1980: NHS spending as a % of GDP: 5.1% Defence spending as a % of GDP: 5% 2024: NHS spending as a % of GDP: 10.9% Defence spending as a % of GDP: 2.2% This is such a common applause line, but it’s also total bullshit.

Earlier than usual, Politics Weekly America on the Gaza ceasefire plan — and how much credit should go to Donald Trump. I break it down with @julianborger.bsky.social open.spotify.com/episode/1p6H...

Spent five minutes staring at this trying to work out what it had reminded me of. Realised it was this horrifying passage from George Orwell’s 1984.

That Trump and Trumpism are fascist doesn’t explain the sheer vandalism of unleashing mass murdering mayhem via RFK to replace medical/scientific institutions of immense value and prestige with medieval peasant superstitions. That is a criminal madness facilitated by but above and beyond fascism.

Government by the trolls, of the trolls, for the trolls, inflicted on the people.

I’ve checked this against the original press release, and yes, the UK government is actually suggesting something this bloody stupid. (Because it’s stored in a data centre and data centres are Bad).

This is *immensely* stupid advice. They don’t use energy while they’re sitting on a hard drive not being accessed. They very much use energy while you’re going through them all and deleting them. It’s also a fraction of a fraction of the energy saving you’d make by driving less or similar.

Kennedy is killing science. That will end up killing people.

WTF. So if Russia invaded and killed civilians to get a piece of Ukrainian territory, that’s earning it?

‘I must document everything’: the film about the #Palestinian photographer killed by missiles in #Gaza @julianborger.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/film/2025/au...

We are living in an age of bullies. Those with power are less constrained today than they have ever been in my lifetime. The question is: how do we lead moral lives in this era? https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jul/28/bullies-moral-lives-robert-reich

I was quoted in today’s @theguardian.com on Macron’s latest announcementby @julianborger.bsky.social Let’s see if the UK follows France’s lead and recognises Palestine… but it’s clear both governments need to go much further than recognition

The history of the countryside is that it is working land: it has always been the factory of the rural economy. Its historical purpose is not to look nice, that’s just a nice byproduct. Build the damn wind farms. (Happily, they don’t even ruin the visuals, imo. I like to see land at work.)

www.theguardian.com/culture/2025.... Must-read by Charlotte Higgins

Last year I had the pleasure of meeting @julianborger.bsky.social, world affairs editor at The Guardian & author of I Seek A Kind Person I'm so grateful for this kind endorsement, thanks Julian! 🙏 The Piano Player of Budapest is out now @littlebrown.bsky.social www.hachette.co.uk/titles/roxan...

On Tuesday night I was barred from entering Georgia, my home for the last three years. Official reasons were given as “other,” but from the circumstances of my departure in April it’s clear the refusal is directly tied to my work covering the country as a journalist. 1/ rsf.org/en/between-h...

Just read this gripping, moving book. See you in #Chiswick in September. Will raise you grandmothers named Erna Borger, Studentenfutter & Viennese Nazis @julianborger.bsky.social @torindouglas.bsky.social @mliebreich.bsky.social

I bought Julian Borger’s book, I Seek a Kind Person, after reading this review. Now I’ve read the book. It’s deep-dig research, ace reporting, memoir, & Holocaust history; complex & often crushing; beautiful writing & powerful insights. @julianborger.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2025/04/15/b...

A spirited response from Michael Rosen to Keir Starmer's bigoted comment about an Island of Strangers

Kseniia Petrova--who had to flee Russia for opposing Putin’s war against Ukraine & brought her genius to Harvard Medical School only to be thrown into Trump’s gulag in Louisiana, wants to get back to her lab & it’s awe-inspiring & scientifically vital imaging work: www.nytimes.com/2025/05/13/o...

I’ve been piecing together this Guardian long read for over a year - about a thoroughly plausible, utterly crooked lawyer who pretended to be the perfect gentleman while he spun a web of deceit. Thanks to @davidedgarwolf.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

How many Gazans have been killed? I guess they get to resettle here, too, right?

Pet parrots were taught to do video calls, and it was a hit. The birds not only made friends with each other, and selected who they wanted to call and when, but also picked up new skills from fellow parrots. Good enrichment option for improving captive parrot welfare. 🧪🦜 dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/...

We are hiring! workforus.theguardian.com/jobs/719

Imagine a situation in which the threat of fascism is so pressing that you consider sending your children to another country. That’s what happened decades ago for the family of @julianborger.bsky.social, the world affairs editor of the Guardian. Read @davidcorn.bsky.social's interview with him.

And the food there is great.

‘We know what is happening, we cannot walk away’: how the Guardian bore witness to horror in former Yugoslavia @julianborger.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...

From @davidcorn.bsky.social "Our Land" newsletter. A conversation with @julianborger.bsky.social "Guardian."

NEW: Julian Borger, the Guardian's global affairs correspondent, has written a beautiful book about the escape of his father & other Jewish children from Vienna in the late 1930s. It has lessons for us today. We spoke about that for my OUR LAND newsletter. link.motherjones.com/public/39616...

Was lucky to celebrate @julianborger.bsky.social’s book launch in person yesterday. A truly moving work from an incredible person and colleague and this is the perfect time to read it.

‘Keeping people alive’: Gaza’s last working bakery forced by Israel to keep on moving World Central Kitchen mobile bakery’s production limited by flour shortage as result of Israel’s blockade @julianborger.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

www.nytimes.com/2025/04/15/b... Well-deserved rave review in NYT of @julianborger.bsky.social moving new book: “I Seek a Kind Person”

@nytimes : "Borger's riveting..haunting, revelatory book" www.nytimes.com/2025/04/15/b...

IDF unit involved in Gaza paramedics’ killing was under command of brigade led by notorious Israeli general

Over the course of reporting a story this week, a longtime senior former official at the NIH played down concerns that the FDA would be politicized. As long as Peter Marks was in place, the person said, there's a guardrail. Marks resigned under pressure tonight www.nytimes.com/2025/03/28/h...

‘I am a political prisoner’: Mahmoud Khalil says he’s being targeted for political beliefs

Black Medal of Honor recipient removed from US department of defense website

Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik — a fervent Srebrenica genocide denier who also just got hit with an arrest warrant last week — is heading to an antisemitism conference in Jerusalem later this month. Other attendees include far-right figures such as Javier Milei and Jordan Bardella.

Europeans tend to zoom in on homicide stats when we rebut things like this, but the reality is even starker: in any given year, a working age American adult is *2.5x likelier to die* than an adult in western Europe. It's not just violence. Drugs, healthcare, and more are worse in the US.

quote of the day www.ft.com/content/4221...

Interesting reportinghttps://therecord.media/hegseth-orders-cyber-command-stand-down-russia-planning

What’s worse? That the US Attorney’s office for DC call themselves “Trump’s lawyers” or that they don’t know where to put the apostrophe?

The architect of Biden's shitshow of a Middle East policy didn't waste any time cashing in

I posted this yesterday: The Democrats as a party are not rising to the challenge of the moment. It's hard to fathom. One reason they fared poorly in November is that they are not generally seen as fighters. Now they have a chance and they are failing. Read my piece for more.

Trump compared to mobster Tony Soprano by former envoy to Panama www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

This is the ultimate dick boss move from Musk - except he isn’t even the boss, he’s just a dick.