Con O'Brien

This year #LonelinessAwarenessWeek (15-21 June) coincides with the #GreatGetTogether. Hosting an event is the perfect way to bring your community together and help end isolation. 🤝 Read our CEO’s blog to find out more 👇 #LonelinessAwarenessWeek tacklinglonelinesshub.org/10-years-on-ca…

REGISTER TO VOTE DEADLINE IS TODAY. You NEED to vote in the May local elections and TODAY is the deadline to register. It only takes 5 minutes. Do it here: registertovote.service.gov.uk

I am deeply saddened by the recent escalation of attacks against Ukraine, which continue to afflict civilians. I express my solidarity with those who are suffering and assure all the Ukrainian people of my prayers. I renew my appeal for weapons to fall silent and for the path of dialogue to be pursued.

There has been a huge reduction in UK abattoirs. Abattoir numbers have declined from 2,500 in the 1970s to just 200 today which in turn, makes it much more difficult for many farmers to sell their meat locally & higher transportation costs to reach an abattoir further afield.

Proud to welcome home and thank our submariners, who keep the UK and @NATO safe, every minute of every day. They and their families make huge sacrifices to protect us all, and our UK nuclear deterrent is more important now than ever. They are the very best of Britain.

Ukrainian soldiers still moving to the front lines. Don’t forget to wish them safety & victory 🙏

It was a real feel good day today, and feel good days require feel good music... And sure where else would ya find it but on the streets of Galway! 🎻 🎶 😍 📸 @fiddle_feet 📍 Galway, Ireland

Here is where you can find us across the week, we can’t wait to see you!

As Trump’s team are finding, Iranian officials are hard to negotiate with. Just when you think you’ve nailed them down, they twist and turn and you’ve got nothing. Professional US negotiators have found them hard to deal with. The current US team is finding it a lot harder.

Kyiv is the only city I’ve seen that has a flower shop open 24/7 on every street because it’s a city of love. Despite everything, Ukrainians keep their country alive, beautiful, and moving. Honestly, it’s a magical place to live

Our brand new booking system is now up and running so why not come and join us in our co-working space for the day? It's now easier than ever to book your spot so give our booking system a go! 👉peakdistrictbusinesshub.co.uk/book-a-co-work…

No elephant gets left behind – that's the mantra driving our Orphans' Project, and everyone, down to the elephants themselves, lives and breathes it. Even four-year-old Muridjo. She positions herself at the end of the herd, making sure the smallest members have a bodyguard watching over them. It's a wonderful change of tune for an orphan who originally eschewed any caring responsibilities, preferring to play and hang out with the bigger orphans. Today, she has matured into our capable mini-matriarch who knows the importance of keeping the most vulnerable safe. Discover Muridjo's story – from playful baby to budding leader: sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/orphans/muridjo

Because of the war in Iran, there are risks to the supply of weapons to Ukraine. I thank all our partners who are ready to help and to find ways to address this: Germany, Norway, Italy, the Netherlands, and now Sweden – also visiting Ukraine. The visits this week were specifically about this: ensuring that in the spring and summer we can maintain Ukraine’s resilience and strength, and that Russia has no temptation to think that rising oil prices and global instability can somehow benefit it in this war.

How many people out there are giving wildflowers a chance by leaving areas of their gardens uncut this year? Please RT if you are offering a lifeline to pollinators like bees, butterflies, moths, hoverflies and bats by mowing less!

There’s bins full of shredded documents outside the ministry of foreign affairs in Budapest because the government handover became a crime scene this week. Lots of Orban’s circle will be fleeing to Moscow.

Today in Ukraine is another very hard day, really hard night – the day after a massive Russian attack. In just one night, there were nearly 300 attack drones, 19 ballistic missiles, as well as cruise missiles. Air-raid sirens sounded across many of our cities. And this came after waves of “shaheds” had filled our skies just yesterday. Dozens of people have been injured. And sadly, so sadly, there are also lives lost in Odesa, Kyiv, in Dnipro. Just ordinary people, children, civilians, killed by Russian madness. If it’s possible, please, I ask you now to honor their memory, and all those whose lives have been taken by this terrible war, with a minute of silence. Thank you. From my address to the participants of the Four Freedoms Awards ceremony (1/3).

I’ve just finished my wine in one pub, have strolled a hundred yards and found another pub down the back streets off Fleet Street. How the hell have I never been in this pub?! Love it.

Thank you so much for watching my coverage of the Hungary election. So proud to make these reports ❤️🔥

The contracts have been signed for the first small modular reactors here in the UK. Delivering energy security and thousands of good jobs. All part of our golden age of new nuclear power 👇

People seem to have forgotten the two massive spikes in oil trading, one on 23 March, immediately before Donald Trump’s post announcing a delay in attacks on Iran’s energy infrastructure, and the other on 7 April when he declared a ceasefire. Investors made something like $1.5 billion. But were these a genuine huge gamble, or was it insider trading — a serious criminal offence in the US?