Portal:Current events/2023 January 19

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Russo-Ukrainian War
  • 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
    • Swedish Defence Minister Pål Jonson announces that Sweden will send its self-propelled Archer Artillery System, 50 Combat Vehicle 90 IFVs, and NLAW anti-tank missiles to Ukraine as part of its latest military support package for the Ukrainian military. (Politico)
• Jihadist insurgency in Burkina Faso
  • Sixteen VDP members and 14 civilians are killed during four attacks by Islamic extremists in Burkina Faso. At least ten attackers are also killed. (VOA)
• Israeli–Palestinian conflict
  • A Palestinian teacher and a member of the Jenin Brigades are killed, and three others are injured, in a raid by Israeli soldiers at a refugee camp in Jenin, in the West Bank. (Al Jazeera) (BBC News)
• Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
  • Three police officers are killed in a suicide bombing at a police outpost in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. (Reuters)
• Five Iraqis from Duhok, Kurdistan Region, Iraq, are shot and killed by gunmen on a road in Mardin Province, Turkey. Two of the victims were prominent imams in Duhok. (The National News)

Business and economy

• 2023 United States debt-ceiling crisis
  • The United States reaches its debt ceiling of $31.4 trillion, requiring the Treasury Department to suspend the issuance of new Treasury securities and take extraordinary measures to prevent a default. (CNN)
• Retail apocalypse
  • British catalog retailer Argos says that it will close all of its stores in the Republic of Ireland by June, with the loss of 580 jobs, saying that the investment needed to modernize its operations in the country was "not viable". (BBC News)
• Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings steps down as co-CEO, having served in the position since its founding in 1997. Greg Peters is selected to succeed him. (BBC News)

Disasters and accidents

• Arabian Gulf Cup stampede
  • Four people are killed and around 80 others are injured during a stampede at a stadium in Basra, Iraq. It is suspected that the incident occurred when some people tried to push their way into the stadium. (Al Jazeera)
• Fifteen servicemen are killed and seven others are injured in a fire at a barracks in Azat, Armenia. (AP)

International relations

• Iran–South Korea relations
  • Iran and South Korea summon each other's ambassadors in a deepening dispute between the countries, after South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol called Iran "the enemy of the United Arab Emirates" while addressing South Korean troops stationed there. (Reuters)

Law and crime

• 2022–2023 Peruvian political protests
  • Thousands of protesters march in Lima demanding the resignation of president Dina Boluarte as the number of deaths from clashes between demonstrators and police exceeds 50. (Reuters)
• A judge in Bolivia rules that opposition figure Luis Fernando Camacho must remain in prison ahead of his trial. Camacho was arrested in December on charges of terrorism. (Reuters)
• Sierra Leonean president Julius Maada Bio signs into law a gender equality bill mandating the employment of at least 30 percent of women across all businesses. The law also guarantees at least 14 weeks of maternity leave and equal pay. (AFP via ABS-CBN News)

Politics and elections

• Protests against Emmanuel Macron
  • 2023 French pension reform strikes
    • A day of strikes and demonstrations occurs throughout France against the government's pension reform project, which proposes to raise the retirement age to 64. (Le Point)
• 2023 Kazakh legislative election
  • President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev dissolves the Mäjilis, ending the seventh convocation, and calls for a snap election on March 19. (AFP via The Hindu)
• Resignation of Jacinda Ardern
  • Jacinda Ardern announces her intention to resign as prime minister of New Zealand no later than February 7. (The Guardian)