Monday, December 29, 2025
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Iranian president meets Christians, urges solidarity

Pezeshkian held a meeting with a group of Christians in Tehran on Christmas Eve.

The president highlighted the missions of the prophets sent by God, saying their missions were the same.

“The message of all the prophets was that there is no difference between people, and rightness should be the basis of any judgment.”

All religions stress that people are the same and there is only one God, asking people to worship Him, the president added.

However, Pezeshkian stated, differences have emerged because of egocentrism that “has pitted us against one another, making us disrespect our land and each other’s limits.”

Addressing the Christian residents of Iran, the president said his meeting sends the message that “we are with you, and all of us want to live together in society for peace, tranquility, justice, rightness and affection”.

Israel provides full support for theft of humanitarian aid to starve Gazans: Report

Gaza War

Israeli soldiers have murdered at least 723 policemen and aid security personnel guarding aid shipments in the besieged territory since October 2023, according to the latest statistics published by the Gaza media office.

It said that armed gangs are fully protected by Israeli forces “to loot the humanitarian aid as part of a deliberate starvation strategy imposed as collective punishment on Gaza’s civilian population”.

“We condemn in the strongest terms the crimes committed by the Israeli occupation,” it said.

“We call on the international community, the United Nations, and human rights and humanitarian organizations to intervene urgently and pressure the Israeli occupation to ensure the flow of aid without any obstacles.”

The United Nation’s most senior human rights official, Volker Turk, has stated in a previous statement that there was a “plausible” case that Israel was using starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza.

The charity group Oxfam reported on Saturday that only 12 trucks were able to distribute aid to northern Gaza in the past two and a half months, amid Israel’s “deliberate delays and systematic obstructions.”

The group added that the aid distributed by three of the trucks was destroyed by the Israeli forces.

“For three of these, once the food and water had been delivered to the school where people were sheltering, it was then cleared and shelled within hours.”

Israel’s restrictions on humanitarian aid for the North Gaza governorate have escalated since October when it imposed a siege on the area.

In late November, judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for the regime’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying that there were “reasonable grounds” he bore “criminal responsibility” for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Dozens killed in Azerbaijan plane crash

Unverified video of the crash showed the plane, which was operated by Azerbaijan Airlines, bursting into flames as it hit the ground on the seashore, and thick black smoke then rising. Bloodied and bruised passengers could be seen stumbling from a piece of the fuselage that had remained intact.

Kazakhstan’s emergencies ministry said in a statement that fire services had put out the blaze and that the survivors, including two children, were being treated at a nearby hospital. The bodies of the dead were being recovered.

Azerbaijan Airlines said the Embraer 190 jet, with flight number J2-8243, was flying from Baku to Grozny, capital of the Chechnya region in southern Russia, but had been forced to make an emergency landing around 3 km (1.8 miles) from Aktau in Kazakhstan.

Aktau is on the opposite shore of the Caspian Sea from Azerbaijan and Russia.

Commercial aviation-tracking websites tracked the flight flying north on its scheduled route along the west coast of the sea before its flight path was no longer recorded. It then reappeared on the opposite, east coast where it circled near Aktau airport before crashing into the beach.

Authorities in Kazakhstan announced a government commission had been set up to investigate what had happened and its members ordered to fly to the site and ensure that the families of the dead and injured were getting the help they needed.

Kazakhstan would cooperate with Azerbaijan on the investigation, the government added.

Russia’s aviation watchdog said in a statement that preliminary information suggested the pilot had decided to make an emergency landing after a bird strike.

Syria’s de facto leader claims ex-rebel groups agree to integrate under Defence Ministry

Syria War

A meeting between al-Sharaa and the heads of the groups “ended in an agreement on the dissolution of all the groups and their integration under the supervision of the ministry of defence”, said a statement by the new administration on Tuesday.

However, the Kurdish-led and United States-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) group in northeastern Syria is not part of the deal just announced.

Prime Minister Mohammed al-Bashir had said last week that the ministry would be restructured using former rebel factions and officers who defected from Bashar al-Assad’s army.

Following a sweeping offensive over two weeks ago that catapulted Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) into power in Damascus, the country’s new rulers appointed Murhaf Abu Qasra, a leading figure in the rebellion that toppled al-Assad, as defence minister in the interim government.

Al-Sharaa had previously promised that all weapons in the country, including those held by Kurdish-led forces, would come under state control.

He has sought to reassure Western officials visiting him that HTS, a former al-Qaeda affiliate, will neither seek revenge against the former government nor repress any religious minority. He said his primary focus is on reconstruction and achieving economic development and that he is not interested in engaging in any new conflicts.

