The Department of Homeland Security on Monday issued new regulations that will allow more Syrian refugees to temporarily settle in the United States.

The department estimates that about 9,000 people will be eligible to come to America under the 18-month extension to March 2015 of the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Syrians. Another 2,600 or so Syrians already here will be able to apply to renew their status. The Obama administration first gave TPS designation to Syrian citizens and residents last year, and the status was set to expire on Sept. 30.

“The extension of the current Syria TPS designation and re-designation is due to the continued disruption of living conditions in the country that are a result of the extraordinary and temporary conditions that led to the initial TPS designation of Syria in 2012,” the Homeland Security Department said. “The extension is based on ongoing armed conflict in that region and the continued deterioration of country conditions.”

The U.S. government isn't spying on Chinese civilians unless they're engaged in cyberattacks on American agencies and businesses, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence panel said Monday.

The comments from Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.) follow National Security Agency (NSA) leaker Edward Snowden's allegations that the agency has been spying on universities, businesses and students in China and Hong Kong since 2009.

The state-run China Daily has warned that the accusations would “test developing Sino-US ties” and reports said Chinese officials may press the U.S. to explain the extent of its surveillance programs.

“We're not stealing information, business records, patents and everything else,” Ruppersberger told The Hill. “Every country has security, every country has intelligence. But when you start stealing private information, that's a different story.”

The White House is appointing Clifford Sloan, a veteran Washington attorney and civil servant, as the State Department's new envoy focused on shuttering the Guantánamo Bay prison, according to administration officials.

“I've known and respected Cliff Sloan for nearly ten years. His intellect and skill as a negotiator is respected across party lines, and he's served presidents Republican and Democratic with equal skill," Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement.

"I appreciate his willingness to take on this challenge. Cliff and I share the President's conviction that Guantanamo’s continued operation isn't in our security interests," he added.

Sloan served as an associate counsel to former President Clinton and as assistant to the solicitor general in the first Bush administration. He also worked as associate counsel in the Office of Independent Counsel investigating the Iran-Contra affair and clerked for Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens. More recently, he served as publisher of Slate magazine, legal counsel for The Washington Post's online operations, and as a partner at Skadden Arps.

President Obama said the first round of negotiations on a $5 trillion trans-Atlantic trading zone will begin in July.

The revelation is the latest disclosure from Edward Snowden, who leaked information on the NSA's secret surveillance.

"When peace was achieved here, it gave the entire world hope," said Obama in Belfast, ahead of the G8 summit.

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White House chief of staff Denis McDonough on Sunday called moderate Hassan Rouhani’s victory in the Iranian presidential election a “potentially hopeful sign.”

“Timing matters and these were options that were there for us a year-and-a-half ago,” said Rubio