I asked the guy in my local bike shop in Turin where I could find an 11-speed dura-ace bike chain as they didn’t have one. I showed him a bike shop on the internet 15 kms away. His first comment? “That’s in Japan. There must be a place closer.” Yup, the entirety of Italy IS a 15-minute city.

If you guessed forcing pedestrians to climb up on to overpasses or descend into tunnels, you’d be right.

“It’s perverse that people who want to walk and cycle are penalised because the motor traffic is too polluting". National Highways closes cycling and walking routes beside heavily polluted roads lauralaker.substack.com/p/national-h...

National Highways closes walking and cycling routes beside heavily polluted roads

Roads body accused of 'perversely penalising' walkers and cyclists for motor traffic pollution

lauralaker.substack.com

Journalism has become the art of stubbornly refusing to draw the obvious conclusion

In how many ways can we say “f Trump” ??

Anton Gerashchenko@antongerashchenko.bsky.social · 14h ago

Reports that the USA spent the bulk of its interceptor missile stocks in Iran appear to be accurate;the US is experiencing shortages&is now unable to supply them in the quantities Kyiv needs.It must be understood:there’re no Patriot interceptor missiles available in the necessary quantities,

Daaaamn. “AI is the asbestos we're shovelling into the walls of our technological society. Our descendants will spend generations digging it out again, and the longer the bubble goes on without popping, the longer it will take to repair the damage." www.thenerve.news/p/cory-docto...

Cory Doctorow: The people who tell you ‘AI is changing everything’ are lying

It has become impossible to tell managers mesmerised by artificial intelligence that the tools are not, in fact, helpful. So employees just play along with the fiction to keep their jobs, writes our t...

thenerve.news

Meanwhile in Australia, it’s business as usual. Letting the miners and oil oligarchs earn billions, pay no tax, and fund MAGA-esque political parties.

The Green Party of England & Wales@greenparty.org.uk · 17h ago

This is what climate failure looks like. Nature, homes and livelihoods are being destroyed. The Government must act now.

Meanwhile, in Canada … “A Newfoundland … provincial court judge has rejected a 4-year prison sentence for a man who pleaded guilty to impaired driving causing death, saying the sentence would be too lenient.” In Australia drivers get a “woops, sorry” for killing people. No jail time.

Terri@terriclarke.bsky.social · 15h ago

Judge Bruce Short has rejected a joint submission between the Crown and the defence for a man who has pleaded guilty to impaired driving causing death, saying the fact that he’s been caught driving while suspended since the death shows that he “hasn't taken any steps to improve.”

🇺🇦🇬🇧“The war is nearing a critical point for both sides, but Russia still has more to lose.” Professor Michael Clarke’s analysis after Russia’s overnight attack on Kyiv, in which 17 people lost their lives. -SkyNews

🇩🇪 Die Zeit reports that German investigators disrupted preparations for a suspected Russian intelligence assassination attempt on Stefan Thumann, CEO of drone maker Donaustahl (which supplies reconnaissance and kamikaze drones to Ukraine).

Pyongyang has already delivered a new batch of 40 KN-23 and KN-24 missiles. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Sybiha: "If these systems are deployed, they must be destroyed. They immediately become a priority military target, and our armed forces will respond accordingly.

Not a single Israel defender has ever been able to defend this. They just pretend it doesn't exist, even though it defies any of their supposed 'arguments'.

The New Arab@thenewarab.bsky.social · 18h ago

Israeli forces used small aircraft to cross the border and spray high concentrations of the herbicide glyphosate over farmland in southern Syria and Lebanon, a new report has revealed. According to German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, the spraying halted the growth of several crops

A new study shows how the big cats cause deer to move away from roads and deeper into the forest, where they pose less of a hazard to motorists. www.wired.com/story/cougar...

Cougars Lower the Risks of Car Crashes by Hunting Deer

A new study shows how the big cats cause deer to move away from roads and deeper into the forest, where they pose less of a hazard to motorists.

wired.com

In Turin … … the bike shop/bar/restaurant beside my apartment has their menu QR code on a bike pedal! And … their bar stools have bike pedals!

