EU ambassadors were locked in the European Council building until late last night, trying to convince Belgium to back plans to use frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine. Can they reach an agreement by the leaders' summit on Thursday? Brussels Playbook has more 👇

‼️ US says for the first time it will respond militarily if Russia attacks Ukraine again

Europe’s easternmost countries have a blunt message for Brussels: Russia is testing their borders, and the EU needs to start paying for the response.

Trump administration says White House ballroom construction is a matter of national security

Delayed US employment reports expected to show softening labor market reut.rs/4qdDt2h

Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth, America’s war secretary, paint a dystopian vision for the world, in which a liberal international order gives way to grubby dealmaking and rule by the strong

This is another ‘ozone layer’ moment. Now, we must urgently target methane | Mia Mottley

'So you don't think there's a problem with small boat migrants using it as a loophole?' Anti-slavery Commissioner Eleanor Lyons tells @natashaclark.bsky.social why she disagrees with the Home Secretary.

At COP30, the Albanese Government signed on to support a global agreement to phase out fossil fuels. Now, just a few weeks later, the government is allowing gas companies to explore for new offshore gas. It’s like we are being gaslit. Read more on The Point: thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...

“When Australian governments don’t want to do something, they come up with the most elaborate and complicated policies to make it look like they are trying.” – Dr Richard Denniss, co-CEO, The Australia Institute Read the full article on The Point: thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...

“They didn’t just kill Awdah that day. They killed all of us” www.theferret.scot/a...

Pope Leo XIV has criticized prison overcrowding during a special Mass for detainees, guards and their families.

Bondi demands grief, respect, fairness and empathy theaimn.net/bondi-demand...

“The relationship between the president and the people he serves has shifted irrevocably,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor warned in her dissenting opinion. “In every use of official power, the president is now a king above the law.” trib.al/3vxo4YR

Australia had the ‘gold standard’ on gun control. The Bondi beach terror attack may force it to confront its surging number of weapons www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

#WATCH | The Indonesian Hospital was a vital lifesaving facility in northern Gaza. Today, it has been destroyed, turned into a camp for Israeli soldiers, and Hanukkah candles were lit on its ruins. Israel is the main reason for antisemitism

"Bondi terror shooting should spark new gun reform measures" "No city dweller needs six firearms and this is where old-fashioned Australian commonsense needs to kick in." www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/bondi...

The ruling scorches the Trump administration’s “extraordinary” and “troubling” handling of this whole case, suggesting it’s been utterly lawless and rife with malicious abuses of power. trib.al/QsPdekv

Advocates have described the verdict as an 'unlawful' decision based on 'trumped-up national security charges' https://aje.io/u1qf7q

Disagreement about having the picture book, “Call Me Max,” about a trans boy remain in a North Carolina county’s library led commissioners to dissolve the county library board.

What Happens When a Bonkers President Takes Over the Private Sector open.substack.com/pub/robertre...

“These policies don’t just disrupt paperwork. They derail lives.”

“The relationship between the president and the people he serves has shifted irrevocably,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor warned in her dissenting opinion. “In every use of official power, the president is now a king above the law.” trib.al/1zsoLsV

John Roberts and the Cynical Cult of Federalist No. 70 newrepublic.com/article/2043... via @newrepublic.com

There is, obviously, no “Presidential Immunity Clause” in the Constitution. The conservative justices’ un-originalist efforts to imagine one into it cannot be supported by text or history. trib.al/gcWulzo

A Royal Thai Navy spokesman says its military launched an operation to reclaim border 'territories' in Trat province.

In 1993, Trump signed a mortgage for a Florida home, pledging it would be his principal residence. Seven weeks later, he attested a neighboring property would also be his principal residence. In reality, he does not seem to have lived in either home.

The Philippine coastguard claims the vessels it deployed to aid the injured fishermen were also repeatedly blocked.

Renewed border clashes between Cambodia and Thailand entered a second week.

What Happens When a Bonkers President Takes Over the Private Sector open.substack.com/pub/robertre...

Unaccompanied migrant children being sent to Texas border to be deported, lawyers say

Opponents of Missouri’s new congressional map submitted thousands of petition signatures Tuesday calling for a statewide referendum on a redistricting plan backed by President Donald Trump as part of his quest to hold on to a slim Republican majority in next year’s elections.

2026 World Cup to cost US host cities upwards of $250m after ‘worst deal in history’

Trump Accidentally Sabotages Case for Bombings in New Interview Fiasco newrepublic.com/article/2041... via @newrepublic.com

Top Illinois Democrats have signaled they would move to counter a potential congressional remap in Indiana, which could get a vote this week.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth faced backlash after a new military artificial intelligence website appeared to fail immediately.

The asylum seeker whose claim has taken so long to process that he's had time to start a family

Judge orders Georgia to continue hormone therapy for transgender inmates

Also participating in the deal is Affinity Partners, the private equity firm run by Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Kushner’s involvement in the deal highlights the ongoing legal and ethical problems with his dual role.

On Monday morning, Paramount announced a $77.9 billion hostile takeover offer of Warner Bros. Discovery. What is not mentioned in the press release is that the majority of the equity financing comes from the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, and Qatar.

Democratic lawmakers on Capitol Hill Tuesday escalated their demands that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth publicly release an unedited video of a controversial follow-on strike by U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea that killed two shipwrecked survivors, reports @ashleymurray.bsky.social.

ICE has detained Afghan immigrants, including those with pending legal applications, sparking fear across immigrant communities. https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2025-12-08/after-national-guard-shooting-administration-cracks-down-on-legal-immigration?utm_medium=social&utm_source=bluesky_

It would be easy, and accurate, to call 2025 the low point of human action on the climate crisis. But there was another major development that gives us reason to hope for the future, @billmckibben.bsky.social writes. www.newyorker.com/culture/2025...

The EPA has removed references to human-caused climate change from its website — tweaking some pages to focus on the “natural processes” driving climate change and wiping other pages.

Norway's hypocrisy — more oil and gas drilling to sell abroad