reported and thousands of homes lose power. (Devdiscourse)
Law and crime
- 2019 Indigenous Peoples March Incident
- Covington Catholic High School faces backlash after a video of students were seen mocking a Native American elder at the Indigenous Peoples' March in Washington DC. (USA Today) (Cincinnati Enquirer) (WDRB)
Politics and elections
- President of Burkina Faso Roch Marc Christian Kaboré announces in a televised statement that Prime Minister Paul Kaba Thieba and the cabinet have resigned from their positions effective immediately. No reason is given. (BBC News)
- 2018 Democratic Republic of the Congo general election
- The Constitutional Court of DR Congo rejects an appeal for a vote recount of the 30 December 2018 election by second-place candidate Martin Fayulu, upholding Félix Tshisekedi as the winner. (France24)
- Martin Fayulu claims to be the "legitimate president" and calls on the international community to not recognize the result. (Deutsche Welle)
January 20, 2019 (Sunday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Northern Mali conflict
- At least ten United Nations peacekeepers are killed and several others injured in an Islamist militant attack on their base in Mali's northern Kidal Region. (Al Jazeera)
Disasters and accidents
- Two people died and 25 more were injured, four seriously, in a fire at the ski resort of Courchevel in the French Alps. (RTE)
International relations
- Chad–Israel relations
- Chad and Israel restore diplomatic relations with each other after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with Chadian President Idriss Déby in N'Djamena. Chad severed ties with Israel in 1972. (i24 News)
Sports
- 2018–19 NFL playoffs
- In American football, the Los Angeles Rams defeat the New Orleans Saints in the NFC Championship Game, 26-23, to advance to Super Bowl LIII and play the New England Patriots, who defeated the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game. The NFC Championship game is best known for an unpenalized pass interference committed by cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman on wide receiver Tommylee Lewis, which is nicknamed as the NOLA No-Call. (CBS Sports) (CNN)
January 21, 2019 (Monday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Maidan Shar attack
- A Taliban attack on a National Directorate of Security compound in the central Maidan Wardak Province, kills 126 security personnel, according to local officials. (The Guardian)
- Dissident Irish Republican campaign
- In two incidents in Derry, a truck is hijacked and abandoned in the city center, and a Royal Mail van is hijacked at gunpoint and later abandoned. Authorities blame the New IRA. (Belfast Telegraph)
- Syrian Civil War
- A suicide car bomb attack kills five members of the Syrian Democratic Forces while they were out on a patrol with U.S. troops in northeastern Syria. (Telegraph)
- The Israeli military says it had attacked Iranian military targets in Damascus including the city's international airport in response to a missile attack. (CNN)
- Crisis in Venezuela
- A mutiny by members of the Venezuelan National Guard who oppose the government is quashed. The Venezuelan Military in a statement says they were involved in "treasonous" acts motivated by "obscure interests tied to the far right." (Time)
Business and economy
- Germany revokes the license of Iranian airline Mahan Air, citing the airline's involvement in Syria and other security concerns. (Reuters)
- The Israel Airports Authority formally opens Ramon Airport in the Timna Valley near Eilat. The new international airport replaces Eilat Airport, which will cease operations on January 22. (Channel NewsAsia)
Disasters and accidents
- 2019 Piper PA-46 Malibu disappearance
- A Piper Malibu light aircraft, carrying two people on a flight from Nantes to Cardiff, goes missing off the coast of Alderney in the Channel Islands. A major search and rescue operation is underway. Cardiff City F.C. footballer Emiliano Sala is confirmed to have been on board the missing aircraft. (BBC News), (Sky)
- At least 11 crew members are killed after two ships caught fire, as one vessel was transferring fuel to the other, in the Kerch Strait near Crimea. (BNO) (BBC News)
- Two men are killed in separate avalanches at U.S. ski resorts, one near Aspen, Colorado, and another in Kachina Peak at Taos Ski Valley, approximately 125 miles (201 km) northeast of Albuquerque, New Mexico. (NBC News)
Law and crime
- LGBT rights in Egypt
- Egyptian TV presenter Mohamed al-Ghiety is sentenced to one year of hard labor and fined 3,000 Egyptian pounds ($167; £130) for "promoting homosexuality" by interviewing a gay man on the privately-owned LTC Egypt TV channel last year. (BBC News)
