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ianblease.bsky.social

@ianblease.bsky.social
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Dr Emma L Briant 🇬🇧 in 🇺🇸 w/ 🐕 @emma-briant.co.uk · 14h
Beware of anti-woke campaigners’ attack playbook Typical moves include cherry-picking evidence, selectively targeting minorities and coordinating harassment www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/bewa... @profsanderlinden.bsky.social @jagolinzer.bsky.social
timeshighereducation.com
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Chatham House @chathamhouse.org · 10h
Elections in Peru and Colombia this summer resulted in narrow victories for candidates aligned with the regional agenda of Donald Trump. Brazil under Flávio Bolsonaro could be next.
chathamhouse.org
Brazil’s presidential election is more than just another polarized contest
A Bolsonaro victory would mean Trump-aligned governments dominate South America.
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ianblease.bsky.social @ianblease.bsky.social · 8h
Trump administration seeks to strip Ilhan Omar of US citizenship: WSJ aje.news/5b8eji
aje.news
Trump administration seeks to strip Ilhan Omar of US citizenship: WSJ
Investigators have subpoenaed relatives and examined immigration records, the newspaper reports.
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Chatham House @chathamhouse.org · 9h
The Houthis have learned that even limited strikes on Saudi Arabia can impose significant costs. This gives the Houthis leverage that Saudi Arabia’s conventional military has struggled to overcome.
chathamhouse.org
The Yemen war is not just Saudi Arabia’s problem. It’s the Gulf’s too
The renewed conflict in Yemen exposes the limits of Saudi Arabia’s military options and the vulnerabilities of the Gulf states. A unified Gulf Cooperation Council strategy on Yemen and a credible poli...
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Oleksandra Matviichuk @avalaina.bsky.social · 10h
And not a word about Putin, who started this bloody war and is killing Ukrainians. Trump is Putin's friend, as he himself says.
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James O’Brien @mrjamesob.bsky.social · 23h
Hiding in plain sight.
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Arthur Snell @snellarthur.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
A deepening of the Moscow Trump Silicon Valley axis
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Chatham House @chathamhouse.org · 13/10/2026
Russia must be deterred from any attempt to seize even a small amount of territory in the Baltic — a significant possibility if Russia were to test NATO's resolve.
chathamhouse.org
Russia’s Kaliningrad threats show the value of Baltic preparedness
Moscow’s nuclear rhetoric should be taken seriously. But Baltic states know grey zone attacks and territorial incursions are equally serious threats.
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Chatham House @chathamhouse.org · 13/10/2026
As fighting escalates in Tigray and the neighbouring areas, there are fears that Ethiopia's internal instability could spill over into Eritrea, Sudan and the wider Horn of Africa.
chathamhouse.org
War has returned to Tigray. This time it may not stay in Ethiopia
As fighting escalates in Tigray and neighbouring areas, there are fears that Ethiopia’s internal instability could spill over into the wider Horn of Africa region.
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Arthur Snell @snellarthur.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
www.nytimes.com/2026/10/13/w...
nytimes.com
Trump Hands Victories to Putin, Who Offers More War in Return (Gift Article)
Russia has reaped a diesel deal and an increase in U.S. pressure on Ukraine as President Trump’s political needs align with his longstanding inclinations toward Russia.
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Dr Emma L Briant 🇬🇧 in 🇺🇸 w/ 🐕 @emma-briant.co.uk · 13/10/2026
The US midterms are 3 weeks away and election misinformation is already spreading. As of Oct. 13, NewsGuard has debunked 25 viral false claims about the midterms, appearing across 268 websites and accounts. www.newsguardtech.com/special-repo...
Tracking 25 false claims across 268 websites and accounts
As of Oct. 13, 2026, NewsGuard had identified and debunked 25 false claims about the midterms that have gone viral on social media platforms. 

Tracking each claim instance by instance, our analysts have confirmed 365 individual appearances of these claims online across 11 platforms, more than 212 distinct social accounts, 56 websites, and 24 segments on national cable news. 

Eleven of the 25 claims centered on supposed election fraud, a particularly pernicious category of false narratives since such claims could undermine confidence in the results of the elections and in democracy itself.
