Portal:Current events/2026 January 19

January 19, 2026 (Monday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Syrian conflict
- SDF–Syrian transitional government clashes
  - 2026 northeastern Syria offensive
    - Heavy fighting occurs around Kobani between the Syrian Army and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) despite a ceasefire announced by both sides the previous day. Government forces capture the towns of Ayn Issa and Sarrin. (Al Jazeera)
    - The SDF says it has lost control of a prison holding thousands of Islamic State (IS) fighters in the town of Al-Shaddadah after the prison came under attack from armed groups. A video released by the SDF appears to show dozens of IS militants escaping the prison. (The Guardian) (ANHA) (Reuters)
Democratic Republic of the Congo–Rwanda conflict, Kivu conflict
- M23 campaign
  - Congolese troops and allied Wazalendo militia fighters re-enter Uvira, South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, after it had been held for about a month by the Rwanda-backed March 23 Movement. (Reuters)
Russo-Ukrainian war
- Kharkiv strikes
  - A woman is killed and 11 others are injured in a glide bomb attack in Kharkiv, Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine. (DPA International)
Islamic State–Taliban conflict
- Seven people are killed and twenty others are injured in a bombing at a Chinese restaurant in Shahr-e Naw, Kabul, Afghanistan. The Islamic State – Khorasan Province claims responsibility. (Headline Daily) (Reuters)

Arts and culture

Italian fashion designer Valentino, founder of his eponymous fashion house, dies at the age of 93. (CBS News)

Business and economy

Disasters and accidents

2026 Chilean wildfires
- Much of the city of Penco is destroyed as wildfires continue to spread across Chile with the death toll rising to nineteen. (AFP via Barron's) (BBC News)
Vanderbijlpark scholar transport crash
- Thirteen children are killed and several others are injured in a collision between a truck and a school bus in Vanderbijlpark, Gauteng province, South Africa. (Legit) (BBC News)
2026 Gilgit-Baltistan earthquake
- Two people are killed, four others are injured and several houses collapse in a M_w 5.6 earthquake in Barishal, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. (Dawn) (ReliefWeb)

Health and environment

Aging of China, Aging of South Korea
- Reflecting a broader demographic decline across East Asia, the birth rate in China fell to 5.6 per 1,000 people last year, the lowest since records began in 1949, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit, as similar downward trends persist in Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan. (CNBC) (BBC News)

International relations

Greenland crisis
- Operation Arctic Endurance
  - Denmark announces that it will send "a substantial number" of troops to Greenland in response to threats from United States president Donald Trump. (AA)
- NORAD announces that it will deploy American and Canadian aircraft to Pituffik Space Base in Greenland for long-planned activities, describing the deployment as routine and coordinated with the Denmark with diplomatic clearances and with the Government of Greenland informed of the planned operations. (AA) (Task & Purpose)
Kiribati–New Zealand relations
- Kiribati and New Zealand sign a partnership agreement on economic opportunity, foreign policy, health, and security, marking their first bilateral agreement since a diplomatic crisis began in 2025. (Reuters)

Law and crime

Crime in Guatemala
- A ninth policeman succumbs to his injuries from prison riots and attacks on police officers in Guatemala. A dozen officers were also injured in the attacks, and a state of emergency has been declared. (AFP via France 24)
Flood control projects scandal in the Philippines
- Former Philippine senator Bong Revilla surrenders to police after the Sandiganbayan ordered his arrest over the alleged misuse of ₱92.8 million (US$1.6 million) in a flood-control project, while the Ombudsman pursues graft and malversation charges against Revilla and several former public works officials. (Gulf News)
September 2022 Burkina Faso coup d'état
- Togo announces the arrest of Burkina Faso's former transitional president Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba in Lomé last week and expels him after Burkinabè officials accuse him of plotting attempted coups and targeted assassinations against the ruling junta. (AFP via The Peninsula)
Four alleged drug traffickers are fatally shot in an overnight shootout with border guards while crossing the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border into Tajikistan. (The Independent)
A gunman shoots and kills one person and injures six others, before killing himself, in a mass shooting at the town hall of Chřibská, Czech Republic. (Reuters)

Science and technology

Sports