“… Ru dispatched a submarine to safeguard the vessel, but it appears that US forces were able to board the tanker without facing any resistance.” Yet another snippet of evidence Pu backs down to force and isn’t a madman. It’s tragic Trump hasn’t been willing to make Pu back down in Ukraine.

There is no legal justification, whatsoever, to use military force against a NATO ally like Greenland. If any military member participates in this without congressional authorization, they are following illegal orders.

A fascinating article on why the Iranian regime is so hard to overthrow, and why so many of Iran's people will keep trying to do it anyway. open.substack.com/pub/persuasi...

In Europe, none of us are free from the scourge of Russian tyranny until all of us are free from it. It's in our own security interests to stand with the Belarusian people and support them however we can.

Neil, but never bend a knee. youtu.be/hxl9R_2ax-8?...

Former top banker Ken Miller thinks the financial sector & a recklessly deregulating US government are driving us towards another economic crash. We should probably pull the emergency brakes on them before it happens. www.economist.com/by-invitatio...

That's going well, then. Unless it turns out the Trump administration's main aim was just to join these crooks in stealing the oil and it couldn't a actually care less about freedom, democracy and the Venezuelan people.... giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

For everything said about Donald Trump, “not nearly enough has been said about his fundamental indecency, the characteristic that undergirds everything he says and does,” Jeffrey Goldberg writes: theatln.tc/GXeY6Gar

I'm sceptical that Trump voters are deserting him. He promised to free criminals, increase the cost of living (via tariffs), Gestapo-ish thugs on the streets, policies to help China & Russia etc. Why would they be disappointed now he's doing what they voted for? www.chathamhouse.org/2026/01/dona...

US rule of law is a (partial) myth. Its "history says that with enough power, and if you’re the right kind of American, you can escape consequences altogether". #Trump #January6th Column by @jamellebouie.net www.nytimes.com/2026/01/06/o...

Five years ago today, Donald Trump urged his supporters to attack Congress and the Capitol over a proven lie. More than 140 police officers were injured. Trump then pardoned the attackers. He betrayed his oath and his country, and we won't ever forget it.

What is just crazy about this, aside from the need for this statement at all, is that Greenland already IS in the US sphere of influence. It's far cheaper for the US, in material, security, and reputational terms, to have Denmark continue administering Greenland and work within NATO on security.

Credit to Greenland PM Nielsen for his straight-talking courage. All decent democracy and freedom loving people should stand strongly alongside him. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

Anyone wondering what on earth Trump is doing in Venezuela should probably note the one consistent reason for anything he does; to chisel a few quid out of it for himself. giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

I know people always predict the regime is about to fall whenever there are demos in Iran & it never happens. But I think it really could collapse in 2026 due to the economic and water crises.

Spare a kind thought for rugby league refs this Christmas and the hard work they put in to make the game happen. This documentary sounds really interesting. www.theguardian.com/sport/no-hel...

This is what is happening to people in the holy land this Christmas. #Gaza giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... via @financialtimes.com

Farage is a model modern racist. He demands the right to say and do racist things. Then gets angry when people call him what he is: a racist. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

If any western companies still operating in Russia lose their assets, they deserve it. We need to protect European lives and security, not their greed and cowardice. giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

Good question.

We are wasting a lot of time discussing "peace agreements" amongst ourselves. But Russia started this unprovoked, illegal & disgusting war and clearly has no interest in peace. The way to end the war is to turn up the pressure on Putin and ensure Ukraine wins it. giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

From 8 years ago but never more relevant. Deborah Lipstadt on how the plainclothes Nazis of today's far-right sneak their lies into society & our politics by dressing them up as legitimate opinions and then proclaiming them to be "facts". Don't let them. Stand up for truth. youtu.be/0ztdofPc8Rw?...

"Trump is handing China and Russia the tools to accelerate the west’s disintegration".

Anyone who doubts things can change could look at the @detroitpistons.bsky.social . Two years on from losing a league record 28 straight games, the same young core of that team is now battering all-comers across the @nba.com . A daft example, maybe. But sport is often a metaphor for life.

An important & urgent reality check from expert Andy Pryce. British society needs to shape up & win the undeclared hybrid conflict Russia is waging on us. Because if we fail, we'll likely end up fighting the more traditional and bloody sort of war with them instead. www.linkedin.com/pulse/britai...

