Portal:Current events/2019 January 21

January 21, 2019 (Monday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Maidan Shar attack
- A Taliban attack on a National Directorate of Security compound in the central Maidan Wardak Province, kills 126 security personnel, according to local officials. (The Guardian)
Dissident Irish Republican campaign
- In two incidents in Derry, a truck is hijacked and abandoned in the city center, and a Royal Mail van is hijacked at gunpoint and later abandoned. Authorities blame the New IRA. (Belfast Telegraph)
Syrian Civil War
- A suicide car bomb attack kills five members of the Syrian Democratic Forces while they were out on a patrol with U.S. troops in northeastern Syria. (Telegraph)
- The Israeli military says it had attacked Iranian military targets in Damascus including the city's international airport in response to a missile attack. (CNN)
Crisis in Venezuela
- A mutiny by members of the Venezuelan National Guard who oppose the government is quashed. The Venezuelan Military in a statement says they were involved in "treasonous" acts motivated by "obscure interests tied to the far right." (Time)

Business and economy

Germany revokes the license of Iranian airline Mahan Air, citing the airline's involvement in Syria and other security concerns. (Reuters)
The Israel Airports Authority formally opens Ramon Airport in the Timna Valley near Eilat. The new international airport replaces Eilat Airport, which will cease operations on January 22. (Channel NewsAsia)

Disasters and accidents

2019 Piper PA-46 Malibu disappearance
- A Piper Malibu light aircraft, carrying two people on a flight from Nantes to Cardiff, goes missing off the coast of Alderney in the Channel Islands. A major search and rescue operation is underway. Cardiff City F.C. footballer Emiliano Sala is confirmed to have been on board the missing aircraft. (BBC News), (Sky)
At least 11 crew members are killed after two ships caught fire, as one vessel was transferring fuel to the other, in the Kerch Strait near Crimea. (BNO) (BBC News)
Two men are killed in separate avalanches at U.S. ski resorts, one near Aspen, Colorado, and another in Kachina Peak at Taos Ski Valley, approximately 125 miles (201 km) northeast of Albuquerque, New Mexico. (NBC News)

Law and crime

LGBT rights in Egypt
- Egyptian TV presenter Mohamed al-Ghiety is sentenced to one year of hard labor and fined 3,000 Egyptian pounds ($167; £130) for "promoting homosexuality" by interviewing a gay man on the privately-owned LTC Egypt TV channel last year. (BBC News)

Politics and elections

2020 United States presidential election, 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries
- Democratic U.S. Senator Kamala Harris from California announces she will run for President in 2020. (NPR)
- Howard Schultz, former CEO of Starbucks, is reported to be exploring an independent candidacy for President of the United States in 2020. (CNN)
Brexit
- The Labour Party proposes an amendment to the Brexit deal which would require a second referendum before the United Kingdom fully exits the European Union. (The Guardian)

Science and technology

Lulu and Nana controversy
- China confirms the 2018 birth of the world's first genetically edited babies, Lulu and Nana, saying He Jiankui forged ethical review papers and organised a project team with foreign staff, which intentionally avoided surveillance, and that He and his staff will be punished according to laws and regulations. The Guangdong government will keep the twins under medical observation with the support of the national departments. (South China Morning Post)
January 2019 lunar eclipse
- A total lunar eclipse occurs, popularly dubbed a Super Blood Wolf Moon, due to the timing and orbital perigee, and a meteor impact is observed during the event. (Space.com)