These were the key developments on the 1,013th day of the Russia-Ukraine war.

Here is the situation on Tuesday, December 3:

Fighting

• Ukraine’s Air Force said that Russia launched 110 drones to attack the country overnight. Of 110 drones, the Air Force shot down 52, while at least 50 were “lost”, it said.
• Russia’s air defence systems destroyed 15 Ukrainian drones over several Russian regions overnight, state news reported, citing the country’s Ministry of Defence.

Military aid and diplomacy

• Ukraine needs more air defence systems to protect its important facilities from Russian missile attacks, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
• Ukraine will need tens of thousands of uncrewed robotic ground vehicles next year to shuttle ammunition and supplies to infantry in the trenches and evacuate wounded soldiers, Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov told the Reuters news agency.
• Norway’s Ministry of Defence said it would deploy F-35 fighter jets and NASAMS (short to medium-range) air defence systems to a logistics hub in Poland that coordinates military aid for Ukraine. From early December, Norway will safeguard the airspace above the Rzeszow airport and will send approximately 100 soldiers in addition to the air defence systems and fighter jets.
• German military aid to be delivered to Ukraine in December includes IRIS-T air defence systems, Leopard 1 tanks and armed drones, a Defence Ministry spokesperson said, just hours after Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced the deliveries during Monday’s surprise visit to Kyiv.
• Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said a wave of pro-European Union protests in Georgia resembled an attempted Ukraine-style Orange Revolution – mass protests in 2004 that removed a pro-Russian government in Kyiv – and local authorities were trying to stabilise the situation, but Russia would not interfere.

• NATO is highly unlikely to heed Ukraine’s call for a membership invitation at a meeting of the bloc set to be held on Tuesday, Reuters reported, citing senior NATO diplomats. In a letter to his NATO counterparts ahead of the meeting, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said an invitation would remove one of Russia’s main arguments for waging its war – preventing Ukraine from joining the alliance.
• US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and his Ukrainian counterpart, Rustem Umerov, held a meeting in which they discussed Russia’s use of new ballistic missiles, preparations for the next meeting of arms donors and plans for Washington’s military aid next year.
• The United States will send Ukraine $725m of missiles, ammunition, antipersonnel mines and other weapons, Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed, as President Joe Biden’s outgoing administration seeks to bolster Kyiv before leaving office in January.
• British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that stepping up support for Ukraine is essential to put Kyiv in a strong position for peace talks with Russia, as he conceded there could be a negotiated end to the war.
• A group of Bulgarian nationals accused of spying for Russia targeted an investigative journalist with the Bellingcat news outlet and tried to lure him into a “honey trap” via Facebook, prosecutors have told a London court. Katrin Ivanova, Vanya Gaberova and Tihomir Ivanchev, along with Orlin Roussev and Bizer Dzhambazov, also carried out surveillance on a US military base in Germany where Ukrainian forces were being trained.
• President Judge of the International Criminal Court Tomoko Akane said threats facing the institution, including possible US sanctions and Russian warrants for staff members, “jeopardise its very existence“. Russia issued an arrest warrant for the ICC’s Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan two months after the court in The Hague issued a warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
• Putin is dragging Asia into the war in Ukraine with the use of Chinese-made drones and North Korean troops, German Minister for Foreign Affairs Annalena Baerbock said during a visit to Beijing.

President-elect Donald Trump has nominated businessman Warren Stephens to serve as America’s ambassador to the United Kingdom.

“Warren has always dreamed of serving the United States full time,” Trump said in a statement on Truth Social. “I am thrilled that he will now have that opportunity as the top diplomat, representing the USA to one of America’s most cherished and beloved allies.”

Stephens, who is CEO of private Arkansas-based investment bank Stephens Inc, donated millions to Trump’s re-election campaign this year.

If his nomination is successful, Stephens will help to maintain the so-called “special relationship” between the US and the UK.

The two countries maintain close military, intelligence, and cultural ties.

