Wednesday, 3 December 2025

WHO launches new, unified plan for countries to manage coronaviruses: COVID-19 and beyond (LINK) 3 December 2025

— To strengthen global coronavirus monitoring, WHO has also expanded its Coronavirus Network (CoViNet), a network of disease surveillance programmes and reference laboratories for SARS-CoV-2, MERS-CoV, and emerging coronaviruses of public health significance.

Trump warns land strikes in Venezuela could come 'very soon' (LINK) — ground.news: 13 media reports (LINK) 3 December 2025

Israel launches airstrike in southern Gaza after earlier attack by militants wounded 5 soldiers (LINK) — ground.news: 15 media reports (LINK) 3 December 2025

Lebanon, Israel hold first direct talks for decades (LINK) — ground.news: 8 media reports (LINK) 3 December 2025

— Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said these negotiations are aimed solely at "the cessation of hostilities", the "release of Lebanese hostages", and "the complete Israeli withdrawal" from Lebanese territory.

Israel says Rafah crossing will open soon to let Gazans leave via Egypt (LINK) 3 December 2025

EU bans Russian gas imports from early next year after last-minute agreement (LINK) 3 December 2025

— "We were paying to Russia €12 billion per month at the beginning of the war for fossil fuels. Now we're down to €1.5 billion per month ... We aim to bring it down to zero," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters.

Kremlin denies Putin rejected all of US peace plan for Ukraine (LINK) 3 December 2025

Ukraine: British Defence Intelligence Update: Russian President Putin's 02 December 2025 reported claim that Russian Ground Forces (RGF) have taken complete control of the Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk is almost certainly inaccurate. (LINK) 3 December 2025

Leading scientific journal Nature retracts study predicting global economic collapse from climate change (LINK) 3 December 2025

— Annual global climate damage by the middle of the century is predicted to be five times greater than the cost of limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius, rather than six times greater as previously calculated.

Libya war crimes suspect makes first appearance at ICC (LINK) — ground.news: 31 media reports (LINK) 3 December 2025

— Judges believe a significant number of detainees experienced torture, sexual violence, and other abuses during Khaled Mohamed Ali El Hishri's command from February 2015 to early 2020.

Alleged gang leader sentenced to life in prison in U.S. for directing the kidnapping of 17 missionaries in Haiti on Oct. 16, 2021 (LINK) — ground.news: 21 media reports (LINK) 3 December 2025

— Prosecutors say the kidnappings aimed to secure release of 34-year-old Joly Germine and demanded a $17,000,000 ransom, while Germine's defense attorneys deny his leadership and say he helped local farmers. Germine, also known as "Yonyon", was the former leader of the Haitian gang 400 Mawozo. Two hostages were released in November 2021 due to medical concerns, and three more were freed in early December after the gang received a $350,000 ransom payment. Prosecutors said the remaining hostages escaped on December 16, 2021, walking through rural terrain for several hours until they reached safety. Germine had already been sentenced in June 2024 to 35 years in federal prison for his role in a gun trafficking scheme that funneled weapons to Haiti in violation of U.S. export laws and for laundering ransom proceeds collected from earlier hostage cases.

Tuesday, 2 December 2025

DHS recommends travel ban list include at least 10 more countries following DC shooting (LINK) 2 December 2025

— Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is recommending that the Trump administration’s travel ban list include between 30 to 32 countries, marking an increase from the current list of 19 countries. It is unclear which countries are being added to the list — and when they'll be announced. The current list of 19 countries with full or partial restrictions include Afghanistan, Burma (Myanmar), Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.

Trump signs Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, prompting praise from Taipei, objection from Beijing: (LINK) — ground.news: 18 media reports (LINK) 2 December 2025

— Trump signed the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act into law, requiring the U.S. State Department to review and update its guidelines for U.S. engagements with Taiwan at least once every five years. The measure is designed to deepen the U.S.–Taiwan relationship in the absence of formal diplomatic relations

Republican Matt Van Epps wins US House special election in Tennessee: The Associated Press called the race at 9.47 EST with Van Epps holding a 52% to 46% lead. Van Epps argued that his victory served as a sign that conservative voters remained supportive of Donald Trump's leadership (LINK) 2 December 2025

Eurasia Review: "Timid Europe sold out Ukraine and forced Trump to clean up the mess" (LINK) 2 December 2025

— "Europe has proven to be not merely a weak ally — it has become a strategic invalid, whose spineless, hypocritical, and self-destructive policy directly led Washington to pull it from the battlefield in order to salvage what remains of Ukrainian sovereignty and prevent total collapse."