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Sarah Murphy @13sarahmurphy.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
Farage/Johnson/Brexiters hate the Brexit Russia connection… this is why… “Isolation from the rest of Europe is the result that Britain’s enemies wanted in 2016. Sticking to that path is the route they would choose for Britain again today if they had a vote.” www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Brexiters can’t cope with the fact that Putin was cheering them on | Rafael Behr
Russian meddling probably didn’t affect the referendum result – but the Kremlin’s motives for wanting to undermine the EU still matter, says Guardian columnist Rafael Behr
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Mark Chadbourn @chadbourn.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
The pro-Putin Georgian Dream party is going to the constitutional court to try to ban nearly all major opposition parties. #Georgia
CONSTITUTIONAL COURT
OF GEORGIA
Georgia's Constitutional Court Fast-Tracks Case to Ban Opposition Parties
onet
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Chatham House @chathamhouse.org · 13/10/2026
President Donald Trump may dismiss the threat posed by climate change, but its consequences are becoming harder to ignore — just ask voters in Arizona.
chathamhouse.org
Water has emerged as a key issue for Arizona voters ahead of US midterms – governments should take note
The case of Arizona shows that governments must stop treating water as merely an environmental issue.
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ianblease.bsky.social @ianblease.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
Watching Big Chicken: A Fast Food Conspiracy, I was shocked to see the damage the chicken industry is doing to rivers, communities and animals. And now I’ve learned the Government wants to expand Big Chicken. I've signed the petition to stop it 👉 you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/st...
you.38degrees.org.uk
Stop Big Chicken Choking our Rivers
Watching Big Chicken: A Fast Food Conspiracy, I was shocked to see the damage the chicken industry is doing to rivers, communities and animals. And now I’ve learned the Government wants to expand Big ...
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Peter Stefanovic @peterstefanovic.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
Andy Burnham says he holds Nigel Farage 'significantly responsible' for UK's miserable decade www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...
mirror.co.uk
Nigel Farage 'very significantly responsible' for UK's miserable decade says PM
Andy Burnham launched a rare personal attack on Nigel Farage as he tore into Brexit 'lies' over migration and accused the Reform UK chief of giving Britain a 'decade of division and drift'
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Alex Hall Hall @alexhh.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
Me too.
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ianblease.bsky.social @ianblease.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
act.38degrees.org.uk/act/no-execu...
act.38degrees.org.uk
Ban the US death row execution from being live streamed in the UK!
I just signed the campaign calling on the Government to ban the US death row execution from being live streamed in the UK!
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The New World @thenewworldmag.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
The shrieks of fury from Johnson, Badenoch, Farage and co speak volumes as the prime minister confronts the disaster they wrought ✏️ @jamesrball.com
buff.ly
Burnham is already winning the new Brexit wars
The shrieks of fury from Johnson, Badenoch, Farage and co speak volumes as the prime minister confronts the disaster they wrought
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Private Eye Magazine @privateeyenews.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
The Wellcome Trust was set up to improve the health of humans, animals and the environment and is now the UK’s richest charity, with £35.7bn assets. Among its highly varied portfolio of investments is Brighton Marina, owned by its subsidiary, Premier Marinas.
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Peter Walker @peterwalker99.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
NEW: Kemi Badenoch’s flagship party conference policy document, The Right Way, overestimated the cost of net zero by nearly £500bn, seemingly after someone accidentally double-counted figures on a spreadsheet. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Tories overstate net zero cost by nearly £500bn in apparent spreadsheet error
Exclusive: Badenoch’s flagship conference policy document cites £957bn estimate, twice the total in climate advisers’ data
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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
It's become a catchphrase for Badenoch that "We have to be SERIOUS" - and she's right about that. Yet every announcement is like this: a burst whoopie-cushion of wrong numbers, bungled data and stuff someone found on Google. The gulf between rhetoric and reality is positively cavernous.
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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
Here's the whole letter, published on 14 November 1849.
The letter exceeds the character limit for Alt-Text, but there's a transcript at https://fs.blog/charles-dickens-to-the-times/
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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
Public executions were not abolished out of tenderness towards the criminal. They were abolished because of the effect on the people watching, and the dangers of making human death a source of commercial entertainment. Here's Charles Dickens in The Times, after witnessing an execution in 1849.
"I have seen, habitually, some of the worst sources of general contamination and corruption in this country, and I think there are not many phases of London life that could surprise me. I am solemnly convinced that nothing that ingenuity could devise to be done in this city, in the same compass of time, could work such ruin as one public execution, and I stand astounded and appalled by the wickedness it exhibits. I do not believe that any community can prosper where such a scene of horror and demoralization as was enacted this morning outside Horsemonger Lane Gaol is presented at the very doors of good citizens, and is passed by, unknown or forgotten. And when in our prayers and thanksgivings for the season we are humbly expressing before God our desire to remove the moral evils of the land, I would ask your readers to consider whether it is not a time to think of this one, and to root it out.

I am, Sir, your faithful Servant.
Charles Dickens".
