Wren

The notwithstanding clause is section 33 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It permits federal or provincial governments to temporarily enact legislation that overrides certain Charter protections, specifically those set out in section 2 and sections 7 to 15, for a renewable period of up to five years. When invoked, the clause shields the legislation from being struck down by the courts on Charter grounds, notwithstanding where it greatly infringes on fundamental freedoms.

Exactly one week after the Gaza plan went into effect, EU parliamentarians tabled its proposals to sanction Israel over its human rights violations in Gaza. One month later, the German government, Israel’s second largest supplier of weapons, announced it would lift its arms embargo on its longtime ally; last week, Germany’s parliament approved a $3.5 billion deal to expand its missile defense systems to protect Israel. Earlier this month, Eurovision, the popular singing competition, cleared Israel to continue competing, despite pledges to boycott from Spain, Slovenia, the Netherlands, Ireland, and Iceland. The U.N. Security Council also authorized Trump’s plan, agreeing to help form a so-called International Stabilization Force.

"Saturnalia is an ancient Roman festival and holiday in honour of the god Saturn, held on 17 December in the Julian calendar and later expanded with festivities until 19 December. By the 1st century BC, the celebration had been extended until 23 December, for a total of seven days of festivities. The holiday was celebrated with a sacrifice at the Temple of Saturn, in the Roman Forum, and a public banquet, followed by private gift-giving, continual partying, and a carnival atmosphere that overturned Roman social norms: gambling was permitted, and masters provided table service for their slaves as it was seen as a time of liberty for both slaves and freedmen alike. A common custom was the election of a "King of the Saturnalia", who gave orders to people, which were followed and presided over the merrymaking. The gifts exchanged were usually gag gifts or small figurines made of wax or pottery known as sigillaria. The poet Catullus called it "the best of days.""

“He’s beating her, and then the next minute, they’re going on dinner and trips,” he said on Sean Combs: The Reckoning. “It’s like going back and forth, back and forth. If you don’t like something, you completely get out. You cannot have both ways. Have the luxury and then complain about it? I don’t think so.”

While thousands of people have been arrested over the past year at protests for holding placards saying “I support Palestine Action”, campaigners questioned why the wording of Thunberg’s sign had led to her being arrested under counter-terrorism legislation.

As a professor of medieval history, I can assure you the popular belief that the lives of peasants were little more than misery is a misconception. They enjoyed rich social lives – maybe richer than ours – ate well, celebrated frequently and had families not unlike our own. For them, holiday festivities didn’t begin with Christmas Eve and end with New Year’s.

The party was just getting started.

Greenland was a closed colony of Denmark from 1721 until after the Second World War, meaning that no outsiders were allowed into the country except for Danish colonizers and their designated visitors. This was a suffocating policy for Kalaallit, but it gave exclusive access to Danish missionaries and resource developers. Denmark, for example, had a monopoly on the extraction of minerals such as cryolite, which was key to the production of aluminum used in military weapons and brought in billions of dollars in profit.

During the Second World War, Greenland became a strategic asset for another reason: the weather there helped predict the weather in Europe, which in turn could shape military strategy. Allied forces sought to prevent the Germans from establishing weather bases on the island or from gaining access to meteorological intelligence. Even before the US entered the war, it patrolled Arctic waters, particularly along the coast of Greenland, to monitor German military activity. Denmark was by then occupied by Nazi Germany; if the Allied powers hadn’t utilized Greenland to their advantage, the Nazis might have taken over there as well. As such, Greenland briefly became a US protectorate.

Of the 33 killings, state agents were the perpetrators in 28 of them, which is consistent with all previous months Sandatahang Dahas has monitored for 2025. Ten killings were done by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) while 18 were by the PNP. One killing was committed by a civilian against a police officer. Another was done by an alleged insurgent against an AFP corporal. Meanwhile, unidentified armed groups killed a police officer and a Citizen Armed Force Geographic Unit (CAFGU) member in two separate incidents, while an unidentified individual killed another PNP member.

Glossary:

58 Philippine Pesos = 1 American Dollar

Shabu: Methamphetamine

Sandatahang Dahas: The Sandatahang Dahas (Armed Violence) Project is a monthly monitor by the UP Third World Studies Center on reported state-related violence. Specifically, this pertains to killings and injuries caused by and inflicted on duly-designated gun-bearing members of law enforcement organizations or a public security agent in the Philippines.

Most groups “declined to discuss” the changes, as you might imagine. But Simani outlined some strategies groups that made changes seemed to follow: Don’t name disadvantaged groups; don’t actually acknowledge the past; gloss over details. So you’re no longer “helping underserved communities,” for example, because that means people were underserved in the unquestionably greatest country in the world.

Today’s “Christmas diplomacy” – that is, a range of statements and efforts to encourage peace and warm relations between nations — updates the tradition for statecraft.

Sometimes, such diplomacy really does open a window for talks. Sometimes it is a cultural reflex. Sometimes it is pure theater. And sometimes, the season’s distractions are exploited for war and violence rather than peace.

TikTok played an important role in the sea change of U.S. opinion about Israel, particularly among young people. It’s why the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, the organization I work for, condemned the sale as a “desperate” attempt to silence young Americans.

What’s at stake is no less than whether or not U.S. voters will continue to be able to see what Israel’s military is doing to Palestinians. While many mainstream media outlets pushed coverage of Israel’s war in Gaza that was deferential to Israeli government talking points, TikTok users watched unfiltered videos of Israel’s horrific attacks on Palestinian civilians.

https://web.archive.org/web/20251221213804/https://theintercept.com/2025/12/21/tiktok-ellison-oracle-israel-gaza/

States typically have a list of items that residents should have on hand in case of an emergency. But according to a new 50-state scorecard released on Thursday, only one state — Maryland — does a good job of including sexual and reproductive health supplies into its preparedness checklist.