US negotiators have given Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky days to respond to a peace proposal requiring Kiev to accept territorial losses to Russia in exchange for unspecified security guarantees, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing officials familiar with the matter.

One person told the FT that US President Donald Trump was hoping to reach a deal by Christmas. Zelensky reportedly told US envoys that he needed time to consult with Kiev’s European backers.

Although Trump had said last month that he would like to see an agreement by Thanksgiving, he later told journalists that he did not have a specific timeline.

Russia hawks in Congress and their allies in corporate media have been on the warpath against the Trump administration’s 28-point peace plan for ending the Ukraine war, dubbing the plan a “Russian wish-list.” The MSNBC host Rachel Maddow went so far as to hold it up as proof that “the Kremlin runs U.S. foreign policy.” Those cable news narratives have proceeded almost entirely without reference to the actual text of the plan, which—as noted in TAC—is hardly a one-sided victory for Moscow.

Bannon, Mearsheimer: Trump’s Ukraine Plan Won’t End the War

Establishment Ukraine hawking has largely drowned out restraint-oriented criticisms of the 28-point plan.

From being custodians of public knowledge, governments are turning to architects of manufactured ignorance. Amid disappearing evidence, citizens are struggling to hold power to account.

Around the world, governments are quietly deleting, manipulating, or withholding public data at an unprecedented scale, which is a direct threat to democratic accountability.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a meeting with Pope Leo XIV at Castel Gandolfo, located outside Rome.

According to a Vatican statement, the Pope reiterated the need for the continuation of dialogue and "expressed his urgent desire that the current diplomatic initiatives bring about a just and lasting peace."

U.S. confidence in its operation to remove Maduro appears so high that plans are already in motion for privatizing Venezuela’s oil industry. The strategy mirrors the 1989 Panama intervention against Manuel Noriega, who was labeled a drug lord and saw Panamanian elites support U.S. action. Today, the United States has designated the fictional Venezuelan “Sun Cartel” as a foreign terrorist organization and accused Maduro of leading it, citing “terrorist violence” in the Western Hemisphere, effectively putting intervention on the agenda, potentially including a landing operation supported by naval fire.

LYUBA LULKO

USA's Psychological Operations Against Venezuela: Intervention Plans Mirror Panama 1989

European leaders have said "now is a critical moment" to ramp up support for Ukraine and put pressure on Russia to bring an end to the war.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in London on Monday to discuss the latest version of a peace plan, drafted between Ukrainian and US officials last week.

The European leaders said more work was needed to obtain security guarantees for Ukraine, as the US puts pressure on Kyiv to agree a swift deal with Russia.

Zelensky, who travelled on to Brussels to meet Nato officials, said that Ukraine would share a revised plan with the US on Tuesday.

After a dizzying year of global upheaval, this reflection looks back on writing as resistance – against war, media failure, imperial power and silence – and why truth-telling still matters heading into 2026.

Eugene Doyle

During the closing plenaries of the 30th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP30) in Belém do Pará in the Brazilian Amazon, United Nations Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell gave a rousing speech. 

The Earth Is Unhappy with the Capitalist Climate Catastrophe: The Forty-Ninth Newsletter (2025)
As Global North countries fail to meet their climate finance obligations, the recent COP30 exposed the importance of class struggle in winning binding commitments for climate justice.

BY Vijay Prashad

The EU has once again strayed beyond acceptable boundaries, slapping Elon Musk’s social media platform X with harsh penalties for being in violation of new draconian EU digital laws that many say are code for censorship.

Elon Musk wants to abolish the EU. He has a point
The “bureaucratic monster” that has just fined X €120 million is wrapping its tentacles around free speech

BY Robert Bridge

Australia’s new Defence Delivery Agency may finally expose an uncomfortable truth – that Australia already has formidable deterrent capabilities through the Royal Australian Air Force and emerging drone systems, making the AUKUS submarine commitment both risky and unnecessary.

Robert Macklin

Merz hails Germany's friendship with Israel on first visit

Merz in Israel: Working toward goal of 'new Middle East'
Kieran Burke | Karl Sexton | Emmy Sasipornkarn | Timothy Jones dpa, AFP, Reuters, AP, epd, KNA

The German chancellor said "lasting peace is possible" in Gaza and that the possible establishment of a Palestinian state, alongside Israel, offered the best prospect for future peace. DW has more.

China now dominates in every technology that defines the modern world.

According to the Australian Strategic Policy Institute's 2025 Strategic Technology Tracker, released last week, China leads in seven out of eight AI categories, 13 out of 13 advanced materials and manufacturing technologies, in all seven categories of defence, space, robotics and transportation, nine out of 10 in energy and environment and five out of nine in biotechnology, genes and vaccines.

.... beyond the optics lies a decisive and concrete agenda — one aimed at reshaping how Moscow and New Delhi conduct business together, strengthening not only historic ties in defence and energy, but also building new arteries of trade, industry, and infrastructure that could define the coming decade. The warmth and personal rapport between the two leaders, evident in their airport handshake, shared car ride, and private dinner, underscores the trust-based diplomacy that forms the foundation for these hard economic outcomes.

HRIDAY SARMA