In his annual address to French ambassadors at the Élysée Palace in Paris on Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron outlined France's foreign policy priorities, sharply criticizing the US for "gradually turning away" from some of its allies and "breaking free from international rules," while leveling criticisms and claims against China and Russia, according to a press release issued by the Élysée Palace. 

Macron strongly criticizes US, mentions China and Russia; speech reflects Europe's frustration over eroding influence: expert

By Liu Xin

I was wrong. I believed that controlling Venezuelan oil was the primary objective behind Donald Trump’s decision to order the kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro. After reviewing the actual numbers it is clear that the belief that Venezuelan oil would provide a buffer if the Persian Gulf is closed as a consequence of an Israeli/US attack on Iran is sheer nonsense. My apologies for entertaining that hypothesis before looking at the actual numbers.

When it Comes to Venezuelan Oil, Trump is Drilling a Dry Hole

 by Larry C. Johnson

The graphic [ABOVE] illustrates the reality....

The US military intervention in Venezuela to kidnap President Maduro was a gross violation of the UN Charter. Nothing justifies this blatant flouting of international law. The arguments given by the US to justify its aggression do not stand up to scrutiny.

Force-based international order: Here’s how the US is remaking world politics
America’s revived Monroe Doctrine, from Venezuela to Colombia and Mexico, puts hegemony above international courts and the UN system....

BY Kanwal Sibal

"Among the men who have profoundly affected the development of mankind and have given their best energies to the promotion of toleration, reason, and justice, Voltaire stands without a peer. Gifted as he so evidently was by nature for intellectual leadership and literary supremacy in France and in Europe, he was never content with these honors alone.

His prolonged activity was to mean more to the world than an author's gift of over half a hundred volumes, filled with flashing wit and sparkling with the brightness and charm of a brilliant writer. Upon everything in France Voltaire fastened his keen gaze, and with rare insight and remarkable discrimination he analyzed the situation, devoting his life to an attempt to win recognition of the essential and pressing need of his program of reform.

Je vois des peuples infortunés gémissants sous un joug de fer, le genre humain écrasé par une poignée d’oppresseurs, une foule affamée, accablée de peine et de faim, dont le riche boit en paix le sang et les larmes, et partout le fort armé contre le faible du redoutable pouvoir des lois... 

           Jean-Jacques Rousseau

I see unfortunate peoples groaning under an iron yoke, humankind crushed by a handful of oppressors, a starving crowd, overwhelmed with sorrow and hunger, whose blood and tears the rich drink in peace, and everywhere the strong armed against the weak with the formidable power of decrees...

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Former US Secretary of State and CIA Director Mike Pompeo seems irked that the Ukraine conflict could end without Russia groveling and handing over concessions on a silver platter.

That’s because Russia is objectively winning on the battlefield. Even some establishment figures capable of independent thought have finally caught on. British historian Niall Ferguson has been saying since September that despite all the West’s punitive efforts, he struggled to imagine any scenario other than Russia “nevertheless grinds out a victory.”

This one delusional neocon gives a perfect glimpse into the Ukraine War Fantasy Land they all live in
Someone really should explain to Mike Pompeo how peace deals actually work

BY Rachel Marsden

The Australian government remains silent on Israel banning 37 international aid organisations in Gaza, despite warnings from humanitarian groups. Stephanie Tran reports.

Under new registration requirements introduced by Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, NGOs were required to submit lists of their Palestinian employees for review and refrain from criticism of Israel.

In an article published in the Swiss Military Journal, Swiss officer Pascal Koller slanders Jacques Baud in the most despicable manner. We prove that he is lying and show that criminal charges are the only way to put this petty criminal in his place. Is he being protected by the Swiss army leadership or is he acting alone?

The fatal shooting of a woman in Minneapolis, Minnesota, by an ICE agent was a “tragedy of her own making,” US Vice President J.D. Vance has said, throwing his full support behind the agency.  

Graphic footage shows multiple Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) swarming the victim’s SUV. One of the agents attempts to forcibly open the vehicle’s door, while another agent, who tried to block the car from the front, fires several shots at the driver at point-blank range as she attempts to drive away. The victim, 37-year-old mother of three Renee Nicole Good, was killed on the spot.  

What exactly is this? It’s not regime change because, having unleashed a military raid to snatch Venezuela’s president from his bed, US President Donald Trump has left the rest of the regime in place. Nicolás Maduro’s deputy, Delcy Rodriguez, has inherited the presidency, just as Maduro did from Hugo Chavez, and the Venezuelan government remains Chavistas all the way down. And whatever Trump means when he asserts the US is now “running” the country, he apparently envisages no transition to democracy.

To make sense of the Venezuela attack, look to the hotter heads around Trump

BY Waleed Aly

Are Russia and China, the BRICS, willing to continue to let Trump redraw the ‘mappa mundi’ according to his own exclusive interests? Or is it time to see a real alternative to US hegemony take shape?

No alternative to US hegemony?

Ricardo Nuno Costa

A new analysis finds that the richest 15 billionaires in the U.S. saw their wealth skyrocket by nearly $1 trillion in the first year of President Donald Trump’s second term, which also contained one of the single largest cuts to welfare benefits in U.S. history.

The Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) report, citing data from Forbes, has found that U.S. billionaires’ assets surged by a whopping 21 percent in 2025. 

With corporate media forcing PM Albanese into a small target corner on messaging, the right is filling the rhetorical void. Andrew Gardiner looks at the repercussions.

Albo’s search for the middle leaves him exposed on both flanks

by Andrew Gardiner

Canberra’s spin cycle took a familiar turn following both Donald Trump’s abduction of Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, at the weekend, and the Bondi Beach attacks before that.  It’s a dynamic we’re seeing more and more of, the right straight out of the blocks, with a clear (if contentious) stand on both, which left our super-cautious PM in the rhetorical dust.

Australia’s visa laws allow exclusion on grounds of character and incitement of discord. Those tests raise serious questions about whether Israel’s president should be welcomed while the killing in Gaza continues.

John Menadue

As an indicted war criminal, Netanyahu would be arrested on arrival in Australia and delivered for trial to The Hague. So, Israeli President Herzog is invited as a substitute.