The dispersal of domestic cats from North Africa to Europe around 2000 years ago Science
Global Seaborne Trade Reaches Historic $35 Trillion as Regional Shifts Reshape Maritime Flows gCaptain
US scientists design first highway that wirelessly charges electric trucks on the go Interesting Engineering
Australia has banned social media for kids under 16. How does it work? Straits Times
Climate/Environment
‘Food and fossil fuel production causing $5bn of environmental damage an hour’ The Guardian
Heavy rainfall and flooding continue to plague the Pacific Northwest Balanced Weather
Study links rising temperatures to reduced sleep in US adults Keck School of Medicine of USC
Pandemics
Is the comparison between HIV & SARS-CoV-2 correct or useful? Let’s not go all black & white, and instead just look at how they are different and how they rhyme, and at the implications, shall we? Mini-🧵 1/ https://t.co/tG5DCChgXK
— FluSCIM Lucas Gonzalez (@lucasgonzalez) December 7, 2025
I’m an Infectious Diseases Doctor. Our Pipeline of Experts Is in Distress. MedPage Today
China?
China fears its manufacturing is shrinking too fast and too far The East Is Read
China’s Rural Reform: A History Not Designed but Discovered Pekingnology
India
Why are tech giants Microsoft and Amazon betting big on AI in India? Firstpost
Thailand- Cambodia Conflict
Cambodia retaliates in renewed clashes with Thailand as death toll mounts to 10 France24
Syraqistan
Revealed: Israel Used Palantir Technologies In Pager Terrorist Attack In Lebanon. The Dissident
Hamas says no second phase for Gaza ceasefire until Israel ceases ‘violations’ France24
Israel remained leading killer of journalists in 2025: RSF Al Jazeera
Tony Blair ‘dropped’ from Trump’s Gaza ‘board of peace’Middle East Eye
The Gaza “Ceasefire,” the Media/Think Tank Establishment, and Post-Meaning Sawahil
‘Economic peace’ comes to Lebanon: The committee paving a new border order The Cradle
UAE royal brothers’ ties with West threatened by Sudan massacre The Telegraph
What Does the Trump National Security Strategy Mean for Iran? Larry Johnson
Africa
South Africa’s hydrogen extractive frontier: climate action or recolonisation? Review of African Political Economy
Firms or Families? Another installment in the Mission 300 electrification debate Ken Opalo
O Canada
MAID increases — Ottawa holds firm Canadian Affairs. “‘[Medical Assistance in Dying] is no longer this exceptional procedure to facilitate the dying process,’ says expert in wake of Health Canada’s latest MAID report.”
Old Blighty
UK’s largest pro-Palestine prison hunger strike in decades sends activists to hospital New Arab
UK ‘incapable’ of maintaining nuclear submarine capability as expert issues brutal verdict Daily Express
European Disunion
Eighty Years After Yalta: Europe’s Return to Irrelevance Kautilya the Contemplator
New Not-So-Cold War
E3 meeting in London proposes alternative Ukraine war 20-point peace plan Intellinews
Member of UK armed forces killed in ‘tragic accident’ in Ukraine, says MoD The Guardian
Do You Believe in Coincidence… Was the CIA Involved in Operation Spiderweb and Israel’s June 12 Attack on Iran? Larry Johnson
TRUMP FOR PEACE IS BELIEVING IN FATHER CHRISTMAS — PUTIN AND MODI DON’T John Helmer
Lithuania declares state of emergency over smuggler balloons from Belarus Al Jazeera
The West’s century-long war against Russia — part four Thomas Fazi
South of the Border
US fighter jets approach Venezuelan airspace in closely watched flyover Anadolu Agency
“Oil and ideology.” Patrick Lawrence, The Floutist
MS-13 AND TRUMP BACKED THE SAME PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE IN HONDURAS The Intercept
Pentagon Redefines Drugs as Combat Threat, Justifying Strikes on Survivors The After-Action Report
The Great Game
Why Washington can’t outbid Beijing and Moscow in Central Asia ThinkChina
L’affaire Epstein
“Ask Jeffrey”: Epstein Ran Wexner’s Pro-Israel Philanthropy Machine, Emails Reveal Drop Site
Trump 2.0
Trump hails economic record, calls affordability concerns Democratic ‘hoax’ Anadolu Agency
More people crowdfunded basic needs in 2025, GoFundMe report shows Fast Company
A new threat to affordability – just in time for winter CNN
AI can help address America’s affordability crisis The Hill. Is this what the administration is banking on?
