Paul de Bendern
paul12.bsky.social
Paul de Bendern
@paul12.bsky.social
Works & interested in all things media, as well as global affairs. Previously Reuters bureau chief India, Turkey, North Africa, Peru, Scandinavia.
Trump Declares Dubious Emergencies to Amass Power, Scholars Say www.nytimes.com/2025/06/10/u...
Trump Declares Dubious Emergencies to Amass Power, Scholars Say
In disputes over protests, deportations and tariffs, the president has invoked statutes that may not provide him with the authority he claims.
www.nytimes.com
June 10, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Reposted by Paul de Bendern
@lynseyaddario.bsky.social and @anneapplebaum.bsky.social capture the desperation of tens of thousands of refugees fleeing Sudan’s catastrophic civil war, which has caused the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. And that crisis has gotten worse due to the Trump admin's foreign aid cuts. #Velshi
New photo-essay from Lynsey Addario and Anne Applebaum highlights desperation of Sudanese refugees
Pulitzer prize-winning journalists Lynsey Addario and Anne Applebaum capture the images, stories, and desperation of tens of thousands of refugees fleeing Sudan’s catastrophic civil war, which has caused the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. And that crisis has only gotten worse due to the Trump administration’s massive cuts to foreign humanitarian aid.
www.msnbc.com
May 17, 2025 at 7:12 PM
Reposted by Paul de Bendern
If the IRS deprives Harvard of its tax-exempt status, that's very bad for Harvard but it's also a catastrophe for the IRS. Instead of a neutral agency that enforces tax law, it will become a tool of partisan warfare. It may never recover.
April 17, 2025 at 10:32 AM
Reposted by Paul de Bendern
From an operational security perspective, this is the highest level of fuckup imaginable. These people cannot keep America safe.
The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans
U.S. national-security leaders included me in a group chat about upcoming military strikes in Yemen. I didn’t think it could be real. Then the bombs started falling.
www.theatlantic.com
March 24, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Trump terminates program tracking mass abductions of Ukrainian children
March 18, 2025 at 10:27 PM
Reposted by Paul de Bendern
It's important to recognize that this shutdown coincides with Russian outlet Sputnik's Africa wide expansion. While the VOA offers editorial independence for language departments, Sputnik is a pro-Moscow bullhorn delivering dictator friendly news hardly different from African state propaganda.
Today, Russian state media outlet Sputnik officially opened a new broadcast center or "Africa hub" in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. A ceremony for the launch was attended by Ethiopian parliamentary speaker Agegnehu Teshager, and Valentina Matvienko, Russia's Federation Council speaker.

The event is...
March 17, 2025 at 1:55 AM
Reposted by Paul de Bendern
The European Commission is figuring out how it could help Ukraine secure satellite communication capacity in the wake of Elon Musk reportedly threatening to pull Kyiv's access to his Starlink network.
EU to help Ukraine replace Musk’s Starlink
The European Commission is figuring out how it could help Ukraine secure satellite communication capacity in the wake of Elon Musk reportedly threatening to pull Kyiv’s access to his Starlink…
www.politico.eu
March 2, 2025 at 8:45 AM
Reposted by Paul de Bendern
Israel cuts off humanitarian supplies to Gaza as it seeks to change ceasefire deal
Israel cuts off humanitarian supplies to Gaza as it seeks to change ceasefire deal
Netanyahu’s office says it is imposing blockade as Hamas will not accept plan that Israel says US envoy put forward Israel has cut off humanitarian supplies to Gaza in an effort to pressure Hamas into accepting a change in the ceasefire agreement to…
www.theguardian.com
March 2, 2025 at 9:22 AM
Reposted by Paul de Bendern
SCOOP: Kash Patel—whom Donald Trump has nominated to head the FBI—took $25,000 from a production company with ties to Russia propaganda activity to appear in an anti-FBI docuseries.
Kash Patel Took $25,000 From Russia-Linked Firm to Appear on an Anti-FBI TV Series
The documentary was produced by a filmmaker tied to Russian propaganda efforts.
www.motherjones.com
February 7, 2025 at 9:44 PM
Trump quashing democratic institutions like Hungary’s Orban www.nytimes.com/2025/02/05/u...
Trump Brazenly Defies Laws in Escalating Executive Power Grab
In the radical opening weeks of his second term, President Trump has appeared to feel little constraint by any need to show respect for the rule of law.
www.nytimes.com
February 5, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Meta is ushering in a ‘world without facts’, says Nobel peace prize winner
January 8, 2025 at 5:44 PM
‘It’s not our job to make photos that are easy to look at’: the female photographers exposing the cost of conflict in 2024 @lynseyaddario.bsky.social @theguardian.com
December 30, 2024 at 11:23 PM
Reposted by Paul de Bendern
More than 600,000 Syrians died during 13 years of civil war.

At least 100,000 more went missing.

At morgues, prisons and hospitals, I met dozens of mothers searching for answers.

Read more @nytimes.com

www.nytimes.com/2024/12/20/m...
In Search of Loved Ones, Syrian Women Face Horror of Assad’s Regime
In Syria, women begin to pick up the pieces of a broken nation.
www.nytimes.com
December 21, 2024 at 7:18 PM
Reposted by Paul de Bendern
Pete Hegseth has published three books in four years. Jonathan Chait spent the last week reading them—and concluded that Hegseth is almost certainly the most dangerous of Trump's cabinet picks. theatln.tc/80Muc59S
November 23, 2024 at 5:13 PM