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‘Cruellest forms of torture’: freed Palestinians describe horrors of Israeli jail

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Robin Wilson @robinwilson250.bsky.social · 15h

Freed Palestinians interned after the October 7 massacre tell of torture under detention--another war crime to add to the list committed under Israel's far-right government: www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

Men who were held in Nafha prison say they were brutally beaten, bound at the hands and feet, verbally abused, allowed to contract fungal and skin diseases, and assaulted with loud music for up to two...

Italy-Albania migrant deal: Millions spent, few results

Robin Wilson @robinwilson250.bsky.social · 16h

An ever-more officially xenophobic Europe looks to offshore detention centres for refugees--blind to the net benefits of hospitality for host countries--despite the brutality of the Australian model and the costly chaos of the UK's Rwanda & Italy's Albania precedents: euobserver.com/eu-and-the-w...

Migrants were detained in Albanian centres under an Italy-Albania deal, managed by the Medihospes cooperative on a €133m contract, but legal, operational, and ethical issues persist, an investigation ...

La Hongrie suspectée d’être un « agent de l’étranger » au sein de l’UE

Robin Wilson @robinwilson250.bsky.social · 18h

Hungary spied on the EU for years--when its commissioner was EU ambassador--and European diplomats have come to avoid sensitive statements in meetings Hungary attends, fearing their relay to the Kremlin. Does KGB ex-agent Putin have a hold on Orban, as well as Trump? www.lemonde.fr/internationa...

Budapest est accusé d’avoir espionné l’Union européenne de l’intérieur, un diplomate affirmant même que le pays dirigé par Viktor Orban « envoie ses rapports au Kremlin ».

www.lemonde.fr

Robin Wilson @robinwilson250.bsky.social · 20h

Russia was expelled from the 46-member-state Council of Europe after the full-scale Ukraine invasion. Now the intelligence agency Putin used to head is alarmed that the CoE is associating with a 'terrorist' threat from major exiled Russian dissidents. Is he rattled? www.nytimes.com/2025/10/14/w...

Russia Steps Up Assault on Antiwar Exiles, Accusing Them of Terrorism

Migrants will need A-level standard English to work in UK

Robin Wilson @robinwilson250.bsky.social · 20h

Lacking any European social-democratic compass, Labour just governs by flag-shrouded prejudice--rather than replace the training system destroyed by Thatcher, it tries to cut the migration needed to fill skill shortages as if this were a 'burden' on the welfare state: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The tougher rules will come in force in January as part of wider plans to cut immigration.

www.bbc.co.uk

Robin Wilson @robinwilson250.bsky.social · 1d

No doubt Trump has never read Weber on the state exercising a monopoly of legitimate force but Hamas' executions and its refusal to disarm are signals to Israel, and to Gazans, that it denies the (illegal) occupation that legitimacy, while claiming it for itself: www.irishtimes.com/world/middle...

Hamas fighters tighten grip on Gaza following public executions

Israel identifies bodies of four hostages handed over, Israeli troops open fire on suspects

www.irishtimes.com

‘It’s a road to destruction’: climate defenders facing surge in reprisals, says UN expert

Robin Wilson @robinwilson250.bsky.social · 1d

Governments are criminalising the human-rights defenders who are calling them to account on their #climate inertia: www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Mary Lawlor, UN special rapporteur for human rights defenders, accuses US, UK and other governments of paying lip service to climate goals while criminalizing activists

‘Dismal’ health of world’s forests is threat to humanity, report warns

Robin Wilson @robinwilson250.bsky.social · 1d

Unreformed agricultural subsidies and the power of finance mean the world is way off course to stop #deforestation: www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Financial institutions pouring money into land clearance and undermining efforts to stop destruction, says Climate Focus

The Trump Plan will more likely stall than crash

Robin Wilson @robinwilson250.bsky.social · 1d

Like most 'peace processes' presided over by powerful but ill-informed actors, Trump's does not address the root causes of conflict and so will not get beyond the hostages/prisoners' swap the pariahs Netanyahu & Hamas needed after tens of thousands of civilian killed: euobserver.com/EU%20&%20the...

