WeekDay AM: 10 Things you need to know this morning
Biden pardons son, Syria strikes rebels, and a new treatment for asthma

 
today's middle east story

Russian airstrikes intensify as Syrian rebels advance

What happened 
Russian and Syrian jets are stepping up strikes on opposition forces in northern Syria as rebels continue their sudden offensive after seizing control of the country's second largest city, Aleppo. Warplanes struck the cities of Idlib, Hama and Aleppo as well as rural parts of Idlib province, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Who said what
The Syrian government is "capable, with the help of its allies and friends", of repelling the sudden insurgency, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told the Emirati president, Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan during a flurry of calls to regional allies in Baghdad and Abu Dhabi.

Syria's rebel offensive is "astonishing", said Jeremy Bowen on BBC News, but it is "too soon to write the Assad regime off" given some Syrians see it as "the least bad option". Still, the "illusion of Assad's grip on Syria" has been "suddenly shattered", said Ben Wedeman on CNN. And the reason the "dam broke" is because Syria's key allies – Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah – "are all under pressure and let their guard down".

Iran's top diplomat, Abbas Araghchi, arrived in Damascus yesterday and pledged to help the Syrian government counter the rebels' surprise offensive. But while Iran has been a "key political and military ally", said France24, it was "unclear how Tehran would support Damascus in this latest flare up".

What next? 
The Syrian defence ministry has promised it will "recover all regions". Over the weekend it reinforced defensive lines and sent heavy weaponry to the northern countryside to repel rebel advances.

 
 
today's television story

Wallace accusers criticise his 'dismissive' response

What happened
Two of Gregg Wallace's accusers have criticised the MasterChef presenter's response that allegations made against him came from a "handful of middle-class women of a certain age".

Who said what
Wallace, whose lawyers have denied that he engaged in sexually harassing behaviour, said in an Instagram video yesterday: "Apparently now in the newspaper I can see the complaints coming from a handful of middle-class women of a certain age just from Celebrity MasterChef. This isn't right."

Emma Kennedy, who won Celebrity MasterChef in 2012 and who says she made a complaint about Wallace at the time, said in response to the video: "It doesn't matter what the age of any woman is." Another woman, who previously worked with Wallace but did not make a complaint, told the BBC the video was "so dismissive of the people that have come forward".

What next?
Wallace has stepped back from his role on MasterChef while the allegations – including three of inappropriate touching – are investigated by the BBC.

 
 
Today's US news story

Biden pardons son Hunter

What happened
Joe Biden has used his presidential power to issue a "full and unconditional pardon" to his son Hunter, who is facing sentencing for two criminal cases.

Who said what
In a statement last night, the US president said his son had been "singled out", adding that his charges "came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me".

Hunter Biden was convicted in June by a federal jury for lying on a gun-purchase form. Separately, he pleaded guilty in September to nine federal tax charges.

Presidents "regularly sign pardons at the end of their terms", said Axios, but they "rarely involve cases where their own family members are in the middle of the legal process". 

While Biden had pledged several times not to pardon or commute his son's sentences, "many close to him had expected the pardon would come", said the Washington Post, especially "given the president's loyalty to his family".

What next?
Hunter Biden was set to appear at sentencing hearings on 12 and 16 December, NBC News reported. Judges will now "likely cancel" those appearances, CNN said. His gun conviction carried a potential prison sentence, although some legal analysts said going to jail was relatively unlikely.

 
 

It's not all bad

British scientists have tested the first new treatment for asthma attacks in 50 years, showing it reduces the need for further care by nearly a third. The injection, benralizumab, targets lung inflammation and proved four times more effective than steroid tablets in a trial. It also improved patients' quality of life and reduced the need for follow-up hospital visits. Lead investigator Professor Mona Bafadhel, of King's College, hopes the drug will prove to be a "game-changer" that will revolutionise asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) treatment, benefiting millions worldwide.

 
 
under the radar

Indian space mission's moment in the Sun

India's space scientists are celebrating the "first significant results" from their maiden solar mission, which could help protect the Earth from solar storms.

The spacecraft Aditya-L1 – named after the Hindu god of the Sun – has captured data that helped scientists predict the exact time of coronal mass ejections (CMEs). These are "massive fireballs" that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer, said the BBC.

A single CME "could weigh up to a trillion kgs and can attain a speed of up to 3,000km per second", said R Ramesh of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics. Imagine that "hurtling towards Earth".

CMEs can interfere with Earth's magnetic field, making satellites malfunction or knocking down power grids. Our lives "fully depend on communication satellites", Ramesh told the broadcaster. CMEs can "trip the internet, phone lines and radio communication", causing "absolute chaos". But if scientists can spot what's happening on the Sun in real time, this can "work as a forewarning to switch off power grids and satellites".

Nasa, the European Space Agency, and Japanese and Chinese space scientists have been running solar-observation missions for decades, but India's Aditya-L1 was only launched in September 2023. 

Yet the country has already "accomplished great things" in space, said The Hill. Last year, India became the first to land a probe on the Moon's south pole and has orbited Mars. This year, it approved its largest-ever allocation of funds for several new space projects. Plans include a crewed mission to the Moon, an orbiter to Venus, and the first phase of a space station. Its ambition to become "a major space power" – on par with the US and China – is "breathtaking".

 
 
on this day

2 December 1823

United States President James Monroe enacted the "Monroe Doctrine", opposing European colonialism in America and arguing the Western Hemisphere should be free of intervention from outside powers. Donald Trump has threatened the resurrection of the doctrine ahead of his second term as president that begins next year. It is thought a Monroe 2.0 would focus on defence issues, investment and China's role in Latin America.

 
 
Today's newspapers

Growing anger against MasterChef host Gregg Wallace dominates several papers today. The Daily Star tells him "when you're in a really, really, really deep hole, stop digging". A group of MPs, doctors and charities have "drawn up a blueprint to overhaul palliative care", says The Guardian. The Financial Times says that Russian and Syrian warplanes have "stepped up" attacks on rebels who took Aleppo in a "lightning assault that poses the biggest challenge in years to Bashar al-Assad's regime".

See the newspaper front pages

 
 
tall tale

Pricey snack attack

The cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun has taken a bite worth $6.2m (£4.88m), after buying "Comedian", a conceptual art piece by Maurizio Cattelan at Sotheby's auction last week. The artwork featured a banana duct-taped to the wall – a piece Sun called "iconic" and was in "disbelief" to have won, reported the Guardian. The entrepreneur said the work "could become something big", that is until he decided to eat it. But, it was worth it, Sun said to a crowd of journalists and influencers gathered to watch. It was "much better than other Bananas","really quite good".

 
 

Morning Report was written and edited by Arion McNicoll, Harriet Marsden, Tess Foley-Cox and Chas Newkey-Burden, with illustrations by Julia Wytrazek.

Image credits, from top: Bakr Alkasem / AFP via Getty Images; Brendan Smialowski / AFP via Getty Images; Dave Benett / Getty Images for Smiley Charity Film Awards