NEW: Syrian Army declared all YPG/SDF positions in the Aleppo area military targets and urged civilians to evacuate within three hours.

Israeli-backed Iranian opposition figure Reza Pahlavi:

I’m more than ever ready to step in Iran as soon as the situation warrants itself.

Iranian President Pezeshkian:

I believe I am at fault. We are the ones at fault. That student, that employee, those people are not at fault. Consequently, we must correct our performance.

My duty is to be a servant to the people, and your duty is to be problem-solvers for the people, not to add more problems to existing ones.

Burkina Faso: The military government says it foiled a plot to assassinate President Ibrahim Traore, alleging the plan was funded from Ivory Coast.

Turkish President Erdogan:

It is becoming clear that the global economy is being dragged into a new battle centered on precious metals, one that is likely to be extremely painful.

It appears that a new competition for control and division is emerging, driven by the struggle to secure energy resources and dominate trade routes.

Turkish President Erdogan:

The Western world is gradually losing, one by one, all the arguments it has used for years to threaten other countries.

We are now in the very center of a ruthless struggle for division, where those not at the table are placed on the menu.

Syrian official to Al Jazeera:

SDF/YPG released all detainees, including ISIS members, from the al-Shakif prison in Aleppo.

Russia recruited young South African gamers to fight in Ukraine via Discord.

Two men in their 20s met a recruiter known as “Dash” while playing Arma 3, then traveled to Russia in mid-2024 and signed one-year military contracts near St. Petersburg.

One was killed in action in Ukraine’s Luhansk in October 2024; the other’s whereabouts remain unknown.

Source: Bloomberg

Reporter: Was Maduro offered the option to go to Türkiye?

Erdogan: We have not received any such information.

NEW: European allies including France and Germany are coordinating a response in case the United States moves to take control of Greenland.

Source: Reuters

Syrian Army is preparing launch a limited military operation against SDF/YPG positions in Aleppo’s Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh districts.

John Bolton:

I don’t think they care if NATO breaks up.

For many in the Trump administration, taking Greenland and breaking up NATO would be what we call a “two-for-one.”

NEW: An assault team is attempting to board the tanker Marinera, which is being pursued by the U.S. Coast Guard.

It is assumed that the personnel involved are U.S. servicemembers.

UK PM Starmer:

Can I begin by saying I hope all colleagues had a happy Christmas.

It probably feels quite a long time ago now, but not for Reform, of course, because today is the day that they celebrate Christmas in Russia.

Kai Trump, the eldest grandchild of Trump:

It can be really awkward when you’re sitting at a restaurant on a date and you realize there are two security tables watching you. It’s a bit strange.

The first few months were tough.

Colombian President Petro:

The armed mafia of Colombia is made up of different cartels with foreign command. Trump is wrong—he thinks they are Colombians.

Some are Colombian, but they do not live in Colombia. They live in Spain; they used to live in Dubai but moved because of the war in Palestine and Iran, with permission from the United States.

They keep trafficking to Europe and Australia, and they keep killing us here. We are left with the dead, while the profits stay with the owners of the mafia.

Colombian President Petro:

Drug trafficking profits, for the most part, stay in international banks, in buildings in the United States, where they put illegal gold in real estate companies in the United States.

That doesn’t come here. So we are left with the dead.