"The move is believed to be the first time the Home Office has cancelled refugee protection for a particular nationality, and thousands of Syrians settled in the UK are likely to be affected." www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Surgeon faces deportation as Home Office revokes refugee status for Syrians

UK classifies Syria as safe to return to despite UN refugee body’s advice

theguardian.com

'Vice President JD Vance, who is a Catholic convert, appeared to cast doubt on Friday about the livestream, telling reporters he wouldn't watch it and, "I don't know that that's actually going to happen".' share.google/0FFuoMxIW7qu...

Pope Leo calls death penalty "inadmissible" as U.S. plans to livestream Fort Hood execution

The firing squad execution of Nidal Malik Hasan, convicted of a 2009 shooting at Fort Hood, will be livestreamed, the U.S. Defense Department said.

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"People don't need a diagnosis for AuDHD, we should just accept and accommodate people without needing labels" "That's cool, I kinda agree in some ways, ok, well, this is how my brain works, does that make sense to you?" "What?! No! Look just be normal you weirdo"

That voice! The electric Mills-Berry rhythm section! Those curls! The eyelashes!

R.E.M. on this Day@remonthisday.bsky.social · 5d ago

On this day in 1983, America met R.E.M. for the first time when they made their national television debut on Late Night with David Letterman. The other guests were Julia Child, Sophia Loren and John David George. R.E.M. performed ‘Radio Free Europe’ and the then-untitled ‘So. Central Rain’.

Fantastic interview with Ian Hislop on journalism and satire. I especially like how he keeps emphasising that being a journalist (or cartoonist) is skilled work, takes time and deserves to be paid properly. If we don't pay for journalism, we will get nothing but "content" youtu.be/TCOdomjE0dw?...

Ian Hislop on 40 years as Private Eye editor and why Britain "isn't" broken

YouTube video by BBC Politics

youtu.be

Supply side economics trying to "solve" all the things that make us human with crap products that no one asked for

Brosephine so scary 🎃@joparkerbear.bsky.social · 2w ago

Who decided this was a problem to solve

Blimey. "We could stay as we are... we could look at what George Osborne has said about a customs union, we could look at what the Liberal Democrats said at their conference about the single market, or we could go all the way - so there are clearly options". www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c6...

Move to rejoin EU among options for UK, Burnham tells BBC

The PM was speaking after using his conference speech to say the government will end the existing triple lock on pensions from 2030 to help fund social care reforms in England.

bbc.co.uk

Thank YOU. I believe profoundly that the only correct response to pleasure is gratitude rather than guilt

Having real #MeToo flashbacks today, what with various news stories going around, and thinking a lot about how women were encouraged to rip themselves open and show off our trauma, in all its Technicolor glory, so that men might begin to believe us

Happy Bisexuality Day, to show respect please celebrate gender and sexual fluidity for 3 minutes and 52 seconds by playing Pretty Persuasion by R.E.M. For bonus enjoyment you can also enjoy Michael Stipe confirming this song is about "what we now would call trans rights" youtu.be/kAA5FlnQ24U?...

A Tree That Sounds Like Daft Punk Doing A Sea Shanty - What To Expect On Michael Stipe's Solo Album

YouTube video by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

youtu.be

Louise Knights-McCudden@louknightsmccudden.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Giving us Pretty Persuasion, a FUN anthemic song “about growing up young and queer” (I feel very vindicated to hear Michael Stipe say this is indeed what the song is about so I know that I am not just projecting) youtu.be/AOHiUmx3z7g?...

Years of discrimination against the LGBTQIA+ community, continuing homophobia and transphobia, all coupled with ageism. Older LGBTQIA+ facing ongoing discrimination/ stereotyping/judgment. Things were meant to be better by now. Instead they just seem to go backwards. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

I'm feeling cheerful, somebody told me today that my new haircut (not pictured) makes me look like River Phoenix. (Don't worry, I am aware that I do not, in fact, look like River Phoenix. But it was such a kind thing to say that I appreciate the generosity of the lie)

Life is short, joy is precious, and cringe isn't real

Joanne Harris@joannechocolat.bsky.social · 4w ago

Your occasional reminder that performative sneering at whole genres of fiction is not a sign of intelligence, nor is performative misery a sign of superior talent. Read what brings you joy. No-one else gets to decide or to control what that means to you.

These people are buying up our whole world with toy money and turning it into their own playground. And we all still have to live in it

This is funny for a few reasons but I love questions like this, people just imagining hypothetical scenarios, alternate histories and going "oooh, I sure am glad we didn't end up with THAT." Better or worse than what? What's the control group for comparison? Iceland? Aldi? Swansea on the weekend?

YouGov@yougov.co.uk · last mo.

As the Bayeux Tapestry opens to the public at the British Museum, what impact do Britons think the Norman Conquest had on British history? Positive: 25% Neither: 25% Negative: 6% Don't know: 44% yougov.com/en-gb/daily-...

