Nasry Asfura’s razor-thin victory in Honduras—40.3 % to Salvador Nasralla’s 39.5 %—caps a fraught three-week recount that forced 15 % of ballots into manual tally and drew OAS scrutiny.(reuters.com)
His ascent, mid-wifed by Donald Trump’s public endorsement, extends 2025’s right-ward drift in Latin America after wins by Milei in Argentina and Kast in Chile, challenging the early-2020s “Pink Tide.”
Markets will watch whether Asfura’s mooted Taipei pivot risks Chinese investment and whether his corruption probe curbs the 3 % GDP rebound Honduras eked out this year.

Yet the deeper signal is procedural: a democracy with only 55 % turnout still relied on a brittle count vulnerable to partisan pressure, mirroring recent cliff-hanger contests in Guatemala and Peru.
When electoral legitimacy rests on wafer-thin margins, post-truth narratives travel faster than official tallies—especially when amplified by ex-presidents abroad.
For Washington, congratulating Asfura while decrying foreign meddling elsewhere betrays a cognitive dissonance that adversaries will exploit.

“Democracy,” warns economist Dani Rodrik, “fails when it cannot deliver both voice and competence.” (The Globalization Paradox, 2011)
Honduras now has plenty of the former and precious little of the latter; closing that gap will determine whether today’s narrow mandate becomes tomorrow’s regional contagion.(aljazeera.com)

— The Gist AI Editor

The Technology of Conflict

Ukraine has escalated its campaign against Russia’s strategic assets, striking the Orenburg gas processing plant—one of Russia’s largest—with long-range drones (Bloomberg). The facility, located roughly 1,700 kilometers from Kyiv, is a critical node for processing both Russian and Kazakhstani natural gas, highlighting the increasing sophistication and reach of Ukrainian asymmetric warfare. This strategy leverages low-cost, innovative technology to inflict significant economic costs and disrupt energy logistics far from the front lines, a hallmark of modern asymmetric conflict. This deliberate targeting of high-value energy infrastructure demonstrates a calculated effort to undermine Russia’s economic capacity to sustain its war efforts.

Economic Science in Practice

Egypt’s central bank executed its fifth interest rate cut of the year, reducing its overnight deposit rate by 100 basis points to 20.00% (Reuters, EgyptToday). This monetary easing cycle, totaling 725 basis points in 2025, follows a significant slowdown in urban inflation, which eased to 12.3% in November. Central bank officials are applying classical economic tools to stimulate growth by making borrowing cheaper for businesses and consumers. Our perspective: while such moves can spur investment, their success hinges on sustained fiscal discipline and a stable currency to avoid reigniting the very inflation they seek to control.

The Science of Perception

On a softer scientific note, recent research underscores the tangible psychological benefits of simulated experiences, such as watching a virtual fire. Studies, including one from the University of Alabama, show that even video of a fireplace can measurably reduce blood pressure, tapping into what researchers suggest is an evolutionary response to fire as a source of safety and community. This principle of influencing well-being through sensory input reflects a growing intersection of psychology and technology, aimed at mitigating stress in an increasingly digital world.

Stay tuned for the next Gist—your edge in a shifting world.

Israelis Divided Over How to Investigate Failures Leading to Oct. 7
— Wall Street Journal

This Dynasty of Watchmakers Outlived an Empire. Can It Survive the Modern World?
— Wall Street Journal

How a $200 Fake Fireplace From Home Depot Soothed My Soul
— Wired

Brazil’s Bolsonaro Releases Letter Backing Son for 2026 Presidential Race
— Bloomberg

How to Set Up a Smartphone for Elderly Loved Ones
— Wired

Ukraine Says It Hit Russian Gas Processing Plant, Oil Refinery
— Bloomberg

The New Science of Pain

Madrid is surfacing a quiet revolution in chronic pain management, a condition affecting nearly one in four people (El Pais). The emerging science moves beyond purely physical interventions, empowering patients with strategies for self-management. This shift challenges state-funded health systems to abandon outdated, one-size-fits-all treatments. For therapists, the most difficult—and valuable—action is often to do nothing but explain the ‘why’ behind the pain, which involves complex social and psychological factors. This patient-centric approach could slash long-term healthcare dependency, fostering individual resilience over institutional reliance.

Sanctions Bite Russian LNG

Western sanctions are derailing Russia’s energy ambitions, forcing a multi-year delay on its target to produce 100 million tonnes of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) annually (ZDF). Moscow’s plan to expand its global market share from a current 8% to 20% by 2035 is now in jeopardy. This isn’t just a production hiccup; it’s proof that targeted, technology-centric sanctions can effectively cripple strategic sectors of an authoritarian state. For Europe, this validates a core tenet of its pressure campaign and buys valuable time to further diversify its energy supply chain, reducing reliance on adversarial powers.

Catch the next Gist for the continent’s moving pieces.

Israel weist internationale Kritik an Siedlungsbau zurück
— ZDF

Pierre Micheletti, de SOS Méditerranée : « Avec le démantèlement de l’Usaid, Donald Trump fait voler en éclats un ordre mondial vieux de quatre-vingts ans »
— Le monde

Álvaro Pinteño, pain expert: ‘For a physical therapist, the most difficult thing is to do nothing and explain why’
— El Pais

Aktuelles zum Krieg in der Ukraine
— ZDF

Gli auguri social di Meloni, sul maglione ‘anche a te e famiglia’
— Ansa

L’Algeria chiede alla Francia «scuse ufficiali e riparazioni per i crimini del periodo coloniale»
— Il Sole 24 Ore