Privately, most international observers are more grim about Donald Trump's 20-point peace plan — and for all their hope, they still expect the plan to collapse. But the recent ceasefire itself has de...

MEPs vote in favour of major rollback of corporate sustainability laws

Robin Wilson @robinwilson250.bsky.social · 1d

As overwhelming scientific evidence indicates global ecosystems careening towards catastrophe, right-wing and far-right MEPs kowtow to corporate resistance to roll back due-diligence legislation the last European Parliament endorsed: euobserver.com/EU%20Politic...

The European Parliament’s legal affairs committee backs a major rollback of the EU's corporate due diligence and sustainability reporting laws, in what activists called "a clear win for Big Oil."

Planet’s first catastrophic climate tipping point reached, report says, with coral reefs facing ‘widespread dieback’

Robin Wilson @robinwilson250.bsky.social · 2d

Absolutely essential that these now-imminently-looming ecological tipping points are not crossed, as there wil be no way back to a liveable planet. Yet action to forestall each of them will help address the others: www.theguardian.com/environment/... #climate #biodiversity

Unless global heating is reduced to 1.2C ‘as fast as possible’, warm water coral reefs will not remain ‘at any meaningful scale’, a report by 160 scientists from 23 countries warns

Why citizen groups outpace business in EU agenda-setting

Robin Wilson @robinwilson250.bsky.social · 2d

The EU is not so dominated by corporations as thought, this research suggests. But the media are crucial intermediaries in expression of citizens' demands, able then to set institutional agendas. Journalists must always distinguish the 'technical' from the pro-capital theloop.ecpr.eu/why-citizen-...

We often consider business groups to be the dominant lobbying force in Brussels. But, based on his latest research, Frederik Stevens shows the opposite: citizen groups are more likely to influence wha...

theloop.ecpr.eu

Robin Wilson @robinwilson250.bsky.social · 2d

Really important to challenge the defeatism that nothing can be done about climate change--so best to turn one's attention away. It's just down to political will: all the scientific-technical issues are essentially solved (as long as there isn't reliance on CCS): www.newscientist.com/article/mg26...

Hannah Ritchie's new book on net zero is a breath of fresh air

Clearing the Air answers all your burning questions about the net-zero transition, with optimistic, data-led insights designed to address misinformation about climate change, says Madeleine Cuff

www.newscientist.com

Robin Wilson @robinwilson250.bsky.social · 2d

While much of the 'centre-left' across Europe is rudderless, the @psoe-cef.bsky.social enjoys 35% support, with the two further left parties adding 13%, due to pro-worker labour-market reforms, xenophilic policies on people movement and principled recognition of Palestine: elpais.com/espana/2025-...

El PP baja cuatro puntos en intención de voto y el PSOE se sitúa a 15 puntos por encima, según el CIS de octubre

Vox se quedaría a dos puntos de los populares, que obtendrían el 19,8% en unas hipotéticas elecciones

elpais.com

Donald Trump’s approval rating

Robin Wilson @robinwilson250.bsky.social · 5d

Trump is now not only the most didsapproved-of president since the polling question began--he is even more unpopular than in his first term: 'The numbers will make anxious reading for Republicans facing competitive races in next year’s midterm elections.' www.economist.com/interactive/...

