December 3, 2015 (Thursday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Military intervention against ISIL, Operation Tidal Wave II
- The United Kingdom's Royal Air Force bombs Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant-controlled oil wells in eastern Syria. At least four Tornado GR4 fighter jets, operating out of RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, were involved in raids. The Ministry of Defence said initial analysis "indicates that the strikes were successful". (Sky News)
- Syrian Civil War, 2015 Russian Sukhoi Su-24 shootdown
- Russian president Vladimir Putin addresses the shootdown of one of their jets in Syria by the Turkish Air Force. He goes on to say that "if anyone thinks Russia's reaction will be limited to trade sanctions, they are deeply mistaken". (BBC via MSN)
- Iraqi Civil War (2014–2017), American-led intervention in Iraq
- Following the Obama Administration's pledge of additional Special Operations troops to Iraq, several members of Iraq’s ruling alliance state that only the Iraqi Parliament can authorize the action, and political associates of Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi report such a troop expansion would be unacceptable. Several members of Iraqi militias have also decried a deployment of more U.S. troops. During the pull out from Iraq, president Obama promised there would be no more "boots on the ground" in Iraq again. (Reuters)
Arts and culture
- Israel’s Holocaust and Remembrance Center posthumously adds U.S. Army Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds to the list of the Righteous Among the Nations for his actions in 1945 at a Nazi prisoner of war camp. (NPR), (Yad Vashem)
- Harvard Law School officials are reviewing the use of the school’s seal that includes three bushels of wheat, which also appears on Isaac Royall's family coat of arms. Royall, a slaveholder whose father was known to be a cruel owner, left part of his estate to help found the law school. (MSNBC), (The Boston Globe)
Business and economy
- Samsung concedes to surrender $548 million to Apple Inc. over previously court-held ruling in patent dispute over copying the look of the iPhone. (Reuters)
International relations
- European migrant crisis
- EU ministers discuss suspending the Schengen passport-free travel zone for two years, on the basis that the migrant crisis has exposed “serious deficiencies” at the Greek border that endanger the overall area. (The Financial Times), (BBC)
- The Swedish government wants to be able to close the Øresund Bridge connecting Sweden to Denmark if the country's record refugee influx continues. (The Local)
- Germany's Federal Intelligence Service (BND) says Saudi Arabia is at risk of becoming a major destabilizing influence in the Arab world due to the diplomatic stance of some senior members of the House of Saud. (The Telegraph)
- Iran–Russia relations
- Russia begins deliveries of its S-300 air defense systems to Iran. (Reuters)
Law and crime
- Trial of Oscar Pistorius
- A court convicts South African athlete Oscar Pistorius of the murder of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on appeal and faces a minimum of 15 years in prison. (NBC News)
- 2015 FIFA corruption case
- U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch announces criminal corruption charges against 16 FIFA officials in an indictment that expands Justice's May filing that indicted 14 officials associated with FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) and related sports marketing companies. At U.S. authorities request, Swiss police arrest two South American FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) officials at the five-star Baur au Lac hotel in Zürich, on suspicion of accepting "millions of dollars" in bribes. In addition, eight of the defendants indicted in May have pleaded guilty. (CNN), (The New York Daily News)
- Upper Big Branch Mine disaster
- A court convicts Donald Blankenship, former CEO of Massey Energy Company, of violating safety standards that led to the deaths of 29 Upper Big Branch mine workers in Montcoal, West Virginia in 2010. He is acquitted of making false statements and deceiving regulators. Blankenship, who faces up to one year in prison and a fine of $250,000, is the most prominent American coal executive ever to be convicted of a charge connected to the deaths of miners. (The New Yorker), (NPR) (The Christian Science Monitor), (The New York Times)
- The Obama Administration through Defense Secretary Ash Carter announces that all combat roles in the U.S. military will be opened to women. (CNN), (The Washington Times)
- An Illinois circuit court, in an emergency order, rules Chicago authorities must notify journalists and activists before they destroy decades of records related to police misconduct. (The Washington Post), (The Chicago Sun-Times)[permanent dead link]
Politics and elections
Sports
- 2015 NFL season
- In American football, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers throws a 61-yard Hail Mary pass to tight end Richard Rodgers II to give the team a 27-23 victory against the Detroit Lions and advance to 8-4. The pass is the longest game-winning Hail Mary play in National Football League history. (ESPN) (Wisconsin State Journal)