📰 Netanyahu’s Year of Reckoning: Gaza, Drafts, and Judicial Chaos

Benjamin Netanyahu is facing a gauntlet of decisions in 2026: Gaza, conscription, judicial overhaul, and looming elections. His old playbook—delay, outlast, and turn crises into opportunities—might finally be running out of time.

“Netanyahu wants to give voters time to vent their rage,”

says Yohanan Plesner of the Israel Democracy Institute,

“but then also to get over it.”

Conscription Crisis
The ultra-Orthodox demand a new draft exemption, but most Israelis are sick of war fatigue. If Netanyahu doesn’t deliver, his coalition could collapse—forcing early elections. If he does, he risks alienating his own party and the public.

Gaza: Trump’s Plan or Netanyahu’s War?
Netanyahu signed on to Trump’s Gaza peace plan, but he’s never sounded like a true believer. He’s betting Hamas will have to surrender arms—or face more war. But Israel’s continued strikes have angered the White House, which wants to stabilize the region, not blow up truces.

The Saudi Wildcard
Saudi Arabia insists on Palestinian statehood as a condition for normalization with Israel. Netanyahu’s refusal to allow the Palestinian Authority in Gaza is making it hard for Trump to sell the deal. But if Netanyahu can pull off Saudi normalization, it could reshape the Middle East—and salvage his legacy.

Judicial Overhaul: Power or Pardon?
Netanyahu’s criminal trial is advancing, and his allies want a judicial overhaul to protect him. But if he finds another way out—like a plea deal or a pardon—he could break with the far right and make a dramatic pivot toward the center. Analysts say it’s hard to imagine, but not impossible.

Can Netanyahu still outlast his enemies, or will 2026 be the year his luck runs out?

#israel #netanyahu #gaza #draft #judicialoverhaul #trump #saudiarabia #fakeDemocracy

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Zelensky’s Meeting With Trump Ended With a Whimper

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Zelensky has accused Russia of trying to sabotage peace talks and preparing to bomb government buildings after the Kremlin said it had foiled a Ukrainian drone attack on Putin’s residence.

Zelensky described the claim as “typical Russian lies” following his two-hour meeting on Sunday with Trump in Florida.

He said Russia was “at it again” and using “dangerous statements” to undermine “diplomatic efforts” with the US to end the conflict.

He added: “This alleged ‘residence strike’ story is a complete fabrication intended to justify additional attacks against Ukraine, including Kyiv, as well as Russia’s own refusal to take necessary steps to end the war.”

Ukraine’s president warned that a strike on a main government complex in its capital was likely, similar to Russia’s bombing in September of the cabinet ministers’ building in central Kyiv.

Earlier, Russia’s foreign minister Lavrov claimed Ukraine had tried to hit Putin’s residence in the Novgorod region, south of St Petersburg. As a result Moscow’s negotiating position would be reviewed, he said.

The Russian presidential adviser Ushakov claimed Putin briefed Trump about the alleged attack when they spoke on Monday.

Trump was “shocked” at the news, Ushakov claimed, with Russian officials alleging that Britain was also involved in what he described as “provocations”.

Ushakov’s characterisation of Trump rang true when, speaking at Mar-a-Lago on Monday afternoon, the US president told reporters the news made him “very angry”. “I don’t like it.

It’s not good,” Trump said when asked if he was worried it could affect his efforts to broker peace.

“I learned about it from President Putin today,” he said, adding: “It’s a delicate period of time. This is not the right time. It’s one thing to be offensive, because they’re offensive. It’s another thing to attack his house. It’s not the right time to do any of that.”

Earlier Zelensky said the US had offered “strong” security guarantees to Ukraine for 15 years, but acknowledged that the future of the country’s eastern Donbas region was unresolved after talks with Trump at the US president’s Mar-a-Lago residence.

#zelensky #trump #kremlin #putin #ukraine #war

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Speaking on his way back to Europe, Zelensky said the US Congress and Ukraine’s parliament would jointly vote on American pledges.

These were a key part of a 20-point peace plan discussed with the US president, he said.

The guarantees are seen by Kyiv as crucial to deter further Russian aggression in the event of a peace deal. Zelensky admitted that previous promises – including the US and UK-backed 1994 Budapest memorandum guaranteeing Ukraine’s borders – “did not work”.

Putin’s press spokesperson Peskov said if Kyiv did not strike a deal it would lose more territory.

He refused to comment on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, occupied by Moscow since its 2022 full-scale invasion and another sticking point in the negotiations.

Zelensky ruled out giving land to Russia. “It’s no secret Russia wants this. In their fantasies, they would like us not to exist on the territory of our own country at all,” he said.

He instead proposed a demilitarised and free economic zone along the existing frontline, with both sides pulling back their troops.

