A Syrian court sentences former president Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia on convictions tied to war crimes and crimes against humanity. His brother, Maher Assad, also receives a death sentence. The ruling marks a major symbolic move on accountability for atrocities committed during Syria’s long conflict.

Russia releases detained former U.S. Marine Robert Gilman after a pardon from President Vladimir Putin. U.S. officials bring him from Russia to the United States on a State Department plane, and he is expected to undergo medical evaluation and treatment after arriving home.

Four U.S. human rights organizations sue the Trump administration over sanctions aimed at officials and others associated with the International Criminal Court. The groups argue the measures interfere with the court’s work and punish support for it, and they ask a federal court to strike down the sanctions regime.

Lebanon’s parliament votes to abolish the death penalty and replace it with life imprisonment with aggravated hard labour. The move makes Lebanon the first Arab country, and among the first in the Middle East, to formally end executions through legislation approved by a parliamentary majority.

Donald Trump was reportedly moved between aircraft through a catering truck while departing a NATO summit in Turkey last month after an alleged Iranian missile or assassination threat. The unusual transfer is said to have shifted him from Air Force One to another military aircraft near Ankara under tight security.

Hungary’s parliament elects former Supreme Court chief András Baka as the country’s next president. The post is largely ceremonial, but Baka is known as a critic of Viktor Orbán, making his victory notable as he succeeds Tamas Sulyok in a role that still carries symbolic political weight.

A judge in Washington orders the Kennedy Center to pay jazz musician Chuck Redd about $250,000 in legal fees and related costs. The ruling follows the center’s unsuccessful lawsuit after Redd withdrew from his annual Christmas Eve performance.