Trump has vowed to rework the US’ relationships abroad, vowing to implement an “America-first” ethos to foreign policy.

The role of US ambassador to the UK is one of the most coveted diplomatic positions, and presidents have been known to bestow the role to prominent backers.

During his first term in office, Trump appointed Woody Johnson, a top Republican donor and owner of the American football team the New York Jets, as UK ambassador.

Barack Obama chose long-time Democratic Party fundraiser and lawyer Louis Susman as his first emissary to the UK – or the Court of St James.

Stephens did not always back Trump’s candidacies, however. In 2016, when Trump first ran for president, Stephens donated about $4m (£3.1m) to political groups that sought to stop Trump’s ascent, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported at the time.

The investment banker also donated over $2m to a political action committee that supported former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley as she unsuccessfully ran for president in 2024, the campaign finance watchdog OpenSecrets found.

When Trump ultimately triumphed in this year’s Republican presidential primary, however, Stephens threw his support behind him. Federal campaign finance data show he also donated to Republican groups and US Senate candidates this year.

In a statement, Stephens said he was honoured by the nomination.

“I have expressed to President Trump that I would be extremely proud to serve our country and his administration, working to implement the President’s agenda and further strengthen the long-standing alliance between the United States and the United Kingdom,” he said.

He and his wife also maintain a philanthropic organisation, the Harriet and Warren Stephens Family Foundation, which has donated to the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, the University of Mississippi, and the Episcopal Collegiate School in Little Rock.

Intel chief executive Pat Gelsinger has been forced out less than four years after taking the helm of the company, handing control to two lieutenants as the faltering United States chipmaking icon searches for a permanent replacement.

Gelsinger resigned on December 1, according to a statement from the company on Monday. The resignation came after a board meeting last week during which directors felt Gelsinger’s costly and ambitious plan to turn Intel around was not working and the progress of change was not fast enough, the Reuters news agency reported, citing a person familiar with the matter.

The board told Gelsinger he could retire or be removed, and he chose to step down, according to the source.

His departure comes well before the completion of his four-year roadmap to restore the company’s lead in making the fastest and smallest computer chips, a crown it lost to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, which makes chips for Intel rivals such as Nvidia.

Under Gelsinger’s watch, Intel, which was founded in 1968 and for decades formed the bedrock of Silicon Valley’s global dominance in chips, has withered to a market value more than 30 times smaller than Nvidia, the leader in artificial intelligence chips.

Earlier this month, Nvidia replaced Intel on the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Gelsinger, 63, has assured investors and US officials, who are subsidising Intel’s turnaround, that his manufacturing plans remain on track. The full results, however, will not be known until next year, when the company aims to bring a flagship laptop chip back into its factories.

Interim replacements

Two company executives, David Zinsner and Michelle Johnston Holthaus, will act as interim co-CEOs while the company searches for a replacement for Gelsinger, who has also stepped down from the board, Intel said on Monday.

Gelsinger started at Intel in 1979 and was its first chief technology officer. He returned to the company as chief executive in 2021.

Gelsinger said in a statement that his exit was “bittersweet as this company has been my life for the bulk of my working career”.

“I can look back with pride at all that we have accomplished together. It has been a challenging year for all of us as we have made tough but necessary decisions to position Intel for the current market dynamics,” he said.

Zinsner is the executive vice president and chief financial officer at Intel. Holthaus was appointed to the newly created position of CEO of Intel Products, which includes the client computing, data centre and AI groups.

Frank Yeary, the independent chair of Intel’s board, will become the interim executive chair.

“Pat spent his formative years at Intel, then returned at a critical time for the company in 2021,” Yeary said in a statement. “As a leader, Pat helped launch and revitalize process manufacturing by investing in state-of-the-art semiconductor manufacturing, while working tirelessly to drive innovation throughout the company.”

Gelsinger’s departure comes as Intel’s financial woes have been piling up. The company posted a $16.6bn loss and halted its dividend in the most recent quarter. Its shares have fallen by about 60 percent since he took over as CEO.

