President Joe Biden said Sunday that the sudden collapse of the Syrian government under Bashar Assad is a "fundamental act of justice" after decades of repression, but it was "a moment of risk and uncertainty" for the Middle East.

Biden spoke at the White House hours after rebel groups completed a takeover of the country following more than a dozen years of violent civil war and decades of leadership by Assad and his family. Biden said the United States was monitoring reports of the whereabouts of Assad, with Russian state media saying he had fled to Moscow and received asylum from his longtime ally.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump posted on social media platform Truth Social Sunday, saying that "Assad has fled his country. His protector, Russia ... led by Vladimir Putin, was not interested in protecting him any longer."

He also wrote that Russia “lost all interest in Syria because of Ukraine, where close to 600,000 Russian soldiers lay wounded or dead."

Iran said Friday it conducted a successful space launch, the latest for its program the West alleges improves Tehran's ballistic missile program.

Iran conducted the launch using its Simorgh program, a satellite-carrying rocket that had had a series of failed launches, at Iran's Imam Khomeini Spaceport in rural Semnan province. That's the site of Iran's civilian space program.

French Prime Minister Michel Barnier on Thursday arrived at the Elysée Palace to submit his resignation and that of his government to President Emmanuel Macron after losing a vote of no confidence in parliament the day earlier.

Barnier's convoy pulled into the Elysée just after 0900 GMT for the formality, an AFP correspondent said, with the outgoing premier constitutionally obliged to offer to step down after losing the no-confidence vote.

France's far-right and left-wing forces are expected to join together Wednesday to oust Prime Minister Michel Barnier's government in a historic no-confidence vote prompted by budget disputes. If the motion succeeds, it would mark the first time a French government has been toppled this way in more than 60 years.

President Emmanuel Macron insisted he will serve the rest of his term until 2027 despite growing opposition calls for his departure amid the turmoil. However, Macron will need to appoint a new prime minister for the second time this year, further reshaping France's political balance after his party's losses in July's legislative elections.

South Korea's opposition parties Wednesday submitted a motion to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol over the shocking and short-lived martial law that drew heavily armed troops to encircle parliament before lawmakers climbed walls to reenter the building and unanimously voted to lift his order.

Impeaching Yoon would require the support of two-thirds of parliament and at least six justices of the nine-member Constitutional Court would have to support it to remove him from office. The motion, submitted jointly by the main opposition Democratic Party and five smaller opposition parties, could be put to a vote as early as Friday.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Tuesday sidestepped questions about Ukraine's possible membership of the military alliance, saying that the priority now must be to strengthen the country's hand in any future peace talks with Russia by sending it more weapons.

Rutte's remarks, ahead of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, came days after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that extending alliance membership to territory now under Kyiv's control could end "the hot stage" of the almost 3-year war in Ukraine, where Russian forces are pressing deeper into their western neighbor.

Georgia is convulsed by political upheaval again after its pro-Moscow government, fresh off parliamentary elections denounced as rigged by its critics, decided to suspend negotiations for the small former Soviet republic to join the European Union.

The small but ancient Caucasus country, which inhabits a crossroads between Slavic, Turkish and Persian cultures, has recently found itself navigating the geopolitical standoff between Russia under strongman President Vladimir Putin and the democratic, wealthy West.

President-elect Donald Trump will attend the reopening celebration for Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris this weekend, his first foreign trip since the election.

The cathedral is set to reopen Saturday after more than five years of reconstruction following a devastating fire in 2019 that engulfed and nearly destroyed the soaring Paris landmark. The ceremonies being held Saturday and Sunday will be high-security affairs, with about 50 heads of state and government expected to attend.

The surprise resurgence of Syria's civil war is shaking the table for the United States, which tried to turn the page years ago on a devastating conflict where it saw few good outcomes.

The latest turmoil in a chaotic region comes less than a couple months before the return of President-elect Donald Trump, whose team could see an unexpected opportunity as part of its bid to reshape the Middle East, albeit with plenty of question marks.