Disasters and accidents

• 2026 Gul Plaza Shopping Mall fire
  • The death toll from a massive fire five days ago at a multi-story shopping mall in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan, increases to 60 people. (Al Jazeera)
• Two people are killed and several others are reported missing with no sign of life detected, including children, in landslides in Mount Maunganui and Welcome Bay, Tauranga, New Zealand. (BBC News) (Sky News)

Law and crime

• Crime in New South Wales
  • Three people are killed and another is injured in a mass shooting in Lake Cargelligo, New South Wales, Australia. (The Guardian)
• Terrorism in the Philippines
  • A regional court in Tacloban, Leyte, Philippines, sentences journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio and her accomplice to up to 18 years in prison for terrorism financing following their arrest in 2020, but acquits them on a weapons possession charge. Press freedom and rights groups condemn the verdict. (AFP via The Guardian) (BBC News)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Gaza war
  • Killing of journalists in the Gaza war
    • At least eleven Palestinians, including two children and three journalists documenting Egyptian state aid distribution, are killed in Israeli airstrikes in the Netzarim Corridor in Gaza. (Al Jazeera)
• Israel–Hezbollah conflict (2023–present)
  • Israel launches a series of airstrikes in Lebanon, killing two people in Tyre and Sidon and wounding 19 others in Qanarit. (Al Jazeera)
• Yemeni civil war
  • A car bombing near Aden, Yemen, targets the motorcade of Southern Giants Brigades commander Hamdy Shoukry, killing three people and injuring four others. (AP via ABC News)

Business and economy

• Orbanomics
  • Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán announces a 100-billion-forint (US$300-million) support package for the restaurant sector and commits to covering additional household heating costs for January, as part of broader measures to ease cost-of-living pressures. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

• Severe storms in Greece kill two people as strong winds and heavy rainfall cause flooding, prompting authorities to suspend maritime traffic and close schools in several regions. (AFP via BSS)
• New Zealand territorial authorities order evacuations in low-lying areas of the North Island after heavy rain and strong winds cause flooding and landslides, while police search for a man missing after being swept away while fording. (Reuters)

International relations

• EU–Mercosur Partnership Agreement
  • The European Parliament approves a measure by a vote of 334–324 to ask the European Court of Justice to rule on whether the free trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur can be applied before full ratification by all member states and whether its provisions restrict the EU's ability to set environmental and consumer health policies. (Reuters)
• Greenland crisis, Tariffs in the second Trump administration
  • United States president Donald Trump announces he will cancel the planned tariffs on Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom after reaching an agreement with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte for a Greenland framework. He also stated at the World Economic Forum that he has ruled out sending forces amidst invasion fears. (BBC News) (Fortune)

Law and crime

• 2024 South Korean martial law crisis
  • A high court in Seoul, South Korea, sentences former prime minister Han Duck-soo to 23 years in prison for being an accomplice in giving procedural legitimacy to the martial law decree during a cabinet meeting. (Reuters) (The Guardian)
• Corruption in Malaysia
  • The Malaysian anti-corruption commission charges two former military chiefs and one of their wives with money laundering, abuse of power, and criminal breach of trust. (AP)
• Trial of Tetsuya Yamagami
  • A district court in Nara, Japan, sentences Tetsuya Yamagami to life in prison for assassinating former prime minister Shinzo Abe in 2022. (Reuters)
• War on drugs
  • Europol announces an end to an operation against synthetic drug production and trafficking in Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Netherlands, Poland, and Spain, resulting in the arrests of 85 people and the seizure of 1,000 metric tons of chemicals in 24 labs. (DW)

Politics and elections

• Politics in Australia
  • The Opposition Liberal–National Coalition splits less than a year after reforming as the Liberal and National parties take opposing stances on the Albanese government's proposed tightening of hate speech laws in the wake of the Bondi Beach shooting. (ABC News Australia)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Israeli–Palestinian conflict
  • Suspension and ban of humanitarian aid organizations during the Gaza war
    • The Israeli military demolishes the main UNRWA building in East Jerusalem, forcing staff out and confiscating their devices, following the Israeli ban on the organization operating in the region. (Al Jazeera)

Disasters and accidents

• 2026 Gelida train derailment
  • The driver is killed and 37 other people are injured when a commuter train collides with a wall and derails in Gelida, Catalonia, Spain. (RTVE)
• At least four people are killed in flooding in Monastir Governorate, Tunisia, the worst floods in the country since 1950. (Al Jazeera)
• Search and rescue crews rescue a motor banca crewman off a capsized boat in Sarangani, Davao Occidental, Philippines, while continuing to search for the other three missing crew members and 11 passengers. (Philippine Daily Inquirer)

International relations

• China–United Kingdom relations
  • The British government approves China's new embassy at London's Royal Mint Court, despite security concerns. The planning decision affirmed development compliance, while MI5 raised no objections. The embassy will be the largest Chinese embassy in Europe upon completion. (CNN)

Law and crime

• Gun laws of Australia
  • 2026 Australia gun buyback program
    • The Australian parliament passes laws introducing a nationwide gun buyback program, stricter background checks, and tougher penalties for hate crimes, following the 2025 Bondi Beach shooting that killed 15 people. (Reuters)
• War on drugs
  • Thai authorities announces the end of a 4-month operation to combat drug trafficking in the country, resulting in the seizure of 330 million methamphetamine tablets, the arrests of over 88,000 suspects, and frozen assets worth ฿3.39B (US$140M). (The Straits Times)
• Portuguese police arrest 37 suspects linked to an ultra-right network accused of racially motivated hate crimes, seizing weapons and neo-Nazi materials during a nationwide operation targeting , whose leader is already imprisoned. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

• 2021–present Bulgarian political crisis
  • Bulgarian president Rumen Radev resigns, marking the first voluntary resignation of the country's president in its post-communist history. Vice president Iliyana Yotova is sworn in as acting president, becoming the country's first female president. (AP)
• Thousands of people protest across Germany, particularly in Bremen, Dortmund, Frankfurt, in support of Kurdish forces against the Syrian Armed Forces in clashes in northeastern Syria. (DW)