Portal:Current events/2022 January 18

Business and economy

• Argentine debt restructuring
  • Argentine minister of economy Martín Guzmán warns that the International Monetary Fund will "lose legitimacy" if it fails in negotiations with the country, with Guzmán citing his country's growth of nearly 10 percent as an argument. (Ámbito)
• Puerto Rican government-debt crisis
  • A federal judge signs a plan to restructure Puerto Rico's economy, allowing it to start repaying debt to creditors and lifting it out of bankruptcy. (AP News)
• Microsoft announces that it will acquire gaming company Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion. If the acquisition is successful, Activision Blizzard will become part of Xbox Game Studios, which will become the world's third-largest gaming company behind Tencent and Sony Interactive Entertainment. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

• 2022 Antananarivo floods
  • At least ten people are killed by floods in Antananarivo, Madagascar. (Africanews)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong
      • Hong Kong orders the culling of 2,000 small animals, such as hamsters, chinchillas and rabbits, closes pet shops, and sends 100 people to a quarantine camp after nearly a dozen hamsters imported from the Netherlands and sold at Little Boss pet shop were infected with the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant which also spread to two people. (Bloomberg)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
      • Japan reports a record 32,197 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours. (The Mainichi)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal
      • Nepal reports a record 10,258 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 972,198. (La Prensa Latina)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Bulgaria
      • Bulgaria reports a record 9,996 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 830,604. (Bulgarian Press Agency)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in France
      • France reports a record 464,769 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours. (Anadolu Agency)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Spain
      • Second Deputy Prime Minister of Spain Yolanda Díaz and Minister of Science and Innovation Diana Morant both test positive for COVID-19. (El Periódico)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Vatican City
      • The Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin and his deputy Edgar Peña Parra both test positive for COVID-19. (The New York Times)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in South America
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil
      • Brazil reports a record 137,102 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 23,211,894. (Reuters)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Paraguay
      • Paraguayan President Mario Abdo Benítez tests positive for COVID-19. (Yahoo! News)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
    • Australia reports a record 77 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours. (SBS News)
  • COVID-19 drug development
    • Merck & Co. and its partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics sign an agreement with UNICEF to distribute up to 3 million courses of their COVID-19 antiviral pill molnupiravir to 100 low and middle-income countries in the first half of the year. (Thomson Reuters Foundation)