Michael and Susan Dell to donate $6.25 billion to fund ‘Trump accounts’ for 25 million U.S. kids (LINK) 2 December 2025

— The pledge will seed tax-advantaged "Trump accounts" for children too old to qualify for grants that are set to come from the U.S. Treasury.

Billionaire-funded 'Trump Accounts' for Kids slammed as 'another tax shelter' for the rich (LINK) 2 December 2025

— Amy Matsui, the vice president of income security and child care at National Women's Law Center (NWLC). “As currently structured, these accounts will just become another tax shelter for the wealthiest, while the overwhelming majority of American families, who are struggling to cover basic costs like food, childcare, and housing, will be hard pressed to find the extra money that could turn the seed money into a meaningful investment."

CITES: countries take steps at Uzbekistan conference to protect wildlife in legal trade (LINK) 2 December 2025

— There have already been some conservation wins, including stronger protections for fish, snakes and mammals.

UNDP: AI may widen inequality between countries (LINK) 2 December 2025

— Artificial Intelligence has reached 1.2 billion users in only 3 years, with nearly 70% of them in developing countries. In some high-income economies 2 in 3 people already use AI tools, while in many low-income countries usage remains close to 5%.

Larry Summers receives lifetime ban from prestigious American Economic Association over Epstein ties (LINK) 2 December 2025

Monday, 1 December 2025

UN will cut 2026 budget by $577m by slashing workforce: plans to cut nearly a fifth of its staff positions as unpaid member dues climb to $1.59 trillion (LINK) 1 December 2025

— The UN chief announced next year's budget on Monday, which he set at $3.24bn – a reduction of $577m from 2025.

Trump reportedly gave President Maduro ultimatum to relinquish power in Venezuela on 30 November phone call (LINK) 1 December 2025

White House confirms Hegseth authorized Sept. 2 strikes on drug boat (LINK) 1 December 2025

For the first time since 1988, the U.S. is not officially commemorating World AIDS Day (LINK) 1 December 2025

US Court disqualifies ex-Trump lawyer Alina Habba as New Jersey prosecutor (LINK) 1 December 2025

— The US appeals court struck down the attempt by President Donald Trump to bypass the customary Senate confirmation process and appoint his former personal lawyer to a post as a top federal prosecutor.

China's state defence giants see revenue slump as corruption probes stall procurement (LINK) 1 December 2025

Ex-Credit Suisse employee charged with money laundering by lending to Mozambican state-owned companies totalling over $2 billion (CHF1.6 billion): Credit Suisse and its successor company UBS are accused of failing to prevent the offence (LINK) 1 December 2025

— swissinfo: The loans were granted by the Credit Suisse Financial Group to three Mozambican state-owned companies in 2013. In 2016, they became known as the "Mozambique debt scandal". In 2020, the OAG opened initial criminal proceedings in this connection, which it is currently conducting against two people on suspicion of money laundering and aiding and abetting the bribery of foreign public officials.

Bitcoin pulls back under $86k, stocks find support in Fed expectations (LINK) 1 December 2025

Bybit, the world's second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, announces $100K humanitarian aid for Sri Lanka as Cyclone Ditwah triggers severe flooding in Southeast Asia (LINK) 1 December 2025

Swiss crossword setter, charged with defaming the Valais section of the right-wing Swiss People's Party, acquitted of defamation (LINK) 1 December 2025

— In its verdict on Monday, the court found that the two men had merely expressed an opinion, which is protected by freedom of expression. Nor did the judge find them guilty of offences against honour or slander. A clue in a Valais paper, Le Nouvelliste, on November 18, 2023, was: "Swiss political party — racist, xenophobic, homophobic, anti-feminist, anti-ecological, anti-poor, nationalist". The answer: UDC (the French abbreviation for the Swiss People’s Party). The Valais section of the People's Party took exception to this and demanded, and received, an apology from Le Nouvelliste.

Former Prince Andrew still has 1 title left: Vice-Admiral — he was supposed to obtain the admiral title in 2020 for his 60th birthday; however, the British royal family decided against it after the 2019 Newsnight interview where Andrew addressed his relationship with Epstein (LINK) 1 December 2025

Earth's hidden eighth continent is no longer lost: we've finally mapped all of Zealandia, and explained why it is under water (LINK) 1 December 2025