Portal:Current events/2018 January 14

January 14, 2018 (Sunday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Palestinian tunnel warfare in the Gaza Strip, Blockade of the Gaza Strip
- The Israel Defense Forces report the complete destruction of an underground tunnel dug by Hamas under the Kerem Shalom crossing. Israel shut down the crossing before its jets bombed the tunnel opening in Gaza Saturday night. The crossing remains closed. (Ynetnews), (CNN)
American-led intervention in the Syrian Civil War
- The U.S.-led coalition confirms reports that it will form a new 30,000-strong Syrian Border Security Force (BSF). Half of the forces will be Syrian Democratic Forces veterans. Another 15,000 will be recruited and trained in the near future. (Daily Sabah)

Disasters and accidents

Sanchi oil tanker collision
- The National Iranian Tanker Company-operated MV Sanchi sinks, following its January 6 collision with a Hong Kong-flagged cargo ship off Shanghai, China, leaving no survivors. (BBC)
2018 Peru earthquake
- A 7.1 magnitude earthquake strikes in the Pacific Ocean near Acarí in Peru's Arequipa Region resulting in 1 death and 65 injured. (Reuters), (USGS)
A heat boiler explodes at a community center in Vila Nova da Rainha, Tondela, Portugal, leaving at least eight people dead and thirty five injured. (BBC)

International relations

Law and crime

Turpin case
- A couple in Perris, California is arrested for allegedly holding captive and abusing their 13 children. (BBC)

Politics and elections

2018 Tunisian protests
- The Tunisian government announces a wave of social and economic reforms after violent anti-austerity protests that have resulted in at least one death and the arrest of more than eight hundred people. (BBC)
Government of Jimmy Morales
- Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales presents his second government report and starts the second half of his term surrounded by accusations of corruption and protests. Álvaro Arzú Escobar takes office as President of the Congress. Arzú is the son of former president Álvaro Arzú and both are accused of corruption. (Plenglish), (Telesur)

Science and technology

A study in Biological Psychiatry asserts that increasing the activity of the habenula brain region leads to social problems in rodents, whereas decreasing activity of the region prevents social problems. (Brinkwire)