5 December 2023; MEMO: The former chief of Israel’s Shin Bet security service, on Monday, called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to step down immediately, Anadolu Agency reports.

In an article published by Israeli Channel 12, Yuval Diskin said Netanyahu’s behaviour since 7 October “explains well why he must go home now.”

5 December 2023; MEMO: The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), a major global rights group operating in Palestine, said Tuesday that civilian deaths in Gaza are a stain on Israel and its allies, Anadolu Agency reports.

“The pulverising of Gaza now ranks amongst the worst assaults on any civilian population in our time and age. Each day we see more dead children and new depths of suffering for the innocent people enduring this hell,” NRC’s Secretary-General, Jan Egeland, said in a statement.

6 December 2023; MEMO: The Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades announced yesterday that its fighters have targeted 25 Israeli military vehicles in various areas in the city of Khan Yunis in the besieged Gaza Strip, the Safa news agency reported.

LONDON (AP) — Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson defended his handling of COVID-19 on Wednesday at a public inquiry into the pandemic, saying his government “got some things wrong” but did its best.

Johnson began two days of questioning under oath by lawyers for the judge-led inquiry about his initial reluctance to impose a national lockdown in early 2020 and other fateful decisions.

5 December 2023; MEMO: Turkish President, Tayyip Erdogan, said on Monday that Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, would eventually be tried as a war criminal over Israel’s ongoing offensive in the Gaza Strip, while slamming Western countries supporting Israel, Reuters reports.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will sign an executive order on Wednesday during a tribal nations summit that aims to make it easier for Native Americans to access federal funding and have greater autonomy over how to invest those funds.

“Tribal nations still face unacceptable barriers to fully exercising their inherent sovereignty, and really too often that occurs because of the way we are administering federal funding programs,” said Neera Tanden, White House domestic policy adviser.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate in a single stroke Tuesday approved about 425 military promotions after Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama ended a monthslong blockade of nominations over his opposition to a Pentagon abortion policy.

Tuberville had been under pressure from members of both sides of the political aisle to end his holds as senators complained about the toll it was taking on service members and their families, and on military readiness.

President Joe Biden called the Senate’s action long overdue and said the military confirmations should never have been held up.

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis said Wednesday he was feeling “much better” after a two-week bout of bronchitis but again asked an aide to read his remarks.

Francis, who had part of one lung removed as a young man, told his weekly general audience that he still gets tired if he speaks too much.

Francis, who turns 87 on Dec. 17, came down with the flu on Nov. 25 and was forced to cancel a planned trip to Dubai to participate in the U.N. climate conference. He later revealed he had been diagnosed with an acute case of infectious bronchitis that made breathing difficult.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department on Wednesday said it has filed war crime charges against four members of the Russian military accused of abducting and torturing an American during the invasion of Ukraine in a case that’s the first of its kind.

The case marks the first prosecution against Russians in connection with atrocities during their war against Ukraine and is the first war crimes case involving the victimization of an American, officials said.

BOSTON (AP) — President Joe Biden told campaign donors Tuesday that he wasn’t sure he’d be running for reelection if Donald Trump wasn’t also in the race, warning that democracy is “more at risk in 2024” and that the former president and his allies are out to “destroy” democratic institutions.

The president was using a trio of fundraisers to caution against what might happen should his predecessor again claim control of the White House, noting that Trump has described himself as his supporters’ “retribution” and has vowed to root out “vermin” in the country.

MEXICO CITY, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Tuesday that the United States would be "responsible for Ukraine's defeat" if Congress fails to approve the Biden administration's latest multi-billion-dollar funding request for the war-torn country.

Yellen told reporters on a trip to Mexico City that the funding - particularly for Ukraine's general government budget support - was "utterly essential" and a pre-condition to keep International Monetary Fund support flowing to Ukraine.

5 December 2023; MEMO: Firearm Licensing Department Director at the Israeli Ministry of National Security, Yisrael Avisar, resigned on Sunday in protest of the reckless licensing regulations applied under extremist Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has fast-tracked thousands of civilian gun permits, claiming it boosts public security.