Eliot Higgins

Middle East crisis live: Iran’s president apologises to neighbouring countries as Israel pounds Tehran Masoud Pezeshkian says no more attacks against neighbouring countries unless they were the source of an attack against Iran

Sorry we bombed you.

The latest purge of the Shoigu clan – Riddle Russia Andrey Pertsev sums up the political week (March 2−6)

The closest associate of Sergei Shoigu, Ruslan Tsalikov, has been detained and placed under house arrest. Is the former minister of defense Shoigu the next one?

ridl.io/the-latest-p...

Trump: "A lot of our people were walking around without legs"

Strong Message Here - Get Real (with Hugo Rifkind) - BBC Sounds Who is a 'real person' in politics? How do politicians use language to change reality?

What a strange and wonderful life I’ve ended up with, in which I get to sit down and shoot the shit with the actual Armando Iannucci. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

So it's his legacy? I don't think he's really interested in legacy. He wants the accolades in real time because he won't be around to enjoy them when he is dead. Putin and Xi are somewhat different because they see themselves as the inheritors of great history - millennia-long [history] in the case of China. For Trump, it is just Trump. He completely trashes every other American leader - he doesn't have a good word for any of them.

This interview of Fiona Hill by @meganjgibson.bsky.social is excellent and full of insight and zingers such as this on whether Trump is driven by his legacy
www.newstatesman.com/internationa...

Justice Dept. Pushes for Charges Against Cuban Leaders

NYT: "If the administration does in fact seek charges against Cuba’s leaders to facilitate a snatch-and-grab operation inside Cuba like that against Mr. Maduro, it would be an extraordinary use of the criminal justice system to advance the White House’s geopolitical agenda."

The Secretary of State's popped in because there's not much going on in his department

For some reason Condoleezza Rice is in Trump's "Saving College Sports" roundtable and she looks delighted about it

At least 13 hospitals and health facilities hit during attacks on Iran, WHO says Global health body investigating reports that four medics are among the 1,230 people killed in Iran since start of war

The US and Israel have bombed at least 13 hospitals and health facilities in Iran and one in Lebanon.

It’s Ukraine’s turn to ask if we even said “thank you”.

Kamala Harris: "I predicted a lot about what's happening right now. I'm not here to say 'I told you so,' but we did see it coming."

What was the name of that Star Trek movie where captain Kirk and all the old guys are hanging out with the next generation crew for One Last Ride

Tragedy and farce, at the same time.

Well, gas is expensive, and food is expensive, and we’re doing a war nobody wants, but at least there are no jobs

Iceland locks in on date for EU referendum | Euractiv As a member of the European Economic Area, Iceland is already aligned with much of the bloc's legislation

Just announced: Iceland has urgently moved up its referendum to join the European Union - to 29 August.

A reminder: 🇮🇸 is in many ways already a non-voting 🇪🇺 member because of the EEA. This would give them voting power to shape the laws they have to follow.

it's always nice to be reminded of how incredible a public speaker Barack Obama is. here's part of his eulogy of Jesse Jackson

Exclusive: Since the war began, Russia has passed Iran the locations of U.S. military assets, including warships and aircraft.

The assistance signals that the conflict now features one of America’s chief nuclear-armed competitors. https://wapo.st/47vAwD9

A one month chart of oil prices

Oil prices are going parabolic. This is insane.

This shows the sort of data that Proton Mail, which prides itself both on end-to-end encryption and that it's only governed by Swiss privacy law, can provide to third parties. In this case, the FBI. @evystadium.bsky.social has more.

Scoop by @josephcox.bsky.social: www.404media.co/proton-mail-...

I’m a little confused because the economists on my timeline are like “oh yeah we’re facing a generational energy crisis because Trump is a madman who started a war he can’t control” while the politicians are like “it’s important to make clear we support the troops until it all blows over next week”

Finally, we're getting a sequel to Team America - World Police

They think, or at least pretend to think, that this doesn’t sound like obvious cope to everyone in the world

It’s an entire White House comms shop built on the premise of “my hot girlfriend lives in Canada” being believed by normal people

Stoic Kristi Noem Bears Firing With Stiff Upper Lip, Chin, Cheeks, Forehead

Stoic Kristi Noem Bears Firing With Stiff Upper Lip, Chin, Cheeks, Forehead

In-between being bombed to death I expect

I'm working on a book proposal at the moment, the core thesis of which is "Democracy fails not when lies spread, but when verified reality can no longer alter incentive structures." and we're seeing it happen in real time. Which is good for the book, but bad for democracy.

Even if you call out the lies it doesn't matter, because any of the institutions responsible for any sort of accountability are completely worthless, so there's no cost to lying.

It's really a reflection of how much the media and government has been captured by MAGA, you don't even have to lie well anymore.

😉

It's really unfair to compare this to Iraq in 2003, at least then they had the decency to put some effort into their lies and deception.

Hey Tennessee-Israel caucus chair @CepickyTn64 — remember yesterday when you told us “the people of 🇺🇸 don’t want regime change”?

Here’s your guy today saying that’s now the plan (after previously admitting they killed all the next guys)