Markus Poole

Well done, this needed to be said. Too many still harbour the idea that Trump can still somehow be cajoled into becoming an ally. They are deluded. We need to be clear-eyed about the threat the US poses

Trump and Putin are threatening to carve up Europe between them. Suddenly, it all feels a bit 1939 | Simon Tisdall Forget the US president’s seeming volte-face on Ukraine this week: he and Putin fundamentally agree that European liberal democracy is the problem, says Guardian foreign affairs commentator Simon Tisdall

Trump and Putin are threatening to carve up Europe between them. Suddenly, it all feels a bit 1939 | Simon Tisdall

Europe has lost one superpower ally – can it afford to be in the crosshairs of two? | Nathalie Tocci For years, the EU followed the US’s lead when it came to China. That is no longer an option and Beijing has other priorities, says Guardian journalist Nathalie Tocci

Europe has lost one superpower ally – can it afford to be in the crosshairs of two? | Nathalie Tocci

Agree, in a perfect world. ;) But we live in Brussels, so im happy with the imperfect, for now - until we get our policing in order. I dont want my children getting hit by a stray bullet. There are men with balaclavas in front of our grocery store. Im no longer willing to wait

I live in Brussels, near a hotspot. And it is bad, my family has been threatened and we've had break-ins, regular shootings, stabbings, fights, etc nearby. I fully support anything that can end the impunity enjoyed by these criminals. They currently own the streets, and that needs to end

Europe has all the tools it needs to be free, but Europeans are afraid to use them Over the past months, this continent has collapsed into a mire of fatalistic thinking. Mario Draghi is trying to remind us of the strength we possess. But Europeans don't believe in themselves.

I’ve been outside the Brussels bubble this summer travelling around Europe, spending time in 🇫🇷🇪🇸🇮🇹🇵🇱🇧🇪🇹🇷🇬🇧🇬🇷. In talking to Europeans, a grim reality has become apparent.

We are facing a crisis of confidence in facing the 🇺🇸 threat. How can we make Europeans believe in themselves?

Motherfucking wind farms…

Trump is working on regime change in Europe — fact, not conspiracy theory On 27 May, an official document, The Need for Civilizational Allies in Europe, calling for regime change in European countries was published, written by a senior adviser for the Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor in the US State Department, writes Caroline de Gruyter.

On 27 May, an official document, The Need for Civilizational Allies in Europe, calling for regime change in European countries was published, written by a senior adviser for the Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor in the US State Department, writes Caroline de Gruyter.

Israel wages war invoking “self-defence”.Nuclear armed Israel/US attack Iran to stop it making nuclear weapons it wasn’t making.Europeans call for diplomacy without condemning the attack that killed it.Russia opposes the violation of int law, while doing far worse in Ukraine.As Orwellian as it gets

Didn't realise you had to remain impartial during a genocide. "Sure 10s of thousands of women and children have purposefully been slaughtered, but we really dont want people to think we're biased against that!"

And yet no one in media is asking who funds these pro independence groups like the Alberta Prosperity Project....Would seem like something to dig into no?

The debate over whether to take Trump literally or seriously is over. He has now learnt how to be the tyrant he always wished to be. That took a while. But, with the help he has received, he is there. His administration is engaged in a comprehensive assault on the American republic and the global order it created. Under attack domestically are the state, the rule of law, the role of the legislature, the role of the courts, the commitment to science and the independence of the universities. All these were the pillars on which US freedom and prosperity rested. Now, he is destroying the liberal international order. Soon, I presume, Trump will be invading countries, as he proceeds to restore the age of empires.

Martin Wolf is not messing around here

www.ft.com/content/d96d...

Trump claims that European states charging VAT is a “tariff” on US goods!

Where does this madness end?

Eg. when I pay a 20% tip on a meal in an American restaurant, should I see this as a tariff on the eating service I am selling to America?

🤷‍♂️

Trump is making Europe great again The US president has provided the biggest stimulus towards European integration since the end of the cold war

From @gideonrachman.bsky.social's excellent column on Trump Making Europe Great Again

As one leading French businessman put it to me, with more than a touch of ambivalence: “It is very clear. The Germans can’t sell their cars. So they will make tanks.”

www.ft.com/content/724d...

🔴LIVE: Ontario announces tariff response with 25% surcharge on US-bound electricity I AFP Ontario Premier Doug Ford speaks as Ontario prepares to move ahead with a 25 percent surcharge on U.S.-bound electricity in response to President Donald Trum...

