Researchers call them the "American blondes" -- bright-eyed environmentalists tweeting passionately in support of the #UAE and its handling of the forthcoming #COP28 climate summit. The only problem? They are not real. with Roland Lloyd Parry AFP News Agency AFP Fact Check 🔎 news.yahoo.com/fake-twitter-b…

The dignified—faced with the Trump/Boris—find innovative ways to not quite say “liar”:

One of the most senior figures in French rightwing Republicans party thinks rioters underwent a 'regression towards their ethnic roots'. And to make his point further, he calls them 'savages'. P.S. (mostly white) Yellow Vests smashed up the Arc de Triomphe in 2018

Intriguing tidbit. Only 39% of French see India favorably, down from 70% in 2008. Views of India Lean Positive Across 23 Countries | Pew Research Center

Ali Bongo, whose family ruled Gabon for 55 years, was overthrown today. I did not know he cut a 1978 funk record with James Brown's ex-manager. youtube.com/watch?v=IMaIey…

Extraordinary. You can barely tell which language is the original

Me trying to make sense of the photos everyone talked about in France this week for CNN. ‘Why Macron wants you to see his bulging biceps’. edition.cnn.com/2024/03/22/opi…

Water tests in the Seine in Paris show the river is still too dirty to swim in, two months before the start of the Paris Olympics, when it is set to be used by athletes, data from a charity showed. u.afp.com/5sXQ by Adam Plowright #AFPSports

France likes to honour its late pioneers and visionaries, but the aristocratic Frenchman who founded the modern Olympics is proving to be a troublesome figure for organisers of the Paris 2024 Games ⬇️ u.afp.com/5hw9 ✍️ Adam Plowright

Seine suspense as Paris counts down to Olympics: u.afp.com/5hmN by AFP News Agency's Adam Plowright

Once seen as a "celebration of manly virtue" without women athletes, the modern Olympics will reach gender parity for the first time during this year's Paris Games, 128 years since its first edition ⬇️ u.afp.com/5hBq Adam Plowright for #AFPSports

There is a growing recognition that government regulation matters in a world worried about climate. The boss of ExxonMobil, America’s biggest oil-and-gas company, advocated for such an intervention at the UN’s annual climate summit this week econ.st/3ObGteA 👇

Truly remarkable that leading US oil and gas figures more in favour of regulation than the incoming Trump administration

It’s only because of France that the Americans aren’t playing cricket and singing God Save the King.

It’s clear from this that the only difference between Steve Witkoff’s and Vladmir Putin’s views on the war in Ukraine is that Putin actually knows the names of all the five Ukrainian regions he wants to keep.

Pekka Kallioniemi Another pearl ;)

Just listen to the billionaires and think long-term, folks. Your small business with 150 American employees that depends on inexpensive parts from China will go out of business now, but when we re-shore the sweatshops in five years there will be jobs there for all of you.

"I assure you that I have made this decision carefully, rationally, and by relying on as much empirical data as possible". Bill Ackman endorsing Trump last year.

If it weren't for the tariffs, this would be one of the biggest stories in the world right now. From Bloomberg economist David Wilcox:

Joint statement on Gaza from AFP News Agency, The Associated Press, BBC News (World) and Reuters