All you Trump backers who lie about supporting Ukraine…this is what you actually support. These Ukrainians are being killed partly through the policy choices of the Trump administration. The USA could have saved many of these lives but chose not to. www.cnn.com/2026/08/05/e...

Russian attack kills 17 in Kyiv region, Zelensky says | CNN

Russian strikes on Ukraine’s capital and nearby areas have killed 17 people and wounded dozens of others overnight, officials said, as both sides step up attacks on facilities that underpin daily life...

cnn.com

💔Kyiv, Ukraine. Another Russian war crime in front of the world’s eyes. A Russian missile struck the city using a cluster munition.

This: Royal Commission into Antisemitism a “$131 Million Whinge” "Australians are not being investigated for hating Jews. They are being investigated for objecting to a genocide." Andrew Brown on the Royal Commission into antisemitism. michaelwest.com.au/royal-commis...

Royal Commission into Antisemitism a "$131 Million Whinge" - Michael West

Royal Commission into Antisemitism will not defeat antisemitism. It is a government buying absolution with $131m of public money

michaelwest.com.au

“All survivors from a passenger ferry that caught fire … have been accounted for.” More great journalism.

AFP News Agency@en.afp.com · 19h ago

🇮🇩 Fire on Indonesian ferry leaves five dead All survivors from a passenger ferry that caught fire off Indonesia's Java island over the weekend have been accounted for, an official said on Tuesday, confirming five dead in the incident

Russians are bastards.

MAKS 26 👀🇺🇦@maks23.bsky.social · yesterday

❗️Cluster munitions explode in Kyiv after strikes! The Russians are covering the capital with ballistics, which instantly break into small pieces after the explosion.

It’s been so hot in Italy that I need to wash my clothes each time I shower. But how to then dry them quickly? Two options: 1) hang them up in your room, or 2) just put the wet clothes back on and wear them again as they’ll be dry within minutes. Pic of option 1) only is provided in this post.

“… the largest genocidal war of conquest in Europe since 1945.” Now THAT line is worth quoting and remembering.

Kristian Kiehling@kristiankiehling.bsky.social · 22h ago

Ukrainian defenders have struck another Wildberries warehouse in the Tula region,close to Moscow. Wilberries is the largest russian online retailer and a major source of FPV drones and military equipment for ordinary russian soldiers waging the largest genocidal war of conquest in Europe since 1945.

“As long as we keep burning #fossilfuels, temperatures will increase globally. And that will mean that these fire weather conditions will get worse and worse and worse” #climatesky #wildfire

Canada's National Observer@nationalobserver.com · 2d ago

One of the clearest descriptions of climate dynamics for laypeople that you’ll ever hear: “It will inevitably get worse. It will get worse and worse and worse.”

⏺ 3 types of ballistic missiles and "Zircon" were fired at Kyiv at the same time. That is, 4 classes of missiles. ❗In the Obolonsky district of Kyiv, a hit was recorded on the territory of non-residential buildings, - Klitschko

❗️❗️At least 30 missiles have already been fired at Kyiv, new targets continue to appear

❗️❗️Massive ballistic missiles attack on Kyiv!

The Roman arena in Verona was “Ken’nough” before someone felt the need to add the plastic elephant, the King Tut mask and the Moulin Rouge windmill. In my humble opinion.

Photos just can’t capture what there is to see here in Verona. I see time, history, an ancient economy, art and balance, as well as timeless beauty.

“The US’s pivot to the Americas is driving critical tactical & technological innovation. This will not only help advance security & stability in the Western Hemisphere …” Sounds like bullshit, from someone named Henry Ziemer, to me.

CSIS | Center for Strategic & International Studies@csis.org · yesterday

The U.S.'s pivot to the Americas is driving critical tactical & technological innovation. This will not only help advance security & stability in the Western Hemisphere, but prepare U.S. forces to confront the changing character of future combat, argues Henry Ziemer. Read: https://bit.ly/4fsYpjk

Guys from Michigan, if that is a real Senate candidate, look no further. I can't imagine any other issues for the US Senate today than Russia's global invasion (which Trump's presidency is de facto part of).

#StupidSuez@diplomatofnight.com · yesterday

First thing I saw when I opened my Instagram today