Permawar: President Obama is expected to announce today that he is stopping the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan and keeping 9,800 soldiers in the country through most of 2016. The number is expected to drop to 5,500 by 2017.

The insurgents are now spread through more territory than they’ve held since 2001. The US trained Afghan security forces have been unable to rout them out. Most of the American contingent will continue to train the Afghans, but some will be engaged in the fighting.

Deeply Religious: A religious “counseling” session for two teenagers in New Hartford, NY south of Utica over the weekend ended with a 19-year-old man beaten to death and his 17-year-old brother in the hospital. Lucas Leonard and his younger brother Christopher were called to a meeting inside the Word of Life church established in an old brick school building where they were met by their parents, sister, and three other people. The two were beaten for hours all over their bodies. The local police chief said, “Both brothers were subjected to physical punishment in the hopes that each would confess to prior sins and ask for forgiveness.”

Lucas died of blunt force trauma.

The boys’ parents, Bruce Leonard, 65, and Deborah Leonard, 59, both were charged with first-degree manslaughter and four other people, including the 33-year-old sister, also were arrested. People who live in the neighborhood describe the church as a cult.

Deep South: The State of Alabama is closing 31 satellite driver’s license bureaus, many of them in poor black areas, leaving only four license bureaus throughout the state by March. Every county in which the black population is 75 percent or higher will no longer have a license bureau.

The state says it’s the result of a necessary budget cut. But a driver’s license with a picture on it is the most common form of identification required to comply with Alabama’s voter identification law, which civil rights groups say is designed to eliminate poor and minority voters. Comedian Larry Wilmore said on Comedy Central that in Alabama “DMV” stands for “Deny My Vote.”

Politics: Without anyone voting, Hillary Clinton may have won her biggest political contest so far in discreetly dominating Tuesday night’s Democratic debate in Las Vegas. Clinton has been universally acclaimed the winner. She staked out her ground so skillfully that she may even have closed out Vice President Joe Biden, who has yet to declare himself a candidate. Clinton was so in command of her facts, her temperament, and humility, lovable Joe Biden may not even try to confront the Clinton machine.

World: Israel is stepping up internal security amidst a wave of about two dozen random knife attacks by Palestinians that have killed seven Israelis. Twelve of the attackers have been shot dead by the police. Security forces have set up roadblocks and checkpoints at entrances to some Palestinian neighborhoods.

20 Percenters: Influential restaurateur Danny Meyer, who runs 13 upscale restaurants in New York, including the Union Square Cafe and Gramercy Tavern plans to change how his wait staff is paid and eliminate tipping by customers. Meyer says food prices will include “hospitality” and the checks will have no line for a tip. The idea is to raise pay for the kitchen staff, which is prohibited by law from sharing in pooled tips, while keeping pay the same for the dining room staff.

It’s All Happening at the Zoo: A former meerkat keeper at the London Zoo has been ordered to pay $1,200 in damages to the monkey handler she attacked with a wine glass in a fight over the affections of the llama-keeper.