A Marine veteran who used a chokehold on an agitated subway rider was acquitted on Monday in a death that became a prism for differing views about public safety, valor and vigilantism. A Manhattan jury delivered the verdict, clearing Daniel Penny of criminally negligent homicide in Jordan Neely’s death last year. A more serious manslaughter charge was dismissed earlier in deliberations because the jury deadlocked on that count. Both charges were felonies and carried the possibility of prison time. Penny, 26, gripped Jordan Neely around the neck for about six minutes in a chokehold that other subway passengers partially captured on video.

Even before the French and German governments collapsed, Europe’s economy had enough difficulties. Tepid growth and lagging competitiveness versus the U.S. and China. An auto industry that’s struggling. Where to find billions for defense against Russia? And now Donald Trump threatening tariffs. Solutions will be harder to find while the two countries that make up almost half of the eurozone economy remain stuck in political paralysis well into 2025. Where once there was the so-called French-German axis to push Europe ahead, now there’s a vacuum. French Prime Minister Michel Barnier resigned Thursday after losing a vote of confidence, and while President Emmanuel Macron will appoint a successor, the new head of government will lack a majority.

The IDF has announced the deaths of three soldiers and injuries to 12 others during clashes in northern Gaza earlier today. The fallen soldiers are: – Staff Sgt. Ido Zano, 20, a combat medic with the Givati Brigade’s Shaked Battalion, from Yehud-Monosson. – Staff Sgt. Barak Daniel Halpern, 19, a squad commander in the same battalion, from Kiryat Ono. – Sgt. Omri Cohen, 19, also of the Shaked Battalion, from Ashdod. Among the injured are a Givati reservist and a Sky Riders Unit soldier from the Artillery Corps, both in serious condition. The IDF has yet to release full details about the incident, which occurred in the Jabalia area. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Hundreds of Syrian refugees gathered at two border crossings in southern Turkey on Monday, eagerly anticipating their return home following the fall of President Bashar Assad’s government. Many arrived at the Cilvegozu and Oncupinar border gates at daybreak, draped in blankets and coats. Some camped by the barriers of the border crossing, warming themselves with makeshift fires or resting on the cold ground. The crossings correspond to the Bab al-Hawa and Bab al-Salameh gates on the Syrian side of the border. Among those waiting at Cilvegozu was 28-year-old Muhammed Zin, who was excited at the prospect of returning home. He fled Damascus in 2016 and has been living and working in Istanbul. “Assad was shooting us, killing us,” he told The Associated Press. “I will return to Syria now.

Donald Trump said he can’t guarantee that his promised tariffs on key U.S. foreign trade partners won’t raise prices for American consumers and he suggested once more that some political rivals and federal officials who pursued legal cases against him should be imprisoned. The president-elect, in a wide-ranging interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” that aired Sunday, also touched on monetary policy, immigration, abortion and health care, and U.S. involvement in Ukraine, Israel and elsewhere.

In a dramatic response to the collapse of the Bashar al-Assad regime, Israeli Air Force (IAF) fighter jets conducted extensive airstrikes across Syria on Sunday, targeting weapon stockpiles and military infrastructure that Israel feared could fall into the hands of hostile forces. Dozens of IAF aircraft struck numerous targets described as “strategic weapons,” including advanced missile storage sites, air defense systems, and weapon production facilities, according to defense sources. Reports also indicated that Israeli jets targeted a chemical weapons site overnight Sunday. Key sites hit in the strikes included the Khalkhala air base north of Sweida, where Syrian forces had reportedly abandoned large stockpiles of missiles and munitions.

An Israeli source said that Israel is holding indirect talks with the Syrian rebel groups who captured Syria in recent days, Arutz Sheva reported on Monday. The communication is being carried out via the Druze populations in Israel and Syria, the Kurdish population, foreign intelligence organizations, and the US. “There is someone to speak to on the other side and messages were passed,” the source said, adding that Israel plans to continue carrying out airstrikes throughout Syria to destroy weapons caches from the Assad regime. The source also said that the US has been informed of Israel’s actions and is fully supportive. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

President-elect Donald Trump has announced that he is appointing one of his defense attorneys in the New York hush money case as counselor to the president. Alina Habba, 40, defended Trump earlier this year, also serving as his legal spokesperson. Habba has been spending time with the president-elect since the election at his Florida club Mar-a-Lago. “She has been unwavering in her loyalty and unmatched in her resolve — standing with me through numerous ‘trials,’ battles and countless days in Court,” Trump posted on his social network Truth Social.

Earth just experienced its second-warmest November on record — second only to 2023 — making it all but certain that 2024 will end as the hottest year ever measured, according to a report Monday by European climate service Copernicus. Last year was the hottest on record. But after this summer registered as the hottest on record — Phoenix sweltered through 113 consecutive days with a high temperature of at least 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.7 Celsius) — scientists were anticipating that 2024 would set a new annual record as well. In November, global temperatures averaged 14.10C (57.38F). Last year’s global average temperature was 14.98C (59F). Through November, this year’s average global temperature is 0.14C (32F) above the same period last year.

South Korea’s Justice Ministry on Monday imposed an overseas travel ban on President Yoon Suk Yeol as authorities investigate allegations of rebellion and other charges in connection with his short-lived declaration of martial law last week. Yoon’s martial law decree on Dec. 3, which brought special forces troops onto Seoul’s streets, plunged South Korea into political turmoil and caused worry among its key diplomatic partners and neighbors. On Saturday, Yoon avoided an opposition-led bid to impeach him, with most governing party lawmakers boycotting a parliamentary vote. But opposition parties vowed to submit a new impeachment motion against him this week.