• French rape trial verdict: A court finds Dominique Pelicot guilty of drugging and raping his wife for almost a decade and inviting dozens of men to rape her while she was unconscious. Gisèle Pelicot became a symbol of courage during the three-month trial. 
• Trump on funding: President-elect Donald Trump delivered a blow to bipartisan congressional budget negotiations days before a deadline when federal funding runs out. He then announced “success” in backing a new Republican bill, but it has yet to win the Democratic support needed for passage. 
  • Related Monitor story: The move reflects a Trump pattern of sometimes throwing Congress into upheaval. What now? Cameron Joseph reports. 
• Amazon strike: Workers at seven Amazon facilities go on strike, an effort by the Teamsters to pressure the e-commerce company for a labor agreement during a key shopping period. 
• Climate ruling holds: Montana’s Supreme Court upholds a ruling that said the state violated residents’ constitutional right to a clean environment by permitting extraction projects without regard for global warming. The 2023 decision was considered a breakthrough by young environmentalists in using the courts.

Read these news briefs.

First Hamas in Gaza, then Hezbollah in Lebanon, now the Assad regime in Syria. With key components of Iran’s “Axis of Resistance” diminished or defeated, what is left of Tehran’s expensive strategy for regional dominance?

The fall of the Assad regime in Syria offers a chance to build a less combustible Middle East. Will regional leaders work together toward that goal, or will they allow their narrow national interests to prevail?

Kash Patel, nominated to run the FBI, has suggested he’ll use the agency to target political opponents. An expert on J. Edgar Hoover compares the two and assesses what’s at stake.

Is entertainment a better way to inform about news events than actual reported stories? Sometimes it seems that way, as suggested by public response to recent dramatizations about the British Post Office scandal.

In our progress roundup, neglect is repaired by easing commutes for some of Mexico City’s working-class neighborhoods, turning abandoned Scottish homes into dream houses, and electing a record number of Indigenous representatives in Brazil.

Homeowner light displays are building human connections in California. The most elaborate shows draw crowds – and create Christmas traditions that brighten dark December nights.

The Islamic regime in Iran has had a bad run lately. The collapse of its ally in Syria. The weakening of its proxy militias in Gaza and Lebanon. Embarrassing intelligence failures. Bombardments by Israel. Rarely has Tehran been more isolated.

Yet on Tuesday, when supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed in a public address that “The resistance [to Israel and the West] is not over,” he also spoke of a vulnerability from within.

“Everyone, especially women, should be vigilant about the enemy’s soft tactics and not be deceived by slogans and temptations,” he said. By “advocating for women’s rights ... they incite unrest in the country.”

The ayatollah’s warning comes amid a resurgence of the women’s rights movement that erupted two years ago when a young woman died while in police custody after being detained for not covering her hair properly. The incident kindled the most vigorous pro-democracy protests since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Violent crackdowns drove the resistance underground, although many women continued to defy the hijab laws. Two factors have now brought it back into the open.

The first is a bill that would impose severe restrictions on women’s public attire as well as penalties for anyone – including cabdrivers and restaurant owners – seen to be abetting violations of its provisions. The second is the temporary release of Narges Mohammadi, the women’s rights activist awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year, from prison for medical reasons.

Both of these factors may come to a head in the coming days. Approved by lawmakers in 2023, the Law on Supporting the Family Through the Promotion of the Culture of Chastity and Hijab may be enacted as soon as this weekend. Ms. Mohammadi is due back in prison a few days later.

The regime has reason to be worried. Iranians are already battered by rolling power outages, mandatory rationing of winter heating oil, and a currency in free fall. In recent days, civil society groups have gathered tens of thousands of signatures on petitions opposing the new hijab law. 

On Dec. 14, the head of the Supreme National Security Council requested a delay in implementing the law. Even the measure’s supporters agree that it is probably unenforceable.

“Society has moved forward, yet officials are pushing a law that risks further alienation,” Azar Mansouri, a reformist leader, told Foreign Policy.

Nobel laureate Ms. Mohammadi, meanwhile, has used her brief freedom well. She spoke with the Nobel committee for the first time, resulting in international calls for her permanent release. On Tuesday, she spoke with CNN. “Whether I am inside Evin [Prison] or outside Evin, my goal is very clear, and until we achieve democracy, we are not going to stop. We want freedom and we want equality,” she said.

Swift turns in global events may alter the course of nations, yet in Iran, the battle over veils has unveiled a mental liberation. “Today, in Islamic Iran, women are experiencing an unprecedented awakening, actively pursuing education and striving to secure their rightful demands,” declared Mawlana Abdol Hamid, a leader of Iran’s minority Sunni Muslims, earlier this month. “Demanding one’s rights is not a cause for concern; rather, it reflects the vitality and liveliness of a nation.”