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spignal.bsky.social
Charlemagne columnist & Brussels bureau chief, The Economist. Past stints in Paris, Mumbai, London. Français. Personal feed. Bio 👇. https://medium.com/@spignal/stanley-pignal-bio-2acd9b705ceb [email protected]
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Charlemagne: AIRBUS OF EVERYTHING! Europe has an odd fantasy: that every industry can be fixed by creating an "Airbus of". From satellites, batteries, cloud computing and more, the idea of EU champions ready to take on the world is oddly popular. Brace for impact! www.economist.com/europe/2025/...

submitted 1 hour ago • 2 comments

Probably a coincidence but the FT's map of Earth's temperature anomalies looks like a steak about the BBQ'd

submitted 7 hours ago • 1 comment

Did someone say... chicken?

submitted 8 hours ago • 1 comment

Exclusive pictures of the judges that have ruled against Trump on his trade tariffs

submitted 9 hours ago • 1 comment

Good morning Europe! Want to hear something funny? Like, really really funny. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/28/b...

submitted 11 hours ago • 4 comments

That... looks a lot like it is aimed at EU officials? www.ft.com/content/6628...

submitted 20 hours ago • 4 comments

Trump is having a bit of a Biden moment here

submitted 21 hours ago • 1 comment

Big deal here. EU is acknowledging that "reciprorcal" tariffs of at least 10% are unavoidable. Lots of capitals thought even that was way too high. EU officials talking to team Trump are breaking the news to them that, unless they want to go nuclear, 10% is here to stay. www.ft.com/content/4a04...

submitted 21 hours ago • 1 comment

The Vatican and Davos are the only two places where a 69-year-old would be considered a breath of fresh air ready for a long stint in office. on.ft.com/3HrRFn2

submitted 1 day ago • 2 comments

I need me an Order of the Polar Star

submitted 1 day ago • 1 comment

I'm pretty sure news organisations like the FT have a "Trump backs down" template ready to go, where they just fill in the details of whatever he has just chickened out of.

submitted 3 days ago • 5 comments

yurt glampers? president of the netherlands?

submitted 6 days ago • 21 comments

Germany in 1969 sounds like fun. One crime, 700 denunciations by citizens. From the excellent "Out of the Darkness" by Frank Trentmann

submitted 7 days ago • 1 comment

Who is going to volunteer for a White House visit if there's a decent chance it descends into this kind of ambush?

submitted 7 days ago • 5 comments

My God www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

submitted 9 days ago • 3 comments

Hard to make sense of 3 EU elections in which: - a MAGA candidate lost in Romania, but did well - centre-right won in Portugal, but hard-right is up - hard-right incumbent in 2nd place in Poland but centre-right falls short of expectations. No wonder articles trying to tie them together can't agree

submitted 9 days ago • 4 comments

Interesting (as always) from @sarahoconnorft.ft.com on women vs men experts. As a journalist you see every day the difference in approach of women vs men when it comes to providing expertise on a subject. Men are *far more* willing to opine on stuff outside their field. www.ft.com/content/eda3...

submitted 9 days ago • 1 comment

I'm a bit sceptical of the claim Sweden has more billionaires than the US per capita. I think Sweden has more billionaires THAT WE KNOW ABOUT. Most billionaires are unknown (wealth/income are private). In Sweden tax records are public, so you spot a lot more of them www.ft.com/content/d1e7...

submitted 9 days ago • 1 comment

Who has a good book recommendation? In the market for anything, with a bias for non-fiction of any sort. (It always helps to spell out WHY a book is good rather than just give its title...)

submitted 10 days ago • 21 comments

A reminder that more people are employed in the yoga industry than there are registered fishers working in the UK.

submitted 10 days ago • 51 comments

Has anyone else noticed that Google returns way fewer results than before? On a random topic you used to get dozens and dozens of pages (even if the quality was terrible towards the end). Now there are WAY fewer pages of results - maybe 3-4, and then that's it, finished. Like they cut off the tail.

submitted 10 days ago • 6 comments