• TikTok ban? A federal appeals court panel upholds a law that could lead to a ban on the popular social media platform in the United States over its ties with China-based ByteDance.
• Synagogue burns in Australia: Fire causes extensive damage in Melbourne, in an apparent arson attack that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemned as antisemitic. Police say a witness saw two masked people spreading an accelerant in the building.
• Romania election nixed: A top court annuls the first round of the country’s presidential election, days after the president declassified intelligence alleging that Russia ran a sprawling social media campaign to promote a candidate. 
• South Korea fallout: The country’s governing party chief expresses support for suspending the constitutional powers of President Yoon Suk Yeol for imposing martial law, making impeachment more likely. 
• Comeback for U.S. jobs: The job market rebounded in November, adding 227,000 workers in a solid recovery from October, when the effects of strikes and hurricanes sharply diminished employers’ payrolls.

Read these news briefs.

Pete Hegseth is the second Trump Cabinet nominee meeting resistance from some Senate Republicans. But these are cases where personal conduct, beyond concerns about policies or experience, has become an issue. 

After a fire ravaged the Notre Dame cathedral in 2019, few believed the Parisian icon could be quickly restored to its former glory. But only five years later, it is set to reopen – lighter, brighter, and better protected from disaster than ever.

The shooting of the CEO of UnitedHealthcare has put a spotlight on frustrations over medical debt and lack of security for threatened executives.

Forests make up a high percentage of the U.S. Northeast. After a record drought this fall, and increased wildfires, people in this region are recognizing the need to prepare for threats to forests. 

Reporting on America’s political evolution calls for understanding what drives it. Understanding calls for respectful listening and some real introspection. Two veteran Monitor reporters join our podcast to talk about their approaches. 

One measure of a person’s generosity – beyond, say, paying taxes or serving in the military – is in everyday donations of time or treasure to others. Helping a neighbor. Rescuing a distant relative from ruin. Sending money to strangers in need. Or, after Hurricane Helene flooded western North Carolina, the thousands of volunteers from across the United States fixing up entire communities for weeks.

Perhaps the best metric of these “bonds of affection,” to use Abraham Lincoln’s term, are the results tallied up after each GivingTuesday. This year’s day of generosity in the U.S. – now in its 13th year – provides a broad snapshot of American selflessness.

The event on Dec. 3 saw an increased percentage in donations from last year (16%) that was higher than the increase in consumer spending on Black Friday (10.6%) and Cyber Monday (10.2%). In other words, goodwill beat out goodies, an outcome that befits the deeper, spiritual meaning of the coming Christmas season.

Yet hidden in the data was a 4% increase in volunteering. This was a hopeful sign after years of hand-wringing by nonprofits that Americans, in an age of social isolation and declining trust in institutions, are increasingly avoiding unpaid activities in service to others.

“Generosity isn’t just about money – it’s about connection and community,” said Asha Curran, GivingTuesday’s chief executive officer. “In a world that can feel increasingly divided, we’re seeing people unite through simple acts of kindness that have profound ripple effects.”

The percentage of Americans who participated in GivingTuesday was up 7% from last year. “People are weary after the election,” Ms. Curran told The Chronicle of Philanthropy. A national day of giving was “a moment for a fractured citizenry to feel like they are coming together.” 

Giving has so many expressions that it is almost impossible to calculate. A report released in September by The Generosity Commission acknowledges that Americans “are reimagining giving, volunteering, and community before our eyes.” The pandemic lockdown, for example, “gave rise to spontaneously formed mutual aid networks of volunteers helping neighbors and strangers.”

“Most people identify as generous and do not believe there is a right or a wrong way for people to practice generosity,” the three-year research study found. While givers say their resources of time and money may be limited, they “describe generosity as boundless.” Even the latest data from GivingTuesday doesn’t begin to capture it.