Portal:Current events/2025 January 20

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Colombian conflict
  • Catatumbo campaign
    • 2025 Catatumbo attacks
      • Colombian president Gustavo Petro declares a state of emergency in response to rebel attacks in the Catatumbo region. (MSN)
      • The death toll from fighting in the Catatumbo region, Colombia, increases to more than 100 as the National Liberation Army (ELN) launches more attacks. The Colombian government vows "war" against the ELN with Colombian president Gustavo Petro saying that the group has "chosen the path of war, and a war they will have". (The Guardian)
      • More than 11,000 people flee to the city of Cúcuta as ELN rebels clash with the 33rd Front of the FARC dissidents. Authorities say more than 20,000 people have now been internally displaced due to recent fighting. (France 24)
• Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • Attacks in Russia during the Russian invasion of Ukraine
    • Ukrainian drones attack industrial facilities in Tatarstan, Russia, prompting the Russian Federal Air Transport Agency to temporarily suspend flights at Kazan International Airport in Kazan and Begishevo Airport in Nizhnekamsk. (ABC News)
• Gaza war
  • An IDF reservist is killed and four others are injured, including a senior officer in critical condition, after their MDT David light armored vehicle hits a roadside bomb during a patrol in Tammun in the West Bank. (Times of Israel)
  • The Palestinian Civil Defence (PCD) states that the remains of 137 people have been recovered from Rafah in the Gaza Strip since the start of the ceasefire. The PCD estimates that there are 10,000 bodies buried under rubble left to be recovered. (Al Jazeera)

Business and economy

• Kingdom Holding announces the resumption of construction on the 1,000 metres (3,300 ft)-tall Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia, which is expected to be the world's tallest building. (Al Arabiya)

Law and crime

• January 6 United States Capitol attack
  • Pardon of January 6 United States Capitol attack defendants
    • United States President Donald Trump formally pardons around 1,500 defendants who had been criminally charged with involvement in the January 6 United States Capitol attack. Fourteen convicted individuals have their sentences commuted to time served. (NBC News)
• 2024 Kolkata rape and murder
  • A court in Kolkata, India, sentences a 33-year-old police volunteer to life in prison for raping and murdering a medical trainee in August 2024. (DW)
• 2024 Southport stabbing
  • Axel Rudakubana pleads guilty to all 16 charges, including three charges of murder in relation to a mass stabbing in Southport, Merseyside, England, in July 2024. Rudakubana is expected to be sentenced on Thursday. (ITV News)
• Capital punishment in China
  • China executes the perpetrators of the 2024 Zhuhai car attack and the 2024 Wuxi stabbing attack. (Al Jazeera)
• China–Philippines relations
  • Philippine police arrest a student of the People's Liberation Army for allegedly attempting to spy on several military facilities, including U.S.-accessible bases under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement. (Reuters)
• Presidency of Joe Biden
  • Outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden issues pre-emptive pardons for his siblings, former Chief Medical Advisor Anthony Fauci, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley and members of the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack prior to President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration. Biden also commutes the sentence of Indigenous activist and convicted murderer Leonard Peltier. (BBC News) (HuffPost)
• Eight people are killed and seven others are injured in an arson attack at a nursing home in Barajevo, Belgrade, Serbia. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

• Second presidency of Donald Trump
  • Second inauguration of Donald Trump
    • Donald Trump and JD Vance are inaugurated as the 47th president and 50th vice president of the United States in Washington, D.C., with Trump becoming the first president since Grover Cleveland to serve non-consecutive terms. (AP)
    • The inauguration is held indoors in the United States Capitol rotunda due to extreme cold temperatures, making it the first inauguration since 1985 to be held indoors. (Today.com)
    • During celebrations of the inauguration, businessman Elon Musk makes two gestures to a crowd at the Capital One Arena that some on social media liken to Nazi salutes. The gestures were made as Musk thanked the crowd, stating "My heart goes out to you." Musk denied any meaning behind the gestures. (BBC News) (The Independent) (AJ)
  • Executive orders in the second presidency of Donald Trump
    • On his first day of his second term, Trump signs his first executive orders on gender and immigration, and also signs an order ending usage of the CBP One app. (Boston Globe)
    • Trump signs the Putting America First In International Environmental Agreements executive order directing the U.S. to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. (AP)
    • Trump signs an executive order directing the U.S. to withdraw from the World Health Organization. (Reuters)
    • Trump signs executive orders calling for the renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the "Gulf of America" and for Denali to return to its former name "Mount McKinley". The rename would apply to all references from the federal government. (CBS News)
    • Trump declares illegal immigration a national emergency under the National Emergencies Act. (Reuters)
    • Trump officially creates the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by Elon Musk aimed at cutting spending of the U.S. government. DOGE is a temporary organization under the United States DOGE Service, not a federal executive department. Within minutes of the announcement, government employee unions, watchdog groups, and public interest organizations sued over this executive order. (Reuters)
    • Trump signs an executive order to delay enforcement of the law banning TikTok in the United States for 75 days. (CNN)
    • Trump revokes Biden's removal of Cuba from the state sponsors of terrorism list. (Reuters)
  • Protests against Donald Trump
    • Anti-Trump protests are held in cities across the United States, as well as in other countries, such as Mexico, Panama, and the United Kingdom. (The Guardian)
  • Second cabinet of Donald Trump
    • The United States Senate unanimously confirms Marco Rubio as Secretary of State, making him the first Cabinet official of Trump's second term to be confirmed by the Senate. Rubio also becomes the first Latino American to serve as Secretary of State. (The Hill)

Sports

• 2025 College Football Playoff National Championship
  • In American football, the Ohio State Buckeyes win their 9th college football championship, defeating the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. (Fox Sports)