It's believed Assad left £40 million of his money in an HSBC London branch before he left to become President in 1994 and that millions accrued in interest in the years since. Can it be recovered and used to compensate his victims? From @ruthmichaelson.com: observer.co.uk/news/interna...

‘The money must be there’: The hunt for Bashar-al Assad’s...

The Syrian dictator is said to have left £40m in a London bank when he went home in 1994. Campaigners want to see it returned to victims of the regime, but face a battle with HSBC

observer.co.uk

DW asked me about the Octagon, Egypt's new defense HQ, & the New Aministrative Capital. We discussed what they say about Egypt & President Sisi's approach to governing. They symbolize his power but also his fear of a people that sunk deeper into poverty under his rule www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSn4...

Egypt's massive 'Octagon' complex: Architecture of a totalitarian state | DW News

YouTube video by DW News

youtube.com

The prospect of Nigel Farage fighting a people vs the establishment by-election in which the only other candidate is Count Binface - is too hilarious for words.

Khamenei funeral draws out Iran’s top brass, but son’s fate remains a mystery. The nation’s political heads and military chiefs emerge to attend the week-long tribute to the supreme leader, but his son and successor is still absent. ✍️ @ruthmichaelson.com https://bit.ly/4vIBRk7

Khamenei funeral draws out Iran's top brass, but son's fa...

The nation's political heads and military chiefs emerge to attend the week-long tribute to the supreme leader, but his son and successor is still absent

bit.ly

The Trump administration claims they will oversee Iran "destroying" or removing its entire supply of enriched uranium –after letting IAEA inspectors in– but finding it all means searching in facilities the US bombed last June. My piece for @theobserveruk.bsky.social

Iran’s missing ‘nuclear dust’ casts cloud over Trump’s Te...

The US president’s claim that the regime will never possess an atomic weapon is in doubt after a failure to locate its stockpile of enriched uranium

observer.co.uk

Temperatures in France already surpassing worst case scenario predictions for August 2050: yesterday was the hottest day on record. We are sleepwalking through the impacts of climate change worldwide.

Abbey@abbeyarletto.bsky.social · last mo.

When reality surpasses fiction! Top: fictional forecast for August 2050, broadcast by French TV in 2014 to warn about the consequences of global warming. Bottom: Real French forecast for yesterday, June 22, 2026.

The projections that the US could take the Strait of Hormuz by force, the mention of Saudi Arabia joining the Abraham Accords (never mind what the Saudis actually say every single time on this)– this man lives in a fantasy world.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 2mo ago

Lindsey Graham: "I spent 4.5 hours with President Trump. Here's what I think will happen. If this deal fails, he's gonna take the Strait of Hormuz over by force. We'll charge a fee for all those who go through to pay for the operation... if Iran contests control of the strait we'll obliterate them"

1. UK government proposes sweeping new laws to regulate the Internet 2. Experts warn the powers are badly-defined, technologically unfeasible and will be difficult to enforce 3. Government passes them anyway 4. Enforcement turns out to be hard 5. Government proposes more new laws

So glad that Luqman Saeed - an academic at Ulster University - has written this piece about the Belfast riots. I hope I could write this clearly and perceptively were I under similar pressure right now. www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2026/ju...

Daniel Trilling@trillingual.bsky.social · 2mo ago

From a friend in Belfast.

The planned gas-fired capacity **JUST FOR DATA CENTRE ON-SITE USE** in the US is the same as *all* planned gas capacity in India, Africa, Latin America, Southeast Asia, Japan, Korea and China *combined*.

Our statement on the UK gov't's demand that all content on all devices sold or used in the UK be scanned, on the presumption of nudity, using a dystopian combination of age verification & content scanning. This proposal will not safeguard children. It endangers us all. signal.org/blog/pdfs/20...

NEW: In February, I visited Raw Farm. You may have heard of it. RFK Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow are customers. It supplies raw dairy products to 500 stores nationwide. And regulators have linked it to over a dozen recalls and outbreaks that have made hundreds sick. 🧵👇

He Profits Off Raw Milk That’s Making People Sick. The Government Isn’t Stopping Him.

With Raw Farm, the largest raw-milk dairy in the country, Mark McAfee has capitalized on a once-fringe product that’s been thrust into the mainstream in recent years and backed by Health Secretary Rob...

propublica.org

Trump claims he's "calling all the shots" on Iran. Netanyahu's choices show otherwise. My piece for @theobserveruk.bsky.social

The collapse of the Iran-Israel ceasefire shows Trump is ...

