Sunday, January 29th, 2023 

Forces of the Wagner Group say that they have captured the village of Blahodatne, north of Bakhmut. However, Ukraine rejects the claim and says that it repelled the attack. (AFP via The Moscow Times) 

The city of Kherson is shelled, killing three people, injuring six others, and damaging a hospital, school, and bus station. (Reuters via U.S. News & World Report) 

Unidentified warplanes, suspected to be Israeli, strike a convoy of Iranian trucks that entered Syria from Iraq through the Al-Qa’im border crossing. At least six trucks are believed to have been destroyed. There are no immediate reports of casualties. (Times of Israel) 

An 18-year-old Palestinian man is shot and killed by a group of Israeli civilians near the settlement of Kedumim, in the occupied West Bank. In a separate incident, a Palestinian civilian home is set on fire by settlers. The occupants were not there at the time of the attack. (Al Jazeera) 

At least 41 people are killed and two others are injured when a bus falls off a bridge and catches fire in Lasbela District, Balochistan, Pakistan. (Reuters) 

At least 22 people are killed and nearly two dozen are injured after a bus crashes near Dassa-Zoumé, Collines Department, Benin. (AP) 

At least nine people are killed when a container falls from a truck onto a commercial bus in Lagos, Nigeria. (The Guardian Nigeria) 

Azerbaijan suspends diplomatic activities at its embassy in Tehran after accusing Iran of failing to ensure the security of its embassy staff. (TASS) 

Voters in Liechtenstein reject a proposed ban on casinos. The proposal, which Prince Hans-Adam II opposed, was rejected by around 73 percent of voters. (Euronews) 

Tunisians head to the polls to elect the members of the third Assembly of the Representatives of the People in a run-off. The electoral board reports a voter turnout of 11.3 percent as most opposition parties boycott the election. (AFP via RFI) 

United Kingdom prime minister Rishi Sunak dismisses Nadhim Zahawi as chairman of the Conservative Party and minister without portfolio after Sunak’s ethics adviser, Laurie Magnus, found that Zahawi had breached the Ministerial Code for failing to disclose a £5 million tax penalty payment to HM Revenue and Customs while serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer under former prime minister Boris Johnson. (BBC News) 

Novak Djokovic defeats Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final, 6–3, 7–6^(7–4), 7–6^(7–5), to win the men’s singles tennis title at the 2023 Australian Open in Melbourne, tying him with Rafael Nadal for the most Grand Slams in men’s tennis history with 22. (BBC Sport) 

Saturday, January 28th, 2023 

Russia claims that a Ukrainian HIMARS missile strike on a hospital in Novoaidar, Luhansk Oblast, has killed 14 people and injured 24 others, including patients and medical staff. (Reuters) 

The Russian Air Force launches an airstrike on the city of Seredyna-Buda in Sumy Oblast, destroying a kindergarten and damaging nearby residential buildings. No casualties have been reported. The towns of Esman and Shalyhyne are also damaged by cross-border shelling. (Ukrinform) 

The Iranian Defence Ministry says that a drone attack on a military plant in Isfahan, Iran, was “unsuccessful” with at least three drones shot down by air defenses. No casualties have been reported. (Reuters) (AP) 

Explosions are reported at military sites and factories across Iran, including near the capital Tehran. Videos on social media appear to show explosions and large fires in the cities of Karaj, Dezful, and Tabriz. (Iran International) 

An explosion occurs at an oil refinery in Azarshahr, East Azerbaijan province, according to Iranian media. (Urdu Point) 

Two Israelis are shot and critically injured by a 13-year-old Palestinian in East Jerusalem, in the West Bank and the attacker is shot and injured by one of his victims before being arrested. (Al Jazeera) 

British regional airline Flybe collapses into administration with 277 job losses, while 75,000 customers are affected by flight cancellations. (BBC News) 

Three people are killed and 816 others are injured by a magnitude 5.9 earthquake in Khoy, West Azerbaijan province, Iran. (Al Jazeera) 

