CNN’s dramatic report of rescuing a “wrongfully detained” prisoner from a secret facility in Syria has unraveled into a fiasco after it was revealed that the so-called victim was actually a notorious member of Bashar al-Assad’s brutal regime, infamous for torturing civilians and extorting bribes. Last week, journalist Clarissa Ward led the charge in what she breathlessly called “one of the most extraordinary moments I have witnessed” during her 20-year career. Footage of the dramatic rescue showed Ward and her team escorting the supposed prisoner — who introduced himself as Adel Ghurbal — out of a grim, windowless cell. Ghurbal claimed he had been detained for three months, oblivious to the regime’s downfall. But the story quickly fell apart.

Drone-detecting devices deployed in New Jersey in the past week have found “little to no evidence” of anything nefarious or threatening, Gov. Phil Murphy said Monday as calls grew for action to address the mysterious nighttime sightings of suspected unmanned flights across the northeastern U.S. Murphy told reporters in Trenton that there were 12 sightings of suspected drones in the state on Saturday and one on Sunday. He declined to go into detail about the detection equipment, but said it was powerful enough to disable the drones, although he added that is not legal on U.S. soil. Murphy, a Democrat, echoed calls by officials in other states for Congress to give them more authority to deal with drones. Nearly all the power now rests with the federal government.

The Lebanese Al Akhbar newspaper reported on Sunday that the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) terror group, the new rulers of Syria, has instructed Palestinian terror organizations in Syria, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, to immediately lay down their arms and dismantle their military and training bases. According to the report, a very dramatic meeting took place between HTS and representatives of the Palestinian terror groups in the Yarmouk “refugee camp” in Damascus, which was the largest Palestinian “refugee” community in Syria before most of its residents fled during the Syrian civil war amid intense clashes between the Free Syrian Army and the PFLP-GC, supported by Syrian government forces.

A California man was sentenced Monday to nearly 3 1/2 years in prison for running an extensive business that helped pregnant Chinese women travel to the United States to deliver babies who would automatically have American citizenship. U.S. authorities had sought a more than five-year prison term for Michael Wei Yueh Liu, 59, who was convicted in September of conspiracy and money laundering for running a company known as USA Happy Baby. Phoebe Dong, Liu’s wife — though the couple have since separated — was also convicted in connection with the scheme and is expected to be sentenced early next year. After receiving a 41-month sentence, Liu was led out of the courtroom by authorities and taken into custody.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell is challenging President-elect Donald Trump to reject the isolationist voices within their party and build his foreign policy around military strength, arguing that if the U.S. retreats from global engagement, “its enemies will be only too happy to fill the void.” In an essay published Monday in Foreign Affairs, McConnell took the rare step of warning Trump directly as he plans to step down from his post in the coming weeks. The Kentucky Republican plans to stay in the Senate and has made clear that his top priority will be pushing for the United States to maintain and improve its global strength.

IDF troops who entered the Syrian part of Ramat HaGolan in the wake of the fall of the Assad regime took over Syrian army outposts without firing a shot, as the Syrian soldiers abandoned the outpost and positions facing Israel when it became clear that the end of the regime was nearing, Ynet reported. Four battalion combat teams from the Paratroopers, Commando Brigade and the 188th Armored Brigade are operating at the outposts in what the IDF calls “forward defense” – seizing key posts on enemy soil near the border during emergencies to preempt and deter potential threats to Israeli civilians. “The IDF quickly understood the importance of stabilizing the situation proactively this time, learning from past lessons in Gaza and southern Lebanon,” explained a senior commander.

At least two internal Amazon studies found a link between how quickly the online retailer’s warehouse workers perform tasks and workplace injuries, but the company rejected many safety recommendations out of concern the proposed changes might reduce productivity, according to a U.S. Senate committee report. The 160-page review issued Sunday night was compiled by the Democratic majority staff of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. The report is the final product of a probe into Amazon’s warehouse safety practices that U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders initiated last year. The Vermont independent, a frequent critic of Amazon who chairs the panel, released an interim report in July that featured some findings from the investigation.

Following the fall of the Assad regime in Syria and the rise of jihadist rebel groups, there has been a surge in the number of Druze-Israelis in the Golan seeking to enlist in the IDF, Channel 14 News reported. There are currently about 200 Druze-Israelis at various stages of the recruitment process. This is a very significant number considering the size of the Druze community in the Golan – just over 20,000 residents concentrated in four main villages: Majdal Shams, Buqata, Mas’ade, and Ein Qiniyye. Since the Six-Day War in 1967, an overwhelming majority of the Druze in the Golan hesitated to identify with the State of Israel and often displayed identification with Syria and the Assad regime.

An alleged Chinese spy who cultivated close ties with Prince Andrew said Monday he has done “nothing wrong or unlawful” as Britain’s government faced questions about what it is doing to thwart security threats from China. British authorities allege businessman Yang Tengbo — known only as “H6” until a High Court judge lifted an anonymity order Monday — was working on behalf of the United Front Work Department, an arm of the Chinese Communist Party that is used to influence foreign entities. It’s the most high-profile case in a series of espionage scandals in recent years that involved suspected or confirmed Chinese intelligence-gathering in Britain’s establishment, including in Parliament. Here’s a look at Yang’s case: Who is Yang Tengbo?

Birthdays are a time for celebration, tradition, and sometimes a little humiliation, depending on where you’re from. In Nova Scotia, birthday revelers delight in ambushing the celebrant with a healthy smear of butter or lard on their nose. In Germany, single men turning 30 are conscripted into step-sweeping duty at the town hall. In South Korea, birthdays are celebrated with a steaming bowl of seaweed soup.