"There may still be time to stop this trajectory. When Russia invaded Ukraine, over 140 states condemned the invasion as illegal, helping avert what would probably have been a death blow to the legal order. This is what it takes to preserve the international legal system when a powerful state violates the rules. So far, however, only a handful of states have been willing to forcefully stand up to Mr. Trump. If states fail to act together to preserve the prohibition on the use of force — the bedrock of the postwar legal order — the toll will be registered in many more lives lost in conflicts that no longer have any guardrails to stop them."
The Great Unraveling Has Begun
"Further unrest in Venezuela could unsettle global energy and food markets and drive more migrants throughout the hemisphere."
Trump’s Attack on Venezuela Is Illegal and Unwise
Pour moi c'est le film de l'année, de loin. / For me, this is the movie of the year, by far.
https://www.crave.ca/fr/movie/one-battle-after-another-59332
I realized later that beside true news there is a lot of false news on YouTube, so that it is difficult to tell one from the other. One has to evaluate à channel credibility.
"To restore decorum and professionalism to the Department’s written work products and abolish yet another wasteful DEIA program, the Department is returning to Times New Roman as its standard typeface,"
Rubio stages font coup: Times New Roman ousts Calibri -
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/rubio-stages-font-coup-times-new-roman-ousts-calibri-2025-12-09/
"A global reporting project has obtained leaked photos of more than 10,200 bodies of those disappeared by the Assad regime between 2015 and 2024.
The chilling images taken by Syrian military photographers are included in more than 134,000 Syrian security and intelligence records obtained by German broadcaster Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) and shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and 24 media partners in 20 countries, including the Star. The files originate from Syria’s Air Force Intelligence and the General Intelligence Directorate. They comprise intelligence reports, death certificates and records of arrests written in Arabic."
Thousands of leaked photos show new evidence of mass torture and murder under Syria’s Assad regime
"(...) retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and historian William Astore reminds us so vividly today (...) that our country is still investing an unbelievable fortune in that modernization process for an arsenal already big enough to destroy not just this planet but several others as well. So, take a moment to accompany him briefly into the past and to Cheyenne Mountain as he offers his own countdown on this strange, strange planet of ours." (Tom Engelhardt)
Apocalypse Soon? Returning a Final Time to Cheyenne Mountain
Band of brothers: how the war crushed a cohort of young Ukrainians
"Reuters tracked the fortunes of Broshkov and 10 of his comrades who were among a few dozen raw recruits that received a crash-course in warfare at a military training camp in spring before being deployed to the front.
None of the 11 are still fighting. Four have been wounded, three are missing in action, two are absent without leave (AWOL), one fell sick and another recruit has killed himself, according to interviews with soldiers, their relatives and government records.
The fates of the soldiers provide a snapshot of the carnage wrought on Ukraine by the grinding war against Russia, in which both sides closely guard casualty figures."
I was able to download the Bitcoin Knots chain 😄
"Un rapport commandé par la présidence sud-africaine du G20, le club des vingt pays les plus avancés, et publié mardi 4 novembre, alerte sur les conséquences – économiques, sociales, démocratiques – d’inégalités extrêmement profondes à l’échelle globale. Près de la moitié des richesses créées entre 2000 et 2024 ont été accaparées par 1 % de la population la plus riche, tandis que les 50 % les plus pauvres n’en ont reçu que 1 %, selon ce rapport rédigé par un groupe d’experts chapeauté par le Prix Nobel d’économie Joseph Stiglitz.
Les inégalités se sont réduites entre les habitants de la planète, en grande partie grâce au recul de la pauvreté de la Chine, mais elles se sont creusées dans la plupart des pays et elles « sont bien plus élevées » pour le patrimoine que pour les revenus.
