News Desk

Every December, much of the Christian world enters a familiar cycle of celebration: carols, lights, decorated trees, consumer frenzy and the warm imagery of a snowy night. In the United States and Europe, public discourse often speaks of “Western Christian values”, or even the vague notion of “Judeo-Christian civilisation”. These phrases have become so common that many assume, almost automatically, that Christianity is inherently a Western religion — an expression of European culture, history and identity.

It is not.

Christianity is, and has always been, a West Asian / Middle Eastern religion. Its geography, culture, worldview and founding stories are rooted in this land — among peoples, languages and social structures that look far more like those in today’s Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Jordan than anything imagined in Europe. Even Judaism, invoked in the term “Judeo-Christian values”, is itself a thoroughly Middle Eastern phenomenon. The West received Christianity — it certainly did not give birth to it.

And perhaps nothing reveals the distance between Christianity’s origins and its contemporary Western expression more starkly than Christmas — the birth story of a Palestinian Jew, a child of this land who was born long before modern borders and identities emerged.

What the West made of Christmas

In the West, Christmas is a cultural marketplace. It is commercialised, romanticised and wrapped in layers of sentimentality. Lavish gift-giving overshadows any concern for the poor. The season has become a performance of abundance, nostalgia, and consumerism — a holiday stripped of its theological and moral core.

Even the familiar lines of the Christmas song Silent Night obscure the true nature of the story: Jesus was not born into serenity but into upheaval.

He was born under military occupation, to a family displaced by an imperial decree, in a region living under the shadow of violence. The holy family were forced to flee as refugees because the infants of Bethlehem, according to the Gospel narrative, were massacred by a fearful tyrant determined to preserve his reign. Sound familiar?

Indeed, Christmas is a story of empire, injustice and the vulnerability of ordinary people caught in its path.

Bethlehem: Imagination vs reality

For many in the West, Bethlehem – the birthplace of Jesus – is a place of imagination — a postcard from antiquity, frozen in time. The “little town” is remembered as a quaint village from scripture rather than a living, breathing city with actual people, with a distinct history and culture.

Bethlehem today is surrounded by walls and checkpoints built by an occupier. Its residents live under a system of apartheid and fragmentation. Many feel cut off, not only from Jerusalem – which the occupier does not allow them to visit – but also from the global Christian imagination that venerates Bethlehem’s past while often ignoring its present.

This sentiment also explains why so many in the West, while celebrating Christmas, care little about the Christians of Bethlehem. Even worse, many embrace theologies and political attitudes that erase or dismiss our presence entirely in order to support Israel, the empire of today.

In these frameworks, ancient Bethlehem is cherished as a sacred idea, but modern Bethlehem — with its Palestinian Christians suffering and struggling to survive — is an inconvenient reality that needs to be ignored.

This disconnect matters. When Western Christians forget that Bethlehem is real, they disconnect from their spiritual roots. And when they forget that Bethlehem is real, they also forget that the story of Christmas is real.

They forget that it unfolded among a people who lived under empire, who faced displacement, who longed for justice, and who believed that God was not distant but among them.

What Christmas means for Bethlehem

So what does Christmas look like when told from the perspective of the people who still live where it all began — the Palestinian Christians? What meaning does it hold for a tiny community that has preserved its faith for two millennia?

At its heart, Christmas is the story of the solidarity of God.

It is the story of God who does not rule from afar, but is present among the people and takes the side of those on the margins. The incarnation — the belief that God took on flesh — is not a metaphysical abstraction. It is a radical statement about where God chooses to dwell: in vulnerability, in poverty, among the occupied, among those with no power except the power of hope.

In the Bethlehem story, God identifies not with emperors but with those suffering under empire — its victims. God comes not as a warrior but as an infant. God is present not in a palace but in a manger. This is divine solidarity in its most striking form: God joins the most vulnerable part of humanity.

Christmas, then, is the proclamation of a God who confronts the logic of empire.

For Palestinians today, this is not merely theology — it is lived experience. When we read the Christmas story, we recognise our own world: the census that forced Mary and Joseph to travel resembles the permits, checkpoints and bureaucratic controls that shape our daily lives today. The holy family’s flight resonates with the millions of refugees who have fled wars across our region. Herod’s violence echoes in the violence we see around us.

Christmas is a Palestinian story par excellence.

A message to the world

Bethlehem celebrates Christmas for the first time after two years without public festivities. It was painful yet necessary for us to cancel our celebrations; we had no choice.

A genocide was unfolding in Gaza, and as people who still live in the homeland of Christmas, we could not pretend otherwise. We could not celebrate the birth of Jesus while children his age were being pulled dead from the rubble.

Celebrating this season does not mean the war, the genocide, or the structures of apartheid have ended. People are still being killed. We are still besieged.

Instead, our celebration is an act of resilience — a declaration that we are still here, that Bethlehem remains the capital of Christmas, and that the story this town tells must continue.

At a time when Western political discourse increasingly weaponises Christianity as a marker of cultural identity — often excluding the very people among whom Christianity was born — it is vital to return to the roots of this story.

This Christmas, our invitation to the global church — and to Western Christians in particular — is to remember where the story began. To remember that Bethlehem is not a myth but a place where people still live. If the Christian world is to honour the meaning of Christmas, it must turn its gaze to Bethlehem — not the imagined one, but the real one, a town whose people today still cry out for justice, dignity and peace.

To remember Bethlehem is to remember that God stands with the oppressed — and that the followers of Jesus are called to do the same.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.

Palestinian, Jewish and Indigenous groups say they will launch constitutional challenge to anti-protest laws described as ‘rushed’.

The state of New South Wales (NSW) will have the toughest gun laws in Australia as well as wide-reaching new restrictions on free speech in the wake of the Bondi Beach mass shooting, which left 15 people dead.

Less than two weeks after the attack on a Jewish celebration, new legislation was passed by the state’s legislative assembly in the early hours of Wednesday morning, including restrictions that appear to target speech in solidarity with Palestinians.

Notably, the Terrorism and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025 gives police powers to restrict public protests for up to three months “following a terrorism declaration”, while the public display of symbols of prohibited organisations will be banned.

“Once a declaration is made, no public assemblies can be authorised in designated areas, including by a court and police will be able to move people on if their behaviour or presence obstructs traffic or causes fear, harassment or intimidation,” the NSW government said in a statement.

In the statement, NSW Premier Chris Minns and other top officials said that the sweeping changes would involve a review of “hate speech” and the words “globalise the Intifada” were singled out as an example of speech that will be banned. The term is often used in solidarity with Palestinians and their civil struggle against Israeli military occupation and illegal settlement expansion, dating back to the 1980s.

Minns acknowledged that the new laws involved “very significant changes that not everyone will agree with” but he added, “our state has changed following the horrific anti-Semitic attack on Bondi Beach and our laws must change too.”

He also said that new gun laws, which restrict certain types of guns to use by farmers, would also help to “calm a combustible situation”.

Constitutional challenge

Three NSW-based pro-Palestinian, Indigenous and Jewish advocacy groups said on Tuesday, before the final vote on the legislation, that they would be “filing a constitutional legal challenge against the draconian anti-protest laws”.

Palestine Action Group Sydney said in a statement shared on Facebook that it was launching the challenge together with the Indigenous group Blak Caucus and Jews Against the Occupation ’48.

“These outrageous laws will grant NSW Police sweeping powers to effectively ban protests,” the Palestinian advocacy group said, accusing the NSW government of “exploiting the horrific Bondi attack to advance a political agenda that suppresses political dissent and criticism of Israel, and curtails democratic freedoms”.

Changes to the state’s protest laws also come just months after more than 100,000 people marched over the Sydney Harbour Bridge in protest against Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, after a court overturned an attempt by the Minns government to try to stop the peaceful protest from taking place.

Following the huge display of public support for ending Israel’s war on Gaza, Australia joined more than 145 other UN member states in recognising Palestinian statehood at the United Nations in September this year, much to the outrage of Israeli officials.

Within hours of the Bondi attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is wanted for alleged war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC), linked the shooting to Australia’s recognition of Palestinian statehood.

