The UK government has confirmed that Israel’s top soldier, Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, was given special diplomatic immunity to visit Britain last month.

Halevi is the Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), and has been directing the Israeli military’s operations throughout the Gaza genocide.

He arrived in Britain in late November to discuss “the ongoing conflicts in Lebanon and Gaza” with senior UK officials from the Ministry of Defence and Foreign Office. A further meeting was held with Britain’s attorney general, Richard Hermer.

The trip came just three days after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant for “crimes against humanity and war crimes”.

RT winning ‘cognitive war’ – BBC boss
Tim Davie has told lawmakers that the British state broadcaster needs more money to compete with Russia and China

RT and Chinese media outlets are winning public trust and waging a “cognitive war” on Western audiences, the director of British state broadcaster the BBC has told parliament, at a hearing during which he asked for more taxpayer money.

Tim Davie appeared before lawmakers on Tuesday to argue for continued funding of the BBC World Service, which broadcasts in around 40 languages to an audience it claims is up to 320 million people per week.

Maintaining this service is vital to Britain’s strategic interests, he claimed, arguing that “we are facing a tsunami of bad actors, disinformation, [and] fakery. The threats are overwhelming.”

States don’t tend to kill each other’s generals, not least because it invites reciprocal action. The bombing in Moscow this week, killing General Igor Kirillov, was a successful attack by Ukraine and its allies. The ongoing use of long-range missiles by the West to hit targets inside Russia is, I suggest, surprisingly similar. both are designed to provoke a reaction rather than to achieve anything militarily. They can’t alter battlefield realities. It says a lot about where we have got to in the Ukraine war.

Republican Rep. Barry Loudermilk, chairman of the House Administration's subcommittee on Oversight, in a new report suggests former GOP Rep. Liz Cheney should be investigated for alleged criminal witness tampering, claiming she played an "integral role" shaping key witness testimony before the Jan. 6 committee investigating the attack on the U.S. Capitol by a pro-Trump mob.

French President Emmanuel Macron has “angered everyone” and is likely to leave his post early, right-wing leader Marine Le Pen has predicted, stating she has been already preparing for early elections “out of precaution.”

Speaking with Le Parisien newspaper in an interview published on Wednesday, the long-time leader of the right-wing populist National Rally (RN) party, who currently heads its parliamentary group, said Macron had lost all authority both at home and abroad. 

“He has angered everyone. He has no more influence in the European Union,” Le Pen said.

The head of X and Donald Trump’s new best friend, Elon Musk, has claimed that the ABC Chair, Kim Williams, is “the head of Australian government-funded media, their Pravda.” 

Pravda was the official voice of Soviet communism and the Central Committee of the Communist Party between 1918 and 1991. While it began life as an underground workers’ newspaper, after the Russian revolution in 1917 it became the official publication of the Soviet era, and all party members were required to read it.

Cassandra Parkinson
President
ABC Friends

Pravda was a government mouthpiece, seen by both Soviet citizens and foreigners as a reliable reflection of the Soviet government's positions on various issues.

This is the H.R. Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2025. Let me simplify why Elon Musk and people are pounding the table to not get this bill passed. There are a lot of hidden agendas here!

1/ Funding for alleged censorship operations: the bill supports government agencies involved in what they consider to be illegal censorship.

2/ Excessive spending: the bill supports many unnecessary expenditures to gain political support.

3/ Lack of transparency: the bill's complexity and length are seen as mechanism to hide details from the public and legislative review.

4/ Includes policy bills: the bill bundles other policy changes within the funding bill, making it a way to pass controversial policies, hiding it under the radar.

Ukrainian forces have suffered almost 1 million casualties since February 2022 and have lost about 20,000 tanks and armored vehicles, Valery Gerasimov, the head of the Russian General Staff, told foreign diplomats on Wednesday.

