David Butter

North London forever

‘We’re healing the nation’: echoes of present in plays retelling Kenya’s past The series of shows draws on threads of Kenyan history, tackling disenfranchisement, colonialism and oppression while inspiring the country’s young people to participate in its future

Heartened to read of this play about Tom #Mboya #Kenya. My father was a colleague, friend and admirer. and would be glad that a new generation values his stand against corruption. tinyurl.com/msd6zb5h

Talking about tomatoes, BBC News reports that a lot of Italian tomato purée sold in UK is sourced from forced labour farms in China.

Timely contribution from Chatham House colleagues on how to make sense of regional conflicts. Prize for best title goes to Renad Mansour for Trading 'tomatoes' in Iraq. www.globalpolicyjournal.com/projects/gp-...

I moved to another city – and found an unexpected way to make new friends | Arwa Mahdawi While self-help books might suggest manifesting new people in your life or cold-water plunges to change your entire personality, the key to finding a community is much simpler, writes Arwa Mahdawi

Happy to read about Arwa Mahdawi's #squash enlightenment. Also opportunity to recommend Chetna Maroo's Western Lane.
tinyurl.com/5fyeenp4

app.ft.com/content/da96...

One of highlights of #Arsenal win was Saka right in front of us miscontrolling a fantastic reverse pass from Odegaard. Don’t worry, Bukayo, Lino put you off. Also Ethan Nwaneri, what a talent #oneofourown

US sanctions on Gazprombank could be awkward for Europe. Apart from minidrama over pipeline via Ukraine, EU imports of Russian LNG were up by 20% ytd end-Oct to 20bcm. Big hole for US LNG to fill (down by 15% ytd)

Abu Dhabi Masdar project for solar panels on Lake Nasser is win-win for electricity and reduced evaporation. Compensation for AD support for Ethiopia & GERD?

Lila entrance at end of first episode of season 4 of #Ferrante My Brilliant Friend was breathtaking.

Saudi-UAE rivalry intensifies. At odds over Yemen and UAE stance in Sudan. Also on AI. WSJ stirs the pot.

Neom CEO departs Saudi project following bad behaviour, uncertainty and worker deaths In a formal statement from Neom announcing the departure of its CEO, it said: “The Neom board of dir...

Man with catch-phrase "walk into the desert and die" gets his marching orders. #Saudi #NEOM tinyurl.com/3mxrcv8k

Saudi Arabia Replaces CEO Leading Development of Megacity Neom Saudi Arabia replaced the executive that was overseeing its plan to build the $1.5 trillion futuristic development known as Neom, in the latest sign that the project is struggling to deliver on its am...

Saudi replaces CEO of Neom:
- Out goes Nadhmi Al-Nasr, in comes Aiman Al-Mudaifer
- Total budget to build the futuristic city was initially said to be $500 billion
- Other estimates put it as high as $1.5 trillion
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

FWIW still on X as DavidCButter, interested in #MiddleEast (esp #economy & #Egypt), #gas, #LNG, #UK #US politics and #Arsenal

Trying out the blue sky for a change of scene.