Trump and Netanyahu launched their war on Iran at a time when it still looked as though there might be a chance for diplomacy. Was this because they suddenly got intelligence about Ayatollah Khamenei’s whereabouts, and realised they could kill him?

Tonight I’m back on ‘Unspun World’ (BBC Two, 11pm) with a look at the aftermath of Europe’s revolt over Trump’s Greenland demands, China’s trade and its spying habit, India’s EU link, and what lies ahead for the new Archbishop of Canterbury. Worth a watch!

We’re in an era of back-yardism. Trump’s takeover of Venezuela & maybe Greenland means he can’t logically object to Putin’s desire to take back Ukraine in Russia’s back-yard, or Xi grabbing Taiwan. The US, once the world’s moral super-power, shrinks to policeman for the Americas.

How about temporarily re-titling this ‘Venezuela’?

Reports from various sources of anti-government demonstrations in Tehran and other Iranian cities. It’s by no means the first time, of course, but there seems to be an extra fragility about the regime since the Israeli/US bombings last June.

Tomorrow is important for Ukraine. Pres Zelensky will present his counter-proposals for peace to Pres Trump in Florida — terms carefully calibrated with the UK, Germany & France to ensure maximum future security for Ukraine & at least the possibility of acceptance by Russia.

Video has emerged of Gen Xu Qinxian of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army at his court martial in 1990, explaining why he refused orders to crush the Tiananmen Square protests. Xu said he didn’t want to become “a sinner in history”. He was given a 5 year sentence.

And a ground-level view of one part of the brightest, most vibrant city on the planet at Christmas.

An aerial view of Christmas in central London.

Celebrating our wonderful Irish terrier, Cody. One of his quirks is insisting on physical contact — in this case resting his paw on my foot. Alert, handsome, surprisingly obedient for an IT, he’s everything you could want in a dog.

Even the D Telegraph thinks Pres Trump will lose his case against the BBC. Interestingly, more Americans watch/hear/read the BBC than Brits. Its US audience averages 60 million, rising to 77m in Sept. By comparison, its UK audience is approx 50m (around 85% of UK population).

Jimmy Lai, the media tycoon and brave defender of democracy in Hong Kong, has been found guilty of ‘foreign collusion’. His family expect he’ll die in jail. HK’s national security law, imposed by Beijing after huge pro-democracy protests, has claimed its most prominent victim.

Andy Serkis has remade Orwell’s stark fable ‘Animal Farm’ — only he says he’s made it ‘accessible’ (as though it wasn’t already), not ‘overtly political’ (could that have the slightest value?), and ‘suitable for a modern audience’ (his version has a happy ending).

The FT writes: ‘In Trump’s interview with GB News, its correspondent, Bev Turner, gave North Korea’s broadcasters a run for their money. “It feels much safer here,” Turner said, contrasting Washington to London, though the chances of being murdered in DC are around 26 times higher than in London.

Met Police chief Mark Rowley: ‘How anybody in America can suggest the UK is violent is completely ridiculous. The homicide rate in London is lower than every single US state. It’s lower than all their big cities.’

Only 31% of U.S. adults now approve of how Trump is handling the economy, the poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds. That is down from 40% in March and marks the lowest economic approval he’s registered in an AP-NORC poll in his first or second term.

Pres Trump worries his closest allies and emboldens Russia and China. But many US commentators feel he is now only 11 months from becoming a lame duck. After next November’s mid-term election he won’t have power over Congress or even parts of the Republican Party.

It’s the 78th birthday of Jimmy Lai, the campaigner for Hong Kong’s freedom, who has now been jailed for 1800+ days. His health is bad and he’s not getting proper treatment. As a rich man, he could easily have stayed away from HK. Instead, he returned and stood by his friends.

Interesting.

2009, at the lighthouse on Cape Horn: from r., the explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes, the sailor Sir Robin Knox-Johnston and me. We went eye-to-eye with the Taliban in Afghanistan, dragged sledges in the Arctic, and rounded Cape Horn in a 60-foot boat for our 3 Dogs series on BBC Two. Great days.

I was deeply sorry that the BBC paid no tribute to John Osman’s long service—meeting Idi Amin & other dictators, being jailed in Ian Smith’s Rhodesia, & revealing the dodgy links between the Soviet U. & apartheid S. Africa to fix gold & diamond prices. Quite a story—but untold.

Lovely funeral service near Oxford for the great BBC correspondent John Osman. His g’daughter Katy wrote and read a poem including these unforgettable lines: ‘You spoke for those who do not have a voice, The slaves, the prisoners, those who lack a choice.’ John absolutely did.

Chelsea on fire! Estêvăo, Cucurella, James all excellent. Maresca’s tactics made Barcelona look flat-footed — the first time since last December that they haven’t scored. It was 3-0 for Chelsea against PSG; now it’s 3-0 against Barça.

Times headline: ‘BBC failing to tackle systemic bias, says author of leaked memo’. In fact, when asked by MPs, this man, Michael Prescott, said he didn’t believe the BBC was institutionally biased. The Times failed to quote that, in an article about the issue of truthful reporting.

According to a new study from a respected US think tank, the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), Britain’s decision to leave the EU has meant that its GDP is between 6 per cent and 8 per cent smaller than it would have been.

First Donald Trump, then Joe Biden using the terms of the Trump ‘deal’, sold out Afghanistan to the Taliban. Most European govts think Trump is now selling out Ukraine in the same way — trading major concessions for a belief in Putin’s promises, and not caring very much anyway.

Delightful lunch at Magdalene Coll Cambridge in memory of the poet & critic Arthur Sale (d. 2000). F. R. Leavis, no friend of his, still called him ‘the best individual teacher of English in Cambridge’. Arthur’s pupils included Bamber Gascoigne, Alan Rusbridger, Nicholas Shakespeare & Monty Don.

The report into Boris Johnson’s record during the Covid epidemic blames a ‘toxic, sexist and chaotic culture’ in Downing Street. Who’d have thought it?

The FT writes: ‘In Trump’s interview with GB News, its correspondent, Bev Turner, gave North Korea’s broadcasters a run for their money. “It feels much safer here,” Turner said, contrasting Washington to London, though the chances of being murdered in DC are around 26 times higher than in London.

Brilliant Scotland!