UN special rapporteur Ben Saul, who is also an international law chair at the University of Sydney, criticised Netanyahu’s comments.

Saul, whose UN mandate focuses on ensuring human rights are protected while countering terrorism, called for a “measured response to the Bondi terrorist attack”.

“Overreach does not make us safer – it lets terror win,” Saul said in a post on social media.

Heroes to be honoured

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Wednesday that he plans to create a special honours list to recognise the people who rushed in to try to stop the two attackers as they targeted the Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach on December 14.

Australian public broadcaster the ABC reported those honoured would likely include Australian-Syrian shop owner Ahmed al-Ahmed, as well as Boris and Sofia Gurman, a local couple who tried to stop the gunmen but were among those killed in the attack.

While al-Ahmed has been widely hailed as a hero around the world, less is known about a second Muslim man who ran in to help, even as he was tackled by bystanders because he was mistaken for being an attacker.

The man’s lawyer, Alisson Battisson, says that her client, whom she did not name, is a refugee who is potentially facing deportation due to a past criminal record, despite his repeated attempts to help stop the Bondi attack.

The holidays bring good cheer — an opportunity to reflect but also, most likely, the anxiety of family. Jim Jarmusch’s latest film isn’t set during the season, although the faint flickers of awkwardness, resentment and guilt that pass across its characters’ faces may be painfully familiar to audiences who have an uneasy relationship with their parents. “Father Mother Sister Brother” is here to commiserate, but because the veteran indie auteur remains a sharp chronicler of the quotidian, he has no patience for sentimentality or pat resolutions. The movie glides by so unassumingly, you may be stunned how moved you are by the end.

“Father Mother Sister Brother” is divided into three chapters, each examining a separate family. In the first segment, set somewhere in the Northeast, siblings Jeff (Adam Driver) and Emily (Mayim Bialik) visit their unnamed father (Tom Waits). The second tale shifts to Dublin, where sisters Timothea (Cate Blanchett) and Lilith (Vicky Krieps) arrive at the home of their mother (Charlotte Rampling) for their annual tea party. And in the final chapter, twins Skye (Indya Moore) and Billy (Luka Sabbat) reunite in Paris to close up the apartment owned by their parents, who recently died in a small-plane crash.

Jarmusch has occasionally sliced his narratives into pieces: His films “Night on Earth” and “Coffee and Cigarettes” were anthologies tied together conceptually. Initially, “Father Mother Sister Brother” appears to be similar, but there’s a cumulative power to the movie, which won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, that reveals a subtle but profound thematic undercurrent.

The first clue comes in the “Father” chapter, which begins with Jeff and Emily in the car. There’s a stilted quality to the conversation as they discuss their eccentric, inscrutable dad. The visit has the heavy air of obligation — they don’t see Dad very often — and when he clumsily welcomes them into his ramshackle house, pregnant pauses and pursed lips ensue. Nothing much happens, until the segment’s finale introduces a twist that suggests the yawning chasm between what we think we know about our parents and what the truth of their lives is.

Once we move to the “Mother” sequence, we’ve started to acclimate to the movie’s discomfiting rhythms — which is good considering that, if anything, Timothea and Lilith’s relationship with their mom is even frostier. Their mother’s polite, excessively formal demeanor cannot mask her befuddlement regarding how to relate to her children. Decked out in an unflattering haircut and eyeglasses, Blanchett plays Timothea as terminally mousy, still craving her aloof mom’s approval. By comparison, Krieps’ Lilith is more assertive, proudly showing off her pink-dyed hair and bragging about a Lexus she doesn’t actually have. Rampling crackles as a matriarch who can sniff out her kids’ lies and insecurities but has the good manners not to say anything. Or maybe it’s not kindness at all but, rather, a way to reassure herself that she will always have the upper hand.

The film’s persistent brittleness may make some viewers antsy. That’s partly the point, but hopefully, they’ll soon be swept away by the movie’s melancholy undertow. Working with a minimalist keyboard score he co-wrote, Jarmusch fills the silences with an ineffable despair. You can feel it in the way Emily looks out her father’s window to the lake beyond, the wintery tableau both tranquil and poignant. You sense it when Timothea quietly inspects herself in a bathroom mirror, wishing her life was more than it is.

Such moments could make you cry. But Jarmusch’s deadpan approach often chases that sadness with a wry chuckle during instances of unfiltered honesty. Krieps relishes portraying her character, a big-talking phony hoping to wow her mother and sister. (At one point, Lilith announces, “I almost hate to say it, but my life’s been like a dream.” Blanchett’s reaction is delicious.) Eventually, we learn to look past Jarmusch’s deceptively mundane surfaces to see the fraught, unresolved issues within these guarded families. The characters occasionally expose their true selves, then just as quickly retreat, fearful of touching on real conflict.

Which brings “Father Mother Sister Brother” to its most affecting sequence. It would be a spoiler to disclose anything about Skye and Billy’s intimate saga, but what becomes clear is that Jarmusch has fashioned the “Father” and “Mother” installments in such a way that the final “Sister Brother” segment hits differently. Just as importantly, Moore and Sabbat’s lovely performances slyly alter our impressions of those previous chapters, building to some of the tenderest moments of Jarmusch’s career.

Turning 73 in January, Jarmusch has lost none of his edge or preternatural cool, but the depth of feeling in recent works like 2016’s “Paterson” becomes, here, a bittersweet meditation on the anguish of trying to unlock the mystery of our aging parents. In “Father Mother Sister Brother,” family can be hell, but the only thing worse is when they’re no longer with us.

Her Missing Son Returns In Her Dreams 

“I enjoyed editing several stories this year, but this one stayed with me because of how Sabiqah narrated it with an intimate voice that draws you directly into the woman’s inner world: the dreams, the dread, the relentless memory of her child. 

The writing does more than tell a personal story; it brings the national crisis of missing persons in Nigeria into sharp, human focus. The storytelling lets the reader feel the ache without forcing it, turning one woman’s sorrow into something universally recognisable and impossible to look away from.”

– Johnstone Kpilaakaa, Sub-editor and head of standards.

Widowed by Boko Haram, Swept by Floods, but She Refused to Sink

“It was written by Abdulkareem Haruna; therefore, there was almost no serious work from my side. It’s best for me because it tells a story of resilience. The story of a woman who could have abandoned everything and buried herself in despair, but she refused to be drowned in the abyss of two big tragedies: the Boko Haram war and a natural disaster.”

– Aliyu Dahiru, Head of the Extremism and Radicalism desk

From Elephants to Warthogs: The Shadow Wildlife Trade Financing Boko Haram in Nigeria

“One thing I love about this story is the adrenaline of promptness and emergency it gave while editing it. We were working on a tight deadline, and it needed to be delivered excellently. The reporter, Al-amin Umar, made this a lot easier because he understood his role and did it to the best of his ability. He followed guidelines religiously and ensured the story came out well. The subject matter was also crazy to probe within limited time and resources. But we pulled it through regardless. It’s a story worth celebrating.” 

– Ibrahim Adeyemi, Investigations Editor

Displaced People with Disabilities Face Severe Struggles in Borno Camps 

“Disabled people’s stories are usually underreported, especially those in IDP camps. This story, by Abubakar Mukhtar Abba, is very in-depth and takes us on a journey into what it means to be displaced and disabled in an unaccommodating environment. It pointed out their struggles with accessibility and how that impacts their health and the community generally, highlighting why accessibility is a fundamental right and benefits society in general. It also shows how a lack of inclusion pushes disabled people away from camps, causing social, environmental and health problems due to how they are excluded from society. 

This story brings those at the fringes of society into the spotlight while maintaining their full humanity and dignity.”

– Hauwa Abubakar Saleh, Assistant Editor, Features Desk

The Intersection Between Healthcare and Loyalty to Terror Groups 

“We are still finding out the ways lives have been affected following the USAID suspension. I find this story particularly enlightening because it shows us how everything affects everything, you do not readily think loyalty to a terror group intersects with healthcare.”

