Want to get the Morning Brief by email? Click here to sign up.Monday, Jan. 19, 2026.Compiled by Abbas Mahfouz. Some key things to watch for today:• 10:00 a.m.: Families of the victims of the Beirut Port explosion are organizing “The Port Is a Witness and the Appointment Is a Scandal,” sit-in, in protest of the appointment of Gracia Azzi as Director General of Customs.• Iran death toll confirmation as protests enter third week• Gaza Board of Peace updates as Trump invites countries to join• Kurdish-Syrian cease-fire updatesSyrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa welcomes U.S. Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack for truce talks with SDF in Damascus on Jan. 18, 2026. (Credit: SANA) Syria government-SDF truce paves way for integration and handover of oil and gas fields: After two weeks of clashes, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)...
Want to get the Morning Brief by email? Click here to sign up.Monday, Jan. 19, 2026.Compiled by Abbas Mahfouz. Some key things to watch for today:• 10:00 a.m.: Families of the victims of the Beirut Port explosion are organizing “The Port Is a Witness and the Appointment Is a Scandal,” sit-in, in protest of the appointment of Gracia Azzi as Director General of Customs.• Iran death toll confirmation as protests enter third week• Gaza Board of Peace updates as Trump invites countries to join• Kurdish-Syrian cease-fire updatesSyrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa welcomes U.S. Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack for truce talks with SDF in Damascus on Jan. 18, 2026. (Credit: SANA) Syria government-SDF truce paves way for integration and handover of oil and gas fields: After two weeks of clashes, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic...
'American sponsorship is a guarantee,' says Lebanese-American coordination committee