Trump spoke to European leaders on Sunday by video call from Mar-a-Lago. Zelensky said he expected to hold talks with them in Europe in the coming days, with a joint follow-up meeting with Trump likely to take place in January, probably at the White House.

Ukrainian commenters expressed relief on Monday that there was not a repeat at the Mar-a-Lago meeting of the humiliating scenes in February when Trump threw Zelensky out of the Oval Office.

But they were scathing about some of Trump’s remarks, including his dubious claim that “Russia wants to see a very successful Ukraine”.

They noted that the US president refused to condemn the Kremlin’s large-scale air attack on Kyiv over the weekend, involving more than 500 drones, saying: “Ukraine has made very strong attacks as well.”

#zelensky #trump #kremlin #putin #ukraine #war

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📰 Ethnic Cleansing or American Identity?

Trump’s Vision Unveiled
Trump’s latest rally rant—calling for the removal of immigrants from “shithole countries” and targeting Somali Americans—wasn’t just racist. It was a window into his administration’s vision: a white Christian America, purged of anyone who doesn’t fit that mold.

“The path to accomplish it,”

says Heba Gowayed,

“is through the exclusion and removal of all who do not fit that vision—in other words, through ethnic cleansing.”

Trump and his allies have adopted the term “reverse migration,” even proposing an “office of remigration.” The idea is simple: immigrants are seen as a threat to “white” identity, and their removal is framed as a way to “restore” whiteness. Policies follow: asylum is dead, resettlement is canceled for all but white Afrikaners, and temporary protective status is revoked for Haitians, Venezuelans, Nicaraguans, Syrians, and others.

The Machinery of Exclusion
Birthright citizenship is under attack, with Trump’s executive order making its way to the Supreme Court.

Denaturalization of American citizens is on the table.

Mass deportation is expanding, with ICE now authorized to racially profile and target people of color—citizens included.

The Human Cost
Hundreds of thousands face deportation to unsafe countries.
Social spending is slashed, healthcare, food, and welfare benefits are denied.
Academic institutions are under siege, with attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Is the United States being remade in the image of white supremacy—or will its diversity survive?

#immigration #racism #trump #ethniccleansing #fakeDemocracy #usa

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📰 ISIS Raid Turns Deadly in Turkey: 3 Police, 6 Militants Killed

A Turkish police raid on a suspected ISIS safe house in Yalova, northwestern Turkey, erupted into violence early Monday, killing three police officers and six militants. The clash was part of a broader crackdown on suspected extremists across 15 provinces, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya confirmed.

“We will continue our fight against blood-soaked killers who threaten the peace of our nation and the security of our state within our borders and beyond,”

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared.

The raid began before dawn, with security forces evacuating five women and six children from the building. Police cordoned off the area and cut off utilities as militants opened fire. Nine officers were injured in the operation.

The ISIS Threat in Turkey
ISIS attacks in Turkey have been rare in recent years, but authorities continue periodic arrests.
The militants killed were all Turkish nationals, according to officials.
Footage showed the upper floor of the building charred, with neighbors reporting that a large family lived there and kept to themselves.

Is Turkey’s security crackdown containing ISIS—or just pushing it further underground?

#isis #turkey #terrorism #police #security #fakeDemocracy

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📰 How Vance Broke the Trump-Musk Feud: Tech Titans vs. The Deep State

JD Vance didn’t just broker a truce between Trump and Musk—he rewired the MAGA movement’s relationship with Silicon Valley. When Musk threatened to launch a third party, Vance went to work, calling in favors, lobbying senators, and quietly removing the White House aide who’d torpedoed Musk’s favorite NASA pick.

“He enjoys kind of that kingmaker role,”

says a source close to Musk.

“Part of being a kingmaker is making sure everybody in the world knows you’re the king.”

The feud erupted when Musk’s DOGE project—his signature government cost-cutting crusade—blew up federal agencies, alienated Cabinet members, and turned Washington into a battlefield. Musk, used to running his companies like an emperor, clashed with Trump’s inner circle, and by May, he was gone.

The Reconciliation
Vance, once a Silicon Valley investor, leveraged his ties to Musk, hosting dinners and making calls to keep the billionaire from splintering the GOP.

When Trump nixed Musk’s NASA ally, Vance pushed for his reinstatement and got the White House aide who’d blocked the nomination reassigned.

Musk, after a summer of public attacks, backed down from his third party and returned to the fold, now focusing on seeding existing GOP groups rather than running his own super PAC.

The New Normal
DOGE’s centralized leadership is gone, but its principles live on: deregulation, efficiency, and a new “Merit Hiring Plan” are now baked into the federal workforce.

Musk’s protégés are still embedded in key agencies, and the government now runs more like a start-up, with aggressive hiring, firing, and boundary-pushing contracts.

“DOGE catalyzed these changes,”

says a top White House official.

“Now we institutionalize them.”

Is the government finally run like a company—or has it just become a playground for tech titans?

#trump #musk #vance #tech #politics #fakeDemocracy

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📰 Trump, Putin Hold ‘Positive Call’ on Ukraine—But What Does It Mean?

President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a “positive call” Monday to discuss ending the war in Ukraine, according to the White House. The conversation came just a day after Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at Mar-a-Lago, where both sides claimed “a lot of progress”—but no breakthrough.

“A lot of progress,”

Trump said.

“It might take a few weeks to conclude. No set timeline.”

Trump’s optimism is familiar, but the details remain murky. Ukraine’s revised peace plan—now down to 20 points—is still missing key Russian demands, especially on territory and the size of Ukraine’s military. Moscow insists on maximalist territorial claims, while Zelensky wants a 50-year US security guarantee to deter future Russian aggression.

The Diplomatic Dance
Trump says a deal is “getting a lot closer,” but there’s no set timeline.
Zelensky says the plan is “90% agreed,” but Russia says some elements are non-negotiable.
Both leaders are playing the long game, promising progress while leaving the hard choices for later.

Is this “positive call” a step toward peace—or just another round of diplomatic theater?

#ukraine #russia #trump #putin #diplomacy #fakeDemocracy

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Netanyahu Meets Trump: Gaza Is at Stake Over Again

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Netanyahu has been prime minister of Israel for so long that nearly everyone knows how he governs.

He delays decisions. He keeps options open for as long as possible and creates new ones whenever he can. He wears down, outwaits and outlasts his adversaries — as well as his ostensible allies. He turns crises — including some of his own creation — into opportunities he can defuse, for a price.

But events are lining up in a way that may tax even his well-documented ability to stretch out tough decisions and shape them to his advantage.

Netanyahu’s criminal trial on charges of bribery and fraud is inexorably advancing.

Trump’s peace plan for Gaza is inching along toward a difficult Phase 2, and tensions are building with the White House over Israel’s actions in Syria and Lebanon.

The pressure on him is mounting from every direction.
That includes from the Israeli right, Netanyahu’s political base, which is agitating for him to pursue annexation of the Israeli-occupied West Bank despite Trump’s warnings that doing so would trigger a harsh U.S. response.

On each of these fronts, 2026 is shaping up as a momentous year for Mr. Netanyahu, 76, and for the country he has represented for the better part of three decades. He is almost certainly going to have to make a series of decisions with great consequence — for Israeli society and security, for Palestinians, and for the broader Middle East.

As he prepares to meet Trump in Florida on Monday, and as Israel awaits an election at some point in 2026, here is a look at some of his pivotal choices ahead.

If he wants to maintain his decades-old political alliance with Israel’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, one of Netanyahu’s first tasks is to try to meet its demand for a law granting yeshiva students a new exemption from the draft, after an old exemption expired and the Supreme Court ruled in 2024 that they were legally obligated to serve.

A new exemption would be wildly unpopular with the vast majority of Israelis, who have been exhausted by the Gaza war’s demands on conscripts and reservists alike over the past two years.

If Parliament does not enact the exemption, his government could collapse, precipitating elections early next year.

Analysts say Netanyahu wants to delay elections for as long as possible, hoping that his standing in the polls will improve the further Israel gets from the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack, which happened on his watch.

#netanyahu #trump #israel #gaza #syria #palestine

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Reuven Hazan, a political science professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said that Netanyahu clearly wanted to give voters time to be distracted by other pressing matters.

“And hopefully for him, the people of Israel are stupid enough and short enough of memory that they won’t remember all of this,” Hazan said.

Yohanan Plesner, president of the Israel Democracy Institute, said he believed Netanyahu wanted time for the Israeli public to vent its rage over a new ultra-Orthodox draft exemption but then also to get over it, and for the discussion to shift to other topics.

“It’s difficult,” Plesner said. “But if Netanyahu decides that the coalition needs to pass it, it will probably pass.”

Netanyahu went along with the Trump peace plan for Gaza, but he has never sounded like a big believer in it, telling Israelis that he is giving it time to play out but that Hamas will have to have its arms forcibly seized if it does not lay them down voluntarily.

The Israeli public is generally with him on that, polls show.
A majority of Israelis expect that war with Hamas will resume within a year.

Exhausted as Israelis are, the freeing of their hostages — whose captivity fueled protests demanding an end to the war out of fear for their survival — could reduce opposition to an eventual return to war, analysts say.

But Israel’s continued strikes in Gaza since the cease-fire appear to have angered the Trump administration, which wants to extend and build on the truce, not jeopardize it.

Similarly, Israel’s military actions in Lebanon and Syria appear at odds with the Trump administration’s efforts to stabilize governments in both countries.

