The US Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic published a 520-page report on the COVID-19 pandemic on Monday (December 2). The report concluded that the virus was most likely “leaked” from a laboratory in Wuhan, China, and reported bipartisan findings on the advancement and management of the crisis in the US.
Pope Francis expressed concern Wednesday that “war is a human defeat” after new evidence emerged that the Russia-Ukraine war impacted those whose lives have just begun. Investigators say Ukrainian children were stripped of their Ukrainian identity and placed with Russian families.
The United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday rushed to achieve a “two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict” amid ongoing clashes in Gaza between what is left of Hamas and Israel’s military.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a rare government meeting in the northern city of Nahariya on Tuesday, stating, “to deliver a clear message to the North: We’re committed to the North.” He added, “We are enforcing the ceasefire and, with an iron fist, acting against any violation – minor or serious.”
Israel’s prime minister praised U.S. President-elect Donald J. Trump on Tuesday for indirectly threatening Hamas with force unless they release all hostages ahead of his January 20 inauguration.
As Syria’s army struggles to fend off the surprise insurgency launched last week by jihadi group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Iran-backed militias entered the country on Sunday to lend support to the Syrian forces, Reuters reports. The insurgents first attacked Syria’s second-largest city of Aleppo and then moved into Idlib and Hama province.
South Korea’s military warned Tuesday that martial law declared by President Yoon Suk Yeol would remain in place “until he lifts it” despite the parliament’s majority vote against it.
The United States announced on December 2 a new $725 million military aid package for Ukraine as it continues to defend itself against the Russian invasion launched in February 2022, Radio Free Europe (RFE) reports.
Describing their actions as a demand for the blockade of Gaza to be lifted, Houthi Islamic insurgents in Yemen fired seven missiles and drones at American warships and merchant vessels in the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden on Sunday, December 1, Straight Arrow News (SAN) reports.
Romania’s pro-EU and pro-NATO parties appeared to be holding off the far right in a parliamentary election on Sunday, but the strength of the radical vote suggested that an ultranationalist, pro-Russian candidate could still win the presidency this month.