Trump wants peace in the Middle East but he is struggling to reign in Israel’s bombing campaigns in Iran and Lebanon.

observer.co.uk

Why destroy only one newsroom when you can do it to two?

Devastating news from Egypt where activist and poet Ahmed Douma, only just released from prison in August 2023 after serving nearly 10 years behind bars, has been sentenced to a new one year term on spreading false news charges (Case 4894/2026). The cycle of injustice continues.

“New management has instructed me to insert falsehoods and bias into a politically sensitive story”- also the mention of certain politicians choosing their interviewees, a reference to Benjamin Netanyahu.

Eliot Higgins@eliothiggins.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Full statement of Scott Pelley after he's fired from CBS 60 Minutes, detailing the sort of corruption of journalism Bari Weiss has brought to CBS News:

Because everyone knows, the surest way to solve a problem is to stop measuring it

Michael E. Mann@michaelemann.bsky.social · 2mo ago

"Trump Administration to Dismantle Ocean Monitoring System--The $368 million network of instruments collecting data in both the Atlantic and Pacific has been critical to climate and ocean research". | Eric Niiler for @nytimes.com: www.nytimes.com/2026/06/01/c...

SCOOP: The Pentagon has banned journalists from its press office, designating it a classified space. The change creates a new barrier between journalists and the public affairs officers who have traditionally answered their questions. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

Pentagon bans journalists from press office, designating it a classified space

The change creates a new barrier compared with previous administrations, under which the office was an open room where reporters could stop by the desks of military public affairs officials without es...

washingtonpost.com

Reminder that Bari and Nick trading broadcast dollars for TikTok negative pennies will not work and @lopatto.bsky.social laid it out as clearly as possible -- gift link! www.theverge.com/business/793...

Taps the sign:

David Ho@davidho.bsky.social · 2mo ago

When people complain about paywalls, they're essentially saying they want people like Scott Pelley to work for free. Journalists are amazing and we need them more than ever. We should be willing to pay for news.

APNewsAlert: DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — US military says it launched airstrikes on Iranian radar and drone sites after Tehran shot down MQ-1 Predator drone.

Other than the obvious harm here, the worst part is this was not difficult to predict: Musk openly interfered in German elections last year by vocally supporting the far-right AfD. It prompted outrage in Germany, but evidently nothing that would stop him from repeating the same tactics in the UK.

Amy Borrett@amyborrett.ft.com · 2mo ago

🚨Elon Musk has boosted the public profile of Restore Britain leader Rupert Lowe on X, pulling Britain’s political discourse towards extreme content and amplifying his influence ahead of a knife-edge election in Makerfield More @FT: as.ft.com/r/80f4639f-0...

NEW: Xinjiang has the highest detention capacity in the world, according to FT analysis - enough space for almost 1 in 40 people in the region - more than five years after the Chinese govt announced the camps had closed.

How lucky for the correspondents of the most successful TV news show in history that Nick Bilton is taking the "unutilized" brand "into the modern age" www.wsj.com/business/med...

Breaking news: Trump administration officials have pressed the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to design a $250 bill featuring the president’s portrait, in what would be the first appearance of a living person on U.S. currency in more than 150 years.

Trump appointees push $250 banknote with his portrait

The director of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing who resisted the effort was reassigned last month. “The buck stopped here,” she wrote in her goodbye email.

washingtonpost.com

Trump threatening to veto a deal with Iran if countries including Saudi Arabia refuse to normalise relations with Israel, even though the Saudis have clearly stated their opposition to this for years, Qatar and others have never entertained the idea. The "art of the deal" in action here...

Vali Nasr@valinasr.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Threatening to blow up Oman and saying Saudi Arabia and Qatar owe it to the U.S. to join Abraham Accords—for ending a war that he started and failed to defend them against, and may not sign an agreement with Iran unless they join—indicate he feels he is for losing control with Iran.

EXCL: Peter Mandelson’s associations with senior figures in China, Russia and Israel were among concerns raised by the UK’s vetting agency when it concluded he should be denied clearance, sources tell Paul Lewis, me & @direthoughts.com www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Revealed: Mandelson vetting warned of ties to senior figures in China, Russia and Israel

Exclusive: Vetting officials also flagged £1m loan when recommending he should be denied security clearance

theguardian.com