Secretary of War Pete Hegs... # © • 39m The War Department is once again restoring freedom to our Joint Force. We are discarding the mandatory flu vaccine requirement, effective immediately.

Make this make sense.

It will be salted caramel tablet next, I hope

Well let's see how this strategy of telling "white liberals" to "fuck right off" works out in the local elections

Zhuangzi — 'Only he who has no use for the empire is fit to be entrusted with it.'

She rolls her eyes dismissively at anyone who uses the word “woke” as an insult. “I say, ‘do you know what ‘woke’ really means?’. It means enlightened, that’s its derivation. It’s just like the Enlightenment.”

Mary Beard talks to @neilmackay.bsky.social

www.heraldscotland.com/news...

The Colonial Amnesia That Broke the UK | Zoe Gardner, Immigration Research & Campaigner YouTube video by 5AM StoryTalk with Cole Haddon

UK immigration expert @zoejardiniere.bsky.social knows that her country's "cultural amnesia" regarding its colonial past isn’t an accident - it’s a face-saving operation with dangerous consequences.

Watch/Listen to 5AM StoryTalk's entire episode with Zoe at the links in my bio or first comment. 🎧📺

Emails show Amazon colluding with other firms to raise prices, California authorities allege The previously redacted messages were unveiled as part of an antitrust battle with California attorney general Rob Bonta

Emails show Amazon colluding with other firms to raise prices, California authorities allege

UK's migration crackdown risks care home staffing crunch Government plans to make it harder for migrant workers to settle permanently in Britain risk a staffing crunch in care homes for elderly people, where one employee in three is from overseas.

Good Reuters story on the government's "earned settlement" proposals and the care sector.

www.reuters.com/world/uk/uks...

"The desecration of the statue is far less significant and abhorrent than attacks on churches orchestrated by the Israeli state through its military and settler militias. Gaza’s three churches were targeted during Israel’s genocidal rampage. In July settlers tried to torch the Church of St George"

Replay: Israel's slow ethnic cleansing of Christians from the Holy Land Israel has used the steady decline in Palestinian Christian numbers to promote a claim that Muslims are hounding them out of the region. But the real blame lies with Israel and the foreign Churches

Shock has been our daily bread for so long now waiting for the Protestant churches to protest.

Though some of the ecumenical Christian organisations like Iona Community have been clear and actively working in solidarity for decades and decades - in fact since before 1948

But this 👇🏼

Being anti-Netanyahu is not anti-Semitic. It’s anti-corruption, anti-genocide. It’s pro-peace.

Power without accountability: The Palantir manifesto The problems with our tech philosopher kings

I would love to see Starmer and the rest of Labour read this and still argue that Palantir is safe for the UK to work with. They are acting like it's the old world, not the new.

donmoynihan.substack.com/p/pa...

How to watch fired Foreign Office top official address Peter Mandelson scandal

The fired Foreign Office top official at the centre of the row over Peter Mandelson's vetting for his appointment as US ambassador will appear before MPs to answer questions this morning

One Legal Fiction After Another: The Court of Justice judgment on the asylum border procedure in Joined Cases C‑50/24 to C‑56/24 (Danané) Dr. Vasiliki Apatzidou , Associate Tutor at the University of London   Photo credit : Nicolas Economou, via Wikimedia Commons   ...

One legal fiction after another
Analysis of the latest CJEU judgment on the asylum border procedure, by Dr. Vasiliki Apatzidou eulawanalysis.blogspot.com/2026/04/one-...

New episode out — with Robert Crawford, Emeritus Professor at the University of St Andrews and distinguished poet, whose work over the last 40 years did much to reshape in more multilingual and multicultural terms. Hope you enjoy it! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

pod.link/1865430519

EXCLUSIVE: Documents Reveal US Contractor’s Modifications of Spy Plane Just Before Flights Over Gaza A US defense contractor flew spy planes over Gaza. FAA docs show Sierra Nevada Corporation installed a military air traffic control device and surveillance equipment before the plane’s deployment.

