President Biden has spared the lives of 37 men on federal death row. Earlier today, Biden commuted their sentences to life without parole, just weeks before President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House. In a statement, Biden said, “I am more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level. In good conscience, I cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted.” Bryan Stevenson, the founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, praised Biden’s decision, calling it “an important turning point in ending America’s tragic and error-prone use of the death penalty.”

Biden did not commute the sentences of three men on federal death row: Dylann Roof, who killed nine Black parishioners at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina; Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev; and Robert Bowers, who attacked Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue in 2018, killing 11 congregants in the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history.

The head of the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA, has accused Israel of escalating attacks across the Gaza Strip. UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini said, “Attacks on schools and hospitals have been commonplace. The world must not become numb. All wars have rules. All of those rules have been broken.”

On Friday, an Israeli airstrike on the Jabaliya refugee camp killed 12 members of a family, including seven children. In a separate attack Friday, an Israel drone struck a residential building in the Nuseirat refugee camp, killing at least eight people. Overnight, Israeli drones attacked the so-called safe zone of al-Mawasi, killing at least 11 people and setting tents on fire.

In northern Gaza, Israel continues to attack Kamal Adwan Hospital. Israel has used tanks, snipers and quadcopters to attack the medical center, where over 400 civilians have sought medical care and shelter. This is Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital.

Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya: “We do not know why we are being bombed, and we do not know why we are being targeted in this way, despite us asking the world for international protection. We continue to appeal to the world and remind them that there are Geneva Conventions that the world sings praises of. This includes the protection of the healthcare system and the protection of hospital staff. Up until this moment, unfortunately, we are being targeted in full view of the entire world, but, unfortunately, falling on deaf ears.”

This comes as a new report by Oxfam finds that just 12 aid trucks have managed to distribute aid to starving Palestinian civilians in northern Gaza over the past two-and-a-half months. In three cases, Israel shelled schools-turned-shelters just hours after aid was delivered.

On Saturday, Pope Francis condemned what he called the “cruelty” of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza.

Pope Francis: “Cardinal Re spoke about the war. Yesterday they did not let the patriarch enter into Gaza as they had promised. And yesterday children were bombed. This is cruelty. This is not war. I wanted to say this because it touches the heart.”

Turkey’s foreign minister traveled to Damascus Sunday to meet with Syria’s new de facto ruler Ahmed al-Sharaa, the head of the Islamist group HTS that toppled the Assad regime. According to press accounts, they discussed the need for Syria to draft a new constitution, the future of the Kurds, and Israel’s attacks on Syrian sovereignty. Meanwhile, the Biden administration is moving to lift a $10 million bounty the U.S had placed on al-Sharaa over his links to al-Qaeda. On Friday, a U.S. delegation met with him in Damascus. The foreign ministers of Jordan and Qatar are in the Syrian capital for meetings today. Meanwhile, the Pentagon has acknowledged there are now about 2,000 U.S. troops in Syria — more than double the previously announced figure of 900.

Over the weekend, Congress reached a deal to avert a federal shutdown by passing a slimmed-down temporary government spending plan that will fund the government until mid-March. The final vote came days after the world’s richest man and Trump adviser Elon Musk helped torpedo an earlier version of the spending bill that had been negotiated by Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson. Several key initiatives were then removed from the bill, including $190 million for children’s cancer research. A provision to suspend the debt ceiling was also removed despite that being a top demand of Donald Trump. Biden signed the new funding legislation on Saturday.

The House Ethics Committee has determined former Florida Republican Congressmember Matt Gaetz committed statutory rape involving a 17-year-old high school student whom he paid to have sex with. The 37-page ethics report is expected to be formally released today. CBS obtained a leaked version of the report, which states, “The Committee determined there is substantial evidence that Representative Gaetz violated House Rules and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, impermissible gifts, special favors or privileges, and obstruction of Congress.” Last month, Donald Trump picked Gaetz to be his attorney general, but Gaetz stepped aside as outrage grew over his selection.

President-elect Trump has threatened to retake the Panama Canal if Panama doesn’t lower fees for U.S. ships. The United States controlled the waterway since the early 20th century, but in 1977 President Jimmy Carter signed a landmark treaty to give Panama control of the canal. Trump made the threat during a speech Sunday in Arizona.

President-elect Donald Trump: “If the principles, both moral and legal, of this magnanimous gesture of giving are not followed, then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to the United States of America in full, quickly and without question.”

Panama’s President José Raúl Mulino rejected Trump’s threat in a video posted online.

President José Raúl Mulino: “I want to express that every square meter of the Panama Canal and its adjacent areas belong to Panama and will continue to belong to Panama. The sovereignty and independence of our country are not negotiable.”

On Sunday, Donad Trump also posted a message online saying the United States should take ownership of Greenland, which is controlled by Denmark. Trump wrote, “For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity.” Trump’s statement on Greenland was made as he announced he was picking PayPal co-founder Ken Howery as his pick for United States ambassador to Denmark.

Germany is in mourning after a man drove his car into a Christmas market in the city of Magdeburg. Four women and a 9-year-old boy were killed. About 200 were injured. Police arrested a Saudi-born man who had a long history of posting messages on social media criticizing his former faith of Islam while voicing support for the far right anti-immigrant AfD — Alternative for Germany — party. Saudi Arabia had once warned Germany that the man, Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, posed a threat.

In other German-related news, the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, has weighed into German politics ahead of their upcoming elections by supporting the far-right AfD. Early on Friday, Musk posted a message on his platform X that read, “Only the AfD can save Germany.”

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has ruled against El Salvador in a historic abortion case. The court ruled El Salvador violated the rights of a woman named Beatriz, who was denied an abortion in 2013 even though her life was in danger due to her high-risk pregnancy. The court ordered El Salvador to allow doctors to perform abortions in cases of “pregnancies that pose a risk to the woman’s life and health.” El Salvador has one of the strictest abortion bans in the world. In San Salvador, women celebrated the Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruling.

Deysi Rivas: “We’ve received numerous messages globally. I want to express gratitude for the immense solidarity and celebrate this decision toward us women. It’s a victory for the feminist movement, which has stood by Beatriz’s case for 11 years.”

In another major decision, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights has ruled the nation of Colombia violated the rights of the U’wa Indigenous people by authorizing oil, gas and mining projects on their land. The group EarthRights International said the historic decision could set a precedent for the protection of Indigenous peoples in Colombia and across Latin America. The court determined Colombia had an obligation to consult Indigenous peoples about extractive projects that may affect them.

A new investigation by The Washington Post has determined that more than 3,100 Indigenous students died at boarding schools in the United States between 1828 and 1970. That figure is three times the number of deaths reported earlier this year by the U.S. Interior Department. The Post’s yearlong investigation also found more than 800 students were buried in cemeteries at or near the schools, which were designed to crush Native American culture. Many of the children had been forcibly removed from their families and tribes.

The top uniformed police officer in New York City has resigned after coming under investigation that he repeatedly pressured female officers to have sex with him. Jeffrey Maddrey had served as chief of department since he was appointed in 2022 by his close friend, New York Mayor Eric Adams. One New York police lieutenant said Maddrey exploited her emotional and financial vulnerabilities to coerce her into sex in exchange for opportunities to make extra money by working overtime.

The Times of Israel is reporting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is planning to skip a major event in Poland next month to mark 80 years since the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz out of fears he might be arrested for committing war crimes in Gaza. In November, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu, as well as his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant. Poland’s deputy foreign minister recently confirmed Poland would comply with the ICC arrest warrants if Netanyahu visited Poland.