On Christmas Eve, outdoorsman and TV personality Bear Grylls took to his X account to make a misleading statement about the birth of Christ, calling Mary "a Palestinian girl" and claiming that she and Joseph were “refugees” when they traveled to Bethlehem. This inaccurate portrayal, which Grylls used to advance a political narrative, quickly garnered backlash.
For the first time since the fall of President Bashar al-Assad's regime earlier this month, Syrian Christians attended Christmas Eve services in Damascus under the governance of the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
A Southwest Airlines flight bound for Columbus, Ohio, was forced to return to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport shortly after takeoff due to a fight breaking out among passengers, the airline confirmed on Monday. The incident occurred on Flight 1699 on the evening of December 23, just before 7 p.m.