Portal:Current events/2022 January 20

January 20, 2022 (Thursday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Russo-Ukrainian War
- 2021–2022 Russo-Ukrainian crisis, Russia–NATO relations
  - The U.S. State Department approves the delivery of U.S.-made weapons systems from the Baltic states to Ukraine, including FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank guided missiles and FIM-92 Stinger anti-aircraft missiles. (Euractiv)
Terrorism in Pakistan
- 2022 Lahore bombing
  - Two people are killed and 26 others injured by a bombing in Anarkali, Lahore, Punjab. (Al Jazeera)
2021–2022 social unrest in the French West Indies
- Rioters injure a police officer with live ammunition on the sidelines of unauthorized demonstrations. The administrative building of the Basse-Terre hospital is invaded by about forty people. (Le Figaro)

Disasters and accidents

2022 Bogoso explosion
- A truck carrying explosives to a gold mine explodes after crashing into a motorcycle in Apiate, Western Region, Ghana; the explosion destroyed nearby buildings and vehicles, killing 17 people and injuring 59 others. (Reuters)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Austria
    - The Austrian National Council votes 137–13 to approve a bill requiring people over 18 years to receive the COVID-19 vaccine beginning February 1, thereby becoming the first country in the European Union to do so. (Reuters)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in France, Vaccine passports during the COVID-19 pandemic
    - French Prime Minister Jean Castex announces that a new COVID-19 vaccine pass will go into effect on January 24 pending approval from the Constitutional Council. The new pass will ban unvaccinated people from entering most public venues and travelling on domestic flights and inter-regional trains. Additionally, the mandate to work from home for more than 3 days per week will be lifted on February 2 and children between the ages of 12 and 17 years will be eligible to receive a booster dose beginning on Monday. (ABC News)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Germany
    - Germany reports a record for the second consecutive day of 133,536 new COVID-19 cases. (Anadolu Agency)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Romania
    - Romania reports a record 19,105 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 1,964,021. (Agerpres)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
    - Japan reports a record for the third consecutive day of 46,199 new COVID-19 cases and surpasses two million cases of COVID-19. (Nippon.com)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand, Travel during the COVID-19 pandemic
    - Thailand decides to resume its quarantine-free travel for all vaccinated travellers beginning on February 1 due to low hospitalization and death rates despite the surging COVID-19 cases driven by the Omicron variant. (Nikkei Asia)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Western Australia
    - Western Australia indefinitely suspends the reopening of its borders to fully vaccinated international and inter-state travellers in order to allow people to receive a booster dose due to the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant. (The Guardian)
  - COVID-19 drug development
    - The Therapeutic Goods Administration grants provisional approval for Pfizer's Paxlovid COVID-19 drug and Merck & Co.'s Molnupiravir COVID-19 drug. (News.com.au)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil, COVID-19 vaccination in Brazil
  - Brazilian drug regulator Anvisa approves the use of the Sinovac CoronaVac vaccine for children between the ages of 6 and 11 years. (Agência Brasil)
- COVID-19 drug development
  - The Medicines Patent Pool signs an agreement with 27 pharmaceutical companies in 11 countries to produce both raw ingredients and finished products of Merck & Co.'s Molnupiravir COVID-19 drug, which will be used in 105 low- and middle-income developing countries. (France 24)

Law and crime

Colleyville synagogue hostage crisis
- Two men are arrested in Manchester and Birmingham, England, as part of an investigation into the standoff that occurred at a synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, United States, on Saturday. (The Guardian)
Red Cross cyberattack
- The International Committee of the Red Cross appeals to hackers who stole personal data from the organisation to come forward. (TheJournal.ie)

Politics and elections

2022 Barbadian general election
- Mia Mottley and her Barbados Labour Party government are re-elected for a second term in a landslide, winning all 30 seats. (The Guardian)

Science and technology

Nineteen-year-old Belgian-British pilot Zara Rutherford returns to Kortrijk, Belgium, to complete her five-month circumnavigation, becoming the youngest female pilot to fly solo around the world. (CNN)