More than 690,000 people have fled clashes in northwestern Syria since December 1 in the largest wave of displacement (AFP) since the country’s nine-year conflict began, the UN refugee agency said.
 
The Syrian regime’s assault on rebel-held areas in Idlib province has met continued retaliation from Turkey, which backs the rebels, despite a cease-fire agreement (Al Jazeera) announced last month. Turkey attacked 115 regime targets (Anadolu) after five Turkish soldiers were killed yesterday, the Turkish defense minister tweeted. Regime forces gained control (Reuters) of the main highway between Aleppo and Damascus today for the first time since 2012, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is projected to win less than 15 percent (Hindustan Times) of seats in Delhi local elections after a campaign that focused on the uproar over a new citizenship law.
 
Afghanistan: A suicide attack killed at least five people (TOLO) in Kabul, an Interior Ministry spokesperson said.

Israel’s Justice Ministry is probing the public disclosure (Haaretz) of addresses and identity card numbers of Israeli voters, more than six million people, by an app used by the Likud party.

President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita said that his government has engaged in dialogue (France 24) with senior leaders of Mali’s jihadi groups in order to reduce violence.
 
In the Africa in Transition blog, CFR’s John Campbell looks at the jihadi violence and terrorism surging in West Africa.
 
Nigeria: At least thirty people were killed in a suspected Boko Haram attack in the country’s northeastern Borno region, witnesses told Reuters.

The leader of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) party resigned (BBC) after members of her party voted with the far-right Alternative for Germany in a regional election. A party leadership contest is expected this summer.
 
UK: Finance Minister Sajid Javid will call for the European Union to grant the city of London permanent, unrestricted access to EU financial services, according to a Financial Times report.

The trial of former President Rafael Correa, who is accused of trading government contracts for campaign donations, began in Quito (AFP). If convicted, Correa will be barred from holding public office for life.
 
Colombia: The country’s government aims to eradicate (Reuters) 30 percent more coca plants than it did last year by restarting aerial fumigation operations paused in 2015 due to warnings from the World Health Organization. Coca is the base ingredient used to make cocaine.
 
In Foreign Affairs, Paul J. Angelo discusses how the United States could support the eradication measures.

The Pentagon announced that 109 U.S. service members were diagnosed (Reuters) with traumatic brain injuries following a strike last month on a military base in Iraq and said 76 of them had returned to duty. U.S. President Donald J. Trump initially said there were no injuries in the strike, which Iran launched after the U.S. killing of Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani.