A little present from the boss lady (although not #Caturday yet) and #TheGlobalJigsaw team if you fancy a pod today: a deep dive into Persian poetry and politics www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w... You won't regret it 😉 Have a great festive season if you celebrate 🎉 😼

Ever heard of the kokoshnik? You could even spot one - sported by #TheGlobalJigsaw presenter @ikrassi.bsky.social in this video 😉 and if you fancy finding out more, here is our latest on the 'Russian cultural code': www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w...

Your fave pod 😉, #TheGlobalJigsaw has been highly commended at the gala of the Association for International Broadcasting, the AIBs. Pic featuring presenter @ikrassi.bsky.social and me. The boss lady was slightly scornful as she couldn't be there. If you haven't yet: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w...

Zhivko was briefly distracted from his shoebox moment after catching whispers about China’s “doublespeak” on his favourite pod. Apparently, Marco Rubio got played by a clever bit of translation trickery - or was it strategic ambiguity? #Caturday #TheGlobalJigsaw www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

‘Most of this is symbolic’: the new wave of anti-migrant vigilantes in Europe ‘Citizen patrols’ and self-styled protective forces are fuelling social fears and the far right, say experts

The new Polish president, Karol Nawrocki, has vetoed a bill providing financial support for unemployed Ukrainian refugees in Poland, a move which would also end Polish funding for Starlink systems used by Ukraine. Here's a #TheGlobalJigsaw episode on his election www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w...

Congrats again to @ikrassi.bsky.social @fulelo.bsky.social Krisztina Satori from BBC Monitoring on another great production, with their usual mix of precision, story-telling flair and the sorts of soundscapes that you can only get by trawling through hours of archive sound files

and we try to understand its impact on local life and on the region’s complex geopolitics www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w... With #BBCMonitoring's @jboswall.bsky.social , Collins Nabiswa and Barry Marston Presented by @ikrassi.bsky.social Light visualisation, part 1: youtu.be/cgEkF4-d04o?...

Vitaly Shevchenko Russia Editor at BBC Monitoring: “My take on why there are plenty of reasons to worry ahead of tomorrow” :

Ministers accused of being ‘asleep at the wheel’ over UK’s soft power around the world

Our latest episode of #TheGlobalJigsaw on the WS today explores what people in Israel see about the war in Gaza on their TV screens. We examine the methods and the motives behind the PM's media strategy, and ask what this means for the country's democratic credentials www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Happy #Caturday from Zhivko - he has a timely episode of #TheGlobalJigsaw for your weekend listening - one that examines the Trump effect on global media. Some people are saying his "chainsaw approach" to US media funding amounts to “a gift to dictators". www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Happy #caturday all! Zhivko is back with the latest from #TheGlobalJigsaw - a 3 part series for those who want to understand the Kremlin’s conquest playbook and what “peace” might look like for Ukrainians living under Russian occupation. Starting with Crimea… www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

First to fall in the war that Ukraine didn't start was Crimea - annexed by Russia 11 years ago. #TheGlobalJigsaw is focusing in its latest series on life under Russian occupation. Part 1 on Crimea is out today www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w...

In major news(drumroll🎉) for fans, friends and family of #TheGlobalJigsaw we have a pilot episode up that is fully visualised youtu.be/RJT1ycrut8c?... - please have a look at @ikrassi.bsky.social and Vitaly Shevchenko, talking about Russia's language of war. Your thoughts would be much appreciated 🙏

Another #Caturday, another Burgas street beauty. Puffy just finished her lunch. She is well looked after judging by her plush coat. The lady who feeds her said that she’s been neutered by the council which explains her slightly clipped right ear #CatsofBluesky

Happy #Caturday, #Catsofbluesky - the first for 2025! This street beauty watching the world go by from the comfort of her very own piece of insulating cardboard can melt a frozen heart 😻

Peekaboo #CatsofBluesky! Zhivko has another Christmas present for you on this #caturday - the last episode of the year from #TheGlobalJigsaw. After last week’s pod dissected Russia’s warspeak, this one turns to Ukraine’s linguistic strike back www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w...

#caturday greetings from Zhivko, #CatsofBluesky. He has not one but two episodes of #TheGlobalJigsaw to offer you (the third one coming next Saturday) - the final offerings of his team for this year. A lot to take in…

How is your #Caturday going, #CatsOfBluesky? The boss lady has just finished measuring a few boxes, having rounded up the latest three episodes of #TheGlobalJigsaw - one is up online already and you could check it out and let her know what you think 😉 www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w...

#BBCNews - Ukraine's spies target Russian figures in increasingly brazen attacks www.bbc.com/news/article...

