I agree we should push back against the idea that “homogeneity = dynamism”, but China has become much more homogenous over the past 40 years, 90+% of the pop. is regarded as a single ethnicity; the govt. is pretty keen on forced assimilation, the minorities on that flag make up 2/3% of current pop.

This week is Road Safety Week & a chance to talk about Barbara Castle! Barbara was Transport Minister for three years yet she was able to introduce the Breathalyzer, a proper integrated transport strategy & more! This was done despite fierce opposition. 📸 Photo from the Parliamentary Achieve

25. China vs Zhang Yadi A Chinese student studying in the UK has vanished into the Chinese detention system after going back to visit her parents. She had advocated for the rights of Tibetans while in the UK. www.independent.co.uk/asia/china/z...

Seven years today since I got a personal favourite letter published in the Metro.

"Exercise vigilance against the propagation of erroneous historical views about World War II that distort or negate the righteousness of the global victory against fascism, or that belittle China’s major contributions to the World War II victory."

Counting lives saved is difficult, but it can show us the great difference some people have made— Scientists can make an enormous difference in the world.

I mean just look at that

I signed the 10% Giving Pledge this year, and this week, I decided to donate 19% of my annual income to global health charities. It's not going to be anywhere near "enough", but I'm happy to do it --

In my pre-Bellingcat days, I worked for an organisation that housed asylum seekers, and I'd challenge anyone who think they get an easy time to spend a few months living in the same conditions and see how they feel about it then.

Andrew had a heart of the most immense kindness and generosity and an intellect that was, in the true sense of the word, awe-inspiring. I was very privileged to know him. May his dear soul rest in peace. Andrew C. West, 1960-2025.

啊men

Up from Mompós to Cartagena, the great fortress of the Spanish Americas - reinforced with some of the most extensive defences in the world following British and French attacks to become an unassailable bastion of Spanish presence in the Caribbean /1

Some Diaspora Jews, hearing recriminations of Israel, often think "is this actually about me and my family? Is Israel merely a code for Jews" Is this a totally unreasonable thought? No, because sometimes Israel is code for Jews. But the jump to "no-one can say nasty things about Israel" is insane

🇨🇳 China tells EU it will not allow Russia to lose war against Ukraine – South China Morning Post

My latest post! In researching the history of coal, I stumbled across a puzzle that has baffled people for over four hundred years: why the coal briquette never became widely adopted in England. Now, finally, there is an answer! www.ageofinvention.xyz/p/age-of-inv...

Smallpox declined gradually, until the WHO coordinated the global effort to eradicate it 🧵

What remarkable Xi Jinping timing to meet his fake Panchen Lama roughly 30 years after Beijing abducted the actual six-year-old Panchen Lama, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, who to this day decades after being the world's youngest political prisoner has never been seen again. Still crickets from global media.

Ok so I didn’t really need that in my adult beverage but thanks for sharing

You have a right to a family life, which includes being able to settle a foreign spouse or children, not have them live in limbo for a decade

Author denied UK visa unable to attend premiere of play based on his memoir

thepointmag.com/examined-lif... its often combined with a sense that people belong inherently to one of many fixed character types

A few Palestinian YouTube channels have stopped because they were killed. These were kids. They sang songs & loved birds, and showed us the ocean. I'll never forget Medo, a young man growing a garden in the midst of a genocide. Israel killed him; he showed the world that Palestinians are human.

Just heard that Dave Allen died, and this has made me sad. The things he and Andy Gill did with bass and guitar were wondrous. Both gone, now. youtu.be/EFi4lHiThFA?...

Cambodia was hit by a tariff of 49%. Madagascar - 47%. Lesotho - in southern Africa - has a 50% tariff - the highest of any country. This could devastate the economy of a small, impoverished nation that relies on exports of clothes.

ICYMI, this 2002 PhD dissertation by Pan Yue, current head of the national ethnic affairs commission, drew up a blueprint for settler colonialism 20 years ago. he specifically wrote that China should learn from the experience of the westward movement

Itamar Ben Gvir: "Annihilate, smash, eradicate, erase, crush, shatter, burn, be cruel, punish, ruin, crush. Annihilate!" This is the genocidal voice of the Israeli government.

Estimates by @charlesjkenny.bsky.social @justsand.bsky.social: US foreign aid likely prevents 2.3 to 5.6 million deaths annually, largely in Africa. And that a complete disruption would result in over 4000 lives lost per day.

This isn't the canary in the coal mine, it's a mine shaft full of dead miners.

What if you could explore Wikipedia on a map? A little project I've been building with a friend over the past months! wikiexplore.org

I legit think the NPC meme they love to use is a tell for these sociopaths. They don’t think killing kids by withholding HIV treatment is any different than stabbing a prostitute in Grand Theft Auto.

#USA: We are calling on the US government to immediately resume funding for the full range of PEPFAR operations as well as other critical health and humanitarian aid. Uncertainty around PEPFAR program puts millions of people at risk www.doctorswithoutborders.org/latest/uncer...

Let’s look at some of the people Musk and Trump just killed: in Thai-Myanmar border migrant camp Umpiem Mai, more than 10k displaced people. USAID withdrawal meant immediate closure of hospital: “multiple patients, relying on oxygen support, died” www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02...

@fuchsiadunlop.bsky.social any recommendations for food in Chengdu? Or good places to buy speciality products like 腊肠、辣椒酱等等 sorry I know this is a bit of a vague request 😂 , p.s. big fan of your work

No biggie, just an ancient equivalent of a clay photograph that shows a man walking his dog 3,800 years ago in the city of Borsippa 🥹

Genuinely horrifying. 20 million people receive HIV antiviral treatment from the program annually. Mothers with HIV would transmit it to their infants at birth if not for perinatal antiviral treatment. This should be resumed as soon as possible. Every day of delay means more lives lost.

What happens if teddy bears come to life? What happens if the UK falls into the paws of bloodthirsty living cuddly toys and our nuclear capabilities vest in a brutal animal regime? Regardless of whether one thinks this is a realistic outcome, should we not have the courage to ask these questions?

This will kill so many people living with HIV who depend on PEPFAR programs to stay on their HIV treatment driving further HIV drug resistance. www.nytimes.com/2025/01/24/u...

Ant and Dec snubbed once again…

Why do Chinese characters have only one “radical”? For example, 煮 (Mandarin zhǔ 'boil') has only the [FIRE] radical 灬 which is an abbreviated form of 火. √煮 = ±火 #sinography #sinology 🀄️📚 #langsky #linguistics #hieroglyphs 1/

Inspired by another's idea, asking o1 this: Basically, what are some scientific/technological insights that would have changed Rome.

THREAD: How China is influencing local elections in New York City, mobilizing organizations via a local power broker known as "The King of Brooklyn" (布鲁克林之王）to ensure that candidates who voice sympathy for Taiwan, or for Hong Kong democracy, are either defeated or never get elected. (1/x)

HBO's The Wire is rightly lauded for its vivid & realistic depiction of urban decay. But you might not notice that under the surface it is also a subtle exposition on Mohist & Legalist challenges to Confucian orthodoxy as witnessed during China's turbulent Warring States era …

full sentencing for all the NSL47, image from HKDC:

That’s me in the hard hat, in front of the bucket of a terrifyingly enormous digger. What you can’t really tell from the picture is that my head was spinning. I’d just had one of those moments that change your life forever. It would set me off on a journey around the world…!🧵