I do wish these ppl would just enjoy their retirement and grow cabbages on their allotments like everyone else… 😫

My piece on the dramatic changes inside Russian schools since 2022, with weapons training in the classroom and a push from kindergarten to prepare soldiers for future conflicts. “They are preparing kids ideologically & psychologically for war,” said @irgarner.bsky.social www.wsj.com/world/russia...

Important insights into the utter hypocrisy of those hounding the BBC. "... if the BBC cannot or will not defend itself, and if it will not stand true for a truly radical concept: fearlessly impartial journalism, not fearful management of impartiality, then it will fade away."

Putting together a panel for #BISA2026 on grassroots resistance. If you have a paper, get in touch! I'm keen to bring together diverse perspectives and approaches. 📧 DM if you're interested ⏰ Deadline: October 30th @mybisa.bsky.social

Sadly, there's a lot to be said for Marina Hyde's analysis here. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

#Russia forces strike UN humanitarian convoy in #Kherson region Two trucks, delivering food and vital aid, damaged by drones #Ukraine #UkraineWar

Blue sky hive mind: #Russian political economy/trade-best books/articles on the opening up of the economy after the collapse of the USSR please!

⚡️Seven EU states increase Russian energy imports in 2025, Reuters reports.

Please join me in congratulating Woman on her appointment

ICYMI: "The captain of an oil tanker believed to be part of Russia's 'shadow fleet' of vessels used to evade sanctions has been charged by French authorities." @bbcnews-world-rss.bsky.social www.bbc.com/news/article...

Can China sell itself as an alternative to the Western-led security order? @sheenagreitens.bsky.social joined @gmfus.bsky.social’s @bglaser.bsky.social on the China Global podcast to discuss. Listen here: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/g...

Taliban shut down the internet in Afghanistan as a “morality measure”

A few people have been asking questions about Moldova. As it's well over 30 years since Russia refused to let go of a part of the country, this (free) look back into history from @amaragraps.bsky.social, is both fascinating and enlightening. amaragraps.substack.com/p/connecting...

Moldovans Reject Russia | "The election was billed as a referendum on the country’s future. In the end, voters plumped for Brussels and Western Europe rather than Russia." Katia Glod

Speaking next Monday (6th October) at King's Russia Institute about 'Russia Starts Here'. Tickets are free. Please come along! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/russia-sta...

The United Nations is staring down the unprecedented financial and political pullback of its founding member and the host of its headquarters, the United States. What will the future hold for U.S. support to the United Nations? Read the full analysis: www.csis.org/analysis/wha...

Xi Jinping on visit to Xinjiang calls for ‘every effort’ to achieve social stability – SCMP: ‘Xi also described the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, a state-owned enterprise, as “an important strategic force” in achieving the ruling party leadership’s overall goals for Xinjiang.’

So, to be clear, Reform UK want a state strong enough to carry out mass deportations but identity cards would be a step too far in terms of state power?

“Are you Alawi?” Identity-Based Killings During Syria’s Transition www.hrw.org/report/2025/...

"An instrument of neo-colonialist oppression" Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger issue a joint statement withdrawing from the #ICC Earlier this year, all three also jointly withdrew from #ECOWAS www.bbc.com/news/article...

Very annoyed with this ”but Turkey shot down a Russian jet”. Turkey doesn’t have a border with Russia. If Finland did the same (when it’s ”only” an incursion), what would stop Russia from starting to shoot down Finnish (or other NATO) jets when they’re flying close to the Russian border ?

Does the UN have a future? I talked to @economist.com alongside @minhthu.bsky.social (who is more hopeful than me!). www.economist.com/internationa...

Via @hrl-yalesph.bsky.social on X: Yale “HRL identified 210 locations where Ukraine’s children have been taken in Russia and occupied Ukraine since Feb 2022. This research expands on HRL’s previous reports + is the highest number of locations to date.” ysph.yale.edu/news-article...

Finland’s history offers a warning, not a model. Kristi Raik explains how Ukraine differs from Finland – and why trading land for peace is unlikely to bring lasting stability. @foreignpolicy.com @kristiraik.bsky.social

We've just had a special weekend email from the Russian troll factory (they usually email us their latest fake videos Monday to Friday, so this is out of character), and they're all about Charlie Kirk. Unusually, they've also posted them on Truth Social, which they don't usually do in my experience.

This is why Putin has stepped up his war since January. He knows the US response will continue to be weak with Trump’s Putin first policy.

