Russian troops attacked a gas station in the village of Pavlivka in Kharkiv Oblast with a drone, injuring six people, as reported by the regional military administration, the State Emergency Service, and the police.

The funny thing about attacking nuns is that you look always look weak and contemptible while they're actually still quite capable of kicking your ass.

"Conservative policies that pitted drivers against cyclists risked making the roads less safe by inflaming tensions, a minister has said, promising that the era of transport culture wars is over" www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

What the GOP never realized is that once you embrace conspiracy theories, there are no limits. You don't get to say "this unfalsifiable belief is valid and true, but yours isn't." They embraced unreality and this is the result.

Trump so interested in democracy in Ukraine while not caring at all about democratic decline in the US.

"This has nothing to do with the inconsistencies that have characterised Trump's behaviour on other occasions, but is part of a carefully crafted strategy to reconfigure the world order." Summary of European reaction to Trump's fashy interference. ~AA www.eurotopics.net/en/349639/ne...

Trump’s national security strategy slams Europe, not Russia www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

You know the West is in trouble when the US President cares more about Netflix taking over Warner Bros than Russia taking over a European country.

Good morning New York, while you were sleeping this was our most read story. on.ft.com/4a2VQC9

'The universities of East Anglia and Reading have both reported sizeable deficits in the latest sign that research-intensive non-Russell Group universities are being hit hard by the financial crunch facing the sector.' 1/3

Senior Pentagon officials have warned European partners that while arms supplies to Ukraine will increase, the United States will no longer serve as the cornerstone of NATO’s defense after 2027. militarnyi.com/en/news/us-e...

BREAKING: A group of soldiers has appeared on Benin’s state TV announcing the dissolution of the government in an apparent coup, the latest of many in West Africa.

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Power knocked out in part of #Belgorod region in western #Russia after Russian fighter jets accidentally drops bomb near an electricity substation Russia's warplanes have released 133 bombs on Russian-controlled border territory since the beginning of 2025 #Ukraine

I am ratcheting down my social media, but let me just say that all European leaders except on the far Right should note that the U.S. now seeks regime change in their country; basically seeks to depose them. US strategy is to support the political forces that threaten liberal democracy in Europe.

Swedish navy encountering Russian submarines ‘almost weekly’ – and more could be on the way www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...

Hegseth back in 2016 understanding following unlawful orders and war crimes. There is always video to be used by Congress and in court.

Life in Bamako, the capital of Mali, has been brought to a standstill after a jihadist organisation launched a series of attacks on inbound fuel convoys. Bellingcat has verified six attacks since September, which together have damaged more than 130 fuel tankers. www.bellingcat.com/news/2025/12...

This is a good account of where we are, sadly: www.ft.com/content/5e61...

Putin says he is ready for war with Europe but TBH Russia was clearly not ready for war with Ukraine.

Important conversation. But the conclusion understates the case. It is not that handing Russia the huge territory that contains Ukraine’s best defenses would “not necessarily” bring peace. It is that so doing would guarantee a bloodier and longer war. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...

“Ah, just one more thing, sir. You’re blowing up those boats, saying they’re filled with drugs headed for the US. But then you go and pardon the guy who brought in 400 tons of cocaine. That’s billions of doses. Help me understand that.”

Fair play to Reform. They are patriots. Unfortunately Russian patriots! Provided of course the price is right.

Focusing on extreme events such as the reports of Farage’s teenage past can exceptionalise the nature of far-right politics and make it harder to call out... It also downplays the role played by the mainstream media and politicians in the process of mainstreaming theconversation.com/nigel-farage...

Civil servants will wring their hands about migrant camps, but they'll still be there - as in Children of Men. Might be a few resignations. Some academics will be given license to protest. Charities will be one place you get the truth tho, it'll be variegated. (2/2) www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

One should be in no doubt that most of Britain's elites will simply make their peace with Farage and do a deal, so long as they get left alone or benefit. Tho there is resistance to Trump in the US, it's v much the exception.(1/2) www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

Yttrium plays a critical role in everything from aircraft engines to semiconductors. China controls the vast majority of the market—and that’s not changing any time soon. www.wired.com/story/yttriu...

Statistics show a long awaited shift in personnel trends, with more people joining the UK’s Regular Armed Forces over the most recent 12 month period than leaving. ukdefencejournal.org.uk/more-now-joi...

Sweden scrambled Gripen fighters on Thursday to shadow a group of Russian Tu-22M3 bombers and Su-35 escorts flying over the Baltic Sea after the formation was detected on radar. ukdefencejournal.org.uk/nato-interce...

Israel reportedly delivers SPYDER systems to Georgia defence-blog.com/israel-repor...

We saw it with big tobacco, we saw it with the fossil fuels industry. When their own internal research showed the harm from their product, the defunded the research and attacked independent researchers coming to the very same conclusions. #ScienceUnderSiege

This story should be covered waaaaayy more than it is. The US has sanctioned six judges if the international criminal court ICC, because Trump didn’t like them issuing arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant. www.lemonde.fr/en/internati...

This week I am writing about obeying illegal military orders. Happy to hear any informed views and of any interesting/useful information, on or off record. DMs open.

'Kremlin claims it has received no official US "peace plan" and is unwilling to discuss it' www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/202...

Trump is conspiring with Putin to sell out Ukraine – and the security of the whole of Europe along with it. The Prime Minister must convene the Coalition of the Willing to stop this betrayal in its tracks.

Make Article I great again. Congress is complicit in the ongoing attack on the Constitutional authorities granted to it.

Federal agents used chemical weapons on Chicagoans at least 49 times — even after a judge said to stop. Contrary to federal claims about attacks on agents, most of these incidents appear to involve nonviolent protesters or bystanders. blockclubchi.co/47PoaXb

"Russia’s allies, most ominously China (the largest producer of military weaponry in the world) are piling in with support for Russia while Ukraine’s allies too often dither." As Harari very pricesly put earlier, the weakest link in Ukraine’s defences still lies in the minds of its western friends.

Oh hey, I found the war on christmas

Good article on just how different frontline warfare is in Russia's invasion of Ukraine today.

Drone footage shows strikes on energy facilities in the occupied territory — hits on the Zuivska and Starobesheve thermal power plants.

New footage shows China’s stealth combat drone in active use defence-blog.com/new-footage-...

We know the familiar pattern: “Moscow still loves a loser: failed journalists, has-beens, also-rans, sex pests and disgruntled narcissists end up going to work for the Kremlin.” More essential reading from @michaeldweiss.bsky.social. open.substack.com/pub/macspaun...

A Russian blogger shared that many Russians do not realize how many Russian soldiers are dying in the war against Ukraine. "For these two small cities [Pokrovsk and Bakhmut], Russia has already killed 80-100 thousand of its own soldiers. It wasn't Ukraine that killed them, it was Russia," he says.