Oh. www.newscientist.com/article/2516...

From the International Intrigue newsletter: "Putin continues to claim marginal gains at staggering cost: he’s now averaging ~44,000 casualties a month (and rising) in return for 50-100 sq km per month (and slowing)." That feels like a nearly Great War set of numbers...

The government's left hand says you must expand internationally.. whilst the government's right hand says: www.timeshighereducation.com/news/whiteha...

a year is a long time in politics

The mighty are experiencing a spot of bother: www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

Goodness

Universities call for PhD, exchange and healthcare students to be excluded from upcoming international student levy www.timeshighereducation.com/news/exempti... via @helenpacker.bsky.social

look at my country man, we’re getting out-No Kings’d by the fuckin’ british

Well, that's a bit er... 💩

😱 www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

I hope he makes a ridiculous crown immunity claim; we could do with some case law on crown criminal immunity.

Fascinating times. First royal arrested since Charles I and yet our cousins don't seem to be getting vexed and active in the same way. Justice must be seen through but given our politics I would counsel we need a stable pillar somewhere: www.theguardian.com/uk-news/live...

Liz Truss. Having cost me an additional 300gbp a month on my mortgage, it's nice to see she disappeared with dignity 🤔 www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Frustrating: www.timeshighereducation.com/news/student...

It requires very careful reading of the ballot paper to avoid UCU Left candidates who appear to have flooded the zone.

There's no need for double luge. Just saying.

Difficult one. His message would have endured with a deviation. Disqualifying him is to be on the wrong side of history. Failure in the conversation, I suspect: www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/f...

Thoughts on how espionage and business networking feel quite conceptually similar sometimes.. and impacts on our politics: theconversation.com/a-whiff-of-e...

A functioning Starmer (which would mean behavioural change, improvements to judgement) is better than the alternatives: theconversation.com/how-much-lon...

And so soon... www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Young men are the second most liberal group in the country after young women.

Do not believe anything until the Kremlin denies it.

True

Written in 2009, it hasn't aged very poorly...

this is the question.

On McNamara, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Gaza, and finally Trump. "Once you allow yourself to play by a set of rules that’s different from everyone else’s, the rules themselves are made brittle and ultimately break." www.nybooks.com/articles/202...

🫣 www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

'The University of York and Swansea University have became the seventh and eighth universities to confirm they will not take up a three-year deal with the world’s biggest academic publisher'. Sheffield, Lancaster, Surrey, Kent, Essex and Sussex have already opted out.

A new BBC investigation into hotel spy cam porn in China www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... It is a regular talking point on soc med, with people - particularly women - swapping tips on how to spot cameras. Some have even resorted to pitching tents inside hotel rooms to avoid being filmed

'It is expected that the change to UKRI’s new bucket model, and the subsequent reopening of grant funds, will be in April 2027. Of course, this means that between now and then academics who would have bid for funding cannot'.

Is this the political equivalent of asking the norovirus to hang around bit longer? Shedding votes, like weight, during a particularly vigorous bout? www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Really interesting potential (isolated?) historical case into how UCs thought of their performance (or relative performance): www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

Goodness: www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/t...

Feels like the first 'proper' merger of large institutions is coming. As alumni, I remain 'not massively happy' with this: www.timeshighereducation.com/news/notting...

The storm in the espresso cup of ICE at the winter olympics: theconversation.com/ice-at-the-w...

I wrote this last week - but I've been writing about this for years. This crisis has been very obvious for a long time. I'm on the old system. This isn't about me being "entitled" and wanting someone else to pay for my degree. It's about a system that is mad www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...

Interesting... www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...

I decided to begin my book about Britain with a quote from Scotland‘s greatest poet. 'If only we could see ourselves as others see us.' Applies to everyone. Not just people. Countries, too.

Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care unit nurse was shot and killed by federal agents in Minneapolis, on January 24. DHS claims he died after an armed struggle, but videos of the incident appears to contradict that claim. Read our analysis here: www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/01...

OTD in 2022 the gift that keeps giving gave us this. What was not going to happen became inevitable because the past changes so quickly you have no idea what will happen yesterday.

The BBC News summary of Minnesota is *worse* than both-siding. It says there are 'conflicting accounts'. But only states *one* of them - that ICE agents fired 'defensive shots'. Nothing about the *other* account - that ICE agents murdered him.

In an unserious world, an unserious news outlet and an unserious story: www.thesun.co.uk/news/3801143...

Worth remembering when looking at the horrific scenes in the US right now that both Reform and the Tories have pledged to bring in ICE-style organisations to the UK if they win power

He was a nurse ... www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Is it necessary to be ambushed on social media by a disturbing video to feel strongly or something about an issue? www.theguardian.com/us-news/live...

Great gig. Where's Clacton? Neither of us know definitively.

“It’s a good thing that China thinks in terms of centuries, because they are about to meet the British planning system.” Academic Daniel Susskind on the proposed Chinese embassy in London

Notes on a speech made yesterday: theconversation.com/trump-at-dav...

I think this is a worthy petition: petition.parliament.uk/petitions/73...

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