"The London wine merchant Philglas & Swiggot has been a stalwart of the UK wine scene since 1991, having successfully navigated all manner of challenges for 34 years. It is now closing after struggling with the ‘increasingly challenging trading conditions and the additional complexities of Brexit’."
Challenging trading conditions force London wine merchant to close - Decanter
London wine merchant Philglas & Swiggot closing because of ‘increasingly challenging trading conditions and the additional complexities of Brexit’.
RFK JR on Measles Outbreaks just now: "It is not unusual. There are measles outbreaks every year."
It is actually very unusual. This is the first Measles death in the US in 10 years.
Prime Minister of Italy Giorgia Meloni said that it is not possible to have just, lasting peace in Ukraine unless Kyiv gets guarantees that it will not be invaded again by Russia. She sees NATO as the best such guarantee
The EU’s Kaja Kallas flew in to DC for talks with Marco Rubio and he decided to cancel the meeting the moment her flight touched down.
The biggest assholes in the world are now in one government.
"The good news is that there’s growing clarity about what needs to be done. Europe has to save Ukraine. We must rapidly build a stronger common European defence, including Britain. All of us have to restore economic dynamism."
Very good by
@fromtga.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Germany can turbocharge Europe’s renewal – if it will only seize this moment | Timothy Garton Ash
Three times in the postwar era Germany made strategic choices that benefited Europe – with the US at its side. Now it must do it in opposition to Trump, says Guardian columnist Timothy Garton Ash
#Trump’s actions and rhetoric are a direct threat to the economic and security interests of the US’s European partners – including the UK.
@centreeuropeanref.bsky.social insight by
@cerianbond.bsky.social
Read here:
buff.ly/4aTo0hk "President Carter appointed more women and people of color to the federal judiciary than all previous presidents combined"
civilrights.org/blog/preside...
President Carter’s Judicial Appointments Are Central to His Tremendous Civil Rights Legacy
This is perhaps his most enduring and consequential legacy.
Jimmy Carter was one of only two presidents in the 20th century who didn’t get a SCOTUS vacancy to fill during his term. The 21st century would be a lot different if he had.
Jimmy Carter was a very good man. RIP
Carter was an ex-president for more than four decades — longer than anyone else in history.
And as the years wore on, the judgment of Carter’s presidency gave way to a more generous view.
wapo.st/49ZLa55
I love learning about various human societies' legends and beliefs surrounding the Milky Way. Recently I learned about some Australian Aboriginal people who believed the galaxy was a river that souls crossed in a canoe, and the stars were their campfires along the river. Beautiful.
Good for Denmark. 🇩🇰 🇪🇺
The Danish government has announced a huge boost (at least £1.2bn) in defence spending for Greenland, hours after Donald Trump repeated his desire to control the Danish territory.
Denmark boosts Greenland defence after Trump repeats desire for US control
The huge package is announced after the president-elect said US ownership of Greenland was a
Why do Russians not want the development of their country in the interests of the Russian people-prosperity & health.
Russian propagandist Simonyan:
"I'd be happy if we could afford to be in Ukraine,in Syria,to deal with some terrorists in Kazakhstan,in Georgia,to deal with American CIA protesters&to be all over the world.I'd be happy for us to pull it all off with ease.We would have become the gendarmes of Europe"
[This post could not be retrieved]
⚡️ Russian proxies sentence 9 Azovstal defenders to 24 years, life in prison.
Russian occupation authorities in Donetsk jailed nine Ukrainian soldiers captured after defending Mariupol to between 24 years and a life sentence, the city's exiled authorities reported on Dec. 11.
Russian proxies sentence 9 Azovstal defenders to 24 years, life in prison
Russian occupation authorities in Donetsk jailed nine Ukrainian soldiers captured after defending Mariupol to between 24 years and a life sentence, the city's exiled authorities reported on Dec. 11.
Shane Timmons opening the 17th annual workshop on economics, psychology, & policy in Ireland.
bsp.ucd.ie/annual-econo... Packed schedule today across a wide range of applications in health, climate, finance and others.
