NEWS

Here is where things stand on Sunday, December 21:

Fighting

• The death toll from a Russian missile attack on Ukraine’s port city of Odesa rose from seven to eight, with at least 30 others wounded, according to Ukrainian authorities.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the situation in Odesa as “harsh” and accused Russia of trying to block Kyiv’s access to the Black Sea.
• The Ukrainian leader also said that he is looking to replace the head of the Southern Air Command, Dmytro Karpenko, over the Russian strikes on Odesa.
• Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Oleksii Kuleba said Russian forces also attacked the nearby port of Pivdennyi on Saturday, hitting several reservoirs.
• Ukraine’s military said its special forces carried out a drone attack on a Lukoil oil rig in the Caspian Sea on Friday, along with the Russian military patrol ship Okhotnik. The military also said that the Filanovsky oil rig, which had been targeted twice this month, was damaged in the strike.
• The Ukrainian military also said it destroyed two Russian fighter jets at an airfield in the occupied Crimean peninsula.
• Russia’s Ministry of Defence said its forces took control of the villages of Svitle and Vysoke, located in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region and the northeastern Luhansk region, respectively.

Diplomacy and ceasefire talks

• Zelenskyy said the United States proposed a new format for talks with Russia, comprised of three-way talks at the level of national security advisers from Ukraine, Russia, and the US.
• The Ukrainian leader expressed scepticism that the talks would result in “anything new”, but added that he believes that US-led talks have the best chance of success.
• He added that he would support trilateral discussions if they led to progress in areas such as prisoner swaps or a meeting of national leaders. “If such a ‍meeting could be ⁠held now to allow for swaps of prisoners of war, or if a meeting of national security advisers achieves agreement on a leaders’ meeting… I cannot be opposed. We would support such a US proposal. Let’s see how things go,” he said.
• Zelenskyy also pushed back against calls for Ukraine to hold elections as the war drags on, stating that voting cannot take place in Russian-occupied areas and that security conditions must first improve. “It is not [Russian President Vladimir] Putin who decides when and in what format the elections in Ukraine will take place,” Zelenskyy said.
• Zelenskyy urged European leaders to approve a measure to seize frozen Russian assets and use them to fund Ukraine’s war effort, saying that doing so will strengthen Ukraine’s leverage at the negotiating table. The International Monetary Fund has estimated that Ukraine will need about 137 billion euros ($161bn) in 2026 and 2027, as the demands of the war continue to strain the country’s economy.
• Russian special envoy Kirill Dmitriev held talks with his US counterpart, Steve Witkoff, and US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, in the city of Miami.
• “The ‌discussions are proceeding constructively. They began earlier and ‌will continue ⁠today, and will also continue tomorrow,” ‌Dmitriev said
• Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov attended a summit in Cairo, held to advance closer cooperation between Russia and African nations, and attended by more than 50 countries. Lavrov pitched Russia as a “reliable partner” to African countries in areas such as security and national sovereignty.

Weapons

• Ukrainian presidential aide Oleksandr Kamyshin announced a deal with Portugal on the joint production of maritime drones, saying it would help “defend Europe from the sea”.

Australia spinner Nathan Lyon will play no further part on the final day of the third Ashes Test and is a doubt for the remainder of the series because of a hamstring injury.

Lyon, 38, who became Australia’s second highest Test wicket-taker during the Adelaide Test, was injured diving in the field on the morning of the fifth day.

He clutched his right hamstring and left the field immediately.

Lyon took three wickets on the fourth afternoon to put Australia on the brink of a victory that will confirm a series win.

He went wicketless before his injury on day five, however, as England showed admirable fight.

There are just five days before the fourth Test begins in Melbourne on 26 December (23:30 GMT, 25 December), leaving Lyon with little time to recover. The final Test in Sydney follows five days after the fourth has finished.

Lyon, one of the greatest spinners of all time, suffered a calf injury during the second Test of the 2023 Ashes, which was a significant factor in England recovering to draw the series 2-2.

He bowled only two overs in the first Test of this series and then said he felt “filthy” after being left out of the second in Brisbane.

F-35A Joint Strike Fighters from the Vermont Air National Guard‘s 158th Fighter Wing have arrived at the former Roosevelt Roads Navy base in Puerto Rico to take part in Operation Southern Spear. The arrival of these jets is the latest buildup of U.S. forces in the region for the mission to pressure Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro. 

TWZ was the first to report that the 158th’s F-35As were being deployed to Southern Spear. You can catch up with our previous story about this operation here.

The jets were captured on video and in still images by airplane spotters. We reached out to the Vermont National Guard for comment.

The talks between the four countries lauded the first stage of the truce, including expanded humanitarian assistance, return of captives, force withdrawals and reduction in hostilities.

The United States, Egypt, Qatar and Turkiye have urged the parties to the Gaza ceasefire to honour their commitments and show restraint, the chief US envoy says after talks in the US city of Miami.

Senior officials from the four mediator countries met Steve Witkoff, US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, on Friday to review the first phase of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which took effect on October 10, according to a joint statement released on Saturday.

The meeting was held against the backdrop of ongoing Israeli attacks on the enclave. The Palestinian Civil Defence in Gaza said that six people were killed on Friday when an Israeli strike hit a school housing displaced people, raising the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli fire since the deal took effect to about 400.

“We reaffirm our full commitment to the entirety of the President’s [Trump’s] 20-point peace plan and call on all parties to uphold their obligations, exercise restraint, and cooperate with monitoring arrangements,” Witkoff said in a statement posted on X.

