January 7, 2018 (Sunday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Syrian Civil War
- An explosion at the headquarters of the Chechen-led Ajnad al-Kavkaz rebel group in Idlib, Syria, kills at least 23 people, while several people remain unaccounted for, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. (BBC)
Arts and culture
- Education in Iran
- Iran enforces a ban on teaching English in elementary schools, calling it a "cultural invasion" by the West. (Deutsche Welle)
- 75th Golden Globe Awards
Disasters and accidents
- Six people are killed in a head-on collision and a subsequent fire caused by a single-driver vehicle going the wrong way on Interstate 5 north of Woodland, California. (Reuters) (Sacramento Bee)
- Foreign relations of Iran
- The Revolutionary Guards announce that Iran broke down the chain of last week's unrest. According to them, the unrest was created "by the United States, Britain, the Zionist regime (Israel), Saudi Arabia, the hypocrites (Mujahideen) and monarchists." (Reuters)
Law and crime
- A man is killed in Stockholm after he picks up a grenade that detonates. According to police, there has been an increased use of hand grenades by criminal groups in the country. (CTV)
- Eleven people are killed in La Concepción, Mexico, near the Pacific coast resort of Acapulco, following violent clashes involving gunmen, a community police force, and state police in the southern state of Guerrero. (AP via ABC News)
Politics and elections
- Politics of Egypt
- The former Prime Minister of Egypt, 76-year-old Ahmed Shafik, retracts his candidacy for the upcoming presidential elections. (Reuters)
- Politics of Malaysia
- The Pakatan Harapan alliance chooses 92-year-old former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad as their candidate Prime Minister in the upcoming Malaysian general election. Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim will be released from jail on June 8. Mahathir and Anwar join forces in the election. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
- Politics of Yemen
- Sadeq Ameen Abu Rass, not Saleh's son Ahmed, is named as the successor to late Ali Abdullah Saleh as leader of the General People’s Congress party. (Reuters)
- Weinstein effect
- Trond Giske announces his permanent resignation as deputy leader of Norway's Labour Party after several sexual assault accusations. He also gives up his position in the Norwegian parliament's finance committee. (Jamaica Observer)