In a way maybe it is weird. Anyway, whether the UK rejoins the EU in the coming years or not, I hope the UK cooperates with the EU where it makes sense. The UK and the EU both have an interest in a prosperous Europe which doesn’t need to rely on unreliable or unfriendly states (US, China, Russia).
I would argue that Microsoft are better than they used to be (I quite like TypeScript, and WSL) but perhaps only marginally. I’m lucky that I don’t have to use Windows. I just use Linux these days.
In terms of sovereignty, I think Europe should try to find alternatives to Microsoft for critical things, even if the only reason for that is because Microsoft is American. As the OP article shows, the US government can make it painful for Europe to rely on American companies like Microsoft, regardless of what Microsoft themselves choose to do.
As a European (British) I hope Europe can become as autonomous as possible.
We can trade with foreign entities when they’re being reasonable, but at the moment a few of them are being unreasonable.
I think there is value in Finland’s system, when Russia clearly is a huge threat to Europe.
Maybe every part of Europe should have a system like that. Perhaps everybody, rich or poor, and perhaps even older as well as younger (not kids or pensioners though) could be trained to contribute in some way to national defence. This could include training for building weapons in factories for example. Look at how important Ukraine’s weapons companies are currently, when it comes to their national defence.
Why does Farage try to portray himself as a man of the people, when in reality he’s a very privileged public schoolboy who puts his own enrichment ahead of the interests of Brits
I think a lot of football fans are decent and peaceful, but some are rowdy, and adding alcohol to the mix might not be a great idea.
I guess the American people need to decide whether they want to be friends with Europe again. Trump got 49.8% of the popular vote in 2024, so not a majority, but still a lot of people. So they need to choose between continuing isolation in 2028 (e.g. Vance) or a leader who is a bit more sensible (e.g. Gavin Newsom).