I fancied a glass of port.

🇩🇪 German Chancellor Friedrich Merz drew a historical parallel, warning that if Ukraine falls, Russian aggression will not stop. He compared the situation to 1938, when appeasement after the Sudetenland was insufficient, suggesting Putin’s ambitions extend beyond Ukraine.

New South Wales Police say 11 people have now been killed in that shooting at Bondi Beach targeting the Jewish community, with 29 taken to hospital - including a child An event being held at the beach to mark the start of Hanukkah had more than 1,000 in attendance, police say

It's not just social media. Looks like visitors to the US from Europe and other countries that are part of the visa waiver program will have to submit an enormous amount of data about themselves and their families, including DNA, if proposed new rules are accepted

Three more British MEPs in Nigel Farage’s bloc now alleged to have “followed the script” given to Nathan Gill by an alleged Russian asset, according to prosecutors. At least eight UKIP and Brexit Party MPs were focus of efforts by Nathan Gill www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

“It is now beyond doubt, however; that this assisted by the White House in its efforts to destroy Ukraine and that the United States has declared war on Europe under its appalling president”… and who does the US support in Europe? The AFD in Germany and Reform UK here. Such grim betrayal. (iPaper)

I’m surprised more people aren’t talking about Don Jr receiving a massive loan for his startup from the Pentagon. I guess when there’s so much corruption some things fly under the radar?

Whoa … this is really strange. Federal law enforcement managed to confiscate almost two tons of cocaine, and arrest 3 suspects, without blowing the boat out of the water or killing anyone. 🎁 link ⤵️ www.miamiherald.com/news/local/c...

Spot on, Mr. Rather. 🎯 💯

open.substack.com/pub/leadersh... ‘The formula should be AI + HI, where HI (Human Intelligence) is larger than AI.’

www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/kr... The Kremlin said that the US administration’s new national security strategy document is “largely consistent” with Russia’s vision.

heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/december-6... ‘They have traded the rule of law for the rule of Trump’

Customs Unions are great but have you had a Single Market?

I have just been awarded the Quality Street Peace Prize.

A dentist and a manicurist married. They fought tooth and nail. #joke

Mr Sikorski taking no prisoners on Musk’s X disinformation channel.

Person who actually deserves a trophy is the artist who made the FIFA peace prize trophy look like everyone in the entire world holding their head in their hands out of secondhand embarrassment

So not only were we busy telling the world what we were doing on insecure Signal chats, we were shooting down our own people at the same time. It has costs to put incompetent people in charge of national security, and I fear we are just beginning to pay them. www.businessinsider.com/navy-warship...

Russia’s America.

Reform Party threatened legal action for critical news stories www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

🔥 Rachel Reeves says there’s a “hole” in the public finances. A new decade-long Brexit study quantifies it: A 6–8% hit to GDP That's £180bn-£240bn a year It means less tax revenue and so less money for everything. Brexit made Britain MUCH poorer.

This petition calling for a public inquiry into Russian influence on UK politics & democracy already has over 30,000 signatures. Let’s get it to 100,000 this week. Please sign and share 🙏 petition.parliament.uk/petitions/74...

The UK is losing up to £250m a day in lost tax revenue due to the economic impact of Brexit, House of Commons Library analysis for the Lib Dems suggests. Brexit has blown a "black hole of [up to] £90 billion a year in the public finances" the party says. Even under lower estimates the hit is ~£65bn

392,000 followers on X.

The Putin-Witkoff Plan Worsens the War open.substack.com/pub/snyder/p...

If Trump be the food of thy love, be quiet We have excess of it, that, surfeiting, Trump appetite may sicken, and so die.

I came to this country as a child refugee. No English, no certainty, no idea what my life could become. Britain gave me refuge. Not on a timer, not with conditions attached, but with a chance to grow roots. A thread 🧵 1/8 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

If the government really intends to seize jewellery and other valuables from refugees, either - it is staggeringly ignorant of the historical precedents or - it's aware of the precedents, and thinks, yeah, we'll have some of that. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Not the first to make this point. But there is a tyrant in charge of another country who is accused of being heavily linked to a paedophile sex ring - and supposed ‘patriots’ in this country are passionately willing him to take down our national broadcaster. Madness.

🕯️ Combat medic Anastasia "Pandora" Osintseva died during a combat mission, the press service of Lyceum No. 7 of Dnipro reports. 💔 She served in the aerial reconnaissance unit of the 71st separate brigade of DShV. During her school years, Anastasia was the president of the school self-government.

The Labour government has released to the media more details of its asylum reforms - to be released on Monday. Their premise: UK attracts asylum seekers because it is too generous + reducing pull factors will change that. There is a lot of overspinning from this govt www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

I did indeed walk across the piano keys over and over at 3:00 AM. Why do you ask?

Tommy Robinson is claiming credit for the language/policy being used by the Labour government (about deporting people found to be refugees once their home country is deemed safe)

This is me at 15. I’m a child. I’m a CHILD.

Anne Applebaum as usual on the mark. I would add: most elected Republicans quietly fold the millisecond this happens to them. So in speaking up MTG is GOP unusual.

Malcolm Nance said these sound like the titles of porn movies.

Good test of how UK politics at least is failing, there isn't a single frontline politician with a convincing big picture view of the country. Nostalgia, simplism, and warm words will have to do instead.

The impression given by a morning scroll is that the politics of Europe and North America has largely become a performative sideshow detached from real life (though not of course if you are one of the designated 'victims')

Human rights are universal - if we start stripping away basic human rights from any section of society then none of us has rights – just privileges that can be taken away by people in power whenever they want

New reflections from me about the challenge of countering disinformation when the state itself is distributing it christinapagel.substack.com/p/the-erosio...

Great that personal bribery has become the default way to get deals with the world's richest and most powerful country. Really positive development.

The Daily Mail has been relentlessly attacking the BBC over the editing of Trump quotes in a documentary and look: It completely fabricated a quote from a BBC presenter. Robinson should sue them for, ooh, at least $2 billion dollars as it’s worse than what they accused the BBC of.

EU Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas @kajakallas.bsky.social: Right now, Russia does not want to negotiate at all. Every time the world reaches out, Russia responds with missiles. Russia's latest attacks make abundantly clear that Russia is pressing with war. And this pattern keeps repeating.

Illegal migration isn't tearing this country apart, but our obsession with it is. It's an obsession fuelled by our media and politicians. Both profit from blowing the problem out of all proportion. It's been happening for decades, but never more so than now

Interesting to see so many great British patriots right now begging an American president to bankrupt one of Britain’s last remaining truly national institutions.

Show of hands please. How many women could lay their hands on £900,000 cash to buy their fella a house in his constituency ? Asking for a country still wanting an answer. #Farage #Frintongate

Aside from the cruelty of this, I’d just like to know why it’s ok to ignore and disappoint liberal/progressive voters. Why do governments chase Farage and his voters, thinking that will neutralise them. It’s NEVER worked. He’s leading in the polls and his ideas have ruined us. WTF are you doing?

Buckle up - because this now amounts to a direct and deliberate attack on our country and its cultural sovereignty. Which side our politicians take - Trump's or the BBC's - over the coming days and weeks will speak volumes about their patriotism.

But if the argument is that the BBC misrepresented the event and the speech in its entirety, or what happened that day, in a way that is biased in an anti-Trump direction - it 100% did not. THAT is a complete misrepresentation of what happened. And it is presented in total bad faith.