Gelsinger announced plans in August to slash 15 percent of Intel’s huge workforce – about 15,000 jobs – as part of cost-cutting efforts to save $10bn in 2025.

Unlike some rivals, Intel manufactures chips in addition to designing them. Under Gelsinger, the company has been working to build up its foundry business, making semiconductors in the US designed by other firms, in a bid to compete with rivals such as market leader Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co or TSMC.

Intel has benefited from tens of billions of dollars that the administration of President Joe Biden has pledged to support the construction of US chip foundries and reduce reliance on Asian suppliers, which Washington sees as a security weakness.

After taking over as CEO, Gelsinger unveiled plans to build a $20bn chipmaking facility in central Ohio and poured billions more into expanding in Europe, where leaders were also worried about dependence on Asia.

French Prime Minister Michel Barnier faces a vote of no confidence in his minority government after using special powers to push through a social security budget bill without a vote by MPs.

The government is unlikely to survive the vote, which was triggered this afternoon by the radical left France Unbowed (LFI) opposition party and Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN).

It is likely to take place on Wednesday.

Despite last-minute concessions, Barnier clearly did not think he would be able to get his budget bill over the line.

The New Popular Front, an alliance of several left-wing parties, came out top against Macron’s supporters and the far right following early elections in July.

The alliance was left furious by Macron’s decision to veer to the centre right by picking Barnier as his new prime minister, and promised to vote against the government.

This has meant that Barnier has until now had to rely on the RN for his government’s survival.

The budget bill sought to rein in France’s spiralling deficit through €60bn (£49bn) in tax rises and spending cuts.

Because he lacked a majority, Barnier was forced to make concessions to critics.

These included scrapping a previously planned hike in electricity tax, as well as plans for a less generous prescription drug reimbursement policy from next year.

But the new version of the social security budget remained unacceptable to the opposition.

He used article 49.3 of the French constitution, which allows the text of a bill to be passed without a vote, to push through his 2025 budget after the RN joined the left in opposing it.

“I don’t think French people will forgive us for choosing party interests over the future of the country,” Barnier told MPs on Tuesday as he explained the reasons for his decision. “Now, everybody will need to assume their own responsibility as I have assumed mine.”

Marine Le Pen explained the RN position prior to the motion being tabled.

“Barnier didn’t listen to the 11 million voters of the RN… He said everyone should assume their own responsibility, and that’s what we will do,” she said.

Barnier has warned of the financial and political effects of unseating him, but Mathilde Panot, president of the LFI, said on Monday that “there will not be chaos once Mr Barnier and his government have gone”.

“We are now experiencing political chaos as a result of both Mr Barnier’s government and Emmanuel Macron’s presidency.”

Barnier was invited to form a government by President Emmanuel Macron in September.

RN lawmakers and the left combined have enough votes to topple Barnier.

If Barnier doesn’t survive Wednesday’s vote, he will remain in place as a caretaker prime minister until Macron announces a new government.

That could be a new majority government – unlikely given the splintering of the French parliament – or a technocratic government, to steer the country until new elections can be held next summer.

The process could take weeks, as it did after a snap general election delivered a hung parliament in summer.

Several parties are also clamouring for new presidential elections. As it stands, Macron is due to stay in post until 2027.

Meanwhile, if parliament has not adopted the budget by 20 December, the caretaker government could invoke constitutional powers to pass it by ordinance.

It could also propose emergency legislation to roll out spending limits and tax provisions from this year.

United States President Joe Biden’s decision to pardon his son Hunter for tax and firearm-related convictions has sparked criticism from lawmakers and officials, including some within his own Democratic Party.

The Biden administration on Monday defended the announcement, which the president made despite his previous pledge not to pardon his son, on the grounds that Hunter’s persecution was political in nature.

“They [Republicans] would continue to go after his son,” White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on a flight to Angola on Air Force One, adding that other presidents have also pardoned family members.

