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Putin Offered Seat On Trump's Gaza Peace Board, Kremlin Says Russia has been invited to take part in the new US-backed 'Peace Board' put forward by President Donald Trump to oversee post-conflict governance and reconstruction in Gaza, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has announced, in a somewhat surprising and hugely symbolic diplomatic move and overture. Peskov told reporters Monday that President Vladimir Putin had received an invitation through diplomatic channels. "We are studying the details of the proposal. We hope to hold contacts with the US side to clarify all the nuances," he said, but did not disclose any additional details. Source: Expresso The Putin invitation has yet to be publicly acknowledged by Washington, and Western mainstream media is likely to go into a frenzy over it. Press reports have highlighted that Putin was invited to oversee 'peace' but is still active in directing the Ukraine invasion. For example, The Guardian frames the peace board as but a Trump vanity project, writing "The invitation to Putin, which has yet to be confirmed by Washington, raises more questions about the intended agenda for the board. It was originally part of Trump’s ceasefire proposals for the Gaza war, and was supposed to oversee the transition to a lasting peace in the territory and supervise the work of a committee of Palestinian experts, also announced last week, who would take care of the day-to-day running of Gaza." The report adds, "The vaguely described scheme was endorsed in a UN security council resolution in November" - and draws parallels to the desire to takeover Greenland, which is intent to "cement Trump’s place in the history books." Invitations have been sent to a broad group of countries in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, including US allies and key regional players. Already, countries and leaders as different and geographically distant as Hungary under Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Vietnamese Communist Party chief To Lam have accepted their invitations. It is shaping up to be a 'mini UN' of sorts, as the peace board plan calls for an international council to manage reconstruction financing, security coordination, and political cooperation in Gaza - all while working in cooperation with a Palestinian technocratic administration. Yet there are other peculiar aspects. For example Bloomberg reported over the weekend that the Trump administration is asking nations interested in holding a permanent seat on a proposed Gaza Strip "Board of Peace" to pledge at least $1 billion in funding. Otherwise they will just hold a three-year seat, according to some initial details. ❗️Trump invited Putin to join Gaza 'Peace Board' — Kremlin spokesman 'At the moment, we are studying all the details of this proposal. We hope for contact with the American side to clarify all the nuances' pic.twitter.com/ZghZSU8gU0 — RT (@RT_com) January 19, 2026 The intent of the funding threshold is reportedly to ensure that participating countries have substantial financial involvement in stabilizing the territory and supporting long-term redevelopment. It is unclear whether Russia will accept its invitation, or whether it is willing to pony up $1 billion. Washington seems to be arguing that spreading the financial burden internationally is critical to preventing American taxpayers from shouldering most of the reconstruction costs. Sadly, this was of no concern when the same taxpayers were footing the bill for billions in weaponry and foreign aid for Israel over prior years - even as Palestinian neighborhoods got flattened by US bombs. Tyler Durden Mon, 01/19/2026 - 10:05

Futures, Global Markets Sink, Gold Soars On Trump Tariff Threat Stocks sold off and gold hit a new record as trade tensions between the US and Europe erupted over Trump’s push to take control of Greenland (which we learn today is due to Norway's snub of Trump for the Nobel peace prize). While US cash markets are closed for the MLK holiday, S&P futures dropped 1.1% and Nasdaq futures tumbled 1.4%, while Europe's Stoxx 600 was on track for its worst day in two months led by luxury stocks and German automakers as BMW dropped 3%. The dollar retreated 0.2%, while the Swiss franc outperformed. Gold topped $4,670 an ounce. US markets are shut today for a public holiday. In corporate news Nvidia supplier Micron Technology said an ongoing memory chip shortage has accelerated over the past quarter and reiterated that the crunch will last beyond this year due to a surge in demand for high-end semiconductors required for AI infrastructure. Apple Inc. retook the top spot in China after iPhone shipments jumped 28% during the holiday quarter despite a worsening shortage of vital memory chips, according to Counterpoint Research. Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said the electric carmaker will resume work on the Dojo3 project after making progress on the design of its AI5 chip. Bayer AG’s shares surged after the US Supreme Court said it would hear the company’s appeal in a Roundup case that could undercut thousands of lawsuits tied to the weedkiller. Stocks around the world were knocked lower by Trump’s threat to impose levies on countries opposing his bid to assert authority over Greenland, which risks reigniting the tariff-fueled volatility that rattled markets in the early months of his second term. The selloff deepened as Monday’s session wore on after European officials signaled they were unlikely to back down and were considering retaliation. “Markets are sensitive to the dynamic developments regarding new tariffs as a basis for negotiating security issues,” said Guillermo Hernandez Sampere, head of trading at MPPM. “Rising uncertainty, as seen last year, will weigh on all markets.” The standoff is coming at a time when risk appetite has been supported by resilient corporate earnings and sustained investment in artificial intelligence. The outlook will hinge in part on the European Union’s response, with the bloc in talks to impose tariffs on €93 billion of US goods. “The key element to watch in the coming days is whether the message translates into formal measures or remains purely rhetorical, which would make a clear difference in the market reaction,” said Francisco Simón, European head of strategy at Santander Asset Management. The tensions are also adding to the significance of a pending US Supreme Court ruling on some of Trump’s earlier tariffs, with a decision possible as soon as Tuesday. “It is not about whether the US can roughly maintain its tariff levels,” wrote Krishna Guha, head of central bank strategy at Evercore ISI. It is “rather about whether Trump has to use regular order to impose tariffs, reducing uncertainty and his ability to weaponize tariffs for geopolitical purposes.” Trump’s threats raise the possibility of European governments trimming their holdings of US assets, supporting the euro, according to George Saravelos, Deutsche Bank’s global head of FX research. As we reported last night, Europe is the US’s largest lender with its countries owning $8 trillion of US bonds and equities, almost twice as much as the rest of the world combined. “The key thing to watch will be whether the EU decides to activate its anti-coercion instrument,” Saravelos said. “It is a weaponization of capital, rather than trade flows, that would by far be the most disruptive to markets.” While Trump’s threats have reignited the ‘Sell America’ trade, some traders expect the swings to be short-lived. “My working assumption is that an ‘off-ramp’ from these threats will soon be found,” said Michael Brown, senior research…

