Rudy Ruitenberg

@rudyruitenberg.bsky.social

Journalist in France writing about business, defense @defensenews.bsky.social, wine @decanter.com, with a special interest in technology, science, climate, weather, agriculture, nature. On occasion teach at Sciences Po Journalism School.

Eyeballing the new quarterly LNG tracker by Kyiv School of Economics, looks like #France imported around 20% of Russian #LNG in 1Q 2026. That doesn't seem...hm constructive? Big factor here probably Total Energies 20% stake in Yamal LNG terminal (still carried at equity value) kse.ua/about-the-sc...

Russian LNG Tracker – April 2026: Russia accounts for 8% of global LNG exports; France and China together import 42% of volumes - Kyiv School of Economics

kse.ua

The French carrier group around the Charles de Gaulle is heading towards the Gulf of Aden ahead of a potential Hormuz mission. Lots of emphasis on fact #France is not party to the conflict... France moves carrier into Red Sea ahead of potential Hormuz mission www.defensenews.com/global/europ...

France moves carrier into Red Sea ahead of potential Hormuz mission

President Emmanuel Macron has said any multinational initiative to secure the strait would only happen once the hottest phase of the conflict subsides.

defensenews.com

Time for forces to get serious about what Ukraine Maj. Gen. Horbatiuk recently described as « digital hygiene » Original reporting by Just Vervaart @datajournalist.nl at Omroep Gelderland. Dutch broadcaster tracks carrier-group frigate with Bluetooth gadget www.defensenews.com/global/europ...

Dutch broadcaster tracks carrier-group frigate with Bluetooth gadget

The MoD has made adjustments in response to the reported incident, including no longer allowing greeting cards with batteries to be sent.

defensenews.com

For those newly interested in #oil prices: Brent crude ("Brent") is the global benchmark and WTI ("Crude oil") represents the U.S. domestic price. That's why Brent is above $115/barrel (highest since June 2022) while WTI is at $102.50. To track the global impact of the Hormuz closure, Brent > WTI.

Brent crude price graph - opening above $115 a barrel, the highest price since June 2022

The Middle East war has made the Patriot air-defense system a hot commodity, forcing the Dutch to rush through their order for an additional system. #Netherlands plans $1.1 billion rush order for extra Patriot system www.defensenews.com/global/europ...

Netherlands plans $1.1 billion rush order for extra Patriot system

The Netherlands has been a loyal Patriot user, being one of first European countries to adopt the system in 1987.

defensenews.com

Can #France benefit from a rethink of alliances in the Middle East, post-Iran war? Few if any Europeans would be able to deploy the naval package the French sent to the Eastern Med. France’s Mediterranean armada signals clout as Middle East may rethink alliances www.defensenews.com/global/europ...

France’s Mediterranean armada signals clout as Middle East may rethink alliances

The massive deployment of warships comes as some Middle Eastern nations are expected to reevaluate their alliances in a post-Iran war world, analysts said.

defensenews.com

With some delay, #France rerouting the Charles de Gaulle strike group to the Med. And Macron plans to put together a coalition to keep shipping lanes open, à la the Red Sea. Could get sticky. France sends aircraft carrier to Mediterranean as Middle East flares up www.defensenews.com/global/europ...

France sends aircraft carrier to Mediterranean as Middle East flares up

France is also working on a coalition to pool assets, including military, that will allow shipping traffic to resume through key chokepoints in the region.

defensenews.com

‪Amusing to see how French commentators who have studied French #nuclear doctrine have wildly different expectations of what Macron might say in his Monday speech compared to some European pundits. The vibe from local experts appears to be not to expect fireworks. We’ll find out March 2 3:30pm!

With the talk of a European pillar of NATO, strategic autonomy, burden sharing, how long would Europe need to stand alone in 10 key #defense enablers? Here's what experts say: The good, the bad and the ugly — Inside Europe’s race to supplant US defense enablers www.defensenews.com/global/europ...

The good, the bad and the ugly — Inside Europe’s race to supplant US defense enablers

Defending Europe against a Russian attack without U.S. help will stay tricky for the foreseeable future, as some areas are progressing faster than others.

defensenews.com

A new paper shows that less than 2 months of exposure to Twitter’s algorithmic feed significantly shifts people’s political views to the right. Moving from chronological feed to the algorithmic feed also increases engagement. This is one of the most concerning papers I’ve read in awhile.

The political effects of X's feed algorithm
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10098-2
Received: 16 December 2024
Accepted: 4 January 2026
Published online: 18 February 2026
Open access
• Check for updates
Germain Gauthier,5, Roland Hodler?5, Philine Widmer35 & Ekaterina Zhuravskaya3,4,5 m
Feed algorithms are widely suspected to influence political attitudes. However, previous evidence from switching off the algorithm on Meta platforms found no political effects'. Here we present results from a 2023 field experiment on Elon Musk's platform X shedding light on this puzzle. We assigned active US-based users randomly to either an algorithmic or a chronological feed for 7 weeks, measuring political attitudes and online behaviour. Switching from a chronological to an algorithmic feed increased engagement and shifted political opinion towards more conservative positions, particularly regarding policy priorities, perceptions of criminal investigations into Donald Trump and views on the war in Ukraine. In contrast, switching from the algorithmic to the chronological feed had no comparable effects.
Neither switching the algorithm on nor switching it off significantly affected affective polarization or self-reported partisanship. To investigate the mechanism, we analysed users' feed content and behaviour. We found that the algorithm promotes conservative content and demotes posts by traditional media. Exposure to algorithmic content leads users to follow conservative political activist accounts, which they continue to follow even after switching off the algorithm, helping explain the asymmetry in effects. These results suggest that initial exposure to X's algorithm has persistent effects on users' current political attitudes and account-following behaviour, even in the absence of a detectable effect on partisanship.

