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The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Iraq, Mohammed Al Hassan, briefed members for the last time as the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) prepares to conclude its mandate on 31 December after more than two decades of service.
“Today, indeed, is a great day for the international community and the United Nations to witness an honourable and dignified closure of a UN mission,” he said.
Victory and sacrifice
UNAMI was established by the Council in 2003. At the time, the country was “grappling with the effects of decades of dictatorship, regional wars, internal conflicts, foreign occupation, and the terror of Da’esh,” he recalled.
“The road to peace, security and stability was long and difficult. However, with the support of the international community Iraq came out victorious, but with untold sacrifices,” he said.
He used the opportunity to honour the memory of all those who lost their lives since UNAMI began operations, including the 22 UN staff killed in the Canal Hotel bombing in August 2003 – among the darkest days in the history of the organization.
Hard-won gains
Mr. Al Hassan said both he and his predecessors have been struck by the resilience and steadfastness of Iraq and its people as they worked to build a more secure and prosperous future.
“From the adoption of a new Constitution to the strengthening and consolidation of democracy through 13 successful electoral processes, Iraq was able to incrementally consolidate hard-won gains against the odds,” he said.
Last month, Iraq held its sixth parliamentary elections and the process was marked by a notable increase in turnout of registered voters, 56 per cent. The vote was also among the most free, orderly and credible polls conducted so far.
He congratulated the Iraqi people, the Independent High Electoral Commission and UNAMI, which provided electoral assistance.
“I can hardly think of a more fitting final chapter to UNAMI’s activities than the scenes witnessed by myself and my team at polling stations across the country, as Iraqis from diverse backgrounds lined up in orderly queues, eager to cast their ballots,” he said.
“While I express…
Filed 6:05 p.m. EST
12.05.2025
Weeks after The Marshall Project – Cleveland found escalating violence, Ohio’s embattled youth treatment center is once again facing scrutiny.
Mohican Young Star Academy, a youth residential treatment facility an hour northeast of Columbus, Ohio. Nate Smallwood for The Marshall Project
State officials have suspended admissions to Mohican Young Star Academy while it once again investigates the embattled youth treatment facility, which has struggled to contain escalating violence in the past year.
The move leaves juvenile court judges and local children’s services agencies that rely on Mohican — including in Cuyahoga, Summit, Hamilton and Lucas counties — reassessing contracts or preparing to relocate youth, many of whom have complex behavioral and mental health needs.
The action comes several weeks after The Marshall Project – Cleveland documented escalating violence, staff injuries and campus-wide fights at the state’s largest youth residential treatment facility following an ownership change in November 2024.
Mohican “has demonstrated a pattern of serious noncompliance and/or committed violations that pose a substantial risk to the health and safety of residents in its care,” Eric Wandersleben, a spokesperson for the Ohio Department of Behavioral Health told The Marshall Project – Cleveland.
State officials will monitor operations at Mohican, and the pause on admissions will remain in place until the violations are corrected, Wandersleben said.
The state order was issued Nov. 20. It is unclear which violations sparked the decision to suspend new admissions, or what will happen to the children already in the facility. State agencies did not say how many children are currently housed at Mohican.
Mohican owners Zach Logan and Marquel Brewer and…
Ella Stambaugh scored a game-high 24 points and Ellie Kersey had 12 as Wyoming Seminary jumped out quickly on the way to a 61-38 win over Old Forge in girls basketball Wednesday night.
Stella Ruiz added 11 for the Blue Knights.
Berwick 62, Williamsport 40
Abby Calarco scored a game-high 20 points as Berwick defeated Williamsport.
Grace Robbins added 12 and Addison Remley scored nine.
Nanticoke Area 39, Pittston Area 33
Three Trojanettes scored in double figures as Nanticoke Area held off a tough challenge from Pittston Area.
Kate Reed and Nevaeh Baran scored 11 points each for Nanticoke Area, while Jordyn Johnson chipped in 10 points.
