January 1, 2012 (Sunday)
Armed conflict and attacks
- Arab Spring:
- 2011–2012 Syrian uprising:
- The Arab Inter-parliamentary Union, an advisory body to the Arab League, calls for the removal of its monitors in Syria, saying that they are inadvertently helping the government cover up ongoing violence. (Al Jazeera) (BBC)
- Syrian opposition groups say that over 5,800 people were killed in violence in 2011. (CNN)
- 2011–2012 Bahraini uprising:
- 2011–2012 Syrian uprising:
- At least two people are killed in attacks on bars in northern Kenya near the border with Somalia, with Islamist al-Shabaab militants possibly responsible. (Reuters)
- Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan declares a state of emergency in parts of the country hit by violence by Islamist militant group Boko Haram. (Al Jazeera)
- South Sudan is to send more troops and police to Pibor, the scene of ethnic violence. (BBC)
Arts and culture
- Queen Elizabeth II appoints former Prime Minister of Australia John Howard and British painter David Hockney to the Order of Merit. (Sydney Morning Herald)
Business and economy
- Rio Tinto Alcan locks out hundreds of workers from a smelter in the Canadian town of Alma, Quebec. (CBC)
Disasters
- A 7.0-magnitude earthquake strikes south of Japan; no damage is caused. (Wall Street Journal) (Reuters) (Newsday)
- A boat capsizes near Lamu Island off the Kenyan coast with at least seven people dead. (Reuters)
International relations
- The Iranian Navy test-fires a surface-to-air missile. (MSNBC)
- Pakistan and India give each other a list of their nuclear sites. (CNN)
Politics
- A joint New Year editorial by North Korean media calls for "human shields" to protect new Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un. (The Telegraph)
- Nigeria announces an end to its fuel subsidy scheme leading the Nigeria Labour Congress to call for strikes and street protests. (Reuters)
- Egypt's military rulers bring forward elections for the Shura Council, the upper house of the Parliament to expedite progress in developing a new constitution. (AFP via France 24)
Science
- The second of NASA's Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory spacecraft is in orbit around the moon. (AP)
Sport
- In football, the Swaziland national football team withdraws from the qualifying rounds of the Africa Cup of Nations due to financial constraints. (Reuters)
- In motor sports, Argentine motorcycle rider Jorge Andrés Boero dies in the first leg of the Dakar Rally in Argentina. (AP via Fox Sports)