Armed conflicts and attacks

• 2025–2026 Iranian protests
  • Massacres during the 2025–2026 Iranian protests
    • The non-governmental organization HRAI reports that at least 2,000 people have been killed during nationwide protests in Iran. Meanwhile, independent activist sources contend that the nationwide crackdown has resulted in at least 12,000 to 20,000 people killed. (CBS News) (AP)

Arts and culture

• Adelaide Writers' Week boycott
  • Adelaide Writers' Week in Adelaide, Australia, cancels its 2026 festival after director Louise Adler resigned and more than 180 writers withdrew in protest over the board's decision to disinvite Palestinian Australian author Randa Abdel-Fattah. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

• A landslide triggered by hours of heavy rain kills thirteen people and leaves over 30 others missing in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo. (AP)
• A ferry strikes rocks and sinks on the Niger River in Tombouctou Region, Mali, killing at least 38 people. (AP)

Law and crime

• Mexican drug war, Mexico–Venezuela relations
  • Mexican police arrest six alleged Tren de Aragua members operating in Mexico City on charges of drug trafficking, extortion, and human trafficking. (AP)

Politics and elections

• 2026 Ugandan general election, Human rights in Uganda
  • Uganda orders a nationwide internet shutdown two days before its general election, with the communications regulator directing service providers to suspend access to curb alleged misinformation and incitement. (AFP via Le Monde) (Al Jazeera)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Gaza war
  • Palestinian internal political violence
    • The Israeli-backed militant organization Counter-Terrorism Strike Force says it has assassinated Mahmoud Al-Astal, head of a Hamas-run police unit in Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip. (Reuters)
• Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
  • A roadside bomb targeting a police vehicle kills six officers near the Afghan border in northwestern Pakistan. (AP)
• Myanmar civil war, Bangladesh–Myanmar relations
  • Bangladesh detains 53 Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army members that crossed into Bangladesh amid fighting with the Arakan Army in Rakhine State, Myanmar. (AFP via The Straits Times)
• Sudanese civil war
  • A Rapid Support Forces missile strike kills ten civilians and wounds nine others in Singa, Sennar State, Sudan. (AA)

Business and economy

• Spanish property bubble
  • Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez issues a decree that tightens rent regulations by limiting short-term rentals and offering full tax refunds to landlords who renew contracts without rent increases, as the country faces a housing shortfall of about 500,000 homes and average rents that have doubled over the past decade. (Reuters)

Health and environment

• Climate change in Morocco
  • A seven-year drought ends in Morocco after a 95 percent increase in winter rainfall compared with 2025 was recorded. (Reuters)

International relations

• Somalia–United Arab Emirates relations
  • Constitutional crisis in Somalia
    • Cabinets of the Federal Government of Somalia claim to repel the United Arab Emirates from operating in the ports of Berbera, Bosaso, and Kismayo for their support of Somaliland. The Somaliland, Puntland, and Jubaland governments subsequently dismiss the decision. (Middle East Eye) (Dawan Africa) (The New Arab)

Law and crime

• Cambodia–South Korea relations, Scam centers in Cambodia
  • Cambodian and South Korean police arrest 26 suspects accused of impersonation scams and sexual exploitation that allegedly defrauded 165 South Korean victims of about ₩26.7 billion (US$18.25 million), with authorities set to extradite the suspects to South Korea. (Reuters)
• Corruption in Georgia
  • Former Georgian prime minister Irakli Garibashvili pleads guilty to large-scale money-laundering charges and receives a five-year prison sentence and a ₾1-million (US$371,829) fine after investigators seize about $6.5 million in cash during raids on his residence. (Reuters)
• Corruption in Poland, Hungary–Poland relations
  • Former Polish justice minister Zbigniew Ziobro receives political asylum in Hungary while Polish prosecutors investigate him on 26 counts related to alleged misuse of a crime victims fund and other abuses of office under the first Morawiecki cabinet. (The Guardian)
• Corsican conflict
  • Former National Liberation Front of Corsica leader Alain Orsoni is assassinated by a gunman at his mother's funeral in Vero, Corse-du-Sud, Corsica, France. (Reuters)
• War on drugs
  • Swedish police seize three tonnes of cocaine found in a shipping container from South America at the Port of Helsingborg, making it the country's single-largest seizure of the illegal drug. (Reuters)
  • Spanish police, in coordination with the UK National Crime Agency and the US DEA, seize 10 tonnes of cocaine hidden among a cargo of salt on a cargo ship off the Canary Islands. It is the country's largest ever seizure of drugs at sea. Thirteen people on board the vessel are arrested. (The Guardian)
• Venezuela releases between 41 and 116 political prisoners who were detained due to acts associated with civil disobedience the constitutional order. (Al Jazeera)

