iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

On the way to Gondar, Ethiopia 2006

I wonder if Manchester City, among its other problems, fell foul of this: foreign-influence-registration-scheme.service.gov.uk

foreign-influence-registration-scheme.service.gov.uk

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Mark Urban @markurban.bsky.social · 8h

On the subtleties of diplomatic meetings and why that New York handshake was a mistake markurban.substack.com/p/britains-i...

markurban.substack.com

Britain’s Iran Dilemma

And why that handshake already looks like a bad idea

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James Barr @jamesbarr.bsky.social · 12h

Has anyone got access to the Washington Post and New York Times archives? I want to check if something was picked up on 27 January 1998.

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Britain Elects @britainelects.com · 12h

On rejoining the EU Support: 55% Oppose: 34% ... but on the conditions of single currency and Schengen membership Support: 35% Oppose: 43% via YouGov, Jun 2026 britainelects.substack.com/p/is-rejoin-...

britainelects.substack.com

Is Rejoin happening anytime soon?

Ten years on from the EU referendum

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Tony Tassell @tonytassell.bsky.social · 13h

Man City’s Emirati chair was granted diplomatic immunity 6 yrs ago in a move that could complicate any legal action resulting from findings that the club artificially inflated its finances by more than £900mn - scoop by Caroline Binham @journosooz.bsky.social as.ft.com/r/d717fb9e-2...

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James Barr @jamesbarr.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

From a 2019 Janan Ganesh piece on the wonders of the Premier League

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James Barr @jamesbarr.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

So lucky we don’t live in a corrupt country.

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James Barr @jamesbarr.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

1. Promise electoral reform 2. See poll bounce 3. Win majority in general election 4. Kick electoral reform can down road.

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James Barr @jamesbarr.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Securing Guinea’s support for a new UNSC resolution, early 2003. (Robert Draper / To Start A War)

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James Barr @jamesbarr.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Interesting twisting of history here (from Robert Draper/To Start A War again) Churchill didn’t share FDR’s view of De Gaulle, much as he found him a pain in the arse.

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Will Cooling @willcooling.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Book #26 A Line In The Sand by James Barr; essential reading if you want to understand the birth of the modern Middle East as Barr vividly recounts the blunders and backbiting that led both Britain and France to alienate the very people they hoped to rule as they scrambled to justify their rule

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James Barr @jamesbarr.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

It’s ironic that sending armed police to deal with fly tippers would be a very popular policy.

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James Barr @jamesbarr.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

George W Bush has painted Tony Blair’s portrait three times (Robert Draper, To Start A War, p175)

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Woodland Trust Scotland @wtscotsocial.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Just 24 hours left to vote for UK Tree of the Year 2026! Two beautiful Scottish trees are in contention, not that we are biased.😉 ⚡️ Will the Earlstoun Lightning Oak or the Balloch Castle Ash catch your eye?🌳 Voting is open until 5pm on Tuesday September 29th. 👉 buff.ly/2t7YTs8

Massive gnarled tree with exposed, knobbly roots in a sunlit grassy park, its broad branches framing a stone castle tower and battlements against a bright blue sky. Pic by Audrey Baird.

A gnarled, tree leaning across a green field, framing a winding dirt track that leads past an old stone farmhouse toward rolling hills and distant snow‑capped mountains beneath a clear blue sky. Pic by Rosanna Forbes.

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Matthew Holehouse @matthewholehouse.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Words absent from Chancellor's conference speech: tax, China, European Union, Hormuz, oil, gas, universities, productivity, gilts, America. 13 union(s), 7 miner(s). Curious.

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Engelsberg Ideas @engelsbergideas.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Simon Sebag Montefiore's wildly ambitious history of the region since 1900 is a richly illustrated guide to the law of unintended consequences. How the Middle East boiled over | James Barr engelsbergideas.com/reviews/how-...

engelsbergideas.com

How the Middle East boiled over

Simon Sebag Montefiore's wildly ambitious history of the region since 1900 is a richly illustrated guide to the law of unintended consequences.

