SoJo

1/ Thousands of Ukrainian civilians still live in destroyed villages under Russian occupation. Their situation is less visible than those in the cities, but a Russian soldier's account gives an idea of an environment where occupiers and civilians co-exist uneasily among ruins. ⬇️

A stylised image on a dark blue background, with "€1 invested in research," alongside a hand wearing a light blue glove holding a stylised euro. On the right-hand side is the text, "€11 in economic growth by 2045," with another gloved hand placing a pile of stylised coins. In the bottom right corner sits the emblem of the European Union.

Every €1 the EU invests in research can yield up to €11 in growth by 2045.

With €43 billion from Horizon Europe, we’ve backed 15,000+ projects – from antibiotics to the transition.

This year we’ll put in over €7.3 billion to meet Europe’s challenges.

For everyone to benefit ↓

europa.eu/!WHpGGg

10/11 Musk isn’t the first — and won’t be the last — to crash while trying to prove how easily the public sector can be ’fixed.’ Overconfidence breeds failure, and his was well-earned. Sadly, Americans and many around the world are paying the price

9/11 DOGE exemplified overconfidence, corruption, and incompetence. Musk filled DOGE with unqualified, shady figures, while nothing worked — except the parts that benefited his companies and gave him access to sensitive data. The oligarch got what he wanted and Americans will pay

8/11 Musk’s DOGE is a massive failure — marked by secrecy, lies, and conflicts of interest. He used his influence to benefit himself and his companies, undermining US soft power and causing global harm

7/11 By March, over 11,000 IRS staff had left or were expected to, with more layoffs planned. Yale’s Budget Lab found that cutting 7,000 jobs from the IRS might save $6.9 billion in salaries — but cost $64 billion in lost tax revenue due to weaker enforcement. What a failure!

6/11 The non-profit Partnership for Public Service has estimated that DOGE’s firing and rehiring will cost the US $135 billion in lost productivity this year alone. Musk is not paying that bill — American taxpayers are!

4/11 Musk promised $2 trillion in cuts but now claims $170 billion. Of that, only $31.8 billion is somewhat documented — and even that appears inflated, with just 6,700 of 10,248 cases verified by the Financial Times

3/11 The Financial Times published an article highlighting the massive failure of Musk’s DOGE. It examined the promises, the lies, and the harsh realities of a project that now looks likely to cost much more than it saved

2/11 Many who succeed in the private sector overestimate themselves and underestimate how hard governing is. Cutting public spending sounds easy — until reality hits, as Elon Musk learned the hard way

5/11 Federal spending also keeps rising, despite Musk’s DOGE cuts and his warnings about public debt. In reality, Musk and Trump push massive tax cuts, showing they don’t really care about the deficit. Honestly, my dog cares more about US public debt than they do

1/11 Most deserved failure of the decade? As expected, Elon Musk’s DOGE failed miserably—and his lies won’t save him from the humiliation. Unfortunately, others will bear the consequences

EU agrees on 17th package of Russia sanctions, source says The measures target almost 200 ships of Russia's "shadow fleet," 30 companies involved in sanctions evasion, 75 sanctions on entities and individuals linked to the Russian military-industrial complex,...

⚡️ EU agrees on 17th package of Russia sanctions, source says.

The EU on May 14 agreed on its 17th package of sanctions against Russia, a senior EU official speaking on condition of anonymity told the Kyiv Independent.

Bucha, Izyum, Mariupol, Kherson, like Auschwitz, Sobibor, Treblinka and Maidanek are, of course, our moral compass.
They are also our strategic compass.
Any so-called peace deal with russia will herald more of them.
Let's face reality: an undefeated russia will continue its mass crimes unabated.

Russia is quietly rearming the Arctic, ex-NATO chief warns Climate change isn't just melting ice caps—it's opening new territory for Putin's ambitions as Russia reopens Soviet-era bases across the Arctic.

Russia is expanding its military presence in the Arctic, reopening Soviet-era bases and investing in infrastructure

Former NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen warned that this quiet buildup signals Moscow’s territorial ambitions in the region euromaidanpress.com/2025/05/13/r...

Trump obeys Putin all the time, says top Swedish economist As Zelenskyy waits in Turkiye for peace talks that Putin seems determined to avoid, Swedish economist Anders Åslund offers a simple explanation: the Russian ruler prefers negotiating with people he…

Swedish economist Anders Åslund criticized US President Trump, saying that he obeys Russian ruler Putin

Putin prefers to negotiate with those he can manipulate, rather than President Zelenskyy, whom he believes outsmarted him in 2019, he said euromaidanpress.com/2025/05/13/t...