Science and technology

• Sexual deepfake generation on X
  • The United Kingdom's Ofcom opens an investigation into X over complaints about the creation of deepfake sexualised images. (RTÉ)
• After the Australian Online Safety Amendment came into effect on December 10, 2025, Meta shuts down over 544,000 accounts of users under the age of 16 on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. (DW)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Syrian conflict
  • SDF–Syrian transitional government clashes
    • January 2026 Aleppo clashes
      • The Syrian Democratic Forces withdraw from Aleppo following negotiations with the Syrian transitional government. (Al Jazeera)
• Russo-Ukrainian war
  • Attacks in Russia during the Russo-Ukrainian war
    • A woman is killed and around a dozen residential buildings are damaged in an overnight Ukrainian drone attack on Voronezh, Russia. (Reuters)
  • Russian attacks on civilians in the Russo-Ukrainian war
    • At least four people are killed and 20 others are injured in overnight Russian drone attacks across Ukraine. (Euronews)
• 2025–2026 Iranian protests
  • 2026 Los Angeles ramming attack
    • Two people are injured in a suspected vehicle-ramming attack when a U-Haul truck strikes multiple people during an anti-Iranian government protest in Los Angeles, California, United States, after protesters strike the vehicle with hands and flags. No one is hospitalized after the incident. (BNO News)
  • Non-governmental organization HRAI verifies the deaths of 483 protesters and 47 security personnel in Iran since the start of the protests. (Sky News) (Reuters)
  • Amidst the ongoing internet blackout, the Iranian government successfully shuts down the Starlink internet for the first time. (The Times of Israel)
• Sudanese civil war
  • Sudanese prime minister Kamil Idris announces that the government will return to the capital of Khartoum after previously operating out of Port Sudan for much of the conflict. (Al Jazeera)

Arts and culture

• 83rd Golden Globe Awards
  • At this year's Golden Globe Awards, Hamnet and One Battle After Another win Best Dramatic and Best Comedic or Musical Film, respectively, while The Pitt and The Studio win Best Drama and Best Comedy or Musical in television, respectively. (Los Angeles Times)

Business and economy

• China–Egypt relations, Foreign relations of Norway
  • Egypt signs renewable energy agreements worth US$1.8 billion with China and Norway. (Al Arabiya)

Disasters and accidents

• 2025–26 Australian bushfire season
  • One person is killed and at least 300 properties are destroyed by wildfires across Victoria and New South Wales, Australia. A state of emergency is declared in Victoria with thousands of firefighters and more than 70 aircraft deployed to combat the fires. (BBC News)
• Eight people are killed and 12 others are injured in an explosion during wedding festivities at a house in Islamabad, Pakistan. (Dawn)
• The death toll from avalanches in the French Alps over the weekend rises to six as three more skiers are killed. (AFP via South China Morning Post)
• Four people are killed and five others are injured after two cars collide head-on in Bolton, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom. (BBC News)

Law and crime

• Three inmates are killed, thirteen others are hospitalized, and a security guard is injured when violence breaks out at the Washington State Prison in Davisboro, Georgia, United States. (Georgia Public Broadcasting)

Politics and elections

• 2025–26 Myanmar general election
  • Citizens of Myanmar vote in the second phase to elect the nation's bicameral legislature. One more phase of voting is expected in late January. (AP)
• 2026 Beninese parliamentary election
  • Citizens in Benin vote to elect the 109 members of the National Assembly more than one month after a thwarted coup attempt. (RFI)

