Timeless fun!

In case you’re not a Stormy Daniels follower….

⁦John Simpson⁩, in discussion with the BBC's unparalleled range of experts across the world with reports by:
Jeremy Bowen on Gaza
Ankur Shah on China
Nomsa Maseko on South Africa
BBC News Україна (RU) on Ukraine

Please listen 🎧 bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3…

The spring time all in gladnesse / Doth laugh at winter’s sadnesse.

Today one Russian paper notes that the head of the Russian Orthodox Church “called on Almighty God to grant the current president power for life. Vladimir Putin did not object.” How the Russian press is reporting Putin’s Inauguration. #ReadingRussia BBC News (UK)

New revelations in the Murdoch phone hacking scandal: the hottest media story of the week. Check out alan rusbridger and me interviewing the intrepid investigative journalist Nick Davies on new evidence of criminal behaviour and corporate espionage, as per court papers

Great to be in my heimat of Suffolk on the day the Tractor Boys of Ipswich Town get promotion to the Premiership!

Dunwich, on the Suffolk coast: sometimes spooky, always beautiful.

Excellent article — and very disturbing.

Today is World Press Freedom Day. Press freedom is nonexistent in China.Every single day the CCP is in breach of Article 19 of the UDHR #JournalismIsNotACrime #FreeJimmyLai Hong Kong Watch Hong Kong Free Press HKFP The Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC David Cameron Liliane Landor lyse doucet article19.org/what-we-do/

Breathtaking evidence of industrial scale phone hacking by Murdoch’s News operations in UK going far beyond celebrities. Listen to alan rusbridger and me talk to Nick Davies on Media Confidential - the story Fleet Street is ignoring or considers too hot to handle!…

Donald Trump is at it again. He told a campaign rally in Wisconsin: ‘We’ve seen what happened when Europe opened their doors to jihad. Look at Paris, look at London - they’re no longer recognisable.’

Slightly surreal and spellbinding at the same time. I had the privilege of seeing in May morning from the top of Magdalen tower. A once in a lifetime experience!

May morning 2024

May morning ⁦Magdalen College⁩ 2019

Various Garrick Club members including Sting, Mark Knopfler and leading actors and producers have reportedly written to the Club chairman saying they’ll resign if the membership doesn’t vote to accept women next Tuesday. Many others like me would also find it impossible to stay.

John Simpson Nigeria continues to be the epicentre of fraud and extortion. Yet it used to be a country where education had priority, the Universities of Ife, Ibadan and others were well respected. The discovery of oil changed everything.

justice.gov/usao-mdfl/pr/c…

BBC News broadcast evidence of child starvation in #Gaza today
Israel won't allow the BBC to enter and report from Gaza, but the BBC was able to obtain this footage from an American doctor
#Gaza War
bbc.co.uk/news/world-mid…

My son is 18 — the age that is being preyed on by gangs of criminals in Nigeria etc. The gangs get, or pretend to have obtained, nude photos of them, and demand cash not to send the pics to all their contacts. 91% of UK victims last year were male. Several committed suicide.

I’m not usually too enthused by leading political figures, if only because, close up, they often aren’t what you hoped they’d be. Even so, for a US secretary of state, Anthony Blinken is a bit of a mensch. Here’s further evidence.