Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Barbara Franchi

Al Jazeera English @aljazeera.com · 3h

The UN says Israel is committing war crimes in Gaza, having killed 15 Palestinian civilians since October 10, despite a ceasefire coming into effect.

🔴 LIVE updates: aje.io/ttcve3

Gaza death toll from Israeli attacks rises, despite ceasefire

Palestinians continue to be killed by Israel as people struggle for aid in decimated Gaza.

aje.io

5 110 160

Reposted by Barbara Franchi

Dr Marie Allitt @marieallitt.bsky.social · 6h

In need of academic copyediting and/or proofreading? Please consider me: allitteditorialservices.co.uk

Please share! Strictly no AI is used! I love correcting spelling!
#Editing #Spellcheck #Proofing

Allitt Editorial Services

Academic specialist in copyediting and proofreading

allitteditorialservices.co.uk

1 7 6

Barbara Franchi @barbarafranchi.bsky.social · 5h

On the second point: precarious ECRs end up paying more in childcare than their permanent counterparts, for instance when they are between contracts. Gvt free hrs and child tax credit only apply to families where both parents work and earn a certain amount, and certain families on UC.

1

Barbara Franchi @barbarafranchi.bsky.social · 5h

Funding bodies with ECR-led schemes, such as MSC, are reducing the # of years post-PhD ECRs have apply for postdocs; for employed ECRs, precarity negatively affects parental rights, leave arrangements, and entitlement to childcare support (eg depending on length of contract/service).

1 2

Reposted by Barbara Franchi

Dr. Divya 🇵🇸🧿 (offline) @divyampersaud.com · 12h

145/1000 with 15 hours left… still plenty left to match

Dr. Divya 🇵🇸🧿 (offline) @divyampersaud.com · 21h

We continue: out of duty, as our promise—because we still need to keep hope alive ❤️‍🔥

Today only, we’re matching £250 / $333 to help six families & a camp STILL survive. That means food, shelter, transport north, baby clothes.

24 hours left 🚨 0/1000: chuffed.org/project/hope...

A graphic featuring a black ink illustration of a falcon with his wings partly open. Title: “Keep Hope Alive: a Gaza giving circle” decorated with a red watercolor poppy. Text: Six families are completely starting over—amidst their grief and pain, they have lost their homes, livelihoods, and communities, and must still seek food and shelter. Help them start over and continue to survive this life-and-death situation. Give and be matched. https://tinyurl.com/HopeGivingCircle.”

7 2

Reposted by Barbara Franchi

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 2d

While the perpetrators of Gaza’s genocide pose as its saviours, survivors return home – to a wasteland | Nesrine Malik

Western leaders attending the Sharm el-Sheikh summit have enabled and sponsored this slaughter. They are in no position to build a Palestinian future, says Guardian columnist Nesrine Malik

www.theguardian.com

26 310 570

Barbara Franchi @barbarafranchi.bsky.social · 3d

We had a glorious, sunny, October day at Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal @nationaltrust.org.uk. Made even more special by the colours of autumn: it will no doubt be memorable for both our boys and for us parents.

3

Reposted by Barbara Franchi

Layla @lili-kh.bsky.social · 11d

Don’t be distracted by the news of the ceasefire.
The bombing doesn’t stop for even a moment, and it’s being intensified insanely!!!!
#ceasefire #Gaza

1 21 19

Reposted by Barbara Franchi

Carla Denyer @carladenyer.bsky.social · 6d

Govt promised to help Palestinians get to UK to study- but I'm in touch with 7 young Palestinians with scholarships at
@bristoluni.bsky.social
who are trapped in Gaza because the Home Office isn't doing what was promised
Shocking neglect putting lives at risk
www.aljazeera.com/opinions/202...

Accepted but trapped: Why won’t the UK evacuate its students from Gaza?

Palestinian students in Gaza who earned places at top UK universities are being stranded by political indifference.

www.aljazeera.com

1 56 110

Reposted by Barbara Franchi

Frances Ryan @francesryan.bsky.social · 7d

This is devastating but hard to think of more important journalism. 18,457 children have been killed in Gaza (many more not accounted for). Here, The Guardian prints their names and beautiful faces and tells us what they were like before Israel stole their lives. www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int...

Young lives cut short on an unimaginable scale: the 18,457 children on Gaza’s list of war dead

Every name on a list compiled by health authorities in Gaza of the child victims of Israel’s offensive

www.theguardian.com

12 200 330

Reposted by Barbara Franchi

Molly Shah @mommunism.bsky.social · 7d

I’m sharing a Palestinian account every day and today is Doaa. Doaa is the mother of 3 children Omar, 10, Yasmine, 8 and Youseff, 4 but she primarily started this fundraiser to help her sister Amal who lost a husband and son and is trying to support her children Hiam, 13, Omar, 12 and Jawad, 7.