Once again, Teen Vogue out here committing actual journalism.

Humanities, arts and social sciences degrees are disappearing in many UK regions. With more young people than ever studying close to home, course cuts are narrowing their choices at university. @timeshighered.bsky.social covers our 'Cold Spots' report today. Read more at https://bit.ly/46e3wOy

💬 #NATO is not treating the drone incursion into Polish territory as an attack, a NATO source told Reuters. #russia #poland

AlJazeera reports that Qatar's PM stated that - the attack happened when the Hamaz team was discussing the US ceasefire proposal - the US contacted Qatari officials 10 min after the attack. www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblo...

With my colleagues Martin Quencez and @gesineweber.bsky.social, we analyse what the fall of the Bayrou government — and the appointment of Lecornu as the new PM — mean for France’s domestic and international politics. Spoiler: France’s problems aren’t going away. www.gmfus.org/news/frances...

My interview today on @NPR with @michelekelemen about my new book Peacemaker: U Thant and the Forgotten Quest for a Just World www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2...

if you are looking for solid on the ground reporting in Chicago, I recommend: - @unraveledpress.com - @mulchy.bsky.social - @pgoyette.bsky.social please do not amplify people who have no record of posting accurate or timely information about events in Chicago

China’s top political advisor Wang Huning meets 149 representatives of ethnic minority groups – Xinhua

NEW: An Oxford report warns that misleading media coverage is shaping public debate on immigration and human rights. The study finds the ECHR is frequently misreported in deportation cases, fueling misconceptions that erode trust in the legal system. 🧵 [1/8]

The Hamburg team (Professor Alan Kramer) of our @erc.europa.eu Synergy Grant BLOCKADE is looking for a FOUR YEAR PostDoc to work on blockade as 'slow violence' in the Great War-era Middle East. Please share! www.uni-hamburg.de/en/stellenan...

New on Substack: a summary of the issues around Russia's upcoming regional and local votes and why these votes are interesting even under the current circumstances. minczifra.substack.com/p/on-russias...

My interview with France-24 News yesterday on the #SCO summit

China’s Anti-Western Bloc? Not So Fast | "A summit of mostly autocratic countries appears a gloomy signal for the West. But there’s a gap between China’s ambition and delivery." @natashakuhrt.bsky.social and Evgeny Roshchin

EU chief von der Leyen's plane hit by suspected Russian GPS interference

Interested in contested public history? Fulbright-Queen’s University Belfast award now available for an MA in Public History at Queen’s University Belfast. Apply now! @ncph.bsky.social @@qubelfastofficial.bsky.social us.fulbrightonline.org/countries/eu...

With the SCO summit currently underway in China, reupping my piece on China, Russia, Central Asia for @cepa.org

Again - the reason that the Good Friday Agreement locks in the ECHR is that the UK had repeatedly been held accountable by the European Court of Human Rights for human rights breaches during the Troubles - while national courts had failed to do so, even upholding miscarriages of justice

There are now 101 British universities making redundancies. When will the madness stop? Answer: it probably won't. qmucu.org/qmul-transfo...

The list includes 17 wartime songs, such as “Soldiers Are Coming” and 20 others like “Red Sun” and “My Moscow.”

Brilliant from @jimdickinson.bsky.social on the collapse in university quality as a handful of Bad Behavers destroy the HE system to ensure their own survival. I'd only add the quiet desperation of staff in some of those unis, with 'seminars' of 60+ students. wonkhe.com/blogs/beware...

This is good on the extraordinary alienation that has now grown up in academia. The gap between the values of lecturers and the universities that employ them are now a huge unbridgeable chasm. One stands for education, the other institutional self-interest. blog.matthewbarnard.phd/a-world-with...

It's clear that private equity and Sovereign Wealth Funds are circling UK Higher Education, waiting to move in and snap up some of the (er) 'distressed assets'. That could be where we're going in some parts of the sector. www.universityworldnews.com/post-mobile....

@warmatters.bsky.social joins today’s @lawfaremedia.org Daily to discuss his new book “War in the Smartphone Age.” We talked about everything from ‘context collapse’ on social media to the future of ‘participatory warfare.’ Listen wherever you get your podcasts! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

Something appears to have gone haywire with Russian propaganda bot software. A couple of deepfake videos are claiming that Jane Austen (who was 14 when he died in 1799) once plotted the assassination of George Washington, and also would have done the same to German Chancellor Friederich Merz.