U.S. and world news for Dec. 27

U.S. fires on Iranian-backed militant sites: The U.S. military fired on three sites used by Iranian-backed militant groups in Iraq hours after a drone strike on a U.S. airbase there. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the attacks against Kataib Hezbollah and other groups were “necessary and proportionate” and were authorized by President Biden. The attack on a U.S. base in Irbil in Iraq’s Kurdistan region injured three military personnel while the Iraq government said the U.S. response killed one person and injured 18 others, including civilians.

Winter storm clobbers Plains and Midwest: A winter storm with heavy snow, freezing rain and wind gusts ranging between 50 and 75 miles per hour paralyzed the Plains and upper Midwest on Tuesday. Sections of Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming were under blizzard warnings and the National Weather Service warned that traveling under these conditions was “difficult to near impossible.” Some areas experienced power outages during the storm.

Xi insists Taiwan will be “reunified” with China: Chinese President Xi Jinping warned he would stop anyone from “splitting Taiwan from China in any way.” According to a Reuters report, Xi made his comments during a Chinese Communist Party forum in Beijing commemorating the 130th anniversary of the birth of Mao Zedong. Although Taiwan is scheduled to hold presidential and parliamentary elections on Jan. 13, Xi stated the self-governing island’s “complete reunification of the motherland is an irresistible trend,” adding that the “the motherland must be reunified, and inevitably will be reunified.”

IDF chief warns war could last “many months”: Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi warned that the efforts arrest or kill the leaders of the Hamas could be a protracted campaign. “This war has critical goals which are not easy to achieve and take place in a complex environment,” said Halevi, according to a Jerusalem Post report. “Therefore, this war will continue for many months, and we will act in different ways so that our achievements will be sustained over time.” Halevi said the IDF gained operational control of northern Gaza, although Hamas fighters hiding within the civilian population are still engaging in ambush attacks.

Ex-congressman’s conviction overturned: Former U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE) had his 2022 conviction overturned by a federal appeals court on the grounds. Fortenberry was convicted on three felony charges related to making false statement to the federal investigators regarding illegal campaign donations received during a 2016 fundraiser in Los Angeles. However, the three-judge panel ruled the government erred in trying him in Los Angeles because he made his statements to investigators in Nebraska and Washington, D.C., noting that the U.S. Constitution requires a “criminal defendant be tried in the place where the criminal conduct occurred.” The court added that Fortenberry, who was sentenced to two years’ probation and fined, can be retried in an appropriate venue.

“Parasite” star Lee Sun-kyun dies at 48 South Korean actor Lee Sun-kyun was found dead in a parked vehicle in Seoul this morning in an apparent suicide. The 48-year-old actor was a popular presence of South Korean television before achieving international recognition as the star of the film “Parasite,” which made history as the first non-English-language production to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. Lee and his “Parasite” castmates won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Ensemble, and last year he was nominated for Best Actor at the International Emmy awards for his performance in “Dr. Brain.”

Actor Kamar de los Reyes dies: Kamar de los Reyes, who gained stardom as the bad guy turned good guy Antonio Vega on the soap opera “One Life to Live,” died Sunday in Los Angeles at the age of 56 following a bout with cancer. The Puerto Rican-born de los Reyes achieved initial notice in the New York theater during the early 1990s before landing his “One Life to Live” role as a gangster who went to prison for murder. He appeared on the show from 1995 to 1998, then returned from 2000 to 2009 when the character’s conviction was overturned on a self-defense plea, thus allowing him to start a new life as a police officer. De los Reyes was also popular among gamers as the voice actor of villain Raul Menendez in the video game franchise “Call of Duty.”