Portal:Current events/2025 January 6

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Islamist insurgency in the Sahel
  • French military withdrawal from West Africa
    • French President Emmanuel Macron says France was right to intervene militarily in the African Sahel against the mujahideen, that he is still waiting for the Sahel states to thank France and that the French Armed Forces were not forced out. (Reuters)
• Israeli–Palestinian conflict
  • Gaza war, Israeli incursions in the West Bank
    • 2025 al-Funduq shooting
      • Three Israelis are killed and eight others are injured in a mass shooting by Palestinian gunmen firing at a bus and two vehicles on Highway 55 in Al-Funduq in the West Bank. (BBC News)
• Naxalite–Maoist insurgency
  • 2025 Bijapur Naxal attack
    • A bomb blast attributed to Maoist rebels in Bijapur, Chhattisgarh, India, kills eight police officers and a driver traveling in a police vehicle. (Reuters)
• Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • Kherson strikes, Attacks on civilians in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
    • A Russian drone attacks a civilian passenger bus in Kherson, Ukraine, reportedly killing at least one person and injuring at least nine others. (Reuters)
• 2024 Magdeburg car attack
  • The death toll in the vehicle-ramming attack at the Magdeburg Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, on December 20, increases to six after a 52-year-old woman dies from injuries sustained in the attack. (BBC News)
• North Korean missile tests
  • The South Korean military reports that North Korea has fired what appears to be an intermediate-range ballistic missile toward the Sea of Japan, in what would be the country's first missile launch in two months. The launch comes as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visits Seoul, South Korea, for talks with South Korean leaders. (BBC News)
• Mexican drug war
  • At least eight gunmen are killed and three policemen are wounded after security agents repels an attack near the Buenavista de Libertad, Yuriria, Guanajuato, Mexico. Security forces members seize four vehicles, ballistic vests, and twelve firearms. In the same area, another encounter was reported two months ago, leaving three officers wounded. (Revista Proceso)
• Two people are killed and two others are injured in an IED attack at a school near Abuja, Nigeria, with police identifying three men as suspects in bringing the device to the site. (Reuters)

Business and economy

• 2022–2023 Russia–European Union gas dispute
  • According to Slovakia, a planned meeting between Slovak, Ukrainian, and European Commission officials over gas supplies scheduled for Tuesday has been cancelled due to Ukraine's refusal to participate in the meeting. (Reuters)
• The Brazilian government announces that Indonesia has joined the BRICS trade bloc as a full member. (Reuters)
• Colombian bank Davivienda and Canadian bank Scotiabank announces a merger where Davivienda will absorb Scotiabank's operations in Colombia, Costa Rica and Panama, and, Scotiabank will acquire 20% of Davidienda's stakes. (Scotiabank)

Disasters and accidents

• 18 people are killed in a multi-vehicle collision on Van Reenen's Pass in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. (ENCA)
• Several miners are trapped in a coal mine in Dima Hasao, Assam, India, with rescue efforts underway involving the State Disaster Response Force, the National Disaster Response Force, and the Indian Army. Local authorities state that flooding may have caused the incident. (Reuters)

Health and environment

• 2020–2025 H5N1 outbreak
  • The United States reports its first death from H5N1 bird flu after a man died in the hospital in Louisiana. (Reuters)

International relations

• Syrian civil war
  • Humanitarian aid during the Syrian civil war
    • The International Committee of the Red Cross announces plans to expand its operations in Syria beyond an initial US$100 million program, citing urgent needs in the health, water, and power sectors. (Reuters)
• International reactions to the 2024 Venezuelan presidential election, Paraguay–Venezuela relations
  • The Venezuelan government suspends diplomatic relations with Paraguay, after Paraguayan President Santiago Peña recognizes Edmundo González as president-elect of Venezuela. (Reuters)

Law and crime

• Volksverhetzung
  • Germany reports a significant increase in far-right crime, primarily from increasing online expression offenses and hate speech, as well as an increase in Gaza war-related resentment. (Reuters)
• The Court of Appeal of Malaysia orders a lower court to reconsider former Prime Minister Najib Razak's claim of a royal order granting him home detention, which he alleges was issued alongside his reduced prison sentence for his involvement in the 1MDB corruption scandal. The ruling follows the disclosure of a letter confirming the existence of such an order, which the government asserts they have not received. (Reuters)
• Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello says that 125 foreign citizens have been arrested on suspicion of serving as United States mercenaries in order to cause a coup in Venezuela. (The Times of Israel)

Politics and elections

• 2024 Austrian legislative election
  • After the Austrian People's Party fails to form a government, President of Austria Alexander van der Bellen gives the mandate to form a post-election government to the Freedom Party's leader Herbert Kickl, who is expected to rule within a coalition of the two parties. (DW)
• Conscription in Israel, Exemption from military service in Israel
  • More than 50 Haredi Jews join the Israel Defense Forces for the first time since the start of the Gaza war, forming the Haredi Hasmonean Brigade, after repeated protests against the conscription of yeshiva students. (The Economic Times)
• Proposals for the United States to purchase Greenland
  • The King of Denmark officially changes the Danish coat of arms to feature Greenland and the Faroe Islands more prominently, following suggestions from United States president-elect Donald Trump about the nation purchasing Greenland. (The Guardian)
• Resignation of Justin Trudeau
  • Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announces his resignation as leader of the Liberal Party and also announces that he will resign as Prime Minister once a new Liberal Party leader is chosen. (BBC News)
• Second presidential transition of Donald Trump
  • The U.S. Congress certifies the results of the 2024 presidential election. U.S. Vice President and Democratic Party candidate in the 2024 presidential election. Kamala Harris presides over the ceremony and certifies her defeat, officially making Donald Trump the President-elect and JD Vance the Vice President-elect. Trump and Vance are expected to be sworn-in on January 20. (ABC News)
• Pope Francis appoints Sister Simona Brambilla as Prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, becoming the Vatican's first female prefect of the Roman Curia. (Vatican News)
• The President of São Tomé and Príncipe, Carlos Vila Nova, dismisses the Government of Prime Minister Patrice Trovoada. (Africa News)