Trump has repeatedly shown impatience with Netanyahu. And he could use their meeting on Monday to squeeze the Israeli leader on some or all of these fronts.

Netanyahu is expected to urge Trump to back him in continuing to apply pressure to Iran, which Israeli officials say is rebuilding its missile arsenal.

It is Gaza that poses the most intriguing set of choices.
Netanyahu’s refusal so far to allow a role in Gaza for the Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the occupied West Bank and is a bitter rival of Hamas, is making it difficult for the Trump administration to assemble many of the components of his plan.

Those include an International Stabilization Force, a technocratic committee of Palestinians to run Gaza and a supervising Board of Peace.

Arab and European countries whose participation the Trump administration is seeking want the Palestinian Authority involved.

Netanyahu’s oft-stated determination to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state is deterring countries that want assurances that their assistance in disarming Hamas and rebuilding Gaza will lead to a renewed effort to establish a state, not just to a renewed cycle of violence a few years down the road.

While the Saudis have indicated that they are nowhere near ready to establish diplomatic ties with Israel, if Trump seeks to enlist Netanyahu in winning them over, the Israeli leader could face a legacy-defining choice.

#netanyahu #trump #israel #gaza #syria #palestine

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📰 Iran’s Double Game: Unrest at Home, Missiles on the Drawing Board

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard is reportedly busy developing chemical and biological warheads for its ballistic missiles — just as the country’s economy collapses and protests explode across Tehran’s markets.

While the regime insists its missile program is “defensive,” Western officials are sweating. If the Revolutionary Guard is upgrading payloads, it’s not just about deterrence. It’s about sending a message: even as the rial plummets and merchants shut down, Tehran’s power brokers are betting on fear to keep their grip.

Iran International cites unnamed sources claiming the IRGC has moved launch assets east, upgraded command systems, and is now exploring nonconventional warhead configurations. The timing is no accident. As the economy implodes — inflation nears 53%, the currency is in freefall — the regime is doubling down on military theater.

Meanwhile, protests have spread from Tehran’s Gold Bazaar to central arcades, with crowds chanting against the government and merchants, once loyal to the regime, now leading the charge. Security forces are on high alert, but the regime’s real worry isn’t just the street — it’s the optics.

At the same time, Netanyahu and Trump are meeting to discuss Iran’s missile threat — and Israel’s own postwar plans in Gaza. The irony? Iran’s leaders want to be seen as both economic saviors and regional superpowers, but the only thing they’re really selling is chaos.

So here’s the deal: while Iran’s people protest empty shelves, the regime is busy building weapons that could turn a crisis into a catastrophe.

Who’s really in charge — the people demanding bread, or the generals building doomsday warheads?

#Iran #RevolutionaryGuard #protests #missiles #chemicalweapons #economy

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Is the Ayatollah Rule Really in Danger?


Protesters took to the streets of the capital, Tehran, and other cities in Iran on Monday to decry surging inflation and the collapse of the national currency, which have thrown markets into chaos and punched holes in family budgets.

The currency plunged to a record low this past weekend against the U.S. dollar and the annual inflation rate rose to 42.2 percent in December.

Amid the turmoil, the head of Iran’s central bank, Mohammad Reza Farzin, resigned on Monday, pending the president’s acceptance, local news media reported. A former economy minister, Abdolnaser Hemmati, was set to replace him.

President Pezeshkian acknowledged the magnitude of the crisis while speaking to Parliament on Sunday about the country’s proposed 2026 budget.

Iran has experienced repeated waves of protests fueled by economic woes, drought and other grievances since 2017, and it was not immediately clear whether these new demonstrations would grow and spread to additional cities.

Iranian security forces have repressed previous protests with deadly force and arrests, raising the stakes for those who make their complaints public.

Videos shared online on Monday showed security forces firing tear gas to disperse some of the protests in Tehran and at least two other cities.

Experts attribute Iran’s deepening economic pain to a host of factors from poor management to policies that keep the country’s economy closed.

The stepped-up efforts by the Trump administration to limit Iran’s oil sales to foreign countries and the war with Israel in June, during which the government tapped Iranian banks to cover its costs, have also contributed to the worsening economy.

The government has few options to address the crisis swiftly, said Amir Hossein Mahdavi, a doctoral candidate in political science at the University of Connecticut who studies Iran’s economy.

Omid, a 42-year-old sales manager in Tehran, said the value of his monthly income has dropped to the equivalent of $200 per month from $300 in just two months, giving him anxiety.

He said he worried about being able to cover his elderly parents’ medical bills and that his car would break down and he would be unable to fix it.

“These days, even hanging out with friends feels restricted, as we’re constantly calculating like human calculators whether we can squeeze in the cost of a simple coffee,” he said.

Mariam, a 41-year old bank employee in Tehran, said other Iranians see her as upper middle class even though her salary now only covers two-thirds of her monthly expenses.

