January 30, 2021 (Saturday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Syrian civil war
- A car bombing kills at least five people and injures 22 others in the Turkish-occupied town of Afrin in northern Syria. Turkey's Ministry of National Defense accuses the Kurdish-led YPG of being behind the attack. (Reuters)
Health and environment
- COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in North America
- COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
- COVID-19 pandemic in Maryland, 501.V2 variant
- Maryland confirms its first case of the 501.V2 variant from South Africa, becoming the second U.S. state to do so after South Carolina. (Politico)
- COVID-19 pandemic in South Carolina, Variant of Concern 202012/01
- South Carolina reports its first case of the B.1.1.7 variant first detected in the United Kingdom. The patient is a person from the Pee Dee region who previously travelled internationally. (WLTX-TV)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Maryland, 501.V2 variant
- COVID-19 pandemic in Cuba
- COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
- COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia
- Indonesia reports a record 14,518 new confirmed cases in the past 24 hours, 4,601 of which are from West Java, bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 1,066,313. (detikHealth)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Iran
- COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia
- Malaysia reports a record 5,728 new confirmed cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 209,661. (New Straits Times)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Taiwan
- Taiwan reports its first death from COVID-19 since May 2020 in a woman in her 80s. (Focus Taiwan News Channel)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Uzbekistan
- Uzbekistan reports its first case of the UK variant of SARS-CoV-2 in a 10-year-old child who travelled with her family to the United Arab Emirates last week. (Xinhua)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam
- Vietnam approves the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine. (The Straits Times)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia
- COVID-19 pandemic in Africa
- COVID-19 pandemic in Algeria, COVID-19 vaccine
- Algeria begins its vaccination program using Russia's Sputnik V vaccine. (ABC News)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Tunisia, COVID-19 vaccine
- Tunisia becomes the third country in Africa to register the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine after the country approves the vaccine for one year. (Al-Arabiya)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Algeria, COVID-19 vaccine
- COVID-19 pandemic in Italy
- The Italian Medicines Agency approves the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine in Italy for all adults but recommends that other vaccines be given to people aged over 55. (Daily Sabah)
- COVID-19 pandemic in North America
International relations
- Economic effects of Brexit
- The United Kingdom announces that it will apply to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, which forms a trade bloc of 11 Asia-Pacific nations. The UK will be the first non-founding country to apply to join the bloc. (BBC News)
Law and crime
- Capital punishment in Iran
- Iran hangs Javid Dehghan, the former leader of the Salafi jihadist group Jaish ul-Adl, for the murder of two Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps members in Sistan and Baluchestan Province. (Reuters)