January 22, 2012 (Sunday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Syrian Civil War: Arab League ministers meet in Cairo, Egypt, to discuss the extension of its monitoring mission in Syria. (BBC)
- Somali Civil War (2009–present):
- A senior foreign commander is killed in a drone strike south of the Somali capital Mogadishu. (New York Times)
- Egyptian police shoot two African migrants dead as they attempt to cross the border into Israel. (UPI)
Arts and culture
- Sri Lanka orders 161 foreign clerics from the Tablighi Jamaat movement to leave the country for breaking the terms of their tourist visas. (Times of India)
Disasters and accidents
- China reports the death of a second person this month to H5N1 bird flu. (AFP)
- At least 16 people drown after a passenger boat sinks off Iran's southern coast. (Al Jazeera)
Law and crime
- Police in Bosnia and Herzegovina recapture Bosnian Serb fugitive Radovan Stanković after he escaped from prison five years ago. (RIA Novosti)
Politics and elections
- The party of former Madagascan President Marc Ravalomanana suspends its role in the unity government after the plane carrying him home from exile was turned away. (Voice of America)
- A referendum on EU accession takes place in Croatia, with 66% voting to join the EU, and 33% against. (BBC)
- Representative Gabby Giffords of Arizona announces her resignation from office to focus on her recovery after surviving an attempted assassination in 2011. (Washington Post)
- The first round of the Presidential election takes place in Finland. (CNN)
- Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh announces that he is to leave for treatment in the United States. (Reuters)
Sports
- The New York Giants and New England Patriots advance to Super Bowl XLVI. (New York Daily News)
- Former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno dies from complications associated with lung cancer. (ESPN)
- The closing ceremony of the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics is held in Innsbruck, Austria, with Germany receiving the most medals at the Medal table, followed by China and Austria.