Politics and elections
- 2020 United States presidential election, 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries
- Democratic U.S. Senator Kamala Harris from California announces she will run for President in 2020. (NPR)
- Howard Schultz, former CEO of Starbucks, is reported to be exploring an independent candidacy for President of the United States in 2020. (CNN)
- Brexit
- The Labour Party proposes an amendment to the Brexit deal which would require a second referendum before the United Kingdom fully exits the European Union. (The Guardian)
Science and technology
- Lulu and Nana controversy
- China confirms the 2018 birth of the world's first genetically edited babies, Lulu and Nana, saying He Jiankui forged ethical review papers and organised a project team with foreign staff, which intentionally avoided surveillance, and that He and his staff will be punished according to laws and regulations. The Guangdong government will keep the twins under medical observation with the support of the national departments. (South China Morning Post)
- January 2019 lunar eclipse
- A total lunar eclipse occurs, popularly dubbed a Super Blood Wolf Moon, due to the timing and orbital perigee, and a meteor impact is observed during the event. (Space.com)
January 22, 2019 (Tuesday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Israeli–Palestinian conflict
- A Hamas militant is killed and two others are injured when an Israeli tank fires into the Gaza Strip after a protest turned violent. The Israel Defense Forces action is retaliation for a shooting which lightly injured an officer, and for the brief incursion of two Palestinians into Israel. (Reuters)
- 2019 Venezuelan protests
- A 16-year-old boy is shot and killed at around midnight on Tuesday evening/Wednesday morning during protests in the Venezuelan capital Caracas. Three others are killed in overnight protests in Estado Bolívar. (The Washington Post), (Business Standard)
Arts and culture
- The nominees for the 91st Academy Awards, honoring the best in cinema in 2018 are announced, with Roma and The Favourite leading with 10 nominations each. (The New York Times)
Disasters and accidents
- 2019 Piper PA-46 Malibu disappearance
- In the Channel Islands, a multinational search and rescue operation for a missing aircraft carrying Cardiff City F.C. footballer Emiliano Sala resumes, after fading light and deteriorating weather conditions caused the search to be called off the previous day. (BBC News)
- A bus catches fire after crashing with a truck in Lasbela, Pakistan, killing 27 people and injuring others. (Dawn)
- Five foreign demining experts, identified as two South Africans, one Croatian, one Bosnian and one Kosovar, are killed in an accidental explosion in Yemen. (BBC News)
- A Tupolev Tu-22M3 supersonic strike bomber crashes in Russia's northwestern Murmansk region while attempting landing during a storm. Three of its four crewmen are killed. (Reuters)
International relations
- Kuril Islands dispute, Japan–Russia relations
- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin meet in Moscow to discuss a peace treaty and the Kuril Islands dispute. (TASS) (Al Jazeera)
- An Israeli spokesman says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has cancelled Wednesday's Qatari aid of $15 million to Gaza Strip. (Reuters)
Law and crime
- American singer Chris Brown and two associates are briefly detained in Paris after being accused of aggravated rape and drug offenses. (NBC News)
- Transgender personnel in the United States military
- The U.S. Supreme Court allows, by a 5–4 vote, the Trump administration to begin implementing the policy that prohibits transgender persons who require or have undergone gender transition from serving. Unresolved challenges remain in lower courts. (BBC News)
Politics and elections
- 2018 North Carolina's 9th congressional district election
- North Carolina Superior Court judge Paul Ridgeway rejects the bid to certify Republican Mark Harris as the winner of the country's last undecided congressional race until there's a final decision in the investigation into possible illegal tactics. (Reuters) (WSOC-TV)
Sports
- 2019 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting
- The National Baseball Hall of Fame announces the results of voting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) to determine players to be formally inducted in July 2019. Roy Halladay, Edgar Martínez, Mike Mussina, and Mariano Rivera are elected and will join Harold Baines and Lee Smith, elected by a Hall committee in December 2018, at the induction ceremonies in Cooperstown, New York. Rivera is the first player ever to be elected unanimously by the BBWAA. (ESPN)
