Not sure I understand why the Trump administration cares about Christians in Nigeria and not Christians in Ukraine

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Merry Christmas! All Ukrainian people want for Christmas is a just peace in Ukraine.

Probably the best Christmas story you'll read this year. At a time when it can feel like selfishness and greed are winning, some people are showing a better way.

The political and media establishment will try to bury the issue of Farage's ties to Russia, so please repost and share this petition calling for a public inquiry into Russian influence on UK politics & democracy as widely and as often as possible. petition.parliament.uk/petitions/74...

'Record numbers of Swedish retirees are enrolling in a university run “by pensioners for pensioners” amid increased loneliness and a growing appetite for learning and in-person interactions.' 1/2

For some bizarre reason, some in Britain still don't think Putin is a threat I have written about looking at the world through Putin's eyes to understand how much he hates us, and if we don't, we are sitting ducks Merry Christmas @thenewworldmag.bsky.social www.thenewworld.co.uk/luke-mcgee-p...

It's what many of us have argued in favour of for years. Maybe the self-inflicted punishment of Brexit will make enough people realise that we need to fix the bits of the system that are broken. Then we can get on with making a positive contribution to Europe, and being valued for it.

Anyone in the UK government bothered to notice two of its citizens – one of whom is friends with Number 10’s chief of staff – got sanctioned yet, or..?

“Republicans’ very worst fears look to be happening: the Department of Justice has been accused of hiding evidence, while the Department of State is openly declaring war on the First Amendment – only it’s their guy in charge as it’s happening. Awkward.” inews.co.uk/opinion/trum...

Brutal Long COVID. Millions with relentless fatigue and a mix of debilitating symptoms, with crashes that send everything spiralling over again. Time governments fully recognised LC - especially as an occupational injury for healthcare workers who risked everything. 🔗 www.echolive.ie/corknews/ari...

Rajan Menon in @theguardian.com gives a very balanced and insightful view of the EU deal on Ukraine aid. The 90billion is useful, but Europe must do more. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Reform politicians double down on their racism because they’re proudly racist. Farage won’t apologise for his or his party’s racism because he needs his racist voters on side. Reform is racist. Farage is racist. Don’t call for apologies. Call them what they are. app.independent.co.uk/2025/12/20/2...

Will these Morons who dress up In red coats to barbarically kill helpless kill helpless foxes - obey the law?

Statement from Bill Clinton and he’s right. This isn’t about him. They are using him to deflect off Trump. They are hiding the files, pictures and redacting trump from them.

A cover up of a cover up is being done by the DOJ. I'm old enough to remember the people who went to prison for their actions during Watergate while Nixon went home to live in luxury for the rest of his life. Nixon's AG along with "all the president's men" served time in prison.

The Washington super-insider has given an unflattering insight into the internal workings of the MAGA White House ✏️ Rats in a Sack 🐀

What could go wrong? www.wsj.com/world/putin-...

What do these corporations all have in common? -Lockheed Martin -Palantir -Microsoft -Amazon -Comcast -Google -Apple -Meta -HP -Nvidia -T-Mobile They all have lucrative government contracts — and they're all donors to Trump's $400M ballroom.

“As well as being the figureheads of their respective Brexit campaigns, Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson share another thing in common: as Russia launched its first phase of war against Ukraine in 2014, they both blamed the EU for the conflict” ⁦‪⁩ bylinetimes.com/2025/12/02/b...

Restorative reading. 🥰

Right, she may have played for Birmingham City (and sadly not Aston Villa) but can you all vote for Karen Carney this evening on #strictly. Not least because she has the most beautiful Brummie accent, and she is an absolute star and deserves to win outright.

Makes the essential point at the root of how we address the lack of connection to place in modern society: make homes and nature one and the same, FFS! As our old place-names tell us. Profit, of course, stands in the way, and governments who pander to the profit-makers, which is to say all of them.

@irishrainforest.bsky.social doing God's work on the Beara Peninsula. My grandfather and 1000s more emigrated from Beara to the Butte, MT mines in early 1900s. He took up bootlegging instead. Took $ back & moved the family north to easier farming in County Meath www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Here's a great piece on the subject of who's paying for spivvy Nigel from @petergeoghegan.bsky.social. democracyforsale.substack.com/p/75-of-refo...

📢 This petition reflects what many of us already feel about Brexit’s impact. If you haven’t signed yet, here’s the link: petition.parliament.uk/petitions/74...

Rob Reiner: “Silence in the face of authoritarianism is complicity. Speaking out is a patriotic act. Democracy doesn’t defend itself. It requires participation, vigilance, and courage from ordinary people."

The threats the UK faces from Russia are by no means limited to the UK. All European democracies now face these threats. The UK must work closely with European partners to confront the authoritarian threat and build a stronger and more resilient Europe. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Could this Palestinian song be the UK’s Christmas No. 1? www.channel4.com/news/could-t...

Future leader of the Labour Party.

So @bylinetimes.bsky.social is planning a Christmas cracker box - all Farage’s pro Putin statements - do share and add any you find to this thread

It would be great if SOMEONE could try to fight populism without adopting its most questionable methods. There is a mountain of stuff on which to criticise Starmer. The "island of strangers" accusation is, in my view, mendacious and low - albeit that it has been repeated so much it may *feel* true.

Incidentally, I don't exempt myself. I also spent weeks outraged, having read only headlines, angry posts, and backlash. It was two months later, working on something different, that I looked at the transcript and thought: "huh! it doesn't say that at all." It is an instructive example, I think.

Sprat are small members of the herring family, and are the basis of whole marine ecosystems. Yet they're being hoovered up by pair-trawlers to feed fish farms. Please sign our petition calling for a pause on sprat trawling until we have more data. Thank you! www.change.org/p/save-our-m...

We’re being poisoned by Big Food and our governments are allowing it, cowed by the lobbyists and fears of right wing accusations of ‘Nanny State ism’. Our government’s are fundamentally failing in their first duty - to protect us all. buff.ly/lo4NkVk.

A new record - on 5 December wind power produced enough electricity for 3/4 of UK homes At 23.8GW it meant that even during winter peak demand, it was still providing nearly half the country's power needs Still a way to go though.... www.edie.net/uk-soars-pas...

Plastic tape (eg Sellotape) isn't recyclable – and if you put tape-covered wrapping paper in the recycling bin, it can contaminate the paper recycling. Using recyclable paper tape is one solution. littlegreenspace.org.uk/reviews/casc...

There is one overriding political problem, from which all others follow. Until it is addressed, every policy advanced by governments is window dressing. www.theguardian.com/inequality/2...

The ECHR was set up after WWII to ensure that fascism never again arose in Europe. Why do the right want to curb/limit/leave/abolish the ECHR? Because it does what it was intended to do, that's why...

@simonjackbbc.bsky.social: Why is GSK spending 5x as much in US as UK. Why did it spin off its sensodyne+panadol making consumer business, how do you face down a shareholder rebellion and giving birth in the US. GSK's Dame Emma Walmsley tells me on the big boss interview - here.

This is what you don't hear every time this junktank appears on the BBC. *Why not?* Great exposure by Sam and @desmog.com