And the saga continues: bsky.app/profile/phil...

And now this news. Congratulations on the impact. I'm glad to have met you this year!
www.linkedin.com/posts/sylke-...

The title of the episode, «Hokuspokus, Abrakadabra» – that's thanks to you too, @philippeauclair.bsky.social. Listen here: www.ardaudiothek.de/episode/urn:...

Mönchengladbach.

The betting operators, it turns out, are entangled with online scams and money laundering. How it all connects, Philippe explained for Episode 6 of our podcast «Legion: House of Scam» for the German public broadcaster ARD.

... addresses that I then tried to track down in the Philippines: those of betting operators who sponsor clubs including those in the German Bundesliga.

My colleague Sören Musyal wrote to every Bundesliga team, I called and called and called again. One club that got back to us, amongst others:

When courts must repeatedly explain why journalism is permissible despite such a law, the problem is not the journalism. It is the law.

And let‘s not forget Lukas Hässig‘s case from July this year.
#freedomoftthepress

www.tagesanzeiger.ch/bank-reyl-un...

Geneva's Attorney General, Olivier Jornot, has now rejected this request, ruling it disproportionate in light of press freedom.

A victory worth noting—but not yet celebrating. As long as Article 47 remains on the books, banks can continue to wield it as a cudgel against investigative reporting.

The latest case in point: after reporting by OCCRP, IrpiMedia, Le Monde, Paper Trail Media, and the Tages-Anzeiger on the dubious clients of Bank Reyl, the bank filed a complaint demanding the search of newsrooms and the interrogation of journalists.

Already in force is Art. 47 of the Swiss Banking Act, which threatens journalists with prison if they publish information leaked in violation of banking secrecy. This provision has long been criticised internationally—including by U.N. Special Rapporteur Irene Khan—as an assault on press freedom.

Most recently, the Council of States endorsed a radical proposal that would punish any journalist who reports on information that someone else obtained «unlawfully»—a measure that would effectively destroy investigative journalism in the country.

Not to Look Away: In Switzerland, the judiciary is currently defending press freedom against an overreaching parliament. For years, lawmakers have sought to criminally prosecute journalists who expose wrongdoing based on confidential information.

Worth Investigating: A comprehensive overview of the E.U. cybersecurity-policy ecosystem. For those of us who struggle to keep NIS2, ENISA, DORA, and the ever-expanding European digital regulation straight, this directory is a cartography of the Brussels terrain.
www.cyber-policy-directory.eu

En plus: The series got me back to listening to Kwaito—my absolute favourite when I went to school in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Eat: Being pampered with crêpes and apple purée.

Listen: Another tip, this one to listen to, sing along with, and dance to. By my G'spänli Sören Musyal: «Fela Kuti: Fear Not Man.» I am amazed by the narrative journalism of Jad Abumrad and his team, combined with the sound design. Learning a lot!
www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/dol...

... found its way to me through Dr. Manisha Ganguly and Daniel Drepper.
www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...
A text-only version is also available: www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...

Not to look away: Reporters Without Borders has released its annual reckoning: 2025 was a deadly year for journalists, shaped by hate and impunity. The violence obscured by design, as noted above, begins with those who would document it.
rsf.org/en/2025-dead...

… NEOM and The Line, the Saudi attempt to render a city out of desert and sheer ambition; Shenzhen, the original transformation story, fishing village to factory floor to tech capital in a single generation. Follow the architecture caputered in images to where power of wars accumulates.