Shein Survives (For Now)

Hi Global Recap readers,

Do you remember our story about the Chinese e-commerce platform Shein selling disturbing childlike sex dolls? Here’s an update.

Do you think the court’s ruling was fair? 👇🏼

🇫🇷 FRANCE
Shein Gets Court Warning

A Paris court refused to freeze Shein’s French site for three months, but slapped the platform with an injunction tied to adult products and age checks.

• Trigger: French authorities went after Shein after prohibited items showed up for sale in France, including weapons, banned medications, and childlike sex dolls.

• Ruling: The court called a full suspension "disproportionate," saying the illegal listings were "sporadic" and noting Shein had removed the products after they were flagged.

• Condition: Judges still ordered Shein not to restart sales of sexual products that could count as pornographic content unless it puts real age verification in place.

• Appeal: The French government said it will appeal after the court rejected its push to keep Shein’s marketplace shut.

🇸🇾 SYRIA
US Hits ISIS Targets

The U.S. military struck dozens of ISIS sites at multiple locations across central Syria today, with War Secretary Pete Hegseth calling it as vengeance after an ambush that killed three Americans.

• Strike: U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) says more than 70 ISIS targets were hit and more than 100 precision munitions were used, delivered by a mix of fighter jets, attack helicopters, and rocket artillery.

• Name: Hegseth said the operation was called "Operation Hawkeye Strike" and aimed to destroy ISIS terrorists, infrastructure, and weapons sites tied to the Dec. 13 attack in Palmyra.

🇺🇦 UKRAINE
Drones Hit Qendil Offshore

Ukraine’s SBU says it used aerial drones to strike the shadow-fleet tanker Qendil in the Mediterranean Sea, in neutral waters off Libya and more than 2,000 km from Ukraine. The ship was reportedly empty but took "critical damage," pushing Ukraine’s oil-war playbook well past the Black Sea.

• Reach: This is the first reported Ukrainian drone hit on a shadow-fleet tanker in the Mediterranean, and it used aerial drones (not sea drones).

• Target: Qendil sailed under an Omani flag and was known to be part of Russia’s "shadow fleet," which are loosely regulated tankers that keep Russian crude moving despite Western sanctions.

• Tactics: Ukraine did not explain how the drones reached the ship, only saying the operation involved "multi-stage" measures. A maritime risk firm, Vanguard, called it a clear expansion of Ukraine’s use of uncrewed aerial systems against Russia-linked maritime assets.

• Response: Russia hasn't made any public comment on the incident yet.

🇵🇸 GAZA
Gaza’s Proxy Militia Boom

A new ecosystem of militias is trying to muscle into Gaza’s future from the Israeli-controlled side of the enclave, betting they can outlast Hamas and claim a seat in whatever comes next.

• Boundary: Since the October 2025 ceasefire, Gaza’s de facto map includes a demarcation called the “Yellow Line,” with repeated reporting describing it as a lethal, heavily enforced boundary that helps separate Israeli-controlled areas from Hamas-run areas.

• Actors: One prominent anti-Hamas figure is Hussam al-Astal, described by analysts as leading a faction often called the “Strike Force Against Terror” in the Khan Younis area, part of a wider ecosystem of armed groups that Israel has been accused of tolerating or backing to weaken Hamas.

• Setback: Another key figure, Yasser Abu Shabab, led the Israel-backed Popular Forces and was killed on December 4, 2025, with accounts ranging from a family dispute to a violent local clash.

• Recruitment: Reporting on Abu Shabab’s network describes recruitment pitches with monthly pay cited as 3,000 to 5,000 shekels (about $890 to $1,500), plus attempts to lure professionals into a governance story, not just a gunfight.

• Policy: Israeli PM Netanyahu has publicly acknowledged activating or backing anti-Hamas clans in Gaza, while U.S. planning around reconstruction has been framed as starting in areas Hamas does not control, with Kushner saying reconstruction funds will not go to Hamas-held zones.

🇵🇰 PAKISTAN
Chenab Dam Releases

Pakistan says India is weaponizing water by releasing dam flows into the Chenab River without warning.

• Claim: Deputy PM Ishaq Dar spoke in Islamabad today, accusing India of irregular releases from Indian dams into the Chenab that Pakistan says violate the Indus Waters Treaty and risk regional stability.

• Papertrail: Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry says it has formally written to New Delhi for clarification after detecting what it called an irregular release this week, and Dar says India has also stopped treaty-required information sharing like advance hydrological data and joint oversight.

• Pressure: Dar says the timing hits Pakistan at a sensitive point in its agricultural cycle, with spillover into food security and the wider economy, and he warned the pattern could tip into a "humanitarian crisis."

• Precedent: Pakistan points to September flooding that officials say worsened after similar water releases, while India has previously said it issued flood alerts and that monsoon rains were also a driver.

• Escalation: Remember that this is all happening after:

  • the April 2025 Pahalgam terrorist massacre (an attack that killed 26 tourists and was attributed to the Pakistan-based Islamist group The Resistance Front) after which India downgraded bilateral ties and declared the treaty framework suspended.

  • the May 2025 fighting that led to a U.S.-brokered ceasefire announcement on May 10, 2025, followed by accusations of violations.