Portal:Current events/2023 January 29

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Russo-Ukrainian War
  • 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
    • Eastern Ukraine campaign
      • Forces of the Wagner Group say that they have captured the village of Blahodatne, north of Bakhmut. However, Ukraine rejects the claim and says that it repelled the attack. (AFP via The Moscow Times)
    • Southern Ukraine campaign
      • Russian forces shell the city of Kherson, killing three people, injuring six others, and damaging a hospital, school, and bus station. (Reuters via U.S. News & World Report)
• Islamist insurgency in the Sahel
  • Jihadist insurgency in Burkina Faso
    • The governor of Comoé Province reports that 15 corpses, who were among 24 passengers of two minibuses that departed the provincial capital of Banfora when suspected jihadists hijacked the buses in Linguekoro and coerced the passengers to walk to Mangodara, were discovered near Linguekoro. The governor also reports that 15 other passengers had been abducted. (AFP via ABS-CBN News)
• Syrian civil war
  • Iran–Israel conflict during the Syrian civil war
    • Unidentified warplanes, suspected to be Israeli, strike a convoy of Iranian trucks that entered Syria from Iraq through the Al-Qa'im border crossing. At least six trucks are believed to have been destroyed. There are no immediate reports of casualties. (Times of Israel)
• Israeli–Palestinian conflict
  • An 18-year-old Palestinian man is shot dead by a group of Israeli civilians near the settlement of Kedumim, in the West Bank. In a separate incident, a Palestinian civilian home is set on fire by settlers. The occupants were not there at the time of the attack. (Al Jazeera)

Disasters and accidents

• 2023 Lasbela bus crash
  • At least 41 people are killed and two others are injured when a bus falls off a bridge and catches fire in Lasbela District, Balochistan, Pakistan. (Reuters)
• 2022–23 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season
  • The death toll from Cyclone Cheneso's landfall in Madagascar has increased to 25, with 21 others still missing. (AFP via ABS-CBN News)
• Tanda Dam incident
  • Ten children are killed and eleven other people are injured when a boat capsizes at the Tanda Dam in Kohat District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. (AFP via Barron's)
• At least 22 people are killed and 21 injured when a bus crashes near Dassa-Zoumé, Collines Department, Benin. (TRT World)
• At least nine people are killed when a container falls from a truck onto a commercial bus in Lagos, Nigeria. (The Guardian Nigeria)
• An avalanche on Mount Norikura in Nagano Prefecture, Japan, kills two people, including American skier Kyle Smaine. (BBC News)

International relations

• Attack on the Azerbaijani Embassy in Tehran
  • Azerbaijan–Iran relations
    • Azerbaijan suspends diplomatic activities at its embassy in Tehran after accusing Iran of failing to ensure the security of its embassy staff. The Azerbaijani consulate general in Tabriz continues to operate routinely. (TASS)

Law and crime

• 2023 Gqeberha shooting
  • Eight people are killed and three others are injured in a mass shooting at a birthday party in Gqeberha, Eastern Cape, South Africa. (AFP via Hindustan Times)

Politics and elections

• 2023 Liechtenstein constitutional referendum
  • Voters in Liechtenstein reject a proposed ban on casinos. The proposal, which Prince Hans-Adam II opposed, was rejected by around 73 percent of voters. (Euronews)
• 2022–23 Tunisian parliamentary election
  • Tunisians head to the polls to elect the members of the third Assembly of the Representatives of the People in a run-off. The electoral board reports a voter turnout of 11.3 percent as most opposition parties boycott the election. (AFP via RFI)
• UK prime minister Rishi Sunak dismisses Nadhim Zahawi as chairman of the Conservative Party and minister without portfolio after Sunak's ethics adviser, Laurie Magnus, found that Zahawi had breached the Ministerial Code for failing to disclose a £5 million tax penalty payment to HM Revenue and Customs while serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer under former prime minister Boris Johnson. (BBC News)

Sports

• 2023 Australian Open – Men's singles
  • Novak Djokovic defeats Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final, 6–3, 7–6^(7–4), 7–6^(7–5), to win the men's singles tennis title at the 2023 Australian Open in Melbourne, tying him with Rafael Nadal for the most Grand Slams in men's tennis history with 22. (BBC Sport)
• 2023 World Men's Handball Championship
  • Denmark defeats France 34–29 in the final to win the 2023 World Men's Handball Championship in Stockholm, Sweden. Denmark becomes the first men's national handball team to win three consecutive world titles, having also won the 2019 and 2021 editions. (Reuters)