Donald Trump has repeatedly announced he is preparing a war against drug cartels, and James Bosworth, a global fellow at the Wilson Center’s Latin America Program, argues that Trump’s threats should be taken seriously.

There is in any case a larger context to Donald Trump’s “war on drugs” promises: he has after all vowed to employ the military for mass deportations (of illegal migrants) and to do so, he plans to declare “national emergency” – the plan does not rule out deporting whole families altogether. Several immigration “hard-liners” have been tapped by Trump to serve in his future administration (he will take the oath in January 2025). Such measures would be a great shift for the US military, normally not involved with domestic law enforcement matters. It has been tried before, though: the so-called Operation Wetback, under then President Eisenhower, in 1954, deported around 1 million Mexicans and even some US Americans of Mexican descent.

This might not be just about providing a very harsh answer to illegal migration and border problems (such as the Fentanyl crisis). Trump has at times even promised that thousands of American troops from overseas would be moved to the border. Think about it: mobilizing the military domestically and declaring a “national emergency” is a great way to increase one’s own power. And, as I wrote before, Trump’s war with part of the so-called “Deep State” is (to a large extent) all about that. It is about “taming” the intelligence services, expanding the Executive (as outlined in Project 2025) and boosting presidential powers.

Pro-EU protests are rocking Tbilisi in a strong echo of the 2014 Euromaidan coup in Ukraine.

Victoria Nuland, a US State Department official under the Obama and Biden administrations infamous for her role in the 2014 Ukrainian coup d'etat, re-joined the National Endowment for Democracy's (NED) Board of Directors.

What is the NED?

The NED is a self-described "non-profit foundation" set up in 1983. It receives annual funding from Congress through the US Department of State and is staffed by former government officials.

CIA Director William Casey and senior CIA covert operation specialist Walter Raymond are believed to be the masterminds behind the NED's creation in the 1980s

From now until mid-January, the United States will supply Kiev with hundreds of thousands of artillery shells and thousands of missiles, promised National Security Adviser to the President of the United States Jake Sullivan. His words are quoted by RIA Novosti.

"From now until mid—January, we will deliver hundreds of thousands of additional artillery shells, thousands of additional missiles and other critically important weapons to help Ukraine," the official said.

Military commanders report that Kurakhovo will soon fall, and the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Syrsky, went all in, demanding to lower the age of mobilization for a new counteroffensive. And, apparently, NATO will go in the second wave.

The Russian army is already storming the Old Thorns, and Kurakhovo will soon fall, military commanders report. Meanwhile, the Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Alexander Syrsky, demands that Vladimir Zelensky urgently lower the age of mobilization. Kiev is planning a new counteroffensive – this is not a bluff.

Kurakhovo will fall soon

Russian troops are actively knocking out the Armed Forces of Ukraine from high-rise buildings in the city of Kurakhovo and pulling up reserves to strengthen the assaults, military commanders report. Meanwhile, north of the city, Russian assault groups have already entered the Old Terns and are entrenched along the entire shore of the reservoir.

And south of Kurakhovo, heavy fighting continues in a pocket near the Sukhye Yaly River. Russian fighters are pushing through enemy positions, helping to squeeze the pincers around Kurakhovo. Meanwhile, UAV operators are haunting the enemy on the southern outskirts of the city.

Everything secret becomes clear. Such a conclusion can be drawn from the publication of the British BBC, the hero of which at once handed over the plans of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kursk region. Many of the network insiders have been confirmed.

The hero of the publication of the British TV channel was a soldier of the Armed Forces of Ukraine named Pavel. He said that the main task of the Ukrainian army now is to hold the maximum part of the territory of the Kursk region until the inauguration of Donald Trump as president of the United States. Then they want to exchange it "for something". Pavel does not know what exactly. Most likely, the older comrades of the serviceman are not aware of this either. It should be noted that the words of the soldier did not become a revelation. Similar plans have been published online for at least a month.

Right, so this story might sound crazy, it might sound like something out of Warhammer 40K, but I promise you it isn’t it’s being reported by several perfectly credible sources and certainly warrants an explanation, because it would appear Israel is using some kind of weapon the likes of which I’ve certainly never heard of before and upon further investigation, this is actually not a new story at all, but one which goes back at least as far as May of this year, so known about for months, and yet no investigation has been carried out into the multiple claims of what this disturbing apparent munition that Israel has and is deploying actually does, because if the claims are true, this might explain at least in part, the discrepancy between the number of Palestinians that have officially been killed by Israel in the aftermath of the night of October 7th, because it is very difficult to count a body, when there’s not much left to actually count.

