The U.S. will keep HTS on the list of terrorist organizations for the remainder of President Biden’s tenure, leaving the decision to Donald Trump, officials say.

Antony Blinken was heading on Thursday to Rome for talks with European counterparts on bringing stability to Syria in the face of flare-ups with Turkey.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told The Associated Press that the U.S. needs to keep troops deployed in Syria to prevent the Islamic State group from reconstituting as a major threat.

Trump’s new “Border Czar,” Tom Homan, also blamed the Biden administration’s “weak stance” on national security for the New Orleans attack and Las Vegas

The Biden administration is unlikely to lift sanctions and the terror designation of Syria, which prevent the US government from providing direct aid to the country. But US officials have been examining the possibility and other ways to encourage a peaceful transition or the new Syrian government.

President Joe Biden has visited a makeshift memorial at the site of the deadly New Year’s attack in New Orleans as he visits the city to meet with grieving families.

A driver behind the wheel of a pickup truck rammed into a crowd of New Orleans revelers on Bourbon Street early on New Year’s Day, killing at least 15 people in what the FBI is investigating as an act of terrorism.

On December 19, the U.S. Department of Defense announced that there are roughly 2,000 troops stationed in Syria – 1,100 more than previously shared with the public. Pentagon spokesperson Major General Patrick Ryder disclosed the new number almost off-handedly,

So is Syria’s largest commercial bank. The Syrian pound has lost 99% of its value since the start of the civil war in 2011. At 13,000 pounds to the dollar (see chart 1), a quick trip to the market requires bags full of banknotes.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani is travelling to Syria on Friday to encourage the transition in the country following the ouster of President Bashar Assad by Islamist insurgents

The United States appears intent on keeping its counterterrorism alliance with the Kurds in post-Assad Syria despite the strains it is causing with ally Turkey.

The Israel Defense Forces continues its intense airstrike and ground campaigns in Gaza with ceasefire talks resuming in Qatar.