PARIS (AP) — Syria’s interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa is visiting Paris on Wednesday for talks with President Emmanuel Macron. It’s his first trip to Europe since taking office in January, and a possible opening to broader ties with Western countries.

Friedrich Merz travels to Paris and Warsaw on Wednesday on his first foreign trip as German chancellor, still reeling from a humiliating setback in Tuesday’s government transition that raised early questions about his leadership.

New German Chancellor Friedrich Merz sets off on his first trip abroad on Wednesday to France and Poland in a bid to renew relations with the country's top allies and show that Germany is back on the world stage despite a bumpy start to his government.