ZipCar in London was a bit clunky - but it needed developing, not shutting down. A backwards step for sustainable, flexible, multi-modal mobility. Again, I am thankful for Slovenia/Croatia's Avant2Go service. www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Proof that Donald Trump doesn't even need to be present to draw a crowd: people in Belgrade have been protesting against his family's plans to build a Trump International Hotel (among other things) on the site of a notorious 1999 NATO airstrike. My story for Monocle: monocle.com/affairs/urba...

The Club Pulse fire in Kočani was one of the most difficult stories I've ever covered. A town of 25k people; 63 dead and hundreds injured. Scores still receiving treatment today. The trial of more than 30 people is now underway. My BBC piece with @paulkirby.bsky.social. www.bbc.com/news/article...

A Zagreb landmark is on fire. Vjesnik Tower opened in 1972 as a proud symbol of Yugoslavia's modernity. It has been mostly empty for some time. Zagreb's mayor says "the destruction is total". www.index.hr/vijesti/clan...

I came to Lô Borges pretty late, through O Trem Azul. I shall be listening to Clube da Esquina today. It will kot be a chore. www.theguardian.com/music/2025/n...

Cash only at NIS and Gazprom service stations when I was in Serbia last week. The government is trying to sort out a solution before the country's refineries run out of fuel. But Russia is not exactly falling over itself to help.

Another reflection on the Novi Sad commemoration, brought up to date with this week's events in Belgrade, where Dijana Hrka, the mother of one of the victims of the railway station disaster, is on hunger strike. For DW's Inside Europe programme. www.dw.com/en/one-young...

Setting an example for Serbia to follow with NIS?

I'll take that risk.

My Bluesky followers have finally ticked over to the 5.9k mark. This took many months, in comparison to the first 5.8k, who came very quickly. Of course I would like to have more followers and engagement. Any thoughts on why the slowdown, and what I could do about it? And is it me, or Bluesky?

My piece for the world's oldest Sunday newspaper on the lastest in Serbia, with yesterday's commemoration of the railway station disaster in Novi Sad.

The long tail of Reagan/Thatcher deregulation mania is whipping ever harder. The problem is that political leaders are either in thrall to tech plutocrats or actually financially dependent on them. Or still swallowing the 1990s line that regulating web platforms would be repressive.

Here's my BBC story from yesterday's commemoration at Novi Sad railway station.

At Novi Sad railway station, ahead of the commemoration for the 16 people who died in last year's canopy collapse in Serbia's second city. With camera crew Bata.

The EU has been leading the Western Balkans up the garden path for decades. Ursula von der Leyen's express tour round the region last week - and yesterday's Berlin Process Summit in London - have done nothing to change that. Read more in my piece for the Monocle Minute: monocle.com/affairs/poli...

Boing, boom tschak! Looks like the new, expanded lineup is heading on tour. @notpodium.bsky.social should approve.

It turns out that you *can* have a blue passport if you're in the EU... Not a new thing - Crotia joined in 2013. But worth reiterating that Cameron could have engaged in some similar optics in 2016 which might have seemed trivial, but could have helped. total-croatia-news.com/news/croatia...

Here's the first published fruit of my mountain climb with/trailing in the wake of Tadej Pogačar. My debut in The Observer, no less. observer.co.uk/news/sport/a...

Turns out there's a few seconds of Tadej Pogačar cruising past me on this video of yesterday's Pogi Challenge. At about the 39 minute mark. You'll see me on the right, in the blue jersey with black sleeves, white helmet. 365.rtvslo.si/arhiv/kolesa...

Wish me luck - I'm about to take on Tadej Pogačar up one of Slovenia's toughest climbs. It will be an unequal contest.

Heartening news. But is a bicycle humble? Efficient, relaxing, fun, thrilling, practical and one of the greatest inventions of all time, yes. Some people may misguidedly look down on bicycles and their riders, but that doesn't make the mode nor those who deploy it shrinking violets.

The mountain was living in my head. So I just had to climb it. The leg test ahead of Sunday's Pogi Challenge proved positive. The world's greatest male cyclist will be chasing me and hundreds of other hopefuls up Slovenia's toughest climb, Krvavec. Stand by for stories, if I survive.

Elite cycling stays close to its roots. My tale of Tadej Pogačar's return to his home village on this week's From Our Own Correspondent on BBC Radio 4 and World Service. From 23'10" - it's the the "and finally" item. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p...

There are certain media outlets I will not work for, even for decent pay. Continuing to create content for Twitter/X, for no pay whatsoever, became untenable with the change of ownership and resulting changes to the platform. Jim's points are spot on.

My take on Albania's "AI minister". That's a minister who's an AI, rather than a minister for AI. @andihoxhaj.bsky.social reckons there may be some substance behind the PR. Edi Rama also explains himself. www.bbc.com/news/article...