Macron ponders political truce as he struggles to find new French premier
ft.com/content/edabd39a-fd…
Macron ponders political truce as he struggles to find new French premier
President negotiates with party leaders of left and right to ensure survival of next government
I spent this morning inside Assad’s infamous
#Damascus slaughterhouse prison, Sednaya. I’ve spent much of my career investigating what was being done to defenceless human beings in this place. Now we know everything. It’s worse than you could possibly imagine.
The European University Institute, one of Europe’s leading academic institutions has landed here. Our X now frozen. Please help us rebuild our community
@simonhix.bsky.social @filipkostelka.bsky.social @maartenpvink.bsky.social @tomaashby.bsky.social @valentimvicente.bsky.social #Academicsky #PolskyHi there 👋, this is the blue sky over Florence, seen from the European University Institute!
We’ve just landed here 🚀 and can’t wait to connect with all of you. Follow us to get the latest on research, events, and EUI campus life!
📲
@eui-eu.bsky.social
In advance of tomorrow’ debate in the Northern Ireland Assembly on whether to grant ‘democratic consent’ to the continued application of Articles 5-10 of the Protocol/Windsor Framework…
www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/courts/...
Loyalist Jamie Bryson’s legal challenge over Stormont Windsor Framework vote dismissed by High Court
Loyalist activist Jamie Bryson’s legal action against a Stormont vote on continuing post-Brexit trading arrangements for Northern Ireland is to be dismissed, the High Court ruled tonight.
Meanwhile…
Reportedly, the rebels have approached close to a Russian airbase and are near a Russian Navy port in coastal Syria. Separate groups of Russian Armed Forces troops may be cut off in remote provinces.
Syrian journalist Rami Jarrah posted a video of the fighters in the city.
📹: fighters in Tartus
Al Jazeera reports that the Syrian armed opposition has entered the city of Tartus, where a Russian military base is located.
Russian warships are based in the local Mediterranean port.
Absolute goosebumps ! 👇
One of man's greatest creations, Beethoven's 5th rattling the core foundations of God's millennial cathedral
It's primal - sound on LOUD !
#NotreDameDeParisThese four men were going to be executed today by the Assad regime. “Our executions were going to be half an hour ago.”
Rachel Reeves will become on Monday the first British chancellor to attend a meeting of European finance ministers since Brexit. She will lay the ground for an “ambitious” new economic partnership with the EU fully honouring post-Brexit deals -
@financialtimes.com.
Financial Times
News, analysis and opinion from the Financial Times on the latest in markets, economics and politics
🕵️The Hungarian secret service has been monitoring
#OLAF inspectors in
#Hungary as they investigated suspicious business dealings by Viktor Orbán's son-in-law,
@direkt36.bsky.social and
@tijd.be have discovered
EU and Mercosur agree free trade agreement:
ec.europa.eu/commission/p...
Qs and As:
ec.europa.eu/commission/p...
Still needs to go through ratification process, of course
EU and Mercosur reach political agreement on groundbreaking partnership
Today, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and her counterparts from four Mercosur countries finalised negotiations for a groundbreaking EU-Mercosur partnership agreement
The end of negotiations but also the start of a new process leading to the formal signature and conclusion of the agreement
#EU #Mercosur #externalrelations #Article218TFEUWe have concluded the negotiations for the EU-Mercosur agreement.
It marks the beginning of a new story.
I now look forward to discussing it with EU countries.
This agreement will work for people and businesses.
More jobs. More choices. Shared prosperity.
[This post could not be retrieved]
Koyo Kouoh, one of Africa's leading curatorial voices, has been selected to curate the 2026 edition of the Venice Biennale, the world’s foremost contemporary art exhibition.
Koyo Kouoh appointed curator of 2026 Venice Biennale
The renowned Swiss-Cameroonian curator will make history as the first African woman to helm the prestigious art event.
If you want to understand why Labour redlines on “no single market or customs union” mean Brexit won’t be fixed for traders, speak to a SME in chemicals: ++££ on regulation, cash-flow and logistics.
