Michael Birnbaum

Get the latest news on the transition to the new administration of President-elect Donald Trump and a new Congress.

The sudden rebel offensive leading to the collapse of Assad’s government and military forces has left governments around the world reeling.

Senior administration officials have no confirmed evidence that the imprisoned journalist is alive, but the State Department “will leave no stone unturned.”

The Israeli strikes, days after Bashar al-Assad’s fall, targeted Syrian military facilities, including a possible chemical weapons facility, said two Western officials.

President Joe Biden announced that U.S. forces have hit Islamic State militant camps and operatives in Syria.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte says he told Donald Trump that Russia, China, Iran and North Korea all also have a stake in the Ukraine war’s outcome.

Biden’s Ukraine directive has stirred debate, as some officials worry it will cut too deeply into American stockpiles and jeopardize military needs elsewhere.

Americans Mark Swidan, Kai Li and John Leung are en route back to the United States from imprisonment in China, the White House said.

The controversial White House move to send Kyiv land mines comes as Russia’s advances in eastern Ukraine threaten to overwhelm front-line defenses.

Biden administration officials say that they have minimal contact with their successors, noting that transition teams still have not signed the memorandums of understanding that would facilitate the briefings and conversations that are typically done ahead of a handoff.