Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

R Phelps @greygosling.bsky.social · 40m

Seems like a good hook for the UK press to discuss whether the UK government should be on a Nazi-run site like X and not say, on here, and whether Ofcom is doing its job.

Will Stancil @whstancil.bsky.social · 1h

Hey news people: I know you like to pretend this doesn't exist, but you need to pay attention to the Nazi drama on Twitter. Basically, it seems as if Elon just restored two major neo-Nazi accounts that were banned by his product head, and might be about to fire the product head for banning them

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The Economist @economist.com · 53m

NATO is facing its toughest test since the cold war. Secretary-general Mark Rutte talks to @shashj.bsky.social, outlining his plans for the alliance. Watch Inside Defence now

Mark Rutte on NATO’s survival | The Economist Insider

The transatlantic alliance is facing its toughest test since the cold war. Defence budgets are climbing, but the gap between pledges and capabilities remains large. New technologies are transforming the battlefield, forcing European armies to adapt. And America is de-prioritising Europe. Mark Rutte talks to Shashank Joshi, outlining his plans for NATO.

econ.st

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R Phelps @greygosling.bsky.social · 54m

What's your sense as to whether the attack on Volodymyrivka actually ended up with Ru forces taking the village despite losses, or they all got flushed out?

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OdessaBlogger @odessablogger.bsky.social · 4h

As stated yesterday regarding the impending loss of UA citzenship for #Odesa Mayor Gennady Trukhanov, I understand it has now been removed and thus #Odesa has no mayor.

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OdessaBlogger @odessablogger.bsky.social · 1d

It appears that the odious and distinctly dubious Odesa Mayor Gennady Trukhanov is about to have his Ukrainian citizenship removed, and thus can no longer act as Mayor. Rumour has it that the relevant decree awaits the president's signature imminently.

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ECFR @ecfr.eu · 4h

Governments in other democracies of interest to Moscow can learn from Chisinau’s preparedness in 2025 ahead of their own elections, write @gvalodskaite.bsky.social and Leo Litra @ecfreuropeansec.bsky.social
https://bit.ly/4pZM4WZ

From success to strategy: Three lessons from Moldova’s election

The success of Maia Sandu’s pro-EU party in Moldova’s parliamentary election holds three valuable lessons for protecting votes from Russian meddling in the future—whether that is in Moldova or in…

bit.ly

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R Phelps @greygosling.bsky.social · 4h

Yes!
Enforce laws. Laugh at and ignore idiots who say 'don't enforce laws, we must be seen to win on the battlefield of ideas'.

ECFR @ecfr.eu · 4h

Governments in other democracies of interest to Moscow can learn from Chisinau’s preparedness in 2025 ahead of their own elections, write @gvalodskaite.bsky.social and Leo Litra @ecfreuropeansec.bsky.social
https://bit.ly/4pZM4WZ

From success to strategy: Three lessons from Moldova’s election

The success of Maia Sandu’s pro-EU party in Moldova’s parliamentary election holds three valuable lessons for protecting votes from Russian meddling in the future—whether that is in Moldova or in…

bit.ly

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John Oxley @joxley.jmoxley.co.uk · 4h

More important, I think, is Lib Dems are running candidate selections while the Tories are still, slowly, dealing with re-approvals for the main lists.

Mark Chadbourn @chadbourn.bsky.social · 7h

Three interesting names on the Lib Dems North Cotswolds selection where the Tories are defending a slim 3357 majority: 90s “superwoman” Nicola Horlick, radio presenter Paul Hodgkinson and former diplomat Arthur Snell who’s running his campaign from Kyiv. (via Michael Crick)

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Matt Steinglass @mattsteinglass.bsky.social · 4h

NRC update says NL govt interceded because China’s Wingtech planned to use Nexperia money to finance a factory for WingSkySemi, a Chinese daughter co. Financial Times says NL govt intervened after a warning from the US. Both can be true obvs

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R Phelps @greygosling.bsky.social · 5h

I still haven't seen a good explanation as to why NATO countries haven't detained more of the shadow fleet tankers in the Baltic especially. Where they have no insurance or flag, they could be held no problem. Is that one Su-35 pass really enough to have scared everyone?

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R Phelps @greygosling.bsky.social · 7h

This is enough to make a total mess out of Alabuga.

Ukrainska Pravda 🇺🇦 @pravda.ua · 7h

⚡️ US can supply only 20-50 Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine

US can supply only 20-50 Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine – FT

The United States has been able to offer Ukraine only 20-50 Tomahawk missiles, a quantity that is unlikely to materially change combat dynamics or the battlefield situation.

www.pravda.com.ua

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Verfassungsblog @verfassungsblog.de · 8h

EU Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi faces allegations of involvement in espionage by Hungary against the European Union.

ALBERTO ALEMANNO (@alemanno.bsky.social) explains why the Várhelyi Affair is a test of institutional self-defence – and how the EU can respond.

verfassungsblog.de/varhelyi-com...

