Six European NATO members have released a joint statement, backing Ukraine’s plan to join the US-led alliance and promising to support the peace terms offered by Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky to Russia. Moscow has previously rejected Zelensky’s insistence on restoring Ukraine’s 1991 border as completely unacceptable.

The foreign ministers of the UK, France, Spain, Germany, Italy and Police [sic = Poland] signed a declaration after meeting with theшк [sic = their] Ukrainian counterpart in Berlin on Thursday. 

“The goals of a comprehensive, just and lasting peace for Ukraine and durable security for Europe are inseparable. Ukraine must prevail,” the statement said. 

The countries pledged to support an end to the conflict in accordance “with full respect for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

Sacrifice zones are areas where people have been left to live in conditions that threaten life itself, from toxic industrial pollution to the deadly, intensifying effects of man-made climate change. In a more just and less cruel society, the very concept of a “sacrifice zone” wouldn’t exist. And yet, in America, after decades of deregulation and public disinvestment, more working-class communities are becoming sacrifice zones, and more of us are being set up for sacrifice at the altars of corporate greed and government abandonment.

The Western world has many enemies – China, Russia, Iran, North Korea – but none is more potentially lethal than its own education system. From the very institutions once renowned for spreading literacy, the Enlightenment and the means of mastering nature, we now see a deep-seated denial of our common past, pervasive illiteracy and enforced orthodoxy.

The American university is rotting from within
The modern academy is a threat to reason, liberty and Western civilisation.

JOEL KOTKIN

The standard modus operandi of the Hegemon is always Divide and Rule. Cornered by the inexorable rise of the multi-nodal (roman Pepe) reality, they saw an opening for an imperial reboot, betting everything on establishing the “Greater Middle East” outlined still during the Cheney era.

Death of a nation: Black Flags, massacres, land grabs as vultures feed on the carcass of Syria

BY Pepe ESCOBAR

The iron axis of Straussian neocons, Zio-cons and Old Testament psychos in Tel Aviv is no-holds-barred obsessed on destroying the Axis of Resistance, using their transnational network of bloody killers to extend chaos and sectarian civil war all across West Asia. Throughout this ideal scenario they dream of mortally hitting the head of the snake: Iran.

‘God Mode’: Like an invincible gamer, Gautam Adani’s rise as a global industrialist parallels that of India
He’s into ports, airports, energy and defense. His foreign forays echo PM Modi’s diplomacy. His ambitions know no bounds – despite recent legal troubles in the US

By Ushinor Majumdar

Time magazine named US President-elect Donald Trump as Person of the Year for 2024.

In its statement, the magazine said Trump had been chosen "for marshaling a comeback of historic proportions, for driving a once-in-a-generation political realignment," as well as "for reshaping the American presidency and altering America's role in the world."

This is the second time Trump wins the accolade, with the first time being after winning his first presidency in 2016.

Sam Jacobs, Time's editor-in-chief, explained the decision to US broadcaster NBC, saying that "for better or for worse, (Trump) had the most influence on the news in 2024."

"It's hard to argue with the fact that the person who's moving into the Oval Office is the most influential person in news."

“This [Jewish] stranglehold has got to be broken or this country’s going down the drain.” — American Pastor Billy Graham in conversation with President Nixon (Feb. 1, 1972)

One of the cruellest aspects of the new antisemitism is its perverse use of the Holocaust as a stick to beat ‘the Jews.’ Lesley Klaff explains the phenomenon of ‘Holocaust Inversion.’

Chief Justice Roberts, Vice President Harris, Speaker Pelosi, Leader Schumer, Leader McConnell, Vice President Pence, distinguished guests, and my fellow Americans.

This is America’s day.

This is democracy’s day.

A day of history and hope.

Of renewal and resolve.

Through a crucible for the ages America has been tested anew and America has risen to the challenge.

Today, we celebrate the triumph not of a candidate, but of a cause, the cause of democracy.

The will of the people has been heard and the will of the people has been heeded.

We have learned again that democracy is precious.

Democracy is fragile.

And at this hour, my friends, democracy has prevailed.

Sorry to tell you that I’m finishing this year most unimpressed by Anthony Albanese and his government. I’m still reeling from his last two weeks of parliament, pushing through 45 bills just to show how much he’d achieved and give himself the option of calling an election early next year should he see a break in the clouds.

Some of the measures pushed through at breakneck speed merited much more scrutiny, while some reforms that should have been put through were abandoned. One measure he’d hoped to rush through, fortunately, didn’t make it.

George Clooney, the iconic Hollywood actor and activist, is reportedly seething at former President Barack Obama, whom he blames for his high-profile role in urging President Joe Biden to step down from his 2024 reelection campaign. Sources close to Clooney claim he feels used and abandoned after Kamala Harris's historic but unsuccessful presidential bid left him as the face of the Democratic Party's political misstep.

George Clooney Reportedly Furious at Obama for Manipulating Him Into Ousting Biden and Facing Backlash for Harris’s Failure
     BY Kathy Clark

The “Trump Fragrances” website features a cologne and perfume labeled “Fight, Fight, Fight,” the phrase Trump appeared to say after an assassination attempt on him during a campaign rally in July.

The fragrances—priced at $199 each—include scents that “[embody] strength, power and victory” with “rich, robust notes” for men and “delicate floral notes and a burst of citrus” for women.

International Court of Justice to provide advice on nations’ climate change obligations. SE Australia and WA to experience more heat waves than predicted but NT and FNQ will have fewer. Mixed evidence of countries working together to progress sustainability.

International Court of Justice climate change hearings