January 23, 2019 (Wednesday)
Law and crime
- Three residents of the U.S. state of Michigan are arrested at Gerald R. Ford International Airport for allegedly conspiring to support the Islamic State. (ABC News)
- 2019 Sebring, Florida shooting
- A gunman kills five people at a SunTrust Banks branch in Sebring, Florida, United States, following a hostage situation. The suspect later surrenders himself to the authorities. (The Independent)
- The Diocese of Covington building in the U.S. state of Kentucky is evacuated after "suspicious" packages were reportedly found outside. Authorities cleared the building of threats later in the evening. (Washington Post) (USA Today)
- Abortion in the United States
- New York passes the Reproductive Health Act, which allows abortion rights. (CBS News) (Wall Street Journal)
- LGBT rights in Angola
- Angola decriminalizes homosexuality. (Human Rights Watch)
Politics and elections
- 2019 Venezuelan protests, 2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis, United States–Venezuela relations
- Opposition leader Juan Guaidó swears himself in as President of Venezuela, with de facto President Nicolás Maduro not recognizing this. (CNN)
- The United States, Canada and several Latin American nations recognize opposition leader Juan Guaidó as President of Venezuela. (Chicago Tribune)
- President Nicolás Maduro says his government is breaking off diplomatic relations with the United States, giving American diplomats 72 hours to leave the country. Juan Guaidó, in turn, asks diplomats of countries that have recognized him as president to remain in Venezuela. (AP)
- The Venezuelan military rejects Juan Guaidó's self-proclaimed Presidency and remains loyal to President Nicolás Maduro. (RT)
- 2018–19 United States federal government shutdown
- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she will not authorize President Donald Trump's 2019 State of the Union Address in the House chamber until the government shutdown has ended. (The Guardian)
Science and technology
- 2019 in spaceflight
- Blue Origin successfully launches its New Shepard 3 rocket and completes the tenth sub-orbital test flight, reaching an altitude of 106.9 km (351,000 ft), carrying its crew capsule and making a controlled upright landing in West Texas. (NASA) (Ars Technica)
January 24, 2019 (Thursday)
Disasters and accidents
- The city of Adelaide, South Australia, records its hottest ever temperature, reaching 46.6 °C (115.9 °F) at around 3:36pm local time. This is the highest recorded temperature in any Australian state capital. The high temperatures have proven fatal for significant numbers of local animals. (BBC)
- Three people die due to the severe storms in the Spanish region of Asturias. (El País)
Politics and elections
- 2018 Democratic Republic of the Congo general election
- Félix Tshisekedi is sworn in as the 5th President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, marking the first transition of power by an election in the country since it gained independence in 1960. (Al Jazeera)
- Brazilian legislator and LGBT rights activist Jean Wyllys announces he will leave his office and his country after death threats against him increase in number and intensity. Wyllys will be replaced by fellow PSOL politician David Miranda. (The Guardian)
Law and crime
- Former Scotland First Minister Alex Salmond is charged with two attempted rapes and indecent assault. (NBC News)
- Crime in Pennsylvania, List of mass shootings in the United States in 2019
- A gunman kills three people and injured one other person before committing suicide in State College, Pennsylvania, United States. (ABC News)
January 25, 2019 (Friday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- 18 people were killed and 23 others were injured when gunmen belonging to the "Union for Peace" group, attacked a funeral ceremony in the town of Ippy, Central African Republic. (The Tribune)
Disasters and accidents
- Brumadinho dam disaster
- A mining dam owned by the Brazilian company Vale collapses in Minas Gerais, leaving 248 dead and 22 people missing. (BBC News)
- 2019 South Sulawesi floods
- At least 59 people are killed when flooding and landslides hit South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Twenty-five others are missing and thousands have been displaced. (Al Jazeera) (Yahoo! News)
- A plane and a helicopter collide over Testa del Rutor near the border of France and Italy, leaving seven dead. (Corriere della Sera)
Law and crime
- Mueller special counsel investigation