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James Barr @jamesbarr.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Labour unveils its economic policy

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James Barr @jamesbarr.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Interesting snippet from @londoncentric.media this morning. Sitting on a bus, in the sun, in a traffic jam is not much fun.

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James Barr @jamesbarr.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Signed a load of these in Waterstones Piccadilly yesterday if you are looking for a gift for someone.

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James Barr @jamesbarr.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Signed a load of these in Waterstones Piccadilly yesterday if you are looking for a gift for someone.

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Katie Martin @katie0martin.ft.com · 25/09/2026

I have blamed The agents That hacked Your website And which You probably Reasonably thought I controlled Forgive me I am rich And unaccustomed To taking responsibility

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James Barr @jamesbarr.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

I’d like to see the working.

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James Barr @jamesbarr.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Signed copies of A Line In The Sand are available @waterstones.bsky.social Piccadilly

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Tanjil Rashid @tanjilrashid.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

My latest @newstatesman1913.bsky.social column asks why grammar schools are dominated by immigrant children www.newstatesman.com/politics/edu...

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Catherine Fletcher @catherinefletcher.info · 25/09/2026

to be fair, certain authors should be fired from the literary cannon

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Arash Azizi آرش عزیزی @arashtehran.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Friends in London! In a week and half I am in your town, talking at UCL about my upcoming book on Iran and Israel. Come say hello! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/arash-aziz...

eventbrite.co.uk

Arash Azizi: Iran and Israel - Will They Fight Forever?

Arash Azizi will discuss his new book 'Vortex: Iran, Israel and the Eighty Years that Transformed the Middle East'

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James Barr @jamesbarr.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Great book, but let down by a poor index.

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Sean Jones KC @seanjones.org · 24/09/2026

Brexit, the Sitcom Mr Brexit no longer enjoys life as Europe’s most divorced man. Rooting for his phone amongst the discarded cans he texts his ex wife to tell her he’s willing to move back in with her but there will have to be changes. She will have to change. He stares at the phone waiting.

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James Barr @jamesbarr.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

When is NAZA going to be available to watch?

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James Barr @jamesbarr.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

I won't be shocked if we find out they are two sides of the same coin.

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John Sipher @johnsipher.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Read it and weep.

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University of Oxford @ox.ac.uk · 20/09/2026

Study spot, anyone? 📚 Inside Lincoln College Library. 📷 Instagram | OxfordStory

Interior of Lincoln College Library, Oxford, with a long wooden reading table, red carpet, tall bookcases and a large brass chandelier beneath an ornate vaulted ceiling.

Sunlight streaming through tall windows onto the red carpet and wooden bookshelves filled with books inside Lincoln College Library.

View up a grand wooden staircase into Lincoln College Library, with rows of bookshelves, a chandelier and an ornate vaulted ceiling above.

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James Barr @jamesbarr.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

When people finally stop wearing ties how will picture editors cope?

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John Reed @johnreedwrites.ft.com · 23/09/2026

Yowza! Talk about a revolving door... "Three of Britain’s top corruption prosecutors started working for Alejandro Betancourt, the Venezuelan billionaire who recently signed a major oil deal with Donald Trump." as.ft.com/r/63d4da3b-2...

as.ft.com

Top UK graft prosecutors joined Trump’s Venezuela oil baron during Swiss probe

Alejandro Betancourt was previously wanted by authorities in Switzerland as part of a money-laundering investigation

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James Barr @jamesbarr.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

A small part of me worries that the government has been told it could not count on the loyalty of the police or armed forces if they were told to deal forcefully with the far right.

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Chris Brooke @chrisbrooke.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Prof. @josephinequinn.bsky.social's inaugural lecture, "Anarchical Antiquity", will be at 5pm on Thursday 8 October in the Old Divinity School Main Lecture Theatre, St John’s College, Cambridge. www.joh.cam.ac.uk/about-us/new...

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