— Shade Mary-Ann Olaoye, Audience Growth and Engagement Editor 

CHRIS Rea became the third of his siblings to die in just three months – sending his heartbroken family “into shock”.

Devastated relatives of the Driving Home for Christmas singer revealed he had welcomed his first grandchild shortly before his “tragic” death.

Chris died in hospital following a short illness, a spokesperson for his family said on Monday.

In a statement on behalf of his wife and two children, they said: “It is with immense sadness that we announce the death of our beloved Chris.

“He passed away peacefully in hospital earlier today following a short illness, surrounded by his family.”

The singer songwriter’s death – just three days before Christmas – becomes the latest heartbreak for his family.

His older sister, Camille Whitaker, revealed two of Chris’ siblings had also sadly passed away just months ago.

She told how her youngest sibling, Nicholas, died in hospital aged 66 in October after battling brain cancer.

Just days after his funeral, Camille’s twin sister Geraldine Milward died suddenly – sending the family into shock.

She told the Daily Mail: “It is an awful pain. It is gut-wrenching what happened. The family has been quite shocked by it.

“It is tragic. We can’t sort of get around it.”

Camille, who says she last spoke to Chris less than a week ago, admitted his family will be “wrecked” by his passing.

The iconic hit writer lived with his wife and family at home in Buckingham and remained “very close” with his family.

Camille also told how Chris was “very pleased” when he became a grandfather for the first time this year.

Prior to his death, the singer-songwriter battled a number of health issues after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer over 40 years ago.

Chris reportedly went under the knife for serious ops nine times, spending over half a year in hospital following his cancer diagnosis at the age of 33.

Discussing the shock prognosis with Saga, he told how it had been his “Mount Everest” to climb.

Chris explained: “The original illness hit me hard. I almost had a nervous breakdown with the shock of it. That was the Mount Everest to climb.

“When they said it was pancreatic cancer, I could not believe it. It seemed that if your DNA says you are going to have cancer, then you can.

“They did not think I would recover from the first operation, but I was determined to do so for my wife and the girls.”

Dec. 23 (UPI) — A judge in Oregon ruled Tuesday that the Trump administration cannot require states to account for how deportations have affected their populations in order to receive emergency or disaster preparedness funds.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Amy Potter’s ruling came in response to a lawsuit from 11 states challenging new requirements from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which they argued created undue burdens on access to hundreds of millions of dollars that could be used to prepare for floods, storms, acts of terrorism and other potential catastrophes.

The ruling is a setback for President Donald Trump as he has sought to remake the federal agency that is central to responding to disasters after earlier calling for it to be dissolved.

The ruling concerned a new FEMA policy that shortened the duration of grants to states from three years to one. The agency argued that the shorter period would allow it to better gauge the effectiveness of how states were using the money.

FEMA also required states to provide updated figures on their populations to reflect the Trump administration’s aggressive deportation efforts. Population counts have traditionally been the responsibility of the U.S. Census Bureau.

A group of 11 states – including Michigan, Oregon, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico, Wisconsin and Kentucky – sued in response to the new requirements.

They argued that the requirements violated the Administrative Procedures Act and imperiled funding used for outreach programs in Hawaii, the deployment of emergency management personnel in North Carolina during tropical storms and staff to respond to flash floods in Maryland.

“This abrupt change in policy is particularly harmful to local emergency management,” wrote Potter.

In Oregon, affected funds were used to help cover the expenses of local emergency managers across the state, she wrote.

Russian attack on Ukraine’s Zaporizhia region kills at least one and injures three, according to its governor.

“South Park” creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker, who this summer landed one of the richest TV deals ever, are being called Scrooges by performers at their Casa Bonita restaurant near Denver.

In late October, the performers, including the famed cliff divers, went on a three-day strike, citing unsafe working conditions and stalled negotiations over their first contract. The performers voted unanimously to unionize with Actors’ Equity Assn. a year ago.

The strike ended when the restaurant’s management agreed to bring in a mediator to assist in the negotiations.

But the standoff has continued, prompting Actors’ Equity to take out an ad in the Denver Post this week that depicts a “South Park” cartoon-like Parker and Stone awash in hundred-dollar bills while their staff, including a gorilla and a person clad in a swimsuit, shivers outside in the Colorado cold.

The union said its goal is to prod the star producers to resolve the labor tensions by giving about 60 Casa Bonita performers, including magicians and puppeteers, a pay increase and other benefits along with their first contract.

A full page ad is running in the Denver Post on Dec 24.

(Actors’ Equity Association)

Other Casa Bonita workers voted earlier this month to join the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 7.

“At Casa Bonita, we value all of our team members and their well being,” the restaurant management said in a statement. “We are negotiating in good faith with our unionized team members in the hopes of concluding fair collective bargaining agreements.”

Parker and Stone declined to comment through a spokesperson.

The pair, who also created the hit Broadway play “The Book of Mormon,” rescued the kitschy, bright-pink Mexican-themed eatery in Lakewood, Colo., from bankruptcy in 2021 and have since plowed more than $40 million into the restaurant to upgrade and correct unsafe electrical, plumbing and structural issues after the facility had fallen into disrepair.

For “South Park” super-fans, the venue has become something of a mecca since first being featured in the seventh season of the long-running Comedy Central cartoon.

In that episode, Cartman flips out when Kyle invites Stan, Kenny and Butters Stotch to his birthday party at Casa Bonita (not Cartman), where they are serenaded by the restaurant’s ubiquitous mariachi bands.

Along with legions of other kids who grew up in Colorado, Parker and Stone fondly remember making the trek to the Casa Bonita of their 1980s youth. Restoring the restaurant has become a passion project for the writers, a journey that became grist for a documentary, “¡Casa Bonita Mi Amor!,” which streams on Paramount+.

In July, Paramount managers were eager to tie up loose ends to facilitate the company’s sale to David Ellison’s Skydance Media and RedBird Capital Partners. The incoming management team also became involved in the protracted negotiations to strike a new deal with Parker and Stone’s production company, Park County, to avoid having the situation unravel, possibly tripping up their corporate takeover.

Paramount ultimately agreed to extend the overall deal for Park County as well as lock up the show’s exclusive global streaming rights for $300 million a year over five years. Until this year, the show streamed exclusively on HBO Max.

The overall deal is slated to bring Parker and Stone’s firm $1.25 billion through 2030.

As part of the pact, the team agreed to create 50 new “South Park” episodes for Paramount. The series has enjoyed a ratings bounce and increased cultural resonance this year as it routinely roasts President Trump.

Actors’ Equity, which also represents Broadway performers, is seeking pay raises for its members at Casa Bonita. Union representatives said performers’ wages there average $21 to $26 an hour.

“Matt and Trey have become fabulously wealthy by pointing out the hypocrisy of rich and powerful people,” said David Levy, communications director for Actors’ Equity. “And now they are behaving exactly like the people they like to take down.”

Algeria’s parliament has begun debating a draft law that would criminalise France’s colonial rule from 1830 to 1962. Al Jazeera’s Nada Qaddourah explains what we know about the bill.

There is a growing presence of U.S. special operations forces (SOF) assets in the Caribbean as the Trump administration prepares for possible kinetic actions against Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro. These SOF elements are part of a large buildup of U.S. military equipment and personnel in the region. You can catch up to our most recent coverage of Operation Southern Spear here.

Satellite images emerging online show at least five MC-130J Commando II multi-mission combat transport planes are now at Rafael Hernandez International Airport (RHIA) in Puerto Rico. The Commando IIs appear to have arrived on Dec. 17. There are at least nine Air Force Special Operations Command CV-22B Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft there as well, according to a recording of air traffic control conversations shared with The War Zone. The presence of the Ospreys was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

U.S. Special Operations Command and Air Force Special Operations Command declined comment when we inquired about the deployment. U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), which oversees military operations in the region, also declined comment, citing operational security concerns.

