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Thousands of people gathered in Bethlehem on Christmas Eve, marking the city’s first full celebration after two years of subdued observances during the war in Gaza. Families filled Manger Square with music and festivities as the city’s iconic Christmas tree returned after being absent throughout the conflict.

The celebrations were led by Pierbattista Pizzaballa, who arrived in Bethlehem in the traditional procession from Jerusalem. Calling for «a Christmas full of light,» he said the holiday symbolized hope after years of hardship.

Bethlehem, revered by Christians as the birthplace of Jesus, saw muted celebrations during the conflict, with tourism...

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said the end of Syria’s long-running conflict and the lifting of international sanctions were the country’s most significant achievements over the past year, speaking during talks with Russian officials in Moscow.

Meeting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, al-Shaibani said the conclusion of the 14-year war and the fall of the previous regime marked a turning point for Syria, opening the way for reconstruction and renewed diplomatic engagement.

«The most important success we have achieved over the past year is the lifting of sanctions against Syria,» he said, adding that the transitional government is...

Fabio Cannavaro, head coach of Uzbekistan’s national football team, has taken part in the Olympic torch relay in his hometown of Naples, CGTN reports.

The event also featured several prominent Italian athletes, including Olympic rowing champion Giuseppe Abbagnale and former footballer Ciro Ferrara, alongside other sports figures. Citywide celebrations were held in Piazza del Plebiscito, the largest square in Naples.

The relay will pause until December 26 for Christmas celebrations. A day earlier, on Dec. 23, the Olympic flame was carried through the ruins of Pompeii, with actor Jackie Chan among the participants. It marked his third appearance...

Top-flight clubs across the Premier League are lining up to sign Antoine Semenyo in the January transfer window, with Chelsea FC becoming the latest side to show interest in the 25-year-old Ghanaian winger.

Semenyo, who has scored eight goals and provided three assists in 16 league matches this season, has a £65 mln release clause in his Bournemouth contract that becomes active at the start of January. Clubs including Manchester City FC, Manchester United FC and Liverpool FC have already registered interest, with City reportedly emerging as favourites and potentially Semenyo’s preferred destination.

Tottenham Tottenham Hotspur FC

A private jet carrying Libya’s army chief of staff and members of a senior military delegation crashed shortly after takeoff from Turkey’s capital, Ankara, on Tuesday, killing all eight people on board, Libyan and Turkish officials said.

Libya’s Prime Minister Abdul-Hamid Dbeibah confirmed the death of Gen Mohammed Ali Ahmed Al-Haddad, describing the incident as a «tragic accident» and a «great loss» for the country. Four other Libyan officers and three crew members were also killed.

Turkish authorities said the Falcon 50 business jet departed from Esenboga Airport and later issued an emergency signal after reporting a technical...

Newly released documents from the so-called Epstein files have revealed emails sent from the British royal residence of Balmoral that appear to reference Prince Andrew and his connections to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.

The US Department of Justice on Tuesday published nearly 30,000 pages related to Epstein — the largest single document release so far. Among them are emails written in 2001 by an individual identified only as «A,» using the address «The Invisible Man,» sent from Balmoral Castle.

In the correspondence, «A» asks Maxwell whether she had found any «new inappropriate friends» and discusses travel plans...

UN experts and more than 400 prominent women have called on Iran not to execute Zahra Tabari, a 67-year-old engineer and women’s rights activist.

Tabari was arrested in April and accused of collaborating with the banned People’s Mujahideen Organisation of Iran. In October, a Revolutionary Court in Rasht convicted her of «armed rebellion» after a trial lasting less than 10 minutes via video link. Her family said the verdict relied on limited and unreliable evidence. Iranian authorities have not commented.

UN special rapporteurs said the case shows «serious violations of international human rights law,» noting she was detained without...

Korean stars Hyun Bin and Jung Woo-sung face off in the crime thriller «Made in Korea,» which debuts on Disney+ on December 24 with a two-episode premiere.

Hyun Bin, known for «Crash Landing on You» and «Confidential Assignment,» plays Baek Kitae, a KCIA agent in 1970s South Korea who balances a perilous double life. By day he works for the government, by night he runs an illegal operation, leveraging criminal connections to protect his brother, expand his power, and generate funds for the agency. Jung Woo-sung, of «Tell Me That You Love Me» and «12.12: The Day,» stars as...

