long time Russia reporter. ex Daily Telegraph moscow bureau, ex Banker/Euromoney contributing editor, 15 yrs freelance. founder & editor business new europe

Joined July 2014
7,890 Photos and videos
BenAris retweeted
🚨🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Increible la subtrama que esta pasando Inglaterra y eso que aun no han comenzado a jugar en el Mundial. - Llegan a Estados Unidos y se reporta un tiroteo cerca de la base de sus entrenamientos en Missouri. - Se ven afectados por un temblor de 6,1 en Estados Unidos, algo que no pasaba desde 1880 en aquella región de Florida. - Varios jugadores sufren de quemaduras de sol e insolaciones. - Les roban el equipamiento, incluyendo los botines de los jugadores, equipo de entrenamiento, equipo del personal de entrenamiento, balones y uniformes. - El chef no pudo viajar con el equipo por que no le permitian ingresar al tren con cuchillos de cocina. - Ahora el equipo recibio la orden de refugiarse este sabado en la noche despues de que se emitiera una alerta de tornado en gran parte de Kansas City y alerta de tormenta electrica.
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BenAris retweeted
⚡️⚡️⚡️UK forces have boarded and detained the sanctioned oil tanker SMYRTOS in the English Channel — the first such UK-led operation. The 6-hour operation targetted a vessel funding Putin’s war. While most #ShadowFleet tankers are still allowed to pass through UK waters, this interception highlights growing enforcement. Such actions add pressure on Russia’s oil export revenues, which fell sharply in 2025 (down ~24% for the year) and dropped another 45% in Q1 2026 compared to the previous year. However, if allowed to leave, this operation would cost Russia only a few million and would lead to nowhere.
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BenAris retweeted
Trump is pressuring Iran to sign the MOU on his terms, paying no money upfront No surprise Iran now says no signing tomorrow Little chance of a deal without unfreezing Iran’s assets That’s the “trap”: neither side can accept a clear strategic defeat Trump’s post:
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BenAris retweeted
A pretty scary, and impressive, tornado tearingthrough Russia’s Chelyabinsk region today. The unusual weather phenomenon was filmed by residents of Verkhneuralsk.
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BenAris retweeted
⚡The latest 🇪🇺EU seven-year budget draft, released on June 11 by the Cyprus Council Presidency, slashes planned support for Ukraine to ❗€89B ($103B) for 2028–2034 — a ❗10% cut from the European Commission’s original €100B proposal. While the bloc debates its biggest legislative package, this reduction risks leaving Kyiv short of funds if the war continues beyond 2028, especially after the recent €90B loan already leaves a ❗€20B defense shortfall in 2026 alone. The figure is far from final: Ireland assumes the presidency on July 1 aiming for a deal by year-end, with officials privately warning the number could drop further to ❗€80B or even ❗€60B. Under terrible war circumstances Ukraine has relied on #Donornomics rather than maintaining its own economy. The consequences might be harsh. #UkraineEconomy Photo: @KyivIndependent
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BenAris retweeted
BREAKING: A senior Iranian official has told Reuters that, under a draft memorandum with the United States, Tehran has agreed it will neither produce nor acquire nuclear weapons. 🔴 More on aljazeera.com
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Brit forces intercept russian oil tanker in the channel… and buy its entire cargo as Uk is running low on crude.
British forces intercept Russian shadow fleet tanker in the Channel #oott reuters.com/world/europe/uks…
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BenAris retweeted
Actually, last week Syrsky himself said Russia does 7.3 million per year. Link: themoscowtimes.com/2026/06/0…
Ukraine makes 7 million drones a year. Russia makes around 2 million drone a year and also about 2500 missile Euro collectively doesn’t make more than 200,000 a year. Europe’s eastern flank is wide open to Mass Russian drone swarms. The obvious soln is to take Ukraine into the EU marry its drone production to Europe. Even then it’ll take years to catch up with Russia’s drone production ability. And that’s never gonna happen
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BenAris retweeted
Replying to @Lasurak @bneeditor
This is just FPV drones. Russia's MIC is working without weekends, 3 shifts a day, which means it produces at least 5.5 mil FPVs a year, and this is not counting other types of drones like Gerans, Lancets, Orlans, etc.
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In the early hours of this day 85 years ago, thousands of families across Estonia were woken by a knock on the door, only to be torn from their homes and deported to Siberia by the Soviet regime. During the June 1941 deportations, around 10,000 Estonians, together with tens of thousands of Latvians and Lithuanians, fell victim to Soviet terror. As we honour the victims of these crimes, we must also remember that Russia is using many of the same methods in Ukraine today — deporting children, terrorising civilians, and attempting to erase Ukrainian identity. History teaches us that crimes left unpunished lead to further aggression. It is time to hold Russia accountable.
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We used to get this in London when I was working on the docks teaching sailing. In hot weather, algae would bloom and rapidly eat up all the oxygen and kill all the fish. One year we put out an appeal and the fire brigade came with water pumps in order to oxygen the water the most of the fish died anyway. Once the algae appears it’s almost impossible to stop the bloom. It happened in Kamchatka 2 years ago on a massive scale It’s a new climate crisis headache
SHOT reports that global warming is threatening black caviar production after 45 rare beluga sturgeon died at a fish farm in Russia’s Tver region. The outlet says 30°C heat warmed the water, triggered rapid algae growth on cage nets, and reduced the flow of clean, oxygenated water, causing the fish to suffocate. The damage is estimated at almost $400,000. Beluga caviar can sell for around $250 per 100 grams.
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BenAris retweeted
The scandal of the century — and no surprise, it’s in the United States. Orlando, Florida witnessed an unusual incident inside England’s World Cup 2026 training camp, just hours before their scheduled session, after the team’s equipment was completely stolen. According to reports, the stolen items included players’ boots, the coaching staff’s gear, and the official training balls — leaving the camp with only a single ball remaining.
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BenAris retweeted
Few institutions believe in Russia’s imminent collapse more passionately than London’s Telegraph newspaper.
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BenAris retweeted
What began as anger over access to beaches and the protection of environment turned into the question of who should decide, and how, about the future of #Albania 🇦🇱 #day14 🦩
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BenAris retweeted
Hungary’s former PM Viktor Orban re-elected party leader despite election loss aje.news/4dmhv7
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Ukraine makes 7 million drones a year. Russia makes around 2 million drone a year and also about 2500 missile Euro collectively doesn’t make more than 200,000 a year. Europe’s eastern flank is wide open to Mass Russian drone swarms. The obvious soln is to take Ukraine into the EU marry its drone production to Europe. Even then it’ll take years to catch up with Russia’s drone production ability. And that’s never gonna happen
Ukraine is producing 7 million drones a year. UK has minimal@capacity. UK’s military unprepared for Russian threat on land, air and sea thetimes.com/article/a428da8…
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BenAris retweeted
China’s collapsing job market just lost its ultimate safety net as the gig economy completely implodes. In a historic first, authorities in Shenzhen, the powerhouse megacity built on migrant labor, have formally declared the ride-hailing market completely saturated. An absolute flood of laid-off workers and desperate citizens has overwhelmed the sector, turning China's most reliable economic fallback option into a brutal financial trap. The official data reveals a dystopian reality. Nearly 400,000 licensed drivers in Shenzhen are now fighting over a shrinking pool of passengers, leaving the average driver with fewer than five completed trips per day. Exhausted workers are forced to grind through punishing 12- to 16-hour shifts just to scrape together a measly 300 yuan ($42) after corporate platform cuts, vehicle rentals, and charging costs. This crisis is rapidly spreading nationwide, with major hubs like Chongqing, Suzhou, and Dongguan forced to issue identical warnings or freeze permits altogether. For years, the Chinese Communist Party used gig work as a convenient sponge to soak up mass unemployment and hide the true scale of its failing economy. Now that manufacturing is dying, foreign investment is fleeing, and white-collar sectors are plagued by sweeping layoffs, that fragile cushion has completely disintegrated. #ChinaEconomy #Shenzhen #GigEconomy #CCP #Unemployment #Didi #ChinaCrisis #StateFailure
Shenzhen officials have declared for the first time that their ride-hailing industry is officially saturated. It is not the only Chinese city facing a cabbie glut economist.com/china/2026/06/…
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BenAris retweeted
Trump post on Iran
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