Good morning, and welcome to The Epoch Times News Brief for Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. I’m Bill Thomas, we have some pressing stories to share with you right now, and here’s what’s going on.
The Biden administration sends a hefty security package to Ukraine, the South Korean president lifts his hours-long martial law order, and a new congressional report reveals the likely origin of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Also, President-elect Donald Trump promises to take action regarding the sale of a major U.S. manufacturer, and he also says he’ll attend an upcoming gathering of world leaders in Europe this weekend—and we’ll tell you what it’s all about.
Biden Administration to Send $725 Million Security Aid Package to Ukraine
The White House has just announced a new $725 million military aid package for Ukraine, as the president seeks to strengthen that country’s position in its war with Russia before his term ends in January.Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the package will include ammunition for mobile rocket systems, Stinger missiles, artillery shells, drones, landmines, and more.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Ukraine will receive the aid by mid-January, and he added that it will include “hundreds of thousands” of artillery rounds.
He said the outgoing president has directed his team to spend “all funding available” that has been approved by Congress for Ukraine’s defense.
Sullivan went on to say the president has authorized the use of anti-personnel landmines in Ukraine and has adjusted his stance regarding the “use of U.S.-provided long-range missiles” due to the involvement of North Korean soldiers in the Russian war.
The national security adviser emphasized that Biden is “seeking to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position” before his term ends. However, it’s worth noting that Russian President Vladimir Putin recently said that Biden’s reported authorization of Ukraine’s use of missiles to target Russian territory could complicate the incoming Trump administration’s efforts to engage in peace talks.
For his part, Blinken said the aid shows that the United States and more than 50 nations stand united in their efforts to ensure Ukraine has the capabilities it needs to defend itself against Russian aggression.
South Korean President Lifts Martial Law Order
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol lifted his martial law order after the country’s parliament voted to block the measure, and that order has now been disavowed by members of his own political party.In first announcing the order yesterday, Yoon promised to eliminate “anti-state” forces, and he accused the opposing liberal Democratic Party of sympathizing with communist North Korea.
Hours later, members of the country’s parliament voted to lift the declaration.
So you know, South Korean law allows a martial law order to be lifted by a majority vote in the parliament, and all 190 members of the country’s Democratic Party who participated in the vote supported lifting the martial law order.
However, following that vote, the military said the order would remain in effect until the president lifted it. The military personnel eventually left the building, where they clashed with protesters who were assembled outside.
It’s worth noting that the South Korean president won the 2022 election by less than 1 percent of the vote, his approval ratings have stagnated at around 20 percent for months, and earlier this year, his party—called the People Power Party—lost control of the parliament in a landslide election.
Since then, both the president and his party have been locked in disagreements with their liberal opposition over the nation’s 2025 budget bill, as well as efforts to impeach three top prosecutors who were investigating the opposition leader Lee Jae-myung.
House Report Supports Chinese Lab Leak Theory for Origin of COVID-19
A U.S. House of Representatives Republican-led oversight subcommittee has just determined that the COVID-19 virus likely originated from a laboratory in Wuhan, China.Their report was released following a two-year investigation. It found that the Chinese communist regime, along with a number of U.S. government agencies and some members of the international scientific community, sought to cover up facts concerning the pandemic’s origins.
The report concluded that the U.S. National Institutes of Health funded some research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, and that a company called EcoHealth Alliance used U.S. taxpayer dollars to help with the research at the lab.
The subcommittee said that the Wuhan Institute of Virology has a history of conducting research under low biosafety precautions, and that several researchers from the lab became sick with a COVID-like virus months before the first case of the outbreak was allegedly detected at what’s referred to as a wet market.
They also said that COVID-19 possesses biological characteristics that are not found in nature, and that data indicates that all COVID-19 cases stemmed from a single introduction into humans.
The report also stated that at the end of 2019, Taiwan alerted the World Health Organization (WHO) about some unusual “pneumonia cases” in Wuhan. However, the WHO ignored the warnings, and it “caved to pressure from the Chinese Communist Party and placed China’s political interests ahead of its international duties.”
So you know, the subcommittee cited a number of documents from both the U.S. State Department and the director of national intelligence to back up their claims.
Trump Says He Will Block Takeover of US Steel by Japanese Company
Yesterday, Trump announced that he will halt the acquisition of U.S. Steel by Japan’s Nippon Steel Corporation.The president-elect says that he’s “totally against” the purchase of the “once great and powerful” business by “a foreign company.” He said on Truth Social that he would use a series of tax incentives and tariffs to make U.S. Steel strong again, and that he will “block this deal from happening.”
In case you’re not aware, the nearly $15 billion all-cash deal was unveiled a year ago, and if it goes through, it will make U.S. Steel a wholly owned subsidiary of Nippon Steel, one of the largest steel-producing companies in the world.
As part of the deal, the Japanese company agreed to retain the U.S. Steel name as well as its headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It also committed to honoring the employee contract agreements that U.S. Steel has with the United Steelworkers union.
Trump has long opposed what he called a “terrible” deal, and during his first term, his administration imposed 25 percent tariffs on imported steel using a legal provision that allows U.S. presidents to curb imports if they pose a threat to our country’s security.
You should know that a number of Republican lawmakers also oppose the transaction, saying that domestic steel production is “vital” to America’s national security, and earlier this year, President Joe Biden said it was imperative for a U.S. steel company to remain “domestically owned and operated.”
By the way, the deal has the backing of U.S. Steel shareholders, who voted nearly unanimously to support the merger.
Trump to Attend Notre Dame Cathedral Reopening
Yesterday, Trump announced that he’ll attend this weekend’s reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France, marking his first trip abroad since he won last month’s presidential election.The president-elect called the invitation to join the festivities at the “magnificent and historic” cathedral “an honor.” He also said that France’s President Emmanuel Macron has done a “wonderful job” of ensuring that Notre Dame has been restored “to its full level of glory, and even more so,” and that it will be “a very special day for all.”
To refresh your memory, the historic monument has undergone extensive restorations following a destructive fire that devastated the structure in 2019, and the cause of the blaze has never been established.
On Saturday, Macron is scheduled to deliver an address at the historic monument, and the next day, the cathedral is set to reopen to the public and consecrate its new altar during a highly attended Mass.
The Associated Press (AP) reports that the ceremonies held on both Saturday and Sunday will be high-security affairs, and that approximately 50 heads of state are expected to attend.
Before 2019, the cathedral, which was built in the 12th century, attracted over a million visitors each year. Since the fire, it has remained closed to all, except for the artisans and architects working on its restoration.
Now, this is something very interesting: The roof and spire reconstruction involved traditional woodworking methods, and carpenters worked by hand using medieval techniques. Nearly 2,000 oak trees were used to rebuild the roof framework.
And now, it looks like our work is just about done for today, so we’re gonna call it a wrap for the Wednesday edition of the Epoch Times News Brief.
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And finally, as we do each and every day on this program, we wrap everything up with a very notable quote, and this one comes to us from my favorite pet detective, Ace Ventura, who said:
“If I’m not back in five minutes, just wait longer.”
By the way, “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective” had a $15 million dollar budget and made $107 million at the box office.
For all of us here at The Epoch Times News Brief, I’m Bill Thomas.
The Epoch Times News Brief program is written each day by David Ross.
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