Love this one for multiple reasons.

Economists Slam Reform UK's 'Fantasy' Claims That 'Boriswave' Migrants Will Cost Households £20,000 “Reform have simply invented their own numbers..." say experts

bylinetimes.com/2026/04/16/e...
"Why would anyone take these fantasy calculations seriously?

“Reform have simply invented their own numbers for migrant earnings, ignoring the analysis of the independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) which used actual data from HMRC,” asked Jonathan Portes.

Bit of a metaphor for the UK HE funding landscape, that.

Enjoying all this as a critic of the Weberian ideal of bureaucracy that the west loves to cling to

The idea that being *a member of the House of Lords* in any way means you can be trusted with Top Secret/STRAP material without proper vetting is so beyond absurd that this must surely be a joke?

Postdoctoral Research Associate at Queen Mary University of London Explore an exciting academic career as a Postdoctoral Research Associate. Don't miss out on other academic jobs. Click to apply and explore more opportunities.

Three year postdoc going at @qmulsse.bsky.social working with @karlpike.bsky.social on ‘Politics and mythmaking: disentangling myth from ideology’, funded by the Leverhulme Trust. Details here:

Scam messages offering ships safe transit through Hormuz, security firm warns Fraudulent messages promising safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for cryptocurrency have been sent to some shipping companies whose ​vessels are stranded west of the waterway, Greek maritime risk management ‌firm MARISKS has warned.

Scam messages offering ships safe transit through Hormuz, security firm warns reut.rs/3OGfhZ4

If you want to swim out
Swim like a trout
Cocaine
If you want to come on
Like a salmon
Cocaine

No small fry
No small fry
No small fry
Cocaine

Pregnancy vaccine reduces baby hospital admissions for RSV by 80% A study confirms the vaccine gives excellent protection for babies against life-threatening chest infections.

Vaccines are humanity’s greatest scientific achievement.

'Universities will also be banned from using non-disclosure agreements to silence victims of campus misconduct. Staff pressured to sign such agreements will be able to seek redress through the complaints scheme.'

The one good thing about this scheme.

But they have also argued that it was President Trump’s decision to attack Iran that entangled their country in a destructive conflict whose effects may not be over, some of the officials said. Emirati officials told the U.S. officials that if the U.A.E. runs short of dollars, it may be forced to use Chinese yuan or other countries’ currencies for oil sales and other transactions, some of the officials said.

Emiratis are threatening to use petroyuans.

www.wsj.com/world/middle...

Voters have just today left to register to vote for the local elections taking place across England on 7 May. Anyone who wants to take part must register before 11.59pm tonight.

Registering takes minutes at gov.uk/register-to-vote. Just need name, address & National Insurance number. Pass it on.

Please note the belief requirements point. The OfS set out its view last summer, in a paper on free speech, stating it would be improper to ask for evidence of a commitment to EDI in hiring or promotions processes. This would discriminate against those opposed to equality, diversity and inclusion.

The coming global food crisis Hunger and even famine are foreseeable consequences of the war on Iran. Now the world must act to shield the poorest from effects that will continue long after the fighting stops

‘Famine and widening food insecurity are the foreseeable consequences of military aggression in the Gulf. That reality ought to weigh heavily on a world that has largely understood this war through the narrow lens of oil-price instability’
www.ft.com/content/3634...

Trump says Iran talks will resume, threatens power plants and bridges if no deal The president accused Iran of violating the ceasefire as ships reported attacks in the Strait of Hormuz but said U.S. representatives would be back at the table this week.

Breaking news: President Trump says U.S. seized Iranian cargo ship trying to bypass American blockade of Strait of Hormuz.

The operation marks the first ship boarding by U.S. forces since the naval blockade took effect Monday.