Kurds Withdraw From Syria's Largest Oil Field As Jolani Forces Move In via Middle East Eye Kurdish-led forces pulled out on Sunday from Syria’s largest oil field as government troops expanded their control across large parts of the country’s north and east. Government troops drove Kurdish forces from two Aleppo neighborhoods following clashes last week, and on Saturday announced they had captured an area east of the city, as well as Tabqa, in Raqqa province, on the southwestern bank of the Euphrates. via AFP At dawn on Sunday, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) withdrew "from all areas under its control in the eastern Deir Ezzor countryside, including the al-Omar and Tanak oil fields", the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported. Al-Omar is the country's largest oil field, and was home to the biggest US base in Syria. The Kurds' reported withdrawal there follows the government's announcement that it had retaken two other oil fields, Safyan and Al-Tharwa, in Raqqa province. The government’s advance has so far taken in predominantly Arab areas that fell under Kurdish control during the fight against the Islamic State group. Clashes erupted after a deal for Kurdish forces to withdraw from areas near Aleppo to the east of the Euphrates collapsed, with both sides reporting casualties. Each side blamed the other for breaching the agreement. On Sunday, the Kurdish administration accused government forces of attacking its fighters on multiple fronts, while the army said the SDF had failed to honor a commitment to "fully withdraw" east of the river. Kurdish authorities imposed a curfew in the Raqqa province after the army declared a stretch of land southwest of the Euphrates a "closed military zone". The government advances came as President Ahmed al-Sharaa issued a decree granting the Kurds official recognition in an apparent a goodwill gesture, as his government seeks to assert authority across Syria. The Kurds' de facto autonomous administration, which controls large parts of the northeast, has said the announcement fell short, and the implementation of a deal to integrate Kurdish forces into the state has been stalled for months. Tyler Durden Mon, 01/19/2026 - 07:20

Brits Hold Mass Protest Against Chinese 'Super-Embassy' In London Hundreds of people on Saturday rallied in London against Beijing's controversial new "mega" embassy - days after the Daily Telegraph revealed that Chinese officials plan to construct secret underground chambers right next to some of Britain's most sensitive communications infrastructure. British politician Kemi Badenoch, a leader of the Conservative Party, took to the mic to excoriate Labour over the plans: "For those of you who don’t know, I grew up under a dictatorship," she said. "I know what it is like to live under a Government that you are terrified of. I know what it is like to be afraid of what will happen to you if you speak out. "China is a country that has harassed and sanctioned our MPs like Iain. China is a country that has harassed and abused British nationals connected to China. It helps our enemies, like Russia. It keeps slaves. It disrupts the global trade system." "And what worries me is that we have a Government right now that seems to be scared of China. We have a Government that is afraid, too weak, no backbone." 🔴 Watch: Badenoch excoriates Labour over Chinese super-embassyhttps://t.co/Xf1Cfurq2a pic.twitter.com/Se23eeUisx — The Telegraph (@Telegraph) January 17, 2026 Meanwhile, former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith compared China to Nazi Germany, saying at the protest: "As we come forward now and watch the government trying to give away so much of what we believe in to an overarching, overweening, powerful dictatorship in China, we must remember that we have faced this before in the United Kingdom. Sir Iain Duncan Smith at the protest Credit: Eddie Mulholland for The Telegraph "We have faced it in the 1930s and 40s, when we made big mistakes in not recognising that a totalitarian state had its mind to overtake and overcome this marvellous democracy with its freedoms enshrined in law. "Well, they failed then and almost too late. Did we realise that and stand against them? This embassy isn’t just about an embassy. This embassy is a token of what we believe in. It will be a blister on the face of freedom in the United Kingdom and all that we stand for." I believe the Government is acting recklessly in moving towards approving the new Chinese mega-embassy. I think this will prove to be a major failure and, frankly, a disaster for the UK. It would place an even larger Chinese presence right in the heart of London. China already… — Iain Duncan Smith MP Chingford & Woodford Green (@MPIainDS) January 17, 2026 A protester holds a placard saying ‘No to China’s mega embassy’ Credit: Lucy North/PA Wire Plans for the embassy are expected to move forward if PM Keir Starmer approves them next week, however a residents' group has vowed to bring legal action. Illustration via The Telegraph As we noted last week via the Telegraph; The chamber forms part of an extensive subterranean complex comprising 208 rooms beneath the embassy site at the former Royal Mint. The drawings show that a single concealed chamber will sit directly alongside fibre-optic cables transmitting financial data to the City of London, as well as email and messaging traffic for millions of internet users. The same hidden room is fitted with hot-air extraction systems, possibly suggesting the installation of heat-generating equipment such as advanced computers used for espionage. The plans also show that China intends to demolish and rebuild the outer basement wall of the chamber, directly beside the fibre-optic cables. The revelations have prompted sharp criticism from senior UK Conservative figures, including Alicia Kearns, the shadow national security minister, who described approving the plans as providing “a launchpad for economic warfare at the heart of the central nervous system of our critical national infrastructure”. Illustration via The Telegraph “The unredacted plans reveal a concealed room running immediately alongside the fibre-optic cables critical to the…