Asian shares are mixed in thin holiday trading, with most markets in the region and elsewhere closed for Christmas.

Saudi Arabia has called on separatists in Yemen to withdraw from two governorates they now hold.

King Charles III has chosen Westminster Abbey as the site of his Christmas Day speech.

Trump-backed candidate Nasry Asfura has won Honduras’ presidential election, the country’s electoral authorities said, ending a weeks-long count that has whittled away at the credibility of the Central American nation’s fragile electoral system.

The president of Turkish sports club Fenerbahce has been taken into custody in Istanbul as part of a drug investigation involving entertainment and media figures.

An explosive device has detonated in Gaza and wounded one Israeli soldier, prompting Israel to accuse Hamas of violating the U.S.-brokered ceasefire.

Families in north-central Nigeria have joyfully reunited with schoolchildren held for a month after a mass abduction.

On Christmas Eve, thousands of people flocked to Bethlehem's Manger Square and other Holy Land sites, after two years of subdued Christmas celebrations because of the war in Gaza.

The European Union's executive is warning of possible action against the U.S. after travel bans were imposed on five Europeans accused of pressuring American technology firms to censor viewpoints.

Guineans are set to vote Sunday in their first presidential election since a military coup four years ago.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he would be willing to withdraw troops from the country’s eastern industrial heartland as part of a plan to end Russia’s war, if Moscow also pulls back and the area becomes a demilitarized zone monitored by international forces.

French prosecutors say a pro-Russian hacking group has claimed responsibility for a major cyberattack on France’s national postal service.

Russian investigators say that an explosion in Moscow has killed three people, including two police officers.

Search teams in Turkey have recovered the cockpit voice and flight data recorders from a jet crash that killed eight people, including Libya’s military chief.

US stocks drifted higher to more records on a holiday-shortened day of trading.

Iran and the United States have reaffirmed their commitments to diplomacy at a contentious meeting of the U.N. Security Council.

Bolivia’s new government has issued a decree that will allow global satellite internet companies such as Starlink or Kuiper to provide internet access across the Andean nation as it tries to upgrade its technology and speed up its notoriously slow connectivity rates.

President Donald Trump’s newly appointed envoy to Greenland says the Republican administration is looking to begin a conversation with residents of the semi-autonomous Danish territory about the best way forward for the strategically important island.

The State Department is barring five Europeans it accuses of leading efforts to pressure U.S. tech firms to censor or suppress American viewpoints.

Pope Leo XIV says he's “very disappointed” that his home state of Illinois has approved medically assisted suicide.

Venezuela's National Assembly has approved a measure criminalizing activities that hinder navigation and commerce, like the seizure of oil tankers.

A private jet carrying Libya’s military chief and four other military officers has crashed after takeoff from Turkey’s capital, Ankara, killing all on board.

Venus Williams and Andrea Preti are married.

British authorities have brought new charges of rape and sexual assault against comedian Russell Brand.

President Donald Trump says he will be extending invitations to next year’s Group of 20 summit to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

Yemen’s government and Iran-backed Houthi rebels have agreed to release 2,900 detainees in the largest swap during the 11-year civil war.

France's parliament has approved an emergency bill to prevent a government shutdown next week.

A former close aide to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that immediately following the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, he was ordered to figure out how the premier could evade responsibility for the security breach.

Afghanistan’s annual buzkashi tournament has concluded, with Sar-e-Pul defeating Badakhshan 7-0 in the final.

Officials say Russia fired more than 650 drones and three dozen missiles at Ukraine in a large-scale attack that began during the night and stretched into daylight hours Tuesday.

Gaza’s tiny Palestinian Christian community is trying to capture some of the Christmas spirit under a fragile ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.

An Australian state leader says a man accused of killing 15 people at Sydney’s Bondi Beach faced a lengthy gun license delay due to bureaucracy, not suspicion.

Wall Street closed at another record following a surprisingly strong report on economic growth over the summer.

The U.S. military says it has conducted another strike against a boat it said was smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing one person.

Sudan’s prime minister is proposing a wide-ranging peace initiative to end a nearly 1,000-day war with a rival paramilitary force.

The Department of Homeland Security has dropped its plan to deport a Chinese national who entered the country illegally after his plight raised public concerns that the man, if deported, would be punished by Beijing for helping expose human rights abuses in China’s Xinjiang region.

A federal judge ruled Monday that the Trump administration must give legal due process to Venezuelan migrants flown to a notorious prison in El Salvador, either by providing court hearings or returning them to the U.S. Judge James Boasberg ordered the government to come up with a plan within two weeks.

The Federal Communications Commission says it will ban new foreign-made drones, a move that will keep new Chinese-made drones out of the U.S. market.

Nigerians have welcomed back 130 children and teachers who were released after being seized in one of the largest mass abductions in the country’s history.

The U.S. government has signed health deals with at least nine African countries.

President Donald Trump has announced a bold plan for the Navy to build a new, large warship that he is calling a “battleship” as part of a larger vision to create a “Golden Fleet.”.

Atmospheric rivers are long and relatively narrow bands of water vapor that form over an ocean and flow through the sky.

Brown University has placed its campus police chief on leave as it reviews security policies following a tragic shooting.

A court in Ecuador has sentenced eleven soldiers to 34 years in prison for the abduction and torture of four children last year.

Banksy appears to confirm a new mural in London is his latest work.

Grupo Frontera is heading to the 2026 Grammys with two nominations.

President Donald Trump has delivered a new warning to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Apple says it will appeal a $116 million fine from Italy's antitrust authority.

Chris Rea, the singer-songwriter best known for “Driving Home for Christmas,” has died at 74.