The presence of these aircraft provides a drastic expansion of special operations aerial support capability for Operation Southern Spear. The CV-22s offer greater range and speed compared to their traditional rotary-wing counterparts. This allows them to penetrate deeper into contested territory without tanker support, which could prove highly beneficial for a country as large as Venezuela. They also get to where they are going faster and in any weather. This is especially important for combat search and rescue (CSAR) duties where every minute counts. Typically, USAF CV-22s execute special operations infiltration and exfiltration missions and CSAR.

The MC-130J is an extremely capable special operations transport and tanker, that can deliver cargo and personnel deep inside contested territory in any weather. They can do this by landing on rough fields or air dropping cargo and personnel. They commonly refuel CV-22s, HH-60s, MH-60s, and MH-47s, but can also provide refueling for other probe-equipped helicopters. Setting up forward arming and refueling points in austere areas is another mission they execute, along with providing communications support and other ancillary duties. It’s worth noting that the 160th Special Operations Air Regiment (SOAR), better known as the Night Stalkers, is also in the region, including aboard the special operations mothership MV Ocean Trader. MH-47s and MH-60s from the 160th would make use of the MH-130J’s refueling capabilities.

HC-130Js, which are more focused on CSAR operations, are also deployed to Puerto Rico along with a contingent of HH-60W Jolly Green CSAR helicopters.

Other special operations C-130s are also in the region, including the deployment to El Salvador of at least one AC-130 Ghostrider gunship. A video posted on Monday of the latest U.S. military strike on a suspected drug boat clearly shows it being raked by a Ghostrider’s gunfire.

Back in October, we suggested that the AC-130s were being used in at least some of the boat attacks, of which there have been more than two dozen, killing more than 100 people.

This looks like an AC-130J Ghostrider’s work. Two shots from the 30mm. We know AC-130 is deployed to PR.

Compare here: https://t.co/AtARMKHvGp

As we have discussed before, engaging small boats is something AC-130 crews train for & is an established mission set for the type. https://t.co/VIoNpHBYE3

— Tyler Rogoway (@Aviation_Intel) October 19, 2025

The strikes have generated a great deal of controversy, with claims they violate the rules of armed conflict and have been carried out without Congressional or judicial approval. The White House and Pentagon have pushed back on those claims. Earlier this month, Congress closed out investigations into the first of these attacks, on Sept. 2, which were called after it was revealed that survivors of the first strike were killed in a follow-on attack.

It’s also worth noting that there are other special operations aircraft surely in the region, such as U-28 Dracos and others. These are just the ones we see in relatively public places or areas where U.S. activity is already prevalent.

Back to military aircraft at Rafael Hernandez International Airport in Puerto Rico, the airport plays host to MQ-9 Reaper drones, images of which first began appearing online in September. MQ-9s been used in boat attacks as well.

🔎🇺🇸Reapers in the Caribbean
Unclassified satellite imagery reveals two MQ-9 Reaper drones at Coast Guard Air Station Borinquen in Puerto Rico (Aguadilla).

With a long endurance and advanced sensors, these assets are critical for counter-narcotics and maritime surveillance,… pic.twitter.com/MUq70nhxNC

— MT Anderson (@MT_Anderson) September 11, 2025

The airport has a long history of hosting U.S. military aviation assets. Originally opened up in 1936 as Borinquen Field and later was renamed as Ramey Air Force Base before being closed in 1973. During its time in operation, the base hosted a variety of bombers, including B-17s, B-24s, B-29s, B-50s, B-36s and B-52s, according to the Ramey Air Force Base Historical Association.

The U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Borinquen still operates from the airport. A compendium of satellite imagery dating back to early October shows a large-scale construction project at the airport. A big swath of land adjacent to the runway and next to the original military ramp has been cleared and there appears to be construction of new hangars or other structures. These additions are a strong indication that the U.S. military presence at the airport is growing and will be sustained for some time to come.

In addition to the special operations aircraft, online trackers show that C-17 Globemaster III cargo jets have landed in Puerto Rico from Lawson Army Airfield at Fort Benning, Georgia. That’s the home of the 75th Ranger Regiment, a special operations airborne unit used to seize airfields, among other operations. A spokesman for the regiment on Monday declined comment on these movements, referring us to SOUTHCOM, which has also declined comment.

Online trackers also showed flights to Puerto Rico from Fort Campbell in Kentucky and Fort Stewart in Georgia, The Wall Street Journal reported. The publication added “that military personnel and equipment were transported on planes” from those bases. SOUTHCOM declined to comment on those movements as well.

Meanwhile, as the Trump administration increases military pressure on Maduro, it is also continuing to take aim at Venezuelan oil shipments in an effort to squeeze him economically as well. As one of the world’s largest oil producers, Venezuela relies heavily on it. Since Trump enacted a blockade on sanctioned ships entering or leaving Venezuela, the U.S. has seized two and has pursued a third. Amid these actions, both China and Russia raised protests at the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday, calling the blockade and tanker seizures “cowboy behavior” and “intimidation.”

Russia’s UN Envoy Nebenzya:

For several months now, the entire world has had the opportunity to observe the way that the United States has been continuing to deliberately foment tensions around the friendly nation of Venezuela under the pretext of combating drug trafficking and… pic.twitter.com/bRLhwG6wmA

— Clash Report (@clashreport) December 23, 2025

So far, U.S. kinetic actions in the Caribbean have been contained to the boat strikes. However, Trump issued a warning to Maduro on Monday after suggesting the Venezuelan leader should step down.

“He can do whatever he wants, it’s alright, whatever he wants to do,” Trump told reporters after unveiling his proposed Trump class battleships. “If he wants to do something, if he plays tough, it’ll be the last time he’s ever able to play tough.”

Regardless of the overt messaging, if anything ends up happening, it’s clear the Pentagon is planning for the special operations community to provide a disproportionate contribution to the overall operation.

Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com

ADAM Peaty and Holly Ramsay have made waves over their wedding plans — by banning the public from the venue for an entire day.

The ceremony for the Olympic swimmer, 30, and his model bride, 25, is scheduled to last for just 90 minutes on Saturday.

But they have block-booked Bath Abbey so no one else can get hitched there on the day.

Sources at the abbey said it was an “all-day booking” and tourists will also be stopped from entering the landmark.

A security team is set to patrol to stop people trying to take pictures of the couple.

The cost of hiring the facility for a wedding can be around £2,500 — but the couple are thought to be paying several thousand more for exclusivity.

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One local said: “It seems rather selfish to be hiring the abbey for the whole day when your wedding service only lasts for an hour and a half or so.”

Around 200 people are set to attend, including Holly’s chef dad Gordon and their close friends David and Victoria Beckham — but a falling-out has led to Adam’s mum Caroline being left off the guest list.

The couple have a “special connection” to the abbey — meaning they comply with a rule that anyone hiring it must have a link to it.

In its list of conditions for eligibility to be wed there, it is on offer to “parishioners, members of the congregation and those with a qualifying connection to the abbey”.

It is unknown what the connection is that the couple have which qualifies them.

Adam’s spokesman declined to comment, saying: “It’s a private, family wedding.”

Meanwhile, Adam has been branded “spiteful” after he left most of his family off his Christmas gift list amid their wedding falling-out.

He did not get anything for his parents, or brothers James and Richard.

He did get Richard’s daughter presents, along with his sister Bethany and her two kids.

But he ignored the young sons, aged 11 and seven, of James, who was arrested for allegedly making threats against him last month.

A family source said: “Kids are innocent and shouldn’t be included in any family fallout. To do this is cruel and spiteful.”

The Sun asked Adam’s team for comment.

Venezuela’s UN ambassador denounces US military strikes and naval blockade at a meeting of the UN Security Council.

Venezuela has told the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) that the United States has “continental ambitions” over much of Latin America as it wages an unofficial war to remove the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

“It’s not just about Venezuela. The ambition is continental,” Venezuela’s UN ambassador, Samuel Moncada, told a meeting of the 15-member UNSC on Tuesday.

“The US government has expressed this in its National Security Strategy, which states that the future of the continent belongs to them,” Moncada said.

“We want to alert the world that Venezuela is only the first target of a larger plan. The US government wants us to be divided so it can conquer us piece by piece,” he said.

