Portal:Current events/2016 January 21

Current events of January 21, 2016 (2016-01-21) (Thursday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• War in Somalia (2009–present)
  • Gunmen attack the Lido or beach area in Mogadishu. (BBC)

Arts and culture

• Local Tajikistan police have shaved nearly 13,000 men's beards, closed more than 150 shops selling traditional Muslim clothing, and convinced around 1,800 women and girls to stop wearing headscarves in 2015 as part of a campaign to eradicate foreign influences in the former Soviet Republic. (Al Jazeera via MSN) (TIME)

Health

• Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa
  • The World Health Organisation confirms a second new case of Ebola virus in Sierra Leone. (AFP via Yahoo! News)

International relations

• Burundian unrest (2015–present)
  • Two former Presidents of Burundi call for the United Nations Security Council to authorise the use of peacekeeping troops in Burundi to prevent a potential civil war. (Reuters)

Law and crime

• Dominic Ongwen, a former commander of the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda, appears before the International Criminal Court in a hearing to determine whether a criminal trial should go ahead. (Reuters)
• The State Council of Crimea issues an arrest warrant for the leader of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People and former Soviet dissident Mustafa Dzhemilev. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
• A British inquiry alleges that Russian President Vladimir Putin "probably" personally approved the FSB's murder of Alexander Litvinenko in November 2006 based on findings from a public enquiry. Despite being named public all of the testimonies were classified. (CNN)

Politics and elections

• The 12th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam convenes in Hanoi for eight days to select the country's leadership for the next five years. (AP via ABC News America)