Situation Update - Headlines

• Syria appointed its chief government negotiator in upcoming peace talks with opposition leaders. • Iraq plans to launch the operation to dislodge Islamic State from the northern city of Mosul in the first half of 2016, Defense Minister Khaled al-Obeid said. • A British inquiry into the 2006 death of Alexander Litvinenko, a former Russian spy critical of the Kremlin, has found that Russian President Vladimir Putin probably approved his murder. • China’s working age population saw its largest decline on record in 2015, underscoring concerns about a looming labor shortage. • North Korea arrested a U.S. university student for allegedly committing a “hostile act” intended to "destroy the country’s unity." • Indonesian police have foiled potential terror attacks in at least three locations in the days following the Jan. 14 attack in central Jakarta, Jakarta police chief Inspector-General Tito Karnavian said. • Laos’ ruling Communist Party unveiled a new central committee that will not include the incumbent prime minister or party chief, signaling a change in senior leadership. • Al Shabaab gunmen opened fire after setting off at least one car bomb at a beachside restaurant in a busy area of Mogadishu.