Trump asks Turkiye’s Erdogan, Egypt’s el-Sisi to join Gaza ‘board of peace’Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan received the proposal in a letter sent Friday by Trump inviting him to “become a founding member” of the board, Turkish presidential communications director Burhanettin Duran posted on social media on Saturday. Meanwhile, Egypt’s foreign minister, Badr Abdelatty, said at a news conference on Saturday that the country was reviewing a separate invitation from Trump to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to join the board.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/17/trump-asks-turkiyes-erdogan-egypts-el-sisi-to-join-gaza-board-ofhttps://archive.ph/5aV0sIran’s supreme leader says 'thousands killed' in unrest, blames Trump and IsraelIran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said that “several thousand” people were killed during weeks of nationwide protests, in the first official public acknowledgement of the scale of deaths from the unrest. Speaking on Saturday, Khamenei blamed US President Donald Trump for the violence, accusing Washington of responsibility for the casualties, destruction and turmoil across the country. “We consider the US president criminal for the casualties, damages and slander he inflicted on the Iranian nation,” Khamenei said, according to state media.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/irans-supreme-leader-says-thousands-killed-unrest-blames-trump-and-israel-1Syria army advances in north amid clashes with Kurdish-led SDFSyria's army took control of swathes of northern Syria and threatened to bomb parts of Raqqa province on Saturday after Kurdish forces pulled back from ethnically Arab territory they had held for over a decade. The Syrian army said it had begun entering the city of Tabqa in Raqqa province, adding that it was "encircling" the Kurdish forces at their military airport.
https://www.newarab.com/news/syria-army-advances-north-amid-clashes-kurdish-led-sdfMilei decree reshapes Argentina’s intelligence apparatus, rekindling overreach fears Changes formalised by Decree 941/2025, published in the Official Gazette on January 2, redefine the functioning of the SIDE intelligence services, reduce its internal structure and expand its powers as the central authority for intelligence.
https://www.batimes.com.ar/news/argentina/milei-decree-reshapes-argentinas-intelligence-apparatus-rekindling-overreach-fears.phtmlhttps://archive.ph/8clo7International oil companies push for quick reforms in Venezuela to give them control over oil exportsTo get things moving, representatives of international oil companies are seeking a few modifications to the existing legal framework for the industry that would leave state-run oil giant PDVSA as the majority stakeholder of all oil joint ventures, but would grant foreign partners control of their share of production and give them access to the company's oil terminals and export infrastructure to facilitate shipments.
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/international-oil-companies-push-quick-reforms-venezuela-give-them-control-over-2026-01-16/More than half of Colombia’s governors rebel over emergency vice tax hikeMore than half of Colombia’s governors said Thursday that they will not comply with an emergency decree that increased taxes on alcohol and tobacco to fill the national government’s $4.3 billion (COP16 trillion) budget gap. Following a meeting that was organized by the National Federation of Departments, 17 of the 32 governors decided that they would refuse to increase the sales tax on alcohol and tobacco products from 5% to 19%.
https://colombiareports.com/more-than-half-of-colombias-governors-rebel-over-emergency-vice-tax-hike/FAA urges pilots to exercise caution over eastern Pacific, citing ‘military activities’The Federal Aviation Administration on Friday urged U.S. aircraft operators to “exercise caution” when flying over the eastern Pacific Ocean near Mexico, Central America and parts of South America, citing “military activities” and possible satellite navigation interference. The warning was issued in a series of Notices to Airmen (NOTAMs) issued by the FAA. They say, “Potential risks exist for aircraft at all altitudes, including during overflight and the arrival and departure phases of flight.” The alerts are in effect for 60 days. Such notices are issued routinely in any region where there are hostilities nearby.
https://apnews.com/article/faa-flight-warnings-pacific-ocean-dd0cbe105d75f6d8acf16f02884865c0Thailand halts multiple major construction projects after fatal accidentsThailand's Transport Ministry on Friday ordered a 15-day construction halt on 14 contracts involving Italian-Thai Development PCL as well as other large-scale projects overseen by the ministry, as it conducts safety inspections after two fatal crane accidents in two days.
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/thailand-orders-15-day-construction-suspension-14-projects-involving-firm-2026-01-16/Workers and peasants in India mobilize in National Day of Resistance against neoliberalismThe introduction of four new labor codes and the repeal of the national rural employment guarantee program by the ultra-right-wing government is widely opposed, as it may further increase the economic misery of India’s majority working population.
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2026/01/16/workers-and-peasants-in-india-mobilize-in-national-day-of-resistance-against-neoliberalism/