Portal:Current events/2018 January 24

January 24, 2018 (Wednesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
- 2018 Save The Children Jalalabad attack
  - Attackers detonate explosives before storming the offices of the Save the Children charity in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad. (BBC)
Turkish military intervention in Afrin
- British, American and German men are among a group of international volunteers who travelled to Afrin to fight against Turkish-led forces in north-west Syria. (BBC) (Reuters)
- Several rockets fired from Syria strike the Turkish city of Kilis, near the Syria–Turkey border, killing at least one person and injuring 13 others. Turkey blames the YPG group. (Xinhuanet)
American-led intervention in the Syrian Civil War
- The U.S.-led coalition against ISIL says it has killed up to 150 militants in air strikes on a headquarters in Deir ez-Zor Governorate, Syria. (BBC)

Arts and culture

Culture of Saudi Arabia
- A dozen camels are disqualified from a beauty pageant at the King Abdulaziz Camel Festival, near Riyadh, after reports in the media about injections with botox. A veterinarian is caught performing plastic surgery to make the camels more attractive. Rules prohibit to change the natural form of participating camels. (NPR)
Senior politicians express outrage after an investigative report by the Financial Times on groping practices at a Dorchester hotel charity gala held by the London-based Presidents Club old boy network. Boris Johnson and Mark Carney both deny knowing that their lunch or tea time was sold as lots in the club's charitable auction. (AP via U.S. News and World Report)

Law and crime

Crime in Michigan
- Two Michigan State Police troopers are injured by gunfire in Union City while serving a warrant. The suspect was later found dead nearby. (MLive.com)
USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal
- Larry Nassar is sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison for molesting Olympic gymnasts and other women. Many of the accusers were children, who were told to not question authority. (Chicago Tribune)

Science and technology

Animal cloning
- Chinese scientists announce they have successfully cloned crab-eating macaques using somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), making them the first primates to be cloned. The monkeys were named Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua. (Reuters)
2018 in spaceflight
- SpaceX conducts the first static fire test of the Falcon Heavy rocket ahead of its maiden flight with Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster as a dummy payload. (BBC)

Sports