- Roger Stone, a former adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, is indicted by a federal grand jury and arrested on charges of obstruction, giving false statements, and witness tampering as part of special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections. (NBC News)
Politics and elections
- Macedonia naming dispute
- The parliament of Greece votes 153–146 in approval of changing the name of the Republic of Macedonia to the Republic of North Macedonia, ending a 27-year naming dispute. (BBC News)
- 2018–19 United States federal government shutdown
- U.S. President Donald Trump announces a short-term deal has been reached with congressional leaders to temporarily reopen the federal government after a partial shutdown that has lasted for 35 days. The stop-gap agreement will last three weeks, until February 15, and will allow for talks to continue over security on the Mexico-United States border. The temporary deal includes no money for President Trump's planned additional border barrier with Mexico. (NBC News)
- 2020 United States presidential election, 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries
- Two sources with direct knowledge tell Yahoo! News that Senator Bernie Sanders plans to announce his intention to run for the presidency in the 2020 presidential election. (Yahoo! News)
- Retired U.S. Army major and former West Virginia State Senator Richard Ojeda suspends his campaign for presidency in the 2020 presidential election. (The Intercept)
- 2019 Bangsamoro Autonomous Region creation plebiscite
- The ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law is proclaimed paving the way for the creation of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in the Philippines. (Rappler)
January 26, 2019 (Saturday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Nairobi Latema Road blast
- An explosive device goes off outside a cinema in a busy part of Kenya’s capital, injuring two people. The area was also the place of an attack earlier this month. (The Washington Post)
Disasters and accidents
- 2019 South Sulawesi floods
- The death toll from floods and landslides in South Sulawesi, Indonesia, rises to 68, while six people are still missing. (Channel NewsAsia)
- At least 15 people are killed in a crash between a bus and a truck in Arequipa, Peru. (América Televisión)
Law and crime
- January 2019 Louisiana shootings
- A 21-year-old man shoots and kills five people, including his parents and girlfriend, in two Louisiana parishes. The suspect fled to Virginia and was arrested the next day. (CBS News) (People)
Politics and elections
- 2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis, Crisis in Venezuela, Russia–Venezuela relations
- Reuters reports that Russian private military contractors belonging to the Wagner Group have flown into Venezuela to help guard President Nicolás Maduro, and that Russia supports Maduro's disputed government. (Reuters)
- In an emergency United Nations Security Council meeting called by the United States, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tells the representatives of each government in attendance to make it known whether their country will support the disputed presidency of Maduro or his contested political rival Juan Guaidó as the leader of Venezuela. (The Washington Post)
- The Bank of England blocks Maduro's officials from withdrawing $1.2 billion worth of gold. (Bloomberg)
- European countries, led by France, the United Kingdom, Germany and Spain, notify Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro that he must call elections within eight days or they will officially recognize the claim of leadership made by Guaidó. (BBC News)
- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau fires Canada's ambassador to China, John McCallum, following McCallum's remarks about the extradition of Huawei's CFO, Meng Wanzhou. (BBC News)
January 27, 2019 (Sunday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- 2019 Jolo Cathedral bombings
- Two bombs at the Roman Catholic Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cathedral in Jolo, Philippines, kill 20 people, fifteen civilians and five soldiers, and injure 81 others. Abu Sayyaf is suspected to be behind the attack. (Sky News)
Disasters and accidents
- 2019 Abancay landslide
- At least 15 people are killed and 28 others injured when the roof of a hotel collapses after a landslide during a wedding in Abancay, Peru. (América Televisión)
- January 2019 North American cold wave
- Numerous winter storm and blizzard warnings are issued across the Midwestern United States as a storm that could bring up to 12 inches (30 cm) of snow in the following days moves across the region. (The Weather Channel)
Sports
