Comment on President Bashar Assad blames conspiracies for Syria unrest, reasserts regime's authority

Will the second Trump Administration greenlight Israeli annexation of the West Bank? Several of the President-elect’s recent appointments have suggested at least a friendliness to the idea. Donald Trump’s choice for U. S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, who has said in the past that “there’s really no such thing as a Palestinian,” has told Israel’s Army Radio that “of course” Israeli annexation is a possibility, though nothing has been decided.

MOSCOW — An explosive device planted close to a residential apartment block in Moscow killed the head of Russia’s Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Defence Forces, Lt. General Igor Kirillov, early Tuesday, Russia’s Investigative Committee said. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Kirillov’s assistant also died in the blast, triggered by the device which was placed in a scooter, officials said. The bomb was triggered remotely, Russian state news agency Tass reported, citing unnamed sources in the emergency services. Russian investigators have opened a case into the two deaths, according to the committee’s spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko. “Investigators, forensic experts and operational services are working at the scene,” she said in a statement.

[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Every dramatic development in the Middle East this year has left Iran weaker. In 2024, the Islamic Republic lost in Gaza, in Lebanon, and, most spectacularly, in the Syrian Arab Republic, the linchpin of the “Shiite Crescent” collapsing so quickly this month that Tehran had to scramble to evacuate its officers of the Revolutionary Guards’ Qods Force.

(BERLIN) — Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost a confidence vote in the German parliament on Monday, putting the European Union’s most populous member and biggest economy on course to hold an early election in February. Scholz won the support of 207 lawmakers in the 733-seat lower house, or Bundestag, while 394 voted against him and 116 abstained.

Is Protein Powder a Scam? The New York Times

US obesity rates drop for the first time in a decade likely due to popular weight loss medications New York Post Weight-Loss Drug Craze Appears to Be Curbing US Obesity Epidemic BloombergUS obesity rates drop for 1st time in a decade Good Morning AmericaObesity rate among US adults fell in 2023 for first time in over a decade: Study The Hill