Portal:Current events/2016 January 19

• War in North-West Pakistan
  • At least 9 people are killed and 35 injured after a suicide bomber strikes near a security checkpoint near Peshawar, Pakistan. (Geo TV) (AFP via RTE)
• Syrian Civil War
  • The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claims that scores of Syrian Army troops have been killed in fighting with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant over the past few days with the fiercest battles near the city of Deir ez-Zor. (Jerusalem Post)
  • ISIL confirms the death of militant Jihadi John in an airstrike in November. (BBC)
• Iraqi Civil War (2014–2017)
  • The United Nations Commission on Human Rights releases a report stating that at least 18,802 civilians have been killed and another 36,245 wounded between 1 January 2014 and 31 October 2015. Of these, 3,855 civilians were killed and 7,056 wounded between 1 May and 31 October 2015, with approximately half of these deaths occurring in Baghdad. (United Nations)

• Pakistan lifts a three-year ban on YouTube after Google launches a local version that allows the government to demand removal of material it considers to be offensive. Similar systems have existed in China for many years. (Reuters via Yahoo!)

• The price of oil drops below $28 a barrel, the lowest since 2003. (The Huffington Post via MSN)

• The roof of the renovated Hôtel Ritz in Paris is damaged by fire just weeks before the planned re-opening. (BBC) (Reuters)

• OIC and Iran-Saudi relations
  • Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister has left Tehran for Saudi Arabia for participation in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation ministerial meeting in Jeddah which was called for by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to discuss the consequence of attack at Saudi Embassy in Tehran following the execution of Shia Muslim cleric Sheikh Nimr. (IRIB World Service)^{[permanent dead link‍]} (OIC)^{[permanent dead link‍]}

• The U.S. Supreme Court agrees to hear an appeal that may redefine the boundaries of insider trading in U.S. law and regulation, especially as it relates to tips shared among family and friends. (Bloomberg)

• 2016 United States presidential election
  • Former Governor of Alaska, vice presidential candidate (2008), and Tea Party activist Sarah Palin endorses Republican Party presidential candidate Donald Trump for President of the United States. (CNN)

• The Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search announces the discovery of the latest largest known prime number, a Mersenne prime with 22,338,618 digits equal to 2^74,207,281-1. (The Guardian)

• According to a report in The Japan Times, Major League Baseball is investigating Texas Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish as to whether he had any links with an illegal gambling ring allegedly operated by his brother Sho, who was arrested in October 2015 in Osaka on gambling charges. The ring was alleged to have taken bets on MLB and Nippon Professional Baseball games. (The Japan Times)