Some communities are more at the sharp end than others. But if we do not tackle Anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, racism & hatred in all its forms, then its flames will consume us all. (Article below by Avraham Burg @theobserveruk.bsky.social ) observer.co.uk/news/opinion...

The reality is that Russia is struggling badly. Sanctions are working. Supporting Ukraine's heroic resistance is working. The Kremlin is terrified of Europe stepping up the pressure on them this week. So, let's do it. That's the way to end Russia's war against Ukraine (and us) - permanently.

Don't believe the Kremlin hype. Russia is losing its war on Ukraine. Its sacrificing an unsustainable number of men to gain minimal territory. Its economy is collapsing under the cost. Its people are suffering as 40% of state spending goes to the military. And its failure is humiliating its leaders.

Interesting event @brookings.edu, making clear sanctions are having a bigger impact on Russia than often realised. Europe should now step them up, such as by compelling countries buying Putin's blood oil to choose between Europe and Russia on trade. (Spoiler alert: Economics means they'll pick us).

This column by @stephenkb.bsky.social on the antisemitic mass murder in Australia, reflecting on the justifications for acting on ancient hatreds, is very good indeed. Depressingly comments have not been enabled. Because they couldn’t be. www.ft.com/content/4209...

"Only Europe can save Ukraine from Putin and Trump" -if it decides decisively to do so. ecfr.eu/article/only...

"Fragile frontline: The consequences of declining military aid to Ukraine": ecfr.eu/article/frag...

Europe can hurry up and help Ukraine to stop Putin now. Or we will have to fight off Russia ourselves later. I do not see any other available options. www.economist.com/europe/2025/...

A possible statement of the obvious from my early months in the US. America's incredible universities are the superpower's superpower. The many foreign students & professors enable it to shape the affinities & be shaped by the thinking of the world's smartest people in ways, eg; China cannot match.

A monument in Boston to commemorate the brave Hungarians who refused to surrender to Russian aggression in 1956. If only Hungary's current Orban government had similar courage.

The last but one game at Boston's Matthews Arena, built in 1910 and where the @celticsnba.bsky.social & @nhlbruins.bsky.social began life. It seems a shame to knock down a venue with an entrance like a temple and the interior of a Soviet metro station.

Sound analysis from Simon Tisdall in @theguardian.com . Europe must support Ukraine to defeat Putin and Russia. It is within our grasp and our future will be so much brighter when that happens.

It would be great if that nasty little bigot Farage boycotted the BBC. The BBC should have boycotted him long ago, instead of giving him a wildly disproportionate platform to spread his poison and pro-Putin, anti-British propaganda. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Clearly Farage was a viciously nasty racist and antisemite. His current positioning and aggressive refusal to explain or apologise for his past conduct suggest that he still is. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

The ‘Useful Idiots’ From America Whom Putin Is Playing Like a Flute By Tom Friedman www.nytimes.com/2025/12/04/o...

Suffer the little children

Here is one American writer who clearly grasps the extent of the grim humiliation Trump & his minions are enabling Putin to inflict on the US. If you can access it, this is brutally brilliant by Kevin D. Williamson of @thedispatchmedia.bsky.social . thedispatch.com/newsletter/w...

My impression after a few months in the US is that even anti-Trump Anericans still think they can make America normal again in a few years and restore its global position. But the trust, fear and credibility that long underpinned their power & prosperity is much further gone than they realise.

Yes, poorly phrased on my part. It's a good start - I meant to suggest they should go all-in & full steam ahead etc. on this approach.

All of Britain's current problems were caused or made significantly worse by Brexit. Keir Starmer's government should just be blunt with people about that now & start doing everything possible to undo the damage. Why prop up a disaster that wasn't your fault & what do they have to lose now anyway?

What did Trump do for you today? Murder some shipwreck survivors? Pardon a major drug trafficker? Build a golden ballroom for himself? Did any of it bring your grocery bill down?

China is bearing down on Taiwan – enabled by Trump’s weakness and vacillation | Simon Tisdall

Credit to the great "The Hull Story" for finally uncovering the truth behind this popular Hull myth from 1642. To proper journalists, persistence matters! www.thehullstory.com/allarticles/...

“Speaking outside his chateau in France, former Brexit Party and UKIP MEP Coburn answered "no" when a BBC journalist asked him whether he’d ever been paid to give a speech to promote pro-Russian campaigners” Just FFS investigate the whole dodgy traitorous lot of them. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...