Quote: “The Várhelyi affair poses a question the Union has never had to answer so starkly: What happens when a member state treats the institutions it helped create not as a common project, but as hostile territory to be infiltrated and undermined?”

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Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 8h

Double kudos to @jonhenley.bsky.social and the @theguardian.com for:

a) taking the trouble to report on a set of continental European elections where the far-right didn't sweep all before it!

b) calling the far-right the far-right, not 🤮 'the hard-right'!

Portugal’s far-right Chega falls well short of expectations in local elections

Party hoped to take 30 municipalities but secured three after share of vote halved from parliamentary elections

www.theguardian.com

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R Phelps @greygosling.bsky.social · 8h

Great piece, this is why I wanged on about the coming collapse of the blue wall and now the way the Lib Dems seem pretty bomb-proof in most of the seats they won. The roots and culture of Toryism in suburbia/home counties had gone LD well before the seats switched.

Giles Wilkes @gilesyb.bsky.social · 12h

"One reason the successive Tory administrations from 2016 to 2024 achieved so little beyond damage control is that they traded middle-aged voters who needed little from the state for older voters who require rather more"
on.ft.com/4oi1TXq column full of brilliant insights by @stephenkb.bsky.social

How Brexit drained the Tories’ talent pool

The party can’t keep expecting successful people to pretend that leaving the EU was a good idea

on.ft.com

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R Phelps @greygosling.bsky.social · 8h

Of course! But then the media seems to have given up on holding any boundaries or considering itself part of society.

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R Phelps @greygosling.bsky.social · 8h

yep, the local elections. Chega well below where they were at the last general, and the centre right well up.

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R Phelps @greygosling.bsky.social · 9h

Interesting Portuguese centre right bucked the trend at the weekend.

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R Phelps @greygosling.bsky.social · 9h

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Sathnam Sanghera @sathnam.bsky.social · 10h

Taking on Elon Musk should be an open goal in British politics.

Ian Fraser @ianfraser.bsky.social · 10h

Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, aka ”Tommy Robinson,” says Tesla CEO Elon Musk is paying his legal bills.

Robinson says Musk is paying his legal costs in counterterrorism trial

Far-right activist accused of refusing to give his mobile phone pin to police

www.ft.com

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POLITICO Europe @politico.eu · 10h

Europe’s first commercial-scale rare-earth magnet factory is up and running from Estonia.

It represents a defiant act against Russian aggression and a countering to China’s chokehold over critical minerals.

Europe’s new magnet plant: A silver bullet for industry, climate and geopolitics?

A factory on the edge of the EU needs to prove that the bloc can reduce its reliance on China while ensuring a future for fossil fuel workers.

ow.ly

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R Phelps @greygosling.bsky.social · 11h

Labour should rejoin the Customs Union. No FoM issues, the ability of the RW press to generate much heat about rules of origin would be pretty limited.

Dr Stylite @columnist.bsky.social · 13h

Great stuff from @stephenkb.bsky.social And while I think the Brexit was a disaster denialism is clearly most pronounced in the Conservative Party, it continues to affect the rest of the political spectrum in the form of we have to make the best of it / the situation will never change etc.

Financial Times @financialtimes.com · 13h

How Brexit drained the Tories’ talent pool on.ft.com/4qarx21 | opinion

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R Phelps @greygosling.bsky.social · 11h

Maybe that widely-felt opinion amongst the commentariat that the UK would settle for being happy outside, which seemed pretty unlikely to me given how bad Brexit was likely to be, the way it was deforming the Tories and magical thinking it enforced, helped Labour into such poor thinking?

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R Phelps @greygosling.bsky.social · 11h

Hook it to my veins!

Szabolcs Panyi @szabolcspanyi.bsky.social · 1d

💥Viktor Orbán in trouble: a new 21 Research Center (a reliable pollster) survey shows opposition leader Péter Magyar’s TISZA party leading Orbán’s Fidesz 53–35—an 18-point gap. Even the main govt-paid pollster (Nézőpont) admits to the @nytimes.com that smear campaigns against Magyar are failing.

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Jill Sargent Russell, PhD @jsargentr.bsky.social · 12h

Personnel desperation, as the economy tanks and infrastructure crumbles. Complex attrition intensifying.

Institute for the Study of War @thestudyofwar.bsky.social · 15h

WARNING: The Kremlin is Preparing to Mobilize Reservists on a Rolling Basis to Fight in Ukraine for the First Time: isw.pub/UKRWARNO101325

Note: This warning does not suggest that the Kremlin is likely to undertake a single large-scale mobilization at this time.

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Naomi Alderman @naomialderman.bsky.social · 12h

brilliant piece by @stephenkb.bsky.social

on this: "the Torys’ current approach is like saying you can only participate in the party if you don’t own a television — sure, you'll get some good people, but not very many"

maybe even more like saying "only if you're a communicant member of x church"

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