Final nudge for Jeremy Bowen's Lunch with the FT. Here are his thoughts on Jared Kushner's vision for Gaza: as.ft.com/r/2ade34f9-9...

Just going to leave this here

URGENT: Gaza starvation took my son’s health, and now it’s stealing his sight. He survived hunger, but he’s going blind. I am begging you to help me save his eyes before darkness takes over. He deserves to see the world. Please help! Verified by: @mommunism.bsky.social gofund.me/5f2429cda

Today's home truth comes from @alanbeattie.bsky.social who wrote "The extent to which Trump is ceding the green tech field to China remains almost beyond belief in its self-destructiveness." In all of the debates about soft v hard power, don't forget Trump is also doing incredibly stupid stuff.

Great response! “It’s very hard to believe these accusations. I come from a country [Estonia] that is number two in the Press Freedom Index – so hearing criticism regarding press freedom from a country like the United States, which is 57th on this list, is interesting."

Didnt contradict Johnson's ties to Russia, it in fact complements the puzzle pieces we have on Epstein. Johnson is tied to former KGB officers Alexander Lebedev and Vladimir Yakunin and their sons (Yakunin pushes fake Western conservatism + has ties to former Austrian Social Democratic chancellors

Jemima Kelly | Yes, we should preserve western culture but not like this . . . ft.trib.al/snyzF7U

Oh, God. The implications of this for all of us - of stopping developments to avert the appalling follow-on late consequences of childhood viruses that we are beginning to see.

A real way to help people in Gaza, if you want to.

Crips for eSIMs is still sending and topping up eSIMs for people in Gaza - the project is in the red right now (including our UK team). Please share widely - US / Canada / UK specific links in the description: chuffed.org/project/crip...

This is a wonderful article about Cuba. About what the revolution did or didn’t, mainly didn’t, achieve. By someone who lives there, & therefore worth reading. But so, so, sad. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...

Finally some sense. Maybe the government needs to hold a seminar to remind themselves what it means to be a free, tolerant, society. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

Not a story you will see many mainstream national newspapers leading on, as their proprietors wouldn’t like it.

"The abuse of women by male predators and their enablers – and Britain’s as yet unacknowledged role – has shocked me to the core. It demands an in-depth police investigation, and is by far the biggest scandal of all" This is vital stuff from Gordon Brown. Hope the police & Government listen up.

Oh dear. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Is this genuine? If so -

Correction: the UK has been colonised by some odious super rich individuals based overseas.

Disgusting remarks, and that’s before you note this is someone who moved to (colonised as he would put it) a tax haven news.sky.com/story/the-uk...

Seems Ed Conway did not spot Ratcliffe's mistaken claim that population is up 12 million since 2020 is nonsense. His response was just "you met Nigel Farage recently, didn't you". Instead of: that can't be right. Should Sky News not check+correct prior to broadcast? x.com/SkyNews/stat...

Bliss.

BEST case scenario: “It will be a kind of hybrid. The Democrats will restore a certain degree of accountability, do a minor overhaul. But Trump's authoritarianism will remain in parts of the system“ AI-translated Aftonbladet interview with me from last week.

It's baffling this isn't discussed more.

I've joined Substack to share more thoughts on my reading, writing and thoughts on the history that helps explain our political moment. Subscribe here, if you like. substack.com/home/post/p-...

Absolutely brilliant column by @patrickmaguire.bsky.social: every word of it true:

Gosh.

“Bannon (and his buddies) are using an informational strategy called reflexive control that intentionally exploits the reaction of his adversaries (on the left) to inflict damage on their own side. Don't become an unwitting agent in their information operation.” Instead …. a 🧵of what to do:

ICE at the polls! Bannon is basically yelling “fire” in a crowded theater here. His objective is to cause chaos (and suppress votes on the left). And it’s already working. This threat works on multiple levels and doesn’t have to be “real” to serve its purpose. Let me explain & offer some advice.

Incredibly important theme, & thread.

Just *look* at this.

My god.

Bigger things going on today i know but watching Bezos buy, wreck, and now basically gut a media institution at a time when America really needs a free press is just such a grotesque waste. If you don’t know how to run it, sell it to someone who can www.theguardian.com/media/2026/f...

Hearing that the entire Washington Post team covering the Middle East has been let go. This is devastating news. They were doing vital coverage here, & providing a necessary bridge between this region & the US. It's very obvious why that is needed.

JUST IN | Israeli forces detonated & destroyed the Morag Water Station in Rafah today, a facility that supplied water to roughly one-third of the city’s residents before the war, Palestinian investigative journalist Younis Tirawi Reuters w/ footage purportedly circulated by Israeli soldiers. The...

This is my view. Luckily point 2 really matters.

"About 500 seniors live at Sinai Residences in Boca Raton, Florida, including many Holocaust survivors. Recently, some of them asked if they could hide the building’s Haitian staff in their apartments..." www.jta.org/2026/01/30/u...

Released Palestinian prisoner Khaled Al-Sayfi before detention (left) and in hospital after his release (right), following severe health deterioration linked to his imprisonment and torture in Israeli custody.

Yeowch.

Never mind jobs you had, tell me five (or rather: five of the) classes you took at university. 1. The Greek & Roman novel 2. Greek prose composition 3. Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics. 4. Greek tragedy. 5. Pre-Socratic philosophers.

Oh dear. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

"We'll take our stand for this land & the stranger in our midst..." Powerful. Brutal. Inspirational. A loving tribute to Renée Good, Alex Pretti & the good people of Minneapolis. Plus, it name-checks all the villains: the Puppy Killer🐶, Pee-Wee German🇩🇪, the Orange Atrocity🍊💩 & above all: ICE🧊🚫 1/

It truly never ends the behavior of a sore loser in real time. FBI agents executed a search warrant at an election center in Fulton County, Georgia, marking a major escalation in the administration’s campaign against a jurisdiction Trump has obsessively targeted since losing the state in 2020.

From the Chartists to the suffragettes, and from the civil rights movement to the anti-apartheid struggle, every great protest movement has found strength in song. There is extraordinary power in music. More than one injustice has fallen before a hail of ballads.

Repost everywhere. Bravo

I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. Stay free

Forgive us our trespasses… Sandwiched between the North Circular & housing estates of Ilford lies a rare & precious jewel: the largest tidal reedbeds in London. However, they are in a bad way: smothered in plastic & rubbish swept in by the tide & with invasive species encroaching further every year

Neil Young offers Greenland free access to his music catalog

Please spread this far and wide, as stories don't get much bigger than this. When the government blocks even the intelligence services from telling us we're heading for environmental catastrophe, you know we have a problem. A very big problem. Thank you. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

In 1922, insulin co-discoverer Frederick Banting refused to profit from the discovery and offered it to the world as a global public good. Today, many people with diabetes still don't have access to affordable and quality treatment and care.