January 2, 2015 (Friday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Somali Civil War
- Somali al-Shabaab militants attack an army base on the outskirts of Baidoa, killing seven soldiers. (Reuters via Daily Times)
- Islamist insurgency in Nigeria
- Boko Haram militants attack a bus in Waza, Cameroon, killing eleven people and injuring six. (CNN via WLKY)
- 1998 United States embassy bombings
- Abu Anas al-Libi, a one-time associate of Osama bin Laden, dies in New York, United States, while awaiting trial for allegedly plotting the bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. (NBC News)
Disasters and accidents
- The MS Norman Atlantic ferry fire death toll rises to at least eleven with as many as 19 people still unaccounted for. (The Independent)
International relations
- North Korea–United States relations
- The United States enacts more sanctions on North Korea in response to their alleged involvement in the hacking attack on Sony. The sanctions target the North Korean Special Operation Force and 10 government officials. (Reuters)