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Europe
Ukraine
Dec 02, 2024 at 9:40 AM EST Ukraine war map looks 'grim' for Zelensky as Russian offensive accelerates. In the three months to December, Moscow's troops had captured around 617 square miles in Ukraine and 190 in Russia's Kursk oblast. 'We do have to find diplomatic solutions,' Zelensky told Japanese news agency Kyodo News. This was a shift in Kyiv's prior rhetoric that full territorial integrity was central to any peace deal. (Source: Newsweek - U.S.)
Africa
Guinea
(2/12/2024) Following a controversial decision by the referee, dispute broke out between fans of the local Nzerekore squad and supporters of the soccer team from the city of Labe. Security services used tear gas, it's use reportedly sparked panic. At least 56 people, including children, were killed when chaos broke out as the clashes moved through the streets of the city. (Source: DW - Germany / "(AP, AFP, Reuters")
Asia
Gaza
02.12.2024 At least 37 more Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip and injured 108 others in the last 24 hours, the Health Ministry in the enclave said today. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)
December 2, 2024 Israeli forces bombarded houses in overnight attacks in the northern Gaza Strip, killing at least 15 people in one of the buildings in the town of Beit Lahiya. Several others were wounded in the attack and others were missing after a house providing shelter to displaced people was struck. (Source: Business Recorder - Pakistan)
Japan
Dec 2, 2024 In July 2023, the U.S. announced that it would replace 36 F-16s at Misawa with 48 Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning IIs by 2026. United States’ strategic posture in the region, a force multiplier in any conflict scenario, Misawa hosted reconnaissance flights over the Soviet Union and China, gathering intelligence during a time of heightened tensions between the U.S. and the communist bloc. (Source: Bulgarianmilitary - Bulgaria)
Lebanon
December 02, 2024 7:18 AM The days-old ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon appears to be largely holding, but some fighting is continuing. (Source: Voice of America - U.S. / "Some material in this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters").
Syria
(Monday), 02 December 2024 | 10:25 AM Syrian Christians in Aleppo face grave danger after Islamist militias took over the city, local church leaders say. The militias, including jihadist groups, have seized control following the withdrawal of government forces. The U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that more than 300 people, including at least 20 civilians, have been killed since the offensive began Wednesday. The rebels, led by Islamist militant group HTS and allied factions, have taken control of Aleppo's airport and dozens of towns nearby, reported the BBC. The Iraqi Christian Foundation reported on social media that militants had begun removing Christmas decorations and had beheaded captured soldiers. The group also called for prayers for Christians and other minorities in Aleppo. The Switzerland-based human rights group Christian Solidarity International (CSI) said in a statement that Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, previously known as Jabhat al-Nusra, had seized control of Aleppo, mirroring the Islamic State's capture of Mosul in 2014. This jihadist group's takeover has instilled fear among Aleppo's diverse religious communities, including Christians, Alawites, Shiites and non-observant Sunnis, due to HTS' history of enforcing a strict Sunni supremacist ideology with violent persecution, it noted. The United Nations' Commission of Inquiry on Syria has documented the brutal governance of HTS, marked by executions, torture, sexual violence, and arbitrary detentions, alongside the desecration of religious sites. These actions are reminiscent of the harsh rule experienced during their previous control from 2012 to 2016. Maronite Archbishop of Aleppo, Tobji, described the situation as being in limbo, noting that armed groups took over after a surprise offensive, as per Agenzia Fides. Nobody warned us, Tobji said, adding that despite the lack of current attacks on Christian targets, uncertainty looms over what might happen next. Citizens have not stocked supplies due to the lack of warning before the attacks. Shops and bakeries have ceased operations. According to Fr. Alaniz of the Institute of the Incarnate Word, almost all of Aleppo is now under militia control, with religious leaders visiting parishes to provide support. While their church remains open, many residents, including students and elderly, have moved to other parts of the city for safety. According to the Syrian army, the attack on Aleppo involved multiple axes, covering over 100 kilometers of frontlines. The army reported numerous casualties among its soldiers and acknowledged that rebels now control significant portions of the city. Government forces have vowed a counterattack but provided no specific timeline. The Russian air force conducted air strikes in Aleppo on Saturday, marking the first military intervention by Russia in the city since 2016, when it helped Syrian government forces recapture Aleppo, according to the BBC. The strikes aimed at rebel positions come as Syrian President Assad has pledged to "defend [Syria's] stability and territorial integrity," according to a statement from his office. HTS is a significant militant presence in Syria, and its leadership of the offensive has marked this as the most notable conflict in Syria's ongoing civil war since a ceasefire was agreed in 2020. "President Trump's special representative for Syria, Ambassador Jeffrey, acknowledged in 2021 that HTS had been functioning covertly as an 'asset' of Washington's Middle East policy, despite its designation as a terrorist organization,’ said Eibner, CSI's international president. Shortly before election day, President-Elect Trump pledged to protect persecuted Christians. "The incoming president now has a golden opportunity to fulfill his pledge," Eibner said. "Christians and others who value religious freedom and other fundamental human rights should insist that this pre-election pledge is honored. (Source: The Christian Post – U.S.)