The proposed 2026 budget showed the government’s dilemma, reflecting a substantial decrease in oil revenue and an increased reliance on tax revenue.

#iran #deepening #economic #pain #protests

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The Mar-a-Lago Twaddle with Zelensky Frittered Away in “No Deadlines”


Zelensky of Ukraine and President Trump seem to have produced little beyond a promise to meet again next month and a reminder of how distant a peace deal remains.

Yet for Zelensky, even a stalemate in the discussions counts as progress.

After setbacks in U.S. support for Ukraine this year, one of Zelensky’s main priorities when meeting Trump would have been to prevent talks from derailing.

After the meeting on Sunday, Trump signaled that he would remain engaged in the negotiations — a win for Ukraine given his repeated threats to walk away.

Trump also backed away from setting another deadline to reach a peace deal, after having previously floated Thanksgiving and Christmas as target dates.

“I don’t have deadlines,” Trump told reporters as he greeted Zelensky at Mar-a-Lago in Florida for the talks. “You know what my deadline is? Getting the war ended.”

Most important for Ukraine, Trump did not echo Russia’s maximalist demands to stop the fighting, a departure from earlier in his term when he often appeared to side with the Kremlin.

The change was also notable because Trump had spoken with Putin just before meeting Zelensky, the type of last-minute Russian intervention that has derailed Ukrainian hopes before.

That may leave Zelensky confident that Kyiv and Washington are more closely aligned in the peace negotiations.

Several European leaders also joined Sunday’s talks by phone, and Zelensky said that the United States might host a new round of negotiations next month that could include them.

“We had a discussion on all the topics, and we appreciate the progress that was made by American and Ukrainian teams in recent weeks,” Zelensky said. Still, he acknowledged that several sticking points remained in a draft peace deal, including the fate of Ukrainian-held land in the east and a Russian-taken nuclear power plant.

Trump said Sunday’s call with Putin had been “good and very productive.” Yuri Ushakov, the top foreign policy aide to Putin, said in a news briefing that the conversation had lasted more than an hour.

Ushakov also reiterated the Kremlin’s position that Kyiv should cede territory in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine to achieve peace.

Trump said that he would call Putin again after meeting Zelensky, though it was not immediately clear whether he did.

Trump struck a more cautious tone when asked about progress in the talks. “The word ‘agreement’ is too strong,” he said. On resolving the territorial issue, he said, “I would not say ‘agreed,’ but we’re getting closer to an agreement on that.”

Perhaps the most promising development for Ukraine was Trump’s apparent willingness to hold a round of talks next month in the United States, potentially with European leaders at the table.

In past negotiations, European leaders were brought in to salvage talks after disagreements between Zelensky and Trump.

Their presence as full participants rather than belated troubleshooters could help Ukraine strengthen its position.

#zelensky #trump #putin #kremlin #ukraine #ukraine

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Xi Is Trundling Forward: Will Taiwan Share the Fate of Ukraine?

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China launched military exercises around Taiwan on Monday, mobilizing naval, air, ground and missile forces for what the People’s Liberation Army described as a “stern warning” to opponents of Beijing’s claims to the island.

As part of the drills, the Chinese authorities said that seven zones of ocean and air space around Taiwan would be sealed off for live-fire exercises to be held on Tuesday.

The operation, called “Justice Mission 2025,” marked the first major military exercises around Taiwan since April by the People’s Liberation Army, or P.L.A. They appeared designed to display Beijing’s growing capabilities to encircle Taiwan.

They also came after the administration of Trump revealed a proposed package of arms sales to Taiwan earlier this month that would be worth more than $11 billion and include powerful high-mobility artillery rocket systems known as HIMARS.

Senior Col. Shi Yi, a spokesman for the Eastern Theater Command, the part of the Chinese military that is conducting the exercises, said it would simulate blockading ports and establishing Chinese dominance to the east of Taiwan — the direction from which any potential wartime support from the United States and its allies would likely come.

The exclusion zones for live fire form five swaths, some positioned near Taiwan’s most important ports and military bases, Maj. Gen. Meng Xiangqing, a professor at China’s National Defense University, said on a Chinese news program.

“Our vessels and aircraft have been forming a new posture of pressing the island by getting closer and closer,” General Meng said.

“The rope is being pulled tighter and tighter”

China’s main state-run television broadcaster, CCTV, said the exercises included destroyers, fighter bombers and drones conducting “maritime and airborne search-and-destroy operations, simulated strikes on land and live-fire naval drills.”

Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said that by Monday afternoon it had detected 14 Chinese Navy vessels and another 14 Chinese coast guard vessels off Taiwan, as well as an amphibious assault ship group in the Western Pacific.

Taiwan also detected dozens of Chinese military aircraft in its vicinity. The activities will culminate when the exclusion zones go into force.