Six people are killed and three others are injured in a collision between a bus and a truck in Louisville, New York United States. (NBC News) 

At least 24 people are killed when a bus plunges off a cliff in the El Alto District, Talara Province, Peru. (Reuters) 

Three people are killed inside a vehicle and four others are injured on the street during a mass shooting in the Beverly Crest neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. (AP) 

The Czech Statistical Office reports that former NATO Military Committee chair Petr Pavel has been elected president, defeating former prime minister Andrej Babiš with 58 percent of the votes. (AFP via France 24) 

Aryna Sabalenka defeats Elena Rybakina in the final, 4–6, 6–3, 6–4, to win the women’s singles tennis title at the 2023 Australian Open in Melbourne, winning her first major singles title. (AFP via Deccan Herald) 

The End

Friday,  January 27th, 2023 

A radioactive capsule is missing along a 1,400-kilometre stretch of highway in Western Australia. (ABC News Australia) 

Authorities in Memphis, Tennessee, United States, release footage of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols being violently assaulted by multiple Memphis Police Department officers during a traffic stop on January 7. (AP) 

Ukraine says that “fierce fighting” is underway in the east and northeast of the country as Russian troops try to break through Ukrainian defensive lines in Kharkiv, Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts. (Reuters) 

A Russian Mi-8 helicopter of the “Rossiya” special flight squad [ru], which transports members of the government and armed forces, crashes at the Vnukovo Airport in Moscow. According to some reports there are injuries, with TASS reporting that pilot error is the main cause of the helicopter crash. (RTVI) 

Israeli Air Force jets launch airstrikes on an underground rocket manufacturing site, and a military base used by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, in response to rockets fired by Palestinian militants into southern Israel. (Reuters) 

Seven Israeli Jews are killed and three others are injured in a shooting at a synagogue in Jerusalem. The perpetrator is killed by police. (BBC News) 

A guard is killed and two others are injured during a shooting at the Azerbaijani embassy in Tehran, Iran. The perpetrator is arrested. (Al Jazeera) 

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons concludes with “reasonable grounds” that the Douma chemical attack that occurred in 2018, was carried out by the Syrian military. (Al Jazeera) 

Two people are killed and seven others are injured after a suspected gas explosion destroys half a house in Katowice, Silesian Voivodeship, Poland. (AP) 

South Africa agrees to send twelve cheetahs to India each year for the next eight to ten years to help secure a viable wild population. The Asiatic cheetah went extinct in India in the 1940s due to overhunting and habitat destruction. (BBC News) 

Hong Kong‘s Customs and Excise Department announces that all products containing cannabidiol will be banned as of February 1 and that the chemical will be classified in the same category as heroin and cocaine. (South China Morning Post) 

Czechs head to the polls to vote in the second round of the presidential election. (BBC News) 

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis survives a no-confidence vote called by former prime minister Alexis Tsipras over a wiretapping scandal. (AFP via The Sun) 

It is announced that at least 18 people have been killed in the past two weeks by toxic chemicals from factories in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. (Al Jazeera) 

A Russian Mi-8 helicopter of the “Rossiya” special flight squad [ru], which transports members of the government and armed forces, crashes at Vnukovo airport. According to some reports there are injuries, with TASS reporting that pilot error is the main cause of the helicopter crash. (RTVI) 

Thursday, January 26th, 2023 

Russia launches a wave of cruise missile and Shahed 129 drone strikes across Ukraine, targeting major cities and critical infrastructure, killing at least 11 people and injuring 11 others. Ukrainian general Valerii Zaluzhnyi says that at least 20 missiles have been intercepted over the capital Kyiv. (The Guardian) 

A U.S. military raid in northern Somalia kills senior Islamic State member Bilal al-Sudani and ten other insurgents. No U.S. military casualties are reported in the operation, which was ordered by U.S. President Joe Biden. (NBC News) 

Four Al-Qassam militants, three Islamic Jihad members and two Palestinian civilians are killed and 20 others are injured during a raid and subsequent gunfight by Israeli soldiers in Jenin, in the West Bank. In a separate raid in Al-Ram, a Palestinian man is killed and two others are injured by Israeli soldiers. (AP) 

