Chinese officials on Dec. 22 condemned the US seizure of oil tankers headed from Venezuelan ports, calling the acts a "serious violation of international law."

"Venezuela has the right to independently develop mutually beneficial cooperation with other countries," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said at a press conference. Jian stated that China opposes unilateral enforcement of sanctions that lack "basis in international law" and infringe on the sovereignty of other nations.

On World Humanitarian Day in August, World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus released a statement calling attention to intensifying attacks on healthcare workers and facilities, which constitute war crimes under international humanitarian law. "We must stop this becoming the norm," he wrote. The events of the past two weeks suggest such attacks are now already the norm.

The United Nations on Dec.1 urged all countries to respect international norms safeguarding civil aviation, following US President Donald Trump's announcement of his intention to "completely shut down" Venezuelan airspace.

Mayor Carlos Alberto Manzo Rodríguez was assassinated during a Day of the Dead celebration Nov. 1 in the main square of Uruapan, in the violence-torn Mexican state of Michoacán. He had been an outspoken opponent of the drug cartels and their reign of terror in the state, and his death sparked protests across Michoacán. At a demonstration in state capital Morelia the day after the murder, protesters demanded the resignation of Gov. Ramírez Bedolla, of Mexico's ruling MORENA party; one faction broke into and vandalized the Government Palace. President Claudia Sheinbaum has announced a new "Michoacán Plan for Peace & Justice" to finally pacify the lawless state. 

Summary executions of civilians by fighters of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are being reported from Bara city, in Sudan's North Kordofan state, after it was captured by the paramilitary army on Oct. 25 following a major offensive. The victims were apparently accused of supporting the Sudanese Armed Forces in its defense of the city. Reports indicate that dozens of civilians have been killed, according to the UN Human Rights Office. A local medical group describes horrific conditions in the taken city. "Dozens of bodies are piled up inside homes after the RSF prevented the victims' families from burying them, leaving the dead trapped in their houses while the living are surrounded by fear, hunger, and thirst," the Sudan Doctors Network said in a statement.

The UN Security Council on Oct. 1 approved a resolution transforming the Kenya-led Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission—whose mandate ended the following day—into a Gang Suppression Force (GSF).

After months of US-led negotiations, the United States, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (known collectively as the Quad) issued a "roadmap to peace" in Sudan, starting with a push for a three-month "humanitarian truce." However, despite the agreement with the main regional backers of the two sides in the war, fighting continues between the Sudanese armed forces and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). On Sept. 19, a week after the "roadmap" was announced, an RSF drone strike on a mosque in  El Fasher, the besieged capital of North Darfur state, left more than 70 people dead. (TNH, BBC News)

Fighting broke out Sept. 20 in the village of Um Tineh, in Deir Hafer district of Syria's Aleppo province, between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and forces aligned with the Damascus regime, leaving at least seven civilians dead. The SDF said the clashes began with a drone attack on the village, followed by artillery bombardment, damaging local homes. The statement blamed the assault on forces loyal to Turkey, implying they were fighters of the Syrian National Army (SNA), which has apparently not yet been thoroughly integrated into the central government's newly constituted Syrian Armed Forces.