Some good, some bad, mostly somewhere in between.

Happening in the World: A prison break by the Islamic State (IS) in Syria has led to days of violent fighting between Kurdish forces and militants. Many IS members are still on the run after being freed from the Kurdish-run Ghwayran prison. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least 77 IS members and 39 Kurdish fighters are dead following the clashes. (BBC)

Happening in the US: Around the country, the number of new COVID-19 cases has begun to fall. Last week, the US was averaging 807,000 new cases a day; this week, the average is 720,000 cases. While this could be a positive sign, it is important to remember that the number of daily infections are still far higher than at any point in the previous surges. (NYT)

Happening in NYC: Following the end of New York state’s moratorium on evictions, thousands of low-income New York City residents are seeking help from emergency rent relief programs. According to the state agency responsible for overseeing the Emergency Rental Assistance Program, the program received 2,000 applications in the first four days following the end of the moratorium. (Gothamist)

Happening in Our Community: Sign up for “The Pandemic, Precarity, and Relational Urbanism in Delhi”, a talk given by Dr. Rohit Negi. Dr. Negi is a professor at Ambedkar University in Delhi and will be discussing Delhi’s response to COVID-19. This event is a webinar and will be held on Monday, January 24 from 12 to 1 pm.

Clearly unrelated rent strike via Flickr