Portal:Current events/2018 January 21

January 21, 2018 (Sunday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

2018 Inter-Continental Hotel Kabul attack
- Six insurgents kill at least 18 people, including 4 Afghans and 14 foreigners, in a 13-hour gun battle. The Afghan Interior Ministry says that the siege ended when the last gunman was shot dead. NATO reports that "no foreign troops" died. The Taliban claim that they sent five suicide bombers armed with hand grenades and AK-47 assault rifles. The Afghan government blames the attack on the Pakistan-based Haqqani network. (CBS News), (AP via NBC News), (BBC)
Turkish military intervention in Afrin
- Turkish President Erdoğan announces that Turkish Army ground troops have entered the district of Afrin in Syria. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım says the goal is to establish a 30-km safe zone. (Voice of America)

International relations

Turkish military intervention in Afrin
- France's Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian calls for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council to address the Turkish incursion into Northern Syria's Afrin Region. The UNSC will convene on Monday. (Reuters) (Daily Sabah) (Reuters²)
Jordan–United States relations
- Abdullah II of Jordan tells U.S. Vice President Mike Pence the U.S. has to rebuild "trust and confidence" to achieve a two-state solution in Israel after the U.S. recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

2018 Women's March
- Hundreds of thousands protest for a second day throughout the United States in support of women's rights. (CNN)
Politics of Somalia
- President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed fires Taabit Abdi Mohamed as mayor of Mogadishu and replaces him with his information minister, Abdirahman Omar Osman. (Reuters)
Democratic Republic of the Congo general election
- The Kabila government begins blocking internet access in the capital Kinshasa at midnight, after a Catholic lay group's call to march today, in defiance of a government ban on public demonstrations. A joint statement was released by the American and British embassies on Twitter the day prior, applauding "Congolese citizens exercising their constitutional right to assemble peacefully in support of the full implementation" of the Sylvester agreements of December 2016. The statement also said that those who do not protect these fundamental human rights must be held accountable "at the highest level". (Het Laatste Nieuws), (AP via U.S. News & World Report), (Reuters)
- Congolese security forces kill at least six protesters and fire tear gas in Kinshasa. 57 people are wounded and dozens of arrests are made in protests across the country, notably in Mbuji-Mayi, Goma, Lubumbashi and several other places. (Reuters)
United States federal government shutdown of January 2018
- U.S. President Donald Trump says on Twitter that if the shutdown stalemate continues, Republicans should consider the "nuclear option" parliamentary procedure in the Senate. Majority leader Mitch McConnell is opposed to taking this step, a spokesperson said. (Bloomberg) (CNBC)
- The United States Senate schedules a vote for noon Monday to fund the government through February 8. Since the Senate did not reach a budget compromise late Sunday evening, hundreds of thousands of federal workers will face furloughs on Monday and many federal government offices will remain closed though some facilities, such as the Smithsonian Museums and the National Zoo, are scheduled to be open. (The Washington Post) (BBC) (Reuters) (The Hill)

Science and technology

2018 in spaceflight
- Rocket Lab successfully launches test rocket Electron into orbit from Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand, becoming the first rocket to reach orbit using an electric-pump-fed engine, after the original rocket launch in May 2017 had to be aborted by safety officials. (1 News)

Sport

2017–18 NFL playoffs
- In American football, the Philadelphia Eagles win the National Football Conference, defeating the Minnesota Vikings 38–7. (NBC Sports)
- The New England Patriots win the American Football Conference title, defeating the Jacksonville Jaguars 24–20. (Fox Sports Australia via News Limited)