The edition of
Friday 2 January 2026
16 stories, section by section, the most important first.
International
The Saudi Arabia-led coalition in Yemen launches airstrikes in Hadhramaut Governorate, killing 20 Southern Transitional Council (STC) fighters and leaving more than 20 others injured.
The STC announces a plan to hold an independence referendum for the State of South Arabia within two years.
The Alliance of Sahel States, consisting of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, bans American citizens from entering the countries, to reciprocate the U.S. banning their citizens.
Politics
Ciudad de la Paz, a planned city in the mainland, officially becomes the new capital of Equatorial Guinea, replacing Malabo, with a decree by President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. Government services are to relocate within one year.
Greece removes more than 308,000 inactive students from public university records under new education rules that end long-term dormant enrollment, reducing the official student population by almost half.
Business
BYD Auto, based in China, surpasses the United States-based Tesla, Inc., as the world's best-selling electric vehicle automaker after selling 2.26 million vehicles in 2025, overtaking Tesla's 1.64 million.
The Law
The Pakistani anti-terrorism court sentences eight journalists and online commentators, including Wajahat Saeed Khan, Adil Raja, and Shaheen Sehbai, to life imprisonment in absentia for terrorism-related offences tied to digital content supporting former prime minister Imran Khan during the unrest.
A South Korean court issues a new six-month detention warrant for former president Yoon Suk Yeol after indicting him on additional charges linked to his declaration of martial law in 2024, citing the risk of evidence tampering.
A protester is shot dead by security forces in Harsin, Kermanshah province, Iran.
Science
The United Kingdom records its hottest and sunniest year in 2025 with an average temperature of 10.09 °C (50.16 °F), surpassing the 2022 record of 10.03 °C (50.05 °F).
Environment
Eleven people are killed and eleven others are injured after a bus and a truck collide head-on on a federal highway in Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
A Mw 6.5 earthquake strikes 14 km (8.7 mi) off the coast of San Marcos, Guerrero, Mexico, killing two people and injuring 12 others.
An ATR 72-500, overran the runway upon landing at Bhadrapur Airport in Nepal and crashed into a creek. All 55 people on board survived, though 7 people received minor injuries and the aircraft was written off.
Dozens of people are missing and at least 102 others are rescued after a boat carrying over 200 migrants capsizes off the coast of the North Bank Division of the Gambia.
At least fourteen people die and several people are hospitalised after drinking contaminated water in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India.
Stories adapted from Wikipedia’s Current events portal for 2 January 2026, by Wikipedia contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0.