Iran and Yemen

• Pentagon officials elaborated on the operation in the Gulf of Aden that saw two Navy SEALs go missing last Thursday: the mission succeeded in confiscating Iranian missile parts bound for Yemen, capturing 14 aboard the dhow transporting them before sinking the boat. The two SEALs remain missing.
• The Houthis struck another commercial vessel - the Greek-owned, Malta-flagged Zografia - in the Red Sea, causing some damage but no casualties.
• The U.S. then hit back with a third round of strikes on Houthi arsenals, destroying four ballistic missiles that the Pentagon believes the Houthis would've used to target more ships. U.S. officials believe the Houthis haven't received new weapons in the past week - although they still have many stowed away to use.
• Because of the Houthis' latest attacks on ships, the U.S. reportedly plans to re-designate them as terrorists. That designation was lifted in 2021 to facilitate aid shipments to Yemen

• Iran carried out airstrikes in Pakistan on Jaish al-Adl, a Sunni militant and Baloch separatist group that targeted a police station in Rusk, Iran in December.
• Pakistan's interim Prime Minister met Iran's Foreign Minister in Davos just hours before, raising speculation that Pakistan quietly approved the strikes even though it publicly condemned them as "completely unacceptable" (Pakistan is also fighting Jaish al-Adl and other Baloch separatists, but prefers to pretend it has the upper hand and doesn't need foreign help).
• Iraq withdrew its ambassador to Iran over similar objections to Iran violating its territorial integrity with strikes.

• China released two important data points today.
• The first showed that its real GDP grew 5.2% in 2023 - although because of the yuan's decline against the dollar, China's GDP shrank in dollar terms. Analysts assessed that China exported more to make up for weak domestic demand.
• The second showed that its population shrank by over two million in 2023 due to fewer births and more deaths (including many due to COVID after restrictions were hastily lifted in late 2022).

• In a deal mediated by Qatar and France, Israel agreed to allow more humanitarian aid deliveries into Gaza in exchange for guarantees that Israeli hostages would receive medications they need.

• M23 rebels reported that two of their commanders - including their intelligence chief - died in a drone strike by the DRC army in Masisi, North Kivu.
• DRC probably used Chinese CH-4 drones. Africa Intelligence reported that DRC ordered nine of them from the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation last year, of which three have been delivered.

• Niger's junta agreed to strengthen military ties with Russia, which backs other juntas in Mali and Burkina Faso.