Russia's federal government has announced that it's shutting down *all* mobile Internet service in Moscow on May 9 during Victory Day — even text messaging & access to state-approved white-listed online resources. An extreme measure to guard against feared Ukrainian attacks. t.me/vedomosti/77...

This was a hard story to report. Newborns who don’t get a vitamin K shot are 81 times more likely to develop a condition where they bleed uncontrollably. But more and more families are declining the shot. And babies are dying. www.propublica.org/article/more...

Chillingly, the law this protest law is based on was passed in 2011 by Bashar Al Assad.

Deserved congratulations to @jmalsin.bsky.social + a team of many talented people (special shoutout to Asmaa Al Omar who is not yet on BlueSky) for being Pulitzer finalists for this important reporting on the aftermath of the fall of the Assad regime in Syria.

‘Go inside, he will kill you’: Israeli militants step up West Bank school attacks Education is being targeted across Palestine, with the murder of 14-year-old Aws al-Naasan only the latest in a spree of violence www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

““China has made information a theatre of war, and I have a responsibility to fight in the theatre that China has delineated,” he says.” Fascinating profile.

"In a cafe in Istanbul, Samad slid his phone across the table, a death threat visible on its screen." My piece on the Iranian exiles fearing an empowered and embittered regime now pledging to hunt them down – including using proxies potentially like the group claiming attacks in London.

I had missed RightsCon for a few years and was genuinely looking forward to being in a room with this community again. The world is bleak. We find light in each other. Watching a government try to snuff that out is a serious blow, and it should be treated as one.

Farmers in Southeast Asia could be in big financial trouble. The war in Iran has made fertilizer more scarce and more expensive, and the timing could not be worse. It's planting season. Eventually, American shoppers will feel the economic pain from all of this too. www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-P...

What is there to assess, he has proclaimed victory several times and all he’s doing is motivating Tehran to prove to him how hollow these words are.

Today in the latest edition of: Donald Trump does not understand how diplomacy works- and refuses to learn.

It's a great weekend to not attend the White House Correspondents' Dinner

Revoking kids' visas because their parents criticized Elon Musk.

Trump’s social media sabre-rattling won’t get Iranians to the negotiating table Tehran continues to play a waiting game while time is not on the US president’s side, writes Ruth Michaelson https://bit.ly/4cr5KOR

#Lebanon bids farewell to journalist Amal Khalil, killed by Israeli military in south. Killing adds further strain to Lebanese-Israeli talks planned today in Washington, dims prospects of Aoun-Netanyahu White House meeting in next few weeks: www.al-monitor.com/originals/20...

“This is why Trump is stuck, he’s constantly thinking about one more tool of escalation that would eventually, magically, conjure the kind of victory he has in mind," said @alivaez.bsky.social. My piece on why Trump's threats to Iran aren't forcing talks in the @theobserveruk.bsky.social

Relieved to see that Ahmed Shihab-Eldin has been acquitted in Kuwait– he should never have been detained in the first place.

The state of the modern dot com bubble explained in one thread.

Deeply worrying: In Tunisia, the well known investigative outlet Inkyfada is being threatened with closure as the crackdown on independent press and civil society intensifies rsf.org/en/tunisia-i...

Finally out: my piece about Russia-occupied Mariupol where locals face homelessness due to Russian "laws". Incredibly challenging story to report. So grateful to the Mariupol residents who trusted me with their stories. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/22/w...

Why is “pay journalists well to do good reporting,” never the vision.

Sorry to be overly sincere for a second, but here's why we decided to persevere through all of the bullshit and take over InfoWars. There's just gotta be a line somewhere. Thank you @pablo.show for letting me talk so openly about this.

"My brother is a seaman on a ship called the Liana off the coast of Iran,” it read. “He is one of three Indian sailors on board, they need to sign off and get home. Please help them.”" The story of three out of thousands of sailors stuck for weeks in the Persian Gulf for @theobserveruk.bsky.social

SCOOP with Elizabeth Williamson: The Onion has a new plan to take over Infowars. It has entered into an agreement to license the Infowars brand and plans to operate it as a comedy site. A Texas judge must approve the deal. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/20/b...

Forbes is gamifying news about the horrific mass shooting in Shreveport, LA this weekend, encouraging readers to bet on the likelihood of gun regulation with fake money via its "ForbesPredict" feature. Eight children were murdered in the shooting. futurism.com/future-socie...

