Daily flyovers
Latest news for 3 December 2025
Quick hits of consequential news from all corners of the world.
- 01
RUSSIA
No deal.
Five hours of talks between President Putin and US envoy Steve Witkoff have failed to yield a breakthrough on ending Russia’s war on Ukraine. (BBC)
Comment: By some estimates, Russia has now lost more men trying (and not yet succeeding) to take Ukraine’s single town of Pokrovsk, than the Soviets lost during their decade in Afghanistan. So Putin’s continued ceasefire rejections come not from any strength, but a realisation that any gains he banks now won’t come close to what he’s lost. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will skip today’s (Wednesday) NATO foreign minister meeting, fuelling European doubts around US commitment.
- 02
FRANCE
Quick trip to China.
President Macron is headed to China this week, a gaggle of CEOs in tow, looking to strike deals on nuclear energy, food, and even pandas, while likely again leaning on President Xi to help end Putin’s war. (France24)
Comment: If Macron’s last China visit is a guide, it’ll be worth tuning into any interviews he gives from the presidential jet — yes, he once famously suggested his thoughts were too complex for journalists, but history has probably vindicated his famous 2023 airborne call for European “strategic autonomy”.
- 03
JAPAN
People’s princess.
As Japan’s popular Princess Aiko turns 24, there are calls for Tokyo to change its succession laws that ban women from taking the throne. She’s the emperor’s only child, but the ban means the crown passes to his younger brother (60). (SCMP)
Comment: It seems unlikely Japan will rethink succession, but it’s interesting the increasingly pro-China SCMP ran such a glowing piece given the latest China-Japan spat. It almost echoes the Party’s classic carrots-and-sticks approach: the hawkish PM (Takaichi) gets sticks, while a benign figure like Aiko gets carrots. But given how high Takaichi is now polling, China’s approach seems counter-productive.
- 04
EUROPEAN UNION
Training ground.
Belgian police have detained the EU’s former top diplomat (Mogherini) and others on “suspected fraud related to EU-funded training for junior diplomats.” (France24)
Comment: The only fraud we witnessed as junior diplomats was the bait-n-switch between the brochure promising we’d help heal the world, and the reality of then getting yelled at because the consul-general didn’t like the word ‘delighted’. But seriously, Mogherini’s 2014-19 stint rocked plenty of boats, whether via her support for the Iran nuclear deal or her alleged softness on Russia. Hence the mix of schadenfreude in amongst all the shock right now.
- 05
INDONESIA
Going Dutch.
The Netherlands and Indonesia have agreed to repatriate two elderly Dutch prisoners convicted on drugs charges years ago (one was on death row). (The Straits Times)
Comment: Indonesia hasn’t executed anyone since 2016, after intense global blowback for shooting various foreigners from Australia, Brazil, the Netherlands and beyond. So this news might be a signal that even Indonesia’s current leader (an ex-general with tough-on-crime vibes) isn’t in a rush to revive the firing squad.
- 06
HONDURAS
A free man.
Former president Juan Orlando Hernández has now left his high-security federal prison in West Virginia a free man after President Trump pardoned the Honduran’s 45-year US drug trafficking conviction, arguing it was a political witch-hunt. (AP)
Comment: Orlando walks free just as Hondurans await the weekend’s electoral outcome: before the tally website crashed, two conservative opposition front-runners (each pledging to undo the incumbent’s Taiwan→China switch) were neck-and-neck.
- 07
NIGERIA
Taken.
Nigeria’s defense minister has unexpectedly resigned, citing health reasons. (BBC)
Comment: Given the country’s security woes and increased US pressure (which we tackled last week), it’s hard to take this one at face value. The replacement nominee is an experienced ex-general pledging Nigeria’s biggest security overhaul in decades.