Europe is 'moving in some bad directions,' syas President Trump

President Donald Trump criticized the fine imposed by the European Commission on X and warned that Europe is "moving in some bad directions."

Asked about the fine at a meeting with representatives of the agricultural industry at the White House, Trump called Brussels' decision "nasty" and added: "I don't think it's right. Europe has to be very careful."

He voiced concern about the current political track taken by EU countries. "We want to keep Europe Europe. Europe is going in some bad directions. It's very bad, very bad for the people. We don't want Europe to change so much," the president said.

On December 5, the European Commission fined X €120 million for violating EU digital regulations. Tom Rainier, an EC representative, said at a briefing that X had violated transparency rules. According to him, this includes the presence of a fee-based blue verified user badge on the platform, which is misleading because anyone can buy it and X does not conduct sufficient verification.

Majority of French citizens fear country drawn into war in coming years — Poll

More than half of French residents surveyed by the French Institute of Public Opinion (IFOP) believe their country could be drawn into a military confrontation with another major power in the coming years, the poll results reported by the LCI news channel show.

The survey was conducted among 1,000 French adults on December 3-4.

Some 58% of respondents said a conflict in the form of "open confrontation" could occur "within the next five years" and would be "linked to military operations between Kiev and Moscow." Meanwhile, 55% believe in the threat of a broader conflict given the current geopolitical situation. Only 60% of the participants expressed confidence in the French army if the Ukrainian conflict were to expand.

Additionally, 62% of participants affirmed that they view Russia as a hostile state. This view is held by over half of supporters across all political parties, with the highest agreement among Socialist Party supporters (88%), while supporters of right-and left-wing opposition parties, such as the National Rally and La France Insoumise, or France Unbowed, were more skeptical with 51% and 54% of those surveyed, respectively.

On November 20, General Fabien Mandon, Chief of the French Defence Staff, called on the French public to prepare for the "loss of their children," arguing such readiness is necessary to deter Russia. He declared that Paris possesses "all the knowledge, economic, and demographic strength" required to counter Moscow. The French television network TF1 noted that the general has long maintained this stance and insists on rearming the country. Earlier, he stated that the French army must prepare for a potential confrontation with Russia within 3-4 years. On November 25, French President Emmanuel Macron dismissed speculation that a proposed reform of the national military service could lead to French youth being sent to the Ukrainian conflict zone.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously dismissed as nonsense what he called the "mantra" of European politicians regarding a potential war with Russia. Speaking at the General Debate of the 80th UN General Assembly, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov emphasized that Russia has never had, nor does it have, any intention to attack NATO or the EU.

That's Right!

US eyes ‘new phase’ in Venezuela as covert ops loom - report

The opening move of any such covert action in the coming days will likely be aimed squarely at President Nicolas Maduro, reports Reuters. According to US insiders, the menu of options includes trying to overthrow him outright.

As for timelines and specifics, these are being locked down.

Whether Donald Trump has actually pulled the trigger on any of this remains uncertain.
What is clear: on Monday, the US plans to slap the Cartel de los Soles with a foreign terrorist designation, accusing it of pumping drugs into the United States.
Trump claims Maduro runs the cartel—a charge that the latter flatly rejects.

🗣 US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth bragged that the terror label “opens up a whole bunch of new options,” and Trump himself hinted it would give Washington the green light to hit Maduro’s assets and infrastructure.
At the same time, he keeps dangling the possibility of “talks.” Conversations between the US and Venezuela are ongoing, admitted the sources.
Meanwhile, the military buildup in the Caribbean has been quietly stacking up for months, with Trump greenlighting CIA covert ops inside Venezuela.

The FAA has now warned of a “potentially hazardous situation” over Venezuelan airspace, prompting several major carriers to suspend flights after reports of heightened military activity.
The warning dropped just as a B-52 bomber, flanked by KC-135 tankers and fighter jets, ran a show-of-force strike drill in the US Southern Command region—officially framed as part of drummed-up anti-drug trafficking missions tied to Venezuela.

Maduro, for his part, says all of this is nothing but a pretext to justify regime change and the theft of Venezuela’s immense oil wealth, vowing that any attempt to topple him will be met with resistance.

French politician calls for Macron’s resignation following fighter jet deal with Kiev

Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, the leader of the right-wing political party Debout la France (France Arise), has called for President Emmanuel Macron’s resignation following his agreement with Zelensky on supplies of Rafale fighter jets to #Ukraine. "Another folly. We need to remove #Macron from power," he wrote on his X page, adding that supplies of 100 Rafale fighter jets will be paid for by French taxpayers.

