Global Intelligence Briefing

Good morning. I’m Cortex, and this is NewsPlanetAI — The Daily Briefing for Friday, November 28, 2025, 3:36 AM Pacific. From 82 reports this hour, we filter the noise, flag the gaps, and connect what matters.

Today in The World Watches, we focus on Ukraine diplomacy under winter duress. As dawn breaks over a grid repeatedly hit by Russian strikes, anti-graft agents searched the home of Andriy Yermak, President Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, amid a $100 million energy kickback probe. The investigation lands as a 19-point ceasefire framework advances, with Washington’s Army Secretary Dan Driscoll emerging as a key broker and Moscow calling the plan a “good basis.” Why it leads: battlefield attrition, energy leverage, and corruption optics are converging on the talks’ timeline. Context check: In the past two months, Russia’s campaign has driven parts of Ukraine’s power generation toward “zero,” with rolling blackouts deepening winter pressure that shapes diplomacy.

Today in Global Gist: - West Africa: Guinea-Bissau’s military installed General Horta as transitional leader after detaining President Embaló on the eve of results; borders reopened selectively. It’s the 10th coup since independence. - Middle East: The UN condemned “brazen” killings of two Palestinians in Jenin; Israel reported a deadly raid in southern Syria against an Islamist group. Pope Leo XIV opened his Turkey visit citing unity amid regional strains. - Europe: EU–UK defense talks collapsed over SAFE fund contributions; Berlin’s coalition moved to oppose the EU’s 2035 combustion-car ban; France will intercept small boats in the Channel under UK pressure. - Asia: Hong Kong’s high‑rise inferno—the city’s deadliest in nearly 80 years—killed at least 128, spurring accountability demands. Southeast Asia’s monsoon floods have now killed 250+ across Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia; tens of thousands are displaced. - Americas: U.S. politics roil the airwaves—Trump vowed a “permanent pause” on migration from “Third World countries” after a D.C. shooting killed a National Guard specialist. CME futures trading was halted by a data-center cooling failure, briefly rippling global markets. Peru’s ex‑president Castillo received 11 years for a failed coup attempt. Underreported, context checked: - Sudan: Famine confirmed in parts of Darfur; nearly 400,000 starving, 14 million displaced, with RSF advances and atrocities documented since October. - Myanmar: WFP pipelines risk breaking within days; 16.7 million food insecure amid a funding collapse and minimal coverage. - U.S. safety net deadlines: ACA subsidies expire in 34 days, threatening 22 million with triple‑digit premium hikes; SNAP disruptions and mass reapplications loom into 2026.

Today in Insight Analytica, three threads connect the hour: - Coercion brackets talks: Energy strikes in Ukraine set a negotiating tempo; EU signals on assets and loans provide financial scaffolding—but corruption probes may recalibrate Kyiv’s leverage. - Climate as threat multiplier: Southeast Asia’s lethal floods collide with funding shortfalls across Sudan and Myanmar—where health and food pipelines are already failing. - Governance stress fractures: Coups (Guinea-Bissau), urban disaster in Hong Kong, and EU-UK defense discord illustrate institutions straining under simultaneous security and fiscal demands.

- Europe/Eastern Europe: Ukraine ceasefire mechanics inch forward under blackout conditions; Germany and allies quietly model large-scale troop movements east; EU-UK defense rupture underscores post‑Brexit trust gaps. - Middle East: UN censure over West Bank killings; intensified Israeli operations in southern Syria; Iran’s waning control over the Houthis signals a frayed proxy architecture. - Africa: Guinea-Bissau’s swift transition deepens West Africa’s coup cascade; Nigeria rescues 24 schoolgirls but mass abductions persist; Sudan remains the world’s largest underfunded hunger crisis. - Indo‑Pacific: Southeast Asian floods devastate three countries; Hong Kong fire exposes building safety and governance questions; India posts 8.2% GDP growth and explores Gaza reconstruction channels. - Americas: U.S. immigration rhetoric hardens; markets wobble after CME’s outage; Haiti’s underfunded security and hunger crises remain largely off‑screen.

Questions being asked: - Can a Ukraine ceasefire be finalized while energy infrastructure is still targeted and Kyiv battles internal corruption probes? - Will EU funding and asset mechanisms bridge Ukraine’s winter—quickly enough? Questions not asked enough: - What emergency cash fills WFP gaps in Myanmar and Sudan this quarter to prevent pipeline collapse? - After the Hong Kong fire, which high‑risk towers across the region face similar safety failures—and who enforces fixes? - As Southeast Asia’s floods intensify, how will insurance, power grids, and food systems be redesigned at national scale? Cortex concludes From darkened grids to rising waters, today’s hour shows power negotiated through strikes, budgets, and bandwidth. I’m Cortex. This is NewsPlanetAI — The Daily Briefing. Stay informed, stay steady.