The New York Times: Προεδρική χάρη στον Χάντερ Μπάιντεν – Σφοδρές μάχες στη Συρία – Η καλύτερη τηλεόραση της χρονιάς – Ο Πρόεδρος Μπάιντεν συγχώρησε τον γιο του Χάντερ – Οι μάχες μαίνονται στη Συρία καθώς προχωρούν οι αντάρτες – Οι υπέρ της ΕΕ. διαμαρτυρίες συγκλόνισαν τη Γεωργία – Κλίμα: Διπλωμάτες σε διάσκεψη του ΟΗΕ στο Μπουσάν της Νότιας Κορέας, απέτυχαν να καταλήξουν σε συμφωνία σχετικά με μια προτεινόμενη συνθήκη για την αντιμετώπιση της ρύπανσης από πλαστικό, η οποία θα ήταν η πρώτη στον κόσμο – Το Διαδίκτυο βασίζεται σε εκατοντάδες καλώδια που διασχίζουν τους ορόφους και φαράγγια των ωκεανών της γης. Όταν τραβήξουν – όπως έκαναν ορισμένοι στο τεράστιο υποθαλάσσιο φαράγγι που είναι γνωστό ως το Bottomless Hole – εκατομμύρια άνθρωποι μπορεί να βρεθούν αποκομμένοι – Οι καλύτερες τηλεοπτικές εκπομπές του 2024

Until Sunday night, President Biden had said that he would not pardon or commute the sentence of his son Hunter. Eric Lee/The New York Times

President Biden pardoned his son Hunter

In a reversal, President Biden last night fully and unconditionally pardoned his son Hunter, using the power of his office to wave aside years of legal troubles, including a federal conviction for illegally buying a gun.

In a statement, the president said he decided to issue the executive grant of clemency for his son because he considered the charges politically motivated and designed to hurt him politically. “The charges in his cases came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election,” he said. Read the full statement.

Past presidents have used their executive power late in a term to commute the sentence of a family member. President Bill Clinton pardoned his half-brother Roger Clinton for old cocaine charges, and Donald Trump pardoned his son-in-law’s father, Charles Kushner, for tax evasion and other crimes. (Over the weekend, Trump said that he would nominate Kushner to be the U.S. ambassador to France.)

In other U.S. political news:

Rebel fighters with an abandoned government tank in the Syrian province of Aleppo on Sunday. Aref Tammawi/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Fighting rages in Syria as rebels advance

Rebel forces advanced in Syria amid fierce fighting yesterday, capturing the airport and the military academy of Aleppo and attacking the outskirts of Hama, a city in the country’s west, according to rebel officials and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Government troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad rushed in reinforcements and launched airstrikes on Aleppo, according to the Observatory, a war monitor in Britain.

The rebels had captured much of Aleppo a day earlier in a surprise offensive. They now control a broad patch across the provinces of Hama, Idlib and Aleppo in western and northwestern Syria, according to officials from the rebel-linked administration and the war monitor.

The Observatory said that government troops were battling to defend Hama and that reinforcements had arrived to man defensive lines around that city and others nearby. Syrian government warplanes bombed territory now held by the rebels, including targets across the city of Aleppo, causing dozens of civilian casualties, the monitor said.

The rebel alliance is led by the group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which was once linked with Al Qaeda but publicly broke with the terrorist group years ago. Turkish-backed rebel groups have also joined them.

Also in the Middle East:

The police used a water cannon against protesters outside Parliament in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Sunday. Zurab Tsertsvadze/Associated Press

Pro-E.U. protests rocked Georgia

Thousands of protesters in Tbilisi, the Georgian capital, clashed with the police late into last night during the fourth consecutive day of demonstrations over the recently elected government’s suspension of the country’s bid to join the E.U.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced that the government would stall the process of E.U. accession — a goal enshrined in Georgia’s Constitution — until 2028. He also said that the government would refuse all grants by the E.U., which are usually worth tens of millions of dollars annually.

More than 150 people had been arrested as of Saturday night, officials said, adding that several police officers and 42 of its employees had been hurt since the protests began.

Context: Georgia has been gripped by political crisis since the disputed victory of the Georgian Dream party in October’s parliamentary elections. Since being elected, the party has been pivoting Georgia more toward Russia and China. Georgia’s opposition, which says the election was rigged, seeks closer ties with the West.

Legnan Koula/EPA, via Shutterstock

Tommy Trenchard for The New York Times

The internet relies on hundreds of cables crossing the floors and the canyons of the earth’s oceans. When they snap — as some did in the vast undersea canyon known as the Bottomless Hole — millions of people may find themselves cut off.

For more: In a video, James Glanz, an investigative reporter for The Times, explains what went wrong with the subsea cables and shows how such problems are fixed.

Katie Yu/FX, via Associated Press

The best TV shows of 2024

In a year of so-so television — well-cast, professionally produced shows that failed to break new ground — a few dozen shows stood out. “English Teacher,” “My Brilliant Friend,” “Shogun,” above, “Babylon Berlin” and “Somebody Somewhere” were among them.

Read the full list, check off the ones you’ve already seen and create your holiday watch list here.

Julia Gartland for The New York Times

Cook: Welcome December with these zingy iced peppermint cookies.