Russia’s top general hosted foreign military attaches to brief them on the activities of the country's military in 2024 and how the Moscow views the global security situation. Part of his 30-minute report was dedicated to the Ukraine conflict.

”The US and its allies have significantly increased the volume of military assistance to Ukraine” in a continued attempt to inflict a “strategic defeat” on Russia, Gerasimov said. Despite this, Russian troops are currently on the offensive, having pushed Ukrainian forces out of more than 190 settlements this year, he added.

A mental health crisis is unfolding in workplaces worldwide, with financial services emerging among the hardest-hit sectors, the Financial Times reported on Monday, citing recent research.

Burnout, depression, and anxiety are the main issues that significantly undermine productivity, economists, business leaders, and health advocates have warned.

A survey by global consultancy firm Deloitte revealed that 17% of finance and insurance workers in the UK experience exhaustion, declining performance, and mental distancing, compared to a 12% average across all sectors.

The report noted that the annual cost of poor mental health per employee in financial services amounts to £5,379, more than double that in any of the 14 other industries examined.

Middle East: German delegation meets Syria's HTS
The development from Berlin comes after similar moves from the UK and the EU. Plus, CIA Director Bill Burns is expected in Doha for negotiations over a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza. DW has the latest.

Germany is the latest in a series of countries seeking to re-establish ties with Syria.

The EU has announced it will reopen its representation in Damascus.

Meanwhile, top officials from the US, Egypt and Qatar say they are making progress toward a hostage and ceasefire deal in Gaza.

This is a rundown of developments from Syria, Israel, Lebanon, Gaza and other parts of the Middle East on December 18, 2024:

Like Trump, Dutton likes to portray himself as a strong man. But appearances are not everything, and Dutton is pretty much an economic policy vacuum.

Ever since he became Leader of the Opposition Peter Dutton has seized on the cost-of-living as his key issue, indeed until recently his only economic issue. But on Friday Dutton announced the Opposition’s plans for powering Australia by relying heavily on nuclear energy, rather than renewables, and claimed it would be cheaper.

Since assuming the role of EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy on December 1, 2024, Kaja Kallas has swiftly implemented policies reflecting her firm anti-Russia stance and commitment to supporting Ukraine in its conflict with Moscow. Her policies with regard to Russia have long been harsh, and a number of media outlets have labeled her as a ‘Russophobe’.

On her first day in office, Kallas visited Kiev alongside European Council President Antonio Costa, signaling the EU’s unwavering support for Ukraine amid the ongoing conflict. During the visit, she highlighted the EU’s commitment to bolstering Ukraine’s defense capabilities, announcing a substantial investment of €400 million ($420 million) for the current year and an additional €1.9 billion for the following year to enhance Ukraine’s defense industry.

Rep. Chris Smith (R- N.J.) slammed White House national security spokesperson John Kirby’s statement about the recent mysterious drone sightings on the East Coast. 

“Well, I think it’s very misleading at best,” Smith said in an interview on NewsNation’s “The Hill” on Monday evening. “If [Kirby] knows something, he should say.”

The Israeli army is preparing to deploy automated, remotely monitored machine guns to protect illegal Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, Israeli Army Radio reported on 15 December.

The automated weapons, developed by Rafael Combat Systems, will be installed on watch towers around dozens of settlements and near their entrances. They will be controlled remotely from command centers "to prevent armed attacks and infiltration operations."

National Security Minister Itamar Gen Gvir, along with other Israeli officials, have been preparing Jewish settlers for war to expel Palestinians from the occupied West Bank and eliminate the possibility of a Palestinian state

The coming month of January 2025 is shaping up as Australia Day month. The Coalition has signalled it will be making heavy weather of the weeks leading up to and following Sunday, 26 January. The hubbub will likely focus on Australian flags and an intense determination to stand by the 26th as the day in January sanctified by tradition as the one when the nation contemplates the glories of our history and the impact we make on the world beyond our land of beauty, rich and rare.