4 160 120

Reposted by Barbara Franchi

Alex Thomson @byebyepride.bsky.social · 7d

The shortage of English teachers has not been resolved - cuts in bursaries for trainees are a mistake, argues @sarahmullin.bsky.social @englishassociation.bsky.social

Tes magazine @tesmagazine.bsky.social · 7d

‘English is not just a subject – it is the foundation on which all other subjects are built’: @sarahmullin.bsky.social warns of the wider impact of withdrawing bursaries for teacher training in English

The end of English ITT bursaries sends a worrying message

The withdrawal of teacher training bursaries for English risks undermining more than just the subject itself – and it comes at a critical time, warns Sarah Mullin

www.tes.com

5 8

Reposted by Barbara Franchi

Dr Gillian Jack @drgillhistory.bsky.social · 8d

Even those of us working in universities but on teaching-only contracts are excluded from a variety of opportunities and funding.

Petra Boynton @petraboynton.bsky.social · 8d

With yet another university hosted event closed to 'non academics' (aka those not employed by a university)* I'm just going to leave this piece by @drhelenkara.bsky.social and myself here blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsoci...

* yes I know it's utter nonsense and academics/researchers exist outside unis

Institutional affiliation should not be a requirement for doing research - Impact of Social Sciences

Universities espouse a universalist approach to creating research-based knowledge. Helen Kara & Petra Boynton argue, from the outside these claims are hollow.

blogs.lse.ac.uk

6 7

Barbara Franchi @barbarafranchi.bsky.social · 8d

Delighted to announce that my co-edited special issue, Material Feminism and Posthumanism, is out today with Contemporary Women’s Writing @oxfordunipress.bsky.social!
Featuring articles on Vinciane Despret, Mary-Jo Bangs, Larissa Lai, V.H. Leslie, Erín Moure, and Sarah Moss. doi.org/10.1093/cww/...

Introduction: Material Feminisms and Posthumanism in Contemporary Women’s Writing

The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report from 2023 (IPCC, Synthesis)1 on adverse impacts from human-caused climate crisis has once again

doi.org

1 3

Barbara Franchi @barbarafranchi.bsky.social · 8d

This year, in #NobelSoWhite (and white haired, and masculine). I don’t dispute the importance of their work for a second, but the optics are bad.

Reposted by Barbara Franchi

The British Academy @britishacademy.bsky.social · 9d

Read the full report: www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/policy-and-r...

Cold spots: Mapping inequality in SHAPE provision in UK higher education

This British Academy report reveals that many parts of the UK are becoming subject cold spots – areas with no provision in a subject within a commutable distance. These are often in rural, coastal or ...

www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk

1 2

Reposted by Barbara Franchi

mimij9.bsky.social @mimij9.bsky.social · 11d

People being carted off into police vans for carrying placards

The government has stoked up so much more trouble than it was trying to solve.

We used to be shocked when they did this in Russia?

See how authoritarianism can move so quickly.

Such a terrible move from this government.

#PA

quickly.so

9 51 180

Reposted by Barbara Franchi

Layla @lili-kh.bsky.social · 26d

I ain’t gotta say much, y’all already know how bad things are in Gaza right now… just hoping you can help out, even if it’s just by sharing this post...
chuffed.org/project/layl...

74 70

Barbara Franchi @barbarafranchi.bsky.social · 12d

And in the US there is no federal maternity/parental leave provision, so I imagine many parents needing to get back to work asap may not be able to pay for as much childcare as is actually needed, hence they recur to tablets and YouTube. I find this use of ChatGPT unsurprising.

Barbara Franchi @barbarafranchi.bsky.social · 13d

What a gift to hear them speak! Did they give the lecture in Brighton?

1

Barbara Franchi @barbarafranchi.bsky.social · 13d

Just heartbreaking.

Barbara Franchi @barbarafranchi.bsky.social · 13d

And there we have it, if we needed any further proof: people who have suffered unspeakable loss, who have lived under occupation for decades, defined as terrorists merely because they do not just up and go to make room for a colonial expansionist project blathering about its Lebensraum.

Mondoweiss @mondoweiss.net · 13d

READ: With at least half a million people still left in Gaza City, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz issued a "final warning" for residents to evacuate, saying those who remain will soon be regarded as “terrorists or terrorist supporters.” mondoweiss.net/2025/10/isra...

Israeli Defense Minister says half a million Palestinians in Gaza City will be considered ‘terrorists’ if they don’t evacuate

With at least half a million people still left in Gaza City, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz issued a “final warning” for residents to evacuate, saying those who remain will be regarded as “terro...

mondoweiss.net

2 8

Reposted by Barbara Franchi

Chris Smith @spyhistorian.bsky.social · 14d

As a module leader and course director, I struggle to see how this can happen. Except that the RG over-recruit and there are so many students on courses nobody can monitor them.

share.google/a0rqaLfYUnCn...

Glasgow student took his own life after 'tragic' university error

Ethan Brown, 23, of Coatbridge, was told he didn't have the grades to graduate in December 2024.

share.google

6 6 18

Barbara Franchi @barbarafranchi.bsky.social · 15d

Sometimes it’s almost as if journals couldn’t fathom that we have things to do other than sitting at our desks thinking about our grand new research ideas and how to support our discipline. Also, ofc we’re neither paid nor rewarded for doing reviews, and that tone is always unacceptable regardless.

3

Barbara Franchi @barbarafranchi.bsky.social · 15d

Presumably no Palestinian would want a second British Mandate headed by Blair, who, precisely because of his debacle in Iraq, has a bad reputation in the Middle East already. I despair.

1