First phase of truce

Saturday’s statement cited progress yielded in the first stage of the peace agreement, including expanded humanitarian assistance, the return of captives’ bodies, partial force withdrawals and a reduction in hostilities.

It called for “the near-term establishment and operationalisation” of a transitional administration, which is due to happen in the second phase of the agreement, and said that consultations would continue in the coming weeks over its implementation.

Under the truce deal’s terms, Israel is supposed to withdraw from its positions in Gaza, an interim authority is to govern the Palestinian territory instead of Hamas, and an international stabilisation force is to be deployed.

On Friday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed hope that countries would contribute troops for the stabilisation force, but also urged the disarmament of Hamas, warning the process would unravel unless that happened.

Hamas statement

A meeting was also held between Hamas’s chief negotiator, Khalil al-Hayya, and Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin in Istanbul on Saturday.

In a statement from Hamas after the meeting, the group said it was committed to abiding by the ceasefire agreement, despite Israeli violations.

“The delegation stressed the urgent need to halt these continuous violations,” the statement added.

“The delegation also reviewed the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip with the onset of winter, emphasising the critical priority of urgently bringing in tents, caravans, and heavy equipment to save our people from death by cold and drowning, given the destruction of infrastructure and homes.”

Winter storms have been worsening the conditions for hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians in Gaza, as aid agencies warn that Israeli restrictions are preventing lifesaving assistance from reaching people across the besieged enclave.

Bodies recovered, Israeli strikes continue

On Saturday, an Israeli air strike targeted two people in northern Gaza, according to a statement from the military, which alleged that they “posed an immediate threat” to Israeli troops after crossing the so-called yellow line, which separates areas under Israeli army control from those where Palestinians are permitted to move.

No details were yet available on whether the two people were killed or injured.

Gaza’s Civil Defence on Saturday also said it recovered the bodies of 94 Palestinians from the rubble in the enclave.

The bodies were retrieved in central Gaza City and transferred to the forensic department at Al-Shifa Medical Complex to arrange their burial in the Martyrs’ Cemetery in the central city of Deir el-Balah, according to a statement from the Civil Defence.

Thousands of Palestinians are believed to still be buried under the rubble of destroyed buildings in Gaza.

The Israeli army has killed more than 70,700 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, and injured more than 171,000 others since it began its genocidal war on the enclave in October 2023.

Defending champions Liverpool win 2-1 at Tottenham to climb to fifth in the Premier League table.

Alexander Isak endured a bittersweet evening as the Liverpool striker scored before limping off injured in a chaotic 2-1 win over nine-man Tottenham.

Isak put Liverpool ahead in the second half in north London on Saturday after Tottenham’s Xavi Simons was sent off before the interval for a nasty lunge on Virgil van Dijk.

It was only Isak’s third goal in 16 games in all competitions since his British record 125-million-pound ($166m) move from Newcastle on transfer deadline day.

Yet in keeping with Isak’s troubled start to life with the Premier League champions, the 26-year-old was unable to fully enjoy his goal as he was forced to come off after being injured by Micky van de Ven’s failed attempt to stop him scoring.

Hugo Ekitike’s fifth goal in his last four appearances put Liverpool in command before Richarlison’s reply set up a tense finale that came to a head with Tottenham defender Romero’s dismissal in stoppage time.

Arne Slot’s side are up to fifth place in the Premier League after extending their unbeaten run to six games in all competitions, further distancing them from the miserable run of nine defeats in 12 that plunged them into crisis.

While Liverpool steadied the ship with a third successive win, Isak’s injury could not have come at a worse time following Mohamed Salah’s departure for the Africa Cup of Nations.

Slot claimed on Friday that Liverpool had “moved on” from the Salah controversy after his explosive interview two weeks ago in which he said he had been thrown under the bus by the club and no longer had a relationship with the Reds boss.

He was dropped from the squad for a Champions League game at Inter Milan but returned as a substitute in last week’s victory over Brighton.

The 33-year-old is now on international duty with Egypt for several weeks, making Isak’s injury an especially painful blow if he is ruled out for a prolonged period.

Slot will spend Christmas sweating on Isak’s fitness, and Tottenham manager Thomas Frank’s festive period will be even more fraught.

Last weekend’s limp 3-0 loss at Nottingham Forest sparked debate over the Dane’s future in his rocky first season in charge.

Tottenham are languishing in 13th place after winning just one of their last eight league games.

Ange Postecoglou was sacked despite winning the Europa League last season to end Tottenham’s 17-year trophy drought, and Frank is in danger of suffering the same fate as the Australian if results do not improve soon.

Simons left Tottenham with a mountain to climb in the 33rd minute when he raked his studs down Van Dijk’s calf with an ugly challenge from behind.

Initially booked for the foul, Simons was shown the red card after a VAR review.

Slot sent on Isak for the injured Conor Bradley at half-time and it took the Sweden striker just 11 minutes to make an impact as Liverpool broke the deadlock with a goal 300 million pounds ($399m) in the making.

All three of Liverpool’s costly close-season signings combined as Ekitike picked out Florian Wirtz, and he slipped a perfectly weighted pass to Isak, who timed his run to drill a clinical finish past Guglielmo Vicario from 10 yards.

Ekitike doubled Liverpool’s lead in the 66th minute.

Jeremie Frimpong’s deflected cross looped into the six-yard box, where Ekitike out-jumped Romero to thump his header into the top corner.

Richarlison reduced the deficit with a close-range blast after Reds captain van Dijk miscued a clearance in the 83rd minute.

But, with the visitors wobbling, Romero’s second booking for kicking Ibrahima Konate let Liverpool off the hook.

