Portal:Current events/2023 January 17

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Somali Civil War
  • Seven soldiers, including a commander, are killed when al-Shabaab jihadists attack a military base in Hawadley, Middle Shabelle, with a suicide car bomb and gunmen. (Reuters)

Business and economy

• Travel during the COVID-19 pandemic, Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
  • The World Tourism Organization reports that the figures for international tourist arrivals worldwide had doubled in 2022 compared to the previous year, citing the easing of COVID-19 pandemic-related travel restrictions. (AFP via RFI)

Disasters and accidents

• Bear attacks
  • A polar bear attacks and kills a woman and her son in Wales, Alaska, United States, after charging several others, in the first fatal attack since the early 1980s. The bear is shot and killed following the attack. (CNN) (BBC News)

Health and environment

• Aging of China
  • The National Bureau of Statistics reports that China's population, the largest in the world, declined for the first time since 1960, with a population decrease of 850,000 people reported in the past year. (AFP via France 24) (The New York Times)
• French Catholic nun Lucile Randon, who had been the world's oldest verified living person since April 2022 and the fourth verified oldest woman, dies at the age of 118. (AFP via Manila Bulletin)

International relations

• International response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • United States and the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
    • Ukraine–United States relations
      • Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States Mark Milley meet for the first time in person. (AFP)

Politics and elections

• Nguyễn Xuân Phúc resigns as president of Vietnam, the second highest-ranked position in the country, citing responsibility for several recent scandals in the government. (VnExpress)