President Joseph Aoun voiced Thursday his support to the army, as cabinet convened at the Baabda palace to discuss the army's plan to disarm Hezbollah.

The army had announced, in a statement, earlier on Thursday, that it had concluded the first phase of their plan to fully deploy across southern Lebanon and disarm non-state groups, notably Hezbollah.

The Lebanese army will present in February an evaluation of the second phase of a plan to disarm Hezbollah in its monthly report to the government, Information Minister Paul Morcos said, after a cabinet session that discussed the matter.

Morcos said the army will start working on a plan for disarmament north of the Litani river that will be discussed by the government in February. He added that the army will also continue the process of weapons "containment" in other parts of Lebanon, meaning that they will not be allowed to be used or moved.

Wall Street's hot start to the year is cooling a bit on Wednesday.

The S&P 500 was virtually unchanged in early trading, coming off its latest all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 18 points, or less than 0.1%, to its own record set the day before, while the Nasdaq composite was 0.1% higher, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time.

A day after closing out the 2025 Holy Year, Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday opened a new phase of his pontificate by gathering the world's cardinals to Rome and indicating some reform-minded priorities going forward.

For starters, Leo signalled an emphasis on more fully implementing the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, the 1960s meetings that modernized and revolutionized the Catholic Church. He called the Vatican II teachings the "guiding star" of the church.

U.S. forces have boarded a Venezuela-linked sanctioned oil tanker in the North Atlantic after pursuing it for weeks, a U.S. official said.

The official spoke to The Associated Press on Wednesday on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military operations. The official said the U.S. military seized the vessel and handed over control to law enforcement officials.

Adil Boulbina scored a dramatic winner in extra time for Algeria to beat Congo 1-0 in their Africa Cup of Nations last-16 match on Tuesday.

Defending champion Ivory Coast progressed in contrasting fashion with a comfortable 3-0 win over Burkina Faso.

Israel has cleared the final hurdle before starting construction on a contentious settlement project near Jerusalem that would effectively cut the West Bank in two, according to a government tender.

The tender, which seeks bids from developers, would clear the way to begin construction of the E1 project.

China escalated its trade tensions with Japan on Wednesday by launching an investigation into imported dichlorosilane, a chemical gas used in making semiconductors, a day after it imposed curbs on the export of so-called dual-use goods that could be used by Japan's military.

The Chinese Commerce Ministry said in a statement that it had launched the investigation following an application from the domestic industry showing the price of dichlorosilane imported from Japan had decreased 31% between 2022 and 2024.

Denmark and Greenland are seeking a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio after the Trump administration doubled down on its intention to take over the strategic Arctic island, a Danish territory.

Tensions escalated after the White House said Tuesday that the "U.S. military is always an option," even as a series of European leaders rejected President Donald Trump's renewed calls for the U.S. to take over Greenland, citing strategic reasons.

More than 1,000 stranded passengers spent the night at Amsterdam's international airport as snow and ice that is pummeling parts of Europe grounded hundreds of flights and choked highways and railroads Wednesday.

In Paris, a skier slid along the snowy bank of the Seine river and roads and parks around the Eiffel Tower and Louvre Museum were blanketed in snow, which also snarled traffic in parts of France.