Britain Should Seek to Rejoin EU, Says Civil Servant Who Led Brexit Department

THE GUARDIAN: Philip Rycroft says promises on issues from economics to immigration have not lived up to expectations

Screenshot taken from this Guardian article. | Anti-Brexit protesters outside the Houses of Parliament in April. Photograph: James Veysey/Shutterstock
Britain should start talking about rejoining the EU, according to a former senior civil servant who ran the Brexit department.

Philip Rycroft, who was permanent secretary of the Department for Exiting the EU, said the “argument was there to be won” about going back into Europe, adding that a “clear-headed appraisal of what is in the country’s best interests” was needed. However, he said rejoining the bloc could be a “long and windy” road.

“Most economic analysis suggests that we have taken a significant hit to GDP as a result of leaving the single market,” he wrote in the Times. “The precise number, and the impact on our export performance to the EU and beyond, might be subject to debate, but no one can credibly claim that we have marched to the sunny uplands of sustained economic growth as a consequence of Brexit.”

Rycroft said the promises of the Brexit campaign on issues from economics to immigration had not lived up to expectations. “The great promise of a comprehensive trade deal with the USA now seems like an impossible dream,” he said.

“Chill winds don’t just blow through the international trading order. The postwar certainties that underpinned our security as a nation are visibly crumbling. With a hot war on the European mainland perpetrated by a revanchist Russia and an increasingly disengaged America, it is beyond peradventure that we must look to solidarity with our friends and neighbours in Europe to secure our defences.”

He concluded: “The argument is there to be won. It is time to talk about rejoining. It might be time to knock on the EU’s door.” » | Rowena Mason and Lisa O’Carroll | Friday, April 24, 2026

It is to be hoped that this gentleman will apologize to the British electorate for leading them down the primrose path! — © Mark Alexander

ran War Has Drained U.S. Supplies of Critical, Costly Weapons

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The Pentagon’s rush to rearm its Mideast forces makes it less ready to confront potential adversaries like Russia and China, administration and congressional officials say.

Since the Iran war began in late February, the United States has burned through around 1,100 of its long-range stealth cruise missiles built for a war with China, close to the total number remaining in the U.S. stockpile. The military has fired off more than 1,000 Tomahawk cruise missiles, roughly 10 times the number it currently buys each year.

The Pentagon used more than 1,200 Patriot interceptor missiles in the war, at more than $4 million a pop, and more than 1,000 Precision Strike and ATACMS ground-based missiles, leaving inventories worrisomely low, according to internal Defense Department estimates and congressional officials.

The Iran war has significantly drained much of the U.S. military’s global supply of munitions, and forced the Pentagon to rush bombs, missiles and other hardware to the Middle East from commands in Asia and Europe. The drawdowns have left these regional commands less ready to confront potential adversaries like Russia and China, and it has forced the United States to find ways to scale up production to address the depletions, Trump administration and congressional officials say.

The conflict has also underscored the Pentagon’s overreliance on excessively expensive missiles and munitions, especially air-defense interceptors, as well as concerns about whether the defense industry can develop cheaper arms, especially attack drones, far more quickly. » | Eric Schmitt and Jonathan Swan | Reporting from Washington | Thursday, April 23, 2026

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Trump Says He Will ‘Probably Put a Big Tariff on the UK’ If It Doesn’t Drop Digital Services Tax

THE GUARDIAN: US president accuses UK of thinking it can ‘make an easy buck’ from US tech companies, weeks after warning that UK–US trade deal can be changed

Donald Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on the UK if it does not drop its digital services tax on US social media firms.

The digital services tax, introduced in 2020, imposes a 2% levy on the revenues of several major US tech companies.

Speaking to reporters from the Oval Office on Thursday, the US president said: “We’ve been looking at it and we can meet that very easily by just putting a big tariff on the UK, so they better be careful.

“If they don’t drop the tax, we’ll probably put a big tariff on the UK.”

The tax targets companies whose worldwide revenues from digital activities exceed £500m ($673m), with more than £25m of the revenues from UK users.

Trump argued the laws, which have long been a source of tension in US-UK relations, targeted “top companies in the world”. » | Press Association | Friday, April 24, 2026

150 Millionen Barrel: Jakarta vereinbart große Ölimporte aus Russland

BERLINER ZEITUNG: Indonesiens Präsident Prabowo Subianto vereinbarte die Lieferung nach einem Treffen mit Wladimir Putin in Moskau. Die Einfuhr soll den Bedarf bis Jahresende sichern.

Indonesien will in diesem Jahr 150 Millionen Barrel Rohöl aus Russland einführen. Das sagte Vize-Energieminister Yuliot Tanjung am Freitag laut Reuters vor Journalisten. „Es wurde vereinbart, dass die Gesamtmenge an Rohöl, die wir aus Russland importieren werden, bei rund 150 Millionen Barrel liegt, um unseren Bedarf bis Jahresende zu decken“, sagte Yuliot. Offen sei nur noch die Abwicklung der Einfuhr.

Die Vereinbarung folgt auf ein Treffen von Präsident Prabowo Subianto mit dem russischen Präsidenten Wladimir Putin in Moskau in der Vorwoche. Der Sondergesandte des Präsidenten für Energie und Umwelt, Hashim Djojohadikusumo, erklärte am Donnerstag laut der staatlichen indonesischen Nachrichtenagentur Antara, Russland habe zunächst zugesagt, 100 Millionen Barrel zu einem Sonderpreis zu liefern sowie weitere 50 Millionen Barrel bei Bedarf. Djojohadikusumo ist der Bruder des Präsidenten. Über das Liefervolumen für Flüssiggas sei noch nicht entschieden, sagte Yuliot laut Reuters. » | Peter Steiniger | Freitag, 24. April 2026

Inside Putin’s Russia: ‘We’re Cut Off from the Outside World’ | BBC News

Apr 24, 2026 | In Putin’s Russia, authorities are increasing repressions on society, including bans on protests and restrictions on how people access the internet.

Access to global messaging apps has been restricted and there are widespread disruptions, even shutdowns of mobile internet.

Russian officials claim that internet curbs are necessary to keep the public safe. They declare the ultimate goal: a “sovereign internet” for a “sovereign Russia”.

As the BBC’s Russia editor Steve Rosenberg explains in this special report from Moscow and the city of Vladimir, Russia’s bright future now looks more like its repressive Soviet past.

Steve Rosenberg: Russian Paper Calls Donald Trump a "Lame Duck in a Political Quagmire of His Own Making."

Apr 24, 2026 | One of today's Russian newspapers suggests that Donald Trump “remains an important foreign policy resource for Moscow. But the value of this resource has gone down & will continue to fall, as the Midterms get closer.”

Trump Will Be Enjoying His Demise, Because He Is Profiting From It

April 23, 2026 | How is Barron Trump, with learning difficulties, suddenly worth $120m? asks The Grayzone's Max Blumenthal. He's cashing in, like others around his father raking in billions, from insider knowledge and trading

A New Era and New Leadership: The Generals Who Are Running Iran

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ushered in a new form of collective leadership in the country, with more power for the Revolutionary Guards.

When Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ruled Iran as the supreme leader, he exerted absolute power over all decisions about war, peace and negotiations with the United States. His son and successor does not play the same role.

Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, the son, is an elusive figure who has not been seen and whose voice has not been heard since he was appointed in March. Instead, a battle-hardened collective of commanders in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and those aligned with them are the key decision makers on matters of security, war and diplomacy.

“Mojtaba is managing the country as though he is the director of the board,” said Abdolreza Davari, a politician who served as senior adviser to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad when he was president and knows Mr. Khamenei.

“He relies heavily on the advice and guidance of the board members, and they collectively make all the decisions,” Mr. Davari said in a phone interview from Tehran. “The generals are the board members.”

