AFP Washington desk chief. Formerly White House. Formerly formerly: Moscow, Chechnya, NYC, Rio de Janeiro, US #localnews. You say Thor, I say thaw.
Washington, DC
Joined November 2010
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Sem Murphy obviously is a Trump opponent and is speaking on the eve of an election. But he has been briefed and if what he signals is even half, two thirds, true it sounds alarming.
Not so artificial intelligence
NYT: “A Chinese businesswoman who had a close relationship with Jensen Huang was found to be passing intelligence to Beijing. President Trump was briefed and took no action.”
nytimes.com/2026/10/29/us/po…
Sebastian Smith retweeted
NEW YORK, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Truth Social, the social media platform founded by President Donald Trump, has signed up news and data provider Bloomberg and two Wall Street firms for faster access to the president’s posts, which it sells for up to $100,000 a month, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter reuters.com/business/finance…
The US First Lady and the Kremlin jointly cheering a fringe Trump-boosting outlet as the “neutral” observer of a ceasefire at a town that the Russians have destroyed and occupied in a foreign country is really weird and really 2026.
Sebastian Smith retweeted
It was once extremely rare for grand jurors to rebuff prosecutors and turn down a request for an indictment, given that the Justice Department has traditionally sought criminal charges only in cases it expects to win. But prosecutors have become increasingly convinced they will be unable to bring any indictment that is seen as political while Trump is in office.
nytimes.com/2026/10/27/us/po…
Hugh was dispensed with, n’est pas @pirateirwin ?
#OTD 27 Oct 1326.
At Bristol, #HughDespensertheElder is hung, drawn and quartered. #RogerMortimer& #Isabella show their disdain by having his body fed to the dogs. A grizzly end - & more to come. Find out more about the time when Mortimer ruled England tinyurl.com/yp7ux9vm
Brazil is often portrayed as lagging behind the US example (Trump is Bolsonaro, Lula is old Biden, they had a “Jan 6” moment two years later than the original. Etc.). But Brazil is arguably way ahead when it comes to responding to plots to overturn elections.
Flávio é intimado pela PF para entregar passaporte oglobo.globo.com/politica/el…
Sebastian Smith retweeted
The controversial 2-hour delay in voting at some ballot stations in Brazil yesterday only resulted in 34,000 extra votes -- irrelevant, given Lula beat Bolsonaro by 4.43 million
Source: TSE (electoral court)
A Dem House js going to be a very very uncomfortable thing for President Trump
Breaking: Donald Trump was "an active participant in Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse of young women in the mid-to-late 1990s,” according to a report issued today by Dems on the House Judiciary Committee. The report includes one new rape allegation against Trump, and calls for a special investigation of the Trump administration's cover-up of Epstein's crimes.
Sebastian Smith retweeted
Por enquanto Donald Trump não parabenizou e não tentou contato com Lula.
Casa Branca e Departamento de Estado aguardam manifestação do presidente -que ainda não chegou no Salao Oval para trabalhar.
Sebastian Smith retweeted
🇻🇪 Venezuela's Machado returns from exile to jubilant crowds
Maria Corina Machado, Venezuela's opposition leader and a Nobel Peace Prize winner, has made a surprise return home after nearly a year in exile. Her return to Caracas is a direct challenge to the US-backed interim government of Delcy Rodriguez, who has led the country under Washington's watchful eye since US forces ousted longtime leader Nicolas Maduro in January
Sebastian Smith retweeted
BREAKING Brazil's defeated presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro refuses to recognize President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's victory on Sunday.
"It is impossible to acknowledge the result," he said from Brasilia, adding that "I am going to request the annulment of these elections"
Sebastian Smith retweeted
Over the past 20 months, the Latin American left has lost seven out of seven presidential elections. Tonight, it increasingly looks as if Lula will end the right’s winning streak, in what would amount to a strategic defeat for Trump, who has systematically sought to strengthen the Bolsonaro family.
Been a bad night for Trump’s allies
Serbia's student-led movement declares victory in parliamentary elections, ending 14 years in power for Aleksandar Vucic's right-wing populist party. u.afp.com/SyJJ
