Yemen
At least 80 Yemeni soldiers were killed while in prayer and 130 more were injured in a missile attack on a mosque. The attack came from the Houthi rebel group, who are backed by the Iranian government. This attack is just one in a years-long civil war where Yemen, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are allied to fight Iranian backed separatists across the region. (CNN)
Lebanon
Lebanon has just announced the formation of a new government. Since last October, when the prime minister resigned due to corruption charges, Lebanon has been without an effective head of state. Over the weekend of Jan. 18-19, protests wracked the nation’s capital, with over 500 people injured. Now, however, the party Hezbollah and its allies have clinched a new cabinet, with the primary goal of fixing the worst economic recession the nation has had in decades. (Al Jazeera)
Australia
Recent rainfall in Australia has managed to give firefighters some reprieve in combating the raging inferno. While fires continue to burn, the rain has managed to slow their spread considerably. Unfortunately, the rains have come at a cost: flash floods and power outages were reported in some states. While the rains are welcome, the government remains wary for the future as the fireforecast is still extremely high, with no end in sight. (The Guardian)
China
A new virus, a type of coronavirus, sprang up in Wuhan, China just last week. It is thought to have spread from animals and has infected over 300 people, six of whom have died. The virus has infected many major Chinese cities such as Shanghai and Beijing. The first case in the U.S. appeared on Jan. 20, when a man in Washington state who had returned from Wuhan on Jan. 15, contracted the virus. North Korea has reacted to the outbreak by temporarily closing its border with China. (BBC)
Niger
On Thursday, Jan. 9, 89 Niger soldiers were killed after a group of militants attacked a military base. This comes after an attack last month that left 71 dead. These and other attacks in the region are a part of an ongoing war with jihadist militants who have inflicted serious damage on the region in the past year. Several French helicopters were shot down and the government is getting increasingly desperate in trying to deal with the insurgents. (CNN)