Monday, December 2, 2024 Some 200 Tehran-backed Iraqi militiamen on pickups crossed into Syria overnight through the strategic Bou Kamal crossing to back government’s counteroffensive against insurgents. Syrian and Russian airstrikes on rebel positions continued mostly in Hama and Idlib provinces, at least 10 civilians were killed in Idlib city and province. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces were fleeing the fighting in large numbers after Turkish-backed rebels seized Tel Rifaat from rival U.S.-backed Kurdish authorities. (Source: The Washington Times - U.S.)
December 02 2024 15:20:33 'The terrorist escalation reflects the far-reaching goals of dividing the region and fragmenting the countries in it and redraw the map in line with the objectives of the United States and the West,' al-Assad said, according to a statement from the Syrian presidency. Air raids conducted jointly by the Syrian and Russian air forces on several areas of Idlib province in northwest Syria killed 11 civilians yesterday. Russia, which first intervened directly in the Syrian war in 2015, said yesterday it continued to support Assad. On the same day, Iran's Foreign Ministry said it would maintain its military support for the Syrian government. 'The Syrian National Army (SNA) of opposition is continuing its advance in the Tel Rifaat district as part of its Operation Dawn of Freedom, aimed at blocking the PKK/YPG's terrorist corridor between Tel Rifaat and Manbij'. (Source: Hurriyet Daily News - Turkey)
Philippines
December 2, 2024, 21:31 JST China’s coast guard said today it had taken ’necessary control measures’ against ’illegal gathering’ of Philippine vessels in the disputed waters of Iroquois Reef in the South China Sea. The Philippine coast guard said in a statement today that despite possible harassment by the Chinese coast guard, Philippine vessels’ confidence in fishing in the West Philippine Sea “has significantly increased due to the (Philippines’) firm stance and commitment not to hand over the country’s territory to a foreign power.” The West Philippine Sea is Manila's term for the waters of the South China Sea that fall within its 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone. Beijing claims almost the entire South China Sea, including areas claimed by the Philippines, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam. China rejects a 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague that its sweeping claims were unfounded in international law. China's coast guard, reiterating its sovereignty over the Spratly Islands, warned the Philippines to ’immediately cease any violations and provocations.’ (Source: Nikkei – Japan / Reuters – United Kingdom)
North America
United States
Dec 02, 2024 at 3:39 PM EST Biden's Hunter would have to answer questions about his business interests if called before Congress, a criminal defense lawyer has said. The upside to Biden's pardon is that Hunter no longer enjoys the right to assert his 5th Amendment Right against self incrimination and contempt of Congress is also a crime, Adams wrote. The Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects people from having to answer questions before Congress if it could help a prosecution case against them or compel them to make self-incriminating statements. With Hunter now free from all his criminal cases, he cannot use the Fifth Amendment to refuse to answer questions. Biden could be prosecuted and even jailed for refusing to appear before Congress or for refusing to answer questions if he does appear before a Congressional panel. Hunter was due for sentencing on December 12 regarding a gun case in Delaware, and on December 16 for his tax evasion case in California. (Source: Newsweek - U.S.)
02, 2024 17:36 IST President-elect Trump has picked Boulos, father-in-law of his daughter Tiffany, as the senior adviser on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs. Boulos, a Lebanese businessman relocated to Texas during his teenage years was heavily involved in campaigning for Trump in Arab American communities in swing states. (Source: The Week - India)
(Monday), Dec. 2, 2024, 4:31 AM GMT+1 'I will not pardon him,' he said in June after a jury found Hunter guilty on three federal gun charges. Biden pardoned his son Hunter yesterday night for any offenses First Son has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024'. First Son Hunter was scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 12 for his conviction on federal gun charges and also was set to be sentenced on Dec. 16 in a separate criminal case in which he pleaded guilty to federal tax evasion charges in September. (Source: NBC News - U.S.)
Note: Will he adopt as his sons people with the same accusations?
International Court of Justice
Monday, 02 December 2024 After years of lobbying by island nations who fear they could simply disappear under rising sea waters, the UN General Assembly asked the International Court of Justice last year for an opinion on the obligations of States in respect of climate change. The Hague-based top United Nations court took up the largest case in its history today, when it opened two weeks of hearings with fifteen judges and it will hear from 99 countries and more than a dozen intergovernmental organizations. The judges were briefed by the UN's climate change body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, ahead of the hearings. In the decade up to 2023, 'sea levels have risen by a global average of around 4.3 centimeters, with parts of the Pacific rising higher still'. (Source: The Telegraph - India)
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