Donald Trump's return to power, a ceasefire in Gaza and massive investments in artificial intelligence: Here are 10 events that defined 2025.

- Trump returns -

U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll was meeting with a Russian delegation in Abu Dhabi, U.S. and British media reported Tuesday, days after talks with Ukraine in Geneva aimed at ending the conflict.

Driscoll met the Russian delegation on Monday with talks due to continue on Tuesday, ABC News and the Financial Times reported, citing a U.S. official.

Hezbollah held a funeral on Monday for its top military chief and other members of the militant group a day after a deadly Israeli strike on south Beirut, while Iran's Revolutionary Guards urged revenge.

Haytham Ali Tabatabai is the most senior commander from the Iran-backed group to be killed by Israel since a November 2024 ceasefire sought to end more than a year of hostilities between the two sides.

A source close to Hezbollah has said there were "two opinions within the group -- those who wish to respond to the assassination of Hezbollah's top military chief in an Israeli strike on south Beirut and those who want to refrain from doing so.

The source told AFP on condition of anonymity that the leadership tends to adopt "the utmost forms of diplomacy at the present stage".

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps called Monday for "revenge" for the killing in an Israeli air strike on Beirut the previous day of Hezbollah's top military commander Haytham Ali Tabatabai.

"The right of the Axis of Resistance and Lebanese Hezbollah to avenge the blood of the brave fighters of Islam is unquestionable," the IRGC, Hezbollah's main military and financial backer, said in a statement.

Charbel Matar says a Lebanese saint saved his life when he was a child. Now, he is among pilgrims of all faiths who visit Saint Charbel's tomb, soon to be graced by Pope Leo XIV.

"My family and I have great faith in Saint Charbel and always visit him," said Matar, 69, at the Saint Maron Monastery in Annaya in the mountains of north Lebanon.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order to begin the process of designating certain chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist political group, as foreign terrorist organizations.

The order made specific mention of chapters in Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan.

Pope Leo XIV embarks on his debut overseas trip Thursday, travelling to Turkey and Lebanon to promote Christian unity and urge peace efforts amid heightened tensions in the Middle East.

Israel killed Hezbollah's military chief in a strike on Beirut on Sunday, the Israeli military and the militant group said, hitting an apartment building and killing five people according to Lebanese authorities.

Haytham Ali Tabatabai, Hezbollah's top military chief whom Israel killed on Sunday, had taken the role after the group's senior leaders died in the most recent war with Israel.

He is the most important Hezbollah figure to have been killed since a November 2024 ceasefire sought to end over a year of hostilities between the militant group and Israel, including two months of full-blown war.