Armed conflicts and attacks

• ISIL insurgency in Iraq
  • 2021 Baghdad bombings
    • A double suicide bombing at an open market in Baghdad, Iraq, kill at least 32 people and injures 110 others. Attacks are rare in the country since the 2017 military defeat of ISIL, making this incident one of the deadliest since that year. (Reuters)

Arts and culture

• Events affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom
  • COVID-19 pandemic in England
    • Organisers announces that Glastonbury Festival has been cancelled for the second time due to the coronavirus pandemic. (The Guardian)
• Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on entertainment, COVID-19 pandemic in the United Arab Emirates
  • Dubai suspends all entertainment permits issued by the emirate for establishments due to rise of COVID-19 health protocols violations. (Khaleej Times)

Disasters and accidents

• Sriwijaya Air Flight 182
  • Indonesian authorities, led by Transportation minister Budi Karya Sumadi, officially ends the search for remaining victims and debris from Sriwijaya Air Boeing 737-500 plane that crashed into the Java Sea, killing all 62 people on board on January 9. (The Washington Post)
• Five people are killed in a fire at a Serum Institute of India facility in Pune, Maharashtra, India. (BBC)
• 2021 Kharkiv fire
  • Fifteen people are killed and eleven others wounded in a fire at a house for the elderly in Kharkiv, Ukraine. (BBC)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Hungary
      • Hungary approves the use of the Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine and Russia's Sputnik V vaccine, becoming the first European Union member state to approve the Russian vaccine. (BBC)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands
      • Despite objections from opposition MPs, Dutch House of Representatives (Parliament) votes to approve government plans to impose curfew from 9.00 p.m. to 4.30 a.m., half-hour later than Prime Minister Mark Rutte wanted. The curfew set to take effect from January 23. (Euronews) (RTL Nieuws)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal
      • Portugal reports a record of 221 deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide death toll to 9,686. (DGS)
      • The government announces the closure of all schools, kindergartens and universities for two weeks beginning tomorrow due to alarming surge of COVID-19 cases, especially the emergence of the Variant of Concern 202012/01 from the United Kingdom. (The Portugal News)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Russia
      • Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin announces that as part of easing of COVID-19 restrictions, museums and libraries will reopen starting tomorrow, while theatres and cinemas will be allowed to accommodate more visitors. He also said that colleges, sports schools and children's clubs will resume in-person attendance. (The Moscow Times)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Spain
      • Spain reports a record 44,357 new confirmed cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide total of confirmed casea to 2.456.675. (La Vanguardia)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia
      • Indonesia reports a record 346 new deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide death toll to 27,203. (detikHealth)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand
      • Thailand's Food and Drug Administration approves the emergency use of the Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. 50,000 doses of the vaccine will arrive in February. (Bangkok Post)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Argentina
    • President Alberto Fernández receives a dose of Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine, a day after use of vaccine for age 60 years or older was approved by the country's health regulator. (La Nacion)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa
    • South African Minister in the Presidency Jackson Mthembu dies due to COVID-19. (CNN)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    • Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
      • COVID-19 pandemic in Alabama
        • Alabama Governor Kay Ivey extends the statewide mask mandate to March 5. (San Francisco Chronicle)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Tennessee
      • Tennessee reports the first two cases of more contagious variant of SARS-CoV-2 that originated from the United Kingdom. (WSMV-TV)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Trinidad and Tobago
    • Trinidad and Tobago reports the first case of B.1.1.7 variant in a returned national who travelled from the United Kingdom. (Trinidad Express)

Law and crime

• Japanese nationality law
  • The Tokyo District Court upholds that the country's law of prohibiting dual citizenship of Japan and another country is constitutional, rejecting appeals for damages claiming that the law was unconstitutional. (AFP via Japan Today)

International relations

• The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) rules that the Russian Federation was responsible for a series of human rights violations during its 2008 war with Georgia, including killings of civilians, mistreatment of prisoners of war, looting and burning of ethnic Georgian villages, and preventing Georgian residents from returning to their places of residence in South Ossetia. (Guardian)

Politics and elections

• Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on politics, COVID-19 pandemic in Mongolia
  • Prime Minister Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh resigns a day after thousands in Ulaanbaatar protest against the heavy-handed treatment of a COVID-19-infected mother and her newborn baby. (CNA)
• Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene introduces six articles of impeachment against newly elected President of the United States Joe Biden. (Unofficial Wiki) & (Official Tweet from Representative Greene)
• Julie Payette resigns as Governor General of Canada following a review that cites allegations of a toxic work environment at Rideau Hall. (CBC)

Sports

• In association football, FIFA warns top-division European clubs and its players against participating in the proposed European Super League, threatening them with a ban from any FIFA-sanctioned competition. (AFP via Scroll)