Sudan’s one-sided truce. The head of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary announced yesterday that the group will observe what appears to be a three-month unilateral ceasefire in the country’s civil war. The announcement came after the Sudanese army rejected a truce plan backed by Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States on Sunday, calling it biased. The RSF had agreed to comply with the truce earlier this month, but resumed drone strikes soon thereafter.
Ukraine peace planning. Russian overnight attacks on Kyiv killed at least seven people, underscoring the war’s human toll as the United States and Ukraine continue negotiating over a U.S.-backed peace proposal. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held bilateral calls with several European leaders ahead of a meeting today with Ukraine’s European backers.
EU policy on Chinese investment. European Union (EU) leadership plans to require that foreign investment from countries such as China include more benefits to European industry, EU industry chief Stéphane Séjourné told the Financial Times. The new regulations will likely require foreign investors to recruit local workers and transfer technologies in “certain sectors like batteries,” he said. Brussels is due to present the draft regulations on December 10.
Trump scrutinizes Muslim Brotherhood. Trump signed an executive order yesterday directing his administration to consider whether to designate certain chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood as foreign terrorist organizations. A final decision is due within seventy-five days. Trump claimed Muslim Brotherhood chapters in Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon had engaged in violent and destabilizing acts that harmed U.S. interests. Egypt designated the group a terrorist organization in 2013.
Israeli attacks in Gaza. Israeli forces killed three people in Gaza yesterday, Palestinian medics said. Israel said they were threatening its troops. That brings the total number of people that Israel killed in Gaza since the start of the current truce to 342, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Meanwhile, the militant group Palestinian Islamic Jihad said it had identified the body of an Israeli hostage in an Israeli-controlled area of the territory, but did not announce when a handover would occur.
Malaysia’s social media ban. The country announced Sunday that beginning next year it will ban children under the age of sixteen from holding social media accounts. The communications minister said the policy aims to prevent cyberbullying, scams, and sexual exploitation, and that officials had studied the rollout of similar policies in countries like Australia. Australia’s ban, which is the first in the world, will take effect next month.
Attack in Pakistan. A suicide attack killed three security force officers yesterday at a base in northwestern Pakistan, near the border with Afghanistan. The attackers—two suicide bombers and a gunman—were on foot, the police chief said. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif wrote on social media that intervention by Pakistani security forces prevented an even larger loss.
TPS cut for Myanmar. The Trump administration announced yesterday it will end temporary protected status for migrants from Myanmar in late January. The protection had been granted in 2021 due to unsafe conditions in the country and extended multiple times, but U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said that conditions in the country had “improved enough.” Myanmar remains torn by civil war. Some four thousand people are expected to lose protection from deportation.
