The search for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 will resume this month, the Malaysian transport ministry said, more than a decade after the plane disappeared in one of aviation's greatest mysteries. In a statement on Wednesday (Dec. 3), the ministry confirmed the search would resume on December 30, saying that US-based robotic company Ocean Infinity would recommence a search of the seabed over a period of 55 days, conducted intermittently. Flight MH370 veered off course and vanished from air traffic radar on March 8, 2014, during a routine flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. It was carrying 12 Malaysian crew and 227 passengers, most of whom were Chinese citizens.

Last year, Malaysia said it was willing to reopen an investigation into the disappearance if there was compelling new evidence. In a statement on Wednesday, the Malaysian transport ministry said: "The latest development underscores the government of Malaysia's commitment in providing closure to the families affected by this tragedy."

The Trump administration halted all asylum decisions and paused issuing visas for people travelling on Afghan passports, seizing on the National Guard shooting in the nation's capital to intensify efforts to rein in legal immigration. The suspect in the shooting near the White House that killed Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and critically wounded Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, both of the West Virginia National Guard, is facing charges including first-degree murder. Investigators are seeking to find a motive for the attack.

The suspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, is a 29-year-old Afghan national who had been living in Bellingham, Washington, about 80 miles north of Seattle. He worked with the CIA during the Afghanistan War. He applied for asylum during the Biden administration and was granted it this year under President Donald Trump, according to a group that assists with resettlement of Afghans who helped US forces in their country. The administration is now promising to pause entry from some poor nations and review Afghans already in the US.

Canada joined a major European Union defense fund, Prime Minister Mark Carney's office said, as the country looks to diversify its military spending away from the United States. The plan allows Canadian defense companies access to a 150 billion euro ($170 billion) EU loan program, known as Security Action for Europe, or SAFE. That would allow Canadians firms to secure cheap, EU-backed loans to procure military equipment. "Canada's participation in SAFE will fill key capability gaps, expand markets for Canadian suppliers, and attract European defense investment into Canada," Carney said in a statement.

Canada is the first non-EU country to gain access. Carney has said he intends to diversify Canada's procurement and enhance the country's relationship with the EU. He has previously said that no more will over 70 cents of every dollar of Canadian military capital spending go to the US. Canada has said it will meet NATO's military spending guideline by early next year.

Opium poppy cultivation in Myanmar surged to its highest level in a decade this year as the nation engaged in a civil war remains one of the world's primary suppliers of illicit drugs, according to a United Nations survey. The growth solidifies Myanmar's position as the world's main known source of illicit opium, especially following sharp declines in production in Afghanistan after the ruling Taliban imposed a ban following their 2021 takeover. The Myanmar Opium Survey 2025, issued by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, found the area where opium is cultivated expanded by 17% from 2024 to 53,100 hectares (131,212 acres), the largest area since 2015.

UNODC also has described Myanmar as the largest methamphetamine producer in the world. Meth is easier to make on an industrial scale than labour-intensive opium and is distributed as tablets and crystal meth by land, sea and air around Asia and the Pacific. Opium is processed into morphine and heroin.