🇸🇦🇸🇴🇵🇸⚡- "Saudi Arabia is finalizing an agreement on a new military coalition with Somalia and Egypt, part of its bid to curtail the United Arab Emirates’ regional influence.

Somalian President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud will travel to Saudi Arabia soon to finalize the deal, which aims to foster more strategic collaboration on Red Sea security as well as deeper military cooperation.

Somalia this week canceled security and ports agreements with the UAE, accusing the Gulf state of violating its sovereignty by extracting a Yemeni separatist leader through its territory," - Bloomberg.

Note, Somalia's decision to bar the UAE from entering Somalia's airspace or use its airstrips has been rejected by Jubaland, Puntland and Somaliland.

🇺🇸🇻🇪⚡️- "The C.I.A. director, John Ratcliffe, met with Delcy Rodríguez, the interim president of Venezuela, in Caracas on Thursday, reinforcing the Trump administration’s message that it sees the interim government as the best path to stability in the country in the short term.

The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the sensitive meeting, added that the two discussed intelligence cooperation, economic stability and the need to ensure that the country was no longer a “safe haven for America’s adversaries, especially narco-traffickers.”" - The New York Times.

🇺🇸🇻🇪⚡- "The Trump administration is preparing to use private military contractors to protect oil & energy assets in Venezuela rather than deploying US troops," - CNN.

🇺🇸🇵🇪⚡- Washington has approved a $1.5 billion foreign military sale to upgrade Peru's main naval base. The upgrade will help improve Peru's infrastructure to support future US naval and logistical operations.

🇸🇦🇦🇪🇾🇪⚡- Despite the fact that the Saudi-backed Presidential Leadership Council has taken over Aden, a massive pro UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council march is ongoing in the city right now.

People chant for the return of the STC and its former President Aidarus al-Zoubaidi.

🇺🇸🇮🇷⚡- "I greatly respect the fact that all scheduled hangings, which were to take place yesterday (Over 800 of them), have been cancelled by the leadership of Iran. Thank you!" - President Trump.

🇺🇸🇻🇪🇮🇷⚡️- U.S. Southern Command has released another video pertaining to the seizure of the Iranian shadow tanker, VERONICA, illegally carrying stolen American oil.

🇸🇾⚡- Syrian army has begun its military operation in the Dayr Hafr direction, SDF-controlled northern Syria. Government troops are heavy shelling SDF positions in the area.

🇺🇬⚡- BREAKING: Uganda's opposition leader, Bobi Wine of the National Unity Platform, was arrested by the Ugandan authorities.

His party claims he was taken away by security forces on a helicopter to an unknown location.

Ugandans await the results of their general elections that were held over the past 48 hours.

🇺🇸🇮🇷🇮🇱⚡- "The American attack plans for Iran did not leave a good impression on the Israeli officials after it was presented to them," - Israeli Channel 12.

🇱🇧🇮🇷🇮🇱⚡- "Israel is preparing a major preemptive attack against Hezbollah if the Lebanese group prepares to intervene in the event of a US-Israeli attack on Iran," - Israeli Channel 15.

🇸🇾⚡- BREAKING: Mazloum Abdi, Commander-in-Chief of the SDF, announces a full withdrawal from the Aleppo region west of the Euphrates (marked as red on the map).

🇺🇸🇮🇷⚡️- Iran executed four people on January 14, the same day President Trump said all executions had been stopped – HRANA.

🇮🇷 - HRANA writes that since the start of the Iranian protests:

- 2,677 confirmed total deaths (could rise to 4,370, as 1,693 cases are under review),
- 163 security officers killed,
- 2,677 severe injuries,
- and 19,097 people detained.

🇪🇺🇮🇷⚡- The European Union advises all European airlines to avoid using Iranian airspace.