- In motorsport, the 2019 24 Hours of Daytona endurance race is won by the #10 Cadillac of Wayne Taylor Racing. Drivers Fernando Alonso, Jordan Taylor, Kamui Kobayashi, and Renger van der Zande are declared the winners after heavy rain forces the race to be halted for the final two hours. (Motorsport.com)
January 28, 2019 (Monday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Boko Haram insurgency
- Boko Haram kills 60 people in an arson attack in the town Rann. (Reuters)
- Seven people were killed and 26 injured in a bike bombing at a market in Mokha, Yemen. Houthis were blamed for the attack. (The Straits Times)
Disasters and accidents
- Tornadoes of 2019
- A tornado in eastern Havana, Cuba, kills three people and injures 174 others. (Euronews)
International relations
- Brexit negotiations
- British Prime Minister Theresa May tells Conservative lawmakers that she plans to hold a vote in parliament on her Brexit deal on February 13. (The New York Times)
Law and crime
- Six Tanzanian children are killed for their eyes, ears and other body parts. A Njombe district official, who found many were taken when they were home alone whilst their parents were working, believes that superstitious beliefs and witchcraft are involved. Four other missing children have been found alive. (BBC News)
- The United States Justice Department, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Commerce and Federal Bureau of Investigation announces 23 criminal charges against China's telecom Huawei and its chief financial officer Wanzhou Meng, which include banking and financial fraud, money laundering, wire fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States, theft of trade secret technology, provided bonus to workers who stole confidential information from companies around the world, obstruction of justice and sanctions violations. (BBC News)
- Pecan Park raid
- Texas Police shoot and kill two homeowners after invading their house. 5 officers were injured in a substantial shootout in Harris County near Houston. Reports later indicated one of the officers lied that drugs were in the house. (ABC News)
Politics and elections
- 2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis, United States–Venezuela relations, Crisis in Venezuela, Second Cold War
- The United States Department of the Treasury imposes sanctions on Venezuela's state-owned oil company PDVSA, which accounts for much of Venezuela’s income and foreign currency. (United States Department of the Treasury)
- Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov denies the presence of Russian mercenaries in Venezuela, despite earlier reports that up to 100 may have been deployed to protect President Nicolás Maduro. (South China Morning Post)
- 2019 State of the Union Address
- U.S. President Donald Trump accepts House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's invitation to deliver the State of the Union Address on February 5. (The Washington Post)
- 2019 Guatemalan general election
- Semilla Movement announces that on March 3 it will officially proclaim the presidential candidacy of former Attorney General Thelma Aldana. (Voice of America)
- The 2018 Corruption Perceptions Index names Somalia as the most corrupt country in the world, followed by South Sudan and Syria, while Denmark was again named the least corrupt country. The United States drops out of the top 20 least corrupt countries for the first time since 2011. (Daily Mail)
January 29, 2019 (Tuesday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- 2019 Loralai attack
- Nine people, including civilians and policemen, are dead and 22 others are injured after gunmen and suicide bombers attacked a Deputy Inspector General (DIG) office in Pakistan's Loralai. The Tehrik-i-Taliban claim responsibility for the attack. (Express Tribune)
- Somali Civil War
- Two people were killed and five others were injured in a car bombing near the Somali Petroleum Ministry and the responsibility was claimed by Al-Shabaab. (Daily Nation)
- A double bombing injures three police officers in Tehran, Iran. (The Seattle Times)
Business and economics
- 2017 California wildfires, 2018 California wildfires
- Pacific Gas and Electric Company files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for its recent roles in the California wildfires. (Reuters) (CBS News)
Disasters and accidents
- January 2019 North American cold wave
- Major midwestern cities, including Minneapolis, Detroit, Chicago and Milwaukee, are under severe wind chill advisories with wind chills approaching −55 °F (−48 °C) at night. Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers declare states of emergency due to the record low windchill temperatures. (Chicago Tribune) (Chicago Sun-Times) (WDJT-TV) (WBBM-TV) (WILX-TV) (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