For “vessels attempting to transit north–south through the Taiwan Strait, the restricted zones could in practice block passage,” said K. Tristan Tang, an associate fellow at the Secure Taiwan Associate Corporation, a nonprofit group in Taipei.” In theory, “Taiwan could lose its sea route connections with Kinmen and Matsu,” he said, referring to two Taiwanese island groups closer to the Chinese coast.

#xi #taiwan #china #japan #beijing

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Two Taiwanese passenger airlines canceled flights to and from Kinmen and Matsu until the live fire drills end on Tuesday evening
China has long staged similar threatening exercises near Taiwan — some bigger and longer than others — especially since Nancy Pelosi, as speaker of the House of Representatives, visited the island in 2022, a step that Beijing said was an affront to its claim of sovereignty over Taiwan.

Even so, a Pentagon report released last week said that China’s leaders were still not confident of being able to seize Taiwan by force.

The exercises are a pallid imitation of the scale, complexity and risks that an actual blockade would entail.

Colonel Shi, the Chinese military spokesman, said the latest exercises were “a legitimate and necessary action to safeguard China’s sovereignty and national unity.”

Beijing gave no specific reason for holding the exercises now, and experts said several factors may have prompted China’s leader, Xi Jinping, to renew threats of an armed attack on Taiwan.

“The timing of P.L.A. drills are increasingly disconnected from single political events,” said Amanda Hsiao, the director of China coverage at the Eurasia Group, a company that advises clients on global risks.

“This drill may be as much intended for domestic audiences as much as Taiwan and U.S. ones.”

China’s Communist Party leaders have long maintained that Taiwan, an island-democracy of 23 million people, is Beijing’s territory.

Xi has been building up his nation’s military to apply pressure on Taiwan and to, perhaps one day, try to take it by force.

But the P.L.A. leadership has also been in turmoil. Dozens of commanders and generals have been removed in recent years, some formally dismissed and investigated for corruption and other suspected misconduct, others disappearing from public view without explanation.

Trump and Xi have been trying to stabilize relations ahead of a planned summit meeting in Beijing in April.

Although China’s initial reaction to the arms sales to Taiwan was relatively muted, the exercises may be intended to convey China’s anger, said David Sacks, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations who studies ties between the United States, China and Taiwan.

“This response is expected, given the scale of the arms sale package,” Sacks said. Xi appeared “confident he can push without provoking a counter response from President Trump,” Sacks said.

Xi may also intend the exercises as a warning to Japan against supporting Taiwan in a possible conflict.

Beijing bitterly condemned Japan’s new prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, after she said in November that an attempt by China to blockade or seize Taiwan could be seen as a “survival-threatening” situation for her country — words that could, under Japanese law, allow the deployment of military forces.

China’s leaders appeared to want the latest exercises to end quickly after making their point, said Shu Hsiao-huang, a researcher at Taiwan’s Institute for National Defense and Security Research, which is supported by Taiwan’s defense ministry.

#xi #taiwan #china #japan #beijing

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📰 Trump’s Ukraine Peace Odyssey: One Year, Zero Endgame

Trump promised to end the Ukraine war “in one day.” Instead, the past year has been a chaotic parade of broken promises, bureaucratic infighting, and a war that just keeps dragging on.

Team Kellogg, the administration’s Ukraine hawks, pushed for more weapons and stronger leverage against Putin. Team Vance, led by the vice president and defense hardliners, saw Ukraine as a lost cause and wanted to redirect resources to China and the Middle East. The result? A policy vacuum where U.S. support was frozen, unfrozen, and frozen again—sometimes by presidential order, sometimes by back-channel deals.

The ammunition crisis became a symbol of the dysfunction. In June and July, 18,000 artillery shells sat idle in Germany, even as Ukraine pleaded for help at the front. The freeze was only lifted after media pressure and a last-minute intervention. Then, just as aid was about to move, a new order diverted everything—again. Pentagon insiders called it a “shadow ban,” a de facto anti-Ukraine policy hiding behind presidential whims.

Trump’s peace efforts split into two tracks. The back channel, run by Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, negotiated directly with Putin’s allies—sometimes without notes, sometimes without translators. The front channel, led by Secretary of State Rubio and National Security Adviser Waltz, faced Russian hardliners demanding total territorial surrender.

February brought a low point: a televised White House disaster where Trump berated Zelensky, aid was frozen, and Zelensky was banished to a side room while Americans ate his lunch. The message was clear: the U.S. was no longer just a partner—it was a negotiator with its own agenda.

By March, Ukraine made its first major concession, accepting current battle lines and ceding 20% of its territory. The U.S. offered security guarantees and EU membership, but not NATO. Crimea was recognized as Russian, and Ukraine’s military was capped. The Americans thought they had Kyiv “in the box.”

