Cup Final not a great advert for Scottish fitba’: poor gruel

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m... Let’s be honest: Israel’s revenge bloodlust is insatiable

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre... Justified rage

I thought you might be interested in the programme for Festival of Europe Scotland (3-11 May): festivalofeuropescotland.org/whats-on

Ed Miliband’s net zero obsession left British Steel on brink of extinction www.thetimes.com/article/b542... Utter tosh: no mention that Thatcher closed down the coal industry thru an obsession with defeating the NUM

Israel strikes southern Lebanon amid calls for halt to ‘endless war’ - and by defence minister Katz for more territory aka Lebensraum

The logic of Trump’s foreign policy is to reinvent the Warsaw Pact with US and Russia as co-leaders

What’s in this minerals deal - apart from extortion and personal/corporate gain for Mafia Don?

FT: Russia applauds Trump’s move (to suspend military aid to Ukraine): all you need to know

They are arguing, endlessly, that illegally inciting acts of terror online is ‘free speech’ while silencing dissent, targeting journalists & telling an invaded ally what he is & is not allowed to say during a live television broadcast are all fine.

The pandering to Trump must end — it only encourages his tyranny | ✍️ Matthew Syed

For St David’s Day we present our latest Channel 4 News/BBC News long-distance musical collaboration. Ciaran Jenkins (cello) is in Glasgow and I’m in Moscow (on the piano). Together we play Myfanwy. @c4ciaran.bsky.social

open.substack.com/pub/alexmass... excellent but “the wealthiest pensioners in British history”: evidence/stats? State or state plus private? Poor compared wjth W Europe…

Keir Starmer looks to link UK and EU emission trading schemes - great news!!

Would be nice to have some breathless media coverage about what this tells up about market perceptions of the state of the UK economy..

How Israel erased a town of 200,000 - a great piece of FT journalism

Is corporate America going Maga? Yes: craven, morally bankrupt capitalism drinks to Trumpism

👉NEW -- Queen Elizabeth colluded in Russian spy cover-up by Richard Norton Taylor The late monarch suspected her art curator Anthony Blunt of treachery a decade before he confessed to MI5, but did not sack him. www.declassifieduk.org/queen-elizab...

‘Fadi is fighting for his life’: Israel blocks evacuation of cameraman shot in Gaza - yet more shocking evidence of Israel’s onslaught on journalists

More and more organisations are going to follow them out the door. www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/ov...

Anas Sarwar will take inspiration from Andy Burnham and devolved and state governments across Europe and the United States as he draws up Scottish Labour's blueprint to "do devolution better" ahead of the 2026 Holyrood election. www.scotsman.com/news/politic...

The appeal comes as campaigners warned the world’s wealthiest 1 per cent have already burned through their share of the annual global carbon budget this year. www.scotsman.com/news/politic...

Go get him. 👏👏👏

Why Donald Trump wants Greenland - good explainer from @richardmilne.bsky.social

Is the NFU a signed up member of @conservatives.bsky.social as it organises yet more demos v Labour govt - over incomes loss largely caused by Brexit that was pursued/implemented by successive Tory govts without NFU protest

Michael Gove is sick.

Today is an object lesson in the radicalisation of the British right-wing press. Britain is being disparaged and insulted by a foreign far-right conspiracy theorist. But the Mail, the Express, the Telegraph and even the Times choose focus their criticisism on the British prime minister instead.

Donald Trump says he would seek to have a policy of having no wind farms constructed during his second term, threatening billions of dollars in planned wind projects

Donald Trump says NATO nations should spend the equivalent of 5% of their economic output on defense, ramping up his demands on European allies to more than double the current target

Iceland's new government plans a referendum on continuing/restarting EU accession talks. This will be watched closely from Scotland, as the independence in the EU - or EEA - debate continues. open.substack.com/pub/kirstyhu...

#PremierLeague what’s the betting Man City win every game now until end of season and retain top spot?!

In 2025, the state of the world and of our politics is ever more troubling. But there are glimmers of light and holding power to account remains vital. My new year blog. open.substack.com/pub/kirstyhu...

What the ‘year of democracy’ taught us, in 6 charts that spell severe weather warning to us old liberal lefties - and others… via the ever-excellent @jburnmurdoch.bsky.social

Excellent piece on trends in democracy around the world @jburnmurdoch.bsky.social on.ft.com/4fCL1G7 via @FT

Investigative journalism at its best. George Rosie's engrossing history of disastrous St James development in the heart of Edinburgh is a long-running top read on @scepscot.bsky.social, to delight of co-eds @gowdav.bsky.social and me. Look for more in 2025 sceptical.scot/2019/08/the-... #Edinburgh

Quite right at the end of a year of elections but terrible war and threats to democracy (from the Hofburg Wien)

Gassing civilians wasn’t a deal-breaker though.

Goodbye to Berlin, Europe’s self-effacing capital - great farewell/tribute via @guychazan.bsky.social brings back memories galore (Tacheles, KaDeWe uva)

Nigel Farage’s Reform UK has sacked its Scottish organiser, Craig Campbell, after his links to loyalist paramilitaries emerged. Scoop by @paulhutcheon.bsky.social

107 UK Parliamentarians have written to UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy as we stand with British-Egyptian Alaa Abd El-Fattah calling for his release from prison in Egypt. 1/2 #FreeAlaa

The EU should consider tough new restrictions against the ageing armada of ships illicitly carrying Russian oil around the world, Latvia's foreign minister said, following reports of a Black Sea oil spill caused by two damaged Russian tankers.

Archives that prove Assad ordered torture and death bit.ly/3BkmNCx astonishing paper trail in files smuggled out of Syria stored in a secret location and digitised are evidence of incarcerations, executions, disappearances, sexual abuse and chemical weapons use

What Spain can teach the rest of Europe www.economist.com/leaders/2024... from The Economist - which avoids mentioning Sanchez/PSOE government and obvious lessons for Europe’s centre-left (read this @keirstarmeri.bsky.social !!!)

The feelgood factor is draining from Scottish Labour - sharp analysis vitiated by simple error in line 1: the election was in July, not May, @alexmassie.bsky.social et al www.thetimes.com/article/858a...

IDF chief of staff Halevi mendaciously insists Israel “does not interfere” in Syria while destroying its entire military infrastructure - so why didn’t he do the same v Assad then? (Putin effect?)