
The Mexican House of Deputies Monday gave its final green light to the spending law bill - that is one week before the legal deadline - with funds relocated from autonomous bodies to sensitive areas such as agriculture, environment and public universities, it was announced.

Venezuela's Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza has demanded that Guyana respect its sovereignty after two ships of the transnational company ExxonMobil were repelled Saturday from what the Bolivarian Navy deemed to be their country's waters. But both the governments of the United States and of Guyana claim it was Venezuela who was in breach of international law.

The Queen will say in her Christmas Day broadcast that the Christian message of “peace on earth and goodwill to all” is “needed as much as ever”. She will say the message is “never out of date” and can be “heeded by everyone”.

United States president Donald Trump has forced Defense Secretary James Mattis to leave his post early, appointing an acting successor to take over in the new year. General Mattis, 68, strongly hinted at policy differences with Mr. Trump when he resigned on Friday.

Walter Arízala, known better under his alias Guacho, was wanted for the murder of two Ecuadorean journalists and their driver earlier this year. On Friday, Colombian President Ivan Duque said he was killed in an operation near the Ecuadorean border.

Thousands of British sailors and Royal Marines stand ready to respond to events at home and abroad this festive season. While many enjoy a well-earned break over Christmas and New Year, nearly 2,000 men and women of the Naval Service are on active duty, while over 2,500 personnel are on standby at home in the UK.

Theresa May has used her Christmas message to praise the work of the Armed Forces, particularly in Syria and after the nerve agent attack in Salisbury. The PM said UK forces had “continued to demonstrate why you are the finest in the world”.

Vladimir Putin has urged Theresa May not to succumb to calls for a second referendum on Brexit. Speaking at his annual question and answer session with journalists, the Russian president questioned whether re-running a vote could be construed as democratic.

A tsunami in Indonesia after the eruption of the Anak Krakatau Volcano killed at keast 222 people, while hundrerds more were reported either injured or missing, local authorities explained Sunday. They were cautious, though, since these are just preliminary figures.

Last Thursday December 20, the Argentine ministry of Justice and Human Rights confirmed the transfer and payment order of the first of two outlays planned for the fiscal year, to the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team, EAFF, which had complained a cut in funds.