RIP. One of the last things he called for was a Gaza ceasefire. It’s hard not to feel like a beacon of light has died with him in these uncertain, precarious times.

Breaking news: The European Commission is issuing burner phones and basic laptops to some US-bound staff to avoid the risk of espionage — a measure traditionally reserved for trips to China www.ft.com/content/20d0...

Markets update:
And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

Uplifting thread, like sun after days and days and days of clouds 🌤️

‘I still have nightmares’: the tourists shackled and jailed for weeks at US borders via FT: Several nations have now changed “… their travel advice and triggered a frenzy of questions in online travel forums about whether it is safe to go to the US.” enterprise-sharing.ft.com/redeem/53e61...

Deepening US consumer gloom raises stagflation fears via @FT: A Chicago Fed official said the US ‘was no longer on the “golden path” of ‘23/‘24 when inflation appeared to be returning to 2% target w/out derailing economic growth or lifting unemployment.’ on.ft.com/3Rpi8n1

A bit hit with readers. @jderbyshire.ft.com on his early brush with the philosopher behind Trump's "Dark Enlightenment" and his *fanged noumena*. Brace brace brace for the English magus of anti-democratic neoreaction www.ft.com/content/7330...

on.ft.com/4bUdd7i Howard Lutnick touts Elon Musk’s Starlink for US broadband scheme…this after a spokeswoman told The NYT that the White House had installed Starlink on its grounds to improve WiFi connectivity. It’s all getting a bit cosy between business & gov a la Indonesia under Suharto…

At popular request, we’re intro-ing a semi-regular Political Fix Q&A episode from next month 💪

So pls get in touch! Send a voicenote with your name & Q to politicalfix@ft.com - and we'll play it on the podcast 🤳 🗣️ ✉️

I'll field Qs to Stephen, Jim, Robert, Miranda, George, Anna & other FT experts!

“Note to all who get their validation from work: the workaholic is the most accepted addict of all. In fact, he and she are celebrated. Why would you want to change when the bosses and society applaud you? Work is the great permissive addiction.” www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Benedict Andersen in Imagined Communities wrote that shared media was key to a sense of belonging & the creation of nation state. If media turns this niche, belonging is fragmented & surely some will stop identifying with the nation state they’re supposed to belong to? What then? on.ft.com/3Ea205v

Call to fix palliative care before assisted dying: MPs okay assisted dying but palliative care in UK is in parlous, cash-strapped state. So isn’t a vote on assisted dying a bit like running before you can walk? Shouldn’t palliative care be sorted 1st? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Worth watching: the strange “unholy alliance” of Christian evangelicals raising money for Jewish settlers in Israel because evangelicals want to fulfill the prophecy that the 2nd coming can only happen with the return of diaspora Jews to the Holy Land www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KKK...

This is the most personal piece of writing I’ve ever had published. I hope it helps the conversation around severe mental illness & suicide & the urgency around funding mental health services ‘Daddy isn’t coming back’: surviving my partner’s suicide | Free to read on.ft.com/30iKRTr