EXCLUSIVE:
"UK surveillance flights over Gaza were conducted with more US involvement than previously known, Federal Aviation Administration documents obtained by Zeteo reveal... [and] put the countries at risk of aiding and abetting war crimes, international legal experts told Zeteo."

Strong pro-Israel bias among BBC bosses, new data indicates BBC executives met nine times with pro-Israel Jewish groups and just once with pro-Palestinians in 14 months of genocide, Freedom of Information shows

BBC’s executive committee met nine times with Jewish community groups and only once with a pro-Palestinian organisation during the first year of the Gaza genocide, a Freedom of Information request has revealed.

www.declassifieduk.org/strong-pro-i...

Peace garden moments @uofgnews.bsky.social @uofgunescorila.bsky.social

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...

Listen.

Successive governments have failed to learn lessons of Grenfell Tragedy The conditions that facilitated the tragedy remain unchecked

9th anniversary of the Grenfell fire is approaching. 72 people died, thousands more scarred.

Main causes remain unaddressed.
Lust for higher profits
Unaccountable corporate power
Performance related executive pay
Failure of regulators
Indifference of govts to the cry of the people

Nothing changed.

UNESCO RIELA Spring School: The Arts of Integrating (Caring & Sharing) A 3-day event exploring intergenerational caring & sharing of knowledge and cultural practices in the context of (forced) migration and restorative integration.

UNESCO RIELA Spring School: The Arts of Integrating Programme is out and booking page is live

Tickets are free (but a wee donation if you can would help us meet ends) and they are selling like the hot cakes donations may enable! @uofgunescorila.bsky.social

events.humanitix.com/rielaspring2...

Tens of thousands return to south Lebanon after ceasefire, defying Israeli warnings - www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-upda...

As people get postal votes for the Scot Parl election please be careful of the spoiler operation which is 'Independent Green Voice'. They are listed second on the regional ballot paper in South of Scotland with the real Green Party further down. IGV is a right-wing spoiler operation.

The UN refugee agency has warned of an 'unmarked graveyard for thousands of desperate Rohingya refugees' in South Asia

The UN refugee agency has warned of an 'unmarked graveyard for thousands of desperate Rohingya refugees' in South Asia https://aje.news/o4jtmc

Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp said the asylum system "must be totally overhauled" so only those facing real personal persecution are granted asylum. Liberal Democrat immigration and asylum spokesman Will Forster said the BBC's findings were "abhorrent", adding: "We need an asylum system that is fair, controlled and efficient. Not the shambles the Conservatives left us with." Reform UK said that if the party wins power it would make facilitating a false asylum claim a "strict liability" criminal offence, meaning there would be no requirement to prove intent in prosecutions, which would be punishable by up to two years in jail. (Highlighted bit) However, the Green Party said the BBC's reporting "gives an entirely false impression of a system which is, in reality, stacked against people seeking asylum" and heightened "the hostile environment" facing this group.

Rarely prouder to be a Green

Minimum wage for artists is a good idea - but there's one big problem Scotland’s artist basic income sounds bold, but it won’t fix Creative Scotland’s bureaucracy or save venues like Glasgow’s Trongate 103.

Creative Scotland rewards bureaucracy rather than artistic merit. An independent review found the funding application process to be “overly complex, time-consuming, and inaccessible - particularly for smaller organisations and individuals”. @heraldscotland.bsky.social @marissamacwhirter.bsky.social

“MAGA has tried to recruit God as a representative of their movement - saying Donald Trump is a latter-day Jesus”

As MAGA continue to present as the party of God, is it any surprise the Pope felt the need to speak up?

