Evidence of the great benefits of AI: it used to take a huge amount of time and effort to make yourself look this stupid; now AI allows you to humiliate yourself almost instantly.

PBS News@pbsnews.org · 6d ago

The State Department said ​it takes "full responsibility" for "hastily" altering and then presenting a map of Africa at a global AIDS conference that mislabeled every single country it highlighted. An analysis by Reuters found a watermark in the map image that suggests it was made with OpenAI.

If anyone's looking for a summer read, then I can't recommend this classic Estonian historical novel highly enough. Incredible that it got past the Soviet censors when it was published in 1970.

Day 598 of #GeorgiaProtests Pouring rain, huge 🇬🇪🇺🇦 flags, and a long "Slava Ukraini" chant ✊🏻 📷 MOSE

We @nclpolitics.bsky.social are advertising for a permanent teaching & research lectureship in Public Policy (deadline 7 Aug) preferably with a focus on international public policy. More details & contacts in the link: jobs.ncl.ac.uk/job/Newcastl...

👀 Overnight drone strikes triggered major fires across Russia. In Tambov, a Wildberries warehouse in Kotovsk was hit. In the Moscow region, blazes engulfed a Wildberries site in Elektrostal and an oil depot in Noginsk following heavy explosions.

Thanks to everybody who shared that police appeal for the missing girl in Barrow. She’s been found and reunited with her family.

Every aspect of this self-inflicted disaster is just incredible. Or, since many aspects of it look classically "post-Soviet", a better term would be: depressingly familiar.

"The PM wishes both teams well for the final, especially Spain.”

Henry Zeffman@hzeffman.bsky.social · 3w ago

Keir Starmer's official spokesperson: "The World Cup might not be ours but the Falkland Islands definitely are” Asked who the PM would be supporting in the final, the spokesperson said: “The PM wishes both teams well for the final, especially Spain.”

Partner just back from a 5 day academic conference that had £400 conference fee despite being held in (he was told) a free venue, not including accommodation, providing no coffee 😱, and no meals except a baguette at lunch. Intrigued to know what the money was for.

A reminder for everyone currently suggesting that Lindsey Graham was killed by the Kremlin because of the Russia sanctions bill: the bill only allows for sanctions if Donald Trump decides they should be imposed and under conditions it would be very easy for Russia to avoid.

Incidentally, we still don't know how much Nigel Farage was paid over the years for all his appearances on RT.

Ruth Deyermond@ruthdeyermond.bsky.social · 3w ago

Absolute mystery why the Russian government saw Reform and UKIP as soft targets.

Absolute mystery why the Russian government saw Reform and UKIP as soft targets.

I invite your attention to the early part of "The Death of Stalin." Simple explanation.

The Daily Beast@thedailybeast.bsky.social · 4w ago

A man carrying carpet samples and flooring materials was spotted leaving McConnell's Capitol Hill residence despite the senator being hospitalized.

To be clear, I'm not saying that Trump is now pro-Ukraine or hostile to Russia, or that I think this deal is necessarily going ahead. Nor do I think it likely that Trump is closely involved with policymaking beyond signing things off. But him saying this in public is a positive thing.

Ruth Deyermond@ruthdeyermond.bsky.social · 4w ago

This is very good news if it goes ahead. One thing about Trump: although he has always had a strong bias in favour of Russia, he has a stronger bias in favour of money. If he can be persuaded there's profit in something for the US/him, his administration will approve it, as with PURL.

This is very good news if it goes ahead. One thing about Trump: although he has always had a strong bias in favour of Russia, he has a stronger bias in favour of money. If he can be persuaded there's profit in something for the US/him, his administration will approve it, as with PURL.

Kate from Kharkiv@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social · 4w ago

Trump says Ukraine will receive a license to manufacture Patriot missiles ‼️ This is amazing news! Ukraine needs air defense to protect our people from the never-ending Russian attacks!

As he's done over and over again since Jan 2025, Trump makes it clear that he doesn't see the US as an ally of Europe; doesn't feel bound by NATO commitments; doesn't view Russia as the US's problem in any way; and is fixated on imagined grievances. It's not going to change.

WH Press Pool Reports@whpresspool.bsky.social · 4w ago

And when they wouldn't go along with it, and with all the money we spend to help them with Russia, and we don't have to spend any money, we could remove all of our soldiers out of Europe, because, as you probably noticed, Europe's a very different place than it was 20 years ago, lot (15/16)

"I did receive a call from President Donald Trump [...] I explained that there was an ongoing legal process involving FIFA’s independent judicial bodies and that the case would be decided in due course by the competent bodies." Sad this great pundit isn't here to share his views.

Philippe Auclair@philippeauclair.bsky.social · last mo.

What Gianni Infantino has to say about the Balogun debacle.

RT's editor-in-chief says it's paranoid to think a Russian programme is propaganda. Glad she's cleared that up for us.

“Propaganda always fails when the gap between the fantasy and the reality becomes so large that even the uninformed and uneducated can see it.”

Russians Feel The Pain

Ukraine’s strikes cut through the propaganda

open.substack.com

Just finished my first year as external examiner for some brilliant courses on international politics and war at @uniofhull.bsky.social. The course content, the creative assessments, and the support given to students to help them get the very best out of their degrees are really impressive.

Like so much Kremlin rhetoric for the last 15 years or so, this is a fascinating combination of self-pitying, paranoid conspiratorialism (it's all a giant plot against us!) and desperate attempts to show what a very great great power Russia is. 🧵

Trump said there would be an unconditional surrender ending the war with Iran, and indeed there has been.

For nearly 18 months, the Trump administration and many analysts have thought of the US, Russia, and China as great powers deciding the fate of the world, unconstrained by lesser states. Today, the US is the losing party in a Versailles peace agreement and Moscow looks like this:

So that's a no, then.

Scott Robertson@sarobertson.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Collins: You said you think that Ukraine is going to ultimately win this war. Is that a view that [Trump] seemed to share as well? Carney: We, the Germans, the UK, the French, all are of the view that the tide has turned in this war. It is a matter of time. Putin is going to lose this war.

“There’s a very strong expectation that he will stand by Ukraine. That’s what he told the leaders.” I see we're at the 'trusting Trump to keep his very vague word on Ukraine' stage of the cycle again.

POLITICO Europe@politico.eu · 2mo ago

G7 leaders emerged from the first full day of talks unexpectedly optimistic about relations with the White House. The reason? Donald Trump’s apparent openness to increasing pressure on Vladimir Putin.

Great reporting on a Russian sabotage and disinfo campaign targeting the UK that aims, among other things, to widen splits in UK society. There still needs to be much more focus on explaining this threat to the UK public. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Russia was behind arson attacks targeting PM, BBC reveals

Evidence shows Russians directing the plot and stoking tensions with fake far-right and Muslim groups.

bbc.co.uk

A short thread on why Putin responded so badly to the planned 2013 EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, starting the chain of events that have led Ukraine to the threshold of EU membership:

Ruth Deyermond@ruthdeyermond.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Yes it was, but by late 2013, after the colour revolutions, the Arab Spring, NATO's Libya intervention, and Bolotnaya, which he came to see collectively as the US's development of "colour revolutions technology" to remove pro-Russian govts (or in the last case, the actual Russian govt)...

Congratulations to Ukraine and Moldova. Incredible to think that the sequence of events that led to this point began in 2013 when Putin pressured the then-Ukrainian president into backing out of an EU Association Agreement because he didn't like Ukraine getting any closer to the EU.

Steve Peers@stevepeers.bsky.social · 2mo ago

EU Member States agree unanimously to open accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova on Monday www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/pre...