The edition of
Thursday 16 January 2025
23 stories, section by section, the most important first.
International
Thousands of families are displaced as the military campaign intensifies, forcing locals to flee their homes in Bari region of Puntland, Somalia.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer visits Kyiv, Ukraine, to sign a 100-year agreement with Ukraine that will formalize British economic and military support for Ukraine.
Israeli airstrikes kill at least 82 people across the Gaza Strip, including 30 in Gaza City, hours after the announcement of a ceasefire agreement.
The Puntland Security Force claims to have captured a training facility used by ISIL militants, with over forty ISIL fighters killed following heavy fighting.
The leader of the Houthis Abdul-Malik al-Houthi announces that the group will monitor the implementation of the Israel–Hamas ceasefire agreement and continue its attacks on vessels and on Israel if the ceasefire is breached.
The U.S. Treasury Department sanctions the head of the Sudanese Armed Forces Abdel Fattah al-Burhan for "destabilizing Sudan and undermining the goal of a democratic transition" to a civilian-led government.
Politics
The Parliament of Bulgaria approves a coalition government consisting of the GERB-SDS, BSP – United Left, and There is Such a People parties, with GERB's Rosen Zhelyazkov becoming Prime Minister.
The government of French Prime Minister François Bayrou survives a no-confidence motion by the opposition New Popular Front electoral alliance.
Citizens of Vanuatu vote for the 52 members of Parliament.
The Law
Two women are killed and a third is injured in a mass stabbing at a school in Spišská Stará Ves, Slovakia. The perpetrator is arrested.
Two homeless people are killed and two others are injured in a mass stabbing attack in Miami, Florida, United States. A 30-year-old suspect is arrested.
Taiwan carries out its first execution in five years on a man who was convicted of the 2013 murder of his former girlfriend and her mother.
The Government of Cuba releases dissident and human rights activist José Daniel Ferrer from jail.
Science
Blue Origin launches its New Glenn rocket for the first time from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, United States. The rocket's second stage, carrying a prototype Blue Ring spacecraft, successfully reaches a geocentric orbit, but its reusable first stage is lost during landing.
The twin satellites SDX01 and SDX02 of the SpaDeX mission, launched in December by the Indian Space Research Organisation, successfully conduct India's first spacecraft docking, with India becoming the fourth country to successfully dock a spacecraft after the United States, Russia, and China.
SpaceX launches its seventh test flight of the Starship launch vehicle, with an improved second stage, at Starbase in Texas, United States. The first stage is successfully caught by the launch tower but the second stage breaks up shortly before engine shutdown.
Nintendo officially reveals the Nintendo Switch 2 video game console, the successor to the Nintendo Switch.
Environment
A boat carrying migrants capsizes near Dakhla, Western Sahara on its way to Spain's Canary Islands, killing at least 50 people including 44 Pakistanis.
Two deminers are killed in an explosion while attempting to remove a Cambodian Civil War-era anti-tank mine from a rice field in Oddar Meanchey province, Cambodia.
It is reported that the Eaton Fire, which has burned over 14,000 acres and has killed 17 people, is 65% contained.
The bodies of nine illegal miners trapped inside a gold mine in Stilfontein, South Africa, are recovered by police.
Sport
Shortly after withdrawing from the January 2025 Grand Sumo Tournament due to injuries, the 73rd yokozuna Terunofuji Haruo announces his retirement. If no other wrestler is promoted this tournament, his retirement leaves sumo without a yokozuna for the first time since 1993. Terunofuji also announced his intention to remain in the Japan Sumo Association as an oyakata.
Stories adapted from Wikipedia’s Current events portal for 16 January 2025, by Wikipedia contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0.