Joe Stanley-Smith

it is genuinely fascinating, if not bleak, to watch happen in real time to basically every Anglosphere user still on X

Trump says U.S., Brazil will ‘do very well together’ following call with Lula The effort to mend fences comes after a friendly but brief conversation nearly two weeks ago backstage at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City.

39 seconds of "excellent chemistry" with the Brazilian president seems to have been enough to set Trump on a more positive trajectory regarding the US-Brazil relationship. I think we all need lessons from Lula.

www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

Elon Musk's Grok Chatbot Goes Full Nazi, Calls Itself 'MechaHitler' Elon Musk's Grok chatbot has unleashed a slew of antisemitic commentary and praised Hitler after apparent change allowed to be 'politically incorrect'

xAI has disabled Grok, deleted a slew of its antisemitic and neo-Nazi posts, posted a statement, and are evidently rolling back the prompt that made it identify as "MechaHitler," but this new low for Elon Musk's chatbot will live in internet infamy:

Bluesky is absolutely unmatched for people who seem to agree with you but do it in such a bizarrely aggressive way you've gotta block anyway

this sort of gives the game away. the whole point of the LA deployment is relitigating the dispute (both political and cultural) that the right feels it lost in 2020

This was just posted by @tbretc.bsky.social on another platform. The Chicago Sun-Times obviously gets ChatGPT to write a ‘summer reads’ feature almost entirely made up of real authors but completely fake books. What are we coming to?

SCOOP: Slack went down at 23.30 the other day - nightmare

After handshake, Trump urges new Syrian leader al-Sharaa to mend ties with Israel The U.S. president met the former Islamist rebel for diplomatic talks in Saudi Arabia.

President of the United States shakes the hand of a former Al Qaeda member. Well I never. www.politico.eu/article/dona...

indian news graphics are going to give me a stroke

Frustrated Trump slams Putin, Ukraine as peace talk hopes falter Ukraine wants Russia to agree to a ceasefire before beginning negotiations on a peace deal. Trump wants them to get on with talks regardless.

This very much feels like we're waiting to find out who will pull out of Thursday's peace talks first: Ukraine or Russia

- Putin stands to lose plenty by even recognizing Zelenskyy
- Zelenskyy highly unlikely to get the ceasefire he put as a precondition

www.politico.eu/article/dona...

The whole of the southern hemisphere for starters

The west’s shameful silence on Gaza The US and European allies should do more to restrain Benjamin Netanyahu

FT editorial board speaks on Israel's actions on Gaza, and the West's complicity.

www.ft.com/content/f5fd...

Is Britain ok?

Banning of trans women from grassroots/amateur sport is incredibly mean spirited. What a horrible move by the FA.

Trump: ‘I’d like to be pope’ He was joking (we think) — but said the conclave should take a look at a cardinal from New York.

Trump: ‘I’d like to be pope’

www.politico.eu/article/dona...

Biden officials vent frustrations in dealing with Netanyahu, decry missed chance of Saudi deal In interviews with Israeli TV program, 9 senior officials from previous US administration speak with unprecedented candor; Shaprio: Saudi deal would have required election or coalition shuffle

This is a very good read on how the Biden administration time and time again came out to bat for Israel during its assault on Gaza, and never put its foot down despite Netanyahu repeatedly torpedoing ceasefire deals.

www.timesofisrael.com/top-biden-ai...

What happens after Pope Francis’ death His death will kick off a tightly choreographed series of events, refined over centuries.

Pope Francis has died. What happens now?

We explain the process, which has been refined over centuries and hundreds of dead pontiffs 👇

Shock tariff policy change ‘came from the heart,’ says Trump President’s decision to pause so-called reciprocal tariffs on the same day as implementing them came after his administration previously insisted the new rates were here to stay.

Live, laugh love. Follow your heart.

www.politico.eu/article/dona...

The number of American adults in the labour force with a disability since Covid

Israel vows to ax trade deficit in bid to lift Trump's tariffs President Donald Trump was noncommittal in an Oval Office meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

I don't think Trump's tariffs are going away any time soon.

Even Netanyahu*, who had Trump eating out of his hand during his last visit to Washington, couldn't get a concession today

*wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity

www.politico.com/news/2025/04...

Trump tariffs, corporations cower During the Biden administration, corporate executives regularly expressed their displeasure with policies they opposed.

1. We contacted the 100 largest American companies and asked a simple question:

Do you support the tariffs announced by President Trump on April 2?

These are tariffs that have already destroyed trillions of shareholder value

NOT ONE COMPANY WOULD ANSWER THE QUESTION

That, it presents a huge opportunity for someone on the left or centre, too

Marine Le Pen barred from running for French president The sentence was delivered after the French far-right icon was found guilty of embezzling European Parliament funds.

Bardella might be a stronger candidate anyway, so I don't think this is the hammer blow to the far right many will see it as www.politico.eu/article/fran...

Greenland to Trump: No, we didn't invite you A delegation that includes second lady Usha Vance is slated to arrive on the island on Thursday.

🇬🇱 Trump says “officials” in Greenland invited an American delegation, including Second Lady Usha Vance, to visit the island this Thursday.

But a Greenlandic MP told POLITICO that’s “not true” — and said a protest is planned for Vance’s arrival 👇 www.politico.com/news/2025/03...

HHS's Office of Long COVID Research and Practice has been DOGEd. Closing this week.

Long Covid is the pandemic’s dark shadow. Why does no one in power in Britain want to talk about it? | Frances Ryan Five years after the first lockdown, millions of lives are still being ruined by this debilitating disease. You wouldn’t know it, says Guardian columnist Frances Ryan

Five years since the covid lockdowns. Coming up on three years of long covid for me.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Give back the Statue of Liberty, French MEP tells US French Socialist MEP says Washington’s embrace of dictators negates the values that led France to bestow the iconic statue some 140 years ago.

On the front page of Reddit today, which I think is a first for me: www.politico.eu/article/stat...

Europe: We must stick to all of these fiscal rules we wrote for ourselves! Stagnation, crumbling public services and declining living standards are a price worth paying for fiscal stability 😇

USA: Let's just stop counting the debt

www.politico.com/news/2025/03...

Seen, given medicine, and out within 90 minutes. No prescription charge 🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷

First doctor's appointment in Brazil. Turned up at 11, given an appointment with an ear specialist for 2.30 the same day. Free at the point of use including for foreigners.

This is what is possible, even in a poor country of 280 million people, when the government wants it to happen.