Le rapport préconise la création d’une task force internationale, inspirée du Groupe d’experts intergouvernemental sur l’évolution du climat (GIEC), pour analyser l’évolution des inégalités et formuler des recommandations aux gouvernements. « Le monde comprend que nous sommes confrontés à une urgence climatique, explique M. Stiglitz, il est temps que nous reconnaissions que nous sommes également confrontés à une urgence en matière d’inégalités. »" (Le Monde)
"🪓 Bitcoin community divided over “anti-spam” soft fork" (Unchained Daily)
I tried three times, using Bitcoin Core, to download the Bitcoin chain but couldn't. Now I'm trying using Bitcoin Knots. Don't know if it will work.
From the point of view of what is happening in Russia, the authors—among them Boris Kagarlitsky, a Marxist dissident imprisoned for his opposition to the war in Ukraine—distinguish two tendencies “within the Russian power camp”: those who hold to an “anti-imperialist” discourse and those who embrace a “messianic-conservative” discourse. In reaction to Donald Trump’s overtures, the former have shown a “pro-Chinese” tendency, while the latter a “pro-American” one. It is worth noting their claim that “By giving us Ukraine (…) Trump could then set about annexing Canada and Greenland” (I'm Canadian).
As for the division, and later the rallying, of the Russian oligarchy around Putin, I recall—and deplore—that it dates back to the moment when, although the article does not mention it, an oligarch who had shown pro-Western sympathies at a critical juncture had his throat slit along with his wife’s and all his children’s, in their home. This act confirms some of the analyses found in Machiavelli’s The Prince, but it is also a nameless horror and an abomination. I add, in my own name, that the Word of God condemns such deeds (Rev. 21:8).
Russia’s elite at odds on future ties with West (Subscribers)
I’m sharing this here because it’s fundamental, and it’s part of the ongoing upheaval triggered by observations from the James Webb Space Telescope.
Earlier this year, Google’s quantum AI analyzed raw data from the James Webb Telescope (Quantum AI Lab at Google, JWST, NASA, Caltech).
The results point to possible interference with a parallel universe—a “brane” (not “brain”), according to string theory interpretations in physics.
They may also suggest the first received signal from an extraterrestrial civilization—unless the sequence of the first 101 prime numbers is a natural phenomenon.
This also challenges the idea of the universe as something separate from us: the quantum computer asks, and the universe responds by revealing itself (wave function collapses).
« President Trump said early Thursday that it would be “very hard” to make a trade deal with Canada after its prime minister said he planned to recognize Palestine as a state. It was Mr. Trump’s latest threat against an ally on the eve of a deadline to impose tariffs. » (NY Times)
"One night in mid-May, some of the Venezuelan migrants deported from the United States to a prison in El Salvador tried to break the locks on their cells with metal rails from their beds. It was a futile gesture of rebellion; no one thought they could escape. Still, punishment was swift. For six consecutive days, the inmates were subjected to lengthy beatings, three inmates told me. On the last day, male guards brought in their female colleagues, who struck the naked prisoners as the male guards recorded videos on their phones and laughed. The female guards would count to 20 as they administered the beatings, and if the prisoners complained or cried out, they would start again.
Tito Martínez, one of the inmates, recalled that a prison nurse was watching. “Hit the piñata,” she cheered."
Venezuelans deported by the Trump administration say they were tortured during their four months in CECOT
Editorial: Outrage at Gaza's destruction is no longer enough
More than 100 aid groups warn of 'mass starvation' in Gaza
"In a joint statement, 115 organizations described the dire food shortage in Gaza as "mass starvation," as the "Israeli government's siege starves the people of Gaza.""
https://abcnews.go.com/International/100-aid-groups-warn-mass-starvation-gaza-blaming/story
The Impossible Geography of Survival in Gaza: “Our survival (...) depends on impossible calculations—how long to stay, when to flee, where safety might exist, if anywhere, in a place where safety has been systematically eliminated.”
Will the Trump Administration Face Headwinds as It Tightens the Noose Around Cuba? (Yes.): Now it’s aiming at Cuba’s international medical missions.
https://www.thenation.com/article/world/cuba-trump-humanitarian-foreign-aid/
Trump and Netanyahu: mortal enemies of the peoples, in the Middle East and worldwide ! Hands off Iran! [2025.06.26] https://fourth.international/en/566/middle-east/716