LONDON   –  Catherine, Princess of Wales has penned a moving letter about love and empathy to those attending her Together At Christmas carol service at Westminster Abbey on Friday and 15 regional services around the United Kingdom this month. In her message, Kate calls the carol service “a heartfelt celebration” of everyone invited, thanking guests for providing “comfort and hope to those who need it the most.” The princess writes about vulnerability and empathy and how “in times of joy and sadness, we are all each other’s light.” But it is love that features most prominently. She notes that “above all else” the Christmas story “encourages us to turn to love, not fear.” Acknowledging, perhaps, the challenges she and her family have faced since her cancer diagnosis earlier this year, the princess writes that “love is the light that can shine bright, even in our darkest times.” The letter, signed “Catherine,” will be included with the order of service given to everyone attending.

The front cover of the order of service has been designed by British artist Charlie Mackesy, according to Kensington Palace. An illustration features a group of people embracing each other as they stroll toward Westminster Abbey in the snow. Underneath is the question: “How did I help?” and the answer: “You were by my side. Which was everything.” During the service there will be readings from actors Sophie Okonedo, Michelle Dockery and Richard E. Grant. The Prince of Wales and the Olympic gold medal swimmer Adam Peaty will also deliver readings. Candles will be lit by Lindsey Burrow, widow of rugby star Rob Burrow, who died from motor neuron disease earlier this year, Paralympians Lizzi Jordan and Danni Khan and six-time Olympic champion cyclist Chris Hoy, who opened up about his terminal cancer diagnosis in October. The Westminster Abbey choir will sing carols, and there will be musical performances by guests including Olivia Dean, Gregory Porter, Paloma Faith and pianist Rosey Chan. The Prince and Princess of Wales will be joined in Westminster Abbey by other members of the royal family as well as the 1,600 invited guests, including children who survived the stabbing attack in Southport earlier this year, and their families.

Across the UK, 15 regional services will reflect the themes of the Westminster Abbey service, each tailored to causes that resonate in those communities, with a particular focus on the many people who volunteer. The Westminster Abbey event will be aired on television in the UK on Christmas Eve as part of a special program titled Royal Carols: Together At Christmas.

Kate has been gradually returning to public engagements over the past few months. This week, she joined her husband, Prince William, in welcoming the Emir of Qatar to the UK during his state visit. (CNN)

Photo: Catherine, Princess of Wales is greeted by the Dean of Westminster, David Hoyle, as she arrives at the “Together At Christmas” carol service at Westminster Abbey in London. (AFP)

USA – A photo depicting a hooded man smiling –– a face mask pushed down around his neck –– may provide clues to find the suspect in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

An image released by the New York Police Department shows a man authorities call a “person of interest wanted for questioning” in the Wednesday morning killing. He is captured in a flirtatious moment with a female employee at a hostel on New York’s Upper West Side where he had been staying, a law enforcement official told CNN. The employee asked the man to lower his face mask, which is when the photos released by authorities on Thursday were captured, the official told CNN. “He lowers the mask, and gives that big smile,” CNN Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analyst John Miller said. “That little flirtation between the two of them, in some good-humored way, actually yielded what is so far the most significant clue to identifying him.”

The images from the hostel are among the key pieces of evidence investigators have as they search for a shooter still on the loose after gunning down the health care executive in midtown Manhattan before seemingly vanishing. Investigators also have a trail of surveillance video sightings and a burner phone and water bottle believed to have been dropped by the suspect when he fled the shooting scene – first on foot, then by bike – as well as ammunition with the words “depose” and “delay” written on them left at the scene of the crime, sources told CNN. (CNN)

Photo: NYPD on Thursday released photos of a person of interest wanted for questioning regarding the Midtown Manhattan homicide. (Photo: NYPD)

DAMASCUS  –  The speed with which the status quo in Syria – however unresolved and unsatisfactory – has been turned on its head in recent days has been extraordinary. Syrian government officials and supporters were still asserting the army would hold the line at Hama, even as insurgent fighters were entering the city.

Shortly afterwards, the Syrian military acknowledged that it had pulled out of Hama, ceding control of the city for the first time to rebel factions. After capturing two major cities within a week, the next target for the insurgents led by the Islamist group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), is Homs. Tens of thousands of people are fleeing the city in anticipation of what looks likely to be the next major battle. The stakes have risen precipitously for President Bashar al-Assad and his key backers, Russia and Iran.

