Medhurst was born in Damascus, Syria. His father is English and mother is Syrian. Both his parents served in United Nations Peacekeeping and Observer missions and were among the UN Peacekeepers awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1988. Owing to his parents’ professional mobility, he has lived in Syria, Pakistan, Switzerland, and Austria. He speaks four languages fluently: English, Arabic, French, and German.

French President Emmanuel Macron has appointed his third prime minister this year, after the two previous heads of government resigned after just months in office.

Veteran centrist Francois Bayrou was announced as the new premier on Friday after a “tense” two-hour meeting with Macron, Politico reported. The 73-year-old politician, who is a former presidential candidate, will now try to steer France out of a political and budgetary quagmire.

“The president of the Republic has appointed Mr Francois Bayrou as prime minister and tasked him with forming a government,” the French presidency said.

Bayrou’s predecessor, Michel Barnier, had been in office for just over three months. He resigned on December 5 after losing a no-confidence motion in parliament.

The EU has failed to overcome its dependence on Russian energy, and needs a new plan to wean itself off Moscow’s supplies, the bloc’s new energy chief told Politico on Thursday.

In his first interview since taking the post, Dan Jorgensen highlighted the growth in Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) purchases.

The share of Russian LNG on the EU market reached 20% this year, according to the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators, despite Brussels’ pledge to stop consuming Russian fuel by 2027.

“It’s obvious to everybody that something new needs to happen because… now it’s beginning to go in the wrong direction,” the EU Energy commissioner said, while pledging to present “a tangible roadmap that will include efficient tools and means for us to solve the remaining part of the problem.”

Six European NATO members have released a joint statement, backing Ukraine’s plan to join the US-led alliance and promising to support the peace terms offered by Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky to Russia. Moscow has previously rejected Zelensky’s insistence on restoring Ukraine’s 1991 border as completely unacceptable.

The foreign ministers of the UK, France, Spain, Germany, Italy and Police [sic = Poland] signed a declaration after meeting with theшк [sic = their] Ukrainian counterpart in Berlin on Thursday. 

“The goals of a comprehensive, just and lasting peace for Ukraine and durable security for Europe are inseparable. Ukraine must prevail,” the statement said. 

The countries pledged to support an end to the conflict in accordance “with full respect for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

Sacrifice zones are areas where people have been left to live in conditions that threaten life itself, from toxic industrial pollution to the deadly, intensifying effects of man-made climate change. In a more just and less cruel society, the very concept of a “sacrifice zone” wouldn’t exist. And yet, in America, after decades of deregulation and public disinvestment, more working-class communities are becoming sacrifice zones, and more of us are being set up for sacrifice at the altars of corporate greed and government abandonment.

The Western world has many enemies – China, Russia, Iran, North Korea – but none is more potentially lethal than its own education system. From the very institutions once renowned for spreading literacy, the Enlightenment and the means of mastering nature, we now see a deep-seated denial of our common past, pervasive illiteracy and enforced orthodoxy.

The American university is rotting from within
The modern academy is a threat to reason, liberty and Western civilisation.

JOEL KOTKIN

The standard modus operandi of the Hegemon is always Divide and Rule. Cornered by the inexorable rise of the multi-nodal (roman Pepe) reality, they saw an opening for an imperial reboot, betting everything on establishing the “Greater Middle East” outlined still during the Cheney era.

Death of a nation: Black Flags, massacres, land grabs as vultures feed on the carcass of Syria

BY Pepe ESCOBAR

The iron axis of Straussian neocons, Zio-cons and Old Testament psychos in Tel Aviv is no-holds-barred obsessed on destroying the Axis of Resistance, using their transnational network of bloody killers to extend chaos and sectarian civil war all across West Asia. Throughout this ideal scenario they dream of mortally hitting the head of the snake: Iran.

‘God Mode’: Like an invincible gamer, Gautam Adani’s rise as a global industrialist parallels that of India
He’s into ports, airports, energy and defense. His foreign forays echo PM Modi’s diplomacy. His ambitions know no bounds – despite recent legal troubles in the US

By Ushinor Majumdar

Time magazine named US President-elect Donald Trump as Person of the Year for 2024.

In its statement, the magazine said Trump had been chosen "for marshaling a comeback of historic proportions, for driving a once-in-a-generation political realignment," as well as "for reshaping the American presidency and altering America's role in the world."

This is the second time Trump wins the accolade, with the first time being after winning his first presidency in 2016.

Sam Jacobs, Time's editor-in-chief, explained the decision to US broadcaster NBC, saying that "for better or for worse, (Trump) had the most influence on the news in 2024."

"It's hard to argue with the fact that the person who's moving into the Oval Office is the most influential person in news."

“This [Jewish] stranglehold has got to be broken or this country’s going down the drain.” — American Pastor Billy Graham in conversation with President Nixon (Feb. 1, 1972)

One of the cruellest aspects of the new antisemitism is its perverse use of the Holocaust as a stick to beat ‘the Jews.’ Lesley Klaff explains the phenomenon of ‘Holocaust Inversion.’

Chief Justice Roberts, Vice President Harris, Speaker Pelosi, Leader Schumer, Leader McConnell, Vice President Pence, distinguished guests, and my fellow Americans.

This is America’s day.

This is democracy’s day.

A day of history and hope.

Of renewal and resolve.

Through a crucible for the ages America has been tested anew and America has risen to the challenge.

Today, we celebrate the triumph not of a candidate, but of a cause, the cause of democracy.

The will of the people has been heard and the will of the people has been heeded.

We have learned again that democracy is precious.

Democracy is fragile.

And at this hour, my friends, democracy has prevailed.

Sorry to tell you that I’m finishing this year most unimpressed by Anthony Albanese and his government. I’m still reeling from his last two weeks of parliament, pushing through 45 bills just to show how much he’d achieved and give himself the option of calling an election early next year should he see a break in the clouds.

Some of the measures pushed through at breakneck speed merited much more scrutiny, while some reforms that should have been put through were abandoned. One measure he’d hoped to rush through, fortunately, didn’t make it.

George Clooney, the iconic Hollywood actor and activist, is reportedly seething at former President Barack Obama, whom he blames for his high-profile role in urging President Joe Biden to step down from his 2024 reelection campaign. Sources close to Clooney claim he feels used and abandoned after Kamala Harris's historic but unsuccessful presidential bid left him as the face of the Democratic Party's political misstep.

George Clooney Reportedly Furious at Obama for Manipulating Him Into Ousting Biden and Facing Backlash for Harris’s Failure
     BY Kathy Clark