SEE: UK chemicals sector doubts Starmer ‘reset’ will end Brexit blues
on.ft.com/41fl8bG
UK chemicals sector doubts Starmer ‘reset’ will end Brexit blues
[FREE TO READ] Businesses say regulatory and customs frictions will barely be eased if Labour government sticks to red lines on EU
Finally got my hands on a copy 😊
The new Brexit time bomb
A refresh of EU product safety standards, GPSR, will be a disaster for the UK’s small exporters, with the government little help
@theneweuropean.bsky.social
www.theneweuropean.co.uk/the-new-brex...
The new Brexit time bomb
A refresh of EU product safety standards, GPSR, will be a disaster for the UK’s small exporters, with the government little help
On Nov. 18, hours after two communication cables were severed in the Baltic Sea, 30 NATO vessels and 4,000 military staff took to the same body of water for one of northern Europe's largest naval exercises
reut.rs/49l2rWn
As sabotage allegations swirl, NATO struggles to secure the Baltic Sea
The 12-day 'Freezing Winds' drill was part of a push to step up the transatlantic defence alliance's protection of infrastructure in waters that carry 15% of global shipping traffic and are seen as increasingly vulnerable to attack.
Credit to the Irish pollsters for absolutely nailing
#GE24
FF: 21.5% (polls) vs 21.9% (result)
FG: 21% vs 20.8%
SF: 19.5% vs 19%
Polling averages via
@irishpollingind.bsky.socialAt one point during the night, the public didn’t run when the regime police advanced because there was an automatic sense of superiority in numbers, and they counter-attacked the police. The police ran.
As in other revolts, we learn tactics as the process goes.
#GeorgiaProtestsLatest: still big gaps between EU and UK on youth mobility. Details here via
@financialtimes.com with
@andybounds.bsky.social
EU digs in on student fees as UK youth mobility talks near
on.ft.com/3Zfj7JZ
EU digs in on student fees as UK youth mobility talks near
Brussels is willing to make small concessions over naming of scheme and length of stay
Delighted to say my book has arrived (& ‘only’ took me 8 yrs!). Thx to my colleagues in TCD & to
@conorjkelly.bsky.social @alanrenwick.bsky.social @alanwhysall.bsky.social Brendan O’Leary, Cathy-Gormley-Heenan, Chris McCrudden, for providing much to ponder
@conunitucl.bsky.social refs working group.
Department of Finance needs to wise up on this. Ireland doing itself no favours with anyone in band wagoning with an outgoing German government in its opposition to defence bonds.
Denmark comes out in support of EU borrowing. The “Frugals” as a concept have long ago cracked. Eurobonds for defense are such an obvious mechanism to finance both an Ukraine defense industry ramp up and to fill gaps in enablers left (potentially) by the US.
www.dr.dk/nyheder/poli...
EU mangler penge: Statsminister Mette Frederiksen ser ikke andre veje end fælles gæld
Med EU presset af Kina og USA er der behov for kæmpe investeringer, hvor statsministeren kun ser én vej.
For non-Irish followers-Irish election bucks trends-FF/FG in pole position to form Gov with small left party/parties or independents. Sinn Fein down 5.5% on 2020 in opposition & Greens lost all but 1 seat while in Government-the losers of election
Danish PM Mette Frederiksen is looking for a way out of the EU Frugals Club it seems - now ready to talk common debt to pay for Draghi style boost in EU competitiveness:
‘I don’t see how we could finance all this with the usual funding,’ she says to DK media.
nyheder.tv2.dk/politik/2024...
Mette Frederiksen foreslår fælles lån for Europa
Med EU presset af Kina og USA, er der behov for kæmpe investeringer, hvor statsministeren kun ser én vej.
Official Ireland sighs in relief when the embarrassment of a notorious gangland criminal getting elected is narrowly avoided.
Dublin Central Complete.
#GE24
No crime boss in the Dáil this time.
Frugal no more? Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederisken says the EU has to look at state aid, joint debt and the common budget “with new eyes.”
“I don’t see how we are going to finance it all with well-known funds,” she says about the new priorities on defence and competitiveness.
