The wait is finally over for one of the most highly anticipated foreign intelligence assessments on the NATO eastern flank: the Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service's 2026 public report. www.valisluureamet.ee/en.html

Trump administration officials have discussed whether to seize additional tankers involved in transporting Iranian oil to pressure Tehran but have held off, concerned about the regime’s near-certain retaliation and the impact on global oil markets.

Exclusive: President Trump tells me he opposes Israeli annexation steps in the occupied West Bank. My story on #axios

Co-founders of Musk’s xAI join exodus from start-up’s tech team ft.trib.al/9QiK2Bc

You go to the United States this can happen to you, too, my fellow Europeans.

General consensus is that Trump's presidency has ushered in a new world order from which there is no turning back. This view deserves scrutiny, argues @gideonrachman.bsky.social. Read his column on #FTEdit 👉 ft.trib.al/38QnpBf Then have your say in today's #FTEdit poll 🗳️ ft.trib.al/PdHOXLf

"It does not matter who votes, but who counts the votes." ---Stalin

🥴 The Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee has decided that athletes from the Russian Federation and Belarus will be allowed to participate in the Olympic Games under a neutral flag.

Leaders in Sweden, Norway, Germany and the Netherlands — some of Europe’s most pro-American countries — have publicly confirmed in recent days that they're holding conversations about a European nuclear deterrent to complement the American version. www.politico.eu/article/us-d...

Likud and Netanyahu strove to get the GOP and Trump in power but by now realize that Kamala Harris would have been the safer option. No wonder relations between Netanyahu and the Israeli security apparatus (IDF, Shin Bet, and Mossad) are at an all-time low.

😡 Vladyslav Geraskevych was banned from using a “special” helmet at the 2026 Olympics, which depicts killed Ukrainian athletes…

Machine guns to machetes: Weapons that massacred thousands in Iran www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

My latest. Key point is that national defense in Europe is not a national sovereign responsibility. This is a fiction. Europe’s states haven’t been sovereign on defense since WWII. Instead they outsourced defense to a foreign power (US). Now Europe has to start working together as Europe on defense

Former Washington Post journalists have launched a GoFundMe to help repatriate fired staff members who are effectively stranded in foreign countries. One of the richest men in the world fired them from the paper and didn’t even pay to ensure they got home. Abolish the billionaire class:

"Britain isn’t broken. It is in serious need of repair. The suggestion among Labour MPs that the best way to begin rebuilding political trust is to throw out Starmer in favour of someone else merely insults the electorate". Inside-Out column. philipstephens.substack.com/p/epstein-ma...

'IAEA calls for restraint as Russian attacks cause Ukrainian nuclear plants to lose power' www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/202...

This week on Espresso Martini, Chris and Matt unpack Jeffrey Epstein kompromat claims, Russian spy arrests in Germany, scrutiny of Tulsi Gabbard, Donald Trump’s Greenland brinkmanship, NATO crisis management, and the CIA World Factbook’s closure. Audio: pod.fo/e/38a3a8 YouTube: youtu.be/zMOdqzC-_Js

RUSSIA REFUSES TO MOVE IN PEACE TALKS AS NEW SANCTIONS GO IN TO FORCE & ECONOMY TILTS FASTER DOWNHILL The Russians are not budging an inch. Refusing any security guarantees for Ukraine, refusing any cooperation over the Zaporhizia NPP, and then coming up with more impossible demands. It’s a farce.

Bundeswehr in 🇱🇹 "A comrade phones home, speaks for half an hour, and then gets a call from an unknown number. He answers – and hears his own conversation from earlier, recorded and played back," Joshua Krebs described the experience in his book, Inside Bundeswehr. www.euronews.com/2026/02/07/n...

Shi'a islam in Iran has become the excuse for a murder machine run by old corrupt men afraid to lose power.

Just had a fabulous talk with John Sipher, one of the most experienced CIA officers of his generation. We went into the Epstein files, what they say about Epstein and Russian intelligence, how Epstein kompromat might work to influence Trump… substack.com/@phillipspob...