Kevin Arkadie, the American television producer best known for co-creating the police drama «New York Undercover» with Dick Wolf, has died at the age of 68.

Born on December 10, 1957, in Maryland, Arkadie earned a BFA in acting from Southern Methodist University in Dallas before moving to Los Angeles to pursue a career in entertainment. He began as a staff writer on NBC’s drama «I’ll Fly Away.»

In 1994, he teamed up with Dick Wolf to launch «New York Undercover,» starring Malik Yoba and Michael DeLorenzo. The show made history as the first US cop drama to feature...

Gold surged past $4,500 an ounce on Wednesday, hitting a record high as investors sought safe-haven assets amid expectations of lower US interest rates next year. Spot gold rose 0.1% to $4,492.51 per ounce, after earlier climbing to $4,525.19. US gold futures for February delivery reached $4,520.60, Reuters reports.

Silver and platinum also hit historic peaks. Silver gained 1.2% to $72.27 an ounce, following a high of $72.70. Platinum jumped 3.3% to $2,351.05 after reaching $2,377.50. Palladium rose nearly 2% to $1,897.11, its highest level in three years.

Ilya Spivak, head of global macro at Tastylive, expects the trend...

Uzbekistan operates a nationwide network of high-resolution roadside cameras that scan vehicle number plates and occupants to detect traffic offences, but a major security lapse has left the system publicly accessible online, TechCrunch reports.

Security researcher Anurag Sen discovered that the licence plate tracking platform was exposed without password protection, allowing unrestricted access to its data. While it is unclear how long the system has been open, records suggest the database was created in September 2024, with monitoring beginning in mid-2025.

The exposure provides an unusually detailed look at how national vehicle surveillance systems function. In one case, a...

Uzbekistan national football coach Fabio Cannavaro will carry the Winter Olympics torch through Naples on December 24, NBC News reports.

Former footballer Ciro Ferrara will also take part in the ceremony. NBC News noted that both athletes are natives of Naples. The torch relay will then pause for the Catholic Christmas celebrations.

The day before, actor Jackie Chan joined the relay. He has previously served as a torchbearer at both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games held in Beijing.

The relay began in Rome on December 6 and will conclude on February 6, the day of the opening ceremony...

Uzbekistan will introduce a package of measures to simplify customs procedures and reduce costs for businesses from March 1, 2026, according to a decree signed by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

Under the new rules, the customs clearance fee will be cut by 20% when goods are declared in advance before arriving at border checkpoints. In addition, no interest will be charged during the first 14 days when customs duties are paid in instalments or with a deferred payment.

Further easing will take effect from May 1, 2026. Goods cleared under a periodic declaration will be allowed to have customs...

US President Donald Trump has said Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan will be invited to the Group of Twenty summit in 2026, which is set to take place in Miami Florida. He made the announcement in a post on his Truth Social platform.

Trump said he held separate phone calls with Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. The discussions focused on resolving ongoing conflicts as well as boosting trade and expanding bilateral cooperation.

«We discussed the importance of bringing peace to ongoing conflicts and increased trade and cooperation between our nations. The relationship with...

The Center for Economic Research and Reforms (CERR) released an updated assessment of housing and rental market trends in Uzbekistan for November, showing strong growth in sales alongside mixed price dynamics.

According to the report, nationwide housing transactions increased by 13.2% year-on-year to about 25,000 deals. The fastest growth was recorded in the Bukhara, Kashkadarya and Samarkand regions, while Tashkent accounted for nearly 30% of all transactions, with sales rising 8.8% compared to last year.

On the secondary housing market, average prices across the country rose by around 7% year-on-year, with the sharpest increases, about 17%, seen in the Surkhandarya...

Amazon blocked more than 1,800 individuals linked to North Korea from applying for jobs, citing efforts by Pyongyang to place IT workers in overseas firms to generate and launder funds.

In a LinkedIn post, Amazon’s Chief Security Officer Stephen Schmidt said North Korean operatives were attempting to secure remote IT roles with companies worldwide, particularly in the United States. He noted that applications from suspected North Korean workers had risen by nearly one-third over the past year.