"Serbia is on the brink of civil war," said Crotia's PM Andrej Plenkovic at today's Bled Strategic Forum. Is that correct? Well, thousands of high school students and their supporters are on Belgrade (and other cities') streets tonight. But peaceful protests, not combat. n1info.rs/vesti/najnov...

The gig itself was one thing. The rhetorical contortions that members of Croatia's governing HDZ party subsequently got themselves into were even more dispiriting. When you find yourself justifying the use of an actual fascist salute, it's time to look in the mirror. But what if they already have?

Three years ago today, I saw De La Soul in Liverpool, ticking off a very large entry on my gig bucket list. Look at that set-up - a nine-piece band. Other hip hop acts take note - you can do better than a backing track and an empty stage (Tyler and Travis, I'm looking at you). Vale Dave/Trugoy.

Being a lazy journalist, I asked for a link for this. Then one dropped into my inbox, c/o @petepaphides.bsky.social. Truly, the universe serves the indolent (word chosen advisedly). For less than the price of six British flat whites - enduringly wonderful music. burningshed.com/index.php?ro...

Rounded up a lot of aspects of reconciliation and enduring divisions in Bosnia in a feature for DW's Inside Europe programme. Link in the post below.

I met Hasan Hasanović at Srebrenica Memorial Centre last week. We remembered one another from a very intense conversation 10 years earlier. Hasan now runs the Centre's Oral History project. Our chat went into my feature for BBC World Service's Weekend. From 26'30". www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

It's the 30th anniversary of the Srebrenica Massacre. In neighbouring Bratunac, which is majority-Serb, photos of Serbs who died between 1992-95 have been placed at the side of the road. A Serb politician asked me why Bosniaks only talk about Bosniak victims, never Serbs. Genocide denial spreading.

Imagine how high the rating could be if successive British governments hadn't starved the BBC of funds, causing it to lay off countless numbers of experienced and committed staff.

Just a regular morning at Paris Gare de l'Est.

Final Monocle Daily of the week! Tom and Elliot have got that Friday feeling...

Another Monocle Daily coming up! Stand by...

My take on the "Trump Hotel" story in Belgrade - on the site of the NATO-bombed Defence Ministry/General Staff building. The project is currently in doubt following the arrest of an official accused of forging a document to justify the removal of the complex's protected heritage status.

How far down the Brian Wilson rabbit hole did I go? A couple of CD box sets, a t-shirt (thanks to The High Llamas' Sean O'Hagan) and tickets for this 2002 "comeback" gig. A very uncomfortable experience. Like a hostage video set to exquisitely beautiful music. www.theguardian.com/culture/2002...

Brace yourselves! About to go live on the Monocle Daily, with Elliot at the controls and Tom in the producer's chair.

Snakes on a plane? No, in the parliamentary debating chamber of Bosnia's Federation entity. The reptilian intruder sparked a rush for the exits during Tuesday's session. Interior minister Ramo Isak not impressed: "We were working when the shells were falling". www.klix.ba/vijesti/bih/...

It's hard to understand how safety regulations can allow the sale of passenger cars which are so dangerous to pedestrians and other road users. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

Odd that there is a qualifier in front of "popular music". For an artist who had 3 US number one pop hits, plenty of top 10s, was a proper multimedia phenomenon and resolutely refused to have his music put in any one "bag". Sly and the Family Stone's influence was much broader than implied here.

I think this was posted before the news broke of Sly Stone's death. There's never a bad day to play the Family Stone. Music of joy, righteousness and funk, in sharp rebuke of those who would deny those qualities. That will remain so.

This is encouraging. Hopefully enforcement follows. The "green transition" won't mean much if car owners just swap their petrol/diesel cars for electric SUVs. Ideally they'd swap 'em for walking, cycling, public transport and car share. But that's another story.

In recent months, Labour has been in a huge fight with creative industry - and the House of Lords - over is plans for AI copyright, which are widely seen as being v v friendly to big tech This feels less surprising if Google has been 'sense checking' policy, as these documents suggest

Good to read this from a member of the governing party in the UK. One hopes the leadership of the BBC are making similar arguments.

I was a London cyclist for 6 years, starting more or less at the left side of this graph. Why did we wear lycra? The choice was: ride as fast as the cars, or die. The difference now is staggering. Congestion charge from 2003 started the change. Cycling started feeling (and was) much safer.

It's more than just a tax issue. It's symptomatic of the impunity which plutocrats enjoy - and their disregard for both the letter and the spirit of the law. It's not too late for authorities/regulation to change this - but it feels uncomfotably close to midnight.

Could be tricky for Kosovo to "hold talks" with the UK about acting as a "return hub" for people whose UK asylum claims have failed. After all, it hasn't had a functioning government since February. But hey, nice headline. news.sky.com/story/uk-to-...

Perfect response to Nick Clegg's complaint that the AI industry "will die" if artists'/authors' rights are (shock, horror) respected.