The U.S. Transportation Department is now moving aggressively to correct the non-domiciled commercial driver’s license (CDL) crisis created under the Biden-Harris regime years, a period when these CDLs were effectively handed out like candy to unqualified migrant drivers, fueling a wave of carnage on America’s highways.

The latest enforcement action comes from Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy, who announced the removal of nearly 3,000 CDL training providers from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) Training Provider Registry (TPR) for failing to meet the Trump Administration’s standards of readiness, with another 4,500 providers put on notice for potential noncompliance.

“This administration is cracking down on every link in the illegal trucking chain. Under Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg, bad actors were able to game the system and let unqualified drivers flood our roadways. Their negligence endangered every family on America’s roadways, and it ends today,” Duffy stated, adding, “Under President Trump, we are reigning in illegal and reckless practices that let poorly trained drivers get behind the wheel of semi-trucks and school buses.”

On X, Duffy quoted an AP News story that said as many as 44% of the 16,000 truck driving schools nationwide face immediate closure. He said, “The days of a ‘Wild Wild West’ trucking industry are over under the Trump administration.”

🚨HUGE ALERT🚨 @USDOT is giving THOUSANDS of trucking schools 30 days to comply with federal rules for drivers or they may be forced to close down.

The days of a “Wild Wild West” trucking industry are over under the Trump administration 🚛 https://t.co/ZRWebpTXij

— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) December 1, 2025

The continued crackdown follows a series of 80,000-pound big rig crashes with migrants behind the wheel. These crashes have killed Americans.

The latest:

• DHS Confirms: Illegal Alien Trucker Who Killed 3 In California DUI Crash Entered U.S. Via Biden’s Open Borders

• Florida Highway Horror: Migrant Truck Driver Leaves 3 Americans Dead Amid CDL Crisis

• Advocacy Group Calls For U.S. Probe On Non-English Speaking Migrant Truck Drivers After Deadly Austin Crash

Duffy has been leading the charge to correct this crisis on America’s highways:

• English Trucking Rule Takes Effect, Federal Probe Begins Of Sanctuary State Migrant CDL Pipeline

• “This Cannot Happen Again”: Sec. Duffy Readies Major Action Against Rogue States Amid Migrant CDL Crisis

• U.S. “Pauses Issuance Of Worker Visas For Truckers” To Address Illegal Alien CDL Crisis Killing Americans

• Transportation Sec. Duffy Takes Emergency Action To Protect Americans From Non-Domiciled CDL Crisis On Highways

Separately, the State Department has been investigating the matter, and the Department of Homeland Security is auditing trucking firms in California owned by migrants. The desperate calls for urgent action all began with the trucking advocacy group American Truckers United earlier this year.

🚨Non-Citizen Truck Drivers Involved in Highway Crisis

This is an urgent wake-up call for every American. Our highways are no longer safe. Reckless immigration policies and weakened licensing standards have unleashed a deadly crisis on our roads. pic.twitter.com/NXrQTivkos

— American Truckers 🚛🦅 (@atutruckers) July 10, 2025

ATU’s research has found that the Biden-Harris regime and rogue sanctuary states enabled the trucking industry to be flooded by migrants, some of whom should’ve never been behind the wheel of a big rig.

Duffy continued.

🚨🚨It just keeps getting worse for @GovTimWalz.

Just one day after 400 BRAVE employees from @MinnesotaDHS exposed “massive fraud,” @USDOT has discovered that ONE THIRD of non-domiciled CDLs were issued ILLEGALLY in the state.

MINNESOTA: You’re on notice. You have 30 days to… https://t.co/EDsPx9lQKg

— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) December 2, 2025

Thank ATU for their hard work this year in exposing and advising the federal government on how to correct yet another nation-killing policy by Biden-Harris.

By Ethan Howland of UtilityDive

• The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission should tell the PJM Interconnection that it can only add large data centers to its system when they can be reliably served, according to a complaint filed Tuesday at the agency by the grid operator’s market monitor.

• PJM is considering proposing to allow data center loads that it cannot serve reliably and that will require periodic blackouts for data centers and other customers, Monitoring Analytics, the grid operator’s market monitor, said.

• “That result is not consistent with the basic responsibility of PJM to maintain a reliable grid and is therefore not just and reasonable,” Monitoring Analytics said.

