Turkey crosses into Syria, challenging U.S. forces

TURKEY launched a ground offensive against a Kurdish enclave in Syria and against forces supported by the United States. According to Al Aan TV reporter Jenan Moussa, the U.S.-supported YPG (People’s Defense Units) pulled out of Afrin as they faced Turkish tanks and fighting units, and the Turkish forces are now advancing on Manbij—a direct challenge to U.S. forces based in that area.

ISRAEL: The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem will open next year, Vice President Mike Pence told Israel’s parliament Monday, accelerating plans after the Trump administration decided late last year to recognize the city as Israel’s capital.

AFGHANISTAN: A 14-hour siege at the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul ended with at least 40 dead as violence in the capital spirals. The NATO mission in Afghanistan appears overly optimistic about the coming spring offensive. The Taliban now controls or contests 45 percent of Afghan districts, more than at any point since the first successful American offensives, according to an assessment by Long War Journal.

SOUTH KOREA: Cooperation between North and South Korea—sworn enemies who plan to march under the same flag when the Winter Olympics open in Pyeongchang on Feb. 9—is sparking protests in Seoul.

INDIA: A pastor who complained to police he was under threat from Hindu extremists was found dead in his one-room house beside his church in Tamil Nadu.

PHILIPPINES: At noon Monday, Mount Mayon spewed a 6-mile column of lava, ash, and steam, shrouding nearby villages in darkness and forcing thousands to once again evacuate the region.

UNITED STATES: “Steady as she goes—hold the line,” wrote Defense Secretary Jim Mattis in a guidance memo to the U.S. military facing the threat of government shutdown. As the U.S. Senate continues to deliberate a funding bill linked to immigration measures, a vote was expected Monday afternoon, but government shutdowns as of Monday morning already have begun.

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