Feel free to ignore me guys but if you're a Labour politician and you're about to say something about Green-Lab voters, take a moment to consider whether you'd say the same thing about Reform-Lab voters. If you wouldn't, consider whether there's a reason it seems like a bad idea.

"The RNLI has announced a review of its security procedures to ensure the safety of its volunteers after anti migrant protests.. at the weekend. Some crew members had their photos and names shared on social media in posts accusing them of treason"

If you would like to add your voice to tens of thousands of people thanking RNLI volunteers for their work, 38 Degrees have organised this open letter to express public support (at a time when a hateful fringe have been intimidating & abusing RNLI volunteers) act.38degrees.org.uk/act/rnli-tha...

An open letter in support of the volunteers and staff at the RNLI

This is a disgrace. Brave RNLI volunteers being called scum for risking their lives to save others at sea is just plain wrong. So I've signed an open letter of thanks for the RNLI letting them know th...

act.38degrees.org.uk

Fantastic review of Teenage Death and Sex at Camp Miasma from @nicanstett.bsky.social for @autostraddle.bsky.social (Also great soundtrack ranging from R.E.M. to Sade to Donna Lewis) 'Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma and the Inherent Sensuality of Slashers' share.google/qe4bVt3WiRXH...

'Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma' and the Inherent Sensuality of Slashers

Like the many stab-happy movies it imitates, watching Camp Miasma is as much a physical experience as it is an intellectual one.

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Thanks to the super important discourse about UK/YooKay, I now have the rap from American Boy by KW and Estelle aggressively stuck in my head, so thanks for that everyone

It's always baffled me that this terminology caught on when the metaphor is something that is definitionally impossible.

Robert Reich@rbreich.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Casual reminder that the myth of “pulling yourself up by your bootstraps” is a cruel hoax designed to convince poor people from all walks of life that the injustices they face are a result of their own actions, rather than an oppressive system rigged against them.

Here it is, the cover of the paperback edition of my book, Breaking: How the Media Works, When it Doesn’t, and Why it Matters. Now featuring some snazzy quotes! It’s out on August 27. geni.us/BreakingMicWright

With July and August yet to be counted the UK has already recorded about 2,877 excess deaths from heatwaves, nearly double the figure from 2025 and close to the all‑time record set in 2022. That’s three record‑breaking summers for heat deaths within just four years theworlddata.com/heat-related...

Heat Related Deaths Statistics in UK 2026 | Key Facts - The World Data

Heat-Related Deaths in the UK 2026 Heat related deaths statistics in UK 2026 point to the most dangerous heat episode the country has faced since July 2022. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) issue...

theworlddata.com

Dr Sue Mann, NHS National Clinical Director for Women's Health, said the pharmacy service was a "major step forward for women's health", with "no appointment, no waiting and no judgement" www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Hundreds of thousands of women use free morning-after pill service at pharmacies

Since October, the morning-after pill has been made available free-of-charge at high street pharmacies under a new scheme in England.

bbc.co.uk

"This is a moment for the Lords to redeem itself. We can offer genuine scrutiny and attempt to strike the balance between safeguards and the practicalities of navigating any system when terminally ill." Great point by Lord Alf Dubs on the difference between real scrutiny and blanket opposition.

Andrew Copson@andrewcopson.bsky.social · 3mo ago

More proof that Lord (Alf) Dubs deserves to be one of my favourite humans. Such values. observer.co.uk/opinion-and-...

Feel like true crime colliding with 24 hour political commentary is the cross breeding of two terrible media pathologies.

Only if you take their references to "the establishment" at face value, rather than as a disingenuous code for something else. I consider it to be pretty clearly the latter.

Tim Bale@timbale.bsky.social · 3mo ago

That Dicky (©️ @mrjohncrace.bsky.social) doesn't see the glaring contradiction between banging on about an 'establishment' plot at the same time as bigging up his links with 'a very successful aristocratic family') is truly delicious.

The right takes academia seriously, and is pouring money into neutering it. Would be good to see left wing politicians taking academia equally seriously, and taking action to support it www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

‘Dialogue is all the rage’: why is the right pouring millions into ‘civil discourse’ initiatives on US campuses?

Universities looking for a fix to relentless controversy are flocking to ‘civility’ initiatives. Critics say these efforts mask a darker project

theguardian.com

I think I agree with @stephenkb.bsky.social's diagnosis that it basically means "conforms to an archetype I can readily identify", and that a big part of that is projection on behalf of the beholder.

Will Jennings📉🗳️@drjennings.bsky.social · 4mo ago

I've been spending increasing amounts of time thinking about 'authenticity'. It is such a slippery concept both theoretically and empirically, yet seems increasingly important to contemporary politics. Populists are often seen as authentic, yet that authenticity can be highly performed...

I was 30 when my son was born. I had lived under 5 Prime Ministers. Ten (and a bit) years later he is about to live under his seventh. Thing is, you look at British history, good argument that both periods are weird outliers

Jessica Elgot@jessicaelgot.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Just realised this will be my son’s fifth prime minister and he’s 6.