The market monitor contends that PJM Interconnection – the largest power grid in the United States, which runs the grid and wholesale power markets in 13 Mid-Atlantic and Midwest states and the District of Columbia and serves 65 million customers – has the authority to require that large new data centers wait in a queue to be added to the system until there is adequate generation and transmission to serve those facilities, according to the complaint.

However, during PJM stakeholder discussions this fall on potential large load interconnection rules, PJM staff and many stakeholders were unwilling to say that the grid operator has that authority, the market monitor said.

“If PJM has an obligation to provide reliable service to all PJM loads, is it just and reasonable for PJM to add new loads that it cannot serve reliably?” Monitoring Analytics asked. “The answer to that question is no.”

The complaint was filed days after PJM stakeholders failed to agree on a new framework for adding data centers and other large loads to PJM’s system. During the stakeholder process, Monitoring Analytics proposed that data centers be required to have matching, new power supplies before they are allowed to interconnect to the grid.

PJM’s board plans to develop a large load interconnection proposal and file it for approval by FERC.

It would make the board’s job “significantly more manageable” if FERC indicates that it intends to rule on the complaint and then rules in the near future, Monitoring Analytics said.

“PJM markets face an urgent need for immediate clarification of PJM’s authority over the interconnection of large new data center loads,” the market monitor said.

Large data center load additions in PJM have been driving up transmission costs as well as energy and capacity prices, according to the market monitor.

Existing and expected data center loads increased PJM’s capacity revenues in its last two capacity auctions by $16.6 billion, Monitoring Analytics said. “This total will continue to grow until the issues associated with the additions of large data center loads are addressed,” the market monitor said.

PJM is reviewing the complaint, Jeffrey Shields, a spokesman for the grid operator, said. PJM runs the grid and wholesale power markets in 13 Mid-Atlantic and Midwest states and the District of Columbia.

A powerful nor’easter traversed the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast on Tuesday, mostly bringing rain to the I-95 corridor from Washington, D.C., to New York City. Farther inland, however, from Scranton to Albany and up into Maine, colder air collided with moisture, blanketing these areas with accumulating snow.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy issued a state of emergency in the northern part of the state, including Hunterdon, Morris, Passaic, Sussex, and Warren counties. He urged drivers in the area to “exercise caution, remain alert, and follow all safety protocols.”

Today’s snowfall is confined to a narrow but intense band stretching from the Ohio Valley through central Pennsylvania and the Catskills into interior New England. Meanwhile, areas along the I-95 corridor will see mostly rain.

CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam said the storm could intensify into a bomb cyclone if its pressure continues to drop as it approaches the coast, which would bring even stronger winds along with torrential rain and snow.

Millions are under winter weather alerts from Ohio through Maine.

Looking ahead, AccuWeather Chief On-Air Meteorologist Bernie Rayno warned of another wintry system arriving late Friday into Saturday that could bring snow to parts of the Northeast.

“Should the cold air push too forcibly into the Northeast late in the week, the storm will escape out to sea with mostly rain for the Southeast and perhaps a narrow zone of snow, ice, and rain or snow on its northern edge,” Rayno said.

He noted, “However, should the cold air sit back just a bit in the Northeast and let the storm strengthen as it nears the Atlantic coast, it could turn into a heavy snow accumulation from the southern Appalachians and Piedmont all the way to the interior mid-Atlantic and much of New England.”

Earlier, NatGas futures rose to a three-year high on new models suggesting colder weather across the eastern two-thirds of the country for Dec. 6 to 10, with additional cooling expected from Dec. 11 to 15. Read the report.

La Nina winter is here. 

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Pfizer’s experimental influenza vaccine will not receive approval absent new data proving that it protects seniors against the flu, the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration suggested in a new interview.

The messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) shot “failed in seniors,” Dr. Marty Makary, the FDA commissioner, said during an appearance on Nov. 29 on Fox News.

“The trial showed zero benefit,” he said.

“We’re not just going to rubber-stamp new products that don’t work, that fail in a clinical trial. It makes a mockery of science if we’re just going to rubber-stamp things with no data.”

Pfizer’s media team did not respond to a request for comment.

