The Pentagon says US warship, commercial ships attacked in Red Sea. Houthis claim attacking 2 ships

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An American warship and multiple commercial ships came under attack Sunday in the Red Sea, the Pentagon said. Yemen’s Houthi rebels later claimed attacks on two ships they described as being linked to Israel, but did not acknowledge targeting a U.S. Navy vessel.

The attack potentially marked a major escalation in a series of maritime attacks in the Mideast linked to the Israel-Hamas war.

Trump calls Biden the ‘destroyer’ of democracy despite his own efforts to overturn 2020 election

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Former President Donald Trump on Saturday attempted to turn the tables on his likely rival in November, President Joe Biden, arguing that the man whose election victory Trump tried to overturn is “the destroyer of American democracy.”

USA: Three officials have left a pro-DeSantis super PAC in the group’s latest shake-up, AP sources say

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Three senior members of a super PAC backing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis left the group on Saturday, the latest sign of instability within the 2024 hopeful’s political operation just six weeks before the Iowa Republican caucuses.

USA: DeSantis hits Iowa campaign milestone but is still far behind Trump, who again mocked his campaign

NEWTON, Iowa (AP) — Ron DeSantis completed his campaign promise to visit each of Iowa’s 99 counties, crossing a symbolic but also tactical threshold by telling his audience in a central Iowa town “this should show you that I consider myself a servant, not a ruler.”

Former President Donald Trump, who still remains far ahead of DeSantis, mocked him at a larger rally about 100 miles away and said the Florida governor’s campaign was falling “like a very seriously wounded bird.”

Defense head calls out those who advocate isolationism and ‘an American retreat from responsibility’

SIMI VALLEY, Calif. (AP) — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Saturday denounced those who advocate “an American retreat from responsibility” and said sustained U.S. leadership is needed to help keep the world as safe, free and prosperous as possible. He also urged Congress to end the partisan gridlock that has stalled the federal budget and war spending.

France: The fatal stabbing of a German tourist by a suspected radical puts sharp focus on the Paris Olympics

PARIS (AP) — A bloodstain by a bridge over the Seine river was the only remaining sign on Sunday of a fatal knife attack 12 hours earlier on a German tourist, allegedly carried out by a young man under watch for suspected Islamic radicalization after serving prison time for preparing a violent attack.

The random attack near the Eiffel Tower on Saturday night has drawn special concern for the French capital less than a year before it hosts the Olympic Games, with the opening ceremony due to take place along the river in an unprecedented scenic start in the heart of Paris.

Kyiv investigates allegations Russian forces shot surrendering Ukrainian soldiers

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian officials on Sunday launched an investigation into allegations that Russian forces killed surrendering Ukrainian soldiers, a war crime if confirmed, after grainy footage on social media appeared to show two uniformed men being shot at close range after emerging from a dugout.

South Korea: DPRK warns against attack against its space assets

SEOUL, Dec. 2 (Xinhua) -- The Ministry of National Defense of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) warned in a statement Saturday that "any attack against the country's space assets will be deemed as declaration of war," the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

USA: Judge rejects Trump’s claim of immunity in his federal 2020 election prosecution

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump is not immune from prosecution in his election interference case in Washington, a federal judge ruled Friday, knocking down the Republican’s bid to derail the case charging him with plotting to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan’s decision amounts to a sharp rejection to challenges the Trump defense team had raised to the four-count indictment in advance of a trial expected to center on the Republican’s multi-pronged efforts to undo the election won by Democrat Joe Biden.

US targets oil and natural gas industry’s role in global warming with new rule on methane emissions

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration on Saturday issued a final rule aimed at reducing methane emissions, targeting the U.S. oil and natural gas industry for its role in global warming as President Joe Biden seeks to advance his climate legacy.

UAE: Blinken sees goals largely unfulfilled in Mideast trip, even as Israel pledges to protect civilians

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken returned to the Mideast this week pressing for agreements to extend the Gaza cease-fire, step up the release of hostages held by Hamas and limit Palestinian civilian casualties if fighting with Israel resumed. He left Friday with his goals largely unfulfilled.

Blinken wrapped up his third Middle East tour since the Israel-Hamas war started in October with decidedly mixed results. He watched as the seven-day cease-fire agreement collapsed under new Hamas attacks and Israeli airstrikes.

UAE: At COP28 meeting, oil companies pledge to combat methane. Environmentalists call it a “smokescreen”

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Fifty oil companies representing nearly half of global production have pledged to reach near-zero methane emissions and end routine flaring in their operations by 2030, the president of this year’s United Nations climate talks said Saturday, a move that environmental groups called a “smokescreen.”

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