@maitlis.bsky.social | @jonsopel1.bsky.social

Middle East crisis live: UN chief calls for Israel-Lebanon ceasefire to be ‘fully’ respected as it comes into effect António Guterres welcomes truce and says through spokesperson he hopes halt in fighting will ‘pave the way for negotiations’ Hello and welcome to our live coverage of events in the Middle East. United Nations chief António Guterres has welcomed the ceasefire announced on Thursday between Israel and Lebanon, urging “all actors” to fully respect the truce. A 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon has come into effect, pausing fighting in a devastating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that has killed more than 2,100 Lebanese people and displaced more than 2.1 million. The agreement was announced earlier by Donald Trump, who said he had spoken with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese president Joseph Aoun, and invited both leaders “for meaningful talks” at the White House. Both leaders welcomed the agreement. But how long the ceasefire will hold is the key question, as both Israel and Hezbollah have maintained their right to defend themselves if the truce is broken. Here’s our report. Netanyahu called it a “historic” opportunity for peace, though he refused to withdraw his troops from southern Lebanon during the pause in fighting. “We are remaining in Lebanon in an expanded security zone,” he said, due to the “danger of an invasion” and to prevent fire into Israel. “That is where we are, and we are not leaving.” The Israeli prime minister maintained that his key demand was dismantling Hezbollah. He has previously declared his intention to occupy southern Lebanon up to the Litani River – about 30km from the border – while Lebanon demands the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces and for displaced residents to be able to return to their homes. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei welcomed the ceasefire and stressed it was already part of the original Iran-US agreement brokered by Pakistan. Baghaei said Iran emphasised “from the outset” the need for a “simultaneous ceasefire throughout the region, including Lebanon”, and expressed his “solidarity” with the people and government of Lebanon. He called for the return of displaced residents to their homes and emphasised the necessity of the “complete withdrawal” of Israeli forces from the south of the country – which, as mentioned, Israel has refused to do. The Lebanese army urged residents to “exercise restraint” in returning to their villages and towns in southern Lebanon ahead of the ceasefire coming into effect. The army added that even then residents should avoid areas that remain occupied by Israeli forces. It was followed by a similar statement issued by Hezbollah, urging caution amid Israel’s history of “breaking covenants and agreements”. The Israeli military issued an urgent warning to the people of southern Lebanon not to return south of the Litani River despite the ceasefire coming into force. In the hours before the truce took effect, Israel and Hezbollah continued to exchange fire. Just as the ceasefire came into force, the Israeli military said it had hit more than 380 Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon in the past 24 hours, including rocket launchers, headquarters and Hezbollah members themselves. Meanwhile, Israeli strikes on Lebanese towns and villages killed dozens of people, including an attack on the town of Ghazieh which killed at least seven people and wounded 33, the health ministry said on Thursday. Continue reading...

Middle East crisis live: UN chief calls for Israel-Lebanon ceasefire to be ‘fully’ respected as it comes into effect

Netanyahu rejects demand by Hezbollah for full Israeli army withdrawal <article data-history-node-id="438401" about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/netanyahu-rejects-demand-hezbollah-full-israeli-army-withdrawal" class="live-blog-update default clearfix"> <h2> <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/netanyahu-rejects-demand-hezbollah-full-israeli-army-withdrawal" rel="bookmark"> <span class="field field-title">Netanyahu rejects demand by Hezbollah for full Israeli army withdrawal</span> </a> </h2> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-field-text"><p>Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he has agreed to a “temporary ceasefire” with Lebanon to facilitate discussions, but rejected Hezbollah's demands for Israel to fully withdraw from Lebanon.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he has agreed to a “temporary ceasefire” with Lebanon to facilitate discussions. However, he has rejected Hezbollah's demands for Israel to fully withdraw from Lebanon, stating that Israel will maintain a “security zone” <a href="https://t.co/pzJPYWKSLQ">pic.twitter.com/pzJPYWKSLQ</a></p> — Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) <a href="https://twitter.com/MiddleEastEye/status/2044939377760199016?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 17, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> </div> </div> </article>

Netanyahu rejects demand by Hezbollah for full Israeli army withdrawal - www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-upda...