The experimental mRNA shot performed better in a trial than an already-approved vaccine from a different company among healthy people aged 18 to 64, researchers with Pfizer and other organizations said in a recent paper published by the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).

The researchers did not mention that among vaccinated seniors, or people aged 65 and older, in the same trial, 0.5 percent suffered influenza-like illness and had laboratory-confirmed influenza cases. That was the same percentage as recipients of a licensed vaccine.

Many more seniors—68.7 percent—reported adverse reactions within seven days of Pfizer vaccination compared with just 25.8 percent of recipients of the existing vaccine, the results also showed.

The results from the seniors in the trial were posted to ClinicalTrials.gov earlier this year and highlighted following publication of the paper by independent journalists and members of the panel that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on vaccines, including Retsef Levi, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

“I find this to be a major integrity failure in the peer-review process. The NEJM editorial board should provide a clear explanation how this failure has occurred and … require the authors to correct the current articles and report on the entire results of the trial,” Levi told The Epoch Times in an email.

“The study authors are best able to answer your question,” a spokesperson for the journal told The Epoch Times in an email when asked why the results for seniors were not included in the paper.

The study’s corresponding author, who works for Pfizer, did not return an inquiry.

Makary’s comments came after Dr. Vinay Prasad, who heads the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, wrote in a memorandum that officials will be revising the current framework for influenza vaccines, which he called “an evidence-based catastrophe of low-quality evidence, poor surrogate assays, and uncertain vaccine effectiveness measured in case-control studies with poor methods.” He indicated that more details would be forthcoming after internal conversations.

The current framework features annual approvals of updated shots that target strains projected to circulate.

The FDA says on its website on a page updated in 2024 that FDA-approved flu vaccines “are safe and effective.” Officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that the vaccines’ effectiveness against influenza since 2009 have ranged from 19 percent to 60 percent.

Prasad also said that for most new vaccines, officials will be requiring randomized trials that provide evidence of efficacy based on clinical endpoints, which can include prevention of disease.

Dr. Robert Malone, who leads the CDC advisory panel’s influenza workgroup, told The Epoch Times that the memo means “the entire influenza vaccine, annual vaccination enterprise is now subject to major disruption.”

Former European Commission vice-president and ex-head of the EU’s foreign service, Federica Mogherini, has been detained as Belgian authorities investigate alleged misuse of European Union funds, Belgian and French media reports have revealed Tuesday.

Homes and offices are reportedly being raided in connection, though no formal charges were immediately made public for Mogherini. The action includes Belgian police searches at the Brussels headquarters of the European External Action Service (EEAS), which Mogherini led for a half-decade, from 2014 to 2019.

Police were also seen searching offices at the College of Europe in Bruges, where she has served as rector since 2020. The probe is reportedly related to her long stint overseeing the financing of the what serves as an academy for young diplomats.

Another College of Europe employee who serves in an executive office was also detained, as well as top European Commission official Stefano Sannino, who was previously the EEAS secretary-general under Mogherini.

Police have recovered documents said to be related to the three detained officials’ potentially criminal activities, based on suspicion of procurement fraud, corruption, and conflicts of interest.

Belgian police confirmed an investigation was ongoing “to assess whether any criminal offences have occurred”, adding: “All persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty by the competent Belgian courts of law.”

The case may center on the college’s purchase of a building and involves several millions of euros. According to details in The Guardian:

The case is an unprecedented investigation by the European public prosecutor’s office (EPPO), the only EU body that handles criminal cases, which was launched in 2021 to combat cross-border fraud involving EU funds. The EPPO can bring criminal cases in courts in any of the 24 EU member states that have joined it, including Belgium.

The case centres on whether the College of Europe and or its representatives were informed in advance about the tender for a training programme for young diplomats before the official launch of the bidding process.

The EPPO said it had “strong suspicions” that the rules on fair competition had been breached and that confidential information had been shared with one of the candidates taking part in the tender. The College of Europe in Bruges was awarded a contract to run the European Union Diplomatic Academy in 2021-22 after a decision from the EU foreign service. The EPPO said immunity of the three suspects had been lifted at its request.

The arrested officials are suspected of trading in confidential information and breaching fair competition laws.

