Latest news for 25 November 2025

RUSSIA

Talking stage.

It turns out US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is not-so-secretly in Abu Dhabi for talks with an unspecified Russian delegation plus Ukraine’s military intelligence chief (Budanov), amid a renewed US push to end Putin’s war. Driscoll is reportedly working off the new 19-point peace plan that US-Ukraine talks whittled down from the more Moscow-friendly 28-point plan in Geneva over the weekend. Word is this new 19-point plan rebalances things towards Kyiv, though still leaves the spiciest details (like Putin’s territorial demands) for Trump-Zelensky talks. (Politico)

Comment: In a familiar scene, Ukraine’s European backers are now scrambling to put on a united front and avoid being side-lined, with the UK’s Keir Starmer set to chair an emergency meeting of the ‘Coalition of the Willing’ today (Tuesday).

UNITED STATES

Dismissed.

A US judge has moved to dismiss two criminal cases against former FBI boss James Comey and New York’s attorney-general Letitia James after finding the prosecutor who brought the charges was unlawfully appointed. Most expect this saga to continue in another form. (Politico)

PAKISTAN

Attack on HQ.

Nobody has yet claimed responsibility for Monday’s latest suicide bombing that left three frontier personnel dead in northern Pakistan. (France24)

Comment: Pakistan is riding high after holding its own against India back in May, but these bombings are a reminder that Pakistan’s biggest foe is not India, but its own home-grown groups. We explored the Afghanistan-Pakistan dynamic of this here.

ITALY

Lemme have a look.

Italian authorities have raided two Amazon facilities amid allegations China’s exporters might be using the US giant as a ‘Trojan horse’ to evade taxes. (Reuters)

MALAYSIA

Social media ban.

Kuala Lumpur has unveiled plans to follow Australia’s example and ban social media for young’uns under 16 years of age from 2026. (Independent)

Comment: This was why US tech giants first fought Australia’s proposal tooth n’ nail: the idea was always going to spread, whether on welfare, vice concerns, or beyond.

BRAZIL

Plight risk.

Authorities arrested former president Bolsonaro on flight risk fears over the weekend, ahead of his prison term over an attempted coup. Bolsonaro later told a court he tried to pry open his ankle monitor amid a medication-induced paranoia. (Folha)

SOUTH AFRICA

Family drama.

A daughter of a former president (Zuma) has filed a criminal complaint accusing her own sister (a member of parliament) of scamming 17 men into joining Putin’s war on Ukraine. The scam allegedly involved telling the men they were just heading abroad for bodyguard training. (BBC)

Comment: And you thought *your* family reunion was gonna be awkward…