Venezuela, earlier this month, requested that the UNSC meet to address the “ongoing US aggression”, which began in September when the White House launched air strikes against vessels in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean. The White House claimed, without providing any evidence, that the vessels were trafficking drugs to the US.

At least 105 people have been killed so far in the attacks by US forces, which legal experts and Latin American leaders have branded “extrajudicial killings”, but which Washington claims are necessary to stem the flow of drugs to US shores.

At the UNSC meeting, Moncada also accused the administration of US President Donald Trump of violating both international and US domestic law, since the White House has been acting without the approval of the US Congress, whose authority is required to formally declare war on another country.

Moncada said that Trump’s imposition last week of a naval blockade on all Venezuelan oil tankers sanctioned by the US was a “military act aimed at laying siege to the Venezuelan nation”.

“Today, the masks have come off,” Moncada said. “It is not drugs, it is not security, it is not freedom. It is oil, it is mines and it is land.”

US envoy denounces ‘Maduro and his illegitimate regime’

US forces have seized at least two Venezuelan oil tankers and confiscated at least 4 million barrels of Venezuelan oil, according to Moncada, in a move he described as “a robbery carried out by military force”.

The US has defended its naval blockade of Venezuela as a “law enforcement” action to be carried out by the US coastguard, which has the authority to board ships under US sanctions. A naval blockade, by contrast, would be considered an act of war under international law.

The US ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, told the UNSC that Latin American drug cartels remain the “single most serious threat” and that Trump would continue to use the full power of the US to eradicate them. Waltz also said that Venezuelan oil is a critical component in funding the cartels in Venezuela.

“The reality of the situation is that sanctioned oil tankers operate as the primary economic lifeline for Maduro and his illegitimate regime,” he said.

The White House earlier this year designated several international drug cartels, including Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua, as terrorist organisations. Washington also added the “Cartel de los Soles,” which it claims is headed by Maduro, to the list in November.

The Venezuelan leader has denied the US allegations and accused the Trump administration of using the drug trafficking claims as a cover to carry out “regime change” in his country.

Russia’s ambassador to the UN separately warned that US “intervention” in Venezuela could “become a template for future acts of force against Latin American states”.

China’s ambassador told the UNSC that the US actions “seriously infringe” on the “sovereignty, security and legitimate rights” of Venezuela.

The Ukrainian military says its forces have withdrawn from ​​the battle-scarred town of Siversk in the eastern Donetsk region after heavy fighting with Russian forces.

In a statement on Telegram on Tuesday, Ukraine’s General Staff said that Russian troops had a “significant advantage” in manpower and equipment and had exerted constant pressure on the defending Ukrainian troops by staging small-unit assaults in difficult weather conditions.

Ukraine’s decision to withdraw its forces was made to “preserve the lives of our soldiers and the combat capability of the units”, the General Staff said.

Heavy losses were inflicted on Russian forces before the order to retreat was given, and Siversk remains “under the fire control of our troops”, and “enemy units are being blocked to prevent their further advance,” the General Staff added.

Ukraine’s DeepState military monitoring site reported late on Tuesday that Russian forces had occupied Siversk as well as Hrabovske, a village in Ukraine’s Sumy region close to the border with Russia.

Russian Lieutenant General Sergei Medvedev had told Russian President Vladimir Putin on December 11 that troops had taken Siversk, where fighting has been fierce in recent months, but Ukrainian officials denied the Russian reports at the time.

Ukraine’s military said at the time that Russian troops were “taking advantage of unfavourable weather conditions” to launch attacks, but were mostly being “destroyed on the approaches”.

The Kyiv Independent news site said that, despite Siversk’s modest size – it had a pre-war population of 10,000, and now, just a few hundred civilians remain – the town was key to the defence of northern Donetsk.

The town had helped shield the larger Sloviansk and Kramatorsk areas, “the main bastions of Ukraine’s so-called ‘fortress belt’”, which Russia has been unable to conquer since the start of fighting, the Kyiv Independent said.

Donetsk is one of three Ukrainian regions at the centre of Russia’s territorial demands, which are the stumbling blocks to reaching an agreement on a ceasefire. Ukraine’s leaders have said they will not concede their country’s territory taken during Moscow’s invasion.

Russian forces had already seized an estimated 19 percent of Ukrainian territory as of early December, including Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014, all of the Luhansk region, and more than 80 percent of Donetsk, according to the Reuters news agency.

Russian forces also control about 75 percent of the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions, and small parts of the Kharkiv, Sumy, Mykolaiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions, according to Reuters.

A 28-point peace plan first put forward by the administration of US President Donald Trump last month says that a negotiated settlement would see Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk “recognised as de facto Russian, including by the US”.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently said that the United States is pushing for Ukraine to withdraw its forces from the Donetsk region to establish a “free economic zone” in the area, which he said the Russian side is referring to as a “demilitarised zone”.

Pope saddened as fighting continues over Christmas

The latest setback for Kyiv on the battlefield came as Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that Russian forces had launched another “massive attack” on Ukraine on Monday night, killing at least three people, including a four-year-old girl, across 13 regions targeted with drones and missiles.

In Russia, Ukrainian drone attacks killed four people in the Belgorod region over the past two days, local officials said.

Pope ‍Leo ‍expressed disappointment on Tuesday that Russia had apparently refused to agree to a ceasefire on December 25, the date many Christians celebrate Christmas.

“I will make ​an appeal one ‌more time to people of goodwill to respect at least Christmas ‌Day as a day of ‌peace,” Leo said, speaking to reporters outside his residence in Castel Gandolfo, Italy.

“Maybe they will listen to us, and there ‌will be at least 24 hours, a day of peace, ‍across the world,” he said.

While most people in Ukraine and Russia are Christians, many are Orthodox, meaning they observe Christmas on January 7.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced an unexpected 30-hour unilateral truce a day before Easter this year, a rare pause in Russia’s war on Ukraine, which has now continued for close to three years, after Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

The King’s Christmas message will this year come from the historic Lady Chapel in Westminster Abbey, which has been the spiritual home of of the Royal Family for over 1,000 years

The King is expected to pay tribute to Britain’s war veterans in his Christmas message, as he reflects on the heroics of those who served in the Second World War. Marking the end of the year that commemorated the 80th anniversary of VE Day and VJ Day, it is anticipated that the monarch will once again herald the actions of our greatest generation.

For the second time in his reign, Charles has chosen to record his Christmas speech away from Buckingham Palace, in an effort to present a community feel, royal sources said. This year, the King decided to film the message in the Lady Chapel, Westminster Abbey, the spiritual home of the royal family for more than 1,000 years and the burial place of 15 Kings and Queens including Elizabeth I, Mary I and Mary Queen of Scots.

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Since 1066, almost every English and later British monarch has been crowned at Westminster Abbey which continues to be a major church of pilgrimage, a key theme of the King’s message this year. Pilgrims visit Westminster Abbey every year to remember the life and legacy of Edward the Confessor, whose Shrine lies at the heart of the Abbey.

It is also the site where the Prince and Princess of Wales were married in 2011, and where the Princess has for the past five years hosted her Together At Christmas carol concert, celebrating hundreds of community heroes for their efforts. It is the second time in his reign that Charles has chosen to record his Christmas speech away from a royal residence, the first being broadcast from the Fitzrovia Chapel in London, last year.

In his address to the nation and the Commonwealth, broadcast at 3pm on Christmas Day, the King is expected to once again reflect on community cohesion as a key theme. Since he acceded the throne in September 2022, the sovereign has structured his priorities around a set of guiding principles often referred to as the “four Cs”, specifically Climate, Community, Culture and Commonwealth.

Following his diagnosis with cancer in February 2024, a “fifth C” was added to his list of working priorities, in line with his public duties and patronages. Lifelong environmentalist Charles is also expected to discuss the urgent need to protect the natural planet, which has been a cornerstone of his life of public service.

It is understood that King is set to reflect on the emotional commemorations across Britain, Europe and the Commonwealth earlier this year, marking 80 years since VE Day was declared on May 8, 1945 and VJ Day on August 15.