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Legal C @legalclaret.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
Putting aside the many moral, legal and practical arguments against a live-streamed (or come to that any kind of) execution, doesn’t he recognise you automatically create biggest martyrdom video in history, one that will haunt the USA for decades?
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Sarah Murphy @13sarahmurphy.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
Brexit is forever tainted with disinformation, foreign interference, murky vested interests, ugly prejudice, unforgivable costs and now deep unpopularity. If you really cared about our country and wanted to fix its problems, you’d admit this… Good that Burnham is finally doing so…
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ianblease.bsky.social @ianblease.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
Britain's future relationship with Europe is being debated in Parliament on 12th October. I've just asked my MP to attend. Will you ask yours? www.europeanmovement.co.uk/contact-mp-a...
europeanmovement.co.uk
Ask your MP to stand up for our future in Europe
On 12 October, Parliament will debate the UK's future relationship with Europe, after a government petition got over 100,000 signatures. Will you write to your MP to ask them to attend the debate?
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Arthur Snell @snellarthur.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
Donny is really losing it www.theguardian.com/world/2026/o...
theguardian.com
Trump announces partial ceasefire in Ukraine war as Zelenskyy says deal is ‘news to me’
Ukrainian president earlier rejected US call for Kyiv to stop bombing oil refineries, saying Moscow must first end attacks on energy infrastructure
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Alex Hall Hall @alexhh.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
It’s v heartening to see the support for Ukraine from many prominent Americans, including many Republican members of Congress, who are planning to introduce legislation to stop the US from buying Russian oil. America is genuinely awful under Trump, but it is not (yet) a complete lost cause.
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Mark Chadbourn @chadbourn.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
During the last two years, at least 44 governors, 70 US senators and 185 members of the House and their staffs and families have been subject to threats of violence, according to a NYT investigation.
nytimes.com
Threats of Political Violence Have America’s Elected Officials Living in Fear
A Times investigation has found that violent threats have become a new normal among public officials, reshaped private lives, cost millions in security and pushed people out of office.
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Institute for the Study of War @thestudyofwar.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
NEW: Russian President Vladimir Putin used his phone call with President Donald Trump on October 9 to falsely blame Ukraine for the lack peace negotiations’ progress despite Russia’s continued unwillingness to engage in meaningful negotiations or make concessions Read more: isw.pub/UkrWar101026
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Richard Murphy @richardjmurphy.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
Guy Standing: Why we all deserve a social dividend. In my latest podcast, I talk to Guy about the precariat, universal basic income, the rentier economy and the need to reclaim the commons. This is a very different view of the world. youtu.be/2CX2wlTWFDk?...
youtu.be
Guy Standing: Why we all deserve a social dividend
YouTube video by Richard J Murphy
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
Bank of England governor tells the UK chancellor to agree a budget that reassures financial markets. Govt told to serve markets, speculators, corporations. Healthcare, education, social justice, housing is secondary in neoliberalism. Wither democracy.
theguardian.com
Bank governor urges John Healey to use budget to allay market fears amid bond turmoil
Andrew Bailey tells chancellor ‘whatever the stance of fiscal policy, it must be credible and be seen as such by financial markets’
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Simon Marks @simonmarksfsn.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
The video version of my "American Week" for @lbc.co.uk is now available. www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXsG...
youtube.com
'The country is hurtling to an abyss' | Simon Marks' American Week
YouTube video by LBC
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Mike D London @mikedlondon.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
We are currently generating 100% of our electricity demand from net-zero sources, with a further 10% being exported (plus 10% more from legacy gas). At a cost of just £8.27/MWh. Yet the Tories and Refuk want to take us backwards to more fossil fuel pollution and higher prices... grid.iamkate.com
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ianblease.bsky.social @ianblease.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
deanblundell.substack.com/p/breaking-t...
deanblundell.substack.com
BREAKING: Trump Gives Putin $7 Billion Line Of Credit So Putin Can Continue His Genocide In Ukraine
Trump sold out Ukraine for 3 days of Russian diesel, and Putin thanked him by bombing and murdering Ukrainian children the same afternoon.
