Portal:Current events/2022 January 21

January 21, 2022 (Friday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Yemeni Civil War
- Saudi Arabian–led intervention in Yemen, Saada prison airstrike
  - A Royal Saudi Air Force airstrike on a prison in Saada, Yemen, kills at least 100 people and injures more than 200 others. Médecins Sans Frontières reports over 200 casualties. The United Nations condemns the attack. (Dawn) (CNN) (BBC News)
  - Three children are killed when a missile strikes the port city of Al Hudaydah. (Sky News)
Syrian Civil War
- Battle of al-Hasakah
  - ISIL militants attack Al-Sina'a prison in the city of Al-Hasakah, freeing prisoners and leading to clashes that kill 67 people. (SOHR)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh
    - Bangladesh closes schools, universities, and other educational institutions until February 6 and bans social, political, religious, and state events of more than 100 people amid the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant. (The Daily Star)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
    - Japan reports a record for the fourth consecutive day of 49,854 new COVID-19 cases. (Jiji Press)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Pakistan
    - Pakistan reports a record 7,678 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 1.35 million. (Anadolu Agency)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore, COVID-19 vaccination in Singapore
    - The Singaporean Ministry of Health announces the extension of COVID-19 vaccine booster doses to adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17 beginning on March 14. (CNA)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Poland
    - Poland reports a record 36,665 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 4,443,217. (Polskie Radio)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Romania
    - Romania reports a record 19,649 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours. (ABC News)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Russia
    - Russia reports a record 49,513 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 10,987,774. (Barron's)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, Variants of SARS-CoV-2
    - The UK Health Security Agency designates the recently discovered Omicron sub-lineage known as BA.2 as a "variant of investigation". (Sky News)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
  - Australia reports a record 88 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, including a record 46 deaths in New South Wales, thereby bringing the nationwide death toll to 2,976. (SBS News)
- COVID-19 vaccine
  - The World Health Organization recommends the usage of the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children between the ages of 5 and 11 years. (Reuters)

International relations

Argentina–Iran relations, AMIA bombing
- Argentina formally requests that Russia arrest Iranian minister Mohsen Rezai, who is on a trip to Russia, based on the accusation by Argentina of Rezai's involvement in the 1994 AMIA bombing. Russia did not immediately respond to the request. (Infobae)

Law and crime

COVID-19 pandemic in France, Vaccine passports during the COVID-19 pandemic
- The French Constitutional Council conditionally approves a new COVID-19 vaccine pass law that would require adults over the age of 16 years to be fully vaccinated in order to enter public venues and use intra-regional public transport but rejects the mandatory use of the vaccine pass for political rallies. The new vaccine pass will take effect on January 24. (France 24)
Colleyville synagogue hostage crisis
- The Federal Bureau of Investigation announces it is officially investigating the standoff at a synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, U.S., on Saturday as a "federal hate crime" and an "act of terrorism". (WFAA-TV)