Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Kate Nicholls @katenicholls1.bsky.social · 7h

The Nobel committee has shown its metal. Trump may have to learn from this!
Machado has "brought the country's opposition together, being steadfast in her support for a peaceful transition to democracy".
“ She shown that the tools of democracy are also tools for peace."
www.bbc.com/news/live/c1...

Nobel Peace Prize 2025 live updates: Venezuelan democracy activist María Corina Machado wins

Nominations closed in January but US President Donald Trump had led a public campaign to win the award.

www.bbc.com

Kate Nicholls @katenicholls1.bsky.social · 10h

Isreal celebrates. What is left for the State of Palestinians? No-one can return their children. No-one can return their families. Are the check points dismantled? Who will rebuild the schools and hospitals. Who will replant the olive groves
This deal is cobweb!

news.sky.com/story/gaza-w...

Gaza war latest: Israel approves ceasefire and hostage release deal - with US sending troops to keep peace

Israel's government has ratified a ceasefire with Hamas, clearing the way to stop the war in Gaza within 24 hours and free Israeli hostages within 72 hours after that. Follow live below and catch up w...

news.sky.com

Kate Nicholls @katenicholls1.bsky.social · 18h

Fabulous. Erica is a wonder, and so is this book.

Salt Books @saltpublishing.com · 9d

Cover reveal! 👀

The new novel by Erica Wagner, Wash, forthcoming May 2026.

#Booksky

Reposted by Kate Nicholls

The Observer @theobserveruk.bsky.social · 3d

"The exploits of Calamity Jane and Wild Bill became wild west myth, as Peter Cozzens’s history of Deadwood shows. But behind them lay the venal, illegal settlement of Native American land", writes @ericawgnr.bsky.social.

Read more: https://bit.ly/46UxDdV

How America was stolen | The Observer

The exploits of Calamity Jane and Wild Bill became wild west myth, as Peter Cozzens’s history of Deadwood shows. But behind them lay the venal, illegal s...

bit.ly

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Kate Nicholls @katenicholls1.bsky.social · 21h

I cancelled my subscription long ago!

Kate Nicholls @katenicholls1.bsky.social · 1d

It’s 2025 and yet this is a topic for conversation.
How medieval!
Biology and politics once again meeting head on!

euobserver — EU news that matters @euobserver.com · 1d

The European Parliament wants to allow pregnant MEPs absent from the chamber to vote in plenary sessions. But it's expected that the European Council’s consent will be difficult.

MEPs discuss proxy voting for pregnant women and new mothers

The European Parliament wants to allow pregnant MEPs absent from the chamber to vote in plenary sessions. But it's expected that the European Council’s consent will be difficult.

euobserver.com

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Kate Nicholls @katenicholls1.bsky.social · 1d

Good for him. I’m not a woman of faith but I have the greatest respect for good humans.

POLITICO Europe @politico.eu · 1d

Enough with the clickbait, Pope Leo told news organizations today, urging journalists to fight against “junk” information and help people to distinguish between fact and fiction.

Pope to media: No clickbait, please!

Leo praises the work of journalists reporting from Ukraine and Gaza.

www.politico.eu

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Kate Nicholls @katenicholls1.bsky.social · 1d

I haven’t read his work but I will for sure.
How fascinating.
#writing

www.cnn.com/2025/10/09/s...

Nobel Prize in literature goes to Hungarian novelist for work confronting ‘apocalyptic terror’ | CNN

The 2025 Nobel Prize in literature has been awarded to László Krasznahorkai, a Hungarian novelist who said his dark and difficult novels aim to examine reality “to the point of madness.”

www.cnn.com

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Kate Nicholls @katenicholls1.bsky.social · 1d

Marvellous! Let’s see if that blood money gets fed back into education and the NHS then. Brexit screwed us into having to make some sickening trade deals.

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Kate Nicholls @katenicholls1.bsky.social · 1d

Oh hands up to the power of 10.
And by the way I know many, many, many over 50’s who know it was a mistake to leave.
In the light of FACTS let’s have another referendum pls! It’s bonkers to carry on like this pretending all is well!

Farrukh @implausibleblog.bsky.social · 1d

Lord Heseltine, "The number of people aged below 50 who think it was right for us to leave the European Union, is less than 20%

"The latest polls tells us 56% now believe it was mistake to leave the European Union"

Hands up if you are one of the 56% 🙋‍♂️

Kate Nicholls @katenicholls1.bsky.social · 1d

Seems baseline stuff to me. I was astonished that my son’s very expensive rental apartment in San Fransisco has no washing machine or dishwasher. Apparently this is normal!
If it were cheap then fine, no prob! But oh boy it’s not.
My MUCH cheaper flat in Rome has everything and overlooks the Tiber!

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Kate Nicholls @katenicholls1.bsky.social · 1d

Researching my book, I read lots of 18th and 19th century science writing.
Oh what joy. Communications of glorious ideas and discoveries, engagingly and beautifully written.
What happened?
Why are modern science papers so arid when under the surface there is so much wonder!

youtu.be/OV5J6BfToSw

Linguistics, Style and Writing in the 21st Century - with Steven Pinker

YouTube video by The Royal Institution

youtu.be

Kate Nicholls @katenicholls1.bsky.social · 1d

I woke up this morning feeling happy, adoring my students and full of the joys. I won’t be looking at the news today 😂

With memories like this in my head I know I am very lucky person. With 2 of my 5 children on the Altiplano. That space feeds my soul.

