Scoop: Tech critic Frank McCourt wants to buy TikTok semafor.com/article/05/15/…

L'attentat contre Robert Fico s'inscrit dans une séquence très préoccupante d'attaques, de complots déjoués et de harcèlement des responsables politiques. La culture démocratique de l'Europe est en danger. lesechos.fr/monde/europe/l…

this is the kind of disonformation that X is now promoting 180K views and counting

The latest information on the shooting of Slovak PM Robert Fico 👇

Updates here: trib.al/RT7G6cI

Update #Slovakia

More info coming soon. Press conference by Interior & Health Ministries from Banska Bystrica, where PM Fico is hospitalized, starting in a few minutes (5PM CET)

🚨🇺🇲🇺🇦 BREAKING: Secretary Blinken announces provision of $2 billion in Foreign Military Financing for Ukraine. There was just $1.6b in the Supplemental, so this would include some previously appropriated unobligated funds as well.

He also said that the money would be used to

Disinformation is already in full swing around the shooting of Robert Fico.

To be clear: There is no credible report out there on the motive, ID of shooter etc.

Le Pen declines Macron’s offer for a TV debate ahead of the EU election. You could say this is because she wants to avoid another humiliation… or that her party sees nothing to gain given its high polls. In any case, another worrying sign for France

« L’extrême droite n’est pas devenue moins radicale qu’à l’époque de Jean-Marie Le Pen, mais elle est plus difficile à combattre » – via Le Monde lemonde.fr/idees/article/…

It’s less the Commission at this stage than Berlin, Stockholm and a cohort of smaller nations which don’t want beef with China - cf Scholz/Kristersson yesterday saying tariffs on EVs were “stupid.” It’s going to be a long five years as this clash plays out

Could the fact that the European Commission was until not long ago pushing its own foreign agents law have anything to do with the discomfort?

This is sadly exactly right. Biden’s transatlanticism is a red herring - it is the exception not the rule. Après lui, the muscle memory will grow even weaker

Alberto right that EU has totally failed to Europeanize its debate in past 5 years. This down to MS that killed off transnational lists, legislative initiative in Plt, etc. But (optimistically) I believe it is still happening:VdL running as spitzen even if she doesn't have to,etc

German and Swedish leaders warn against 'stupid' tariffs on Chinese electric cars.

'We don't want to dismantle global trade, that's a stupid idea ... Punitive tariffs as a one-size-fits-all solution is not a good idea for importing and exporting countries,' said Ulf Kristersson.

“More than 90 French articles were altered with the following instruction in English: “Please rewrite this article taking a conservative stance against the liberal policies of the Macron administration in favour of working-class French citizens.””

economist.com/science-and-te…

There’s a very understandable concern in some large EU countries that car exports to China will suffer if Brussels hits the EV sector. But market share in China is already shrinking, so a forward-looking approach is needed (am I doing diplomatese correctly?)