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.

Israel's military said Friday a man seized last year in Lebanon's Batroun was a Hezbollah operative who played a key role in planning a covert maritime force for the militant group.

The Israeli army said special unit troops apprehended Imad Amhaz in November 2024 from the north Lebanese city of Batroun, and transferred him to Israel.

Lebanese Army chief General Rodolphe Haykal agreed to document the army's progress in disarming Hezbollah during talks Thursday with international envoys in Paris, the French foreign ministry said, as Beirut seeks to forestall expanded Israeli attacks.

Israel and Hezbollah clashed for more than a year after the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023, and a November 2024 ceasefire was meant to put an end to the hostilities, but Israel has kept up its strikes, accusing the group of rearming.

Russia's Vladimir Putin on Friday said the ball was in the court of the West and Kyiv in talks to end the war in Ukraine, while hailing Moscow's recent battlefield gains and threatening more.

Speaking during his annual end-of-year news conference -- a staple of his 25-year rule -- Putin told Russians that Moscow was intent on pressing on in Ukraine, striking a confident tone.

More than a month after Iraq's parliamentary elections, the country's top leaders remain locked in talks to form a government while facing pressure from Washington to exclude Tehran-backed armed groups.

A top Hamas official said that talks in Miami on Friday to advance the next phase of the Gaza ceasefire must aim to end Israeli truce "violations" in the Palestinian territory.

France's president warned Thursday that Paris would not support the EU's trade deal with South American bloc Mercosur without stronger safeguards for its farmers, as leaders gathered for summit talks in Brussels.

"I want to tell our farmers, who have been making France's position clear all along: we consider that we are not there yet, and the deal cannot be signed" as it currently stands, President Emmanuel Macron told reporters, vowing France would oppose any "attempt to force this through".

President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday that Ukrainian and U.S. delegations would hold new talks on Friday and Saturday in the United States aiming to end the Russian invasion.

"On Friday and Saturday, our team will be in the United States of America; they are already on their way... and the Americans are waiting for them," Zelensky told reporters, adding that European officials may also attend the talks.