Perhaps we should all be banned from social media [FREE TO READ] Focusing only on under-16s obscures the lack of internet safeguards for everyone else

Perhaps we should all be banned from social media - as.ft.com/r/9c32ba40-4... via @FT

Or vice-versa? aej-uk.org/2026/02/12/w... Summary of debate at AEJ meeting in London. See the new book Far-Right France: Le Pen, Bardella and the Future of Europe. victormallet.org

Tonight! I'll be at the Frontline Club in conversation about the global far right - Le Pen, Farage, MAGA (and Trump, of course Trump), and the rise of a new generation of far-right leaders in Europe. With Victor Mallet, Anna Gross @matthewholehouse.bsky.social 👉 www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/panel-disc...

The Global Rise of the Far Right - Panel Discussion YouTube video by Frontline Club

Tonight, 7pm UK time, see the livestream of Frontline Club debate on the rise of the far right: www.youtube.com/live/x3g6zfQ...

China to scrap tariffs for most of Africa from May: Xi Beijing's scrapping of tariffs for all but one African country will start May 1, Chinese President Xi Jinping said Saturday, according to state media.

Except Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) because it maintains relations with Taiwan...https://hongkongfp.com/2026/02/15/china-to-scrap-tariffs-for-most-of-africa-from-may-leader-xi-jinping-says/

Will France be run by the far right? Will Le Pen or Bardella be president? Even the French themselves - yes, you, hyperacademic @PhilippeLeBillon @waterstones.bsky.social @hurstpublishers.bsky.social - are wondering what will happen next. The new book Far-Right France is out now. victormallet.org

USAID cuts may cause over 14 million additional deaths by 2030, study says Deep funding cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development and its potential dismantling could result in more than 14 million additional deaths by 2030, according to research published in The ...

I regularly post updates on this story because it's an atrocity on an incomprehensible scale but people don't really talk about it
www.reuters.com/business/hea...

cergrant.bsky.social always worth reading.

North Korea: Who is Kim Ju Ae, the daughter who may succeed Kim Jong Un? Kim Jong Un has chosen Miss Kim as his heir, South Korea's spy agency says - but what exactly do we know about her?

tinyurl.com/5h89jv3v

🇰🇵 The elusive Kim Jong Un has named his teen daughter as successor. Learn about her great grandfather, despotic founder of North Korea, in ‘The Accidental Tyrant’ by F. Tertitskiy. And about the crises that have shaped the nation ‘Pyongyang on the Brink.’ 👇
tinyurl.com/y56wexvu

Thanks for the great debate, Humphrey. For more on France, search for the book Far-Right France: Le Pen, Bardella and the Future of Europe.

Live Webinar - ‘The rightward shift in European politics, and wider implications’ YouTube video by The Democracy Forum

Two takeaways lively @LondonDemocracy Debate rightward shift European politics. 1) Stultifying paralysis of mainstream 2)Failure to address voters' frustrations. Superb insight from @barrygardiner.bsky.social @vjmalletft.bsky.social
Dr Stephanie Luke, Roberto Foa. youtube.com/live/83jbxsm...

The Maga war on European democracy [FREE TO READ] America’s national security strategy projects internal fears abroad

The Maga war on European democracy - as.ft.com/r/926c9e11-7... via @FT

The Maga war on European democracy [FREE TO READ] America’s national security strategy projects internal fears abroad

The Maga war on European democracy - as.ft.com/r/926c9e11-7... via @FT

Hong Kong’s Jimmy Lai sentenced to 20 years in prison [FREE TO READ] Billionaire media tycoon and pro-democracy campaigner faced up to life imprisonment on national security charges

Hong Kong’s Jimmy Lai sentenced to 20 years in prison - as.ft.com/r/17616a88-5... via @FT

Who are you calling PIGS now?

www.ft.com/content/4f82...

Victor Mallet: author and journalist Publishing in January 2026 - Far-Right France: Le Pen, Bardella and the Future of Europe (Hurst)

See the new book Far-Right France: Le Pen, Bardella and the Future of Europe for more on the @environment policies of the European far right - victormallet.org

French Far Right’s Bardella Says Ecology Is ‘Universal Value’ French far-right leader and potential presidential candidate Jordan Bardella said the environment isn’t the exclusive domain of left-wing parties.

Bardella's no fool. He once said his (far-right) French party shouldn't ignore the seriousness of climate change, because that would be to make the same sort of mistake as the left did when it ignored the issue of immigration www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Victor Mallet: author and journalist Publishing in January 2026 - Far-Right France: Le Pen, Bardella and the Future of Europe (Hurst)

Not all of the European far-right movements are grateful for the help. In fact some try to distance themselves from toxic Trumpism. See Far-Right France: Le Pen, Bardella and the Future of Europe. victormallet.org

US government to fund Maga-aligned think-tanks and charities in Europe [FREE TO READ] State department grants to spread ‘American values’ are part of Washington’s 250th anniversary celebrations

US government to fund Maga-aligned think-tanks and charities in Europe - as.ft.com/r/8bb9835b-a... via @FT

FT exclusive:

“The US state department is set to fund Maga-aligned think-tanks and charities across Europe to disseminate Washington’s policy positions and challenge perceived threats to free speech.”

via @annasophiegross.bsky.social and colleagues

Do maps distort our view of the world? [FREE TO READ] William Rankin’s ‘Radical Cartography’ makes a powerful case against mainstream mapmaking’s creation of an orderly, objective reality

Do maps distort our view of the world? - as.ft.com/r/273c584a-2... via @FT

How many time people kiss in greeting. The number of bises!

Jordan Bardella, the extremist with a smiling face The far right populist is likely to be the next president of France. A new book explains why

The far right in France has changed out of all recognition since the antisemitic heyday of Jean-Marie Le Pen - and that makes them electable latest revie of the new book Far-Right France: Le Pen, Bardella and the Future of Europe (Hurst)
www.thenewworld.co.uk/denis-macsha...

Philippe Marlière - Normal Circumstances? Philippe Marlière: Normal Circumstances? - Far-Right France: Le Pen, Bardella and the Future of Europe by Victor Mallet

'Soon, the French far right will come to power for the first time since the end of the Second World War....' (Philippe Marliere in Literary Review on Far-Right France: Le Pen, Bardella and the Future of Europe) - literaryreview.co.uk/normal-circu...

Journalists in London: the AEJ has the event 'Will a far-right France lead to a far-right Europe?' (related to my new book Far-Right France) on Feb 11 at 4pm. Register at the link below if interested. aej-uk.org/2026/01/30/w... For other events, including public ones, see victormallet.org. Thanks!

31 point swing, from 17-up to 14-down

Early or what? This from Kent today. A few primroses too, but the internet assures me that's not so unusual.

Victor Mallet, 'Financial Times': "Le Pen and Bardella are, in practice, seeking to leave the EU" "They have pretended they do not want to leave, claiming they are willing to stay, but only if the EU changes fundamentally." In a conversation with Marc López Plana, Editor and Director of 'Agenda Pú...

A far-right government in France would have a shattering impact on the EU. Interview in Spain's Agenda Publica about the new book Far-Right France. ( victormallet.org ) - agendapublica.es/noticia/2063...

Europe’s five stages of grief for the transatlantic alliance From denial to bargaining to acceptance that the world has changed

"Perhaps most dispiriting for many Europeans was realising the French had been right all along."
www.economist.com/europe/2026/...