Claude Monet, Fishing Boats at Sea, 1868

‘I feel like I’m losing her’: the families torn apart by older relatives going far right It starts with a ‘back in my day’ nostalgic meme – then suddenly your elders are sharing AI-generated ‘boomerslop’ and repeating conspiracy theories …

'Sara Wilford, an associate professor and specialist in computer ethics at De Montfort University in Leicester, has been trying to chart the online waters in which her own demographic now swims (she’s 61)...[through] Smidge...an EU-funded research project'. 1/3

US forces turn 23 vessels back to Iran, enforcing blockade, military says Since the ​United States ‌imposed a blockade ​on ​Iranian ports and ⁠coastal ​areas, 23 ​ships have complied with ​U.S. ​forces orders to ‌turn ⁠back toward Iran, the ​U.S. ​military ⁠said on ​Saturday.

US forces turn 23 vessels back to Iran, enforcing blockade, military says reut.rs/48tDysn

Middle East crisis live: Iran says it has closed the strait of Hormuz; tanker reports being attacked In a statement carried by Iranian media, the Iranian military’s operational command said the strait had ‘reverted to its previous state’

Revolutionary Guard Corps gunboats have fired on a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran's foreign minister says passage of vessels via Hormuz Strait is open during ceasefire Iran's foreign minister said ​on Friday that ‌passage for all commercial vessels through ​the Strait ​of Hormuz is declared ⁠completely open ​for the remaining period ​of ceasefire, in line with the ceasefire ​in Lebanon.

Iran's foreign minister says passage of vessels via Hormuz Strait is open during ceasefire reut.rs/3OAhkhg

A bright coral red graphic with black and white Yugoslavian stamps accross the bottom. Text in the centre reads Cold War Socialism, Non-Alignment and Anti-Colonialism in the Yugoslav Press, 1961 - 1979. With University of Exeter. Uncover fresh insights into Cold War socialism and anti-colonialism from a Yugoslav perspective, centering on the largely unexamined Joint Translation Service (JTS) bulletins. Deadline Tuesday 5 May.

Applications now open for a fully-funded PhD studentship exploring Yugoslavia’s multifaceted role during the Cold War, co-supervised with @exeter.ac.uk .

This is one of a number of studentships available as part of AHRC’s Collaborative Doctoral Partnership scheme.

Find out more: link.bl.uk/q95

Check out these events organised by Northwestern Qatar:

This is the best Allbirds knock down I’ve seen

Half of universities fear being sanctioned under new visa rules Home Office clampdown already causing steep drop in UK recruitment numbers, survey of institutions finds

'The survey showed 82 per cent of universities reported a decline in enrolments from Pakistan, with numbers down by up to three-quarters, while 66 per cent reported declines from India, and 65 per cent from Bangladesh.' 1/2

Lebanon humanitarian disaster 'beyond comprehension', says UNHCR chief UNHCR's high commissioner told Sky's Yalda Hakim that there must be an end to the war and a lasting peace

Lebanon humanitarian disaster 'beyond comprehension', says UNHCR chief

University of Exeter and University of Cambridge Libraries & Archives - Collections Connections Communities

Fantastic PhD studentship opportunity - Spitting Image: political satire in Britain in the 20th and 21st centuries.

Working across @exeter.ac.uk and @theul.bsky.social in partnership with the @camglamresearch.bsky.social and drawing on the Roger Law archive.

#PhDsky

Longtime Immigration Court Interpreter Arrested by ICE at South Texas Airport The state’s only licensed Hindi, Punjabi, and Urdu legal interpreter is now languishing in a Raymondville detention center. She’s lived in America for 35 years.

Texas' only licensed Hindi, Punjabi, and Urdu legal interpreter is now languishing in a Raymondville detention center. She’s lived in America for 35 years: www.texasobserver.org/immigration-...

Wonderful to see this in print! I wrote the chapter on decolonisation in Interrogating the Global Social Challenges, a collective effort by @uomsociology.bsky.social showcasing the breadth of our research and its political urgency.

So terrified are Labour ministers of being thought of as “anti-car” that their belated acknowledgement that sharing transport is a good idea was buried in a blink-and-you-miss-it “strategy” document.

🧵1/3

Trying to explain St Augustine to the pope, the former head of the Augustinian order, who wrote his doctoral thesis on Augustine, on his way back from celebrating mass at the Basilica of St Augustine in Annaba, Algeria, overlooking the site where Augustine lived is peak Adult Catholic Convert.