Richard Bridge
@richardpbridge.bsky.social
current events and international affairs (esp. Russia), music (esp. flute), the novel, most sports (esp. OAFC & CPFC). Citizen of the UK of GB and NI.
Reposted by Richard Bridge
Incredible, the rogue US president who causes his nation so much damage has still an average approval rating of 42.2%.
Sad to see that so many Americans are so stupid & cruel. No Chrtistian mercy to be detected here.
www.realclearpolling.com/polls/approv...
Sad to see that so many Americans are so stupid & cruel. No Chrtistian mercy to be detected here.
www.realclearpolling.com/polls/approv...
President Trump Job Approval | RealClearPolling
President Trump Job Approval | RealClearPolling
www.realclearpolling.com
January 16, 2026 at 10:54 PM
Incredible, the rogue US president who causes his nation so much damage has still an average approval rating of 42.2%.
Sad to see that so many Americans are so stupid & cruel. No Chrtistian mercy to be detected here.
www.realclearpolling.com/polls/approv...
Sad to see that so many Americans are so stupid & cruel. No Chrtistian mercy to be detected here.
www.realclearpolling.com/polls/approv...
Reposted by Richard Bridge
☠️ Russia loses 880 soldiers over past day
Russia loses 880 soldiers over past day
Russia has lost 880 soldiers killed and wounded, 4 tanks and 84 vehicles and fuel tankers over the past day.
www.pravda.com.ua
January 10, 2026 at 7:52 AM
☠️ Russia loses 880 soldiers over past day
Baroness Ashton shows how the UK has become untouchable. I do hope that we will rejoin; but why would the EU let us back, in our current state?
Former Brussels foreign minister Cathy Ashton says the union would be ‘insane’ to take back the UK without consensus that we wouldn’t leave again
✏️ Ivor Gaber
✏️ Ivor Gaber
Europe still doesn’t trust Britain
Former Brussels foreign minister Cathy Ashton says the union would be ‘insane’ to take back the UK without consensus that we wouldn’t leave again
www.thenewworld.co.uk
January 10, 2026 at 9:41 AM
Baroness Ashton shows how the UK has become untouchable. I do hope that we will rejoin; but why would the EU let us back, in our current state?
For a moment I thought you were both talking about another President.
Right. This is the best of the bad options.
January 6, 2026 at 11:26 PM
For a moment I thought you were both talking about another President.
Reposted by Richard Bridge
European countries now need to seriously consider what kind of an adversary the US might be, especially in the event of Donald Trump ordering an attack on Greenland.
US intentions towards Greenland threaten NATO’s future. But European countries are not helpless
US threats to annex Greenland following the attack on Venezuela should be taken seriously. European countries have important leverage they should be prepared to use.
www.chathamhouse.org
January 6, 2026 at 9:00 PM
European countries now need to seriously consider what kind of an adversary the US might be, especially in the event of Donald Trump ordering an attack on Greenland.
Excellent. Good comparison with Russia. This was an unlawful piece of theatre with fabricated justifications (oil, security, drugs - all tosh). And as this article shows, bad long-term implications once the showmanship is over.
With no UN Security Council mandate and unable to claim self defence, it is difficult to conceive of possible legal justifications for the US strike that captured Nicolás Maduro.
Read Marc Weller's latest analysis for Chatham House ⤵️
Read Marc Weller's latest analysis for Chatham House ⤵️
The US capture of President Nicolás Maduro – and attacks on Venezuela – have no justification in international law
This may be the moment when Western Europe realizes that the US has abandoned the core values that united them for the past century, writes the head of Chatham House’s International Law Programme.
www.chathamhouse.org
January 6, 2026 at 9:43 AM
Excellent. Good comparison with Russia. This was an unlawful piece of theatre with fabricated justifications (oil, security, drugs - all tosh). And as this article shows, bad long-term implications once the showmanship is over.
He does not understand
In the immediate term, Venezuela’s crude output is more likely to fall than rebound. The country is also short of naphtha—a dilutant it needs to make its super-gloopy crude transportable—which is no longer coming through from Russia
Donald Trump’s great Venezuelan oil gamble
The country has the world’s largest petroleum reserves. Getting them out of the ground will be tortuous
econ.st
January 5, 2026 at 11:52 AM
He does not understand
Most certainly: and it is also because she is a woman.