Sports

• 2026 United Cup
  • In tennis, Poland win their first United Cup title after defeating Switzerland 2–1 in the final at the Ken Rosewall Arena in Sydney, Australia. (Reuters)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Syrian conflict
  • SDF–Syrian transitional government clashes
    • January 2026 Aleppo clashes
      • A kamikaze drone of unknown origin strikes a governate building in Aleppo, Syria, while government officials were holding a conference inside, a day after the government declared a ceasefire in the city. (Al Jazeera)
  • Operation Hawkeye Strike
    • The United States military launches airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Syria. (Sky News) (Fox News)
• Crisis in Venezuela, War on drugs, United States–Venezuela relations
  • 2026 United States intervention in Venezuela
    • The U.S. State Department urges Americans to leave Venezuela immediately, following reports that Colectivos were targeting them. (The Guardian)

Disasters and accidents

• 2026 Binaliw landslide
  • The death toll from a garbage landslide in Cebu City, Philippines, rises to at least four, while 12 of about 50 buried sanitation workers are rescued. (AFP via Arab News)
• 2026 Paipa Piper PA-31 crash
  • Six people are killed, including musician Yeison Jiménez, when a Piper PA-31 Navajo crashes in Paipa, Boyacá Department, Colombia. (BNO News)

International relations

• Argentina–Brazil relations, Argentina–Venezuela relations, International reactions to the 2026 United States intervention in Venezuela
  • Brazil returns responsibility to Argentina for its diplomatic representation and custody of the Argentine embassy in Venezuela after overseeing the mission in Caracas since 2024 following the expulsion of Argentine diplomats under the Nicolás Maduro administration. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

• 2025 Egyptian parliamentary election
  • Egypt's National Elections Authority finalizes the remaining 49 parliamentary seats, confirming that President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi's allies retain the two-thirds supermajority needed to amend the constitution, while opposition parties and independents hold about 158 of 568 elected seats. (Reuters)
• Nicaragua–United States relations
  • Nicaragua releases dozens of prisoners after the United States publicly demanded the release of more than 60 political prisoners. (Al Jazeera)
• 2025 Honduran general election
  • The Chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Honduran Armed Forces Héctor Valerio informs that the already confirmed election results and the transfer of power would be guaranteed despite President Xiomara Castro's decree demanding a recount of the results. (Tiempo)

Science and technology

• Pornography Act
  • Indonesia suspends access to the Grok chatbot over concerns about the generation of pornographic content and summons representatives of its developer, xAI, for investigation. (Reuters)

Sports

• 2025–26 FA Cup
  • Macclesfield 2–1 Crystal Palace
    • In association football, National League North team Macclesfield beat the FA Cup defending champions Crystal Palace 2–1, in statistically the biggest upset in the competition's 155-year history. (BBC Sport)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Syrian conflict
  • SDF–Syrian transitional government clashes
    • January 2026 Aleppo clashes
      • The Syrian defense ministry declares a ceasefire in the Ashrafiyah, Bani Zeid, and Sheikh Maqsood districts of Aleppo after several days of armed conflict between government forces and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces that killed at least 21 people. (AFP via Arab News)
• Operation Southern Spear
  • United States oil blockade during Operation Southern Spear, Timor-Leste–United States relations
    • The United States military seizes a Timor-Leste-flagged oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea, marking the fifth tanker seized as part of the blockade. (The Guardian) (The Patriot-News)
• Russo-Ukrainian war
  • Kyiv strikes, Russian attacks on civilians in the Russo-Ukrainian war
    • Russian drone and missile strikes on Kyiv, Ukraine, kill four people and wound 28 others after several high-rise apartment buildings are targeted. The Qatari embassy is also damaged in the strikes. (Euronews)
    • Russia strikes Lviv in western Ukraine with its Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile, reportedly targeting a critical infrastructure site. (BBC News)
• Yemeni civil war
  • 2025 Southern Yemen offensive, Saudi-led intervention in the Yemeni civil war
    • A Southern Transitional Council (STC) delegation in Riyadh announces the group's dissolution following widespread territorial losses to the Saudi-backed Yemeni government. The STC rejects the announcement, saying the announcement was made under duress. (The New Arab)

Business and economy

• EU–Mercosur Association Agreement
  • Twenty-one of the 27 countries of the European Union approve a trade deal with Mercosur, which will create "the world's largest free trade area" after 25 years of talks. The deal is expected to be formally signed in Paraguay in the near future. (Politico)