In 2017, a reckoning over sexual violence called “#MeToo” swept the globe. Eight years later, has the movement done enough for survivors? And what will it take for some of the world’s most powerful men accused of sexual misconduct to face consequences?

This week on UpFront Marc Lamont Hill speaks to founder of the Me Too movement, Tarana Burke.

The Department of Justice has released files related to the late convicted sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein after mounting pressure led President Donald Trump to sign the Epstein Files Transparency Act last month. Trump, who himself has been accused dozens of times of sexual assault and misconduct, has already appeared in photos, emails and other documents in connection with Epstein, causing a rift in his base. Other business elites, academics, politicians and world leaders have also been named in connection to Epstein. While some have faced minor consequences, only Ghislaine Maxwell has been criminally convicted as part of Epstein’s sex trafficking of minors. Will newly released documents lead to new convictions and genuine accountability for survivors?

The US has seized a vessel in international waters off the coast of Venezuela, US officials have told BBC News partner CBS.

It is the second time this month that the US has seized a ship off the country’s coast.

The move comes after US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he was ordering a “blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela.

Venezuela has not yet responded to the latest US seizure, but has previously accused Washington of seeking to steal its oil resources.

The BBC has contacted the White House for comment.

The operation was led by the US Coast Guard, similar to the operation earlier this month, CBS reports. The ship was boarded by a specialised tactical team.

In recent weeks, the US has been building up its military presence in the Caribbean Sea and has carried out deadly strikes on alleged Venezuelan drug-smuggling boats, killing around 100 people.

The US has provided no public evidence that these vessels were carrying drugs, and the military has come under increasing scrutiny from Congress over the strikes.

The US has accused Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro of leading a designated-terrorist organisation called Cartel de los Soles, which he denies.

The Trump administration accuses him of and the group of using “stolen” oil to “finance themselves, Drug Terrorism, Human Trafficking, Murder, and Kidnapping”.

Venezuela – which is home to the world’s largest proven oil reserves – is highly dependent on revenues from its oil exports to finance its government spending.

Trump’s announcement of a “blockade” came less than a week after the US seized an oil tanker believed to be part of the “ghost fleet” off the coast of Venezuela, which allegedly used various strategies to conceal its work.

The White House said the vessel in question, called the Skipper, had been involved in “illicit oil shipping” and would be taken to a US port.

Venezuela’s government decried the move, with Maduro saying the US “kidnapped the crew” and “stole” the ship.

The PM says the part of the plan on south of the Litani River is ‘only days away from completion’.

Lebanon is close to completing the disarmament of Hezbollah in the south of the Litani River before a year-end deadline as part of a ceasefire deal with Israel, according to Prime Minister Nawaf Salam.

Saturday’s statement comes as the country races to fulfil the key demand in the US-backed deal agreed in November last year and ended more than a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

The agreement requires the disarmament of the Iran-aligned Lebanese armed group, starting in areas south of the river adjacent to Israel.

Lebanese authorities, led by President Joseph Aoun and Salam, tasked the US-backed Lebanese army on August 5 with devising a plan to establish a state monopoly on arms by the end of the year.

“Prime Minister Salam affirmed that the first phase of the weapons consolidation plan related to the area south of the Litani River is only days away from completion,” a statement from his office said.

“The state is ready to move on to the second phase – namely [confiscating weapons] north of the Litani River – based on the plan prepared by the Lebanese army pursuant to a mandate from the government,” Salam added.

Committee meeting

The statement came after Salam held talks with Simon Karam, Lebanon’s top civilian negotiator on a committee overseeing the Hezbollah-Israel truce.

In a meeting on Friday, the committee focused on how to return displaced people to their homes, addressing civilian issues to help prevent renewed war if the year-end deadline to disarm Hezbollah is not met.

The 15th meeting of the committee reflected a longstanding US push to broaden talks between the sides beyond monitoring the 2024 ceasefire.

At Friday’s meeting in the southern Lebanese coastal town of Naqoura, civilian participants discussed steps to support safe returns of residents uprooted by the 2023-24 war and advance economic reconstruction, the US Embassy in Beirut said.

Since the ceasefire, Israeli warplanes have repeatedly targeted parts of Lebanon, mostly southern Lebanon, but sometimes even the capital.

Israel says it is questioning the Lebanese army’s efforts to disarm Hezbollah.

Hezbollah, a Shia Muslim armed group, has tried to resist the pressure – from its mainly Christian and Sunni Muslim opponents in Lebanon as well as from the US and Saudi Arabia – to disarm, saying it would be a mistake while Israel continues its air strikes on the country.

Israel has publicly urged Lebanese authorities to fulfil the conditions of the truce, saying it will act “as necessary” if Lebanon fails to take steps against Hezbollah.

On the eve of the 2025 AFCON, football’s governing body in Africa create new four-year cycle and form a Nations League.

African football is getting a major shake-up with the creation of the African Nations League and conversion of the biennial Africa Cup of Nations to a four-year cycle.

Patrice Motsepe, the president of the Confederation of African Football, announced the changes Saturday during his news conference before the 2025 Africa Cup hosted by Morocco.

Motsepe said that the 2027 Africa Cup, to be hosted by Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, will go ahead as planned and that the following edition – originally scheduled for 2029 – will be moved forward to take place in 2028. The next Africa Cup after that will be in 2032.

This would allow the first African Nations League to take place in 2029. Motsepe said it would involve each of the continent’s 54 members, divided into four geographical zones, with games in September and October before the finals are held in November.

“What is new is that … in Africa there’s going to be a competition every year where the best African players who play in Europe and worldwide will be with us on the continent,” Motsepe said.

