Portal:Current events/2017 January 16

• Syrian Civil War
  • Deir ez-Zor offensive (January–February 2017)
    • ISIL's third attack against the Syrian government's forces in the city of Deir ez-Zor reportedly splits the government held area in two. An estimated 14,000 ISIL fighters are participating in the attack according to the government. (Al Masdar News)

• Italian eyewear maker Luxottica and French corrective eyewear manufacturer Essilor agree to a €50 billion merger. (Reuters via Business Insider)

• Turkish Airlines Flight 6491
  • A Turkish Airlines cargo jet crashes near Kyrgyzstan's Manas International Airport resulting in the deaths of at least 38 people. (Belarusian Telegraph Agency)
• 2017 Visayas and Mindanao floods
  • Cagayan de Oro experienced a series of flash floods caused by heavy rainfall brought by a low-pressure area in the Moro Gulf. (Manila Bulletin)

• War in Donbass, Russia–Ukraine relations
  • Ukraine sues Russia at the International Court of Justice, accusing the latter of being engaged in acts of "terrorism" and "discrimination" in eastern Ukraine and Crimea. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
• Egypt–Saudi Arabia relations
  • A top Egyptian court rules against giving away the two Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir to Saudi Arabia. (Reuters)
• Norway–United States relations, Operation Atlantic Resolve
  • Three hundred U.S. marines arrive in Norway for a six-month deployment, becoming the first foreign troops in Norway since World War II. The marines will be stationed at Værnes Air Station in Stjørdal. (Reuters)

• 2016 South Korean political scandal
  • South Korean prosecutors issue an arrest warrant for Lee Jae-yong, a senior executive in the Samsung Group, in relation to the political scandal that has led to the impeachment of Park Geun-hye, the President of South Korea. (Los Angeles Times)
• Oman receives 10 former detainees of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp following a request by the United States to take them. (BBC)
• A lone gunman opens fire at the BPM Festival in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, killing at least four people and injuring 12 others. (BBC) (Reuters)
• Noor Salman, the wife of Omar Mateen who committed the 2016 Orlando mass shooting is arrested and charged with obstructing the investigation of the case. (New York Times)
• Abdulkadir Masharipov, suspected of killing 39 people in the 2017 Istanbul nightclub shooting, is arrested in Istanbul's Esenyurt district. (AP via New York Times)

• Syrian Civil War, Syrian peace process
  • The Syrian Opposition agree to attend peace talks with the Syrian government in Astana, Kazakhstan, in order to press for a ceasefire to the conflict. (The Guardian)
• Northern Ireland Assembly election, 2017, Renewable Heat Incentive scandal
  • The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland James Brokenshire announces a snap election is to take place on March 2 to elect members to the Northern Ireland Assembly after the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Sinn Féin failed to agree on a power-sharing agreement. (The Guardian)