Syria's de facto leader said it could take up to four years to hold elections in Syria, and that he plans to dissolve his Islamist group that led the country's insurgency at an anticipated national dialogue summit for the country.

Ahmad al-Sharaa, who leads Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the group leading the new authority in Syria, made the remarks in an interview with Saudi television network Al-Arabiya. It comes almost a month after a lightning insurgency led by HTS overthrew President Bashar Assad's decades-long rule, ending the country's uprising-turned civil war that started back in 2011.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu underwent successful surgery Sunday to have his prostate removed, hospital officials said, a procedure that came as he manages multiple crises including the war in Gaza and his trial for alleged corruption.

Netanyahu, who has had a series of health issues in recent years, has gone to great lengths to bolster a public image of himself as a healthy, energetic leader. During his trial this month, he boasted about working 18-hour days, accompanied by a cigar. But as Israel's longest-serving leader, such a grueling workload over a total of 17 years in power could take a toll on his well-being.

Syria's embassy in Lebanon suspended consular services Saturday, a day after two relatives of deposed Syrian President Bashar Assad were arrested at the Beirut airport with allegedly forged passports.

Also on Saturday, Lebanese authorities handed over dozens of Syrians — including former officers in the Syrian army under Assad — to the new Syrian authorities after they were caught illegally entering Lebanon, a war monitor and Lebanese officials said.

A passenger plane burst into flames Sunday after it skidded off a runway at a South Korean airport and slammed into a concrete fence when its front landing gear apparently failed to deploy, killing most of the 181 people on board, in one of the country's worst aviation disasters.

The wife and daughter of one of deposed Syrian president Bashar Assad's cousins were arrested Friday at the Beirut airport, where they attempted to fly out with allegedly forged passports, Lebanese judicial and security officials said. Assad's uncle departed the day before.

Rasha Khazem, the wife of Duraid Assad — the son of former Syrian Vice President Rifaat Assad, the uncle of Bashar Assad — and their daughter, Shams, were smuggled illegally into Lebanon and were trying to fly to Egypt when they were arrested, according to five Lebanese officials familiar with the case. They were being detained by Lebanese General Security. Rifaat had flown out the day before on his real passport and was not stopped, the officials said.

Israeli troops stormed and set fire to one of the last hospitals operating in the northernmost part of Gaza on Friday, forcing many of the staff and patients out of the facility, the territory’s health ministry said.

In this corner of southern Texas, the plump cacti seem to pop out of arid dust and cracked earth, like magic dumplings.

It's only here and in northern Mexico that the bluish-green peyote plant can be found growing naturally, nestled under thorny mesquite, acacia and blackbrush.

People around the world suffered an average of 41 extra days of dangerous heat this year because of human-caused climate change, according to a group of scientists who also said that climate change worsened much of the world's damaging weather throughout 2024.

The analysis from World Weather Attribution and Climate Central researchers comes at the end of a year that shattered climate record after climate record as heat across the globe made 2024 likely to be its hottest ever measured and a slew of other fatal weather events spared few.

The holidays are meant to be a time of celebration with family and friends. But they can also bring pressure to spend money on gifts, gatherings and plane tickets home, exacerbated by brand emails, social media influencers and family expectations.

With credit card debt rising and prices for many items still high due to inflation, overspending during the holiday season can add to the financial stress many Americans are already experiencing, said Dr. Marketa Wills, CEO and medical director of the American Psychiatric Association.

Erling Haaland's failure from the penalty spot and Bruno Fernandes' latest red card compounded the woes of Manchester City and Manchester United on another tough day for the two Premier League giants.

There were no such problems Thursday for Liverpool, which rallied to a 3-1 win over Leicester in foggy conditions at Anfield and moved seven points clear atop the standings approaching the halfway point of the campaign.