CAF officials did not immediately specify if the African Nations League will be held on a biennial or annual basis.

Syrian state television denounces the Israeli incursion as another violation of the nation’s sovereignty.

Israeli forces have advanced into the Quneitra area of Syria’s occupied Golan Heights and set up two military checkpoints, an Al Jazeera correspondent on the ground reports.

The Israeli military operation on Saturday took place in the villages of Ain Ziwan and al-Ajraf in the southern part of the country.

For months, Israeli forces have conducted near-daily incursions into southern Syria, particularly in the Quneitra governorate, carrying out arrests, erecting checkpoints, and bulldozing land, all of which have prompted growing public anger and unrest.

Syrian state television said the Israeli incursion was a violation of Syrian sovereignty, noting that the army used five military vehicles to set up the checkpoint in Ain Ziwan.

The latest raid comes one day after Israeli forces advanced towards the towns of al-Asha, Bir Ajam, Bariqa, Umm al-Azam and Ruwayhina in the southern Quneitra countryside, according to the Syrian News Agency (SANA).

Dozens of Syrians on Friday protested the Israeli incursion in the city of al-Salam in the Quneitra Governorate, condemning the ongoing Israeli attacks against citizens and their properties.

The demonstrators, part of a group called “Syrians with Palestine”, held banners denouncing what they stated were repeated Israeli violations of Syrian lands.

Despite a reduction in direct military threats, the Israeli army continues to carry out air raids that have caused civilian casualties and destroyed Syrian army sites and facilities.

Over the past year, Israel has launched more than 600 air, drone or artillery attacks across Syria, averaging nearly two attacks a day, according to a tally by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED).

Israeli military incursions have become more brazen, more frequent and more violent since Israel expanded its occupation of southern Syria following the ousting of President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.

Disengagement accord

After al-Assad’s fall, Israel declared the 1974 Disengagement Agreement – brokered after the 1973 war, in which Syria failed to regain the occupied Golan Heights – void.

The agreement had established a UN-patrolled buffer zone, which Israel has since violated, advancing deeper into Syrian territory.

Citing al-Assad’s flight, Israel says the accord no longer applies, while carrying out air raids, ground incursions, reconnaissance flights; setting up checkpoints; and arresting or disappearing Syrians. Syria has not responded with attacks.

In September, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa stated that Israel had conducted more than 1,000 air attacks and more than 400 ground incursions in Syria since al-Assad was overthrown, describing the actions as “very dangerous”.

Syrians believe that the continuation of these violations hinders efforts to restore stability in the region and undermines attempts to improve the economic situation in southern Syria.

Al Jazeera visited Quneitra in recent weeks and spoke to Syrians about Israeli incursions and abductions there, which have stoked fears.

Syria and Israel are currently in talks to reach an agreement that Damascus hopes will secure a halt to Israel’s air raids on its territory and the withdrawal of Israeli troops who have pushed into southern Syria.

In the background, the United States has been pushing diplomatic efforts to restore the 1974 deal.

The Central Economic Conference in Beijing in December 2025 identified eight key tasks for China’s economic work in 2026. Several of these areas particularly interest me as a China expert. Among the most important tasks for China’s economic work in 2026 is promoting a policy of supporting service exports through various measures to boost household income, raise basic pensions, and remove restrictions in the consumer sector. What struck me most during the Central Economic Conference meetings in Beijing in December 2025 was its emphasis on China’s continued opening up. This will provide tremendous global growth opportunities by expanding trade and investment, especially in the technology and renewable energy sectors, deepening integration into global value chains, and increasing demand for resources. This will drive the global economy in conjunction with China and create new partnerships, focusing on “high-quality development” and “high-level opening up” as fundamental pillars for mutual benefit and to stimulate innovation within the Chinese economy.

–            Main Tasks of the Beijing Economic Conference in December 2025

1)       Providing a huge market and investment opportunities: By increasingly encouraging the opening of its doors to foreign companies, China will create diverse opportunities in various sectors such as technology, innovation, and services.

2)       Making the Chinese economy an engine of global growth: The recovery and growth of the global economy depend heavily on China’s contribution, which accounts for a large share of the global economy.

3) Expanding free trade: China strongly supports free trade and the signing of regional agreements, reducing barriers and promoting trade exchanges.

4) Expanding the wheel of Chinese overseas investment: By significantly deepening the contribution of Chinese direct investment abroad to the economic development of other countries.

5)       Promoting innovation-led development in China to accelerate the development of new growth engines in 2026: This will bring significant benefits to foreign consumers and investors.  The meeting approved a package of policies aimed at strengthening the role of companies in innovation and implementing a new round of measures to develop high-quality key industrial chains, deepening and expanding fields such as artificial intelligence, which will bring more innovation opportunities to the world.

– Sectors in which China will expand in the future:

A) Innovation and Technology: China is a leader in fields such as artificial intelligence, renewable energy, and agricultural technology, driving global innovation.

B) Advanced Manufacturing: China’s rapid transition to high-quality development focuses on industrial upgrading and technological innovation, creating new products and services.

C)     Promoting Globalization: China opposes protectionism and supports inclusive economic globalization, creating a more interconnected and integrated global economy.

D)     Building a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind: The ultimate goal of China’s economic growth is to achieve common development and improve livelihoods for all, promoting win-win international cooperation.

–             Areas of China’s contribution to global development and the global economy in 2026, through:

1)       Product supply: As the “world’s factory,” with a focus on advanced technology.

2)       Demand stimulation: China’s enormous demand for commodities, energy, and raw materials supports other economies.