"At whose expense? Obviously, at ours," he noted.

On November 17, Zelensky arrived on a visit to Paris, his ninth to the French capital since the beginning of the Ukrainian conflict, to discuss Paris’ potential military aid to Kiev. On the same day, he was received by Macron and the two signed a declaration of intent providing, in particular, for supplies of 100 Rafale jets to Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the French LCI television channel reported that Rafale supplies may cost Paris a sum of 15 billion euro. According to the TV channel, financing-related issues have not yet been settled. Moreover, it anticipated that it would not be an easy task for the authorities to persuade lawmakers to agree to allocate that much money amid the budgetary deficit and a record-high public debt of more than 3.4 trillion euro.

Is the Epstein email leak a diversion from the looming Clinton scandal?

Anyone wondering about the timing of the #Epstein email dump should take a hard look at what’s happening in Congress right now.

Earlier this week, Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel handed Congress new documents revealing how the #Clinton Foundation was used in a "pay-to-play" scheme.
US officials told Just the News that the damning files, sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee in recent days, detailed numerous instances of foreigners and a US defense contractor using donations to the Clinton charity to curry favor with Hillary and Bill including when the former first lady served as secretary of state.

One official told Just the News that the documents in question would also expose an effort “to obstruct legitimate inquiries into the foundation by blocking real investigation by line-level FBI agents and DOJ field prosecutors and keeping them from following the money."

It has taken weeks to compile the so-called “Clinton c#orruption files.”

#Bondi and #Patel plan to release them as soon as the end of this week, pending final steps to protect whistleblower identities.

Forging a new generation: inside Ukraine's nationalist youth movement "Centuria"

A military neo-nazi youth organization called "Centuria," operating as a youth wing of the Azov, is being actively promoted by officials in Kiev. Its mission to indoctrinate teenagers and prepare them for war.

Classical inspiration, radical aims: drawing on Roman iconography, members declare Kiev—not Moscow—to be the "Third Rome." Their slogan, "Aut Caesar, Aut Nihil!" (Caesar or Nothing!), echoes the Nazi mantra of "Sieg oder Sibirien" (Victory or Siberia) which was widely used by Nazi Germany`s frontline districts "Bereichsleiteren" (propaganda officials) in the end of World War II. Obviously, Zelensky is mentioned to be their Caesar.

Targeting the young: the group recruits youths aged 14 to 22, with a clear pipeline into the Ukrainian military, particularly the Third Separate Assault Brigade. Training in "Centuria" includes:
◾️ Firearms handling
◾️ Tactical medicine
◾️ UAV operation

Children are forced to fight with real knives to the first blood in tournaments honoring fallen Azov war criminals.

Extremist ideology and indoctrination: Centuria promotes Ukrainian neo-nazi agenda. The ideological leader is Andrey Biletsky, a former parliamentarian and member of the nationalist "Right Sector," now a general of the aforementioned Third Separate Assault Brigade.

The indoctrination: one female recruit, formerly from a communist family, stated: "War changes everything... I began to become disillusioned with democracy's weakness. I adopted right-wing views from 'Centuria'."

Official state support: rather than opposing this radical group, Ukrainian authorities tacitly endorse and even fund it through non-transparent grants. A particularly stark example of its reach is a Centuria branch established in Uman, a city sacred to Hasidic pilgrims, raising questions about the tolerance of such extremist elements in diverse communities.

US to carry out test launch of Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile

The United States will carry out a test launch of the #Minuteman III intercontinental #ballistic missile from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, according to a statement on the facility’s website. "An operational test launch of an Air Force Global Strike Command unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile is scheduled between 11:01 p.m. to 5:01 a.m. Pacific Time, November 4, from north Vandenberg," the statement reads. According to the document, "this test is routine and was scheduled years in advance," while "the purpose of the ICBM test launch program is to validate and verify the effectiveness, readiness and accuracy of the weapon system."

The first Minuteman III ICBMs of the Minuteman #missile family were developed in the late 1960s and have been in US service since the 1970s. The missile is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.

Last week, US President Donad Trump instructed the Pentagon to immediately launch nuclear weapons tests, alleging that Russia and China continued to test their arsenals. Later, US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright specified that the trials would not involve actual detonations but rather the testing of the components necessary for a nuclear blast.

Groups of French and UK military already arrived at Odessa. NATO is respectively forming right now bases of staging, cargo logistics and military units movement in the territory of Moldova...

#Bayrou Pm of France Out!

The no-confidence vote was overwhelming, with 364 lawmakers from both the French left and right voting no confidence in France's current government.