Russia has accused Ukraine of carrying out a number of high-profile attacks against prominent Russians since Moscow invaded its neighbor nearly four years ago.

U.S. proposals for a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia meet many of Kyiv's demands, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Clashes have erupted between Syrian security forces and Kurdish fighters in the city of Aleppo.

A suspected cyberattack has knocked France’s national postal service and its banking arm offline during the busy Christmas season.

China has announced provisional tariffs of up to 42.7% on dairy products imported from the European Union.

The leaders of Denmark and Greenland are insisting that the U.S. won’t take over Greenland after President Donald Trump announced the appointment of a special envoy to the semi-autonomous territory.

A car bomb has killed a Russian general.

India and New Zealand say they have reached a free trade deal to deepen economic ties amid global trade uncertainties.

NATO-nation intelligence services believe Russia is developing a weapon to target Starlink satellites.

A former Hong Kong reporter at the Wall Street Journal has begun testifying against the newspaper which she alleges terminated her due to her union activities in a trial Monday.

Stocks closed higher on Wall Street at the start of what’s expected to be a relatively calm holiday week.

Ukraine is rapidly deploying low-cost interceptor drones to counter Russia’s evolving aerial attacks on cities and power infrastructure.

President Donald Trump has announced he is appointing Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry to serve as the U.S. special envoy to Greenland, the vast, semi-autonomous territory of Denmark that Trump has said the U.S. needs to take over.

Thailand’s foreign minister says Thailand and Cambodia will resume talks to work toward a more durable ceasefire along their border.

Australian police documents reveal that a man accused of killing 15 people at Sydney’s Bondi Beach conducted firearms training with his father.

Dickson Ngome's farm at Lake Naivasha in Kenya's Rift Valley has been submerged due to rising water levels.

A rescue official in Indonesia says a passenger bus crash has killed at least 16 people on Indonesia’s main island of Java.

The Trump administration is recalling nearly 30 career diplomats from ambassadorial and other senior embassy posts as it moves to reshape the U.S. diplomatic posture abroad with personnel deemed fully supportive of President Donald Trump’s “America First” priorities.

The U.S. Coast Guard is pursuing another sanctioned oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea.

Dozens of energy developers, experts and politicians say there were some highs amid a lot of lows in a roller coaster year for clean energy as President Donald Trump worked to boost polluting fuels while stymying wind and solar.

President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner has been drawn back into the foreign policy fold like he was during Trump's first term.

Prince William and his son, Prince George, have helped make Christmas lunch at a homeless shelter.

Thousands of people have gathered at Stonehenge to celebrate the winter solstice.

Israel’s far-right finance minister says the Cabinet has approved 19 new Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Three men are set to stand trial next year after a silver steward at the French president's residence was arrested for stealing silverware worth thousands of euros.

Authorities report that nine people have died and at least 10 others are injured after a shooting at a South African pub.

A White House envoy says he held “productive and constructive” talks in Florida with Ukrainian and European representatives to end the nearly four-year war between Russia and Ukraine.

Saudi Arabia has quietly expanded access to its only alcohol store, now allowing non-Muslim Premium Residency holders to purchase alcohol legally.

Thousands of mourners have gathered at Sydney’s Bondi Beach to mark a week since two gunmen targeted a Jewish festival, killing 15 people.

U.S. forces have stopped a second oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela in international waters.

The Australian state of New South Wales is proposing a ban on public displays of Islamic State group flags and extremist symbols.

Jordan confirms its air force joined U.S. strikes on Islamic State targets in Syria.

Originally a Christian holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus, Christmas has evolved into a global cultural event.

Pope Leo XIV has summoned the world’s cardinals for meetings to help him govern the church, marking the unofficial start of his pontificate.

A Pakistani court has convicted former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, sentencing them to 17 years in prison.

The U.N. Security Council has urged Rwanda to withdraw its forces from eastern Congo and extended the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo for a year.

A Russian missile strike on port infrastructure in Odesa has killed eight people and wounded 27, according to Ukraine’s emergency service.

The Trump administration has restricted visas for two leftist Honduran election officials, citing interference in the Central American country’s special vote count.

Taiwanese authorities says the suspect who killed three people and injured 11 others in knife and smoke-grenade attacks in the island’s capital had planned the assaults and set fires at other locations earlier in the day.

Even though Belarus has released dozens of prisoners, those who've been freed say the authoritarian government often delivers one final act of repression by confiscating their passports before deporting them.

A local Gaza hospital says Israeli troops have fired over the ceasefire line in the northern Gaza Strip, killing at least five Palestinians, including a baby.

The Trump administration has awarded a $1.6 million, no-bid contract a Danish university to study hepatitis B vaccinations on newborns in Africa.

It’s been a grim week at the end of a tough year for the United Nations: Six U.N. peacekeepers were killed in a drone attack in Sudan.

Ecuadorian police have arrested two suspects in the killing of soccer player Mario Pineida, who was shot in an attack this week that also killed his partner and wounded his mother, underscoring the rising violence in the Andean nation.

A doctor in Gaza says a fragile newborn boy became the second baby to die of hypothermia in recent days at Nasser Hospital.

Tourists visiting the Trevi Fountain are now going to pay more than just the legendary coin toss over their shoulder.

Russian President Vladimir Putin fielded many questions at his annual news conference.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is hopeful but clear about the challenges facing the Trump administration’s Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas peace efforts.

Bolivia's largest cities La Paz and Santa Cruz have been brought to a standstill as public transportation workers strike against a 100% fuel price increase ordered by the new government.

Sony is taking control of the beloved comic strip Peanuts.

European Union leaders have agreed to provide Ukraine with a massive interest-free loan to meet its military and economic needs for the next two years.