Portal:Current events/2026 January 8

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Operation Southern Spear
  • 2026 United States strikes in Venezuela
    • The death toll from the U.S. airstrikes on Caracas, Venezuela, five days ago increases to 100 people, including 23 Venezuelan military personnel and 32 Cuban personnel. (BNO News)
• SDF–Syrian transitional government clashes
  • January 2026 Aleppo clashes
    • As fighting between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces and the Syrian Army continues in Aleppo, Syrian authorities open an evacuation corridor for tens of thousands of civilians to evacuate the city. (Euronews)
    • The Syrian Army captures the Ashrafieh neighbourhood of Aleppo after three days of fighting with the Syrian Democratic Forces. (Al Jazeera)
• Yemeni civil war
  • 2025 Southern Yemen offensive, Saudi-led intervention in the Yemeni civil war
    • The Saudi Arabia-led coalition in Yemen claims that Southern Transitional Council (STC) president Aidarus al-Zoubaidi has fled to the United Arab Emirates through Somaliland. (Al Jazeera)
    • Government forces enter Aden and capture Aden International Airport as STC forces collapse in Aden Governorate. (AA via TRT World) (Al Jazeera)
• 2025–2026 Iranian protests
  • A police officer is reportedly killed during clashes with anti-government protesters in Malard, Iran, as the number of injured police officers rises to 568. (AA) (Africa News)
  • The Iranian opposition in exile calls for a general strike in the Kurdish areas in western Iran, which is widely observed. (Die Zeit in German)
  • NetBlocks reports a total internet outage in Tehran and other Iranian cities, continuing the following day. (Reuters) (RFERL)
• Gaza war
  • The Israeli military launches multiple attacks in Gaza, killing thirteen Palestinians, including five children. (The New Arab)

Business and economy

• Cambodia–China relations, Scam centers in Cambodia
  • The Cambodian central bank orders the liquidation of Prince Bank and suspends its operations after founder Chen Zhi was indicted by the United States for large-scale fraud and extradited to China. (AFP via France 24)

Disasters and accidents

• 2026 Binaliw landslide
  • At least one sanitation worker is killed when a landfill collapses in Cebu City, Philippines. Search and rescue operations are ongoing for the 34 others reported missing, while 12 people are hospitalized. (AFP via The Straits Times)
• A woman is killed in a shark attack off the coast of Saint Croix in the United States Virgin Islands. The species of the shark involved is currently unknown. (AP)

Law and crime

• Shootings by U.S. immigration agents in the second Trump administration
  • 2026 Portland shooting
    • Two people are hospitalized after being shot by Border Patrol officers in Portland, Oregon, United States. (KPTV-TV)
  • Killing of Renee Good
    • Protesters and police clash in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S., after an ICE agent fatally shot a civilian woman yesterday. Pepper balls and a gas-like substance are fired toward the protesters outside a federal building. (CNN)
• Honduran congresswoman Gladys Aurora López is injured after being struck in the head by an explosive when entering the National Congress building in Tegucigalpa. (Times Now)

Politics and elections

• 12th Central Committee of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party
  • Laos' top leader, Thongloun Sisoulith, is re-elected as the General Secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, the most powerful position in the one-party state. (The Diplomat)
• Catholic Church sexual abuse cases in Europe
  • The Spanish Episcopal Conference and the national government agree to let the ombudsman determine compensation for victims of clergy sexual abuse whose cases are time-barred or whose alleged abusers are deceased, opening a one-year claims process funded by the Catholic Church. (AP)
• Detention of Rocío San Miguel
  • Acting Venezuelan president Delcy Rodríguez's administration releases several political prisoners, including human rights activist Rocío San Miguel. (AFP via Barron's)