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Mexican armed forces delivered another blow to drug trafficking cartels before Christmas Day, particularly the Sinaloa Cartel faction known as "La Mayiza."

Concretely, the Navy seized a multi-million dollar facility in the municipality of Corral Viejo, in eastern Sinaloa. The clandestine lab belonged to "La Mayiza," opponents of "Los Chapitos" in the Sinaloa turf wars that erupted after Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada and Joaquín Guzmán López were arrested and extradited to the U.S. back in July.

The Russian government has banned crypto mining in ten regions for a period of six years, according to reporting by the state-owned news agency Tass. Russia has cited the industry’s high power consumption rates as the primary reason behind the ban. Crypto is particularly power-hungry, as mining operations already account for nearly 2.5 percent of US energy use.

On December 18, the US Department of State has issued an urgent warning for its citizens to leave Belarus immediately, citing escalating risks that make the country unsafe for foreign nationals.

A man arrested on suspicion of carrying out the rampage is a Saudi doctor, anti-Islam activist and supporter of the hard-Right AfD.

The suspect, a 50-year-old man who moved to Germany in 2006, has posted long comments on social media claiming that German politicians are deliberately trying to “Islamicise” the country, citing his admiration for the hard-Right AfD party and saying that former Muslims face persecution in Europe.

On Friday evening, a BMW drove at full speed into a Christmas market in the city of Magdeburg that was teeming with shoppers. The car sped for 400 metres through the crowd, killing five people, including a small child, and injuring at least 60 others.

Syria's de facto leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa said on Saturday Israel is using false pretexts to justify its attacks on Syria, but that he is not interested in engaging in new conflicts as the country focuses on rebuilding following the end of Bashar al-Assad's reign.

Several Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, have condemned what they called Israel's seizure of a buffer zone in the Golan Heights.

French President Emmanuel Macron appointed François Bayrou as prime minister on Friday, December 13, over a week after lawmakers voted to oust conservative ex-prime minister Michel Barnier. A heavyweight politician, Bayrou heads the centrist MoDem party who has been allied to Macron since he swept to power in the 2017 election campaign.

"The President of the Republic has appointed Mr. François Bayrou as prime minister and tasked him with forming a government," the French presidency said in a statement, giving no more details. Bayrou is the sixth prime minister under Macron.

Austria's conservative-led government said on Friday it is offering Syrian refugees a "return bonus" of 1,000 euros ($1,050) to move back to their home country after the fall of Bashar al-Assad.

Conservative Chancellor Karl Nehammer reacted quickly to Assad's overthrow on Sunday, saying the same day that the security situation in Syria should be reassessed so as to allow deportations of Syrian refugees.

Netanyahu describes corruption charges against him as ‘ocean of absurdity’ at trial

Israeli prime minister criticises media and investigators and describes himself and his family as victims

The carmaker has been in heated discussions with unions after announcing this fall that it would have to take drastic measures to cut costs

Unconfirmed reports suggest that Bashar al-Assad attempted to flee the capital by plane, but contact with the aircraft was lost. Official sources have not confirmed Assad's whereabouts or the possibility of a crash, News.Az reports.

A Chinese fishing vessel with 18 crew members has been hijacked by armed pirates in Somali waters, sparking international monitoring efforts.