U.S. President-elect Joe Biden says he has chosen veteran diplomat William Burns, who once served as ambassador to Russia, to be the new director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

Hurras al-Din, affiliated with al-Qaeda in Syria, claimed responsibility for an attack against a Russian base in northern Raqqa and pledged to expand operations outside its areas of deployment in Idlib.

In an attempt to counter Turkey’s expansion in West Africa, Egypt and the UAE seek to consolidate their ties with Senegal, the gateway to West Africa, by pushing forward new investments in the African country.