This account of Iran’s new power structure is based on interviews with six senior Iranian officials, two former officials, two members of the Revolutionary Guards, a senior cleric familiar with the inner workings of the system and three individuals who know Mr. Khamenei well. Nine other individuals with ties to the Guards and the government also described the command structure. They all spoke on the condition they not be identified because they were discussing sensitive matters of state. » | Farnaz Fassihi | Farnaz Fassihi has covered Iran for three decades. For this article, she interviewed 23 people in Iran, including senior officials, members of the Revolutionary Guards and individuals with ties to Ali and Mojtaba Khamenei. | Thursday, April 23, 2026

EU Risks Fallout with US over Trump-linked Balkans Pipeline Plan

THE GUARDIAN: Exclusive: Brussels seeks to stall awarding of contract to firm fronted by US president’s lawyer in letter seen by Guardian

The EU risks a confrontation with Donald Trump after it sought to stall the awarding of a lucrative Balkans pipeline contract to a company fronted by his personal lawyer, documents seen by the Guardian show.

Brussels has clashed with Trump over trade, Ukraine and military spending, but the intervention in the Southern Interconnection pipeline project appears to mark the first time it has challenged a commercial venture by those close to the president.

The pipeline will run through Bosnia and Herzegovina. Under what Bosnian sources say have been months of pressure from US officials, its leaders have been moving quickly to award the contract to a previously little-known company based in Wyoming.

AAFS Infrastructure and Energy was incorporated in November last year and has not disclosed its owners. It is fronted by two leading members of Trump’s campaign to overturn his 2020 election defeat: Jesse Binnall, a lawyer who defended him against allegations of inciting the Capitol riots after his defeat, and Joe Flynn, the brother of the president’s former national security adviser.

Despite lacking any apparent track record, AAFS is planning to invest $1.5bn in the pipeline and other Bosnian infrastructure projects, its local representative has said.

In March, lawmakers approved legislation that Transparency International said would set a “dangerous precedent” by stipulating that the contract must go to AAFS without a tender. » | Tom Burgis I Sarajevo | Thursday, April 23, 2026

Bessent Backs Financial Support for Oil-Rich U.A.E.

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The Treasury secretary said that currency swap line would benefit both the United Arab Emirates and the United States.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday that he backed the idea of providing economic support in the form of a currency swap to the United Arab Emirates, an oil-rich ally that has been contending with economic fallout from the war in Iran.
Speaking at a Senate hearing, Mr. Bessent said that the Emirates, along with several other countries in the Persian Gulf and Asia, had inquired about the possibility of a swap. He said such a maneuver would prevent the disorderly sale of U.S. assets as nations look to secure access to dollars. The war in Iran has damaged oil and gas infrastructure throughout the Middle East, dealing a blow to economies such as the Emirates that rely on the Strait of Hormuz to transport crude around the world.

The Treasury secretary said that providing a currency swap to the Emirates could benefit the United States by stabilizing foreign exchange markets and protecting American assets around the world. He added that it could be provided by the Federal Reserve or by the Treasury Department, which can deploy its Exchange Stabilization Fund to buy another nation’s currency.

“Swap lines, whether it’s from the Federal Reserve or the Treasury, are to maintain order in the dollar funding markets and to prevent the sale of the U.S. assets in a disorderly way,” Mr. Bessent said. “The swap line would both benefit the U.A.E. and the U.S.” » | Alan Rappeport | Reporting from Washington | Wednesday, April 22, 2026

This is astonishing indeed! No money can be found to help hard-pressed Americans, but billions can be found to help an oil-rich nation. It is more especially astonishing given the fact that the USA is on its uppers and this illegal war, in addition, is costing billions per week. Trump and his chums in the regime appear to have very queer priorities. Of course, if this illegal war had not been started, the UAE’s economy wouldn’t be suffering today. That the country now needs help is only because of Trump’s illegal and unnecessary war on Iran. It’s a war that should never have been started and waged. — © Mark Alexander

Iran Again Tightens Its Grip on Shipping in the Strait of Hormuz

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Traffic in the strait has all but halted as Iran renews its attacks, striking two vessels on Wednesday. More than 300 ships linked to Iran have passed through the strait since the war began.

The number of ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz has become a barometer of how the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran is affecting the global economy.

On Tuesday, after nearly eight weeks of war, that number was one, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. Then Wednesday, more ships tried and Iran attacked two cargo vessels in the strait.

“They are reminding us that their threats to attack ships are genuine, and that’s enough to suppress traffic through the strait,” said Rosemary Kelanic, a director at Defense Priorities, a research organization focused on foreign affairs. Ships linked to Iran have passed through the strait, ship tracking data shows.

