Author | Lightnews

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Ed Davey @eddavey.libdems.org.uk · 22h

People who have come to the United Kingdom legally, played by the rules and made it their home do not need to “go home”. This is their home.

I've written to Kemi Badenoch to give her the chance to reject these divisive calls from her frontbencher Katie Lam.

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Michael Lobel @mlobelart.bsky.social · 3d

Guess it's the perfect time to remind people that Pablo Picasso was one of main suspects when the Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre in 1911
www.artsy.net/article/arts...

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Alan Beattie @alanbeattie.bsky.social · 1d

"So, using my powers of deduction, I conclude: not an insurance job. Nothing escapes me."

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Sonya @sonyam.bsky.social · 1d

Daughter had her as a tutor and *ahem* as I understand it, she is a lot.

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Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · Apr 22

Another report on how our high visa costs deter top R&D talent
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

"The UK's upfront immigration costs now vastly exceed other leading research nations, so the UK is struggling to compete.
EU countries can more easily attract talent from the EU due to free movement, and from non-EU countries due to their relatively low visa costs.
"Non-EU countries are also attractive to global research talent due to lower comparative immigration costs than the
UK."
British scientific institutions are having to spend huge sums on visa costs for cancer professionals they wish to attract and recruit.
The Francis Crick Institute, one of the world's leading biomedical research centres, is now spending more than £500,000 a year on visas for cancer scientists. Cancer Research UK institutes are spending almost £690,000 a year, up 44% from £470,000 in 2022-23.

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Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 2d

The costs of the UK’s Global Talent Visa looks a trifle high in comparison to competitor countries - largely through the Immigration Health Surcharge (which critics say is a form of double taxation as they contribute to the NHS through normal tax on their earnings)

Researchers applying for the UK's Global Talent visa face high upfront costs
Upfront cost of visa to applicant and
employer
in 2025
UK
Denmark
£692
India
£602
Australia
£405
Israel
£362
US
£305
Italy £235
Netherlands
1 £207
Germany | £170
Spain
1£144
Sweden | £117
South Korea | £98
France £84
Japan £21
£5,941
£O
£2,000
£4
Source: Fragomen for the Royal Society • Excludes ongoing costs such as mandatory healthcare premiums or fees such as language tests

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Norm Charlatan @normcharlatan.bsky.social · 2d

Every Canadian quote-tweeting this Vlad photo like it’s the @stefanheck.bsky.social tarot card tweet

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Ben Ansell @benansell.bsky.social · 2d

If Labour cannot denounce mass deportation of permanent residents, Idi Amin style, what is the point of them?

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Sonya @sonyam.bsky.social · 2d

My practice did the same. I refused to give up my data so 1.5 years of not being able to book an appointment.

Sonya @sonyam.bsky.social · 3d

Some more pics wandering around the Marais

Gorgeous autumn flowers including bright pink dahlias in a garden next to Place des Vosges.

Round gothic stone that looks like a window, set on a stone base in a garden with greenery behind it.

Adorable & massive tabby & white cat hanging out in a small Marais garden looking intrigued by my bag, which TBF had GF pastry inside.

Stunning windows and ceilings with paintings and gilt, looking out over a courtyard in the National archives museum.

Sonya @sonyam.bsky.social · 3d

Pretty chill weekend for being in Paris. Still not feeling brill from the ‘flu a couple of weeks ago & work has been a lot.

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Canadian Paintings @canadianpaintings.bsky.social · 3d

Preening Owl
Kenojuak Ashevak ~ Inuk
1995

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Marie Le Conte @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com · 3d

love that this makes it sound like the minister was, if anything, pro heist

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Sonya @sonyam.bsky.social · 5d

They’ve closed the bloody lift at St.P lounge for the next several months!

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Sonya @sonyam.bsky.social · 5d

He was, until shockingly recently, still involved with Lakefield College School in Peterborough.

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Montréal @mtl.org · 6d

See autumn in Montréal — in 20 seconds. 😍

📽️ Eric Branover #montreal #autumnvibes

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Sardonicus @sardonicus.eu · 6d

’Owl Dressed As A Pilgrim’, 1500-49
www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collectio...

’Owl Dressed As A Soldier’, 1500-49
www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collectio...

illustration
a owl with a cape and hat with a stick bundle over one shoulder

owl in armour and cape, with a sheathed sword

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bleary @bleary.off-the-records.com · 9d

If anyone needs me I will be in the museum, lying down next to the bog bodies.

Did people really memorize phone numbers before cell phones, or is that just a movie thing?
2? Questions
I was watching some old shows from the 90s and noticed people would just dial numbers from memory - like they'd call their friends or family without looking anything up.
Made me wonder if that was actually normal back then? Did people genuinely have all their important numbers memorized, or did most folks keep a little address book or written list nearby?

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Canadian Paintings @canadianpaintings.bsky.social · 11d

Algoma Waterfall
J.E.H. MacDonald
1920

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Tom Cox @dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social · Sep 4

Note from my notebook (2017).

I know I buy too many books but I like to think that lining the walls of my house with them warns off evil in some deeply important way.

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Sonya @sonyam.bsky.social · 12d

So wonderful.

Dr Delyth Badder @folklorewales.com · 17d

Six weeks ago, I picked up a year-old tawny owl with a broken leg off the main road near our home and dropped him off at our nearest vet.

After a few days, I received one of the most bizarre phone calls I’ve ever had, asking “So when are you coming to pick up your owl?” 🧵

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Django Wexler @djangowexler.bsky.social · 12d

My boss: so how's our fourth quarter looking?

Me, the sales manager at the company that makes inflatable frog suits: well, you're never going to believe this, but

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Sonya @sonyam.bsky.social · 12d

There is a bonkers beautiful sky in the Cotswolds right now

A gorgeous red and pink and gold tinged sky with pale blue background over dark tree and stone buildings.

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Simon Parkin @simonparkin.bsky.social · 13d

In 2014 I wrote for @newyorker.com about @kurtjmac.bsky.social, a YouTuber who began walking in Minecraft and never stopped. His quest was to reach the Far Lands, a place at the limits of the algorithmic world, where the landscape breaks apart. On Saturday, after fourteen years, he arrived:

A Journey to the End of the World (of Minecraft)

www.newyorker.com

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Dr. Peter Paul Rubens @peterpaulrubens.bsky.social · 13d

Margaret of Austria. When older, she governed the Netherlands for many years, and was also a great collector and patron. Here portrayed at age 10 in 1490 by Jean Hey, whose day is today.

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