3)       Knowledge and technology transfer: Through investments and joint ventures.

4)       Support for sustainable development: By focusing on clean energy and green sectors.

   Accordingly, we understand that the main tasks for 2026, identified during the Central Economic Conference in Beijing in December 2026, are comprehensive and diverse. Chief among them is building a strong domestic market in China, reflecting a future strategic direction for the Chinese economy. This will promote sustainable development, support high-quality growth, foster innovation-led development, and uphold openness to the outside world. This means providing broader development opportunities for foreign investment and achieving growth that is synchronized with the development of the Chinese economy.

Khan and his wife have denied accusations that they misrepresented the value of state gifts, including jewellery, and profited from them.

Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi have been sentenced to 17 years in prison after a Pakistani court found them guilty of illegally retaining and selling valuable state gifts.

The sentence, handed down on Saturday, capped a years-long saga that saw the duo accused of selling various gifts – including jewellery from the Saudi Arabian government – at far below market value. They have denied all charges.

In order to keep gifts from foreign dignitaries, Pakistani law requires officials to purchase them at market value and to declare profits from any sales.

But prosecutors claimed that the couple profited from the items after purchasing them at an artificially low price of $10,000, compared with their market rate of $285,521.

Khan’s supporters were quick to denounce the ruling, with his spokesperson Zulfikar Bukhari saying that “criminal liability was imposed without proof of intent, gain, or loss, relying instead on a retrospective reinterpretation of rules”.

His party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, wrote on social media that the proceedings were a “sham” and criticised international media coverage of the case.

The 73-year-old former leader served as Pakistan’s prime minister from 2018 until April 2022, when he was ousted in a no-confidence vote.

He was imprisoned starting in August 2023 on various charges of corruption and revealing state secrets, all of which he has denied and claimed to be politically motivated. He has been acquitted of some charges.

An internationally famous cricket player in the heyday of his sporting career, Khan remains popular in Pakistan, with his imprisonment leading to protests throughout the last two years.

The former leader is now confined to a prison in the city of Rawalpindi and “kept inside all the time”, his sister, Uzma Khanum, told journalists earlier this month.

Khanum, a doctor who was the first family member allowed to visit Khan in weeks, described him as “very angry” about the isolation, saying that he considered the “mental torture” of imprisonment to be “worse than physical abuse”.

Aghil Keshavarz is the tenth person put to death for espionage since June conflict with Israel.

Iran has executed a man convicted of spying for Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, judicial authorities announced, as Tehran continues a widening crackdown on alleged collaborators following the 12-day Israel-United States-Iran war earlier this year.

Aghil Keshavarz was put to death on Saturday morning after the Supreme Court upheld his conviction on espionage charges, according to Mizan, the judiciary’s official news agency.

The 27-year-old architecture student was arrested earlier this year in the northwestern city of Urmia after military patrols caught him photographing an army headquarters building.

The execution adds to a growing number of people put to death for espionage since the June conflict, with at least 10 executed by September alone.

In September, Iran executed a man it said was “one of the most important spies for Israel in Iran”.

In October, Tehran toughened legislation against alleged spies for Israel and the US, making espionage automatically punishable by death and asset confiscation.

According to the Mizan report, Keshavarz was accused of conducting more than 200 missions for Israeli intelligence services across Tehran, Isfahan, Urmia and Shahroud.

The missions allegedly included photographing target sites, conducting opinion polling, and monitoring traffic patterns at specific locations.

Authorities said he communicated with both Israel’s Mossad and military officials through encrypted messaging platforms, receiving payment in cryptocurrency after completing assignments.

The judiciary said Keshavarz had “knowingly cooperated” with Israeli services with the intention of harming Iran’s Islamic Republic.

The Oslo-based Iran Human Rights group has previously disputed similar espionage convictions, saying suspects are often tortured into false confessions.

Israel’s offensive in June involved 12 days of air attacks, including several against Iran’s top generals and nuclear scientists, as well as civilians in residential areas, for which Iran retaliated with barrages of missiles and drones. The US also carried out extensive strikes, on Israel’s behalf, on Iranian nuclear sites during the conflict. According to Amnesty International, Israeli attacks on Iran killed at least 1,100 people.

In response to the June war and protests in recent years over the state of the economy and women’s rights, as well as calls for regime change, Iran has sentenced more people to death.

Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, has warned that babies and children in the Gaza Strip are dying from harsh winter weather, calling on Israel to ease its aid blockade as the military continues to violate the ceasefire and press on with its genocidal war.

Citing the death of a 29-day-old premature baby, Said Asad Abedin, from severe hypothermia in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, MSF said on Friday that winter storms “combined with the already dire living conditions [are] increasing health risks”.

The death toll from extreme weather stood at 13 as of Thursday, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health. Another two-week-old baby, Mohammed Khalil Abu al-Khair, froze to death without access to proper shelter or clothing earlier this week.

Ahmed al-Farra, head of the maternity paediatric department at Nasser Medical Complex, said in a video update that “hypothermia is very dangerous” for babies. “If nothing is offered for these families in the tents, for warming, for mobile homes, for caravans, unfortunately, we will see more and more” deaths, al-Farra said.

Children are “losing their lives because they lack the most basic items for survival,” Bilal Abu Saada, a nursing team supervisor at Nasser Hospital, told MSF. “Babies are arriving to the hospital cold, with near-death vital signs.”

In addition to the growing number of deaths, MSF said its staff has recorded high rates of respiratory infections that it expects to increase throughout the winter, posing a particular danger to children under five.

