“But no matter how the Balogun story ends, it wasn’t at its core about politics or favoritism” - the things we tell ourselves to maintain our sense of denial.

Spectacular self-delusion. “But no matter how the Balogun story ends, it wasn’t at its core about politics or favoritism...It was about righting a wrong and minimizing the damage done to a team’s chances of winning the World Cup. What nation in the same situation wouldn’t have done the same thing?”

‘Resentment of Hamas among ordinary Gazans is widespread, even if the rage against Israel is much greater. Many people have lost everything since 7 October. Tens of thousands have died.’ Muhammad Shehada on Palestine’s future. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

I can't believe I have to say this but the point is not "corrupt World Cups are not new". It's that this specific World Cup has been a succession of "f**k yous" to various parts of the global football community, and this is the latest one. And I doubt it will be the last.

I wrote about the psychological impact of having one's village erased by Israel. www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/...

Non-violence was pursued as a strategy for decades, most prominently during the Great March of Return in 2018-19... Over eighteen months of demonstrations, Israel killed more than two hundred protesters, as well as paramedics, journalists and children, and injured at least 34,000 people."

Essential piece from @muhammadshehada.bsky.social Muhammad Shehada: Marwan Barghouti and Palestine’s future app.lrb.co.uk/2026/06/26/m...

I wrote about the psychological impact of having one's village erased by Israel. www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/...

It disgusts me that Sudan is once again surfacing through the whataboutist politics of Zi@nists who don’t care about Sudan but are trying to distract from their own genocide. It’s partly a failure of the lack of internationalism within the N American left that they are able to do so.

Always worth reading Sami Halabi: The Lebanon-Israel agreement paves the way for the next war www.aljazeera.com/opinions/202...

The current internal dynamic in Lebanon is not exactly new. I see it as a case of center vs periphery to an extent. Beirut and Mt Lebanon are the center, everything else is periphery. The will of the periphery has often been overlooked. This is why Hezbollah, Bekaa tribes, militias in Tripoli, etc

I wrote about the 2019 Lebanon uprising for the Decolonial Centre decolonialcentre.org/2026/06/19/t...

a lot of the schools in the area have emptied out. reports of attacks, mostly drone strikes, are still ongoing but heavily reduced... it's wonderful that some people will be able to return home in (relative?) safety. Many people I've spoken to have no homes to go back to though.

As the fifth round of talks begin today in Washington, DC, between Israel and Lebanon, Israel has violated yet another delicate ceasefire by opening fire in Nabatieh, killing two people in the process who were reportedly clearing roads and removing bodies from the rubble.

What I REALLY love about the Democrats is that even when they say that "an end to America's illegal war on Iran is a good thing" they don't cite innocent civilians in Iran and the wider region as the main cause or even one of the causes. Quite telling.

Have literally never used it. Very capable of writing my own slop, thank you very much. (And without writing the slop, you can’t write the good stuff.)

After leaving Beirut, journalist @justinsalhani.bsky.social realized what was missing was community. The way to rebuild it was through soccer. Football is inherently political — and when you get a group of people sharing a cause, other things follow. Our Copa bonus episode is out now.

“Trump and his aides must realize that they won’t be able to negotiate their way back to the prewar status quo. Trump’s ill-fated war emboldened Iran – and its leaders will seek to extract a higher price for future concessions” — my latest for @theguardian.com

BG is objectively a horrible man who has advocated for some of the most violent policies. The only reason to oppose sanctions against him is inherent racism that the Arabs he advocates against are somehow worse than he is.

Without a Israeli-Lebanese agreement on full Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon, the next regional escalation is just around the corner. It would involve Israeli attacks on Beirut, Iranian missiles on Israel, Israeli attacks on Iran, and the suspension of movement through Hormuz Straits.

I hope the ceasefire holds mostly so people can go home, rebuild, and bury their dead loved ones. It would also be really nice if this Israeli drone got out of our skies once and for all...

Madeleine Schwartz (@mmschwartz.bsky.social) on how a mysterious papyrus fragment, an Oxford don, and a prominent family of American evangelicals became embroiled in papyrology’s biggest scandal

Beirut's municipality is useless. When I last heard the head of the municipality speak, all he offered were excuses about how difficult it is to do anything. We never see the municipality present and there is crumbling infrastructure everywhere today.lorientlejour.com/article/1538...

