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I'm VOA's Joe Ramsey with your worldwide news update.
The Pentagon said on Thursday that there are a lot more U.S. troops in Syria than previously disclosed and they've been there a while. AP correspondent Sagar Meghani reports. The U.S. had been saying there was no change to force numbers in Syria amid the Assad regime's fall, insisting 900 troops were there. "Now there are approximately 2,000 U.S. troops in Syria." Major General Pat Ryder says it's a temporary boost to help U.S. operations against the Islamic State group. How long have they been there? "It would probably be fair to say at a minimum months." The revelation comes weeks before Donald Trump's return here to the White House. He tried to withdraw U.S. forces from Syria during his first term and says he does not back more getting involved there. Sagar Meghani, at the White House. U.S. President Joe Biden will travel to Italy next month to meet with Pope Francis and top Italian officials for what is expected to be the final international trip of his presidency. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday that Biden will meet with the pope, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and President Sergio Mattarella during the January 9 to 12 trip. Biden is a practicing Roman Catholic and last met privately with Francis earlier this year while in Italy for the Group of 7 leaders meeting. He also met with Francis at the Vatican in 2021 when they had a wide-ranging conversation about climate change, poverty and the coronavirus pandemic. Overseas visits this late in a U.S. presidency aren't typical. The last president to travel overseas in the final month of his presidency was fellow one-termer George H.W. Bush, who travelled in early January 1993. This is VOA News. President Vladimir Putin has boasted that his military operation in Ukraine has strengthened Russia and denied that the downfall of a key ally in Syria has dented Moscow's prestige. The Russian leader sought to project strength and ease at his annual news conference and call-in show Thursday. He used the tightly choreographed event to reinforce his authority and demonstrate a sweeping command of everything from consumer prices to military hardware. Moscow's forces are advancing at their fastest rate since 2022, capturing village after village across the industrial Donbas region. Both sides are vying for the upper hand ahead of expected peace efforts next year. Reuters correspondent Zachary Goelman has more. Ukrainian officials are urging Kyiv's Western partners to help strengthen Ukraine's position by supplying more weapons and air defenses. But hampered by manpower shortages, Kyiv is on the back foot in several sectors of the eastern front where soldiers have described relentless Russian assaults. Moscow's forces are now just three kilometers from the strategic city of Pokrovsk, a road and rail hub whose capture would severely disrupt Ukrainian supply lines. Far from the trenches, meanwhile, Moscow is waging a campaign of airstrikes on critical infrastructure that is hobbling Ukraine's fragile energy grid as winter takes hold. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office next month and has criticized U.S. aid to Ukraine, has promised to seek a swift end to the war without specifying how. Reuters correspondent Zachary Goelman. A court document filed on Thursday shows the suspect in the killing of an American healthcare executive, Luigi Mangione, is being charged with new federal murder and stalking crimes. Reuters correspondent Olivia Zollino reports. The development came on the same day Mangione agreed to be sent to New York to face other state charges that had previously been announced by prosecutors there. Mangione waived his right to extradition proceedings in Pennsylvania, where he was arrested earlier this month. The federal prosecutors in Manhattan are charging him with the crime of murder using a firearm, two charges of stalking and an additional firearms offense, according to a criminal complaint. Federal charges potentially allow prosecutors to pursue the death penalty, which has been outlawed in New York for decades. A grand jury in New York has already indicted Mangione on 11 counts, including first-degree murder and murder as an act of terrorism. The 26-year-old has been in jail since his arrest and has not yet entered a plea. Reuters correspondent Olivia Zollino. That wraps up this update, but the world and news never stop. For additional updates, visit our website, voanews.com. I'm Joe Ramsey, VOA News. |