A large number of senior career diplomats who served in politically appointed leadership positions and also lower-level posts at the State Department are leaving their jobs at the demand of the incoming Trump administration, which plans to install its own people.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is returning to the Middle East this week on his 12th visit since the Israel-Hamas war erupted last year.

The State Department says it isn't actively reviewing the “foreign terrorist organization” designation of the main Syrian rebel group that overthrew of President Bashar Assad’s government this weekend.

The Biden administration says the U.S. will rejoin the U.N.'s educational and scientific organization after a five-year absence that began while Donald Trump was president.