COVID: "They Put A Bounty On Our Heads"

China’s foreign ministry has strongly condemned Lithuania’s move to expel three of its diplomats and warned of “countermeasures,” in a statement released Beijing on Monday. Relations between the two countries have soured over Vilnius granting a delegation from Taiwan diplomatic status and allegations that a Chinese ship was involved in damaging two undersea cables in the Baltic Sea.

Three staff members from China’s diplomatic mission were declared personae non gratae on Friday for activities which the Lithuanian foreign ministry claimed had violated the Vienna Convention and Lithuanian legislation.

Beijing described the move as “wanton and provocative action,” and said it “reserves the right to take countermeasures against Lithuania.”

Russian troops have taken part in a prayer service at a church in the village of Pesky that had suffered significant damage from Ukrainian attacks, the Russian Defense Ministry reported on Sunday.

Pesky is a small settlement on the northwestern outskirts of the city of Donetsk that has seen fighting since the early stages of the conflict in 2014. The damaged church where the service was held belongs to a small Orthodox women’s monastery.

The service was conducted by a military chaplain for the Orthodox members of the Russian 9th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade, a unit formed from veterans of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) militia. The region opposed the 2014 Western-led coup in Kiev and joined Russia in late 2022, after residents voted to do so in a referendum.

Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has ruled out any negotiations with Russia, sending a crude message to Moscow during a joint press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Zelensky has outlawed talks with Russia and insisted that only his ten-point ‘peace formula’ – amounting to a Russian surrender – can end the fighting in a just way. Moscow has dismissed his position as ridiculous.

During Monday’s press conference with Scholz, who came to Kiev even as Germany geared up for early elections, Zelensky was asked what Russia should do for peace talks to begin.

French Prime Minister Michel Barnier could face a no-confidence vote by Wednesday in a budget dispute involving social spending, Politico EU has reported.

President Emmanuel Macron appointed Barnier in September, angering the leftist New Popular Front (NPF), which he used to sideline the right-wing National Rally (RN) in this summer’s snap parliamentary election. The macron-backed minority government has clung to power by playing both sides against each other ever since.

However a forthcoming budget has forced the the parliamentary factions into open conflict. Barnier’s proposed budget is “a punishment” that will make the French poorer, and the right-wing RN will vote against the government “barring a last-minute miracle,” party leader Jordan Bardella told RTL radio on Monday.

China is “deeply concerned” about developments in Syria, where jihadist militants launched a surprise offensive last week, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said on Monday. As Damascus’ “friend,” Beijing is prepared to take steps to prevent a further deterioration of the situation, he said.  

The Hayat Tahrir-al-Sham (HTS) terrorist group, formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra, and allied militias launched a large-scale attack on government-controlled territory in northern Syria last Wednesday. The militants took over a number of towns and villages in the Aleppo, Idlib and Hama provinces.   

Syrian government forces, backed by Russian fighter jets, launched a counteroffensive on Thursday and successfully liberated several settlements over the weekend, reportedly eliminating hundreds of militants and thwarting their advance into central Syria. However, dozens of Syrian army service members were lost amid the heavy fighting, the Syrian General Command said in an earlier statement.  

This is everything you need to know about the state of the affairs in the US. Since the tragedy of 9/11 the US was rolling down the hill in every aspect of social and cultural life (economic and military too) but it got boosted by Obama cabal on the way to hell. And here we are--corruption and lying became virtues embraced by a large portion of Americans, especially the US corrupt pretentious intelligentsia. Many still cannot grasp the gravity and scale of the damage both to the world and the United States Biden (Obama's) Admin did. 

NATO countries are set to kick off major war games in northeast Estonia near the border with Russia on Monday, focusing on the rapid deployment of the bloc’s forces and increasing their interoperability. 

Some 2,000 troops from Estonia, Latvia, the US, France, and the UK are set to take part in the two-week Pikne (‘Lightning’) exercise, which is part of NATO’s broader Brilliant Eagle program dedicated to increasing the bloc’s deployment and cooperation capabilities in the Baltic Sea region.   

According to the commander of the Estonian Division, Major General Indrek Sirel, who is leading the exercises, the war games will focus on “rapid deployment of reinforcements and cooperation between French, British and Estonian forces.” Units of the French Armed Forces will carry out a rapid deployment operation to Estonia by air, followed by joint multinational maneuvers on land, air and sea, Sirel said in a press release.  

