andrew purcell

@Jderbyshire @leorobsonwriter @LRB I found it very moving. I love movies but had barely heard of half the films he mentions, much less seen them. That could be alienating, but Brian is such a sympathetic and complex character the novel never feels like an exercise in cinema criticism.

Read this splendid novel - a study in cinephilia - on a transatlantic flight last night (thanks to @leorobsonwriter for the tip in his recent @LRB piece)

@lizziedearden I just read it too. Terrifying, and so many WTF moments.

This piece is incredibly disturbing, and contains severe warning signs for the future A man who tried to kill the Queen with a crossbow in 2021 got encouragement by a (non-ChatGPT) chatbot he’d named Sarai, which he believed connected him to angels

@GSJohal85 told MPs today that his brother Jagtar has been moved into solitary confinement and placed under armed guard following his recent acquittal. The Foreign Secretary has offered to meet again in... late May. "They're not taking this seriously and urgently enough."

Is that the sword they use to behead pro-democracy protesters in Saudi Arabia? Ronaldo and Messi do not get nearly enough criticism for taking the Saudi regime's blood money to promote a false image of the Kingdom.

One of many moments in Omar El Akkad’s new book, “One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This,” that will stop you in your tracks.

All three of these young men are now dead. Targeted by Israel for their courageous reporting of the horrors inflicted on their people over the last 18 months. More than 200 journalists and media workers have been killed in Israeli attacks, 80% were between the ages of 20-40. So many brave, young men and women who risked their lives to document the atrocities. May their souls be at rest now.

This is Hossam’s team, and we are sharing his final message : “If you’re reading this, it means I have been killed—most likely targeted—by the Israeli occupation forces. When this all began, I was only 21 years old—a college student with dreams like anyone else. For past 18 months, I have dedicated every moment of my life to my people. I documented the horrors in northern Gaza minute by minute, determined to show the world the truth they tried to bury. I slept on pavements, in schools, in tents—anywhere I could. Each day was a battle for survival. I endured hunger for months, yet I never left my people’s side. By God, I fulfilled my duty as a journalist. I risked everything to report the truth, and now, I am finally at rest—something I haven’t known in the past 18 months . I did all this because I believe in the Palestinian cause. I believe this land is ours, and it has been the highest honor of my life to die defending it and serving its people. I ask you now: do not stop speaking about Gaza. Do not let the world look away. Keep fighting, keep telling our stories—until Palestine is free.” — For the last time, Hossam Shabat, from northern Gaza.

Scottish Sikh activist Jagtar Singh Johal, detained in India for seven years on terror charges, has been acquitted of all charges in one of nine cases against him. He was arrested in 2017 after his wedding and accused of being a member of a terror group.

Please follow us at reprievehq.bsky.social

I didn't see the pageant of an inclusive and welcoming #SaudiArabia earlier, but I do know they've executed 300 people this year (and there are men who could be executed any day now for being caught with cannabis for personal use) #FIFA #WorldCup2034

As myriad Syrians celebrate and many make preparations to come home, this is a good moment to also remember how awful so many people, especially in the West, were to Syrian refugees, how they demonized them and dismissed their stories and heartbreak and plight.

If you're still posting on here, you are legitimising the 'big lie' of neofascism cnn.com/2024/10/31/pol…

A list of the public services that have been stolen from YOU since 2010 The new government should give them back - paid for with a tax on multi millionaires, borrowing to invest and ending the waste of privatisation #Budget2024

🚨 BREAKING: UN Member States have voted to deny Saudi Arabia’s bid to become a member of the UN Human Rights Council. Finally, Mohammed bin Salman’s regime is being judged on its actions, not its PR campaign. This vote matters and here’s why - 🧵

"If you’re on a general shift and you’re not on a job, it should be at least eight stories a shift.” Absolutely ridiculous expectation - bad for journalism and terrible for the mostly young journalists being asked to churn out content all day.

Good thread on what X has become

@mcbrams @our_aim Amazing work! Congratulations to everyone involved.

Thrilled to share that on Thursday, @our_aim Foundation, where I proudly serve as a board member, inaugurated the K700 million Nafuse Clinic in Mbewa, Mchinji. This clinic will deliver free medical services to over 100 villages & 35,000 villagers in this remote region of #Malawi

If I understand this correctly, Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene is suggesting the Democrats deliberately started Hurricane Helene to destroy Republican voting areas and impact the outcome of the election. If that's what she's implying, that's conspiratorial thinking on a new level.

Set aside killing more than 40,000 men, women and children, the vast majority of them civilians. Below is a short, incomplete list of actions Israel has taken in 'self-defence' in the last year. It is unfathomable that so many in the US, UK and EU continue to justify these crimes

and Eran, a paramedic,ran to help, under fire. He then got home to wash off the blood and went back outside—only to bump into Ben Gvir, leeching off the murders and promising to demolish the nearby mosque*. Here is Eran serving some hard truths about the minister, minutes later.