1: The family of Alejandro Carranza Medina from Colombia became the first to file a formal complaint related to the US boat bombings in the Caribbean, alleging to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on Tuesday that Medina was illegally killed in an airstrike by the US military. The US claims that the bombing targeted a suspected drug boat, but the Medina family’s complaint claims the victim was a fisherman, and that he was unjustly killed.
€210 billion: The European Union is considering a workaround that would allow it to raise up to €210 billion ($245 billion) for Ukraine, using emergency powers to nullify the veto of countries like Hungary and ease Belgium’s concerns over who would have to repay the loan. The funds would be backed by frozen Russian assets in Europe.
9: Republican Matt Van Epps won Tennessee’s special US House election by a narrower-than-expected nine-point margin, despite US President Donald Trump’s strong backing and heavy GOP spending. Democrat Aftyn Behn’s above-expectation performance in the red district energized Democrats, who say the result signals GOP vulnerability ahead of the midterms.
11: The search for the wreckage of the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, which disappeared while flying 239 people from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in 2014, will resume on Dec. 30 – over 11 years since the crash. Exploration firm Ocean Infinity is conducting this latest search, and with a large incentive: it would receive $70 million if it finds the wreckage.
$250: Computer magnates Michael and Susan Dell pledged to deposit $250 into the accounts of 25 million children born between 2016 and 2024. The couple will invest $6.25 billion in total. The accounts will complement the $1,000-accounts that the White House will grant to children born during the second Trump administration.
Over the past two weeks, President of El Salvador Nayib Bukele has sent around 2,000 troops to Haiti to rescue four Salvadoran nationals working in Haiti who were kidnapped by gangs. But the self-proclaimed “world’s coolest dictator” may have bigger ambitions.
In the end, the long-predicted “blue wave” turned into a tsunami as the Democrats, harnessing widespread frustrations over high living costs, opposition to the war in Iran, and misgivings about Trump’s deportation policies, swept back to power on Capitol Hill.
Last night’s wins were not only pivotal, but also broke multiple glass ceilings in American politics.
The elections are widely seen as a referendum on the African National Congress (ANC), the party that has governed South Africa since the end of apartheid, amid frustration over pervasive corruption, crumbling public services, and rising migration.