Sorry to hear that, David!

I’m telling! 😝

Who ever said Christians aren’t offended by this?! There’s absolute fury amongst the Christians I know, the Catholic Church has condemned it to the point where it was taken down. Tends to be that people in the West care far less about Christian sensibilities.

This video of the damages to the Chehel Sotoun palace in Isfahan is hard to watch. The finest example of Safavid architecture, the palace is a marvel of art & architecture that has survived more than 400 years. It is unbelievable that the “most moral army in the world” has cared so little about it.

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PhD Research Fellowship in Arabic (297008) | University of Bergen Job title: PhD Research Fellowship in Arabic (297008), Employer: University of Bergen, Deadline: Wednesday, April 15, 2026

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Happy to share this PhD position at UiB! Please share with anyone who might be interested/qualified!

– De ringte oss fra Iran og sa at de er glade. Flere iranere samlet seg i Bergen: – Jeg er veldig glad for at USA angriper Iran.

Two articles I’ve contributed to for @bt.no.web.brid.gy on the current situation in Iran

www.bt.no/politikk/i/9...

www.bt.no/utenriks/i/E...

I’d imagine that was quite unusual! Have they sent it to be re-checked??

Sneaky. Momentous. Confessed. Guilty.

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For all you know!

Empires of the Weak, by Sharman put into words a lot of stuff I’d been edging around

There’s only so much I can process, I’m only flesh and blood!

Please stop…

In this case, not a whit!

“The wireless” oh Lou…

Filthy lucre at its most heinous

Aye, amazing what you can do with tuppence hapny in this day and age

Saddened to hear of the death of Martha Chaiklin. A great scholar, mentor and most of all, friend. I shall miss her terribly.

Har fortsatt ikke hørt fra familien: – Vi vet ingenting Over 3000 skal være drept etter protestene i Iran. I Bergen sitter flere uten svar eller livstegn fra familien.

www.bt.no/utenriks/i/4...

Happy to have contributed to this piece in @bergenstidende.bsky.social about the situation in Iran

Worst was a box room in a hotel near the British Library, absolutely horrible bedding. Stains on the wall, damp, total shocker. Best was probably a beautiful hotel in Heidelberg for a conference back in 2015.

Happy to have contributed to this article for NRK on the Iranian internet blackout.

Derfor er det skummelt at Iran har gått i svart Iran har vært uten internett i flere dager. Nå er flere bekymret for hva som skjer i mørket. – Et tegn på at lederne har tenkt å trappe opp volden, sier Amnesty.

www.nrk.no/urix/derfor-...

Merry Christmas, one and all, Christ is Born!

Do any of my lovely Bluesky-ers have access to either of the following:

Wine Culture in Iran and Beyond, Bert Fragner, 2014.
Le Dragoman Padery, Ann-Marie Touzard, 2005

Thanks all!

First #RemembranceDay in Norway. Went to the ceremony at the Commonwealth War Graves at Møllendal Cemetery in Bergen.

Definitely do! Jeg må lære norsk!

I’ve not seen that before. They tend not to be mentioned explicitly by name, but as “Mr. Smith and Mrs. Smith” etc

This is me right now learning Norwegian…!

Amazing!

Didn’t know you knew anything about the EIC… 😛