December 2, 2024

MIDDLE EAST | Updates from regional conflicts:

• Insurgents led by jihadi group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham seized control of the Syrian city of Aleppo late last week in a resurgence of fighting in the country’s 13-year civil war. Reports say Syrian government forces and Iranian-backed Iraqi militias have mobilized for a counteroffensive against the rebel groups’ momentum and that Russia has carried out airstrikes on rebel positions in support of the government of President Bashar Assad. [more]
• Despite an ongoing, but tense, cease-fire still being in effect according to both sides, Israeli forces carried out airstrikes and artillery shelling on several towns in southern Lebanon yesterday. Israeli officials say the strikes were undertaken to thwart potential Hezbollah attacks. [more]
• The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees announced yesterday that it has halted aid deliveries to Gaza via the Kerem Shalom border crossing between Israel and Gaza due to ongoing threats from armed gangs who have looted aid convoys recently. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 1012 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here is your update:

• German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is in Kyiv today for a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during which he is expected to announce a new 650-million-euro round of German military aid for Ukraine. [more]

BIDEN PARDON | Despite previous pledges to not do so, President Joe Biden issued a presidential pardon yesterday for his son Hunter, who was convicted earlier this year on gun-related and tax evasion charges. In issuing the pardon, President Biden said, ““I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice.” [full presidential statement on the pardon] [more]

U.S. NORTHEAST SNOW | Emergency declarations were issued for portions of New York and Pennsylvania over the weekend ahead of the arrival of heavy lake-effect storms that dropped as much as four feet of snow in some areas. Additional snowfall of 1-2 feet is predicted for much of the affected regions through tomorrow. [more]

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION | In a social media post over the weekend, President-elect Donald Trump threatened to impose 100% tariffs against members of the nine-nation BRICS alliance if they act to undermine the U.S. dollar’s role as the primary global reserve currency. [more]

MORE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION | President-elect Donald Trump announced Saturday that he will nominate former Justice Department prosecutor and House Intelligence Committee staffer Kash Patel to serve as FBI director in the upcoming administration. [more]

GLOBAL CLIMATE | The U.N.’s International Court of Justice began two weeks of hearings today on international obligations related to climate change. According to the Associated Press, the Court is seeking to answer two questions: “What are countries obliged to do under international law to protect the climate and environment from human-caused greenhouse gas emissions? And what are the legal consequences for governments where their acts, or lack of action, have significantly harmed the climate and environment?” [more]

PAKISTAN | Officials in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa said today that a second cease-fire has been brokered between the region’s warring Shiites and Sunni Muslims following recent violence that has seen the deaths of more than 120 people. An earlier cease-fire, reached on November 24, lasted only a short time before violence broke out again. [more]

CANADA | In action similar to efforts in the U.S. and elsewhere, a coalition of Canadian news publishers filed a lawsuit Friday against artificial intelligence giant OpenAI, alleging that the company used unlicensed news content to train its ChatGPT generative AI system. [more]

GEORGIA | Authorities say more than 220 people have been detained by police during four days of protests in the Georgian capital Tbilisi that broke out following the government’s announcement that it would suspend negotiations to join the European Union after E.U. officials criticized the country’s October 26 parliamentary elections as being neither free nor fair. [more]

GUINEA | Reports say as many as 56 people were killed yesterday in Nzerekore, Guinea, in violence and a stampede that followed a disputed penalty call in the final of a soccer match held in honor of the West African nation’s military leader, Mamady Doumbouya. [more]

BELGIUM | Under a new law that went into effect yesterday, sex workers in Belgium gained labor rights and benefits equivalent to those in other professions, including paid leave, health insurance, maternity benefits, unemployment support, workplace safety requirements, and pensions. The law further requires that employers apply for state authorization to hire sex workers. [more]

PHILIPPINES | Philippine lawmakers filed an impeachment complaint today against Vice President Sara Duterte, accusing her of corruption, violating the country’s constitution, and other “high crimes,” including the death threats she recently made against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., his wife, and the speaker of the House of Representatives. [more]

WORD OF THE YEAR | In its annual selection of “a word or expression that reflects a defining theme from the past 12 months,” Oxford University Press has announced “brain rot” as its word of the year. The Press defines the phrase as “the supposed deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state, especially viewed as the result of overconsumption of material (now particularly online content) considered to be trivial or unchallenging.” [full OUP explanation] [more]

SOCCER | World soccer governing body FIFA released its evaluation Saturday of Saudi Arabia’s bid to host the 2034 World Cup, approving the quality of the bid but noting both that the country was a “medium risk” for necessary construction projects and that significant Saudi effort will be needed to comply with international human rights standards. [full FIFA evaluation] [more]

WEEKEND MOVIES | "Moana 2" topped the North American box office over the weekend with an estimated $135 million in receipts, followed by "Wicked" and "Gladiator II." [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1982, in the first operation of its kind, doctors at the University of Utah Medical Center implanted a permanent artificial heart in the chest of retired dentist Dr. Barney Clark, who lived 112 days with the device. [more history]