Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

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Rich @hoxtonrich.bsky.social · 1h

This is absolutely bizarre. These LTNs, which from the start always had majority local support, & which were paid for by TfL, are now uncontroversial in practice. Removal of £2million OBGR improvements would be an unprecedented act of social vandalism & financial waste. Shameful stuff.

Letter from Lutfur Rahman and Aspire Councillors promising they’re still planning to rip out the LTNs as soon as possible.

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Simon 🪗 @mzdt.bsky.social · 1h

Once again, the argument against road safety + pollution improvements consists of what people 'feel', their 'views' and 'feedback'.

No actual evidence, because that would show that LTNs work.

Rich @hoxtonrich.bsky.social · 1h

This is absolutely bizarre. These LTNs, which from the start always had majority local support, & which were paid for by TfL, are now uncontroversial in practice. Removal of £2million OBGR improvements would be an unprecedented act of social vandalism & financial waste. Shameful stuff.

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Jolyon Maugham KC @goodlawproject.org · 14h

Woah! So Labour's position really is, 'telling us off for breaching human rights undermines the case for human rights'? Proper Trumpian stuff from Labour's answer to Suella Braverman.

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STC @blobbystc.bsky.social · 38m

Mark Harris @markharris.bsky.social · 3h

Every one of these "If only it were possible to..." plugs for AI is animated by an incredibly deep resentment of either talent or authorship.

Scientific American @sciam.bsky.social · 1d

Despite early, and familiar, copyright growing pains, Sora may be the prelude to AI-generated on-demand TV and movies

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James Austin @jamesdaustin.bsky.social · 1h

The whiplash from 'we are going to build responsible AI' and 'were worried about the addictive nature of these tools'

To:

'Were going to build a porn bot', 'were building a additctive, endless scroll social media app' and 'were bringing back the addictive model'

Is pretty big

The Verge @theverge.com · 14h

Sam Altman says ChatGPT will soon sext with verified adults

ChatGPT is about to get flirty.

buff.ly

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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 51m

Name a protest movement, anywhere or at any time, that has achieved its goals without being annoying and obstructive.
People like this enjoy the freedoms our political ancestors gained for them, while attacking the means by which they were achieved.

Jack @jackdawg52.bsky.social · 6h

Nope, you make protest obstructive and annoying you lose the good will of the general population.
When they ring their local member to complain - they dont tell the local member to deal with the issues raised by the protesters, they tell them to deal with the protesters.

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Musa Okwonga @okwonga.bsky.social · 1d

So much of this happening on Twitter. Actual fascists having their reputations whitewashed just because they posted a couple of things.

Yair Wallach @yairwallach.bsky.social · 4d

No, you do not have to hand it to Tucker Carlson, MTG, or any white supremacist who suddenly found compassion for Palestinian children

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Dr Kat Day (she/her) @chronicleflask.katday.com · 1d

They always start with free speech. It sounds reasonable, doesn’t it? Free speech? And they can use it to shut down anyone who criticises them, because it’s all “free speech”

After “free speech” it’s “protecting women and girls”

And then it’s whatever they actually wanted.

Henry Mance @henrymance.ft.com · 1d

The right-wing campaign group that helped topple Roe v Wade in the US is now working to roll back abortion laws in the UK, with the help of Nigel Farage.

Its first step? Trying to create a debate around "free speech"
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/13/w...

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Musa Okwonga @okwonga.bsky.social · 1d

We can be quite a susceptible bunch in the UK, though. I recently had a cab driver who went on a talk radio-fuelled rant about teachers turning kids trans in schools with drag shows, and then when I asked him how many of his problems in life were caused by drag queens, he said, "ah, none".

Tom Scott @tom--scott.bsky.social · 1d

Right-wingers who think tactics they've used to criminalize abortion in the US will have the same kind of traction in the UK fail to grasp that religious fundamentalism is widely viewed as nuts in the UK, & has been for many decades, if not centuries.

As much chance of abolishing UK gun controls.

Henry Mance @henrymance.ft.com · 1d

The right-wing campaign group that helped topple Roe v Wade in the US is now working to roll back abortion laws in the UK, with the help of Nigel Farage.

Its first step? Trying to create a debate around "free speech"
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/13/w...

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Niao Collective @niaocollective.bsky.social · 2d

One the one hand - thanks? On the other hand, seeing Brits do mental arithmetic on 'desirables vs undesirables' doesn't feel right. It seems like we're in the 'desirables' bucket simply because they think HKers are productive and not because they are actually deserving of some dignity as *people*

Joel Chan @kjoules.org · 2d

“If Britain has no space for a group like the Hongkongers, then our national panic over immigration will surely have gone too far. This country needs some immigration, and if it is not the productive & educated exiles from Hong Kong, to whom we also have a moral duty, then who will we let in?”

Hong Kong’s migrants are the ones we need

Tightening the rules makes life harder for 160,000 highly educated and employable refugees

www.thetimes.com

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Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 3d

Multi billionaire conducts months of historical and theological research into the Antichrist. Discovers, shockingly, that one thing the Antichrist would definitely do is tax billionaires. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Done
theguardian.com
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Jump to
He believes the Armageddon will be ushered in by an antichrist-type figure who cultivates a fear of existential threats such as climate change, Al and nuclear war to amass inordinate power. The idea is this figure will convince people to do everything they can to avoid something like a third world war, including accepting a one-world order charged with protecting everyone from the apocalypse that implements a complete restriction of technological progress. In his mind, this is already happening. Thiel said that international financial bodies, which make it more difficult for people to shelter their wealth in tax havens, are one sign the antichrist may be amassing power and hastening Armageddon, saying: "It's become quite difficult to hide one's money."

