Ukraine’s Revised Peace Plan Ignites Diplomatic Efforts as Drone Strikes Continue – 12/13/2025, 8:29:42 AM

Here are key world news developments from the last day or so, grouped by theme and region.

Ukraine war and diplomacy
– Ukraine has handed the U.S. a revised 20‑point peace plan, as Kyiv, Washington and European partners work on a framework for ending the war; Russia says it has not yet seen the latest version, according to presidential aide Yuri Ushakov.[1]
– Russia and Ukraine exchanged hundreds of drone attacks overnight while those peace discussions continue.[1]
– A senior Kremlin official says Russian police and National Guard would remain in occupied Donbas even after any peace deal, signalling Moscow’s intention to keep a long‑term security footprint there.[1]
– The EU has pushed Ukraine’s membership bid forward, handing Kyiv a list of required reforms despite objections from Hungary.[1]

Middle East (Gaza, Israel, Lebanon, Iran)
– In the Gaza war, a major winter storm (“Storm Byron”) has ripped through the territory, worsening already severe humanitarian conditions and exposing the failure to deliver sufficient aid.[1]
– Israel says it will reopen the Rafah crossing with Egypt, allowing Palestinians to leave Gaza, amid ongoing blockade and military operations.[2]
– Israeli drone strikes near Khan Younis reportedly killed five Palestinians, including two children, while the Israeli army says four of its soldiers were wounded in a Hamas attack in Rafah.[2]
– On the northern front, Israel carried out airstrikes in southern Lebanon, allegedly targeting Hezbollah positions in the ongoing Israel–Hezbollah confrontation.[2]
– In Iran’s Sistan and Baluchestan province, three members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were killed in an ambush by gunmen, amid a long‑running insurgency.[2]
– Inside Iran, authorities have arrested Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi, according to her supporters, in the latest move against human rights activists.[1]

Africa (Mozambique, Nigeria, Sudan, DR Congo, South Africa)
– In northern Mozambique, renewed jihadist attacks have included beheadings and village burnings, deepening a displacement crisis that especially affects children, many of whom are left orphaned and seeking help alone.[1]
– In Nigeria, authorities have secured the release of 100 out of 315 students and staff abducted in the Papiri mass school kidnapping; more than 160 remain missing.[2]
– The Nigerian Air Force has conducted precision airstrikes in Cotonou, Benin, against pro‑coup forces, killing several putschists, while ECOWAS announced deployment of ground troops to Benin from Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.[2]
– In Sudan’s civil war, the Rapid Support Forces have captured Heglig, Sudan’s largest oilfield, after army forces withdrew, a major strategic and economic setback for Khartoum.[2]
– In eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, the M23 rebel group has taken control of Uvira in South Kivu Province, escalating the conflict linked to tensions with Rwanda.[2]
– In South Africa, at least one person was killed and several are trapped after a multistory building under construction collapsed onto a temple below.[1]

Asia (Myanmar, Thailand–Vietnam, MH370, Turkey)
– In Myanmar’s civil war, a Tatmadaw airstrike on a hospital in Mrauk U, Rakhine State, killed at least 34 people and injured about 80, including patients and medical staff.[1][2]
– Thailand has extradited Vietnamese activist Y Quynh Bđăp—founder of an ethnic minority rights group—to Vietnam, raising concerns among human rights organizations.[2]
– A Beijing court ordered Malaysia Airlines to pay about CN¥2.9 million (US$410,000) per family to relatives of eight missing passengers from Flight MH370, which disappeared in 2014.[2]
– In Turkey, archaeologists uncovered a rare early‑Christian fresco of Jesus as the “Good Shepherd” in a town recently visited by the pope.[1]

Europe and transatlantic issues
– A Danish intelligence report warns that under Donald Trump, the United States is using its economic power to assert its will and threaten military force against both allies and adversaries, describing this as a strategic risk.[1]
– The EU has agreed to indefinitely immobilize roughly €210 billion in Russian assets, a significant step in its financial response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.[4]
– The Auschwitz museum has opened a new permanent exhibition built around personal objects of prisoners, to illuminate daily life and suffering in the camp.[1]
– In the arts, Iceland has joined Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain and Slovenia in boycotting the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest in Austria to protest Israel’s participation.[2]

Americas
– In Brazil, the lower house has approved a bill that would reduce penalties for certain crimes, including attempted coup, which could substantially shorten former president Jair Bolsonaro’s 27‑year prison sentence.[2]
– In Ecuador’s ongoing security crisis, thirteen suspected members of the Los Lobos gang were killed in a prison riot following two explosions in Machala, El Oro Province.[2]
– Former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández has been released from a U.S. prison in West Virginia after being pardoned by President Donald Trump for his conviction related to aiding large‑scale cocaine trafficking.[2]

Religion, society and culture
– Pope Leo XIV met with members of Italy’s intelligence services and urged them to act ethically and not use confidential information for blackmail or other abuses.[1]
– Thousands of Catholic devotees in Mexico City have flooded the streets for the annual Virgin of Guadalupe pilgrimage, one of Latin America’s largest religious events.[1]
– The Auschwitz exhibition (noted above) and a new set of murals in Lisbon’s Zambujal neighborhood have been highlighted in European cultural coverage.[4]

Elections and politics
– Bangladesh has scheduled its next national elections for February 12, the first since the 2024 mass uprising that ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and left hundreds dead and thousands injured.[1]
– In the Philippines, President Bongbong Marcos ordered the cancellation of ex‑lawmaker Zaldy Co’s passport and directed agencies to secure his return as authorities probe a major flood‑control corruption scandal.[2]
– Vietnam’s National Assembly has passed tighter press and state‑secrets laws, expanding government power to compel journalists to reveal sources and broadening what is classified as state secrets, raising censorship concerns.[2]

If you want, I can now zoom in on any region (e.g., Ukraine, Gaza, or a specific country) and give a more detailed update.