Welcome to World Brief: Holiday Edition! For the next two weeks, an extended World Brief will land in your inbox on Monday, focused on today’s biggest stories and the trends to watch tomorrow. The newsletter will take a break for the rest of the week as we at FP enjoy some end-of-year cheer.
Today, we’re looking at the new U.S. special envoy to Greenland, the killing of a senior Russian military official, and Israel approving more Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
Trump Eyes Greenland With New Post
Copenhagen summoned the U.S. ambassador to Denmark on Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump appointed a special envoy to the Nordic country’s largest territory, Greenland. The new position—given to Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, a Trump loyalist—further signals the White House’s intention to seek control of (and potentially annex) Greenland.
“Jeff understands how essential Greenland is to our National Security, and will strongly advance our Country’s Interests for the Safety, Security, and Survival of our Allies, and indeed, the World,” Trump wrote on Truth Social late Sunday. Landry echoed his sentiment, posting on X that he plans “to make Greenland a part of the U.S.”
Trump has repeatedly threatened to take over Greenland, arguing that the resource-rich, strategically situated territory is vital to U.S. national security; the island is a semiautonomous region of Denmark that is largely self-governed. Despite Copenhagen being a NATO ally, Trump has not ruled out using military force or economic coercion to achieve his aims.
Throughout 2025, the White House has exerted pressure on both Greenland and Denmark to push this agenda forward. In March, a U.S. delegation including Vice President J.D. Vance, then-National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, and Energy Secretary Chris Wright traveled to the island to demonstrate Trump’s eagerness to acquire the territory.
In August, Danish media reported that individuals with ties to the United States appeared to be attempting to “infiltrate Greenlandic society” in a covert influence operation aimed at weakening its relationship with Denmark. And on Monday, the Trump administration suspended leases for five offshore wind projects, including two being developed by Denmark’s state-owned Orsted.
Yet Greenland and Denmark have both defied Trump’s ambitions, stressing that the island is not for sale. “Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders, and its territorial integrity must be respected,” Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen wrote on Facebook on Monday, adding that Landry’s appointment “doesn’t change anything for us here at home.”
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen also denounced the special envoy position as “completely unacceptable,” stressing that the announcement came “out of nowhere.” Since Trump began his push to annex Greenland, Denmark has boosted its Arctic and North Atlantic defense budget by $6.6 billion and temporarily recalled the U.S. chargé d’affaires.
Today’s Most Read
What We’re Following
Deadly attack in Moscow. A car bomb killed a Russian general in southern Moscow on Monday, marking the third such killing of a senior Russian military officer in just over a year. Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov, 56, served as the head of the army’s Operational Training Directorate, which helps plan military operations and ensure combat readiness.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but “investigators are pursuing numerous lines of inquiry regarding the murder,” said Svetlana Petrenko, the spokesperson for Russia’s Investigative Committee. “One of these is that the crime was orchestrated by Ukrainian intelligence services.”
Last December, Ukrainian forces allegedly killed Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, the head of the Russian military’s nuclear, biological, and chemical protection forces. Russian President Vladimir Putin called Kirillov’s assassination a “major blunder” for the Kremlin. Within just a few months, Moscow failed to prevent the killing of another senior officer, Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik.
West Bank settlement plans. Israel’s cabinet approved a proposal on Sunday to construct 19 new Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. That is a major victory for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right partners, who have pushed for a greater Israeli presence in the West Bank despite the settlements widely being considered illegal under international law.
When Netanyahu took office in December 2022, there were around 141 Jewish settlements across the West Bank, according to watchdog group Peace Now. In just three years, that number has jumped by nearly 50 percent, now to more than 200.
The expansion has catalyzed a surge in Israeli settler violence against Palestinians; during the October harvest season, the United Nations recorded an average of eight Israeli attacks daily in the West Bank—the most since the U.N. humanitarian office began recording data in 2006.
Approval for the new settlements delivers a blow to hopes of eventual Palestinian statehood. The second phase of the U.S.-brokered Israel-Hamas peace deal in Gaza includes calls for a possible “pathway” to Palestinian independence; however, Israel has rejected efforts to make this a reality.
The World This Week
Resuming a border truce? Senior Thai and Cambodian defense officials will convene on Wednesday to discuss a return to the U.S.-brokered cease-fire deal that collapsed this month. The talks, which were confirmed on Monday, aim to secure an immediate halt to weeks of deadly fighting between the neighboring nations.
Thailand and Cambodia have accused the other of instigating the attacks, which center on a disputed area of land. Cambodia maintains that it is ready to resume the truce, but Thailand says it never received such a formal proposal.
The United States, Malaysia, and China have tried and failed to force Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet to return to the negotiating table. Neither leader will be present at Wednesday’s meeting, but experts suggest that a decision to hold high-level talks still signals a significant step toward ending the conflict.
Historic election in Guinea. Guineans will head to the polls on Sunday for the first presidential election since a military coup in September 2021. Junta leader Gen. Mamady Doumbouya previously pledged not to run for office, promising to transfer authority to a civilian government. However, Doumbouya reversed course last month, submitting his candidacy amid a ban on Guinea’s two largest opposition parties.
Doumbouya’s 2021 takeover was initially celebrated by Guinea’s public, who hoped that the general would transition away from the autocratic and corrupt policies of then-President Alpha Condé. Over four years, though, Doumbouya has arrested opposition leaders and cracked down on pro-democracy activists, leaving many concerned that his administration is no better than the previous one.
Analysts predict that Doumbouya will win Sunday’s election, cementing his grip on power and reaffirming his suppression of political dissidents.
Keep an Eye On
Tuesday, Dec. 23: The deadline expires for France’s National Assembly and Senate to pass the 2026 budget package.
Indian Internal Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar visits Sri Lanka.
Saturday, Dec. 27: The Ivory Coast holds parliamentary elections.
Sunday, Dec. 28: The first phase of Myanmar’s general election begins.
The Central African Republic holds a general election.
Kosovo holds early parliamentary elections.
Monday, Dec. 29: Trump hosts Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
Odds and Ends
2025 has been quite the year for French thieves. From luxury handbags to precious metals to 990 pounds of escargot, heists have taken a French noir turn—and that’s not even including October’s lucrative Louvre museum robbery, when thieves stole around $103 million worth of jewels.
Last week, French authorities added another one to the list: the theft of silverware and other table service worth as much as $47,000 from Paris’s Élysée Palace. Investigators have since recovered the stolen goods and charged three suspects, including a silver steward at the palace. Their trial is postponed until next February.
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