- Two lions, two hyenas, a rhino and a giraffe are killed at Kruger National Park, South Africa, after storms topple a power cable. (BBC News)
- Aviation accidents and incidents
- An air ambulance crashes in Ohio, killing three crew members. The aircraft had been headed to Pomeroy to pick up a patient. (ABC News)
- A second air ambulance, traveling from Anchorage, Alaska to the village of Kake, in Southeast Alaska, was reported missing. The aircraft had a crew of three onboard. (KTUU)
Law and crime
- Asia Bibi blasphemy case
- Asia Bibi's blasphemy acquittal is upheld by Pakistan's Supreme Court. She may seek asylum. (The Guardian)
- Foreign fighters in the Syrian and Iraqi Civil Wars
- About 130 French citizens who joined the Islamic State are expected to be returned to France by their Kurdish captors to face trial. (Bloomberg) (Middle East Monitor)
- Toronto serial homicides
- Bruce McArthur, a Toronto landscaper charged on January 18, 2018, in this decade-long investigation, pleads guilty in Ontario Superior Court to murdering eight men. (BBC News)
- Brumadinho dam disaster
- Police arrest five men, three from the mining company Vale and two engineers from a subsidiary company, in connection with the mine collapse. (BBC News)
- Belgian authorities order DNA tests of children recently adopted from the Democratic Republic of the Congo following reports that several parents thought they were sending their children to a Kinshasa holiday camp not an orphanage. (Reuters via BBC News)
- Jussie Smollett reports being attacked by white racists in Chacago, IL 2:00 a.m. Report turned out not to be true. (ABC News)
Politics and elections
- Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Al-Hamdallah, along with his unity government, resign from President Mahmoud Abbas's government. (Reuters)
- Brexit negotiations
- Votes in parliament call for a no-deal outcome to be avoided, but do not support any delay in the Brexit timetable, and ask for the proposed customs arrangements in Ireland to be renegotiated, which the EU rejects. (CNN)
- 2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis
- Following a request by Venezuelan Prosecutor General Tarek William Saab, the Supreme Tribunal of Justice bars the National Assembly-backed President Juan Guaidó from leaving the country and freezes his bank accounts and assets. (The Washington Post)
Science and technology
January 30, 2019 (Wednesday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- A grenade is lobbed in a Zamboanga mosque in the Philippines, killing two people and injuring four others. No group has claimed responsibility. (Al Jazeera)
Business and economy
- Foxconn's Wisconsin plant
- Taiwanese manufacturer Foxconn announces that the company is reconsidering their plan to manufacture LCD panels in a promised Wisconsin plant because of a changed global marketplace, and the high cost of United States labor. Foxconn said, earlier in January, that it still planned to create 13,000 jobs in Wisconsin. The State of Wisconsin pledged subsidies worth more than $3bn. (BBC News) (Reuters)
Disasters and accidents
- January 2019 North American cold wave
- Several hundred flights are cancelled in Chicago amidst an extreme cold wave bringing temperatures of −22 °F (−30 °C) to the region. Amtrak, Metra and South Shore Line have also cancelled services. (WBBM-TV) (NBC News)
- Ten deaths have been reported across the midwest due to the record breaking low temperatures. (NBC News)
- After a fire at a Consumers Energy natural gas compressor station, Michigan residents are asked to turn down their heat to conserve natural gas. (MLive.com), (WEYI-TV)
- Two overcrowded boats carrying migrants capsize off the coast of Djibouti, leaving at least 28 people dead and over 130 others missing, according to the International Organization for Migration. (The Guardian)
Law and crime
- Suspicious items, later discovered to be incendiary devices, are found near a police station in Eugene, Oregon. An investigation is ongoing. (KVAL), (KEZI)
International relations
- Canada–Cuba relations, Havana syndrome
- Canada announces that it will withdraw half of its embassy staff in Cuba following the fourteenth confirmed illness since 2017 of a Canadian diplomat in the country. (BBC News)
Science and technology
- Cancer research
- An Israeli team of scientists claim to have developed a cure for cancer. This claim is criticized by other scientists, who say it is likely faked. (Times of Israel)
January 31, 2019 (Thursday)
Arts and culture
- American singer Mariah Carey performs her concert in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, despite Saudi women's rights activists calling for her to cancel it. (ABC News)