The latest attacks show that Tehran still has a stranglehold on the strait that allows it to ratchet up the pain on the global economy, even though the U.S. military has struck some 13,000 targets in Iran and set up a naval blockade against it. This strategic move gives Iran leverage in any talks with the United States to end the war. » | Peter Eavis | Wednesday, April 22, 2026

Iran-Krieg, Schuldenrekord, Tabubruch: Wie Trump eine „Pleite der USA“ provoziert

April 22, 2026

Trump Holds the American People in Total Contempt

THE NEW YORK TIMES — OPINION: To say that President Trump is corrupt is to somehow understate the size, scope and magnitude of his corruption.

It is as if you were to describe a modern thermonuclear device as a “bomb.” That is true enough, but it is not quite the truth. It does not capture the nature of the thing in full.

So it goes for Trump’s corruption, which is so vast as to be a new phenomenon in American politics. The president and his family have leveraged his office to the tune of nearly $4 billion. They have received hundreds of millions of dollars from a network of branded cryptocurrency assets. Investors include large corporations, foreign nationals and state actors hoping to curry favor with the administration.

One such actor, according to The Wall Street Journal, was Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, brother and national security adviser to the president the United Arab Emirates. Tahnoon’s investment fund purchased a half-billion-dollar stake in the Trump family’s crypto fund, World Liberty Financial, just days before Trump’s second inauguration. Tahnoon has since successfully lobbied the White House for U.A.E. access to America’s most advanced A.I. chips, with a large portion going to Tahnoon’s A.I. company. » | Jamelle Bouie | Opinion Columnist | Wednesday, April 22, 2026

Trump Threatens Companies Not to Seek Tariff Refunds, after Supreme Court Ruled Them Illegal

Apr 22, 2026 | Donald Trump said he’d remember companies that decline to seek refunds on duties paid after the Supreme Court struck down a large swath of his tariffs. In February, the Supreme Court ruled against Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose so-called “reciprocal” tariffs on imports from nearly every country. That ruling set the stage for a complicated task that could become the largest repayment by the US government in its history.

Trump’s comments come a day after US Customs and Border Protection launched a web portal for importers to file requests for refunds that could total more than $160 billion. Yet, the process is still fraught with uncertainty.


ANTHONY DAVIS can be supported on Patreon here.

Steve Rosenberg: Russian Press Slams Internet Restrictions and Decision to Ban a Street Protest

Apr 22, 2026 | Today one Russian paper criticises the authorities over internet restrictions and for poor communication with citizens: “[It] causes the population to feel we are not respected, that strange games are being played with us.” Plus, a bizarre interview with Lenin's “spirit” on his birthday.

How Apple Became a $4 Trillion Company Under Tim Cook

THE NEW YORK TIMES: If the Steve Jobs era was defined by technological innovation, the Tim Cook period was one of exceptional financial growth.

When Tim Cook took over Apple in 2011, leaders from Silicon Valley to Wall Street predicted that the company’s best days were behind it. They feared that without Steve Jobs, Apple’s innovative chief executive, the company would falter.

They were wrong.

Over 15 years, Mr. Cook has engineered Apple’s rise from a Silicon Valley darling worth $350 billion into a cash-generating giant worth $4 trillion. The company’s annual revenue quadrupled, and its profits rose fourfold. The iPhone became ubiquitous, the Apple Watch proliferated, and the company developed credit cards and TV shows.

Apple’s growth is a testament to how Mr. Cook turned the iPhone into one of history’s best-selling products. Introduced by Mr. Jobs in 2007, the iPhone started the smartphone revolution, changing the way people work, socialize and travel. But Apple was selling only 72 million iPhones a year when Mr. Jobs died and Mr. Cook took over.

Two years later, Mr. Cook struck a deal with China’s largest wireless company, China Mobile. By the end of that year, Apple had more than doubled the number of iPhones it sold, and China was cementing itself as the company’s largest market after the United States. » | Tripp Mickle and Karl Russell | Tripp Mickle reported from San Francisco, and Karl Russell from New York. | Tuesday, April 21, 2026

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El programa ‘Visión 2030’ de Arabia Saudita reevalúa sus prioridades

THE NEW YORK : Las autoridades de Arabia Saudita anunciaron una nueva estrategia para el fondo soberano del país, de aproximadamente 1 billón de dólares, y enfatizaron que en el futuro se centrarán en la “eficiencia”.

