A Syrian committee tasked with drafting a constitutional declaration for the country will present a draft to President Ahmed Sharaa for approval on Wednesday, two people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

Nearly half of the US Department of Education workforce is expected to be eliminated, a Semafor reporter said on X on Tuesday.The reporter said "reduction in force" notices for the department are expected to go out Tuesday.President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to dismantle the agency, including since taking office on January 20.

US President Donald Trump's Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs Adam Boehler traveled to Iraq last month to push for the release of Israeli-Russian researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov, who was kidnapped in Iraq nearly two years ago, three sources familiar with the matter said.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday that Washington welcomed an agreement between the Kurdish-led and US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Syria’s new government.The SDF, which controls much of Syria's northeast, signed an agreement to join Syria's new state institutions, the Syrian presidency said on Monday."The United States welcomes the recently announced agreement between the Syrian interim authorities and the Syrian Democratic Forces to integrate the northeast into a unified Syria," Rubio said in a statement.