PBS News Hour

American diplomats were in Syria for the first time since the U.S. shut its embassy in Damascus in 2012. They met with Syria's new ruler, Ahmed al-Sharaa, and announced the $10 million bounty the U.S. placed on him would be removed. For perspective on the latest developments, Geoff Bennett spoke with Theodore Kattouf, the U.S. ambassador to Syria during the George W. Bush administration.

Days of chaos and uncertainty on Capitol Hill appear to be winding down. A bill backed by President-elect Trump to keep the government open was rejected by the House Thursday night. But on Friday, an apparent breakthrough was announced by Speaker Mike Johnson. Lisa Desjardins is tracking it all on Capitol Hill.

Who owns a vibe? That question is at the heart of a lawsuit where one online influencer is suing another for copyright infringement. Sydney Gifford claims that Alyssa Sheill knowingly replicated Gifford’s aesthetic and her posts on social media. Amna Nawaz discussed more with Sandra E. Garcia, a reporter at The New York Times who has been covering this first-of-its-kind case.

In our news wrap Friday, a car drove through a crowd of people at a Christmas market in Germany, Ukraine struck inside Russia's Kursk region with U.S.-supplied weapons, the Biden administration announced it would forgive another $4 billion in student loan debt for roughly 55,000 borrowers who work in public service and Party City is closing its doors after nearly 40 years in business.

New York Times columnist David Brooks and Washington Post associate editor Jonathan Capehart join Geoff Bennett to discuss the week in politics, including yet another chaotic, down-to-the-wire funding battle in Congress, how President-elect Trump will govern during his second term and the political influence of Elon Musk.

Overnight in the occupied West Bank, a mosque was vandalized and set on fire by Israeli settlers. Attacks against Palestinians there have increased greatly since the Oct. 7 terror attacks. Israel describes the West Bank as one of seven fronts it is fighting on, stoked by Iranian support of militants. Nick Schifrin reports from the Jenin refugee camp, the epicenter of much of the violence.

The back-and-forth on the stopgap spending bill has created fault lines among House Republicans. Many were unsatisfied with the original text, but some also rejected the revised bill, which included President-elect Trump’s demands to suspend the debt limit. One of those members is Rep. David Schweikert of Arizona. He joined Geoff Bennett to discuss more.

House Republicans are pushing a new proposal tonight to avoid a government shutdown in an effort to meet President-elect Trump’s last-minute spending demands. It's all unfolding after Trump rejected the original bill earlier this week with billionaire Elon Musk leading the charge against it online. Lisa Desjardins reports.

In France, a panel of judges found dozens of men guilty of raping a woman whose then-husband had drugged her unconscious over a decade. The scale and brutality of the abuse prompted thousands to take to the streets and sparked a nationwide conversation about consent. Ali Rogin discussed more with Catherine Porter of The New York Times. A warning: the following conversation is graphic.

In our news wrap Thursday, Russian President Putin reaffirmed his commitment to continuing the war in Ukraine, Luigi Mangione returned to New York as he faces additional federal murder charges and the 15-year-old girl who shot and killed two people at her school in Wisconsin had been in contact with a man in California who was plotting a shooting at a government building, authorities say.

This week, we are reporting on some promising treatments for two of the deadliest drugs in America: opioids and alcohol. William Brangham sat down with one of the nation’s leading researchers who is studying America’s addictions and how we can better address them.

Donald Trump is following through on threats of legal action against the media. After ABC agreed to pay $15 million to settle a defamation lawsuit brought by Trump, his legal team filed a suit against Ann Selzer and the Des Moines Register for a poll showing Kamala Harris leading. Trump's suit called the poll “election-interfering fiction.” Geoff Bennett discussed more with Clay Calvert.