Geoffroy Berson

Interesting policy + historical parallel here

How Chile Embodies A.I.’s No-Win Politics

Debates in Parliament, policy in favor of data centres, new startups, protests, concerns on the environment or the representation of local cultures…

I’m discovering in this NYT piece that Chile is a great example of a torn society questioning the future of AI
🇨🇱
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/20/t...

German far right setting agenda as opponents amplify its ideas, study finds Normalisation of far-right stances likely to affect success of such parties at ballot boxes across Europe, say researchers

"Mainstream parties are increasingly allowing the far right to set the agenda, researchers in Germany have found"
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

Madagascar’s pattern of popular revolts gets its Gen Z update Madagascar is experiencing its fifth political crisis since the island gained independence from France in 1960. President Andry Rajoelina fled the country on Monday after weeks of protest led by socia...

🇲🇬 #Madagascar
f24.my/BV8G

Despite everything else going on, France last night honoured Robert Badinter, the former justice minister who ended the death penalty in 🇫🇷 in 1981. He entered the Panthéon in a moving moment of national tribute that the French do so well

French President Macron speaking on German reunification:

“We were very naive to leave our public space to social media networks controlled by US or Chinese companies that don’t share our interests and not interested in survival of our democracies.”

🇫🇷 🇩🇪 🇪🇺

Les pirates ne sont plus avec Stan au gouvernement ?

Gavin Evans’book: “white supremacy. A brief history of hatred”

📚 I enjoyed reading @gavinmevans.bsky.social’s book on white supremacy.
One of my takeaways: while the conspiracy theory of a white genocide in 🇿🇦 is not very powerful locally (everyone knows it’s BS), it’s very influential overseas and cited by most supremacist mass killers in their testaments

French MP accuses TikTok of ‘deliberately’ endangering young users The French parliamentary report on TikTok pillories the platform, accusing it of exposing children to dangerous content.

📱 It's not a bill proposal yet, but French MPs suggest banning social media for under 15s and establishing a social media curfew (10pm-8am) for teenagers

www.euronews.com/health/2025/...

Last night in Poland we saw the most serious European airspace violation by Russia since the war began, and indications suggest it was intentional, not accidental.

I am in contact with NATO Secretary General Rutte and Poland FM Sikorski.

The EU stands in full solidarity with Poland. (1/2)

From soft power to digital firepower: France steps up fight against disinformation France is ramping up its fight against online disinformation with a new digital tool, known as French Response, aimed at countering hostile allegations from abroad. FRANCE 24 spoke with Dr Maxime Audi...

www.france24.com/en/france/20...

Since January 20, Russian air raids in Ukraine have intensified dramatically

How should development practice (and institutions) approach the coming reforms in the aid sector? The past is gone. And there are lots of reasons not to mourn for its reinstatement.

Constructive thoughts on the future of development aid, by the always excellent @kopalo.bsky.social

www.africanistperspective.com/p/how-should...

Europe’s Growing Fear: How Trump Might Use U.S. Tech Dominance Against It

"To comply with a Trump executive order, Microsoft recently helped suspend the email account of an ICC prosecutor in the Netherlands who was investigating Israel for war crimes."
[…]
"It was a wake-up call for a problem far bigger than just one email account"
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/20/t...

Opened instagram.
Iranian rocket sad memes, Iranian rocket memes with trendy music, Iranian rockets from an airplane, Iranian rockets from a dance floor in Lebanon.
Closed instagram.

Trump Claimed a Social Media Video Showed ‘Burial Sites’ of White Farmers. It Didn’t.

🇿🇦
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/21/u...

Old mobile phones and keyboards. Overlaid text reads: FT Exclusive: EU issues US-bound staff with burner phones to avoid espionage

Breaking news: The European Commission is issuing burner phones and basic laptops to some US-bound staff to avoid the risk of espionage — a measure traditionally reserved for trips to China www.ft.com/content/20d0...

I just attended a conference in the US. We had one speaker detained and two others turned away at the border.

70,000 African artifacts are held at the Musée du Quai Branly Jacques Chirac in France

www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/online-res...

Will We Squander the AI Opportunity? | by Daron Acemoglu - Project Syndicate Daron Acemoglu worries that the technology is on track to disempower, rather than complement, most of humanity.

Daron Acemoglu after the Paris AI Summit:
"🇪🇺 leaders will need to invest in the necessary digital infrastructure, design regulations that do not discourage investment or drive away researchers, and create financing mechanisms that startups need to scale up"
www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/a...

The Trump Vacuum How Brazil and South Africa have the opportunity to reshape the global order

"As we face a 🇺🇸 administration retreating from multilateralism, the imperative for alternative leadership becomes even more urgent. 🇧🇷's COP30 presidency & 🇿🇦's G20 leadership can forge a new alliance for meaningful climate action"
@mazzucatom.bsky.social

marianamazzucato.substack.com/p/the-trump-...

Je viens de regarder le live pendant quelques mn et je me suis dit la même chose: @franceinfo.fr prend position?

Make South Africa Great Again? How the country’s post-apartheid politics may inform the world view of Elon Musk and Donald Trump.

The @newyorker.com interviewed @africaisacountry1.bsky.social to decipher the influence of apartheid-era 🇿🇦 nostalgia in the Trump administration, and that makes a good read
www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a...

Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo: Foreign aid can be effective without the US In the wake of USAID cuts, wealthy nations and individuals must take the reins

Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee:
"One might be tempted to find common ground with governments by pointing out where aid could serve the interest of the donor. But to do just that is a mistake. The world must now affirm that human lives matter, no matter where they are"
www.ft.com/content/43e9...

Europe Must Avoid Becoming a Digital Colony The EuroStack is the continent’s last chance for technological sovereignty in the era of AI.

🇪🇺 One of the good things about the current situation is that the #Eurostack concept seems to be having a momentum as a pathway for Europe's digital sovereignty / strategic autonomy. Hoping concrete steps can be taken soon.

Here explained in FP
foreignpolicy.com/2025/03/31/e...

Graph showing the countries most at risk from US tariffs. Cambodia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Lesotho are the worst positioned

‘Only job I know’: tiny Lesotho’s garment workers reel from Trump’s 50% tariffs Impoverished African country is hit with highest tariff rate at 50%, overturning decades of global trade policy

🇱🇸 Second time in a few weeks that the small landlocked country of #Lesotho is targeted by the Trump administration
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

Google Is Helping the Trump Administration Deploy AI Along the Mexican Border Google is part of a Customs and Border Protection plan to use machine learning for surveillance, documents reviewed by The Intercept reveal.

“For more than two decades, surveillance towers at the border have proven to be a boondoggle, and adding AI isn’t going to make it any less of a boondoggle — it will just be an AI-powered boondoggle,” EFF’s @maassive.bsky.social told @theintercept.com.

Only 16% of Germans say one can trust the US. That’s just 6%pts over Russia and a minus of 38%pts.

Source www.tagesschau.de/inland/deuts...

Popularity curve of Donald Trump. The Disapprove numbers are now above Approve by 0.3%

It took him 6.5 weeks.
(It took Biden 7.5 months)

Data from 538: projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/approv...