What are CNN and other major international news channels looking for in their field reports on the wars in our region?

also Haddatha in South Lebanon within just one month. A near-wipeout. These are towns 10 kilometres or so into Lebanese territory. Sentinel-2 imagery May 9 vs June 8

Always read @ayoub.bsky.social.

I wrote about the pogrom in Belfast, with quotes from @hleehurley.com shado-mag.com/articles/opi...

Thrilled to have joined the @theguardian.com’s brilliant Investigations team for the next year, and just so grateful to be back at work. Got a story? Email: [email protected] Signal: leloveluck.62 Contact the Guardian securely: www.theguardian.com/info/ng-inte...

For such a claim you have to name the US official or you don’t run this story. This is poor share.google/str0MAV70f4K...

“Trump secured something most Americans can only dream of: immunity from the IRS” — my latest for @theguardian.com

The Israeli military has approved plans for renewed fighting in Gaza.

On March 2, Malika's mother was killed by an Israeli strike. Her last act alive was using her body to protect 4yo Malika, who sustained burns, shrapnel to her face, and damage to her eye. I wrote about how this war is impacting children in Lebanon www.aljazeera.com/features/202...

Happy pub day! The Dial's first book "How We See It," a collection of 12 essays that examine how the world sees the U.S. in this political moment, comes out today. “To read this rich, subtle and moving anthology is to be reminded that it is often foreigners who understand us best," Adam Shatz says.

“Children are experiencing repeated displacement, disruption to education, psychological distress, and growing uncertainty about their future” — excellent reporting by @justinsalhani.bsky.social on how Israel's war on Lebanon is impacting children

NEW: As the Lebanese state's legitimacy erodes, Israeli occupation continues, and polarization over Hezbollah's weapons deepens, Lebanon faces an existential crisis. Only a real ceasefire can help restore state credibility, argues Jean Kassir. Read more: timep.org/2026/06/09/l...

Trump claims he's "calling all the shots" on Iran. Netanyahu's choices show otherwise. My piece for @theobserveruk.bsky.social

Protests return to Baghdad, farmers from parched peripheries and unemployed graduates priced out in the gentrified capital. A poem by Sargon Boulus, the vagabond Beatnik from al-Habaniyyah, says: "the people demand bread, each loaf is a mourning flag." And each politician is a thief, the people cry.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot announced that Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has been banned from entering the country. He also announced that 'four settlement leaders and 21 additional settlers' would be banned from entry. www.ynetnews.com/article/9gof...

"In a few days, the World Cup will be held again. The last one cost me my freedom, and this one has already cost me my passport, my safety, and who knows what is yet to come." Qatar 2022 whistleblower Abdullah Ibhais writes ahead of the 2026 tournament www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

Israel has carried on with its offensive, launching a wave of strikes on southern Lebanon and has issued more forced displacement orders for suburbs in Tyre. Al Jazeera’s Obaida Hitto reports on the strikes he witnessed in and around Tyre.

On March 2, Malika's mother was killed by an Israeli strike. Her last act alive was using her body to protect 4yo Malika, who sustained burns, shrapnel to her face, and damage to her eye. I wrote about how this war is impacting children in Lebanon www.aljazeera.com/features/202...

Some victims count more than others. We see it in journalism, research, and in the stories we choose to tell. The question is not whether it happens, but what we do when we recognize it. My reflection on dehumanization and choice.

All i see is a bunch of weak men talking about the need to project strength and power.

Doubtful

We wrote a whole children's book based on Mona's work – 20 years ago! All this time she dedicated her life to providing a safe space for endangered sea turtles, despite pressure and threats from developers. It was never about defense, the genocidal bastards just love killing and destroying.

A friend of mine was arrested in Morocco and spent three months in prison. He says it was because he was wearing a Senegal jersey. If anyone in media wants to speak to him, he is eager to speak and I'm happy to put them in touch with him www.instagram.com/reel/DZPZ2nc...

Israel has resumed bombing Dahiyeh - Beirut's southern suburbs. Multiples strikes already reported.

7 months old. He was in his mum’s arms when the Israelis shot him dead. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

Very proud to be on the advisory board for this campaign. If of interest, please sign and share. ——— Infantino isn’t fit to lead FIFA. 
And FIFA isn’t fit to govern football. Agree? Add your name to this mass complaint: rebootfifa.com/sign?utm_sou...

It's always been painfully clear to me that the crimes committed by Americans against citizens of the global south in any capacity are not disqualifying at all in the eyes of the mainstream political & media establishments in America. However it was still jarring & triggering as hell to witness this