Trump's Razor: The pettiest explanation is usually the correct one.
Insanity: Sources close to the White House told the Washington Post Trump lost interest in backing Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado to lead the country because she accepted her Nobel Peace Prize rather than demanding it be given to Trump, which was viewed as an “ultimate sin.”
January 5, 2026 at 10:35 AM
Most certainly: and it is also because she is a woman.
This tells you what you need to know about Tice and DJT. (But you know it already).
Seems Reform UK are one minute talking about sovereignty, the next ignoring it for Donald…
Richard Tice defends Donald Trump attack on Venezuela
Richard Tice defends Donald Trump attack on Venezuela
Richard Tice defends Donald Trump attack on Venezuela
REFORM UK’s deputy leader has defended Donald Trump’s actions in Venezuela as “in accordance with US domestic law”.
www.thenational.scot
January 5, 2026 at 10:09 AM
This tells you what you need to know about Tice and DJT. (But you know it already).
Reposted by Richard Bridge
NEW: The rate & geographic scope of protests in Iran increased Jan. 1-2. The protests have become more violent since Jan. 1, esp. in less populated & rural areas. Protesters sometimes responded violently to security forces’ violence & force.
Iran Update, Jan. 2, 2026: isw.pub/IranUpdate01... (1/4)
Iran Update, Jan. 2, 2026: isw.pub/IranUpdate01... (1/4)
January 3, 2026 at 4:08 AM
NEW: The rate & geographic scope of protests in Iran increased Jan. 1-2. The protests have become more violent since Jan. 1, esp. in less populated & rural areas. Protesters sometimes responded violently to security forces’ violence & force.
Iran Update, Jan. 2, 2026: isw.pub/IranUpdate01... (1/4)
Iran Update, Jan. 2, 2026: isw.pub/IranUpdate01... (1/4)
Reposted by Richard Bridge
The demonstrations in Iran have not been huge—thousands of people, rather than millions—but they are the biggest since 2022. Iranians have much to be angry about
How will the mass protests that are convulsing Iran unfold?
Binyamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump may shape how the regime reacts to new unrest
econ.st
January 3, 2026 at 6:00 AM
The demonstrations in Iran have not been huge—thousands of people, rather than millions—but they are the biggest since 2022. Iranians have much to be angry about
Reposted by Richard Bridge
Brexit has deepened the British economy’s flaws and dulled its strengths. The question is what to do about it econ.st/4qwSix0
Photo: Magnum
Photo: Magnum
January 3, 2026 at 7:00 AM
Brexit has deepened the British economy’s flaws and dulled its strengths. The question is what to do about it econ.st/4qwSix0
Photo: Magnum
Photo: Magnum
Reposted by Richard Bridge
Every year at this time I look back at the piece I wrote for the Independent at the end of the previous year on "what does next year hold for Russia's war on Ukraine and Europe", and realise once again that very depressingly, it was 95% accurate.
archive.ph/Abk69
archive.ph/Abk69
January 3, 2026 at 7:16 AM
Reposted by Richard Bridge
Those who spit on international law are not the ones to uphold it.
January 3, 2026 at 7:19 AM
Those who spit on international law are not the ones to uphold it.
He was a terrible show off, and that made him make errors. Some recordings are awful.
And alas much of that detail seems inaudible. I am not at all convinced by Karajan’s balance choices. Too often crucial inner voices are lost.
January 2, 2026 at 7:52 AM
He was a terrible show off, and that made him make errors. Some recordings are awful.
All a bit late. England internal slavery 1660, France 1789, Russia 1861.
Historian of abolition here on this day Haiti became an independent republic in 1804, the African slave trade was abolished by the United States and Britain in 1808, and President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863.
January 2, 2026 at 7:50 AM
All a bit late. England internal slavery 1660, France 1789, Russia 1861.
This means that yesterday at Selhurst I saw the only two goals scored in the Prem on that day. And they were at my end (Whitehorse Lane). I should have bet on it. (Both goals were rather good...)