“As Gaza is battered by heavy rains and storms, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians continue to struggle in flooded and broken makeshift tents,” the organisation added. “MSF calls on Israeli authorities to urgently allow a massive scale up of aid into the Strip.”

No letup in Israeli attacks

Palestinian news agency Wafa, meanwhile, reported that Israeli forces demolished buildings, carried out artillery shelling and shot guns in areas east of Gaza City on Saturday morning, with more gunfire reported east of Khan Younis.

On Friday, an Israeli strike on a shelter for displaced Palestinians killed at least six people. The Israeli military claimed to be firing on “suspects”.

Graphic videos from the scene showed body parts and terrified civilians trying to carry wounded people out of danger.

Military vehicles also descended upon the town of az-Zawiya, located west of Salfit in the occupied West Bank, where forces severely beat and injured a number of citizens and stormed homes, the agency said.

‘I can still hear his tiny cries’

Heavy rain, high winds and freezing temperatures have battered Gaza in recent weeks, flooding or blowing away more than 53,000 tents that have served as makeshift shelters for displaced Palestinians.

With huge swaths of buildings and infrastructure destroyed, streets are quick to flood and sewage overflows. Displaced families have sought refuge in the shells of partially fallen-down buildings despite the risk of collapse, with 13 buildings caving in across Gaza last week.

The winter weather and Israel’s blocking of vital aid and mobile homes for shelter have proven deadly for children and babies.

Late in the evening of December 13, Eman Abu al-Khair, a 34-year-old displaced Palestinian living in al-Mawasi west of Khan Younis, found her sleeping baby Mohammed “cold as ice”, his hands and feet frozen and “his face stiff and yellowish”, she told Al Jazeera.

She and her husband couldn’t find transportation to get to hospital, and intense rain made it impossible to make the trek by foot.

After rushing Mohammed by animal-drawn cart to Red Crescent Hospital in Khan Younis at dawn, he was admitted to intensive care with a blue face and convulsions. He died two days later.

“I can still hear his tiny cries in my ears,” Eman said. “I sleep and drift off, unable to believe that his crying and waking me at night will never happen again.”

Mohammed “had no medical problems,” she added. “His tiny body simply couldn’t withstand the extreme cold inside the tents.”

Since the October 10 ceasefire took effect, Israel has continued to block the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip despite calls from a host of United Nations agencies, international organisations and other states for it to stop.

The UN has said that Israel has prevented tents and blankets from reaching Palestinians, even as an estimated 55,000 families have seen their belongings and shelters damaged or destroyed in the storm.

Dozens of child-friendly spaces have also been damaged, affecting 30,000 children, according to the UN.

Natasha Hall, a senior advocate for Refugees International, told Al Jazeera that aid is entering Gaza in a “trickle” in part due to its opaque list of “controlled dual-use items” that has included nappies, bandages, tools, tents and other essentials.

“It’s unclear how those could be used as weapons or any kind of dual use,” Hall said.

Opener Zak Crawley suggested he was not aware of comments made by Ben Stokes when the England captain said his dressing room is “not a place for weak men”.

Stokes made the statement in multiple interviews following England’s defeat in the second Ashes Test against Australia earlier this month.

In the run-up to the third Test, in which England are set to be beaten to lose the series at the earliest opportunity, Stokes said he had let his message “drift around” his players.

“I’ve done all the talking over the past two days that I needed to have done,” said the all-rounder.

But after Crawley made 85 on the fourth day of the third Test in Adelaide, he said: “I didn’t see that.

“I didn’t see and wasn’t really looking out for it. We take everything that is said in the media with a pinch of salt.”

Stokes made the “weak men” comment after England were beaten in Brisbane to go 2-0 down.

The England squad subsequently went on holiday to Noosa between the second and third Tests.

Before this match in Adelaide, Stokes said his team had held “raw” conversations. The captain also asked his players to “show a bit of dog” in their battle to remain in the series.

But Kent’s Crawley stated the messaging from Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum had remained consistent with their previous three years in charge.

“It’s been very positive, the same as always,” said Crawley. “[It’s] just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do something special going into this game.”

A 737 Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) with a luxurious VVIP interior has re-emerged unexpectedly tied to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), as evidenced by a large departmental seal in the main cabin. The aircraft’s appearance follows news that DHS recently signed a contract to buy six 737s, ostensibly to support U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) deportation efforts. However, the BBJ, which also wears a paint scheme that is very similar to one President Donald Trump had previously selected for the U.S. Air Force’s two future VC-25B presidential aircraft, looks to have a very different role.

The 737 BBJ in question, a 737-8 model, currently has the U.S. civil registration number N471US. The Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) public database shows the jet has been registered with that number to a company called Valkyrie Aviation Holding Group, LLC, since October. The address given for Valkyrie in the database is an office in Arlington, Virginia, just across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C.

As seen in pictures at the top of this story and below, which were taken this past weekend at Washington’s Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, N471US currently has a red, white, and blue livery. “United States of America” is written prominently in large lettering on either side of the forward fuselage. “Independence” is also written in much smaller font on both sides of the fuselage, right under the cockpit, a spot where aircraft nicknames are often printed. A large American flag, depicted blowing in the wind, is featured on both sides of the tail.

As noted already, a relatively large DHS seal fitted to a bulkhead inside the cabin is visible through an open door in one picture. The jet’s exact internal configuration at present is unknown, something we will come back to later on.

As mentioned, N471US’s general external look is very much in line with what President Donald Trump had picked for the pair of forthcoming Boeing 747-8i-based VC-25B Air Force One aircraft during his first term. President Joe Biden subsequently reversed that decision, bringing back plans to paint those jets in the same iconic, Kennedy-era livery as the current VC-25A Air Force Ones. In August, the Air Force told Inside Defense it was “implementing a new livery requirement for VC-25B,” but did not elaborate.