Follow our presidential approval rating poll tracker to see how favourably Americans view Mr Trump

www.economist.com

Robin Wilson @robinwilson250.bsky.social · 5d

The Gaza 'peace' deal is only an agreement to exchange hostages and prisoners. It does nothing to undo the horrors of destruction and displacement in Gaza: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

‘It’s over! It’s over!’ they shout, but people here in Gaza still fear what the future may bring | Hassan Abo Qamar

Phase one of Donald Trump’s peace plan has brought joy and relief, yet it’s hard to believe this fragile peace will last, says Palestinian writer and journalist Hassan Abo Qamar

‘Everyone is still afraid’: ceasefire deal brings relief to Gaza but fears remain over future

Robin Wilson @robinwilson250.bsky.social · 5d

Of course Hamas, with its Islamist disdain (shared by the Israeli far right) for universal norms, should never have been allowed into government. But the immediate prospect of its exclusion, without any alternative in place, is rule by gangsters and paramilitaries www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

Two previous short-lived ceasefires have left many in Gaza doubtful about the staying power of the latest agreement

Ceasefire, yes. Now what about accountability for Israel's genocide?

Robin Wilson @robinwilson250.bsky.social · 5d

A ceasefire is not peace and Israel's far-right government must not be rewarded with impunity for the genocide--otherwise it will do it again, says a representative of European Jews for Palestine: euobserver.com/EU%20&%20the...

This much-needed and welcomed ceasefire does not change the simple fact that Israel has just committed a genocide in Gaza. We got so much used to this term now, that the 'G' word became almost normal....

‘Bow to the Emperor’: We Asked 50 Legal Experts About the Trump Presidency

Robin Wilson @robinwilson250.bsky.social · 5d

Senior US legal figures, including those who served in Republican administrations, fearful of Trump's dismantling of the rule of law: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/m...

How Trump Is Using the Justice Department to Target His Enemies

Robin Wilson @robinwilson250.bsky.social · 5d

None of the populist autocrats respects the rule of law. But the extent to which Trump has directed the criminal-justice system against those who have punctured his amour propre--while denouncing any legal action against himself as a 'witch hunt'--is extraordinary: www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

President Trump has long spoken of seeking vengeance against his perceived political enemies. Here’s a list of whom he is targeting.

Everyone deserves a secure future, no matter where we're from. But right now, thousands of migrants like us are being held back, forced to wait over 10 years for the right to stay permanently in the p...

Robin Wilson @robinwilson250.bsky.social · 5d

Everyone wants a life that can move forward. But right now, thousands of people up and down the UK are forced to wait 10 years for the right to permanently stay in the place they already call home. Scrap the Barriers. Join me and sign the petition now.

act.praxis.org.uk/scrap-the-ba...

Scrap the Barriers

act.praxis.org.uk

Robin Wilson @robinwilson250.bsky.social · 6d

'Manchester United will become the most profitable football club in the world ... and from that will stem ... a ... sustainable, high level of football': www.theguardian.com/football/202... In market-fundamentalist England, that's how a financier thinks of a social institution doomed to mediocrity.

Ratcliffe says Ruben Amorim has three years to prove himself at Manchester United

Sir Jim Ratcliffe has moved to clarify Ruben Amorim’s future, suggesting the Manchester United head coach needs three years to prove himself

Almost 55,000 preschool children in Gaza acutely malnourished, Lancet study estimates

Robin Wilson @robinwilson250.bsky.social · 6d

Appalling--and enduring--malnuitrition of children in Gaza due to Israel's blockade and overwhelming violence shown in Lancet study. It beggars belief that Netanyahu's far-right regime could tolerate this but that's what the dehumanisation of 'Untermenschen' does: www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

Study shows clear link between Israeli aid restrictions and malnutrition among children aged between six months and five years

EPP ready to join far-right in watering down EU sustainability rules

Robin Wilson @robinwilson250.bsky.social · 6d

With ecosystems teetering, environmental deregulation of European companies, purportedly to increase 'competitiveness', is unconscionable. Private firms themselves recognise, as Keynes long ago showed, that they (counter-intuitively) rely rather on public investment: euobserver.com/EU%20Politic...

The centre-right European People's Party is siding with far-right groups to slash EU sustainability and corporate due diligence rules, while business leaders and former EU heavyweights are urging to k...