A couple of world-stage hot spots that merit our close attention

There's this, which really has been coming for some time. How long could anyone expect Israel and Iran to not directly confront each other?

Israel carried out a series of airstrikes early Monday against Iranian targets in Syria, the Israeli military said, in response to an Iranian missile fired at the Golan Heights, capping off a volatile 24 hours between the two regional enemies with the possibility of more fighting ahead.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) struck Iranian targets in and around Damascus, including the city's international airport, IDF Spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said. The overnight strikes targeted munitions depots, intelligence sites, a training camp and more, Conricus said. 

The IDF also struck Iranian warehouses at the Damascus International Airport, Conricus said, noting that Israel observed secondary explosions, indicating that weapons had been hit.

Israel also attacked Syrian anti-aircraft batteries when those batteries fired dozens of missiles at Israeli aircraft carrying out the strikes, Conricus said. Israel relayed a message to Syria that the military was only targeting Iranian forces and warned Syria not to fire at Israeli jets.

Then there's this:

President Nicolás Maduro on Wednesday faced the gravest challenge to his authority since assuming power in 2013, as the leader of the U.S.-backed opposition claimed the legitimate mantle of leadership and President Donald Trump and other world leaders promptly recognized him as Venezuela's interim and rightful head of state.

A defiant Maduro responded by announcing a break in "diplomatic and political relations" with the United States, ordering American diplomats to leave the country within 72 hours.

The high stakes move set up a looming diplomatic crisis. Juan Guaidó, the opposition leader now recognized by Washington as Venezuela's interim president, called on diplomats to remain. In a statement late Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo suggested the Trump administration would not heed Maduro's demand and called on the Venezuelan armed forces to refrain from endangering American personnel or face "appropriate actions."

"The United States does not recognize the Maduro regime as the government of Venezuela," the statement said. "Accordingly the United States does not consider former president Nicolas Maduro to have the legal authority to break diplomatic relations with the United States or to declare our diplomats persona non grata."

It's easy to see what the desirable outcomes would be in each case, but those would require a world devoid of messiness and non-linear ways of events developing. Alas, that is not the nature of the world we live in.