A French court on Friday rejected the state's request to suspend Shein's site in France as "disproportionate" after the Asian e-commerce giant removed illicit products sold on its platform.

Turkey said a drone that crashed on Friday in a rural area of northwestern Turkey following a series of incidents linked to the Russia-Ukraine conflict was of Russian origin.

U.S. President Donald Trump asserted Thursday he does not need congressional approval to launch strikes on land against Venezuela despite criticism that he is already exceeding his constitutional authority with attacks at sea.

Ukraine said Friday it had hit a Russian "shadow fleet" tanker with aerial drones in neutral waters of the Mediterranean Sea, its first strike there in the nearly four-year war.

Attacks at metro stations in Taipei on Friday involving smoke bombs and stabbing killed at least three people, the fire department official said, adding that the suspect was also dead.

UAE airport authorities cancelled or delayed dozens of flights and roads were flooded in major cities as the heaviest rainstorm in months lashed the desert nation on Friday.

Jerusalem's Latin Patriarch, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, arrived in Gaza Friday for Christmas Mass at the Holy Family Parish in Gaza City, which hosts the Palestinian territory's only Roman Catholic church.

Syria's foreign ministry on Friday welcomed the permanent ending by the United States of the so-called Caesar sanctions, paving the way for the return of investment to the war-ravaged nation.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam will announce on Friday a long-awaited banking draft bill, which envisions sharing losses from the 2019 economic crisis between banks and the state, a Lebanese official said.

The legislation, which has come to be known as the fiscal gap law, is a key demand from the international community, which has conditioned economic aid to Lebanon on financial reforms.

Civilian and military representatives from Lebanon and Israel met on Friday as part of the 'Mechanism' committee monitoring implementation of the year-long Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire, the U.S. Embassy in Beirut said, noting that the "security and economic tracks" advanced "in parallel" in the talks.

It was the second time civilian representatives from Lebanon and Israel have taken part in a committee meeting, which also includes the United States, France and the United Nations.