Another source reviewing the probe details the following:

The probe reportedly focuses on the college’s €3.2 million ($3.7 million) purchase of a building on Spanjaardstraat in Bruges, in 2022, shortly before receiving €654,000 in funding from the EEAS. Authorities suspect the institution may have had access to confidential information, undermining fair competition. 

An EU diplomat has been cited in The Guardian praising the European public prosecutor’s office as it “is not afraid to go after big names.” The diplomat added: “If the allegations are true, they should be severely punished to send a clear message that any type of corruption is not tolerable in the EU.”

#BREAKING: Belgian police have detained former EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini in a fraud case.

She served as the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy from 2014 to 2019.

BOOM! pic.twitter.com/zfnkxdO8L8

— Russian Market (@runews) December 2, 2025

As for the College of Europe, many of its graduates go on to senior roles within European institutions and political bodies. All of this is certain to spur on suspicion among sectors of the general public that EU elite circles could be a hotbed for corruption, given billions in public funds are constantly doled out and transferred this way and that.

Authored by Micah Zimmerman via BitcoinMagazine.com,

Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee have released a 50-page report detailing what they describe as a systematic debanking effort by Biden-era regulators, dubbed “Operation Chokepoint 2.0.” 

While many of the findings — such as the Fed, FDIC, and OCC pressuring banks away from crypto through informal guidance, and the SEC’s “enforce first, make rules never” approach — were previously known, the report now places them squarely in the Congressional record.

The report identifies at least 30 entities that were effectively “debanked” through informal regulatory guidance and supervisory pressure. These businesses, the Committee claims, were forced out of the U.S. banking system without formal enforcement actions.

Government coercion, biased enforcement, and private pressure — all while denying

According to the document, the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) employed a range of tactics to influence bank behavior. 

These included “non-objection” letters, “pause” letters, and other forms of informal guidance designed to make banks hesitant to engage with crypto companies.

Meanwhile, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) allegedly adopted a policy of “enforce first, make rules never,” using selective enforcement rather than clear regulatory frameworks to restrict digital-asset activity. 

The report highlights SAB 121, an SEC guidance that effectively blocked banks from offering custody services for crypto assets.

The report paints a picture of regulators publicly denying any bias against digital assets, while privately pressuring banks to sever ties with crypto firms. The report reads that while regulators consistently denied discouraging digital-asset activity, the evidence collected by the Committee shows a pattern of private pressure and informal coercion. 

Committee Republicans argue these actions represent a revival of Operation Choke Point, a controversial program from the early 2010s that used regulatory and reputational pressure to discourage banks from serving certain high-risk industries. 

The report asserts that the tactics used against crypto firms echo the same methods: informal guidance, opaque supervisory expectations, and reputational risk warnings.

“The lack of clear rules combined with aggressive enforcement has created a chilling effect on the digital-asset sector,” said a Committee spokesperson. “Legitimate American businesses were forced to move abroad or shut down, not because of wrongdoing, but because of regulatory overreach.”

Crypto firms struggled to keep bank accounts

The report includes anecdotal accounts of firms that struggled to maintain bank accounts despite following all applicable laws.

One executive described repeated requests for documentation, sudden account closures, and vague warnings from compliance officers citing regulatory “uncertainty.” 

Another recounted being effectively cut off from the U.S. banking system after submitting a routine regulatory filing.

Republicans on the Committee argue that this environment has stifled innovation and driven financial activity offshore.

They call on Congress and the Biden administration to reverse these policies, provide explicit guidance, and ensure that legitimate crypto firms can access banking services without fear of arbitrary pressure.

The Committee’s full report is available in full on the House Financial Services Committee website.

The Department of Homeland Security has released a statement admonishing NYC officials after cataloging nearly 7000 illegal migrants that have been released from holding facilities instead of retaining them for ICE arrest.  

New York’s failure to honor ICE detainers has resulted in the release of 6,947 criminal illegal aliens since January 20th. The crimes of these aliens include 29 homicides, 2,509 assaults, 199 burglaries, 305 robberies, 392 dangerous drugs offenses, 300 weapons offenses, and 207 sexual predatory offenses.  The predators were released back on the streets without any notification to ICE, a trend which has led to many violent repeat offenses in the past.  

