Portal:Current events/2020 January 24

January 24, 2020 (Friday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

2019–2021 Iraqi protests, American-led intervention in Iraq (2014–2021)
- Hundreds of thousands march in Baghdad to protest the presence of the United States in Iraq. (CNN)

Business and economy

Indonesia agrees to increase its imports of buffalo meat, automobiles, and sugar from India in exchange for an increase in imports of Indonesian-produced palm oil, amid a growing trade dispute between India and Malaysia. (Times of India) (Yahoo! Finance)

Disasters and accidents

2020 Houston explosion
- Two people are killed and 18 injured in a warehouse explosion in Houston, Texas, United States. (Associated Press)
2020 Elazığ earthquake
- 41 people were killed and more than 1,600 were injured in an earthquake centered near Elazığ in Eastern Anatolia. (BBC News)

Health and environment

International relations

Iran–Saudi Arabia relations
- Responding to Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif's comments that Iran is "open to dialogue with its neighbors", Saudi Arabia's Adel al-Jubeir blames Iran for recent tensions in the Middle East and for attacks on ships and oil facilities; which Iran denies. (CNBC)
Censorship in Singapore, Malaysia–Singapore relations
- Malaysian human rights advocacy group Lawyers for Liberty sues Singaporean Home Minister K. Shanmugam in Malaysian High Court after his office invoked the country's anti-fake news law to censor the group's criticisms of the death penalty there. The plaintiff argues that the move represents "an attempt by Singapore to encroach upon, stifle or crack down on freedom of speech in Malaysia". (South China Morning Post)
Morocco–Spain relations
- The foreign ministries of Spain and Morocco announce they will hold talks to resolve a dispute over territorial water rights in the North Atlantic, caused by the Moroccan parliament passing two laws that extended its claims to the coast of Western Sahara earlier this week. Spain expressed concerns that these laws would encroach on its claims near the Canary Islands. (Reuters)

Law and crime

2020 Rot am See shooting
- Six people are killed and two others wounded when a man opens fire on his family members in Rot am See, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The mass shooter's parents are among the dead. (ABC News)
LGBT rights in Mauritania
- Police detain a gay couple in Nouakchott after a video purportedly of them marrying in a secret location emerges, in what is considered to be the first major prosecution of its kind in recent years. The attendees in the video were also detained. (North African Post)