Portal:Current events/2025 January 30

January 30, 2025 (Thursday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Kivu conflict
- M23 offensive
  - 2025 Goma offensive
    - Rwandan-backed M23 rebels say they will march on the DRC capital Kinshasa and install a new government as Congolese president Félix Tshisekedi calls for a mobilization of young males to reclaim lost territory. Congolese Defence Minister Guy Kabombo Muadiamvita says there will be no peace talks with the rebels. (AP)
    - After establishing a new administration in Goma, Congo River Alliance leader Corneille Nangaa confirms his forces now plan on overthrowing president Félix Tshisekedi. He also says services in the city will return to normal soon as the United Nations warns of a humanitarian crisis. (BBC News)
  - M23 forces advance into South Kivu, capturing several towns and villages, including Kalungu in Kalehe Territory. (MSN)
Somali Civil War
- Puntland–Somaliland dispute
  - Spillover of Las Anod conflict
    - SSC Khaatumo has claimed victory over Somaliland forces after heavy fighting erupted and undisclosed casualties early Thursday in the Shangeed area, located between Qoorlugud and Buuhoodle of Cayn region. Somalia. (Hiiraan Online)
Gaza war
- 2025 Gaza war ceasefire, Gaza war hostage crisis
  - Hamas free eight hostages, three Israelis and five Thai nationals. (The Times of Israel)
  - Israel releases 110 Palestinian prisoners after initially delaying their release in protest of the chaotic scenes at the handover of several hostages in Khan Yunis, Gaza, earlier today, citing concerns for the hostages' safety. (Reuters)
- Hamas confirms that Israel killed Mohammed Deif along with Marwan Issa, Raed Thabet, Rafa Salama, Ayman Nofal and Ghazi Abu Tamaa. (Al Arabiya)
2023 Quran burnings in Sweden, Islam and blasphemy
- Killing of Salwan Momika
  - Islam critic and Quran burner Salwan Momika is assassinated at his apartment in Södertälje, Sweden. (BBC News)
Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Attacks on civilians in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
  - A Russian drone strikes a multi-storey apartment building in Sumy, Ukraine, killing nine people and injuring 13 others. (Reuters)
Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
- A shootout between the Pakistan Army and Pakistani Taliban in North Waziristan District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, leaves two soldiers and six militants dead. (AP)
French military withdrawal from West Africa
- The French Armed Forces returns their last military base in Chad to the Chad National Army, bringing an end to French military presence in the country. (AP)

Disasters and accidents

2025 Potomac River mid-air collision
- The District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department says no survivors are expected after the midair collision between an American Airlines airliner and a military helicopter last night over Washington, D.C., United States, making it the deadliest aviation disaster in the U.S. since American Airlines Flight 587 in 2001. (CNN)

Health and environment

Uganda confirms an outbreak of Ebola, with the first death, a nurse at Mulago National Specialised Hospital in Kampala, being confirmed yesterday. (Reuters)
The United States Federal Drug Administration approves Vertex Pharmaceuticals' new Journavx drug, a non-opioid analgesic used to treat acute pain and potentially eliminate the risks of opioid addiction and overdose. (AP) (FDA)

Law and crime

FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives
- Arnoldo Jimenez is arrested in Monterrey, Mexico after over a decade on the run. (WMAQ-TV)

Politics and elections

Following weeks of unsuccessful negotiations, the Centre Party withdraws from the Norwegian government over disagreements over the implementation of three directives in the European Union's fourth energy package, with the Labour Party continuing as a single party minority government. (NRK)
Thousands of people gather in Berlin, Germany, to protest against Chancellor-candidate Friedrich Merz and the Christian Democratic Union and Christian Social Union parties after they collaborated with the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party on a non-binding motion to restrict immigration. Members of the Bundestag debate on motions to ban the AfD, alleging that its beliefs and legal practices are unconstitutional. (DW) (Anadolu Ajansi)
The Nicaraguan National Assembly votes unanimously to pass several constitutional reforms that grants the government influence over the media, extend the presidential term to 6 years, and makes President Daniel Ortega's wife Rosario Murillo co-President. (Al Jazeera)

Science and technology

Apollo-type asteroid 2024 YR4 triggers global planetary defence procedures for the first time and rises to the top of the Palermo Technical Impact Hazard Scale after recent observations confirmed it has a 1-in-77 (1.3%) chance of impacting Earth on 22 December 2032. Follow up observations in 2028 will provide a more refined estimation of the likelihood of impact in 2032. (The Guardian)