- Kurdish-Iranian refugee Behrouz Boochani, incarcerated for nearly 6 years in the Australian-run Manus Regional Processing Centre, is awarded Australia's richest literary prize, the Victorian Prize for Literature and the Victorian Premier's Prize for Nonfiction. (BBC News)
Business and economy
- Italy's economy falls into recession for the third time in a decade after declining GDP growth in late 2018. Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte blames the recession on external factors, including trade tensions between the United States and China. (The Guardian)
Disasters and accidents
- January 2019 North American cold wave
- Several cities in the Midwestern United States and Eastern Canada reach record low temperatures for the third consecutive day as a polar vortex continues to affect the region. (The New York Times)
Politics and elections
- 2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis
- The European Parliament votes to recognize Juan Guaidó as interim President of Venezuela. (The Independent)
- Colombian, Spanish and French journalists are arrested and detained by SEBIN agents in Caracas. All four work for Spanish news agency EFE. The arrests follow the deportation of two Chilean journalists yesterday. (Reuters)
- Abdullah of Pahang is elected the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia. (Asia News)
Science and technology
- Astronomers announce, through the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society journal, the accidental discovery of dwarf spheroidal galaxy Bedin I in the Pavo constellation in September 2018. (Space Telescope)
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- Brexit negotiations
- European migrant crisis (timeline)
- Iranian protests
- Iraqi protests
- Nicaraguan protests
- Qatar diplomatic crisis
- Rohingya persecution in Myanmar
- Sudanese protests
- Turkish purges
- U.S. Special Counsel investigation (timeline)
- Venezuelan presidential crisis
- Yellow vests movement
- Zimbabwe fuel protests
More details – ongoing conflicts
- February
- 3: El Salvador, President
- 16: Nigeria, President and Parliament
- 24: Cuba, Constitutional referendum
- 24: Moldova, Parliament
- 24: Senegal, President
- Australia: George Pell
- Bahrain: Ali Salman
- India: Sajjan Kumar
- Philippines: Imelda Marcos
- United States: Patrick Ho
- International
- Guatemala: Otto Pérez Molina, Roxana Baldetti, Juan Carlos Monzón and others
- Israel: Faina Kirschenbaum
- Malaysia: Siti Aisyah and Đoàn Thị Hương
- Philippines: Leila de Lima
- Spain: Bárcenas affair
- United Kingdom: David Duckenfield, Graham Mackrell
- United States: Fat Leonard scandal, Joaquín Guzmán
- International
- Egypt: Mohamed Morsi
- Guatemala: Alvaro Colom, Manuel Baldizón, Juan Alberto Fuentes
- Iran: Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe
- Philippines: Andal Ampatuan Jr.
- South Africa: Jacob Zuma
- Spain: Jordi Pujol
- Ukraine: Roman Nasirov
- United Kingdom: Football sex abuse scandal
- United States: 6ix9ine, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, NXIVM, Elizabeth Holmes, Chris Collins, Duncan D. Hunter
- Zimbabwe: Ignatius Chombo
- Association football
- Women's association football
- American football
- Basketball
- Golf
- Ice hockey
- Rugby sevens
- Rugby union
- Other sports seasons
More details – current sports events
- 30: Dick Miller
- 29: George Fernandes
- 29: James Ingram
- 26: Michel Legrand
- 23: Jonas Mekas
- 21: Russell Baker
- 20: Andrew G. Vajna
- 19: Nathan Glazer
- 19: Tony Mendez
- 19: Henry Sy
- 18: Boo
- 17: Windsor Davies
- 17: Mary Oliver
- 16: John C. Bogle
- 15: Carol Channing
- 13: Douglas M. Costle
- 12: Joe M. Jackson
- 11: Michael Atiyah
- 11: J. D. Gibbs
- 10: Theo Adam
- 9: Anatoly Lukyanov
- 7: Moshe Arens
- 7: Tom Rukavina
- 6: José Ramón Fernández
- 6: Alan R. Pearlman
- 6: W. Morgan Sheppard
- 5: Scott Dozier
- 5: Bernice Sandler
- 4: Harold Brown
- 4: John Thornett
- 3: Sylvia Chase
- 3: Chandrashekhar Shankar Dharmadhikari
- 3: Herb Kelleher
- 3: Michael Yeung
- 2: Daryl Dragon
- 2: Bob Einstein
- 2: Gene Okerlund
- Algeria, Libya and Tunisia
- Cameroon
- Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria
- Central African Republic
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Ethiopia
- Libya
- Mali
- Nigeria
- Somalia
- South Sudan
- Sudan
- Colombia
- Mexico
- Peru
- Afghanistan
- China
- India
- India and Pakistan
- Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines
- Indonesia and Papua New Guinea
- Myanmar
- Pakistan
- Philippines
- Thailand
- Armenia and Azerbaijan
- Georgia
- Russia
- Ukraine
References
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