the joke going round is that Ukraine requested these be donated to Russia instead

“Not only had Germany never lost on penalties at a World Cup; they had not missed even one spot-kick in a finals shoot out in 44 years.” Brutal headline here

The Economist on JD Vance's understanding of religion www.economist.com/united-state...

Fiendlishly complicated steel quotas published by the commission this morning - but what is interesting: they failed to reach agreement with around 7 of the 20 main exporters including China BUT ALSO partners with a trade agreement including Australia, Japan, and Vietnam

A recent @economist.com article highlighted Princeton Professor Owen Zidar’s (@omzidar.bsky.social) new book, "The Everywhere Millionaire," which explores the overlooked world of America’s wealthy private business owners and their impact on the economy. Read: https://econ.st/449wRce

Germany dropping out of the World Cup (yet again) is depressing, I know, but watching Friedrich #Merz trying to find the right words in public while blaming an intern for pushing out the wrong tweet is hilarious.

may our nonexistent ultras take to the streets www.cbc.ca/sports/lives...

How come that we have detailed knowledge of all members of the #NSDAP? Because on April 18th, 1945, the production boss of a paper mill near Munich, Hanns Huber, hid the membership documents instead of destroying them, as the Nazi commanders had told him to do.

in significant international legal proceedings at the International Court of Justice in The Hague. He advocated, among others, for Palestinians and the Rohingya. He also contributed to the development of the legal definition of "ecocide" in the context of disasters caused by global warming. 2/2

In Dublin this week for university and Pension Commission meetings, and dropped into the National Gallery - it has some great new acquisitions, including this by Hannah Hoch

More China Shock 2.0 analysis, from Bank of Italy economists. Bottom line: China's low domestic demand pushes exports up. cepr.org/voxeu/column...

Fully deserved. #ECUGER

Entertainingly wild match. Doubt the German coach feels the same way. #ECUGER

Europe and North Africa are getting their first undersea power link

Gotta hand it to @tommctague.bsky.social for this doubly timely cover

An admittedly cursory Google suggests this holds up: Europeans are more likely to die of heatstroke than Americans are to be shot dead.

ROBOTS, MEET VOTERS I wrote this week's cover leader for @TheEconomist on the politics of AI and how to navigate the coming backlash. Alongside our blood-curdling cover illustration, there were a few big ideas I wanted to get across. (🧵) www.economist.com/leaders/2026...

Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella were excluded from the Panthéon ceremony at the request of Marc Bloch’s family, who cited his “deeply anti-nationalist” views.

I guess I could have made this less academic-y and just said the history explains that if you put the enforcement over exchange controls in the IMF’s hands, and then you control the IMF, then you’ve preserved a vital pathway for controlling global trade.

Our cover this week. www.economist.com/leaders/2026...

Good surpluses: the result of one's own 'competitiveness'. Bad surpluses: the result of someone else's 'competitiveness'. Simples.

In the least surprising news of the day: the EU decides that its fast competition policy tool DMA should apply to the cloud providers AWS and Microsoft, too. ec.europa.eu/commission/p...

"You might think from Europe’s complaining that it, too, is on the deficit side of the ledger. In fact in 2025 the EU ran a current-account surplus of 1.9% of GDP; Germany's was more than twice that." My latest for The Economist. www.economist.com/leaders/2026...

"The obvious answer—climate change driven by greenhouse gases—is the correct one." 🌍 www.economist.com/science-and-...

When the German delegation to Versailles arrived in 1919, its members were brought to Versailles in cars with yellow flags. Yellow flags meant plague on board. Very classy.

can’t believe a narcissist is being so publicly humiliated by a reflecting pool

Europeans, i know you're in a bind, but stop enabling this man. Stop crediting him with your own accomplishments.

No booking fee? Surely a fee for oversized luggage. And a foreign transactions fee. Not to mention re-booking fees.

40 people, mostly young, have drowned since June 18th in France as they tried to escape the heat. Forty. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

"Earlier this year the Fed published figures showing that American philosophy graduates are more likely to have jobs than their peers who studied computer science." www.economist.com/science-and-...

There is ONE thing I am looking forward to this heatwave: Pictures of paschal candles that have melted in churches. Here's an example from a few years ago. It's my favourite phenomenon. Because, well... Look at it.

I thought kick off was later and I’m sad I somehow missed it but that’s a great result for Scotland.

The huge tell is that in anything close to a week long heat wave, you're still COOKING inside the house for *days* after the temperature outside has reverted to normal.

Chef's kiss, salute, tears, all of it

FFS ANDY

Put on the AC. You've earned it, Europe! www.economist.com/europe/2026/...

🇮🇸👑

Sports Commentary xkcd.com/3262/

Do British people realise just *how much* worse a heat wave is in poorly insulated houses?

We regret that our event on Extreme Heat: Improving governance and strengthening action around the world has been cancelled due to the red extreme heat warning issued by the UK Met Office. Our apologies to everyone who was planning to attend the event.

The jokes write themselves.

England does not have Deniz Undav. It‘s as simple as that. #ENGGHA

Today I interviewed German army chief Lt-Gen Christian Freuding. We talked about German rearmament, the future of the Lithuania bridge & debates over the timeline of the Russian threat. @economist.com subscribers can tune in to Inside Defence in an hour. www.economist.com/insider/insi...

The pension commission that Germany set up, and whose proposals will be implemented in full, acc to both CDU and SPD, has provided an impressive reform plan. Germany's insurers, savings banks etc. will be FURIOUS.

I stumbled across this fascinating story about the government's failed efforts to issue a £350m war loan in 1914, and the subsequent Bank of England cover-up to avoid a propaganda disaster. Question is, would patriotic investors hoover up war bonds if they were issued today?

Und wie bestellt schreibt @basbrinkmann.bsky.social einen Text, der den Deutschen das schwedische System erklärt. 👏🏼 www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/rent...

⚡️ South Korea to accept all North Korean POWs from Ukraine at their request, ministry says. The ministry said it opposes any forced transfer of North Korean POWs to Russia or North Korea and has communicated this position to Ukrainian authorities.

Its now ten years since the UK voted narrowly to Leave the European Union. I have studied how the UK got there through my research for many years now. Evidence is growing that the UK is indeed leveling up, but, by leveling down. Let me introduce the Brexit Cost project:

Ten years ago, I agreed to do the German public broadcaster's breakfast show at 6 am UK time, from Westminster. Good TV practice. Nobody watches breakfast TV anyway. Well. As this is Germany's morning news broadcast, sort of, the entire country tuned in. I got a lot of texts.

I think this chart from @andrewgoodwin.bsky.social at Oxford Economics cuts to the heart of UK fiscal policy - whatever the chat about market vibes, who's gonna be chancellor etc Basically the UK economy is not expected to grow quickly enough to outrun its debt costs (with only Italy in same boat).