World News

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said the United States was communicating directly with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the dominant rebel faction, despite its designation as a terrorist group.

As a rebel alliance with a tenuous hold on power struggles to assert control of the fractured country, Israel, Turkey and the United States are trying to influence what Syria will become.

Many women are making dangerous trips to places where loved ones are fighting Russian forces. “We try to imagine that for these two days, there is no war,” one said.

In the Middle East for a last-ditch diplomatic effort before leaving office, Jake Sullivan, a top White House official, said the current talks were different than those in the past.

The secretary of state said the goal of visits to Jordan and Turkey was to unite countries behind a peaceful transition.

A freeze placed this year on their use to treat gender dysphoria will remain in place for young people under 18, except in clinical trials, Britain’s government said.

Gen. Mazlum Kobani, commander of Kurdish forces in Syria, said recent decisions by the U.S. in Syria potentially “leaves a vacuum” that ISIS could take advantage of.

Thousands of Syrians have been traveling to and from the Lebanese border since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Some families hoped to reunite with loved ones, while others are leaving amid an uncertain future.

The Biden administration is relying on Turkey to convey messages to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which toppled Bashar al-Assad but is designated by the U.S. as a terrorist organization.

The messaging app’s popularity has soared during the war with Russia, leading Ukrainian officials to increasingly weigh Telegram’s upsides against its security risks.