Syrian opposition fighters seized control of Damascus on December 8, forcing al-Assad to flee after more than 13 years of war, ending his family’s decades-long rule.

Forces under the command of al-Sharaa have installed a three-month caretaker government.

Ukrainian PM says Kiev has received $1 billion backed by seized Moscow assets

Russian Central Bank

It comes two weeks after the US Treasury Department paid $20 billion into a World Bank fund for transfer to Ukraine. The EU has pledged to contribute an additional $20 billion to the fund, while G7 members Britain, Japan, and Canada will add another $10 billion, for a total of $50 billion that will theoretically be repaid over 40 years.

The loan was funded by interest earned from immobilized Russian sovereign assets. An estimated $300 billion worth belonging to the Russian central bank was frozen by the US and its allies following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022.

“We expect that all sovereign Russian assets will be confiscated and used to rebuild Ukraine,” Shmigal wrote in a post on X.

In a separate announcement on Tuesday, Shmigal said that Ukraine had also received $1 billion from Japan and the UK via the same World Bank program.

Ukraine’s government, military, and public services have been entirely dependent on foreign aid since 2022, and the cost of sustaining the conflict with Russia has driven the country’s finances into disarray. Last month, Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky signed next year’s budget into law. It anticipates revenues of $49 billion and expenditures of $87 billion, an overall deficit of $37 billion.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that the seizure of Russian assets will undermine global confidence in the US and its allies, while the Kremlin has repeatedly denounced the asset freeze as “theft” and argued that tapping into these funds would be illegal and set a dangerous precedent.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has warned that Moscow will take legal action against those involved in the asset seizure.

Envoy condemns Israel’s admission of murdering of Hamas chief in Iran

Hamas Ismail Haniyeh

Iravani commented on Tuesday in a letter addressed to the UN secretary-general and the president of the UN Security Council.

“This brazen admission marks the first time the Israeli regime has openly confessed to its responsibility for this heinous crime,” Iravani said.

He said Israel’s confession underscores the international responsibility of the regime for its acts of terrorism and aggression.

“It also reaffirms the legitimacy and legality of Iran’s defensive response on 1 October 2024,” the Iranian diplomat said.

Iravani reiterated that the occupying and terrorist regime of Israel remains the most serious threat to regional and international peace and security.

He urged the UN Security Council to end the impunity of a regime that flagrantly defies international law and destabilizes the region.

The Iranian envoy also warned that continued silence of the Council would only embolden this terrorist regime to commit more atrocious crimes.

On Monday, Israel’s minister for military affairs Israel Katz admitted his regime was responsible for the killing, the first time an official admission had been made.

Katz also vowed that the Israeli regime would escalate its attacks against Yemen, including by staging assassinations.

Haniyeh was assassinated on July 31 after the regime carried out a targeted killing operation against the Iranian capital Tehran, to which he had travelled as an official guest to attend the inauguration ceremony of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

The regime assassinated Haniyeh’s successor, Yahya Sinwar, in another attack against the Gaza Strip in October, and staged a targeted killing strike against Beirut in September that resulted in the assassination of Hezbollah chief Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah.

Lifting WhatsApp, Google Play filtering in Iran ‘a positive step, but more needed’

Former minister of communications, Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, praised the move by the Supreme Council of Cyberspace, calling it a positive and necessary action.

He commended the president and other officials involved for understanding the importance of free communication in the digital age and the value of social capital.

However, Jahromi noted that public expectations go beyond the initial step, emphasizing the public continues to await the lifting of bans on other platforms.

Principalist journalist Mohammad Mohajeri also noted on X that while the government’s effort to lift the bans is commendable, it falls short of public demands.

He pointed out that the reliance on VPNs persists, regardless of the status of the platforms, indicating that the governance of cyberspace remains in the hands of VPN sellers.

Reza Alizadeh, chairman of the Parliament’s Industry and Mines Committee, criticized the inefficacy of filtering, stating that it only fuels the market for VPNs and increases public costs.

On Tuesday, before the removal of the ban, 136 members of the Iranian Parliament issued a letter ahead of the cyberspace council meeting, urging the continuation of filtering.

The Supreme Council of Cyberspace which oversees the internet in Iran, voted in favor of lifting the ban on WhatsApp, Google Play on Tuesday evening.

Malayer’s mini world: A tourism gem in western Iran

Recognized as the tourism hub of western Iran and Hamadan province, the site has become a major attraction for both domestic and international visitors.

Established in 2010, the complex is set to feature 138 iconic historical landmarks from Iran and around the globe upon completion.

Strategically located alongside Malayer’s expansive “Bam” tourism area and the “Health Road,” Mini World continues to draw significant attention for its unique concept and prime location.

