Portal:Current events/2022 January 31

January 31, 2022 (Monday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Spillover of the Somali Civil War
- Thirteen people are killed after a bus hit a roadside bomb planted by suspected Al-Shabaab militants in Mandera, Kenya, near the border with Somalia. (VOA)

Disasters and accidents

2022 Brazil floods and landslides
- Flash flooding and landslides caused by torrential rains kill at least 19 people and leave hundreds more homeless in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. This brings the total death toll from flooding in the country to more than 50 people since the start of the wet season. (BBC News)
2022 Ecuador landslides
- At least 23 people are killed in and 47 injured in landslides in Quito, Ecuador. (CNN)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in North America
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Canada
    - Prime minister Justin Trudeau tests positive for COVID-19. (Toronto Star)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, COVID-19 vaccination in the United States
    - The U.S. FDA issues a full approval for the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for use in adults. (AP)
- COVID-19 pandemic in India, COVID-19 vaccination in India
  - Indian President Ram Nath Kovind announces that 90% of adults in India have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. (ThePrint)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Russia
  - Russia reports a record for the 11th consecutive day of 124,070 new COVID-19 cases, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 11.86 million. (Interfax)
- COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa
  - South Africa scraps the mandatory self-quarantine period for asymptomatic COVID-19 cases and cuts the mandatory self-quarantine period for symptomatic patients to seven days because 60% to 80% of its population now had COVID-19. (Bloomberg)
The Ecuadoran environmental ministry reports that approximately 2 hectares (4.9 acres) of the Cayambe Coca Ecological Reserve have been contaminated following an oil spill attributed to a ruptured pipeline. (AFP via RFI)

International relations

France–Mali relations
- The Malian military junta orders the French ambassador to leave the country within 72 hours in response to "outrageous comments" made by the French authorities about Mali's transitional government. (France 24)
2022 Burkinabé coup d'état
- The African Union suspends Burkina Faso in response to last week's coup d'état. (Reuters)

Law and crime

Murder of Ahmaud Arbery
- Gregory and Travis McMichael, two of the three people convicted of murdering Ahmaud Arbery, have reached plea agreements with federal prosecutors on hate crimes charges. However, U.S. District Court Judge Lisa Godbey Wood rejects the plea deal. (NPR) (AP)
2022 Kusel shooting
- Two police officers are shot dead during a routine traffic stop in Kusel, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. (BBC News)

Politics and elections

Partygate
- The initial findings of a report by senior civil servant Sue Gray into allegations of rule breaking at 10 Downing Street during COVID-19 lockdowns are published. (BBC News)
Peruvian Prime Minister Mirtha Vásquez resigns in response to a reshuffle of the government by President Pedro Castillo. (Bloomberg)