Syria mass graves: Grim task of searching for and naming the dead

#Syria: A valuable view from Hassan I. Hassan. "As a journalist born and raised in Syria. . . I believe the group’s transformation away from the brutal methods of ISIS and Al Qaeda is partly public relations, but mainly genuine." @hhassan.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2024/12/05/o...

This image of Bashar al-Assad is currently circulating online with claims it shows him in Moscow, his first public appearance since fleeing Syria. But that's false. The image was taken in February 2023 and shows Assad visiting victims of the Turkey-Syria earthquake in Aleppo.

Fantastic support today for the Guardian & Observer strike; thanks to all who came to the picket line incl Anne Robinson, Grayson & Philippa Perry, Rebecca Long-Bailey, John McDonnell, Mick Lynch & Paul Nowak. Speakers incl general secretary-elect Laura Davison. Photos: Mark Thomas #SaveTheObserver

Guardian and Observer journalists go on strike over sale of paper - BBC News #SaveTheObserver www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

As promised, here is the updated version: 'The rebels who took Aleppo' www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w... From #Theglobaljigsaw team, presented by @ikrassi.bsky.social

I find this so fascinating. Keir Starmer has used the Lord Mayor’s banquet as the stage for a major foreign policy speech. But it’s what he’s not saying that’s so striking. 1/ www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

If you would like to understand #HTS, the Islamist milintant group leading the rebel offensive in Syria, listen to our very first episode from 2023, describing how the group seeks to distance itself from its Jihadist roots, to become more like the Taliban www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p...

Wow. Tbilisi, Georgia tonight. Europe matters and the EU does too.

A very moving programme and creative use of sound from Afghanistan - all recorded by a young woman who describes the prison her country has become for half the population 💔 www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

#BBCNews “Nowhere else on Earth are so many children on the run, so many people living with such acute hunger” www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

⚡️ Russia is moving forward with plans to remove the Taliban from its list of terrorist organizations.

So here’s the update. The billionaire owner of the Guardian preparing to get rid of a core part of the news org + 100 journalists. If you’re a Guardian or Observer reader, please share this. The need for a strong, free & independent press couldn’t be greater. Yet, here it is.

Finally caught up with this and utterly enjoyed it - and so will fans of John le Carre and anyone interested in the Cold War, life under communism and the infamous umbrella murder www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/...

On #TheGlobalJigsaw we too looked into #Turkey 's role in gatekeeping the Bosphorus and Dardanelles, watching over #Ukraine 's trade routes and trying to mediate with #Russia www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w... presented by @ikrassi.bsky.social Despite the flat title it is a good listen 😉

Today is Holodomor Remembrance Day in Ukraine:

Wow. What a cover @politico.eu

The Times is recommending our episode Yemen: A tale of three cities, running on WS Radio. The war in Yemen is suspiciously looking like a frozen conflict - with people stuck in a “no war, no peace” situation, ten years on. Featuring Sumaya Bakhsh, produced by @fulelo.bsky.social #TheGlobalJigsaw

www.bbc.com/news/article... If you missed it - this is a wonderful story by Penny Dale that’s guaranteed to bring a smile on your face (the pic with the goat 🐐 in pearls is my favourite)

NEW ANIMATION: China’s cumulative emissions have overtaken the EU for the first time… …but under future projections, China’s emissions may *never* eclipse the US (despite having just a fraction of the population) buff.ly/4hQ131z with @drsimevans.carbonbrief.org @vernerviisas.carbonbrief.org

Russia’s stark population decline is leading to increasingly wild proposals for upping birth rates. Not just abortion restrictions, monetary incentives, or attacks on “child free propaganda” - there’s also consideration for freeing female prisoners and nullifying sentences of those who conceive.

ICYMI - my colleagues and I recently took a look at Russia’s demographic problems and the (often bonkers) solutions that officials are constantly coming up with Here’s a thread by @fulelo.bsky.social to accompany our episode of The Global Jigsaw podcast on the topic

#Russian Duma MP Alexander Iltyakov has discovered one of the reasons for the war in Ukraine: 'women having abortions' - hear for yourself: t.me/chtddd/80451 This, after Vladimir Putin has made the increase of human capital a priority. So Why is the #Kremlin worried about population decline? 1/n

Médecins Sans Frontières has halted its operations in the Haitian capital after 30 years as the security situation has become unbearabe www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

#BBCNews - Furious row at UN as Russia blocks Sudan ceasefire move www.bbc.com/news/article... More on the war in #Sudan from #TheGlobalJigsaw www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p...

The harmonious mood of Donald Trump’s transition team at Mar-a-Lago has been shattered by a row between two of his closest confidants, Elon Musk and Boris Epshteyn, a legal adviser

#BBCNews - Huw Edwards groomed me as a school pupil, man claims www.bbc.com/news/article...

Hungary’s foreign minister today lambasted the US for authorizing Ukraine to strike targets inside Russia using American-supplied long-range missiles.