Portal:Current events/2025 January 24

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Colombian conflict
  • Catatumbo campaign
    • 2025 Catatumbo clashes
      • The Colombian National Army and National Police begin offensive operations across eleven municipios of the Catatumbo region. (El Tiempo)
• War against the Islamic State
  • Somali Civil War
    • Islamic State insurgency in Puntland
      • At least thirteen Islamic State militants are allegedly killed in heavy fighting as Puntland forces claim they successfully took over the towns of Turmasaale and Janno-Jiifta in the Bari region, Puntland, Somalia. (The Somali Digest) (Idil News)
• Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • Attacks in Russia during the Russian invasion of Ukraine
    • A Ukrainian drone strike targets an oil refinery in Ryazan Oblast, Russia, in one of the largest Ukrainian drone attacks inside Russia of the conflict to date. The Russian military says it shot down at least 121 drones over 13 regions overnight. (BBC News)
  • Kyiv strikes
    • A Russian drone strikes a ten-storey apartment building in Fastiv, Kyiv Oblast, killing at least three people. (Euronews)
  • Mobilization in Ukraine
    • Ukraine finalizes military reforms aimed at recruiting 18- to 25-year-olds to the armed forces, penalizing draft dodgers, and lowering the minimum compulsory military service age to 25 from 27. (The Kyiv Independent)
  • The Ukrainian Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War announces that, with assistance from the International Committee of the Red Cross, the bodies of 757 Ukrainian soldiers have been returned to Ukraine. (The Kyiv Independent)
• Gaza war
  • Hamas confirms that an Israeli airstrike last summer killed Rawhi Mushtaha, according to Israel "head of the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip", along with Sameh al-Siraj, who held the security portfolio in Hamas's political bureau, and Sami Odeh, the head of Hamas's "general security mechanism". (Al Sharq AlAwsat)

Arts and culture

• 97th Academy Awards
  • I'm Still Here becomes the first Brazilian film to be nominated for Best Picture, while Karla Sofía Gascón becomes the first openly transgender actress to be nominated for Best Actress. (The Washington Post) (Reuters) (AP)

Business and economy

• Canadian economic crisis
  • The Canadian Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship department announces a limit of 437,000 study permits for 2025, a 10% reduction from 2024, as part of efforts to address pressures on housing, healthcare, and other public services caused by the country's rapid population growth. (Reuters)
• Saudi Arabia–United States relations
  • Saudi Arabia announces that it will invest US$600 billion in the United States economy. (Al Arabiya)
• Spirit Airlines announces a ban on passengers who wear "lewd" clothing or have "offensive" tattoos. (The Hill)

Disasters and accidents

• 2024–25 European windstorm season
  • Storm Éowyn
    • A wind gust provisionally measured at 183 km/h (114 mph) was recorded in Connemara in County Galway, Ireland, and a mean wind speed measured at 135 km/h (84 mph), would surpass Ireland's previous records. (The Irish Times)
    • A man is killed in County Donegal, Ireland, after high winds cause a tree to fall on his car. (BBC News)
• Environmental issues in Somalia
  • At least 140 dolphins are found stranded on the shores of Mareero Beach near Bosaso, Puntland, Somalia, with 60 confirmed dead and 30 returned to the sea. (Idil News) (Reuters) (Horn Observer)

International relations

• Mexico–United States border crisis
  • Mass deportation of illegal immigrants in the second presidency of Donald Trump
    • Mexico denies a request from the United States to allow a military aircraft deporting migrants from the U.S. to land in Mexico. (Reuters)
• The U.S. State Department freezes nearly all foreign aid except military aid to Israel and Egypt, as well as emergency food programs. (Global News)

Law and crime

• The Cabinet of Hun Manet approves a bill that strengthens penalties for Cambodian genocide denial, proposing prison terms of one to five years and fines of US$2,500 to $125,000. (AP)

Politics and elections

• 2025 Slovak protests
  • Over 60,000 people demonstrate across Slovakia in protest of Prime Minister Robert Fico's anti-Ukrainian, pro-Russian, and Eurosceptic policies. (AP)
• 2024–2025 Serbian anti-corruption protests
  • Mass protests and a general strike are held across Serbia, in an escalation of months of anti-government protests. (France24)
• Second cabinet of Donald Trump
  • Pete Hegseth is confirmed as U.S. Secretary of Defense in a 51–50 vote, with Vice President JD Vance casting the tie-breaking vote. (NBC News)