USA - The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission members on Tuesday declared a water shortage emergency. In a vote on Tuesday, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) unanimously approved the emergency measure, which applies to all 2.7 million customers in Alameda, Santa Clara, San Mateo, and San Francisco counties, according to the mayor’s office. “With California still experiencing devastating drought and the uncertainty around this rainy season, we need to make tough decisions that will ensure that our water source continues to be reliable and dependable for the future,” Breed said in the statement. “Year after year, San Franciscans step up to conserve our most precious resource... water is becoming scarcer and scarcer. And when there’s not enough water, there’s no life. Water scarcity will become a source of wars within countries and around the world in a near future!

NORWAY - A TV ad for the Norwegian postal service that shows Father Christmas enjoying a festive kiss with a man has gone viral. Santa’s coming out makes perfect sense, given his uncanny ability to take on a wide range of identities. Santa is gay. But you knew that already, right? How could he not be in this, the modern era, the age of woke? I admit, I’d always presumed there was a Mrs Claus back home somewhere in the Arctic Circle, helping Santa all year long pack presents alongside his elves and reindeer. But apparently not. It seems Santa was in the closet all along. Maybe that explains why the cuddly couple had no conventionally conceived kids of their own to help out?

UK - Vladimir Putin has issued a stark warning to NATO not to cross "red lines" and deploy troops to Ukraine, and has suggested Russia could retaliate against any acts of aggression with a "five minute" missile strike.

The Russian President stoked fears of an all-out war on Tuesday when he addressed an investment forum in Moscow. Mr Putin told the event the Kremlin is prepared to fight fire with fire should the Western NATO alliance set up camp on Russia's doorstep. He appeared most concerned with the possibility of NATO deploying troops and hypersonic weapons capabilities in Ukraine.

UK - Britons heading to the Balearic islands between December 4 and January 24 will be banned from large pubs and restaurants if they don’t have the pass. The Covid passport is already required for nightclubs and care homes on the islands.

British tourists who fail to provide the document or use a fake Covid passport will face a fine of up to €60,000 (£50,977).

GREECE - Greece is to make Covid vaccinations mandatory for people aged 60 and over. Fines of €100 (£85) will be imposed at monthly intervals from mid-January on those who refuse, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said.

"Greeks over the age of 60... must book their appointment for a first jab by January 16," the premier said in a statement to the cabinet. "Their vaccination is henceforth compulsory."

RUSSIA - Belarus’ leader has said Russia should deploy atomic warheads inside his country’s borders if NATO’s nuclear weapons are advanced eastwards through Poland, amid a growing row with the West. Speaking in an interview with RIA Novosti on Tuesday, Alexander Lukashenko threatened to increase the amount of deadly hardware facing off across the frontier if American-made nukes are moved further into Eastern Europe.

UK - Chinese President Xi Jinping and other Communist officials have been directly linked to atrocities against Uyghur Muslims in a new leak of top secret documents. The trove contains what appear to be transcripts of speeches given by Xi, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and other officials that directly led to the creation of re-education camps, forced sterilization, and forced labour transfers of Uyghurs, analysts say.

It is the first time that Xi has been directly linked with what western governments have described as 'genocide' in China's western Xinjiang region, and is also thought to be the first time that any 'top secret' Communist Party documents have leaked.

USA - A federal judge in Missouri has blocked US President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate for healthcare workers in 10 states, saying that it would need approval from Congress – which it does not have.

US District Court Judge Matthew Schelp issued a preliminary injunction on Monday, blocking the White House’s order that all workers employed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) had to be vaccinated by January 4, 2022 or face losing their jobs.

UK - At midnight on Monday, Barbados transitioned from a Realm to a Republic as the Caribbean island replaced the Queen with a president. Prince Charles was invited to observe the handover and speak to crowds at the official ceremony but he did so amid calls from some for the British Royal Family to apologise for the role of its ancestors in the slave trade.

UK - Israel reportedly shared intelligence with the US and European allies suggesting that Iran is preparing to enrich uranium to 90 percent purity - the level needed for nuclear weapons - in the run-up to the resumption of talks on Monday.

USA - The US supports nearly 75% of the world’s dictators, autocracies, monarchies, military regimes, etc, with weapons, military training and money. Please remember this the next time someone tells you the US should do X or Y because such and such a nation is bad… Comparing Freedom House’s list of Not Free nations to FY 2020 US overseas weapons sales, military training and financial assistance, we find that of the 57 nations considered undemocratic, 42 receive weapons, training and/or money for their military and security services. This means 74% of the non-democratic nations of the world are supported militarily by the US. Interestingly, the remaining 15 nations are nearly all sanctioned. The world’s countries can be divided into two parts: those who buy/receive weapons from the US and those sanctioned. It seems like it’s a pretty simple arrangement.

GERMANY - “Let’s use smartphones and tarot cards to connect to spirits,” reads the writing on the wall, illuminated in soft ultraviolet light. “Let’s manufacture DIY devices to listen to invisible worlds.” The incantations, printed as wallpaper, are part of the French artist Lucile Olympe Haute’s “Cyberwitches Manifesto,” an installation in a show called “Technoshamanism” that is at the Hartware MedienKunstVerein in Dortmund, Germany, through March 6, 2022. The group exhibition, which brings together the work of 12 artists and collectives, explores the connections between technology and esoteric, ancestral belief systems. In our always-online lives, the supernatural is having a high-tech moment.

SOLOMON ISLANDS - Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare on Friday blamed foreign interference over his government’s decision to switch alliances from Taiwan to Beijing for anti-government protests, arson and looting that have ravaged the capital Honiara in recent days. But critics also blamed the unrest on complaints of a lack of government services and accountability, corruption and Chinese businesses giving jobs to foreigners instead of locals. Honiara’s Chinatown and its downtown precinct have been the focus of rioters, looters and protesters who have demanded Sogavare, who has intermittently been prime minister since 2000, to resign. The National Parliament building, a police station and businesses have been set alight during two tumultuous days in which police failed to control the mob. Sogavare angered many in 2019, particularly leaders of the Solomon Islands’ most populous province, Malaita, when he cut the country’s diplomatic ties with Taiwan.

TAIWAN - Five members of the US House of Representatives are expected to arrive in Taiwan on Friday for a short trip focused on meetings with the island's defence ministry, Taiwan's official Central News Agency reported on Thursday. The trip comes as China has stepped up military and political pressure to assert its sovereignty claims over the island, spurring anger in Taipei where the government has vowed to defend Taiwan's freedom and democracy. The report said the delegation would be made up of Mark Takano, chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and Colin Allred, Elissa Slotkin, Sara Jacobs and Nancy Mace, and would also meet Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen. The five lawmakers are currently in East Asia on a Thanksgiving trip to Japan and South Korea. It would be the second trip of lawmakers to Taiwan this month. The United States, like most countries, has no official ties with Taiwan but is the democratically-ruled island's most important international backer and arms supplier, to Beijing's anger.

CHINA - China has blasted the latest US warship sail-through of the contested Taiwan Strait, which happened Tuesday, calling it an intentional "provocation" after a US Navy statement asserted "The United States military flies, sails, and operates anywhere international law allows." The Navy's Seventh Fleet had identified that the guided-missile destroyer USS Milius conducted the "routine" transit as part of the US "commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific". This year the White House appears to have ordered such pass throughs of the strait on a monthly basis, given Tuesday's event marked the 11th US warship transit of the Taiwan Strait this year, which is just under the record - in 2020 there were a total of 13.