Venezuela's acting leader calls for opening oil industry to foreign investmentActing-President Rodriguez described cash from the oil sales flowing into two sovereign wealth funds, one to support crisis-stricken health services and another to bolster public infrastructure, much of which was built under Mr Maduro’s legendary predecessor, Hugo Chavez, but has since deteriorated. While Ms Rodriguez slammed the kidnapping of Mr Maduro and referred to a “stain on our relations,” she also promoted the resumption of diplomacy with the US. She said: “Let us not be afraid of diplomacy. “I ask that politics not be transformed, that it not begin with hatred and intolerance.”
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/venezuelas-acting-leader-calls-opening-oil-industry-foreign-investmentUganda’s Bobi Wine taken to unknown location in army helicopter, party saysBobi Wine‘s political party says the Ugandan opposition presidential candidate has been “forcibly” removed from his home and taken to an “unknown destination” in an army helicopter. The National Unity Platform made the announcement in a social media post on Friday, a day after Ugandans cast their ballots in a tense election that took place amid an internet blackout. . . . . . .. .
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/16/ugandas-bobi-wine-taken-to-unknown-location-in-army-helicopter-party-sayshttps://archive.ph/UMyxKTrial opens in Gambia of leader of notorious death squad during Jammeh eraSanna Manjang, who headed a feared paramilitary unit called the “ Junglers ” under Jammeh, is accused by state prosecutors to two counts of murder dating back to 2006. He denies the charges. The paramilitary unit was accused of arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearance and summary executions.
https://apnews.com/article/gambia-court-death-squad-leader-senegal-2b4c6bc4b6d6e00ebaa27b81b539cdabSudan Joint Force claims recapture of Jargeira in North Darfur from RSFThe Joint Force of Armed Struggle Movements has announced that it carried out a successful and ‘high-quality’ military operation on Tuesday, in coordination with the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Popular Resistance, resulting in the full recapture of the Jargeira area and its surroundings in North Darfur. In a statement, the Joint Force said the operation led to the complete liberation of Jargeira and neighbouring areas, restoring them to government control.
https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/sudan-joint-force-claims-recapture-of-jargeira-in-north-darfur-from-rsfTrump names Tony Blair, Jared Kushner to Gaza ‘Board of Peace’The White House said on Friday that Blair would be among the board’s founding executive members, alongside Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the US special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff. The other members are Marc Rowan, the CEO of Apollo Global Management; World Bank Group President Ajay Banga, and Robert Gabriel, a US deputy national security adviser.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/16/trump-names-tony-blair-jared-kushner-to-gaza-board-of-peacehttps://archive.ph/QDFX4US urges SDF pullback from eastern Aleppo, say sourcesThe United States has asked the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to withdraw their remaining fighters from parts of the eastern Aleppo countryside, but the Kurdish-led group has rejected the request, regional sources familiar with the matter told Middle East Eye. … Several regional sources told MEE that Damascus carried out the Aleppo operation after receiving a green light from Washington.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/us-urges-sdf-pullback-eastern-aleppo-sources Iraq releases over 40,000 inmates under amnesty law: Judiciary The Iraqi parliament passed an amendment to the General Amnesty Law in January, as part of a broader legislative package that also included changes to the Personal Status Law and a property restitution law. The amnesty law has long been a key demand of Sunni Arab political parties, who argue that post-2003 anti-terrorism laws disproportionately target their community.
https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/050120262