EU mangler penge: Statsminister Mette Frederiksen ser ikke andre veje end fælles gæld
Med EU presset af Kina og USA er der behov for kæmpe investeringer, hvor statsministeren kun ser én vej.
11 years ago today. Euromaidan. Kyiv, Ukraine. 🇺🇦
In Ukraine, we have one wish - peace and end of war.
Our cities are dark, Russia attacks us every day, our Warriors fight a heroic battle against an army of orcs.
We don't know what the future holds. But I have faith in Ukraine. I'm grateful to everyone with us.
May the force be with us!
🗳️
#GE24
Exit Poll: Irish Times/RTE/Ipsos/TG4/TCD
(MoE ~1.4%)
Sinn Féin 21.1%
Fine Gael 21%
Fianna Fáil 19.5%
Soc Dems 5.8%
Greens 4%
Labour 5%
PBP 3.1%
Aontú 3.6%
Ind Ireland 2.2%
Independents 12.7%
Others 1.9%
Exit poll from Irish General Election. Two main parties of current Government will be back in power but unclear which of the small party or parties that will form Government
Irish exit poll looks like Ireland is about to buck the global trend of punishing the incumbent. Few differences from last election
#ge24Following Luf, the town of Sheikh Idris is reported as captured by rebel forces. They continue to move east towards Abu al-Duhur
The bravery and determination of President Salome Zourabichvili 🇬🇪
BREAKING: President Salome Zourabichvili has walked to the special forces preparing to advance against protesters and is now talking to them. She asks them whether they had vowed to protect Georgia and Georgians or Russia, and demands they think of the future of their children!
The fight in Georgia is the same fight in Ukraine and the same fight in Syria. Push! The Russians and their allies are folding. Don't let up
It's gearing up to be an eventful weekend. Protests continue in Georgia, after the newly-installed government (believed to be responsible for electoral fraud in last month's elections) suspended the country's bid to join the EU. Riot cops are responding with force.
A must read thread from
@casmudde.bsky.socialI was invited to speak about the upcoming Trump era and share some lessons and optimism. I declined politely. After more than 25 years of researching the far right, I have no more (new) lessons and optimism to share.
Geopolitical churn-Syria (Assad in Moscow), Rouble crashing, revolt in Georgia, continuing agony in Gaza, and Trump about to be US President
Paris' Notre-Dame Cathedral will reopen its doors next week to tourists and the Catholic faithful, five-and-a-half years after fire gutted the Gothic masterpiece, one of the French capital's most beloved and visited monuments
reut.rs/3B3zxNA 1/7
Excitement, relief in Paris as Notre-Dame Cathedral prepares to reopen
Paris' Notre-Dame Cathedral will reopen its doors next week to tourists and the Catholic faithful, five-and-a-half years after fire gutted the Gothic masterpiece, one of the French capital's most beloved and visited monuments.
Joe Rogan has sparked outrage in Ukraine after claiming that Kyiv and its Western allies, rather than Russia, "are about to start World War III."
On Nov. 26, the Kyiv Independent went out on the streets of Kyiv to see what people thought about Rogan's claims.
'Honestly, go f**k yourself' — Ukrainians react to Joe Rogan’s rant on Ukraine
Joe Rogan, one of the world's most popular podcasters, has sparked outrage in Ukraine, after claiming that Kyiv and its Western allies, rather than Russia, "are about to start World War III."
In an e...
BRICS expansion: African nations now look for global influence
#BRICS expansion to include several new African countries provides a new path to economic sovereignty amid changing global power structures for
#Africa
@centralbylines.bsky.social
@bylinesnetwork.bsky.social
bit.ly/4ibFA3y
BRICS expansion: African nations now look for global influence
BRICS expansion to include several new African countries provides a new path to economic sovereignty amid changing global power structures for Africa
🕵️The Hungarian secret service has been monitoring #OLAF inspectors in #Hungary as they investigated suspicious business dealings by Viktor Orbán's son-in-law, @direkt36.bsky.social and @tijd.be have discovered