At the end of his first term in office, Trump pardoned a number of political allies and donors, including disgraced real estate magnate Charles Kushner, father of Trump’s son-in-law Jared.

On his last day in office, President Bill Clinton granted a pardon to his half-brother, Roger, who spent a year in prison after he pleaded guilty in 1985 to selling cocaine to an undercover police officer in Arkansas. That pardon was done to clear his criminal record.

The Biden decision has sparked allegations of using power to shield a family member from legal judgements and enforcing a separate standard of justice for those with political connections, potentially tarnishing his legacy.

“This is really sweeping. This is not only for the crimes that he has been convicted of but also ones he has not been charged with,” Al Jazeera correspondent Kimberly Halkett said.

Hunter Biden faced a maximum of 17 years behind bars for the tax charges and up to 25 years in prison for the gun charges although federal sentencing guidelines were expected to result in far less time. He was due to be sentenced this month in the two cases.

Hunter Biden, 54, came under persistent suspicion during his father’s presidency over his foreign business dealings with questions swirling over whether he used his father’s office for personal gain.

Here’s a quick overview of how some lawmakers in both the Democratic and Republican parties have responded to Biden’s decision:

President Biden

“No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out because he was my son – and that is wrong. There’s been an effort to break Hunter – who has been five and a half years sober, even in the face of unrelenting attacks and selective persecution,” Biden said in a statement on Sunday.

“In trying to break Hunter, they’ve tried to break me – and there’s no reason to believe it will stop here. Enough is enough.”

President-elect Donald Trump

The Republican president-elect – who has previously stated that he will pardon people who took part in the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol in an effort to overturn Trump’s loss to Biden in the 2020 election – called the pardon a “miscarriage of justice”.

“Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years? Such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice!” he posted on social media, referring to those prosecuted for assaulting the US Capitol in 2021.

Mike Johnson, Republican speaker of the US House of Representatives

“President Biden insisted many times he would never pardon his own son for his serious crimes. But last night he suddenly granted a “Full and Unconditional Pardon” for any and all offences that Hunter committed for more than a decade!” Johnson said in a social media post.

“Trust in our justice system has been almost irreparably damaged by the Bidens and their use and abuse of it. Real reform cannot begin soon enough!”

Republican Jim Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee

“Democrats said there was nothing to our impeachment inquiry. If that’s the case, why did Joe Biden just issue Hunter Biden a pardon for the very things we were inquiring about?” the congressman asked, referring to Republican impeachment efforts against Biden, which failed in the House.

Republican James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight Committee

“The charges Hunter faced were just the tip of the iceberg in the blatant corruption that President Biden and the Biden Crime Family have lied about to the American people,” the congressman said in a statement. “It’s unfortunate that, rather than come clean about their decades of wrongdoing, President Biden and his family continue to do everything they can to avoid accountability.”

Democrats were not rushing to Biden’s defence on Monday either. Some were openly critical of the pardon:

Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna

“Democrats should have been for reforming and curtailing pardon power from Day 1 of the Biden Presidency. As a father, I empathise with President Biden, but we must be the party of reform whether it’s about the archaic pardon power, opposing super PACs or broad war powers.”

Democrats should have been for reforming and curtailing pardon power from Day 1 of the Biden Presidency. As a father, I empathize with President Biden, but we must be the party of reform whether it’s about the archaic pardon power, opposing super PACs or broad war powers.

— Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) December 2, 2024

Democratic Congressman Greg Stanton

“I respect President Biden, but I think he got this one wrong. This wasn’t a politically motivated prosecution. Hunter committed felonies and was convicted by a jury of his peers.”

Democratic Colorado Governor Jared Polis

“While as a father I certainly understand President Joe Biden’s natural desire to help his son by pardoning him, I am disappointed that he put his family ahead of the country. This is a bad precedent that could be abused by later Presidents and will sadly tarnish his reputation.”