While I am firm in my belief Starmer should go, and soon, isn’t it weird we’ve got sucked into a side argument over the process for a security clearance for Mandelson, the turning down of which had nothing to do with Epstein? It’s the British political class at its worst, I think.
This is what I wrote about the failure to prosecute anyone at Royal Bank of Scotland / NatWest in Shredded.
The whole story is a nothing burger. Robbins highly unconvincing. Says he was brought up in a culture of documentation but doesn't seem to have read the relevant forms or documented much himself
"It was a life changing experience: the incident, the detention, the repatriation. I was on the cover of every newspaper in the United States and the free world." — Nick Mellos, the flight engineer.
We revisit the 2001 Hainan spy plane crisis through the eyes of eyewitnesses: buff.ly/upEYVjl
Africa, with vast unmet demand and few trade barriers, has become a more compelling market for a Chinese industry being squeezed out of the U.S. and Europe.
Noah Berman analyzes China's booming solar exports to the African continent for this week’s issue of The Wire China:
Great idea!
Supermarkets across Toronto sell products from the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, a paramilitary group that is sanctioned by the U.S., UK, European Union and Canada.
@eliotchen.bsky.social examines Canadian commitments to banning forced labor imports:
the first one is where she was being edited, the later ones (and even more so her detective stories) conspicuously not
A lot has happened since 'Liberation Day' last year. On the surface, the Trump tariffs on China have achieved one of their apparent goals, but failed to achieve other long-lasting changes.
Get the big picture:
He declared liberation day, set tariffs based on nothing in particular, became quickly astonished that an economy he underestimated could match escalation, and then sued for peace and tried to convince you unilateral retreat was prelude to a deal. (Then delayed the moribund dealing for ⬇️)
This week’s cover story: can a start-up in North Carolina break China’s grip on rare earth magnets?
Noah Berman reports on Vulcan Elements' race to onshore a crucial supply chain:
What an unbelievable six nations. So many great games.
One week ago. 🤡
In small-town North Carolina, a new factory wants to make magnets without sourcing any materials from China.
In our latest podcast episode, Noah Berman and Tom Mitchell discuss how the company, Vulcan Elements, is trying to get the U.S. back in the rare earths race. pod.link/1873741567
HEY SCHOOLS!
I have a special #buyastrangerabook day offer just for you!
@nadiashireen.bsky.social is offering to buy you a set of her brilliant Grimwood series.
All five of them!
If you'd like them, just get in touch.
UK only
The sheer strategic stupidity of bailing Russia out of its economic hole by launching a war that entirely foreseeably spikes the oil price - and then having no minesweepers in place to deal with the foreseeable fallout. Rank incompetence.
Suggestion: turn off a certain press conference and listen to Michael Collins play the clarinet www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
Your weekend listen: What's behind the curtain of ByteDance's viral AI video generator, Seedance 2.0?
@rachelcheung.bsky.social, @eliotchen.bsky.social, and Savannah Billman examine new developments in China's AI space in episode six of our podcast: pod.link/1873741567
Smugglers in Texas, New Jersey, and New York. A mysterious Hong Kong client. And a plot to illegally sell Nvidia AI chips to China.
Episode five maps out a chip smuggling network with @eliotchen.bsky.social and @andypeaps.bsky.social : pod.link/1873741567/
Even though China is highly online, with over 90 percent of the population internet users, the country’s top AI models have fewer regular users compared to U.S. models.
Get the big picture on China's AI adoption lag:
Arrogant team cheerled by an arrogant media
She is an under appreciated national treasure
Excited to post the first episode of our new @thewirechina.bsky.social podcast, in which I talk rabout obotaxis with my colleague @rachelcheung.bsky.social podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...
Our new column What China's Thinking is underpinned by the work of my former colleagues at @chinadigitaltimes.net
The superlative Chinese team & my friends/role models @samuelwa.de @cindycarter.bsky.social have contextualized so much of recent Chinese history
chinabooksreview.com/2026/01/27/w...
One reason I am gloomy about Britain’s ability to rise to this geopolitical moment is the sheer parochialism and unseriousness of much of its media. The Times, which used to be a serious paper, does not have a single comment piece today on the gravest international crisis in 80 years
Beijing's hope is that AI will power emerging industries such as autonomous vehicles and robotics, eventually producing more new jobs than the ones it replaces.
@rachelcheung.bsky.social examines the hopes and anxieties behind China's AI transition:
The FT’s Word Circle puzzle is a con