Don't think Elbridge Colby's general tone ("Europe, step up") surprised anyone in Brussels/Munich but also made clear the Pentagon understands this means more buying European. Pentagon official blesses Europe’s push to spend defense money at home www.defensenews.com/global/europ...

Pentagon official blesses Europe’s push to spend defense money at home

“Otherwise people in Germany or Poland or whatever are going to say: ‘Why are we only sending money across the Atlantic?’” said the Pentagon policy chief.

defensenews.com

Shocking drop in #France #agriculture trade surplus to the lowest since the late 1970s. Quite a reversal for a country long considered one of Europe's farming giants. Expensive imports of #cocoa #coffee #chocolate and growing deficits in #beef #poultry agreste.agriculture.gouv.fr/agreste-web/...

Commerce extérieur agroalimentaire. En 2025, l’excédent agroalimentaire français atteint son plus bas niveau depuis la fin des années soixante-dix|Agreste, la statistique agricole

En décembre 2025, le solde des échanges agroalimentaires est déficitaire de 45 millions d'euros (M€) et recule de 236 M€ par rapport à décembre 2024. Sur l’ensemble de l’année 2025, le solde français reste excédentaire mais chute de 4,8 milliards d’euros (Md€) sur un an pour atteindre 181 M€. Ce résultat est avant tout la conséquence de la forte dégradation des échanges de produits transformés. Sur un an, l’excédent commercial pour ces produits recule de 4 Md€, à 554 M€. Si les exportations évoluent peu en valeur (+ 1 % sur un an) pénalisées par le recul des ventes de vins et spiritueux, les importations augmentent sensiblement (+ 8 %) sous l’effet des autres produits alimentaires (principalement à base de cacao) mais aussi des produits issus de l’abattage (viande bovine, viande de volailles) et des produits laitiers (beurre, fromages). Le solde commercial en produits bruts perd près de 0,9 M€ sur un an et affiche un déficit de - 373 M€, principalement du fait de la hausse en valeur des importations de café, de cacao et aussi de fruits qui font plus que contrebalancer l’augmentation des exportations, portée essentiellement par les bovins. En 2025, la forte érosion de l’excédent commercial avec les pays tiers tire l’excédent global vers le bas, à laquelle s’ajoute l’accentuation du déficit avec l’Union Européenne.

agreste.agriculture.gouv.fr

There it is: the NATO operation in the #Arctic to ward of a threat that doesn't necessarily exist yet, or at least, perhaps not in the way it was previously understood by the alliance! NATO kicks off ‘Arctic Sentry’ operation following Greenland brouhaha www.defensenews.com/global/europ...

NATO kicks off ‘Arctic Sentry’ operation following Greenland brouhaha

The mission will tie together various allied activities in the region, according to NATO officials.

defensenews.com

Hypersonica, a defense startup working on European hypersonic strike, eyes a very aggressive development pace in an area previously the domain of much secrecy and decades-long development programs. German startup aims to deliver European hypersonic strike by 2029 www.defensenews.com/global/europ...

German startup aims to deliver European hypersonic strike by 2029

Hypersonica says it uses military-grade components from suppliers, as the company notched a successful test flight in Norway.

defensenews.com

The future of #naval combatants is plug-and-play modularity, navy chiefs say: mission flexibility, at-sea replenishment, upgradeability, and a way to quickly get fire power on the water. US, European navies push Lego-like modularity to boost ships’ combat punch www.defensenews.com/global/europ...

US, European navies push Lego-like modularity to boost ships’ combat punch

Containerized forces packages, when executed well, are a flexible way to bring new capabilities to sea quickly, service chiefs said in Paris.

defensenews.com

Norway picks Hanwha for long-range strike, notes security of supply from Poland missile production, an argument for other prospects: Sweden, France (?). No true European sovereign solution for now. Norway picks Hanwha to supply rocket artillery in $2 billion deal www.defensenews.com/global/europ...

Norway picks Hanwha to supply rocket artillery in $2 billion deal

None of the other commercial bidders could deliver a comparable range, Norway said.

defensenews.com

Quite the statistic from #Ukraine. Also notable, 32k drone-on-drone strikes, so air-to-air engagements. And gamification of warfare apparently working, as it's being expanded to air defense. Ukraine says more than 80% of enemy targets now destroyed by drones www.defensenews.com/global/europ...

Ukraine says more than 80% of enemy targets now destroyed by drones

One Ukrainian innovation has been a system to verify drone strikes that awards points to successful operators, with an online marketplace for bonus kit.

defensenews.com

One can appreciate Rutte's tricky role in having to keep the #NATO alliance together, but his dismissal of Europe being able to defend itself without the U.S. did feel excessively enthusiastic. NATO’s Rutte says Europe can’t defend itself without US; France balks www.defensenews.com/global/europ...

NATO’s Rutte says Europe can’t defend itself without US; France balks

The NATO chief prompted pushback from France, the European Union’s only nuclear power, as analysts call for a distinct European pillar within the alliance.

defensenews.com

French Armed Forces Minister Catherine Vautrin’s New Year’s address ticks off Venezuela, Greenland, Iran, Ukraine and Russia’s signalling with Oreshnick, all in the space of 10 days: « Welcome to 2026. »

Target for 600 drones/month seems significant until you consider @renaultgoup.bsky.social cites Le Mans vehicle-chassis production capacity of 1.3m units/yr. Probably room to expand if needed. French carmaker Renault to produce long-range drones for French forces www.defensenews.com/global/europ...

French carmaker Renault to produce long-range drones for French forces

From Twingo to drones, French carmaker Renault plans to have a new unmanned aerial model in its lineup, destined for the French armed forces.

defensenews.com