Former Tigray Region president and fugitive Debretsion Gebremichael speaks out for the first time since going into hiding following the fall of Mekelle to federal forces in November 2020, saying "They [the federal government] have temporary military dominance", and "we are engaged in extended resistance". His current whereabouts are unknown. (Reuters)
A suicide bomberblows himself up outside the Afrik Hotel in Mogadishu, Somalia, while gunmen storm the hotel and open fire. Five people are killed in the al-Shabaab attack, including a former military general; ten civilians are wounded. The three other attackers are shot dead during a gun battle with security forces. (BBC News)
Israel reports its first reinfection case of the 501.V2 variant in a 57-year-old man who recently travelled to Turkey and who previously recovered from COVID-19. (Times of Israel)
Vietnam reports its first case of the 501.V2 variant in a 25-year-old man from South Africa who travelled to Hanoi on December 19 and tested positive for COVID-19 four days later while in quarantine. (AAP via The West Australian)
Police in Brussels, Belgium announce that they have arrested more than 400 people in order to prevent a banned demonstration against anti-COVID-19 measures. (DW)
Shirlene Ostrov resigns as chairwoman of the Hawaii Republican Party following a series of tweets posted by vice chairman Edwin Boyette on the party's Twitter account defending people who supported the QAnon conspiracy theory. Additionally, Boyette resigned on January 24th after the tweets were posted the day before. (AP)