Kate Nicholls @katenicholls1.bsky.social · 1d

'Reeves and Keir Starmer have put planning reform at the heart of their growth plans, launching a bill earlier this year to make it easier to build without paying as much for expensive wildlife protection.'

Local wildlife be damned!

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Ministers to announce significant changes to UK’s planning system

Exclusive: Differences over changes to environmental and legal provisions to prompt economic growth hint at chaos at heart of government

www.theguardian.com

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Kate Nicholls @katenicholls1.bsky.social · 1d

These data make me inordinately happy. I am on the case even as I speak. ☕️☕️☕️

NBC News @nbcnews.com · 1d

People who consumed 200 to 300 milligrams of caffeine a day were less likely to develop coronary heart disease, Type 2 diabetes or stroke.

Drinking this much coffee a day is linked to a lower risk of several diseases

People who consumed 200 to 300 milligrams of caffeine a day were less likely to develop coronary heart disease, Type 2 diabetes or stroke.

nbcnews.to

Kate Nicholls @katenicholls1.bsky.social · 2d

I remember this. I was 14 politically aware and it scared the hell out of me. My heart is breaking that these sentiments fuelled Brexit and now Reform’s fear of ‘other’. Powel skipped from party to party. Were he alive Reform would embrace him.

Study the past with care!

youtu.be/qjbZi2hTLVw

Enoch Powell's 'Rivers of Blood' speech: 50 years on

YouTube video by On Demand News

youtu.be

Reposted by Kate Nicholls

BBC Newsnight @bbcnewsnight.bsky.social · 3d

“You described Reform and other parties across Europe today as among the 'right wing equivalents of the fascists in the 1930s'. Why?”

“Because that’s what they are”

@vicderbyshire.bsky.social asks Lord Heseltine about remarks he made at Conservative Party Conference.

#Newsnight

130 690 2.1K

Reposted by Kate Nicholls

Salt Books @saltpublishing.com · 4d

Terrific review of The Marriage Contract in The Sunday Times:

'Sasha Butler’s debut novel is a convincing evocation of Tudor England and a subtle exploration of the different forms love can take.’ —Nick Rennison, The Sunday Times

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Kate Nicholls @katenicholls1.bsky.social · 2d

“...pick the period you like, or the question that you can’t get out of your head."

I agree.
The questions that fill my head, that I need to explore, drive my writing.

Curtis Brown Creative @cbcreative.bsky.social · 3d

Sasha Butler: 'I’m always looking for a love story, or a point of connection between characters' 💕

We caught up with CBC alumna Sasha Butler to discuss her debut novel #TheMarriageContract, out now from @saltpublishing.com!

Sasha Butler on writing historical fiction

Sasha Butler studied on our How to Write Your Novel series from 2020-2021. We caught up to discuss her debut historical romance, The Marriage Contract.

www.curtisbrowncreative.co.uk

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Reposted by Kate Nicholls

Lyn Heideman @heidelyn.bsky.social · 2d

To help slow climate change, researchers are trying to redirect the microbes' appetite to the hundreds of millions of tons of methane emitted each year from oil and gas sites, livestock, and wetlands. Similar work is being done on CO2. But it's complicated: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/c... (gift). 🌎

The Very Hungry Microbes That Could, Just Maybe, Cool the Planet

www.nytimes.com

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Kate Nicholls @katenicholls1.bsky.social · 2d

Britain has long been racist: things were slowly getting better–then Brexit let loose the hounds!
I am ashamed of my country these days.
It’s taken such a very short time to slid backwards and I fear we have further to fall.
Remainers saw this coming.

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...

Robert Jenrick slammed for ‘didn’t see another white face’ comment

‘People of colour should not have to justify their Britishness’ to the shadow justice secretary, Labour said

www.independent.co.uk

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Kate Nicholls @katenicholls1.bsky.social · 2d

or photographer even!

Kate Nicholls @katenicholls1.bsky.social · 2d

The light in Rome fills my heart. I’m not a photograph ( as you can see 😂) but caught these moments on my evening stroll and wanted to share. I love this city so much.

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Kate Nicholls @katenicholls1.bsky.social · 3d

I will be buying this.

'Extracting the Future shows how the lithium economy is deeply embedded in a global capitalist system that continues to rely on resource extraction, unsustainable economic growth, and geopolitical violence.'

"Is Bolivia’s lithium a blessing or a burden?”
Kirkus Reviews

The Well-read Naturalist @wellreadnaturalist.bsky.social · 3d

Lithium batteries are effectively essential to life in the modern world. In his new book "Extracting the Future"
(@ucpress.bsky.social), Prof. Mark Goodale explains the effects the new lithium economy has upon the planet and its inhabitants. #Booksky

www.wellreadnaturalist.com/2025/10/extr...

Extracting the Future

Once a very unusual type of battery, lithium cells in their many different forms have become more than just common, they have become essential to technology-dependent societies in such ubiquitous devi...

www.wellreadnaturalist.com

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Kate Nicholls @katenicholls1.bsky.social · 3d

Awwww I love this. One Nobel laureate hiking off grid and another thought the call from Sweden was spam.
So touching and humble.

news.sky.com/story/nobel-...

Nobel Prize committee unable to reach winner as he's 'hiking off-grid'

Scientists Mary Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi have won the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

news.sky.com