Revellers across the world ushered in 2025 on Wednesday, with huge crowds waving goodbye to the old year that brought Olympic glory, a dramatic Donald Trump return, and turmoil in the Middle East and Ukraine.

French aircraft have bombed Islamic State positions in Syria, Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said Tuesday, in its first such strike on the country's soil since the fall of Bashar al-Assad.

"Our armed forces remain engaged in battling terrorism in the Levant," Lecornu wrote on X while on a New Year visit to French U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon.

France's top diplomat and defense chief arrived on Monday in Lebanon, where a fragile truce since late November ended intense fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot and Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu met with Lebanon's army chief Joseph Aoun, and on Tuesday are due to visit U.N. peacekeepers near the Israeli border.

Iran's security chief Ali Akbar Ahmadian said a new group would emerge in Syria to fight Israel following the fall of president Bashar al-Assad, state media reported.

"With the occupation of Syrian territories by the Zionist regime, a new resistance has been born that will manifest itself in the years to come," said Ahmadian, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, IRNA news agency reported late Monday.

Wildly popular with young people for their dizzying array of flavors, including apple, watermelon and cola, the time is up for disposable e-cigarettes in Belgium -- the first EU country to ban them.

The United States announced a $2.5 billion security assistance package for Ukraine on Monday as Washington races to provide aid to Kyiv before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

A Syria war monitor said 31 combatants had been killed since Sunday in ongoing battles between Turkey-backed groups and Kurdish-led forces.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga urged new Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa on Monday to expel Russia from the country during an unannounced visit to Damascus.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to undergo prostate removal surgery on Sunday, his office said after he was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection.

The Israeli military said it intercepted two projectiles fired from northern Gaza toward Israel on Saturday, as the army continued its sweeping offensive in the north of the Palestinian territory.