Washington, DC [US], December 23 (ANI): President Donald Trump said that it would be a "smart" move for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to relinquish power, as the United States continues to ramp up military and economic pressure on the South American nation.

Responding to questions about whether his administration's current strategy is designed to force Maduro from office, Trump remained noncommittal about the specific endgame but was clear about his advice to the Venezuelan leader.

"Well, I think it probably would," Trump said when asked if the goal was to force Maduro out.

"Can't tell. That's up to him what he wants to do. I think it would be smart for him to do that. Again, we're going to find out."

How to make ‘Iran like Gaza’ and describing the genocide in Palestine as a weapons testing laboratory. Michael West and Stephanie Tran with the inside story of a weapons expo.

Inside a conference hall at Tel Aviv University, executives, generals and venture capitalists took turns boasting about “combat-proven” Israeli weapons and surveillance systems.

“Make Iran like Gaza”: Chilling insider view from Israel weapons expo

by Stephanie Tran and Michael West

Compare Robodebt victims’ compo to the quantum of Scott Morrison’s publicly funded legal fees. It’s shameful, reports Rex Patrick.

He knew!

Scott Morrison was the minister who took Robodebt to Cabinet for approval.

And the biggest compo payout for Robodebt victims is … Scott Morrison!

by Rex Patrick

“Mr Morrison knew …”, wrote the Robodebt Royal Commissioner. He knew that ‘income averaging’ was the primary basis for Robodebt and “ [Department of Social Security] had advised [Department of Human Services] that legislative change was required to implement the DHS proposal in that way”.

When I saw this NY Times headline late Sunday evening — i.e., The Putin Confidant Who Pushed Back Against the War — it caught my attention because this is something I have neither seen nor heard in my seven trips to Russia since December 2023. Then I read the story and the male-bovine-excrement alarm started sounding (or should I say, stinking).

NY Times Weirdly Publishing a Bizarre Propaganda Piece About Putin

by Larry C. Johnson

Here are the salient portions of this odoriferous article:

As the war in Ukraine drags far into its third year, the ranks of the Russian army are increasingly filled with older fighters, according to a new report from Verstka [VOXEUROP: A ("RUSSIAN") DISINFORMATION CHANNEL IN EUROPE DESIGNED TO UNDERMINE PUTIN AND RUSSIA, THUS THE INFORMATION IN THIS FIRST ARTICLE OF THIS POST IS FALSE. MOST MEDIA ARE ACTUALLY MENTIONING THE OPPOSITE: THE UKRAINIANS ARE RECRUITING MEN OVER 65...].

French President Emmanuel Macron “betrayed” Friedrich Merz by failing to back the German chancellor’s push to steal Russian assets frozen in the EU to fund Ukraine, the Financial Times has claimed.

Earlier this week, EU leaders failed to agree on the European Commission’s controversial proposal to use Russia's immobilized central bank funds to finance Kiev’s military and economy.

IS DONALD TRUMP DOING HIS BIT AND TRYING TO PREVENT GLOBAL WARMING BY PREVENTING RUSSIA AND VENEZUELA TO SELL THEIR OIL? ONE WOULD HAVE TO BE SARCASTIC TO SUGGEST THIS CAPER, AS DONALD WANTS HE AND HIS MATES (SAUDIS, ETC) TO HAVE EXCLUSIVE PETRODOLLAR RIGHTS ON THIS WARMING PLANET — A WARMING DUE TO THE HUMAN USAGE OF FOSSIL FUELS...................

The Arctic endured a year of record heat and shrunken sea ice as the world’s northern latitudes continue a rapid shift to becoming rainier and less ice-bound due to the climate crisis, scientists have reported.

Japan is confronting existential crises: a rapidly aging demographic, a stagnant economy, crippling debt, fraying relationships with its neighbors, and a declining regional influence. Its military buildup and sanctions against neighbouring countries are only worsening these issues.

On Japan’s Soul Searching: Between Tokyo’s Neon Facade and Aokigahara’s Dark Forest

Tamer Mansour

Against the backdrop of hysteria over “repressions in Russia,” Great Britain itself has long since transformed into a police state, where dissent is stigmatized and truth is replaced by propaganda. Putin’s response has exposed the double standards of Western media.

The Empire of Lies: How the BBC Strangles Free Speech Under the Mask of Objectivity and Why Trump is Right to Sue

Viktor Mikhin

The Smokescreen of the “Free Press”

Mourners in Australia fell silent on Sunday in honour of the victims of the Bondi Beach attack.

The memorial was part of a national day of reflection to mark a week since the shooting in which two gunmen opened fire on an event celebrating the Jewish festival of Hannukah.

A 10-year-old girl, a British-born rabbi and a Holocaust survivor were among 15 people killed in the attack.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was booed when he arrived at the memorial event — an expression of anger by Australia's Jewish community against his government after a rise of antisemitic attacks over the past few months.

Reddit users have previously been shamed for running their own investigations into criminal matters, but for the Brown University shooting last Sunday one user proved vital for finding the suspect.

On December 13 a gunman killed two Brown University students and wounded nine others in their Engineering building, before escaping by foot.

How a Reddit tip proved vital for uncovering the suspect of the Brown University shooting

By Kitty Shepherd-Cross

Donald Trump has claimed that he could pay himself $1 billion in US government money as damages for a raid carried out at his Mar-a-Lago estate by the FBI.

Federal agents searched Trump’s property in Palm Beach, Florida in August 2022 as part of an investigation into his alleged mishandling of classified documents during his first term in office. Last year, the case was dismissed by a judge, who ruled that Special Counsel Jack Smith did not have the authority to prosecute the president.

Trump addressed the issue during his rally in Rocky Mount, North Carolina on Friday, calling the search “illegal” and claiming that the FBI had been “forced” to conduct the operarion by the then President Joe Biden's Department of Justice (DOJ).

“These thugs are disgusting and we cannot let them get away with this stuff,” he insisted.

Prof. Jiang Xueqin reveals what no one is talking about: Israel's hidden hand in Trump's war on Venezuela and predicts the demise of US empire. In this video, he sits down with Danny Haiphong to comment on the significance of this, and the underlying competition for an Israeli empire that's being kept secret by the elites.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GZuCC2V6sA

YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT — SINCE 2005.

         Gus Leonisky