“The UN General Assembly on Wednesday (Dec 3) urged Russia to immediately and without conditions return the Ukrainian children ‘forcibly transferred.’ Member states voted 91 to 12 in favour of a resolution demanding their immediate and unconditional return. Meanwhile, 57 countries abstained from voting, and Russia rejected the move outright. The resolution ‘demands that the Russian Federation ensure the immediate, safe and unconditional return of all Ukrainian children who have been forcibly transferred or deported.’ It also urges an end to the indoctrination of Ukrainian children. … Ukraine says at least 20,000 children have been taken since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022. Only about 1,850 have made it back. … Russia, meanwhile, insists it moved some children to safety from active combat zones. Its deputy UN envoy, Maria Zabolotskaya, dismissed the resolution as “full of mendacious accusations,” arguing that votes in favour only fuel division.” (12/04/25)
“Bitcoin extended a tentative rebound on Wednesday, climbing to a two-week high as traders look for signs that the wider crypto market may be regaining its footing after a prolonged selloff. The original cryptocurrency rose as much as 2.6% to about $93,965, its highest intraday level since Nov. 17. Ether gained more, rising more than 4%, as Ethereum undergoes a network upgrade called Fusaka that aims to make the blockchain faster and more efficient. Other smaller tokens were mixed. The digital assets market remains on shaky ground after a bruising selloff that began in early October, just days after Bitcoin hit a record of over $126,000. Since then, more than $1 trillion in crypto market value has been wiped out.” (12/03/25)
“India’s government revoked an order on Wednesday that had directed smartphone makers such as Apple and Samsung to install a state-developed and owned security app on all new devices. The move came after two days of criticism from opposition politicians and privacy organizations that the ‘Sanchar Saathi’ app was an effort to snoop on citizens through their phones. … While the order for it to be installed universally was revoked, the government continued defending the app on Wednesday, saying the intent had been to ‘provide access to cybersecurity to all citizens,’ and insisting that it was ‘secure and purely meant to help citizens.'” (12/03/25)
“U.S. private payrolls unexpectedly declined in November, the ADP employment report showed on Wednesday. Private employment decreased by 32,000 jobs last month after an upwardly revised 47,000 increase in October. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast private employment rising by 10,000 jobs after a previously reported 42,000 rebound in October. The ADP report is jointly developed with the Stanford Digital Economy Lab. The monthly estimate has historically diverted [sic] from the government’s private payrolls count produced by the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. The BLS will release the closely watched employment report for November on December 16.” (12/03/25)
“The House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday subpoenaed former special counsel Jack Smith to have him testify during a closed-door hearing on Dec. 17. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, wrote Smith on Wednesday to inform him of the subpoena as the committee investigates Smith’s and the Biden administration’s efforts to prosecute President Donald Trump. … Smith’s investigation of Trump ended when the Supreme Court in July 2024 ruled that presidents have broad immunity against prosecution for actions taken while in office, including the matters being investigated by Smith.” (12/03/25)
“Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth risked compromising sensitive military information, which could have endangered American troops and mission objectives, when he used Signal in March of this year to share highly-sensitive attack plans targeting Houthi rebels in Yemen, according to four sources familiar with the contents of a classified Inspector General report. The repercussions of Hegseth’s action, two sources told CNN, are less clear since the IG concluded that the defense secretary has the authority to declassify information and Hegseth asserted he made an operational decision in the moment to share that information, though there is no documentation of such a decision. An unclassified version of the report is set to be publicly released Thursday. The classified report was sent to Congress on Tuesday night.” (12/03/25)
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“Donald Trump pardoned Texas Democratic representative Henry Cuellar and his wife in a federal bribery and conspiracy case on Wednesday, citing what he called a ‘weaponized’ justice system. Trump, who has argued that his own legal troubles were a partisan witch-hunt, said on social media that the congressman and his wife, Imelda Cuellar, were prosecuted because the representative had been critical of Joe Biden’s immigration policies. … Federal authorities had charged Cuellar, 69, and his wife with accepting thousands of dollars in exchange for the congressman advancing the interests of an Azerbaijan-controlled energy company and a bank in Mexico. Cuellar is accused of agreeing to influence legislation favorable to Azerbaijan and deliver a pro-Azerbaijan speech on the floor of the US House.” (12/03/25)
“A blackout hit Havana and the rest of the western half of Cuba on Wednesday, leaving millions of people without power on an island struggling with chronic outages blamed on a crumbling electric grid. Lázaro Guerra, general director of the Ministry of Energy and Mines, said the massive outage was caused by a failure on a transmission line that connects two major plants. He said power would be restored gradually. In Havana, dozens of police officers were trying to direct traffic while many students who were already in school were sent back home. Small businesses that have generators resumed their sales, especially of food. Some areas had intermittent internet service, so many residents were left wondering what had happened. ‘There’s no connection. No one knows why the power is out. … They’re not saying anything; it’s all silence,’ grumbled Raúl Calderón, an 82-year-old retiree, as he waited to hear official reports on the radio.” (12/03/25)
“The Republican-led House Judiciary Committee has subpoenaed former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith for a closed-door interview later this month even though he had earlier volunteered to appear for an open hearing about his prosecutions of President Donald Trump. Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the committee’s Republican chairman, directed Smith in a letter dated Wednesday to appear for a private deposition on Dec. 17 as part of the panel’s investigations into the prosecutor’s work. ‘Due to your service as Special Counsel, the Committee believes that you possess information that is vital to its oversight of this matter,’ Jordan wrote. He also asked Smith to produce records to the committee in addition to his testimony. A lawyer for Smith, Peter Koski, said in a statement that Smith had offered nearly six weeks ago to appear before the committee in an open hearing but would nonetheless appear as requested for the deposition.” (12/03/25)
