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"With U.S. troops set to leave after President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw them, residents fear others will rush to fill the vacuum, causing more upheaval: Syrian government forces have deployed nearby while Turkey is threatening its own assault on the city."

'Al Jazeera' - "The Taliban has rejected Kabul's offer of talks next month in Saudi Arabia where the armed group, fighting to restore strict Islamic law in Afghanistan, will meet the United States officials to further peace efforts, a Taliban leader said."

"The Saudi-led coalition waging war in Yemen has armed and financed local militias, including some with alleged links to Islamic extremists, that are now turning on one another in a competition for territory, wealth and control over the country’s future."

"The challenges in sustaining the country’s police force, underscore some of Afghanistan’s deep dependencies on its foreign backers. Some analysts say it could take decades before the country’s defense and security forces can operate without substantial support from abroad."

Turkey and Russia have agreed to coordinate "on the ground" in Syria following a planned U.S. troop withdrawal, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said following a meeting with Turkish officials in Moscow.

Yemen's Houthi rebels have started withdrawing from the port of Hodeida, a U.N. official said Saturday. Handing over control of Hodeida, a key lifeline for Yemen, was included in a U.N.-sponsored agreement signed in Sweden earlier this month.

"The forward momentum has all but stopped, the news has all been bad, and the country’s political future seems more uncertain than ever."

"Syrian government forces moved to protect Syrian Kurds who are fighting Islamic State after the U.S. said it would withdraw its troops from the region and the Syrian Kurds said they feared an attack by Turkey."

Despite challenges on multiple fronts, Afghanistan seems more likely than at any time in recent history to come to a favorable political settlement, according to a report released this week by the Pentagon, which cited the effects of a recent military escalation coupled with diplomatic initiatives.

"The United Nations has called the war in Yemen the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. An intermittent blockade by the Saudis and their partners in the United Arab Emirates has pushed as many as 12 million people to the brink of starvation, killing some 85,000 children, according to aid groups."

"Feeling betrayed by the United States, its Kurdish allies in Syria asked the Syrian government on Friday to protect them from possible attack by Turkey."

"Syrian government forces entered the key northern city of Manbij for the first time in six years after a Kurdish-led militia said it invited Damascus to protect the town from the threat of a Turkish military offensive."

Mary Louise Kelly Interviews General (Ret.) John R. Allen on NPR's All Things Considered.

"President Trump’s Dec. 23 tweet promising a “slow and highly coordinated” withdrawal of U.S. forces from Syria may ease the gnashing of teeth among officials and analysts in Washington, but it won’t end the criticism of his decision. That is precisely why the president should view the hullabaloo that erupted after he announced the Syrian pullout as an opportunity to take a number of steps to make the most of his essentially correct, but widely unpopular, move."

"The U.S. commander of foreign forces in Afghanistan traveled to Pakistan Thursday to discuss Afghan reconciliation efforts with Pakistan's military chief, officials said. Gen. Austin Scott Miller’s visit came amid reports of a possible U.S. troop drawdown in Afghanistan and a renewed push to negotiate peace with Taliban insurgents for ending the 17-year-old Afghan war."

"A week after President Trump directed the military to draw up plans to withdraw about half the U.S. troops deployed in Afghanistan, military officials are walking a fine line detailing the future of the longest U.S. war in history."

"When U.S. forces leave Syria, the plan is for troops from neighboring Turkey to take their place. One exception: a small, remote U.S. base in southern Syria that has made it more difficult for Iran to project power across the Middle East."

"President Trump said he has no plans to withdraw American forces from Iraq, a week after announcing a surprise pullout of troops from Syria and ordering the Pentagon to bring home roughly half of the American forces deployed to Afghanistan."

On the 25th anniversary of the cartel chief’s death, his right-hand man reveals the Coke King’s secrets in an exclusive new series for The Daily Beast.

"Many parts of the region IS once controlled have been rebuilt, often by home and business owners who survived the war. International organizations, the government and local aid groups are also present, but frustration is growing at the slow pace. It has been a full year since Iraq declared victory over IS, but as attacks continue, residents say until the city is rebuilt, stability remains a distant dream."

"Israeli war planes attacked with missiles unspecified targets near Damascus, the Syrian capital, on Tuesday and injured three Syrian soldiers, Syrian state media quoted a military source as saying."

Turkey is determined to cross to the east of the Euphrates River in northern Syria as soon as possible, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on December 25, a day after Ankara sent reinforcements to the border with Syria.

"For the first time in eight years, a Christmas tree towers over Abbasiyyin Square in Damascus. Three miles away, in the presidential palace, President Assad has much cause for festive cheer."

"In their evolution of the MDB concept, Army and Marine senior leaders assume that U.S. special operations forces (SOF) will play a critical, albeit currently undefined, role. This is a valid assumption given the lessons learned from the past 15 years of combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, not the least of which is the idea that conventional and SOF formations must operate in an integrated and interdependent manner in order to ensure success on the modern battlefield."

"President Trump’s abrupt decision to withdraw U.S. troops from east Syria, transferring the region to Turkish military control, goes beyond the wildest expectations of Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan."