Assessing the performance of those who hold power
Joined September 2012
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Trump's announcement had a predictable impact on oil prices (and several people will get very rich as a result). No ceasefire can hold, though, unless America restrains Israel and Iran restrains Hezbollah bbc.com/news/articles/ce8mv6…
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Jun 14
Netanyahu has humiliated Trump again by attacking Beirut, and thereby torpedoing the peace talks with Iran. Despite all the evidence to the contrary, he thinks that endless war makes Israel safer reuters.com/world/asia-pacif…
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Jun 13
Paul Krugman has pointed out that Elon Musk has become a trillionaire almost entirely on people's faith in him, more than on the substance of his businesses – describing him as a “human Ponzi scheme” paulkrugman.substack.com/p/e…
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Jun 12
Sir Keir Starmer has paid a political price, ahead of a crucial by-election next week, for talking big on defence spending but failing to resource it. This affects the credibility of UK support for Ukraine bbc.com/news/articles/c621wr…
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Jun 11
Ukraine's strategy of cutting Russian supply lines is effective. Crimea has had to introduce fuel rationing, and lack of supplies weakens the morale of troops reuters.com/world/europe/ukr…
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Jun 10
American voters are showing an appetite for progressive politics. The Bernie Sanders left-wing populist message is attractive to those who distrust the political establishment, especially since Trump so obviously favours the rich politico.com/news/2026/06/10…
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Jun 9
Several countries have sanctioned Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who openly promotes the annexation of the West Bank and Gaza – and props up Netanyahu’s government france24.com/en/middle-east/…
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Jun 8
Trump said of Netanyahu: "If I tell him to do something, he does it" – but Netanyahu has breached Trump's guidelines by striking Hezbollah and Iran to appease his critics at home. Is Trump really in charge? bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj6g…
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Jun 7
President Trump is in a state of denial. He inhabits an alternate reality. He has started wars of choice in Iran and Venezuela, and is threatening Cuba. None of those countries were a threat to the US nytimes.com/2026/06/07/us/po…
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Jun 6
JD Vance has blamed a Southampton murder on the "mass invasion of migrants" (although the murderer was a Sikh born in Britain) and said the "only response" was "righteous anger". Does he advocate ICE tactics? bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crlp…
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Jun 5
Reuters suggests that Ukraine’s drone arracks on Russia are aimed at turning Russian opinion against Putin. This sounds like a good idea, but Putin will still be hard to dislodge reuters.com/world/zelenskiys…
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Jun 4
Elon Musk likes exerting political influence. He is legally entitled to free speech, but his X social media platform gives him unrivalled reach. Senior British politicians have rightly criticised Musk’s latest intervention as divisive bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1e2…
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Jun 3
The Ukrainian strike on St Petersburg was a symbolic gesture, showing that it is undefeated. It also humiliated Putin. That was risky: tempting Russia to make a huge symbolic response bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0e2…
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Jun 2
Russia is failing to grab more of Ukraine’s territory. It is now terrorising civilians, hoping to weaken the country’s resistance ahead of future negotiations on ending the war bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5y9…
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Jun 1
Trump's power over the Republican Party may be waning. He has done several things to alienate Congress: a slush fund that would reward January 6 rioters, toppling senators he doesn't like, and the Iran war reuters.com/world/trumps-wea…
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May 31
Israel is ignoring ceasefire deals with its neighbours. Seizing more of Lebanon will make Hezbollah stronger and not make Israel safer reuters.com/business/aerospa…
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May 30
Why did it take so long? Trump should never have been allowed to put his name on the Kennedy centre, or his other vanity projects, because Congress is constitutionally in charge of spending reuters.com/world/us-judge-o…
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May 29
Netanyahu is breaching the terms of the Gaza ceasefire and is risking a return to violence. He wants to look strong ahead of impending elections but he’s stoking hatred of Israel reuters.com/world/middle-eas…
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May 28
Poorer Americans are beginning to suffer from the end of Biden-era healthcare subsidies. This will contribute to the affordability concerns that are likely to dominate the November election reuters.com/legal/litigation…
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May 27
Trump imposed tariffs of 35% on imports from Canada last year, imposing an economic shock on both sides of the border. Mark Carney has now chosen a more stable aircraft supplier to avoid future shocks euronews.com/my-europe/2026/…
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