S&P 500
+0.00%
$7,483
BTC
+2.04%
$61,329
OIL (WTI)
-0.09%
$68
January 22, 2021 (Friday)
4.4 minutes to read
Armed conflicts and attacks
The Uganda People's Defence Force says it has killed 189 al-Shabaab militants in a military operation, southwest of the Somali capital Mogadishu, and also destroyed a number of military hardware used by the terror group.
Business and economy
The World Trade Organization rules that the United States violated the organization's rules when it significantly raised the tariff on some South Korean goods, from 9.49% to 59.72%, in May 2016.
Health and environment
California reports a record 764 deaths in the past 24 hours.
New Jersey reports their first two cases of the UK variant of SARS-CoV-2. Neither had travelled.
The number of recoveries in Belize surpasses 11,000.
Cuba reports their first case of a variant from South Africa in an asymptomatic person who travelled from the country.
Portugal also reports their first case of the 501.V2 variant that originated in South Africa. They do not indicate whether the individual travelled.
Belgium declares a ban on non-essential travel in and out of the country from January 27 through March 1 in order to curb the spread of SARS-CoV-2 variants.
A panel of scientists that advises the British government announces that a variant first discovered in the United Kingdom is 30% more deadly than the original SARS-CoV-2 virus.
For the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, Hong Kong will impose a lockdown in the Yau Tsim Mong District beginning this weekend. Negative COVID-19 testing results will be required in order to leave one's residence.
Japan reports a record 108 deaths in the past 24 hours.
Malaysia reports a record of 18 deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide death toll to 660.
Myanmar receives its first 1.5 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India.
International relations
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons enters into force, banning the development, testing, production, stockpiling, stationing, transfer, use and threat of use of nuclear weapons in 51 countries. However, the world's major nuclear powers have not endorsed this international agreement.
Law and crime
Farmer leaders allege a conspiracy to kill four of them and create disturbance during their proposed tractor rally on Republic Day in Delhi.
A magistrate judge orders Oath Keepers member Donovan Crowl to be detained on charges for his role during the storming of the United States Capitol.
Seven culprits involved in the deaths of 39 Vietnamese unlawful immigrants smuggled in a refrigerator lorry in Grays, Essex in 2019 have been sentenced on multiple counts of manslaughter. Five people received sentences of between 3 to 18 years in prison, while the two main leaders of the smuggling operation received 20 and 27 years respectively.
Israeli businessman Beny Steinmetz is sentenced by a Geneva court to five years in prison for corruption in obtaining mining rights to an iron ore deposit in Guinea, and is ordered to pay a fine of CHF 50 million (US$56 million) to the canton of Geneva.
Former Bosnian Army general and deputy Minister of Defense Sakib Mahmuljin is sentenced to ten years in prison for failing to prevent or punish foreign Islamist fighters who murdered and tortured Serbian prisoners during the Bosnian War.
Police in Russia arrest five aides of Alexei Navalny ahead of planned protests. Navalny has been under arrest since returning to Russia on January 17.
Sam Gor drug lord Tse Chi Lop is arrested by police at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in Amsterdam. The Australian Federal Police are seeking to extradite him to face trial. Twenty law enforcement agencies assisted the operation, known as "Operation Kungur".
Politics and elections
The U.S. Senate votes 93–2 to confirm Lloyd Austin as Secretary of Defense, making him the first African-American to lead the The Pentagon.
Science and technology
In response to a bill proposed by parliament to require dot-com companies to compensate local news outlets for hosting their content, Google threatens to block Australians from using its web search engine should the current draft of the bill become law.
Twitter suspends an account linked to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei after Khamenei threatened to assassinate former U.S. President Donald Trump in revenge for the assassination of Qasem Soleimani in 2020.
TikTok announces that they have banned Baked Alaska, the far-right activist who was arrested by the FBI for participating in the storming of the United States Capitol.
Alphabet Inc. announces that it will shut down its subsidiary Loon, which provides an aerial wireless network through high-altitude balloons, saying that it is not "commercially viable".
Sports
British Athletics cancels its annual indoor championships that were set to begin in Glasgow in February due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Organisers of the Tour de Normandie cancel the annual seven-day bicycle race that was scheduled for May due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This is the second year that it has been cancelled.
Get the app