A special programme of commemorations over four days in May for VE Day 80 saw the King joined by his closest family for an historic moment on the Buckingham Palace balcony with a spectacular flypast to celebrate the anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe.

The King heralded the “service and sacrifice of the wartime generation”, in a speech on the 80th anniversary of VE Day echoing the words of his late grandfather, King George VI.

In his own historic address to the nation, the monarch said “while our greatest debt is owed to all those who paid the ultimate price, we should never forget how the war changed the lives of virtually everyone”.

The King and Queen Camilla were also joined by the Prince and Princess of Wales and future king Prince George, 12, for a special tea party for veterans and their families inside Buckingham Palace on the May 8 anniversary. As part of his continued efforts to build relationships with other religious faiths, the King is expected to reflect on his historic trip to the Vatican in October.

Charles made history by becoming the first monarch to pray with the Pope in nearly 500 years, in a symbolic moment of unity for Anglicans and Roman Catholics across the world.

The monarch is, however, not expected to discuss his ongoing health battles, having earlier this month announced that his cancer treatment schedule is being reduced in the New Year – almost two years after his diagnosis. The King, 77, delivered a significant update about his cancer journey as part of the Channel 4 Stand Up to Cancer campaign on December 12, while stressing the importance of cancer screening programmes.

In the message, recorded in the morning room at Clarence House, the King revealed: “Early diagnosis quite simply saves lives. Now, I have heard this message repeatedly during my visits to cancer centres across the country. I know, too, what a difference it has made in my own case, enabling me to continue leading a full and active life, even while undergoing treatment.

“Today I am able to share with you the good news that thanks to early diagnosis, effective intervention and adherence to ‘doctors’ orders’, my own schedule of cancer treatment can be reduced in the New Year. This milestone is both a personal blessing and a testimony to the remarkable advances that have been made in cancer care in recent years; testimony that I hope may give encouragement to the fifty per cent of us who will be diagnosed with the illness at some point in our lives.”

The King will welcome his closest family to his Sandringham home in Norfolk tomorrow, for the start of their festive celebrations. Together with the Queen, he will lead the royal family – including the Prince and Princess of Wales and their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis – at the St Mary Magdalene Church on Christmas Day, before retiring to host lunch.

The King’s disgraced brother Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, who he still lives with in Windsor, will not be joining the royal family for Christmas this year.

The monarch in November stripped his brother of his remaining titles and honours, and Fergie of her Duchess of York title, due to their association with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Andrew and Sarah are expected to spend a final Christmas at their shared Royal Lodge mansion on the Windsor estate before moving to separate homes next year.

Prince Harry and his wife Meghan will also once again be absent from the royal family Christmas gathering. They are understood to be spending the holidays in California with their two children, Archie, six and Lilibet, four.

The United States has imposed visa bans on five Europeans, including a former European Union commissioner, accusing them of pressuring tech firms to censor and suppress “American viewpoints they oppose”.

In a statement on Tuesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio characterised the individuals as “radical activists” who had “advanced censorship crackdowns” by foreign states against “American speakers and American companies”.

“For far too long, ideologues in Europe have led organized efforts to coerce American platforms to punish American viewpoints they oppose,” he said on X.

“The Trump Administration will no longer tolerate these egregious acts of extraterritorial censorship,” he added.

The most prominent target was Thierry Breton, who served as the European commissioner for the internal market from 2019-2024.

Sarah Rogers, the undersecretary for public diplomacy, described the French businessman as the “mastermind” of the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), a landmark law intended to combat ​hateful speech, misinformation and disinformation on online platforms.

Rogers also accused Breton of using the DSA to threaten Elon Musk, the owner of X and a close ally of US President Donald Trump, ahead of an interview Musk conducted with Trump during last year’s presidential campaign.

‘Witch hunt’

Breton responded to the visa ban in a post on X, slamming it as a “witch hunt” and comparing the situation with the US’s McCarthy era, when officials were chased out of government for alleged ties to communism.

“To our American friends: Censorship isn’t where you think it is,” he added.

The others named by Rogers are: Imran Ahmed, chief executive of the Centre for Countering Digital Hate; Josephine Ballon and Anna-Lena von Hodenberg, leaders of HateAid, a German organisation, and Clare Melford, who runs the Global Disinformation Index (GDI).

French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot “strongly” condemned the visa restrictions, stating that the EU “cannot let the rules governing their digital space be imposed by others upon them”. He stressed that the DSA was “democratically adopted in Europe” and that “it has absolutely no extraterritorial reach and in no way affects the United States”.

Ballon and von Holdenberg of HateAid described the visa bans as an attempt to obstruct the enforcement of European law on US corporations operating in Europe.

“We will not be ‌intimidated by a government that uses accusations of censorship to silence those who stand ⁠up for human rights and freedom of expression,” they said in a statement.

A spokesperson for the GDI also called the US action “immoral, unlawful, and un-American”, as well as “an authoritarian attack on free speech and an egregious act of government censorship”.

The punitive measures follow the Trump administration’s publishing of a National Security Strategy, which accused European leaders of censoring free speech and suppressing opposition to immigration policies that it said risk “civilisational erasure” for the continent.

The DSA in particular has emerged as a flashpoint in US-EU relations, with US conservatives decrying it as a weapon of censorship against right-wing thought in Europe and beyond, an accusation Brussels denies.

The legislation requires major platforms to explain content-moderation decisions, provide transparency for users and grant researchers access to study issues such as children’s exposure to dangerous content.

Tensions escalated further this month after the EU fined Musk’s X for violating DSA rules on transparency in advertising and its methods for ensuring users were verified and actual people.

Washington last week signalled that key European businesses – including Accenture, DHL, Mistral, Siemens and Spotify – could be targeted in response.

The US has also attacked the United Kingdom’s Online Safety Act, which imposes similar content moderation requirements on major social media platforms.

The White House last week suspended the implementation of a tech cooperation deal with the UK, saying it was in opposition to the UK’s tech rules.

These are the key developments from day 1,399 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Here is where things stand on Wednesday, December 24:

Fighting

• Russian forces began a “massive attack” on Ukraine on Monday night, killing three people and targeting 13 regions with 650 drones and 30 missiles, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a post on X.
• Those killed in the overnight attack included a four-year-old girl in the central Zhytomyr region, Governor Vitalii Bunechko said on Telegram. “Doctors struggled to save the child’s life, but in the end, they were unable to save her,” Bunechko said, adding that five people were also injured in the attack.
• Russian forces also launched drones and missiles at the Vyshhorod district of Ukraine’s Kyiv region, killing a woman and injuring three people, Governor Mykola Kalashnyk said.
• In Ukraine’s western Khmelnytskyi region, one person was killed by Russian shelling, Governor Serhii Tiurin said.
• Russian drone attacks on Kyiv’s Sviatoshynskyi district left five people injured, said Tymur Tkachenko, the head of the Kyiv City Military Administration.

• Ukraine’s Ministry of Energy said that “emergency power outages” were introduced in several regions across the country due to Russian forces targeting energy infrastructure. The ministry said that it was working to restore electricity to the Rivne, Ternopil and Odesa regions. The ministry said that the situation was “most difficult” in the border regions, “as restoring electricity is complicated by continuous fighting”.
• Ukraine’s General Staff said Ukrainian troops have withdrawn from the Donetsk region’s ​​Siversk area after heavy fighting, noting that Moscow’s forces had a “significant advantage” there.
• Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Ukrainian F-16 fighter pilots shot down 621 of 673 Russian “aerial targets” on Tuesday night, including 34 of 35 cruise missiles.
• In Russia, a Ukrainian drone strike on a car killed three men in the Belgorod region on Monday, the region’s emergency response team reported.
• Another Ukrainian drone attack in Belgorod on Tuesday killed one person and injured three, the region’s operational headquarters said on Telegram.
• Russian forces shot down 56 Ukrainian drones in a day, as well as a guided bomb, Russia’s Ministry of Defence said, according to the state news agency TASS.