🔴LIVE: Ontario announces tariff response with 25% surcharge on US-bound electricity

➡️

#UPDATE The German conservatives of Friedrich Merz and the centre-left SPD said Saturday they have reached an in-principle agreement to form a government that plans to invest massively to revive and rearm Europe's largest economy.

We will never know— we will never have the faintest idea— how much money is getting made in insider trading windfalls from people in Trump's and Musk's circles who have an hour of notice about the daily swings in tariff policy or the occasional announced *expectations* of such swings.

French satellite company Eutelsat is in talks with the EU to replace Elon Musk’s Starlink system in Ukraine.

CEO Eva Berneke confirmed that the company can deploy 40,000 terminals, equivalent to the number of Starlink terminals currently used by Ukraine.

European resilience in action.

Opinion | A Day of American Infamy A dreadful moment for Ukraine, for the free world, for the legacy of an America that once stood for the principles of the Atlantic Charter.

“If Roosevelt had told Churchill to sue for peace on any terms with Adolf Hitler and to fork over Britain’s coal reserves to the United States in exchange for no American security guarantees, it might have approximated what Trump did to Zelensky.” www.nytimes.com/2025/02/28/o...

🇩🇪 Germany: one nation, two societies.

The US State Department is forcing all of its employees to cancel subscriptions to any Trump-unfriendly media.

My photo shows detail from a Roman fresco (wall painting) in a corridor at Villa A, the luxurious so-called ‘Villa Poppaea’ at Oplontis (modern day Torre Annunziata) in the Bay of Naples, Italy. The fresco depicts a small light brown standing on a small pinky-brown wooden shelf, against a vibrant red background panel. The bird is shown in profile, facing left, with plummage painted in various shades of light brown and grey to beautifully depict detail of its feathers. The bird is lowering its head with beak open, about to peck into a fig on the shelf in front. There are two further figs painted behind the bird which have already been pecked into. The figs are painted light brown. The figs which have already been pecked into have cream flesh and red seeds.

This little bird survived a volcanic eruption!

Buried by volcanic ash from Vesuvius in AD 79, this Roman fresco of a little bird pecking at fruit re-emerged looking as delightful as it did some 2,000 years ago!

Villa Poppaea, Oplontis, Italy
📷 by me 2023

#Archaeology

Nearly one-third of seized fentanyl attributed to the U.S.-Canada border had no connection with Canada Finding undermines assertions by Trump administration that Canada is a rapidly growing source of fentanyl in the U.S.

That 43 pounds of fentanyl intercepted at the US-Canada border last year? Nearly 1/3 of it was seized in July in Spokane, Wash. – more than 150 km from the border – as part of an investigation that led to charges against three Mexican nationals
www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...

One of Draghi’s key messages was that a real EU industrial strategy needs clear sectoral choices on where to compete—and where not.

Now, a whole section on operationalizing this idea, which was in the leaked draft, has quietly vanished from the COM's final Single Market Report.

Congratulations, I think we can now declare the Perfect EU Headline

#ImGonnaNeedMoreCoffee

"We have to cut red tape.

We will start with a first simplification omnibus proposal next month.

Our goal is that by the end of the mandate, we will have made proposals that could save companies over €37 billion a year".

— President @vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu on the EU Competitiveness Compass

As Trump enters the fray, the danger is that a nationalist Europe will fragment, not stick together | Nathalie Tocci Rightwing leaders such as Meloni and Orbán set themselves up as Trump whisperers – but they only want to preserve their own interests, says Guardian Europe columnist Nathalie Tocci

“Those (Europeans) who have Trump’s ear are far more likely to push Trump’s interests in Europe, rather than European interests in the US. Instead of worrying about Trump, Europe would do best to stand together and worry more about itself.”

Via @nathalietocci.bsky.social, always worth a read.

Nucléaire iranien : les efforts incertains des Européens pour relancer les négociations nucléaires en attendant Trump Des discussions reprennent à Genève lundi 13 janvier, mais le pessimisme prévaut.

Interesting: Europe starts negotiations with Iran on a new nuclear deal, before the existing one (now mostly defunct) expires.

www.lemonde.fr/internationa...

The next G7 meeting will look very different - another symbolic image on how hard 2024 has been on incumbents in democratic countries:

Well if Trump bought it, then it wouldn't be independent then would it? How are you not getting this