• The Pope Is Kicking off a Yearlong Jubilee That Will Test His Stamina and Rome's Patience
  
  Pope Francis on Tuesday opens the 2025 Holy Year, kicking off a celebration of the Catholic Church that is expected to draw some 32 million pilgrims to Rome and test the pope's stamina and the ability of the Eternal City to welcome them.At the start of Christmas Eve Mass,...
• Seafarers Move Global Trade , and Christmas Gifts. These Ministries Bring Them Holiday Cheer
  
  On a balmy December evening, four Indian crew members, eager to go explore this Mediterranean city where their container ship docked for a few hours, turned for help to Stella Maris. It's the largest of the faithbased organizations that minister to seafarers in hundreds of...
• Israeli Forces Kill One Palestinian in West Bank Refugee Camp
  
  Israeli forces killed a Palestinian man in a dawn raid on Tuesday on a refugee camp near the city of Tulkarm in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Palestinian and Israeli officials said. The Israeli military said the man was killed in a "counter-terrorism" operation that...
• Israel Pushes Europe to Label Houthis as Terror Group
  
  Israel has instructed its diplomatic missions in Europe to try to get the Iran-backed Houthi rebel group in Yemen designated as a terrorist organization.The Houthis have repeatedly fired drones and missiles towards Israel in what the group describes as acts of solidarity...
• Global Monitor Says Famine Is Weeks Away in North Gaza. A US Diplomat Calls Warning 'irresponsible'
  
  Deaths from starvation will likely pass famine levels in northern Gaza as soon as next month owing to Israel's "neartotal blockade" of food and other aid, the U.S.created global foodcrisis monitor said on Tuesday.The finding by the Famine Early Warning System Network...
• Russian Cargo Ship Sinks in the Mediterranean, Leaving 2 Crew Missing
  
  A Russian cargo ship sank in the Mediterranean Sea between Spain and Algeria, leaving two crew members missing, Spain's maritime rescue agency and the Russian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.Fourteen of the Ursa Major's crew were rescued from a lifeboat and transferred to...
• Russia Sentences US Citizen to 15 Years in Prison for Espionage
  
  A Russian court has sentenced U.S. citizen Eugene Spector to 15 years in jail for espionage, Russia's RIA state news agency reported on Tuesday.Currently serving a 3-1/2-year sentence in Russia for bribery, Spector, who was born in Russia and then moved to the U.S., was...
• UK Convenes Emergency COBRA Over Drones, Possible 'Hostile State'
  
  Unidentified drones over U.S. air bases in the United Kingdom reportedly prompted British senior officials to hold secret meetings to discuss the emergency, which could be the work of an enemy state.
• Israel Intercepts Projectile From Yemen
  
  Israel's military said a projectile launched from Yemen was intercepted before crossing into Israeli territory, but it set off air raid sirens overnight in the country's populous central area, sending residents looking for cover. Israel's rescue service Magen David Adom said...
• Japanese PM Ishiba: Important to Strengthen US-Japan Alliance
  
  Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said on Tuesday he wanted to strengthen his country's alliance with the United States, as he pushed for as early as possible a meeting with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.Japan is neighbors with an increasingly assertive China and a...
• Reform UK Membership Expected to Pass Tories
  
  Reform UK's membership has been surging, with numbers published showing the party is now about 11,000 members short of surpassing the Tories.
• Staying in Office Is the Main Challenge for Troubled France's New Government
  
  France's president and prime minister managed to form a new government just in time for the holidays. Now comes the hard part. Crushing debt, intensifying pressure from the nationalist far right, wars in Europe and the Mideast: Challenges abound for President Emmanuel...
• War and Peace: Trump's Push for Ukraine-Russia Peace Faces Rising Missile Tensions
  
  It will be a month of increased uncertainty in Ukraine as U.S. foreign policy in flux seems to be simultaneously promoting war and peace.
• Blinken Continues Defense of Afghanistan Pullout Testimony
  
  The Biden administration continues steadfast in its defense of the military pullout from Afghanistan and its global security implications.
• Biden Weighs US Steel Deal as Panel Fails to Conclude
  
  A powerful government panel on Monday failed to reach consensus on the possible national security risks of a nearly $15 billion proposed deal for Nippon Steel of Japan to purchase U.S. Steel, leaving the decision to President Joe Biden, who opposes the deal.The Committee on...
• Bethlehem Is Set to Mark a Second Subdued Christmas During the war in Gaza
  
  Bethlehem prepared Tuesday to mark another somber Christmas in the traditional birthplace of Jesus under the shadow of war in Gaza.The excitement and cheer that typically descends on the Palestinian town in the occupied West Bank on Christmas were nowhere to be found: The...
• US and UK Criticize Pakistani Military Court Convictions of Civilian Supporters of Imran Khan
  
  The United States and the United Kingdom have expressed deep concern over the recent handing down of convictions by Pakistani military courts to 25 civilian supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan over their alleged involvement in riots last year.The convictions had...
• Dershowitz to Newsmax: All Israeli Hostages Must Be Returned in Any Deal
  
  Harvard law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz said he talks frequently with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and said there is cautious optimism about a deal to return some of the hostages taken during Iranian-backed Hamas' terrorist attack on Oct. 7, 2023.
• Gordon Chang to Newsmax: China Could Shut Down Panama Canal at Will
  
  China expert Gordon Chang warned on Newsmax on Monday that China's strategic influence over the Panama Canal poses a potential risk to global maritime trade and U.S. naval operations.
• US Airstrike in Syria Kills 2 ISIS Operatives
  
  The U.S. military said Monday it conducted an airstrike in Syria that killed two Islamic State operatives and wounded one.
• UN Investigative Team Says Syria's New Authorities `very Receptive' to Probe of Assad war Crimes
  
  The U.N. organization assisting in investigating the most serious crimes in Syria said Monday the country's new authorities were "very receptive" to its request for cooperation during a justconcluded visit to Damascus, and it is preparing to deploy.The visit led by Robert...
• Iran Said to Be Fearing Israeli Attack in Near Term
  
  "We need to act against the head of the snake, which is the Iranian regime itself," Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich told JNS.
• State Department 'Censorship' Office to Be Shuttered
  
  A State Department agency conservatives say blacklisted Americans and news outlets is set to be shut down after funding for the agency was cut from the bipartisan federal spending bill, reports Cyber Scoop.
• New Details of Israel's Mossad Operation to Detonate Hezbollah Pagers
  
  Among the numerous shocking developments of the ongoing war, the series of mysterious, unexplained explosions of Hezbollah’s communication devices in September might have been the single most dramatic event.
• Philippines to Buy US Typhoon Missile System, Riling China
  
  The Philippines military said Monday that it plans to acquire the U.S.-made Typhoon missile system, raising alarms in neighboring China.

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