Disasters and accidents

• Fourteen people are killed and over 30 others are injured after a bus plunges into a gorge near Nahan, Himachal Pradesh, India. (Hindustan Times)
• Nine people are killed and 10 are injured after a bus crashes between Kano and Maiduguri in Borno State, Nigeria. (Daily Post)

Law and crime

• 2026 Cedarbluff shootings
  • At least six people are killed in spree shootings at three locations across Cedarbluff, Mississippi, United States. A 24-year-old man is taken into custody and charged with murder. (AP via CTV News)

Politics and elections

• 2025 Honduran general election
  • The National Congress of Honduras approves a recount of the votes cast in the November 2025 election, which is subsequently approved by President Xiomara Castro's decree. (CNN in Spanish) (Bloomberg)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Operation Southern Spear
  • 2026 United States strikes in Venezuela
    • The death toll from the U.S. airstrikes on Caracas, Venezuela, five days ago increases to 100 people, including 23 Venezuelan military personnel and 32 Cuban personnel. (BNO News)
• SDF–Syrian transitional government clashes
  • January 2026 Aleppo clashes
    • As fighting between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces and the Syrian Army continues in Aleppo, Syrian authorities open an evacuation corridor for tens of thousands of civilians to evacuate the city. (Euronews)
    • The Syrian Army captures the Ashrafieh neighbourhood of Aleppo after three days of fighting with the Syrian Democratic Forces. (Al Jazeera)
• Yemeni civil war
  • 2025 Southern Yemen offensive, Saudi-led intervention in the Yemeni civil war
    • The Saudi Arabia-led coalition in Yemen claims that Southern Transitional Council (STC) president Aidarus al-Zoubaidi has fled to the United Arab Emirates through Somaliland. (Al Jazeera)
    • Government forces enter Aden and capture Aden International Airport as STC forces collapse in Aden Governorate. (AA via TRT World) (Al Jazeera)
• 2025–2026 Iranian protests
  • A police officer is reportedly killed during clashes with anti-government protesters in Malard, Iran, as the number of injured police officers rises to 568. (AA) (Africa News)
  • The Iranian opposition in exile calls for a general strike in the Kurdish areas in western Iran, which is widely observed. (Die Zeit in German)
  • NetBlocks reports a total internet outage in Tehran and other Iranian cities, continuing the following day. (Reuters) (RFERL)
• Gaza war
  • The Israeli military launches multiple attacks in Gaza, killing thirteen Palestinians, including five children. (The New Arab)

Business and economy

• Cambodia–China relations, Scam centers in Cambodia
  • The Cambodian central bank orders the liquidation of Prince Bank and suspends its operations after founder Chen Zhi was indicted by the United States for large-scale fraud and extradited to China. (AFP via France 24)

Disasters and accidents

• 2026 Binaliw landslide
  • At least one sanitation worker is killed when a landfill collapses in Cebu City, Philippines. Search and rescue operations are ongoing for the 34 others reported missing, while 12 people are hospitalized. (AFP via The Straits Times)
• A woman is killed in a shark attack off the coast of Saint Croix in the United States Virgin Islands. The species of the shark involved is currently unknown but a witness described it as "a big, big shark". (AP)

Law and crime

• 2025–2026 deployment of federal forces in the United States
  • 2026 Portland shooting
    • Two people are hospitalized after being shot by Border Patrol officers in Portland, Oregon, United States. (KPTV-TV)
  • Killing of Renée Good
    • Protesters and police clash in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S., after an ICE agent fatally shot a civilian woman yesterday. Pepper balls and a gas-like substance are fired toward the protesters outside a federal building. (CNN)
• Honduran congresswoman Gladys Aurora López is injured after being struck in the head by an explosive when entering the National Congress building in Tegucigalpa. (Times Now)

Politics and elections

• Catholic Church sexual abuse cases in Europe
  • The Spanish Episcopal Conference and the national government agree to let the ombudsman determine compensation for victims of clergy sexual abuse whose cases are time-barred or whose alleged abusers are deceased, opening a one-year claims process funded by the Catholic Church. (AP)
• Detention of Rocío San Miguel
  • Acting Venezuelan president Delcy Rodríguez's administration releases several political prisoners, including human rights activist Rocío San Miguel. (AFP via Barron's)