Bella Dessoye led Pittston Area with 11 points. Giuliana Latona added 10 points.
Riverside 48, Wyoming Area 18
The Warriors were tripped up in a non-league loss to Riverside. Caitie Beecham led Riverside with 18 points.
Jailyn Park had 10 points and six rebounds to pace Wyoming Area.
Northwest 40, Milton 27
Ava Ruckle scored 21 points and Natalia Ninotti added 12 as Northwest defeated Milton.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Wyoming Area 54, Mid Valley 43
Luke Kopetchny scored 34 points and Mitchell Rusinchak added 11 as Wyoming Area defeated visiting Mid Valley.
Dallas 73, Lake-Lehman 36
Pat Flanagan scored 16 points and Tyce Mason and Brady Mizzer added 13 each as Dallas defeated rival Lake-Lehman.
Jake Evans scored 10 for Lehman.
Abington Heights 79, Wyo. Valley West 47
AJ Hickson had 13 points for Wyoming Valley West in a loss to visiting Abington Heights.
Zach Mondesir added nine.
Elk Lake 65, Nanticoke Area 40
Elk Lake pulled away in the second half to defeat Nanticoke Area.
Louden Mullery led Nanticoke Area with 10 points. Treyton…
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Statement by Deputy Permanent Representative Anna Evstigneeva at a UNSC Briefing on Iraq
2 December 2025
Madam President,
We congratulate you on assuming the presidency of the Security Council in December and thank the delegation of Sierra Leone for its able stewardship of the Council during the past month.
We are grateful to Special Representative of the Secretary-General Mohamed Al-Hassan for his briefing on the situation in the Republic of Iraq. Given that this is your final report in this capacity, we would like to express our gratitude for your wise and responsible leadership of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), which has enabled the exemplary drawdown of the mission and the transfer of functions to the host country and United Nations entities operating on the ground.
The parliamentary election of 11 November has become a key event over the recent period, the vote was held with the assistance of UNAMI, was overseen by an impressive number of international observers and had a very high turnout of 56.11%, which is 12.57% higher than in 2021. The fact that the election took place in a calm and peaceful atmosphere, without any serious incidents that could compromise the results, attests to the maturity of Iraqi democracy and its state institutions.
We note the tireless efforts by Muhammad al-Sudani’s government on both the socio-economic and security tracks. The Iraqi authorities have managed to garner nearly $1 billion from the World Bank to modernize the railway infrastructure within the subsequent seven years. There is also an agreement reached between the federal government and Erbil to resume supplies via the Iraq-Turkey oil pipeline. Owing to the efforts of the Iraqi security services, the threat from ISIL has been minimized, as has the number of civilian…
The last full supermoon of 2025, known as the Cold Moon, will illuminate the late autumn sky on Thursday, Dec. 4.
When and how to view the Cold Moon supermoon
Skywatchers in the Northern Hemisphere will be able to see the supermoon starting at sunset when it rises in the east, and the moon will be at its highest path and brightest around midnight, according to the U.S. Naval Observation Astronomical Applications Department.
The full moon will fall at 6:14 p.m. EST.
A 97 percent illuminated Cold Moon rises behind the EdgeNYC outdoor observation deck at Hudson Yards as the sun sets in New York City on December 13, 2024.
Photo by Gary Hershorn/Getty Images
See more details here on Thursday night’s moon via NASA’s Daily Moon Guide.
What is a supermoon?
NASA defines a supermoon as the occurrence “when a full moon coincides with the moon’s closest approach to Earth in its elliptical orbit,” which is also known as perigee.
Lunar perigee happens at about 226,000 miles from Earth every 27-day orbit period, according to NASA.
The agency notes that the term supermoon, though not an official astronomical term, describes, “a full Moon that comes within at least 90 percent of perigee.”
Viewing a supermoon is special because they only occur three to four times a year, according to NASA.
How does a Cold Moon gets its name?
Moons can earn a variety of monikers and nicknames, but per the Farmer’s Almanac, are derived from “centuries of Native American, colonial, and European traditions.”