Mandelson 'betrayed' his country, Gordon Brown tells BBC www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Interessant rapport van @hcss.bsky.social Over 🇺🇦 omgang met de oorlog, niet alleen de krijgsmacht, maar ook veel ‘citizen-soldier-activists’. Niet per se ingekapseld in de strijdkrachten, maar juist daarom snel in staat vernieuwende stappen te maken op drone- en EOV-gebied. hcss.nl/wp-content/u...

Famine in Afghanistan is caused by the Taliban far more than by cuts in aid. Let's not make everything about domestic politics. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/w...

On schedule like a Ukrainian train: Lavrov delivering the news of a convenient way of finishing a lethal enemy and giving Trump talking points. bsky.app/profile/noel...

Source: There’s a new ‘breakout star’ in the battery storage market - giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... via @financialtimes.com

Dear @washingtonpost.com journalists. Solidarity on a terrible day. But also: it’s an opportunity. The @theguardian.com also fucked over its journalists last year. Months later, 5 of us launched @thenerve.news - with zero £ - & it’s working! Rebuild your own media from the ground up 👊👊👊

Of great interest

"ecosystem degradation speeds up and critical ecosystems collapse. These include crop failures, disease and natural disasters, all of which will intensify as important ecosystems reach critical thresholds and tip over into collapse." @rusi.bsky.social www.rusi.org/explore-our-...

There are a great many good reasons to subscribe to the @financialtimes.com - consider it a tax to benefit the disappearing art of brave high quality journalism. Do it today.

OTD in 2022 some people who make ice cream (@benandjerrys.bsky.social) informed us the best way to stop yourself being attacked is not to threaten to defend yourself. A take that has aged like one of their overpriced, pseudo-ethical ice creams left in the sun for a week.

Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez’ move against Big Tech is tactically impeccable and strategically rewarding. He’s doing what the EU should do, but other EU leaders stop it from doing. www.euronews.com/2026/02/04/e...

Everything you already knew about Russian infiltration but were afraid to ask

Epstein emails - Russia mostly funded Marie Le Pen’s far right party.

Illegal Reedley biolab connected to lab found at Las Vegas home, authorities say abc30.com/post/illegal...

[email protected] & I wrote on revival of the debate (again) over how Europe does nuclear deterrence with less America. UK & France co-operating to unprecedented degree, building on Northwood declaration. Sweden & Germany looking to do much more w/ France. www.economist.com/europe/2026/...

Paris prosecutors raid French offices of Elon Musk's X

ABSURD take by the @nytimes.com to call this an anti-American protest. How the hell can you honor ther service and sacrifice in the name of our alliance and call it anti-American? The anti-American is the President. These guys all are pro-American. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/31/w...

Neurodiversity research has reshaped how we think about autism and ADHD, revealing that a “normal” brain doesn’t exist – and that unusual brains also come with unique strengths.

A United Nations agreement to protect the open oceans from unsustainable fishing practices has now taken effect, in a huge win for marine conservation

Egypt is secretly hosting a major military drone base in its Western Desert that has become central to Sudan’s civil war, marking a sharp escalation of foreign involvement, the New York Times reports. Satellite images, flight data, videos, & interviews reviewed by the Times indicate that advanced...

In the Pavlohrad district, near Dnipro, Russian Shahed operators attacked a civilian bus. After the first strike, injured civilians were visible exiting the bus. A second drone was then deliberately guided onto those people. This was a conscious act of terrorism.

Such is the outrage in Denmark over both Trump’s desire for Greenland and disparaging remarks about NATO that one of the country’s leading newspapers devoted their Saturday front and plenty of room inside to the bios of all 44 Danes slain during NATO missions in support of the US

‼️ Latvia calls for EU ban on provision of maritime services to Russian vessels

Democrat Taylor Rehmet won a Texas State Senate special election with 57.2 percent of the vote, defeating Republican Lee Wambsganss. The district was traditionally Republican, and the GOP candidate was publicly backed by Donald Trump. #Texas

Decisively.

Problem for Putin is that an armistice or peace agreement at the current front line would be a devastating defeat and undermine if not lethally cripple his authority. Which for Russia, Ukraine and Europe would be cathartic.