Outgoing US President Joe Biden will use every opportunity he can take to deliver more weapons to Ukraine in the final days of his administration, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has pledged.

With 50 days of its term left, the Biden administration is working to “get Ukraine all the tools we possibly can to strengthen their position on the battlefield,” the senior official told ABC News on Sunday.

“President Biden directed me to oversee a massive surge in the military equipment that we are delivering to Ukraine so that we have spent every dollar that Congress has appropriated to us by the time that President Biden leaves office,” he said.

President-elect Donald Trump has claimed that he could end the Ukraine conflict in 24 hours after he is sworn in on January 20. Biden’s stated strategy has been to stand with Ukraine “for as long as it takes” to defeat Russia.

The jihadist offensive in Syria was launched in coordination with the US and Israel, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmail Baghaei said on Monday. According to the diplomat, it is no coincidence that the terrorists attacked northern Syria right after Israel struck a ceasefire deal with Hezbollah.

The Hayat Tahrir-al-Sham (HTS) terrorist group (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra), along with allied militias, launched an assault on government-controlled territory in northern Syria last Wednesday. The jihadists seized a number of villages and towns in Aleppo, Idlib, and Hama provinces, and entered the city of Aleppo on Friday.

The initial offensive started on the same day the long-negotiated ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese-based militant group Hezbollah took effect. West Jerusalem reluctantly agreed to the ceasefire earlier in the week, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to “respond forcefully” to any violations on the part of Hezbollah.

Germany’s consideration of banning the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is a chilling overreach of government power. Seventeen constitutional law experts claim the party’s radicalization and alleged anti-constitutional actions meet the criteria for a ban, but this justification reeks of political opportunism. Silencing opposition by labeling them as extremists is not democracy—it’s authoritarianism in disguise.

The neo-liberal French government is likely headed toward collapse this week after Marine Le Pen’s National Rally confirmed that it would join with the left on a motion of no confidence after Prime Minister Michel Barnier attempted to push through financial austerity measures through without a vote in the parliament.

After weeks of negotiations, Prime Minister Michel Barnier turned to a controversial legal loophole in the French constitution, article 49.3, which allows his government to pass through effective cuts to social security benefits without a vote in the National Assembly.

Barnier, the former EU Brexit negotiator, was installed in the Hôtel Matignon as PM by President Emmanuel Macron in September following a three-way split in the parliament after Macron’s disastrous decision to call for snap legislative elections in July following his party’s drubbing to Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National (RN) party in the EU elections in June.

The centrist establishment Les Républicains politician was pitched as a steady hand to steer the French state through the country’s deep political divide and the looming debt crisis, which threatens to see EU funding cut unless fiscal reforms are implemented. In total, Barnier has called for 60 billion euros ($63 billion) in tax hikes and spending cuts in his contentious budget.

Volkswagen workers launched rolling two-hour strikes Monday at nine plants across Germany to underscore their resistance to pay cuts and factory closures the company says are necessary to cope with a slack European auto market.

The work stoppages included the company’s base plant at Wolfsburg, where workers rallied against a cost-cutting drive by the automaker´s management in which they face the threat of the company’s first plant closures in its home country.

Volkswagen argues that it must lower costs in Germany to levels achieved by competitors and by Volkswagen plants in eastern Europe and South America. Chief employee representative Daniela Cavallo has said employees should not shoulder the burden of management failures to develop attractive products and come up with a cheaper, entry-level electric vehicle.

“We demand that all make their contribution – management and the shareholder side as well,” Cavallo said at the rally in Wolfsburg as employees drummed, whistled and clapped.

She said the next round of talks in a week’s time “is likely to set the course – rapprochement or escalation. We are ready for both.”

Bill Maher told Jane Fonda that he may put an end to his long-running HBO talk show because of his desire to stop talking about Donald Trump, admitting he's 's***ting [his] pants' about a second term. 

Maher interviewed the legendary actress and activist Fonda on his podcast, Club Random, which has been running since 2022.

The two famous liberals stumbled into discussing Trump's second term after Maher referenced the joke the president-elect made about late golfer Arnold Palmer at a pre-election rally before they began to despair about the next four years.  

'I'm s***ting my pants. I may quit,' he said of his show, Real Time. 'Because I don't want to do another [Trump term].'