US president-elect Donald Trump plans to withdraw from the World Health Organisation (WHO) on the first day of his second term.

That follows Trump’s 2020 decision to leave over unproven claims of Chinese control and his blaming of China for the COVID-19 pandemic.

The move could save $850 million in annual contributions. The incoming Trump government is also concerned with the WHO's lack of transparency, corruption and pay-to-play deals.

 

Notable WHO Scandals Include:

 

 

On September 13, the Washington DC-based National Endowment for Democracy (NED) announced that the infamous Victoria Nuland is joining their Board of Directors, “effective immediately”. She had already been on the board in the 2018–2021 timeframe, but as her State Department career came first, it seems she wasn’t as active as is usually expected from top-ranking officials.

 

BY Drago Bosnic, independent geopolitical and military analyst

 

The ABC has learnt that the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) first learned of concerns for the welfare of the 32-year-old last month, with those close to the former teacher not knowing his whereabouts for months.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Tuesday refused to say if the government would consider a prisoner swap deal, but reiterated that they had made representations to the Russian government on Mr Jenkins's behalf.

 

Peter Dutton’s nuclear energy announcement has been totally nuked, so to speak, but Michael Pascoe argues it is nonetheless working just fine.

If a major Australian political party has had a core policy more quickly and comprehensively debunked, destroyed and generally defenestrated than the LNP’s nuclear power play, I can’t remember it. But that’s irrelevant to Peter Dutton and Atomic Ted O’Brien.

 

The LNP’s nuclear policy is working just fine

by Michael Pascoe

 

Why do American Christian evangelists support Israel’s genocide in Gaza?

At this time of year many Christians express ‘tidings of comfort and joy’ toward their friends, family and even complete strangers. Good for them. No doubt it’s just what we need in these increasingly troubled times.

 

Peace on earth, goodwill toward men (and women) – unless they’re Palestinians, of course    By Mark Beeson

 

Only a few years ago, most of Western Europe seemed like a fortress of stability in international politics. With robust economies, solid social systems, and the grand edifice of “European integration,” it gave an impression of permanence, impervious even to major geopolitical upheavals. Now, however, it has become an inexhaustible source of peculiar headlines and confusion.

 

Half of the West is doomed: Here’s why
The EU and UK side of the continent is falling behind rapidly, but its elites appear to be in denial
By Timofey Bordachev

 

"Under the Trump administration, it will be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders — male and female. Doesn't sound too complicated, does it?" Trump said, speaking at the Turning Point Action conference in Arizona.

According the broadcast of the event, the conference participants responded to the future president's words with ovation.

"To rescue our economy, I will sign on day one orders to end all Biden restrictions on energy production, terminate his insane electric vehicle mandate, cancel his natural gas export ban," Trump said while speaking at the Turning Point USA conference in the state of Arizona.

PEACE FROM ALL AT YOURDEMOCRACY.NET 

 

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.

CHRISTMAS COMES ONCE A YEAR AND IS A WESTERN WORLD INVENTION DATING BACK UPTO 1700 YEARS... THE BIRTH OF CHRIST AND ITS RELIGIOUS DERIVATIVE BEYOND EASTER WAS A FALLACY DESIGNED TO MAKE SURE PEOPLE BELIEVED AND "FOLLOWED THE RULES"... WE (GUS AND HIS DEVILS) HAVE ALREADY EXPLAINED ON THIS SITE, HOW THE TEXTS OF CHRISTIANITY WERE INVENTED BACK THEN TO SUIT A POLITICAL CLIMATE. 

 

SO, NOT SO STRANGELY, THE LEGEND STILL PERSISTS IN THE WESTERN WORLD AND OTHER CHRISTIAN BELIEFS, INCLUDING THE ORTHODOX CHURCHES OF RUSSIA... WE, ATHEIST, TRY TO TAKE CHRISTMAS — THE DATE OF WHICH WAS CHOSEN TO TAKE OVER THE TIMING OF A PAGAN RITE — SERIOUSLY ENOUGH TO PROMOTE PEACE, THOUGH IT IS A HARD SELL. 

Russia’s foreign policy rightly assumes that history is on its side. The country’s aspirations align with the strategic intentions of most nations outside the Western bloc – what we call the “world majority.” This perspective is confirmed by the ongoing military and political confrontation between Russia and the West.

 

Seethe, Western elites: The world likes Russia despite your hate
Moscow’s friends in the global majority aren’t swallowing NATO’s attempts to turn Russia into a pariah
By Timofey Bordachev

 

Our adversaries openly seek the dissolution of Russian statehood in one form or another. Yet these ambitions clash not only with Russia’s resistance but also with the interests of many nations worldwide.

A Uyghur separatist group that helped to topple the government of Bashar al Assad has declared its intention to return to Xinjiang in order to conduct military operations against the People’s Republic of China. 

 

 

All too often, the world is not what we think it is. Only recently, David Leonhardt of the New York Times reported that (and yes, be shocked!) never have more immigrants arrived in this country than in the first three years of the Biden administration. 

 

Karen Greenberg, The Never-ending Legacy of the War on Terror POSTED ON DECEMBER 19, 2024

 

After Elon Musk posted his support for Germany's far-right AfD, the party's leader Alice Weidel expressed her gratitude. Other German lawmakers have criticized "interference" in the country's upcoming federal elections.

The leader of Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) on Friday welcomed a social media post by Elon Musk in which the American tech billionaire expressed support for her party. 

Musk, a prominent supporter of US President-elect Donald Trump, opined on his platform X (formerly Twitter) on Friday morning that "Only the AfD can save Germany."

The outgoing administration of US President Joe Biden is doing everything to make sure that President-elect Donald Trump will not be able to facilitate peace in the Ukraine conflict once he returns to the White House in January, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov has said.

The policy currently pursued by the White House is “quite risky, even self-destructive,” Ryabkov told RT in an exclusive interview on Saturday. “We caution them against it,” the diplomat added.

He was referring to the permission given by Washington to Kiev to carry out strikes deep into Russian territory with American-made weapons, and an increase in arms deliveries to Ukraine, which happened after Biden’s loss to Trump in November’s election.

The Canadian Armed Forces has deployed “gender advisors” to such conflict zones as Ukraine and Haiti, a recent internal report has revealed.

The deployments were part of the Department of National Defence’s Military Cooperation Program, which primarily provides advice and assistance to non-NATO countries. According to the 2024 report, the initiative has helped train nearly 2,000 military personnel from 55 countries. It has focused on the “integration of women and gender perspectives in the armed forces.”

“Gender Advisors and Gender Focal Points,” both full- and part-time roles, are deployed in all CAF international operations to help “Commanders in the application of GBA+ and gender perspectives”institutionally and operationally.