But Putin refused. He demanded all of Donetsk, Luhansk, Crimea, and more. Trump offered only a freeze on energy strikes—Russia rejected it. The “pause” collapsed within days.

Behind the scenes, CIA operations continued, hitting Russian refineries and tankers, costing Moscow millions daily. Trump praised these covert strikes for giving him “deniability and leverage.”

The Alaska summit in August was supposed to break the deadlock. Trump met Putin face-to-face, but left with nothing but vague promises. Putin demanded more land, more recognition. Trump called the demanded territory “doorknobs”—places “nobody in America has ever heard of.”

Back in Washington, a turning point: Trump met Zelensky and European leaders, heard the human cost, and briefly softened. But after a call with Putin, he reverted: Russia was winning.

The Pentagon’s mood grew darker. Ukraine specialists were afraid to mention Ukraine. Munitions were rationed, approvals delayed. Critical shortages developed. Ukrainian commanders warned: fewer shells, more casualties.

In October, Trump imposed new sanctions on Russia’s oil giants after Lavrov demanded Ukraine cede Donetsk. The 28-point peace plan was drafted—Ukraine would withdraw from remaining Donetsk, Crimea and Luhansk would be “de facto” Russian, Ukraine’s army capped, and the U.S. would offer security guarantees.

By November, the message was blunt:

“We love you, but we’re not going to keep supplying you.”

Ukraine was told to move fast or lose more land.

As 2025 ends, the war grinds on. U.S. intelligence says Russia could capture all of Donetsk in less than a year. Trump’s promise of a quick deal has collided with reality: competing factions, Putin’s intransigence, and Ukraine’s desperate fight for survival.

So what’s left? A peace process that’s less about peace and more about who can outlast whom.

#Ukraine #Trump #Putin #war #peaceprocess #diplomacy

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Following Putin. Xi Jinping Is Going to Take Over Taiwan


China’s president, Xi Jinping, has vowed to reunify China and Taiwan in his annual New Year’s Eve speech in Beijing.

Speaking the day after the conclusion of intense Chinese military drills around Taiwan, Xi said: “The reunification of our motherland, a trend of the times, is unstoppable.”

China claims Taiwan, a self-governing island, as part of its territory and has long vowed to annex it, using force if necessary.

US intelligence is increasingly concerned about the advancing capabilities of China’s armed forces to launch such an attack if Xi decides the time is right.

On Monday and Tuesday, China’s People’s Liberation Army launched live-fire military drills around Taiwan, simulating a blockade of main ports and sending its navy, air force, rocket force and coastguard to encircle Taiwan’s main island.

The drills, called “Justice Mission 2025”, came closer to Taiwan than previous exercises, and involved at least 89 warplanes, the highest tally for more than a year.

The drills were expected by analysts before the year’s end but were also connected by Chinese commentators to a recent arms approval by the US government for a record $11bn weapons sales to Taiwan.

Speaking in Beijing on Wednesday evening, Xi said China “embraced the world with open arms” and highlighted several multilateral conferences hosted by Beijing this year, including the Shanghai Cooperation Summit in August, when world leaders including Putin, India’s Narendra Modi and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, gathered in Tianjin, a port city near Beijing.

The broadcast of Xi’s speech on Chinese state media was interspersed with several shots of China’s largest ever military parade, which was held in September to mark 80 years since the end of the second world war.

During the parade, which was viewed as an unbridled display of military force, Xi, Putin and North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, stood side by side in Beijing – a geopolitical alignment that has been called the “axis of upheaval”.

Central to Xi’s vision of a new world order is the annexation of Taiwan and the support of other countries in recognising Taiwan as part of “One China” ruled by the Chinese Communist party in Beijing, something that the majority of Taiwanese people reject.

In his speech, Xi also highlighted “Taiwan Retrocession Day”, a memorial day created in 2025 to mark the anniversary of the end of Japanese imperial rule in Taiwan in 1945.

This year, Taiwan also passed a law to recognise the date, 25 October, as a national holiday. The legacy of the second world war has been a big theme in political rhetoric in China and Taiwan this year.

China has emphasised its role in defeating the Japanese in that conflict, something that China feels has been underappreciated in the west.

Taiwan’s president, Lai Ching-te, gave a punchy speech this year comparing Taiwan to European democracies in the 1930s that faced a threat from Nazi Germany.

Xi’s speech also praised China’s progress in hi-tech development this year, mentioning kickboxing robots and Tianwen-2, a comet exploration mission that launched in May.

He also flagged the global success of Chinese cultural exports, such as the video game Black Myth: Wukong and the animated film Ne Zha 2.

Earlier in the day, Xi addressed a meeting of top Chinese Communist party officials and said that China was on track to meet its 5% GDP growth target.

