Stanley Pignal
@spignal.bsky.social
Charlemagne columnist & Brussels bureau chief, The Economist.
Past stints in Paris, Mumbai, London. Français. Personal feed.
Bio 👇. https://medium.com/@spignal/stanley-pignal-bio-2acd9b705ceb
Charlemagne@economist.com
Past stints in Paris, Mumbai, London. Français. Personal feed.
Bio 👇. https://medium.com/@spignal/stanley-pignal-bio-2acd9b705ceb
Charlemagne@economist.com
I have two missions in life:
- securing world peace
- dissuading people from organising a "quick preparatory call ahead of next week's panel".
- securing world peace
- dissuading people from organising a "quick preparatory call ahead of next week's panel".
November 10, 2025 at 10:06 AM
I have two missions in life:
- securing world peace
- dissuading people from organising a "quick preparatory call ahead of next week's panel".
- securing world peace
- dissuading people from organising a "quick preparatory call ahead of next week's panel".
COP30 boss: "Rich countries have lost enthusiasm for tackling climate crisis" and praises China.
Chinese renewables are great, but you have to be disconnected from reality to miss the wrenching change EU in particular has signed up to & China's CO2 trajectory.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Chinese renewables are great, but you have to be disconnected from reality to miss the wrenching change EU in particular has signed up to & China's CO2 trajectory.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
November 10, 2025 at 8:10 AM
COP30 boss: "Rich countries have lost enthusiasm for tackling climate crisis" and praises China.
Chinese renewables are great, but you have to be disconnected from reality to miss the wrenching change EU in particular has signed up to & China's CO2 trajectory.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Chinese renewables are great, but you have to be disconnected from reality to miss the wrenching change EU in particular has signed up to & China's CO2 trajectory.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Only one woman won the Nobel Prize in Literature between 1945 and 1991. Nelly Sachs was awarded the prize in 1966 -shared with a man.
November 9, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Only one woman won the Nobel Prize in Literature between 1945 and 1991. Nelly Sachs was awarded the prize in 1966 -shared with a man.
It's the annual "Night where Brexit never happened*" in Brussels. Geoff Meade and Jacki Davis in fine form at the Press Revue. 🇬🇧🇪🇺
*Courtesy @sbeverts.bsky.social
*Courtesy @sbeverts.bsky.social
November 8, 2025 at 7:30 PM
It's the annual "Night where Brexit never happened*" in Brussels. Geoff Meade and Jacki Davis in fine form at the Press Revue. 🇬🇧🇪🇺
*Courtesy @sbeverts.bsky.social
*Courtesy @sbeverts.bsky.social
My current and future reading line-up, in order. If my calculations are correct, this will take me to the end of the year.
November 7, 2025 at 10:03 AM
My current and future reading line-up, in order. If my calculations are correct, this will take me to the end of the year.
I have been meaning to read this for about 25 years. Alas it seems more relevant than ever. See you in 726 pages!
November 6, 2025 at 11:26 AM
I have been meaning to read this for about 25 years. Alas it seems more relevant than ever. See you in 726 pages!
This is terrific. The Line is a bonkers project. Understanding it requires a grasp of politics, engineering, architecture and organisational psychology -- masterfully unpacked here.
NEW: The End of the Line: the centrepiece of Saudi Arabia’s Neom gigaproject - a 500m tall, 170km long wall-like building intended ultimately to house 9 million people - can’t get out of the ground, say more than 20 former Neom architects, engineers and senior executives.
ig.ft.com/saudi-neom-l...
ig.ft.com/saudi-neom-l...
End of The Line: how Saudi Arabia’s Neom dream unravelled
Mohammed bin Salman’s utopian city was undone by the laws of physics and finance
ig.ft.com
November 6, 2025 at 7:42 AM
This is terrific. The Line is a bonkers project. Understanding it requires a grasp of politics, engineering, architecture and organisational psychology -- masterfully unpacked here.
Nvidia’s boss says China ‘will win’ the AI race against America because it has cheap energy and loose regulation.
