Neil Oliver delves into how LA's devastating wildfires symbolise the collapse of Western civilisation.

With 25 lives lost, 200,000 people evacuated, and billions in damage, the flames reveal more than just environmental neglect—they expose a dangerous culture of nihilism and self-destruction.

From empty reservoirs under Gavin Newsom's watch to slashed firefighting budgets by Karen Bass, these failures reflect the broader erosion of truth, responsibility, and the values that built the West.

Is this the final chapter for Western civilisation?

Catherine Austin Fitts (CAF), Publisher of The Solari Report, says the real work for the Trump Administration is happening now. CAF is a financial expert and former Assistant Secretary of Housing (Bush 41 Admin.) who managed hundreds of billions of dollars in her career. CAF says this is a fight within the Trump Administration that is summed up by those who will fight for freedom and sovereignty and those who want America under Deep State control. CAF explains,

"You had a lot of people who voted for Trump that wanted to see him protect freedoms. You also have a lot of people voting and donating for Trump because they think he can get them the control grid. The centralization and decentralization are both hoping Trump will give them what they want. . . . Trump has to do something that works economically. The first day, Trump will be asked to fill the top 10 or 20 positions. Ultimately, after you fill the cabinet and the other top positions, then there are another 10,000 positions to be filled. The President does 1,000 positions, and those thousand do the rest of about 10,000 positions. The guys who want the control grid are trying to get their people in place. The guys who want freedom are trying to get their people in place. . . . After you get the people in place, it's going to have to be battled out one policy at a time. . . . So, this is trench warfare, and it's not going to be decided by the election. It's going to be decided by the staffing and the policy debate that happens day after day.

The two leaders are expected to sign a landmark agreement on bilateral cooperation, according to a statement.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold talks with his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian this week to discuss prospects for further expansion of bilateral cooperation, according to the Kremlin.

Pezeshkian will visit Moscow on January 17, according to a statement issued by the Kremlin on Telegram on Monday.

It is planned that the two leaders will discuss a wide range of important issues, including trade and investment, transport and logistics, and humanitarian matters.

They will also talk about current regional and international events, according to the Kremlin. After the meeting, the presidents will sign the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement between Russia and Iran and will then meet with media to provide statements.

Acknowledging the situation on the ground is a major step toward bringing the conflict to an end, Michael Waltz has said.

It is not possible to "expel every Russian from every inch" of soil claimed by Ukraine, including the Crimean peninsula, incoming US National Security Adviser Michael Waltz has admitted.

Acknowledging "that reality" has become a major step toward resolving the conflict between Moscow and Kiev, Waltz told ABC News in an interview on Sunday, adding that this idea is now in the process of being accepted by Ukraine's backers. Waltz stated:

"Everybody knows that this [conflict] has to end somehow diplomatically. I just don't think it's realistic to say we're going to expel every Russian from every inch of Ukrainian soil. Even Crimea - President-elect Donald Trump has acknowledged that reality, and I think it has been a huge step forward that the entire world is acknowledging that reality."

Waltz suggested that accepting the fact that returning to Ukraine's original post-Soviet borders is unrealistic now opens the way to addressing the question of "how do we no longer perpetuate this conflict and how... we no longer allow it to escalate in a way that drags in the entire world."

There has reportedly been a breakthrough at the Israel-Hamas talks in Doha. Talks in Qatar about ending the conflict between Israel and Hamas are close to succeeding, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan has said.

Israel declared war on the Palestinian group after the October 7, 2023 incursion from Gaza that claimed over 1,100 lives. More than 46,000 Palestinians have been killed in the enclave since.

Sullivan told reporters on Monday. "We are close to a deal, and it can get done this week." He said the proposal in question had been outlined by US President Joe Biden last June and involves "a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza."

A "breakthrough" was achieved shortly after midnight, according to Reuters, while Israel's Channel 12 described the developments in Doha as "dramatic" and claimed that a ceasefire could be announced as early as Tuesday.

Israel has accepted the proposal, which is now awaiting final approval by Hamas, multiple outlets in Tel Aviv have claimed. Both sides are reportedly eager to announce a deal before US President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated on January 20.

Turkey has strongly rejected a proposal to deploy French troops along the Syrian border to establish a secure zone aimed at easing tensions with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a group Ankara considers a terrorist organisation.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Friday during a live press conference in Istanbul, said:

"Some small European countries participating in military operations in Syria under the US umbrella are attempting to further their own interests by speaking out on certain issues, but this brings no real benefit to themselves or the region.