IDF commanders told Haaretz that southern Lebanon is being demolished “like Gaza.” The declared goal is to prevent civilians from being able to return. Both are war crimes punishable under international law. www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...

As several analysts predicted, elements of the IRGC hostile to the idea of a ceasefire with the US are in the driving seat. Trump’s claims of “regime change” in Iran looking more outlandish by the day.

An extract from IF WE TOLERATE THIS is today's Guardian Long Read. www.theguardian.com/news/2026/ap...

America is losing a talented researcher today. Rümeysa Öztürk, whose abduction by masked men prompted a search and her eventual release by ICE, has returned to Turkey. She wants to resume a career without "state-imposed violence and hostility." www.bostonglobe.com/2026/04/17/m...

Stopped dead in my tracks by "I was reminded of Brooke Shields telling me how her surgeon performed an unsolicited vaginal rejuvenation on her when she was anaesthetised." On point, as always, by @evawiseman.bsky.social

Lafarge, one of the world's largest cement makers, and two executives were found criminally liable for financing terrorism in Syria by knowingly paying terrorist groups to keep their plant running. I hope this sets a precedent for holding fossil fuel companies liable for climate change.

With this bridge struck, how will people still living south of the Litani continue to get access to aid, food, & medicine? How will hospitals replenish their medical supplies? The bridge was described to us as a lifeline by local officials and health workers An unfolding humanitarian catastrophe

“Dubai is the most deliberately constructed soft power city in modern history: a place that converted economic abundance into cultural and reputational attraction at a pace no previous city has matched. Iran’s missiles certainly damaged that construction, but they did not destroy it.”

Iran suffered way worse destruction during the 40-day war than it did through the 1980-88 war with Iraq. The scale of reconstruction ahead puts pressure on Iran to negotiate sanctions relief. My story: www.wsj.com/world/middle... #trump #israel

A 37-year-old was driving on the outskirts of Tehran when plainclothes security forces made him pull over. They saw he had used an illegal VPN and had images of destroyed buildings on his phone. He was arrested– his bail set at the equivalent of $35k. My piece for @theobserveruk.bsky.social

my little sketch of Budapest during/after the election is out! observer.co.uk/news/interna...

Unreal: journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin has been in detention for six weeks in Kuwait for posting news of the war in Iran online. Per @pressfreedom.bsky.social he was charged with "spreading false information, harming national security, and misusing his mobile phone."

Saw one reporter call Vance “the closer” on Saturday and did a double take.

This is a beautiful day.

"This administration has proven itself unwilling or unable to negotiate. They don't have that skill.” How the talks in Islamabad failed - as the US attempted to impose their terms on Iran. My piece for @theobserveruk.bsky.social

Hegseth': Iran’s missile program is "functionally destroyed." Bibi: Iran "has no ability" to rebuild its missile progress. U.S. intel: Iran still has thousands of missiles it could launch. www.wsj.com/world/middle...

Tracking US-Iran talks for better part of two decades: Breakthroughs aren't irreversible, stalemates aren't unbreakable, each side thinks it's reasonable and the other isn't, nothing is agreed until everything agreed, and if you get that far you still need implementation.

“"They say they have facilitated the media. No doubt they have given 5G internet speeds," said journalist Nadir Guramani. "But media teams deputed inside Jinnah Convention Centre do not know what's happening outside."”

The number of deaths from Wednesday's Israeli strikes on Lebanon have risen to 357, according to the country's health ministry. It comes as many families continue to search through the rubble including a father who lost his daughter in the attack. youtu.be/6JcxPtYJfsA?...

"According to European national security sources, the plan involves embedding a team of social media manipulation specialists within the Russian Embassy in Budapest, provided with diplomatic or service passports to shield them from expulsion." vsquare.org/putins-gru-l...

“A couple of friends messaged me and told me that this is a level of fear they haven’t felt before. We don’t know what’s coming next.” The slow daily horror of life in Lebanon, where war intensifies but hasn’t stopped since 2023, by @justinsalhani.bsky.social

Hall of fame FT correction

“A group of new accounts on the prediction market Polymarket made highly specific, well-timed bets on whether the U.S. and Iran would reach a ceasefire on April 7, resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars in profits for these new customers”

Highly unusual indeed. Also worth noting that these strikes were almost certainly conducted with US-origin warplanes—thus implicating US legal restrictions on arms exports.

$2 million per ship — to cross a Strait that was free six weeks ago. @nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/2026/04/06/w...