Ten police officers are killed, one is critically injured and another is missing during a series of attacks in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, by the Gan Grif gang. (Al Jazeera) 

U.S. President Joe Biden grants a two-year extension to the Deferred Enforced Departure immigration status of Hong Kong residents, citing increasing tensions between Hong Kong and mainland China. (AFP via GMA News Online) 

Tokelauans head to the polls to elect the members of the General Fono. (RNZ) 

The End

Wednesday, January 25th, 2023 

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists declares an announcement that there is an announcement later this day about the Doomsday Clock which is a clock that is supposed to measure the figurative seconds until a apocalyptic global catastrophe. The announcement was that the Doomsday Clock has moved up to 90 seconds till midnight (midnight being a metaphor for the global catastrophe). The science and security board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists stated that a large part for this decision to move it was from the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. (NPR)

A new study by seismologists at Peking University in Beijing claims that Earth’s inner core stopped rotating faster than the rest of the planet in 2009. (Nature) (New Scientist) 

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announces that Germany will send Leopard 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine, and will also allow other operators of the tanks, such as Poland, to send them to Ukraine. (Reuters) 

Several senior Ukrainian officials, including deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Kyrylo Tymoshenko, four deputy ministers, and five regional governors, resign as a nationwide anti-corruption campaign is launched in Ukraine. (BBC News) 

A DRC Air Force Sukhoi Su-25 is hit by anti-aircraft fire over the Rwandan border. The Rwandan government says its forces took “defensive measures” against a plane that had “violated its airspace”. (BBC News) 

A Philippine Air Force SF.260 training flight from Sangley Point Airport in Cavite City, Philippines, crashes on a paddy field in Bataan, killing two people on board. (AP) 

Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins is sworn in as the 41st prime minister of New Zealand by Governor-General Cindy Kiro. (AFP via RFI) 

Tuesday,  January 24th, 2023 

Two British aid workers are killed during a humanitarian evacuation from Soledar in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. (BBC News) 

An ongoing tornado outbreak strikes the Gulf Coast of the United States, prompting the National Weather Service to issue a rare tornado emergency for areas east of Houston, Texas. (The New York Times) 

A Cessna 206 with 6 people on board goes missing in Isabela, Philippines. Rescue operations are being conducted. (Global China Daily) 

The death toll from the freezing temperatures across Afghanistan increases to 124. The majority of the victims are shepherds and people living in rural areas. (BBC) 

Monday,  January 23rd, 2023 

An Algerian Air Force Mi-171 helicopter crashes during a military exercise, killing three crew onboard. (MEHR) 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan rules out Turkish support for Sweden’s bid for NATO membership following the burning of a Quran outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm by Rasmus Paludan and a series of pro-Kurdish demonstrations where protestors waved PKK flags. (AP) 

Latvia asks Russian ambassador Mikhail Vanin [ru] to leave the country by February 24 in “full solidarity” with Estonia. (Politico) 

Seven people are killed and one other person is injured in a shooting spree in Half Moon Bay, California, United States. A suspect is taken into custody afterwards. (San Francisco Chronicle) 

Judge Tarek Bitar resumes his investigation into the explosion, 13 months after Hezbollah officials filed complaints against Bitar that prompted him to suspend the investigation. (AFP via Zawya) 

The Kumamoto district court orders the government to compensate two plaintiffs ¥22 million (US$170,000) worth of damages for their compulsory sterilization under the now-obsolete Eugenic Protection Act of 1948. (Kyodo News) 

A major power outage in Pakistan leaves nearly 220 million people without electricity after a failure at the national power grid. Earlier this month, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had ordered a reduction of energy consumption as the country faces a severe energy crisis. (Reuters) 

the expulsion of the Russian ambassador in Tallinn to reciprocate Russia’s expulsion of the Estonian ambassador in Moscow due to a “downgrade” of relations. Both envoys will depart their respective assignments on February 7. (AFP via A News) 

The End