UK - A rise in fake news photos generated by AI is eroding public trust in online information, a charity has warned. Thousands of internet users are being duped into sharing bogus images, from Prince William and Harry embracing at the coronation to fake mugshots of Donald Trump. Full Fact said the 'influx' of phoney images often came in response to the increased demand for up-to-date information during major international events. Researchers at the fact checking charity said the intention was likely not to convince people the images were real but to 'reduce trust in information generally'. Chief executive Chris Morris warned the growing problem posed a huge threat to democracy, particularly with a General Election looming.

EUROPE - President of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, announces the launch of the EU's central bank digital currency (CBDC)—the digital euro—which will enable unelected technocrats at the ECB to program how, when, where, on what and by whom it can be spent, including the imposition of social credit, carbon allowance and vaccine passport systems. And despite the lie that "cash is here to stay", you can be absolutely certain that megalomaniacal technocrats such as Lagarde have every intention of gradually phasing out cash altogether, so eventually people will be forced to use CBDCs whether they like it or not.

GERMANY - Germany’s leftist coalition government struck a deal to avoid a budget crisis with massive cuts to its domestic green agenda projects, however, the government refused to reduce funding for the war in Ukraine. After months of wrangling between the three parties the decision was made to target the green agenda to fill the budget hole. The climate and transformation fund that directs taxpayer cash towards the so-called green transformation of the economy will be slashed by €12 billion for 2024. Federal subsidies for solar power projects will also be slashed. The government also scrapped €3 billion in traditional energy subsidies.

USA - One in five young Americans believe the Holocaust did not happen, a shock poll has found. The survey, by The Economist and YouGov., included 1,500 people ranging in age from 18 to over 65 years old who were asked a series of questions about the massacre of six million Jews. Approximately 20 percent of people aged 18 to 29 agreed with the statement 'the Holocaust is a myth' and even more believed the death toll has been exaggerated.

UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has approved a resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza. The UNGA vote came days after the United States vetoed a similar resolution in the UN Security Council, calling for a truce. Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador to the UN said ahead of the vote that Arab and Islamic ambassadors had been mobilizing support for the resolution. He said they expected it would get a significantly higher number of votes than their previous resolution at the end of October, which was the first UN reaction to the Gaza war. Hours before the vote, US President Joe Biden warned Israel that it was losing international support because of its "indiscriminate bombing" of Gaza.

RUSSIA - The 500-year-long dominance of the West is coming to an end, being replaced by “a new polycentric world,” Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, said Sunday in a video address to the Doha Forum. The minister expressed regret that certain “circumstances” prevented him from coming to the Qatari capital in person and hearing the discussions at the annual high-profile event. “But I assume that you were discussing the multipolar world, which is emerging after 500 years of domination of what we call the ‘collective West,’” Lavrov said. This hegemony of the US and its allies had been “based on a diverse history, including ruthless exploitation of peoples and territories of other countries,” he said.

USA - Breaking reports Monday from the Washington Post and Fox News have indicated that a large-scale infiltration of American infrastructure and about two dozen “critical US Services” is underway, and has been for the past year. Oil and gas pipelines, electrical grids, and local utilities have been targeted. “It is very clear that Chinese attempts to compromise critical infrastructure are in part to pre-position themselves to be able to disrupt or destroy that critical infrastructure in the event of a conflict, to either prevent the United States from being able to project power into Asia or to cause societal chaos inside the United States — to affect our decision-making around a crisis,” Brandon Wales, executive director of the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) said according to WaPo.

USA - An Iowa lawmaker has demanded that Governor Kim Reynolds remove the Satanic display from the Iowa Capitol building. Brad Sherman doesn't just want to remove the Satanic, mirrored, caped statue of Baphomet, complete with a black and red "holiday wreath" with a pentagram in the center, but wants to make sure nothing like this happens again. The display was placed by the Iowa chapter of the Satanic Temple. Sherman called the display "disgusting."

USA - Ford slashes electric F-150 plans in ominous sign for EV market. Ford Motor Co is cutting 2024 production goals in half for its F-150 Lightning plug-in pickup truck — its signature electric vehicle — due to slowing demand for battery-powered models.

USA - It’s nearly 2024 and there’s a two-month-plus supply of cars – many of them 2023 models – waiting to be sold before they become last year’s models. Most of these waiting-to-be-sold models are electric cars that aren’t selling because (drum roll, please) buyers don’t want them. Never before in the history of the car business has the cart been put before the horse – as it has when it comes to electric cars.

USA - How Trail Life USA Aims to Solve the ‘Boy Crisis’. Trail Life USA isn’t just a Christian alternative to the Boy Scouts; it’s an answer to the deep crisis affecting boys in America. “We’re growing boys into godly men,” Mark Hancock, the scouting organization’s CEO, tells The Daily Signal Podcast. “We’ve discovered a proven process for turning boys into godly men, and it involves four things.” Hancock, today’s guest on the podcast, diagnoses four major problems American boys face: They are unguided, ungrounded, unappreciated, and uninspired.

DUBAI - The UN climate talks in Dubai could be in jeopardy after some nations reacted furiously to a draft deal on fossil fuels they call "weak". The draft removed language included in a previous text suggesting that fossil fuels could be "phased out". All 198 countries at the summit must agree or there is no deal. A new amended version of the text is expected to be issued on Tuesday so that negotiations can continue.

MIDDLE EAST - A missile fired by Yemen's Houthi rebels slammed into a Norwegian-flagged tanker in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen near a key maritime chokepoint, the rebels and authorities said Tuesday. The assault on the oil and chemical tanker Strinda expands a campaign by the Iranian-backed rebels targeting ships close to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait into now striking those that have no clear ties to Israel. The move potentially imperils cargo and energy shipments coming through the Suez Canal and further widens the international impact of the Israel-Hamas war now raging in the Gaza Strip.

GERMANY - Germany may have to wage a defensive war against Russia in the future, German televisions news program Tagesschau reported on December 9, citing Bundeswehr (German Armed Forces) Inspector General Carsten Breuer. Breuer expressed concern about Russia's rearmament and the behavior of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, saying there will be no return to the times before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Germany will have to get used to the idea "that one day we might have to fight a defensive war," he said. Asked whether the Bundeswehr would be able to cope with a possible Russian attack on NATO after the war in Ukraine, Breuer replied, "Yes. Period. We have no alternative. We can defend ourselves and we will defend ourselves."

COLOMBIA - World economy on 'brink of collapse' as new Cold War risks 'annihilating' free trade. International Monetary Fund (IMF) deputy managing director Gita Gopinath issued the warning at an economic forum in Colombia. Free trade could be "annihilated" with world economy on the "brink of collapse" if the world sinks into a new Cold War it has been warned. Gita Gopinath, deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said "growing fault lines" such as Russia's invasion of Ukraine and tensions between China and the US had caused shifts in the way the world did business.