Briefing Room 17.01.26

Welcome back to The Briefing Room, the weekly show for people who see the headlines on their news app, look at what's trending on social media, and wonder, yeah, I mean, sure, what are the real stories? This week, we've got a trio of under-the-radar items that everyone should be talking about.

First, we'll be checking in on Iran not to cover the mass protests, but to zero in on a claim that Kurdish forces crossed into the Islamic Republic from Iraq, seizing an IRGC headquarters.

Then it's a hop and a skip and a jump over to the Sahel nation of Burkina Faso, where the latest in a long line of alleged coup attempts against the military ruler may turn out to have been closer to success than anybody realized. And finally, we're weighing up news of Japan's proposed snap election and what it might mean for regional security.