Homs is strategically considerably more significant than either Aleppo or Hama. It straddles a crossroads that leads west to the heartland of support for the Assad dynasty and south towards the capital, Damascus. Whatever the previous strategy of HTS may have been, as it spent years building its power base in the north-western province of Idlib, the momentum of the past week now seems to be leading inexorably towards a direct challenge to the continuing rule of Assad.

In an interview with CNN, HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani confirmed the rebels do indeed aim to overthrow the Assad regime So, attention is now focusing on whether the Syrian leader has the capacity to see off this renewed attempt to topple him from power. The Syrian army – which is largely made up of conscripts – might have lost the war years ago if outside forces had not come to Assad’s aid. Soldiers are underpaid, under-equipped and often have poor morale, with desertion having long been an issue.

As his military failed to hold Aleppo and then Hama, Assad issued an order raising soldiers’ salary by 50% – but that in itself is unlikely to turn the tide. Russian planes backed up Syrian forces in Hama, but clearly not strongly enough to make an impact. The lack of all-out Russian military support has fueled speculation that Moscow may be less able to play the game changing role that it performed in Syria in 2015. That would be down to almost three years of war in Ukraine, draining its reserves of manpower and military hardware. But Russia still has compelling reasons to stay the course with Assad. President Putin’s decisive, full-scale military intervention, which kept the Syrian leader in power when he was close to defeat, showed up the failure of Western allies – the US in particular – to honour their promises of support to the rebels. (BBC)

Photo: Syrian rebels. (AFP)

WASHINGTON  –  Outgoing US President Joe Biden is considering pre-emptive pardons for prominent critics of his successor Donald Trump, multiple people familiar with the discussions have told CBS, the BBC’s US partner. That is in a bid to shield them from potential retribution after Trump – who has vowed to take revenge against those who have opposed him – takes office. CBS reports that while Biden is said to have debated the possibility of issuing the pardons with senior White House aides, no specific names had been formally recommended to him. Sources have told AFP that officials are also considering the message it would send to pardon people who have not committed crimes.

That is in the wake of the controversy surrounding Biden’s unconditional pardoning of his son Hunter, who was set to face sentencing this month on federal felony gun and tax convictions. Republicans and some Democrats have criticised the move, which came after the president previously said he would not take such a step. US media reports that those who could be in line for the potential pre-emptive pardons from Biden include Dr Anthony Fauci, who has been critical of Trump’s Covid response, and California’s Senator-elect Adam Schiff, who led the first impeachment effort against Trump. Other Democrats who, like Schiff, had a role in the Trump impeachment cases, or who investigated the 2021 US Capitol riots, could also be granted them.

In an interview with NPR last month, Schiff said he did not think pre-emptive pardons were a good idea because he believed the courts were capable of withstanding threats from Donald Trump. “I think this is frankly so implausible as not to be worthy of much consideration,” he said of the reports that such pardons were being considered. “I would urge the president not to do that. I think it would seem defensive and unnecessary.” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said earlier this week that more pardons could be expected from President Biden before the end of his term in January but did not give further details. “He’s thinking through that process very thoroughly.”

Among those who could be given the more traditional presidential pardons for crimes committed are nonviolent drug offenders or others who’ve served time for various offences, CBS reports. Donald Trump is not the only person to threaten retribution against those perceived to have opposed him in the past. His nominee for FBI director, Kash Patel, has said he would go after politicians and members of the media who he alleges without evidence helped overturn the 2020 US presidential election results. “We’re going to come after you, whether it’s criminally or civilly,” Patel said. “We’ll figure that out. But yeah, we’re putting you all on notice… We’re actually going to use the Constitution to prosecute them for crimes they said we have always been guilty of but never have.” Democratic Congressman Brendan Boyle said in response that he thought Biden should issue blanket pardons to those targeted on what he called Donald Trump’s “enemies list”. “By choosing Kash Patel as his FBI Director, Trump has made it clear that he is more focused on settling personal scores than on protecting the American people or upholding the rule of law,” said Boyle. (BBC)

Photo: Outgoing US President Joe Biden. (EPA)