Ceasefire

• Zelenskyy said in his nightly address, “We sense that America wants to reach a final agreement” to end the war in Ukraine, and that “there is full cooperation” from the Ukrainian side.
• In an earlier post on X, Zelenskyy said that “several draft documents have now been prepared”, following talks in Miami. “In particular, these include documents on security guarantees for Ukraine, on recovery, and on a basic framework for ending this war,” he said.
• Pope ‍Leo said that Russia’s apparent refusal to agree to a ceasefire on December 25 is “among the things that cause me much sadness”.
• “I will make ​an appeal one ‌more time to people of goodwill to respect at least Christmas ‌Day as a day of ‌peace,” Leo told reporters outside his residence in Castel Gandolfo, Italy.

AS the Osbournes face their first Christmas without Ozzy, his daughter Kelly has a sure-fire way to put a smile on the family’s faces – a new puppy.

The Black Sabbath legend, who died on July 22, age 76, famously hated the festive season.

But that hasn’t stopped Kelly ploughing ahead with plans to try and boost the grieving clan — as 14 of them gather at Sharon and Ozzy’s Buckinghamshire pad for the big day.

And it sounds like Sharon especially will be showered with love.

Kelly said: “I got my mom so many gifts. It’s crazy.

“I did everything bespoke this year.

“I got her all the things that I know that she really needs but with her name on.

“We have a problem with moths in our house so I had these special moth bags made that say, ‘F**k off moths’.

“I got her some new gardening equipment with her name on because she’s been doing a lot of gardening, and a stocking with her name on it.

“She loves chocolate so I bought her a huge new chocolate jar that says ‘Sharon’s Chocolate’.

“I’m also getting her a new puppy because this year we lost Elvis (Sharon’s beloved Siberian Husky, who died in October age 14), which is really hard.

“It’s a Pomapoo (a cross between a Pomeranian and a miniature poodle).

‘I’ll be sous chef – I just point with wooden spoon’

“I don’t even want to go into it all because I keep accidentally telling her what I got her — I get too excited so I tell everyone everything.

“But she knows she’s getting the dog so it’s not going to ruin the surprise.”

There’s no doubt the first Christmas without the Prince of Darkness will be a painful one.

But Kelly is still doing all she can to bring the festive spirit for her mum, as well as her DJ partner Sid Wilson and their three-year-old son Sidney at the mansion where Ozzy is buried underneath an apple tree.

Kelly revealed: “We are going to have a proper English Christmas.

“I always love that.

“They don’t even have crackers in LA.

“You’ve got to go to the (specialty shop) World Market to get them, and they’re not even the best ones.

“So we will have crackers and all watch the King’s speech.

“On the day, there’s going to be 14 of us and I ordered everyone that’s with us a pair of matching pyjamas to wear.

“We are going to be sitting in front of the telly.

We are going to have a proper English Christmas. I always love that

Kelly Osbourne

“My brother Louis (Ozzy’s eldest son who he had with ex-wife Thelma Riley) will cook dinner.

“I’m going to be the sous chef, which means I just point with a wooden spoon. And we’re going to eat tons of chocolates.”

Fresh from his stint on I’m A Celebrity . . . Get Me Out Of Here!, Jack Osbourne, 40, will stay in LA with his wife and children.

“But he’ll be on FaceTime,” Kelly added.

“Then Mom is leaving two days after Christmas to be with him.

“My son is so excited for Christmas.

“Space NK brought Santa Claus to visit us and he couldn’t believe it.

“He kept sneaking into Santa’s sack.

“It was so cute and such a magical moment.

“Me and Mom were sat there going ‘aww’.”

Speaking at Juliet Sear’s Silverwood baking range launch at Fortnum & Mason, Kelly joked that she might even attempt to make her This Morning pal’s gingerbread cookies, saying: “She does make it look easy.

“I’ve been doing a lot of charity work before Christmas to keep me busy because I find it really fulfilling.

“I’m working with Centrepoint as well the King’s Trust, and all the charities from Birmingham that we work with, like the Children’s Hospital, Acorn, and the Parkinson’s charity.”

In a low moment, though, Kelly is ready to admit all her efforts to stay busy don’t mask her grief at losing her dad.

She said: “I just want to get through Christmas without crying.”

Kelly has lost a lot of weight since he died — which cruel trolls have pointed out online.

She previously said in a video on social media: “To the people who keep thinking they’re being funny and mean by writing comments like ‘are you ill?’ or ‘get off Ozempic, you don’t look right’.

“My dad just died, and I’m doing the best that I can, and the only thing I have to live for right now is my family.

“And I choose to share my content with you and share the happy side of my life not the miserable side of my life.

“So to all those people, f**k off.”

‘Being an aunt is the best job in the world’

Now she has hit out at the criticism of how she and Jack, who both shot to fame on MTV’s The Osbournes, have been handling Ozzy’s death.

Kelly said: “I think that people forget that he and I are not the teenagers from that reality show.

“You know what people do now is they’re like, ‘Oh my God, she’s had so much plastic surgery’.

“But you’re looking at a picture of me from when I was 16 years old.

I’m 41 years old now. It’s insane.”

It’s the family that keeps Kelly and the rest of the Osbournes going — and they are all thrilled that Jack is now expecting his fifth child.

Jack has three children from his previous marriage, and little daughter Maple with interior designer wife Aree Gearhart.

Kelly added: “Jack and I have this weird dynamic.

“Even though I am the older sister, he’s the older brother.

We will have crackers and watch the King’s speech. On the day, there’s going to be 14 of us and I’ve ordered everyone a pair
of matching pyjamas to wear. We’ll be sitting in front of the telly

Kelly Osbourne

“I go to him more than he comes to me.

“Unless I have to be protective of him, then I’m the older sister.

“I speak to him every day.

“I’ve already rang him twice this morning.

“Doing the jungle, the hardest thing for me was not being able to speak to him.

“And he is having another baby.

“I try not to make it about me, but I get so excited that I get to be an aunt again because being an aunt is the best job in the world.

“I’ve now got five nieces and nephews now and it’s so good.

“And now that some of Jack’s daughters are getting older, we have a different relationship, where they come to me for things that they don’t go to their dad for.

“It’s really special.”

And with 2026 around the corner, Kelly is not planning to make any resolutions this year.

She said: “No. I’m working on having a farm here.

“I’m setting up barns as we speak, then we’ll get animals.

“The plan is to stay in England now. I wouldn’t leave my dad.

“It’s just one day at a time.

“Grief is a hard thing. It really is.

“You never know when it’s going to take you out.

“It’s the hardest thing you’ll ever go through in your life.

“I’ll never ever be the girl I was before.”

Talks held between Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan Al-Shaibani, Defence Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra and the Russian president.

Syria’s foreign and defence ministers met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow and held discussions on expanding “strategic cooperation in the military industries sector”, Syrian state media has reported.

The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) ⁠said that Putin’s meeting on Tuesday with Syrian Minister of Foreign Affairs Asaad Hassan Al-Shaibani and Minister of Defence Murhaf Abu Qasra ‌focused on political, economic and military issues of “mutual interest”, but that “particular emphasis” was on defence.

According to SANA, Putin and the Syrian ministers discussed a range of defence-related matters, including developing military cooperation to strengthen the Syrian army’s capabilities and ‌modernising its equipment, transferring expertise and cooperation in research and development.

“During the meeting, both sides reviewed ways to advance military and technical partnership in a manner that strengthens the defensive capabilities of the Syrian Arab Army and keeps pace with modern developments in military industries,” SANA reported.

The two sides also discussed political and economic issues, including the “importance of continued political and diplomatic coordination between Damascus and Moscow in international forums”, according to the news agency.

On the economic front, the talks addressed expanding Syrian-Russian cooperation, including in reconstruction projects, infrastructure development and investment in Syria.

Putin also reaffirmed Russian “steadfast support” for Syria and its territorial integrity, while renewing “Moscow’s condemnation of repeated Israeli violations of Syrian territory, describing them as a direct threat to regional security and stability”.