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ACLU @aclu.org · 1d

The trailblazing transgender rights activist Miss Major has passed away at the age of 78.

Miss Major was a lifelong organizer and participant in the ballroom scene. She took part in the 1969 Stonewall Riots and was injured by the police — but she kept fighting.

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elia ayoub 🌱 @ayoub.bsky.social · 1d

The Guardian did a profile of Linehan last month in which they described a 57 year old man’s years-long obsession with harassing trans people as “gender activism”

What’s next? Is Tommy Robinson a race activist?

www.theguardian.com/culture/2025...

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elia ayoub 🌱 @ayoub.bsky.social · 21h

To be clear: the decision to deny most people in the UK the covid vaccine is related to money, *not* based on a public health concern. In other words, Labour did not allocate enough money for covid vaccines so their "cost-effectiveness" end up the determining factor. www.gov.uk/government/p...

For the development of advice relating to COVID-19 vaccination from autumn 2025, JCVI has resumed the use of a standard cost-effectiveness assessment, in line with other routine vaccinations in the national immunisation programme and the JCVI code of practice. The advice is based on modelling of the impact and cost-effectiveness of vaccination where clinical outcomes are stratified by age, high-risk clinical disease groups and patients with immunosuppression. The use of cost-effectiveness is a key pillar in the consideration of immunisation programmes, ensuring that the substantial investments in the programmes are a good use of public money, and that those funds would not be better spent on other healthcare interventions. This has led to a more refined approach to the targeting of the COVID-19 immunisation programme, with a focus on individuals where there is good evidence of a high risk of hospitalisation and/or mortality.

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Adam McKay @ghostpanther.bsky.social · 20h

Hard to even comprehend this.
Coral reefs are lost.
We knew it was coming but still…
Coral reefs are lost.

Dr Emma L Briant 🐸🎃 @emmalbriant.bsky.social · 2d

Planet’s first catastrophic climate tipping point reached, report says, with coral reefs facing ‘widespread dieback’ www.theguardian.com/environment/...

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

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

www.theguardian.com

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Zack Polanski @zackpolanski.bsky.social · 21h

The Spectator (owned by GBNews owner Paul Marshall - estimated wealth of £800 million) doesn’t like taxing wealth fairly.

I wonder how they got to this editorial decision?

Let’s tax wealth fairly, fund front line services & make hope normal again.

join.greenparty.org.uk

Polanski is talking nonsense about wealth taxes.

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Michael Caley @michaelcaley.bsky.social · 20h

we stan a "no I won't tear up my contract because my bosses wanted me to" king

Fabrizio Romano (MIRROR) @fabrizioromano.yopro20.com · 22h

🚨🔵🔴 Official: Barcelona confirm new deal agreed for Frenkie de Jong as formal act will take place tomorrow. New contract valid until June 2029. 🇳🇱

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Musa Okwonga @okwonga.bsky.social · 19h

Not seeing enough analysis of how Gaza will be rebuilt or what fate awaits the many Palestinians who decide “we have to try our luck abroad, there is nothing here for us but rubble”.

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Musa Okwonga @okwonga.bsky.social · 15h

inews.co.uk/culture/book...

Child thinks he overestimated America’s capacity to outgrow its past. “I had always resisted saying this is just about the relationship between white Americans and black Americans, based on the guilt white people carry, first for slavery and then for Jim Crow. I spent decades saying, ‘Come on, it’s got to be more complex than this.’ But I think it’s not. I think that almost everything can be explained by this deep hatred that the majority of white Americans have for black Americans. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

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David Craven @davidjcraven.bsky.social · 15h

Every country with English expat populations should retaliate.

András Forgács W @andraswf.bsky.social · 19h

Well this will certainly do it www.gov.uk/government/n...

Migrants will be required to pass A Level standard of English

Migrants will be required to pass tough new English language requirements under a law introduced in Parliament today.

www.gov.uk

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Musa Okwonga @okwonga.bsky.social · 14h

Stop trying to over-intellectualise these people. There is no grand philosophy behind it. It’s hate, it’s as simple as that. If you’re grasping for reasons why that can’t be, save yourself the energy. You’ll need it for something else.

Musa Okwonga @okwonga.bsky.social · 14h

You can’t burn your bridges with people who are committed to racism. The bridges never existed in the first place. That’s hard to understand for people who don’t have to navigate at least one situation a week where they or their loved ones are treated as subhuman. But it’s true.

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kevinwilliams @kevvwill.bsky.social · 14h

Preach, Musa. As I told someone about America and racism, "It's baked in, like butter. You can't taste it, but it's there." In Chicago, a blue city in a blue state, routinely my wife and I would walk into a restaurant and the hosts would ask, "Are you together?" "Nope. Just decided to hold hands."

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Musa Okwonga @okwonga.bsky.social · 14h

You can’t burn your bridges with people who are committed to racism. The bridges never existed in the first place. That’s hard to understand for people who don’t have to navigate at least one situation a week where they or their loved ones are treated as subhuman. But it’s true.

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Dan Sohege @danielsohege.bsky.social · 15h

Honestly, what's the point of saying they have to do this to prevent Reform, when outcome is effectively mass deportations by the back door and removal of rights anyway. More people becoming undocumented, which Labour's policies guarantee, lead, because of Labour's policies, to more deportations. 4/

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Dan Sohege @danielsohege.bsky.social · 15h

In practice, and even before today's changes, Labour has gone further on anti-immigration policies than any government in decades. The outcome being more families ripped apart, more people forced to become undocumented, fewer jobs for everyone and a crashed economy. 3/

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