Germany has officially deployed the advanced Arrow 3 missile defense system, acquired from Israel for approximately €4 billion, significantly bolstering its aerial defense capabilities against long-range ballistic missiles. Inaugurated on December 3, 2025, this strategic acquisition not only enhances Germany's national security but also forms a crucial part of the European Sky Shield Initiative, strengthening NATO's European pillar.
In a significant humanitarian decision, the Indian Union Government has agreed to repatriate pregnant woman Sunali Khatun and her eight-year-old son, Sabir, who were previously deported to Bangladesh. This move follows a crucial intervention by the Supreme Court of India, which emphasized that "law has to bend to humanity" and directed provisions for their welfare.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung is reportedly considering an official apology to Pyongyang regarding alleged cross-border drone provocations ordered by his predecessor, former President Yoon Suk-yeol, who is currently on trial for these actions. This potential diplomatic overture, aimed at repairing strained inter-Korean relations after Yoon's impeachment, carries significant domestic political risks for President Lee despite his personal inclination to make amends.
Anthropic has unveiled its Claude Opus 4.5 model, which achieved an impressive 80.9% on the rigorous SWE-bench Verified benchmark, setting a new industry standard for autonomous software engineering. This advanced AI not only surpassed leading competitors and human job candidates in complex tasks but is also now more accessible through reduced pricing and wide availability across major platforms.
San Francisco has filed an unprecedented lawsuit against ten major food manufacturers, including Coca-Cola and Nestlé, alleging their ultra-processed foods are directly fueling a public health crisis. This groundbreaking legal action, announced on December 2, 2025, seeks to hold these corporations accountable for diseases like Type 2 diabetes and cancer, claiming they deliberately engineered addictive products and disproportionately harmed vulnerable communities.
The Trump administration has enacted a sweeping freeze on all immigration applications from 19 countries, a move that includes the cancellation of citizenship ceremonies across the United States, citing escalating national security and public safety concerns. This significant policy shift, detailed in a new USCIS memo, is expected to impact millions of applicants and may lead to an expanded travel ban encompassing over 30 nations.
Researchers from the University of Tokyo have potentially made a groundbreaking discovery, detecting a halo of high-energy gamma rays that strongly aligns with theoretical predictions for dark matter particle annihilation, possibly marking humanity's first direct observation of the elusive substance. This exciting finding, led by Professor Tomonori Totani, suggests dark matter could be a new particle beyond the Standard Model, though experts emphasize the critical need for independent verification.
A new UNCTAD report paints a challenging picture for the global economy, projecting a slowdown in growth to 2.6% in 2025 due to financial market volatility and geopolitical uncertainty, which disproportionately burdens developing economies. This economic deceleration is tragically compounded by a surge in modern slavery, now affecting 50 million people globally, highlighting the profound human cost intertwined with increasing global instability.
President Donald Trump announced imminent land strikes against drug traffickers in the Caribbean, marking a significant escalation in U.S. anti-narcotics efforts following an extensive military buildup and prior sea-based operations. This aggressive move, primarily targeting Venezuelan traffickers but also warning other nations like Colombia, aims to curb drug flow into the U.S. despite drawing international criticism.
Russian President Vladimir Putin declared Russia "ready" for war with Europe following high-stakes peace talks with the United States regarding the Ukraine conflict that concluded without a significant breakthrough. Putin further escalated tensions by accusing European leaders of sabotaging peace efforts and rejecting their proposed amendments to a U.S. peace plan, leaving both sides no closer to resolving the nearly four-year-old conflict.
Merck is poised to unveil crucial first-in-human data for its investigational Alzheimer's drug candidates, MK-2214 and MK-1167, at the prestigious Clinical Trials on Alzheimer's Disease (CTAD) 2025 conference in San Diego. Adding to this momentum, MK-2214 has already secured FDA Fast Track Designation, accelerating its development in the urgent fight against this debilitating disease.
Chile has inaugurated South America's first Bio-LNG (liquefied biomethane) plant in its Ñuble region, a significant step towards cleaner energy and decarbonization by converting organic waste into a sustainable fuel. This pioneering facility, a collaboration between Spain's HAM Group, HAM Chile, and Empresas Lipigas, will supply renewable Bio-LNG to heavy-duty truck fleets across Chile and into Peru, with ambitious plans for capacity expansion.