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.

Is the Guardian baiting its readers?

YouGov poll shows that Maduro has roughly as many supporters as a made-up politician

This is what happens when you recklessly extend BRICS right up to America’s borders and ignore America’s legitimate security concerns.

So my hot take is that assuming everything the admin is telling us is true the Trump WH has pulled off a spectacular (albeit illegal) tactical coup in coop with some in Maduro’s circle, and it will now declare victory without clarifying in any way, including to itself, what the bigger strategy is.

Can't wait to hear what FIFA has to say about this.

The Polish government has asked the EU to take action against TikTok over a series of videos showing AI-generated young women calling for Poland to leave the EU. "There is no doubt this is Russian disinformation," says the government's spokesman.

"In early medieval England, the calendar year was not standardised like it is now. There were varying opinions about when the calendar year should renew, and different historical sources consider the beginning of the year to land on different dates." 🙃

Future historians will wonder why the victims of colonialism sided so cheaply with a white coloniser who rules 1/3 of the Asian land mass from a city in Europe.

No one has ever been able to adequately explain what Putin is meant to have thought NATO expansion would threaten him with, apart from limiting his expansionist ambitions. "He was worried they'd invade Russia." No he wasn't. He just wasn't. That's not a thing anyone thought might happen.

⚫ Brigitte Bardot, actrice française légendaire, icône féminine des années 1960 et fervente protectrice des animaux, est décédée à l'âge de 91 ans, a annoncé ce dimanche la Fondation Brigitte Bardot.

It's a busy day in Bethlehem and nobody really notices the couple who have come to be counted. As imagined by the great Pieter Bruegel.

Still the best Cristmas Eve themed cartoon Owner to his pet: "Another Christmas Eve together & you still haven't said a word to me" Pet to owner: "What's your view on Scandinavian literature"? Owner: ... Pet: "Exactly... Forgive me, but you're not exactly a conversation partner for me" #Wigilia

Really perceptive piece, by two of my brilliant @jhu.edu colleagues, @himself.bsky.social and @radchenko.bsky.social.

Immigration salience has less to do with aggregate Immigration numbers than - visibility of boats & asylum > visas - general vibes about integration - elite cues from media & political discourse in shaping public perceptions This is more true when immigration is falling then when it is rising

As Christmas comes around, many Poles will be nurturing traditions that have remained unchanged for generations, if not centuries. This selection of photographs from before WWII reveals various customs that can still often be observed today.

In Putin's Russia, everything can be solved with deception. Right down to using a body double of BBC's Steve Rosenberg, to prove that the international press is in Moscow. When will the Russian people have had enough of this regime?

Interesting article on the themes & meanings of Andrzej Wajda's masterpiece, The Promised Land. Based on an 1899 novel of the same name by Nobel Laureate Władysław Reymont, 2025 marks the film's 50th anniversary. One thing's for sure, everyone should see the film. jacobin.com/2025/12/wajd...

U.S intelligence report. So correct, so obvious, and still beyond the comprehension of the U.S. own government.

On both right and left, there's anger about the recent assessments of Russia's threat to the UK and the rest of Europe, and about the need for us to prepare to meet it. There's a lot I could say here (as my students know), but most of it boils down to two things. 🧵

#Rome has two new metro stations! This week, Line C opened the Porta Metronia and Colosseo-Fori Imperiali stations, which double as museums of Imperial Rome. #Roma #transit Here's an eye-opening plunge into Colosseo-Fori:

Poland is seeing a sharp rise in multicultural families, with the number of children born to parents of mixed nationalities nearly doubling since 2020.

—I’ve been asked to baptise the King of Spain’s daughter —Infanta? —No, holy water as usual. Weird thing to ask honestly

Nearly half a tonne of Żurek (sour rye soup) on Kraków's main market square. Be still my beating heart... Just imagine the loaf of bread they are going to need to serve it in.

Where do you even start with this? The users? The demand for loyalty? The implication in the headline that things must really be bad if they want to return to Poland?

I know not every film has to follow the book exactly, but this is pushing creative licence to breaking point

Some people are so filled with hatred for Ukraine that they think anything that contains blue or yellow represents them. It's sad that the local council gave into stupidity and hatred in the end.

President Zelenskyy is in Kupyansk, Kharkiv region today ‼️🤯 ​The town, declared "liberated" by russian propaganda, remains a fierce battleground. In reality, our forces destroyed the majority of the invading troops. Yet a few pockets of fighting remains.

Not sure the Telegraph can sink any lower than supporting nationalist movements across Europe, then again it is by Nile Gardiner...

"And tonight in 'Cutting off your nose to spite your face'...."

Home Office Ministers state publicly, on the record, that they are deliberately making life worse for older people and people with disabilities who depend on care services, but it's worth it because it reduces net migration.

What are the chances neither of them knows where Guadeloupe is!?

@theresthistory.bsky.social's deserved success is built the host's ability to meld narrative & analysis (especially in the bonus episodes) History enjoys public interest & emotional attachment unlike most subjects, but what's best about TRIH is how it's happy to embrace & reject old & new theories

The Argentina & Netherlands (depending on playoffs) groups look pretty interesting. I can't see beyond Denmark & Italy for the playoffs for groups A & B, & can't call it for the other European playoffs. Scotland will be happy to be all but guarenteed 3 points & a prestige match against Brazil.

This is the day he finally became president

This peace prize business is shameless even by FIFA's incredibly shameless satandards

This is a good piece and I agree with all of it. But I'd add that a lot of Americans on encountering Actually Existing England come down with a version of "Paris Syndrome" - a widely recognised phenomenon described as....

It sure looks like Russian intelligence attempted to use military drones to assassinate the President of Ukraine inside an EU country. Looking forward to more thoughts from Belgium on why freezing Russian assets is an escalatory move that might compromise the peace process.

According to French media reports the 🇫🇷 navy last night shot down five drones flying over the Ile Longue, in Brittany, home to France’s SNLE nuclear-armed submarines, the naval component of France’s nuclear deterrent

I must have missed the bit where Aaron Bastani joined Reform

If a journalist wants to write yet another article about how Poland is outshining the UK, they should base it around Christmas trees

A statue from a German-Nazi barracks that disappeared at the end of WWII has been discovered during the construction of a supermarket in Poland. It will now be displayed by a local museum, which has jokingly named the object "Teutonkhamun".

Never. That's totally unlike Putin to ever do that.

Surprise!

Right

With its historic cities, natural landscapes and growing culinary scene, Poland is hoping to boost the role of tourism in its booming economy, writes Olivier Sorgho The government wants tourism to contribute 9% of GDP within a decade, up from 4% now.