Massive Attack / Tom Waits - Boots on the Ground YouTube video by Massive Attack

Tom Waits has released his first new music in 15 years (am I that old?). It's a protest song in collaboration with Massive Attack

youtu.be/L-57FrioeuE?...

US renews Russian oil sanctions waiver for 1 month, days after signaling it would not do so The effective extension of the waiver comes just two days after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters that the Trump administration "will not be renewing the general license on Russian ...

⚡️US renews Russian oil sanctions waiver for 1 month, days after signaling it would not do so.

The U.S. Treasury Department issued a temporary license on April 17 renewing a sanctions waiver that allows countries to purchase Russian oil stranded at sea.

It is staggeringly frustrating that Starmer's government has ended up spending so much time, energy, credibility & self-destruction on something related to bloody Mandelson of all has-beens, rather tackling Britain's many & varied present day problems that they inherited from the Tories.

What Happened After Denmark Adopted a Ruined City in Ukraine

This sounds like an excellent initiative by Denmark and Ukraine.
www.nytimes.com/2026/04/14/w...

This article pretty much covers the disaster Trump's Iran war has inflicted on America, the Gulf region and the rest of us.

How Vladimir Putin’s propaganda works Russia has been driven mad. Could other countries suffer the same fate?

"Russia has been driven mad" by Putin & co. and "more Russians have died in his vanity war in Ukraine than in all wars since 1945". Horrific. (Article & both quotes from the@economist.com ).
www.economist.com/culture/2026...

As Iran’s civilian economy crumbles, its military economy grows stronger War has split the country in two

So much winning. And so much money for Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps.
www.economist.com/finance-and-...

Fans and players unite behind Hull’s John Cartwright as St Helens go top St Helens beat Hull 24-14 to go top of Super League but the night will be remembered for the support shown to Hull’s coach John Cartwright

This grand old club of ours, @hullfcofficial.bsky.social, badly needed its pride restored. John Cartwright has led that. The fans would like him to stay longer. But, whatever happens, our appreciation & his welcome in Hull will last well beyond his time as coach.
www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/a...

With this (see below) in mind, I'm confident that a comfortable majority of people in all walks of life and of non-extremist political opinions across Europe & North America would actually like keep a strong relationship and save NATO. Anyone else fancy starting a campaign?
#CoalitionOfTheSensible

Trump and Meloni Split Amid Growing Dispute Over Pope and Iran

We're going to see lots of this over the next few years. The voters in most countries overwhelmingly loathe Trump. Therefore, domestic politics incentivises leaders to push back against him, especially now that the trust, fear and respect has largely gone.
www.nytimes.com/2026/04/15/w...

Europe live: Russia ‘does not deserve’ lifting of sanctions, Zelenskyy says, after deadly overnight strikes in Ukraine Ukrainian president says nearly 700 Russian drones and 19 ballistic missiles mostly targeted Kyiv, Odesa and Dnipro

What Russia deserves is defeat and the prosecution of its leaders for war crimes.
www.theguardian.com/world/live/2...

It has been one of the hardest 24h in a while.

russia launched 703 air targets, incl 19 ballistic missiles and 25 cruise missiles.

At least 9 people were killed in Odesa, 3 in Dnipro and 4 in Kyiv, incl a 12yo boy. More than 80 people were injured.

Please, don't look away.
#makerussiapay

I understand why people in struggling places want to believe in charismatic leaders who claim to be solving their problems. But military dictators like Burkina Faso's President Traoré rarely turn out to be a good choice for investing hope in.

1/3 Leaders from Germany, the African Union, France, the EU, UK, & US meeting in Berlin on April 15, 2026, the three-year mark of ongoing conflict in Sudan, should commit to concrete, time-bound measures to protect civilians and to hold those responsible for serious international crimes to account.

At the risk of being the fun police, I would think twice about sharing those Iranian propaganda Lego videos mocking Trump and co. This is still a regime that killed thousands of its own people and murders women for not wearing a headscarf properly. Your enemy's enemy is not necessarily your friend.

‘We were never friends’: Kremlin plays down loss of ally following Orbán’s election defeat Loss of closest European ally will force Kremlin to consider whether non-autocratic states can ever be reliable partners

Sometimes it's better to say nothing, in order to avoid sounding silly.
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...

All true & Vance deserves every humiliation that comes his way. But isn't the other part of his "Epic Self-Abasement" plan still intact - to be in the right seat if Trump's tenure somehow ends dramatically before its scheduled end date? Which is not a terrible bet in the case of this US president.

Hopefully, he'll be heading over to campaign for Reform soon. And if he finds time to support Hull KR while he's here, that would be very helpful.

John Cartwright's no holds barred press conference as Hull FC boss speaks Hull FC have confirmed that John Cartwright will be leaving the club later this year

John Cartwright has really understood Hull and restored pride in @hullfcofficial.bsky.social. The fans would, I am pretty sure, have wanted their club to treat a very good bloke and coach like him much better than this.
www.hulldailymail.co.uk/sport/rugby-...

Opinion | Inside Trump’s Diplomatic Failure With Iran

High stakes international diplomacy is no place for amateurs on the make.
www.nytimes.com/2026/04/13/o...

JD Vance jets into Hungary to boost Orbán in final week of election race Also in this newsletter: Brussels calls out Trump’s ‘illegal’ Iran threat

Does the "J" in JD Vance stand for jinx? #Hungary #Orbán. giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... via @financialtimes.com

I had previously been sceptical about little Hungary being seen as a model for a certain much bigger country. But now that its people have removed their Putin loving, paedophile-protecting crook of a leader from power, maybe there is something in it after all.

People will be closely studying how Hungary's opposition pulled off their win in such a pro-incumbent system. Important to note that the theme was corruption. Democrats need to get much better at calling out Trump's corruption.

I had previously been sceptical about little Hungary being seen as a model for a certain much bigger country. But now that its people have removed their Putin loving, paedophile-protecting crook of a leader from power, maybe there is something in it after all.

There's a golden window of opportunity now for Europe to do some great things, starting with Ukraine. I hope EU & other leaders are standing ready to move quickly before some other pro-Putin & corrupt Orban-like toerag pops up to get in the way.

Norway 2 England 1 1981 Commentary YouTube video by Michael Alcorn

Donald Trump. Vladimir Putin. Can you hear me? Your boy took a hell of a beating.
#Orban #Hungary
youtu.be/PqZTP8-8wIs?...

Former Republican Senator Ben Sasse has some interesting and appealing things to say about politics, its conduct and relative importance in the mid-section of this interview (some of the other parts are quite striking too).

Dignity and experience means European leaders are done with appeasing Trump. So does domestic politics. People are disgusted by this US administration and there are votes to be had in standing up to it. Article via @nytimes.com .
www.nytimes.com/2026/04/09/o...

This is what wars do to destroy the lives of ordinary, decent people. It's hard not to feel that those who start them should suffer the consequences of their actions instead.
www.nytimes.com/2026/04/10/o...

A Boston view on the FIFA crime syndicate. Via @bostonglobe.com
www.bostonglobe.com/2026/04/10/n...