Russia paid Iran for its suicide drones by sending a plane full of $140 million in cash

Protests broke out on Tuesday in several predominantly Christian neighborhoods of Damascus after a video circulated online showing a group of people burning a Christmas tree near Hama in central Syria, according to Western media reports.

U.S. President Joe Biden is considering imposing fresh sanctions on Russia’s energy sector during the closing weeks of his presidency, The Washington Post reported on Sunday, citing four sources. The potential measures have been described by the newspaper as a “farewell blow to Putin’s war chest.”

Syrian de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa reached an agreement with former heads of rebel groups on Tuesday to dissolve their factions and integrate them under the Ministry of Defense, according to a statement from the newly formed administration in Damascus.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz admitted on Monday for the first time publicly to Israel's killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran in July, further risking tensions between Tehran and its arch-enemy Israel in a region shaken by Israel's war in Gaza and the conflict in Lebanon.