Portal:Current events/2025 January 21

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Colombian conflict
  • Catatumbo campaign
    • 2025 Catatumbo attacks
      • Fourteen members of the 33rd Front of FARC dissidents, including one minor, surrender to personnel from the National Army of Colombia to avoid combat with the ELN. (Blu Radio)
      • The Office of the Inspector General of Colombia warns that about 46,000 schoolchildren have not been able to start the academic year due to the ongoing conflict in the region and asserted that about 35% of the affected displaced population are individuals under the age of 18. (El Espectador)
• Israeli incursions in the West Bank
  • 2025 Israeli raid on Jenin
    • Israeli forces launch a large-scale raid in the Jenin refugee camp, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, killing at least ten people and injuring more than 35 others. (Al Jazeera)
• Kivu conflict
  • M23 offensive
    • M23 rebels seize the town of Minova in Kalehe Territory, Democratic Republic of the Congo, cutting off a major supply route to the strategic city of Goma. (Reuters)
• Mexican drug war
  • Former regional prosecutor of Cuautitlán Elohim Díaz Jiménez and coffee businessman Cristian Muñoz are shot dead inside a restaurant in Metepec, State of Mexico, by gunmen disguised as food delivery workers. (El Universal)
• Syrian civil war
  • Six people are killed in Homs Governorate, Syria, as security forces conduct an operation against militias supporting ousted president Bashar al-Assad. (Al Arabiya)
• Four people are injured, one seriously, in a stabbing attack in Tel Aviv, Israel. The Shin Bet confirm that the attacker was a 28-year-old from Morocco, and had permanent residency in the United States. (BBC) (The Times of Israel) (Xinhua)

Business and economy

• Infrastructure policy of Donald Trump
  • The Stargate Project
    • U.S. President Donald Trump unveils a joint venture between OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank, called Stargate. With planned funding of up to $500 billion in the next four years, the project aims to build data centers and computing infrastructure across the United States to power AI development and create over 100,000 jobs. (The Guardian)
  • President Trump announces a pause in $300 billion of funding for green infrastructure previously allocated in the Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. (Financial Times)

Disasters and accidents

• 2025 California wildfires
  • January 2025 Southern California wildfires
    • Multiple brush fires spread by hurricane-force winds erupt in San Diego County, California, U.S., prompting evacuation orders. (USA Today)
• 2024–2025 floods in Southeast Asia and South Asia
  • Sixteen people are killed in floods and landslides in Central Java Province, Indonesia. (ABC)
• 2025 Kartalkaya hotel fire
  • At least 76 people are killed and another 51 injured in a fire at the Grand Kartal hotel in Kartalkaya, Bolu Province, Turkey. (Reuters)
• Seventeen people are killed and 23 more injured after a collision between a bus and a truck in Ponan-Ouinlo, Ivory Coast. (AP)
• Much of Canada and the contiguous United States are impacted by a cold wave, killing one person near Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Historic snowfall is expected in the US South, and historic blizzard and whiteout conditions are expected on the Gulf Coast. (CNN)
• One person is killed and another is injured in an explosion at the Port of Barcelona in Barcelona, Spain. (Reuters)
• Twenty Ethiopian migrants are killed when their boat capsizes off Yemen after departing from Djibouti, according to the International Organization for Migration. (Al Arabiya)

International relations

• Afghanistan–United States relations
  • Two Americans held in Afghanistan are freed in exchange for a Taliban fighter in the United States. The deal is brokered by Qatar and finalized during the final hours of the outgoing Biden administration. (DW)

Politics and elections

• Pope Francis announces that nun Raffaella Petrini will be appointed President of the Governorate, becoming the first woman head of government of Vatican City. She will assume the office on March 2025. (Catholic News Agency)

Law and crime

• U.S. President Donald Trump pardons Ross Ulbricht, the creator of the Silk Road. Ulbricht was serving a life sentence for charges including conspiracy to commit money laundering, hacking, and drug trafficking. (Axios)