Trapped Ukrainian soldier survives 24 hours of hell in Urozhaine The Russians thought he was finished.

Ukrainian soldier Serhii endured 24 harrowing hours in Urozhaine after being trapped during assault

Despite injuries, he seized opportunity when 2 Russian soldiers carelessly turned their backs, allowing him to eliminate them and survive until rescue euromaidanpress.com/2025/05/14/t...

Putin sends FSB’s Presidential Regiment troops to Donetsk Oblast as Russian losses mount The Russian elite soldiers have been sent to Chasiv Yar for the first time.

As Russian casualties mount in Donetsk Oblast, Russian President Putin deployed the elite FSB Presidential Regiment to Chasiv Yar

Traditionally tasked with protection of Kremlin officials, this marks the first known combat deployment of the unit in Ukraine euromaidanpress.com/2025/05/13/p...

UK’s FrankenSAM made from retired RAF fighter tech reborn as Ukraine’s Russian drone killer The Raven, a British-made system combining Supacat trucks and ASRAAM missiles, is now active in Ukraine.

UK’s FrankenSAM made from retired RAF fighter tech reborn as Ukraine's Russian drone killer

The Raven, a British-made system combining Supacat trucks and ASRAAM missiles, is now active in Ukraine.
euromaidanpress.com/2025/05/13/u...

“The Americans had this simplistic idea — let’s charm Russia, put pressure on Zelenskyy, and we’ll get a deal,” said Wolfgang Ischinger, the former German ambassador to the US to whom Vance made his comment at last week’s forum. “It turned out that simply charming Russia is not enough.”

Defense chiefs of five EU nations to meet in Rome to coordinate Ukraine support – media On Friday, May 16, a high-level meeting of defense ministers from Poland, Germany, France, Italy, and the United Kingdom will take place in Rome to discuss coordination of military support for Ukraine...

'Defense chiefs of five EU nations to meet in Rome to coordinate Ukraine support' www.ukrinform.net/rubric-polyt...

Krieg in der Ukraine: Aber das Eskalationsrisiko! Sie erklären den Ukrainekrieg mit Russlands Sicherheitsinteressen und wollen von Putins Imperialismus nichts wissen: Sind die selbst ernannten Realisten einfach nur naiv?

“if we miscalculate and make concessions, we risk feeding a successful imperial project, which could mean more war.”

Excellent piece by @drfranksauer.bsky.social in @zeit.de demolishing ‘Realist’ arguments against standing up to Russia, defending Ukraine & Europe.

www.zeit.de/politik/ausl...

Russia likely preparing major offensive in Ukraine despite peace efforts, FT reports Russia seems to be preparing a significant offensive in Ukraine as it is moving troops toward key positions on the front, the Financial Times reported on May 13, citing undisclosed Ukrainian intellige...

⚡️ Russia likely preparing major offensive in Ukraine despite peace efforts, FT reports.

Russia seems to be preparing a significant offensive in Ukraine as it is moving troops toward key positions on the front, the Financial Times reported, citing Ukrainian intelligence officials.

»The United States used to have an interest in upholding the international order that it was the main architect of after World War II. Now, the US is choosing to let it disintegrate.«

“And so the Greeks send me this horse, we’re talking about one of the most beautiful horses you’ve ever seen. So big. So strong. Normally they keep this kind of horse for themselves but they were such big fans they said sir, please take our big wonderful horse we’ll even bring it to your house”

A hugely important moment in European nuclear deterrence: Macron openly talking about US-style nuclear sharing arrangements, with French bombs deployed in allied countries.

Sent this post out yesterday. Compared to European failures in threatening Russia and then backing down, and getting manipulated constantly by Trump, Zelensky shows the right way to deal with Trump and Putin.

📌

PKK nedlægger våbnene efter fire årtiers partisankrig mod den tyrkiske stat Bag beslutningen om at opløse oprørsgruppen PKK ligger, at den kurdiske sag er svækket med årene, og PKK’s aldrende leder, Abdullah Öcalan, ønsker at spille en politisk rolle

I sidste uge valgte PKK at opløse sig selv og standse den militære kamp mod Tyrkiet. Her er noget om baggrunden.

Tiny Company With China Ties Announces Big Purchase of Trump Cryptocurrency

The US Government is yours for purchase! Just step up and make your best offer! Dictators particularly welcome! www.nytimes.com/2025/05/13/u...