Gaza

• The temporary ceasefire in Gaza continued today with further hostage / prisoner exchanges.
• The peace may not last much longer: Hamas must be running low on hostages to free, and some analysts think Israeli leaders may be feeling pressure to finish the war.

Sahel

• Sierra Leone's Pres. Bio is now calling Sunday's attacks on a barracks, an armory, and several prisons an "attempted coup."
• The country is still under a nighttime curfew as security forces chase the coup plotters. They've arrested 14 military officers so far.

Russia

• Finland temporarily closed the last of its eight border crossings with Russia over complaints that Russia encouraged over 900 asylum seekers - including many third-country nationals from Somalia, Yemen, Iraq, and Syria - to cross the border and put pressure on Finnish social services.
• The closures are more of a protest than a firm fence: crossings will reopen Dec. 13 and asylum seekers can still fly to Finland.
• Separately, a Russian court extended the pre-trial detention of WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich to Jan. 30. Gershkovich has been detained for eight months now on dubious spying charges.

Other News

• The UAE is hosting COP-28 climate talks this week, but a leaked document showed it also has an ulterior motive of pitching oil and gas deals to delegates who are there to discuss reducing global reliance on fossil fuels.
• A U.S. military V-22 Osprey crashed into the sea off the coast of Japan today, killing at least one of the eight aboard. The Pentagon insists the Osprey is safe and doesn't plan to ground other V-22s - despite criticism that they're prone to accidents (this is the second crash since August).