Quite where that leaves Europe, which has expensive energy and a passion for regulation, is a rather troubling question.
on.ft.com/43gkTNV
Quite where that leaves Europe, which has expensive energy and a passion for regulation, is a rather troubling question.
on.ft.com/43gkTNV
Nvidia’s Jensen Huang says China ‘will win’ AI race with US
CEO criticises western ‘cynicism’ while Beijing loosens regulations and cuts energy costs for data centres
on.ft.com
November 5, 2025 at 9:14 PM
Nvidia’s boss says China ‘will win’ the AI race against America because it has cheap energy and loose regulation.
Quite where that leaves Europe, which has expensive energy and a passion for regulation, is a rather troubling question.
on.ft.com/43gkTNV
Quite where that leaves Europe, which has expensive energy and a passion for regulation, is a rather troubling question.
on.ft.com/43gkTNV
FIFA awarding a "peace prize" to Trump would be so absolutely on-brand, a truly genius innovation.
November 5, 2025 at 8:30 PM
FIFA awarding a "peace prize" to Trump would be so absolutely on-brand, a truly genius innovation.
As a result of the US shutdown curtailing services, American soldiers garrisoned in Germany are being advised to visit local foodbanks.
home.army.mil/bavaria/abou...
home.army.mil/bavaria/abou...
November 5, 2025 at 12:04 PM
As a result of the US shutdown curtailing services, American soldiers garrisoned in Germany are being advised to visit local foodbanks.
home.army.mil/bavaria/abou...
home.army.mil/bavaria/abou...
Waymo is doing 250,000 driverless rides per week in America and plans to be at 1m rides per week within the next year.
Number of paid driverless cars rides in the EU meanwhile is stuck at 0.
techcrunch.com/2025/11/03/w...
Number of paid driverless cars rides in the EU meanwhile is stuck at 0.
techcrunch.com/2025/11/03/w...
Waymo's robotaxi expansion accelerates with 3 new cities | TechCrunch
Waymo said Monday it will launch a robotaxi service in Detroit, Las Vegas, and San Diego as the Alphabet-owned company hits the accelerator on its expansion plans.
techcrunch.com
November 4, 2025 at 11:50 AM
Waymo is doing 250,000 driverless rides per week in America and plans to be at 1m rides per week within the next year.
Number of paid driverless cars rides in the EU meanwhile is stuck at 0.
techcrunch.com/2025/11/03/w...
Number of paid driverless cars rides in the EU meanwhile is stuck at 0.
techcrunch.com/2025/11/03/w...
I've had a fun few minutes just imagining how my evening at home would go if I had publicly opined I wished my wife believed in a different god.
Vice President JD Vance said publicly that he wants his wife, Usha, a child of Indian Hindu immigrants, to convert to Christianity.
JD Vance says he wants his wife, Usha, who is from a Hindu family, to become Christian
Vice President JD Vance said publicly that he wants his wife, Usha, a child of Indian Hindu immigrants, to convert to Christianity.
bit.ly
November 1, 2025 at 4:53 PM
I've had a fun few minutes just imagining how my evening at home would go if I had publicly opined I wished my wife believed in a different god.
Reposted by Stanley Pignal
Traditionally, falling into a ravine calls for white Burgundy, but I’ll allow it.
A French cyclist survived for three days after a horrendous 130-foot fall into a ravine, kept alive by the bottles of red wine he had in his shopping bag, police said.
Cyclist falls down 130-foot ravine in France, survives 3 days by drinking wine he had in shopping bag
A helicopter airlifted him to hospital, with a rescue doctor calling his survival "a miracle."
cbsn.ws
October 31, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Traditionally, falling into a ravine calls for white Burgundy, but I’ll allow it.
Ok thanks, fortune cookie
October 30, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Ok thanks, fortune cookie
There is no coherent model of European politics that can explain the most recent election results in the Netherlands, Czechia and Poland. Anyone who says they can tease out pan-continental political trends is trying to sell you an op-ed.
October 29, 2025 at 9:43 PM
There is no coherent model of European politics that can explain the most recent election results in the Netherlands, Czechia and Poland. Anyone who says they can tease out pan-continental political trends is trying to sell you an op-ed.
