5 things to know for Dec. 2: Hunter Biden, extreme weather, Trump family, lost luggage, $6 million banana
By Andrew Torgan, CNN
(CNN) — This holiday season, many parents are weighing an important decision: whether to give into their child’s pleas for a smartphone amid concerns about safety and mental health issues. If, however, you’ve decided to put a first phone on your gift list, these are some ways you can make the experience better.
Here’s what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day.
1. Hunter Biden
President Joe Biden announced Sunday that he has pardoned his son Hunter Biden, who faced sentencing this month for federal tax and gun convictions, marking a reversal as he prepares to leave office. By issuing the pardon, Biden has reneged on a public promise that he made repeatedly before and after dropping out of the 2024 presidential race. The president said in his statement that he decided to issue the pardon because his son was “selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted,” saying that “Hunter was treated differently” from people who commit similar crimes. He added that his political opponents in Congress “instigated” the charges “to attack me and oppose my election.” In a social media post on Sunday night, President-elect Donald Trump called the pardon “such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice!”
2. Extreme weather
As frigid temperatures sweep across a large swath of the US, parts of the Great Lakes region face up to 2 feet of additional lake-effect snow through Tuesday — the latest complication for cities already blanketed by snowfall as post-Thanksgiving travel winds down. Nearly 4 feet of snow fell on parts of western New York over the last few days, according to the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center, with some places exceeding the 4-foot mark on Sunday. Across the country, nearly 70% of the continental US will see temperatures below 32 degrees over the next few days. Some cities, including New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Minneapolis and Cincinnati, will experience below-average temperatures for the entire week.
3. Trump family
Donald Trump has selected billionaire Massad Boulos to serve as his senior adviser on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs — the second time in as many days the president-elect has chosen a family member for a key post. Boulos is the father-in-law of the president-elect’s daughter Tiffany and was heavily involved in campaigning for Trump in Muslim American communities in battleground states. On Saturday, Trump named real estate developer Charles Kushner as the next US ambassador to France. Kushner is the father of Jared Kushner, who is married to Trump’s daughter Ivanka. The elder Kushner was pardoned by Trump in 2020 following a 2005 conviction on federal charges. The selection of his daughters’ fathers-in-law for two critical posts underscores that Trump will continue to lean on trusted family members in his second term.
4. Syria
Syrian and Russian jets are stepping up strikes on opposition forces in northern Syria in retaliation for the sudden offensive that has cost the regime control of Aleppo, the country’s second-largest city. The offensive has also led to the capture by the rebel alliance of an important military base east of Aleppo and large areas of both Aleppo and Idlib provinces. The advances have been met with little resistance on the ground from regime forces and also come at a time when Syria’s key backers — Iran and Russia — are focusing on their own conflicts. The rebels’ sweeping success has posed the biggest challenge in eight years to President Bashar al-Assad, when Russian air power helped reverse rebel gains in the civil war.
5. Georgia protests
Days of protests have rocked Georgia following the government’s controversial decision to delay the former Soviet territory’s bid to join the European Union. Tensions have been brewing for months in the nation of 3.7 million people, where critics accuse the ruling party of following increasingly authoritarian, pro-Russia policies — a turn away from the West that has tempered hopes for Georgia’s long-promised path to EU membership. The protests have been met with a violent police crackdown as the ruling party and thousands of protesters have become locked in a battle over the country’s future and whether it should forge closer ties with Russia or Europe. Georgia, which gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, has pursued EU membership for years, with the goal of joining the bloc written into the country’s constitution.
BREAKFAST BROWSE
A man hid five treasure chests worth more than $2 million across the US
Here’s how to find them.
When body image woes come wrapped in a bow
Giving a fitness gift this holiday season can come across as body-shaming, a not-so-subtle message that a person’s body isn’t good enough, eating disorder experts say.
Shoppers continue indulging in Black Friday sales, but mostly online
Online shoppers spent $10.8 billion on Black Friday, up by $1 billion from 2023, according to Adobe Analytics.
Travelers in the US lose millions of suitcases every year. Their contents wind up here
Thousands of travelers’ lost bags go unclaimed across the US every year. Their contents end up at a sprawling store in Alabama — the only one of its kind in the country.
Australian woman finds deadly snake at her feet while driving 50 mph
The woman — who was driving barefoot — managed to pull over and escape being bitten by a tiger snake, one of the world’s most venomous serpents.
TODAY’S NUMBER
$100,000
That’s how much the Big Ten Conference has fined both Michigan and Ohio State for their involvement in Saturday’s postgame brawl, the conference announced. Following Michigan’s 13-10 victory, a Wolverines player attempted to plant a Michigan banner on the Buckeyes logo at midfield in Ohio Stadium, which led to pushing and shoving and eventually punches being thrown by members of both teams.
TODAY’S QUOTE
“One of the major themes within ‘Wicked’ is having the ability to listen and to understand one another, and I truly hope that is something a lot of you can practice more and take with you.”
— Actress Marissa Bode, asking for kindness after receiving “gross and harmful” comments about her character’s disability on social media since the release of “Wicked.” Bode, who uses a wheelchair, plays Elphaba’s sister Nessarose in the film.
TODAY’S WEATHER
Check your local forecast here>>>
AND FINALLY …
Watch: Collector eats world-famous $6 million banana
Chinese billionaire and cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun recently bought “Comedian,” a Maurizio Cattelan artwork of a duct-taped banana, for an eye-watering $6.24 million. On Friday, he ate it.
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