Trump changes course (again) on Syria

SYRIA: A Wednesday morning tweet from U.S. President Donald Trump declaring “victory” over ISIS in Syria once again has thrown into question U.S. policy. Because ISIS clearly is not defeated in Syria, the White House decision to withdraw 2,000 U.S. troops appears part of an agreement with Turkey—and other allies, possibly Saudi Arabia—to allow its forces greater leeway in territory already under Turkish control in northern Syria.

RUSSIA: Two reports commissioned by the Republican-led U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee concluded that a Kremlin-linked troll group used all forms of social media to boost then-candidate Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential bid. The researchers warned that Russia’s “active and ongoing interference operations remain on several platforms.”

EGYPT: President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has promised to improve the situation of the country’s Christians, but his policies have made it more difficult to build and operate churches in Egypt, according to a detailed new report from the Project on Middle East Democracy.

MEXICO: The United States is pledging billions in aid to Mexico and Central America as a curb on illegal immigration.

BELGIUM: Prime Minister Charles Michel has resigned after his coalition government collapsed over his signing of the UN migration pact. Michel will remain caretaker prime minister, per the request of the king, until January elections.

EUROPE: Leaders of Europe’s Big Three—the U.K., France, and Germany—are all fighting for their political lives.

PAKISTAN: A Pakistani court has sentenced to death two Christian brothers arrested in 2014 for blasphemy against Islam.

ITALY: A stolen Caravaggio masterpiece of the Nativity, missing since the 1960s, may be on its way to recovery—a kind of Christmas miracle, investigators hope.

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