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Clean Energy Rebound: Green Stocks Are Big Winners as Tech Boom Drives Energy Demand (Bloomberg)
The S&P Global Clean Energy Transition Index has rallied 44% this year, handily beating a 16% advance in the S&P 500 Index. It’s also outpacing an 11% gain in the S&P Global Oil Index, which was expected to be a big winner on the back of Trump’s “drill, baby, drill” agenda.
That’s an outperformance few had expected going into 2025, when investors had fled from stocks such as solar and wind producers on worries that Trump would abandon green policies and boost production of fossil fuels.
Energy Transition in Poland: Europe’s Coal Mining Holdout Braces for Its Inevitable Demise (Bloomberg)
Next Mega-Listing: Elon Musk’s SpaceX Valued at $800 Billion, as It Prepares to Go Public (New York Times)
Mideast Escalation: Trump Vows ‘Big Damage’ After Attack on US Troops in Syria (Bloomberg)
President Trump signaled Sunday that the US will do “big damage” to the militants behind a deadly attack on American forces in Syria that he blamed on the Islamic State.
Trump’s comment amplified his vow to inflict “serious retaliation” after two US Army soldiers and a US interpreter were killed in the attack Saturday in the Syrian city of Palmyra during counterterrorism operations.
A statement from US Central Command said the group was ambushed by a lone gunman who was identified as an Islamic State militant, a member of the Syrian security forces who was set to be fired for holding extremist views, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.
The gunman was killed.
The attack occurred in the city of Palmyra while the soldiers were conducting counterterrorism operations, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a separate statement. Palmyra is outside the control of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Border Conflict: Cambodia, Thailand Clashes Continue After Trump Ceasefire Claim (Bloomberg)
Thailand said it will continue military action against Cambodia to eliminate “harm and threats,” stepping up rhetoric even after US President Trump claimed to have brokered a new ceasefire.
Fighting entered its seventh day across the two countries’ disputed border. Thailand said Cambodia has been attacking and firing rockets into civilian areas since Friday night and Saturday morning, prompting Thailand to respond with an assault on military targets.
Fault Lines: Europe Sees Trojan Horse for Russia in Trump’s Ukraine Plan (Bloomberg)
European officials are growing concerned that an emerging US-brokered peace deal in Ukraine could be exploited by Russia, paving the way for a re-invasion of territory in the war-battered nation’s eastern Donbas region.
The fear, a main sticking point in recent talks, is that the US plan for a demilitarized zone would give the Kremlin cover to deploy covert forces in the contested area, according to people familiar with the matter. The Kremlin might then use hybrid tactics, including so-called false flag operations, to undermine US security guarantees and manufacture the premise for a new invasion, they said.
Today in Germany: Ukraine's Zelenskiy to Meet US Delegation on Trump's Peace Push (Axios)
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy signaled that Ukraine could accept security guarantees from the US and Europe as a way to prevent future Russian aggression, and as a substitute for its long-term goal of joining NATO.
Ukraine’s leader is meeting at Germany’s Federal Chancellery in Berlin on Sunday with a US delegation led by Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law, along with a number of national security advisers from Europe.
Latin America Watch: Trump Says ‘Starting’ Land Strikes Over Drugs in Latest Warning (Bloomberg)
HK Turning Point: Hong Kong’s Democratic Party Dissolves After 31 Years (Bloomberg)
Hong Kong’s Democratic Party, once the city’s largest opposition group, voted to dissolve after 31 years of operation. The resolution was passed during a meeting on Sunday to discuss the dissolution and winding-up process, according to a Facebook post by Emily Lau, former chair of the Democratic Party.
Extreme Weather: Indonesia
Flood Death Toll Tops 1,000 as Prabowo Vows to Rebuild (Bloomberg)
The death toll from flooding and landslides in Indonesia’s Sumatra Island rose to 1,006, as President Prabowo Subianto visited the region and called for a fast rebuild of damaged areas. At least 5,400 people were injured in the disaster and 217 were reported to be missing as of Dec. 14.
The government has estimated that the costs of rebuilding will be about $3 billion in Sumatra after monsoon rainfall was intensified by a rare cyclone earlier this month, causing flooding and landslides that leveled buildings, knocked out power grids and blocked roads.
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Visa Battle: States Sue Over Trump’s $100,000 H-1B Visa Application Fee (Bloomberg)
A group of 19 states sued the Trump administration to block a $100,000 fee for any new applications for H-1B visas, which allow employers in the US to hire skilled foreign workers.
The mostly Democrat-led states argue in the suit filed Friday that the fee creates a costly and illegal barrier for employers to use the popular visa program, particularly in the public sector.
2026 Projections: Trump Isn’t Certain His Economic Policies Will Translate to Midterm Wins (Wall Street Journal)
President Trump conveyed uncertainty about whether Republicans would maintain control of the House in next year’s midterm elections because some of his economic policies have yet to take full effect.
During an interview with The Wall Street Journal on Friday in the Oval Office, the president touted his efforts to secure multibillion-dollar investments in the US, arguing that the money will help transform the American economy. But he acknowledged that he couldn’t predict if that would translate into political gains for Republicans next fall.
In Memoriam: Hollywood Director Rob Reiner and Wife Found Dead in LA Home (Bloomberg)
Hollywood director and actor Rob Reiner, who helmed 1980s classics like The Princess Bride and This Is Spinal Tap, was found dead in circumstances that triggered a police investigation. He was 78.
Reiner was discovered in his Los Angeles home Sunday alongside his wife Michele Singer Reiner, both of whom appeared to have died from stab wounds, NBC News and other US outlets reported, citing sources close to the family.
Celebrities and politicians took to social media to mourn the star, who featured in or directed some of the most iconic films in Hollywood history.
On Stage at The Shed: Tom Hanks on the Electrifying (and Terrifying) Experience of Writing a Play (New York Times Opinion - Tom Hanks)
At the very first rehearsal of the new Off Broadway play “This World of Tomorrow,” our director, Kenny Leon, stopped us after two minutes — two minutes. “I don’t want to hear how you are saying the lines,” he told us actors. “I want to hear what you are saying,” Tom writes.
The play was based on a collection of short stories I’d written, and now my words were being spoken by the members of our all-star cast, including Kelli O’Hara, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Jay O. Sanders. I was not only acting alongside them, but I was also responsible for what was coming out of their mouths, Tom writes. Would my words inspire them? Would they help my castmates convey the language Kenny was listening for?
Some days, amid the rush of performing for a live audience, I feel as if our reality is forcing us to engage with the play’s themes: Staying present by embracing the moment, while also hurrying toward our inevitable future — the play’s final performance on Dec. 21.
On stage now at The Shed in NYC
— learn more and buy tickets here.
Box Office High: 'Zootopia 2' Retakes No. 1 at Box Office, Crosses $1 Billion Worldwide (Associated Press)
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