Portal:Current events/2025 January 28

Armed conflicts and attacks

• War against the Islamic State
  • Somali Civil War
    • Islamic State insurgency in Puntland
      • Puntland authorities ban illegal foreign entries and direct telecom firms to deactivate SIM cards linked to undocumented individuals and Islamic State operatives, aiming to disrupt the group's financial networks amidst ongoing anti-IS offensives by Puntland forces. (VOA) (Garowe Online) (International Organization for Migration)
      • Puntland's highest military court sentences two influencers to prison terms in absentia for promoting Islamic State propaganda and spreading disinformation intended at discrediting Puntland forces' ongoing operations. (Hiiraan Online) (Idil News)
      • At least four civilians are killed in an airstrike by an unknown combat drone in the Sihan area of Qandala district in Puntland's Bari region. (Garowe Online) (Hiiraan Online)
• Kivu conflict
  • M23 offensive
    • Battle of Goma
      • M23 rebels take full control of Goma International Airport in Goma, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to senior diplomatic and Congolese security officials. (Reuters)
      • Four more South African peacekeepers are killed after M23 forces launch a mortar attack on their position at Goma Airport, bringing the total number of foreign peacekeepers killed in recent clashes to 17. (Anadolu Ajansi)
      • Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe says Congolese president Félix Tshisekedi "will have to accept talks with M23 to end the situation once and for all". (The Hill)
    • 2025 Kinshasa riots
      • Mass rioting takes place in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, amid public outrage over the loss of Goma to Rwandan-backed rebels. Multiple embassies are stormed and attacked by anti-government protesters, including the embassies of France, Rwanda, and Uganda. Widespread looting is also reported in the capital. (Reuters)
• Gaza war
  • Gaza humanitarian crisis
    • Israel announces it will cease all contact with the United Nations relief agency for Palestinians, UNRWA, after a ban on the organization's work on Israeli territory goes into effect on January 30. (DW)
• Insurgency in Balochistan
  • Two Pakistan Army soldiers and five insurgents are killed in a shootout in Killa Abdullah District, Balochistan, Pakistan. (AP)
• Israeli invasion of Syria
  • Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announces that Israel Defense Forces will remain on the Syrian side of Mount Hermon indefinitely, apparently backtracking on repeated assurances from Israel that the move was temporary. (Times of Israel) (Middle East Eye)

Business and economy

• German economic crisis
  • Verdi, Germany's second-largest trade union, calls for a one-day labor strike for workers at logistics and courier company DHL, which also manages Deutsche Post. (DW)

Disasters and accidents

• Air Busan Flight 391
  • Seven people are injured when an Air Busan Airbus A321-200 aircraft catches fire before taking off from Gimhae International Airport in Busan, South Korea. All 169 people on board are evacuated from the aircraft. (Korea Herald)
• A United States Air Force F-35 pilot ejects during a crash at Eielson Air Force Base in Fairbanks, Alaska, United States. The aircraft is destroyed. (CBS News)

Law and crime

• 2025 Drents Museum heist
  • Following the heist of multiple Dacian artifacts last Saturday at the Drents Museum in Assen, Netherlands, Romanian Minister of Culture Lucian Romașcanu fires the director of the National History Museum of Romania in Bucharest. (NOS)
• Censorship in Pakistan
  • The Senate of Pakistan passes a bill to criminalize the spread of disinformation in Pakistan, with the possibility of up to 3 years imprisonment and fines of up to Rs. 2 million (US$7,121). (DW)
• Kyoto Animation arson attack
  • The Kyoto District Court finalizes the death sentence for Shinji Aoba, the perpetrator of the arson attack on a Kyoto Animation studio in 2019, after he withdraws his appeal to the court's ruling. (The Japan Times)
• Three people, including the perpetrator, are killed and two police officers are injured in a mass shooting at a Martin's Supermarket in Elkhart, Indiana, United States. (AP News)

Politics and elections

• Second presidency of Donald Trump
  • 2025 United States federal government grant pause
    • United States federal judge of the District Court of D.C. Loren AliKhan temporarily blocks President Donald Trump's executive order to pause funding for federal assistance in the country. (DW) (AP)
  • The United States Office of Personnel Management offers a "deferred resignation" scheme to the 2 million federal government employees to announce their resignation by February 6, while stating that employees who resigned would still receive salary and benefits until September 30, 2025. (OPM)(OPM FAQ)(Reuters)(FNN)
• 2024–2025 Serbian anti-corruption protests
  • Serbian prime minister Miloš Vučević resigns following protests prompted by the Novi Sad railway station canopy collapse. (BBC)
• 2025 Ontario general election
  • Ontario Premier Doug Ford announces that a new general election in the Canadian province of Ontario will be held on February 27. (Reuters)

Science and technology

• 2025 in aviation
  • Boom Technology's XB-1 supersonic demonstrator trijet becomes the first privately-funded jet-powered plane to break the sound barrier at Mojave Air and Space Port in Mojave, California, United States. (Reuters)
• Doomsday Clock
  • The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists announces that the Doomsday Clock has been moved up to 89 seconds before midnight. (Reuters)
• Google confirms that it will rename the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America on Google Maps for US users in line with the official position of the Trump administration. (The Guardian)
• Social media service Bluesky announces it has reached a milestone of 30 million users. (The Verge)