Trump’s Syria pull out fuels confusion

Hundreds of Europeans who joined "Islamic State" abroad are in detention in northern Syria. Among them are Aicha and her four kids, who wish to return to Germany. Aicha's lawyer explains the family's predicament.

The Nigerian army says it has "full control" of a northeastern town where sources say hundreds of people have been taken hostage by jihadists. Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters stormed the town Kukawa on Tuesday and seized hundreds of residents who had only just returned after fleeing their homes for nearly two years, according to locals and militia sources.

The acting US defense secretary told armed forces personnel that "all wars must end." But he left many scratching their heads by also saying the US should not fail to see through the fight against al-Qaida.

President-elect Joe Biden has chosen Lloyd Austin, who led US troops into Baghdad in 2003 and rose to head the US Central Command, as the first African-American secretary of defense, US media reported Monday.

US President-elect Joe Biden says that Donald Trump's appointees at the Pentagon are stalling on the transition and warns that the United States faces security risks as a result. After he and US Vice President-elect Kamala Harris were briefed by their transition teams on national security, Biden said that political appointees at the Pentagon as well as the Office of Management and Budget had put up "roadblocks."

The Islamic State group claims responsibility for seizing the northern town of Palma in Mozambique. It's the latest attack in an escalating Islamist insurgency sweeping the region. Also, tensions erupt between students and the government in South Africa over free higher education. Our correspondents went to find out whether cancelling student debt is a viable option. And we catch up with DR Congo music star Fabregas Le Métis Noir in the lead-up to the release of his first French-language album.

The Islamic State group claims responsibility for seizing the northern town of Palma in Mozambique. It's the latest attack in an escalating Islamist insurgency sweeping the region. Also, tensions erupt between students and the government in South Africa over free higher education. Our correspondents went to find out whether cancelling student debt is a viable option. And we catch up with DR Congo music star Fabregas Le Métis Noir in the lead-up to the release of his first French-language album.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has warned of emerging cyber and space threats, along with the prospect of much bigger wars. His remarks come amid concerns over China's growing military assertiveness.

An Afghan national, codenamed Basim and who allegedly led the terrorist group's military structure, has been detained in Istanbul.

Pentagon Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley said 18 warplanes will be sent to Afghanistan to protect US troops.

A group of fighters from the Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram have pledged allegiance to rival group the Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP) weeks after the former group's leader died, a video obtained by Reuters showed.

The Department of Defense is canceling a controversial $10 billion cloud computing contract that had been awarded to Microsoft (MSFT) over Amazon (AMZN) under the Trump administration. The department announced Tuesday that it is canceling the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) contract that was previously awarded to Microsoft. It will instead seek new solicitations for an updated Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability (JWCC) contract from Amazon and Microsoft.