Portal:Current events/2018 January 12

• Women's rights in Saudi Arabia, Mohammad bin Salman, Saudi Vision 2030
  • For the first time, Saudi Arabia allows women to spectate at football matches, part of an easing of strict rules on gender separation by the ultra-conservative Muslim country. (BBC)

• A major fire engulfs parts of Nottingham station, United Kingdom. (BBC)

• Turkey–United States relations
  • Turkey cautions its citizens against travel to the United States in response to an advisory that warned Americans about terror threats and arbitrary detentions in Turkey. (AP via Fox News)
• United Kingdom–United States relations
  • United States President Donald Trump cancels his scheduled trip to the United Kingdom next month. (Reuters)
• Nepal–United States relations, Botswana–United States relations
  • Nepalese authorities state that they are "discussing their response" to Trump's recent comment which referred to their country (among others) as a "shithole". Botswana summoned their U.S. ambassador, asking for clarification and expressed their concerns. (CNN)
• Panama–United States relations
  • The United States Ambassador to Panama, John D. Feeley, resigns saying he can no longer serve under Trump administration. (The Telegraph)

• Murder of Zainab Ansari
  • Protesters set a government office on fire in the Pakistani city of Kasur, in a second day of riots after the rape and murder of a six-year-old girl. (BBC)
• After European Parliament auditors conclude that he used a parliamentary assistant for UKIP party matters instead of for work related to the duties of a Member of the European Parliament, Nigel Farage will now pay back £35,500 (€40,000) through having half of his salary withheld. (The Independent)

• Cabinet of Germany
  • The CDU/CSU (Christian Democrats) and SPD (Social Democrats) agree on a blueprint for formal negotiations on a new "grand coalition" government after the September 2017 federal election. (BBC)
• Politics of Mexico
  • Mexicans react with incredulity after President of Mexico Enrique Peña Nieto appointed Alberto Bazbaz to the position of head of the CISEN intelligence service. Bazbaz is known for having overseen a 9-day search for a missing girl, Paulette Gebara Farah, who was eventually found dead in her own bed. (The Guardian)

• 2018 in spaceflight
  • The Indian Space Research Organisation successfully launches India’s 100th satellite and 30 other satellites from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. (The Hindu)
  • A Delta IV launches NROL-47, a classified U.S. military payload, from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. It is the last single-core Delta IV to launch from Vandenberg. (Spaceflight Now)