Dec 30 (Reuters) - The United States and its partner forces killed or captured nearly 25 Islamic State operatives since it launched retaliatory strikes in Syria earlier this month, the U.S. military said on Tuesday.

The U.S. carried out large-scale strikes against dozens of Islamic State targets in Syria on Dec. 19 in retaliation for an attack on American personnel.

Dec 30 (Reuters) - Syrian security forces imposed a curfew on Latakia city, a bastion of the country's Alawite minority, state media reported on Tuesday, days after four people were killed in protests that spiralled into violence.

Syria has been rocked by several episodes of sectarian bloodshed since longtime leader Bashar al-Assad, who hails from the Muslim Alawite community, was ousted by a rebel offensive last year and replaced by a Sunni-led government.

State media said the curfew was set to last from 5 p.m. (1400 GMT) on Tuesday until 6 a.m. (0300 GMT) on Wednesday.

By Elwely Elwelly

DUBAI, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Iran's government said on Tuesday it would seek dialogue with protest leaders after demonstrations in Tehran and other cities over a plunge in the currency's value that has accelerated inflation, with the central bank chief resigning.

Protests, which included shopkeepers in Tehran's Grand Bazaar, were held on Sunday and Monday according to Iranian state media, the latest demonstrations in the Islamic Republic where bouts of unrest have repeatedly erupted in recent years.

By Yousef Saba

DUBAI, Dec 30 - A Saudi airstrike on what it said was a UAE-linked weapons shipment in Yemen on Tuesday marked the most significant escalation between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi to date. Once the twin pillars of regional security, the two Gulf heavyweights have seen their interests diverge on everything from oil quotas to geopolitical influence.

Here is a timeline of how the relationship has evolved:

By Yomna Ehab, Nayera Abdallah and Maha El Dahan

Dec 30 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday its national security was a red line and backed a call for UAE forces to leave Yemen within 24 hours, hours after a Saudi-led coalition carried out an airstrike on the southern Yemeni port of Mukalla.

By Yomna Ehab and Nayera Abdallah

Dec 30 (Reuters) - The head of Yemen's presidential council called on Tuesday for all United Arab Emirates forces to leave the country within 24 hours, shortly after an air strike by the Saudi-led coalition at the southern port of Mukalla.

The coalition said the strike targeted foreign military support for the UAE-backed southern separatists, whose offensive this month pitted the Southern Transitional Council (STC) against Saudi-supported Yemeni government troops, bringing the two Gulf allies closer than ever to an all-out conflict.

By Timour Azhari

QARDAHA, Syria, Dec 30 (Reuters) - He carried no weapons and helped keep government security forces alive, but Khairallah Dib still needed a promise of amnesty to come out of hiding.

He had been lying low for weeks after Alawite fighters staged a March insurrection against Syria’s new Islamist-led rulers. The uprising by loyalists of ousted President Bashar al-Assad killed more than 200 Syrian security forces and triggered days of vengeance.

ISTANBUL, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Turkish police detained 110 suspects in an operation against Islamic State on Tuesday, a day after three police officers and six militants were killed in a gunfight in northwest Turkey, the Istanbul chief prosecutor’s office said.

Police conducted an eight-hour siege at a house in the town of Yalova, on the Sea of Marmara coast south of Istanbul, a week after more than 100 suspected IS members were detained in connection with alleged plans to carry out Christmas and New Year attacks.

Revellers around the world toasted the start of 2026 on Thursday, bidding farewell to a volatile year when temperatures soared, US President Donald Trump upended global trade, and the brutal conflict in Ukraine raged on.

While a fragile truce took hold in devastated Gaza, violence in Sudan continued unabated. A new American pope was installed at the Vatican, the world lost pioneering zoologist Jane Goodall, and Labubu dolls sparked a worldwide frenzy.

Iranian students staged street protests in Tehran on Tuesday, a day after the capital's shopkeepers demonstrated against economic hardship and won a message of understanding from the president.

According to Ilna, a news agency associated with Iran's labour movement, protests erupted at 10 universities across the country, including seven in Tehran that are among the country's most prestigious.

Protests also broke out at the technology university in the central city of Isfahan and institutions in the cities of Yazd and Zanjan, Ilna and state-run IRNA reported.