A lead organization monitoring for food crises around the world withdrew a new report this week warning of imminent famine in north Gaza under what it called Israel’s “near-total blockade,” after the U.S. asked for its retraction, U.S. officials told the Associated Press. The move follows public criticism of the report from the U.S. ambassador to Israel.

Yemen-based Houthis - the last of Iran-backed groups still fully present in the regional war that began 14 months ago - are slowly escalating attacks on Israel with an eye to avoid full-out retaliation.

In the towns and kibbutzim of Israeli-controlled Golan, the news has been met with a mixture of skepticism, excitement and shock. Previous attempts to encourage more settlement in the Golan have received a lukewarm response.

A new round of Israeli airstrikes in Yemen on Thursday targeted the Houthi rebel-held capital and multiple ports, while the World Health Organization’s director-general said the bombardment occurred nearby as he prepared to board a flight in Sanaa, with a crew member injured.

This Christmas morning in Syria’s capital, Christians dressed in their finest clothes, attended church and participated in the annual parade through the ancient part of the city. Yet beneath the holiday cheer lay a heavy sense of anxiety.

A three-week-old baby girl froze to death overnight in Gaza, while Israel and Hamas accused each other of complicating ceasefire efforts that could wind down the 14-month war.

Pakistan’s airstrikes on eastern Afghanistan killed 46 people, mostly women and children, a Taliban government official said Wednesday, raising fears of further straining relations between the two neighbors.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a coalition of U.S.-allied Kurdish fighters in northeastern Syria, faces pressure from Turkish-backed Arab militias. The relationship of the SDF to the new Syrian government led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Islamist rebel group that led the push to oust Assad, is uncertain.

Officials say rare Pakistani airstrikes have targeted multiple suspected hideouts of the Pakistani Taliban inside neighboring Afghanistan, dismantling a training facility and killing some insurgents.

Iran said it will start easing some of the world’s tightest internet restrictions by lifting its ban on WhatsApp and Google Play - a sign that authorities want to placate domestic opponents as the Islamic Republic faces major economic and foreign-policy challenges.