Furthermore, DHS reports that New York is holding another 7113 illegals with dangerous criminal backgrounds and they are refusing to release the prisoners into ICE custody.  The crimes of these aliens include 148 homicides, 717 assaults, 134 burglaries, 106 robberies, 235 dangerous drugs offenses, 152 weapons offenses, and 260 sexual predatory offenses.  DHS officials fear that the criminals will also be set free in the near future.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Todd Lyons sent a letter to New York Attorney General Letitia James calling on her to put the safety of Americans first and honor ICE arrest detainers.  

“Attorney General James and her fellow New York Sanctuary politicians are releasing murderers, terrorists, and sexual predators back into our neighborhoods and putting American lives at risk,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. “We are calling on Letitia James to stop this dangerous derangement and commit to honoring the ICE arrest detainers of the more than 7,000 criminal illegal aliens in New York’s custody. It is common sense. Criminal illegal aliens should not be released back onto our streets to terrorize more innocent Americans.”

The stupidity of open borders activism becomes apparent when examining the real world consequences of unrestricted and unvetted immigration.

Prominent examples of criminal migrants released by sanctuary cities include José Antonio Ibarra, a Venezuelan national who entered illegally, was arrested on misdemeanor charges (shoplifting and permitting an unlicensed person to drive). Local authorities in Athens, GA did not notify ICE despite a detainer request.  Ibarra later murdered 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley during her jog on the University of Georgia campus, beating her to death. 

Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez, a Salvadoran national with prior gang ties, was arrested in El Salvador for an unrelated assault but fled to the U.S. After a minor arrest in Maryland, local officials released him without ICE involvement due to limited sanctuary cooperation.  Martinez-Hernandez raped and murdered 37-year-old mother of five Rachel Morin while she was jogging on a trail in Bel Air, Maryland.

Victor Aureliano Martinez Ramirez, a Mexican national with prior arrests for drug and sexual assault charges (reduced to misdemeanor), was released from Santa Barbara County Jail despite an ICE detainer.  Five days post-release, Martinez Ramirez allegedly raped, tortured, and murdered 64-year-old Marilyn Pharis in her home, stabbing her multiple times. He faces numerous charges along with a co-defendant, Jose Fernando Villagomez. 

Franklin Jose Peña Ramos (Venezuelan) and Johan Jose Rangel Ayala (Venezuelan) were apprehended at the border in March 2024, released with Notices to Appear under CBP’s parole program, and not detained further despite initial screening. Houston’s limited sanctuary practices allowed community release without ICE follow-up.

In June 2024, the duo allegedly bound, raped, and drowned 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray under a bridge.  The list of incidents involving migrants released by Democrats goes on and on.

The track record is a horrific reminder that leftist officials are willing to double down on their ideology even if it results in brutality against their own citizenry.  They do not care.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman declared a “code red” on Monday, telling employees that ChatGPT needs serious improvement in terms of user experience – including personalization features, speed, reliability, and allowing it to answer a wider range of questions.

In a companywide memo, Altman also said that OpenAI would be pushing back work on other initiatives, including advertising, AI agents for health and shopping, and a personal assistant called Pulse, the Wall Street Journal reports. And with hundreds of billions of dollars committed to future data-center investments, they need to remain on top at all costs. 

The company will now hold daily calls with the team responsible for improving the chatbot, while OpenAI’s head of ChatGPT, Nick Turley, said Monday on X that the company is now focused on making GPT feel “even more intuitive and personable.” 

The announcement comes days after a report in the Financial Times warning that OpenAI rivals from Google and Anthropic are catching up in terms of features and popularity. 

Three years on from the debut of its popular chatbot, the $500bn start-up is grappling with the reality of soaring data centre costs, the technical challenges of remaining at the frontier of AI and the constant battle to retain key talent.

It is also facing a resurgent Google, with the release last week of Gemini 3, Google’s latest large language model, which is considered to have leapfrogged OpenAI’s GPT-5 and achieved gains from the model training process that have eluded OpenAI in recent months.

“It’s quite a strong difference with the world we had two years ago where OpenAI was leading ahead of everyone else,” Thomas Wolf, co-founder and chief science officer of open-source start-up Hugging Face told FT. “It’s a new world.”

Gemini’s user base has been rapidly growing since the August release of an image generator – Nano Banana. According to Google, monthly active users have also grown from 450 million in July to 650 million in October. 