Each year, the Mini World complex welcomes a growing number of visitors eager to explore its meticulously crafted replicas and enjoy its vibrant atmosphere, further cementing its status as a cornerstone of Iran’s tourism industry.

More in pictures:

Video: Sisi warns of ‘chaos and destruction’ in Egypt following Assad’s fall in Syria

Sisi

The video, a compilation of old speeches by Sisi, comes in the aftermath of the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

On 8 December, rebels advanced into the capital, Damascus, ending more than 50 years of authoritarian rule by the Assad dynasty.

“Pay attention, their mission in Syria is complete,” Sisi said in the video, broadcast by ON, a channel operated by United Media Services, a company owned by the Egyptian intelligence services.

“They have already destroyed Syria,” he continued, adding: “Their goal is to bring down the Egyptian state.”

Sisi became president in 2014, a year after he led a coup against his democratically-elected predecessor Mohamed Morsi, who died in custody in 2019 due to medical negligence.

Sisi’s decade of rule has been marked by what Human Rights Watch and other rights groups described as the country’s worst human rights crisis in modern history, with over 60,000 political prisoners and thousands believed to be forcibly disappeared.

Sisi has imposed a virtual ban on protests and dissent over the past decade, and repeatedly criticised the 2011 pro-democracy revolution as a conspiracy to dismantle the Egyptian state and divide the country.

“They know that if Egypt falls, chaos will spread around the whole world,” Sisi said in the ON TV clip.

“That’s why all efforts are being made to undermine the Egyptian economy and social peace.”

Sisi then vows to protect Egypt from such efforts.

“I say again and hope everyone understands this message, we will not hesitate to protect our nation from evil and its people,” he added.

“We are protecting our people and the national security of Egypt. Whoever threatens our security, we will confront them using the appropriate means.”

Following the fall of Assad, Sisi held a briefing with media and public figures in which he alluded to developments in Syria, saying that it is unlikely that Egypt would witness the same.

“There are two things I haven’t done: my hand has not been tainted with anyone’s blood and neither has it taken anyone’s money,” he said in a video that went viral last week.

“As long as Egyptians are united, with their army and police forces, no one will be able to do anything.”

Following the departure of Assad on 8 December, many Syrian refugees in Egypt took to the streets in spontaneous celebrations.

However, Egyptian security forces quickly dispersed the gatherings and detained around 30 Syrians, according to an Egyptian rights group.

On Monday, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) announced that three of those detained are now facing deportation to Syria.

Meanwhile, Al Arabiya reported last week that Egypt has imposed new visa restrictions on Syrians.

Syrians holding European or American visas now require an additional security permit to enter Egypt, according to the report.

Israel kills at least 8 in West Bank raids

Israel Palestine

Seven people were killed in an Israeli drone attack and shooting by troops in the Tulkarem refugee camp, and one person was killed in the nearby Nur Shams camp, the Health Ministry said, following a bloody day of Israeli military raids that began at dawn on Tuesday.

The ministry added that two Palestinian women – identified as Khawla Ali Abdullah Abdo, 53, and Bara Khalid Hussein, 30 – and an 18-year-old, Fathi Saeed Salem Obaid, were among the seven people killed in the Israeli attacks on Tulkarem.

The official Wafa news agency reported that the teenager died after being shot in the chest and abdomen and the two women were reported killed in drone strikes.

The victim in the Nur Shams camp was identified as Mahmoud Muhammad Khaled Amar, who was shot by Israeli soldiers and later found dead on the ground in the camp’s Abu Bakr as-Siddiq Mosque neighbourhood, Wafa also reports.

Several people were also injured in Nur Shams following an Israeli drone strike, according to the news agency.

The Israeli military said in a statement that it killed one Palestinian in a “counterterrorism” operation in Tulkarem, while its forces arrested 18 other people and confiscated dozens of weapons.

The Israeli military confirmed later that an Israeli aircraft had carried out a strike on the Nur Shams refugee camp.

Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, announced in a statement that two of its members were killed in Tulkarem.

An improvised explosive device planted by Palestinian fighters and detonated during the Israeli raid on Tulkarem hit a vehicle in which the commander of Israel’s Menashe Brigade, Colonel Ayub Kayuf, was travelling, causing him injuries and requiring medical evacuation, the Israeli military added early on Wednesday.

Israeli military raids and more shootings of Palestinians were reported across the occupied West Bank late on Tuesday and into Wednesday morning.

Raids by Israeli forces on Palestinian communities across the occupied West Bank have increased in intensity and violence since the start of Israel’s war in Gaza in October 2023 following the Hamas attack on southern Israel.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported last week that 968 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and Israeli settlers across the occupied West Bank between January 2023 and November 2024.

Of those killed, 210 were Palestinian children, OCHA reported.