US oil giants scramble for ways to say "no" to Trump's demand that they repair and operate Venezuela's oil and gas infrastructure, as a doddering Trump stands up mid meeting to stare out a window at the demolished East Wing. www.ft.com/content/4c21...

Perfect

A supporter of the African Concert Series since its inception, we are honoured to have his continued support alongside Professor Emeritus Julian Lloyd Webber, as we celebrate and promote African classical music! 🎶 Read more about this appointment here🔗 theafricanconcertseries.co.uk/2026/01/09/1...

I’m honoured and excited! #AfricanClassicalMusic

Nigerian composer Ayo Bankole explores African Pianism beautifully in ‘Egun Variations’ based on an Egun theme of the Yoruba people of Nigeria. 🎥Video courtesy of Onassis Stegi, Athens, part of my African Pianism recital programme.

For me, AFRICAN PIANISM was not a formal academic term I studied as a child, but rather a lived experience of my heritage that I later reconciled with my Western classical training. Read more 👇

Darren Jones, Chief Secretary to the UK Prime Minister: “It’s not for politicians to make judgments around international law” Meanwhile, Mayor of New York, Zohran Mamdani: “ Unilaterally attacking a sovereign nation is an act of war and a violation of federal and international law.” #Venezuela

Geoffrey Robertson KC: “The reality is that America is in breach of the United Nations charter,” he added. “It has committed the crime of aggression, which the court at Nuremberg described as the supreme crime, it’s the worst crime of all.” #Venezuela www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

🔴Trump's Illegal Assault on Venezuela Opens the Door to Even Darker Foreign Adventures It's time for the President's apologists to admit that those of us warning about the grave global threat he poses were right www.adambienkov.co.uk/p/trumps-ill...

40 years ago in January 1986 organ legend Jimmy Smith returned to Van Gelder Studio to record “Go For Whatcha Know” with Stanley Turrentine, Kenny Burrell, Buster Williams, Grady Tate & others for a newly relaunched Blue Note. Stream our playlist “Blue Note: The Rebirth”: bluenote.lnk.to/TheRebirth

Vietnamese artist Vu Bach Lien, Snow path, 2014, woodcut print #WomensArt

‘The Kennedy Center opened in September 1971 with a premiere of “Mass,” which was composed by Leonard Bernstein with English texts by Mr. Schwartz, who was then 23 years old.’ - @nytimes.com

How 2026 was depicted in the sci-fi classic 'Metropolis' (1927)

Meanwhile, in the USA 🇺🇸 … ‘More musicians drop out of Kennedy Center shows after Trump name change’ www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Zohran Mamdani is now mayor of New York City. Here’s what he campaigned on

Happy New Year! ✨🥂✨

‘Zohran Mamdani sworn in as mayor of New York City’ New mayor, 34, was sworn in by state attorney general Letitia James in old beaux-arts city hall subway station’ www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Tressa Burke, chief executive of the Glasgow Disability Alliance, was recognised by the prime minister for her services to people with disabilities, but rejected an MBE, citing policy changes in November's Budget, including cuts to the Motability scheme. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Italian dog in shop window. Cane italiano in vetrina.

Brigitte Bardot, French screen legend, dies aged 91. 🌷 www.theguardian.com/film/2025/de...

This is another world from Thameslink and Network Rail! #TreniItalia #FrecciaRossa #ItalianTrains

Chloë Deakin, a former teacher at Dulwich College, tells how she wrote to the Dulwich college master, to argue against Farage’s nomination as a prefect, after hearing ‘complaints of bullying’ from both pupils and staff.

In “Marty Supreme,” the new film about an ambitious young table tennis player in the 1950s, the director Josh Safdie enlisted professionals to choreograph the action. “Realizing that this sport has a history, and a rich one, just dignified the sport in a way that I found to be fascinating,” he said.

'Winter Embroidery' by UK textile artist Rachel Wright, machine embroidered on calico with various fabrics #WomensArt

Little to no additional snow accumulation is expected after some New York City areas were hit with the heaviest snowfall in years, forecasters said.