"We do not engage with countries that try to hide behind America's power while advancing their own agendas."

Ankara has warned of a potential cross-border offensive into northeastern Syria against the Kurdish YPG militia, which spearheads the SDF, if the group does not comply with Turkish demands.

Fidan reiterated that foreign fighters within the SDF, which is supported by the US, must leave the country, along with cadres from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), even if they were Syrian nationals.

The Americans are said to be thinking of proposing a partition of Ukraine into two, with a kind of DMZ. They like this kind of thing and have tried it in the past with the Koreas, Vietnam, and so on. It never ends well.

For the Russians, it is non-starter. They read history.

Former President, now Deputy Head of the Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev has said.

I would like to highlight the so-called German scenario, which has resurfaced on the agenda. It suggests that a fragmented Ukraine would resemble a kind of FRG and GDR, with the role of the FRG, of course, assigned to Bandera's Kiev, while that of the GDR - to the Russian territories that have returned to their homeland. This scenario has emerged for obvious reasons, despite having no chance of success. The explanation is simple: it facilitates reconciling the leadership of the illegitimate Kiev regime with the most extreme neo-Nazis. In the historical sense, the "Germanic scenario" of settlement is only feasible in terms of integrating the territories of Malorossiya into Russia.

If you look for maps of ""Malorossiya" ("Little Russia") you will get quite different results, depending on who the maps were done for.

But historically Little Russia" included almost all of Ukraine - except as you can see here - Galicia — which was — as I have mentioned before — really part of Poland.

It's the greatest show on earth - unleashing a double bill of New Paradigm and Manifest Destiny on crack. We are the greatest. We will rock you - in every sense. We will crush you. We will take whatever we want because we can.

And if you wanna walk away from the U.S. dollar, we will destroy you. BRICS, we're coming to get ya.

Trump 2.0 - a mix of professional wrestling and MMA played in a giant planetary cage - is in da house starting next Monday.

Trump 2.0 aims to be on the driving seat on the global financial system; on control of the world's oil trade and LNG supply; and on strategic media platforms. Trump 2.0 is gearing up to be an extended exercise in the capacity to hurt The Other. Any Other. Hostile takeovers - and blood on the tracks. That's how we "negotiate".

Under Trump 2.0, global tech infrastructure must run on U.S. software, not just on the profit front but also on the spy front. AI data chips must be American only. AI data centers must be controlled by America only.

"Free trade" and "globalization"? That's for losers. Welcome to neo-imperial, techno-feudal mercantilism - powered by U.S. tech supremacy.

Trump's National Security Advisor Mike Waltz has named a few of the targets ahead: Greenland; Canada; assorted cartels; the Arctic; the Gulf of "America"; oil and gas; rare earth minerals. All in the name of strengthening "national security".

A key plank: total control of the "Western Hemisphere". Monroe Doctrine 2.0 - actually the Donroe Doctrine. America First, Last and Always.

The suspect planned to pour toxic substances into the air ducts of vehicles driven by employees, the agency has said.

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) has said it has foiled a Ukrainian terrorist plot targeting the staff of a Russian defense industry enterprise in the city of Yaroslavl.

The suspect is a Russian citizen who was working for Kiev, and who planned to poison workers of the facility with toxic substances, according to a statement from the agency on Tuesday.

The man was detained after receiving two containers with "dangerous chemicals" from a cache prepared by the Ukrainian special services, the FSB said. The substances in question can cause potentially fatal respiratory burns, it added.

The suspect planned to pour the chemicals into the air ducts of vehicles driven by employees of the defense enterprise, the agency said.

"The terrorist's activities were coordinated from the territory of Ukraine via foreign internet messaging apps," the FSB stressed.

Incoming senior Trump administration officials have begun questioning career civil servants who work on the White House National Security Council about who they voted for in the 2024 election, their political contributions and whether they have made social media posts that could be considered incriminating by President-elect Donald Trump's team, according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter.

At least some of these nonpolitical employees have begun packing up their belongings since being asked about their loyalty to Trump — after they had earlier been given indications that they would be asked to stay on at the NSC in the new administration, the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive personnel matters.

Trump's pick for national security adviser, Florida Rep. Mike Waltz, in recent days publicly signaled his intention to get rid of all nonpolitical appointees and career intelligence officials serving on the NSC by Inauguration Day to ensure the council is staffed with those who support Trump's agenda.