According to Schmidt, many of the applicants used so-called «laptop farms», in which computers physically located in the US are operated...

Major cryptocurrencies traded lower over the past 24 hours, led by declines in Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP, as traders reduced exposure to large-cap digital assets amid cautious market sentiment.

Bitcoin fell 1.9% to about $87,450, though trading activity remained robust with volumes topping $42 bn, suggesting continued market participation despite the pullback. Ethereum dropped more sharply, sliding 2.3% to around $2,962, with daily turnover exceeding $21 bn.

Other leading tokens also moved into negative territory. BNB eased 1.2% to $849, while XRP declined 2.1% to $1.88 on softer buying interest. Solana slipped 1.5% to $124, Dogecoin fell...

Bangladesh summoned India’s High Commissioner to Dhaka, Pranay Verma, over concerns about the security of Bangladeshi diplomatic missions in India, as protests outside the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi turned violent.

Bangladesh’s Foreign Secretary Asad Alam Siam called in the envoy on Tuesday, condemning what Dhaka described as acts of intimidation and vandalism targeting its diplomatic facilities. The Foreign Ministry urged India to strengthen security at Bangladeshi missions in cities including New Delhi and Kolkata, investigate recent incidents and prevent their recurrence.

The move follows vandalism at the Bangladesh Visa Centre in Siliguri on December 22 and...

Finland announced plans to raise the maximum age for military reservists from 60 to 65 starting next year, a move aimed at strengthening national defence in response to security concerns linked to neighbouring Russia.

Defence Minister Antti Hakkanen said the reform will come into force on January 1 after being signed into law by the president. The change is expected to add around 125,000 conscripts over the next five years, increasing the total number of reservists to about one million by 2031.

Finland currently has roughly 900,000 reservists and a wartime military strength of 280,000 troops. Hakkanen said...

The UK government is under growing pressure after declining to hold a ministerial meeting over six prisoners linked to the banned Palestine Action who are on prolonged hunger strike and now face life-threatening health risks.

Supporters say two of the detainees have been hospitalised as their condition worsens, with medical professionals warning of imminent organ failure after weeks without food. The prisoners, charged with offences including aggravated burglary and criminal damage, are demanding bail, an end to restrictions on their communications, a fair trial, and the lifting of the ban on Palestine Action. They also call for the...

A first-aid training module used by Securitas in France has sparked controversy after instructing security agents to respect Sharia law when providing emergency assistance.

According to the training material, first aid should, «as far as possible,» be administered by someone of the same gender as the victim, citing Sharia principles. The module formed part of an annual refresher course for security staff stationed at French facilities operated by Amazon.

The issue, first reported by French magazine Valeurs Actuelles, was reportedly identified during a validation process earlier this year. Several supervisors refused to approve the module, raising concerns that...

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attended the opening of several new hotels in the country’s northeastern tourist zone alongside his daughter Kim Ju-ae, as he sought to showcase economic development ahead of a key ruling party congress.

According to state media Korean Central News Agency, five hotels were inaugurated over the weekend in Samjiyon City, near the border with China. Kim toured the facilities with his daughter during the ceremonies, with photographs released by the agency showing the pair inspecting the upscale interiors.

Kim was quoted as saying the new hotels were «clear proof of the rising status...

Cambodia and Thailand agreed to hold talks on December 24 aimed at reviving a ceasefire brokered earlier this year, as deadly fighting along their shared border entered a third week.

The decision was taken during a special meeting of foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in Kuala Lumpur, where regional diplomats sought to de-escalate the conflict. The planned meeting will involve defence officials from both sides under the long-standing General Border Committee mechanism.

Clashes along the 817-kilometre border between Thailand and Cambodia have included daily exchanges of artillery, rockets and air strikes, with at...

Nigerian Afrobeats singer Asake has expressed grief after 20-year-old Kenyan fan Karen Lojore died in a crowd crush at his concert in Nairobi.

The incident occurred near a gate at Nyayo National Stadium on Saturday, amid long queues and heavy rain, injuring several other fans. Friends and family have called for a full investigation.

In an Instagram statement, Asake said he was “devastated” and pledged to support efforts to understand the incident.

“My heart goes out to the family, friends and loved ones of Karen Lojore,” he added.

Organisers Tukutane Entertainment are cooperating with...