Current events: 2025-01-03

[Wikipedia Current Events]

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Syrian civil war
  • East Aleppo offensive
    • Clashes between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces and the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army escalate in southeastern Manbij District, Aleppo Governorate, and near the Tishrin Dam in Syria. The Turkish Air Force also conducts airstrikes on SDF positions. (SOHR 1) (SOHR 2)
  • US intervention in the Syrian civil war
    • Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh says that, despite local reports, the United States Army has "no plans" to build a military base in Kobani, currently under control of the Syrian Democratic Forces. (Rudaw)
• Haitian crisis
  • Gang war in Haiti
    • A contingent of peacekeeping troops from Guatemala and El Salvador arrive in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, to enforce a United Nations-backed security mission to restore order to the capital amid surging gang violence. (Reuters)
• Red Sea crisis
  • The Israeli Defense Forces report the interception of a ballistic missile and a drone launched from Yemen. (France 24)

Business and economy

• Economic policy of the Joe Biden administration
  • U.S. President Joe Biden blocks a buyout bid by Japanese Nippon Steel for U.S. Steel. (BBC News)

International relations

• Egypt–Syria relations
  • Egypt bans the entry of Syrians from all countries worldwide, except for those holding temporary residency permits for non-tourism purposes. The ban also includes Syrians married to Egyptians unless they obtain security clearance. (Al Arabiya)
• Germany–Syria relations, France–Syria relations
  • Germany's Annalena Baerbock and France's Jean-Noël Barrot become the first European Union Foreign Ministers to travel to Damascus after the fall of Assad to discuss a new political beginning with the Syrian Transitional Government and Syrian civil society. (Der Spiegel) (France 24)

Law and crime

• 2024 South Korean martial law crisis
  • Yoon Suk Yeol residence standoff
    • Corruption investigators and prosecutors raid the central Seoul residence of recently-impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to arrest him for refusing to appear to three court summons. The raid is unsuccessful due to the Presidential Security Service blocking further entrance, leading to a multi-hour standoff. (The Guardian) (AP)
• War crimes during the Syrian civil war
  • The Syrian government arrests Aws Salloum, known as the "Angel of Death" of Sednaya Prison. Salloum is accused of multiple murders and abuse of prisoners at Sednaya, including the murder of Mazen al-Hamada. (Monte Carlo Doualiya)
• A suspect is arrested in Rotterdam, Netherlands, for shooting and killing three men between December 21, 2024 and January 2, 2025. (The Sun)

Politics and elections

• 119th United States Congress
  • 2025 Speaker of the United States House of Representatives election
    • The United States House of Representatives, comprised of 219 Republicans and 215 Democrats, selects incumbent Speaker Mike Johnson to be House Speaker over incumbent House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. (CBS News)
  • The 119th United States Congress meets for the first time in Washington, D.C. (CBS News)

Sports

• 2025 PDC World Darts Championship
  • Luke Littler defeats Michael van Gerwen 7–3 in the final at Alexandra Palace, London, to claim his first World Darts Championship title, and also becomes the youngest player to ever win a world title at age 17. (BBC News)

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