New York City got more than four inches of snow for the first time since January 2022 overnight, with higher totals reported in the wider region on Saturday. trib.al/ycUVCXi

This is another world from Thameslink and Network Rail! #TreniItalia #FrecciaRossa #ItalianTrains

Merry Christmas, from a cold, but gloriously sunny Hampstead Heath! ✨🎄❄️☀️✨ #NorfLunden

Stand by ✨🎄✨ … BBC Radio 4.

Two Palestine Action-affiliated prisoners - Qesser Zuhrah and Amu Gib - have paused their hunger strikes due to deteriorating health but have vowed to resume the protest next year. #hungerstrike www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Hyndland Road tenements in the West End of Glasgow, with their bay windows lit up by Christmas trees. As kids, starting on the 1st of December, wherever we went, we'd count the Christmas trees we spotted in the tenement windows. Cont./ #glasgow #architecture #tenement #hyndland #christmastrees

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So pleased I got to see Kahlil Joseph’s amazing ‘BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions’ at the @barbicancentre.bsky.social Cinema.✨🎬✨ Delighted to see the inclusion of footage from the Chineke! Orchestra’s inaugural concert at @southbankcentre.bsky.social, in Sept 2015, conducted by Wayne Marshall. ✨🎵✨

Just two chances left to catch this beautiful and brilliant family friendly adaptation of Mozart’s ‘The Magic Flute’, by Luca Silvestrini and Protein Dance at The Place, London.✨✨✨ Last performances - 3pm, 23 Dec 11am, 24 Dec Details and tickets here 👉🏾 theplace.org.uk/events/aw-20...

So pleased I got to see Kahlil Joseph’s amazing ‘BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions’ at the @barbicancentre.bsky.social Cinema.✨🎬✨ Delighted to see the inclusion of footage from the Chineke! Orchestra’s inaugural concert at @southbankcentre.bsky.social, in Sept 2015, conducted by Wayne Marshall. ✨🎵✨

Meanwhile in the USA 🇺🇸 … You know who, wants to rename the Kennedy Center, adding his own name at the front. Narcissist in Chief.

Meanwhile in the USA 🇺🇸 … You know who, wants to rename the Kennedy Centre, adding his own name at the front. Narcissist in Chief.

‘Government plans to make huge cuts to targets for accessible new-build homes in England have been labelled a “monumental reversal” by campaigners, who say disabled people have been left feeling “betrayed and excluded”.’ Extremely disappointing. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...

£18 - hourly rate for a resident doctor after the 29% rise £24 - hourly rate for a physicians assistant If you're ok with assistants earning more than actual doctors, congratulations, you've fallen for Streeting and Starmer's attack on the people who will keep you safe when you fall ill, doctors

He’s gesturing to a sleeping man as he says “He’s the only leader in the world who can help end [the war in Ukraine].”

An agreement to rejoin Erasmus – the EU’s student exchange programme – is expected to be announced today as part of the UK government’s drive towards closer relations with Brussels. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d... #FreelancersMakeTheatreWork

Meanwhile in the USA 🇺🇸 …

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Can’t wait to see and hear this at Dance East in Ipswich this week, and then at The Place in London, where it runs from 17-24 December! ✨✨✨

In 2025, Branford Marsalis Quartet released “Belonging” which is GRAMMY-nominated for ‘Best Jazz Instrumental Album’! branfordmarsalis.lnk.to/Belonging The acclaimed saxophonist’s Blue Note debut is a full album reinterpretation of Keith Jarrett’s 1974 ECM album of the same name.

‘…the [Tory] government committed more than £10bn to building new schools between 2014-15 and 2023-24, compared with £6.8bn for rebuilding existing schools, which critics say left England with a backlog of crumbling and decaying buildings.’ www.theguardian.com/education/20...

Can’t wait to see and hear this at Dance East in Ipswich this week, and then at The Place in London, where it runs from 17-24 December! ✨✨✨

#Unlearn Please, can we stop being surprised? Neanderthals, and probably their earlier ancestors, were seriously smart and creative, not shambling dolts of 20th-century thinking www.scientificamerican.com/article/anci...