Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands and Slovenia will boycott the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest, after it was decided Israel could compete. 

They were among a number of countries who had called for Israel to be excluded over the war in Gaza and accusations of unfair voting practices.

But at a meeting in Geneva where a vote was held on new safeguards, a "large majority" of members agreed there was no need for a further vote on participation and that Eurovision 2026 could proceed as planned, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) said.

Spanish broadcaster RTVE, which had led calls for a secret ballot on the issue, said the decision had increased its "distrust of the festival's organisation".

The International Olympic Committee on Friday announced that athletes from Russia will once more be allowed to compete at the 2026 Winter Olympics under a neutral banner if they meet strict conditions.

"The Executive Board will take the exact same approach that was done in Paris," said IOC president Kirsty Coventry, referring to last year's Olympics where Russian athletes could only take part under a neutral flag and in individual events.

Those athletes were also required to undergo checks to prove they did not actively support the war in Ukraine or have any links with the army.

They will not be allowed to take part in the opening ceremony for the Milan-Cortina Games, which will be held from Feb. 6-22, nor will their achievements be recognized in the medals table.

It's no secret that the current US administration doesn't have too high an opinion of journalists. President Donald Trump recently called a female reporter asking him about his involvement in the Jeffrey Epstein scandal "piggy."

Finland, ranked the world's happiest nation for eight years and traditionally one of the European Union’s most fiscally disciplined countries, has just received a wake-up call from Brussels.

The European Commission, the bloc's executive arm, last week ordered Helsinki to devise a credible plan to resolve the country's budget deficit, which has crossed the EU’s limit of 3% of gross domestic product (GDP).

The Commission said Finland's deficit was projected to reach 4.5% of GDP in 2025, while the country's debt burden was set to hit 90% of GDP next year, up by nearly half since 2019.

It’s that time again where Democrats throw their full weight behind a cause of absolutely no benefit to Americans for the sole purpose of placing themselves at odds with the Trump administration. This time they’re not only going to the mat on behalf of foreigners, but suspected drug traffickers too!

For almost a week Democrats and their content creator friends in the dying news media have been pressing the White House and the Department of War to lay out the second-by-second, word-for-word timeline of a military strike from months ago, in which a Venezuelan motorboat and crew suspected of transporting narcotics to the United States were targeted. 

My following point here is not to prevent anyone to believe in god, but to stop people from indoctrinating others with their falsehood.

 

God is as dumb as a plank of wood — but we can use it to keep us afloat.

           Alphonso Moronicus

 

Misunderstanding the monkeyi sapiens condition is the privilege of the believer. Yes the Universe is big and we can imagine it to be an infinite cloud of godly substances. But the psychology of dealing with our angst and our wonder about the world should not rely on the invention of a supremo. The mechanics of thinking are quite clear and it’s up to us to understand the tenets of living. 

Elon Musk has predicted that Vice President J.D. Vance will succeed Donald Trump as US president, and that the country will enter a “great 12-year span” of leadership that will include Trump’s current tenure and successive terms for Vance, Politico has reported.

Musk made the remarks during a closed-door video appearance on November 22 to a reunion of his former federal cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team in Bastrop, Texas, the outlet wrote on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the private meeting.

Trump launched DOGE soon after taking office in January, touting it as a sweeping effort to slash federal waste and tapping Musk to be his government efficiency czar.

Australia’s response to Japan’s rhetoric has been framed as a test of loyalty, but the outrage is largely media-driven. Caution in foreign policy is not betrayal – it is a rational defence of national interest.

 

Fred Zhang

When foreign policy becomes domestic theatre

 

When Japan adjusts its strategic language and China responds, the region typically braces for a familiar diplomatic turbulence – sharp statements, historical weight, World War II war crimes, mostly predictable moves. Regional powers, including the United States, tend to sidestep these moments with ambiguity: a press secretary nod here, a communique there, nobody panics.

 

For political cartoonists, a federal election feels a little like Christmas — the fodder is endless.

And it really shows in this year's Behind the Lines exhibition, the annual celebration of the year's best political cartoons at the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House in Canberra.

The landslide win of Anthony Albanese is front and centre but so too is the fallout that followed polling day on May 3.

Peter Dutton joins John Howard in the 'Australian Party Leaders Who Lost Their Own Seats Club'.

Former Greens leader Adam Bandt becomes DJ Bandt with the slogan "Out of Power" looming above his head.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video is worth Leo Tolstoy’s book, War and Peace, which has over 580,000 words. It is posted below… The video shows 86 villages and towns that Russia has captured since September 2025. This video illustrates why the retired US military officers who appear on mainstream media to analyze the war in Ukraine are a bunch of clowns.

 

Russia is Moving Much Faster than US Military Experts Claim… Who Could Have Predicted That?

        30 November 2025 by Larry C. Johnson

 

Dozens of oil tankers in Russia’s shadow fleet will be hit by a fresh round of Australian sanctions in a bid to starve Vladimir Putin of revenue to fund his war machine as the federal government announces its first military support package for Ukraine in more than a year.

The new measures, however, will not silence growing calls for the government to go further by pledging to join the European Union and United Kingdom by committing to ban the import of any Russian-origin oil through intermediary countries.

A leading sanctions law expert has blasted Australian efforts to target the trade of Russian-origin oil as “weak and slow”, arguing government policies need to be toughened to ensure Australians are not inadvertently helping funnel money to the Kremlin.

US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has sparked a backlash after posting an image showing a popular children’s cartoon character attacking what appear to be drug traffickers. This comes as the administration of US President Donald Trump faces renewed scrutiny over lethal strikes against alleged drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean.

The meme posted by Hegseth on X is designed as a book cover featuring Franklin the Turtle standing in a helicopter clad in military gear, holding a bazooka and firing rockets at boats with armed gunmen transporting cargo. The caption in the image reads “Franklin targets narco terrorists.” Hegseth suggested that people should add the mock book to their Christmas wish list.

While some commenters expressed support for the crackdown on drug cartels, others expressed outrage over Hegseth’s meme. 

Washington has decided to stop negotiating with the supporting cast and go straight to the main stage. For the first time since the US revived its push for a negotiated end to the Ukraine conflict, the center of gravity has shifted to Russia.

Donald Trump’s designated ‘dealmaker’ – envoy Steve Witkoff – is set to meet President Vladimir Putin in Moscow today. Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who has been informally involved in back-channel discussions, has reportedly contributed to the US debate over how to approach Russia and will accompany Witkoff.

 

Witkoff in Moscow: Is Kiev still at the table or on the menu?
After days of shuttle diplomacy with Kiev, Washington moves straight to Moscow – sidelining the EU and testing how far Zelensky can resist US pressure amid a deteriorating front line...

 

The conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff was constructive, very useful, and substantive, according to Russian Presidential aide, Yuri Ushakov.

He made the comment after five hours of talks between the Russian president, his envoy Kirill Dmitriev, and US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Wtikoff which fininshed after midnight local time.

”No compromises have been found as of yet,” Ushakov said after the meeting. A meeting between Putin and Trump is not currently planned, he added.

“We discussed the substance, not specific wording and solutions. The parties see enormous potential for cooperation,” Ushakov said.