Imagen tomada de este artículo | El príncipe heredero saudí, Mohammed bin Salman, en Washington el pasado otoño. Los planes y ambiciones del príncipe han crecido más rápidamente que la capacidad financiera del Estado. | Credit... Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times
Hace 10 años, un príncipe de 30 años llamado Mohammed bin Salman anunció planes ambiciosos para transformar Arabia Saudita, al declarar que pondría fin a su “adicción” al petróleo.

Desde entonces, una cascada de cambios ha sacudido el conservador reino islámico. Las mujeres —que antes tenían prohibido conducir— ahora conducen ellas mismas a sus trabajos como camareras, dependientas y capitalistas de riesgo. El desempleo ha disminuido a medida que los saudíes se incorporan a empleos de bajos ingresos que antes ocupaban extranjeros. Y la policía religiosa del reino prácticamente ha desaparecido.

Sin embargo, la dependencia de Arabia Saudita del petróleo ha resultado más difícil de superar. Cuando los precios del petróleo subieron en 2021 y 2022, aumentando los ingresos del gobierno, se produjo una avalancha de espléndidos proyectos: una ciudad de esquí de montaña, un rascacielos en forma de cubo, una nueva liga de golf. Y cuando, luego, los precios del petróleo cayeron, con lo que se puso a prueba las finanzas del gobierno, los funcionarios empezaron a buscar ahorros, cancelando, retrasando y reduciendo planes que habían resultado ser demasiado grandiosos. » | Por Vivian Nereim | Reportando desde Riad, Arabia Saudita | martes 21 de abril de 2026

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Sicherheitsexperte Neumann sieht Trump in Sackgasse und warnt vor massiven Folgen | ntv

Apr 21, 2026 | Neumann: USA in der Klemme

Kaum geöffnet, schon wieder dicht: Die Straße von Hormus sorgt erneut für Chaos. Der Politikwissenschaftler und Sicherheitsexperte Peter Neumann warnt vor massiven Folgen - von steigenden Ölpreisen bis hin zu einer möglichen Weltwirtschaftskrise - und sieht Trump in einer Sackgasse.

Ingénieur, champion de natation... Qui est John Ternus, l’homme qui va succéder à Tim Cook à la tête d’Apple ?

LE FIGARO : PORTRAIT - Cet ingénieur quinquagénaire, entré dans le groupe californien en 2001, a vu ses missions évoluer en 2025 et a été davantage mis en avant dans les conférences d’Apple.

De l’ombre à la lumière. Depuis l’automne dernier, son nom est sur toutes les lèvres dans la Silicon Valley. John Ternus, vice-président senior de l’ingénierie produit d’Apple, va succéder en septembre prochain à Tim Cook à la tête du groupe, selon un communiqué de la firme publié lundi soir.

Après quatorze ans à la tête de la firme à la pomme, celui qui avait succédé en 2011 à Steve Jobs quelques mois avant sa disparition va donc passer le flambeau à la fin de l’été 2026. Tim Cook va devenir président du conseil d’administration. » | Par Keren Lentschner | lundi 20 avril 2026

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Strategic Autonomy: Can Europe Break Free from the US?

Aug 20, 2026 | Europe is reassessing its place in a rapidly destabilizing world.

A stark warning from Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney — that reliance on the United States has become a “weakness” — is now echoing across Europe, where leaders are confronting growing uncertainty about Washington’s long-term commitments.

At a key meeting in Poland, Emmanuel Macron and Donald Tusk discussed deeper defense cooperation, including nuclear deterrence coordination and joint military projects.

The push reflects a broader debate over “strategic autonomy” — Europe’s ability to defend itself and act independently on the global stage — as tensions with Russia persist and divisions widen over conflicts such as the war involving Iran.

But how realistic is Europe’s ambition to become a true geopolitical power? And can it reduce its dependence on the United States without weakening its own security?

We speak to Steven Everts, director of the European Union Institute for Security Studies.