The Cold Moon — as this December full moon is commonly to…
“I never expected to become a photographer when a friend put a Rolleiflex camera in my hands,” writes Susan Ressler (born 1949 in Philadelphia) of her introduction to photography in 1968. Coming of age during an era of “tumultuous” political and social change, from the “pervasive unrest and idealism” of 1960s counterculture to the mounting violence of the Vietnam War, Ressler has spent the past five decades documenting stark disparities of power, depicting “the haves to the have-nots”, as she puts it, “and how in America, they coexist with dis-ease”.
Fifty Years, No End in Sight offers a comprehensive overview of Ressler’s contribution to American photography, accompanied by her own reflections. From her famous series of corporate boardrooms in 1970s Los Angeles and intimate portraits of First Nations families in Canada to her ongoing engagement with the sprawling, hyper-real environments of Southern California, No End in Sight presents an artist who routinely challenges, in the words of Los Angeles County Museum of Art associate curator Eve Schillo, “the myths and realities of our everyday… to see through our fictions that often pose as facts”.
Photos hidden for 35 years
Graduating from the University of New Mexico in the early 1970s, Ressler accepted an invitation from the anthropologist Asen Balikci to document Algonquian communities in rural Quebec. “The experience was so profound that not only did it convince me to pursue photography to this day,” she writes, “but the pictures I made then remained hidden for 35 years.” Ressler expresses regret at her youthful naivety, unaware of “the complexities of documentary photography”, a medium that risks exploiting subjects for the sake of one-sided or biased stories. Taken in 1972, Ressler’s photographs of the Algonquian were first published in 2007 as a limited boxed set. A selection from the series is reproduced in this book,…
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Elk Lake basketball off to 2-0 start
Chase Pond scored 22 points- including four 3-pointers- to lead Elk Lake to a 65-47 win over Wyalusing in a nonleague boys basketball game on Thursday.
Pond scored eight of his points during a 22 point third quarter for the Warriors (2-0). Brayden Miller added 11 points and Kendel Jones had 10. Tyler Caplan and Myles Kershner each led the Rams with 12 points.
Elk Lake 65, Wyalusing 47
Elk Lake 17 15 22 11
Wyalusing 12 9 9 17
Elk Lake: C. Pond 8 2-2 22, B. Miller 5 1-5 11, K. Jones 4 1-2 10, J. Heitsman 4 0-1 9, C. Stephens 2 4-6 8, J. Hitchcock 1 0-0 3, B. Birtch 1 0-0 2, P. Upright 0 0-0 0, T. Upright 0 0-0 0, L. Sprout 0 0-0 0, B. Hewitt 0 0-0 0.
Wyalusing: T. Caplan 4 4-6 12, M. Kershner 4 2-2 12, A. Neiley 3 0-1 6, N. Kilmer 2 0-0 5, P. Cunningham 2 1-2 5, B. Johnson 1 0-0 3, M. Culver 1 0-0 2, J. Vandermark 1 0-0 2, S. Gartland 0 0-0 0.
3-Point Field Goals: C. Pond (EL) 4, K. Jones (EL), J. Hitchcock (EL), J. Heitsman (EL), M. Kershner (WYA) 2, N. Kilmer (WYA), B. Johnson (WYA).
Elk Lake 65, Nanticoke Area 40
John Heitsman scored 18 points and Chase Pond finished with 12 with two 3-pointers in Elk Lake’s 65-40 victory over Nanticoke Area in a nonleague boys basketball game on Wednesday, Dec. 3.
Kendel Jones finished with 11 points for the Warriors in their season opener. Louden Mullery led the Trojans with 10 points and Treyton Mishanski scored eight.
Elk Lake 15 12 22 16
Nanticoke Area 9 12 13 6
Elk Lake: J. Heitsman 8 1-2 18, C. Pond 4 2-2 12, K. Jones 5 0-0 11, P. Upright…
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