January 5, 2020 (Sunday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Camp Simba attack
- An attack by Al-Shabaab militants on an airfield used by Kenyan and U.S. troops in Lamu County, Kenya, is repelled, leaving four militants dead and five arrested. (Fox News)
- Three Americans are confirmed to have been killed in the attack, a serviceman and two contractors. (CNN) (BBC News)
- In Metz, Grand Est, France, an assailant shouting "Allahu Akbar" attempts to stab police officers with a knife before being shot and injured. (Reuters)
- American-led intervention in Iraq (2014–2021)
- United States Central Command releases a CJTF-OIR statement announcing that it "has paused" operations against ISIL in order to concentrate on protecting their troops at bases in Iraq. (The Guardian)
Disasters and accidents
- 2019–20 Australian bushfire season
- A bushfire leads to the residents of Eden, New South Wales, to evacuate. (ABC News and Current Affairs)
- In the early hours of the morning, a car crashes into a group of German tourists in Luttach, Italy, killing six people and injuring 11 others. The driver was reportedly drunk and is charged with murder. (Bangkok Post)
- Thirty-six people are killed and others injured after a building under construction collapses in Kep, Cambodia. (Reuters)
- A vehicle pile-up involving multiple semi-trucks and a tour bus on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, U.S. leaves five dead and 60 injured. (Fox News)
Law and crime
- Japan says it will tighten immigration measures after the escape of former Chairman of Nissan Carlos Ghosn from the country. The Japanese government condemns Ghosn's escape as "unjustifiable". (Reuters) (Al Jazeera)
- 2019–20 Hong Kong protests
- Thousands of protesters march in the Sheung Shui neighborhood; dozens are arrested. (Reuters)
Politics and elections
- 2020 Venezuelan National Assembly Delegated Committee election
- Elected deputies in Venezuela vote for a President of the National Assembly, who may be able to claim the nation's Presidency. (Miami Herald)
- Despite trying to enter and vote, self-declared interim president Juan Guaidó is denied entry to the Assembly. Dissident opposition politician Luis Parra is sworn in as National Assembly president after an impromptu vote. Opposition supporters call it a "parliamentary coup"; the United States denounce a "farce". State broadcasters label Parra as the new speaker of parliament. (BBC News) (Reuters)
- In a session boycotted by most Sunni Arab and Kurdish representatives, the Council of Representatives of Iraq accepts a resolution to expel U.S. troops from Iraq. (Reuters)
- U.S. President Donald Trump threatens Iraq—if the U.S. would be required to leave the country—with a bill for a "very extraordinarily expensive" air base and also with sanctions that would "make Iranian sanctions look somewhat tame". (Reuters)
- After the United States kills Iranian General Qasem Soleimani in the 2020 Baghdad International Airport airstrike, Iran's parliament votes to exit the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal with world powers. This comes after the United States unilaterally withdrew in 2018. (MSN)
- 2019–20 Croatian presidential election
- The runoff election for the Croatian Presidency is held today, with incumbent Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović facing former Prime Minister Zoran Milanović. (Euronews)
- Milanović is elected. Grabar-Kitarović pledges a "civilised transfer" of power. (The Guardian)
- 2019–20 Uzbek parliamentary election
- A repeat vote is held in 25 electoral districts in the second round of the latest parliamentary election in Uzbekistan. (TASS)
- Politics of Israel
- Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu announces appointments at several ministries he had to drop following his indictment for corruption. David Bitan, who is under suspicion of accepting bribes, is appointed as Minister of Agriculture. (Ynet)
- People in Pakistan protest in Karachi over the U.S. killing of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps general Qasem Soleimani. (Reuters)