Anthropic, meanwhile,  is also growing in popularity among business customers. 

Last month Altman told employees that OpenAI would “need to stay focused through short-term competitive pressure . . . expect the vibes out there to be rough for a bit.” 

Meanwhile, OpenAI is at a disadvantage – not only are they not profitable, they have to raise money at a near-constant pace to keep their heads above water – something Google and other tech firms that fund growth with revenues don’t have to worry about. OpenAI is also outspending its main startup rival, Anthropic, and needs to grow revenue to roughly $200 billion to even have a chance at turning a profit in 2030. 

Google told the Financial Times that their Big Tech group had “pushed our performance quite significantly” by training their AI models using Google’s own bespoke chips. 

“Being able to connect with consumers, customers, companies, at that scale is really something that we can do because of that full stack integrated approach that we have,” said Koray Kavukcuoglu, Google’s AI architect and DeepMind’s chief technology officer.

That “full stack” includes its custom tensor processing unit chips, which allowed Google to train Gemini 3 without needing to rely on the costly Nvidia chips that most of the AI industry uses. “I think we have a unique approach there,” said Kavukcuoglu.

Google “always had these muscles to flex”, said Michael Nathanson, co-founder and analyst at MoffettNathanson, an equity research firm, adding that the IO event showed that “they really managed to find their product footing”.

“The pressure has definitely flipped to Sam Altman and his ability to monetise and keep all the plates spinning,” said Nathanson. -FT

As Google’s Gemini showed a potential step-change improvement vs ChatGPT, the market has found itself mis-aligned and mis-priced for that…

And now, Altman is starting to panic…  

US envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law and unofficial diplomat Jared Kushner have been at the Kremlin on Tuesday for high-level talks with President Vladimir Putin. The Americans are presenting Trump’s Ukraine peace plan in its current form after the high stakes Miami meeting with the Ukrainian delegation, which focused on ceding territory and what future boundaries might look like in the Donbass.

President Putin’s public words in the context of the meeting wherein the US side is formally pitching the plan have presented an opportunity for him to lash out at Europe. If Europe starts a war with Russia, soon there will be “no one left to negotiate with” – he warned after several EU and NATO officials have lately issued hawkish words and threats.

Russia is not planning to fight European countries, but if Europe starts a war, Russia is “ready right now” – the Russian leader said. The Kremlin had last month issued a generally positive outlook on what it framed as genuine efforts of the Trump administration to reach peace settlement in Ukraine. Putin has previously said the now 19-point plan could be a workable basis on which to find a solution. By day’s end Tuesday, the world might get a better glimpse of how this is proceeding.

But on the question of Europe, which has been largely sidelined when it comes to the US peace plan version, Putin is angry. He denounced a recent series of drone strikes on oil and gas tankers carrying Russian energy exports acts of “piracy”.

He also on Tuesday made clear that European demands related to Moscow are not at all acceptable, suggesting that they are by intention an effort to prod and anger Russia. He said that “Europe only proposes unacceptable demands,” according to Interfax. “They are on the side of war,” he said of the Europeans.

“Russia has no intention of going to war with European countries. But if Europe wants war Russia is ready” – Putin has told journalists before meeting Witkoff and Kushner.

“Europe has withdrawn itself from the Ukrainian settlement. It has no peace agenda, and now they are hindering US efforts to achieve a settlement,” Putin said additionally. “Europe is putting forward proposals for a peace plan for Ukraine that are unacceptable to Russia.”

Importantly, he also vowed to expand strikes on Ukrainian ports, as retaliation for the some four tankers which have already been hit by Ukrainian attacks, which are believed to have had the support of Western intelligence. According to more of his words via newswires:

• Europeans have detached from the talks themselves.
• Attacks on tankers near Turkey are piracy.
• Will take measures against tankers of countries that help Ukraine.
• Will increase strikes on facilities and Ukrainian vessels.
• If attacks continue, Russia may strike Ukraine tankers.

President Zelensky has meanwhile admitted the road ahead will be “tough” – but he’s yet to outright reject the Trump-proposed plan, also knowing he could be cut off in terms of US funding and political support at any time. “Now, more than ever, there is a chance to end this war,” he has has said during a Tuesday visit to Ireland.

Putin:

If Europe starts a war with Russia, soon there will be “no one left to negotiate with.”

