Witkoff-Putin Talks, Pope In Beirut, Italy’s Statue Drama

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🗞️ FRONT PAGE​​

The Hong Kong Economic Journal mourns the 151 people who “died unjustly,” as Hong Kong leader John Lee has ordered the creation of an independent committee to investigate last week’s deadly blaze at Wang Fuk Court — the city’s worst blaze in decades. Officials say the flames spread quickly because of faulty scaffolding netting that failed to meet fire-safety standards. Lee acknowledged major lapses in oversight and vowed broad reforms. In recent days, Hong Kong police and the anti-corruption agency have arrested 14 people, alleging some intentionally mixed substandard materials to evade inspections.

🌎 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW

• U.S. envoy Witkoff and Putin set for key Ukraine talks in Moscow. U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff is set to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Tuesday to discuss a proposal to end the war in Ukraine. The meeting comes two days after negotiations in Florida between Ukrainian and U.S. officials aimed at refining a U.S.-backed peace plan which had been viewed as favorable to Russia. Meanwhile, Russian forces say they have taken full control of the northern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, a key logistics hub that has been under siege for almost two years, though the Ukrainian military disputes that account.

• Israeli troops kill one in Gaza, two suspected Palestinian attackers in West Bank. Israeli forces on Tuesday fatally shot a man near the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, as well as two suspected Palestinian assailants in the West Bank who were wanted in a pair of attacks that wounded three Israelis. This marks the latest burst of violence in the Palestinian territories, fueling concerns that unrest could undermine the fragile truce in Gaza. The Gaza Health Ministry reported that more than 350 Palestinians have been killed across the territory since a ceasefire on Oct. 11 brought the Israel-Hamas war to a halt.

• Pope prays at Beirut port blast site on last day of Lebanon trip. Pope Leo XIV prayed at the site of Beirut’s devastating 2020 port explosion that killed more than 220 people, calling for justice and making an appeal for peace and unity in a fractured, unstable Lebanon. Tuesday marks the pontiff’s final day of his first overseas trip, which also included an inaugural visit in Turkey. For more, check this Daraj piece translated from Arabic by Worldcrunch: Five Years Since Beirut Port Blast, Still No Answers — Or Justice — In Sight.

• French president to travel to China as Europe mulls tougher stance on China. French President Emmuel Macron will travel to China on Wednesday for his fourth state visit, with a planned meeting with President Xi Jinping on Thursday in Beijing. The trip comes as Europe seeks to balance economic and security threats from China with reliance on the world’s second-largest economy, amid Washington’s tariffs squeezing global trade. Read more in this analysis by France Inter’s Pierre Haski: Trump’s Trade War Comes Full Circle — China Strikes Back.

• Honduras presidential election down to wire. Conservative politician Nasry Asfura and former TV host Salvador Nasralla, the two leading candidates to be president of Honduras, were practically tied in the latest vote count, with Asfura leading by just 515 votes as of late Monday. The head of the electoral commission called for “patience and prudence” while the result was tallied but no update was released since, while the website of the electoral council collapsed, leading to confusion and growing tensions among voters about the status of the race. U.S. President Donald Trump, who has publicly backed Asfura, has accused officials of “trying to change the results” of the election.

• Samsung launches first multi-folding phone. Samsung Electronics has unveiled the “Galaxy Z TriFold,” its first multi-folding smartphone, as part of efforts to strengthen its position in a sector of the phone market where competition is expected to intensify. The model priced at about $2,449 unfolds into a 253.1 millimetre (10-inch) display, using three panels. It will go on sale in South Korea on Dec. 12.

• News Quiz! The mayor of Pesaro, northeastern Italy, had to apologize after a statue in the center of the town’s piazza was encased within a temporary Christmas ice rink. It is a statue of…

A. Luciano Pavarotti
B. Leonardo da Vinci
C. Monica Bellucci
D. Julius Caesar
[Answer below]

📣 VERBATIM

“We do not want a slave’s peace, nor the peace of colonies!”

— Speaking at a mass rally in Caracas, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro vowed to accept “peace with sovereignty” only, rejecting what he called a “slave’s peace” under growing U.S. military pressure and calls for him to leave the country. He accused Washington of waging “psychological terrorism” and accused the Trump administration of trying to topple his regime. Meanwhile, the White House defended a deadly U.S. strike on a Venezuelan boat amid rising legal and political scrutiny over the broader campaign. Read more in French analyst Pierre Haski’s latest piece: An Ultimatum And Venezuela On Edge: Trump Escalates With Maduro.

📰 IN OTHER NEWS

🇺🇦 While Vladimir Putin describes Volodymyr Zelensky’s authority as “illegitimate,” the French foreign minister asserts that he has “every right to lead his country toward peace.” The weakened Ukrainian president was in Paris at a decisive moment in the conflict.
— FRANCE INTER

🇮🇳 India was the first country that gave Tom Stoppard clear, continuous memories of childhood. Darjeeling was the first landscape he remembered.
— THE WIRE

📖 What if reading could help us heal? That’s the wager some doctors are taking these days — prescribing books alongside medication. Here’s a look at stories that might just do you good.
— LE FIGARO