Almost as quickly as it emerged at National Airport in D.C., N471US departed for points overseas, according to online flight tracking data. The jet arrived in Jordan’s capital Amman yesterday, having made at least one stop at Chania International Airport on the Greek island of Crete along the way. Chania International Airport also serves as an important hub for U.S. military forces operating in Europe and the Middle East, with facilities there under the oversight of the U.S. Navy’s Naval Support Activity Souda Bay.

The U.S. Coast Guard’s lone C-37B, a version of the Gulfstream G550 business jet, also departed from National Airport in D.C. on December 14 and arrived in Amman yesterday after stopping in Chania. That aircraft had arrived in both locations just ahead of N471US, lending credence to a direct connection between the two flights, and underscoring the 737 BBJ’s links to DHS.

Interesting flights to Jordan: a Dept of Homeland Security 737 landing Amman from DC (n471us), shortly after a CoastGuard glf5 (c102) from DC as well pic.twitter.com/yCpgICUjlM

— avi scharf (@avischarf) December 15, 2025

The Coast Guard currently falls under the purview of DHS. The service’s C-37B, also known as a Long Range Command and Control Aircraft (LRCCA), is regularly used as a VIP transport for the Secretary of Homeland Security and other senior departmental leaders, as well as top Coast Guard leadership. The LRCCA is based at Coast Guard Air Station Washington, which is collocated with National Airport.

Flight tracking data shows N471US left Amman today and flew to Zayed International Airport in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The Coast Guard’s C-37B also made the same trip. Who has been flying on either aircraft since they left D.C. on Sunday, and why, is unknown. TWZ reached out to DHS yesterday morning for more information about N471US, but we have not yet received a response. We have also reached out to the White House.

N471US itself, which has the Boeing manufacturer serial number 61329, is a known quantity. The jet, which has been flying since July 2021, is curiously still listed for sale on Avjet Global’s website at the time of writing. Avjet’s site and an accompanying brochure show the plane in a previous taupe-over-brown paint scheme. It is also described as having “low hours with 672 TT [hours total time]” and “154 landings.”

Avjet’s brochure says the jet has a “5 zone VVIP cabin configuration” designed to accommodate 17 passengers. Accompanying pictures show an extremely luxurious interior layout that includes two suites with full-size beds and a master bathroom with a shower stall, among many other amenities. Whether any changes have since been made to the aircraft’s internal configuration is unknown, but there are no indications that it has. It would be expensive and time-consuming to make major changes to the core internal layout. Doing so would also call into question the basic rationale for any buyer to select this particular low-time VIP aircraft rather than a 737 in a more basic configuration, to begin with.

The 737 BBJ, then flying with the civil registration number N702F, was tracked flying from Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada, to Dallas Love Field in Texas, between September 23 and 24. It then flew to Ardmore Municipal Airport in Oklahoma, to the north of Dallas. It has been pointed out that Ardmore is home to a branch of King Aerospace, which has a long history of heavy maintenance and deep modification work, with a particular focus on the 737 family. King offers a variety of services related to VVIP 737s. The company also routinely secures U.S. government contracts for maintenance and other support for other 737-based aircraft with more specialized configurations.

The jet was not tracked again until October 31, when it flew with the N471US registration number from Ardmore to Chennault International Airport in Lake Charles, Louisiana. This airport has also been tied to the maintenance and repainting of U.S. government aircraft.

N471US returned to Ardmore on November 21. The aircraft conducted multiple local flights to and from the airport on December 10, according to Flightradar24. Observers have already noted this could have been for flight testing and/or crew training purposes.

Flight tracking data shows N471US flew to Joint Base Andrews just outside Washington, D.C., home to the VC-25A Air Force One jets and other members of the Air Force’s VIP aircraft fleets, on December 11. It is worth noting here that the U.S. Air Force, as well as the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps, operate militarized 737 variants as personnel transports, which are often used by senior leaders, as well as Congressional delegations.

On December 12, N471US then made a circuitous trip to the Grissom Aeroplex in Peru, Indiana, by way of the St. Louis, Missouri, area, much further to the west, where it did not land. The Grissom Aeroplex is collocated with Grissom Air Reserve Base, a major hub for Air Force Reserve aerial refueling tankers. It then returned to the Washington, D.C. area on December 13, where it was spotted at National Airport.

Altgoether, there are clear signs that N471US is now flying as a VIP transport for one or more entities under the DHS umbrella, possibly as part of a contractor-owned and/or operated arrangement. The U.S. federal government as a whole has historically operated a mix of government and contractor-owned and operated aircraft to support the travel demands of senior officials.

It had emerged earlier in the year that the U.S. Coast Guard was looking to replace its older Gulfstream V-based C-37A jet, which the service has been flying since 2002. Like its C-37B, the Coast Guard also refers to its C-37A as a Long Range Command and Control Aircraft (LRCCA), and performs the same general slate of missions. The service received the C-37B second-hand from the Air Force in 2022 after a deep refurbishment.

DHS subsequently confirmed plans to supplant both of the Coast Guard’s C-37s with newer Gulfstream 700-series jets modified with the requisite secure communications suite and other systems needed for their VIP mission. The total price tag for both of those aircraft has been pegged at between $170 and $200 million. DHS, and particularly Secretary Kristi Noem, has faced criticism for these plans for various reasons, including disputes over funding and for entering into the contract to buy the jets during the recent government shutdown. DHS has pushed back on that criticism, saying that acquiring newer jets is critical to meeting current and future mission requirements, and doing so safely and reliably. DHS’s top leadership does have particular demands to travel with access to specialized and secure communications, given the role the department has in larger continuity of government plans. The U.S. government has various measures in place to ensure it can continue to function in the event of any number of severe contingency scenarios, including major hostile attacks or severe natural disasters.

