Sunday, January 21st, 2024 

The JAXA lunar probe SLIM achieves the first-ever lunar soft landing of a Japanese spacecraft. (BBC News) 

Astrobotic‘s and NASA‘s Peregrine Mission One lunar lander is destroyed as it reenters Earth‘s atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean following the failure of its propulsion system. (BBC News) 

The European Space Agency probe Mars Express finds huge deposits of dusty ice beneath the equator of Mars, with the discovery being the largest amount of water ice ever found near the planet’s equator. (Space.com) 

A terminal of Russian gas producer Novatek catches fire in Ust-Luga, in the Gulf of Finland, due to a suspected Ukrainian drone attack. (NOS) 

At least 25 people are killed by Ukrainian artillery strikes on Donetsk. (Reuters) 

The United States Central Command says that a ballistic missile attack by Iranian-backed militias on Al-Asad Airbase in Al Anbar Governorate, Iraq, has injured several U.S. troops and at least one Iraqi soldier. (BBC News) 

United States Navy F/A-18s operating from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier carry out another wave of airstrikes on Houthi missile launchers in Yemen, with explosions reported in Al Hudaydah. (The Times of Israel) 

Israel launches an airstrike against a vehicle in Tyre, Lebanon, killing two Hezbollah members, including commander Ali Hudruj, and two other people in a nearby orchard. (Al Arabiya) 

An Israeli airstrike targeting a building in Damascus, Syria, kills five members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including general Sadegh Omidzadeh. (Al Jazeera) 

Saturday, January 20th, 2024 

Ukraine says that it struck an oil terminal in Saint Petersburg, Russia, with a domestic-produced long-range drone, as part of a new campaign against strategic targets inside Russian territory. However, Russia reports that the attack failed. (Reuters) 

Jordan launches airstrikes against alleged drug traffickers in Arman, Syria, hitting several buildings and killing ten civilians. (Al Jazeera) 

American sports publication Sports Illustrated lays off the majority of its staff after its publishing license is revoked by the Authentic Brands Group, the owner of the SI brand. (ABC News) 

At least 60 people have been killed across the United States after two weeks of storms caused dangerous road conditions and significant power outages. (NBC News) 

Thirteen third grade children are killed and another is injured in a massive boarding school dormitory fire in Yanshanpu Village, Henan Province, China. The school’s director has been arrested. (CNA) 

José Alberto García Vilano, a leader within the Gulf Cartel, is arrested in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. (BBC News) 

North Korea announces that it has tested a nuclear weapon delivered by an unmanned underwater drone system in the Sea of Japan. (Reuters) 

Indian multinational company Tata Steel announces the closure of both its blast furnaces in Port Talbot, Wales, with the loss of around 3,000 jobs across the United Kingdom, in what trade unions are calling a “worst-case scenario” for workers. (BBC News) 

Friday,  January 19th, 2024 

The United States Congress approves a stopgap bill to extend the deadline for government funding to March 2024, narrowly avoiding a government shutdown, which would have begun at midnight, January 19. (Reuters) 

The Pakistan Air Force launches “precision airstrikes” on Baloch separatist targets inside Iran a day after Iranian airstrikes against Baloch separatist militants in Balochistan, Pakistan, killed at least two civilians. Camps belonging to the Baluch Liberation Front and Balochistan Liberation Army are reportedly hit. Explosions are also reported in the city of Saravan. Nine foreign nationals are killed in the strikes. (Al Jazeera) 

The European Court of Human Rights announces that the Republic of Ireland has launched legal action against the United Kingdom over a law that gives amnesty to soldiers and militants involved in decades of violence in Northern Ireland. (Reuters) 

Several Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers are indicted in a scandal involving misuse of campaign funds, including incumbent lawmakers Yasutada Ōno and Yaichi Tanigawa, both of whom resign from the party following their indictments. (Kyodo News) 

The Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyūkai, Kōchikai, and Shisuikai factions of the Liberal Democratic Party all announce their intention to dissolve as a result of the scandal. (Nikkei Asia) 

Argentina deports eight Ecuadorians, including relatives of gang leader José Adolfo Macías Villamar, who were arrested yesterday amid the ongoing conflict in Ecuador. (Reuters) 

Philippine Senator Jinggoy Estrada is found guilty on charges of bribery, but acquitted on charges of plunder over the use of the Priority Development Assistance Fund. He is sentenced to 8 to 9 years for direct bribery, 2 to 3 years for indirect bribery and ordered to pay a fine of almost US$54,000. (Rappler) 

Four people are found dead at a residential property in Costessey, Norfolk, United Kingdom. Norfolk Constabulary confirms they receieved an emergency call from the property, which they ignored, and has referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct. (BBC News) 

UK Home Secretary James Cleverly announces a ban on Hizb ut-Tahrir, an Islamic fundamentalist movement, for its support of Hamas and “violently antisemitic rhetoric”. (The Algemeiner) 

Ninety-five people are charged in Kenya over the deaths by 429 followers of a religious cult in 2023. (Al Jazeera) 

The End