U.S. President Donald Trump announced late Monday that Israel and Iran have agreed to a complete and total ceasefire, bringing what he dubbed “The 12-Day War” to an end. The announcement followed days of intense fighting that saw Israeli strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, Iranian missile barrages on Israeli cities, and U.S. military intervention.

Air defense systems were activated across the Middle East after Iran said it had launched missiles at U.S. bases ,including in Qatar, as videos filmed by residents in Qatar showed flashes and explosions.

Iran launched a barrage of missiles Monday targeting U.S. military installations in Qatar and Iraq, marking its first direct military retaliation after President Donald Trump ordered strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities over the weekend.

The United States is bracing for potential Iranian retaliation against American forces in the Middle East, which could come as early as Tuesday, according to senior U.S. officials cited by Reuters. This follows U.S. and Israeli strikes over the weekend that targeted and reportedly destroyed key Iranian nuclear facilities in Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan during Operation Midnight Hammer.

President Donald Trump on Monday issued a stark warning on Truth Social after former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev appeared to threaten that other nations could arm Iran with nuclear warheads in response to U.S. airstrikes.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei dispatched his foreign minister to Moscow on Monday in a bid to secure stronger support from Russian President Vladimir Putin, following devastating U.S. airstrikes that targeted Iranian nuclear facilities over the weekend.

Officials say Russian drones and missiles have killed at least five civilians in nighttime attacks on Ukraine, including in the capital Kyiv, while injuring at least 20 people. The impact of Monday’s air raids reverberated while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Britain to discuss issues such as improving Ukraine’s defense capabilities.

The United Nations Security Council convened an emergency session on Sunday to address the fallout from U.S. airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, as Russia, China, and Pakistan proposed a resolution calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire across the Middle East. The draft resolution, which also condemns attacks on Iran’s nuclear sites, stops short of naming the United States or Israel but is expected to face strong opposition from Washington.

Ukrainian Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) journalist Vladyslav Yesypenko has been freed after four years in Russian custody “in occupied Crimea,” the U.S.-backed network said.

Russia on Sunday condemned American airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities and issued a stark warning: the attacks could push other nations to provide Tehran with nuclear weapons. The strikes, carried out under Operation Midnight Hammer, targeted Iran’s Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan sites overnight Saturday, involving more than 125 U.S. aircraft, including seven B-2 Spirit stealth bombers.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which has been designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the United States, said early Monday that three of its leaders were killed in an Israeli strike on Beirut, the first such attack within the Lebanese capital’s city limits.

Israel’s military has confirmed Saturday that it killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and “most” senior leaders of the Iran-backed Islamic group.

The Israeli Air Force carried out massive targeted airstrikes in the Lebanese capital of Beirut as part of efforts to eliminate Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, Israeli and U.S. sources say.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Iran and its proxies Hamas and Hezbollah that Israel will continue to fight till the Jewish nation can live in peace, and he called for closer ties with Saudi Arabia.

The head of one of Hezbollah’s arial forces has been killed in an Israeli strike on Beirut, the Lebanese capital, security sources say.

Making no mention of the Lebanese Hezbollah terrorist group that the Israelis have been battling since October 8, the United States, Britain, EU, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and others on Wednesday called for an immediate 21-day ceasefire between “Lebanon and Israel” for diplomats to find a solution to the crisis.

Hezbollah confirmed it fired “a ballistic missile” toward the Tel Aviv area Wednesday, targeting the headquarters of Israel’s intelligence agency, Mossad, but the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said they intercepted the rocket.

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday told the White House that the Biden administration would not be allowed to request congressional approval for a further $24 billion in aid for Ukraine by the end of the year, explaining that incoming President-elect Trump should be the one to make such a request, the Hill reports.

The US Navy is turning a costly misstep into a strategic advantage by retrofitting the guided-missile destroyer USS Zumwalt with the Navy’s first shipborne hypersonic weapon, according to Defense News. The move is understood to be a response to pressure from Russia and China, which have recently tested hypersonic weapons.

A tsunami warning was lifted after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck offshore near Cape Mendocino in Northern California on Thursday, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reported. The tremor, recorded at around 10:44 a.m., occurred roughly 62 miles west of Ferndale, California, according to the agency.

Artificial intelligence (AI) developer OpenAI and high-tech military manufacturer Anduril Industries are rushing to develop AI technology for the U.S. military amid concerns that China will win the race in this field.

The United States Supreme Court on Wednesday (December 4) heard oral arguments in a landmark case to determine whether Tennessee can ban puberty blockers, hormonal treatments, and sex-change surgeries for minors who identify as transgender.

Donald J. Trump appointed Peter Navarro, his former adviser who served prison time for “refusing” to cooperate with a congressional investigation, as his senior counselor.

The head of America’s biggest health insurer, UnitedHealthcare, has been killed in an apparently “targeted attack” following an early morning shooting outside an investor meeting in New York, police say.