I had convinced myself that 'City being the only title challenger to at Sunderland' would. be this year's 'City winning at Forest'. Now my paranoia will have to find a new target.
January 2, 2026 at 7:47 AM
This means that yesterday at Selhurst I saw the only two goals scored in the Prem on that day. And they were at my end (Whitehorse Lane). I should have bet on it. (Both goals were rather good...)
He is among the very best of the responsible commentators on Russia. I think he has made a tangible difference. But not everyone gets it (until it is too late...)
Every page in this book (or any book by Keir Giles for that matter) is solid gold. He’s my absolute favorite for cutting straight through all Russia’s distractions to tackle its psychological core.
January 2, 2026 at 7:45 AM
He is among the very best of the responsible commentators on Russia. I think he has made a tangible difference. But not everyone gets it (until it is too late...)
Once politicians start talking like this they start looking lost. There are not enough rich people to pay the bill; and if you start on them then they will go away. You have to pay for your own children. Just accept it.
Mamdani: "The cost of childcare will no longer discourage young adults from starting a family, because we will deliver universal childcare for the many by taxing the wealthiest few"
January 2, 2026 at 7:42 AM
Once politicians start talking like this they start looking lost. There are not enough rich people to pay the bill; and if you start on them then they will go away. You have to pay for your own children. Just accept it.
Reposted by Richard Bridge
last another year. Too much is too far gone and it’s beyond rescue without fundamental change. Painful, damaging, distressing change. It will not be easy and it won’t be quick. And this time they need to be left to sort it out without our help or sympathy. It did us no good last time.
January 2, 2026 at 6:56 AM
last another year. Too much is too far gone and it’s beyond rescue without fundamental change. Painful, damaging, distressing change. It will not be easy and it won’t be quick. And this time they need to be left to sort it out without our help or sympathy. It did us no good last time.
I know that the government has managed it before; but 2026 might turn out to be quite a year.
January 2, 2026 at 7:31 AM
I know that the government has managed it before; but 2026 might turn out to be quite a year.
Agreed. But like so many innovations and inventions it runs the risk of being wasted.
“If AI can serve India’s classrooms, clinics and farms, it can serve the world.”
In a guest essay for The World Ahead, the chairman of Infosys explores how India will change AI in 2026
In a guest essay for The World Ahead, the chairman of Infosys explores how India will change AI in 2026
AI will change India, and India will change AI, says the chairman of Infosys
India will show how AI can improve everyday lives, says Nandan Nilekani. It must be trustworthy and human-centred to work at scale, argues the Infosys chairman
econ.st
January 1, 2026 at 8:26 AM
Agreed. But like so many innovations and inventions it runs the risk of being wasted.
Reposted by Richard Bridge
In 1754, Benjamin Franklin designed the famous "Join or Die" political cartoon telling the colonies they could only be strong through union.
It was later used to argue for the independence revolution and against the Articles of Confederation.
Europeans should draw inspiration from it today.
It was later used to argue for the independence revolution and against the Articles of Confederation.
Europeans should draw inspiration from it today.
Europe's choice in 2026: join, or die
As we start the new year, Europeans face a crucial decision. Will they allow themselves to be dictated to by Washington and Moscow, or will they unite to achieve independence?
davekeating.substack.com
December 31, 2025 at 12:22 PM
In 1754, Benjamin Franklin designed the famous "Join or Die" political cartoon telling the colonies they could only be strong through union.
It was later used to argue for the independence revolution and against the Articles of Confederation.
Europeans should draw inspiration from it today.
It was later used to argue for the independence revolution and against the Articles of Confederation.
Europeans should draw inspiration from it today.
The UK government can either lead and inspire, or follow. But even if it makes the mistake of following, it is thereby ignoring public opinion. So the government would lose in two ways.
As our latest polling confirms, most Britons now think Brexit was a mistake and favour closer ties with the EU. It is past time for a bolder approach, from both sides econ.st/45wMDPj
Illustration: Carl Godfrey
Illustration: Carl Godfrey
January 1, 2026 at 8:24 AM
The UK government can either lead and inspire, or follow. But even if it makes the mistake of following, it is thereby ignoring public opinion. So the government would lose in two ways.