🇪🇷🇮🇱⚡- Afar separatists from the Afar region of eastern Eritrea have reached out to Israel for help, Israeli media Ynet (Yediot Ahronoth) reports.

Afar separatists, emboldened by Somaliland's recognition of independence, cite "regional threats," including the threat allegedly poised by the Houthis in Yemen as a reason for seeking Tel Aviv support in independence. Afar separatists have also accused the ruling government of Eritrea of "human right abuses" in a recent conference in Ethiopia.

A recent paper published by the Institute for Security Studies: Africa, ISS-Africa, accused the Houthis of smuggling weapons into the Afar region of Eritrea, arming "armed-actors" sympathetic to the Ansarullah.

The development comes amid regional tensions between Ethiopia and Eritrea, in which officials from Addis Ababa have made it quite public that they eye the port city of Assab in the Afar region.

🇺🇸🇵🇸🇮🇱⚡- BREAKING: The US announces the beginning of Phase Two of the Trump mediated 20-point Hamas-Israel ceasefire deal.

Phase Two will see the creation of an international governing body for the Gaza Strip, as well as the demilitarization of Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other groups. The construction of the 'Green City' will also begin in the second phase. The Green City is a modern city planned to be built in eastern Rafah, Israeli-controlled Gaza Strip. Massive earthworks and clearings for the project began in December of last year.

🇺🇸🇵🇸🇮🇱⚡- "Today, on behalf of President Trump, we are announcing the launch of Phase Two of the President’s 20-Point Plan to End the Gaza Conflict, moving from ceasefire to demilitarization, technocratic governance, and reconstruction.

Phase Two establishes a transitional technocratic Palestinian administration in Gaza, the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), and begins the full demilitarization and reconstruction of Gaza, primarily the disarmament of all unauthorized personnel. The US expects Hamas to comply fully with its obligations, including the immediate return of the final deceased hostage. Failure to do so will bring serious consequences.

Importantly, Phase One delivered historic humanitarian aid, maintained the ceasefire, returned all living hostages and the remains of twenty-seven of the twenty-eight deceased hostages. We are deeply grateful to Egypt, Turkey, and Qatar for their indispensable mediation efforts that made all progress to date possible," - Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.

🇺🇸🇮🇷🇮🇱⚡- "Israel shared an assessment with the US that at least 5,000 protesters have been killed in Iran," - Axios.

🇬🇧🇶🇦⚡- The UK has followed the US in withdrawing some personnel from Qatar’s al-Udeid Air Base.

🇺🇸⚡️- Starting January 21st, the US will be freezing all visa processing for the following 75 countries : Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Bhutan, Bosnia, Brazil, Burma, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Colombia, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominica, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Republic of the Congo, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Uruguay, Uzbekistan and Yemen.

🇺🇸⚡️- "The State Department will use its long-standing authority to deem ineligible potential immigrants who would become a public charge on the United States and exploit the generosity of the American people, Immigration from these 75 countries will be paused while the State Department reassess immigration processing procedures to prevent the entry of foreign nationals who would take welfare and public benefits." - State Department spokesperson Tommy Piggott in a statement.

🇺🇸🇬🇱 - "Which way, Greenland man?" - The White House.

🇬🇧⚡️- YouGov polling shows the Conservative party recovering as Reform UK falls in recent weeks following a deluge of Boris Johnson officials and other washed up Tories defecting to Reform.

🇮🇷⚡- Cargo vessels and tankers have stopped approaching Iran and its water spaces, instead dropping anchor in open waters and remain in holding positions.

🇩🇪🇬🇱⚡- Germany to deploy troops to Greenland as early as this week.

🇮🇱⚡- BREAKING: Israeli cities of Dimona and Be'er-Sheva have begun opening public bomb shelters.

🇵🇱🇮🇹🇮🇷⚡- Poland and Italy calls on its citizens to leave Iran immediately.

🇩🇪🇮🇱⚡- German airliner Lufthansa cancels all flights to Israel from tomorrow, and has begun evacuating its staff from country.

🇺🇸🇶🇦⚡- Multiple US aerial refuelers have gone airborne from al-Udeid Air Base, Qatar.

🇮🇱⚡- Ashkelon, Israel, has now opened its public bomb shelters.

🇺🇸⚡️- Major Verizon outage in the U.S.

🇸🇾🇮🇱⚡- Israeli jets enter Syrian airspace.