The day

Wednesday 29 January 2025

21 stories, biggest first.

1. 1

   Politics2025 United States federal government grant pause

   The United States Office of Management and Budget rescinds a memo from Monday that would have paused federal financial assistance programs implicated by select executive orders of President Donald Trump, following a temporary block of the order on Tuesday by a federal judge. Following the rescission, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt states that the Trump administration will continue to pursue a freeze of federal funds.

2. 2

   NewsIslamic State insurgency in Puntland

   Puntland authorities deport around a thousand undocumented Ethiopians from the cities of Bosaso, Galkayo, Qardho, and the state’s capital, Garoowe, as part of an ongoing crackdown on foreigners without legal status, following the discovery of foreign fighters acting as Islamic State recruiters in the Cal Miskaad mountains of the Bari Region.

3. 3

   CrimeFirst 100 days of the second Donald Trump presidency

   U.S. President Donald Trump signs the Laken Riley Act into law, the first legislation of Trump's second term.

4. 4

   News2025 Goma offensive

   M23 rebels solidify control of Goma, North Kivu Province, and are confirmed to be holding captured Congolese troops and allied Wazalendo militants at the Stade de l'Unité. They also begin advancing on Bukavu, capital of the South Kivu Province, according to senior Congolese officials and a Rwandan diplomat.

5. 5

   News2025 Goma offensive

   In an emergency address to the nation, Congolese president Félix Tshisekedi calls for calm and says "a vigorous and coordinated response against these terrorists and their sponsors is underway" by the armed forces, and also cancels participation in a regional summit with Rwandan president Paul Kagame.

6. 6

   CrimeFirst 100 days of the second Donald Trump presidency

   President Trump announces plans to transform the United States detention facility in Cuba's Guantánamo Bay into a holding center for undocumented immigrants, capable of hosting 30,000 people.

7. 7

   News2025 Light Air Services Beechcraft 1900 crash

   A Beechcraft 1900D carrying employees of an oil company crashes in Unity, South Sudan, killing 20 of the 21 people onboard, including one Indian and two Chinese nationals.

8. 8

   News2025 Potomac River mid-air collision

   A PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ-700 operating as American Eagle Flight 5342 collides with a U.S. Army Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk over the Potomac River near Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., United States, killing 67 people between both aircraft and causing a shutdown of flights in and out of the airport, leaving no survivors.

9. 9

   NewsM23 offensive

   Around 280 Romanian mercenaries fighting alongside the Congolese military in North Kivu surrender to the M23, according to the Rwandan military. They are now being transported to Kigali after being handed over to Rwandan authorities.

10. 10

    News2025 Gaza war ceasefire

    U.S. Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff visits the Gaza Strip and meets with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to assure that the ceasefire remains intact.

11. 11

    NewsBattle of Chasiv Yar

    Russian forces capture the city of Chasiv Yar in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, after a year of intense fighting for control of the front line city.

12. 12

    News

    Thirteen artisanal miners, including three children, are killed when a tunnel at a gold mine floods after a reservoir spill in Kangaba, Koulikoro, Mali.

13. 13

    News

    A Venezuelan Ministry of Interior, Justice and Peace Cessna Citation II aircraft crashes shortly after takeoff from Generalissimo Francisco de Miranda Air Base in Caracas, Venezuela, killing all three people on board.

14. 14

    News2025 Prayag Maha Kumbh Mela crowd crush

    At least 30 people are killed in a crowd crush at a Hindu festival in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, India.

15. 15

    MoneyExpansion of Heathrow Airport

    UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves approves the construction of a third runway at Greater London's Heathrow Airport after decades of delays.

16. 16

    PoliticsSyrian civil war

    Ahmed al-Sharaa is declared the president of Syria during the transition period, a month after Bashar al-Assad was ousted by rebel forces.

17. 17

    News

    Five people, four from Norway and one from Switzerland, are killed in two separate avalanches while off-piste skiing in the French Alps.

18. 18

    Crime

    Former U.S. Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey is sentenced to 11 years in prison, following his conviction on bribery and corruption charges.

19. 19

    Crime

    Police in Stuttgart, Germany, arrest 59 French fans of the Paris Saint-Germain football club for hooliganism before a match against German club VfB Stuttgart.

20. 20

    News

    Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger formally withdraw from the ECOWAS regional bloc.

21. 21

    Sport2025 in sumo

    Mongolian sumōtori Hōshōryū Tomokatsu becomes the 74th yokozuna.

Stories adapted from Wikipedia’s Current events portal for 29 January 2025, by Wikipedia contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0.