UK counter-terrorism police alerted to potential ISIS return British media said on Thursday that counter-terrorism police in the UK are on high alert for the potential return of British supporters of the Islamic State (#ISIS) following their release from prisons in Syria amid ongoing military developments in the region. According to Sky News, counter-terrorism authorities are concerned that instability in #Syria’s future could heighten the risk of jihadist attacks within the UK. Vicki Evans, the UK’s national counter-terrorism coordinator, emphasized the seriousness of the situation, stating, “Events in Syria are certainly something that are a focus and something that all of us need to think about with our partners.” Border authorities have reportedly declared a state of heightened readiness, preparing for the possibility that British ISIS supporters, recently released from Syrian prisons, may attempt to return to the country. Neither Evans nor Sky News specified which prisons the ISIS supporters had been released from.

#Poland has become the first EU country to introduce compulsory #gun & shooting classes in all its elementary schools Following Russia’s SMO in Ukraine, the Polish state wants to familiarize all kids from a young age with #weapons. Patriotism is a key component of the classes

#Radiation Spikes in #NY & #NJ Metro Detected Amid 'Mysterious' #Drone Sightings "Authorities are urged to investigate the source of these elevated readings and assess potential risks to the population in these areas."

EU Council grants full Schengen membership to Bulgaria, Romania from January 1 The #EU Council agreed to fully integrate #Bulgaria and #Romania in the #Schengen Area from January 1, 18 years after they joined the bloc. "EU member states have decided to remove checks on persons at the internal land borders with and between Bulgaria and Romania from 1 January 2025," the council said in a statement. In March, Bulgaria and Romania joined the Schengen area partially, as passport control was lifted at air and sea borders. The final approval for the admission of Bulgaria and Romania to Schengen must be given by EU leaders at an EU summit taking place from December 19-20 in Brussels, but this is a mere formality, as interior and justice ministers endorsed this decision in the EU Council at the direction of country leaders. Bulgaria and Romania joined the EU in 2007, but their admission to Schengen was postponed pending resolution of some issues in such areas as the fight against corruption. However, the process dragged on and was paused after the start of the EU immigration crisis in 2015. The Schengen Area was created in 1985 by #Belgium, #France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Germany. Its borders do not coincide with the borders of the European Union, although each group now includes 27 countries. Non-EU members Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland are Schengen members. But EU members Ireland and Cyprus do not have Schengen membership, while Bulgaria and Romania will only fully join in January.

Potential handover of nuclear arms by US to Kyiv ‘act of treason’, says US congresswoman The Biden administration potentially giving nuclear weapons to Ukraine can be considered an act of treason, member of the US House of Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene said. "This is insane and completely unconstitutional, possibly an act of treason. This must be stopped immediately!!" she wrote on her page on X, commenting on a remark by one of the users that, according to US media outlets, "Biden officials are reportedly seriously considering giving nuclear weapons to Ukraine." Taylor Greene suggested that the Biden administration is "trying to start a nuclear war and use it as the reason to stop the transfer of power to Trump." #TRUMP2024

Tehran to launch new centrifuges in response to IAEA anti-Iran resolution, statement reads The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (#AEOI) will commission a significant number of new centrifuges for uranium enrichment in response to the anti-Iran resolution adopted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (#IAEA) Board of Governors on Thursday, a joint statement by the Iranian Foreign Ministry and the AEOI said. "#Iran's specialized agencies at various levels have previously warned that taking any confrontational measures and using the [IAEA] Board of Governors to promote illegal, politically motivated statements will face retaliation. <...> In this regard, the AEOI chief ordered to take appropriate measures, including launching a significant number of new advanced centrifuges of different types," the statement posted on the Iranian Foreign Ministry's Telegram channel said. According to it, any further retaliatory measures will be taken only "to protect national interests and further develop the peaceful nuclear industry" in accordance with the country's growing needs "within the framework of its rights and obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty." On November 21, the IAEA Board of Governors adopted a Western resolution criticizing Iran for allegedly insufficient cooperation with the agency. According to the document, the IAEA must prepare a detailed report on Iran's nuclear program by the spring of 2025. The resolution passed with 19 votes in favor, three against and 12 abstentions.

ICC's Karim Khan... One of the Greatest Corrupt Ar***le of the Century! - #TdQ Israeli Prime Minister's Office: "The anti-Semitic decision of the International Criminal Court is equivalent to the modern Dreyfus trial... <.../...> The decision was made by a corrupt chief prosecutor trying to save his skin from the serious charges against him for sexual harassment, and by biased judges motivated by anti-Semitic hatred of Israel."

G20 leaders adopt Rio de Janeiro Summit Declaration The #G20 leaders adopted the outcome declaration of the highest-level summit in Rio de Janeiro. "We, the Leaders of the G20, met in #Rio de Janeiro on 18-19 November 2024 to address major global challenges and crises and promote strong, sustainable, balanced, and inclusive growth," the document reads. The declaration does not contain any remarks that the statement was not approved by all countries. Earlier on Monday, the press office of Argentine President Javier Milei said that the president agreed to sign the G20 statement, but he would state his disagreement with a number of points - in particular the ones dealing with taxes, "legal inequality" and "restrictions for the freedom of expression on social media.".

Jack Smith admits the Trump prosecutions were election interference all along There's no longer a 2024 election to aim at. The Biden-Harris administration, which just lost an election to Trump, is preparing to wind down the various legal cases that it had pending against him. The official reason is that a president can’t be prosecuted. But if that were the case, why was Trump beleaguered with an ‘independent prosecutor’ when he was in office to begin with? Democrats had spent years promising to bring President Trump to ‘justice’ while he was a sitting president. The prosecutions and investigations of Trump were election interference all along. Since there are no more elections to interfere with, there’s no longer any point in pursuing them. That’s not to say other ‘investigations’ won’t emerge, but they’ll be targeted to interfering with the actions and policies of the Trump administration rather than trying to sell the public on the notion that he’s a ‘felon’ who has committed crimes. The investigations of Trump were election interference from the very beginning. Russiagate was generated by the Clinton campaign in partnership with the Obama administration to justify spying on the campaign, smearing Trump and going after his associates. Russiagate lingered on to target Trump associates. But the Jack Smith election interference campaign is really no good for any of that. Litigating the 2016 or 2020 elections is futile because there’s no longer a 2024 election to aim at. Actual democracy beat ‘fortifying democracy’. Election interference in order to investigation election interference has ceased to be a viable strategy. #TRUMP2024

[REPORT] Iran’s so-called ‘supreme leader’ seriously ill... Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's second son is a possible successor. The 85-year-old supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is gravely ill, adding to the uncertainty of an Iranian response to Israel’s weekend attack on their military installations, a report published Saturday in The New York Times said. According to the report, the most powerful political authority in the Islamic Republic is seriously ill, and there is internal turmoil over the possibility that his second son, Mojtaba, 55, might succeed him. The younger Khamenei served in the Iran–Iraq War from 1987 to 1988, and reportedly took control of the militia that was used to suppress the protests surrounding the result of the 2009 elections, which demonstrators said was rigged. His prospects for the position rose following the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash earlier this year and replacement by President Masoud Pezeshkian. Khamenei’s father has held the life position for the last 35 years since his appointment in 1989, following the death of the first supreme leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini with whom he was closely allied, making him the longest-serving head of state in the Middle East.