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Pascal @pascallth.bsky.social · 8h

I'm sure I've seen this episode before

Sharon @sharonk.bsky.social · 9h

oh no

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Pascal @pascallth.bsky.social · 10h

More crazy times in French politics as the Prime Minister who resigned on Monday is reappointed back into the same role on Friday
www.franceinfo.fr/politique/go...

DIRECT. Nouveau Premier ministre : Emmanuel Macron renomme Sébastien Lecornu à Matignon, quatre jours après sa démission

Le chef du gouvernement "accepte" sa nomination "par devoir" et va tenter de bâtir une "nouvelle équipe gouvernementale" qui "devra incarner le renouvellement et la diversité des compétences".

www.franceinfo.fr

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Reposted by Pascal

Financial Times @financialtimes.com · 21h

Nobel Peace Prize awarded to María Corina Machado on.ft.com/4nTWp5l

Nobel Peace Prize awarded to María Corina Machado

Win for Venezuela’s main opposition leader dashes the hopes of US President Donald Trump

on.ft.com

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Pascal @pascallth.bsky.social · 22h

At the very least, recognition didn't sabotage attempts at a ceasefire

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Pascal @pascallth.bsky.social · 1d

Given the problem is prevalent across all of society, through all age groups, I think it would make more sense to target how social media actually works for everyone - namely algorithmic feeds and who controls them - rather than targeted user bans like this

Jacob Öberg @profjacob.bsky.social · 2d

🚨🚨 #Denmark aims to ban #socialmedia for children under 15. PM Mette Frederiksen says "We have unleashed a monster" to Danish lawmakers. 🧵https://www.politico.eu/article/denmark-mette-frederiksen-partially-ban-social-media-children-under-15/

Denmark aims to ban social media for children under 15, PM says

“We have unleashed a monster,” Mette Frederiksen tells Danish lawmakers.

www.politico.eu

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Reposted by Pascal

Pascal @pascallth.bsky.social · 3d

My latest blog this week is on the cycle between populist victories and the ongoing war in Ukraine and why democrats can't just support Kyiv but need to act for a swift victory

pascallth.substack.com/p/what-czech...

What Czechia tells us about Ukraine

And the electoral politics of war

pascallth.substack.com

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Pascal @pascallth.bsky.social · 3d

Leaders quitting when everyone is against them is not an unusual feature of healthy democracies or really any organisation

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Pascal @pascallth.bsky.social · 3d

Tough times for Macron

One former PM, Attal, has said he no longer understands what Macron is doing

Not to be outdone, another former PM, Philippe, has said he thinks there should be early presidential elections

Both lead parties within the notional 'Macronist' bloc

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Pascal @pascallth.bsky.social · 3d

My latest blog this week is on the cycle between populist victories and the ongoing war in Ukraine and why democrats can't just support Kyiv but need to act for a swift victory

pascallth.substack.com/p/what-czech...

What Czechia tells us about Ukraine

And the electoral politics of war

pascallth.substack.com

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Pascal @pascallth.bsky.social · 4d

What about a stable French government?

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Pascal @pascallth.bsky.social · 4d

Although CP2077 tells us how that works out

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Pascal @pascallth.bsky.social · 4d

Lecornu sets a record that will be hard to beat

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Pascal @pascallth.bsky.social · 4d

Political chaos in France as the PM, threatened by a censure vote, just quits

He only nominated government ministers last night..
www.leparisien.fr/politique/di...