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Wild Justice @wildjustice.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Defra is gathering evidence that could shape the future policy on gamebird shooting. Have your say! Have you experienced issues such as gamebird collisions, dumped dead birds, illegal traps, suspicious raptor deaths, disturbance, damage or loss of access to land? For info, visit buff.ly/TGjrkrK
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
What we face. I talk to Oli Dugmore for the @newstatesman1913.bsky.social podcast about extreme weather, tipping points and the potential for systemic collapse of the global food system. Then: how we confront these threats. www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdPz...
youtube.com
Extreme weather will batter our food supplies | George Monbiot | The Exchange
YouTube video by The Exchange
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Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN) @spun.earth · 28/09/2026
Can soil collected from nearby healthy woodlands improve the success of restoring Britain’s Atlantic Rainforest? That’s one of the questions SPUN and Cumbria Connect are testing in Cumbria. Read about our experiment: buff.ly/McS8w75 #MycorrhizalFungi #AtlanticRainforest #ForestRestoration
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Could Asda or Morrisons vanish within a decade? It will be a blow to many. Both owned by private equity, loaded with debt, cut staffing/wages, low investment, strangled by asset-stripping, struggling to compete, losing market share. What future for others being devoured by private equity?
theguardian.com
Supermarket shake-up: why Asda or Morrisons could vanish within a decade
Talks between Sainsbury’s and Morrisons have set industry tongues wagging, with analysts saying the market is ripe for change
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Institute for the Study of War @thestudyofwar.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Iran Update, October 7, 2026: Houthi advances in Taiz Governorate demonstrate that the Yemeni government’s recent counteroffensives failed to sufficiently pull Houthi reserves to relieve pressure around Taiz and enable Yemeni government offensive operations in other areas of the country. (1/6)
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Al Jazeera English @aljazeera.com · 08/10/2026
The State Department has accused the man of paying bribes to Fijian citizens to advance Chinese interests.
aljazeera.com
US bars Fiji-based man over corruption tied to China
The State Department has accused the man of paying bribes to Fijian citizens to advance Chinese interests.
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
This looks like a crucial investigation to me, building on an essential body of work by @bylinetimes.bsky.social Please help to support it. subscribe.bylinetimes.com/lightuptheda...
subscribe.bylinetimes.com
#LightUpTheDark – Byline Times
Dark Enlightenment: The US Far-Right War on British Institutions Help Byline Times Fund aN URGENT New INVESTIGATIVE SERIES #LightUpTheDark What is the Dark Enlightenment? The extraordinary anti-DEI me...
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Richard Murphy @richardjmurphy.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Is France signalling the end of neoliberalism? As a matter of fact, people will only stand for abuse from a financial system designed to oppress them for so long. France and maybe Spain seem to be indicating they've had enough. youtu.be/CpRl1ajsj-k?...
youtu.be
Is France signalling the end of neoliberalism?
YouTube video by Richard J Murphy
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
The threats to our resilience are the same as the threats to our democracy: corporate lobbyists shaping policy, with dire consequences for our ability to withstand crises. Burnham seems to want to change this. But is he aware of scale of the task? My column. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Stockpile food – and wash your hands: is that really how to prepare for environmental catastrophe? | George Monbiot
The UK state is dumping its responsibilities on our doorsteps, while green-lighting policies that lead us closer to crisis, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Tory £6bn inheritance tax cut plan Increase threshold from £1m per couple to £2m+home. In 2024-25, 30,400 estates paid IHT, may rise to 52,100 in 2029-30. IHT cut for the richest, paid by cutting benefits for old, sick, disabled, unemployed. How will it help economic growth, reindustrialization?
bbc.co.uk
Kemi Badenoch says Tories would scrap inheritance tax on family homes
Tory leader says her party is "coming back", as she aims to convince voters it has changed after 2024 election defeat.
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Steve Rosenberg @bbcstever.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
"In this building lived and worked journalist Anna Politkovskaya. Killed 7 October 2006"
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The UnPopulist @theunpopulist.net · 07/10/2026
Before industrialization, working for wages wasn't seen as normal—it was seen as a kind of dependence. Brink Lindsey traces how Lincoln and early Republicans tried to reconcile that suspicion with a fast-changing economy.
theunpopulist.net
Is Wage Labor Freedom or Servitude?
Americans viewed wage labor as a dependence—until industrialization made it a vehicle for escaping poverty
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Chatham House @chathamhouse.org · 07/10/2026
Neutralising Taiwan will enable China to project power into the Western Pacific and force US allies like Japan and South Korea to calculate if they can rely on their defence treaties with the US. Read Steve Tsang's analysis on Xi Jinping's grand strategy for the autumn issue of @theworldtoday.org.
chathamhouse.org
What the West fails to grasp about China’s strategy to lead the world
Xi Jinping wants to forge ‘a common destiny for humankind’ by winning over the Global South and taking Taiwan. But if America and Europe are to counter this ‘double pivot’, they must better understand...
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Otto English @ottoenglish.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Sarah Pochin raised "concerns" in parliament about the impact of second homes on rural communities. Two days later she purchased an £800,000 second home on Anglesey. Remarkable stuff. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Reform MP raises concerns about second homes – then buys one for £800,000
Sarah Pochin bought Anglesey property two days after writing to minister about impact of second homes on rural communities
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