The ministers’ visit to Moscow is the latest by Syria’s new authorities since the removal from power last December of the country’s longtime ruler and Moscow’s former ally in Damascus, Bashar al-Assad.

Russia was a key supporter of al-Assad during Syria’s nearly 14-year civil war, providing vital military aid that kept the Assad regime in power, including Russian air support that rained air strikes on rebel-held areas.

Despite al-Assad and his family fleeing to Russia after the toppling of his regime, Moscow is eager to build good relations with the new government in Damascus.

Moscow, in particular, is hoping to secure agreements to continue operating the Khmeimim airbase and the Tartous naval base on Syria’s Mediterranean coast, where Russian forces continue to be present.

In October, Syria’s new president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, visited Russia, where he said his government ‍would honour all the past deals struck between Damascus and Moscow, a pledge that suggested that the two Russian military bases were secure in the post-Assad period.

Putin said ‍at the time of al-Sharaa’s visit ⁠that Moscow was ready to do all it could to act on what he called the “many interesting and useful beginnings” discussed by the two sides on renewing relations.

Russian ‌state media on Tuesday quoted the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, as saying that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov would also hold talks with ‍his Syrian counterpart, Al-Shaibani, during the Syrian delegation’s visit.

During a visit to Moscow in July, Al-Shaibani said his country wanted Russia “by our side”.

“The current period is full of various challenges and threats, but it is also an opportunity to build a united and strong Syria. And, of course, we are interested in having Russia by our side on this path,” Al-Shaibani told Lavrov at the time.

Caracas, December 23, 2025 (venezuelanalysis.com) – US President Donald Trump made new regime change threats against Venezuela and President Nicolás Maduro.

In a Monday press conference, Trump answered “probably” when asked if Washington intended to oust the Venezuelan leader but said it was up to Maduro to leave power.

“That’s up to him what he wants to do. I think it’d be smart for him to do that. But again, we’re gonna find out,” the US president told reporters in Mar-a-Lago, Florida.

Trump went on to warn the Venezuelan president not to “play tough.” “If he plays tough, it’ll be the last time he’s ever able to play tough,” he said.

The US president also said that land strikes against alleged drug cartels would start soon. He has issued such a threat on repeated occasions since September. He likewise repeated past unfounded claims that Venezuela sent “millions of people” to the US, many of them prisoners and mental patients.

Trump’s escalated rhetoric against Caracas followed ramped-up efforts to enforce a naval blockade and paralyze Venezuelan oil exports. On Saturday, the US Coast Guard boarded and seized the Centuries tanker east of Barbados in the Caribbean Sea.

The Panama-flagged ship had recently loaded a reported 1.8 million barrels of Merey crude at José terminal in eastern Venezuela for delivery in China. According to maritime vessel sources, the tanker is owned by a Hong Kong company and had transported Venezuelan oil several times in recent years. 

The takeover operation was led by the US Coast Guard, with White House officials sharing footage of the boarding on social media.

The Centuries’ seizure followed a similar operation targeting the Skipper tanker on December 10. However, unlike the Skipper, the Centuries was not blacklisted by the US Treasury Department. 

US officials referred to the tanker as transporting “sanctioned oil.” Analysts argued that the ambiguous definition is meant to allow US authorities to go after any vessel moving Venezuelan crude in an effort to drive shipping companies away from the Caribbean nation’s oil sector.

The White House’s threats and vessel seizures have already led several tankers to reverse course while en route to Venezuela, with customers reportedly demanding greater oil discounts in Venezuelan crude purchases. The South American oil industry might soon be forced to cut back production if it runs out of storage space.

On Sunday, US forces attempted to board a third tanker, the Guyana-flagged Bella 1 that was headed to Venezuela to load oil. However, the ship’s captain allegedly refused to allow the US Coast Guard’s boarding and turned the vessel back toward the Atlantic Ocean. According to reports, US forces continue to pursue the Bella 1.

Trump announced a naval blockade while demanding that Venezuela return “oil, land and other assets” that were “stolen,” in reference to nationalizations in past decades. Foreign corporations that saw their assets expropriated either agreed to compensation or pursued international arbitration.

The tanker seizures, alongside renewed sanctions targeting the Venezuelan oil industry, came amid a massive US military deployment in the Caribbean on the edge of Venezuelan territory. The build-up was originally declared as an anti-narcotics mission before Washington shifted the discourse toward oil and regime-change.

China and Russia express support

The Venezuelan government has condemned the US military threats and attacks against the oil industry. In a communique issued on Saturday, Caracas decried the second tanker seizure as a “serious act of piracy” and vowed to denounce it before multilateral bodies.

In recent days, the Maduro government received backing from China and Russia, two of its most important allies.

In a Monday press conference, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian criticized the tanker seizures as violations of international law and stated Beijing’s opposition to “unilateral and illegal actions.” The official urged a response from the international community.

Likewise on Monday, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil held a phone call with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov. According to Gil, Moscow’s top diplomat reiterated support for Venezuela in the face of “US hostilities.”

The UN Security Council is scheduled to meet on Tuesday afternoon at Venezuela’s request to address the most recent US escalations.

The Chase Celebrity Christmas Special is airing on Christmas Eve on ITV

Bradley Walsh is left gobsmacked after one star banks a ‘rare’ amount of cash on The Chase Celebrity Christmas Special.

The festive episode airs on Christmas Eve and sees comedian Lucy Porter, Countdown host Colin Murray, Strictly Come Dancing vocalist Tommy Blaize, and actor and comedian Asim Chaudhry take on five Chasers, who are dressed in festive costumes.

In an exclusive clip obtained by The Mirror, it sees Lucy, 52, impress during the cash builder round. At the start of the round, it sees host Bradley, 65, say: “Now, you and I, we’ve known each other a long while. You love quizzing, don’t you?”

To which Lucy admits: “I do, I do. My dad used to, when I was a kid, if we had dinner, you didn’t get pudding unless you could answer a quiz question.

“So, every time I would answer a question, he’d need to give me a slice of Viennetta or an Arctic roll!”

Lucy then gets stuck into the cash builder round, where each correct answer is worth £1,000. In the 60 seconds, Lucy is able to correctly answer ten questions, earning an incredible £10,000.

After the impressive cash builder round, the audience and Lucy’s fellow teammates erupt into cheers.

Meanwhile, host Bradley says: “Well that was very, very rare that we get five figures in a cash builder. Ten grand, congratulations, time to face a Chaser!”

Mark Labbett, Shaun Wallace, Anne Hegerty, Paul Sinha, Jenny Ryan, and Darragh Ennis will all appear on the special festive instalment of the ITV quiz show.

The fancy dress theme this year is Christmas Lunch. The Beast is a Christmas Pudding, The Vixen is a Brussels sprout, The Menace is a Pig in Blanket, The Sinnerman is a Turkey and the The Governess is a Christmas Cracker.

Anne looks glamorous has ever in a blonde curly wig with a glitzy red ballgown for the special occasion where the others don eye-catching costumes to get into character.

The Chase Christmas Special airs on Wednesday 24 December at 5.55pm on ITV1.

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Dec. 23 (UPI) — An explosion Tuesday afternoon at a nursing home in eastern Pennsylvania killed at least two and left many injured and missing, local officials said.

The explosion took place at 2:15 p.m. EST at the Silver Lake Nursing Home in the borough of Bristol. It originated in the nursing home’s basement and caused a fire and part of the building to collapse, a Bucks County spokesperson told NBC News.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro traveled to the nursing home’s location and told media a gas leak is suspected of causing the deadly explosion and fire.

Shapiro commended the actions of police, firefighters and other first-responders to help others and minimize potential casualties.

The nursing home has 174 beds, most of which were occupied, and a worker told WCAU that about 50 people usually are inside the building.

The nursing home is located about 20 miles south of Philadelphia, and most of its residents are between ages 50 and 95.

The explosion shook nearby buildings and caused a response from fire departments and first responders in Pennsylvania’s Montgomery, Bucks and Philadelphia Counties, plus another from Burlington County in New Jersey.

This is a developing story.