Russia is not planning to fight European countries, but if Europe starts a war, Russia is “ready right now.” pic.twitter.com/xsu9W2scDX

— Clash Report (@clashreport) December 2, 2025

Below is a note contextualizing where things stand via Rabobank…

Ukraine is saying there are still “tough issues” to be resolved to get to a peace deal, but the US revolver on the table may overcome them: the White House team is in Moscow to negotiate; Europeans are not at the table. That’s as Russia claimed Filipino troops are fighting in Ukraine(!); a test of its Satan II ballistic missile failed; a Chinese firm took a stake in a Russian drone maker; and Russia claimed it’s finally captured the strategic Ukrainian towns of Pokrovsk and Vovchansk.

Europe is to revamp its border-control force and told the White House it won’t accept a pardon for Putin’s war crimes in any deal – but what if the US agrees one? The WSJ says ‘Trump’s Push to End the Ukraine War Is Sowing Fresh Fear About NATO’s Future.’ That all smells like a lot more military spending for Europe, and faster than timetabled; or a split between those who see it as necessary and those who think you can defend yourself with committees and acronyms.

* * *

Things in Moscow are looking friendly so far…

U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law, were seen dining and strolling in Moscow tonight with Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund. pic.twitter.com/5Ho0v8jVIy

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) December 2, 2025

By Michael Every of Rabobank

“The unmoved mover” is ancient philosophy from Aristotle interpreted to mean ‘the divine’. For modern Mammon, it means a finance industry with siloed sector coverage grudgingly agreeing that the US is primus inter pares. But not always. Yesterday, markets moved a lot: crypto crumbled, again; stocks were down; and bond yields were up, as were silver and copper. What moved them most was perhaps Japan, not the US.

If you started working in markets after the late 90s, all you’ve known until recently is Japanese low/deflation and ultra-low or negative yields. Not anymore. Japanese CPI is around 3% and has been there for over three years: “transitory”? The 2-year JGB yields is 1.02%, as in 2008; the 10-year yield is 1.88%; and the 30-year is 3.40%, the highest this century and well into the previous. This is leading global bond yields higher just as ‘Japanification’ used to depress yields.

The BOJ is indicating it’s leaning towards a December hike. Yet JPY is still weak given the BOJ base rate is far below the level of inflation. Worse, decades of massive JGB issuance at ultra-low yields ensures higher yields raise questions about debt sustainability; but reversing BOJ course when inflation is high would weaken JPY further, which given Japan’s dependence on imported commodities, would push inflation up even more. Bloomberg called the 10-year JGB auction this morning “a global event” – though with firmer demand than the 12-month average it didn’t meet that top billing.

Market acting as if every JGB auction could be the last

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) December 2, 2025

Indeed, we live in a world full of global events, and most still revolve around the US: but not its monetary policy, rather its political, economic, and military statecraft.

Ukraine is saying there are still “tough issues” to be resolved to get to a peace deal, but the US revolver on the table may overcome them: the White House team is in Moscow to negotiate; Europeans are not at the table. That’s as Russia claimed Filipino troops are fighting in Ukraine(!); a test of its Satan II ballistic missile failed; a Chinese firm took a stake in a Russian drone maker; and Russia claimed it’s finally captured the strategic Ukrainian towns of Pokrovsk and Vovchansk. Europe is to revamp its border-control force and told the White House it won’t accept a pardon for Putin’s war crimes in any deal – but what if the US agrees one? The WSJ says ‘Trump’s Push to End the Ukraine War Is Sowing Fresh Fear About NATO’s Future.’ That all smells like a lot more military spending for Europe, and faster than timetabled; or a split between those who see it as necessary and those who think you can defend yourself with committees and acronyms.

In Latam, as Honduras’ presidential election vote is counted in a very tight race, Trump posted: “Looks like Honduras is trying to change the results of their Presidential Election. If they do, there will be hell to pay!” That’s after Trump had earlier named the only candidate he is prepared to work with. Welcome to the Monroe Doctrine.

Oil markets are monitoring Venezuela, where Trump has reportedly given Maduro a Friday deadline to leave the country as Caracas accuses the US of wanting to “take over its oil resources” and is seeking help from OPEC+: as Stalin asked, “How many divisions do they have?”

