Washington has blamed ISIL (ISIS) for the attack and promised retaliation.
Three US soldiers have been killed in an attack in Syria’s central city of Palmyra.
It is the first known deadly attack on US forces since former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was deposed last year. Washington has accused the ISIL (ISIS) group of carrying out the assault.
The government in Damascus has expanded its ties with Washington and joined a coalition to fight the ISIL group.
But how much of a security challenge is ISIL in Syria?
Will the US now reinforce its military presence? What risks could that pose?
Presenter: Dareen Abughaida
Guests:
Colin Clarke – executive director of The Soufan Center
Dareen Khalifa – senior adviser at the International Crisis Group
Bournemouth’s Junior Kroupi scores the equaliser in a dramatic 4-4 draw against Manchester United at Old Trafford, after two quick-fire goals from United’s Bruno Fernandes and Matheus Cunha put the hosts in front.
Bournemouth’s Junior Kroupi scores the equaliser in a dramatic 4-4 draw against Manchester United at Old Trafford, after two quick-fire goals from United’s Bruno Fernandes and Matheus Cunha put the hosts in front.
Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim says his team “lost two points” in a helter-skelter 4-4 Premier League draw against Bournemouth. United led three times at Old Trafford but had to settle for a point.
Hollywood director Rob Reiner’s son was allegedly missing for hours after his parents’ dead bodies were found in their Brentwood property in Los Angeles on Sunday
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Rob and Michele Reiner were found murdered in their home(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Nick Reiner was reportedly missing for a number of hours following the death of his parents, Rob and Michele Reiner. The couple were found dead at their home in Los Angeles on Sunday.
Hollywood director Rob, 78, and his wife, 68, were reportedly found with their throats slit in their Brentwood property. Son Nick, 32, has been “booked for murder” without bail, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
Rob and Michele’s daughter Romy found their bodies and law enforcement officers have said Nick had been living there recently. It’s thought Romy had told police to treat her brother as a suspects in the tragedy.
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Now, TMZ is reporting that when police responded to a call for a death investigation at around 3:40 PM on Sunday, Nick was nowhere to be found. The publication says Romy told police Nick was not there when she arrived. Nick was located and arrested at around 9:15 PM on Sunday.
On Monday evening, police shared a new statement to confirm Nick has been granted no bail and will be remanded in custody. Their statement read: “Detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department’s Robbery Homicide Division (RHD) announce the arrest of Nick Reiner, following the murder of Robert and Michele Reiner.
“On December 14, 2025, around 3:40 p.m., Los Angeles Police Department officers assigned to West Los Angeles Division responded to a call of a death investigation in the 200 block of South Chadbourne Avenue. Once inside the residence, officers discovered two victims, who were subsequently identified as Robert and Michele Reiner. Robbery Homicide Division, Homicide Special Section (RHD/HSS), responded to the residence and initiated an investigation regarding the circumstances of their deaths.”
It went on: “As a result of the initial investigation, it was determined that the Reiners were the victims of homicide. The investigation further revealed that Nick Reiner, the 32-year-old son of Robert and Michele Reiner, was responsible for their deaths.
“Nick Reiner was located and arrested at approximately 9:15 p.m. He was booked for murder and remains in custody with no bail, under Booking Number 7144668. On Tuesday, December 16, 2025, the case will be presented to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office for filing consideration.
“Anyone with information about this investigation can contact 1-877-LAPD-24-7 (1-877-527- 3247). Anyone wishing to remain anonymous should call the L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (800-222-8477) or go directly to www.lacrimestoppers.org. Lastly, tipsters may also download the “P3 Tips” mobile application and select the L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers as their local program.”
Following the awful news, Rob Reiner and his wife Michele Singer Reiner’s loved ones released a statement. They said in a statement to Variety: “It is with profound sorrow that we announce the tragic passing of Michele and Rob Reiner. We are heartbroken by this sudden loss, and we ask for privacy during this unbelievably difficult time.”
The news has also led to an outpour of sadness from the couple’s Hollywood pals. Among those paying their respects were Billy Crystal and Larry David.
The pair were at the home of Rob Reiner shortly after reports of his death in an apparent homicide. A source has conformed to PEOPLE that that actors Crystal, 77, and David, 78, arrived separately at the home hours after the tragedy occurred. According to a neighbour who was speaking to ABC 7 Los Angeles, Crystal “looked like he was about to cry.”
Rob and Michele, who met when Rob directed When Harry Met Sally, wed in 1989. They are parents to Romy, Nick and Jake. Rob was also dad to daughter Tracy, whom he adopted when he was married to Penny Marshall. (Tracy’s biological father is Marshall’s late first husband, Michael Henry.)
Washington, DC – United States President Donald Trump has said he will sign an executive order labelling fentanyl, and its core precursors, as a “weapon of mass destruction” (WMD), in the latest instance of his administration using increasingly militarised language to justify its operations against drug cartels and smugglers.
The announcement on Monday comes after the Trump administration’s repeated references to drug smugglers as “narco-terrorists” and its designation of Latin American cartels as “foreign terrorist organisations”.
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The administration has repeatedly claimed that international drug smuggling groups are not criminal networks bent on profit, but organisations aimed at destabilising the US.
“There’s no doubt that America’s adversaries are trafficking fentanyl into the United States, in part because they want to kill Americans,” Trump said on Monday during a White House event.
“That’s why today, I’m taking one more step to protect Americans from the scourge of deadly fentanyl flooding into our country,” he added.
“With this historic executive order I will sign today, we’re formally classifying fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction.”
It was not immediately clear if the label would have any practical impact, or what bearing it would have on fentanyl legally bought for medical use.
The executive order called simply for a series of actions from the heads of executive agencies to “eliminate the threat of illicit fentanyl and its core precursor chemicals to the United States”.
Under current US law, which the president cannot unilaterally change, a weapon of mass destruction is defined as “any weapon that is designed or intended to cause death or serious bodily injury through the release, dissemination, or impact of toxic or poisonous chemicals, or their precursors”.
The definition includes “any weapon involving a biological agent, toxin, or vector”, as well as “any weapon that is designed to release radiation or radioactivity at a level dangerous to human life”.
It also defines a WMD as any “destructive device”, including traditional bombs, missiles, grenades or items that can be converted to expel a projectile.
Increased threats
The Trump administration has used efforts to mitigate fentanyl smuggling as a pretext for increasing tariffs on Mexico and China.
The administration has also used its wider campaign against drugs to justify strikes on alleged drug smuggling boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific – in what rights groups say could amount to extrajudicial killings – and to justify surging military assets off the coast of Venezuela.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to begin land attacks on Venezuelan territory to counter drug smuggling.
He repeated the threat on Monday. “We’re going to start hitting them on land, which is a lot easier to do, frankly,” he said.
Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro has maintained that the US pressure campaign is aimed at toppling his government.
Despite the heightened rhetoric against Venezuela, regional experts have noted that the country, and South America, are not known hubs for fentanyl production or exports.
“To be perfectly clear, there is no fentanyl coming from Venezuela or elsewhere in South America,” John Walsh, director for drug policy and the Andes at the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) said during an expert briefing earlier this month.
