Armed conflicts and attacks

• Syrian civil war, Israel's role in the Syrian Civil War
  • Syria missile strikes (January 2021)
    • An Israeli airstrike in the city of Hama, Syria, destroys five Syrian military sites. According to SANA, four people from the same family, including two children, are killed in the strikes. (Deutsche Welle)

• The World Trade Organization rules that the United States violated the organization's rules when it significantly raised the tariff on some South Korean goods, from 9.49% to 59.72%, in May 2016. (Korean Herald)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in North America
    • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
      • COVID-19 pandemic in California
        • California reports a record 764 deaths in the past 24 hours. (U.S. News and World Report)
      • COVID-19 pandemic in Florida
        • Florida reports 277 deaths in the past 24 hours, tying their previous state record set in August of last year. (WJXT-TV)
      • COVID-19 pandemic in New Jersey, Variant of Concern 202012/01
        • New Jersey reports their first two cases of the UK variant of SARS-CoV-2. Neither had travelled. (NJ.com)
      • The United States surpasses 25 million cases of COVID-19, with about one in every 13 Americans testing positive for the virus. (The New York Times)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Belize
      • The number of recoveries in Belize surpasses 11,000. (Breaking Belize News)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Cuba, 501.V2 variant
      • Cuba reports their first case of a variant from South Africa in an asymptomatic person who travelled from the country. (Explica)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Panama, 501.V2 variant
      • Panama reports their first case of a variant from South Africa in a 40-year-old Zimbabwe native who entered the country from there. (Reuters)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Germany
      • Germany surpasses 50,000 deaths from COVID-19. (Deutsche Welle) (ABC News)
      • Germany reports their first case of the more contagious B.1.1.248 variant in a person who travelled from Brazil to Hesse. (MedicalXpress)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal
      • Portugal reports a record of 234 deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide death toll to 9,920. (DGS)
      • Portugal also reports their first case of the 501.V2 variant that originated in South Africa. They do not indicate whether the individual travelled. (RTP) (Reuters)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium, Travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic
      • Belgium declares a ban on non-essential travel in and out of the country from January 27 through March 1 in order to curb the spread of SARS-CoV-2 variants. (VRT) (France 24)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, Variant of Concern 202012/01
      • A panel of scientists that advises the British government announces that a variant first discovered in the United Kingdom is 30% more deadly than the original SARS-CoV-2 virus. (Forbes)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong
      • For the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, Hong Kong will impose a lockdown in the Yau Tsim Mong District beginning this weekend. Negative COVID-19 testing results will be required in order to leave one's residence. (South China Morning Post)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
      • Japan reports a record 108 deaths in the past 24 hours. (The Japan Times)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia
      • Malaysia reports a record of 18 deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide death toll to 660. (Malay Mail)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Myanmar
      • Myanmar receives its first 1.5 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India. (CNA)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Botswana
    • Botswana surpasses 100 deaths from COVID-19. (ANI)
  • COVID-19 vaccine
    • Pfizer says that they will supply 40 million doses of their vaccine to lower- and middle-income countries. (Business Insider)

International relations

• Nuclear disarmament
  • The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons enters into force, banning the development, testing, production, stockpiling, stationing, transfer, use and threat of use of nuclear weapons in 51 countries. However, the world's major nuclear powers have not endorsed this international agreement. (Voice of America)

Law and crime

• Cannabis in the United States
  • Cannabis in Arizona, 2020 Arizona Proposition 207
    • Arizona begins legal sales of recreational cannabis, making it the 15th state to do so. (AP)
• Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, COVID-19 pandemic in Israel
  • In Bnei Brak, an ultra-Orthodox town near Tel Aviv, ultra-Orthodox Jews attack an unmarked police vehicle while officers were inside it, causing a riot in which at least six people were arrested. Israel is currently in a lockdown. (South China Morning Post)
• Indian farmers' protest
  • Farmer leaders allege a conspiracy to kill four of them and create disturbance during their proposed tractor rally on Republic Day in Delhi. (Business Standard)
• Aftermath of the 2021 United States Capitol attack
  • A magistrate judge orders Oath Keepers member Donovan Crowl to be detained on charges for his role during the attack on the United States Capitol. (Reuters)
• Essex lorry deaths
  • Seven culprits involved in the deaths of 39 Vietnamese unlawful immigrants smuggled in a refrigerator lorry in Grays, Essex in 2019 have been sentenced on multiple counts of manslaughter. Five people received sentences of between 3 to 18 years in prison, while the two main leaders of the smuggling operation received 20 and 27 years respectively. (The Guardian)
• Corruption in the mining industry of Guinea
  • Israeli businessman Beny Steinmetz is sentenced by a Geneva court to five years in prison for corruption in obtaining mining rights to an iron ore deposit in Guinea, and is ordered to pay a fine of CHF 50 million (US$56 million) to the canton of Geneva. (AFP via CTV News)
• Former Bosnian Army general and deputy Minister of Defense Sakib Mahmuljin is sentenced to ten years in prison for failing to prevent or punish foreign Islamist fighters who murdered and tortured Serbian prisoners during the Bosnian War. (Reuters)
• Police in Russia arrest five aides of Alexei Navalny ahead of planned protests. Navalny has been under arrest since returning to Russia on January 17. (Politico)
• Sam Gor drug lord Tse Chi Lop is arrested by police at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in Amsterdam. The Australian Federal Police are seeking to extradite him to face trial. Twenty law enforcement agencies assisted the operation, known as "Operation Kungur". (The Independent)

Politics and elections

• Cabinet of Joe Biden
  • The U.S. Senate votes 93–2 to confirm Lloyd Austin as Secretary of Defense, making him the first African-American to lead the The Pentagon. (The Guardian)

Science and technology

• Mass media in Australia
  • In response to a bill proposed by parliament to require dot-com companies to compensate local news outlets for hosting their content, Google threatens to block Australians from using its web search engine should the current draft of the bill become law. (AFP via The Jakarta Post)
• Twitter suspensions
  • Twitter suspends an account linked to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei after Khamenei threatened to assassinate former U.S. President Donald Trump in revenge for the assassination of Qasem Soleimani in 2020. (Reuters)
• Aftermath of the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol
  • TikTok announces that they have banned Baked Alaska, the far-right activist who was arrested by the FBI for participating in the attack on the United States Capitol. (Newsweek)
• Alphabet Inc. announces that it will shut down its subsidiary Loon, which provides an aerial wireless network through high-altitude balloons, saying that it is not "commercially viable". (AFP via Barron's)

Sports

• Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports
  • British Athletics cancels its annual indoor championships that were set to begin in Glasgow in February due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (ESPN)
  • Organisers of the Tour de Normandie cancel the annual seven-day bicycle race that was scheduled for May due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This is the second year that it has been cancelled. (Cycling News)
  • Real Madrid announces that their coach Zinedine Zidane has tested positive for COVID-19. (CBS Sports)