#putin #xi #jinping #taiwan #onechina

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The Kennedy Center Would Limit Voting to Trump-Appointed Trustees


The Kennedy Center reportedly adopted bylaws earlier this year that would limit voting to Trump-appointed trustees – a controversial move that appears to reveal the long-held plan to install Trump’s name to the center.

The bylaws, in a possible breach of the institution’s charter, were revised in May and specified that board members appointed by Congress, known as ex-officio members, could not vote or count towards a quorum, according to the Washington Post.

The new rule was in force when the board voted unanimously on 18 December to add Trump’s name to the center, rebranding the building as the Trump and the JFK Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.

The name change has since triggered a wave of protests. Artists have cancelled bookings and members of Congress have vowed to overturn the name change.

Joyce Beatty, a Democrat from Ohio, is even suing to reverse it on the grounds that changing the center’s name requires an act of Congress.

Trump took over as chair of the board in February, quickly purging sitting members, while installing his supporters – including his longtime foreign policy adviser Ric Grenell, whom he appointed as president of the center.

Grenell had been a vocal tribune of Trump’s “America First” ideology, and was not afraid to ruffle feathers during past spells as ambassador to Germany and acting director of national intelligence (he was the first openly gay person to lead the intelligence community).

Just prior to his Kennedy Center appointment, Grenell served as the president’s envoy for special missions, and was involved in securing the release of Americans detained in Venezuela.

The center lists 34 presidentially appointed board members and 23 ex-officio members, who by law must include the mayor of Washington DC, head of the library of Congress, and the majority and minority leaders of the Senate.

The federal law underpinning the center’s establishment identified ex-officio members as among the venue’s trustees, charged with maintaining it as a memorial to John F Kennedy, the Post reported.

Roma Daravi, the center’s vice-president for public relations, told the Post that the rules had been changed in line with longstanding convention that ex-officio members did not vote:

“The bylaws were revised to reflect this longstanding precedent and everyone received the technical changes both before the meeting and after revisions.”

Daravi continued: “Some members attended in person, others by phone, and no concerns were voiced, no one objected, and the bylaws passed unanimously.”

Ellen Aprill, a legal scholar at UCLA, told the paper that such voting right limits breached the center’s charter.

“Clearly the intent of the charter provisions was to entrust Kennedy Center guidance to a broad group, not just those appointed by the president,” she said.

The disclosure comes as new figures showed a sharp fall in television ratings for this year’s Kennedy Center honors awards.

A record low audience of 3.01m watched this year’s broadcast of the annual honors awards – hosted by Trump himself – when it was screened by CBS, marking a stark 25% downturn from last year.

The event included appearances from some of Trump’s favorite artists, including Gloria Gaynor, Kiss and George Strait.

As artists cancel bookings, Trump on social media on Tuesday posted a string of statements from supporters criticizing the Kennedy family’s supposed lack of support for the center.

His posts on his Truth Social network started mere hours after the Kennedy family announced the death of Tatiana Schlossberg, JFK’s granddaughter, who died aged 35, from leukemia.

#kennedy #center #limit #trump #trustees

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Zohran Mamdani: to Rule New York Against Trump

🔤🔤🔤🔤1️⃣

Zohran Mamdani was sworn in as mayor of New York City soon after midnight in a private ceremony in an abandoned beaux-arts subway station – a prelude to daylong celebrations set to include a second, public swearing-in and a block party outside city hall.

Mamdani, 34, was sworn into office by the New York attorney general, Letitia James, surrounded by wife, Rama Duwaji, members of his immediate family, including Mira Nair, his mother and a film-maker, and his father, Mahmood Mamdani, a professor of African studies at Columbia University.

Mamdani, 34, was sworn into office by the New York attorney general, Letitia James, surrounded by wife, Rama Duwaji, members of his immediate family, including Mira Nair, his mother and a film-maker, and his father, Mahmood Mamdani, a professor of African studies at Columbia University.

“This is truly the honor and the privilege of a lifetime,” Mamdani said.

“I cannot wait to see everyone tomorrow as we begin our term.

“After just having taken my oath to become the mayor of the city of New York, I do so also here in the old City Hall subway station – a testament to the importance of public transit to the vitality, the health, the legacy of our city.”

Mamdani then announced and welcomed a new transportation commissioner for the city, Mike Flynn, a veteran city planner, with the mayor saying he wanted to make New York’s public transit network “the envy of the world”. Flynn said he was accepting the “job of a lifetime”.

“Thank you all so much (…) and I will see you later,” Mamdani concluded, to audience laughter, before departing up the wide subway stairs where he took the oath, followed by attendees.

The ceremony was also attended by the outgoing mayor, Eric Adams, who had held off from a commitment to attending but later said he’d “like to be there to show the smooth, peaceful transition of power”.

#mamdani #newYork #mayor #muslim #city

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