Portal:Current events/January 2024

Armed conflicts and attacks

• 2023 Israel–Hamas war
  • At least 27 rockets are fired by Hamas shortly after midnight at cities and towns in central and southern Israel. (Times of Israel) (Ynet)
  • The IDF withdraws five brigades, consisting of thousands of soldiers, from the Gaza Strip and says the war will enter a "different mode of operations". (Al Jazeera)
• Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
  • The Republic of Artsakh officially ceases to exist, in accordance with a decree signed by former president Samvel Shahramanyan. (Interfax)

Arts and culture

• Public Domain Day
  • 2024 in American public domain
    • The animated short film Steamboat Willie, the German-language version of the novel All Quiet on the Western Front, and other works published in 1928 enter the public domain in the United States. (Mashable)
• The Sheikh Zayed Festival at Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates breaks four Guinness World Records for a hour-long fireworks display and drone show during the New Year celebration. (Gulf News)

Disasters and accidents

• 2024 Sea of Japan earthquake
  • A magnitude 7.6 earthquake strikes the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, killing 73 people. A tsunami warning is issued for multiple prefectures along the Sea of Japan. (Reuters) (NHK)
• One person is killed and 21 others are injured in a fire at a bar in Graz, Austria, that was hosting a New Year's party. (AP)

International relations

• Foreign relations of Ethiopia, Foreign relations of Somaliland
  • Ethiopia announces an agreement with Somaliland to use 20 km of coastline, including the port of Berbera, in exchange for eventual recognition of the Somaliland Declaration of Independence, which would make it the first country to do so. (Reuters)
• Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates formally join the BRICS group as new members. (Tehran Times)

Law and crime

• 2023 Israeli judicial reform
  • Movement for Quality Government in Israel v. Knesset
    • The Supreme Court of Israel votes 8–7 to strike down the "reasonableness" bill passed by the Knesset in July. (BBC News) (Times of Israel)
• Bangladeshi economist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus and three people that worked at his company Grameen Telecom are sentenced to six months in prison for violating Bangladesh's labor laws. (Al Jazeera)
• LGBT rights in Estonia
  • Same-sex marriage in Estonia
    • Estonia becomes the 36th country in the world where same-sex couples can marry. (Postimees)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• 2023 Israel–Hamas war
  • 2023 Israel–Lebanon border conflict
    • Assassination of Saleh al-Arouri
      • An Israeli airstrike in the Dahieh neighborhood of Beirut, Lebanon, kills seven people, including Saleh al-Arouri, the deputy chairman of Hamas' political bureau, and two other senior Hamas military officials. Israel has not claimed responsibility for the attack. (Reuters)
• Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • Russian strikes against infrastructure
    • 2 January 2024 Russian strikes on Ukraine
      • Four civilians are killed and nearly 100 others are injured by a Russian missile attack in Kharkiv and at least 27 civilians are injured by a Russian missile attack in Kyiv. (AP)
• Spillover of the Afghan conflict
  • Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
    • Unidentified gunmen kill six people in Mir Ali, North Waziristan District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. (ABC News)

Arts and culture

• 2023 United States Congress hearing on antisemitism
  • Claudine Gay resigns as president of Harvard University following controversial remarks she made during a congressional hearing on antisemitism and accusations of plagiarism. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

• 2024 Haneda Airport runway collision
  • A Japan Airlines Airbus A350-900 aircraft collides with a Japan Coast Guard Dash 8 aircraft and bursts into flames at Haneda Airport in Tokyo, Japan. All 379 occupants aboard the Japan Airlines flight are evacuated, while five of the six occupants aboard the Coast Guard aircraft are killed. (BBC News) (Reuters)
• A Ugandan People's Defence Force helicopter crashes in the village of Nyamisigiri, Kabarole District, Uganda, killing two people on board the helicopter and one person on the ground. (KFM) (Aviation Safety Network)

Law and crime

• Attempted assassination of Lee Jae-myung
  • South Korean opposition politician Lee Jae-myung is stabbed in the neck in Gadeokdo, Busan. (The New York Times)
• A man breaks into the Colorado Supreme Court building in Denver, Colorado, United States. He holds a security guard at gunpoint and later voluntarily surrenders to police. (Colorado Public Radio)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Colombian conflict
  • The Clan del Golfo detonate explosives at an army encampment in Turbo, Antioquia Department, Colombia, killing a soldier and injuring 12 others. (ABC News)
• Kerman bombings
  • At least 84 people are killed and 284 more injured in a double bombing in Kerman, Iran, during a ceremony marking the fourth anniversary of the assassination of Qasem Soleimani. (AP)
• Russo-Ukrainian War
  • Ukraine and Russia complete their first prisoner exchange in nearly five months, releasing over 200 people on each side, facilitated by mediation from the United Arab Emirates. (Reuters)

Law and crime

• 2023 Sierra Leone coup attempt
  • A court in Freetown, Sierra Leone, charges former president Ernest Bai Koroma with four offences, including treason for his alleged role during the coup attempt in November. (France 24)
• Capital punishment in India
  • A court in India sentences two men to death over a train bombing in 2005 which killed 14 people. (Deccan Herald)
• Jeffrey Epstein's associates list
  • A court releases a document containing the associate list of Jeffrey Epstein to the public. (The Independent)
• Three men are stabbed and injured on a train at Akihabara Station in Tokyo, Japan. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

• Hilda Heine is sworn in as President of the Marshall Islands. (RNZ)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• 2023 Israel–Hamas war
  • Attacks on U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria (2023–present)
    • A U.S. drone strike in Baghdad kills four Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba militants, including senior leader Mushtaq Talib al-Saidi. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

• At least 1000 cars are snowed in on the E22 highway in Sweden between Hörby and Kristianstad for a day with people spending the night in their vehicles. The Swedish Army intervened in the situation, helping citizens get out of their vehicles and supplying them with basic amenities. (NOS)

Law and crime

• At least one person is killed and multiple others are injured in a mass shooting at a high school in Perry, Iowa, United States. (ABC News)
• Myanmar announces the pardon of 9,652 prisoners, including 114 foreigners, to mark the country's independence day. (Reuters)
• A spokesman for the Vice and Virtue Ministry of the Taliban in Afghanistan announces the arrest of an undetermined number of women for wearing "bad hijab", in the first known crackdown on dress code since their return to power in August 2021. (AP)

Politics and elections

• Russo-Ukrainian War
  • Russian President Vladimir Putin issues a decree granting Russian citizenship to foreigners who fight for Russia in the war against Ukraine. The decree also includes the volunteers' families. (Reuters)