Epic crowds on the streets of Najaf for the funeral procession of Ali Khamanei. Id estimate easily over 1m. Many motivated by Islamic solidarity in face of US Israeli aggression. Gaza came up many times as to why people have turned out

Could Farage quit? Questions swirl over Reform UK leader’s future

Absolutely extraordinary story from the Sunday Times that is going to be very hard for Farage to deflect. "Nigel Farage secretly funded by convicted criminal" www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

Three sons of Iran's slain leader Khamenei appear at funeral, not his successor reut.rs/4vdwbxA

Ukraine striking Russian energy infrastructure at unprecedented rate ft.trib.al/nKEohAc

there is really only one way to de-normalize this insane level of corruption and that's through disgorgement, accountability, the end of impunity. otherwise it is the new normal & the USA is toast.

Iran insists on keeping control over Hormuz, senior Iranian sources say reut.rs/4eRypfI

🇻🇪 Security camera shows moment twin earthquakes hit Venezuela Security camera footage shows the moment twin 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes hit Venezuela on June 24. The death toll has now risen to nearly 2,000 with more than 10,500 injured and thousands more unaccounted for.

Stock markets across Asia tumbled on Friday, pulled lower by the region’s biggest technology shares as investors continue to wrestle with whether the boom in artificial intelligence spending is all but done or just beginning.

Iranian delegation walk out after Trump threatens "you close [the strait] and you won't have a country. You won't even make it back to your fucking country" www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

🇮🇷 🇺🇸 A newly signed deal to end the Middle East war was already under strain on Friday, after talks in Switzerland were postponed and fighting flared between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. ➡️ u.afp.com/Szhr

US-Iran talks planned for June 19 at the Burgenstock mountaintop resort in Switzerland will not take place, according to a Swiss foreign ministry statement after US Vice President JD Vance pulled out of the planned trip reut.rs/3SRhHpt

Israel has bombed Dahiyah in Beirut.

British armed forces intercepted a Russian shadow fleet tanker, marking the latest effort by European countries to choke off a key source of Moscow’s oil revenues.

Excellent overview piece on fears of a new Lebanese civil war www.wsj.com/world/middle...

In #Iraq there's an Arabic turn of phrase that describes the pro Iranian armed factions that are putting down their weapons that sounds like they're taking their clothes off, or "stripping". It's causing some degree of public amusement. Faction press officers not entirely pleased

Iran fired missiles toward Israel, after a deadly Israeli airstrike on Beirut hours earlier.

At least 49 people die of thirst after truck breakdown in Niger desert https://aje.news/m5r7if

Across the world, signals crucial for safe air and sea travel are being disrupted.

Can you imagine how many people approved it before publishing? Shameful.

Worried for Shelly Kittleson, I hope she is freed as soon as possible www.nytimes.com/2026/03/31/w...

⚡️Ukrainian FPV giant signs deal to build drones in US. FPV drone and interceptor maker General Cherry reached an agreement with U.S. defense firm Wilcox Industries to produce drones in its New Hampshire factories.

You can feel it in London, the mood on public transport, the vibe on the street. There's a kind of broken dystopian edge to the UK these days. www.theguardian.com/business/202...

What a time to be alive www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

More Palestinians have been displaced by settler violence and Israeli access restrictions in the first three months of 2026 than in all of 2025, the U.N. says. www.ochaopt.org/content/huma...

"Iran plans to turn the strait into a money spinner ... could raise $80bn a year... tankers carrying oil from favoured non-hostile nations such as India, Japan, Pakistan, South Korea and China could be waved through or offered cheaper rates." www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

US historian Robert Pape in the Guardian “They [Iran] are forcing the publics in the Gulf to ask: ‘Why are we paying the price of a war that appears driven by expansionist Israeli policies?’” And to a broader extent through oil prices that applies to the rest of the world too

This was a good read. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/18/m...

Global plastic production projected to double or triple according to this. Any chance we could *not* do that www.theguardian.com/environment/...

You know you're getting old when not only do you not understand what the kids are into, the music they listen to or the fashions they wear, but you actively don't want to either

One effect of our age of the rich: the flattery industry is booming. Call them luxury hotel concierges, personal trainers, Trump cabinet members, Musk "loyalists", wealth managers etc, but the essential job is flatterer. Me @financialtimes.com on how the industry works on.ft.com/43SIvbR

For anyone going through a difficult period of their life right now, this interview with Anthony Hopkins is incredibly inspiring. youtu.be/1mbe4F3YBqw?...

For a decade, Russia has been seeking to divide Europe and America, to undermine NATO and weaken the transatlantic alliance. This peace plan, if accepted, will achieve that goal. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...

Well, this is pretty terrifying. The Daily Mail is buying the Telegraph. One massive consolidated right-wing media empire controlled by off-shore interests at a critical moment in global politics. What could go wrong? www.theguardian.com/media/2025/n...

Growing inequality drives stock market disconnect with broader economic reality... "the number of so-called "everyday millionaires" has more than quadrupled since 2000 to about 52 million people. ... The scale of wealth makes it difficult for markets to go to ground for very long."

Moscow is making great efforts in building its Runet — a closed and strictly controlled Russian internet. The Barents Observer has compiled an overview of what is happening in the Russian segment of the internet

Heinous www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...

This threatened law suit is ridiculous. But very irritating that the BBC put itself in such a vulnerable position and will now have to spend so much energy and attention defending itself, www.bbc.com/news/live/cd...

Moscow's forces push south of the Ukrainian city of Kupiansk, Russian commander says reut.rs/43piAIr

“A country long defined by its own ­history of political violence, paramilitarism, and vigilantism, Ireland now faces a different kind of threat. This time, the targets are non-white immigrants and Muslims.” Brilliant reporting by @johnmooneyirl.bsky.social.

Using never-before-seen videos, rare testimonies and leaked military files, Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit exposes abuses and battlefield weaknesses in the civil war raging across Myanmar. Watch: aje.io/junta #MyanmarExposed

"Clearly echoing Erwin Rommel’s Nazi force, the Africa Corps is the Kremlin’s new expeditionary formation in Africa. ...Like Wagner before it, it is still laden with neo-Nazi and white supremacist symbology." on Russian neo-colonialism in Africa: ecfr.eu/publication/...

US blocks $22b sanctions-prompted sale of Lukoil to Gunvor, a Swiss commodity trader cofounded by Putin ally Gennady Timchenko in the 90s. Timchenko fully divested for a decade but US treasury says Gunvor still a "Putin puppet" www.ft.com/content/19e5...

"China now makes a lot more from exporting wind turbines, electric cars, solar cells and the like than drill-baby-drill America makes selling fossil fuels." | The Economist

Both The New York Times and Airwars are tracking the U.S. strikes on boats in the Carribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean. 64 or 65 killed in 15 separate incidents. NYT: www.nytimes.com/interactive/... Airwars: airwars.org/conflict/u-s...

How are Drones Changing War? The Future of the Battlefield | "Drone warfare is reshaping global security by enabling low-cost, high-impact operations, for Ukraine, Russia, NATO, China, and others."

Funny that

NEW from me: Political hostility, high visa fees and (in the case of the UK) stagnant incomes are making the UK and US less attractive destinations for top international talent. That steep decline in the appeal of moving to the US after 2016 is 👀