Trump’s Billionaire Education Secretary Makes ‘Backroom Deal’ to Shaft Low-Income Borrowers Common Dreams
Democrats en déshabillé
Democrats end 30-year losing streak in Miami as Trump-backed candidate falls short Fox News
Analysing The Imperialist Left – Interview With Gabriel Rockhill Decline and Fall
The Supremes
Supreme Court Orders New Review of Religious Exemptions to School Vaccines Education Week
Imperial Collapse Watch
Trump: Nvidia Can Sell H200 AI Chips to China, But US Will Get a 25% Cut PC Mag
Economic Statecraft on Chaos Mode False Positive
Preventing empire collapse The Duran (Video)
Congress quietly strips right-to-repair provisions from US military spending bill The Register
America is Losing Power Projects When It Needs Them Most Distilled
The USA’s airports look like third world countries and are barely functioning but it’s fine because you can do pull-ups in them now. https://t.co/NSd5a12U1s
— DD Geopolitics (@DD_Geopolitics) December 9, 2025
Screening Room
Rage, Radicalism, and Netflix-Style Propaganda Un-Diplomatic
Guillotine Watch
Just 0.001% hold three times the wealth of poorest half of humanity, report finds The Guardian
Immigration
CBP Announces Plan to Look at Foreign Tourists’ Social Media Activity Prior to U.S. Entry Gizmodo
Police State Watch
Florida blacklists CAIR, Muslim Brotherhood as ‘foreign terrorist organizations’ The Cradle
Senate Report Exposes Systematic Abuse of U.S. Citizens by ICE and CBP, Directly Contradicting Noem’s Denials Migrant Insider
Man Charged for Wiping Phone Before CBP Could Search It 404 Media
Healthcare?
Dr. Oz Called Prior Authorization “a Pox.” Now He’s Spreading It. The Economic Populist
The Bezzle
How Tesla bilks taxpayers Oligarch Watch
Class Warfare
Same Cart, Different Price: Instacart’s Price Experiments Cost Families at Checkout Groundwork Collaborative
Price Shocks are Redistribution Shocks: Systemically Significant Prices for Inequality in the United States University of Massachusetts Amherst. A summary thread:
The affordability crisis is an inequality crisis. When prices spike in key sectors, it’s not just inflation—it’s a massive redistribution shock that hits poor households hardest. In our **new working paper**, we identify the sectors that matter most. A 🧵https://t.co/i8J5zQAURx pic.twitter.com/0MDZ8MrM9f
— Isabella M Weber (@IsabellaMWeber) December 8, 2025
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
‘Secretary Sean Duffy
@SecDuffy
Having pull-up bars in airports means you can stay fit while traveling.’
Because people traveling by airliner love nothing more than to have some guy who just did a gym workout session sit next to them.
Rep. Haley Stevens files articles of impeachment against HHS Sec. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
NewsWire
@NewsWire_US15s
WASHINGTON —
“Australia has banned social media for kids under 16. How does it work?”
Fortunately kids these days know nothing about computers, the internet and file configuration so will be completely defeated by this ban. And of course Honest Government weighs in with what they think-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxRB5qWphJE (2:44 mins) – language alert
A question to native English speakers. When reading this title:
“Europe needs heed the invitation in the US National Security Strategy […]”
I sense a kind of grammatical creaking going on. Shouldn’t it be “must heed”, or “ought to heed”, or even “needs to heed”? Or am I just disturbed by the unpleasant assonance?