In news from the Middle East, The Wall Street Journal has revealed U.S. officials traveled to Damascus in August to hold talks with Syria’s intelligence chief to discuss two missing U.S. citizens: the journalist Austin Tice and a Syrian American psychologist named Majd Kamalmaz. This marked the first high-level talks between the two nations in over a decade. According to reports in the Syrian press, the two sides also discussed sanctions and the U.S. military presence in Syria.