Elsewhere, Ukraine not only just struck another oil terminal, but may have attacked a ‘shadow fleet’ ship carrying Russian oil near Singapore. Who had ‘more global attacks on upstream commodity supply chains’ on their bingo cards? Those who listened to our 2026 Financial Markets Outlook.

Not being focused on by oil markets (yet) is Israel saying it will strike Iraq if Iran-backed militias there support Hezbollah, with whom tensions are again running high, as Israeli media also underline risks that Iran may try to attack it, for which Jerusalem is preparing a new spectrum of weapons – as the US warns Israel not to bomb Syria again, with which it’s now partnering against ISIS.

In broader geoeconomics, the Aussie spy boss warned businesses of “hacking, sabotage, and assassinations”;

The WSJ reports Chinese rare-earth dealers are finding ways to dodge Beijing’s export restrictions – is this “because markets” related to the US deepening rare earths supply chains with Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the UK, Israel, the UAE, and Australia? That’s as European firms report debilitating impacts from rare earths restrictions – one saw it cost 20% of its global revenue, 40% see licensing process added two months-plus to delivery times, 38% expect significant disruption or production stoppages, 11% had to disclose sensitive IP info to get licenses, and 42% said once license is granted, there are further delays gaining customs clearance.

New survey shows the massive impact China’s rare earth controls are still having on EU firms

– One company said the controls cost 20% of its global revenue
– 40% said licensing process added 2 months+ to delivery times
– 38% expect significant disruption or production stoppages pic.twitter.com/zKuyAx3i34

— Finbarr Bermingham (@fbermingham) December 1, 2025

Japan defense firms are seeing sales boom as Tokyo eyes the end of more export curbs – which will also help JGB yields rocket (as Bloomberg says, ‘Japan’s Inflation-Proof ‘Stan Economy’ Is Booming’);

Canada is to join the EU Security Action for Europe (SAFE) instrument (again, what did Stalin say?), as the EU will axe trade perks for countries that refuse to take back failed migrants, and its CBAM carbon border tax is criticized for going easy on ‘dirty’ Chinese imports because “Brussels got its math wrong on the carbon footprint of imports from China, Brazil and the US.”;

In politics, spot the pattern: ‘Germany’s far-right AfD attempts to rebrand as real power comes within reach’ (Politico); ‘German Mittelstand in turmoil after breaking taboo on meeting far’ (FT); ‘France’s business leaders scramble to shape far right’s agenda as election looms’ (Politico); and ‘One in four male Gen Xers now support One Nation’ (AFR). Elsewhere, the head of the UK fiscal watchdog was forced to quit after a pre-Budget info leak – so perhaps now won’t have to testify to Parliament about what happened; and the UK’s new far-left Your Party saw its first conference plagued with cries of factionalism, cliques, splittists, rigged votes, and exclusionary tactics – and decided on a 20-member ruling executive rather than a party leader.

In the economy, Aussie private sector wages just soared 6% y-o-y, outpacing profits: so, not “rate cuts!” then(?) On the other hand, the US financial press warns consumers are ‘losing patience’ with high car prices and are downsizing or opting for second-hand models, as ‘Gen Z Shoppers Aren’t Spending Like Retailers Need Them To.’

In Europe, the think tank Ember claims super-grid plans are threatened by a huge power line funding gap and that “80% of the EU power system is expected to miss the 2030 interconnection target.” The WSJ is blunter and more controversial: ‘Europe’s Green Energy Rush Slashed Emissions – and Crippled the Economy’, adding, “Political consensus is cracking, industry is hobbled and high-profile projects are being postponed thanks to some of the highest electricity prices in the developed world.”

In markets, new RBNZ Governor Breman told parliamentary select committee that she would be “laser focused” on the Bank’s core mandate of low and stable inflation, and she favoured greater transparency. Excellent. Except it’s transparent that we need to ask what a laser focus on low and stable inflation means when so many factors domestic and foreign can impact on it in so many ways and monetary policy has nothing to do with most of them. Tellingly, Powell spoke today and didn’t say anything at all for markets to mull over. Should we start to get used to it(?)

Look around and see that there is no earthly unmoved mover, be it Japan, or crypto, the Mag-7, or any central bank – even the Fed. They are all just part of a now systemic metacrisis.