OVP, SPO and NEOS seems like a German counterpart match made in heaven that will likely open the doors even further for the far right in Austria. Brittle, centrist coalitions like this (with a free market focussed party like NEOS) have seemingly turbocharged far right growth across the world.

As Slovak PM Robert Fico steers Bratislava away from the West and into Moscow’s orbit, a bitter animus is estranging Czechia and Slovakia. 👉 www.politico.eu/article/czec...

A YouGov MRP has found a median estimate of Coalition 73 seats, Labor 66, were an election to be held today. If those numbers were replicated on polling day Dutton would be the firm favourite to govern. My story for ABC News: www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02...

It is very hard for me to imagine a national political party succeeding in 2025 if it organizes itself to such an absurd degree around the guidance of consultants and consultant-minded people. www.offmessage.net/p/out-with-t...

Wake up babe, a whole "Will Stancil is a fucking idiot" article just dropped

The AfDs watershed moment in the upcoming election will have monumental repercussions across most of Europe in a post truth world. As Austria has shown, you can keep skirting around the far right for only so long before centre and right wing parties realise they’ll never have a majority without them

When the gears come to a screeching halt in this AI “revolution”, the governments and companies that have sunk huge sums of money into a failure of a project will be left with egg on their face.

Labour is facilitating the rise of 'Reform' by trying to out-Farage them and anyone in denial of this needs to wake up before it's too late. These are cruel policies worthy of the worst Tory, and it is being done by Starmer's Labour.

Kier Starmer as the feckless equivalent of a UK Joe Biden has nowhere to go but the dark abyss in which Nigel and his cronies will rise from. Kier is politically bankrupt after not even a year after a landslide majority victory (though FPTP saved their graces in this one)

National Rally’s thought process in this is probably fairly simple. Already toppled one useless, unpopular PM and made the centre look weak and falling apart at the seams. Why bother doing it again when voters will likely reward you anyway at the ballot box in 2027 (thanks again Macron)

Like the typical bully, Trump turned tail on tariffs when confronted. But the domestic assault on rule of law continues. paulkrugman.substack.com/p/what-the-m...

🗳️ 🇸🇰 📉 January poll by AKO finds the social-national bloc of Smer + Hlas + SNS + Republika continuing on a downward trend from their mid-2024 peak. Charts with individual parties below. 1/

As this story develops, Giorgia Meloni publishes a video stating that she is not "scared" & won't "refrain from changing Italy" due to pressure. Usual populist playbook against magistrates, well tried and tested during the Berlusconi years 👇 www.ft.com/content/8e33... via @ft

Trump's pick for Deputy Transportation Secretary wrote key memos justifying waterboarding and other barbaric interrogation tools for George W. Bush. John McCain once called these documents "permission slips for torture.” www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Trump might fondly compare himself to his hero McKinley but this admin will be a Warren Harding 2.0, rife with corruption, bought by billionaires and Biden to them. At least Harding didn’t spend most of his time pretending he cared about anyone that wasn’t well off though

French budget talks were on the verge of collapse a day after Socialist party officials suspended their participation in protest over remarks about immigration by the prime minister reut.rs/4goonS1

Keeping Up With The Coupdashions: As of today- Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have officially left West African regional bloc ECOWAS- the three have formed their own "Alliance of Sahel States". ECOWAS say citizens of all three countries will enjoy “right to visa free movement”.

The international community after seeing Israel break a pledge on territorial expansion.

Arnault just cannot imagine losing a few billion off of the wealth he will never spend in a thousand lifetimes.

Might very well be the dying days of any progressive reform in Chile before their upcoming election. Right wing candidates and parties seemingly set to take back full control.

Sri Lanka's 2024 election led to a dramatic changing of the guard, ushering in new political leaders and ousting dynastic elites. Can a new president correct the corruption and misgovernance of the past? "Sri Lanka’s Peaceful Revolution" by Neil DeVotta muse.jhu.edu/article...

Serbian Prime Minister Miloš Vučević announced his resignation during a press conference today, as President Aleksandar Vučić seeks to prop up his government amid massive protests rocking the country.

Canada federal election poll: ⏸️CPC: 39 % ⏫LPC: 32 % (+4) ⏬NDP: 14 % (-3) ⏸️BQ: 7 % 🔽GPC: 3 % (-2) ⏸️PPC: 3 % EKOS, 21/01/25

China's Trump dilemma www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/c...

On the outskirts of Maputo, Mozambique's electoral commission, CNE, is burning tons of ballot papers from the controversial elections held in October, effectively jeopardizing any electoral litigation or other procedures. “This is the end of the electoral process,” says Andrade Timane,CNE Director.