Reposted by Stanley Pignal
Babe, what's wrong, you haven't touched your remembrance day pizza
October 28, 2025 at 7:16 AM
Babe, what's wrong, you haven't touched your remembrance day pizza
I've deleted the post below as some commenters pointed out that it was a (rather on-the-nose) satire. Sorry.
(I prefer to delete with screenshot attached rather than comment on the original, to prevent it from keep being spread while also logging the original post)
(I prefer to delete with screenshot attached rather than comment on the original, to prevent it from keep being spread while also logging the original post)
October 27, 2025 at 8:43 PM
I've deleted the post below as some commenters pointed out that it was a (rather on-the-nose) satire. Sorry.
(I prefer to delete with screenshot attached rather than comment on the original, to prevent it from keep being spread while also logging the original post)
(I prefer to delete with screenshot attached rather than comment on the original, to prevent it from keep being spread while also logging the original post)
Among classical composers, Edvard Grieg must have the highest ratio of "oh I know this tune!" vs "I know that guy's name" among the general public. At the other end of the spectrum is Rachmaninoff, whose name is more widely recognised yet few could hum any of his tunes.
October 25, 2025 at 11:06 AM
Among classical composers, Edvard Grieg must have the highest ratio of "oh I know this tune!" vs "I know that guy's name" among the general public. At the other end of the spectrum is Rachmaninoff, whose name is more widely recognised yet few could hum any of his tunes.
A good use of AI I wasn't expecting is when you're reading a book and some character reappears after a few hundred pages away. "Based on the first X chapters of X book, who is X character" = good way to jog your memory. Genuinely useful.
October 24, 2025 at 5:05 PM
A good use of AI I wasn't expecting is when you're reading a book and some character reappears after a few hundred pages away. "Based on the first X chapters of X book, who is X character" = good way to jog your memory. Genuinely useful.
Trump imposes sanctions, Orban works to circumvent them. Some ally.
Viktor Orbán says he's in touch with MOL, Hungary's oil and gas company, to bypass the US sanctions.
"We are working on how to circumvent this sanction," Orbán said in an interview, per @reuters.com.
"We are working on how to circumvent this sanction," Orbán said in an interview, per @reuters.com.
October 24, 2025 at 1:35 PM
Trump imposes sanctions, Orban works to circumvent them. Some ally.
It had been several days since a French political crisis, so thank god the Socialists have come back with threats to blow up the government next week
October 24, 2025 at 12:15 PM
It had been several days since a French political crisis, so thank god the Socialists have come back with threats to blow up the government next week
In 2012 I saw a similar ad, for a finance writer at The Economist. A few months later I got the job. It is not a pain-free application (you have to submit an original article) but I could only encourage you to have a punt.
An opportunity to join the staff of The Economist
Wanted: a new finance writer
An opportunity to join the staff of The Economist
econ.st
October 22, 2025 at 1:00 PM
In 2012 I saw a similar ad, for a finance writer at The Economist. A few months later I got the job. It is not a pain-free application (you have to submit an original article) but I could only encourage you to have a punt.
Poland seemed very comfortable assuring Netanyahu that no independent Polish court could render him to The Hague. But now, oh no siree, we couldn't possibly make any such assurances to anyone!
brazen double standards on offer here.
brazen double standards on offer here.
⚡️ Poland warns Putin's flight to Hungary for Trump talks could be diverted to The Hague.
"I cannot guarantee that an independent Polish court won't order the government to escort such an aircraft down to hand (Putin) over to the court in The Hague," Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said.
"I cannot guarantee that an independent Polish court won't order the government to escort such an aircraft down to hand (Putin) over to the court in The Hague," Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said.
Poland warns Putin's flight to Hungary for Trump talks could be diverted to The Hague
"I cannot guarantee that an independent Polish court won't order the government to escort such an aircraft down to hand (Putin) over to the court in The Hague," Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikors...
kyivindependent.com
October 21, 2025 at 11:40 AM
Poland seemed very comfortable assuring Netanyahu that no independent Polish court could render him to The Hague. But now, oh no siree, we couldn't possibly make any such assurances to anyone!
brazen double standards on offer here.
brazen double standards on offer here.
Reposted by Stanley Pignal
