Terrorism

Republicans said CIA nominee made changes to Rice talking points.

“Brennan was involved,” Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) said after viewing intelligence documents. “It's pretty obvious what happened.”

Vice President Biden appointed Jake Sullivan, the head of the State Department's policy think tank under Hillary Clinton, as his new national security adviser Wednesday.

Sullivan replaces Tony Blinken, who went to President Obama's national security staff after the reshuffling caused by former White House national security adviser Denis McDonough's appointment as chief of staff.

“Jake is the ideal person to serve as my National Security Advisor,” Biden said in a statement. “He is respected across the administration for his intellect, his dedication to our country, and the perspective he brings to even the most complex issues. He has been part of some of the biggest foreign policy challenges our nation has faced, and he’s always handled himself with incredible skill."

Vice President Biden called Syrian opposition leader Moaz al-Khatib to thank the rebel leader for agreeing to multilateral talks.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein said classified documents support the claim that there is a unit of hackers in the Chinese military.

The documents include emails showing the internal debate among intelligence agencies about how to characterize the attack.

Japan lost more people than any other country when Islamist militants attacked an Algerian gas facility last month. 

The troops have been deployed to support the ongoing efforts to rout Islamist militants in Mali. 

Drones have been very useful in targeting terrorists, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said Tuesday.

The U.S. embassy in Algeria is returning to a more normal routine one month after a terrorist attack on a natural gas facility in the country's western desert left at least 40 hostages dead, including three Americans.

The State Department issued an updated travel warning Tuesday announcing that it had lifted the authorized departure status for U.S. Embassy personnel and their dependents. The department allowed the departure from the capital, Algiers, for eligible family members following the Jan. 16 attack on the In Amenas BP oil facility and subsequent, credible kidnapping threats against westerners.

The country remains subject to a “high threat of terrorism and kidnappings,” however, with “the majority of terrorist attacks, including bombings, false roadblocks, kidnappings and ambushes occur[ing] in areas of the country east and south of Algiers.”