Yup. A total sham. 'We absolutely must balance the budget but we won't do it via the biggest expenses but we also need to extend the budget-busting tax cuts that go to a tiny sliver of the population so rich and growing in wealth so rapidly that taxes have no impact on their consumption.'

It’s a pattern amongst anyone that circles or stands next to Trump. At some point in their career they have exploited people that do not have the means to fight back. This consistently flows into how they approach governance and who deserves their support.

Let’s see how long Israel goes without violating the ceasefire. It’s usually about a week.

CORRECTION: South Korean authorities investigating impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol were at his official residence to execute an arrest warrant reut.rs/40hwYjz We will delete an earlier version with the incorrect spelling of Yoon’s full name.

Macron’s top diplomatic adviser Emmanuel Bonne is reported to have submitted his resignation last week amid internal squabbling over foreign policy. Another blow to Macron, whose hold on power is looking increasingly tenuous. www.politico.eu/article/emma...

Another Sahel region authoritarian ruler takes a more official stage. The family run Chadian presidency will stay locked up for years to come from the looks of itb www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/202...

Chadian authorities said last night's attack on the presidential palace that left 19 people dead was the work of "a disorganised band of intoxicated men wielding knives and machetes." But something tells me that isn't true. @natkpowell.bsky.social explained why Deby's regime security is shaky.

🇧🇬#Bulgaria: "Bulgaria's leading centre-right GERB party announced that it was ending negotiations to form a Government due to disagreement over the nomination for Prime Minister." Bulgaria could be called to the polls for the eighth time since 2021. www.euractiv.com/section/poli...

This is often framed as France losing influence in its former African colonies. There's truth in that, but the sentence itself makes the underlying problem self-evident. In truth, these states have done France a favor by forcing it to do what it was unwilling to do before now.

France and Germany’s top diplomats will travel to Syria, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot announced, and meet with the leader of rebel group HTS.

Austrias NEOS party, which won’t go into government is your classic social liberal and economically Conservative party. Austerity politics that are large contributors to a surging far right in a country that never quite recognised its role in the 20th century’s worst event

Turkish finance minister Mehmet Şimşek is a rock star on the intl financial circuit & the face of the country’s economic overhaul. But VP Cevdet Yılmaz is quietly playing a pivotal role: keeping president Erdoğan - a critic of orthodox policy - onboard. on.ft.com/403qFjB

apnews.com/article/syri... Now Syria's long-ruling Baath party is collapsing, too

#Chad, parliamentary election today: ➤ Polls open: 6:00 - 16:00 (UTC) ➤ Eligible voters: 8,200,000 ➤ Voting age: 18 ➤ Non-compulsory voting ➤ Electoral system: Mixed two-round system and modified party bloc vote ➤ Regime type: Closed autocracy ➤ africaelects.com/chad/

Ultimately, it’s the shadiest actors who are now providing the developmental loans that countries in Africa need. The soft power of western countries has waned considerably in the region because their political situations have forced foreign development into a culture war issue

Brits are overwhelmingly in favour of a political donation cap.

The Romanian government is trying to guard against Russian election interference. But such a drastic, unexpected, and last-minute move risks undermining people’s faith in democracy. "Why Romania Just Canceled Its Presidential Election" by Veronica Anghel www.journalofdemocra...

South Korea opposition moves to impeach acting president in new political twist

All seven of President Lai's nominees to Taiwan Constitutional Court have been rejected by the Legislature as the KMT-TPP parliamentary coup slowly unfolds. The Court now cannot function under the new rules enacted by the KMT-TPP alliance last Friday. focustaiwan.tw/politics/202...

🚨🚨 Sudanese gov has suspended participation in the global hunger-monitoring system on the eve of a report that’s expected to show famine spreading across the country, a step likely to undercut efforts to address one of world’s largest hunger crises. #keepeyesonsudan www.reuters.com/world/africa...

🚨🚨🚨 Lots breaking on Christmas Eve. After our exclusive last night on Sudan suspending participation in the IPC, we have another out this AM on how warring parties continue disrupting humanitarian aid needed to alleviate one of worst starvation crises in modern times. www.reuters.com/world/africa...

Mozambique’s disputed election verdict reignites protests https://www.ft.com/content/cc06330b-d361-4255-b2a6-31bbc9f729cf

The old technocratic government for political crises. Tried and tested in Italy where you just get a far right party elected in the next round of elections.