Joseph Belbruno Blog

  Tuesday 11 November 2025 News/ Comment This opinion glosses over the many failings and biases of the BBC (the disgraceful apology for Hamas, transgender filth), but it has merit.  PM must grasp that Beeb is fighting for its very survival It is said that BBC chair Samir Shah has never met Keir Starmer – which tells you something about the prime minister’s priorities  (Getty) Alan Rusbridger So now what? The two most senior BBC executives have walked out of almost impossible jobs. The governance of the organisation is an almost laughable mess. And we’re within four years of the strong possibility of a populist government that would gladly administer the last rites. Who, given the above, would willingly step into the shoes of Tim Davie or Deborah Turness, the outgoing director general and head of news? Who has the news chops and sheer backbone to lead one of the greatest news organisations in the world while simultaneously running a £5.4bn international corporation? And wh...

  The Rich Get Richer The other week, Billie Eilish stood in a room full of innovators and  asked : “If you’re a billionaire,  why  are you a billionaire?”  Nir Kaissar  says  this chart is the answer : “Shares of Oracle, Amazon, Alphabet and Meta grew by more than 20% a year the past decade, including dividends. Tesla and Nvidia grew even faster, by 42% and 76%. At that rate, the leaders of these companies — already the world’s seven richest people — will very likely become trillionaires in the next three to five years,” he writes. Meanwhile  on planet earth , the rest of us are just hoping we can afford a roof over our heads. “The average age of a first-time homebuyer  is now 40 , up from 33 just a few years ago and 29 in 1981,”  Allison Schrager  notes . Having a mortgage with your name attached to it used to be an important box to check for the American dream. But now, a lot of people just rent — in...

  SHOOT THIS RAT BITCH! The Lavish Lifestyle of an Alleged Chinese Agent Gets a Spotlight in Trial Listen (7 min) Linda Sun, a former beauty-pageant contestant, is on trial in a federal court in New York City.   kent j. edwards/Reuters Quick Summary Linda Sun, a former New York state aide, is on trial for allegedly acting as an undeclared agent for China, facing charges including bribery, bank fraud, and money laundering. Prosecutors allege Sun used her position to influence New York governors in favor of China, receiving millions through her husband’s businesses, including $15.8 million from a lobster-export business and $2.3 million in COVID-era kickbacks. Sun’s defense argues her interactions with Chinese officials were part of her official duties and aligned with U.S. policy, with her trial highlighting the complexities of foreign agent prosecutions. An artificial-intelligence tool created this summary, which was based on the text of the article and checked by an editor....

  Reasons to be bearish about China’s rise Rana Foroohar rana.foroohar@ft.com · 10 Nov 2025 Iam a contrarian at heart. Questioning any narrative that is all one way, all the time comes naturally. Take the rise of artificial intelligence, the evils of tariffs and, most recently, the sense that nothing will hinder the global ascendancy of China. Many investors have bought whole hog into that last argument in recent weeks. Beijing appears to have won the trade wars and is poised to win both the chip wars and the AI wars as well, seemingly making China’s role as the new global hegemon secure. But there are important caveats to this story. Let me start by humouring China bulls and pointing out the obvious: China’s economic engine is remarkable, and its long-term industrial planning enviable. It has met US President Donald Trump’s bullying with a great show of force in areas like rare earth minerals, agricultural purchases (where it has turned away from the US on a dime) and cutting-edge...

Xi estrecha el control a sus generales con investigaciones, ceses y desapariciones El presidente chino suspende a dos ministros de Defensa y 14 mandos en dos años G. ABRIL / I. BONET “La purga abarca una amplia gama de servicios militares”, dice un investigador Varios analistas creen que el mandatario quiere asegurarse lealtades futuras El 2 de abril, mientras Donald Trump azotaba el mundo con aranceles, altos mandos del Ejército Popular de Liberación (EPL, el ejército chino), vestidos con uniformes de camuflaje y armados con palas, cavaban la tierra durante una jornada de reforestación voluntaria en Pekín. En la actividad, que se lleva a cabo desde los años ochenta, estaban los principales líderes de la poderosa Comisión Militar Central (CMC, la máxima autoridad sobre las Fuerzas Armadas), y otros cuadros del Partido Comunista. Desde que Xi Jinping llegó al poder en 2012, nunca habían faltado a la cita los miembros de la cúpula militar. Este año fue distinto. Quienes siguen los capric...

  Half a Century of Antisemitism at the U.N. Daniel Patrick Moynihan in Washington, Jan. 14, 1999.   TIM SLOAN/AFP via Getty Images The United Nations made the worst mistake in its history, 50 years ago Monday, and it still hasn’t recovered. The General Assembly adopted Resolution 3379,  declaring  that “Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination.” By a vote of 72-35 with 32 abstentions, Resolution 3379 shattered the U.N.’s reputation across America and beyond. Spearheaded by the Soviet Union, its satellites and anti-Western Third World countries, the “Z/r” resolution was intended to delegitimize the state of Israel. This same approach had been deployed at the U.N. against apartheid South Africa beginning in 1962 and led to economic sanctions, growing isolation and international pressure on the white-dominated government. Traversing that same path against Israel was obviously in store. On that grim day in 1975, one display of virtue came from Daniel Patric...