As a general observation, complaints about the misuse of U.S. government aircraft are leveled at senior federal officials, as well as members of Congress from both parties, with some regularity.

There have been no reports previously of DHS plans to acquire a 737 to further expand its VIP transport capacity. However, DHS confirmed to The Washington Post just last week that it had recently entered into a $140 million contract with a company called Daedalus Aviation for the purchase of six 737s to support ICE deportation activities. This followed a report from The Wall Street Journal in November that ICE attempted to buy 10 737s via Spirit Airlines for this purpose earlier in the year. That plan is said to have fallen through when it became apparent that Spirit did not actually own the aircraft in question, which also had no engines.

More broadly speaking, President Donald Trump’s administration has faced intense legal and other scrutiny, as well as broader criticism and controversy, over how it has been carrying out deportation flights, as well as its overall immigration policies. Public polling in the United States has consistently shown general support for stauncher measures against illegal immigration, but not necessarily for how the Trump administration is proceeding at present.

What connection Daedalus Aviation may or may not have to Valkyrie Aviation is unknown, but the latter company did reserve seven other N numbers (N473US, N474US, N475US, N476US, N477US, N478US, and N479US) on October 27, according to the FAA’s database. A search of entries tied to Valkyrie in the database also turns up N472US, a Gulfstream G650 business jet, which is now said to be registered to a company called Vigilant Aviation Holdings LLC with an address in Lewes, Delaware. Valkyrie also interestingly reserved N702F, the registration number previously applied to N471US, on November 13.

Overall, observers have already pointed out that N471US looks to have a configuration ill-suited to conducting deportation flights, just from a practical perspective, and a VIP role for that jet still seems far more likely. At the same time, rolling it in with the acquisition of a fleet of less luxurious 737s intended primarily to serve in the deportation role would not necessarily be surprising. Whatever deal DHS may have with Valkyrie could also be an entirely separate arrangement from the one it has with Daedalus. Regardless, all of this could easily fuel new criticism around DHS’s recent aviation acquisition efforts.

In the meantime, N471US is continuing its trip overseas on what looks to be its first major flight in its present role, and more details about the plane and how it is being utilized may now start to emerge. From what we’re seeing now, it certainly looks like DHS’s new 737 fleet includes at least one aircraft fully equipped as a luxurious VIP transport.

Special thanks to David Lee for sharing pictures he took of N471US at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport this past weekend with us.

Editor’s Note: The feature image originally at the top of this story was swapped with another at the request of the source.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

How do we talk about antisemitism after the Bondi shooting?

Na’amod co-founder Em Hilton, raised in Bondi, says Jews must resist retreat, find moral courage, and build bonds with Muslims, Palestinians, and other threatened communities.

Former ‍heavyweight ‍champion beats ⁠social-media-star-turned fighter ‍with a sixth-round knockout in Miami.

Former world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua knocked out YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul in their controversial Netflix-backed bout in Miami.

Two-time world champion Joshua made hard work of defeating his vastly less experienced opponent on Friday night, but finally made his superior size and power count in the later stages of the eight-round fight.

A mediocre contest at the Kaseya Center – with the two men reportedly splitting a mammoth purse of $184m – descended into farce at times, with Paul repeatedly dropping to the canvas and grappling at Joshua’s legs.

At one stage even referee Christopher Young appeared to be losing patience, warning the fighters in the fourth round: “The fans did not pay to see this crap.”

As Paul tired, Joshua finally began to land punches with more regularity and after knocking down the American twice in the fifth round the end came swiftly in the sixth.

Joshua backed the 28-year-old into a corner and after teeing up Paul with a crunching left, delivered the knockout blow with a right to the chin that sent his opponent crashing to the canvas.

“It wasn’t the best performance,” Joshua, 36, admitted afterwards. “But the end goal was to get Jake Paul, pin him down and hurt him.

“That was the request leading up, and that was on my mind. It took a bit longer than expected but the right hand finally found its destination.”

Joshua meanwhile praised Paul for lasting into the later rounds.

“I want to give him his props – he got up time and time again,” Joshua said. “It was difficult in there for him, but he kept on trying to find a way. It takes a real man to do that.”

Paul, meanwhile, his mouth bloodied from Joshua’s final assault, said he believed his jaw had been broken – but was satisfied with his performance.

“That was fun. I gave it my all,” Paul said. “I had a blast. I think my jaw is broken by the way. But Anthony’s one of the best to ever do it so. I’m gonna come back and get a world championship.

“I just got tired to be honest – like it was so much handling his weight. I think with better cardio I could have kept it up and kept on fighting. But he hits really hard.”

The bout was carried live to ‌Netflix’s approximately 300 million subscribers.

Friday’s made-for-streaming contest, which came just over a year after Paul had fought a 58-year-old Mike Tyson in a much-derided Netflix fight, had triggered alarm across boxing given the disparity in size and experience between the two men.

Yet the devastating first or second round knockout by Joshua that most had predicted failed to materialise as Paul scrambled desperately to stay outside of the 2012 Olympic champion’s range.

Joshua, fighting for the first time in 15 months, always looked the more threatening fighter though, landing 48 of 146 punches thrown compared to Paul’s meagre total of 16 punches landed.