DIRECT. Gouvernement Lecornu : le Premier ministre a remis sa démission à Emmanuel Macron, qui l'a acceptée

La première partie du gouvernement de Sébastien Lecornu a été dévoilée dimanche, avec des reconductions en pagaille, le retour surprise de B

www.leparisien.fr

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Pascal @pascallth.bsky.social · 4d

Merkel's complaint is that other EU countries wouldn't sign off on a Merkel-Macron-Putin meeting to initiate EU-Russia diplomacy over Ukraine

They didn't trust her to defend Europe's interests and clearly they were right if she still thinks a chummy sit-down would have solved anything

Sarah Kirchberger @sarahkirchberger.bsky.social · 5d

🤡 🇩🇪 Ex-Chancellor Merkel in a Hungarian Interview: ‘Poland & Baltics bear blame for breakdown of our relations with Russia.’ 🧐

Well, there it is again - the ‘Berlin syndrome‘ of blaming Eastern European ex-colonies of Russia for the Russian wars of aggression rears its ugly head. Sad to see this.

Brisantes Interview: Merkel gibt Polen Mitschuld an Putins Krieg

Angela Merkel gibt Polen und baltischen Staaten Mitschuld am Abbruch der diplomatischen Beziehungen mit Russland und Ukraine-Krieg.

m.bild.de

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Pascal @pascallth.bsky.social · 5d

I think it's just inevitable going forwards that every depiction of populist leaders will have a bit of Trump in them - it's a new standard archetype that fits 21st century democracies more closely than the old WW2 dictators

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Pascal @pascallth.bsky.social · 5d

On the new Brexit campaign

pascallth.substack.com/p/quitting-t...

Quitting the ECHR is Brexit 2.0 – that’s good

Moderates can turn the narrative on the new populist attack

pascallth.substack.com

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Pascal @pascallth.bsky.social · 6d

I didn't see it at the cinema because of the mixed reviews but now I can say: I liked Mickey 17

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Pascal @pascallth.bsky.social · 6d

Czech election result as bad as expected - no real upside here

Another pro-Russia, anti-EU billionaire

Europe Elects @europeelects.bsky.social · 6d

Czechia, 97,63% polling places counted:

National parliament election

ANO-PfE: 35.08% (+8.0)
SPOLU-ECR|EPP: 22.95% (-4.8)
STAN-EPP: 11% (n.a.)
Piráti-G/EFA: 9% (n.a.)
SPD-ESN: 7.88% (-1.7)
Auto-PfE: 7% (new)
Stačilo!-NI|S&D: 4% (n.a.)
...

+/- vs. 2021 election

➤ europeelects.eu/czechia

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Pascal @pascallth.bsky.social · 6d

pascallth.substack.com/p/can-europe...

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Pascal @pascallth.bsky.social · 7d

I wonder if the popularity of short form video content among younger people doesn't just lead to them saturating on their social media fix faster - that format being more visually and audibly stimulating than classic text based social media

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Pascal @pascallth.bsky.social · 8d

Politico has a huge incumbency advantage - everybody reads it so everybody needs to read it

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Pascal @pascallth.bsky.social · 8d

It's no better than claims that climate change is being invented so companies can sell expensive clean tech solutions

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Pascal @pascallth.bsky.social · 8d

"Spain’s rapid renewables build-out means that in the first half of this year, its power prices were set by fossil generation just 19% of the time [..] As a result, wholesale electricity was almost a third cheaper than the European Union average"

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Spain’s Renewable-Energy Boom Loosens Gas’s Grip on Power Prices

Soaring renewables output in Spain is weakening gas’s grip on electricity prices, setting the country apart from much of Europe where fossil fuels still dictate the cost of power.

www.bloomberg.com

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Reposted by Pascal

Pascal @pascallth.bsky.social · 9d

pascallth.substack.com/p/russia-has...

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Pascal @pascallth.bsky.social · 9d

A Russian shadow fleet tanker was boarded by the French military today

The ship is suspected of involvement in the drone incursions in Denmark
www.bfmtv.com/internationa...

Saint-Nazaire: deux personnes en garde à vue après l'intervention de la Marine nationale sur un pétrolier fantôme russe

Des commandos marine français sont montés à bord du pétrolier de la flotte fantôme russe. Le bateau, battant pavillon béninois, est arraisonné depuis quelques jours au large de Saint-Nazaire. Deux per...

www.bfmtv.com

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