curated news excerpts & citations
BBC: New US security strategy aligns with Russia’s vision, Moscow says
Russia has welcomed US President Donald Trump’s new National Security Strategy, calling it “largely consistent” with Moscow’s vision.
The 33-page document, unveiled by the US administration this week, suggests Europe is facing “civilisational erasure” and does not cast Russia as a threat to the US.
Combatting foreign influence, ending mass migration, and rejecting the EU’s perceived practice of “censorship” are mentioned as other priorities in the report.
Several EU officials and analysts had pushed back on the strategy, questioning its focus on freedom of expression and likening it to language used by the Kremlin.
(BBC more…)
National Memo: Why The Kremlin Is Welcoming Trump’s New ‘National Security Strategy’
Benjamin Wittes: Why Did the White House Write This National Security Strategy?
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The first is this sentence on page 11: “Border security is the primary element of national security.”
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To call border security the primary element of national security, after all, you have to believe that controlling and limiting migration is more important to American security than, say, maintaining a functional and effective nuclear deterrence; having a military capable of protecting American interests at home and abroad, and stopping or deterring Russian and Chinese predations on allies. You have to believe it’s more important than having a coherent approach to protecting American critical infrastructure and cybersecurity and more important than stopping major terrorist operations.
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… The key sentence is the one that follows: “We want Europe to remain European, to regain its civilizational self-confidence, and to abandon its failed focus on regulatory suffocation.”
(Benjamin Wittes more…)
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Daily News Egypt: Egypt, Qatar press for full implementation of Gaza ceasefire
Egypt and Qatar, the two main mediators, alongside the United States, in securing the Gaza ceasefire, urged on Sunday the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Strip and the deployment of an international stabilization force. Both steps, they said, are essential for fully implementing the agreement amid mounting concerns over daily violations and the fragility of the truce.
Speaking at the Doha Forum, Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said the conflict had reached “a critical moment,” stressing that “a ceasefire cannot be considered complete without a full Israeli withdrawal and the restoration of stability in Gaza.” He cautioned that the crisis would escalate if left unresolved, reiterating that Qatar would not fund the reconstruction of destruction caused by the war and that any Qatari financial support would “remain directed to the Palestinian people.”
(Daily News Egypt more…)Al Jazzera: LIVE: Israeli attack wounds child, calls grow for next phase of Gaza truce
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Heather Cox Richardson: Letters from an American – December 7, 2025
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Some of those who saw the video thought the men were waving to be rescued. Those who support President Donald J. Trump’s argument that the civilians potentially trafficking drugs are enemy combatants—an argument legal analysts widely reject—say the men could have been trying to wave to other alleged drug traffickers to come get them and salvage the cocaine on the boat, although there were no other boats or aircraft in visual range.
…Bill Kristol of The Bulwark wrote: “If the Sep. 2 boat really had ‘narco-terrorists’ on board, questioning the survivors would have been a way to learn about how the organization worked, where more drugs were stashed, etc. But this isn’t a counter-terrorism campaign. It’s a shooting gallery with helpless targets.”
(Heather Cox Richardson more…)Dispatch: Details of a Botched Caribbean Strike Take Shape
Melissa Corrigan, she/her and David Shuster: US Navy Deleted Video of October Boat Attack Survivors
Leaked document reveals effort to coverup aftermath of Oct 17 strike
On a crystal blue sea, multiple explosive assaults from the sky have blown small boats to pieces, almost always ending the lives of those on board.
Only twice, to our knowledge, have survivors been identified as the smoke cleared. On September 2, 2025, two survivors were identified clinging to the wreckage of the boat when another strike was ordered that summarily ended the lives of those survivors.
And on the 17th of October, around 1430, or 2:30 PM, the smoke cleared from a strike and two survivors were identified. This time, those individuals were retrieved from the wreckage and brought on board the USS Iwo Jima.
What transpired after those individuals were brought on board proves that we are in an entirely new paradigm within the US military, one in which video and photographic material is deleted, US military service members are asked to defy standing protocol and code, and human beings disappear from record as they are summarily and without trial returned to what is purported to be their native countries.
(Melissa Corrigan, she/her and David Shuster more…)Brian Allen: THE FOOTAGE THAT VANISHED: Inside the Navy’s Quiet Deletion of October 17’s Survivor Evidence
Two men survived a U.S. military strike. They were hauled aboard an American warship alive. Then the Navy ordered every photo and every second of video documenting them to be erased.
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Dean Obeidallah: They did what corporate media refuses to do!
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That takes us to Franklin the Turtle. This beloved figure from the world of children’s books, television and more features a young turtle navigating common childhood issues like sharing, fear, and friendship. Franklin is known for being compassionate, inclusive and emphatic—everything that Trump despises.That is why Secretary of beer and tattoos Pete Hegseth attempted to co-op Franklin to defend his murdering people in international waters. Hegseth shared an image that apparently the Pentagon made depicting the beloved Franklin the Turtles as killing Brown people in small boats. (Apparently this week was gin up hate of Brown people at the White House.)
Hegseth’s staff apparently made an image for an imaginary book titled, “Franklin Targets Narco Terrorists.” The book cover is below and shows Franklin in a green helmet, vest emblazoned with American flags while firing a rocket launcher from a helicopter at men in small boats. And then Hegseth—who could’ve been drunk at the time–wrote on social media as he shared the image: “For your Christmas wish list…”
(Dean Obeidallah more…)
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Marcy Wheeler: Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly asks DOJ for signs of life
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Rook T. Winchester v. Donald J. Trump
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Adam Mockler: Trump Melts Down After His Own Corruption Backfires
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ProPublica: Sick in a Hospital Town
Why were the people in Albany, Georgia, so sick, when the town’s most powerful institution was a hospital?
(ProPublica more…)
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Good News Network: New Underwater Tool Lets Ecologists ID Fish From Their Sounds–46 Species So Far
Underwater coral reefs are filled with thumps, pops, and snaps from shrimp and fish, and ecologists often use underwater microphones to monitor the health of marine environments.
But until now, ecologists have largely been unable to interpret these sounds because reefs are crowded with hundreds of different species—very few of which have had sounds accurately attributed to them.
A new tool from the FishEye Collaborative combines underwater sound recordings and a camera equipped with a 360° view to pinpoint the sounds made by individual fish.
(Good News Network more…)
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Your Local Epidemiologist: Fall vaccination rates are down, flu takes off, the U.S. is not Denmark, ICE’s negative impact on health, and more!
Ruth Ann Crystal MD: COVID & Health News, 12/7/25
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ProPublica: Elon Musk’s Demolition Crew
Wired: 6 Tools for Tracking the Trump Administration’s Attacks on Civil Liberties
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