🚨 “The glory days are over”: consultants in Saudi Arabia curb expansion plans as the kingdom reviews its priorities.

🚨 My latest: Western cultural institutions are re-embracing Saudi Arabia as their quest for fresh funding and expansion aligns with the kingdom’s ambitions to grow its art and culture sectors as part of wider economic diversification plans.

Super interesting article by Andrew here. Highly recommended read 👇

(Chronique romaine) Papabili, le jeu incertain des pronostics a commencé www.la-croix.com/religion/pap...

Hegsethgate is bad. But the administration-wide national security crisis spinning out of control around it is much much worse. My latest. www.thedailybeast.com/hegseths-pen...

"Ironically, it is now the UAE, under MBZ’s leadership, that seeks to assert regional hegemony over its much larger neighbor." substack.com/home/post/p-...

“He’s just the most irritating person I’ve ever had to deal with, and that is saying something.” www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

"Bridges in the Gulf: wealthy states mediate crisis after crisis" with Anna Jacobs, @kristianulrichsen.bsky.social and James Dorsey by the @afpnews.bsky.social www.france24.com/en/live-news...

A group of Khaleejis is launching a Substack and podcast under the name 'Afrabia', focusing on the GCC & the Horn of Africa. I know one of them, if they are all like him, I am confident the content will be of high quality. The link to subscribe 👇 substack.com/@afrabia #MENAsky

"Turkish police on Wednesday arrested Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu, a key rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, state-run media reported, as part of an investigation into alleged corruption and terror links." www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...

Résumé de cet article: "son avocat « conteste » encore et relève « le caractère diffamatoire » de ce témoignage." Beaucoup de témoignages, son avocat "conteste". - Bonjour, vous... - Je conteste ! - Mais, j'ai rien... - Je conteste, c'est diffamatoire!

They're called public records for a reason. Starting today, WIRED will *stop paywalling* articles that are primarily based on public records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, becoming the first publication to partner with @freedom.press to offer this for our new coverage.

En bombardant massivement la bande de Gaza, Nétanyahou rompt la trêve avec le Hamas www.lemonde.fr/internationa... Par @samuelforey.bsky.social

Return the #StatueofLiberty? Here's my interview with the French politician who made this demand of the US today. He's a rising star on the French Democratic Left #RaphaelGlucksmann newrepublic.com/article/1847...

"On Sunday, Raphaël Glucksmann suggested that the U.S. is no longer worthy of the statue, a sculpture that was a gift from France nearly 140 years ago that stands on Liberty Island, located in New York Harbor." www.newsweek.com/white-house-...

Who ?

"It is now Yemen & Iraq that are at the forefront of this pro-Iran alliance and the weakening of Tehran's strongest proxy forces offers the Houthi leader A.M Al-Houthi an opportunity to ascend to a position of regional gravitas following the death of Hassan Nasrallah" www.newarab.com/analysis/cou...

"Backed by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE, Jared Kushner's firm is now biggest shareholder in Israeli company with stakes in businesses operating in occupied territories" @simonbhooper.bsky.social www.middleeasteye.net/news/gulf-st...

Canadian friends, let's make a deal in face of adversity : drink more French wine and champagne and we will eat more pancakes with maple syrup. Deal ?

Bien avant les pyramides et Stonehenge, des hommes ont érigé ces mystérieux piliers de pierre. À quoi servait Göbekli Tepe ? Un temple ? Un lieu de rassemblement ? Une révolution dans notre vision du Néolithique. ➡️ https://l.franceculture.fr/Fa4

So both my article and my video interview have disappeared from @aljazeera.com An International Women’s Day piece on feminist hypocrisy and Gaza—gone. A video on the silence around Palestinian women—gone. No explanation. Just erased. I’d love to know why.

When Musk said he loved Trump “as much as a straight man can love another”, the emetic effect was widespread. Trump is one of the few left who likes having Musk around. Yet having given him such unprecedented power, Trump is watching his benefactor turn into an albatross. www.ft.com/content/ea5b...

Sur France Info, Jérôme Chapuis fait remarquer à Manuel Bompard qui explique que les pop locales doivent être consultées sur les territoires occupés par la Russie, qu'hier l'amb FR en Ukraine Veyssière disait que c'était techniquement impossible. Bompard répond :"bah moi je crois que c'est possible"

"M. Iordandi a été un cadre de la mission de l’OSCE en Bosnie et est actuellement candidat pour diriger une mission en Serbie, au Kazakhstan ou au Kirghizistan. « Nous suivons une politique de recrutement rigoureuse, pour toutes nos fonctions », indique-t-on à l’OSCE" www.lemonde.fr/internationa...

Tueries en Syrie : Ahmed Al-Charaa confronté au premier grand défi de sa présidence www.lemonde.fr/internationa... par @helenesallon.bsky.social

It's fascinating that the US Democrats are still not questioning themselves on the reasons that led to a complete idiot being President of the US and able to bring in his team of lunatics to the WH. And the worse part is, that while the WH is going crazy (as expected), the Democrats remain arrogants

It's Ramadan's TV shows controversy time. Iran is displeased with MBC's Muawiyah, but and more suprisingly, Al Azhar is also displeased. Adding to Iran, the show is also banned in Iraq. MBC already aired a Ramadan show about Muawiyah in 2023 and then it was Muqtada Al Sadr who was displeased.

🚣🚣🚣

Got myself "Between two Rivers" by @moudhy.bsky.social for my bday. Looking forward to reading it.

The European Commission is figuring out how it could help Ukraine secure satellite communication capacity in the wake of Elon Musk reportedly threatening to pull Kyiv's access to his Starlink network.

‘We cleared rubble with our bare hands’: Iraqis rejoice as shattered Mosul rises from the ruins

UK and France to work with Ukraine on peace plan https://www.ft.com/content/1370b3e8-c3b5-4733-8a15-4b397d483e45

To Donald Trump, pleasing Vladimir Putin looks like it solves major geopolitical problems. But past experience shows that those who try, live to regret it.

I very much agree with Trump when he said during his meeting with Zelensky : "Well, you see, I think it's good for the American people to see what's going on." Excellent we have these videos, we will remind them to our American "partners" in 4 years.

Better of, imagine if Republicans...

During his career, both political and professional, Merz never ever saw nor anticipated nor even thought about the risks posed by a lack of EU Defense sovereignty. He was the kind of politicians who would call French politicians naysayers and birds of ill omen for advocating for more EU sovereignty.

What an interesting article from 2009 to read in the light of a Trump presidency. Surely the European buyers of F35 must now be questioning their choice... "The source code is (...), controlling everything from weapons integration to radar to flight dynamics" www.reuters.com/article/worl...

"Surprisingly, many people — not least, US President Donald Trump — seem convinced the country has a rich mineral endowment. It’s a folly." Very important column by @javierblas.bsky.social www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

🧵How A Saudi Atheist Became A Killer 2 months before German elections, a car drove into a Christmas market in Magdeburg killing 6 people. When the attacker’s identity was reviled, many struggled to reconcile his atheism with his terrorism. In this piece, I tell his story. bsky.app/profile/newl...

Friedrich Merz : « Je n'aurais jamais pensé devoir dire quelque chose comme ça dans une émission de télévision, mais, après les remarques de Donald Trump la semaine dernière [...], il est clair que ce gouvernement ne se soucie pas beaucoup du sort de l'Europe. » fr.euronews.com/my-europe/20...

Tout à fait stupéfait de découvrir que les Aztèques, bien que connaissant la roue, n'en ont jamais trouvé d'intérêt à l'utiliser. ‘’une civilisation évoluée, exquise et délicate, puissante et subtile, mais une civilisation sans roue’’ www.radiofrance.fr/francecultur...

Jonathan Sumption: “Democracy is impossible for the state to satisfy” 🗣️ @RMCunliffe.bsky.social meets Jonathan Sumption

The definitions in this proposed Israeli law are so broad that "any journalist publishing an investigation that suggests a crime committed by IDF forces would also be at risk of imprisonment if the bill is passed." www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...

I've been ruminating over something I heard a Saudi diplomat say recently (and I'm paraphrasing): 'There are the insurgents we know, and then there are the many others we don't know of yet, but they are bound to emerge if the Palestinian cause does not arrive at a just resolution soon.'

By @jcgnana.bsky.social and @jackvdutton.bsky.social with some comments by Abdulkhaleq Abdulla and me.

Tonight in London! Come see us at The Frontline Club, in conversation with Stephanie Baker and Michela Wrong, as we start off @newlinesmag.bsky.social series of events. We'll be talking Russia, Ukraine, Congo, Rwanda, Syria and much more. Tickets here: www.eventbrite.com/e/the-world-...

Heads up #Kuwait #menasky (?) & #statelessness peeps 📢 Join our joint webinar: “Alarming Revocations of Citizenship in #Kuwait” 🗓️ Date: February 10, 2025 🕔 Time: 4 PM GMT, 5 PM CET, 7 PM Kuwait 🌍 Language: English w Arabic interpretation 📩 To register: us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regi... #سحب_الجناسي

"Malgré les objections des plus conservateurs (certains titres de presse et des hommes politiques), la plus grande autorité du pays, Ali Khamenei, semble désormais ne pas s’opposer à des négociations avec les Etats-Unis." @ghazalgolshiri.bsky.social www.lemonde.fr/internationa...

Looking forward to reading Andrew's pieces there !

I finally decided to listen to the NYT's Caliphate podcast and realized that the episodes were totally based on the con artist, while initially thought it was only partial. In the end, I abandoned and never listened to it entirely (up to the 4th episode only).